Women and Weight Loss

If you are a woman and you need to start your day off in a calm mood, a breakfast high in carbohydrate will do it.

High protein may make you tense and anxious. On the other hand, if you are about to have lunch and need to be alert in the afternoon, this would be the time to cut down on carbohydrates. If you are male, use the same information to your benefit.

Nutrition Reviews magazine says that just before menstruation, a woman’s metabolic rate is at its height. The body burns almost 400 more calories a day during that time. That’s the good news. The bad news is that women adjust their food intake so they actually eat about 500 more calories daily during this time period.

Which of us has never had the uncontrollable urge to snack?

This urge has often put the end to an otherwise successful diet. You get home from work, or school, or shopping, or whatever. It’s three p.m. or four p.m. and you have the urge to grab any food that will land safely into your mouth. Particularly something sweet. This snack attack is not necessarily a signal of your lack of resolve. It’s very likely a biological need that most of women get in the late afternoon.

What you need at moments like these is food that will satisfy and calm you. You need food that will produce serotonin. Fruit contains fructose which does not encourage the production of serotonin. However, starchy foods like a granola bar contain sucrose, which will accomplish this. So eat something “legal” and your snack attack will calm you a bit.