Our goal in life should be health and happiness. They key to a long life is by taking care of ourselves, physically, mentally, and spiritually. When it comes to running our bodies, the right food makes all the difference. Your body wants to be healthy and will do its best with what you feed it. Why not give it what it really wants and learn how to eat nutritiously?

Losing weight does not have to be difficult. However, it does require dedication and the best part is that you can get motivated by results. Remember that while we are all different, the human body works the same way. Feed it properly and you won’t have to worry about being overweight.

If you have some weight to lose, check out this healthy eating plan that you can use to lose weight:

Pick the right foods to eat

Most of us already know what we should and should not eat. Our bodies will run on whatever you give it, but unfortunately most fuel is in the form of refined carbs. These include simple sugars and processed grains. Your body has to process them with insulin and that shuts off any chance of using your extra fat for fuel.

If you consume more than your body can use as energy, it stores it in fat cells. Fat, protein, and complex carbs are better sources of fuel. This does not spike insulin and your body uses the fat as fuel. When you combine a diet free from excess sugar along with intermittent fasting, you tap into those fat cells for extra fuel.

Choose foods that don’t trigger a high insulin response. These include low glycemic fruit and vegetables, healthy fats, and high-quality protein. Steer away from junk food and all those carb-filled baking items.

Use a meal delivery service

For those of us that have very busy lives, and that is most of us, look into getting your meals prepared for you, or taking the right supplements. There are excellent prepared meal delivery companies that will deliver nutritious lunches and dinners to your doorstep. Best of all, these meals are prepared by dedicated professional chefs that work alongside nutritionists. They will create healthy, affordable meals so you don’t have to. 

You get to choose the meals you want and the frequency too. If you just need a break from the kitchen a few days a week, they will deliver your meals to your door. For those that want all their meals prepared for them, you can have that too. Make sure to use a company that sources local ingredients including, organic, non-GMO, and grass-fed animals.

If you use meal delivery services regularly, you won’t have to spend time cooking meals anymore. This will free up your schedule to spend with your family and friends instead of shopping and cooking.

Decide when you are going to eat

In order to get results when trying to lose weight, you need to adjust your mealtimes for optimal fat burning. There are thousands of books to read about how to lose weight and they all have their own systems and methods. Many of them contradict each other too so how do we know what and when to eat?

Simple biology tells us that when our bodies need fuel, they either get it from the food we eat or the fat we have stored. When you eat is just as important as what you eat. If you can adapt your body to eating two meals a day instead of three, you give your body extra time to use its reserves.

Try to skip breakfast and plan your first meal as lunch. Then have dinner in the evening and wait until the next day’s lunch. This is called intermittent fasting, and it works very well for weight loss. Having a 16-18 hour fast every day allows your body time to rest and recoup while tapping into the fat storage for fuel.

Follow a daily meal plan

The last thing you want to do is run out of food and have no idea what to eat. If you are unprepared, then you may go for the fast option of snacks and take out. This won’t help you with weight loss that’s for sure. Put pencil to paper and start making a meal list for a week or two. 14 days should give you enough variety that you can repeat those meals over and over without getting bored. Have some alternates if you like.

Once you put together your lunches and dinners, create a shopping list for groceries. You may be able to buy some items in bulk while fresh produce will have to be purchased every 3 or 4 days. Get into the routine of eating both meals at the same time every day and your body will fall in line.