Effective ways to lose weight and get it under control!

1) Eat the right kinds of carbohydrates to achieve a better blood sugar balance. This means selecting foods that have little effect on raising blood sugar levels, such as fresh vegetables, beans, lentils, whole grains and fish. You should also avoid refined foods, fruit juices and other sugary sweet foods. The best single measure of a foods effect on your blood sugar and weight is the GL of a food. Try to limit your carbohydrate intake to no more than 40 GL points per day. For more information, check out http://www.glycemicindex.com/

2) Fiber helps to reduce blood sugar surges. For snacks, eat oats or rice bran crackers with nut butter or low fat cheese. Legumes, root vegetables, and whole grains are also good. Remember to control your complex carbohydrate intake. Other foods that help normalize blood sugar includes berries, brewers yeast, low-fat dairy products, egg yolks, fish, garlic, kelp, soybeans, vegetables and spirulina. Fiber also helps to improves glucose metabolism, lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and promotes weight loss.

3) Eat only low GL carbohydrates and eat them with protein rich foods. This reduces hunger as well as your tendency to store fat. This means eating chicken with rice, beans with rice, etc.

4) Increase the amount of essential fats you eat, but keep down your saturated-fat intake. The right amount of essential fats actually helps your body burn fat. One of the greatest myths regarding weight control is that “a calorie is a calorie”. This is false. A calorie of saturated fat has a very different outcome from a calorie of an essential fat that is used by the brain immune system, skin, hormone system and cardiovascular system. Omega-3 essential fats, principally from fish and flaxseeds counteract some of the negative effects of insulin resistance. Dieting strategies that incorporate significant amounts of omega-3 fats help promote weight loss. This means eating a 4 oz serving of fish three times a week and a tablespoon of flaxseed a day. You could also supplement Omega-3 fats daily. You should reduce your intake of high-fat dairy products and red meat.

5) Cut down on stimulants such as coffee, tea, chocolate, alcohol and cigarettes. Sugar and refined carbohydrates aren’t the only substances that disturb blood sugar control. Stimulants affect both energy and weight control. This means minimizing alcohol and caffeine intake.

6) Eat three meals a day, especially breakfast and along couple of snack meals. Snacks are a big no-no on many diets that try to curb people’s eating patterns by focusing on consuming fewer calories. Yet, one of the most effective ways to stabilize blood sugar and control weight and appetite is to eat the right kind of foods little and often. The easiest way keep you blood sugar level is to have three meals a day, never miss breakfast, and have a mid-morning and mid-afternoon fruit snack with some almonds or lean protein. It shouldn’t be just any fruit. Apples, pears and berries have a much lower glycemic load than other fruit, and, if you eat them with a portion of almonds, your blood sugar won’t spike.

Keeping your blood sugar balanced is probably the most important factor in maintaining even energy levels and weight control. The level of glucose in your blood determines your appetite. When the levels drop, you feel hungry. The glucose in your bloodstream is available to your cells to make energy. When levels are too high, the body converts excess glycogen (a short term fuel store mainly in liver and muscle cells) or fat, to our long term energy reserve. When blood glucose levels are too low, we can experience symptoms including fatigue, headaches, poor concentration, irritability, nervousness, depression, sweating, and digestive problems. It is estimated that three in every ten people have an impaired ability to keep their blood sugar levels even. They may go too high, and then drop too low. The result, over the years, is that people become increasingly overweight and lethargic. But if you can control your blood sugar levels, the result is even weight and constant energy.

Holford, Patrick. The New Optimum Nutrition Bible. 2005. Crossing Press, Berkeley, CA
Balch, Phyllis A. CNC. Prescription for Nutritional Healing. 2006. Penguin Books, New York, NY