Foods that help you lose weight

Posted by Shazy on Monday, June 27, 2011 / Labels:
foods that help you lose weight
foods that help you lose weight. If you are looking for information about foods that help you lose weight quickly, you come to the right place. Here are 10 tips about foods that help you lose weight quickly and healthily.
1. Foods with High Thermic Effect
2. High Fiber Diets
3. Knowing the Basic Healthy Food Groups
4. Avoid Trans Fats
5. Eat Some Amount of Good Fats
6. Foods with Trans Fatty Acids
7. 12 Best Foods You Should Eat Regularly
8. 12 Worst Fat-Storing Foods You Should Never Eat
9. Avoid Empty Calories and Junk Foods
10. Healthy Alternatives to Junk FoodsWeight Loss Food Tip #1 – Foods with High Thermic EffectEating foods with high thermic effect will give a boost to your metabolic rate. The higher your metabolic rate, the more it burn off your body fat, and the more you lose weight healthily.
A food with thermic effect is a food which increase metabolic rate after eating it. (Metabolic rate means the amount of calories that our body burns when we are at rest.)

There are two foods with high thermic effect:
  1. Lean protein
  2. Natural, fiber complex carbohydrate
After eating lean protein, our metabolic rate increase up to 30%.
After eating natural, fiber complex carbohydrate, our metabolic rate increase up to 20%.
Fats have the lowest thermic effect, only 3%.
Refined sugar also has the lowest thermic effect.

Weight Loss Food Tip #2 – High Fiber DietsA high-fiber diet is a part of a healthy, balanced, lower-calorie diet. A high-fiber diet can help you lose weight without starving yourself.


Here are common benefits of fiber:
  • Fiber is often found in vegetable and fruit. It is natural and healthy food.
  • Fiber imparts a feeling of fullness in your stomach.
  • Fiber has no calories.
In short, when you eat a high-fiber diet, you feel full without much calories intake.
It is called “a healthy, lower-calorie diet” that you should go for.

There are two kinds of fiber:
  • Insoluble fiber is the part of vegetable or fruit that cannot dissolve in water. For example: Peel of apple
  • Soluble fiber is the part of vegetable or fruit that dissolves in water. For example: Apple itself
Insoluble fiber prevents or relieves constipation.
Soluble fiber lowers the risk of stroke, control diabetes, and help to prevent some cancers and gastrointestinal disorders.
Soluble fiber also lower cholesterol levels and heart disease risk.
The general recommendation for fiber intake is 25 to 30 grams of fiber per day.

Some recommendations about fiber intake:
  • If your fiber intake is less than 10 grams per day, you should increase it slowly to 25-30 grams per day.
  • Drink at least 8 glasses of water to ensure that fiber passes through your body.
  • Decrease your fiber intake if you are having a lot of loose stools or diarrhea.
  • Have a cup of blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries (can get around 8 grams of fiber).
  • Have high-fiber crackers.
  • Have 100% whole wheat bread.

Weight Loss Food Tip #3 – Knowing the Basic Healthy Food GroupsThere are 6 basic healthy food groups. You need to know them so that we can choose them to make your meal. The meal from these food groups will help you in losing weight (body fat) and keep you in good health.
To ensure that you can choose your food groups wisely for your meal, here is the list of 6 basic healthy food groups.
You need to eat a mixture of them in right proportion to lose fat and to keep your body in healthy condition.

Group 1: Complex Fibrous Carbohydrates
  • Asparagus
  • Broccoli
  • Brussel sprouts
  • Cauliflower
  • Green beans
  • Collard greens
  • Cucumber
  • Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Okra
  • Mushrooms
  • Peas
  • Pepper (green or red)
  • Salads
  • Spinach
  • Squash
  • Tomatoes, pasta sauce, salsa
  • Zucchini

Group 2: Complex Starchy Carbohydrates
  • Barley
  • Beans
  • Brown Rice
  • Carrots
  • Cream of rice
  • Cream of wheat
  • Cream of rye
  • Oat bran
  • Lentils
  • Legumes
  • Multi-grain
  • Oatmeal
  • Potatoes (white, red)
  • Yams or sweet potatoes
  • 100% whole wheat
  • 100% whole wheat bread
  • 100% whole grain dry cereals
  • 100% whole grain pasta
  • 100% whole grain products

Group 3: Natural Simple Carbohydrates (Fruit)
  • Apples
  • Bananas
  • Berries
  • Blueberries
  • Cantaloupe
  • Grapes
  • Grapefruit
  • Jelly (all fruit)
  • Nectarines
  • Plums
  • Oranges
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Raspberries
  • Unsweetened applesauce

Group 4: Lead Proteins
  • Chicken breast (skinless)
  • Egg whites (one yolk for every six whites)
  • Fish (cod, flounder, haddock, orange roughy, salmon, tuna etc.)
  • Lean red meat (extra lean sirloin, flank steak, round steak)
  • Low or non fat dairy products (cheese, cottage cheese, milk, yogurt, etc.)
  • Shellfish (lobster, shrimp, clams, etc.)
  • Turkey breast (skinless)

Group 5: Dairy Products (1% low fat, skim, or non fat)
  • Cheese
  • Cottage cheese
  • Milk
  • Yogurt

Group 6: Fats (good)
  • Canola oil
  • Fish fat
  • Flaxseed oil
  • Natural peanut butter
  • Nuts
  • Olives
  • Olive oil
  • Seeds
Now you just know the 6 basic healthy food groups, please choose them for your meal from now on.
This will help you in losing weight (body fat) as well as maintaining good health.

Weight Loss Food Tip #4 – Avoid Trans FatsTo lose fat (weight), and to be in good health, you need to minimize or avoid using trans fat (trans fatty acids). When you go shopping, read the label, if you see the word start with “H” or hydrogenated, get out of it.
Trans fats or trans fatty acids are very dangerous to our health. The health problems related to trans fatty acids are heart disease and even cancers.
More than this, trans fatty acids in hydrogenated oil can raise the bad cholesterol (LDL) than saturated fats.

Below are some negative effects of trans fatty acids:1. Trans fats decrease insulin sensitivity while they increase insulin response to glucose. This means insulin cannot perform its functions well. As a result, large amount of insulin will release in blood stream and blood sugar builds up as well. In long term, it will lead to the early stage of diabetes.
2. Trans fats hinder immune system function. This make our body becomes weaker in fighting with disease.
3. Trans fats lower good cholesterol (HDL) while they increase bad cholesterol (LDL) and blood triglycerides. This leads to various heart diseases and vascular diseases.
4. Trans fats hinder the liver’s detoxification processes. This leads to more toxins in our body.
5. Trans fats may cause the cancer diseases.
6. Trans fats hinder the essential fatty acids (EFA) functions.
7. Trans fats make our body’s platelets become stickier.


Weight Loss Food Tip #5 – Eat Some Amount of Good FatsTake at least 12% to 15% of good fats (essential fatty acids) in your total daily diet to prevent an EFA deficiency as well as to have fat-burning effects and growth-enhancing effects.
The good fats that we refer to are essential fatty acids (EFA).
The essential fatty acids we talk about are Omega 3.

The foods or supplements with essential fatty acids have the following benefits:1. Essential fatty acids improve skin texture (make your skin smooth and soft).
2. Essential fatty acids improve insulin sensitivity (make steady insulin in bloodstream).
3. Essential fatty acids are required for absorption of fat soluble vitamins from foods.
4. Essential fatty acids are essential for joint health.
5. Essential fatty acids are required for energy production.
6. Essential fatty acids are required for Oxygen transfer.
7. Essential fatty acids maintain cell membrane integrity.
8. Essential fatty acids suppress cortisol production.
9. Essential fatty acids promote growth.
10. Essential fatty acids increase metabolic rate (burn off fat faster).
11. Essential fatty acids help burn body fat.

Weight Loss Food Tip #6 – Foods with Trans Fatty AcidsEating foods with trans fatty acids and hydrogenated oils are very harmful to your health. Do yourself a favor by avoiding the food groups that come with trans fatty acids or hydrogenated oils. Since your goal is to lose body fat permanently, watch out for these kinds of foods.
Foods with trans fatty acids are primarily found in margarines, spreads, baked goods, and fried foods.
If you want to lose fat, and be in good health, please avoid the food with trans fatty acids.

Below are partial list of foods that come with trans fatty acids or hydrogenated oils:
  • Fried foods (fried chicken, French fried, fried onion rings, etc)
  • Baked foods (crackers, cookies, cakes, breads)
  • Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils
  • Refined vegetable oils
  • Margarine
  • Biscuits
  • Crackers
  • Corn chips
  • Doughnuts
  • Frostings
  • Pies
  • Pastries
  • Toca shells
  • Shortening

Weight Loss Food Tip #7 – 12 Best Foods You Should Eat RegularlyAll foods are not created equal. There are foods that are good for our health. There are foods that are harmful to our health.
Below are 12 best foods you should eat regularly for fast loss and good health:
  1. Oatmeal (or barley, wheat, rye, etc)
  2. Yams or sweet potatoes (complex starchy carbohydrate)
  3. White or red potatoes (have nutrient value and fiber)
  4. Brown rice (have nutrient value and fiber)
  5. Whole wheat bread and 100% whole grain products (complex carbohydrate)
  6. Vegetables (have nutrient value and fiber)
  7. Fresh fruits (have nutrient value)
  8. Low fat and non fat dairy products (yogurt, cheese, milk, etc)
  9. No skin chicken or turkey breast (have high thermic effect)
  10. Egg whites (have good protein and free from cholesterol)
  11. Lean red meat i.e. top round, extra lean sirloin (have high thermic effect)
  12. Fish and shellfish (have good fats and high thermic effect)
If you want to lose body fat, if you want good health, eat the 12 best foods above regularly.

Weight Loss Food Tip #8 – 12 Worst Fat-Storing Foods You Should Never EatAll foods are not created equal. There are foods that are good for our health. There are foods that are harmful to our health.
To know which foods are good to eat, first we need to know which foods are bad to avoid.
Below are 12 worst fat-storing foods that you should never eat:
  1. Ice cream (high fat, white sugar, empty calories)
  2. Fried foods (high trans fat, saturated fat)
  3. Doughnuts and pastries (white sugar, empty calories)
  4. Candy, chocolate & sweets (white sugar, empty calories)
  5. Soda (white sugar, empty calories)
  6. Fruit “drinks” and other sugar-sweetened beverages (white sugar, empty calories)
  7. Potato chips (white sugar, trans fat, saturated fat)
  8. Bacon, sausage (high fat)
  9. White Bread (white sugar)
  10. Hot dogs, fast food burgers (high fat, trans fat)
  11. Cookies (white sugar)
  12. Sugary breakfast cereals (white sugar)
If you want to lose body fat, if you want good health, never eat the 12 worst foods above.

Weight Loss Food Tip #9 – Avoid Empty Calories and Junk FoodsJunk foods are empty calories because they don’t have nutrient value and they don’t boost your metabolic rate. You need to eat a good combination of foods from complex carbohydrate, lean protein and good fat.
Junk foods are foods that have little or no nutrient value.
Junk foods are foods that don’t boost our metabolic rate.
For these reasons, we call “junk foods” as “empty calories”.
Another thing to know is that: all calories are not created equal.
For examples:
1) “2500 calories from 100% of fat” doesn’t equal “2500 calories from 100% of lean protein”.
2) “2500 calories from 100% of white sugar” doesn’t equal “2500 calories from 100% of lean protein”.
Foods from different sources will affect different on our body composition.
  • Fat is high calorie density and can covert to body fat easily.
  • Lean protein has high thermic effect and takes longer processing time before it can convert to body fat.
  • Sugar is high calorie density and can easily promote fat-storage enzyme.
  • Fruits have nutrient value (vitamins and minerals) that our body needs.
  • Vegetables have nutrient value (vitamins and minerals) and they also have fiber which is good for our health too.
  • Fat, lean protein and sugar don’t have nutrient value.
In conclusion, you need to avoid the foods that you think they are junk foods in term of nutrient value and their effects on our body.

Weight Loss Food Tip #10 – Healthy Alternatives to Junk FoodsAvoiding junk foods may be difficult because you don’t know the healthier alternative to replace the junk foods. See the table below to have more choices in choosing better foods for fat loss as well as for good health.
To help you see the better options to replace your junk foods, I list them in the table below.
Even all foods below are not grade “A”, but they are healthier alternatives to junk foods.
Junk Foods Healthier Alternative
Ice cream Low fat, non-fat, or sugar-free yogurt, or fruit sorbet
Canned fruit in syrup Fresh fruit or canned fruit in own juice
Sugar Fruits
Sweets Fruits
Fruit drinks 100% fruit juice
Jelly or jam All fruit no sugar jelly (“Simply Fruit”, “Polander’s”, etc.)
Regular soda Diet soda, “Crystal Lite”, etc.
Jell-O Sugar free Jell-O
Popsicles Sugar free Popsicles
Table sugar “Equal”, “Sweet N Low”, “Stevia”
Buttered popcorn Air popped popcorn, light microwave popcorn
White bread 100% whole wheat or rye bread
Regular crackers 100% whole wheat or rye crackers
Flavored, sweetened oatmeal Old-fashion whole oats
Sugary cereals Whole grain, low sugar cereal
Potato chips Baked tortilla chips
French Fries Baked potato
Prime rid Round steak, lean sirloin, flank steak
Fried chicken Broiled or microwaved skinless chicken breast
Ham, cold cut Turkey or chicken breast
Bacon, sausage, hot dogs Very lean ham, chicken, turkey, turkey franks
Whole milk Non-fat, skim or 1% low fat milk
Whole eggs White eggs
Tuna in oil Tuna packed in water
Cheese Low or non-fat cheese
Cream cheese Low or non-fat cream cheese
Butter Fleischman nonfat butter spread, “Molly Mcbutter”
Supermarket oils Pam cooking spray, extra virgin olive oil
Mayonnaise Low or non-fat mayonnaise

From now, please choose the healthier alternatives and please avoid junk foods.
When you choose better choice, your health will become better. And you will also lose more fat.

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