Weight Loss: 3 Tips to Achieve a Healthy Weight

Weight loss is a goal that many people hope to achieve, and one that raises a lot of discussion at the start of the new year. This honorable quest to achieve a healthy weight can seem daunting with all the conflicting tips floating around on the subject. To help you implement new lifestyle habits that will contribute to a healthy weight, here are our top three tips from our naturopath.

Stabilize your appetite

To normalize appetite, it's important to eat regularly, because a stable nutritional intake that provides the body with everything it needs to function properly prevents cravings and overeating that contribute to overweight.

Visit breakfast should be eaten within an hour and a half of waking up, and contain a good amount of protein and healthy fats. Protein and good fats help provide a feeling of satiety while regulating appetite and mood for the rest of the day.

Examples of breakfasts balanced :

• 2 slices of sprouted bread with almond butter and green apple
• Mini-omelettes on the go
• Burrito with breakfast with scrambled tofu
• Smoothie with breakfast
• Yogurt and fruit granola cup

Healthy snacks also contribute to maintaining a healthy weight, provided they are nutritious. A small handful of nuts with a piece of fruit, Greek yogurt with flaxseed and raspberries, an healthy cookiebiscuit homemade popcorncrudités and hummus are all excellent between-meal snacks. A snack in the morning and another in the afternoon stabilize mood, concentration and appetite between meals.

Lunch and dinner should, like the breakfast contain quality proteins and fats. To promote better digestion and faster weight loss, concentrated carbohydrates (pasta, potatoes, rice, grains) can be avoided at one of these meals.

Examples of healthy lunches and dinners:

• Baked salmon with tomato salad with Maras pink salt
• Chicken breast and vegetable ratatouille
• Greek salad with quinoa
• Thai pasta salad
• Maple and sesame Buddha bowl
• Gyros and raw tabbouleh
• Vegetarian sweet potato chili
• Wrap with veggie pâté with alfalfa
• Carrot and ginger soup
• Tempeh skewer with pineapple grill
• Green vegetable salad with grilled chicken

To further stabilize appetite and promote satiety, the PGX granules provide important support. Our products PGX products are made with dietary fibers known to help maintain a healthy weight. Clinically proven to regulate appetite, induce satiety, normalize blood sugar levels and reduce the glycemic index of foods, significantly reducing food cravings. For overweight people with hypercholesterolemia, PGX reduces bad cholesterol (LDL) levels. The powder PGX powder mixed with beverages or yoghurt is an important component of any weight-loss program. ^1,2

Avoid sugar, alcohol and white flour

White sugar and white flour are highly processed products that offer very few health benefits and cause major glycemic imbalances, resulting in irritability, food cravings and excessive hunger. Several studies show that consumption of sugar (including fruit juices) and highly processed carbohydrates such as white flour contributes to the formation of unhealthy abdominal fat. ³

Alcohol is another important culprit to eliminate. High in calories, alcohol (like processed carbohydrates) offers little or no beneficial nutritional intake. Consumption of alcohol and processed juices contributes to the formation of abdominal fat and should therefore be avoided to achieve a healthy weight. ⁴

If sugar cravings are too strong, try including a sugar supplement in your diet. garcina cambogia. This tropical plant containing hydroxycitric acid has a positive effect on serotonin and reduces food cravings for sugar, carbohydrates and alcohol. At the same time garcina cambogia blocks the accumulation of body fat, helping to achieve a healthy weight.  Be careful, however, not to take this natural health product if you're taking medication from the SSRI (specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor) family. ⁵

Fat burning

Moderate physical exercise is the best way to burn fat. Aerobic exercise, often referred to as cardiovascular, is one of the best forms of physical exercise to reduce visceral fat. Strength and endurance exercises that build muscle fibers should also be included in the exercise program. According to studies, this type of physical exercise increases the rate at which the body burns calories at rest. The combination of aerobic and strength exercise results in faster, more sustained weight loss. ^6,7,8

To further stimulate muscle mass formation and thus burn more fat at rest, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a natural health product to include. Combined with a healthy diet and a moderate exercise program, CLA is a natural health product to include. CLA helps to increase lean muscle mass, reduce stored body fat and thus promote healthy weight loss.

To burn fat, quality sleep must become a priority. Lack of sleep elevates stress hormones that stimulate appetite and disrupt sex hormones, resulting in weight gain. A restorative night's sleep should include 7 to 9 hours of sleep, including 6 uninterrupted hours between 10pm and 6am. Without a restorative night's sleep, the body's metabolic rhythm is deregulated and fat burning is slowed down.

To speed up the rate at which the body burns fat, a supplement green coffee extract can be introduced. This stimulant-free extract is rich in Svetol, a compound that enables body fat to be used as an energy source, while preventing the storage of adipose tissue. ⁹

The entire La Boite à Grains team wishes you a happy new year. Our supermarket health food supermarket, a pioneer of natural health in the Outaouais region, is pleased to offer you tips, advice and products to help you achieve your health goals this year.

We wish you good health!

About the author

Naturopaths of La Boite à Grains

Team of licensed and certified naturopaths (ND) in Gatineau, Outaouais.

Original article written by Véronique Cousineau, Naturopath

Sources

1. Jenkins, A.L., Kacinik, V., Lyon, M. et al. Effect of adding the novel fiber, PGX®, to commonly consumed foods on glycemic response, glycemic index and GRIP: a simple and effective strategy for reducing post prandial blood glucose levels - a randomized, controlled trial. Nutr J 9, 58 (2010)
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