Fat Fighting Foods: A Kitchen Comparison

If you were to compare the kitchen and pantry of two people: one is struggling everyday to lose weight while the other person seems to effortlessly keep the weight off-you would find some drastic differences.

One of the most surprising differences is that people at a healthy weight actually have more food in their kitchen-not less. This reflects the fact that people who cook their own food tend to weigh less than those that eat out. Even with the best intentions, dining out more than once or twice a week is a nutritional minefield.

The differences don’t end there. People who can lose weight and keep it off tend to have 5 items at their disposal that gives them the most important weapon in the weight loss battle-making it convenient and easy. These are tremendously powerful fat fighting foods. Our grandiose plans for preparing a 3 course dinner every night of the week can dissolve faster than you can say: “my kid has the flu”.

Consider these 5 fat fighting foods your safety net for when life gets in the way of your weight loss plans.

Fat Fighting Food #1-Frozen Broccoli

Vegetables have huge upside: they are great for weight loss and have a ton of antioxidants. The downside is that they can also take the most time to prepare. Put frozen broccoli in a bowl, cover, and microwave for 5 minutes and you have an easy and healthy side dish.

Fat Fighting Food #2-Canned Salmon

I could write a dissertation on the health benefits of salmon. Besides being a healthy source of protein, salmond has a boatload of omega-3s which can help with fat burning. Salmon in a can is easy to make and always there for you in a pinch.

Fat Fighting Food #3-Frozen Berries

Another frozen winner. Frozen berries are delicious, convenient, and have a ton of fat and appetite fighting fiber. With frozen berries, you can make a smoothie, plop some over your oatmeal, or even throw a handful in your mouth.

Fat Fighting Food #4-Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce

Adding flavor to bland food also often means adding a bunch of calories. Reduced sodium soy sauce can turn bland food into a flavor filled masterpiece-by adding about 5 calories.

Fat Fighting Food #5-Salsa

Salsa is another low calorie way to add flavoring to food. After you start to use salsa as a topping to fish or as part of a side dish, you will see that salsa is much more than something to dip a tortilla chip into.

No matter what the diet gurus say, losing weight and keeping it off is hard.  By having these 5 items stocked in your kitchen you can make it easy-no matter what life throws at you.

Brian Dean MS, RD is a registered dietitian and researcher. After years of research, Brian has set his sights on helping those with lower back pain.  He serves on the Medical Nutrition Committee for The American Society for Nutrition and is a professional member of numerous cabbage soup diet research organizations including the International Association for The Study of Pain, American Chronic Pain Society, and The American Dietetic Association. He recently created a research-based lower back pain treatment program , ‘The Back Pain Diet’ which is available from his website Stop Lower Back Pain.