If you are on a weight loss mission or trying to maintain weight, eating more, not less, may come to you as a surprise.
First, let’s step away from the simple, but misleading term weight loss and let’s start to look at what getting healthy is all about…. And I promise if you stop focusing on losing weight and start to prioritize your health, weight loss and maintaining weight will come naturally.
So forget about the famous weight loss thought “burn more calories than you consume”… and here’s why…
Calories are not created equally! Or are they?
While pure technically a calorie is a calorie, not denying that, their total package can be quite different. So how your body handles a sugary snack, like a candy bar, will be entirely different from how it handles let say the calories it gets from veggie sticks with hummus.
Hormones play a major role too
The package or source of the calories you feed your body with has a tremendous effect on how genes, hormones, enzymes, and metabolism respond. Insulin and leptin are both important regulars and linked to your weight. Get your food right and insulin levels (or blood sugar) will be low and leptin will do its work to control your appetite and weight.
ALSO READ: How to Balance Your Hormones Naturally
How eating less can mess up your body
Your body needs healthy fuel and calories to be able to maintain and repair itself. Deprive your body of these essential nutrients and it will attack your muscles and slow down metabolism to hold on to its fat reserves. And it affects our mood and hormones too. So eating too few calories will actually have the adverse effect of what you are trying to accomplish from dieting.
If you are trying to lose weight and keep it off, focus on what you put in your mouth, rather than how much. Here are some tips and tricks to get you started
1. Do not skip breakfast
Many people skip breakfast because they don’t have the time or like mentioned above, they think eating fewer calories a day equals weight loss.
I wasn’t a breakfast eater in the past because I found it hard to eat a lot when I’m just awake. Green smoothies changed my life there. Easy, portable, and yummy. Click here to download my FREE green smoothie eBook to get you started.
2. If you are hungry, eat! But don’t let thirst fool you!
If you keep the snacking regime, it will be quite unlikely you are going to feel ravenous hunger carvings. But if hunger strikes have a small healthy snack. Especially when you are going plant-based, it is important to eat more because fruit and veggies contain fewer calories, so you’ll have to eat more to meet your daily needs… perfectly normal.
But there’s a big BUT… many people get fooled by dehydration or eat because they are bored. When we don’t drink enough water during the day our body sends out a signal that is often mistaken for hunger. So if you had your meals and snacks and still feel hungry, drink a glass of water first and wait a bit and see if craving goes away.
3. Have snacks in between
To keep the energy flowing and the metabolism engine (fat-burning process) running smoothly, it is important to fuel it every 3 hours with nutrient-dense, whole foods. Instead of focusing on 3 main meals, make these smaller and have a healthy snack in between. This will help keep cravings at bay and makes you eat less at main meals too.
My go-to snacks: fresh fruits (with lemon cashew cream), green smoothies, nuts and seeds, coconut yogurt, chia seed pudding, chocolate avocado mousse, soft-serve ice cream, veggie sticks with hummus, and kale guacamole.
ALSO READ: Secrets To Smart And Healthy Snacking
4. Choose real food
If you nourish your body with fresh, whole foods there will be no need to count calories. Avoid all sugars or carbs with a high glycemic index (white, refined sugar, flour, rice or other simple carbs) and stock up on fiber-rich foods instead.
Fibers soak up the natural sugar of food and slowly release them into the bloodstream. They help to burn more calories, keep you full longer, and cleanse the digestive tract.
ALSO READ: Pocket-Friendly Ways to Put Healthy Dinners on the Table
5. Sleep better and reduce stress
Research has shown that people who manage their stress and get their 7 to 8 hours of sleep are more successful in losing weight and are generally healthier as well. Lack of sleep or stress damages metabolism causes ravenous hunger carvings and puts you at risk of many diseases.
If you are serious about living a healthy lifestyle while eating delicious meals and losing or maintaining weight the healthy way, click here
Thanks for reading. I hope this information was helpful. Until next time!
Amy Goodrich
Crazy cat lady, life and food lover, certified biologist, and holistic health coach.
