Healthy Weight Loss and Nutrition Planning

Any diet for healthy weight loss includes making long-term lifestyle changes instead of short-term fixes such as fad dieting.  While these changes are for the best, they can often be challenging. Reducing your caloric intake can help you to lose weight, but it is often difficult identifying healthy options at restaurants or finding the time to cook at home. Adhering to a healthy diet consistently can be aided by meal or menu planning that takes the guesswork out of achieving your weight loss goals. At Lucas James LLC, Scottsdale, Arizona’s celebrity personal trainer Lucas James and Scottsdale nutritionist expert and personal trainer Jason Apfel offer insight into personalizing weight loss plans by incorporating customized dietary guidelines, healthy recipe, meal and snack options, in combination with proper exercise.

Here are a few tips from Lucas James that will help you stay on track to meet your nutrition goals!

Remember, timing is everything when your diet is concerned. If you are looking to lose weight, try eating 5-7 times a day to keep your metabolism up and blood sugar steady. Each meal or snack should be 200-250 calories and from healthy sources such as greek yogurt, almonds, veggies, fruit or lean meats.  If you just finished exercising, make sure to eat a healthy serving of protein to help build lean muscle and reduce muscle breakdown. Higher levels of lean muscle in our bodies help us to burn fat faster.

Breakfast is essential – make sure to eat one! Since our brains can only really process carbohydrates for energy, we need them in the morning to function most efficiently. This early a.m. meal gives our metabolism a much-needed boost after fasting overnight during sleep. Aside from jump-starting our metabolism, eating a healthy breakfast can help keep you from overeating later in the day. Try to eat fiber, complex carbohydrates and a lean protein in the morning. Stay away from foods that are high in saturated fat, cholesterol and sugar, that add unwanted calories to your diet. Steer clear of bleached flour, non-whole grain bagels, fried eggs, regular-fat cream cheese or spreads and sugary cereals with whole milk.

Instead, try eating egg whites with vegetables in an omelet, fiber and whole grain cereals like shredded wheat or brain flakes with skim milk and berries.

For lunch try eating vegetables or mixed greens salads with serving of lean meat like turkey, chicken or tuna. Remember to use low-fat and fat-free options whenever possible and avoid dressings high in fat when considering a salad. Try a simple red wine vinegar and olive oil or fat-free dressing instead.  Lean sandwiches using olive oil and mustard instead of mayonnaise on whole grain bread are also a simple option for lunch.

Your dinners should include mostly vegetables and protein for food sources. Instead of frying anything, try grilling, baking, sautéing or steaming your ingredients. A few healthy options for dinner include breast-meat-only turkey burgers on a whole-grain roll, chicken or vegetable stir-fry w/ low sodium soy sauce, garlic-shallot-onion baked salmon with whole-grain rice and small salad, baked chicken with grilled vegetables and cuscus or a yam.

Remember, to stay away from sugary sweets, highly processed foods and high fat foods. Always look for the ‘healthier option’ while in the process of making healthier decisions and losing weight!