3 Easy Ways to Boost your Weight Loss with Life in Lilac

Today the lovely Michaela from Life in Lilac is taking over once again (you can read her last post on futureproofing your diet here). Today she is talking about ways to help boost your weight loss! Over to her:

There are fewer things in this life which are harder than losing weight. Don’t you just hate the people who make it look easy like celebrities who have teams of personal trainers and nutritionists at their beck and call? I have always been overweight and have fought every one of the 19.4kg (43lbs) I have lost since deciding that I was going to make a change in October last year.

Even though losing weight is hard there are a few tips I have learned along my journey which are easy to implement and make a big difference to successfully shifting some pounds. All of these tips focus on real food – not meal replacements or pills but real foods which should be the focus of any healthy lifestyle.

Eat carbs but only in the morning

When you do research into diets you will find a big portion of people out there will tell you that carbohydrates are the enemy and should be avoided in order to shift unwanted weight. However, this is simply not the case.

Carbs make up an important part of our diet as they are broken down in the body to provide energy to fuel everything we do and all the processes that go on inside us. Did you know that glucose is the only fuel normally used by brain cells? Our main supplier of glucose are carbohydrates.

Of course, if you want to lose weight you need to reduce the amount of calories you are eating so that you are expending more than you are consuming but a sure-fire way to a flunking out on a diet is to remove carbs altogether which will leave you feeling tired and more likely to grab for a snack to raise your blood sugar levels.

Instead, incorporate a portion of carbs (I have 4oz) just into breakfast which will give you the energy boost to start off your day and will mean your body will have to start using your glucose stores kept in adipose tissue (body fat) once you’ve used up all the glucose from your breakfast. Examples include sweet potato, rice (preferably brown), oatmeal and rye bread.

Feast on whole grains

Carbohydrates are not the enemy as we have learnt however, some carbs are better for you than others. When I say carbs you probably think of white bread, rice and pasta which are highly processed and have had a lot of goodness removed from them.

When eaten refined carbs can cause your blood sugar levels to shoot up only to come crashing down leaving you tired and hungry. Whole grains are the better option when it comes to carbs, they have all of the parts of the original kernel—bran, germ, and endosperm—in the original proportions making them higher in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and a variety of phytochemicals which promote health.

Fiber also helps you feel fuller longer, can help control blood sugar, lower LDL or “bad” cholesterol and reduce colon cancer risk.  When you eat the whole grain the energy is released slowly because it takes time to break down and won’t give you that sugar rush and crash making you less likely to snack during the day.

It has been shown that people who consume a lot of whole grains are more likely to maintain a healthy weight and less likely to gain weight over time than those who eat refined grains so it might be time to throw out the refined carbohydrates and replace them with whole wheat, oats, brown rice, barley, corn, quinoa, rye, buckwheat and millet.

Eat more plant based proteins

In January I decided to change from a long-term vegetarian to a whole food plant based diet which is similar to being a vegan as we choose not to eat any animal products but we try to avoid processed foods insteading choosing to get our nutrition solely from unrefined plant sources.

You might have heard that animal protein is the best protein because it is ‘complete’ meaning that it is made up of all the essential amino acids which we need so when you have a bite you’re getting everything you need from one place, and that’s true. However, what are you eating alongside that protein?

All animal products contain fat which is a calorie dense macronutrient. What do I mean by that? Well, when you eat 1g of carbohydrates you are consuming 4 kcals, it’s the same with protein but when it comes to fat 1g of it contains 9 kcals so you’re getting more than double the amount of calories when you eat fat than when you eat carbs or protein.

Cutting out some fat from your diet will help reduce your overall calorie intake which will ultimately help you lose more weight. Adding more plant protein has also shown to lower blood pressure, lowered risk of heart disease and decreased risk of cancer.

Now, I am not telling you to suddenly stop eating animal products altogether as that’s a personal choice but I recommend trying to swap out the occasional sausage or chicken breast for a mix of beans, pulses, peas, grains, nuts, seeds and vegetables which will help lower your calorie intake and boost your vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Bio

Micaela is a lady based in Kent, she is a digital marketer by day and UK lifestyle blogger by night. Micaela is undertaking a Diploma in Nutrition and Weight Loss Management and loves to help people find their way to healthier eating.

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