Marc's Fat Loss Nutrition Secret #2 - What to Buy

Follow Rule 4 from the previous email and start with the fresh produce. Consider our ancestors. They consumed a much wider variety of foods than we do. Their natural supermarket was stocked with 50,000 to 100,000 edible plants! Only 600 have ever been cultivated and much less have become staples like corn and wheat.

Choose new produce every week. Here are a few tips:

Pick dark green vegetables such as romaine lettuce, spinach or chard. You can easily add them to lasagna, casseroles, soups and stews.
Vitamin C rich selections such as strawberries, citrus or green pepper.
Don't forget the cabbage family, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and brussel sprouts to name a few.

Cereal, Whole Grains & Legumes

Be sure to choose a high fibre cereal (sugar should not be any where near the first ingredient) or mix a favourite cereal with a scoop of All-Bran or wheat germ. Get your oatmeal. Large flake rolled oatmeal emerges from the rigours of processing with most of it's nutrition still intact! As well, oats lower cholesterol.

Once you decide to add whole grains to your diet, you have lots of choices. The strange names may seem confusing at first, but most of the whole grains are interchangeable in recipes. If you are serious about following a low-fat, high-fibre diet, I strongly recommend that you invest in an electric steamer. This is by far the easiest, most convenient way to cook all of the whole grains. When cooked these grains are filling and have a consistence similar to meat. Below is a video showing you how to cook whole grains in a steamer:

http://www.monkeysee.com/play/1737-diet-tips-how-to-cook-whole-grains-with-a-steamer

The Poor Mans Meat

Beans are packed with nutrition and as the title implies are much cheaper. As well, they have no cholesterol, come in a great variety, are versatile and dried beans keep indefinitely.

Dishes made with dried beans, lentils, peas are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates and fibre and are low in fat. Some popular legume dishes to eat more of:

Split pea or lentil soup, spreads from cooked yellow split peas, Minestrone soup, Chili with lots of beans, Bean salad, Chickpea spread (hummus), Spiced lentils as a side dish & Baked beans

Dairy and Eggs

Milk and dairy products supply calcium, riboflavin, vitamin B12, vitamin D and protein. If you are drinking milk make it as low fat as possible, preferably skim milk. Surprisingly though, milk and calcium supplements have done nothing to prevent osteoporosis. After four decades of milk promotion, osteoporosis has become epidemic. Suffice it to say, calcium alone cannot work because of these three factors:

• It must work together in synergy with other supplements.
• Lifestyle factors such as smoking, caffeine and high fat which lead to chronic acidity.
• NO STRENGTH TRAINING - mild exercises such as walking are not enough. Your bones have no reason to deposit calcium and get stronger if no demands are placed on them.

Eggs it seems always get a bad rap but they are healthy (especially organic) and a great source of protein. If your cholesterol is high it is likely due to many factors other than eggs. If it is high already then avoid the egg yolk (that is where all the cholesterol is) and get going on a whole grain low-fat diet.