Many people want to lose weight quickly, following the fad
diets that promise rapid weight loss by making you eat certain food and exclude
the whole groups of other foods. However, it is very hard to follow a diet,
without being tempted by something tasty. Besides, dieting often leads to
overeating later on, which cancels all the benefits of your diet.
How to lose weight without starving yourself and keeping to
certain foods? Here are the 10 easy steps to lose extra weight and improve your
health:
Eat your breakfast.
Do not skip the first meal of the day, because numerous studies show that
eating breakfast can actually keep you fit and help to aid weight loss.
Breakfast prevents you from overeating in the middle of the day and in the
evening. Eating breakfast is also healthy because it activates your metabolism
and this helps you to lose weight.
Have a salad during meals.
Vegetables are important for health and particularly for weight loss.
Vegetables are great source of fiber, antioxidants and other benefitial
nutrients. Many people dislike veggies, especially when they are served plain.
But there are many other ways to have your daily amount of vegetables, like
adding them into your favorite meals like pasta, eating a vegetable salad or
drinking a vegetable juice.
Have several healthy
snack options. If you feel hungry between the meals or simply
like to crunch something, it is time to substitute unhealthy snack like chips
or cookies with something more beneficial. Use fruits, yoghurt, dried fruits,
nuts or whole grain crackers as snacks.
Eat smaller portions
more frequently. Try eating four or five times per day by
decreasing the size of the meal instead of three big meals. This keeps your
metabolism at the right level and prevents overeating.
Eat slowly.
It is important to chew all the food thoroughly and stop eating when you feel
full. This will trick you mind into eating less and help your body signal about
being full in time. Eating slowly prevents you from overfilling your stomach.
Eat a variety of foods.
Do not restrict yourself from eating fats or meat or other group of foods.
Ideally, you need the foods from all the groups, including a little bit of fat,
dairy, cereals, fruits and vegetables and proteins.
Eat when you are really
hungry. Many of us eat to relieve stress or to eat because of
the habit of eating constantly. This leads to binge eating and considerable
weight gain. Always listen to your body signals and eat to satisfy hunger and
use other ways to beat stress.
Turn the TV off while
eating. The habit of eating with TV is not a good idea for a
whole family. You got distracted by TV and you may not notice just how much you
have eaten.
Accept some little
temptations. There is no need to avoid foods that you really
like, even if they are full-fat or high-carb. The point is to eat just a small
portion to satisfy your craving. Very often after several bites, the craving
subsides and the food does not seem so desirable anymore.
Drink water.
Drinking water shortly before the meal helps to keep you fuller and tricks your
body into eating less. Also water is necessary for your health and boosts your
metabolism.
When it
comes to dieting you will find all kinds of crazy and faddish diets on the
market today. In addition to the many diets there seems to be every kind of
diet aid you can imagine. From shakes the diet industry has evolved to include
everything from candy bars and pudding to pills and patches. Each item makes
the claim that it can help you drop those unwanted pounds quickly and easily.
Well I can
tell you for a fact there is very little easy for must of us about dropping a
few pounds.If you would like a few tips that should make your weight loss goals
a little easier to achieve then perhaps the following tips will help you out.
Drink
Plenty of Water
There really
isn’t enough that can be said about the importance of drinking water in an
effort to reach your fitness goals. Water hydrates the body first and foremost
but water is also an important way of tricking your body into believing it is
full. Other drinks do not work nearly as well as water in this endeavor and
many drinks, even fruit juices, contain empty calories that you can ill afford
when dieting.
Another
great thing about drinking a lot of water while dieting is that it helps your
skin retain its elasticity so you can avoid some of the ‘loose skin’ look that
often accompanies massive weight loss. As an added bonus drinking plenty of
water will have your skin looking radiant and beautiful as well.
Set
Goals
Having goals
is one of the most important things you can do when working to loose weight.
Try to make sure that your goals are aggressive but can be achieved. If you are
frustrated early in the dieting process by unrealistic goals you are much more
likely to give up. However, challenges are always going to inspire us to
achieve greater things in life. If you can find a ‘weight loss partner’ in
order to have a little friendly competition for the weight loss totals for a
week or a month then you are going to be far more likely to accomplish your
goals than if you keep them quietly to yourself.
Eat
More
Did you read
that twice? Yes, eat more healthy foods that are high in fiber. Eat more
vegetables and fruits-fill up on these foods that are good for you and you will
not be inclined to binge on calorie laden junk food.
Move!
While this
seems a little too simply stated for most, getting up and moving is one of, if
not the absolute best way to burn calories. The simple truth is that you are
not going to lose weight unless you use more calories than you consume. The
more activities you enjoy that burn calories, the more likely you are to shed
those unwanted pounds and meet your weight loss goals.
Some great
activities that actually burn calories include the following: gardening, golf,
dancing, playing volleyball, walking, jumping rope, playing hop scotch with
your little ones, and playing tennis. I mention these activities because you
can trick yourself into believing that you aren’t really exercising while
burning calories. Even cleaning house requires movement and energy and if you
dance around a little to some good music in the process you might burn a few
extra calories.
Dieting,
when successful can help restore self image and self-esteem in people who are
otherwise beautiful people inside and out. The steps above are not the only
things that are involved in the dieting process but they can help you reach
your weight loss goals particularly when combined with a diet plan that you
feel confident you can follow. Be sure that on those days when will power is
non-existent that you do not derail your diet efforts all together by giving
up. The most important thing you can do when dieting is to go back to dieting
once you’ve strayed.
If I told you that you could lose fat by doing 10 minute
workouts would you believe me?
What if I told you that you could get a better fat loss
workout done in 10 minutes than one that takes 60 minutes? Would you think I'm
a nut? Or worse, a liar?
Well I'm not and I'm here to tell you that you can lose
stomach fat by doing a workout that only lasts 10 minutes and that it is better
than a workout that lasts 60 minutes.
You're a busy person and I'm willing to bet that it's pretty
tough for you to find 60-90 minutes a few times per week to fit in a good fat
burning workout. Or if you can find the time you usually feel guilty because it
means more time away from your family or work.
But can you find 10 minutes? Of course you can! Everybody
can find 10 minutes to fit in an awesome fat loss workout.
You might have to get up a little earlier. You might have to
do it when the kids go to bed, or you might have to sneak it in over your lunch
break.
It doesn't matter when it is because you do have an extra 10
minutes a day to fit in an effective fat loss workout.
So here's what you do:
I want you to warm-up for a couple minutes by doing a
circuit of 10 push-ups and 10 bodyweight squats. Do as many circuits as you can
in 2 minutes with little to no rest between exercises.
I then want you to take your pick of the following 2
circuits and do the circuit as many times as possible in 10 minutes.
Circuit
#1:
Lunge (10 per leg)
1-Leg Push-up (10)
Mt. Climber (30)
Jump Squat (8)
Rest for 30 seconds then repeat
Circuit
#2:
Decline Push-up (10)
DB Swing (10)
Reverse Lunge (10 per leg)
DB Bent Over Row (10)
If you do those circuits right, you'll be sweating and
breathing very hard at the end of your 10 minutes and you'll keep your
metabolism ramped up all day long, which means you'll burn lots and lots of fat
even while you're not exercising.
Also because of the way these workouts are set up, you can
do them everyday of the week. There's no need to wait a day between the
workouts, just rotate them so you do the same workout every other day.
Often people
will ask me to share the best exercises for weight loss. They want to know what
kind of cardio activity is going to help them lose weight faster than anything
else. Even if they don't enjoy it, they are willing to try whatever is going to
help them reach their goals more quickly. My response is always the same. So
are you ready to hear what the magic exercise is? What's going to help you lose
weight keep it off long-term, and get fit?
The answer
is simple: Find the activities you enjoy doing and stick with them. It's true
that some activities burn more calories than others. You'll burn more in 45
minutes of running than you will in 45 minutes of walking. But if you hate to
run, chances are that you're not going to be able to keep it up forever.
Exercise becomes a chore, something you dread instead of something that brings
enjoyment to your life. I always cringe when I see people post things like this
on the SparkPeople Message Boards: "I hate running and have no interest in
doing it. But I feel like I have to run if I'm going to lose weight, so can you
give me some tips for how to enjoy it?" My response is usually to try it
if you haven't before, but don't be afraid to do something else instead of it's
just not working for you. I've tried swimming before. It was a great workout,
very challenging, but not something I enjoyed at all. So I decided that
swimming just wasn't for me and moved on to other activities instead.
We all have
those days when we don't want to exercise. Although I love running, I don't
jump out of bed every single morning, full of energy and ready to go. There are
some days when I'd much rather stay in bed. But for the most part, I've found
something I enjoy doing, so it's easier to stick with it. And to keep things
interesting, I like to train for different races, incorporate different kinds
of runs and different routes into my routine. That way my body is continually
challenged and I don't get bored.
Putting
personal preferences aside, if you look strictly at what exercises are
considered "best", you'll get a wide variety of professional
opinions. Exercise physiologists will give answers based on what exercises burn
the most calories, which ones provide the most strength benefits, which ones
increase power or flexibility. It just depends on your goals and your body.
Every body responds differently to different exercises, and everyone has
different opinions about what activities we should be doing.
Regardless
of the activity, the fact that you are exercising at all is most important. You
don't have to train for marathons and spend hours at the gym to be healthy.
"A recent meta-analysis of studies about exercise and mortality showed
that, in general, a sedentary person’s risk of dying prematurely from any cause
plummeted by nearly 20 percent if he or she began brisk walking (or the
equivalent) for 30 minutes five times a week. If he or she tripled that amount,
for instance, to 90 minutes of exercise four or five times a week, his or her
risk of premature death dropped by only another 4 percent."
What do
you think? Does your exercise routine reflect the activities you enjoy doing
the most? Why or why not?
The simplest
definition of vegetarianism is a diet free of meat, fish, and fowl flesh. But
eating habits of vegetarians cover a wide spectrum. At one end are lacto-ovo
vegetarians who avoid animal flesh but eat eggs and milk products. At the other
end are vegans, who forego eating (and often wearing) all animal-based
products, honey included. Raw foodists are vegans who eat mainly raw fruits,
vegetables, legumes, sprouts, and nuts.
There are
also pescatarians, vegetarians who eat fish and seafood, and lacto-vegetarians,
who eat dairy products but not eggs. Fruitarians follow a diet that includes
fruits, nuts, seeds, and other plant food. Those who follow a macrobiotic diet
eat mostly grains but can also eat fish. They don't necessarily identify as
vegetarians.
Reasons for Becoming a Vegetarian
Many
adherents of vegetarianism and veganism -- Beatle Paul McCartney and actor Alec
Baldwin are a few celebrities who happily promote the cause -- regard a
flesh-free diet not only as more healthful, but as a more ethical way to live.
They point to the cruel practices and the high environmental cost of raising
animals for food as a few reasons for excluding meat from the diet.
Most
Americans, however, continue to eat some form of meat or fish. A 2008 Harris
Interactive survey commissioned by Vegetarian Times put the number of Americans
who do not eat meat or fish at 3.2%, or 7.3 million adults.
Vegetarianism and Health
Most doctors
and nutritionists agree that a low-fat diet high in fruits, vegetables, and
nuts can be a boon to health. There is also widespread acknowledgment that
reducing or eliminating red meat from the diet cuts the risk of heart disease.
Research
also has shown that a plant-based diet can improve the health of people with
type 2 diabetes. A study in 2004 and 2005 showed that people with diabetes who
followed a low-fat vegan diet had less of a need for diabetes medications. They
lost weight and their insulin sensitivity increased. They had improved glycemic
and lipid control.
Does Being a Vegetarian Lower Cancer
Risk?
Whether
being a vegetarian or a vegan lowers cancer risk is less clear. This is mainly
because of the diversity within the vegetarian population. Studies, however,
have suggested that people who do not eat meat have a lower risk of prostate
and gastrointestinal cancers.
Many of the
cancer/vegetarian studies often conclude that diets rich in fiber, carotenoids
(found in carrots, sweet potatoes and spinach), vitamins, minerals, and
isoflavones (found in soybeans and legumes),seem to protect against disease,
including cancer. This is in concert with a health-conscious lifestyle.
A British
study of 11,000 vegetarians and healthy eaters concluded that daily consumption
of fruit was associated with a 20%-plus reduction in mortality from heart
disease, cerebrovascular disease, and cancers of the stomach, lung, pancreas,
large intestine, and rectum. Researchers, however, didn't account for the kind
of diet practiced by study participants (whether they ate dairy and fish or
drank alcohol, for example). They also didn't check to see if their diets had
changed over the course of the 17-year study.
A 1998 Dutch
survey of 150,000 vegetarians concluded that the benefit of a vegetarian diet
comes not just from excluding meat but in eating more whole grains, fruits and
vegetables, legumes, and nuts.
Researchers
who conducted an 11-year study in Germany came to a similar conclusion. They
examined the relationship between a vegetarian diet and colon cancer among
1,900 vegetarians. Researchers noted fewer deaths from cancers of the stomach
and colon and even the lung in study participants -- particularly among those
who practiced some form of vegetarianism for at least 20 years. They suggested,
however, that other factors, like body weight and amount of exercise, likely
affected mortality rates in the vegetarians they studied.
Vegetarianism and Nutrition
A vegetarian
diet can be a healthy diet, but vegetarians -- especially vegans -- need to
make sure they're getting enough vitamin B12, calcium, and iron.
The American
Dietetic Association warns of the risk of vitamin B12 deficiencies in strict
vegetarians (vegans). Vitamin B12 is found naturally only in animal products. A
lack of vitamin B12 can lead to anemia and blindness. It can also cause muscle
weakness, tingling, and numbness.
Calcium is
another nutrient that may be lacking in some vegetarian diets. Ovo-vegetarians,
who eat eggs but not dairy, need to find foods that compensate for the missing
calcium from their diets. Dark green vegetables are a good source of calcium.
Lacto-vegetarians
(who don't eat eggs) also need to boost their intake of B12 and iron.
A vegan
diet, in particular, may lead to an increased risk of deficiencies of vitamin
B12, vitamin B2, calcium, iron, and zinc. To counteract the increased risk,
vegans should include B12 supplements, or fortified cereals and veggie burgers
in their diets.
Is a Vegan Diet Safe During
Pregnancy?
The warnings
are a bit more urgent for pregnant and lactating women who are vegan. Having a
vitamin B12 deficiency, particularly, has been shown to impair neurological
development in infants nursed by vegetarian mothers. A lack of vitamin D and
calcium also can result in bone demineralization in breastfeeding women.
Similarly,
young children (under 5) reared on vegetarian and vegan diets can suffer
impaired growth. That's because of a vitamin B12 deficiency, which can also
result in anemia and rickets. Yet a well planned diet can meet all the
nutritional needs.
Absorbable
calcium is critical, too, for vegans and ovo-vegetarians to protect against
weak bones that can lead to osteoporosis.
Key Nutrients for Vegetarians and
Vegans
The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers dietary
guidelines for vegetarians of all stripes on its web site
(http://www.mypyramid.gov/tips_resources/vegetarian_diets.html.) The American
Dietetic Association is also a good source for dietary recommendations.
Regardless
of the kind of meat-free diet practiced, vegetarians should focus on getting
enough protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and vitamin B12. They also need
riboflavin, linolenic acid, and vitamin D.
Here are
some ways for vegetarians to incorporate these nutrients into their diets:
Protein: Is
found in tofu, tempeh, veggie burgers, beans, nuts and nut butters, eggs.
Iron: Eggs, fortified breakfast cereals, soy-based foods, dried prunes and
apricots, nuts beans, legumes, whole-wheat bread, and baked potatoes are rich
in iron.
Calcium, which builds bone, is plentiful in cheese, yogurt and milk.
Ovo-vegetarians and vegans can get it in soy products, legumes, almonds, sesame
tahini, calcium-fortified orange juice, and dark, leafy vegetables like collard
greens and bok choy.
Zinc, which boosts the immune system, is ample in soybeans and soymilk,
veggie "meats," eggs, cheese and yogurt, fortified breakfast cereals,
nuts, breads, mushrooms, and peas. Wheat germ and pumpkin seeds also have high
zinc content
Vitamin B12: Soy-based beverages, some breakfast cereals, and fortified
veggie "meats" are all good sources of vitamin B12
Riboflavin: Almonds, fortified cereals, cow's milk, yogurt, mushrooms,
and soy milk are riboflavin-rich foods.
Linolenic acid (omega-6): Canola oil and flaxseeds and flaxseed oil contain
linolenic acid, along with soybeans, tofu, walnuts, and walnut oil.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Cold-water fish, such as salmon and mackerel, are high in
omega-3 fatty acids For vegetarians who do not eat fish, good sources of
omega-3s are flaxseed, walnut, soy and canola oils. Supplements are fine, too.
Getting plenty of sleep is an important
part of losing weight. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine
showed that people who got more than eight hours of sleep lost more excess fat
compared to those who slept for only five hours. The ones who had only five
hours lost valuable muscle mass weight rather than weight from fat. Losing
muscle mass is thought to hinder weight loss efforts because muscle is a vital
fat burning mechanism. Another study in the International Journal of Obesity
states that lack of adequate sleep leads to poor selection in terms of food
choices.
Sleeping Away the Right Kind of
Weight
A recent study compared the weight
loss of several participants who ate the same diets and exercised the same
amount over a certain period of time. The only things the groups did
differently were sleep longer or shorter hours. Researchers found that all of
the participants lost some weight while they slept, but the type of weight they
lost was different depending on how long they slept. Participants who slept at
least 8 hours nightly lost 100% body fat, while those who slept 5 hours nightly
lost up to 75% muscle weight. Losing fat is exactly what a dieter needs to do,
but losing muscle actually impairs your ability to lose weight in the long run.
Sleeping just a few more hours every night can be the difference between
successful dieting and frustration. When you lose muscle weight, you will need
to spend extra time building that muscle up again when you exercise, which
makes your entire diet plan less efficient.
Hormone Works to Burn Fat during
Longer Sleep
The fat and muscle weight loss
during sleep is driven by a hormone called ghrelin. Ghrelin is involved in the
body’s hunger processes. Researchers believe that sleeping longer hours every
night gives your body a chance to produce more ghrelin, which will trick the
body into thinking it is hungry and cause it to burn calories from the fat that
has already been stored. If you sleep shorter hours, the body has a harder time
burning the calories from fat cells so it burns through muscle weight instead.
Your body seems to need at least 8 hours to complete the fat burning process
that is caused by ghrelin.
Exercise and Diet Are Not Enough
Dieters who are frustrated with
their inability to shed pounds while they observe a strict diet and exercise
regimen might be shooting themselves in the foot by getting less sleep than
they need. Even the best diet regimen cannot produce good results if the body
continually burns muscle weight rather than fat weight overnight. Muscle tissue
is an important part of the fat burning process. If you reduce your muscle
mass, you cut out one of the most efficient parts of your weight loss program.
A good night’s sleep is necessary to gain the most benefit from a diet and
exercise plan.
Lack of Sleep Leads to Poor Choices
Sleep also plays a large part in
your ability to stick to a healthy diet during the waking hours. When your body
does not get enough sleep, it tries to compensate for the lack of energy by
craving foods that are high in sugar and fat content. Lack of sleep could help
you make poor food choices because you simply don’t have the energy to resist
the foods that are the most detrimental to your weight loss plan. The tendency
to eat the wrong type of foods only enhances the muscle weight burning of a
short sleep so that it is even harder to drop weight.
Plenty of Sleep Helps Reduce Stress
Research also indicates that a high
stress lifestyle makes it difficult to lose weight regardless of diet and
exercise. If you can get at least 8 hours of good sleep, you can cut your
stress levels dramatically. A good night’s sleep makes it easier to find the
energy to fight the day’s battles so that you can put them behind you rather
than allowing them to add to your overall stress levels. High stress can be as bad
as low energy for tempting you to eat sugary or fatty foods for comfort, which
is terrible for meeting a weight loss goal.
Reduce Sleep-time Distractions
Since sleep has been proven to be an
important part of any weight loss diet, you should approach it the same way you
would schedule your trip to the gym or organize your weekly menu. Plan to go to
bed by a certain time every night, and reduce the distractions around bedtime
as much as possible. Turn off the television and dim the lights half an hour before
you want to go to sleep so that your body is relaxed and ready to drift off.
Schedule the day so that nothing interferes with your 8 hours of rest.
Sleep is the Easiest Part of a Diet
Regimen
Compared to exercise and sticking to
a food diet, sleep is the easiest thing you can do to lose weight. Remember
that you are burning stubborn fat cells every time you sleep 8 uninterrupted
hours. It will be easy to reserve those 8 hours of sleep every night if you
think of them as quiet fat burning sessions instead of wasted time that could
be spent doing something else. Sleep needs to be included as an integral part
of your daily workout.
