You don’t have to diet to lose weight, but you do have to change your diet to healthier foods and foods that keep you full, while being lower in calories. Losing weight isn’t about starving, but making smarter choices when you eat. Sugar won’t fill you up, but actually make you hungrier. It spikes blood sugar levels, only to have them drop dramatically later, leaving you ravenous. To avoid that, you need to focus on food that can slow the absorption of blood sugar, like fiber. Fiber fills you up and slows glucose from entering your bloodstream. Think fresh fruit, rather than candy.
Fiber fills you up, but so does protein.
Fresh fruits and veggies will fill you up, but protein also does the trick. It’s one reason yogurt is so good for those that want to lose weight. Yogurt also has fat, which increases the feeling of satiety. Like protein, fat digests more slowly. Be aware that when you buy yogurt, only the full fat yogurt will do. The fat provides more flavor. Low fat yogurt had the fat removed and manufacturers often add sugar to give it more flavor.
Try an avocado as a snack.
You’ll get both fiber and healthy fat when you eat an avocado. The healthy fat in avocados is not only important for your entire body, it also is part of the process in burning fat on the body, particularly the belly. You’ll feel full while you watch your waistline shrink. Make guacamole or just top it off with hot sauce and scoop to eat as part of breakfast or snacks. Add it to salads or top your favorite dish, like omelets, with it.
Try some oatmeal or mini desserts that keep you feeling fuller longer.
Oatmeal topped with berries and nuts provides fiber that fills you up and nutrients. The fiber feeds the healthy microbes in your gut, some of which break down the soluble fiber into short-chained fatty acids. That boosts fat metabolism. A few tablespoons of Greek yogurt, topped with a half a sliced banana, a few berries or other fruit and another layer of Greek yogurt and nuts, provides fiber, protein and fat to keep you feeling full a lot longer, yet is lower in calories.
- Freeze a half a banana on a stick and then dip it in melted semi-sweet chocolate and roll in crushed walnuts for a sweet healthy treat that will keep you feeling fuller longer.
- Fresh fruit is an easy to keep snack that can be used in salads, too. If you’re eating an apple, eat the skin, you’ll feel fuller. For other fruit, like cantaloupe and watermelon, cube it and have it ready for snacks in the refrigerator.
- Kidney beans have protein and fiber. Add a chopped boiled egg for even more protein, chopped celery, onions and a little salad dressing and scoop it onto shredded lettuce for a satisfying lunch.
- Slice an apple to put nut butter on or make a banana and nut butter sandwich. A handful of nuts with some raisins is also filling.
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