Healthy Foods For Weight Loss

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To lose weight, or maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, you don’t need to have exciting new foods, complicated (and expensive) health recipes, or major diet changes. Adding these affordable and healthy foods to your daily diet can help you lose weight, without breaking the bank.

Simple switches can make a real difference, like choosing lean meat rather than fatty meats, choosing non-starchy vegetables over potatoes, and even using full-fat milk instead of skimmed milk (yes, you read that right! Keep reading to find out why).

If you can ensure you’re getting in some, if not all, of our top five healthy foods for weight loss each day, then you can’t go far wrong.

Learn more about The Fast 800 approach to healthy living by receiving our free content, health tips and recipes as well as exclusive offers, delivered straight to your inbox.

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These are veggies like broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, cucumber, aubergine/eggplant etc. They contain a host of vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients like phytochemicals that help to aid digestion, lower cholesterol, and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.[1][2] With such brilliant health benefits, there’s no need to count the (very minimal) calories when adding to your plate – which we encourage with every meal!

Use it in your cooking, as a dressing on a salad, or as a dip; olive oil is a ‘good’ fat, containing anti-inflammatory compounds such as oleic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, and polyphenols. It is known to reduce effects on depression and gut health, reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and lower blood pressure.[3] The Fast 800 Online Programme encourages the consumption of extra virgin olive oil and uses it regularly in our range of healthy recipes for weight loss.

It may come as a surprise to those who were told to choose the low-fat option to be healthier, but full-fat dairy like Greek yoghurt or full-fat milk is arguably the healthier option. It contains more essential fatty acids like omega-3, high levels of protein, Vitamin B-12, and iodine, all of which have been recognised to slow cognitive decline, reduce anxiety and depression, control energy levels and improve metabolic rate.[4]

Nuts such as almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, and pistachios are among our top healthy foods for weight loss. Nuts and seeds are high in good fats and low in carbohydrates. They are highly nutritious, containing antioxidants, protein, fibre, magnesium, Vitamin E, manganese, and selenium. They promote weight loss, lower cholesterol, are great for heart health, and can lower triglyceride levels in those with type 2 diabetes.[5][6]

Lean proteins like fish, turkey, chicken breast, and tofu, are low in saturated fats and high in Vitamin B-12. A diet which is high in lean proteins has many health benefits: it reduces hunger, lowers blood pressure, assists with weight management, improves muscle mass and strength, and lowers the risk of osteoporosis as lean protein is great for bone health.[7]

While these are our top five healthy foods for weight loss, we know that in a busy lifestyle it’s not always possible to cook, prepare meals in advance, or even source them while at work or on days out.

For this reason, The Fast 800 Shakes offer convenient nutrition with no artificial ingredients or added sugar. Packed with fibre, protein, healthy fats and 26 vitamins and minerals, The Fast 800 Shakes complement a Mediterranean diet and are especially great for fasting days.

Try these tasty Shakes for days when you may not be able to get your nutrients elsewhere. They can help to prevent you from reaching for junk food, and ensure you stay on track with a diet that supports your health and well-being.

Li, M. et al. (2014) Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies, BMJ open. BMJ Publishing Group. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4225228/ (Accessed: October 24, 2022).

Singh, A. (2019) Non-starchy vegetables are a very healthy food choice and a healthy diet will contain a number of servings of non-starchy vegetables each day., Diabetes. Available at: https://www.diabetes.co.uk/food/non-starchy-vegetables.html (Accessed: October 24, 2022).

Sayon-Orea C, Carlos S, Martínez-Gonzalez MA. Does cooking with vegetable oils increase the risk of chronic diseases?: a systematic review. Br J Nutr. 2015 Apr;113 Suppl 2:S36-48. doi: 10.1017/S0007114514002931. PMID: 26148920.

Lordan R, Tsoupras A, Mitra B, Zabetakis I. Dairy Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: Do We Really Need to be Concerned? Foods. 2018 Mar 1;7(3):29. doi: 10.3390/foods7030029. PMID: 29494487; PMCID: PMC5867544.

Fooddata Central Search Results (no date) FoodData Central. Available at: https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170178/nutrients (Accessed: October 24, 2022).

Nuts and seeds, Better Health Channel. Department of Health & Human Services. Available at: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/Nuts-and-seeds#benefits-of-seeds (Accessed: October 24, 2022).

Arentson-Lantz E, Clairmont S, Paddon-Jones D, Tremblay A, Elango R. Protein: A nutrient in focus. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2015 Aug;40(8):755-61. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2014-0530. Epub 2015 Jul 22. PMID: 26197807.