Eat These Foods to Lose Weight Easily
Losing weight often seems like a major challenge. So many diets and weight loss programs are super-restrictive or just really hard to stick to for one reason or another – and that’s why people fail at losing weight. If you want to lose weight easily, don’t even think “diet”. Simply make a few better food choices each day by eating specific foods to lose weight easily (we’ll tell you what they are below!) — and say no to more of the foods you know are working against you (fried foods, sugar, junk food, etc).
Below is a list of delicious foods to lose weight. By incorporating more of these into your meals and snacks each day, in place of other foods you will inevitably being cutting fat and calories, and than means one thing – weight loss! You may not lose 10 pounds in a week, but steadily the weight will come off – and it will be EASY. Some restrictive diets can be great for losing weight fast (we said some, not all!). But if they are too hard to stick with, then they are of no help to you at all. So a slower but steady approach that makes it easier to lose weight by eating the right foods to lose weight is often what you need to do the trick. As an added, but very important, bonus – you’re body will be healthier and you’ll have more energy and feel great 🙂
Foods to Lose Weight Easily
Eat these foods to lose weight easily. Include them in your meals every day in place of other higher fat, higher calories foods and watch the pounds come off easily and painlessly.
Cabbage
Wait! Its not as bad as you think — in fact, do cabbage right and its super-yummy!
Cabbage is one of the best foods to lose weight, but a lot of people don’t find it particularly appetizing. Here are a couple of tricks that might help you develop a whole new appreciation for cabbage.
- Try slicing it and including it in soup in place of pasta. It takes on a texture like pasta and when used in soup the flavor is very, very subtle. I’ve put cabbage in soups for my family, and they thought they were eating pasta!
- Saute thinly sliced pasta in a small amount of water (no oil!) and cook til tender or el dente. Serve on a plate and top with pasta sauce and a sprinkle of cheese. Its so similar to eating pasta! But whereas pasta will help you pack on pounds and keep them on, cabbage will help you lose weight easily!
- Saute shredded or sliced cabbage in a pan with a lot of onion and garlic. Enjoy this as a side dish with your meal in place of potatoes or rice. Its a really tasty low carb alternative. A simply move like this at dinner time every day will cut out a ton of carbs and calories that will really add up by the end of the week.
Why cabbage is a super food for weight loss:
Because it is so high in fiber and nutrients, some nutrition experts claim your body actually uses up more energy digesting cabbage than the calories the cabbage contains. So, presuming that is the case, you may take in 35 calories eating cabbage, but your body will use up 50 calories digesting it. How cool is that?!
Apart from that, cabbage is one of the greatest foods to lose weight because its high fiber content keeps you feeling full for a long time. Its also very rich in antioxidants, including vitamin C and contains calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamin A, and vitamin K — all of which nourish your body and give you a healthy level of energy and help prevent cravings..
There are so many different ways you can serve up cabbage, so you have a lot of options. You won’t get bored with eating it because you can turn it into a completely different dish all day long depending on how you prepare it. Is so versatile. A half cup of cabbage is only 17 calories when steamed, boiled or sauteed in a pan with water. Top it with a healthy pasta sauce as suggested above (make sure you go for a low-sodium sauce, because salt is a weight loss enemy!). You can also shred or slice raw cabbage, add an oil and vinegar dressing for a yummy coleslaw. Cabbage can also be used as a base for a healthy stir-fry, or throw some sauteed cabbage onto a pita with some ground chicken or grilled chicken for a tasty wrap!
Eggs
Eggs are a high protein food, and that’s what puts them amount the best foods for losing eight. Eating foods high in protein is one of the secrets to burning fat and calories. Both the egg whites and the yolks have a lot of protein, however, the yolks also have a lot of fat, so you always have the option of just eating the egg white. Egg whites can be turned into a pretty amazing omellette when you simply add some sauteed vegetables like onions, sliced mushrooms, peppers and tomato. Believe it or not, you can also scramble egg whites – just add a tiny bit of water or skim milk and whip them up til fluffy, then pour into the pan and scramble.
Protein in egg yolks stimulates the release of a hormone called glucagon. This hormone can help burn fat, in particular belly fat. Some studies have even found that people who eat eggs don’t have any higher cholesterol than those who ate bagels regularly. Still, if you are really serious about cutting fat and calories fast, its best to skip the yolks. Once you reach your ideal weight, you can go back to eating the yolks as part of maintaining your weight.
Eggs can be prepared in so many ways that give you a lot of variety, so you never have to tire or eating the same thing. That’s why we rank eggs among the best foods to lose weight easily. Boredom is a weight loss killer, so eating a versatile weight loss food like eggs cooked differently throughout the week is an easy way to lose weight.
Aside from the ideas we talked about for preparing egg whites, there are so many options for whole eggs as well – scrambled, hard boiled, soft boiled, poached, or in an omelet filled with veggies. Hard boiled eggs can be prepared ahead of time, stored in the fridge, and then eaten as a healthy snack whenever cravings hit. Slice them and sprinkle with a little bit of paprika if you want to spice things up. Or crumble a hard boiled egg over a spinach salad (yum!), or serve sliced on a chef’s salad (yum again!).
Salsa
Photo Credit: Duda Farm Fresh Foods
Salsa is not really “a” food, but several foods, primarily veggies, mixed together. But its great for weight loss because its so tasty and can be used in so many different ways. There are many people who have lost a lot of weight, simply by including a lot of salsa in their meals to yum things up, and getting rid of the bad stuff that was making them fat.
However, most store bought fat is chuck full of sodium (salt) and preservatives, and this will really negate all the positive effects salsa has to offer and will work against you. So we suggest, if you like the idea of salsa as one of your foods for weight loss, make your own, and go easy on the salt. You should be using very little salt if you want to lose weight, and only use either Sea Salt or Himalayan salt (both are available from health food stores). Table salt is extremely unhealthy, and will cause you to retain water and fat!
The primary ingredients in most salsas include tomatoes, onions, garlic and some type of peppers. Each of these veggies is loaded with a variety of nutrients and are great for losing weight. Salsa also has a high water content, which is healthy, contributes to weight loss (Your body needs a lot of water maintain a good metabolism and lose weight) and keeps you feeling full.
Now, most people think “chips!” when they think “salsa”. Including salsa as one of foods to lose weight, means you’re going to use it in a new and different (But very tasty) way. Pair this healthy treat with other HEALTHY foods and forget the salty, high carb chips that make you fat! (Dont fall for the idea that its okay to eat “whole grain” tortilla chips when you want to lose weight – they’re still nothing but carbs and full of salt which will make you gain weight).
Instead, use salsa on salads and veggies instead of high calorie dressing. Its also a great dip for veggies if you want to crunch – dip celery sticks or carrots in it and crunch away.
Salsa is also a great topper on most types of meat, especially chicken. Try making a South Western chicken breast simply by grilling your chicken with some garlic powder, the top with as much salsa as you like (heat it til warm). I’ve seen this on the menus of some great Mexican restaurants, but its one of the great foods for weight loss. Salsa is relatively easy to prepare, can be stored in the fridge for several days, and goes with a variety of foods.
Healthy Homemade Salsa Recipe
Here’s an Easy home made salsa recipe from Duda Farm Fresh Foods, a producer of fresh produce:
Celery Sriracha Salsa
Celery and tomatillos pair together perfectly with ripe tomatoes in this fresh salsa. This salsa stays nice and crunchy in the fridge for several days too!
Ingredients
3 stalks DANDY® celery, small diced
2 large tomatoes, small diced
2 tomatillos, peeled, washed and small diced
½ red onion, small diced
½ cup cilantro, minced
Juice of a lime (about 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon Sriracha Hot Sauce (medium heat, reduce/increase for mild or hot)
Directions
Combine all ingredients. Serve immediately with chips, tacos, etc.
If stored for any period of time taste test as more hot sauce may be needed to be at desired heat level (the tomatoes release their juice and dilute it)
Time: 20 minutes / Yields: about 3 cups
Grapefruit
Grapefruit is perhaps one of the all time top foods to lose weight. Many of the most popular diets through the years have contained grapefruit as one of the prime foods to be eaten. And that’s simply because IT WORKS!
Grapefruit is almost 90 percent water, meaning it helps you feel full. And as we mentioned before, water is so important when you are trying to lose weight because your metabolism desperately requires water to work efficiently and burn off calories.
Grapefruit is also extremely high in fiber, which also helps you to feel full. The fiber in grapefruit can also help lower insulin, which increases fat storage in our bodies. Grapefruit has very positive effects on blood sugar, and keeping your blood sugar levels stable is very important when dieting (and at all times); it helps prevent you from feeling hungry, getting cravings, and helps prevent binge eating.
A great way to incorporate grapefruit into your daily diet is to cut one in half every morning and eat it for breakfast, along with an egg white for protein. Its also great to have a half grapefruit before any meal, it will prevent you from over eating and will help manage your blood sugars as we said earlier.
Try broiling a 1/2 grapefruit in the oven, then sprinkle with a little Splenda diet brown sugar (or coconut sugar) for a touch of sweetness to offset the tartness of the grapefruit. High brow 5 star hotels serve this for breakfast!
Red and pink grapefruits also have beta carotene which is good at fighting off disease.
A half a grapefruit is only about 52 calories and it doesn’t contain any cholesterol.
If you find simply eating a grapefruit by itself too tart, there are lots of ways to eat this nutritious and low calorie food. Grapefruit can be mixed with other fruits in a fruit salad, made into a smoothie, and even be part of salsa. But after eating grapefruit for a few days, you do get used to the tartness and it becomes far less noticeable.
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