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Two women are talking and one says to the other, “You lost so much weight. You look great! How did you do it?” The women answers, “I ate!” This may sound like a joke, but it isn’t. The truth of the matter is that you need to eat to lose weight. Starvation diets do not work. You have probably heard this over and over and it is still true. Eat less, more often. That is the key to any successful weight loss program.
In order to better understand this concept, think of your body as a machine, a machine that has been programmed to function efficiently. There are built-in mechanisms inside the body that react to cues or signals that are sent. When you take in food, your body gets a cue or a signal to start the process of digestion to use or burn those calories. Essentially, this is your metabolism working. On the other hand, when you miss meal, your body gives a signal to conserve energy and it then goes into a “rest” mode. No calories are being burned and your metabolism slows.
Based on this, the answer to losing that excess weight once and for all, and better yet keeping it off, is fairly simple; just eat and lose weight. Experts all say that eating five small meals a day is ideal- This will keep your metabolism working and burning. Furthermore, it will keep you stimulated and alert, since depriving your body of food, or fuel, can affect brain functions.
What you need is not a diet, but a way to recalibrate your body’s natural chemistry and create a hormonal balance in order to change yourself into an optimal fat-burning machine or "fire up" your metabolism. Speaking of hormones, have you heard that weight loss is difficult for some people because of a hormonal problem? This is partially true; if a person is not eating with balance, their hormones will be off. Hormones play a crucial role in the physiology of our bodies, working to maintain balance in our bodies. In order to lose weight, you need to learn how to make your food work for you. Everyone should have a well-balanced diet consisting of low-glycolic complex carbohydrates (from legumes, fruits, and vegetables), lean protein, and “good” fats. This creates a consistent level of high energy and metabolism, supports optimal blood sugar levels, maximizes fat burning, improves mental fitness, and improves one’s overall health.
Eat to Lose Weight! - The Keys to losing weight and keeping it off
• Eat five small meals daily. This is the key. Your small meals should consist of breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner. And it is crucial that you do not skip any of these meals or snacks.
• Watch portion sizes - Measure your food and get a sense of your personal portion sizes. For packaged foods, use the label to find the serving size. For foods, such as vegetables and meats, generally speaking an as a “rule of thumb”, no portion should be larger than your fist.
• Eat balanced meals with low glycolic carbohydrates, lean proteins, and essential fats. Your diet should consist of low-fat cheeses, milk, yogurt, grain breads, grain cereals, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, vegetables, fruit, lean meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, nuts, and eggs. The recommended balance of these foods are - 25% to 40% percent lean protein, 40% to 50% percent complex, low-glycolic carbohydrate, and 20% to 30% percent essential fat.
• Don’t count calories. Just make good choices. Research has shown that if you use your common sense, make food choices based on nutritional value, eat smaller portions, and eat more often during the day, there is no reason to have to count calories.
As we age, our bodies are not as efficient at breaking down foods and our metabolic rate naturally slows down. As a matter of fact, research shows that after the age of 30, woman will have progressive weight gain of 5-7% yearly due to this fact alone. While this may seem like extremely depressing news, it is not a fact of life out of our control. It is possible to "fire up" our metabolism by being more active and health conscious. Eat little and often and lose weight!
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Eat to Lose Weight 
