This is Part 2 of the article How Can I Lose Weight. Make a decision to avoid diets and you will improve your health and fitness and lose weight.
In part 2 you will learn how to lose weight fast by transitioning from the life-style you are currently living to a new life of lean muscle and healthy weight through behavioral change.
To increase your metabolic rate and fat burning it is important to eat nutritiously and keep your carbohydrates, proteins and fats in balance.
The fad diet of the day may seem to be new and fun, like the “Hollywood Diet”. If you want to lose weight and stay healthy then eat food that is full of vitamins and minerals and that will give your body what it needs.
These are the Types of Foods to Eat and the Types of Foods to Avoid
To keep up a high energy level during the day it is essential to consume complex carbohydrates like pasta, whole grains, breads, and cereals.
Minimize your consumption of processed baked goods, candy, soda and other simple carbohydrates.
These foods have little or no nutritional value and will become added fat if you do not control your consumption.
If you are consuming too many low carb foods you can forget about “how to lose weight fast”. Our blood sugar levels and our insulin are interconnected. Our insulin regulates our blood sugar level and if we have excess sugar it will be stored at extra fat. When we are really tired and hungry it is sometimes because our blood sugar is too high and then if we are not careful this cycle can repeat itself. Complex carbohydrates in sensible amounts can prevent this problem. In order to maintain the cell structures of your body and build lean muscle you will need to eat those foods that are high in proteins, like fish, poultry, lean meats, beans and soy products. These high protein foods are needed to burn fat, but here is a caution, do not eat too much protein because if you consume protein in excess of what your body needs the extra protein will be stored as fat and your kidneys and liver could become unhealthy. If you are reasonable with your protein consumption you should be ok.
If you are planning the amount of protein you will consume then have about 0.5 grams of protein for each pound of your body weight. To aid in the growth of your lean muscle eat this amount.
Sources of Protein
The 2 sources of protein come from animals and plants. Most of our protein comes from animal sources in the United States. A diet that is too high in protein can increase your risk of disease, recent data suggests.
If you compare eating animal protein to eating plant protein you will be hungrier after eating animal protein because of the lower amount of fiber in animal protein.
An excess of animal protein can keep you from burning fat.
Try and get most of your protein from plant sources, such as soy, beans, legumes and less from animal sources.
It is important to consume fats like those fats in nuts, oils and protein. Fat is a key component to the regeneration of your skin, hair and nails.
There are many fad diets around that have people on very low fat diets and others that are very high fat diets.
The most important idea to remember is to not go to extremes but do include in your diet lean protein and also small amounts of nuts, seeds and oils.
Portion Sizes
I would recommend that instead of counting calories to determine the quantity of nutrients you plan to consume, that you have portion sizes that are around the size of the palm of your hand. Then have a balance of two vegetable and complex carbohydrate portions and 1 portion of protein at each meal.
Green vegetables give you extra fiber and enzymes that will assist in your digestion and are also low in calories so eat big portions of these foods, it will be good for you.
Eating plenty of green vegetables will also give you the vitamins and minerals that you want to sustain good health. Don’t forget to eat foods that have high nutritional value. As a result you will burn body fat and lose weight more rapidly.
How many meals per Day?
How many times a day should we eat to burn the most body fat.
It is much better to eat several times a day in smaller quantities if your schedule is flexible. This will keep your metabolism high as every time you eat a small meal it raises your metabolism. Try to eat approximately every three hours and eat 5 to 6 times a day.
It may be difficult to break the three meal a day habit. If it is too difficult to change from eating 3 meals a day then eat the three meals a day, but eat lesser amounts for each meal and add 2 or 3 more eating times during the day and have a fruit, granola bar or some other healthy snack.
The key is to focus on foods that your body needs, if you do this you will be full for a longer period of time.
New Recipes
Find new and delicious recipes to make and eat. Use the healthy foods that you will be eating and find recipes that include them and that leave out all of the unhealthy foods.
Behavioral Change
To implement the changes for your new healthy eating habits use Behavioral Change. This will insure that you are on your new healthy eating plan until your reach your goals and forever if you want to stay healthy and fit.
For more useful information on losing fat permanently by Frank Hurley visit Plan to Lose fat.