Which Foods Should I Eat To Lose Weight?
People always ask me, “what foods should I eat to lose weight”? Well, there are no magic foods to eat that will make you thinner. There, I said it!
Simply put, you have to eat less than you spend by following a diet that you can stick to and will make you consume less calories, with as little distress and torture as possible.
My clients freak out when I say this. They say, “but I have tried this and it doesn’t work. There has to be another way? Surely there is more to it?” My answer is always NO! It’s really that simple. There are several methods you can use to reduce calories and it’s finding the right one for you and your lifestyle that you can keep up until you reach your fat loss goal. As my mother puts it so bluntly, “there is more than one way to skin a cat”.
Low Carbohydrate, Ketogenic, Vegan, Paleo, Intermittent Fasting, Clean Eating, High Protein – They are all common methods of doing the same thing; reducing calories. It is fair to say though, that some people respond well to some of these and are happy continuing eating a certain way even after achieving their weight loss target.
Several diets restrict your carbohydrate intake. The “Paleo Diet” (hunter gatherer diet) is high in fats, high in proteins and low in carbohydrates. The Atkins Diet is high in fats, high in proteins and very low in carbohydrates. The Ketogenic Diet is very high in fats, low in proteins and very low in Carbohydrates.
These are popular because protein and fats digest more slowly than carbohydrates, so are more satiating, making us feel fuller for longer. Furthermore, the 3 diets mentioned recommend the consumption of foods that are less calorie dense like fibrous veggies. It’s also worth pointing out that eating carbohydrates can be addictive due the creation of serotonin which is responsible for cravings particularly in obese individuals.
So why do people lose so much weight on low carb diets?
The main reason is because they are avoiding the very things that caused the calorie surplus in the first place – sugary carbs! When they avoid carbs they naturally eat less calories because they avoid the calorie dense foods like, sweets, biscuits, cakes, and bread. These are the foods that can cause large binges due to cravings. People on low carb diets can also lose weight quickly because in the short term they lose water weight due to the depletion of glycogen stores which frees up bound water in the muscles. This explains why two trials found that people on a low carb diets had lost more weight than people on a low fat diet after 6 months but not 12.
FACT- Eating your proteins, fats, and carbs together (which is commonly referred to as a “balanced diet”) or separately makes no difference with regard to weight or fat loss.
What is a fact (with science to back it up) is consuming fewer calories than your body needs is responsible for weight loss.