Fitness Friday - 8 Slimming Foods (Part I)

These foods are packed full of disease-fighting, life-extending nutrients plus they will also help keep your tummy full, because they’re loaded with fiber and protein, the sultans of satiety. Find a way to work these potent super foods into your life every day, and you’ll curb cravings before they hit. The result? Well, it could mean saving 600 calories or more a day. Couple that with 30 minutes of moderate exercise, and you can shed as many as 12 pounds in six weeks! Now if that isn't motivation, what is?


1. Spinach: It may be green and leafy, but spinach is no nutritional wallflower. Popeye's muscle-builder is a rich source of plant-based omega-3s and folate, which help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis. FIT IT IN: Make your salads with baby spinach; add spinach to scrambled eggs; drape it over pizza; mix it with marinara sauce and then microwave for an instant dip.

2. Yogurt: This 2,000-year-old food’s health benefits are many. Fermentation spawns hundreds of millions of reinforcements for the battalions of beneficial bacteria in your body. That helps boost your immune system, provides protection against cancer, and even does duty as a cavity-fighter. Not all yogurts are created equal, though, so make sure the label says “live and active cultures.” And watch out for high-fructose corn syrup. I've found good yogurt without all the sugars at Sprouts. FIT IT IN: Yogurt topped with blueberries, walnuts, flaxseed, and honey is the ultimate breakfast — or dessert. Plain low-fat yogurt is also a perfect base for creamy salad dressings and dips.


3. Tomatoes: There are two things you need to know about tomatoes: Red are the best, because they’re packed with more of the antioxidant lycopene, and processed tomatoes are just as potent as fresh ones, because it’s easier for the body to absorb the lycopene. Studies show that a diet rich in lycopene can decrease your risk of bladder, lung, prostate, breast, skin, and stomach cancers, as well as reduce the risk of coronary artery disease.
FIT IT IN: Dress sliced tomatoes with torn basil and olive oil; roast cherry tomatoes and serve over grilled fish or chicken.

4. Carrots: Most red, yellow, or orange vegetables and fruits are spiked with carotenoids — fat-soluble compounds that are associated with a reduction in a wide range of cancers, as well as a reduced risk and severity of inflammatory conditions such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis — but none of them is as easy to prepare, or have as low a caloric density, as carrots do. Aim for a half cup a day. FIT IT IN: Snack on baby carrots; grate raw carrots into salad; toss a carrot into a breakfast smoothie with frozen mango and OJ; roast carrot chunks with olive oil, salt and cumin.


I try to keep the Fitness Friday posts relatively short so experiment and try to eat more of these four super foods and look for the other four next week.