What To Eat To Lose Weight

Hi, I am Dustin Melvin. Eating healthy and exerciseing is a big part of my life. I personally train people as a side job including develop meal plans for people. Everyone i have helped has returned for more training and always asks for more meal plans. You may have read my article "Fighting The Fat" : http://hubpages.com/hub/fightingthefat. In any case I am writing this article to teach you what to eat, how much of it, and when to eat it to lose weight. This article is for both men and women of all shapes and sizes. One key thing about this article will teach you how to lose fat, not just weight. This means instead of just getting thin, women get sleak and toned and men get ripped and glorious.

Well lets start with what not to eat. You should shy away from dairy and wheat. The only time you should be having milk in your diet is in the morning and not much of it. Dairy naturally adds weight on to you. The reason i say drinking milk in the morning is the best and only time to drink milk (and that means skim milk) is because you have something called glycogen levels. Milk and other sugary substances (even fruits) will raise your glycogen levels and if you want to lose weight you need to keep it under control. For this very same reason i am going to give you the first diet recommendation. This is for anyone that uses protein powder (men and women). Mix 1 cup of skim milk with 1 cup of frozen berries and a scoop and a half of protein powder. This is perfect for waking up in the morning, it brings your glycogen levels up to normal without spiking them and your well on your way to start of your day. For those that don't use protein powder I have my two favorite egg recipes: scramble 1 cup of egg whites with about 4 ounces of chicken breast (the maple leaf cans of chicken breast are 4 ounces) and sprinkle some low fat cheese over top. Add a small glass of 100% juice (i recommend mango) and you got yourself a breakfast suited for a king. My last morning recommendation is a veggie omelet. Take a cup of egg whites and cook it in a skillet until the bottom is solid enough to get underneath it to fold it over with a spatula. before you flip it throw in some chopped green onion, chopped tomato, and some sliced mushrooms, sprinkle some low fat cheese on to it and then fold it in half, give it about 30 seconds and serve. grab a small glass of freshly squeezed juice for this recipe as well to level out those glycogen levels.

You must have noticed a lot of protein in the above meals. That is because during weight loss you want at least 60% of your diet to consist of protein. When it comes to fats you want only the healthy fats. CLA's, MCT's, Omega 3, 6, and 9, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. Now that may all sound like gibberish, but just stay away from trans and saturated fats. For instance instead of greasing a pan with butter, use canola oil. about 15% of your diet should consist of fat, and 25% of carbs. Carbs include fiber, sugar, starches, etc. Just because a quarter of your diet is carbs doesn't mean you can have a chocolate every day though. You need to eat for both health and weight loss if you want to really see results.

You should also be eating 5 times per day. Each meal should be spaced 3 hours apart from each other. This is the perfect time to stay "anabolic" instead of "catabolic". In simpler terms i mean you stay burning fat and maintaining muscle instead of maintaining fat and burning muscle. Now i know 5 meals may sound like a lot but eating less is not the key to losing weight. There is much more to it than just macro nutrients (fats, carbs, and proteins) and calories. Metabolism and proper micro nutrients are also vital. The 5 meals will be spaced like this: Breakfast, light snack, lunch, light snack, supper. Now judging by your schedule you may have to fluctuate eating by eating 2 or 2 and a half hours between on certain meals but that is ok but keep the 2-4 hour rule. Don't go longer than four or less than two hours between meals.

Now your first light snack should be all about protein. I mean things like chicken or tuna or turkey. Four ounces of those low fat, no carb foods would do fine and hold you up untill lunch. Lunch is where you get to eat some carbs along with your proteins. If you don't do much exercise you may want to stick to a salad, but if you do exercise i reccomend a wrap. Now for a salad you want about 2-3 cups of spinach or romaine lettuce (not iceberg) with about a cup to a cup and a half of mixed veggies (peppers, cucumber, tomato, green onion, etc) and a couple ounces of either garlic or avocado, or both if your feeling adventurous. With this salad you can throw in six ounces of wither chicken, turkey, sirloin tip steak, or low fat ham, or mix. I love mixing chicken and ham and having nice chef salad. You can use the same ingredients of the salad in a wrap if you do exercise often. Another great lunch is to have a stir fry. Just get out the skillet, about 2 to 3 cups of mixed veggies (peppers, shallots, tomato, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, garlic) and about 4-6 ounces of either chicken, turkey, top sirloin steak, or if your feeling like a seafood twist throw in some shrimp. Cook that up with light ammounts of canola oil and you have yourself my favorite lunch.

For your second snack it is starting to get later in the day. That means the carbs come down to a minimum. This is why we had carbs at breakfast and lunch. Carbs will add serious weight on you if you eat it late in the day when your metabolism has gone down. This is the time for healthy fats. For your second snack it is all about the nuts. I recommend having either cashews or almonds (especially almonds) and to eat 20 of them. Nuts are very concentrated. Now you need to get these as natural as possible, you want just nuts, not roasted, not salted.

A quick thing about water weight. Water weight comes from having to much salt in your diet. Salt stores water in your body and will make you gain serious weight. You can lose this water weight simply by drinking plenty of water consistently through out the day and keeping sodium levels to a minimum.

Now for the last meal of the day. Now is the time for protein and fats. That means I want you to eat fish. Salmon, haddock, swordfish, all of those are high in protein and healthy fats. Cook that up with some mixed veggies on the side and you got yourself a delicious ending to a great day. Now if you are not a big fish eater i recommend having more chicken here or even turkey. These allow you to substitute the fish. Now when it comes to how much meat you want to eat in this meal i would say that six to eight ounces would suffice. When it comes to the veggies a cup to a cup and a half. I recommend all greens here. You want broccoli, or green beans, or snap pees, you could even mix in some green pepper if you like some variety.

With the foods i presented to you today you have selection. Mix it up and try new things. Use those meals exactly as i gave them or try playing around with other healthy foods that fall under the same category. Throw in some low fat ham instead of chicken once in a while, scramble your eggs one day and make an omelet the next. One thing that everyone needs to know is that protein powder is not something used to get bigger and it is definitely not steroids. Protein is a supplement, not a stimulant. By this i mean if your shying away from protein then i you should be shying away from chicken, and turkey, and tuna, and ham, and all other sources of protein. What protein powder does is allow you to have a concentrated source of protein in your diet so that your not always making eggs and chicken. It also gives you the proper amino acid levels to aid in repairing your body from physical stress.

In all of my articles i like to leave a little life lesson or motivational message. Today i leave you with this. Things change, and you will always have obstacles in your way. Life is full of trials and tribulations and things that will hold you back from your goals and dreams, but there will always be one constant in your life that you must put all of your trust and faith into. That one constant is you.