Fill half of your plate with vegetables to lose weight.  

Weight Loss Tip 113 – Fill Your Plate With Vegetables

Vegetables

What is the thing that most of us do to lose weight?  Most look to decrease caloric intake and increase exercise as a means to lose weight.  Some look to reduce snacks like chips, cookies, ice cream, and pastries. Do not misunderstand me, I an not saying that cutting these things will not help you lose weight, but it does take more to accomplish long-lasting weight loss.  In addition to these changes, choosing the right type of foods and moderating portion size is essential to maintain and attain weight loss.  Is it this simple?  Yes and no. And, you can start off by making a simple change. 

I have already written an article on fruits and vegetables and weight loss.  There is plenty of research to back up their use for weight loss.  I also wrote an article on eating your vegetables first.  Vegetables fill you up, and their fibrous content slows digestion, keeps you full longer, and buffers (slows) the absorption of sugar and fat.  Besides this, it is just common sense.  If you fill your plate with more of lower calorie, low carbohydrate vegetables, there is less room for the high carbohydrate starches and fatty foods.  Filling half of your plate with non-starchy vegetables may be the easiest way to stick to your diet.  

The bottom line: The next time you fill your plate with food, start by filling half of the plate with vegetables.  Making a simple change in the portions of your plate can make a huge difference.