If you want to get thin, eat like thin people eat.
If you are ready to join a weight loss contest, I'm assuming you aren't thin. I don't know how much weight you have to lose, but I do know that you are not going to achieve really knock-out results by simply eating less and exercising more.
Our bodies are too sly to let us play a simple trick like that on them--eating less will only slow your metabolism as your body tries to conserve energy, sensing a famine approaching. But you probably knew that.
I worked for a year or so in a WalMart deli a few years ago, so I have a good idea of what obese people eat. Let's put it this way, I've never seen anyone with a weight problem eat as I do. There's some fat genes in my gene pool, but I've spent my adult life weighing between 165 and 135, thanks to this basic way of eating.
I've watched the same people motor up to the deli counter on their electric carts almost daily--one woman in particular was nearly twice as wide as the cart--and order pounds and pounds of sliced deli cold-cuts, cheeses, and deep-fried chicken fingers--and start eating the meat and cheese while I finished cutting the order. You should do the exact opposite to succeed in weight loss.
Stop Eating What You've Been Eating If It Hasn't Given You the Body You Want! That's a clue for you!
I like to peek into overweight shoppers' carts to see what they typically eat. It gives me a good idea of what NOT to eat. I find big bags of cookies, ice cream, soft drinks, five-pound bags of sugar, lots of hamburger and chicken, lots of crackers, chips, and other snack foods. Mostly prepared foods, frozen TV dinners, sweet and salty snacks made of refined corn and white flour, cheese and sugars--mass quantities of sugary, fatty treats!
For good examples, on the other hand...
Who are the slimmest people? The slimmest healthy people are predominantly vegetarians. Scientific studies of large groups of vegetarians have shown that very few have any problem with their weight IF they eat a balanced healthy diet and do not abuse the refined carbohydrate class of foods. Here; I'm talking about strict vegetarians or, more accurately, vegans: those who eat no animal products. No meat, milk, cheese, eggs, ice cream, no fish: that's a true vegan.
So, the one strategy I don't see "mainstream" dietitians and weight loss coaches advocating is the one that has--in my 40+ years' experience--the best chance of success. (If you're thinking, "But dietitians and doctors are certified experts," you aren't considering that they are highly influenced by the meat and dairy industries in their training.
Most MDs have virtually no training in nutrition, period, so they will generally tell you the "common wisdom," which is to eat a balanced diet centered around meat and dairy products. You need to find doctors who are "thinking outside the box." Otherwise, all you may get are the usual mediocre results.)
Here are some strategies to give you the edge to win weight loss contests:
* Don't maintain your body's expectation that more of these fat-laden foods will be coming their way: For a competitive edge, eliminate all fats and oils from your diet, especially animal fats
* Our bodies are not able to efficiently process animal fat, because we are primates and physiologically, we are like the other apes, designed to be mostly vegetarians
* Since we are not equipped to process animal fats like true carnivores do, we store it on our body--so cut it out of your diet!
* Cut out all refined carbohydrates: sugars of all kinds; white flour, white rice (See: Glycemic Index)
* Eliminate articficial sweeteners, artificial flavors, and colors. No MSG, either!
* Get off your duff and stop avoiding exercise: walk, lift weights, climb stairs, do something physical daily
* Cut out other sources of junk calories: fruit juices, coffee drinks, sweet or artificially sweetened energy drinks, beer, cocktails
* Alcohol, in particular, weakens your rational judgement: It whispers, "Just a little won't hurt your diet!"
* Green tea and one or two brands of energy drinks are useful for stimulating your metabolism: use these if you like caffeine and its thermogenic calorie-burning aspect
* Coffee, even black (for me anyway), has always been too much caffeine, leading to cravings for sweets or alcohol to "take the edge off"--another reason to avoid it if you have problems in this area
Undertake this diet in the care of a physician who truly understands human nutrition, such as Dr. John McDougall or Dr. Ray Strand(who offers online consulting). Both have written excellent books on the problems of excess weight and the correct cure for it. Other practitioners can be found through the T.Colin Campbell Foundation Web site.
Good luck to you in deciding to win at weightloss the only healthy way!
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