Everywhere you look these days you see the next best thing in diets. The diet that will have you shedding kilos fast.

These diets just may deliver with weight loss but not all weight loss is equal.

The quick-fix diets are normally that calorie restrictive that the weight coming off will be mostly muscle, so the scales may show a decrease but you haven’t improved your health any, you have actually made your path to a nursing home speed up. Muscle mass is so important in overall health, if we are on a diet that is depleting our muscles then stop it now.

This is why a body scan is important, it shows the complete picture of your body composition health not just a possibly misleading number on the scales.

Any long term successful diet will be sustainable and focus on health through a variety of foods from food groups like meat, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruits, whole grains and fats. Along with the importance of eating quality whole foods these 5 strategies are integral to a healthy diet. Good eating is a result of sound nutritional philosophies, these 5 strategies are founded on good nutritional philosophies.

1. Eat Slowly and stop at 80% full.

There is a saying in the nutrition World, eat fast to get big, eat slow to get small. Most of us eat far to quickly which will mostly have us over consuming as it takes 20 minutes for the digestive system to tell the brain it is full and no more food is required. Eating slow will help with digestion of foods into the body and and will stop overeating. Try spending 15-20 minutes eating every meal and chew your food lots. by stopping at 80% you are probably really at 100% due to the time delay in the messages of the body.

 

2. Eat Protein Dense Foods with EVERY Meal

For women try to eat 20-30g (palm-size portion, anyone every looked at poster in members room on creating great meals?) with every meal. Men should aim for 40-60 grams (2 palm-size portions). By eating protein at every meal you will help optimise your health, you will stimulate your metabolism, improve your muscle mass, recover from workouts quicker, and reduce your body fat. Oh and your hair and nails will love you for it.

 

3. Eat Vegetables with each Meal

Aim for 1-2 fists of Vegies at each meal. Veggies help to keep the alkaline balance in the body up (which is good) and they are also full of wonderful nutrients that are essential for optimal functioning. Vegies are highly nutrient-dense and very low in calories, they should be in a variety of colours and types. If you feel you are struggling to eat enough veggies try getting a super greens supplement that can be used upon waking each morning.

 

4. Eat some carbohydrate-dense foods after exercise

The more activity you do the more carbs you will need. It is fine to have plenty of carb free meals but after exercise you need carbs as exercise stresses the body. The carbs after exercise will help with recovery, it refuels your energy needs, helps keep your hormones in check and add satisfaction to a meal. Carb dense foods are things like fruit, whole grains (no wheat though please), and starchy foods like sweet potato.

 

5. Eat healthy fat dense foods with most meals

Don’t be scared of fats. The notion that fat is dangerous for us is long gone with top nutritionist. Sugar is the thing we need to stay clear of, we need fats in our diet to have optimal health. We are looking at having about 30% of our diet as fat, this is pretty easy to achieve, if you have about one thumb of fat at each meal this will be around 30%. Fat sources should be spread equally between saturated (meats, eggs and animal products), monounsaturated (nuts, olive oil, avocado), and polyunsaturated fats (fish oil, seeds).

Eat good foods regularly for good health. Eat bad foods regularly for poor health. You become what you consistently do. Implement the above 5 strategies to start instilling great eating habits in your life.

(The 5 strategies mentioned above are from Precision Nutrition)