When I was younger, it was hypothesized that I had a rapid metabolism, much higher than average, which is why I was always extremely underweight. I'll never know if that was the truth or not, and part of me finds it hard to believe as my height was affected as well. Neither here nor there, I do not have that "issue" anymore. Like all aging individuals gravity takes its toll and our metabolisms slow. Fortunately, there are several things we can do to help combat these changes to avoid drastic weight increases.
My first rule was to decrease my portion size. It was the most obvious, simplest, and laziest way I could cut out extra calories and shed some pounds. My thinking was "I'll eat what I want, when I want, but just less of it". And honestly, this paid off in a big way, particularly when dining out. I would literally cut my portion in half, because let's be honest, restaurants give us WAY too much food for a sitting. I would eat half and take the other half home. This allowed to me enjoy the meal twice, save a little money, and cut down on calories. Simple.
However, portion control only got me so far. I started really looking at what I was eating and journaling it. So my next step was to limit, if not cut out, empty calories. At first I thought empty calories were foods/beverages that lacked nutritional value, which is true, but not the whole story. Actually they don't just lack nutritional value, but they don't require much energy to consume either, meaning you're not burning many calories digesting it. My biggest culprit for empty calories was Mountain Dew. I've been a pure Dewhead since middle school and drank it morning, noon, and night. In fact, to prove my point I will attach a picture I took while in college where me and my 2 roomies consumed in excess of 100 2 liters in approximately 3 weeks. How it didn't show in my waistline is beyond me, but it didn't. Unfortunately, despite my reduction in Mountain Dew drinking to 2 cans per day, I was still consuming 340 empty calories. Not to mention, when I wasn't drinking Mountain Dew I was drinking sweet tea which was probably worse.
Now I limit my soda drinking to as little as humanly possible and only drink unsweet tea with Sweet-n-Low. I probably gained at least 1 meal and 1 snack by doing that. Also, I do not eat things like ice cream, but instead maybe frozen yogurt or gelato, if I'm craving a cold, sweet snack on a hot day. Again, switching most condiments to low or reduced fat goes a long way particularly for salad dressings which can have an exorbitant amount of calories. I would like to point out that not all things low-fat are even worth it, for instance sour cream. There is only a 10 calorie difference per serving and since I cook with it as well, I use full fat, so check your labels before making the sacrifice!
Moving to the third food related change I made (barring exercise), I discovered "Negative Calories Foods". Of course, there are no foods that truly bear no calories, however as previously mentioned, it requires energy to digest food and extract nutrients. I have found there is a pretty decent sized list of fruits and vegetables which have less calories in them than it requires to break down meaning when all is said and done you actually used up more calories than you ate, which is necessary for weight loss.
Each person has a metabolic rate, a number of calories needed to exist at whatever activity level they operate at. Mine is a little over 1350 calories which means as long as I eat 1350 calories or less I will maintain or lose weight. Now if I add exercise on top of negative calorie foods, I can actually consume more calories or greatly increase my weight loss numbers. Currently I eat approximately 1350 per day, or at least that is what Myfitnesspal is set to, although I do try to eat a little more on days I work out.
So to give you some examples of my favorite negative calories foods: Apples, pineapples, asparagus, most berries, citrus, garlic, spinach, lettuce, onions, mangoes, carrots, and celery. Part of the reason these are negative calorie foods is that they don't have many calories to begin with. Secondly, they are nutrient rich and dense which requires a good amount of effort for our bodies. It's right up there with drinking extremely cold water as opposed to room temperature water, because your body uses energy to warm up the water, another weight loss trick. The one thing to be careful with in regards to negative calorie foods is still pay attention to serving sizes. It is possible to eat too much of it and lose it's weight loss qualities.
Of course there are also foods that when eaten actually BOOST your metabolism as well! I can't stress the importance that eating breakfast has had on me because it kicks my metabolism in high gear first thing in the morning. No breakfast = sluggish start to the day = no bueno.
I'm attaching a list of metabolism boosting foods, however I would like to particularly point out a few: cinnamon, garlic, water, and yogurt. These I can attest to. You'll notice several on this list include the negative calorie foods.
- Cocoa
- Water
- Blueberries
- Flax
- Sweet potato
- Avocado
- Tomato
- Yogurt
- Cinnamon
- Garlic
- Beans
- Almonds
- Apples
- Egg whites/Beaters
- Soybean
- Lemon
- Ginger
- Brussel sprouts
- Spinach
- Olive oil
- Oats
- Fish
- Cottage cheese
- Chick peas
- Lima beans
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