Losing weight should be easy! It's a simple calculation based on taking in less energy that you expend. So why is it so hard for most people to achieve and, more importantly, maintain weight loss?
In this article we will look at the problem holistically, i.e. what to eat to lose weight and how to eat to lose weight. Why both? Well they just aren't the same things. One deals with the physical needs of your body whilst the other deals with the psychological effects of eating and dieting, and it is this that you need to change if you have any hope of effectively losing and maintaining your weight loss.
What to Eat to Lose Weight (Basic Guidelines)
Eat three, balanced meals (containing protein, fat and carbohydrate) per day with an emphasis on nutrient dense foods designed to improve nutritional and biochemical status e.g. plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, complex carbohydrates, wholegrains, quality protein, pulses, beans, nuts, seeds and small amounts of oils for essential fats.
Include 2-3 small snacks daily of fruit and vegetables with proteins (e.g. nuts, seeds or cheese) and avoid snacking on sweets or refined carbohydrates.
Treat food as medicine and eat at least every 3-4 hours to balance blood sugar and insulin output. Three to four hours between meals and snacks matches the liver's capacity to maintain blood glucose levels with stored carbohydrates (glycogen). Depletion of glycogen is associated with feelings of hunger. Structured eating in this way often helps eliminate overeating and weight gain and allows the body to find its natural weight.
Ensure that each meal includes 20g of quality protein from organic meat and poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat dairy products, pulses, tofu and nuts. This helps to reduce cravings for refined carbohydrates and improves mental and emotional functioning. Without sufficient protein, the body is unable to provide sufficient muscle, hormones and neurotransmitters.
Include some 'good fats' each day for health and to manage appetite e.g. deep-ocean, oily fish (Remember: SMASHT - Salmon, Mackerel, Anchovies, Sardines, Herring, Tuna), nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocado. Tip: keep a mix of 4 seeds in a jar in the fridge (hemp, flax/linseed, pumpkin & sunflower) and use as a seed mix. Grind fresh each day in an electric coffee grinder. Have 2 dessertspoonfuls each day.
Eat unlimited amounts of green vegetables with protein foods and include some red, orange, purple and yellow vegetables as well. Vegetables supply carbohydrates for energy and are also a very rich source of minerals and phytonutrients. They also provide enzymes, vitamins and some protein and help to sustain the alkaline balance of the body.
If dysbiosis and low blood sugar are not an issue, eat two to three raw fruits per day. Fruit provides more digestive enzymes than any other food because we tend to eat it raw. Cooking kills enzymes in foods. Fruit is also key for its fibre, vitamin and mineral content and it supports the alkaline balance in the body.
Ensure adequate fluid intake (1-1.5 litres per day).
Eat enough - often people will not start to lose weight until they are eating sufficient in terms of calorie intake as the body will seek to 'hold on' to whatever is available where calorie intake is very low.
Avoid or reduce sugars, refined foods, additives, white flour products and stimulants such as tea, coffee and alcohol wherever possible.
Eat foods high in the amino acid tryptophan - chicken, turkey, tuna, kidney beans, oats, lentils, chickpeas and seeds. This can help to raise serotonin levels enhancing mood and controlling cravings.
Eat a good quality breakfast and ensure to eat some protein food.
Eat organic foods where possible. They are usually richer in minerals than other produce and do not contain pesticides and chemical residues. They also taste better.
How to Eat to Lose Weight (Basic Guidelines)
The problem people have when they lose weight is that they tend to deny themselves, restrict food, and change their diet for a fixed number of months to achieve weight loss. The problem is that they then go back to their old ways and wonder why they put it all back on, and usually more! They need to learn how to eat to lose weight.
There are a number of behavioural and psychological changes that you need to make to effectively lose weight and maintain it and if you're quite overweight you might need specialist help to overcome emotionally charged overeating issues such as comfort eating, binge eating, and compulsive eating. According to the National Weight Control Registry in the USA (a register of people who have maintained a large amount of weight for five years and more without fluctuations) there are seven principles that you need to incorporate into your daily life. Here are some examples of how you can begin to incorporate these five principles to lose weight and maintain it.
Plan ahead: When you're trying to lose or maintain weight planning out what you are going to eat is really important. If you don't know what you're going to be eating for that day and have the stock in your cupboards you could be caught out and faced with the situation of having nothing suitable to eat when it comes round to meal times. This is when everything can fall apart and you just reach for whatever food is in the house. So, if you want to be a weight loss success plan ahead, ideally for a few days, and buy in the ingredients for the meals that you're going to have. Even better, make some of your meals in bulk and freeze them so that you've always got a ready supply of nutritious food.
Become a problem solver: Becoming a problem solver is an important key to weight loss success. Like planning ahead, if you don't become a problem solver you set yourself up to fail. Take the following scenario as an example; you're trying to lose weight and so far so good but you've been invited out by friends for dinner and although you want to go you're worried about breaking your diet. Your friend always cooks lovely food and there's always a wonderful dessert and you don't want to offend her by turning it down when it is offered. What do you do? If you're not a problem solver you might just go along and break your diet and even eat more than normal because the 'I've ruined my diet I might just as well enjoy myself' dialogue comes into play. However, if you are a problem solver you might call your friend in good time and explain that you'd love to come to the dinner party but you're trying to lose weight and hope that she won't be offended if you turn down dessert. You might be surprised and find that on the night there's a lovely array of healthy alternatives for you to choose from!
Make small changes: Rather than making drastic changes to your lifestyle and eating make smaller changes because you have a much greater chance of making them permanent. For example: choose a healthy topping for your baked potato rather than cheese or tuna mayo; eat oven chips (fries) rather than ones that have been fried; have a poached egg instead of a fried egg, and so on.
Have No Specific Weight Goal: We diet to lose weight and most of us have a 'magic number' that we want to attain, whether that's a particular dress size or a particular weight. So instead of eating to lose weight, eat to become healthy, and rather than weighing yourself measure your success by how much more quickly you can walk or how much more comfortable your clothes are.
Always Have Breakfast: This is an essential requirement if you want to lose weight. Skipping breakfast sets you up to fail if you want to lose weight. Skipping breakfast slows down metabolism and can lead to cravings in the afternoon and evening. Eating more protein for breakfast can often really help to reduce cravings and compulsive eating.
Get Active: You can't be active when you eat but you can certainly be active after you eat. There is some research to suggest that people who have weight issues often do not like preparing food that is messy to avoid cleaning up afterwards. Instead of popping that ready meal into the oven cook from scratch and rather than avoiding doing the washing up get the kitchen cleaned before you sit down for the evening. There's strong evidence that activity rather than exercise is the key to long-term weight loss and maintenance so use the stairs instead of the lift!
Eats Foods With High Nutritional Density: Eating foods that are low in nutrition such as white bread, cakes and biscuits not only sets you up for mood swings and binges but it piles on the weight. Eating foods that are highly nutritious such as whole foods and superfoods, will help to turn your body into a fat burning, rather than a fat making, machine. So eat for optimum nutrition and watch the weight fall off.
Keep a Food Diary: Keeping a food diary to help you keep track of what you are eating and to also help you to see which foods help to sustain your energy levels, which foods can be linked to cravings, as well as to help you link your emotions with your eating behaviours
Learning how to eat to lose weight is a complex process and there are of course many other behavioural changes and psychological techniques that you might need to learn in order to lose weight and maintain it which might include stress reduction, mindfulness, mindful eating, behavioural flexibility and so on, but these seven principles are the common denominators for weight loss success and will help to stop emotional eating.
Rebecca Farnham is a Health Coach at Comfort Eating Coach specialising in helping women overcome emotional eating and lose weight. For more information about how to stop emotional eating you can visit http://www.comforteatingcoach.com
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