Monday, March 20, 2006

Healthy Diet: Tips from the Professionals

repare to be surprised: The key to losing weight is to eat more, not less. Eating small, frequent meals increases your metabolism, which is what any dieter wants. A high metabolism will help you burn more calories. “One of the hardest things to comprehend is that you have to eat calories to burn calories,” said Jesse Lopez, a M.A.C. personal trainer. Eating right and exercising regularly are keys to improving your metabolism. Lopez recommends thinking of your body as a constantly burning furnace; your fuel for the fire is the food you eat. You don’t want to let your furnace (metabolism) burn too low because it will let off less heat (calories). Learn more healthy eating tricks and work your way toward a newer, better you. Start with breakfast. Many people make the common mistake of cutting out breakfast. Although it may make sense to cut out meals in order to lose weight, this is actually retroactive. If you skip breakfast and wait until midday to eat, you will burn less fat, which is obviously not what you are aiming for. Eating breakfast stokes your metabolism, gears your body up to burn calories all day and prevents snacking on junk food later in the morning. Breakfast starts your furnace blasting and skipping it will cause your metabolism to run slower all day. Early Bird Tip: If you’re an early riser or need a high-protein snack after a workout, try a Power Smoothie from West’s Poolside Café. The Power Smoothies have a high amount of protein and are the perfect thing to sip on during the drive to the next day's activity. Time it right. Eat four to six small meals, two to three hours apart throughout the day, rather than three widely spaced big meals. It's like throwing another log on the fire whenever you eat. Lopez explains your body doesn’t know that you’re planning to eat in a couple of hours, so it will stop burning as hard when the fire gets low. Add constant “kindling” to you need to keep your metabolism burning. Get your protein. The body needs protein lots of it. Most people don't get enough protein in their diets, but studies show up to 25 percent of calories in a protein-rich meal may be burnt off. It is the building block of muscle, which is why eating a high-protein diet is extremely important for anyone looking to increase muscle and lose fat. Without enough protein in the body, muscle mass will not increase. Most high-protein foods are also low in carbohydrates and saturated fat. The two most important culprits that contribute to fat mass in the body are undigested carbohydrates and saturated fat. Click here for a list of high-protein foods Keep it small. Consume small amounts of food at a time. If you have too much food in the stomach at any one time, it will slow the fat burn down, totally defeating the purpose. Whenever you arrive at a restaurant, Personal Trainer Andrew Francis says to immediately pack away half the food away in a “to go” container and eat it a few hours later. Don’t starve yourself. Avoid diets that are too low in calories. Diets that are 1,000 calories or less may help you lose weight at first, but rapid weight loss is generally just lost water weight and consists of very little fat. This means weight is quickly gained back because more fluid than fat was lost. Extremely low-calorie diets also slow metabolism because your body goes into “survival mode” in order conserve calories. Click here for to plan a menu for you Eat the rainbow. Consume a lot of colors. Make sure to include green, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods are regarded as increasingly important in helping protect against developing certain types of cancer and other diseases. Francis recommends eating four or more servings of fruit and vegetables a day or incorporating one fruit and vegetable into each meal. Get the good fat. Not all fat is bad. Believe it or not, there’s such a thing as “good fat,” and your body needs it to transport vitamins and create important substances. Good fats are naturally-occurring traditional fats that haven’t been “tampered with.” The best good fats are in fish, nuts, avocados and extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil. Take a supplement. Even if you eat a healthy diet, it's unlikely you will get all of the vitamins you need. Consider taking a basic daily multivitamin/mineral supplement, especially if you are a woman of child-bearing age (who needs extra folic acid, a B vitamin) or over age 60 (because of decreased nutrient absorption by the body). Intake of several vitamins above the minimum daily requirement may prevent heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and other chromic diseases. Quit sipping empty calories. You don’t have to eat a lot to gain weight; you can just drink a lot. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. That is one drink a day for women, two a day for men. A drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits. Alcoholic beverages add calories to your diet without supplying nutrients, not to mention excess alcohol consumption leads to a variety of health problems. Francis also recommends cutting back on sodas, or if you do need your daily cola, switch to diet. Eliminate juice from your diet and save as many as 500 calories a day. A real apple has a more nutrients and fiber than a glass of apple juice. Drink the good stuff. Whenever you have the urge to sip an orange juice or soda pop, reach for a bottle of water instead. Water, what humans have been drinking for thousands of years, is the best thing for your body. Click here to find out how much water you need Choose high-octane foods. Personal trainer Andrew Francis says to approach your body like a car. You want to fill it with high-octane fuel, not low-grade gas. Cookies, French fries and candy bars are not the most efficient fuel you can put into your body. You must give your body high-protein foods to absorb and burn to keep your metabolism up. Click here to take a diet and nutrition quiz

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