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Go Green For Weight Loss

Go Green For Weight Loss

What’s inside?

  • Negative effects of fad diets on your health and weight loss
  • Say no to preservatives food
  • Lifestyle change with more consumption of green products
  • Including fruit in your diet
  • Including home cooked vegetables in your diet routine for weight loss

Here is a truth universally known, but sadly unacknowledged – fad diets come and go, and have no lasting impact on the body. Several researches and medical practitioners have repeatedly stated that any diet (yes, even that diet your fit friend swears by) only helps in removing 5-10 percent of your weight, which can also come back very quickly when the diet is stopped.

In fact, extreme diets can have a negative impact on the body that is far more long-term than any weight loss. Deficiencies, fatigue, cardiovascular problems and even increased stress and anxiety are all problems that can accompany your quest for weight loss. Does that mean that we should give up trying to control our weight?

Absolutely not. Health and weight have a complex relationship, and being thinner does not always mean being healthier. In general however, weight loss, especially for those who are overweight or have medical conditions, can help them lead a better and healthier life. But if diet is not the answer, what is? 

The answer lies in food, but rather than the style of consumption, the type of consumption matters. You see, better health and weight loss begins with a lifestyle change, and this change should involve the consumption of more green products. 

Processed foods are very, very tempting – they are so easy to cook and so tasty. In the long run however, these processed foods will do more harm than good. That fulfilling feeling comes at the cost of preservatives, high sodium, sugar and fat content, and low nutrient count. When was the last time you checked the ingredients on the packet or can? You may be surprised to realize that you know nothing about what is going into your body. 

Eating processed food occasionally and in moderation is absolutely fine, but for true, sustainable weight loss, it is critical that you fill your diet with fruits and vegetables. 

Yes, a green plate can lead to a leaner weight. Take fruits. Packed with high fibre and water, many fruits are naturally fulfilling and tasty. They can help stomp out your sugar cravings – just substitute a chocolate bar for a plate of strawberries or grapes and see how your guilt and heavy-feeling stomach goes down and your satisfaction goes up. Fruits do contain fats and sugar, but these are in a much lower amount than processed food, and can be broken down by the body easily. Alongside, fruits present a number of health benefits, such as a lowered risk of cancer, diabetes, and blood pressure.

Most importantly, fruits have low calorie density. Weight loss ultimately depends upon spending more calories than you eat; but you don’t need to starve yourself to create this deficit. Fruits tend to be filling due to their fibre and water content but low on calories, meaning that you can get a full stomach without overconsuming energy.

Similarly, vegetables are also crucial for weight loss. Eating home-cooked vegetables mean you skip out on the processed ordered food, and thus consume less oil, fats, and sugar. Many vegetables have a low calorie density while being packed with nutrients and other powerhouses like antioxidants, giving you twice the benefit. 

Obesity has many causes apart from simple overeating. One critical cause that may miss is the role of nutrients. Many studies have shown that today’s consumption lifestyle has lead to the creation of a strange new class of people, who are both undernourished and obsese. And these two conditions are directly connected to each other, caused due to the high consumption of ‘naked calories’, or high calorie foods with no nutrient count. Then there are the people whose obesity stems from the commonly understood problem of that they eat too much nutrients, which gets stored in their bodies as fat.

In both cases, fruits and vegetables can mitigate the problem. Built by nature, these have nutrients and fibre aplenty which leads to both a full stomach and the provision of the nutrients required by the body. Thus, obese people with deficiences who switch to these green options eat less and are fulfilled more, leading to weight contol. And those who have excess nutrients now get supplemented by fibre and water content of these options, leading to a better and more balanced consumption.

Thus, it is clear that a greener lifestyle can become a healthier one. But as working people or students, you may find the switch from easy processed food to a green lifestyle a little hard. However, that does not mean it is not achievable. Make a point to have breakfast everyday, and introduce fruits into it – apples are in fact known to help wake up the body better than coffee. A bowl of oats of cereal with fruit in it can satiate you for long and help kickstart an active day. Cut vegetables whenever you have time, and make salads. Adding a portion of vegetables into your staples such as rice can also help introduce these to your palette. Carrying a whole orange or some cut sticks of carrots gives you a great portable snack you can have anywhere. Keep a variety of colors of fruits and vegetables in your diet, as not only do different colors have different benefits, they have varied tastes as well.

Once you start to see the difference in your energy levels and weight, you will be motivated to switch out even more items for these greens. 

To begin the path to a greener you today, and you will find a healthier, leaner you.

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