Eat more and still loss weight! Does it sound strange to you? If someone aspires to lose weight quickly, what he or she does instinctively is to go for a diet-crash program and burn. Eating less and thinking about food more. What happens naturally is that the individual feels deprived, and ultimately gives up. So, diet manias do not last long. They come and go!
Have you ever thought of eating more to maintain weight or even lose weight, instead of diet slash- and-burn? Yes, You Can Eat More …..And Still Lose Weight
But how? The secret is to eat more colorful, virtuous fruits and vegetables. Now everyone knows that it’s healthy to eat fruits and vegetables for the goodness of their minerals and vitamins, their potent disease-fighting benefits, and roughage. But even all these benefits are not appealing enough, and just 10% of the folks eat the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
So, let us do some brain-storming and have a look at fruits and vegetables as a delectable way-forward to “diet-cheat” healthy weight loss foods.
But before we move on, I want to clarify a common misconception about superfoods…they can not do miracles on their own.
Superfoods are not a quick fix and they won’t work if you’re still consuming a poor diet. For best results, eat superfoods in addition to a healthy diet and exercise plan. Otherwise, you’re only wasting your time, money and efforts.
To quote Dave Grotto, RD, LDN, dietitian and author of 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life:
Let Us See Now Can Eating More Food Really Help You Weigh Less?
The Key Weight Loss Weapons – Why Fruits And Vegetables?
1. First Rationale: It’s so simple – they’re nutrient dense. Consequently, for their weight nearly all of them are low in calories; this means one can eat a lot more when one’s diet comprises of more fruits and vegetables – and voila yet you intake a lot less calories. Just compare this with chocolate!
2. Second Rationale: Satiety – It’s a diet and nutrition buzzword for the state of feeling full. There’s nothing new about taking in fewer calories to lose weight. What is new in fighting the battle of the bulge is a diet weapon that reduces calorie intake by managing hunger. All produce, from a juicy pear to a crispy bunch of red lettuce is packed with water and fiber, says Seattle dietitian Kerry Neville, MS, RD, and both of these not only keep the calories down, they make you feel fuller longer. This means you could be satisfying cravings for something sweet or crunchy for long every day — and still lose weight.
Just imagine that you are feeling low in one late afternoon and you are desperately looking for some bites to get you through to dinner. What will work better for your health and weight loss aim? A handful of potato at 158 calories as compared to 3 cups of whole strawberries at 140 calories? A can of sweetened cola with 136 calories, as compared to a piled-up cup of grapes at approximately the same number? In either case, the later allows you to eat much more, fills your belly quickly, and keeps your hunger-pangs away longer.
Extra Rewards Of Fruits And Veggies: Not only they lend a good hand in creating a perfect weight loss diet, but they are an ultimate boon when you savor crisp vegetables and juicy fruits – You also get disease-fighting nourishment with all that palate as a bonus.
Whereas a handful of potato chips won’t help in lowering blood cholesterol, risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, however studies have shown that the antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, and minerals contained in produce like a sweet peach, handful of berries, or a bowlful pomegranate may do so.
However, in order to get the full values of fruits and vegetables — weight loss, wonderful taste, a lowered risk of life-style disease – some of such produce may be replaced with some of the fattier, calorie-dense foods in your diet to balance it out.
But what if you’re not willing to sacrifice your much-loved cookies or give up a single chip? “Even if you change nothing else in your diet, you’re still getting the phytonutrients, chemicals, and as-yet unknown nutrients [in produce] that can help protect you from cancer, diabetes, and heart disease,” says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
“Yet, once we start snacking on fruits and veggies, most of us will gradually eat fewer calorie-rich goodies,” says Gerbstadt, who adds “that because produce helps fill you up and gives your body a boost, you naturally eat less chips, cookies, and other foods that just don’t make you feel good.”
Fruits and Vegetables: What To Eat – Fresh, Frozen, Canned, or Dried?
So, we conclude that fruits and vegetables help a lot to lose weight. The next natural question is, how one should revel in them – whether fresh or frozen, canned or dried?
To quote Gerbstadt:
“All of the above. Though local, seasonal produce may have a slight nutrient edge at times, “dried, canned, and frozen fruits and vegetables are usually picked just before peak ripeness and then packaged, so you’re really getting very fresh food.”
However, experts recommend as long as you shun the butter sauce or drenching of cheese, they are healthy and boost up your weight loss endeavor.
The USDA recommends we should intake about 2 cups of fruit in a day, and 2 ½ cups of vegetables per day (for a 2,000 calorie diet).
(i) Fresh, frozen, or canned fruit and vegetables: “When you’re eating canned fruit, keep way from additions like syrup,” Neville says, “Look for fruit packed in water or juice.”
(ii) Fruit juices: It’s a known fact that 100% fruit juice can have more calories per ounce than sweetened soda, and moreover as most of its fiber is missing; it also is inferior to fresh fruit when we consider satiety as a factor. So, go for whole fruits whenever possible.
(iii) 100% vegetable juices: Vegetable juices usually have far lower calories than their fruity kith and kin; however they are typically stuffed with a sodium punch, so keep a watch on portions here too.
In Pursuit Of The Super Weight Loss Foods
You must now be convinced on including fruits and vegetables as an effective weight loss way forward to “sneak” in a healthy diet program. Now a natural question comes to mind is which of the fruits and vegetables will give you a big helping hand in your pursuit of having a fit and slim body.
Experts say: Most of them.
To quote Gerbstadt:
“Every fruit and vegetable is a super food, “You can say the colorful ones have more nutrients for you but…even the ones that don’t have as much color, we’re discovering that all along they’ve had nutrients we need — we just didn’t have the lab test yet to analyze them.”
To quote Grotto:
“So while one lobbying board may tout the better-for-you benefits of blueberries and another may talk up the antioxidant power of pomegranate, in the overall scheme of things it doesn’t matter so much which fruits and vegetables you eat; it just matters that you get them inside you”.
Grotto suggests further: “And when you head down the produce aisle next time, take a laser-sharp focus on flavor first. Buy the fruits and vegetables you really love, “because no one cares if it’ll save their life if it doesn’t taste good.”
So, whatever you relish – whether peaches or potatoes, asparagus spears or spinach, one thing is important: Just enjoy them on your journey to weight loss!
Useful Related Posts:
How To Lose Weight Without Dieting
Best Fruits And Vegetables To Lose Weight
About Author: Renu Bakshi, AKA Fitness Buffhq, is ISSA Certified Elite Trainer. He passed 
Personal Fitness Trainer Course, Nutrition Health Coach course & Specialist Exercise Therapy course from ISSA, USA obtaining + 97% marks. He shares his experience and knowledge about nutrition and effective workouts to get you in the best shape of your life, no matter how old you may be. The author says: “For me age is just a number!”
