6 Summer Slim-Down Foods That Help You Lose Weight

Whether you’re at a backyard barbecues, a ballgame, on the beach or basking in the sun, a big part of summer fun is the food: Favorites you’ve had since school days that signal the season of sunshine is here, and you’re enjoying it. If you’re on a weight loss program, some of those perfect-for-summer foods can actually help you on your journey. So exactly which are the summer slim-down foods that help you lose weight?

These six options are more than just delicious summer favorites—thanks to the right combinations of nutrients, they’re also foods that help you lose weight :

1. Cool cucumber, local tomatoes and slices of watermelon

What do these foods have in common? Water. Thanks to their high water content, all three of these summer favorites don’t just cool you down, but they’re low in calorie density—which, according to Science Daily. means you can eat a lot of volume without eating a lot of calories. When scientists had obese women in a study add more water-rich foods to their diet plans, they lose 30 percent more weight during the first six months of dieting than those who didn’t focus on adding water-rich foods.

If you’re a watermelon lover, keep track of your portions: Because it’s high on the glycemic index, one cup of the luscious fruit counts as one SmartCarb on Nutrisystem program. Tomatoes and cucumbers, though, are unlimited foods, and count towards your four daily servings of non-starchy vegetables. Pile them on your plate next to your backyard burger or in a fresh, chilly summer salad to help you lose weight.

7 Guaranteed Ways to Lose Weight for Summer

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2. Cool, creamy smoothies and frozen Greek yogurt treats

Greek yogurt has 17 grams of belly-filling, hunger-fighting protein in every 100 calories, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). And it’s also got calcium, which can help more of your weight loss come from fat.

Combine this thicker, creamier yogurt with berries for a cool parfait, or mix them in and freeze in popsicle molds for a fat-fighting fro-yo dessert. Smoothie lover? Double up on the weight loss power of Greek yogurt: Mix in leafy greens with your favorite fruit, Greek yogurt and ice for bonus nutrients and fiber to make your smoothie more filling. The sweetness of the fruit will help mask the flavor of the spinach or other leafy greens, getting you closer to your four daily servings of non-starchy vegetables.

Check out our favorite smoothie recipes here! >

3. Summer berries

Berries are sweeter (and cheaper!) in the summer, and they’re a top choice on our list of foods that help you lose weight. Those fresh little red, blue and black gems are low on the glycemic index, so they won’t spike your blood sugar. That’s thanks to their fiber content: One cup of raspberries, for instance has nine grams of this filling nutrient, meaning the serving can help you feel fuller for longer. That fiber can also help you lose weight around your middle: According to one study published in Science Daily, for every 10 grams of fiber you eat per day, you could have as much as four percent less fat around your belly.

Blueberries may be especially helpful at targeting belly fat. In one 2009 study on rats, the rodents who were given blueberries as part of their weight loss diet lost more belly fat than those losing weight on a berry-free nutrition plan.

4. Tall glasses of iced green tea

Green tea never seems to stop having new benefits: According to nature.com, it’s been shown in studies to help reduce cancer risk, diabetes risk, and even help participants lose weight. In one specific study from the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, obese participants who drank four cups of green tea per day lost significantly more weight over eight weeks than those who drank four cups of water.

Try having a cold glass as a pre-lunch or -dinner drink for bonus weight loss benefits. A study conducted (published in Obesity) asked one group of adults aged 55-75 to have a 16-ounce beverage before each meal while on a diet, they lost 44 percent more weight over 12 weeks than another group that was on the same diet, but didn’t drink. It’s that simple: A pre-meal drink can make you feel more full, so you’ll eat less and lose more.

Learn how to make the perfect iced tea here! >

7 Guaranteed Ways to Lose Weight for Summer

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5. Hit the trail for a hike with some healthy fat

If summer means a hike with family or friends, give your trail mix a boost: Make sure it includes almonds. The monounsaturated fat in these nuts has been shown to help dieters lose belly fat, according to Science Daily. Since fat can help you feel full faster than carbohydrates, it can also make your trail mix help you lose weight while you trek.

But even if you don’t have a caloric deficit on your hiking day, including almonds can help you shed fat around your middle. In a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA), of 48 people with elevated “bad” LDL cholesterol, those who ate a daily snack of almonds lost fat in their bellies and legs, even when they didn’t lose weight.

6. Fresh, whole fruit

When you’re looking for foods that help you lose weight, whole foods are always a great choice. When it comes to fruit, the reason is the fiber: Snapping into a medium-sized apple delivers 125 calories, but comes with 4.9 grams of the filling nutrient.

Haven’t started your weight loss journey yet? Get started today! >

The post 6 Summer Slim-Down Foods That Help You Lose Weight appeared first on The Leaf.

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Feeling down because of how much weight I still have to lose.

Some background: In 2016 I reached my highest weight ever (231lbs) which pushed me to finally work on myself to become healthy. I had reached 185lbs in 2018, gained a bit back then maintained that until late 2019 where I rapidly gained almost all of the weight back because of depression and binge-eating. In 2020 I lost a bit of weight, and it's only since May of this year that I've really been pushing myself both diet-wise and exercise-wise, which is paying off as I've lost 8lbs in June despite being sick for two weeks.

I should be over the moon as I've never managed to lose that much two months in a row, but I'm feeling pretty indifferent. I look at myself in the mirror and I feel like I look the exact same as before. Even though everything points to me that I've lost weight and must look at least a bit different. It makes me feel down to not be able to see it.

I know it's all in my head but it's hard to be rational when your own eyes tell you you look the same. I try to give myself small goals so the weight loss doesn't feel overwhelming, but I couldn't help yesterday but to think about how much weight I still have to lose, and after doing the math I found out I'm not even halfway there. It was very disheartening. I'm not giving up but I'm sad. Sometimes I feel like I'll never be at a healthy weight. I haven't even reached my weight from 2018 yet so I feel like right now I'm just losing the weight I've regained in 2019. It feels like I'm "fixing the damage" so to speak.

I usually try my best to see my weight loss as an adventure and to enjoy the process instead of focusing solely on the end goal, but today's just one of those days.

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Weekly deficit vs daily deficit - A sustainable plan?

So I love planning, it's just how I am, I scribble everything and anything and in weight loss it's no different. I currently weigh almost 120kg and I burn approximately 2,700 Kcal per day. Now I was curious and did some research on Calories and kilos and I found out that a kilo is approximately 7,700 Kcal. So I thought why not calculate an approximate? This is what I've come up with :

Weekly Calorie Intake Goal : 11,200 Kcal (1600 Kcal/day)

Weekly Calorie Output Goal : 20,000 Kcal

Weekly Weight Loss : 20,000 – 11,200 = 8,800 Kcal Deficit

= 1.14KG Weight Loss Per Week.

Monthly Weight Loss : 1.14x4 = 4.5KG Loss Per Month.

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By sitting 24/7 I burn 18,900 Kcal per week. So I need to burn 1,100 Kcal through exercise every week, which I think is doable in around 90 minutes exercise per week or maybe even less for a person of my weight.

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Now thing is I wish to do this for as long as humanly possible, I don't want to go back to old binge eating. I mean, if I dine out once every 2 weeks and I eat a bit extra I don't think it would put me back to obese doesn't it? or does it? What I mean by everything I've written back up here, in this post, do you think that this is sustainable in the long run? Say for years to come?

Also what do you think about the calculations I made? Please correct me if you find wrong in it! Thank you.

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NSV: I turned a boring flight into a super fun one

I’m not really sure if this belongs here, but it felt kinda like a NSV for me. So yesterday I was flying out to Toronto and mentioned to a friend that I hoped I sat beside someone who was chatty, because it’s a bit of a long flight.

I thought I was in seat 26B but I must’ve screwed something up because my ticket had 20B on it. I got on the plane, walked down the aisle (not like that lol) and passed a bunch of faces as I searched for row 20. Lo and behold, there was a very pretty girl around my age sitting in the seat right next to mine. Gulp 😅. Now two years ago I would’ve been absolutely mortified at even the prospect of sitting down next to her, and soooooo self conscious about if I was bumping her elbows or whatever because I was too big, or if my leg was in her space, stuff like that haha. But I said hi to her when I sat down and not too long after we took off she noticed some of the books I brought with me and said I had amazing taste lol. We spent most of the flight chatting away about everything under the sun and sharing a lot and it was super nice 😊. We even nerded out about the same Harry Potter things together lol 😂. There’s no way I would’ve had the nerve to talk to her before my weight loss journey, but now that I’m more confident in myself... presto, I made a long boring flight into a really fun one 😊.

Thanks for putting me in 20B Air Canada, you da real MVP 😂! Also, second NSV: I hit 31,000 steps on my Fitbit running around seeing a bunch of things on an absolutely gorgeous day today in downtown Toronto, new personal best! Also also, happy Canada day to any Canadians in here 🇨🇦!!

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Is it okay for my diet to be #1 in my life right now?

I think the only way I can lose the weight right now is to have my diet be top priority, which means I neglect my other commitments such as exercise and walking (which I’ve been doing for a year now). I know they’re supposed to help with weight loss but I just can’t do them hand in hand together. I’m not sure how I’d even be able to keep it off then, if I lose all the weight now by having weight loss be the number one priority in my life then how am I going to keep it off once I add everything else back into my life without it falling apart? Am I not ready? I really do want to lose weight and sacrifices are made for everything it’s just that it seems so hard to balance 5 commitments in my life which include the extra added one which is diet. It’s either the four other commitments or the one commitment to my diet. Any advice for me? Is this a choice I’m just going to have to make, and list the pros and cons of?

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Day 1? Starting your weight loss journey on Friday, 02 July 2021? Start here!

Today is your Day 1?

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Welcome to r/Loseit!

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So you aren’t sure of how to start? Don’t worry! “How do I get started?” is our most asked question. r/Loseit has helped our users lose over 1,000,000 recorded pounds and these are the steps that we’ve found most useful for getting started.

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Why you’re overweight

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Our bodies are amazing (yes, yours too!). In order to survive before supermarkets, we had to be able to store energy to get us through lean times, we store this energy as adipose fat tissue. If you put more energy into your body than it needs, it stores it, for (potential) later use. When you put in less than it needs, it uses the stored energy. The more energy you have stored, the more overweight you are. The trick is to get your body to use the stored energy, which can only be done if you give it less energy than it needs, consistently.

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Before You Start

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The very first step is calculating your calorie needs. You can do that HERE. This will give you an approximation of your calorie needs for the day. The next step is to figure how quickly you want to lose the fat. One pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories. So to lose 1 pound of fat per week you will need to consume 500 calories less than your TDEE (daily calorie needs from the link above). 750 calories less will result in 1.5 pounds and 1000 calories is an aggressive 2 pounds per week.

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Tracking

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Here is where it begins to resemble work. The most efficient way to lose the weight you desire is to track your calorie intake. This has gotten much simpler over the years and today it can be done right from your smartphone or computer. r/loseit recommends an app like MyFitnessPal, Loseit! (unaffiliated), or Cronometer. Create an account and be honest with it about your current stats, activities, and goals. This is your tracker and no one else needs to see it so don’t cheat the numbers. You’ll find large user created databases that make logging and tracking your food and drinks easy with just the tap of the screen or the push of a button. We also highly recommend the use of a digital kitchen scale for accuracy. Knowing how much of what you're eating is more important than what you're eating. Why? This may explain it.

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Creating Your Deficit

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How do you create a deficit? This is up to you. r/loseit has a few recommendations but ultimately that decision is yours. There is no perfect diet for everyone. There is a perfect diet for you and you can create it. You can eat less of exactly what you eat now. If you like pizza you can have pizza. Have 2 slices instead of 4. You can try lower calorie replacements for calorie dense foods. Some of the communities favorites are cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash in place of their more calorie rich cousins. If it appeals to you an entire dietary change like Keto, Paleo, Vegetarian.

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The most important thing to remember is that this selection of foods works for you. Sustainability is the key to long term weight management success. If you hate what you’re eating you won’t stick to it.

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Exercise

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Is NOT mandatory. You can lose fat and create a deficit through diet alone. There is no requirement of exercise to lose weight.

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It has it’s own benefits though. You will burn extra calories. Exercise is shown to be beneficial to mental health and creates an endorphin rush as well. It makes people feel *awesome* and has been linked to higher rates of long term success when physical activity is included in lifestyle changes.

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Crawl, Walk, Run

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It can seem like one needs to make a 180 degree course correction to find success. That isn’t necessarily true. Many of our users find that creating small initial changes that build a foundation allows them to progress forward in even, sustained, increments.

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Acceptance

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You will struggle. We have all struggled. This is natural. There is no tip or trick to get through this though. We encourage you to recognize why you are struggling and forgive yourself for whatever reason that may be. If you overindulged at your last meal that is ok. You can resolve to make the next meal better.

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Do not let the pursuit of perfect get in the way of progress. We don’t need perfect. We just want better.

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Additional resources

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Now you’re ready to do this. Here are more details, that may help you refine your plan.

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• Quick Start Guide - Build your foundation!

* Lose It Compendium - Frame it out!

* FAQ - Answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions!

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My duromine experience

The past two years have been hard for everyone and my way of dealing with stress/depression/anxiety/ptsd was mindless eating. It became a vicious cycle of get depressed, eat, feel bad, get depressed, eat. I was so embarrassed with how I looked, I haven’t always been the thinnest or healthiest looking person, however going from 90kg to 110kg in two years was a real wake up call for me. I am 171cm and was wearing size 18/20 clothing to try to hide my body.

In mid March I spoke to my doctor about what I could do, we decided to give duromine a try. I’d never used any prescription weight loss medication so I was a bit scared of the side effects. For the first three weeks I was on 15mg, then I was put on 30mg. I have a very high tolerance so I didn’t experience any extreme side effects: my energy levels were the same, sleep was unaffected, my mental state didn’t change and my heart rate was fine. I cut out mindless snacking and tried to stick to two meals. After two weeks I noticed that I wasn’t thinking about food as much and I wasn’t experiencing extreme hunger pangs. I also saw other people posting about losing 10kg within their first month on duromine so when I lost 6kg in my first month I felt disheartened. But I stuck to it. My logic was: I can stay the same weight/gain a few extra kilos or I can lose at least 15kg (any loss is better than no loss). After 6 weeks on duromine I was eating one big meal a day. I don’t exercise at all (occasionally I’ll forage in the forest) but I was still losing weight. My doctor was very impressed with my weight loss progress.

It is now the start of July and in total I have lost 25kgs! The past three and a half months have gone by easily and quickly, I feel like I am making healthy lifestyle changes and I want to stick to once I get off duromine.

I start the day off by taking my duromine the second I wake up, I incorporated it into my morning skincare regimen. Afterwards I have a sugar free energy drink which is under 25cal for 500ml (I know it’s not ‘healthy’ but coffee makes me throw up and upsets my stomach, tea doesn’t give me the kick I prefer). I usually get busy afterwards and don’t eat till dinner which is a green salad (spinach or mixed lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, capsicum, feta cheese, lemon juice for dressing) accompanied with some sort of protein (I am lazy so I usually eat a small can of tuna as there is no preparation needed and it’s cheap, alternatively I shred up lean chicken with no skin or stuffing from a rotisserie chook), and my ‘dessert’ is fresh fruit (if I’m lazy it’s just one large apple but if I want to spoil myself I can make a fruit salad with apple or pear, kiwi and a small banana). I try to stick to 1200 calories a day and log everything I eat so I have a personal record of what/how much to eat. If I want something different I make a mushroom, tomato and spinach omelette. Another thing that has helped: I eat much slower. Finishing a meal is not a race, I chew everything to experience and enjoy all the flavours. The only reason I mainly eat at night is because it helps me sleep, I know eating at night can have different results for other people. I enjoy how my skin and hair feel from my diet so I’ll try to stick to the fresh fruits and vegetables with lean protein as my dietary stable.

I went to the doctor last week for a fill blood test and the results came back completely normal except for my vitamin D (I have always had low vitamin D regardless of how much time I spend in the sun), but I was given a one time shot of super concentrated Vitamin D oil (ingested internally) which should last me the next three months. I personally don’t feel any different and to me andI think that I look the same. However, clothes and scales don’t lie, so that’s reassuring. My personal goal is to weigh less than 75kgs (10kgs left to lose but I won’t be mad if I lose more).

If you aren’t sure if duromine will help, speak to your doctor about it (some antidepressants and duromine should not be taken together). Duromine isn’t going to fix everything and doesn’t speed up the metabolism, however it helps in suppressing the hunger pains and helped me make healthier long term life style changes.

(Sorry if this post isn’t broken up into paragraphs, my phone seems to get rid of all the spaces I put and I don’t know how to fix it!)

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