Despite what others have suggested here, I would advise AGAINST low-carb/no-carb diets unless you're already rather fit and only have an extra 10-20 lbs. of excess body fat to lose. Ketosis (what happens when you cut down on carbs and rely more on proteins) can be a powerful tool in that regard, but most health experts and nutritionists I've talked to agree that it shouldn't be taken on by someone who has a LOT of excess fat to lose. In fact, most of the initial weight loss experienced in low-carb/no-carb diets is mostly water weight, which can't be said about other diets. What's more, just cutting out carbs won't help if all you're doing is throwing the bun away of that triple-super-extra-greasy bacon cheeseburger from your favorite fast food restaurant; a rose by any other name still has thorns.
My diet consists of the following four basic principals:
1. Lean proteins (and by "lean," I mean at MOST 10% fat--great examples of this include boneless skinless chicken breast, salmon, shrimp, and top sirloin)
2. Non-fat or low-fat dairy products
3. Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables (especially the veggies [fruits have natural sugars, which are a type of carb]--a plate piled full of fresh veggies is only about 100 calories!)
4. Whole-grain breads, pastas, rice, etc. (Yes--you CAN have these carbs!)
Just cut out a lot of that processed crap. Some people go by the method of shopping around the perimeters of the grocery stores, because this is usually where these more healthy food options are found. In addition to this, I also go by the rules listed before me here in this thread stating to eat 5-6 smaller meals each day. This helps regulate your metabolism much better. And I also prescribe by the 3-hour-before-bed rule, too (make sure you go to bed at least 3 hours after your last meal), as this guarantees that the energy your body uses during sleep will be stored fat instead of what you recently ate.
I also exercise, of course, to get rid of the fat I've been storing for too long. In nearly 3 months of diet and exercise (I do some at-home workout videos that I love), I have lost 35 lbs., 9" off my waist, and my body fat has dropped from 29.5% to 19.5%. But this also means that you have to know about what energy you're giving yourself each day.
Calories. Yes, I count my calories--in a fuzzy way. I've learned about how much food (and there is a wealth of literary resources out there that will explain the details of this to you) equates to my required caloric input for the day. If you don't know how many calories your own body needs, do this:
1. Multiply your current body weight times 10. This gives you the amount of calories your body needs to sustain itself for the day without factoring in activity.
2. Add another 100-700 calories per day depending on how active your job/school day is (if you sit in a cubicle all day, keep it low; if your work entails tons of manual labor, bump it up).
3. On top of this number, add another 300-600 calories for whatever additional workout you do in the day.
But wait...that's a recipe to MATCH your daily energy output with your caloric input, isn't it? And if you're overweight, that rule of less in, more out, has merit...so you'd want to be a little LOWER than your daily energy requirements, right? Well, then yes, subtract a few hundred calories each day to burn off some excess fat each day. By now, you may be thinking, "But if I just eat less to burn off what's stored, then why not just eat nothing at all and run off of pure stored energy?"
The problem here is that our bodies are evolved to react to how life was for our species 50,000 years ago. If the body suddenly realizes that there is no more food coming in, it will go into a protective mode, thinking that there may be a famine of some sort going on in that wild, woolly land out there, which means it will be slower to burn off the stored energy, preserving it for however long this unknown famine may last. So you need calories in your body each day, but you need a calorie deficit that isn't so great that your body goes into starvation mode. A healthy deficit is usually anywhere from 100-500 calories a day LESS than the amount of energy your body uses daily.
One last thing you may want to consider is L-Carnitine. This is a fat-burner that can be found both naturally and in supplement form. The best natural source of L-Carnitine is found in red meats, such as beef, sheep, and lamb...but remember, you'd be wanting lean proteins, so it'd have to be 10% fat or less of your beef, such as lean ground beef or top sirloin. Since this natural source can get expensive (and since not everyone likes to eat these foods, for one reason or another), you could opt for the supplement form, such as a daily pill. Why L-Carnitine instead of other fat-burning supplements, though? Because of how it approaches fat-burning. I'll allow a friend of mine--a coach and a rowing champion--to explain it (this taken from a fitness forum I frequent):
Quote:
If you have taken cell biology you'd remember mitochondria, powerhouse in the cells. These take the food and burn them and produce energy. However, the fats (like cellulite) don't move fast. Why? Because they need an excessive threshold energy to burn. Try to burn wood--easy; burn coal, it'll take time as coal has higher a threshold requirement. L-Carnitine works as a catalyst to decrease the threshold of fat, so that fat can be burned in the mitochondria.
Most people don't know about this product. They just know the "FAT BURNERS" simply due to marketing ads. Actually, fat burners mostly try to block or burn the fat during the initial intake, try to activate the digestion system more efficiently. Well, I think that's not smart for me, as I can cut down my fat intake by dieting. I wanted to hit the stored fat. So I spent my money on L-Carnitine and increased the quality of the workout by making use of energy hidden in my stored fat.
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