There is a commonly held belief that exercise is the key to weight loss.Don’t get me wrong, moving your body is essential to having a long life full of energy and vitality but in order to lose weight you actually need to eat more. I am going to show you the 5 foods that you can use to move the scale down without feeling deprived.
Food has long been held as a calorie in versus calorie out equation. If you eat less and exercise more you should lose weight, right? Wrong! We now know that our food is information for our body and it will literally allow us to lose weight if we eat the right things.
There are two kinds of malnourishment. The first kind is the lack of calories and is rarely seen in developed countries like the USA and Canada. The second is less evident but just as real and that is a malnourishment of nutrients. When your body does not have enough raw ingredients to make all the cells, hormones, chemicals needed to rock your health they send out a stress response. This stress response, like all stress responses in the body, produces fat (especially around the waist) and sends a message to the body to hold onto fat! That means that you will have a harder and harder time losing weight until you give your body what it needs so it can release fat.
The raw ingredients that your body needs to make every part of your body are called micronutrients. There are macronutrients and micronutrients. Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals. We need a small amount of them but they are essential to our health. My favorite place to find micronutrients are in vegetables, fruits, bean and legumes, though micronutrients can be found in many foods. Macronutrients provide the energy for your body to do all its cellular work and any excess is stored as fat. Examples are: fats, protein and carbohydrates.
It turns out that there are 7 amazing foods (full of micronutrients) that will help your body let go of the weight.
- Blueberries – Blueberries are packed with micronutrients but also will balance your blood sugar for several hours after eating them so you will have less cravings. One of my favorite things about blueberries is that you can use frozen ones all year round. Here is my favorite morning smoothie recipe (my children call it a milk shake!)
- Greek Yogurt – greek yogurt has twice as much protein as other yogurt and when protein is eaten first thing in the morning, people eat about 300 less calories without even realizing it! Choose options without added dessert (aka fruit) and add your own fresh berries
- Quinoa – (pronounced keen-wa). this ancient grain is packed with nutrition. One cup has 8 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. The micronutrients included are iron, zinc, selenium and vitamin E. Cook like you would rice. I like to use organic chicken broth instead of water for added flavor. I use it as a side for dinner and then sprinkle it on my salad the next day for lunch.
- Green Tea – I am a huge fan of tea and green tea has been shown in studies to promote weight loss by stimulating the body to burn abdominal fat. We serve Jasmine Green Tea at my clinic in Seattle
- Raw veggies with hummous – Using cut up veggies dipped in hummous is a fantastic mid-afternoon snack that prevents the afternoon dip from becoming an energy dive. By supporting your adrenals this way, your body will be able to release fat. I have an amazing recipe in my book The Hormone Secret to share with you that is easy to make and the whole family will enjoy.
- Cinnamon – I know this is a spice not a “food” but cinnamon has magical powers on our weight loss. Cinnamon has been shown to lower blood sugar, reduce hunger and help the body burn fat. I cut up apples and sprinkle cinnamon all over them. I freeze the apples and then put them in my water for apple pie water! Also, try putting a bit of cinnamon in your coffee grounds before brewing. You will find it helps soften any bitterness and tastes wonderful.
- Water – Researches in Germany have shown that drinking water actually speeds up the rate you burn calories. After drinking 17 ounces of water, people in the study had a 30% increase in their metabolism. The researches concluded that if a person increased their water consumption to 1.5 liters per day, they would burn an extra 17,400 calories, for a weight loss of five pounds!
PS
Remember that the number on the scale should not determine how you feel about yourself. Find replacements to things that you eat that are not healthy and focus on abundance.
PSS
People often talk about how diseases and viruses are contagious but I think health is contagious too. If you enjoyed this, pass it on and post me ideas on facebook about what things you want to learn more about.
I am committed to your VITALITY
Dr. Tami
