Weight Loss Foods

So what weight loss foods does Bill (the imaginary but so-typical overweight male you met in Weight Loss Article 4) use to maintain his weight loss progress?

I knew you'd be curious, so here's a snapshot of what Bill is eating as part of his weight loss program.

The right mix of foodstuffs is what Bill needs to fire up his metabolism and burn that body fat – but what should that be?

The Bit Bill Didn't Want To Hear

As usual, it hit him pretty hard when Bill decided that he'd need to avoid his favourite fast-food haunts. They'd become part of his routine and like any habit would be hard to kick.

He's serious about this, though, so he drives a detour on his commute to and from work, just so he doesn’t have to pass by that burger joint. They don't, he knows from bitter experience, sell anything that could be described as 'weight loss foods'.

Even worse, Bill was going to have to quit those sodas and colas. If anything, he was more addicted to those than to the burgers.

He weaned himself off them over a month, first by switching to diet brands, and then reducing them to one a day. After a couple of months, he decided he'd feel better with no sodas in the house, so his wife, Jill, stopped buying them.

But the main change was to Bill's eating routine. He'd been in the habit of skipping breakfast – just a black coffee with sugar, then out the door and into the SUV. Later, he'd catch something from a café mid-morning (if he remembered). There was often a lengthy business lunch with a client to negotitate.

And if he was going to be late home, he'd stop by and grab some fast food on the way. Some days, he’d only manage two meals.

But Bill's new routine sees him eating 6 times a day! That's the great thing about weight loss foods - you don't need to stint yourself.

He gets out of bed early enough to have a proper breakfast, with carbs and protein. Mid-morning, he has some protein with his decaffeinated coffee.

Lunch is whatever Jill has packed for him. He has discovered he likes rice, beans and lean chicken. When he lunches a client he'll either order something healthy, or else he eats at the office first and then just shoves some unhealthy food around his plate to keep the others company. It's a waste, but it takes time to convince others that you're changing!

His afternoon snack might be some fruit and a piece of cheese.

If he is working late, he'll have taken along another meal prepared with one of his favorite weight loss foods, so he won't be tempted by those burger haunts.

His evening snack could be some salad and lean protein or maybe a whey protein drink.

The Good News

To his surprise, Bill finds this routine much less stressful than his previous weight loss attempts. For one thing, he's discovered that he rarely feels hungry. That's what had always killed his previous diet attempts – the ever-present desire to eat and the fluctuating willpower to deny the urge!

Instead of fighting his natural inclinations, Bill now controls them by planning. He doesn’t avoid his favourite foods all the time. Once a week, he has a meal that keeps things on track. If he has a ‘lapse’ meal to look forward to, he finds that he can manage quite easily for the rest of the week with the new way of eating. Plus, he allows himself another day per week where he eats his maintenance calories (or a few more) using mainly his menu of weight loss foods. That means he really ‘diets’ only 5 days a week.

That’s so much more ‘do-able’ than his old starve-for-weeks-on-end approach. And he’s happy with the results, too. Bill weighs himself once a week, just to get a snapshot of his progress. But the loosening waistbands of his pants tell him the real story every morning when he dresses.

Bill’s Weight Loss Foods

He’s replaced his old, destructive routine with another, body-friendlier one. At first, Bill found it difficult to fit in eating six times a day. But, as with anything else, it soon became second nature, especially when he realised the weight loss foods routine was working so well. Now, it’s a rarity for him to feel hungry. In addition, he never feels ‘bagged’, because he never eats one of those huge, catch-up meals that he used to wade his way through after skipping meals.

Eating less but more often is an easy habit to acquire. Here’s a typical day in Bill’s 'weight loss foods diet' week

Breakfast:

Cereal with skim milk.

No sugary types are allowed, just the whole grain variety, of which there are many nowadays.

Toast and savoury spread.

Wholemeal bread with a teaspoonful of one of the choice of spreads he likes best.

Black coffee

No sugar in this drink. He finds the caffeine gives him a morning boost without the need for a sugar rush. If he didn’t already like black coffee he’d have switched from full cream milk to semi-skimmed or skimmed variety.

Snack

Protein bar and piece of fruit, with a sliver of hard cheese.

Lunch

Vegetable bouillon with diced, spiced chicken.

Prepared by Jill, who’s very supportive and helps prepare his weight loss foods. Bill heats his meals using the microwave oven in the kitchen area at his office.

Snack

Protein bar or tuna and wholemeal bread sandwich.

Dinner

Fish in low calorie sauce on a bed of brown rice. Vegetables of choice.

Snack

2 low-salt crackers with mushroom pate. Whey protein drink mixed in water.

The last meal of the day is a lightweight affair. It’s about 10% of Bill’s calorie allowance for the day. He generally avoids complex carbohydrates during the evening but makes sure he gets some protein to last him through the night

He eats at least 90 minutes before he goes to bed, so he doesn’t feel any discomfort.

But weight loss foods doesn't always mean self-denial. Bill saves the red meat for one of his ‘lapse’ meals. Some Saturdays he even awards himself a burger. It’s one that Jill has prepared, though – and it’s grilled, with any excess fat absorbed with kitchen tissue. With all the trimmings like lettuce and tomato (but no bacon or mayonnaise) it’s still one of his favourite tuck-ins. Usually, it’s the one time in a week that he allows himself anything but wholegrain bread.

Bill thinks he might even enjoy his burger more, now that it’s a reward for a conscientious weight loss foods week and not just a form of reflex eating.

He’s avoiding beer while he drops the body fat, but allows himself a couple of glasses of wine with dinner at weekends.

He and Jill have found it easy enough to ring the changes with his meals, so that the variety doesn’t leave Bill feeling stranded in a world of boring, repetitive diet menus. And there are the weekends to anticipate, when he can indulge in some of the foods he’s been denying himself and eat a few more calories too.

Weight Loss Foods

What’s the difference? If you asked him, Bill would probably tell you that he feels better, now that he eats mainly wholefoods, vegetables and lean protein. In reality he’s pretty much undergone a self-administered ‘detox’. No wonder he now feels great all the time.

All in all, Bill copes better than when he’d previously tried drastic dieting in order to shed some weight. There are no cravings, he doesn’t feel hungry, and he’s getting plenty of good, solid food in his belly. Best of all, his profile in the mirror is fast approaching the shape he wants it to be!

With his new choice of weight loss foods, he knows he can see it through. In fact, he feels so good about things that he knows he can keep that weight off this time.

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