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Healthy Diet Tips for a
Healthy Weight

A healthy diet is a must-have if you want to lose weight the right way! If you are having a hard time following a diet plan, your best option is to go back to basics.

Before there was fast food, people ate wholesome healthy foods!

That’s why obesity didn’t become a problem until recent years. With more fatty foods on the market today than any other time, its no wonder that so many folks are battling the bulge!

man eating a big burger image

In native cultures where fast foods don’t exist, the tribe members are thin and free of diseases of the modern world. Many cancers for example, simply don’t exist in native cultures because those people depend on mother nature to provide for them. If you eat too many fats, you become fat. The bigger you are, the lazier you’re bound to be. Most people know that exercise is a real chore for anyone who’s overweight.

What most people fail to understand is that weight loss isn’t about losing weight. It’s about the balance of a healthy diet. If you eat a well balanced diet, you shouldn't become overweight. Moderation is key in all that you do but is especially important when you need to lose weight. The best advice is to follow a healthy diet and to make better food choices!

Healthy Diet Tips for Weight Loss

If you don’t buy it, you can’t eat it! I am often amazed at the vast abundance of fatty foods at the grocery store. They don't make it into my cart very often, although my 21 year old son would love for me to buy them all! This 'oversell' is typical for most all grocery stores though, especially here in the US. They are simply overflowing with low cost sugary foods! If you buy into them too often though, your scales will tell the true story!

However, if you don’t bring them home from the store, you'll have to seek out other (healthy) foods when you’re hungry! Everyone loves snacks though, so keep healthy snacks around for times when you get the munchies.

Replace empty calories with nutrient rich foods. Empty calories foods have little or no dietary value, but are high in calories or fatty content.

Empty Calorie Foods

Sweets, candy, ice cream, soft drinks, fruit-flavored drinks, and jellies with a low percentage of fruit

Refined grains, such as white bread and white rice

Margarine or shortening

Butter, lard, dripping and other saturated fat

High fat foods such as steak, hamburger, ribs, hot dogs, fried chicken, pizza, donuts, and French fries

Alcoholic beverages

Condiments such as ketchup and BBQ sauce

Any type of gravy

Fatty foods are most often processed foods, which also increase your risk of cancer. They are full of chemicals that your body doesn't need. Over time, they are really bad for your health overall and most empty calorie foods contribute to weight gain. Replace empty calorie foods with nutrient and fiber rich foods when you're following a healthy diet!

Think colors! Brightly colored vegetables and fruits are the best way to get the antioxidants you need to fight disease, but they are also very tasty! Processed foods are devoid of rich flavors, while nutrient rich foods are full of sometimes unexpected delightful flavors. A healthy diet should include them everyday!

When you are shopping, if your favorite vegetables are not in season, look for them in the frozen section. Frozen vegetables are higher in nutrition than their canned counterparts.

White foods, which are refined foods, are best replaced on a healthy diet.

Replace white potatoes with sweet or purple potatoes

Replace white rice with brown or whole grain rice

Replace white bread with wheat or whole grain bread

You'll get much more nutrition from the foods you eat by simply cutting out foods that are white in general.

Reduce bread consumption. If you’ve never had a topless sandwich, you’re in for a treat! Instead of getting full from bread, only use one bottom slice. You can really pack on the fresh veggies this way too! Add tomato slices, onions, green peppers, and other healthy choices to your favorite sandwich meats.

The problem with bread is that most people are allergic to wheat gluten, which means that any bread can lead to weight gain even if you consume whole grain breads. If you are a blood type O, bread alone may be the one reason you have a hard time taking off pounds. For this blood type, you’ll need to eliminate all bread from your diet to lose weight efficiently. (Read more about the blood type diet)

Have a few pickles with your meals! Pickles are made from cucumbers, vinegar and salt. One large study showed that consuming 2 tbsp. of vinegar before meals reduced blood sugar and helped regulate insulin. By eating two or three pickles, you can easily ingest 2 tbsp. of vinegar. Apple cider vinegar has enzymes that slow down the digestion of carbohydrates in your stomach. In the study, people who had vinegar and/or pickles before meals experienced a two pound weight loss per week over four weeks, while the control group had no weight loss.

If you have high blood pressure, be sure to check with your doctor before you consume a lot of high salt pickles. Of course, if you don’t like pickles, you can drink apple cider vinegar water or take apple cider vinegar supplementsinstead.

To make vinegar water, mix two tablespoons of vinegar with a glass of water. Its not too tasty but most people can handle it!

Include more raw foods in your healthy diet! When you eat more raw foods, more becomes less! Raw foods are much lower in calories than any other food. Steaming your vegetables and stir frying your meats is the best way to keep nutrients without overcooking. If cooked too much, veggies can become devoid of the antioxidants you need to keep healthy. Meats also lose their nutritional value's when they're overcooked too!

To follow a healthy diet, read more about how to prepare your foods.

Limit the portion sizes of the foods you eat. Most people help themselves, and then help themselves some more! To follow a healthy diet, you need to learn what proper serving sizes and portion sizes look like!

Most restaurants give customers way too much food! Plus the foods they serve are saturated with non-essential fats and oils that pack on calories. That’s why its so much better to prepare foods at home, where you can control how much you fix and add your own ingredients. Everyone likes to go out to eat every so often, which is fine to do! Just use moderation. You’ll also save a bunch of money and appreciate it more!

Find out the absolute worst foods you can order at various restaurants!

Use herbs instead! Herbs are great flavor enhancers! You can grow your own herbs, no matter where you live, because herbs do extremely well in planters. You can buy them cheaply at most any market. Its nice to keep a few around your kitchen!

Not only do they smell great, they add so much individual flavor to your dishes! Mince them and add them to just about anything! For example, add rosemary and thyme to roasted potatoes (coated with olive oil) for a bold but delightful surprise. Fresh cut herbs are the perfect ingredient to help turn ordinary dishes into extraordinary dishes!

When you’re not using herbs, you’re more apt to use heavy creams, gravies, or oils that are high in fat and not part of a healthy diet.

Include more fiber in your diet. Fiber is what makes your digestion go round! Without enough fiber, your bowel movements become sluggish and your intestines don't eliminate waste products efficiently. The more waste your body holds onto, the heavier you’ll weigh naturally.

Adults need 25-35 grams of fiber per day (or about 10-13 grams per 1000 calories) but most people (American’s especially) only get around 11 grams per day. Here are some examples to give you an idea of how much fiber is contained in various types of foods.

1/2 cup whole grain pasta = 2 - 4 grams/fiber

1/2 cup of cooked white rice or regular pasta = less than 1 gram/fiber

1/2 cup of cooked brown rice = 2 grams/fiber

1/2 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries = 7 grams/fiber

1/2 cup of beans or legumes = 6 grams/fiber

1/2 cup of cooked vegetables = 2 - 4 grams/fiber

1/2 cup of chopped fruit or 1 small piece of fruit = 3 grams/fiber

1 slice of whole wheat bread = 2 - 4 grams/fiber (Opt for Lite breads that provide twice the fiber)

1 slice of white bread = 0.5-1 gram/fiber

1/2 cup of whole grain cereal = 5 grams/fiber

(Find more high fiber foods!)

When you add more fiber to your healthy diet, gradually build up the amount and vary your daily fiber intake.

Signs of insufficient fiber in a diet are:

Hard stools

Abdominal pain

Sluggish bowels

Constipation

Infrequent elimination

Of course, on the other hand, you don’t want to overdo it!

Signs of too much fiber are:

Abdominal pain and cramping

Frequent and large stools

Excessive gas

Bloating

A while back, Lewis Black did a stand up comedy routine about eating healthy foods. Consuming more fiber is one of the points he cracked on! True, the FDA has finally recognized it’s importance in a healthy diet so manufacturers are capitalizing on it by pushing fiber down our throats. However, it’s for good reason! Fiber has been relatively absent from our foods for so many years, so it’s time for damage control!

Remember that gaining weight is cumulative most of the time. It might have taken years for you to gain the excess weight you have on your body, so don’t try and fix it overnight! Setting realistic goals and sticking to them is a great place to start. Also, keeping a food journal is imperative. If you slip up, don’t beat yourself up about it. Realize that no one is perfect and move on. If you eat when you’re emotional, try and figure out the triggers that compel you to eat too much.

Whatever path you choose to lose weight, simply including more healthy foods in your diet is a step in the right direction. Follow these healthy diet tips for faster, less complicated weight loss. Use common sense and you’ll lose weight the healthy way!

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