Things You'll Need:
- A willingness to change your mind and your diet.
- A pen and piece of paper to create a shopping list.
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Step 1
There is an absolute wealth of information on the Internet concerning fat burning foods. It's as simple as going to Google and entering that phrase (fat burning foods) into the search form when it comes to finding the actual foods that burn fat.
With a little common sense you will be able to easily determine that most foods, if they are good for you, are going to aid you in burning fat and losing weight. But...
Before we delve into the world of healthy fat burning foods, let's talk about our mind for a moment. When it comes to weight loss we hear so much about exercise and eating right but we don't hear near enough about getting our mind into shape.
If we are going to make a change as significant as dropping unwanted weight, especially if were are severely over weight, then a change of mind needs to be at the forefront of our weight loss plan.
Changing your diet from unhealthy, comforting foods is going to take more than just a little will power. Most diets are exciting in the beginning because they are new and exciting. We're encouraged and motivated when we start, but like any honey moon, when the newness wears off, we are faced with work. If our mind is not prepared, our body will not follow. We may lose some weight in the beginning, but if we don't change our mind it's very easy for the weight to come back. -
Step 2
So, making the decision to chose foods that will burn fat and help us lose weight is going to need the support of our mind and it's ability to strengthen our thoughts and keep us on point. Thus, mental exercise must be part of the plan.
Once we have made the choice to work on our mind as well as our body and our diet it will be much easier to choose foods that are good for us. Think about it... there you sit KNOWING and THINKING that you WANT to lose weight but then the thoughts of eliminating those comfort foods from our diet creep in and try to talk us out of doing the right thing. If we are going to be successful in our weight loss mission then we must combat those thoughts until they quit coming back. If you fight them, they will eventually go away!
In the process of changing your mind you must begin making the right choices when it comes to food selection. Part of losing weight is burning fat. Burning fast involves choosing the right foods.
As I stated above, there is a ton of information online that will tell you the actual foods to eat but they don't necessarily tell you HOW TO eat them. Yes, there is a strategy for the actual act of eating that will help you increase metabolism and burn fat.
So instead of creating another list of foods here let's look at a strategy that could be implemented based on food selection. We're going to keep a few things in mind when doing so... quantity, time of consumption and calorie count. -
Step 3
One of the changes that I've made that's helped tremendously is eating five to six times daily versus three. Eating at more frequent intervals during the day keep your metabolism moving which, in turn, burns more fat if you are eating the right food. This does not mean that you can have fried eggs and pancakes for breakfast, a Twinkie for a snack, a cheese burger and fries at lunch... etc.
If this is going to work you need to eat foods that burn fat and help control appetite. So... now we can take one of the hundreds of lists found on Google and begin to develop a menu that will burn fat.
Let's apply what we've learned so far. Go to Google, right now, and search "fat burning foods." Go through a few selections and you'll see what I'm talking about... there's a ton of info. -
Step 4
Now we need to plan a day... breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and then if you need it, snack again after dinner. A couple of things to remember if you need a late snack... 1.) It's best to make sure that the last food you consume happens 2 hours or more before you go to bed. When you go to bed, metabolism slows. 2.) Consider a piece of fruit for you last snack of the day.
Now, using what we just found on Google, let's create a menu...
Breakfast - Berries, fruits and melons make for a good breakfast as do egg whites and oatmeal. Oatmeal (although a little higher in calories) is a great filler and sticks with you longer. I'm a big fan of oatmeal so one of my stand by's for breakfast is oatmeal and a banana. If you are counting calories this accounts for about 250 of your daily budget. If you need to figure calories there are several free calorie calculators online as well. You will also find calorie counters through weight loss support sites like DailyBurn.com
Snack - I recommend a good protein here. One of my favorite morning snacks is tuna and a tomato. Even if you eat the whole can of tuna and one good size tomato you're probably not going to exceed 200 calories with this snack.
Lunch - I like to keep lunch lite. I'm a big fan of having a salad for lunch. Lettuce and spinach you can eat bountifully because the calorie count is so low. Throw in a little shredded carrot or some peas and/or corn, tomato, cucumber, and you have a bountiful lunch consisting of very few calories. To dress the salad I like a little red wine vinegar or lemon juice, some pepper, maybe a little garlic powder and some Italian seasoning. This provides a nice flavor.
Snack - I like an apple for my afternoon snack. They are higher in fiber and really help suppress the appetite.
Dinner - Fish (Salmon especially for fat burning), chicken breast or lean beef, a sweet potato, and veggie of choice are great for dinner. Depending on your daily calorie budget you might add a wheat dinner roll or piece of whole grain bread if you like that kind of thing. I was raised on bread with dinner but it's a habit I've learned to break over the years but I do indulge from time to time.
Snack - I'm a believer in a pear or peach for night snack. Bananas can be a bit hard on the stomach and are a higher calorie content. I'm a big fan of bananas but I use them in the morning that way they are burned off at the gym.
