Want to know how to enjoy the holidays AND save your waistline?👇🏽
The holidays are upon us. It’s a time to give thanks, indulge, but also be mindful and more self-aware of how we are loving our body. This means not over-indulging, but rather create balance in your nutrition routine.
To help stay ahead of the excess holiday-pound season, here are the TOP 5 foods to help decrease belly fat, + recipe ideas. Enjoy these foods daily or throughout the week to help minimize your waistline and improve your health, while still enjoying a slice of pumpkin or sweet potato pie 😋.
TOP 5 FOODS TO DECREASE BELLY FAT:
1️⃣ Avocado 🥑
Avocados are nutrient powerhouses that pack good fat in addition to fiber, antioxidants, and numerous vitamins and minerals—including potassium, a mineral that supports heart function and also helps regulate blood pressure by acting as a natural diuretic, to sweep excess sodium and fluid out of the body.
Even if you don’t eat a whole avocado daily, incorporating this good fat food into your diet more often is a smart, health-protective strategy. Whip avocado into a smoothie, mash and spread it on toast, sprinkle it onto salads, black bean tacos, lentil soup, or a baked potato, or just enjoy half of an avocado as an accompaniment to any meal. You can even puree avocado and incorporate it into chocolate pudding!
2️⃣ Nuts 🥜
Nuts, a staple of the Mediterranean diet, provide healthful fat in addition to plant protein, antioxidants, fiber, and a wide range of vitamins and minerals. Among them are many nutrients adults tend to fall short on, like magnesium, which supports mental health and sleep and helps lower BMI and blood pressure.
If you’re not allergic or sensitive to nuts, they’re easy to add to nearly any meal or snack. Blend nut butter into a smoothie, add nuts or drizzle nut butter into overnight oats, sprinkle nuts onto salads, cooked veggies, and stir fries, snack on nuts as is or combined with fruit.
3️⃣ Whole Grains 🌾
Whole grains. Despite the fear most have of carbs being bad, they’re health-protective in a number of ways, including a reduction in belly fat.
Instead of shunning all grains, consume moderate amounts of whole grains or portions that are in line with your energy demands (meaning smaller servings when you’re less active, and larger portions when you’re more active). Good options include oats at breakfast, quinoa added to a salad at lunch, and brown or wild rice added to a stir-fry at dinner. Homemade popcorn, which makes a great crunchy and filling snack, also counts as a whole grain.
4️⃣ Lentils 🍛
Lentils are chock full of plant protein, key minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, and they’re king when it comes to fiber. One cup of cooked lentils provides 14 grams of fiber, with about half as soluble fiber, the type that’s also known to help support bowel regularity and lower cholesterol.
Opt for lentils in place of meat as the protein source in a meal, seasoned with herbs and combined with extra virgin olive oil, a generous portion of veggies, and a small serving of healthy starch from sweet potato or fingerling potato, spaghetti squash, or quinoa. Add lentils to a salad, make a simple lentil curry, an insta-pot lentil soup.
5️⃣ Salmon 🐟
Wild Salmon. Salmon provides Vitamin D which is important for a number of functions, including immunity, bone-density regulation, and mental health. Research also shows that a low blood vitamin D level is tied to an increase in both total body fat and visceral belly fat in women, and visceral belly fat in men.
A four-ounce portion of tinned salmon can provide 80% of the daily value for vitamin D. Add it to avocado toast at breakfast, salads at lunch, transform into salmon burgers, or toss with veggies, olives, and chickpea pasta for dinner.
If you don’t eat fish or don’t like salmon, look for foods that have been fortified with vitamin D, like certain plant milks, or consider taking a vitamin D supplement that provides 800-1000 IU of vitamin D daily.
All those foods above are packed with antioxidants, vitamins + minerals, protein, boost your immune system, help lower cholesterol, include fiber and regulate your digestive system + more amazing benefits. #GutHealth
👇🏽 Share below what food you’re going to add into your nutrition routine? 👇🏽
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