Its not all about calories. A calorie is a calorie no matter what time you eat. Sodium, sugar and carbs stall weight loss and also give you cravings.
Here is info to help you learn how your system works and how to lose weight....hope this helps you, it did me.
Always eat a carb and a protein 2 hours before bedtime to balance your blood sugar, something like one bread stick with seasame seeds and 1 ounce of cheese, oatmeal & blueberries, cottage cheese and matchstick carrots and a bread stick.
One of the reasons why carbohydrates lead to weight gain is the fact that their consumption leaves people feeling hungry, and Carbs are the main reason for increasing the body weight and not fats.
Eating carbs limits your capacity of using fat. Carbs are the main reason for increasing the body weight and not fats. The source of carbs doesn't matter, whether it is sugar, fruit, bread, or vegetable. Carbs get digested quickly and are converted into blood glucose in no time. Just after you have a carb-rich meal, there is a shoot in the sugar level in the blood, and your pancreas start producing insulin in large amounts to take care of the excess sugar in the blood.
Consuming fat doesn't lead to an increase in the blood glucose and thus, the insulin levels are also maintained. The insulin hormone is responsible for fat storage in the body and so it is important that its level is maintained in the body. As fats do not trigger insulin production, they are not accumulated as body fat. Insulin flushes the excess glucose out of the blood stream. It is first converted into starch which is called glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the muscles and in the liver. But there is a limitation to the amount of glycogen that can be stored in the body and so the excess amount is stored in the form of fat.
This is how the body weight increases. When the glucose level in the blood comes down to normal after around 90 minutes, the level of insulin is still the maximum. As the insulin is still present in the bloodstream, it continues its process of converting glucose into fat. As a result of this, the glucose level in the blood falls below normal, making you feel hungry again. So, when you eat a snack rich in carbohydrates, the whole process makes you even hungrier. Thus, irony of the situation is that although you are eating and getting fat, you are still hungry and want more. It is a vicious cycle of gaining weight and getting hungry. It is very difficult to come out of this cycle and avoid overeating.
Cutting Carbs for Losing Weight: So, you have loaded extra fat onto your body and now its time to pull it off. Here you face difficulties, since a carbohydrate rich diet does not allow you to lose the excess weight. Now, it's time to use the stored fat as a fuel. The body will use this fat as energy only when you cut off the supply of fuel, i.e. the blood glucose. There are two diet plans available to cut off the glucose supply. A low-fat diet is about starving and having a very low-calorie food. The other plan is to reduce the intake of starch and sugar from which the glucose is made, and to fill the void with another fuel, i.e. fat.
The latter plan has an upper hand on the traditional diet plan as it has two advantages. The first is that you don't have to starve and the second is that by feeding on fats, the body will not search for glucose and start to use its own stored fat.
Eating carbs limits your capacity of using fat. When you are on a diet, you increase your blood glucose, which in turn, stimulates the release of insulin. Even low concentration of insulin inhibits the process of breaking up fat by activating fat synthesis. In other words, when you resort to a low-fat diet which is based on carbohydrates, your body is forced into the fat-building mode and not the fat-burning mode.
High-carb breakfast foods include breakfast cereals, toast, jam, milk, yogurt, granola bars and fruits, and other meals may also include large amounts of carbohydrates, such as bread, pizza crust, rice, potatoes and pasta. Eat nothing white and no wheat bread either as they both give you a sugar surge. Eat Rye bread only or pumpernickle as both digest slowly and wont spike your body's insulin. You wont feel so tired either!
Eat only low carb fruits are pears, peaches, plums, cherries, apples, kiwi, all kinds of berries.
If you have pasta only get DREAMFIELD'S PASTA which has 5 digestiable carbs and eat only two ounces the size of a quarter uncooked and add as much brocolli or green beans to your dish as you want. Eat Your Broccoli to Lower Heart Risks and 4 walnuts daily.
WATCH OUT FOR SPAGHETTI SAUCE WHICH IS HIGH IN SUGAR, I found Del Monte Traditional Sauce which seems to be the lowest in sugar at Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores.
Cereals are high in sugar and sodium, so eat only shredded wheat, puffed rice or puffed wheat which has no sodium or salt or sugar, multi-grain cheerios (medium sugar intake of 6 grams) or Kashi 7 whole grain puffs (organic section $2.89 per box and eat with skim milk and berries to sweeten.
No Bananas! The longer your bananas sit around, the more likely they will be to give you a sugar surge and a headache since the sugar increases in the banana as they ripen. Stick with berries.
The foods that were found to be most closely associated with weight gain are potato chips, potatoes (including boiled or mashed potatoes and French fries), and sugar-sweetened drinks. Potatoes show nearly three times the impact of sweets and desserts, If you must eat a potato, eat a red potato as they have less starch in them than the white kind or Mash red potatoes with steamed califlower, the potatoes taste the same and of course its much healthier because there is less starch. A baked potato once in a blue moon is okay! Potatoes are rich in carbohydrates. Yes, eat the skin becuase thats where the fiber, minerals, and nutrients are.like vitamin C, vitamin B and potasium.
Salad greens are very low in calories (maybe 10 calories a cup) and try to get the best nutrition from your greens. Romaine is high in nutritional value and so is spinach. So skip the iceberg lettuce. Kale is also good and loaded with fiber. The darker green, the better.
Add 2 ounces of Roast chicken, turkey, tuna, sardines, shrimp, crab, cheese, hard-boiled egg, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, chickpeas, to your salads for variation and some raw carrots, califlower, brocolli, Cucumber, tomato, radish, peppers, cabbage, onion, olives, celery and avocado. Vinegar helps control blood sugar so always have a vinegar & oil salad/ I try to get at least a small one in daily.
The body changes sugar into 2 to 5 times more fat in the bloodstream than it does starch.
Sugar induces salt and water retention. Sugar causes high blood pressure & can increase cholesterol. Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
Sugar can cause drowsiness & sugar can increase the amount of liver fat. Sugar can contribute to diabetes. Sugar can cause depression. Sugar substitutes are no better.
Dr Mark Hyman Says "Stop confusing your body. If you have a desire for something sweet, have a little sugar, but stay away from “fake” foods. Researchers found that the total food eaten over 14 days dramatically increased in the artificial sweetener group — meaning that the artificial sweetener stimulated their appetite and made them eat more!"
He also says "Eliminate sugar and artificial sweeteners and your cravings will go away: Go cold turkey. If you are addicted to narcotics or alcohol you can’t simply just cut down. You have to stop for you brain to reset. Eliminate refined sugars, sodas, fruit juices, and artificial sweeteners from your diet. No Dried fruit either!These are all drugs that will fuel cravings."
Eat low carb, low glycemic and stay between 1200 to 1400 calories a day. Watch portion control, move every 20 minutes and do something. Take a walk after each meal even if its only a few mintues of walking.
Fat is far more satiating than carbs, so if you have cut down on carbs and feel ravenous, this is a sign that you haven't replaced them with sufficient amounts of healthy fat..a couple of avocado slices, a tbsp of Olive Oil for cooking, fatty fish.