Weight Loss - 4 Things You Must Know About Dieting If You Expect To Lose Fat

There are just some basic things you must know if you expect to engage in any activity. If you want to learn to drive you have to learn where the gas and brake pedals are. If you want to learn to ski you have to learn how to latch on your boots and turn. And if you expect your diet to go anywhere, you have to know these very basic things. There's a lot more to learn of course, but this should help you get started.

1. You shouldn't be too strict

When plotting out your diet, you have to balance two things: the healthy and the practical. Could you lose a lot of weight eating nothing but unflavored tuna, oatmeal, and carrot sticks? Sure, but there's no way you are going to stick to that diet for any length of time. If you just want to lose a lot of weight quickly, that kind of super strict diet might even work for you. But if you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which means steadily building muscle, losing fat, and keeping it off, you have to decide on a diet that is more realistically permanent.

2. You Have to Eat Fat

Yes, too much dietary fat can turn into too much body fat. But really, too much of anything is bad for you. Fat is in food for a reason: you need it stay healthy. Just keep a close eye of how much fat you eat and where it comes from. Fat from a fish is definitely not the same as eating fat from a hamburger. Fish fat might even help you boost your metabolism. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are commonly found in fish and other seafoods, can help your thyroid production, which results in more fat burned. Fat has another notable benefit for dieters: it helps you feel fuller, longer.

3. You Have to Get Smart About Protein

When you think about protein, you have to think about fat as well, because foods that contain high levels of protein also usually contain high levels of fat. If you are weight training regularly, and you should be if you expect to lose fat, you should consume about a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day. But pay attention to what kind of fats come packaged with that protein.

4. Carbs will not prevent you from losing weight

Despite what fad diets might have you believe, you definitely need to eat carbs if you expect to healthily lose weight and keeping it off. But there are certain kinds of carbohydrate-heavy foods you should try to avoid. Specifically, I'm talking about carbs with a high glycemic index. "Glycemic index" refers to how much of those carbs get turned into blood glucose immediately after you eat the food. Stuff like sweets and white bread have a high glycemic index, which means that after you eat them, your blood glucose shoots up dramatically, your body produces insulin to compensate, and you store more fat. Most fruits and vegetables count as foods that have a low glycemic index.