What's Good & What's Not

You’d think a food called “refined” would be good for you, right?

But as anyone trying to eat healthy knows, that’s not the case with refined carbohydrates. These are the carbs derived from grains that have been stripped of their nutrients during processing (as opposed to whole grains, which have not been processed).

Sometimes vitamins and minerals are added back in, but generally, the grain becomes a nutritionally empty simple sugar and the basis of starchy carbs such as white bread, cookies, and crackers. What’s tricky is that refined carbs turn up in all sorts of healthy-looking items, and that can wreck your resolve to eat better. 

White Rice in Your Sushi Roll

Sushi is super healthy…except for the white rice, which, like white flour, has been refined of its nutrients, says Brittany Kohn, R.D., nutritionist at Middleberg Nutrition in New York City. When you can, order your salmon roll with brown rice, which is unprocessed and retains all the good stuff stripped out of the white kind, she says.  

                 

Wheat or Multigrain Bread

These terms are designed to trick consumers into thinking the bread is made from unprocessed whole grains when, in reality, "100 percent whole wheat" or "100 percent whole grain" is what you want to go for, says Kohn. Both of those options are made from unprocessed flour.

Instant Oatmeal

Oatmeal is often thought of as the ultimate healthy breakfast—but if you're buying the instant flavored kind, we have some bad news for you: Those added sugars count as refined carbs. “Choose rolled or steel-cut oats instead,” says Kohn. That will allow you to control how much of the sweet stuff you're adding (if any).

Hard Pretzels

Because good-for-you snack staples are often brown, it’s easy to assume pretzels are made with unprocessed whole grains. In fact, pretzels are derived from all-purpose flour or enriched wheat flour, both of which have been refined, says Kohn. A better option when you need a crunchy snack: crackers that are labelled “whole wheat” or “whole grain.”

Croutons

Unless you’re sure that the ones in your salad are made from 100 percent whole-wheat bread, these toasted add-ins are likely derived from nutrient-free, starchy white bread, says Kohn. If you can’t find the unrefined kind, get your good-carb crunch from a sprinkling of sunflower seeds or almonds instead.

Breakfast Cereals and Bars

You know to stay away from the sugar-coated kid-friendly types. “But many healthy-sounding cereals are also made from refined grains,” says Kohn. Look for “whole grain” cereals that keep it under five grams of sugar per serving and pack at least four grams of fibre. Make sure “whole grain” is listed as the first ingredient and that the label lists no more than five ingredients total.

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8 Foods That Give You an Afternoon Energy Boost

You Know The Feeling. 

Your shoulders sag forward, your eyelids are heavier than paperweights, you've read and reread the same sentence seven times in a row…it's the dreaded 3 p.m. slump, and your options for a quick pick-me-up feel few and far between! 

Impromptu headstand? You're frightening your officemates. Car nap? Try not to get fired. 

Instead, you slug another cup of caffeine, only to find yourself tossing and turning at midnight, the cycle beginning again the following day. 

Put down the coffee pot. There are other great options for an instant energy upgrade, says Keri Gans, Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist and author of The Small Change Diet—they just take a bit of know-how and planning ahead.

The key to beating the dreaded afternoon slump, Gans says, is being prepared with healthy snacks on-hand, specifically, foods with carbs for quick energy, and that are high in fibre, protein, and/or healthy fats to provide longer-lasting energy, without the jolt of caffeine. 

"A lot of times, when we're crashing in the middle of the day, we're simply hungry," says Gans. "What you need is carbs, that's the bottom line. Then, protein and fat keep you satiated longer, so it's a win-win."

Clear out some space in your desk drawer or office fridge for these 8 snacks that pack a true energy punch:

A Fresh Piece of Fruit + Almonds

 "It's perfect: healthy, with quick energy, and so portable," says Gans. And, you'll be pleased to hear that Gans chuckles at the notion that we should steer clear of certain kinds of fruit. "The carbs and sugar in fruit is natural," she says. Oranges, bananas, grapes—they're all delicious and fair game. 

Roasted Edamame 

Peeking in her own cabinets, Gans spots this favourite energy-boosting food—"it's very high in fibre and very high in protein." To make this nutty, chewy snack, simply thaw frozen shelled Edamame beans, toss with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper, and roast on a baking sheet at 375°F for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes until the beans begin to dark and crisp up. Gans recommends a ¼ cup serving.

Baked Black Bean or Lentil Chips + The Laughing Cow!

 "It sounds weird, but cheese and chips is a great combo for energy," says Gans. "Just smear it on!" The baked chips are packed with protein and fibre, and The Laughing Cow Light spreadable wedges boast 7 flavours and 35 calories each. Try the Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle flavour. "Spicy can wake you up!" says Gans. For more foods packed with fibre, check out this list of 15 healthy high-fiber foods that make you feel full and satisfied

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Low-Fat Chocolate Milk 

"You could be dragging because you're dehydrated," says Gans. "Sometimes, something cold and refreshing is all you need." Gans buys Organic Valley's individual drinks; "I love them as a pick-me-up." For more help in the hydration department, definitely check out these 10 ways to drink more water.

Greek Yoghurt + Fresh Berries

 Go for the low-fat, not non-fat, version of this go-to snack, Gans offers. "You want that little bit of fat for energy with staying power." 

Grapefruit Wedges + Cottage Cheese

 Again, opt for the healthy fats from low-fat (2% milk fat) cottage cheese (Gans likes the 90-calorie Breakstone version). Pair a hearty scoop with grapefruit wedges for an instant pick-me-up, courtesy of the protein in the cottage cheese, grapefruit's natural carbs, and the aroma of citrus that instantly awakens your senses.

Kind Bars

"They're low in sugar, high in fibre, and easy to take along with you," says Gans. "I love the Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, and a new one, the Dark Chocolate Mocha Almond." You had us at dark chocolate!

Yasso Frozen Greek Yoghurt Bars

You can't go wrong with a sweet treat that also fights the urge to doze off under your desk. Gans digs the Mint Chocolate Chip Yasso bars—the minty taste wakes up your senses, and you'll get an energy boost from 13g of sugar (a lot of it coming naturally from the lactose, she says), and staying power from 6g of protein, but all with only 100 calories. Prefer Peanut Butter Cup or 80-calorie Mango? Lucky for you, there are currently 11 flavour choices.

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Five Weight Loss Detox Tips

Every day your body absorbs a wide range of substances, depending upon your diet and environment. From coming into contact with pollution in the air to consuming unhealthy foods packed with chemicals and preservatives, there are many ways in which your body can be exposed to toxins - and these rarely pass out of your system quickly. For this reason, many individuals opt to do a detox to cleanse their systems of the substances that are making them feel sluggish, sick and just not right. But what are the best ways to rid your body of these toxins? Below are five different approaches that you might consider - all of which may result in weight loss due to the simple process of flushing your system of the substances that are making it work inefficiently.

1. Juice Cleanse

Juicing is a great way to flush the body of toxins and fill it with vitamins and nutrients that you need to thrive. Try to incorporate greens, vegetables and some fruit to act as a natural sweetener into each juice recipe. Don't peel the ingredients first unless absolutely necessary, as the skins of fruits and vegetables hold the most fiber and other key substances.

2. Lemon Cleanse

Lemons are highly acidic, which is a property that allows them to naturally aid in the detox process. Add some lemon to your water and make sure that you hydrate well each day. Through this, you can help break down fat molecules, leading to a healthier body and weight loss. Make sure not to go overboard with this, though, as the acidic nature of the lemon can wear away at the enamel of your teeth.

3. Salt Cleanse

Salt can help to heal the body by removing bacteria from the lungs. Additionally, it has been shown to improve asthma, allergies and irritations of the skin. The key, though, is consistency. If you have access to a man-made salt room, then that would be the best option, but you can create your own salt therapy regimen at home. Three times a week at the maximum, pour Epsom salts into a warm bath and soak. Choose a salt that has a smell you enjoy and that is either soothing or invigorating, depending upon the time of day you plan to bathe.

4. Sweat Cleanse

Sweating out toxins is a great way to detox and lose weight. If you have access to a sauna or steam room, make use of it to sweat out harmful substances in a peaceful environment. If not, simply up the ante on your exercise routine - sweating is sweating, after all. Just make sure to drink a lot of water when engaging in a sweat cleanse, as it is important to keep your body hydrated.

5. Lymphatic Cleanse

Massaging the lymphatic system can move toxins out of the body, allowing lymph to flow more freely and exit the body in a healthy way.

Starting Your Cleanse

All of these detox methods are proven effective, but it is important to find what works for you. Talk to your doctor before starting your detox to make sure that you are choosing the right method for your body's needs.

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How to Lose Weight Quickly?

Although losing weight quickly is possible, not only is it bad for your health, it is almost certainly a recipe for becoming even fatter later on.

Kelly D. Brownell, Director of the Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, who coined the term "yo-yo dieting", explained why crash dieters eventually get into a cycle of crash diets and high food intake and gain weight in the long-term.

The vicious circle of crash diets

A weight-loss diet needs to include all the vital nutrients for good health

When the human body consumes less energy than it requires, it uses its stored energy.

Initially, the body starts using up its glycogen stores because they can be easily turned into glucose. In humans, glycogen is stored primarily in the cells of the liver and the muscles.

When the glycogen runs out, the body then starts breaking down amino acids from protein (muscle) to make glucose.

Finally, when glycogen has been used up and non-vital protein is depleted, fat is broken down to release triglyceride for energy.

Glycogen and protein hold water, if you lose the glycogen or protein you lose water. Experts estimate we carry between 60 to 120 grams of glycogen in the liver, which is stored in about 6 pounds of water. 

So if you use up the glycogen, you lose that weight in water. Add to that, the water loss when protein is used up to make energy.

Crash dieters at this point are extremely excited. They have lost a great deal of weight. However, most of it is water released when the glycogen and non-essential protein is used up. Not much fat has been lost at this point.

In order to lose 1 pound of fat you need a calorific deficit of 3,500 kilo calories.

The trouble is, by the time the body starts turning to its reserves of fat to make up for the energy deficit caused by the crash diet, its metabolism has slowed right down.

The Metabolism

The body's metabolism slows down for several reasons. The hypothalamus, a region in the brain, realizes that fat stores have changed and consequently lowers metabolism to replace the lost fat. During the breaking down of amino acids into glucose, protein is lost, which means loss of lean tissue (muscle). The less muscle you have, the slower your metabolism will be.

Eventually the crash dieters weight loss slows right down and he or she loses motivation. Other psychological factors start to kick in too.

When lower motivation results in the person abandoning their diet, they put on weight rapidly because their metabolism is now much lower, the brain is telling the body to store (in fat) every possible reserves of energy, and the disappointment and sense of failure often encourages further eating.

Researchers at the University of Oviedo in Spain reported in the journal Physiological Health & Medicine that the short-term effects of crash diets are not maintained in the medium to long term. They added that such diets typically result in a subgroup becoming obese or overweight, due more to psychological consequences than biological mechanisms.

Put simply - Crash diets are more likely to make you fat or fatter over the long term.

It is possible to lose weight comparatively rapidly, and in a healthy way. This involves good nutrition and plenty of good quality sleep, and exercise.

Healthy weight loss is about adopting a lifestyle that you can maintain over the long-term.

The CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) says that according to available evidence, people who lose about 1 to 2 pounds per week are better at keeping weight off.

If you plan to lose weight faster than 3 pounds per week you should check with your doctor. It is possible, especially if you have the help of a qualified dietitian, an effective exercise program, and sleep at least seven hours each night. It is important to remember that the faster you lose weight, the higher the risk of undesirable consequences, including malnutrition, weaker bones, irritability, depression, insomnia, and eventually putting even more weight back on over the long term.

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How to Lose Weight Fast: A Proven 3-Step Plan That Works

There are many ways to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time.

However, most of them require you to be hungry and unsatisfied.

If you don’t have iron willpower, then hunger will cause you to give up on these plans quickly.

The 3-step plan outlined here will:

• Kill your appetite.
• Make you lose weight fast, without being hungry.
• Improve your health at the same time.

Step 1 – Eliminate Sugars and Starches

The most important part is to remove sugars and starches (carbs) from your diet.

These are the foods that stimulate secretion of insulin the most. If you didn’t know already, insulin is the main fat storage hormone in the body.

When insulin goes down, fat has an easier time getting out of the fat stores and the body starts burning fats instead of carbs.

Another benefit of lowering insulin is that your kidneys shed excess sodium and water out of your body, which reduces bloat and unnecessary water weight (1, 2).

It is not uncommon to lose up to 10 pounds (sometimes more) in the first week of eating this way, both body fat and water weight.

This is a graph from a study comparing low-carb and low-fat diets in overweight/obese women (3).

The low-carb group is eating until fullness, while the low-fat group is calorie restricted and hungry.

Cut the carbs, lower your insulin and you will start to eat less calories automatically and without hunger (4).

Put simply, lowering your insulin puts fat loss on “autopilot.”

Bottom Line: Removing sugars and starches (carbs) from your diet will lower your insulin levels, kill your appetite and make you lose weight without hunger.

Step 2 – Eat Protein, Fat and Vegetables

Each one of your meals should include a protein source, a fat source and low-carb vegetables. Constructing your meals in this way will automatically bring your carb intake into the recommended range of 20-50 grams per day.

Protein Sources:

• Meat – Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, bacon, etc.
• Fish and Seafood – Salmon, trout, shrimps, lobsters, etc.
• Eggs – Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs are best.

Protein is the macronutrient that contributes most to fullness and eating adequate protein can raise your metabolism (5).

Low-Carb Vegetables:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Spinach
• Kale
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Swiss Chard
• Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Cellery
• Full list here.

Don’t be afraid to load your plate with these low-carb vegetables. You can eat massive amounts of them without going over 20-50 net carbs per day.

A diet based on meat and vegetables contains all the fiber, vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy. There is no physiological need for grains in the diet.

Fat Sources:

• Coconut Oil
• Butter
• Olive Oil
• Lard
• Tallow

Eat 2-3 meals per day. If you find yourself hungry in the afternoon, add a 4th meal.

Don’t be afraid of eating fat, trying to do both low-carb AND low-fat at the same time is a recipe for failure. It will make you feel miserable and abandon the plan.

The best cooking fat to use is coconut oil. It is rich in fats called Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs). These fats are more fulfilling than others and can boost metabolism slightly (6, 7).

There is no reason to fear these natural fats, new studies show that saturated fatdoesn’t raise your heart disease risk at all (8, 9).

To see how you can assemble your meals, check out this low carb meal plan and this list of low carb recipes.

Bottom Line: Assemble each meal out of a protein source, a fat source and a low-carb vegetable. This will put you into the 20-50 gram carb range and drastically lower your insulin levels.

Step 3 (Optional) – Exercise 3-4 Times Per Week

You don’t need to exercise to lose weight on this plan, but it is recommended.

The best option is to go to the gym 3-4 times a week. Do a warm up, lift weights, then stretch.

If you’re new to the gym, ask a trainer for some advice.

By lifting weights, you will burn a few calories and prevent your metabolism from slowing down, which is a common side effect of losing weight (10, 11).

Studies on low-carb diets show that you can even gain a bit of muscle while losing significant amounts of body fat (12).

If lifting weights is not an option for you, then doing some easier cardio workouts like running, jogging, swimming or walking will suffice.

Bottom Line: It is best to do some sort of resistance training like weight lifting. If that is not an option, cardio workouts work too.

Optional – Do a “Carb Re-feed” Once Per Week

You can take one day “off” per week where you eat more carbs. Many people prefer Saturday.

It is important to try to stick to healthier carb sources like oats, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruits, etc.

But only this one higher carb day, if you start doing it more often than once per week then you’re not going to see much success on this plan.

If you must have a cheat meal and eat something unhealthy, then do it on this day.

Be aware that cheat meals or carb refeeds are NOT necessary, but they can up-regulate some fat burning hormones like leptin and thyroid hormones (12, 13).

You will gain some weight during your re-feed day, but most of it will be water weight and you will lose it again in the next 1-2 days.

Bottom Line: Having one day of the week where you eat more carbs is perfectly acceptable, although not necessary.

What About Calories and Portion Control?

It is NOT necessary to count calories as long as you keep the carbs very low and stick to protein, fat and low-carb vegetables.

However, if you really want to, then use this calculator (opens in new window).

Enter your details, then pick the number from either the “Fat Loss” or the “Extreme Fat Loss” section – depending on how fast you want to lose.

There are many calorie counters you can use to track the amount of calories you are eating. I like Cron-O-Meter – it is free and easy to use.

The main goal is to keep carbs under 20-50 grams per day and get the rest of your calories from protein and fat.

Bottom Line: It is not necessary to count calories to lose weight on this plan. It is most important to strictly keep your carbs in the 20-50 gram range.

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