One of the best ways to lose weight in a slow and steady manner, while also maintaining a healthy diet, is by adding foods to your diet that can help facilitate weight loss. A lot of people use trendy diet and exercise routines to try and lose weight in a hurry and as a result they usually end up packing the pounds on again. Most diet and exercise routines are simply unable to be maintained over long periods of time because they not only keep you starving all the time, but your energy drops and you have to give up many of your favorite foods. Well what if I told you that there was a single food that you could add to your diet that would not only help you lose weight, but it would provide you with more energy throughout the day? Well luckily, this food does exist and I’m going to tell you more about it, including how it works.
The food I am talking about is legumes, which is a fancy term for beans. We’re not talking about baked beans here either, we are talking about soybeans, peas, lentils, peanuts, and many other varieties that you have probably never heard of. You see, the truth is that legumes are high in protein, which means that you can use them to replace fatty meats in your diet. Protein is what helps you feel full when you eat, and if you really want to start losing weight then ditching meat for legumes is a great way to do it. This is one of the reasons that most vegetarians are able to lose weight so easily. Legumes are low in calories, but high in proteins, which is the perfect balance.
Legumes are also high in fiber, which helps to clean out your digestive system and serves a second purpose of being filler in your diet. Fiber also helps suppress diet and appetite because it adds bulk to your food without adding too much substance. So not only do legumes contain beneficial fibers, but they also have several ways of helping you feel full throughout the day. As a result, you will eat less and your body will start to feed off of your fat reserves. This is one of the best ways to lose weight too because it is a natural method that re-trains your body and your metabolism for long-term fat burning.
Lastly, legumes are full of nutrients that help you to balance your blood sugar, which means that you will have a more balanced energy level throughout the day. Most carbohydrates cause blood sugar to bounce up and down throughout the day, which can cause you to go through several periods of being tired and then bouncing off the ceilings. Using legumes to regulate your blood sugar will help keep your metabolism burning straight through the day without leaving you tired and hungry all of the time.
It may seem odd that you can lose weight by simply adding a single food to your diet, but the fact remains, legume consumption facilitates weight loss. You can start by adding different beans and legumes to your diet to see how you will adapt to them and over time you can gradually start replacing meats with them for most meals. When you feel comfortable with what recipes you like and how you have started to lose weight, then you might want to start looking into more diet and exercise tips to finish off your plan. Using legumes to facilitate weight loss is a healthy way to lose weight over time that will keep your energy levels up and your cravings at bay, it doesn’t get any better than that.
Jackie Hogan, MS, RD is a registered dietitian based in Los Angeles. She is a member of the California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (CAND-LAD) and the Dietitians in Integrative and Functional Medicine Practice Group and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Jackie has been featured on Women’s Health, Fitness Magazine, Women’s Fitness, and Men’s Fitness magazine.
