How to Eat and Lose Weight

Co-authored by Pouya Shafipour, MD, MS

Last Updated: February 25, 2024 Approved

Did you know that you can eat good food and lose weight? It probably sounds too good to be true, right? Changing what and how you eat will improve your overall health, help you lose weight, and make you feel better everyday. Throw in some exercise to really maximize the benefits!

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Eating the Right Food

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1
Eat several servings of fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the day. Choose fresh, nutrient-rich, healthy, low-fat foods. Fruits and vegetables are filling without lots of empty calories, so you'll be able to eat enough to feel full without taking in too many calories, making weight loss easier.^{[1]
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Pouya Shafipour, MD, MS
Board Certified Family Medicine Specialist

Expert Interview. 24 April 2020.}
- Adding a lot of vegetables and fruits to your diet will help you. One way to add more fruits and veggies to your diet, cut calories, and still enjoy the foods you love is to add or "hide" veggies to dishes. Researchers have found that adding pureed vegetables to dishes (e.g., cauliflower to mac and cheese) helped people eat a few hundred calories less of the dishes.^{[2]
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  Research source} Veggies add but bulk to a dish but not really a ton of extra calories.
- Get a lot of color on your plate. Make sure your meals have lots of colors; the best way to do this is by adding lots of fresh produce, from eggplant to beets to kale to yellow peppers. This color blocking usually helps you eat more produce and makes the meal look appetizing and appealing at the same time!^{[3]
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Eat foods high in fiber. Fiber-rich foods keep you full for longer, so that you don't reach for unhealthy snacks that will only make you gain weight.^{[4]
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Expert Interview. 3 March 2020.}
- Beans, for example, are filling, high in fiber and are an excellent source of protein. They're also slow to digest, meaning that you feel satisfied for a while (which may in turn stop you from eating more!)^{[5]
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3
Skip the juices, eat the fruit. Instead of drinking juices or smoothies, which tend to be high in calories, opt instead to eat a whole piece of fruit, like an apple.^{[6]
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- Eating a whole piece of fruit fills you up more than juice because raw fruit has more fiber. In addition, the act of chewing the fruit communicates to the brain that you've eaten something substantial.
4
Eat foods that contain a lot of water, like fruits and vegetables. Studies have shown that people who eat foods with high water content have lower body mass indexes. The water in these foods helps keep you full for longer so you eat less overall.
- Watermelon and strawberries have about 92 percent water per volume. Other fruits with high water content include grapefruit, cantaloupe, and peaches.^{[7]
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  Research source} Remember, though, that many fruits are high in sugar, so try to limit how much fruit you eat daily.
- For vegetables, cucumber and lettuce have the highest water content at 96 percent. Zucchini, radish and celery have a water content of 95 percent.^{[8]
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Include foods that improve your metabolism. By choosing your foods carefully, you can drop the pounds without going hungry. Hot peppers, green tea, berries, and whole grains are all foods that improve your metabolism, meaning the rate your body burns calories.^{[9]
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- Avoid processed foods and sugars. These cause an insulin spike, which can result in fat storage instead of fat burning.^{[10]
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  Expert Interview. 3 March 2020.}
Monounsaturated fats have been clinically proven to help you burn fat, especially in your midsection. So, add foods like avocados, kalamata olives, olive oil, almonds, walnuts, and flaxseed to your diet, and watch the weight fall right off you.^{[11]
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7
Eat superfoods. Superfood is a term sometimes used to describe food with high nutrient content that some believe confers health benefits as a result. Some superfood claims are supported with scientific evidence, while other claims make some foods hugely popular even though they have few proven benefits.^{[12]
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- Quinoa, for example, is a legitimate superfood because it is a complete protein (meaning it has all eight of the essential amino acids we need for our tissues). In addition, quinoa has more protein than most cereal grains and is higher in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and iron than other grains like wheat and barley.^{[13]
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- Just make sure to do your research before deciding on adding certain alleged "superfoods" to your diet.
8
Avoid unhealthy food with empty calories. "Empty calorie" foods are those which have calories (from sugar and/or solid fats) but little to no nutritional value.^{[14]
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Pouya Shafipour, MD, MS
Board Certified Family Medicine Specialist

Expert Interview. 24 April 2020.}
- Foods and beverages that provide the greatest number of empty calories for Americans include cakes, cookies, pastries and donuts, sodas, energy drinks, fruit drinks, cheese, pizza, ice cream, bacon, hot dogs and sausages. With some of these, you can find alternative versions. For example, you can purchase low-fat hot dogs and low-fat cheese at grocery stores. You can also have sugar-free drinks. In other foods, like candy and regular soda, all the calories are basically empty.^{[15]
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- It's okay to have small amounts of "unhealthy" foods as a reward. In fact, doing so can help keep you on a diet! But make sure you're only giving yourself small amounts rather than binging on them.^{[16]
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9
Eat more soups. Soups are relatively low in calories. Moreover, if you start with a soup, you will probably eat less of the main meal.
- Stick to soups with a broth base and of around 100-150 calories per serving. You can choose either chunky or pureed soups, just avoid soups with added cream.
10
Feed your temptations once in a while. Go ahead and have the odd doughnut or slice of pizza. Indulging in occasional craving will help ward off any binging episodes. If you really feel a hankering for something, have just a little bit. Remember that the more you restrict yourself, the greater the draw to the restricted item.^{[17]
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- Try eating a bowl of raw veggies or drinking a full glass of water before you indulge. Doing this will fill you up and leave you with less room to overindulge on your treat.

Part 2

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Eating the Right Way

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1
Eat slowly. Your brain takes around 20 minutes to register feelings of fullness, suggesting that you need to slow down so that your brain can properly communicate those feelings.^{[18]
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- If you don't feel full immediately after a meal, wait. The chemicals your brain releases when you eat or drink take time to rise and to communicate that sense of fullness. As the chemicals increase, your hunger dissipates; this is why you should pause for a little bit after eating and before having a second helping.
2
Use utensils and sit at a table when eating. Eating with your hands will mean that you take in more food in one scoop.
- Studies also show that people who eat with larger utensils eat less than those who eat with smaller utensils.^{[19]
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Stop eating when you feel full. When you feel comfortably satiated after eating, stop and put your utensils and napkin on the plate to signal that you're finished. This is also a signal to yourself that you're done with your meal as well as to those around you.^{[20]
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- Remember, you don't have to eat all of your meal once you feel satisfied. Eat until you are 80% full. No one should feel stuffed and sick after eating.
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Understanding how to achieve a calorie deficit is essential for losing weight through your diet. A calorie deficit occurs when you consume fewer calories than you burn. You can reach a calorie deficit by controlling your daily calorie intake. If you're only engaging in low-intensity activities, women could aim for something like 1,200-1,500 calories per day, while men could aim for 1,400-1,600 calories.
4
Drink more water. Often we mistake thirst for hunger which means we eat when it's not necessary. By keeping yourself well hydrated you'll feel hungry less as well as getting a clearer complexion and shinier hair.^{[21]
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- If you're not sure what you're feeling is actually hunger, try drinking a big glass of water and then wait a few minutes. If you don't feel hungry anymore, it's because your body was actually in need of water, not food.
5
Record what you eat. This is a simple yet very powerful exercise to open your eyes to see whether you are keeping up with your food plan. Often, we tend to overlook the snacking we do between meals and instead really think that our diet is failing us. Most people underestimate their daily intake by about 25 percent.
- You might also discover useful information about your daily habits and a reality check about how many calories you actually consume. Once you know your habits and patterns better, you can begin to address problem behaviors that are hindering your progress.
- Keeping a journal also makes you more accountable.
6
Learn how to manage eating out. Eating in restaurants or at other people's homes can be a real challenge. You want to eat, but you also don't want to eat the wrong things and risk backtracking on your progress.^{[22]
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- Choose foods that are steamed, grilled, broiled or baked instead of fried. Avoid dishes that are labeled as "breaded", "crispy" or "battered" – these are code words for "fried".
- Don't be afraid to ask for modifications. For example, ask to swap out potatoes or bread for a side salad. Request sauce on the side of chicken or other entrée, rather than smothered on top. This will enable you to still eat something delicious but without all of the extra calories.
- If the restaurant is known for especially large portion sizes, opt to split something with a friend.
- To avoid overeating when going out, eat a small and healthy snack at home beforehand. Try some carrots and hummus or an apple.This will curb off your hunger and keep your head clear while you make healthy and informed choices from the restaurant's offerings.
- Pack away food. At the beginning of the meal, ask for a doggie bag, and put what you aren't going to eat in the bag.
- When ordering salads, always ask for dressings and sauces on the side. Lots of dressings can be very fatty and full of calories. Your seemingly "healthy choice" can pack as many calories as a burger if it’s swimming in a fatty dressing. Be also wary of other high-calorie additions like bacon bits and cheese.
7
Expect to cheat once in a while. You might overeat one night. You might have a bad day where you indulge in way too much junk food. Just don't despair when you realize you've strayed from your goals. It took you a lifetime to achieve your current weight, and it will take time to achieve your new weight and size goal.^{[23]
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- To keep up your optimism, reward yourself for meeting smaller goals. For example, buy yourself a small token or treat every time you lose another five times. The prospect of the reward will eventually become its own form of motivation.

What Is The Best Diet To Lose Weight?

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Can you eat cheese when trying to lose weight?

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Expert Answer

Yes! Use cheese as a way to balance a low protein, low-fat meal. Choose a strong or interesting flavour of cheese and combine with something plainer,like blue cheese dressing on a pear and arugula salad. Use cheese sparingly, and make it the feature of your snack or meal. Ditch the hidden layers of cheese inside a lasagna or sandwich.

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Is the keto diet good if you want to lose weight?

Dee Dine
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Dee Dine is a Nutrition and Vegan Food Specialist and the founder of Green Smoothie Gourmet, a blog dedicated to healthy, plant-based vegan, limited ingredient recipes. Dee holds a BS in Biology/Biochemistry with an emphasis in Immunology. Dee has written two books full of healthy plant-based recipes, including chocolate desserts, snacks, juices and, wellness shots. They are: "Crazy Healthy with 4 Ingredients: Dessert, Breakfast & Snack Vegan Recipes" and "4-Ingredient Smoothies and Juices: 100 Easy Nutritious Recipes for Lifelong Health". Dee is an editor with TheFeedFeed, a crowdsourced digital cooking publication, and has been featured on BuzzFeed, Marie Claire, the Academy of Culinary Nutrition, Well + Good, and Hello Glow.

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Expert Answer

When you eat a ketogenic diet, your body burns more energy from fat as opposed to glucose, which is sugar. So eating a ketogenic diet that's high in healthy fats, such as avocados, olive oil, almonds, is going to create ketones in the body that will help you burn energy, calories and weight. Just keep in mind that the act of moving your body into the keto state can have unhealthy consequences, so you should be monitored by doctor.

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Are dates good for you? I've been eating them instead of sweets and chocolate and they make me full.

Patricia Somers, RD, PhD
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Patricia Somers is a Registered Dietitian and an Associate Professor of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her RD from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in 1979 and her PhD in Educational Administration (Higher Education Specialization) from the University of New Orleans. She received an Emerging Scholar Award from the American Association of University Women and the Faculty Excellence Award in Research from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.

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Expert Answer

Dates are a much better choice than sweets and chocolate, and they contain several vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

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Tips

Weight loss can be reduced to a simple formula. Eat fewer calories than you burn.

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Weigh yourself often. The scale will tell you how much you can "cheat".

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Exercise every day! This will make you healthier overall and give the results you want quicker. Burning more calories also means that you get (and need!) to eat more.

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Warnings

If you need to lose more than 10% of your body weight, consult with your primary-care physician before beginning any weight loss plan.

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You have to exercise and eat healthier, otherwise you may not notice any improvement.^{[24]
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