11 Jan 5 Foods For Weight Loss {+ 5 Offending Foods For Weight Loss}
If you’re looking on what foods for weight loss to eat, you’ve come to the right place! I want to preface by saying that there is NO magical unicorn food that will help you lose weight. AND some people can lose weight eating whatever they want and focus on counting macros, so someone else may scoff at foods to avoid section. Weight loss is a complex SYMPTOM that isn’t always straight forward. There shouldn’t be just a total only focus on weight loss too!
You should desire for overall optimal health and a maintaining a healthy weight, which is what these foods have in mind.
5 Foods For Weight Loss
I want to emphasize again that there is no MAGICAL UNICORN foods for weight loss. It’s easy to desire something quick and easy, but weight loss is a long-term game!
Animal Meats
Animals meats are amazing sources of protein, which naturally is very filling and can increase our metabolism slightly. This is due to the thermic effect of food. While it’s little amount, like 10% influence on metabolism, any little bit of help counts! It takes the body more energy to break down proteins.
Animal meats are loaded with nutrients + the nutrients are in the most bioavailable forms.
High quality animal meats are highly recommended to reduce exposure to environmental toxins that the animal may be exposed to. We vote with our dollars on what type of farming we support too – so if you can, grass-fed, organic, local will always be superior. If you can’t shift everything to this due to budget, just try the best you can + still consume animal meats.
Avocados
Healthy fats are vital for weight loss. It helps us stay fuller longer and regulate our hunger hormones, such as ghrelin and leptin. Fat is also super helpful for maintaining blood sugar balance!
Can we also shoot a quick appreciation to fat because it is a taxi for fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) and it’s needed to help these nutrients be shuttled around the body! Avocados aren’t the only fatty food though that is great for weight loss, but also nuts, seeds, coconut oil, olives/olive oil, grass-fed butter {if you can do dairy!}.
Seafood
While seafood can technically be underneath the category of “animal meats”, this deserves it’s own recognition! Seafood is a great source of both proteins and fats and leaves us feeling satiated. Seafood is loaded with a certain type of fatty acid, omega-3’s, that help reduce/maintain a healthy balance of inflammation.
We love a mix between different fishes, like salmon and white fish. White fish, like Mahi Mahi, tend to have no fats and loaded with protein in case you’re having too much fat in the diet + need to balance that out better.
Cruciferous Vegetables
We can forget our vegetables that have an abundance of nutrients, antioxidants, and fiber. While all vegetables deserve to be shouted from the roof tops for weight loss, we want to give extra credit to the cruciferous vegetable family due to helping provide nutrients for liver detoxification.
Detoxification needs to be supported in the body before weight loss occurs. This is due to toxins being stored in the fat (yes, that’s a thing – lots of lipophilic (fat attracting) toxins out there!) and when weight loss occurs, toxins are released into the body. Detoxification systems must be able to handle this incoming load + safely removing things from the body!
If this isn’t something that you’re thinking of, this is another nudge to work with a professional. We need eyes on all areas of the body!
Beans
For all you low-carber’s and you toss this blog to the side, it’s time to put the fear of carbs aside. I want to emphasize the importance of carbohydrates for thyroid function (which controls our metabolism) and other hormones. Beans have been used in multiple studies for weight + while it’s not MASSIVE weight loss, it always seems to trend in the right direction.
Higher in fiber and loaded with antioxidants (especially the darker bean), it has other health promoting effects in the gut microbiome. If you feel like you can’t do beans without gastrointestinal symptoms, you probably need to do some stool testing and work on your gut before you introduce them.
Cooking beans make a big difference too in the digestibility. Always soak and rinse them thoroughly before cooking!
Do you see a trend of foods for weight loss? I included all fats, proteins, and carbs. The amount of each will be different for each individual, so make sure to work with a practitioner to figure this out for yourself.
5 Offending Foods For Weight Loss
Refined Sugar
While sugar in itself isn’t bad (since all carbs break down into glucose), refined sugar leaves us with nutrient empty calories. A lot of people overdo sugar amounts, which leads to weight gain. You won’t be perfect all the time, but if you’re in a season of wanting to hit health goals – you’ll have to reduce the amount that you eat!
Refined Commercial Oils
Refined commercial oils, such as soybean oil, corn oil, canola oil, safflower oil, vegetable oil, etc are harshly extracted and leaves the the fats to be oxidized. Oxidized oils lead to inflammation due to the omega content.
Refined Grains
Similar to refined sugar, these grains are stripped from all the nutrients and you’re left with empty calories. Many refined grains are used in baked products, such as bread, crackers, cakes, bagels, etc. These types of foods are super high in carbohydrates.
Alcohol
As tough as this one is to hear, alcohol can be holding you back from losing weight. As I mentioned earlier in the article, detoxification is important to focus on with weight loss. Alcohol is a big burden to the liver. It’s also considered empty calories. It can mess with your hormones, which are important to have balanced levels to achieve weight loss. Alcohol can also mess with sleep quality, which messes with your ability to burn fat.
Fast Food
This one is pretty obvious, but it needs to be said. Not only is fast food cooked in unhealthy oils and doesn’t have a focus toward fresh food, the quality of fast food joints aren’t good. It’s priority is to be “fast”, but without any focus on nourishment. Pssst, going through Chic Fil A occasionally won’t hold you back from weight loss, but if you find it becoming a habit you might want to give it a break!
Do you know what you should be eating? Do you ever want to figure out what works for YOU? Like I mentioned there is no one size fits all, but this can be a great place to start. If you need our team of dietitians to help you achieve your goals, book a free 15-minute call with our team. We’ll partner you up with your personal dietitian to keep you accountable + work through your goals!
