Millions of Americans are overweight and every year, billions of dollars are spent on special diet foods that are supposed to help people lose weight.
Is all of this really necessary, or is there a better, less expensive way to lose weight and keep it off? It is not necessary to buy diet foods.
In fact, many foods that are supposed to be diet foods are actually not all that good for you, because they do not contain all of the nutrients you need to be healthy.
And no matter how much weight you lose and how thin you are, you will not look good if you don't feel good, and you need lots of healthy foods in your diet in order to feel good.
There are all kinds of delicious, fresh foods that are much better for diets than so-called diet food and they taste a lot better too.
If you are eating these healthy foods, you will have a much larger selection to choose from than the foods that are in the diet food aisle at your local supermarket.
If you are looking to lose weight, the best diet food is not diet food at all.
All you need to do is learn about healthy eating, and then create a diet plan that is going to work for you.
Technically, there really is no such thing as diet food.
There is just good, healthy food that is excellent for weight loss diets.
Ask a Nutritionist About Healthy Eating If you have decided that it is time for you to start eating healthy, both to lose weight and to feel better, you may need a bit of help getting on the right track.
The best thing to do is to consult a nutritionist or dietitian for help.
They know all about healthy eating and will work with you to create a diet plan that will not only help you lose weight and feel good, but one that you can actually enjoy.
Avoid Fad Diets If you are trying to lose weight, you have probably tried a number of diets over the years, like millions of other people.
And you have probably found that with most of these diets, you rarely lose any significant amount of weight and you are always hungry.
One should never have to go hungry just to lose a few pounds.
In fact, not eating enough, especially not enough healthy foods, can cause some really serious health problems, such as heart disease and hypertension (high blood pressure).
Instead of using one of the fad diets, why not try this instead: eat a diet that is made up of 50% good carbohydrates, 15% good fats, and 35% proteins.
Depending on whether or not you have any health issues that require you to get more or less of these macronutrients, this is a great diet for just about anyone, including people who are looking to lose weight.
Never Go Hungry Again While Dieting Have you ever noticed that with most diets, you end up feeling hungry and unsatisfied most of the time? This is because many diets do not have enough protein foods in them.
Protein is not only a natural source of energy, it is also a macronutrient that helps you to feel fuller, without needing to eat as much.
This is great for dieters who are looking to lose weight, but want to make sure that they are eating diet food.
When you eat foods that are high in protein, you are not going to be hungry again a few minutes later.
And you are going to feel more energetic, which is why many people use protein supplements before working out.
Some of the filling protein foods you can add to your weight loss diet include: lean red meat, most kinds of fish (including some shellfish like clams), all types of beans (especially soy, which is a complete protein), low or non-fat dairy products, tofu, nuts and seeds, whole grains, and even peanut butter (and who doesn't like peanut butter?).
You Need Carbs and Fat, Too Although this goes against everything that is being said about dieting nowadays, it is important to have fats and carbohydrates in a healthy diet.
But there are certain types of fats and carbohydrates to eat, and some that should be avoided.
When it comes to carbohydrates, we need to have complex carbohydrates, which can come from such sources as brown rice, whole grains, beans of all kinds, apples, oranges, grapes, lettuce, tomatoes, and a whole lot more.
Try to avoid prepared foods that are loaded with simple carbohydrates, which come from sugars, white breads, and other sources that are not very good for you.
The fats we need in our diets are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
The fats to avoid are saturated or trans fats, which are what you will find in a lot of the junk food that we all love so much.
Good fats can come from many great-tasting healthy dietary sources, including fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, scallops and more.
Other healthy choices for good fats include nuts, flax seeds, extra-virgin olive oil and peanut butter.
With all of these delicious foods to choose from, you are never going to be left feeling unsatisfied or hungry following your meals, and you will have an easier time losing your excess weight.
Are Supplements Good for a Healthy Diet? Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, it is just not possible for us to get all of the nutrients we need from our diets.
We are often too busy to cook and eat healthy meals and often are eating on the go, which is never good because it is just too easy to grab unhealthy takeout food.
When you are not getting enough of the right nutrients from our diets, it may be necessary to use dietary supplements.
Of course, this is something you should definitely discuss with a physician before actually going out and doing it, because if you have any health conditions that require you to eat certain foods, your physician will be able to help you create a healthy diet plan.
A lot of physicians recommend that their patients on diets use protein supplements, because some diets just don't provide enough.