Nutritious Weight Loss Meal Plans
Guest Article by Felix Ankerson
There is no “universal” weight loss meal plans that, when followed,
will surely help you lose weight. Some meal plans may be suitable for
you, others may horribly fail.
Often times, you may not like the food that’s presented in the meal,
thus convincing you to not follow through with it.
The best meal plan for weight is always the meal plans that you made
yourself, customized for your own tastes and satisfaction.
Of course, some people may find creating their own meal plans for
weight loss to be quite difficult, because with so many food choices,
it can be quite daunting.
So here are a few guidelines to help you in customizing your own
weight loss meal plans that suits
you.
Fill Your Plan With Color
It’s always the general idea that the richest
sources of different vitamins, minerals, and even other nutrients, come
from vegetables and fruits.
Therefore, when selecting a weight loss meal plan, make sure that you
include at
least five portions of different kinds of fruits and vegetables every
time.
There are cases in which some people chose to get their vitamins and
mineral requirement by taking on food supplements like pills, instead
of including fruits and vegetables on their diet.
Research shows that this process isn’t entirely beneficial to the body,
as the true nutritional benefit of fruits and vegetables comes from the
fact that each doesn’t just contain one nutrient, they contain a
multitude of them, each working synergistically with one another.
Plus, a food supplement doesn’t contain the one ingredient very
necessary to your meal plan: Antioxidants.
Therefore, the importance of fruits and vegetables on any kind of diet
can’t be simply stressed enough. The different colors of each provide
variety, so you can be sure that you get all the nutrients that you
need.
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While most people will automatically attempt for a carb-free diet, this
is not beneficial and should be avoided.
Carbohydrates aren’t the main causes of fat build-up in our body.
The
idea is to only choose the types of carbohydrates that we should
partake in order for us to still lose weight without giving up on our
energy reserves.
Basically, carbohydrates are divided into two types:
- Simple
Carbohydrates – These carbohydrates come from processed
foods like white rice, white flour, and refined sugar.
They are considered as bad carbohydrates because they’ve been stripped
of all the bran, nutrients, and fiber that our body needs, which in
turn, allows the body to digest it more easily, resulting in
unnecessary blood sugar elevation and increasing fat levels.
- Complex
Carbohydrates – These the kind of carbs which are
unprocessed, and retains all the nutrients fiber that the body needs.
Furthermore, these kinds of carbohydrates can take awhile before the
body breaks it down, allowing you to feel full for longer periods of
time.
Eating whole grain bread, brown rice, as well as certain fruits and
vegetable, allow you to get all the healthy carbohydrates that your
body needs, while still keeping your fat levels low.
Stock up on Healthy Fats
Not all fats are harmful to the body. In fact, there are kinds of fats
which can actually help you in losing and maintaining your weight.
These are called unsaturated fats, and can be found in most vegetable
oils like canola oil and olive oil, as well as some nuts like almonds
and hazelnuts, as well as seeds like sesame seeds.
A sub-category of unsaturated fats are polysaturated fats, or more
commonly known as Omega-3 or Omega-6. These kinds of fats healthy for
the heart, and can be found in certain fresh fish, mostly from the tuna
family like salmon, mackerel, herring, and sardines.
Build Up On Protein
Finally,
meal plans for weight loss would
not be
complete without a stock of protein in the diet. Just keep in mind
that, since most sources of protein are also good sources of fat, like
lean meats, beef, and poultry, it’s best that you limit your intake of
these kinds of meats.
This can easily be done since there are other alternative sources of
protein that you can include in your diet, like black beans, certain
kinds of nuts, and even some vegetables.
Once you’ve taken all these points into mind, creating your own weight
loss meal plans which doesn’t involve sacrificing your favourite foods
should be very easy.
Additional Articles
Eating Healthy
Use these tips to help you change your eating habits into healthy
habits. Learning ways to eat healthier not only helps you lose weight but will
minimize risk of many diseases.
Weight Loss Workouts
In addition to creating a weight loss meal plan, create a weight loss
workout routine. Use these examples to build your perfect exercises to help you lose
weight.
Healthy Recipes
Look for some healthy recipes as part of your weight loss meals. You
can find breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizers, desserts and more on
this website.