Obesity, in the last few decades, has emerged as a global epidemic. Sedentary lifestyle, busy schedules, unhealthy food habits and intense competition at workplaces; all just contribute to obesity. Moreover, these factors make it difficult for a person to take necessary steps to overcome this problem.
A menace to our health and wellbeing, obesity is a gateway to serious conditions like diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases. Thus, it is really important to manage it before being preyed upon by such grave conditions.
While physical activity in the form of exercise and aerobics are beneficial to fight obesity. Moreover, yoga helps in weight loss. And switching to a better diet plan can do wonders in effectively managing obesity.
Some of the food items that you should include in your daily diet plan for weight loss are discussed below:
Breakfast
You can give a healthy start to the day with the following items:
- Oatmeal with fresh fruits: By switching to oatmeals, you will consume approximately 100 calories less than a typical breakfast. Vitamins present in fruits can help by increasing your metabolism. On the other hand, oats slow down the digestion process, making you feel full for a longer duration.
- Tea or coffee: Make sure to use soy-milk and add a sugar substitute, such as artificial sweeteners instead of the regular one.
- Egg white omelet: The main thing to keep in mind is to avoid egg yolk. Garnish your egg white omelet with grilled veggies, such as bell pepper, broccoli and mushrooms. You can use non-fat ricotta cheese as well.
- Hash browns: Add all the veggies of your choice to a non-stick skillet and fry with little oil; preferably olive.
- Bowl of fresh blueberries (remember not to add sugar)
- Hot cocoa
- Hot cereal with blueberries: Include cereals like oatmeal, barley and cracked wheat.
- Whole grain cereal with blueberries
- Tuna Sandwich
Use Whole wheat bread. No-fat, No-sugar Cream, Chopped baby spinach, peppery arugula.
Mid-Morning Snacks
Consume these only if you are hungry. What all you can have as mid-morning snacks are listed below:
- Veggie-Salsa Tortilla: This is basically steamed corn tortilla with grilled vegetables like green bell peppers, onions and tomatoes. Do not add salt. Simply, microwave the tortilla for about a minute and then add veggies.
Veggie-salsa tortilla helps increase the metabolism and decrease the fat deposits inside the body. Limited consumption of salt improves heart’s health. - Handful of Grapes: Fruits are a great source of water, fibers and various minerals and vitamins.
- Carrot and Hummus: Prepare your own no-oil, no-salt hummus and enjoy some baby carrot with it.
- Baby carrot
- Diced watermelon
Lunch
The following food items you can include in your lunch:
Salad: Add all the veggies, berries and other fruits to your lunch, garnish with non-fat cream and wine vinegar. Your metabolism will be on boom and calories will still be under the limits. An ideal dressing for your salad can be:
- Three-quarter cup of fat-free Greek yogurt
- Half cup of fat-free sour cream
- Three-quarters of low-sodium ketchup
- Half a teaspoon of oregano
- Half a teaspoon of granulated garlic
Turkish Sandwich: Freshly roasted Turkish breast with two slices of low-sodium bread garnished with veggies of choice.
A mix of green and other veggies: A mix of green and other veggies in the ratio 1:2 dressed with vinegar (balsamic or white). For salads, you can use any kind of veggie or fruit. You can try yellow squash, sweet potatoes, cucumber, red cabbage, red bell pepper and so on.
Note: Always abstain from any kind of oil. Even a thin quoting of oil can boom the calorie level by as much as a double scoop of ice-cream.
Italian White Bean Soup: Its main ingredients are:
- Two tablespoons of no-salt cannellini beans
- Five cloves of pulverized garlic
- Two cups of chicken broth
- Freshly chopped Spinach
Vegetarian Chili: Look for a low-sodium variety.
One-Ear of Corn: Corn has low calorific value and is rich in fibers.
Mid-Afternoon Snacks
Consume the following food items only if you are hungry:
- Six ounces of nonfat, sugarless yogurt with berries: For best taste, use Greek yogurt. To add little sweetness, you can mix diced banana.
- Apple
- Pear
- Popcorn (Fat-free; microwaved): Eat a piece of fruit to improve the satiety value of popcorn.
- Cottage cheese and fruits: You can use fresh frozen fruits. Cheese should be free of salt and devoid of fat.
Dinner
The last meal of the day may include the following:
- Salad: You can use a variety of veggies to make up your dinner. This may include fresh baby arugula or radicchio topped with red wine vinegar. Try visiting local vegetable vendors every week to add new veggies to your diet.
- Mustard coated salmon (approximately 4 ounces): If you want to have fish, remember not to add salt or ingredients with high calorific value, such as butter. You can have steamed or grilled fish.
- Baked potatoes with fat-free sour cream: Busting every myth about potatoes, they are great if you want to lose weight. However, keep in mind not to combine it with any fattening ingredient.
- Veggie Burger: Remember to use low-sodium, whole wheat buns only. It is a much better choice when it comes to decreasing your waistline. They have zero heart-hurting fats. You can add oregano, red bell pepper and no-salt, no-fat cream. You can smear the bun with low-sodium Dijon mustard.
- Steamed Veggies: Wrap your choice of veggies in a wet paper towel and microwave for a minute. Add pepper along with no-fat cream, and enjoy.
- Chicken and Cheese Potatoes: Remember to use no-salt, no-fat cheese. Vegetarians can use tofu instead of chicken.
- Brown Rice: Add some pulverized garlic and Italian herbs like parsley and thyme. You can garnish it with some handy vegetables like cucumber and onion.
- Salad with honey mustard dressing: Include an assortment of lettuce and other veggies. You can also go out of the track to include some veggies that you have never thought of; for instance, sliced fennel. Top the salad with organic honey.
Desserts (Only if you feel hungry)
Preferably, consume once a day, and that too, only if you are hungry.
- Mixed Berries: Remember not to add any sweetener or cream. Just add red wine vinegar to enhance the taste.
- Frozen Yogurt: No-fat, no-sugar yogurt topped with strawberry and other berries can be a great option.
- Berry Mousse
You can include any combination of above-mentioned food stuffs in your weight loss diet plan. However, the major focus should be on reducing daily calorie intake without neglecting the nutrition aspect. This might vary from person to person; depending on the multiple factors, such as body type, weight, height, age, basal metabolic rate (BMR). Hence, it is recommended to consult a dietitian or nutritionist before following any specific weight loss diet plan.
