Magrietha Du Plessis asked:

So many people want to know what is a good food for a diet. When I say: “the complete guide to good food for a diet” most will probably think that I am taking a fat change here! It will surprise you though, to find that “good food for a diet” is not that difficult. Most common everyday foods are excellent weight loss food.

1. What is the secret then?

If you want to lose weight, you have to follow a well balanced diet combined with moderate exercise. This will ensure long term healthy weight loss.

2. But, I promised you a guide, so here it is:

Pig our on veggies, yes you are reading this right, pig out on veggies. Most vegetables are very low in calories and packed with nutrition. There are some though, that are better for fat loss than others.

* Green vegetables:

Most green vegetables are excellent for weight loss. Take note though, that peas are very high in carbs and must rather be considered a carbohydrate than a green vegetable. You also have to take care that you do not add calories with your cooking methods; for instance, spinach can be considered a free vegetable, but as soon as you make creamed spinach it becomes very high in calories and are completely unsuitable.

* Yellow vegetables:

Here you can go overboard. Carrots are a very good choice and even pumpkin, if you do not add anything can taste very good and be very satisfying.

* Salads:

Especially in summer, when salads really taste good, eat as much salad as possible. Here, once again, beware of adding calories. Most salad dressings simply crawl with calories. Make your own with fresh ingredients so that you can control what goes into it.

* Meat:

When it comes to meat, good food for a diet is mainly chicken and fish. Low fat beef and pork can be eaten in smaller quantities. As far as the chicken goes, try and stick to the breast as it contains the smallest amount of fat, it is almost fat free. Once again, do not add calories with your cooking methods, grill or steam are the best.

* Legumes:

Legumes are excellent food for a diet. They are low fat, contains lots of fiber to make you feel satisfied and combined with small amounts of carbs they supply your body with complete proteins to use as building blocks.

* Carbohydrates:

Do not cut out carbs completely. Your body needs them to burn for energy. You have to cut down though and eat no more than five small portions a day. Keep to whole grains and low fat options. Remember that you can include rice, potatoes and peas here.

* Dairy products:

Here you have to be careful. Only eat low fat or fat free dairy products and beware of hard cheeses as they normally are very high in fat and crawls with calories! A good choice as food for a diet is fat free, unflavored, unsweetened yoghurt. Use it in your cooking and as salad dressings.

* Fat:

Normally fat can not be considered as food for a diet. Your body does need some fat, though, to be able to use the fat soluble vitamins so you need to eat about three teaspoons of fat or oil a day.

So, there you have your complete guide to food for a diet! I hope it will help you in your weight loss efforts.

Darrell Miller asked:


It’s usually a common fact that what is best for your body is also what is best for the planet. Eating organic foods instead of processed foods; eating less food overall; and using natural medicine from herbs and nutrients to heal illnesses instead of hazardous pharmaceuticals: are god for the environment and also good for your health. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. At first glance, one exception is eating fish and taking fish oil supplements. Although these fish oils are a huge benefit to the human body, the toll that fishing is taking on marine ecosystems is far less beneficial to fish populations. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, almost three-quarters of the world’s fish species are gone to a point of no return.

Fish oils are the only abundant natural source of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA. Because most modern diets usually contain abundant omega-6 fatty acids these fatty acids are very low in most people’s diets. Omega-3s work as anti-inflammatory and promote good nerve transmission, heart function, and relaxed, open blood vessels, while omega-6s tend to do the opposite. By using fish oil supplements to raise levels of DHA and EPA, virtually every system of the body is benefited and protected against disease processes. These oils are currently being studied for their use in treatments against high cholesterol, depression, hypertension, and bipolar disorder. The growing popularity of these amazingly healthy foods, along with the ever-increasing pollution and habitat destruction are, together, creating a dangerous depletion of fish in our oceans.

So should we stop eating fish oil? If we do, we’ll be depriving ourselves of one of the world’s most beneficial foods, which helps our cardiovascular system, bones, joints, skin, energy levels, healthy pregnancy, visual acuity, hormone balance, psychological health, thinking ability, and sexual and emotional health. Fortunately, there is an alternative in getting your omega-3s. The answer is through buying your fish oil from a company that is dedicated to sustainable fish practices. Omega-3 is found in fish oil and flax seeds. Some fish oil suppliers use a reef netting to catch Puget Sound salmon, which has been practiced by native people of the northwest for centuries using boats and nets made from cedar. Reef netting has been declared the “best sustainable fishing method in practice today” by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Reef nets mimic natural barriers that salmon routinely navigate, where they are caught and taken to a holding tank on the deck of the boat within minutes. Any by catch is then quickly and easily returned to sea unharmed. Fish oils should be made from anchovy and sardines that have been harvested from the coast of Peru, while their Cod Liver Oil is sourced from Artic cod off the coast of Norway, all of which have very healthy populations. A reputable company will make sure to choose where they source their fish oils, picking only the cleanest, purest fish to provide to consumers. After the oil arrives at a company, it goes through at least five different purification processes which eliminate any toxins and prevent spoilage before distillation.

Nikola Govorko asked:


When speaking of metabolism most of people think about weight loss. Our Metabolism and weight is a kind of a stepping stone in defining our bodies. But theres one big difficulty with this, we often fail to remember that dieting doesnt mean denying yourself food.

Rather the opposite it means controlling food intake and paying attention to what you eat.

Most of the modern day weight loss diets are bad for overall body health. Most of them require complete absence of certain food groups (carbohydrates and fats) if you want them to work for you.

Likewise majority of these diets works only as long as you stick with their strict regimen, once you stop, you will very likely gain all the weight you lost and probably gain a few pounds extra.

The key to increased metabolism lies in actually eating more, not less. But you have to eat smart, drop the junk food and include much more vegetables and fruits in your diet.

The good news is that it is much easier to do then most people think. All you have to do is to substitute bad stuff for good and that is it. Example, instead of eating Mars bar eat an apple.

That is it, apply the same principle on every one of your meals and you will soon feel the benefits of it. Not only will you lose weight but your general health condition will gain a huge boost.

When you eat fruits and vegetables try to eat as many of them as you can raw. It doesnt mean that you have to eat every single vegetable and fruit raw, but if something needs to be cooked – cook it.

List of foods that increase metabolism:

Vegetables asparagus, aubergine, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chicory, Cress, Cucumbers, Fennel, Gourd, Leek, Lettuce, Marrow, Peppers, Radish, Spinach, Tomatos, Turnip

Fruits Apricots, Blackberrys, Blackcurrant, Clementines, Damsons, Grapefruit, Guava, Honeydew Melons, Melon Canteloupe, Oranges, Peaches, Plums, Raspberrys, Strawberrys, Tangerines

Try not to delude yourself by eating for example caned peaches, stuff like that is full of sugar, and it will only harm you.

When it comes to vegetables the best thing to do is to steam them. This will preserve most of the minerals and vitamins. Avoid fried (any fried food) and processed food.

You do not need to avoid all the fats, for example you can substitute regular oil or whatever fat you use for cooking and use olive oil instead. This way your food will taste great and youll receive numerous olive oil benefits.

One other example, use non-stick pans instead of regular old ones and ad the olive oil at the end, when meal is all but done.

For your body to work properly you need to maintain balanced diet, do not deny your body essential nutrients. Try to eat at least 3 5 smaller meals per day, use food pyramid as guide for setting up your meals.

Eating 3-5 meals per day will significantly increase metabolism, eating just 1 or 2 large meals however slows it down. Your body thinks about meals in this way, if you eat seldom a food crisis is happening and a food must be accumulated and preserved and it is done by lowering your metabolism.

For most of us it is hard to eat right all the time but if you want to succeed in your weight loss effort you must try as hard as you can. By combining exercise with diet you will manage to increase your metabolism naturally.