Fat burning foods, a hot date and the little black dress.

Your mind races desperately ... which fat burning foods will get you into your little black dress ??

By Jenny Mathers. Fitness & Personal Training Cert. IV
Reviewed by Kimberly Tessmer, RD LD on 18th January 2009.

Work is over, you know you should cook yourself a good meal, but what ? Afraid of the pasta, you go for a lean steak with a light salad and dressing, but there's this question on your lips "Will this really help me to lose weight ?"

8 Top Tips For Awesome Food Choices

Get out the little black dress, because I'm going to tell you what I look for in a fat burning foods menu. Once you know what to look for, suddenly the reality of losing weight won't seem like a remote possibility.

Eat the foods that you like - that's important, but take note of which types of foods will encourage your body to burn fat when you exercise. The tips below will give you a framework to work within:

High water content and low energy density per gram of food.
- Fruit and vegetables are obvious choices because they are filling, give your body valuable vitamins and minerals and lower calories per gram of food.
High fibre, whole grain, complex carbohydrates.
- Yes, you can eat high fibre whole grain complex carbohydrates to lose weight.
- These include foods such as brown rice, whole wheat bread, oatmeal and whole wheat pasta.
- Eating whole grains is as simple as replacing white bread with whole grain bread to provide higher levels of fibre and more sustained levels of energy over a longer period of time.
- So avoid or limit refined carbohydrates such as white bread which will add calories for not much nutritional benefit.
Include breakfast
Be adventurous, challenge yourself to balance your new nutritional program across all of the marvellous food groups. The new food pyramid has more information on this if you want to investigate the following food groups.
- Lean meats, fish, beans and nuts
- Low fat dairy products
- Delightful fruit and vegetables
- Complex carbohydrates
- Small amount of healthy fats
As above, include a small amount of healthy fats from sources such as avocados, olive oil, flaxseed oil and even peanut butter.
Drink lots of water (no calories in water).
Include enough calories for your age, size and activity level to fuel your body. If you don't eat enough calories, this can stop you from losing the weight.
Make sure you eat enough protein to allow for some serious toning and body scuplting (but don't overdo it) and that the protein you eat is from good quality sources such as skinless poultry, egg whites, nuts, beans, lean beef or fish.

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The Foods To Choose For A Fat Burning Menu

Given the principles above, this is an example fat burning foods menu. Yours might look a little different, you might not like salmon or pears.

Time of Day	Rough Menu To Lose Weight*

Breakfast	A steaming bowl of oatmeal, sliced banana with one glass of water, one glass of milk

Morning Tea	Diced mango with low fat creamy yogurt, 4 halves of walnuts, two glasses of water

Lunch	Melt-in-the-mouth salmon, tender asparagus, a sprinkling of shredded low fat cheese, whole grain bread roll with two glasses of water

Afternoon Tea	Diced fresh apple and pear fruit salad

Dinner	A thai beef stir fry (stir-fried in olive oil) with 3 servings crisp vegetables, and a serving of brown rice, two glasses of water

*The example menu above is not intended to be applied to your individual situation. This menu may not be applicable to your situation if you are not exercising regularly or have a pre-existing medical condition.

By themselves without exercise, these foods can't burn fat. Many so-called "authorities in the fat burning foods area" don't want you to know that food cannot burn fat and that there is no such thing as fat burning foods in the true sense of the term. These foods do however give your body the fuel and nutrients it needs to exercise or spend calories.

The key is to fuel your body properly but spend more calories than you've eaten, by participating in a well designed exercise routine. If you do this, guess what, you'll burn up fat. You'll lose the weight and look drop-dead gorgeous in your little black dress.

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