Fit tip #1- for Healthy Fitness Challengers

Since most of you folks who have taken the challenge this week are interested in losing various amounts of weight aka Body Fat and inches over the next 5 weeks to reach your goal (and win a prize:), in addition to your workouts, I'm going to send out a weekly Fit Tip to help in your pursuits:) 4 STRATEGIES FOR LOSING AND KEEPING OFF WEIGHT WITHOUT BEING HUNGRY (Weill Cornell Medical College - Women's Nutrition Connection)

I picked this topic because even though you have made a commitment to regular workouts and burning lots of calories by joining the challenge, we all know that it's impossible to lose those unwanted extra pounds unless you are watchful about the calories you're consuming too. Here's strategy 1 this week….

1. Eat 'filling' foods first and 'fattening' foods later. 'Filling foods' are foods that naturally suppress your appetite, including lean protein, low-calorie foods, heavy, high-volume foods, and 'slow foods,' which take a long time to eat and/or digest. 'Fattening foods' trigger cravings and tell your brain that you need to eat more. Carbohydrates that are digested quickly, calorie-dense foods, high-fat foods, sugar, and empty-calorie foods are fattening foods.

When you eat filling foods first, it's easier to eat less food, because your brain gets the message to slow down - a message it doesn't get from fattening foods.

Good luck and remember, you have to have a deficit of 3500 calories in order to lose 1 pound of body fat.

See you in class!

Natasha

thecookefamily@rogers.com