47 Foods You SHOULD Be Eating!

The 10 Commandments of Fat Loss post the other day got a lot of attention …

It was reposted the millions of Livestrong.com newsletter subscribers, posted on MensHealth.com and a writer from a popular fitness magazine emailed to ask if they could use that in an upcoming issue.

And I wondered — why?  I’m honored that such a simple, yet important post can get that much attention.  But I asked one of the editors.  Why THIS post in particular?

His answer?  "When most people, including our magazine, talk about fat loss — it’s always about deprivation.  Your blog post was actually 10 things you SHOULD do, though, when trying to change your body."

Interesting.

Almost like the placebo effect, when you give someone something (even if there’s zero active ingredients) they get better.  It’s all in the mind.  Amazingly, there are even data where people go under the knife … yet the surgeons do NOTHING outside of a faux surgery, yet the people report being better after the fact and one study I’m thinking about had people with arthritis hopping around and not feeling a bit of pain 2 years after their "faux" surgery.

In their mind, a positive change happened and they got better.  Apply that to nutrition now.  Positive changes in the diet — or even the idea of being told to ADD things to the diet vs. decrease — will have a positive result on the final outcome.

That being said, incorporate some or most of these 47 foods more consistently and you’ll be better off.  Even better, for every great food you add, replace a junky alternative.

47 Foods You SHOULD Be Eating

1. Spinach
2. Wild salmon (fresh and/or canned)
3. Blueberries
4. Raspberries
5. Swiss chard
6. Quinoa
7. Rolled oats
8. Pistachios
9. Barramundi (often called "the sustainable sea bass") can be found in the frozen section of Whole Foods & has half the calories, yet equal omega 3′s to coho salmon)
10. Plain Greek yogurt
11. Apples
12. Red, yellow and orange bell peppers
13. Lean red meat (we prefer grass fed beef)
14. Whole eggs
15. Blackberries
16. Almonds
17. Sardines
18. Carrots
19. Black tea
20. Green tea
21. Pink grapefruit
22. Turmeric
23. Kale
24. Cauliflower
25. Red grapes
26. Nut butters (peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter, etc)
27. Coconut (either fresh, where you crack the shell or unsweetened, shredded)
28. Strawberries
29. Avocados
30. Tomatoes (raw and cooked as both have unique benefits)
31. Pumpkin (we often add canned, unsweetened 100% pure pumpkin to our smoothies)
32. Unsweetened cocoa powder or cocoa nibs (also often added to smoothies or Greek yogurt)
33. Pineapple
34. Sweet potatoes or yams (technically not the same, yet they’re often used interchangeably)
35. Beans (black, kidney, chick peas, red beans, etc)
36. Lentils
37. Garlic
38. Broccoli
39. Red and green cabbage
40. Onions
41. Cherries
42. Cinnamon
43. Oat bran
44. Beets
45. Barley
46. Mushrooms (all types)
47. Canola and olive oils (replace other less healthy fats with these, don’t simply add these to the diet)

Wow, there you have it – 47 of our favorite foods.  Is this comprehensive of every single food that’s amazing for you?  Of course not.  But it is a pretty solid list of fantastic foods.  Variety is the key and quality is the key.  Aim for 1 ingredients foods when you eat (vs. processed options with many ingredients you can’t pronounce) and you’ll be much better off.

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