When it comes to shifting the pounds experts say that – instead of focusing on what you can’t eat – adding certain foods to your diet is key. We all have a pretty good idea of the foods we should limit if we want to lose a few kilograms: chocolate, biscuits, cake, chips, pizza – the list goes on. But we don’t give as much thought to the foods we should include in our diet to improve digestion, keep us full and boost metabolism – all of which helps us to reach a healthy weight.
“When it comes to weight loss, find ways to improve your overall health rather than extreme calorie restriction or fad diets,” says Rhiannon Lambert, nutritionist and founder of Rhitrition. “There are many fad diets that offer unsustainable quick fixes, resulting in most dieters putting the weight back on when they come off a diet. “Instead, introduce more nutritious foods which can lead to sustainable and healthy weight loss.
I always pose the question, ‘What can you add into your diet, rather than take out?’” What makes a food ‘weight-loss friendly’? On the most basic level, we lose weight when we use more energy than we consume. However, this only tells half the story. An increasing body of research indicates that our ability to lose weight – and keep it off – is also influenced by a number of complex chemical reactions which take place in the body.
These determine metabolic function and fat storage, and control feelings of hunger and satiety, effectively governing o.
