The Top 10 Fat Burning Foods
It
seems that many people are not only curious about what foods a natural
bodybuilder eats to maintain single digit body fat, but they also want to be
taken by the hand and told exactly what foods to eat themselves
while on fat-burning or muscle building programs.
That’s
why I decided to put together four separate “top 10” lists of healthy foods that burn fat and build muscle.
A Variety of Foods Makes For A More Interesting Diet
Exact
quantities and menus are not listed, just the individual foods, and of course
my food intake does vary. I aim to get as many different varieties of fruits
and vegetables as possible over the course of every week and there are a lot of
substitutions made, so you are not seeing the full list of everything I eat,
only what foods I eat most of the time.
I
also want to point out that while I don’t believe that extreme low carbs are
necessary or most effective when you look at the long term, research has shown
that there are some definite advantages to a low to moderate carb and higher protein diet for fat loss
purposes. These include reduced appetite, higher thermic effect of food and
“automatic” calorie control.
Personally,
I reduce my carb intake moderately and temporarily prior to bodybuilding
competitions. Specifically, it’s the foods that are on the starchy carbs and
grains list that go down during the brief pre-competition period when I’m
working on that really “ripped” look. I keep the green and fibrous veggie
intake very high however, along with large amounts of lean protein, small
amounts of fruit, and adequate amounts of essential fats.
Choose A Good Variety of Healthy Foods You Enjoy
This
list reflects my personal preferences, so this is not a prescription to all
readers to eat as I do. It’s very important for compliance to choose foods you
enjoy and to have the option for a wide variety of choices. In the past several
years, nutrition and obesity research - in studying ALL types of diets - has
continued to conclude that almost any hypocaloric diet that is not completely
“moronic” can work, at least in the short term.
It’s
not so much about the high carb - low carb argument or any other debate as much
as it is about calorie control and compliance. The trouble is, restricted diets
and staying in a calorie deficit is difficult, so most people can’t stick with
any program and they fall off the wagon, whichever wagon that may be.
Choose Nutrient-Dense Low Calorie Foods For Maximum Results
I
believe that a lot of our attention needs to shift away from pointless debates
(for example, low carb vs. high carb is getting really old… so like… get over
it everyone, its a calorie deficit that makes you lose weight, not the amount
of carbs).
Instead, our focus should shift towards these questions:
1.
How can we build an eating program
that we can enjoy while still getting us leaner and healthier?
2.
How can we build an eating program
that helps us control calories?
3.
How can we build an eating program
that improves compliance?
Here’s
one good answer to the above questions:
Eat
a wide variety of high nutrient density, low calorie density foods
that you enjoy which still fit within healthy, fat-burning, muscle-building
guidelines!
Here
are the lists of foods I choose to achieve these three outcomes. This eating plan is not
difficult to stick with at all, by the way. I enjoy eating like this and it
feels almost weird not to eat like this after doing it for so long.
Remember,
habits work in both directions, and as motivational speaker Jim Rohn has said,
“Bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with and good habits are hard to
form but easy to live with.”
These
are listed in the order I frequently consume them. So for example, if oatmeal
is on the top of the list, it means that is the food I am most likely to eat every
single day.
The Top 10 Carb and Whole Grain Fat Burning Foods
1.
Oatmeal (old fashioned)
2.
Yams
3.
Brown rice (a favourite is basmati,
a long grain aromatic rice)
4.
Sweet potatoes (almost same as yams)
5.
Multi grain hot cereal (mix or
barley, oats, rye. titricale and a few others)
6.
White potatoes
7.
100% whole wheat bread
8.
100% whole wheat pasta
9.
Beans (great for healthy chili
recipes)
10.
Cream of rice hot cereal
The Top 10 Fat Burning Vegetables
1.
Broccoli
2.
Asparagus
3.
Spinach
4.
Salad greens
5.
Tomatoes
6.
Peppers (green, red or yellow)
7.
Onions
8.
Mushrooms
9.
Cucumbers
10.
Zucchini
The Top 10 Fat Burning Lean Proteins
1.
Egg whites (whole eggs in limited
quantities)
2.
Whey or Casein protein (protein
powder supplements)
3.
Chicken Breast
4.
Salmon (wild Alaskan)
5.
Turkey Breast
6.
Top round steak (grass fed beef)
7.
Flank Steak (grass fed beef)
8.
Lean Ground Turkey
9.
Bison/Buffalo
10.
Trout
The Top 10 Fat Burning Fruits
1.
Grapefruit
2.
Apples
3.
Blueberries
4.
Canteloupe
5.
Oranges
6.
Bananas
7.
Peaches
8.
Grapes
9.
Strawberries
10.
Pineapple
Please Note Don't Forget Your Healthy Fats!
I
DO include healthy fats as well, such as:
·
Almonds
·
Avocado and a few others
·
Extra virgin olive oil
·
Flaxseed oil (supplement - not to
cook with)
·
Walnuts
Also,
I do eat dairy products and have nothing against them, nor am I lactose
intolerant. I simply don’t eat as much dairy as the rest of the stuff on my
lists. When I eat dairy, its usually skim milk, low or non fat cottage cheese,
low or non fat yogurt and low or non fat cheese (great for omelettes).
Don't Forget To Have Treat Meals To Help You Stick With Your
Diet
Last
but not least, I usually follow a compliance rate of about 95%, which means I
take two or three meals per week of whatever I want (stuff that is NOT on these
lists - like pizza, sushi, big fatty restaurant steaks, etc)
I
hope you found this helpful and interesting. Keep in mind, this is MY food
list, and although you probably couldn't go wrong to emulate it, you need to
choose natural foods you enjoy in order to develop habits you can stick with
long term.
In
the fruits and vegetables categories alone, there are hundreds of other choices
out there, so enjoy them all!