You say I never break no matter what fate brings,

But I'm not made of stone I'm fragile it seems,

I keep my head

The best way to lose weight.

With today's ever growing weight problem, due to the amount of take aways, American influences, chocolate, processed foods etc, many of us struggle to either know what to eat to be healthy, or to lose weight/keep weight off. So many people try dieting, counting calories, take diet supplements, eat supposed low fat options (of processed foods), starve themselves etc, this is the wrong way to try and lose weight, if anything this will destroy the metabolism. I have decided to write an article to help people who are truly struggling to lose weight or eat healthily because of the many conflicting stories about what is good and what is bad. Before I start listing good and bad foods, I would like to let everyone know that I don't advertise or sell/make any money from any products or foods I recommend, the products/foods I recommend are ones that I myself consume and have had great benefits from.


List of bad foods to be avoided:

• Sugar, sugary foods including: pasta sauces, all substitue sauces (or lazy sauces as I call them), low fat processed (bought in microwavable meals/oven cook meals), sugar free products (which contain Aspartame, sorbitol, saccarin etc all artificial sweeteners - they claim to be a healthier option yet they stop the body from burning fat).



• Bread, regardless of whether it is white or brown.
  
  


• Pasta, white brown etc it is all bad if you want to lose weight (it's very starchy and full of bad carbohydrates)
  
  


• Health cereals, they contain sugar/artificial sweeteners and salt, they're not healthy and will stop the fat burning process - slowing the metabolism down greatly.
  
  


• Margerine, even low fat options are bad because of the hydrogenated oil in them.
  
  


• Hydrogenated oils, vegetable oil, sunflower oil etc all bad oils. Also check foods to see whether they contain or are cooked in hydrogenated oils.



• Normal potatoes, they're starchy, bad carbohydrates.



• Health yogurts, which contain a type of fructose that is not good for healthy living and weightloss.
  
  


• Houmous, which is very high in fat even if you opt for the low fat options.

• Rice, white and brown (although there are types of rice that are healthy).

• Take away foods, even if it's a healthy option it may still contain MSG - which causes significant weight gain. MSG can also be found in crisps, bombay mixes etc (even the healthy options, it is a dangerous chemical and is the main cause for weight gain in countries that allow its use).

• Cheese, this is definitely something you need to either cut out or cut down on.

• Alcohol, which is full of sugar or artficial sweeteners.

Good foods:

• All fruits.
  


• All vegetables.
  


• Sweet potatoes - a healthy and tasty alternative to normal potatoes.
  


• Millet and Quinoa rice (from health food shops).
  


• Real butter, which is natural and much more heathly than margerine (it is a good carbohydrate).
  


• Coconut oil, olive oil - these are not hydrogenated and are very healthy.
  


• Avocado's.
  


• Raw nuts, these are the good kind of fats/carbs that you can eat, snack on different types of nuts every day (don't over eat them though it is merely an inbetween meals snack so small portions).

Another important thing is to eat several small meals a day, rather than two or three big meals a day, you should try and eat between four and six meals a day - four being the very least. Eating more often but small portions gives the metabolism a challenge, it speeds it up. I will give you a look at what little meals are worth eating to help keep you energised.

Breakfasts:

Toast, with a small spreading of butter (just a couple of slices should suffice).

Porridge, made with milk (no sugar), add some fruit like bananas, strawberries, rubarb (cook the rubarb seperately then add it to the porridge when serving), berries, etc etc. Also buy flax seeds (from health food shop, they come in packs with different extras for flavour). Nuts can also be added to porridge.

Cereals, stay away from supposed health cereals, and anything with added sugar or added artificial sweeteners. Try cereals in health food shops.

Before dinner snacks:

Fruit, a single banana can be very filling. But with less filling fruits two pieces is fine, or with things like grapes and berries a small portion (whatever suits you, but remember it's a snack not a meal).

Nuts, small portion.

Ryvita, with cottage cheese, greek yogurt, soured cream, cucumber and chive dip (very easy to make yourself, just grate the cucumber slice the chives - and mix all the ingredients together, it makes a lovely dip), any topping you want really provided it's healthy and not processed.

Dinner:

Rice, add some vegetables and chilli powder or other spices for flavour and it makes a healthy meal.

Jacket potato with salad, with the dip mentioned above, or cottage cheese, etc anything healthy.

Spanish roasted potato's with fiery sauce.

Chilli.

Vegetable soups.

Snacks:

Fruit.

Vegetables.

Ryvita with healthy toppings.

Toast with butter. Etc light snacks.

From the above you should be able to see what sort of meals you can have. I hope this is helpful. If you need any more ideas or any recipes for home made healthy meals please leave a comment at the end of this article. I am a vegetarian so I can mainly offer vegetarian options, but you can always add meat to anything if you want, provided it is lean meat.

Hidden identity, a new woman stands before you all,

War paint allows me to lie,

Expressions are meaningless when it's not really ours,

I can paint a smile, you will think that it's mine,

It keeps me strong, awaiting each fight,

The screaming voice in a crowd is never heard,

The crying child is left no one cares,

Over throwing your opinion, to quieten mine,

Is this how it is, of are you