It all begins with something along the lines of “oh I’ll start my diet tomorrow” or “just this one last cookie” or whatever excuse you tell yourself to avoid starting a new diet. This is your first mistake. The time is NOW! The easiest way to get started is to jump in feet first, so don’t hesitate.
How To Start Fresh
First of all there is something you have to realize and come to terms with, a temporary diet is just that, a temporary fix. What comes along with that temporary fix is temporary weight loss, when you go back to your “normal” diet you pack those pounds right back on.
The solution here is to make this your go to diet. Unfortunately losing weight and keeping it off requires a complete lifestyle change for some, but the results you will see because of this change will be worth the pain of missing out on your hamburger or cheesesteak every once in awhile.
No one is suggesting that you give up every food that you love, just try to remember to do so in moderation.
Breakfast
We are skipping the “most important meal of the day” which is nothing more than a line of advertisement with no supporting evidence. The truth is breakfast is the one meal a day you can eliminate from your day.
First we have to realize something that is extremely important when it comes to our diet and weight loss, and that is blood sugar levels. When our blood sugar levels are high, our body has enough available energy to supply our cells with energy.
Any additional food we eat that can be digested quickly will be added to the blood, and if there is excess the body releases insulin to reduce the blood sugar levels. This means eating food which can be quickly digested when our blood sugar levels are high isn’t good when trying to lose weight.
How does this relate to breakfast? Well when humans evolved, they did so to function through the day, and to rest at night. Because of this we aren’t eating calories through the night, and our metabolism drops.
When we wake up the following morning, our blood sugar levels are high. This is because our body depletes our glycogen stores to provide us with this energy. So basically we have more than enough energy in the morning to get by, so we can skip this meal.
Lunch
Skip your usual lunch and substitute it for a high protein, high carb, low fat smoothie. In order to get all the nutrients you need from your smoothie while keeping it healthy there are a few things you are going to want to include.
First you need something to use as a base. If you like dairy products the best choice here is Greek yogurt because it has 22 grams of protein per cup which is as good as it gets. You can either use 0% fat Greek Yogurt or full fat Greek Yogurt.
Second you want to add a good source of carbohydrates and antioxidants. Go with a half banana here paired with 1/2 cup of mixed frozen berries.
Third you need a replacement fat. If you chose the whole milk Greek yogurt, you can skip this step. To get the necessary fats we need from our diet, add 2 tablespoons of your favorite nut butter.
Fourth add water and ice to your shake if you prefer, blend and enjoy.
Dinner
Keep dinner simple, it is just better for your sanity and getting too fancy really isn’t necessary. Again we want to start our dinner off by choosing an appropriate lean protein, something like chicken, turkey or fish.
Along with your poultry or fish you need to pair it with a healthy complex carbohydrate. Something like baked yams, brown rice, or quinoa goes well with a grilled chicken or turkey.
Pick a vegetable or a few which are full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants to complete your meal. The easiest thing to do here is to just go out and buy a mixed bag of frozen vegetables that you can pop in the microwave. Not only is this an easier method than cooking fresh food, but frozen food may be more nutritionally valuable than its fresh counterpart anyway.
Drinks
This is really simple, substitute pretty much everything for a glass of water. If you are used to drinking soda or something sweet, throw in a lemon or lime to give it some flavor.
