Boost Your Weight Loss with Vegetables

 Eat plenty of green vegetables –you are very unlikely to gain weight by eating too many vegetables.  Vegetables are best eaten raw, steamed, baked, boiled, or grilled with minimal butter and oil, so not to add to the fat and calories to your meal.

 Add Fruit to your Diet Plan

 Eating Fruit is almost as good as eating vegetables.  While fruit does add some natural sugar to your diet, and therefore some more calories than vegetables, fruit also offers plenty of beneficial nutrients and fiber.   The sugar you consume from fruit is unlikely to derail your healthy weight loss program and fruit can be used as a substitute for unhealthy sweets and desserts.

 Milk Your Weight Loss

 A little bit of milk does a body good. But if your goal is to lose weight and be healthy, stick to non-fat or low-fat milk.  Non-fat and low-fat dairy sources will give your healthy diet program protein, calcium, vitamins, and minerals without all the fat.

 Get the Whole Story on Weight Loss

 If you are trying to lose weight, then the term “grains” on the new food plate should me only “whole grains”.  This includes whole grain breads, pastas, and crackers as well as barley, brown rice, and oatmeal.  Making whole grains a part of your healthy diet plan will give you fiber and help you feel full longer, while also benefiting your digestive system.

 You Don’t Need a High Protein Diet to Lose Weight

 Protein is important and it helps your body maintain lean muscles instead of fat.  But the lesson here is that you don’t need to over do it unless you are trying to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  If you consume excess protein on high-protein diets like Atkins, your body will just excrete it anyway. But, what the food plate doesn’t tell you is that if you are trying to lose weight you should stick to eating lean proteins like fish, chicken, and tofu.  Minimizing saturated fat will cut a lot of calories out of your diet and be much healthier for your heart and body as a whole.  Meats are best prepared grilled, boiled, broiled, poached, baked, or barbequed without breading, frying and sauces, which add unneeded sugar, fat, and calories.

 To Lose Weight, Skip the Dessert Plate

 Yes, that’s frustrating, but don’t take it too literally! This shouldn’t mean that you feel like you can never have a treat.  However if you are trying to lose weight, then you should pass on dessert with most meals and make better choices when you do reach for a treat.  More importantly, use the new food plate to help remind you that the primary components of desserts are typically fat and sugar which are not sections of the food plate.  The fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins are they key nutrients you want on your plate if you are trying to stick to a healthy weight loss program.

 Successful Weight Loss is a Balancing Act

 Balance and moderation. That’s the final lesson of the food plate.  A healthy weight loss program should always emphasize balance and moderation.  Try to eat a good variety of healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean proteins.  Diets that over-emphasize one kind of food may work in the short run but also may cause your body to crave the foods its not getting in the long run. Like most things in life, too much of anything is probably not good and a healthy balance of foods will help keep your diet plan on track.

 Add Exercise to Your Healthy Weight Loss Program

 One thing the USDA’s new food plate doesn’t address is adding exercise to your healthy weight loss program.  Since successful weight loss is about consuming more calories than you burn, exercise can be important for reaching your weight loss goals. Remember that even mild to moderate exercise can be effective.  The image of the new food plate can also be used as a reminder to get out and be more active! Just picture the plate as a Frisbee and remember to get outdoors and get moving!

 Share your thoughts.  Compared to the USDA’s old food pyramid, do you think the new food plate is easier to decipher?  Does it give you a better understanding of what foods to emphasize in your diet in order to successfully achieve healthy weight loss?