Change the sources of Carbohydrates: Go XL on the greens.
If you need to lose excess body fat the healthiest and most sustainable change to your nutrition will be the bulking out of your meals with vegetables (broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, peas, carrots tomatoes etc). The more the merrier. Pile your plate full of steamed veg to replace the majority of your starchy carbohydrates and you will soon see and feel your body becoming lighter, and more energetic. At times you will no doubt stray from the path, suddenly catching yourself face deep in a burger, but that’s fine. Your otherwise high vegetable intake will change the way your body reacts to a heavy meal. You will feel considerably more satisfied after a blowout and your abdominal muscles, now conditioned for a smaller waistline, will quickly return to their new default state.
Benefits:
* Vegetables are superior in their vitamin and fiber content. Good amounts of both is the key to long term health and a leaner body composition
* Vegetables are easily digested and your tummy will quickly adapt to return to its normal size – about the size of a clenched fist. If your stomach is otherwise stretched due to usually high portions of starchy carbohydrates, more vegetables will quickly lead to a permanently flatter midsection.
* Smaller tummy will make you feel fuller quicker at consecutive meals, improving the natural feeling of satisfaction in response to food intake.
* Provided your fat and protein intake is sufficient there is more than enough calories in vegetables to satisfy your physiological needs.
* Higher vegetable intake will naturally lead to smaller intake of starchy carbohydrates. Consequently you feel lighter and and look leaner as a result of fat loss.
* Greens keep the sizes of your meals substantial and fill you up without reducing the size of your meals. Great if you like your meals large.
* Fruit are great for energy, vitamins and fiber. It is however high in sugar. There is no need to gobble down your 5 a day every day as fruit. 1 apple, 1 pare, 1 peach, 1 orange, 1 banana can contain 150g+ of sugar depending on the size of the fruit and this is a lot of calories (600+). One whole or a few slices of each is more than enough to fill your vitamin intake when combined with varied portions of veg. Even better, go for berries that are just as high in fiber and vitamins but lower in sugars.
* When you feel that a large bowl of veg just won’t cut it or you are beginning to lose too much weight add slow burn carbohydrates of the type that will not bloat you out: chick peas, sweet potato, lentils, quinoa, beans. These contain a little more energy but also a better balance of protein and carbohydrates compared to breads, pastas, rice etc. These do not rake havoc on your blood sugars and will keep your hunger at bay for longer.
Challenge the conventional wisdom:
Disregards the common notion that 60-70% of your energy (calories) must come from carbohydrates. This is not a biological fact, the body can thrive on much lower carbohydrate content when other macronutrients are in abundance. Consider populations in the world which consume up to 50-75% of their energy form of fat and not carbohydrates. Namely the Eskimos with their high fish and animal fat intake (in the absence of agriculture fat provides valuable energy as well as helps to prevent protein poisoning in Eskimos). Our environment allows us to have more of a varied diet than that of Eskimos so we have no need for such extreme. The point is that there is no hard rule for the amounts of carbohydrates the body needs for good health when fat and protein are abundant. Interestingly, Eskimos have among one of the lowest heart disease rates on our planet despite the high fat intake (mainly from fish mono/polyunsaturates).
With healthy wishes,
Dmitri Tkatchev
P.s. Mix it up. Dress up your greens in herbs, spices, olive oil, balsamic vinegar etc. Steam, bake, boil or eat raw.