Health experts around the world see obesity as an epidemic and people are searching for ways how to effectively lose weight. While there are plenty of ways to lose weight, maintaining weight loss is the more important and even harder task that people eventually give up. Healthy weight loss is not just about a “diet” or “program”. It is about an ongoing lifestyle that includes long-term changes in daily eating and exercise habits. Practicing healthier eating habits is much easier when you have a daily routine because the key for a healthy weight is all about balance.
Here are some ways to lose weight and not diet/die yet:
Eat food as grown - because your body needs the right nutrients to fuel it throughout the day and the best way to get what you need is to enjoy nutrient-rich foods from a variety of food groups.
The Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine recommends The Power Plate. It contains four food groups that provide the nutrients you need.
It is powerful not only for weight control but also in heart disease, diabetes, and prevention and survival in cancer. The fiber in these foods adds bulk to your diet, a key factor in both losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. Adding bulk can help you feel full sooner. Since fiber stays in the stomach longer than other foods, that feeling of fullness will stay with you much longer, helping you to eat less. High-fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables tend to be low in calories, so by adding fiber to your diet, it’s easier to cut calories.
Whole Grains - this group includes bread, rice, pasta, hot or cold cereal, corn, millet, barley, bulgur, buckwheat groats, and tortillas. Build each of your meals around a healthy grain dish. Grain-dish are rich in fiber and other complex carbohydrates, as well as protein, B vitamins, and zinc.
Vegetables - are packed with nutrients; they provide vitamin C, betacarotene, rivoflavin, iron, calcium, fiber, and other nutrients. Dark green leafy vegetable such as broccoli, collards, kale, mustard, and turnip greens, endive, or bokchoy are especially good sources of these nutrients. Dark yellow or orange vegetables such as carrots, winter squash, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin provide extra beta-carotene. Include generous portions of a variety of vegetables in your diet.
Fruits - are rich in fiber, vitamin C, and beta-carotene. Include fruits that are high in vitamin C - citrus fruits, melons, and strawberries are all good choices. Choose whole fruit over fruits juices which do not contain very much fiber.
Legumes - which is another name for beans, peas, and lentils, are all good sources of fiber, protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and B vitamins. This group also includes chickpeas, wingbeans (sigarilyas), string beans (sitaw), all beans, soymilk, tofu, tempeh, and tofu.
Source: ThePowerPlate.org
You can actually eat more and still weigh less by focusing on filling your plate with a variety of whole grains, legumes, and plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables for a Powerfully Healthy diet rather than on serving sizes or calorie counting.
God already provided us something better for our health because He knows what is best for us. In Genesis 1:29, God said, “I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruits with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”
Balance Food and Physical Activity
Esther Ellis from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says “What you eat is just one part of the energy balance equation. The other is physical activity.
Be intentional on being active during the day. It can be having a set time for a workout in the gym or at home, or just by integrating it as much as you can within your busy life - such as using the stairs instead of the elevator, parking farther from the grocery store, or walking around your office during break time.
Strive to at least have 30 minutes of medium- to high-intensity activity daily. The higher the intensity and more frequent the activity, the more effective in losing weight and maintaining the progress. The key is to balance the energy you take in through healthy foods with exerting those digested energy through physical activity.
ACTIVITY
Calculate your BMI using the provided formula. Classify your BMI accordingly.
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Set your goals this week/this month regarding weight, nutrition, and physical activity based on what you have learned from this article.
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