How to Stop Hating Calorie Counting & Learn to Love Your Food

So many diets fail because they are difficult to follow. You can't eat one thing or another, or can only eat this food items for X-many days to the omission of one item and then the following week, the forbidden item is allowed but some other food is not. And the endless calorie-counting! -Stop the madness! Food is not the enemy. Forget the calorie-counting. Forget the diet pills. Focus upon the right foods for nutrition and health and the weight will watch itself. Here are some reasons why:

Eating All The Wrong Foods Equals Weight-gain

Many of today's foods are well, -not really food. Obesity-boosting foods like fast-food sandwiches, modern convenience foods ready to heat & serve, hydrogenated cooking oils, margarine and soft drinks, -more. These are poison, non-toxic poison but they really are not good for you.

The bad foods will fill you up but provide no real nutrition. Carbohydrate-rich foods like white bread and even so-called healthy whole-wheat breads and pasta turn to sugars in your metabolism and cause your blood-sugar level to spike. You 'feel full' but this spike in the blood-sugar level causes your body to overproduce insulin to compensate. Then, your blood-sugar levels crash. Hunger quickly returns.Your blood-sugar level drops to a lower-than-optimum level and guess what? -You feel hungry again.

Have you ever wondered why you feel the urge to eat snack foods around 9 o'clock at night, -just three hours after dinner? Your blood-sugar levels have fallen to the 'starvation' level. Likely the foods you ate were not of the good wholesome variety so now you 'feel hungry' again a few hours later. So, you snack.

Good Foods for Weight Loss Vs. Bad Foods

While it is impractical for all but the most devote to completely divorce themselves from their favorite 'comfort foods' consuming them less often will make them what they really are, -a treat. Enough with the calorie-counting and the 'daily allowances' charts. Food is fuel. If you are eating properly then you are not only getting proper nutrition but you are feeding your body. Eating the good food allows the body to maintain a proper Glycemic Index and very quickly the excess weight will be auto-regulated. The excess fat is burned because your body realizes it does not need to store it.

Eat Fat to Lose Weight?

It seems like an oxymoron but it is not possible to lose fat by denying yourself fat in your diet. Yes! Your body needs to consume fat. There is actually energy and nutrition in fat. You have to eat the right kinds of fat, of course.

Healthy items like steak, real butter, milk, raw nuts and avocado are excellent sources of nutrition, protein and the good fat that your body needs. Avoid or reduce the use of the hydrogenated fats like cooking oils. These are not digested properly and cause your body to store the excess as body-fat. But by eating the healthy forms of fat, your body will metabolize the food properly and that means work. This metabolism causes your body to actually melt the existing body fat. You are not hungry and your body is not attempting to store the surplus as body-fat. When you are not in starvation mode your body is not attempting to 'hoard' calories in the form of body fat.

Bad Foods to Remove from the Diet:

• Artificial Sweeteners and White Sugar
• HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)
• Hydrogenated Oils
• Margarine / Butter Substitutes
• Whipped Toppings (often nothing more than whipped HFCS, water and stabilizers)
• Processed Soy Products

Reduce the use of or eliminate these bad items entirely from your menu. Some bad foods like artificial toppings can make sensitive people ill and produce physical manifestations such as hives or skin rashes.

Know that most fast-food uses these bad items for only for cost efficacy and for taste, to ensure customer loyalty. Even 'healthy grain' muffins, cookies and breads likely contain some of these unhealthy these items in addition to themselves being on the 'bad foods' list. Read the labels on products, -know and understand what you are really eating.

Knowledge about what you are doing to your body with the foods you are eating is crucial in any weight loss program and for optimal health. By eliminating these bad items you allow your metabolism to more properly digest the real foods.

Healthy, Good Foods to Include in the Diet:

• Steak, Chicken and Fish
• Eggs
• Real Butter
• Sweet Potato
• Raw and steamed vegetables (avoid canned, -too much salt & preservatives)
• Whole or Part-Skim Milk
• Peanut Butter
• Olive Oil
• Nuts, Legumes and Grains

Virtually any vegetable and fruit is encouraged to be included in the diet. I have heard tales of '...but what about grapes? Aren't they high in sugar?' Yes, but it is NATURAL sugar. Grapes provide vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. A source of dietary fiber too, grapes aid digestion and help to regulate blood-sugar levels.

Grapes are cited to be low on the Glycemic Index which is exactly the types of foods you need to eat to lose excess weight and keep it off. For energy and flavor, -a handful of fresh grapes will stave-off the early evening munchies! Try a bowl of grapes and apple slices next time you feel the need to snack at night. Eat your vegetables and fruits any time you want.

In fact, an effective and long-lasting weight-loss plan that increases the good foods and reduces or eliminates the bad foods actually allows you to eat MORE food, not less! You are not starving yourself when you eat the right foods. You are eating well, eating healthy foods and will easily and quickly lose the excess fat You will have more energy and feel less stressed. And you will be healthier for the changes in your diet. How exciting is that?