It is not enough to eat low calorie foods when trying to lose weight. You need to eat foods that are also high in nutritional value. Anything less and you could be left feeling run down and tired. Once you feel run down, you\’re less likely to want to be active which further complicates weight loss.

Although eating a fewer amount of calories is paramount to weight loss, you want to make sure that you are getting vital nutrients that your body needs for its daily processes. This doesn’t have to be as complicated as you might think. One of the biggest reasons given for a heavier population in today’s society is attributed to the fact that we are cutting corners when it comes to food preparation. Often we eat fast food or pre-prepared meals that you simply cook in the microwave.

Although not all bad, this gives us less control over the ingredients and we may be eating hidden calories or ingredients that tend to create more weight and less nutritional value. When you prepare the foods yourself, you are able to determine what goes into each meal and you can control how many carbohydrates you eat as well as what type.

Most diet plans boast low calorie foods as the mainstay of the program. This is often marketed by telling us that these foods have less fat. Although you do need to pay attention to the fat content, eating foods high in simple carbohydrates and no fat are just as bad as eating a diet that’s high in fat. The key is balance between the two, as your body needs both to maintain health.

Complex carbohydrates are best, as they take longer to break down and for your body to convert them to sugar. Simple carbohydrates are metabolized quickly, raising your blood sugar almost immediately after eating. If you don’t burn this sugar through exercise, it’s then converted and stored as fat for future use.

The general rule of thumb with carbohydrates is to eat those that also contain a high amount of fiber. This fiber helps to move them through your digestive tract and minimize the impact they have on your blood glucose. Additionally, you need to eat foods that are low in saturated fats as this is the bad type of fat that can raise cholesterol and cause cardiovascular problems.

Although we’ve been told to eat low fat foods for many years, recent research shows it’s not so much how much fat you eat, but which type of fat you consume that is a good predictor of weight gain and heart disease. Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are considered good fats and actually help to maintain heart health.

When mapping out a weight loss plan, you need to approach it as a lifestyle change. It’s not as simple or healthy to approach it as simply eating less calories or eliminating fat or carbohydrates. The key to long term healthy weight loss is to eat a well balanced diet that offers both nutritional value and lower caloric intake. This can be accomplished by eating low calorie foods that offer higher fiber in addition to vital nutrients.

Author Bio: Whether you want to lose ten pounds, fifty pounds or more, one of the key elements of your diet is the low calorie recipes that you choose.

Category: Wellness, Fitness and Diet
Keywords: low calorie foods, low calorie recipes, low calorie diet, diet, health, lose weight