By Paul A. Achoa, Eagle Health & Fitness Expert

Too often, more emphasis is placed on how much we eat, rather than when and what we eat. Good diet foods are a critical part of helping you trim your waistline; however, it’s also important to know when it’s best to eat certain things and when it’s best to avoid them. To get the most out of your dieting program and achieve quick results, consider the following fast weight loss tips.

What to Eat

Your dieting program should consist of good diet foods, such as high-fiber vegetables, filling whole grains and protein-rich lean meats. One of the best weight loss tips involves limiting carbohydrate intake; however, not all carbohydrates are the same. Typically, complex carbs from whole grains and leafy green vegetables are alright, because they also tend to include high amounts of fiber. Because foods with high fiber content take longer to digest, they help you feel full longer and keep insulin levels steady.

Typically, foods with simple carbohydrates, such as sugary snacks, fruits, starches and processed white bread and rice aren’t good choices; because they make insulin levels spike, which ultimately signals your body to store fat. On the other hand, protein signals the body to burn fat; and recent studies indicate that it has the power to help you relax, lose weight and get a deep, sound sleep.

When to Eat What

Fast weight loss depends on meal timing as much as food choice. To provide your body with sustained energy, your body stores energy as glycogen reserves. Each time you eat carbohydrates, these reserves fill up. To burn fat, you must deplete these reserves through exercise. Once they are depleted, your body will then burn its fat reserves.

When trying to quickly lose weight, it’s important to eat specific types of foods at certain times. Ideally, you don’t want to eat carbohydrates when your glycogen reserves are already full; as this will lead the body to store the excess as fat. Instead, you should reserve your carbohydrate intake for first thing in the morning and immediately after exercise, when your glycogen levels are depleted. This way, your body will use the carbohydrates to refill your glycogen reserves and not to create more fat.

On the other hand, protein is a relatively poor energy source and doesn’t have much effect on your glycogen reserves. So it makes sense to eat protein-rich foods when your glycogen reserves are already full – like immediately before you go to bed – or when you want the reserves to stay empty – like immediately before you exercise – so you can encourage fast weight loss.

Things to Consider

Although fruits contain healthy antioxidants, they aren’t good diet foods. For a healthy, balanced dieting plan, you should consume at least a few portions of nutritious fruits; however, if you want to lose weight fast, you should probably limit your fruit intake substantially and focus mainly on lean meats and high-fiber grains and vegetables. If you do choose to eat fruit, do it when your glycogen levels are at their lowest, such as in the morning or immediately following a strenuous workout.