So, you are on a weight loss mission and you are not leaving any stone unturned to achieve your weight loss goal. Do you know, for losing weight you actually need not to work that hard? It is true. A proper diet coupled with a perfect regular exercise regime can be the key to lose weight even within a short period of time. When it comes to losing weight, we always aim for bigger things; like working out in the gymnasium for 3 hours a day or taking up a severe crash diet, which in most of the cases lose their charm and falls apart even before completing a whole month. So, it is best suggested to not to plan to work that hard, that you cannot keep up and moreover, when you can lose weight easily, why to opt for much difficult ways?
When it comes to losing weight, without spending hours together at the gym or resorting to a diet that keeps you starved, fruits and vegetables can be your best friend. When included properly in your diet, fruits and vegetables can give you the best weight loss benefits and by ensuring that you get the needed exercise regularly along with loads of fruits and veggies, you can achieve any weight loss goal. First, let us tell you why fruits and veggies are so friendly for weight loss.
For losing weight it is important that you burn more calories than you take in, because that is the only way to get rid of the fat that is already stored in your body. However, taking in fewer calories does not necessarily mean starving yourself. When you are trying to lose weight and hence needs to be on a light calorie diet, it is best to include those foods more in your diet that are high in fiber but less in calorie.
Dietary fibers make a vital part in the diet. They boost digestion, helps in bowel formation and bowel movement, ensuring an overall better digestive health. In addition to that, the best thing about the dietary fibers is that they fills your stomach and keeps you satiated for longer without adding much to the total calorie intake. So, when you want to control your daily calorie intake, without starving yourself, dietary fibers are the ingredient on which you should mostly bank on. Both fruits and vegetables are high in dietary fibers and they add much less calories to the body, but fill your stomach and keep you satiated.
Apart from dietary fibers, many fruits and vegetables have high water content that again helps in adding to your satiation without giving you unwanted calories. The other constituents of fruits and vegetables that again add to the weight loss process in some or other ways are the vitamins and minerals. Most of the fruits and vegetables come loaded with a range of vitamins and minerals that are highly nutritious for the body and ensure proper functioning and metabolism. Studies have also come up with facts like eating five portions of vegetables and fruits in a day can give one a disease free life.
Now let us move to how to include fruits and vegetables in your diet to get the most wanted outcomes. We will discuss this part under two separate sub heads, for fruits and vegetables in order to ensure maximum clarity.
Fruits for weight loss
While most of the fruits can give you weight loss benefits due to their high fiber content, some are naturally better at it than others. So, before we get into the right plan of taking fruits for weight loss, let us spend a brief part on pointing the fruits that are most beneficial to offer weight loss effects. So, read on and know the fruits that can be your best friend in a weight loss regime,
Watermelon: Watermelon is the first name in this weight loss fruit list particularly because of their least calorie content. 100gm of watermelon has 90% water that fills your hunger, but gives your body only 30 calories. In addition to that watermelon has an interesting range of amino acids that can be helpful to boost the metabolism rate in your body, giving the best weight loss results.
Cucumber: This is another fruit that can give you great weight loss benefits. Cucumber has high water and fiber content, but least calories. Apart from that cucumber is also rich with enzymes, vitamins and minerals that can ensure overall better health and nourishment of your body.
Guava: Guava can be high filling for your stomach and nutritious for your body. Guava has vitamin and mineral content that can give you great health benefits including age-fighting abilities. The high fiber content of guava ensures a better digestive healthy and it can be an ideal fruit to indulge regularly even for the diabetic patients.
Oranges: Oranges are high in water content and their sweet taste make them ideal to fill in your food cravings. 100gm of oranges contains only 47 calories and hence they make an ideal snacking fruit for the dieters. Apart from that, it is also high in essential vitamin and mineral contents.
Apples: Apples can always give you weight loss benefits because of their unique composition that has low calorie but high in fiber and nutrients. A medium sized apple gives you only 50 calories.
Pears: Pears are another super fruit when it comes to weight loss. Pears have high fiber and water content along with minimum calories. However, never make the mistake to peel the skin of the peer, as most of the fibers are present in the skin of the fruit.
How to include fruits in your diet for losing weight
So, now as you know the best fruits for weight loss, the next step is to include these fruits in your diet in the right way so that you can get the best weight loss benefits.
- Include one of these fruits in your daily breakfast. It will radically take down the total calorie consumption while keeping you satiated.
- The best time to have fruits is before your meals. When you take a fruit 30 minutes before your meal, naturally your hunger is controlled which makes you eat less controlling your total calorie consumption.
- As a general rule, you can have a fruit of your choice, whenever you are feeling like snacking. Fruits make the healthiest snack in the world as they save you from all the extra calories that you add to your body through unregulated snacking.
Vegetables for weight loss
After spending so many words, on how to lose weight with fruits, now let us get into the vegetables that can offer you best weight loss benefits, because when it comes to weight loss, vegetables do not stand much behind the fruits. First, let us get a brief idea about the best vegetables for losing weight,
Bell peppers: Bell Peppers can offer the best weight loss benefits not only because of their high fiber and less calorie content, but also for the compound named dihydrocapsiate which is known for its ability to boost the natural metabolism of the body. Apart from that, the high vitamin C content of bell peppers also aid in weight loss.
Spinach: Spinach no doubt has something special that placed it in the Popeye’s fav list and now we know that he depended on spinach not only to boost his energy, but also to maintain that lean and thin figure. Spinach can be highly helpful for weight loss as they supply lots of proteins that can help in building muscle mass and in addition to that they are high in thylakoid content which has been found to reduce cravings significantly.
Broccoli: Apart from being high in fiber, broccoli also contains a unique phytonutrient, named sulforaphane, which can be helpful to fight the fat. The high vitamin C content of this vegetable is the other reason that makes it ideal for losing weight.
Onions: Onions are known for their fat busting abilities. They are rich in quercetin, which helps in burning the stored fat and also prevents formation of new fat cells in the body. Onions have very low calories and they can be used in several ways in your diet to get the weight loss benefits.
Beans: Beans can effectively help with weight loss. Being high in protein, they aid in fat metabolism and also promote high satiation which can control your craving for foods.
Celery: Celery is high in fiber and water content that can promote weight loss and hence including more celery in your weight loss diet is certainly a great idea.
Bottle gourd: Bottle gourd being very low in calorie but high in fiber and water content makes a perfect vegetable for weight loss. It also gives your body a bunch of nutrients in the form of vitamins and minerals.
How to include vegetables in your diet for losing weight
So, now as you know the best veggies for losing weight, let us give you some idea about how you should include them in your diet for weight loss.
- To get the best weight loss benefits of these veggies, it is best to eat them raw. Cooking with oil is a strict no and even boiling them might reduce their effectiveness in weight loss.
- It is best to opt for vegetable salads, with black pepper and Apple Cider Vinegar to get the best weight loss effects of these vegetables.
- You can also opt for smoothies made from vegetables to get the full weight loss benefits. Drinking the vegetable smoothies added with black pepper as your pre-meal drink.
- Having a glass of vegetable smoothie 2 hours after your breakfast and 2 hours before you lunch can be the best way to keep your hunger in check.
- You can also have these smoothies at night, before dinner or after dinner, if you are taking your dinner by 7pm-7.30pm.
