…that’s because I’m a vegetarian. Occasionally a ‘vegan’. Yes, because I love animals but more importantly because I think my body looks and does better on more of a vegetarian diet. I struggle, though, because it’s SO much easier to be excessive in my fat intake.
Today’s information comes from turbulencetraining.com & an interview that was done with John Alvino with my little comments (of course):
“So I asked John to tell us his 3 foods you must NOT eat if you are a vegetarian that wants to lose fat. Controversial stuff…here it is:
#1 Food to avoid on a vegetarian fat loss diet:
Excessive soy products -Most vegetarians consume copious amounts of soy [true]. Heck, it is not uncommon to see soy milk for breakfast, soy burgers for lunch and soy ice cream for a late night snack [not THAT bad]. These foods can stop your fat loss dead in its tracks. In addition to all of the sugar and salt these products contain [didn't know that], soy has an estrogenic effect in the body [knew that]. Excess estrogen binds to the fat cells and causes an increase in the size of estrogen-sensitive fatty tissue such as belly fat.
#2 Food to avoid on a vegetarian fat loss diet:
Flour products-This list of fat loss no-nos includes: breads, pasta, muffins, cereals and just about all other baked goods. These foods increase a hormone named insulin in the body which directly promotes the storage of fat. [I knew this but am currently having an affair with bread. Shhh...] Flour also has an inflammatory effect in the body. The last thing you want is inflammation in your joints which can cause pain and prevent you from being active [or give you intense joint pain when you ARE active **ahem**].
#3 Food to avoid on a vegetarian fat loss diet:
Cheese- Cheese contains animal based saturated fat which has a negative effect on your carbohydrate metabolism. In the presence of saturdated fat, ingested carbohydrates are directed to your fat cells for storage instead of being diverted to your muscle cells for energy. Vegetarian diets are typically higher in carbohydrates and anything that interferes with their utilization should be minimized or completely avoided. [Ooops...]
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Hmmmm…very controversial…what do YOU think?
Well, since you asked; yes, controversial but I do see the validity to this. My doc just recently had me give up nuts (walnuts, almonds) and I’m allergic to beans, peanut butter, eggs, etc so it’s really hard to find good protein sources and again, not go overboard on fat.
Anyway, gives you something to chew on (**pun intended**).
March 6th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
^ coming clean with y’all; I’ve eaten each of the 3 items listed SINCE posting this. Nice. It’s kinda like when you’re told not to do something or eat something so your brain ignores the “no” part and understands the rest. Yeah, kinda like that.