1. Only Drink Water And Green Tea

A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2008 looked at the effect of having a couple of glasses of water 30 minutes before each meal versus not having water before each meal. The participants were also either overweight or obese individuals who were middle-aged or older.

After three months, the study found some interesting results. Participants who drank a couple of cups of water before each meal lost 5 more pounds than the participants who didn’t increase their water intake. Even a year later, the water-drinking participants had also kept more weight off than there less hydrated peers.

Drink either filtered or bottled water. For green tea, make sure you get “matcha” green tea as it has the highest amount of beneficial compounds.

If you need coffee to get you going, then have only one or two cups with NO sugar or milk. Or if you HAVE to drink soda, make it diet. Stay away from non-diet sodas, fruit juices, milk or any other drink not mentioned here. The only exception is low-glycemic fresh vegetable juice.

Many people don’t realize how many calories they are getting from what they drink. Sugary drinks make things worse by wreaking havoc on your blood sugar and insulin levels.

Start your day with half a liter of water before breakfast. Then have have a half a liter before each meal. You may have a few cups of green tea throughout the day as well.. Try it for a few weeks and see how you feel!

2. Eat Lean Protein At Every Meal

Good sources of protein include grass-fed beef or wild game, wild caught fish, organic chicken or turkey, and high-quality protein powders are easily found at Whole Foods or other natural food markets. If organic food isn’t in your budget you can get the non-organic stuff but I highly recommend you making the switch when you can. Also, you want to start your day with a high protein breakfast. Eggs, omelets and protein shakes are good choices and easy to prepare.

3. Eat Low-glycemic Vegetables And Fruits

The Glycemic Index is a measurement of how quickly a “carb” (carbohydrate) raises blood sugar levels. Although Glycemic Index is important, so is the total amount of cabohydrates that you eat and the quality of food. Still, eating mostly low-glycemic fruits and vegetables is an important step to having healthy blood sugar levels and less body fat.

Here is the Glycemic Index for many common foods. Low-glycemic is considered 55 or lower. By the way, this doesn’t mean I endorse all the foods on this list. It is a reference tool. I recommend staying away from all processed food and drinks.

Check it out:
Classification
GI range
Examples
Low GI    55 or less Examples include legumes such as kidney, white, black, pink, soybeans; nuts  (almonds, peanuts, walnuts, chickpeas), and Seeds (sunflower, flax, pumpkin, poppy, sesame); most fruits (peaches, strawberries, mangos), most vegetables (beets, squash, parsnips); most whole intact grains (durum, spelt, kamut wheat, millet, oat, rye, rice, barley).
Medium GI    56–69 Examples include pita bread, basmati rice, potato, grape juice, raisins, prunes, pumpernickel bread, cranberry juice, regular ice cream, sucrose, and banana.
High GI    70 and above Examples include white bread, most white rice, corn flakes, most breakfast cereals, potato, and pretzels.

The complete list of the glycemic index and glycemic load for more than 1,000 foods can be found in the article “International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008″ by Fiona S. Atkinson, Kaye Foster-Powell, and Jennie C. Brand-Miller in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care, Vol. 31, number 12, pages 2281-2283.

References: “International tables of glycemic index and glycemic load values: 2008″ by Fiona S. Atkinson, Kaye Foster-Powell, and Jennie C. Brand-Miller in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care, Vol. 31, number 12, pages 2281-2283.
“Water consumption increases weight loss during a hypocaloric diet intervention in middle-aged and older adults.”Dennis EA, Dengo AL, Comber DL, Flack KD, Savla J, Davy KP, Davy BM. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Feb;18(2):300-7. Epub 2009 Aug 6.

Guest Blogger, South Beach Personal Trainer, Ted Ryce