Reviewer: Gang Liu (The Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University)
You are heavier than ever. No big deal, right? You’ll have an occasional salad, no bread on a sandwich, no carbs, and greens.
But it sounds a lot like dieting, which means giving up those favorite foods, forget it! You can lose the fat around your waist without giving up food.
It’s easier than you might think.
1. Bring food back to the menu
If you think that dieting means depriving yourself of the pleasure of eating, you’ll be happy to know that you can snack while you’re on a diet.
Snacks are an important part of your weight loss plan at home, at work, or on the go.
Lauri Wright, Ph.D., assistant professor at the University of South Florida School of Public Health, said, “People who don’t eat for a long time tend to overeat with meals. You can snack.”
The key is to choose wisely. Skip potato chips during the day and eat more raw almonds, fresh fruit or carrots.
When eating between meals, combine protein and carbohydrates. You can dip pretzels in nut butter or spread hummus on graham crackers.
Eat low-fat cheese bars or slices.
Or make your own mixed fruit mix. Swap the chocolate and yogurt raisins for almonds and dried fruit.
Image source: Zhanku Hailuo
2. Set deadlines
If you like to snack during the day, there must be a limit, says Dr. Laurie. Limit finding something to eat in the refrigerator after get off work.
Trent Tucker agrees. He played 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), mostly with the New York Knicks. Now that he’s retired, it’s easier to stay in shape without more post-race meals and snacks, he said. “My eating habits are very consistent, and I don’t eat at night,” he said.
Now Mark May doesn’t eat either. But that’s not always the case.
Mark has been an offensive linebacker in the NFL for 13 years, and since 2001 has worked on a late-night newsletter that airs during the football season.
He recalled that he and the other show members would go to the cafeteria at dinner time.
But around 2am, the snack starts. “We’re going to have French toast, eggs, bacon, and breakfast.”
Once they started gaining weight, they started losing weight. “It’s not healthy. So if I need to eat late at night, I usually eat fruit,” he said. Eating fruit is quick and it doesn’t take long between shows.
3. Make the most of the morning
Mark says there’s another problem with late-night snacks. He recalled, “I was not hungry the next morning after I got home because I ate too much.”
Lauri agrees. “For men, skipping breakfast is the wrong choice,” she says. Men often replace the most important meal of the day with just a snack (such as coffee and donuts on the way to work). Eating in the morning can reduce your calorie intake throughout the day.
Again, you need protein and fiber, so eat an omelet with vegetables like spinach, mushrooms, or peppers. Add to whole grain toast or oatmeal. Or eat yogurt fruit jelly. Whole grains with skim milk are also good.
Image source: Zhanku Hailuo
4. Eat less red meat
Red meat. That’s what “real men” eat, right? You know you should eat less. But that doesn’t mean you have to say goodbye to red meat forever.
Laurie said, “You can still eat red meat, as long as you pay attention to the portion, trim off the fat, and grill it.”
Mark said he has switched to meats such as fish, chicken and lean beef. You can find your favorite foods among other types of protein.
Beans, nuts, and seeds are also good choices. This helps keep muscles strong, especially when testosterone levels start to drop after the 40s.
Get the same protein as steak from these foods,And only eat a fraction of the calories.
5. Eat vegetables
Want to know what you can eat in bulk? Even eat as much as you want? That’s the last thing you want to eat greens and other vegetables like that.
Lauri said that at least half of the food on the plate should be green or from plants.
Green foods are low in calories and high in fiber, which can improve cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
Most importantly, green foods also help with weight loss. Makes you feel fuller and delays snacking. “Fiber is nature’s appetite suppressant,” Laurie said.
6. Choose low-calorie condiments
When you add all the greens to a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and add lemon juice or balsamic vinegar. You may also want to add a bit of salad dressing that is high in fat.
However, low-calorie salad dressings are better for your health than vegetables. Mark recommends salad dressing as a delicious simple marinade on the grill.
He said, “We in Arizona are grilling almost every day.”
Other low-calorie seasonings and condiments include pepper, garlic, hot sauce, and herbs like dill. What do you usually put on a hot dog if you want to marinate veggies in a creamy, rich sauce? Janet said, “Wastard is very low in calories and tastes great with it.”
Image source: Zhanku Hailuo
7. Eat whole grains
There is one more food to add to the list of good foods: whole grains.
Maybe your friends tell you the only way to lose weight is to go back to the “Paleolithic” and eat a lot of meat like a caveman.
You can eat carbohydrates, just not refined starches (such as refined white flour), says nutritionist Dr. Janet Brill.
This is a simple transition. Mix whole wheat pasta with regular pasta and brown rice with white rice.
Lauri said, “You won’t notice a change in taste.” But you can fill up quickly and still feel delicious.
Be careful with portion sizes though. Grains should only make up 1/4 of the plate.
8. Changing cooking techniques
Sometimes the problem is not what to eat, but how to cook.
If you think everything tastes better when fried, it’s time to broaden your cooking knowledge. Do not eat fried food. Use baking instead.
Use vegetable oil instead of butter when cooking. Make olive oil the main fat you eat. Olive oil still has calories, but it’s better for the heart, Janet said.
You don’t even need to hone your cooking skills, modern supermarkets make preparation easy.
Janet said, “You can buy pre-processed potatoes and sweet potatoes. Take the food home, put it in the microwave, and drizzle with olive oil. You can buy ready-made salads. Put the salad in a bowl with some lemon juice and tomatoes.”
9. Make dietary rules when you go out
If you eat out or travel a lot, like Trent did when he traveled the country during basketball season, you need to make a different plan.
Don’t make ends meet on your favorite fast food.
Breakfast: Oatmeal is usually available at a chain restaurant. Janet says blueberries or soy milk can be added, no sugar.
Lunch: Time to walk around and find a Chinese restaurant. Order steamed rather than sautéed vegetables with brown rice. Add more sauce or hot mustard if you like.
Dinner: Swap steak for a lean protein (such as chicken or fish). Eat baked potatoes, but leave out the salt. Add some sour cream and chives.
Don’t eat too much food, restaurants often serve too much food.
10. Pay attention to the calories in beverages
Jeanette says, “You should also focus on calories from fluids.” Avoid sugary sodas or fruit juices, she says. Try black coffee so you can leave out the cream and sugar. If you drink alcohol (whether beer or wine), do so in moderation (no more than two servings of alcohol per day).
diet soda can reduce calories, but don’t overdo it. The best drink is still the old one – water, perhaps flavored with lemon or cucumber.
Drink water when you think you need to eat. “One of the first signs of water scarcity is hunger,” Laurie said.
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