You need a well thought out meal plan to lose weight if you are trying to lose weight by controlling your dietary habits. But that is easier said than done and planning a proper meal plan often takes a lot of effort and time. And of course you need proper information about the effect of foods on the body and you need to know which foods help and speeden the loss of body weight.
To make your work much easier, I have compiled a list of metabolic foods that you can include in your daily meal plan to lose weight. Metabolic foods are those that speed up the metabolic rate of your body and help prevent the storage of fats.
1) Whole Grains
Oats, barley, and wheat belong to a category of foods (whole grains) that will surely increase your metabolism. They are rich sources of fiber that make you feel fuller for a long period of time. Being protein and fiber-rich, these metabolism increasing foods are not easily broken down by the human body. They not only speed up your metabolism but also burn up more calories.
2) Vegetables
Vegetables are known to speed up your body’s metabolism. They are super healthy foods that are rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Your body spends more energy and increases its metabolic rate during the digestive process for the proper absorption of minerals and other nutrients. Some great vegetables to include in your meal plan to lose weight are lettuce, broccoli, carrots, radish, and celery.
3) Fruits
Fruits are not only delicious and flavorful butare known to be beneficial for your body due to their fiber-rich content. They make you feel less hungry and their natural sweetness helps in controlling your calorie intake. Apples, grapefruits, blackberries, lemons, oranges, guava, and strawberries are just some of the tasty fruits that you can try.
4) Dairy Products
Low-fat yogurt and skimmed milk are dairy products considered to be metabolic foods. These calcium-rich products help prevent storage of fats and provide complex carbohydrates that speed up your body’s metabolism.
5) Soups
Soups are known to act as an appetite suppressant that can help decrease consumption of the main dish course. These metabolic foods have potential in increasing your body’s metabolic rate due to their solid and liquid ingredients.
6) Spicy Foods
Jalapenos, black pepper, and ginger are some of the spicy foods that can boost your metabolism. These foods contain capsaicin which is a chemical substance that can temporarily speed up your heart rate and metabolism by prompting your body to release stress hormones. Capsaicin is also known to generate heat inside your body making you burn more calories.
7) Nuts
Nuts are naturally rich in good fats. They also contain soluble fiber and incomplete proteins which can increase the metabolic rate of your body by converting fats as your source of energy. So do not forget to include almonds, walnuts, and cashews in your meal plan to lose weight.
8) Fish
Salmon is a fish that is very popular for its rich content of omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are essential in developing muscle, melting unwanted fat, and increasing your body’s metabolism. On the other hand, tuna fish is beneficial because of its Leptin content and Leptin helps to lower insulin levels in the blood. These are wonder foods will surely help you burn those unwanted fats and excess calories.
9) Lean Meats
Lean meats contain high amounts of protein that speed up your metabolism and utilize fats to build muscles. Examples of these are chicken, beef, turkey, and lean pork meats. Proteins are the foods that are most difficult to digest, and a heavy protein-rich meal can take up to 24 hours to be digested. Imagine the amount of calories your body is going to take up all day, in digesting a single meal.
Your meal plan to lose weight should ideally be designed to suit your personal dietary habits, food allergies, lifestyle, climate, availability and of course your target body weight.