Weight loss foods

[blair08]

What are some foods you have ate that helped you lose some weight? I know exercise goes along with what you eat as well, but what are some foods that has helped you shed some pounds? How often do you eat them?

[JackJack]

I would say, fruits, and veggies. Brown rice, beans, fish. Whole grains etc.

[josie54]

Melons of all type (watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew), as well as peaches and strawberries (all when in season--no good in the winter, so then I have to switch to apples and pears). I keep some cut up in the fridge at all time, so whenever I'm hungry, I can just grab some. They're low-calorie and high water content--not to mention they taste really good.

 

Oatmeal or brown rice for breakfast (with banana and cinnamon to sweeten)--keeps you filled up for a long time.

 

Hard-boiled eggs. High protein and easy to grab for a quick, low-calorie snack.

 

Bananas. Can be used to sweeten plain yogurt, cottage cheese, and oatmeal in lieu of sugar.

 

Potatoes, white or sweet. I don't believe the bad rap white potatoes have gotten. A baked russet or red potato topped with a little parmesan cheese or low-fat plain yogurt, spices, and some steamed spinach or other vegetables makes a perfect dinner for me. I do not believe white potatoes make you "crash." For me, they do the exact opposite. I'm full for hours.

 

Water. Drink a large glass in the morning before eating, exercising, or anything else. Then, drink at least three or four more glasses throughout the day (before each meal if possible). By timing your water drinking throughout the day, you make sure your body's hydrated and you won't think you're hungry all day long when you're really just dehydrated.

 

How often? Except for the water, no timing really--when I'm not careful, I tend to go on mini-binges, where I'll eat everything in sight. These are the foods I can turn to either for planned snacks or for when I feel that urge coming on, and they help me avoid a binge without a huge calorie cost.

[quankanne]

the girls at the office have got some kind of high-protein diet they go on from time to time, which is pretty strict but amazingly enough, allows for chicharrones as a snack. Apparently, the pigskins help fill you up but have little to no carbs to them. And the spicy ones really help curb cravings.

 

my problem lies mainly with the desire for sweets and a lack of willpower to resist them however, I've found that flavored iced tea (ginger peach is a favorite) and different flavors of gum really help control consumption of the really bad stuff like cookies and candy and cakes ... fruit is fantastic, too, but not as easy to tote around as a pack of gum.

[JackJack]

I think there might be some teas, like green tea that is good for fat burning and weight loss too.

[hotgurl]

high fiber foods

 

whole grains, lean meats, veggies and fruits (which hep with my sweet tooth)

 

Low fat chocolate milk

 

water

 

egg whites

 

yogurt

 

water and gum when I get the munchies (it is never really because I am hungry but because I am stressed so chewing gum takes the edge off)

 

I exercise 3 x a week.

[Enema]

Your body treats sugar from fruit the same way as sugar from a Mars bar. ie. It is stored as fat if you don't use the energy it provides.

 

The only difference is that fruit also has vitamins and minerals.

[quankanne]

fruit also helps the poop stay regular. And it just tastes better once you get the hang of eating it instead of candy or baked goods/snacky treats.

[josie54]

Your body treats sugar from fruit the same way as sugar from a Mars bar. ie. It is stored as fat if you don't use the energy it provides.

 

The only difference is that fruit also has vitamins and minerals.

 

 

A Mars bar = 200+ calories = about 40 minutes walking /25 minutes running

 

Two slices of canteloupe = 80 calories = less than 20 minutes walking/12 minutes running

 

That's a BIG difference. The math for losing weight (and staying healthy) is on fruit's side on this one. Calories in < Calories out.

[hotgurl]

Your body treats sugar from fruit the same way as sugar from a Mars bar. ie. It is stored as fat if you don't use the energy it provides.

 

The only difference is that fruit also has vitamins and minerals.

 

yea but the candy bar has tons of calories and no fiber while an apple for example has very few calories and fiber so it keeps you feeling full longer.

[Trialbyfire]

Raw celery is one of the few foods where you use more calories to process, than intake.

[LucreziaBorgia]

Fruit, veggies, lean protein, fiber, nuts, olive and coconut oil, and very few starches and particularly very few enriched or bleached white flour stuff. I also try to limit HFCS products as well and avoid it if at all possible. One thing that has helped is to eat well in the morning (I eat as much as I want for breakfast), reasonable at lunch, and reasonable at dinner. If I snack, it will be nuts, fruit or celery or stuff like that. I drink water, half-caff coffee (unsweetened), tea (unsweetened) and sometimes V8. I don't like any sort of soft drink or canned/bottled drinks. I also don't eat fast food and try to limit processed frozen foods. I'll eat dark chocolate if I get a chocolate craving. A lot of my diet changes come from having to in order to keep my body healthy and give myself a better chance against recurrence. Also, I want to be more in a healthy weight range. Ok, ok... I just want to get back into my skinny clothes!

 

The steroids puffed me up considerably during treatments and I was hovering around 180 in March, and am down to 160 now and have started exercising to lose the 25 pounds more I want to lose.

 

The key for me is exercise, limiting processed stuff, and eating reasonable portions.

[electric_sheep]

Your body treats sugar from fruit the same way as sugar from a Mars bar. ie. It is stored as fat if you don't use the energy it provides.

 

The only difference is that fruit also has vitamins and minerals.

 

Same thing applies to fat and protein. What's not used gets broken down and stored as fat. Fat has twice the calories per gram as protein or carbs. This was probably the idea behind the original low-fat diet.

 

In the old days things used to be simple... a low-fat diet was about the only one that was taken seriously. Now the optimal macro-nutrient ratio is totally up in the air, depending on which diet you prescribe to.

 

From what I've read the high-protein diets (Atkins) do seem to "work", at least in the mid-term, but the way they "work" seems a bit unnatural. They throw the body into this ketosis phase werein the brain starts burning ketones (and reserving glucose) and the liver starts breaking down fat. Ketosis is the bodies "starvation" defense, from what I can gather. This just seems sort of extreme to me, but my friend did loose some weight initially doing this. His breath was also atrocious and his energy level was nil.

 

I tend to think just eating "healthy" and moderately is best.

 

In the long run it really does come down to calories in vs. calories out. You could loose weight by eating subway (like Jared), or you could loose weight eating just twinkies, too, I'm sure. Health and loosing weight are not necessarily related, though they can be.

 

Some foods do seem promising in curbing one's appetite though, making you feel full, and/or leveling out your energy levels. They also can effect where your body derives it's energy from (stored fat, glycogen, or protein) sometimes... like the Atkins diet, or green tea. We were genetically engineered to burn carbs though, no doubt about it.

[Enema]

I don't think I explained myself very well. I wasn't saying that fruit is as good for you as a mars bar.

 

I was just saying that sugars are all treated by your body the same way and should be avoided equally.

 

Glucose, Fructose, Lactose. All bad in quantity.