Dr. Wayne Andersen is back with his third guest blog for July. Dr. Andersen is the medical director for Medifast and the author of the soon-to-publish Habits of Health (watch for that interview in August!). While you can catch Dr. Andersen here at DietsInReview.com through the month of July, you can keep up with him regularly at his site, DrWayneAndersen.com.
The first thing to keep in mind is that it all starts with controlling the energy inside the equation. You must control your calorie intake and be cognizant of the calories you are consuming. Low calorie foods with high levels of nutritional value allow you to eat every three hours. Eating regularly like this keeps the rate of your metabolism going; therefore, your body burns the calories you put into it more efficiently. Eating low-calorie, low-fat foods that are high in vitamins and minerals also gives you more control when determining your food portions. If the foods are low in calorie, then you can eat more, but that also means that if the foods you eat are high in calorie, you must exercise portion control to eat less of them.
The second tip I have for you is to control the type of calories you put in your body. One choice in life that we have the most control over is that, and we can decide what we put in our mouths. You decide what you are going to eat. You can learn to pick foods that are healthy, but simple. And I am confident you will soon learn to enjoy eating these healthier foods.
Eat a diversity of foods that are nutrient dense, but not energy dense. What I mean by this is that they are low in calories (energy) but high in healthy nutrients. For example, a cheeseburger, fries and fudge sundae is high in energy, but very low in nutrients. Low glycemic, nutrient dense foods fill you up, allow you to eat a lot, but are not energy dense. Instead eat something that is high in nutrients, but low in energy or calories.
The third and final tip I have for you is that in order to support a healthy weight you must follow a system that supports your daily choices. Eating healthy is easy to do in theory, but our daily lifestyle can make it difficult. Because of this you must keep these healthy eating habits in mind every time you are hungry or sit down to eat something. You must follow them at every meal to get real results… not just every once in a while.
Catch Dr. Andersen’s other featured Guest Blogs:
The Pros of Portion Controlled Meal Replacements