Some of the greatest fitness professionals have written amazing literature on how to eat to burn fat. Tosca Reno, Mark Sisson, Barry Sears are among some of my personal favorites. In the last two blogs I explained the glycemic index and the glycemic load as well as how your blood sugar levels affect your ability to lose fat. Today I’m going to give you my cheat sheet on how to eat to burn fat and get lean.
Start your day with a balanced meal that contains plenty of protein, dietary fat and slow digesting carbohydrates.
A great example would be to eat a couple of whole eggs as the fat and protein will keep you satiated. Also, by eating the yolks too (not just whites) you will receive the entire biological value of the egg, making it a complete protein, which is what your body wants and craves. Not to mention a lot of the vitamins are in the yolk, so don’t skip them!
The fat in the yolks is also very healthy omega 3’s and by eating some dietary cholesterol it actually helps your body to down-regulate its internal production of cholesterol. In other words, it helps your body balance out.
Your slow digesting carbohydrates will also help maintain your blood sugar levels and keep you satiated longer. This is why so many of us choose oatmeal with berries at breakfast. The oatmeal is very fibrous and the berries are low on the glycemic index, thus not spiking your blood sugar levels and will keep you sustained for a while.
Eat small meals regularly.
Your body is going to get hungry again so go ahead so feed it before you become ravenous. Generally, eating small meals every 2 – 3 hours is a great idea, and I’m going to roll with it. (Eating is not a one-size fits all plan.)
First of all hunger is a sign from your body telling you that you need more vitamins and nutrients, so you need to listen to your body’s true signs of hunger. These will come regularly if you begin to eat every 2 – 3 hours.
Not eating and allowing your body to become empty of all it’s nutrients and allowing ghrelin (a hunger stimulating peptide, AKA the hunger hormone) to set in can be dangerous as it’s been proven to make people ravenous which isn’t good for self control. This is why a popular wellness therapy is peptide therapy such as these peptides in Clearwater, FL since it stimulates weight loss.
Eating small meals often will keep your blood sugar levels balanced. Ghrelin cannot set in. You will have total self control over your food choices, allowing you to choose low glycemic foods that will nourish your body.
Having a giant salad with lots of vegetables, possibly some sweet potato, lean protein and a little bit of fat will keep you full and will not spike your blood sugar levels.
Avoid sugar at all costs.
This is just going to spike your blood sugar levels, causing them to drop rapidly leaving you tired, cranky, hungry and looking for something else to bring you back up again.
The best thing to do if you cave and have some birthday cake, is to balance it out and have some protein.
If you find yourself absolutely dying to have something sweet grab a handful of fruit or have an apple with some almond butter. This will satiate you and help your sugar addiction disappear.
Eat protein, fat and slow digesting/ low glycemic carbohydrates at every meal. *
They will keep you satiated, keep your blood sugar balanced and keep you fueled. Many health professionals recommend eating 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat. I agree with this.
An example of a clean eating recipe like this, is chicken breast stuffed with with green peppers, onion, spinach and with steamed broccoli with drizzled olive oil and garlic.
A great pre-workout meal would be about 8 ounces of plain Greek yogurt with a few apple slices and almond butter. This will energize you, keep you full without being uncomfortable, and sustain your blood sugar through out your workout.
* A great post workout meal is a little different, hence the asterisk. Post-intense strength training particularly, you want a fast digesting carbohydrate and a fast digesting protein. The two fastest digesting proteins are egg whites and whey. A fast digesting, simple carbohydrate, is a sugar. So a high glycemic fruit like a banana and a scoop of your favorite protein powder would be fabulous. And milk is another great source as well because of the lactose (sugar.)
Get plenty of sleep.
A lack of sleep decreases glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. That means when you do eat you will be more likely to store it as fat.
A lack of sleep stimulates your appetite and your brain’s susceptibility to food stimuli. You body is constantly searching for nourishment through food when really what it needs is sleep. Eat something very delicious and healthy like a bison burger with goat cheese or meatballs with spaghetti squash.
When you are hungover you want to eat a bunch of junk. Don’t.
Your insulin levels have been on a roller coaster ride. Let them level out. Don’t spike them again with sugar and carbohydrate laden foods and sports drinks.
Enjoy a delicious breakfast like Buenos Dias eggs and GISG oatmeal with a coconut water or a banana to increase your electrolytes.
If you can follow these rules you will be well on your way to burning fat, getting lean and stopping your food addiction. This is the fastest way to lose weight AND KEEP IT OFF.
Need more clean eating recipes that will help you maintain your blood sugar levels?
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Your Coach,
Kyra