Without a doubt, our diets play a major if not the biggest role in weight loss.
That is why we must be mindful of the types of food we consume in our day-to-day life, because at the end of the day, weight loss is all about clean food technology – Understanding the science behind healthy food and being able to make it yourself!
Our diet is also a fundamental reason behind why we struggle to lose weight, despite putting in the effort to exercise, go to the gym and put in the work to burn off the calories.
The simple fact is that if you want to lose weight, you need to burn off more calories than you consume and there are numerous ways to do this.
Here are 7 ways to change your diet in order to lose weight:
Carbohydrate heavy meals are generally very calorie-dense. In fact they are a primary reason for obesity and diabetes if taken in high portions.
That’s why we must avoid consuming meals that are very starchy and sugary if we are trying to avoid these problems and to lose weight.
Carbohydrates can be difficult to avoid, especially when you realise how heavily implemented they are in the majority of foods we eat today.
This is especially the case with rice, which goes with almost any type of meat and vegetables as well as bread in our sandwiches, wraps, burritos and what not.
Nevertheless, there are always alternatives to these foods.
For example, for us rice lovers, substitutes can include:
Even adjusting your meals such that they are low in carbs can work well. For example, instead of eating chicken with rice, try switching the rice for a side of your seasoned vegetables. Ones that go well can include asparagus or broccoli.
By simply trying low carb alternatives, we are both consuming less calories as well as widening our taste pallets to new foods.
Personally, I have never understood the obsession with alcoholic beverages.
While I understand they may be great for a night out at the club or a party, they should never really be an option to drink with every meal you eat.
Beers and wines are common drinks to go with a meal, however they are a big reason for weight gain.
This is due to their ‘empty calories’ which offer very little nutritional benefits other than calorie gains.
By substituting for healthier alternatives such as organic fruit juices and smoothies, flavoured waters or just cutting down on the alcohol consumption, you are training your body to avoid any empty calories from alcohol that are preventing you from losing weight.
When someone eats something healthy, let’s say a huge bowl of Caesar salad, they may think they’re cutting down the calories, because most ingredients in the bowl are healthier.
This is not the case. Just because you’re eating a large amount of a healthy meal, doesn’t mean you will lose weight. You’re just eating more calories from that healthy meal!
By simply reducing the amount on your plate, it can make a big difference to your weight.
Whether it’s reducing the portion of rice on your plate or the size of the chicken breast slices you eat, you will make it easier to burn more calories during exercise than you consume.
Even something as simple as choosing to eat 2 croissants in the morning instead of 3 will make a big difference in pushing you to cut down on your calorie intake.
A lot of us can agree that vegetables may not be the tastiest of foods, especially when compared to a McDonalds cheeseburger or Domino’s Pizza, but that doesn’t mean that every vegetable isn’t nice.
In fact there are a plethora of vegetables that are worth trying and worth implementing into our meals.
For example sweetcorn is a vegetable that I would regard as really tasty and can work well as a side dish to your lunch or dinner.
Asparagus and broccoli can also be very tasty, especially when well seasoned.
Vegetables are fantastic for weight loss, because they are less calorific while being able to satisfy your hunger. This is the core issue with carbohydrates and a reason why carbs will make you gain weight so easily. It’s their high calorie counts and inability to keep you full that causes you to get hungry quicker and eat more!
I would suggest trying these vegetables out and many others that you may have never tried, as they might begin to grow on you and adjust to your taste buds over time!
By slowly adding vegetables to our taste pallets and making meals out of them, we are able to slowly swerve away from the fatty, oily foods that we may be addicted to and move towards a healthier, less calorific diet that has more nutritional value and will keep you full.
For me personally, fruits are an absolute go to if we want a healthier weight loss diet. They are both tasty and high in nutrients which makes them perfect to eat, while also being much lower in calories!
So how could we implement them into our diets?
Well for starters, Fruits can be great to eat as a breakfast meal.
Instead of eating a high carb breakfast meal such as buttered toast, cornflakes or croissants, a simple fruit bowl with your favourite fruits will offer more nutrition, less calories and a good amount of energy for your day ahead.
Some great fruits that I recommend eating include watermelon (Both tasty and has little to no calories), grapes, apple slices, oranges and strawberries as they are all rather quite sweet and juicy.
Have you ever gone to the shops and seen all of these fancy packaged food items and products? Your favourite sweets, candy bars, ready meals and cereal just scrape the waters of the mountain of over-processed food that is so easy to acquire! As a bonus, I’d recommend checking out why you should avoid eating cereal in the link below. It’s worth a read:
Next time you go to your local supermarket, have a look at the ingredients on the back of the packaging. Processed foods will contain dozens of lines of ingredients, most of which are likely artificial chemicals and compounds put into the food to make you addicted to it and want you come back for more!
Monosodium Glutamate, Sodium Nitrate and Artificial dyes are just a few of the worse additives commonly found in ultra-processed foods and are linked to detrimental physical health conditions such as diabetes!
You can have a look at some of the worst food additives and chemicals that you should avoid right here, and how they can significantly inhibit your ability to lose weight as well…
