Thursday, December 27, 2012

5 Healthy, Effective Diets

5 Healthy, Effective Diets

5: Flexitarian Diet

If you've ever thought about going veggie but just couldn't part with spaghetti and meatballs, there's an option for you: the Flexitarian Diet. As the name suggests, it's a more flexible type of vegetarian eating.

This diet was dreamed up by Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian who cites an April 2006 study in Nutrition Reviews that found vegetarians weigh, on average, 15 percent less than non-vegetarians. She also points to research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on vegetarians having lower cholesterol and advice from the American Institute for Cancer Research on eating a plant-based diet to lower cancer rates. Oh, and according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vegetarians live about 3.6 years longer than the rest of us [source: Blatner].

5 Healthy, Effective Diets (Part 4)

5 Healthy, Effective Diets

4: Mediterranean Diet

Who wouldn't want to spend time in the Greek Isles? While it sounds dreamy, you don't need to sail to Santorini to eat like you enjoy a beautiful Mediterranean life -- a life with a lower risk of heart disease, Parkinson's, cancer and Alzheimer's [source:Mayo Clinic].

Put the butter aside and reach for the extra-virgin olive oil. It tastes just as amazing on bread, on pasta and in your cooking. You'll have to cut down on the red meat, but in return, you can indulge in a moderate amount of red wine. And you don't have to go veggie -- you'll be grilling tuna, salmon or trout twice a week or so, because the omega-3s in those fatty fish will help ensure that your cardiovascular system stays clean and healthy.

5 Healthy, Effective Diets (part3)

5 Healthy, Effective Diets

3: The Instinct Diet

The Instinct Diet has a major thing going for it: its author, Susan B. Roberts. She's a nutrition and psychiatry professor at Tufts, she's been overweight herself (by 55 pounds) and she used to be a chef.

Roberts points out that there are three centers in the brain that tell you when you're hungry: satiety, reward and pleasure. As she told the Tufts Journal, "When people get hungry, they want to eat. If there's food there, you eat it. If it's got calories, you like it more. If there is more variety, you eat more" [source:Flaherty].

5 Healthy, Effective Diets (part 2)

5 Healthy, Effective Diets

2: Step Diet

So you really want a Krispy Kreme doughnut. The "hot" sign is on in the window and your craving is officially impossible to deny.

On the Step Diet, you could eat that doughnut -- 3/4 of it, anyway. You just have to park in the far corner of the parking lot and maybe do a couple of laps around it when you're finished.

The bottom line: If you cut everything you eat by one quarter and walk 10,000 steps a day, you'll lose weight. It's that simple. And the man telling you that, James Hill, who co-founded the National Weight Control Registry, knows what he's talking about.

5 Healthy, Effective Diets (Part 1)


5 Healthy, Effective Diets

1: Thin for Life

"Thin for Life" sounds nice, doesn't it? Registered dietitian Anne M. Fletcher, a health and medical journalist, writes that it's an attainable goal, and she has witnesses to prove it.

What makes her diet different is that it's presented and supported by people who have lost at least 20 pounds on it -- and kept it all off for at least three years. Someone who's been where you've been is telling you the joys of "high flavor, low risk" foods. (Like jelly beans!)

Thursday, December 20, 2012

How to lose weight the healthy way (Part 2)

How to lose weight the healthy way (Part 2)


Write down your plan

Once you've decided on what changes you're going to make, write them down. For example:

Week 1
  • Exercise: one 20 minute walk every lunch hour.
  • Alcohol: none in the week, two small glasses of wine on Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
  • Food: no chocolate or biscuits in the week, choose healthy snacks such as fruit, trim all fat from meat, eat no fried or fast food.
  • For each week list your targets concerning alcohol, exercise and your food plan.
  • Each day should then be listed in a simple chart and items you have had should be written down. It is also important to make a note of your mood and any comments you would like to get off your chest for each day.

How to lose weight the healthy way

How to lose weight the healthy way


The healthiest way to lose weight is neither crash diets nor bursts of exercise. The body likes slow changes in terms of food and exercise.

For example, someone who hasn't exercised for years shouldn't rush into running miles a day or pounding the treadmill. Not only will the struggle to do so leave you feeling disheartened and demotivated, you're also far more likely to injure yourself and set your fitness levels back further.

The same goes for people who suddenly start starving themselves. Diets that severely restrict calories or the types of food 'allowed' can lead you to be deficient in the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs.

So, if you need to lose weight, what should you do?

Simple Actions to Start Losing Weight (Part 2)



Simple Actions to Start Losing Weight  (Part 2)



25. Cook your own dinner. Preparing your own meals is the best habit you could implement into your routine. Not only does it cost you far less than dining out, it continues to improve the quality of the foods you consume. You get to decide what does and does not make it onto your plate, how it is prepared, and where it comes from. You are in total control.

26. Check the nutrition information. When you eat, be aware of how much. Check the nutrition label, know the serving size, and make yourself accountable for how many calories you’re consuming even if you are not actively tracking them.

Simple Actions to Start Losing Weight

Simple Actions to Start Losing Weight


As of this past Sunday, I have lost 107.6 pounds. I can honestly say to you that it has not been difficult. I know it is because I have not felt deprived and I don’t deny myself whatever I want to have (it’s not just about eating salads!). How am I doing all of this? By making small shifts in my habits and small changes to my routine. The kind of things that will last a lifetime.

I didn’t force myself to conform to a list of “rules” that don’t work for me. I took a hard look at my reality, and have spent the last fourteen months adjusting accordingly to promote a healthier lifestyle. I am listing here 45 of the simple actions I took to start losing the weight. Pick one and get started on your own journey.

Walking for health

Walking for health

Walking is simple, free and one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight and become healthier.
It's underrated as a form of exercise but walking is ideal for people of all ages and fitness levels who want to be more active.
Regular walking has been shown to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, asthma, stroke and some cancers.
Use this guide to increase the amount of walking you do every week and maximise the health benefits.
Before you start
A pair of shoes is all the equipment you really need. Any shoes or trainers that are comfortable, provide adequate support and don't cause blisters will do.



  • What a 60kg person burns in 30 minutes
  • strolling (2mph): 75 calories
  • walking (3mph): 99 calories
  • fast walking (4mph): 150 calories


Start losing weight

Start losing weight

If you're overweight, losing weight will bring you a range of important health benefits. The key to success? Making realistic changes to your diet and level of physical activity that can become a part of your daily routine.
______________________________________________________
Evidence shows that the best way to lose weight is to make long-term changes to diet and physical activity that result in a steady rate of weight loss. Aim to lose weight at around 0.5kg to 1kg a week (1lb to 2lb), until you achieve a healthy BMI
______________________________________________________

Monday, December 17, 2012

Is Weight Loss Different for Men? (part 2)


Is Weight Loss Different for Men? (part 2)


Another difference he notes is that women sometimes tend to be better than men at describing exactly what they did to lose weight. "We try to get men to articulate what they did so they can repeat it," he says.

But online support groups -- especially those aimed specifically at men -- may help to make the process more guy-friendly.

Zelman says that male members of the Weight Loss Clinic wanted a resource just for them, prompting the clinic to launch its Dieting for Men: Support Group message board. "I think they're at least open to the fact that if support and chat help women, why wouldn't they help us?"

Is Weight Loss Different for Men?

Is Weight Loss Different for Men?



A weight-loss expert gets a phone call from a friend: "I just made a $50 bet to lose 20 pounds in a month. Tell me how to do it." Guess the caller's sex.

"I get these calls from friends and relatives," says Gary D. Foster, PhD, clinical director of the Weight and Eating Disorders Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "These types of calls are always from men."

That's probably what you'd guess, but you'd be hard-pressed to find research supporting that or any other assumption about how men and women differ when it comes to dieting, Foster says. "Most of the weight-loss research is about women," he says. "There are probably fewer than 10 good studies that separate men and women, and what they address is that men lose more weight and lose it faster."

HOW DRINKING COFFEE COULD IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH

HOW DRINKING COFFEE COULD IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH


If you rely on coffee to get through the day, or just to get it started, you might be lacking sleep or something in your diet. Nobody, after all, is ever going to mistake coffee for health food.

But like wine, chocolate and popcorn, coffee has joined the ranks of unlikely foods with health benefits. An increasing body of research has found that drinking coffee—even four or more cups per day in some instances—provides health benefits. And a 13-year study of 402,260 AARP members conducted by the National Cancer Institute, which was published May 17 in the "New England Journal of Medicine," concluded that devoted coffee drinkers were associated with a reduced risk of early death by up to 16 percent.

QUICK WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT FOR MEN

QUICK WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT FOR MEN

Seventy-four percent of American men are overweight or obese, according to the Weight Control Information Network in 2008. The health consequences of carrying too much weight include an increased risk of heart disease, some cancers, stroke, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. To lose weight, men need to burn more calories than they consume. This does not mean you have to spend hours on the elliptical trainer or eat "rabbit" food for weeks on end, men can induce quick weight loss with some simple strategies.

Losing Weight without Compromising your Health

Losing Weight without Compromising your Health



The goal to lose weight is one that many people have. The problem though is that many of the weight loss methods out there aren’t good for your body. In fact, they can prove to be very dangerous to your body if you aren’t careful. One way
to lose weight though and to make sure you are very healthy in the process is with The Diet Solution.

What has prevented you from losing weight in the
past? 

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Diet Reviews & Diet Plans


Diet Reviews & Diet Plans


There isn't a one-size-fits all diet, so finding a diet plan that works for you can be confusing. Having the right plan can mean the difference between diet success or failure, so doing your homework first is important.

The diet reviews include a basic overview of the diet, what you are able to eat while following that diet's plan, what foods to avoid, and who does best on the diet. The complete diet plan is included with some of the reviews.


Popular Diet Plans


The Zone Diet - What's a Zone?

The Zone Diet - What's a Zone?


The Zone Diet is considered to be a low carb diet. It supposedly controls your hormonal levels and preserves your overall health. Carbohydrates will make up 40% of your meal, protein will be 30% and fats will take up the last 30% of your diet.

You will supposedly lose weight by balancing out your blood insulin level. You do not want to take in more then 500 calories per meal and no more then 100 calories per snack. This diet helps reduce your chances of getting heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

What do you eat on the Zone Diet?

Special K Diet

Special K Diet


The Special K diet is a quick fix if you want to lose around six pounds in two weeks. You can supposedly achieve this by eating Special K cereal with skim milk and fruit for two meals each day. You want to choose one of Kellogg's Special K cereals and eat with 2/3 cup of skim milk and some fruit for breakfast, and then again for either lunch or dinner. You will do this everyday for two weeks.

If you get hungry in between meals you may snack on fruits and vegetables. Eating skim milk with your cereal is a great way to lose weight and it will also add calcium into your diet. Eating breakfast on a regular basis aids in weight loss. For your third meal of the day you can have your choice of foods as long as they are low fat and nutritionally balanced.

The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet



The Atkins diet consists of four phases. During the first phase you will consume 3 regular size meals, or 4-5 smaller meals. You will make sureyou never go more than 6 waking hours without eating. You will consume combinations of fat and protein, staying under 20 grams of carbohydrates a day.

Phase two is the ongoing weight loss stage. The rate at which the pounds and inches drop will gradually decrease. You will also begin to increase your daily intake of carbohydrates by 5 grams each week. In order to have ongoing steady weight loss you need to stay below your critical carbohydrate level. Go over this number and the weight loss will stop.

To find your critical carbohydrate level add 5 grams of carbs a week to your daily plan until you stop losing weight. When you stop losing weight, that number of carbs you were taking in daily is your critical carbohydrate level. Stay under that number and you will continue to lose weight.

Blood Type Diet

Blood Type Diet



The Blood Type Diet is a diet that is supposedly designed to improve digestion and help with weight loss depending on your type of blood. There are four different blood types and each type has a different diet to follow. In order to follow this diet you must know what type of blood you have whether it be O, A, B, or AB. This diet will help restore your natural genetic rhythm at the same time you will lose weight.

What do you eat on the Blood Type diet?

High Cholesterol Diet

High Cholesterol Diet


Paying close attention to your diet can help lower your chances of getting heart diseases and also high cholesterol. You want to follow a heart healthy diet. Changing your lifestyle may stop or even reverse the narrowing of your arteries. These changes are important for people who have a family history of heart disease, but it's even more important for those who have suffered a heart attack.

Eating right on the high cholesterol diet will supposedly reduce and eliminate some of the factors for getting heart disease, lower your LDL cholesterol or the bad cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and blood sugars, and lower your body weight.

What do you eat on the High Cholesterol Diet?

Low Carb Diet

Low Carb Diet


The low carbohydrate diet is very strict about taking out the consumption of carbohydrates and upping your intake of fats and proteins. You should get approximately sixty to seventy percent of your daily intake from fat when on a low carbohydrate diet. Your consumption of carbohydrates should be less then ten percent, and in some cases less then five percent depending on how strict you want to be.

What do you eat on the low carb diet?

During the low carb diet you are going to eat foods that are high in fat, and whenever you feel hungry you are to always satisfy your hunger. Every type of meat is on the allowable foods list except liver. You may enjoy roast beef, bacon, pork chops, steaks, hamburgers, prime rib, luncheon meats, and tenderloin.

The Mayo Clinic Diet

The Mayo Clinic Diet


The Mayo Clinic Diet is more of a life long weight loss management program than a diet. The diet can help reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other illnesses.

You do the diet plan for 12 days, then take a break for two days and continue this cycle for about 10 weeks. If you follow the food pyramid, eat the recommended number of servings, and are physically active every day you should lose about 1-2 pounds a week.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

The Diabetic Diet Essentials

The Diabetic Diet Essentials


The Diabetic Diet is a balanced diet for help with diabetic treatment. This diet helps with maintaining weight and controlling the glucose level in your blood. It will also prevent heart and blood vessel related diseases. This diet will differ from person to person depending on what type of diabetes they have.

A person with type 1 diabetes may want to focus mainly on matching their food intake to how much insulin they need. A person with type 2 diabetes may want to focus mainly on weight loss so they can improve their body’s ability to use the insulin it does produce.

You also want to space out your meals through out the day to avoid high or low blood glucose levels. Healthy eating while doing this diet includes limiting your intake of sweets, keeping an eye on when and how much carbohydrates you consume, consuming a lot of whole-grains, fruits and vegetables, and eating less fat.

The Dash Diet - What is It?

The Dash Diet - What is It?


The Dash Diet lowers your blood pressure and also maintains it once it is lowered. Dash stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. This diet has been known to lower your blood pressure by a couple points in just two weeks. The diet also could protect you against osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes.

This is a low saturated fat, low cholesterol, and low sodium diet. The variety of foods you can eat will be rich in protein, fiber, magnesium, potassium, and calcium.

The Weight Watchers Diet Big Picture

The Weight Watchers Diet Big Picture


The Weight Watchers diet is about making healthy eating choices, and enjoying physical activity to lose weight and keep it off. There are two ways to lose weight with the diet. One is by using a points system assigned to foods, and the other does not include keeping track of those points. The goal is to reduce your body weight by 5-10%, and have a body mass index less than 25.

While doing the Weight Watchers diet you can attend weekly meetings and enjoy the added benefits of getting mutual support, motivation, and get encouragement while you are trying to change your lifestyle.

The South Beach Diet: What You Need to Know

The South Beach Diet: What You Need to Know


The South Beach Diet consists of 3 phases. It is ideal for someone who wants to live well while eating what they love. This diet will teach you how to eliminate bad carbohydrates and bad fats while replacing them with good carbs and good fats. The first phase takes two weeks, which will eliminate your cravings for sugar and refined starches, while jump-starting your weight loss. Phase one will also stabilize your blood sugar minimizing your cravings.

After two weeks you will move into phase two. You will stay in phase two until you reach your ideal weight. This phase will help promote long term, steady weight loss. If you only have 10 pounds or less to lose or if you do not get cravings then you want to start at phase two. Once you are at your healthy ideal weight you move onto phase 3, which is the lifestyle phase. This is how you will eat and live all year to maintain your ideal weight.

The Gout Diet - What is It?

The Gout Diet - What is It?


The Gout Diet limits your food intake with high purine levels. High purine foods tend to increase the uric acid levels in your body causing gout. Gout is a type of arthritis caused by high levels of uric acid in your body, thus causing crystals to form in your joints, resulting in inflammation and pain. Chances of getting gout increase when you are overweight or drink too much alcohol. The most common symptoms of gout are swelling, redness, tenderness, and sharp pain in your big toe. You can also get gout in your ankle, knees, or foot.

What is the Flat Belly Diet?

What is the Flat Belly Diet?

The flat belly diet is based on eating certain foods to banish belly fat. It promises weight loss of up to 15 pounds in 32 days. It is a Mediterranean-style diet consisting of 1,600 calories a day, limiting your intake of red meat to only once a month. The secret ingredient in this diet is monounsaturated fat, which is found in olives, avocados, nuts and even dark chocolate.

Before starting the 28-day plan, you go on a 1,200-1,400 calorie four day jump-start diet. This will decrease your bloating and get you in the mindset of a healthier eating lifestyle. During this four day period you will drink 2-liters of what is called "sassy water". This is a blend of cucumber, citrus, spices, and herbs. It is also suggested that you eat every four hours, consuming 400 calories at each meal.

Adrenal Fatigue Diet

Adrenal Fatigue Diet


When the activities in your adrenal glands are diminished it may cause you to have problems getting out of bed for more then a couple hours at a time. Every time your adrenal levels go down it affects every part of your body.

Problems can occur with your fat, protein, and carbohydrate metabolism, you electrolyte and fluid balance, and also your cardiovascular and heart systems. Following an adrenal fatigue diet supposedly helps relieve excess stress, maintain your weight, and help regain your vitality and well-being.

The Cleansing Diet

The Cleansing Diet


A cleansing diet supposedly helps restore your energy and health. This diet claims that it flushes away toxins from the digestive tract then allowing your body to remove food waste through bowel movements. The diet is a natural, vegetable based diet with whole grains.

What foods do you eat with the cleansing diet?

Friday, December 14, 2012

How to Lose Weight Fast

How to Lose Weight Fast

There are numerous diet plans that can tell you how to lose weight fast. Some work better than others for fast weight loss, some are easier to stick to than others, and some are less expensive than others. Scarsdale offers the most choices, which makes it easier to stick to and keep losing weight. The cabbage soup diet is repetitive but cheap to be on, while the lemonade diet requires the least preparing. Sometimes the need to lose weight fast doesn't translate into keeping the pounds off.

The thing to remember when choosing a diet is to choose one you can stay on for a longer term if you have more than a couple pounds to lose. Look for flavor, variety, and ease of food preparation. Make sure the diet has solid success stories from people like you.

The first thing that anyone considering a diet plan to lose 10 pounds fast needs to do is seek a doctor's advice on the plan to they want to follow. Your physician will be able to provide their educated advice on the diet after a full physical examination, which will let you know if this plan is right for you.

The following diet plans for how to lose weight quickly have worked for many people compared to other diet attempts. Find the diet that is right for you, check with your doctor, and get his or her approval before starting. Losing weight fast is the jump start many people need to begin a diet. Good luck with the one you choose!

Cabbage Soup Diet

Cabbage Soup Diet

The cabbage soup diet is a limited foods diet. Cabbage soup is the main part of the diet and is eaten often throughout the day. Be sure to consult your doctor before starting any diet.

Cabbage Soup Diet Recipe:

Grapefruit Diet

Grapefruit Diet


Below is the complete Grapefruit Diet. It is extremely important that you consult your doctor before starting it. It is especially important to ask your doctor about using the Grapefruit Diet if you are taking any medication, as grapefruit can interfere with medication.

Hollywood Diet

Hollywood Diet


The Hollywood Diet consists of drinking only the Hollywood Diet juice for two days. Proponents of the diet claim you can lose up to 8 pounds in two days.

The juice is available in stores, or can be made with either of the following recipes. Each recipe makes enough for two days.


3 Day Diet

3 Day Diet

The three day diet is a diet that lasts for only 3 days. Be sure to consult your doctor before starting any diet.


Daily Instructions:

Drink 4 glasses of water or diet soda per day. You may use herbs, salt, pepper, lemon, vinegar, Worcestershire, soy sauce, mustard and ketchup on your food.

Lemonade Diet

Lemonade Diet


This is the complete Lemonade Diet including recipes. Proponents of the diet claim a person can lose anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds during the ten day diet period. Make sure you consult with your doctor before starting the Lemonade Diet.


The instructions for the lemonade diet are as follows:

1. Drink about 100 ounces of the lemonade per day.

2. Drink the salt water flush in the morning as soon as you wake up and drink the herbal laxative tea at night before bed.

Scarsdale Vegetarian Diet

Scarsdale Vegetarian Diet


When on the Vegetarian Scarsdale Diet, you must drink at least 4 glasses of water per day. You may drink as much diet soda and unsweetened tea as you like.

You can add any of the following seasonings or condiments to your foods : salt, pepper, herbs like oregano, lemon, vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup and mustard. Be sure to consult your doctor before starting any diet.

Scarsdale Vegetarian Diet

Vegetables not permitted on the Scarsdale Medical Diet:

Dry Beans (baked beans, lentilsm dry white beans, red kidney beans, lima beans, chick peas, black-eyed peas, etc; except soybeans, which are permitted in the Vegetarian diet), Sweet potatoes/Yams

Budget Friendly Scarsdale Diet

Budget Friendly Scarsdale Diet


On this, as on the basic Diet, always follow the Scarsdale Medical Diet basic rules. Check with your doctor before starting any diet plan.

Click on the recipes for dishes marked with an asterisk* to get the recipe for that item.

BREAKFAST EVERY DAY:

1/2 grapefruit or cantaloupe or fruit in season (choose whatever costs least)
One slice of protein bread, toasted, no spread added
Coffee /tea (no sugar, cream or milk)

Scarsdale Diet Plan

Scarsdale Diet Plan


Below is the basic Scarsdale Diet Plan.

How the Scarsdale program works:

Dieters follow the Scarsdale Medical Diet (SMD) strictly for two weeks, and during which fast weight loss is promised (7 - 15 pounds).

After the two weeks, you switch to Keep Trim Eating for two weeks, where you plan your own menus for two weeks, with a list of additional foods permitted, and higher calories.

After two weeks on Keep-Trim, you are back on the Scarsdale Medical Diet for another two weeks of strict low calorie eating, followed with another two weeks of Keep Trim. This cycle is repeated until your goal is reached.

Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips (PART 3)


Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF (PART 3)


Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #5: Indulge without overindulging


If you’ve ever found yourself polishing off a pint of ice cream or stuffing yourself with cookies or chips after spending a whole day virtuously eating salads, you know how restrictive diet plans usually end. You probably blame yourself, but the problem isn’t your willpower—it’s your weight loss strategy. Deprivation diets set you up for failure: you starve yourself until you snap, and then you overdo it, cancelling out all your previous efforts.
In order to successfully lose weight and keep it off, you need to learn how to enjoy the foods you love without going overboard. A diet that places all your favorite foods off limits won’t work in the long run. Eventually, you’ll feel deprived and will cave. And when you do, you probably won’t stop at a sensible-sized portion.

Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips (PART 2)

Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF (Part 2)


Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #1: Avoid common pitfalls

Diets, especially fad diets or “quick-fix” pills and plans, often set you up for failure because:
  • You feel deprived. Diets that cut out entire groups of food, such as carbs or fat, are simply impractical, not to mention unhealthy. The key is moderation. Eliminating entire food groups doesn’t allow for a healthy, well-rounded diet and creates nutritional imbalances.
  • You lose weight, but can’t keep it off. Diets that severely cut calories, restrict certain foods, or rely on ready-made meals might work in the short term. However, once you meet your weight loss goal, you don’t have a plan for maintaining your weight and the pounds quickly come back.
  • After your diet, you seem to put on weight more quickly. When you drastically restrict your food intake, your metabolism will temporarily slow down. Once you start eating normally, you’ll gain weight until your metabolism bounces back—another reason why starvation or “fasting” diets are counterproductive.
  • You break your diet and feel too discouraged to try again. Just because you gave in to temptation doesn’t mean all your hard work goes down the drain. Healthy eating is about the big picture. An occasional splurge won’t kill your efforts. Diets that are too restrictive are conducive to cheating—when you feel deprived, it’s easy to fall off the wagon.
  • You lose money faster than you lose weight. Special shakes, meals, and programs may be cost-prohibitive and less practical for long-term weight loss and healthy weight maintenance.
  • You feel isolated and unable to enjoy social situations revolving around food. Without some practical, healthy diet strategies, you may feel lost when dining out or attending events like cocktail parties or weddings. If the food served isn’t on your specific diet plan, what can you do?
  • The person on the commercial lost 30 lbs. in 2 months—and you haven’t. Diet companies make a lot of grandiose promises. Most are simply not realistic. Unfortunately, losing weight is not easy, and anyone who makes it seem that way is doing you a disservice. Don’t get discouraged by setting unrealistic goals!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips


Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF


In our eat-and-run, massive-portion-sized culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be tough—and losing weight, even tougher. If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight before, you may believe that diets don’t work for you. You’re probably right: traditional diets don’t work—at least not in the long term. However, there are plenty of small but powerful ways to avoid common dieting pitfalls, achieve lasting weight loss success, and develop a healthier relationship with food.

The key to successful, healthy weight loss
Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple: If you eat more calories than you burn then you gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight.
Since 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound of fat, if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'll lose approximately 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). Simple, right? So why is weight loss so hard?
All too often, we make weight loss much more difficult than it needs to be with extreme diets that leave us cranky and starving, unhealthy lifestyle choices that undermine our dieting efforts, and emotional eating habits that stop us before we get started. But there’s a better way! You can lose weight without feeling miserable. By making smart choices every day, you can develop new eating habits and preferences that will leave you feeling satisfied—as well as winning the battle of the bulge.

Getting Back to Your Pre-Pregnancy Weight While Breastfeeding

Getting Back to Your Pre-Pregnancy Weight While Breastfeeding


This information in this article applies specifically to women who are breastfeeding.

The Basics of Pregnancy Weight Gain

During pregnancy, it was beneficial to your baby for you to gain a healthy amount of weight. At the same time, you were encouraged not to gain too much. Of the weight you gain during pregnancy, five to 12 pounds is typically maternal stores (supplies of extra fat that can be used as energy). However, if you gained more weight than recommended during pregnancy, you might have larger maternal stores. The larger the maternal store you have at the end of pregnancy, the harder your weight loss challenge after delivery.

Fat reserves serve as the body's insurance plan for available energy. The human body is designed to protect itself from starvation during times when food isn't readily available. When you eat too little, especially during times that your body requires more energy, such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, or illness, your body perceives itself as starving. Regardless of whether it is perceived or real starvation, your metabolism (the rate at which energy is used) will slow as a coping mechanism so it can preserve energy.

Fat reserves are necessary to make sure the body can continue to function 24/7. Fat reserves ensure energy is always available, even when we are not supplying it through regular meals and snacks. Slowing your metabolism when it's not getting enough fuel if your body's way of rationing those stores of precious fat.

10 Tips for guaranteed weight loss

10 Tips for guaranteed weight loss


With fad diets and fitness routines round every corner, it is quite difficult to keep a tab on which weight loss tips really do work and which don't. Should you join that bhangra aerobics class, adopt that no-carb diet, or eat dinner at 6pm? Never mind all that loophole-ridden weight loss jargon, step over to the healthy side. Here are 10 tips for guaranteed weight loss that will set your weight straight, and help you adopt some really healthy, weight-friendly habits for life.


Weight loss tip 1: 
Decide how much weight you need to lose - Most people start their weight loss journey by claiming to be xyz kilos overweight. This isn't a healthy way to project or aim for weight loss. Calculate your desired weight against your height by using reliable methods like the BMI, and set a healthy weight loss target. This is often half the battle won.

Diet Chart for Weight Loss


Diet Chart for Weight Loss

In order to lose weight, the most effective way is to prepare a diet chart and stick to it. By specifying your activities and calorie intake during the day, the list gives you a good idea of what you need to do to be on track. You may also use a diet chart for weight loss available in the market or on the internet, though an individual-specific diet chart would be the best bet, especially if you have a medical condition. Below is a four week diet chart to help you get started right away. A quick tip: make sure you have your diet basket loaded.

How to Lose Weight in 10 Days


How to Lose Weight in 10 Days

Of all that you are doing to lose weight, the one that will get you to smell success is what you are not doing. A diet plan stuck at the rear of the door, dumbbells just an arm’s length away, yoga mat spread straight as new and what not. Now, if using these for 60 minutes a day implies shopping for slim-fit clothes in 6 months, do you think you would be patient? Let’s be true to ourselves, we would drop the 4thday. And that is exactly why we have compiled a guide on how to lose weight in 10 days. Yes! Just 10 days.

How to Lose Weight in 10 days

To get started, here are a few things you ‘must’ have to lose weight by the 10th day.
  • flight of stairs/treadmill
  • Lots of water
  • Fresh fruits and vegetables
  • Fruit Juice
  • Low-fat foods
  • Fish/Meat

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Healthy weight-loss diet (part 7)


Healthy weight-loss diet (part 7)

To maintain good health, we need to eat a variety of foods from the five food groups. Eating them in the right proportion 


will help to keep your weight under control.

A sensible rate of weight loss is around 0.5kg to 1kg (1lb to 2lb) a week. To achieve this, you need an energy deficit of 3,500kcal to 7,000kcal a week, which means eating 500 to 1,000 fewer calories a day. You can do this by replacing high-fat foods with those that are low in fat such as fruit, vegetables, unrefined carbohydrates and lower-fat dairy products, and by being more physically active. It's also important to watch the size of your portions. This can be difficult, because over time you can lose touch with what's a sensible amount of food.

Healthy weight-loss diet (part 6)


Healthy weight-loss diet (part 6)

To maintain good health, we need to eat a variety of foods from the five food groups. Eating them in the right proportion 


will help to keep your weight under control.

A sensible rate of weight loss is around 0.5kg to 1kg (1lb to 2lb) a week. To achieve this, you need an energy deficit of 3,500kcal to 7,000kcal a week, which means eating 500 to 1,000 fewer calories a day. You can do this by replacing high-fat foods with those that are low in fat such as fruit, vegetables, unrefined carbohydrates and lower-fat dairy products, and by being more physically active. It's also important to watch the size of your portions. This can be difficult, because over time you can lose touch with what's a sensible amount of food.