Lose Weight by Focusing on Nutrition

Dr. Oz, on the new Oprah's All Stars show, once mentioned that the obesity crisis in America is more of a nutritional deficiency problem. When people aim to lose weight, they focus on changing aspects of their diets which can be incredibly difficult to change for a lifetime. Focusing solely on fat, carbohydrate or caloric intake can be counter productive in a weight loss diet. Deficiencies in certain nutrients will leave people foraging for more food to make up those deficiencies, and those deficiencies can battle any good intentions to lose weight through creating an unhealthy physical envelope which lends itself toward laziness.

To lose weight, focus on the nutrients you need. When you do that you will accomplish several tasks which will make it less difficult to lose weight. By focusing on what you need instead of what you cannot eat, you will fill yourself with the more healthy foods before you can fill yourself with the empty calories which add weight to you. You will also find that the nutritionally dense foods will eventually heighten your energy, giving you more opportunities to burn calories and feel better. Also, when you focus on the nutritionally dense foods, you will find that, after your nutritional needs are being met more efficiently, your random food cravings will decrease. You'll be less likely to ravage the quick foods to fill voids and superficial hunger.

Instead of relying on calorie or carbohydrate counters, use programs such as Fitday.com to log your nutritional intake. Write down the foods you eat and log their nutritional quality to see where you might be lacking in nutrients. Rather than worry about what not to eat, fill the nutritional voids. If you find that you don't have enough Vitamin A in your diet, eat a carrot. By changing your focus in dieting in this manner, you'll see that you'll be more likely to eat better foods because you aren't depriving yourself of the foods you think you cannot live without.

Tips:

Drink more water: Rather than replacing your beverages with water, give yourself a certain amount of water you need to drink each day without worrying about what you cannot drink. If you still want a soda, you'll be able to drink it, though you should aim to avoid those beverages. The more water you drink, the easier it will be to avoid those other beverages. People who drink more water tend to drink less calorie laden drinks. By removing caloric beverages from your diet, you can lose up to a pound or more a week.

Add colorful fruits and vegetables to your diet where you can fit them. You probably like some healthy foods just as much as you like some of those not-so-healthy foods. By stocking up on your favorite fruits or vegetables, you'll have access to those foods when your stomach starts nagging you for a refill. In fact, you can add a fruit to your breakfast and a vegetable to your lunch to increase your nutritional intake. Lose weight by adding these foods instead of ridding yourself of certain foods.

Drink green tea. Green tea has been studied for its ability to increase calorie burning. It may burn an extra 50-80 calories a day if you drink up to six cups; however, the studies are not totally definitive. If you drink warm green tea without sugar or honey, you'll be filling your self with something that has no calories but has minerals and other beneficial properties.

Take one multivitamin every day to make up for what you might not get in your diet. Allow yourself at least a month to start seeing the benefits of getting your nutritional needs.

Add exercise to your diet and be conscious of what you should not eat. You don't have to deprive yourself of a few pleasures to lose weight; however, once you start getting the nutrition you need, it will not be as difficult to avoid some of the worst foods for your body size.