10 ways to eat yourself sexy

Sometimes the frumpies can really take you hostage. They kick out confidence and mojo and replace 'em with exhaustion, a dull complexion and a general feeling of blah-ness. Get out of a frump-rut and reclaim your sexiness with a diet makeover.

After all, what you eat really influences how you feel and look. For example, sugar slows your metabolism and weakens your immune system, thereby affecting weight control and health. That doesn't exactly put you in the mood, does it? Meanwhile, essential fatty acids stimulate weight loss, boost your mood and improve the health and appearance of your nails, skin and hair. Now, you're getting hotter!

Holistic nutritionist Gillian McKeith, star of WNetwork's television series You Are What You Eat and, new this fall, Eat Yourself Sexy, suggests that your diet can affect your energy levels, keep you healthy and make you look beautiful: essential components for a sexier you.

The following are her top 10 ways to stay slim, sexy and feeling great for life:

1. Pass up processed foods
Cut processed and refined foods from your diet, advises McKeith. She's talking about frozen dinners, instant from-a-box foods, chocolates, cakes, typical crackers and pasta (the "white" stuff), chips, pop -- you get the picture. Avoid stuff in that comes in a package, has a long ingredient list and is laden with sugar and fat.

Generally, these foods provide "empty" calories (lots of calories with little to no nutritional benefits), encourage quick weight gain and are bad for your health. For the same reasons, avoid refined sugar and alcohol. She also recommends avoiding wheat and dairy products, since many people find them hard to digest.

2. Eat vegetables and fruit
When you're hungry, fill up on whole, healthy, fresh foods. Dig into lots of vegetables, especially dark leafy ones like spinach, kale, Swiss chard and arugula. Enjoy fresh fruit such as strawberries, peaches and grapefruit. Veggies and fruit are full of fibre, which keep you feeling full for longer so you don't overeat. "They also contain important phytonutrients that help to keep your weight in check and your hormones in balance to support your sexiness," says McKeith.

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3. Eat healthy fats
The good kinds of fats -- essential fatty acids -- can boost your metabolism and encourage weight loss, says McKeith. Eat raw nuts and seeds such as flaxseed, hemp seeds, walnuts and almonds every day and eat fish about twice a week to get the good fats you need.

Saturated fats are weight boosters and harmful to your health. Avoid foods containing saturated fats such as cheeses, butter and fatty meats (including luncheon meats.)

4. Eat often
Aim to eat about six times a day, with three meals and three snacks. Eating healthy foods every few hours helps to keep your blood sugar level steady and your metabolism charged, explains McKeith. Eating often also helps to stave off cravings, which can happen when blood sugar drops. For meal suggestions and healthy recipes, visit gillianmckeith.com.

5. Eat early
Breakfast is a must and studies show that breakfast eaters lose more weight than breakfast skippers. "Your metabolism slows while you sleep, and it doesn't rev up until you eat again," says McKeith. "So if you skip breakfast, your body won't burn as many calories until lunchtime as it could."

Plus, when you eat the majority of your food during daylight hours, you'll be full and satisfied at night and less likely to snack. "Late-night eating is a recipe for weight gain, because there is [less] opportunity to burn off the food once you're in bed," she says.

6. Eat in peace
At meal and snack time, just say no to television, working, walking or reading. Eating in the presence of distractions can encourage over-consumption. "You eat on autopilot and the internal signals that tell you that you're full may not be triggered," says McKeith.

Create a peaceful environment for mealtime and sit down to enjoy your food. Bring your attention to what you're eating, savouring each morsel and chewing each mouthful about 15 to 20 times. This slows your pace, giving your body time to register it's full (takes 20 minutes for the brain to do so) before you eat too much.

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7. Drink up
Have about eight glasses of water a day and drink independently of meals to avoid interfering with digestion. Water is an appetite suppressant and it helps your liver to work properly.

"If your liver runs more efficiently, it will break down fat more effectively," explains McKeith. To avoid beverage boredom, substitute a couple of glasses of water with an equal amount of unsweetened herbal tea or a freshly prepared vegetable juice.

8. Love lemon
When you wake up in the morning, have a glass of warm water with a generous squeeze of fresh lemon. "This helps stimulate the bowel for a cleansing effect," says McKeith.

Daily bowel movements are important for weight loss and your overall health, helping to remove toxins from your body. Lemon supports digestion and helps keep your liver working well, so your body is better able to break down fat.

9. Go to bed
If you want to lose weight, get enough rest at night. Sleep regulates two hormones (leptin and ghrelin) that affect appetite, says McKeith. "Leptin helps suppress food intake and stimulate energy expenditure, while ghrelin stimulates appetite, fat production and body growth," she explains.

Sleep deprivation lowers your leptin levels and increases ghrelin, making you hungrier and more likely to have uncontrolled snacking episodes and late-night binges.

10. Exercise
To burn calories and lose weight, you must exercise most days of the week. It's simple to begin an exercise program. "Walk as much as possible. Take the stairs often. Get outside and move your butt as much as you can!" McKeith suggests. Also, start doing activities you enjoy, so you'll stick with fitness.

Try a new sport -- for example, swimming, tennis or cycling -- or sign up for fun classes, such as aerobics or dance. If you haven't exercised in a long time, consult with your doctor before embarking on a new regimen.

Remember that the aforementioned tips are not part a diet craze; these are healthy-living strategies to adopt for a lifetime. Follow McKeith's advice and you're sure to shed pounds, gain energy and stay healthy. And being healthy is sexy!

More get-sexy tips from Homemakers.com:
-3 thigh-toning exercises
-Secrets to sexy arms
-5 power nutrients your body needs

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Aileen Brabazon, CNP, is a freelance journalist and holistic nutritionist based in Toronto.

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