This may be the simplest diet ever. Follow these three guidelines and you'll quickly find that everything else is just details when it comes to eating for a healthy, lean body.
1. Eliminate added sugars. "This one step is the simplest way to quickly clean up any diet." says Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., the author of The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. According to a USDA survey, an average American eats 82 grams of added sugars every day. That's almost 20 teaspoons, which contribute an empty 317 calories. The researchers report that 91 percent of these added sugars can be attributed to intake of regular soda (33 percent), baked goods and breakfast cereals (23 percent), candy (16 percent), fruit drinks (10 percent), and sweetened milk products (9 percent), such as chocolate milk, ice cream, and flavored yogurt. What's not on the list? Meat, vegetables, whole fruit, and eggs, along with whole grain and dairy products that haven't been sweetened. Eat accordingly.
2. Embrace fat. You won't store it if you aren’t eating too many total calories. For instance, research shows that diets containing upward of 50 percent fat are just as effective for weight loss as those in which fat provides only 20 percent of the calories. (Both approaches lower your risk of heart disease.) "Fat is filling and it adds flavor to your meals, both of which help you avoid feeling deprived," says Alan Aragon, M.S., a nutritionist in Thousand Oaks, California. So go ahead: Enjoy the fat in meat, cheese, milk, butter, avocados, and olive oil and make nuts a regular snack. Aragon's rule of thumb: Shoot for half a gram of fat a day for every pound of your desired body weight. So if you want to weight 160 pounds, you’ll eat around 80 grams of fat. The fat will help keep you satisfied, so it'll be easier to eat fewer calories overall. And that's the true secret to weight loss.
3. Prepare your own meals. Think of it this way: As your proportion of home-cooked meals increases, your number of fast-food visits decreases. And USDA scientists found that people eat 500 calories more on days they consume fast foods compared with days they don't. Not sure where to start? Sign up for the FREE Eat This, Not That! Newsletter and you'll receive the Eat This, Not That! Guide to shopping once and eating for a week--free! This guide will show you how to save calories, time, and money with easy to make meals. All it takes is one trip one trip to the grocery store and less than $50 to eat great all week long. Lose weight, feel more energized, and make fat a thing of the past.