In the convenience store check-out line. At the grocery store. During a business lunch. It can come up in any conversation. People ask me what to eat. Oh, they are not asking to take advantage of my culinary expertise. I have none. I'm a very experienced eater, not a master chef. People want to know what are the Best Foods to eat to lose Excess Body Fat. That's tough to answer. Because "The Absolute Best Foods Ever!!!" are often not your favorites, or not often found when you eat out. And since so many of us eat out a lot more than we used to, it is very helpful to look at what is in the food you order. When I eat at a restaurant, I don't pay too much attention to what everyone is ordering. I'm busy checking the menu for anything that's
-FRIED
-CREAMY
-STUFFED -Even seemingly nutritious items stuffed with vegetables can also be stuffed with high-cal cream sauce or cheese.
-ALFREDO -A popular restaurant chain offered delicious Marinara Sauce with 90 cals, 5g fat, and 480 mg sodium. Their Alfredo Sauce had 440 cals(!), 43g fat (!), 26g sat fat (!), and 600 mg sodium (!). Forget it Al ! Please note, that's just for the sauce.
These items found in restaurant menu descriptions can alert you to high calorie, high saturated fat, or high sodium items.
We also need some food choice basics. Here are:
Three guidelines vital to an effective Eating Plan.
#1. It must provide Nutrients
Lean Proteins, Complex Carbs, Vegetables, and Fruits are foods your body needs every day to look and feel it's best. I've seen many people loose Excess Body Fat by simply adding nutritious stuff to what they eat, instead of worrying about what not to eat. The healthy stuff filled them up. You'll be surprised how your cravings for High SatFat and sugary stuff starts to diminish when you eat delicious, satisfying lean foods.
#2. It must be low in Refined Carbohydrates, Hidden Sugars and Excess Saturated Fat
Food loaded with that stuff is killing you. They increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. Refined Carbs, that giant bagel from the convenience store, pasta, chips, cookies, white bread and white rice. Hidden Sugars, soda pop, salad dressing, sauces, dried fruit, granola bars.
Sat Fats, fried anything, donuts, pizza, bacon, sausage, fatty meats.
You hear a lot of back and forth in the news that fats are now OK. Your body needs certain fats. It's true that fats from Almonds, Olive Oil, Flax Sees, Salmon, Eggs can be part of healthy eating. But trying to get SatFat through your arteries is like trying to flush your kids modeling clay down your toilet. Both can stuff your pipes. Those wonderful folks at the American Heart Association recommend that is a 2000 calorie per day eating plan,"...no more than 120 of them should come from saturated fat. That's about 13 grams of saturated fat per day."
You can't eat SatFat loaded foods every day for years, and then simply stop when your cholesterol gets high. That's like speeding down the road like a maniac and slowing down only after your car slides into a dtich. At that point, damage is done.
Lastly, it's all about moderation. I love hot dogs at the ball game, bacon and sausage for an occasional breakfast, big steaks, combos (where I come from, that's a meatball and sausage sandwich), did I mention bacon? But I eat these foods very, very sparingly. You can live with a little, but a lot can kill you.
#3. It must contain foods you like.
Delicious foods. Scrumptious treats. At my age, I don't want sacrifice, I want results.
What you like to eat is an extremely important component of any eating plan. At least any eating plan you can stick with long enough for it to help you lose Excess Body Fat and keep it off. No matter how many times you try those single food "All-the-Cabbage-You-Can-Eat" Diets, (unless you absolutely love cabbage, or it's St. Patrick's Day when cabbage and corned beef sounds like a good idea), you just can't stick to them.
It's not much different if you try to eliminate all your favorites. If you grew up with your Grams' pierogies or Mom's rigatoni, you can't be expected to cut all carbs from your diet. In fact, both pierogies and rigatoni can be used to help fuel any physical fun you engage in. Remember, it's quality over quantity.
I've learned over the past forty-some years, training all kinds of people with all kinds of likes and dislikes, that people just want some help, direction. Eating guidelines help take some of the guesswork out of "What should I eat?" Guidelines are not just a yes or no. More often, people tell me they are surprised how many of their favorite foods can fit into a sensible eating plan. Guidelines help us in many aspects of our lives. You use guidelines while driving your car. They help you get to your destination safely. You use guidelines when getting dressed. Underwear goes underneath. Unless you're a pop singer and desperate to get noticed.
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