So many of us are on a diet roller-coaster and always want to lose some extra pounds. Just saying the word ‘diet’ conjures feelings of hunger, but what if you knew of a way to enjoy eating again, without feeling deprived or starving yourself, while also satisfying your cravings with healthier substitutes? These are my suggestions and guess what, you don’t have to count calories or cut back on your portions of food!
Minimize Flour Products To Manage Your Weight
I love any kind of bread, but am always conscious of how much I consume, and feel better by doing so. Think of a piece of bread that gets wet. And now imagine that bread trying to work through your intestines. Nothing gums up our system like flours do, and they are a huge contributor for weight gain. Please know that whole grains like brown and basmati rice, oat groats, corn, millet, quinoa, buckwheat and barley are not flour products and offer many nutrients as well as fiber for daily bowel regularity.
Choose these healthier options: Mary’s Gone Crackers, tortilla chips & corn tortillas made from stone ground corn (instead of corn flour), sourdough breads without added yeast and sugar, Manna breads (cakelike in texture and can be purchased online or in the frozen section of health food stores), sprouted breads, which are easier to digest, and Ezekiel wraps and breads.
Replace Sugar With Brown Rice Syrup
As a former sugar addict, I can honestly say that brown rice syrup made it easy for me to stop eating sugar. I never felt deprived!!
The beauty of a grain sweetener is that it is a complex, not simple sugar, so it’s released into the blood slowly, providing fuel for the body, instead of the rush and crash we get from sugar.
The average American consumes well over 20 teaspoons of added sugar on a daily basis, which adds up to an average of 142 pounds of sugar, per year! Begin reading labels for packaged foods, and you’ll see that practically everything has sugar included.
One regular bottle of soda contains 16 packets of sugar! There is a reason most of us are completely addicted, and while sugar is a natural plant, it’s highly processed, refined and addictive. Our body just wasn’t meant to consume massive amounts of sugar.
Since brown rice syrup is a liquid, you need to adjust your recipes a bit, and substitute ½ cup of syrup for every 1 cup of sugar. I also recommend 100% pure maple syrup, local, raw honey and dark chocolate. Practice having your dessert at night, after dinner, and you won’t have cravings all day long.
Eat Real Food
I ate nothing but junk during my childhood and early adult years, and know how convenient and addictive they are. I also know how everything in my body changed without them. Did you know that these fake foods have been created in a lab, by chemists who master the tastes that human taste buds have proven to overeat and crave? In my opinion these products should not be offered as food, but rather, food-like products.
Again, begin reading labels, and avoid anything that has ingredients you don’t recognize, as your body won’t recognize them either! Always avoid trans fats, (they are basically like plastic), table salt (switch to Celtic or Himalayan sea salt), and chemical preservatives that are used to sustain a really long shelf life. If we want to address our nation’s health and weight crisis, these artificial foods are what we should hold accountable.
Eat Seasonal Fruits and Veggies
Add seasonal fruits and lot’s of veggies into your diet each day. Especially emphasize leafy greens, which are a powerhouse of nutrients: broccoli, green beans, napa cabbage, dandelion greens, scallions, leeks, parsley, bok choy, watercress, kale, collard, mustard and turnip greens.
Water And Oil Help As Well
Keeping our body well hydrated is crucial for our health, and helps us eliminate toxins as well. Switch to olive oil, sesame oil and coconut oil for daily consumption. They are the healthiest and most easily digested fats for our body. And yes, our body needs healthy fat!
Dairy Products
Consume whole dairy products, raw cheeses and butter, animals that have eaten the foods they were meant to eat, and avoid low-fat foods. These are easier to digest, and in their natural form. Low-fat foods have been processed and are not healthy or beneficial for weight loss.
Others
– Find physical activities that you really like doing. Don’t do difficult workouts, unless you really like them that way. Walk, do gentle yoga stretches, with deep breathing. Just move your body every day.
– Work to make you happy. Address whatever needs your attention. Do you need to mend or put boundaries on a relationship? Is your career fulfilling? Are you communicating your feelings? Sometimes cravings are just our body’s way of satisfying a deeper desire we have.
I guide my clients to do their best 80% of the time, while splurging and living the life that makes them happy, 20%. Patience with your process is so important. Gaining weight didn’t happen overnight, and losing weight will not either. Take your time, and make changes that will last. Eat things that you love and enjoy your food! Try new recipes and make substitutions with healthier oils, salt and ingredients.
When we supply nourishment to our body, we eventually become aware of the meals that make us feel good, and the ones that don’t. And when you have a splurge meal or day, don’t surrender and beat yourself up~ just begin again the next day. Nothing lost!!!
Changing our patterns with food is difficult enough, and feeling our best and being healthy, is really the ultimate goal.
