Who cannot accomplish healthy and long-term weight loss overnight? To attain the figure you desire, you need to adopt a regular exercise regime and be careful about what you eat. However, it is a myth that you can only lose weight if you replace all your favorite meals with bland portions of leafy greens. If you do some research, you will find that many of the most delicious foods have healthier substitutes that taste almost as good.
Making these substitutions can help you work towards developing a trimmer waistline. Read on to discover nine easy diet modifications that prove weight loss is perfectly compatible with enjoying your food.
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#1. Use reduced-fat cheese
If you have not yet tasted reduced-fat cheese, you may have assumed that it has a rubbery texture and a weak flavor. Indeed, research has shown that even cheese lovers cannot reliably tell whether they are eating full-fat or reduced-fat cheese. However, many of the most popular types of cheese are now available in reduced-fat forms, and these tend to be surprisingly flavorful. Adding this healthier cheese to your sandwiches or baked potatoes can help you shed pounds thanks to the reduction in calories and fat.
#2. Eat wholegrain foods for breakfast
A wholegrain breakfast with some added fruit is the perfect way to start your day. For one thing, eating whole grains helps to keep you feeling fuller for longer, aiding your attempts to lose weight by reducing your urge to snack between meals. One famous research project at Harvard found that participants who consumed the greatest amount of whole grains were an impressive 50% less likely to become overweight during a decade. In addition, people who eat porridge (or another form of wholegrain breakfast) are less likely to gain unwanted weight and more likely to lose weight at a faster rate.
#3. Opt for healthier coffees
If you love the distinctive taste of coffee made by your favorite coffee house, you do not have to give this up while trying to lose weight. Almost all such places market skinny coffees specially made with fat-free milk and without any added sugar. Many of these coffees taste almost as good as their full-fat cousins. The next time you go for coffee, ask your server to tell you about the healthiest items on the menu.
#4. Make a gradual transition to fat-free milk
Moving directly from whole milk to fat-free milk tends to be difficult, as fat-free milk is much less creamy, and you may notice a huge difference when you pour it into your coffee cup or cereal bowl. The trick is to move from whole milk to reduced-fat milk and then to fat-free milk. While reduced-fat milk is certainly healthier than whole milk, you may be surprised to learn that just a cup still contains more than 120 calories and that its saturated fat content is just 50% less than the amount found in a cup of whole milk. In contrast, fat-free milk contains just 85 calories per serving, and the lack of saturated fat will be extremely helpful to your attempts to lose weight.
#5. Replace refined grains with whole grains
You can lose weight while eating pasta, bread, and rice, but you need to focus on buying the wholegrain versions of these products. Wholegrain pasta, bread, and rice are brown instead of white. A wide range of studies shows that people who eat wholegrain foods are less likely to become obese and more likely to stay in shape after losing weight.
#6. Make muesli instead of buying it
Although muesli is healthier than many bowls of cereal that contain large amounts of chocolate, that does not mean that eating muesli every day will help you lose weight. Indeed, one serving may contain up to 500 calories, and many of the dried fruits added to it can make the sugar content surprisingly high. If you want to lose weight while still enjoying muesli, make your own using raisins, oats, and a cup of fat-free milk.
Although losing large amounts of weight will require sustained changes in diet and lifestyle, these easy diet modifications will certainly help you shed some extra pounds.