Weight Loss Eating Plan for Women

As women, we are often told we are emotional eaters, that our hormones make it harder to lose weight, or we should just accept that our bodies will never be the same after we have children. Maybe there's some truth to all of that, but believing it wholeheartedly can also make us feel hopeless in the fight to lose weight, so put it all aside and adopt a positive attitude about your abilities and determination to lose weight. With a balanced diet plan and exercise, it's not as impossible as everyone would have us think it is!

Balanced Nutrition

• Focus on creating a balanced diet rather than cutting out carbohydrates, eliminating fat, and forgetting about sugar like fad diets would have you do. You may never get away from counting calories, but by incorporating complex carbohydrates, lean protein, and monounsaturated fatty acids into your daily snacks and meals, you can feel satisfied with the calories you do consume.

  Complex carbohydrates take longer for your body to digest and help you to feel full longer. So whole grains and fiber found in cereals, oats, bread, pasta and crackers should make their way into your meals. Vegetables provide complex carbohydrates in the form of fiber, so incorporate celery, broccoli, lettuce, and spinach into your diet. Fruits are rich in antioxidants and also provide complex carbohydrates, so treat yourself to raspberries, apples, and strawberries when they're in season. The simple carbohydrates like sugar, bleached flours, and over-processed foods should be avoided, but can provide a great boost of energy when eaten in moderation just before or after a hard workout.

  Protein is used in every part of our bodies, and incorporating lean meats like white meat chicken, turkey, eggs, or even lean cuts of beef and pork will add some variety as well as some flavor to your diet. Low-fat dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese are good sources of protein and so are nuts and seeds. Protein provides important amino acids and fuel for your body to repair, regrow, and rebuild cells, hair, muscles, nails, and organs. Protein can also help you to feel full and provide your body with energy for exercise.

  Monounsaturated fatty acids are found in avocados, olive and flax seed oil, nuts, seeds, soy beans, and dark chocolate. According to www.medicinenet.com, MUFAs have been proven to reduce belly fat while also reducing the risk of high cholesterol and heart disease. The important thing to remember here is that all fat, whether saturated or unsaturated, have 9 calories per gram, so they can add up quick. MUFAs should replace unhealthy fats in your diet, but you still have to keep your calories at a moderate level, between 1,600 and 2,000 per day, depending on your activity level, weight loss goals, and current weight and height.

Portion Size

• Portion size and meal frequency are important for women trying to lose weight. Dieting decreases the amount of food you eat, which can eventually send your body into a starvation mode where it hoards every calorie it gets because it doesn't know when the next meal will come. In short, your metabolism slows down dramatically, so you would have to eat even less to continue to lose weight. A successful weight loss program will help to speed up your metabolism as you cut back on calories. One way to do that is to eat several small meals throughout the day. Rather than sticking to the traditional three meals a day, stretch your food out over five to six meals each day. The caveat of course is to keep those meals small--somewhere between 100 and 400 calories each. For each of these meals, try to incorporate complex carbohydrates, lean protein, and MUFAs. That may sound hard, but a turkey sandwich can easily fit the bill: one whole wheat pita pocket filled with lean turkey deli meat, low-fat cheese, avocado slices, lettuce, and a light vinaigrette dressing. If you do it right, all of this can stay under 250 calories!

Awareness of Triggers

• As www.womenandweight.com tells us, women are more susceptible to emotional eating. So to prevent a messy breakup from turning into an evening on the couch with a tub of ice cream and a giant spoon, do some work now to make yourself aware of the types of situations or emotions that lead to overindulging. You may find that you eat mindlessly when you are bored, stressed out, anxious, depressed, or tired. But knowing those tendencies will allow you to prevent the eating habits you've developed as a result.

  One trick is to get rid of all of the unhealthy snacks in your house and vow to never buy them. If you are stressed out, craving something crunchy and the only thing you have in the house is carrots, a little over-snacking won't do much damage to the scale in the morning.

  Once you have an acute awareness of your eating habits as they relate to your moods, you will be better prepared to stop your hand before it dives into the bag of potato chips for the tenth time.