Nutrition Suggestions for the Stage 2 of Burning Fat

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This post is the part 9 of The Ultimate Weight Loss Guide

At stage 2 there is more flexibility in some individual deviations from the program edition as described below. You have the discretion to adjust the constitutional elements of the second stage to your habits and lifestyle. For example, if you are prescribed to have water and vegetables for dinner, why not make soup out of them and throw in some bran as croutons?

Your daily ration should include the following: cabbage, cucumbers, radish, onion, garlic, spinach, parsley, lettuce, apples and pears, citrus fruit (especially grapefruit), blackberry, arrowwood berries, ashberry, blueberry and lingberry, cedar nuts, walnuts, almond nuts, low-fat fermented dairy products.

Besides that, you are entitled to the wonderful world of fruit in all its variety but I remain hopeful that you won’t forget about apples. Try to vary your fruit ration yet take into account the season factor: any fruit is best when it is consumed in its due season. Whenever possible, give preference to fruits which grow in your geographic area.

The only fruits which you ought to stay away from are bananas and grapes because of their very high sugar content that induces a sharp release of insulin into the bloodstream.

Fruits, vegetables and berries are best when consumed fresh or after minimum heat processing. It is best even not to cook porridge as it is but simply take some cereal, pour in boiling water and let it stew until the grains swell. When nearing the end of the second stage, for breakfast you take two tablespoonfuls of buckwheat cereal ground in the coffee grinder with a glass of low-fat kefir or yogurt sprinkled with bran and almond nuts.

During the second stage, we begin to eat fish, seafood, meat and cereals (porridges).

Fish and seafood

Now let’s talk about fish. If only because fish is one of the healthiest, finest and the most affordable articles of food. A collaborative study conducted by Chinese and German paleontologists has validated the hypothesis that our ancient ancestors ate fish as early as 40 000 years ago.

All fish sold in stores can be tentatively divided into the following categories: live, chilled or ice-cooled and frozen. Anyone who has ever been to European countries must have noticed that almost all fish there is sold fresh.

It’s best to very careful when shopping for chilled fish which generally looks so catching when laid out on ice in supermarket shopping windows.

Chilled whole fish stays fresh no more than 3 or 4 days.

Sea fish is a product which still demands further study. It contains polyunsaturated Omega-3 fatty acids which decelerate the development of atherosclerosis, lower the risk of heart attacks, and so forth. People, who do not like fish much, are strongly advised to keep taking capsules of cod liver oil. However, it is not so straightforward even in this respect.

The results of a large scale study conducted by scientists from the University of East Anglia medical department with more than 3000 men as study subjects, have revealed an elevated mortality rate among those subjects which took cod liver oil caps.

Furthermore, the global scientific community as of yet has not been able to prove that consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids has a direct beneficial effect on human health. Alternatively, people with pancreatic gland-related disorders and diabetes should avoid it altogether because its overdosage may cause serious trouble with adrenal glands

Incidentally, do not get too keen on canned fish!

Seawater fish contains a huge variety of micronutrients. It is rich in iodine and manganese. Nevertheless, despite of everything mentioned above, fish is a must for your diet! It is free of saturated fats and it contains a certain combination of every important of amino acids. Eating fish becomes especially relevant for people in their forties and older because fish contains eicosapentaenoic acid. This acid weakens the blood clotting ability which acts as a prevention of thrombus formation.

Meat

People who decide to lose weight can be divided into the following two categories:

• Those who can’t live without sweets and flour-based foods.
• Those who are indifferent to sweets yet would give anything for a steak or a piece of sausage.

We already know what it is like to be addicted to carbohydrates. However, this obsession with meat among people who call themselves meat eaters can be attributed to special meat extractives’ excitatory influence on the nervous system.

Such extractives are plentiful in meat soups and broths. Under this excitatory influence people get a feeling of being stronger, more confident, less depressed – however, this impression is nothing but deceptive.

The truth is that people develop a habit of eating meat (as a stimulator) which is similar to that of drinking strong coffee or tea. The transient sense of euphoria requires the body to find ways to sustain this state – similar to what happens with addiction to smoking and alcohol.

According to the study published by the National Cancer Institute (USA), meat-rich diet has a high risk of developing colon and rectal cancer.

Fatty red meat abounds in saturated fat which your body has more than enough already.

I am not encouraging you to stay away from meat altogether, I just want to put across a point that it is necessary to limit your meat intake if possible. Preference should be given to lean veal, rabbit or chicken meat. I hope I don’t sound like Captain Obvious when I tell you that with poultry white meat is better than dark one.

White meat has a lot less fat and its proteins are more easily digested. Be creative in your meat consumption. For instance, you can grace your meat dishes with vegetables and spices. Beautifully arranged food induces increased secretion of saliva and gastic acid which facilitates its complete digestion and protein absorption. The choice of food processing method also plays a part. It is best to grind meat with a mincing machine first because ground meat is much more easily digested than a whole steak.

Protein-rich foods are more easily digested when they are eaten together with fiber, which is plentiful in bran and fresh vegetables.

Why fresh and not stewed or boiled vegetables? It’s as simple as that! Fresh vegetables have a much higher content of vitamins, micronutrients and bioflavonoid. They also retain an undistorted filament structure of dietary fiber. Incidentally, a side order of vegetables even with fatty meat and fish dishes makes a significant contribution to stimulation of digestive glands which are usually inhibited by the excessive fat intake. If you don’t have any stomach and bowel-related disorders, you should eat from 600 g to 700 g (21-24 oz) of raw vegetables a day.

If you suffer from any gastrointestinal tract related disease then your body simply will not be able to process so much raw vegetables, therefore you will have to settle for stewing or cooking them.

It’s best to cook vegetables until they merely begin to soften (but not longer than that) with a small amount of water without getting as far as vigorous boiling or evaporation. Always put vegetables in boiling water.

Steaming food has always been a favorite with dieticians as the most reasonable and healthy way of cooking. However, the oldest method of cooking known to mankind is roasting on an open fire. Roasting allows the food to keep its natural color, smell, shape and taste as well as the better part of its micronutrients and vitamins.

The rule of thumb here is as follows: no charred meat!

You can just wrap it up in aluminum foil and put it in the oven or on a grill.

Meat and fish can be boiled, steamed or grilled. The only thing to avoid is fatty meat and rich nourishing broths.

Various types of meat are virtually no different in terms of their nutritional value.  The only thing that matters is that you like the dish you decide to cook.

Keep in mind the golden rule – if the food is not appetizing, do not force yourself to eat it.

Cereals as a source of healthy carbohydrates

When we begin our strength training practices we need to start eating cereals (porridges).

In order to differentiate products according to their ability to raise your blood sugar level, medical professionals introduced a special indicator – GI (Glycemic index). The most unhealthy product in this respect is glucose syrup with a glycemic index of 100.

All food is classified into three categories based on glycemic index: harmful foods have a GI value over 70 (they should be consumed as little as possible), moderately healthy foods GI is from 56 to 69 and healthy foods have a GI below 55.  Even the most popular porridges – oatmeal, buckwheat and rice (made from long-grain rice) – are on the verge between healthy and moderately healthy foods.

And that means that it’s best to go easy on them after you have started on the program. That is why I advise to include them into your diet only closer to the end of the second stage – when you begin your strength training – since their high carb content will be in great demand for replenishing the adenosine triphosphate energy reserves of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

White milled rice which is so popular nowadays with Japanese cuisine fans does not meet the qualifications for our weight loss system because of its high glycemic index. However, there are several kinds of rice which are actually healthy. Brown rice is unmilled therefore it keeps its bran which is rich in vitamins and micronutrients. Long-grained wild rice is also good: it doesn’t get so fluffy when cooked and has a low glycemic index.

Oatmeal is an irreplaceable source of fiber which considerably lowers the risk of many stomach-related diseases. Its high fiber content helps balance the absorption of lipids and lower the blood cholesterol level. Oatmeal also contains tryptophan which contributes to keeping your spirits up. If you’re having oatmeal it won’t hurt to add a teaspoonful of honey, a handful of raisins or berries, some apples or nuts. Just don’t throw them all in at once!

Oats has a high content of manganese, magnesium and selenium. The most important element for the purpose of bringing down the level of bad cholesterol is beta-glucans which are found in filaments of oats. Studies have shown that as little as 3 g of oats filaments per day can lower the blood cholesterol level by 8-23 % (for people with a high cholesterol content – more than 220 mg / dL). The same 3 g (0.1 oz) of oats filaments can be found in a bowl of oatmeal.

Buckwheat porridge contains 5 times more micronutrients that oatmeal. This cereal tones up capillary vessels due to its high content of rutin (rutoside) which regulates their permeability and enhances the drug effect of ascorbic acid. Buckwheat contains an ideal set of all indispensable amino acids.

Vegetables

At this stage of the program, you can allow yourself to alternate an evening salad with steamed vegetables. People are naturally more comfortable with cooking or heating their food on a frying pan rather than consciously opting for long and tedious stewing or steaming.  Despite all the advantages of a steam cooker, very few actually build up the courage to let it replace all the pots and pans.

In my opinion, all the preconceived ideas about steaming are related to certain negative associations which exist at the subconscious level. In fact, many people know for sure or at least may have heard somewhere that this cooking method is recommended for those who are critically ill, who suffer from gastritis, ulcer, cholecystitis, atherosclerosis and other disturbing diseases.

Steamed vegetables are very easily digested and do not cause a heavy feeling in your stomach. Steamed dishes never burn, do not require oil, stirring or flipping and are always cooked evenly. Water soluble vitamins and minerals are not wasted in the broth and the food is not suffused with extra fats.

When being steamed, your food doesn’t come into contact with air and doesn’t heat over 100 °C which retains their ingredient composition almost intact. Steaming vegetables takes a lot less time than frying or cooking them in water. Steamed dishes always turn out juicy and healthy because the steam itself, even when coming from hard and heavily chlorinated water, is free of metal admixtures.

Keep in mind the following two factors when using a steam cooker:

• You can steam any product apart from mushrooms since they have to be boiled in a large amount of water.
• Avoid steaming faulty or battered vegetables because during the process they acquire a disagreeable smell and taste, and even if you cut out all the defects, they will still get out of shape. That is why all vegetables and fruits selected for steaming should be of very good quality.

I’d recommend that at least half of steamed vegetables were represented by broccoli.

Broccoli is indeed a very healthy food. Heads of this plant in the cabbage family have long been known to doctors as a source of many healthy elements. Broccoli protein is almost as good as animal-based protein: for example, it contains as much lysine and tryptophan as in a chicken egg white.

Broccoli improves skin elasticity by preventing it from sagging (you may recall the development of an apron of skin – one of the side effects of massive weight loss). As a matter of fact, potassium found in broccoli, affect the water content, copper is responsible for durability and elasticity of connective tissues, while zinc acts as a safeguard against free radicals. Unlike other kinds of cabbage, broccoli contains twice as much vitamins A and C, phosphorus, calcium and iron.

In addition to that, broccoli is a remarkable source of chromium which controls the carbohydrate metabolism. It also contains natural elements which aid in prevention of cancer. One of its components – diindolylmethane (DIM) – has a powerful antiandrogenic effect: it hinders the growth of cancer cells in the prostate gland at the early stages of the disease development.

Besides that, broccoli as well as cauliflower and brussels sprouts contain indole-3-carbinol (I3C) which our body also processes into diindolylmethane. For women, the beneficial effects of this vegetable include its capability to prevent the development of tumors in mammary glands and endometrium.

This type of cabbage is best when steamed for no more than a few minutes. However, people with elevated gastic acidity levels and pancreatic gland-related disorders have to be careful about it because for them its side effects include abdominal distention and colic pain.

Broccoli contains yet another natural anticarcinogen – sulforaphane. This substance kills bacteria which cause some types of stomach ulcer and prevents the development of gastic cancer. Once in the bowels, sulforaphane aids in production of glutathione transferases – powerful enzymes which are responsible for destruction of carcinogens in the consumed food. Sulforaphane can be found in all plants of the cabbage family, however, broccoli has its highest concentration.

Five servings of vegetables and fruits per day

This figure has been originally put forward by the World Health Organization. It is based on the reported beneficial effect of consuming five servings of fruits and vegetables per day (serving size is 80 – 100 g).

These five servings have to include assorted vegetables and fruits.

The majority of fruits and vegetables admittedly meet these requirements.

This standard allows consumption of fresh, frozen, tinned fruits and vegetables, as well as dry fruit and juices.

Potatoes and cassava did not make the list of recommended products because they are rich in starch.

Regretfully, despite the fact that the recommended idea about 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day has been widely promoted ever since it was originally suggested, as much as 70 % of adults do not comply with it.

One serving is actually the size of your handful. Therefore, try to eat at least five handfuls of vegetables and fruits every day.

What’s next?

GO TO THE PART 10 OF THE ULTIMATE WEIGHT LOSS GUIDE  >>> Fat Burning Stage 2 Physical Activities. Keep Being Active!

What do you think about it? I would be very grateful if you share your opinion in comments!