Eat More of These Foods

by | Mar 2, 2012 | Fitness and Nutrition

Often when we think about weight loss and nutrition, we focus on foods that we shouldn’t eat. So changing our eating habits becomes a negative experience of food deprivation. I like to focus on the wonderful foods that we should eat. Now changing our eating habits becomes something positive.

Foods You Should Eat:

  • A variety of colorful fresh vegetables such as kale, spinach, broccoli, artichokes, avocado, asparagus, cauliflower, sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin, and onions
  • A variety of colorful fruits such as blueberries, cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, apples, and cherries
  • Legumes such as kidney beans, black beans, garbanzo beans (including hummus), pinto beans, black-eyed peas, and lima beans
  • Wild fatty fish and sustainable seafood such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, bay scallops, clams, mussels
  • Organic chicken and grass-fed beef
  • Whole grains such as quinoa, millet, barley, oatmeal, whole-wheat pasta, cracked wheat, and wild rice
  • Nuts and seeds: walnuts, pecans, almonds, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, and sesame seeds
  • Good fats: Fish, nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil (extra virgin cold pressed), and small amounts of butter
  • Dairy: greek yogurt, small amounts of cheeses such as feta, goat cheese, and aged cheeses
  • Antioxidants: red wine (in moderation), dark chocolate, fresh herbs, cinnamon
  • Beverages: lots of water, green tea, small amounts of coffee
  • Sweeteners: honey, Stevia, raw cane sugar
  • Desserts: small amounts of dark chocolate

10 Tips for Reading Food Labels

  1. Read the ingredient list, not the grams of fat, carbs, protein, etc… Quality of ingredients beats quantity every time.
  2. Choose foods with few ingredients… less than 5, you get an “A”.
  3. The ingredients should be recognizable and sound like they belong on a recipe, not in a chemistry lab.
  4. Avoid high fructose corn syrup and foods that have many different sugars (ingredients ending in “ose” or “ol”, maltodextrin, corn sweetener, barley malt, any kind of “syrup”, fruit juice concentrate).
  5. Avoid anything partially hydrogenated or hydrogenated (trans-fats).
  6. Avoid any grains or flour that are not “whole”, such as unbleached or bleached enriched flour. Look for the word “whole” in front of the grain (ex: whole wheat flour).
  7. Avoid artificial colors and flavors.
  8. Avoid MSG (monosodium glutamate or anything “autolyzed” or “hydrolyzed”).
  9. Avoid nitrates (sodium nitrite)
  10. And last but not least… eat more foods that don’t have a food label (foods in their natural state).

Skip to content