Weight Loss Made Easy

When you diet, sometimes you skip the much need nutrients your body craves. This can cause you to be tired, sluggish and even sick. If your eating a low calorie diet, or skipping food groups to lose weight, make sure you replace those lost nutrients by taking some vitamins.

If your diet is under 1200 calories, you may want to consult a doctor on what kinds of vitamins you need to take to supplement your diet. If you feel extremely tired while dieting you may also want to see a doctor. Otherwise you should be alright with a good multivitamin.

Symptoms such as lethargy can be related to other conditions too. If you’re not feeling well, see your doctor and get your blood tested. There may be something else going on you don’t even  know about.

Iron is essential to a healthy diet. Make sure you eat iron rich foods every day to keep your body running on track. Without enough iron in your diet you will feel tiered all the time and your body just won’t want to do anything you want it to do.  Anemia is a condition sometimes caused by not eating enough iron rich foods. If your iron gets this low your doctor may put you on iron supplements. Don’t let this happen, eat your iron.

Here’s a list of iron rich foods you need to add to your diet:

- tofu
- baked potato
- pasta
- certain cereals
- lentils
- kidney beans
- black beans
- spinach
- liver
- clams, mussels, oysters
- beef
- shrimp
- sardines
- turkey

The quickest way to lose a few pounds is to stop eating salt and processed foods that are full of salt. But the pounds you’ll lose are water weight, not fat. Still, too much salt isn’t good for you and can make you eat more, probably because it tastes so good. So knock off the salt and loose that tube around your midsection.

You’ll start to lose weight right away if you cut out the salt. Firstly, because of the water weight. Secondly, and more importantly, because doing away with high salt foods means eating healthier. You’ll stop eating that high fat processed food and start eating fruits, veggies and  high fiber breads. You’ll be thinner in no time.

Fiber makes you feel full, so try to find ways to eat the 30 recommended grams a day. Fiber doesn’t digest. So it goes through your system in it’s whole form. Since it doesn’t digest, it doesn’t have calories. Drink water with your high fiber diet. This will make you feel fuller longer.

Here are some high fiber foods that can add to your diet to help you lose weight.

- Whole Grain Bread 2-4g
- Baked Potato, small 3g
- Chickpeas, 1/2C 5g
- Raspberries, 1/2C 4g
- Pear, medium 4g
- Fiber One cereal, 1/2C 5g
- Dried Figs, 2 medium 3.5g
- Apple, medium with skin 4.5g
- Spaghetti, whole-wheat, 1C 6.3g
- Bran Flakes, 3/4C 5g
- Oatmeal, 1C 4g
- Lentils, 1C 15.6g
- Black Beans, 1C 15g
- Lima Beans, 1C 13.2g
- Baked Beans, canned, 1C 10.4g
- Peas, 1C 8.8g
- Brussel Sprouts, 1C 6.4g
- Popcorn, 3C 3.6g

Protein helps keep you full longer, so make sure you add protein to every meal and every snack. This will help you lose weight faster because you won’t feel starved all the time. You need to get at least 25% of your daily calories from lean protein. If you’re on a 1400 calorie diet then you need to have about 90g of protein in your diet daily.

Here are some easy ways to add protein to your diet.

- 3oz chicken breast 26g
- 3oz lean beef sirloin 22g
- 4.4oz 1% cottage cheese 15g
- 1/2C kidney beans 7g
- 1oz cheddar cheese 7g
- 22 almonds 6g
- 1 hard boiled egg 6g
- 6oz Dannon Light & Fit Yogurt 5g

Natural, whole foods are the best for giving you energy. Foods high in vitamins and minerals are also high energy foods. Protein and fiber should be eaten with every meal to help give you constant energy throughout the day. Omega 3 fatty acids keep you healthy and make your brain work faster. Here are some foods that help to give you energy:

- Baked potato, with the skin
- Orange, instead of orange juice
- Fish and shellfish
- Eggs
- Poultry and lean beef or pork
- Low fat dairy
- Avocados, olive oil and canola oil
- Whole grain bread, rice, pasta and beans
- Fruits and veggies
- Nuts and seeds

It’s true that you can lose weight just by eating more fiber, 30 grams a day is the minimum. You’ll have more energy and be fuller, so you’ll eat less and exercise more, naturally. This is what you need to do.

Eat more fruit and veggies. Remember the old adage about the apple? Apples are a high fiber fruit, along with pears and raspberries. Make sure you get at least 2 servings of these high fiber fruits a day. Add to that 1 1/2 cups of green veggies a day such as spinach, broccoli or peppers.

Read the label on your cereal. Chances are, you’re not getting enough fiber there, even if you think your cereal is healthy. Go for the high fiber cereal, you’ll be happy you did. When you eat lunch try out a high fiber bread for your sandwich too.

You need water to lose weight, you’ll need it even more when you eat more fiber. The water plays two roles here. It will combine with the fiber to make you feel fuller so you eat less. More water will also make it easier for your body to digest the fiber you’ve eaten.

Protein is an important part of weight loss. Women need about 46 grams of protein a day and men need about 56 grams of protein a day. Some of us eat so much bread and pasta that we forget about getting enough protein. Your body needs protein and if you don’t get enough protein in your diet, your body starts to digest your muscles to get the protein it needs.

Another important reason to include protein in your diet is, it fills you up. Protein takes longer for your body to digest so you feel full longer. This is really important if you’re like me and hungry all the time. Just make sure your eat some protein and you’ll feel better.

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You hear a lot about fiber when you read the health news, but what does it mean to someone like you who is trying to lose weight? The answer is, a lot.

First of all, since your body is not able to digest fiber, it just moves through your system without adding any calories. As it moves through your system it grabs onto some cholesterol and takes that along with it. You get the minerals from the fiber, but not the calories.

When you eat high fiber bread or cereal you’ll probably notice that you stay full longer. This is great when you’re trying to lost weight because that means you’re not hungry all the time. If you need a snack between lunch and dinner, make it a high fiber snack.

Don’t take all the fat out of your diet, you need some. Without fat in your body, your body can’t function. Fat is what holds your body together and helps you absorb nutrients from the food you eat. Fat also makes some of the hormones that you need to function. Fat keeps your body padded so you don’t become injured just from bumping into something. It also helps your brain to work.

As you lose weight, keep in mind that there are weight standard to help you know how much weight you need to lose, but they’re also to make sure you don’t lose too much. Losing too much weight is just as unhealthy as gaining too much weight.

Also known as monounsaturated fatty acid. This is the good kind of fat that you should make it a point to eat. Eating a MUFA at every meal is recommended and healthy. MUFA’s have also been known to help people loose that hard to shed belly fat.

The 5 types of MUFAs are oils (canola, safflower, sesame, soybean, walnut, flaxseed, sunflower, olive and peanut), olives, nuts and seeds, avocados and, believe it or not, dark chocolate. Add them to your shopping list right now and make sure to pick up some of these yummy foods next time you go shopping.

MUFAs also are known to protect your heart, keep you from getting type 2 diabetes, lower your risk of getting breast cancer and keep your brain healthy, among other things. It’s time to start getting some MUFA in your diet.