Diet and Nutrition

The biggest secret to staying slim is amazingly simple. It is just in eating little, but often. I have got into such a habit of eating small meals that my stomach has shrunk and I no longer desire to eat larger meals. Even if I do overeat on some rare occasion, I will give my digestive system a break by cutting back on future meals. Eating smaller portions is not only the key to keeping slim, but also helps to keep a healthier body. Constantly overloading the body with food puts stress on our digestive system and food processing organs.

I also like to snack between meals and usually end up eating about 5 times a day. Eating at more regular intervals boosts the metabolism and is good for digestion. Eating small meals often, keeps the digestive system in good working order without overstressing it.

Another secret is doing regular exercise about two to three hours a week. I have always engaged in physical activities I really enjoy like dancing or tennis, so have had no trouble sticking to them. Physical exercise gives the metabolism an extra boost and also is a natural appetite suppressant. Exercise reduces the urge to overeat and therefore reduces the tendency to put on extra weight.

One of my best-kept secrets to staying slim is actually something I don’t do. What I don’t do is I don’t binge eat. Vast amounts of calories are consumed when binge eating and the more often it is done the greater that caloric number racks up. I found the secret of controlling binge easting is to not deprive myself of any food I desire. I have any food I like; I just have it in a small portion size. This way I never feel deprived or desperate to indulge in exorbitant quantities of any particular food.

The secrets for staying slim are about making simple changes of habit in diet and exercise. Eating little, but often and some regular exercise can go a long way to keeping slim.

Losing weight requires major lifestyle changes, including diet and nutrition, exercise, and behavior modification. Once you have made up your mind to lose weight, you should make that commitment and go into it with a positive attitude. We all know that losing weight can be quite a challenge. It takes time, practice and support to change lifetime habits. But it’s a process you must learn in order to succeed.

1. Change Your Eating Habits - To be successful at losing weight, you need to change your lifestyle and not just go on a diet. This requires cutting back on the number of calories you eat by eating smaller amounts of foods and choosing foods lower in calories. It also means being more physically active.

Consider limiting portion sizes, especially of foods high in calories, such as cookies, cakes and other sweets; fried foods, like fried chicken and french fries; and fats, oils, and spreads. Reducing dietary fat alone without reducing calories will not produce weight loss.

2. Increase Physical Activity - Most health experts recommend a combination of a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for weight loss.

In addition to helping to control weight, physical activity decreases the risk of dying from coronary heart disease and reduces the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, and certain cancers. Researchers also have found that daily physical activity may help a person lose weight by partially lessening the slow-down in metabolism that occurs during weight loss.

Exercise does not have to be strenuous to be beneficial. And some studies show that short sessions of exercise several times a day are just as effective at burning calories and improving health as one long session. Look at the exercising aspect of your program as fun and recreation and not as a form of grueling and sweaty work.

To lose weight and to maintain a healthy weight after weight loss, many adults will likely need to do more than 30 minutes of moderate to intensive physical activity daily.

Doctors now say that walking is one of the best exercises. It helps the total circulation of blood throughout the body, and thus has a direct effect on your overall feeling of health. There are things such as aerobics, jogging, swimming and many other exercises which will benefit a weight loss program. Discuss the options with your doctor and take his advice in planning your exercise and weight loss program.

If you have been eating as usual and the pounds seem to be creeping on - you could be a victim of hidden calories.

When we are busy, stressed or focused on something else we reach for convenient snacks that are usually high in fat. This unconscious eating will add up to a whole lot of extra calories in the course of a day,or year. This mindless eating is nothing more than a habit that can be broken.

To get this habit under control write down everything you eat for the next 3 weeks – everything! Be on guard for those times when you are more susceptible to unconscious eating.

At work:

* You find bowls of candy on coworkers’ desks

* Your coworkers bring in doughnuts and pastries

* Office gatherings – where you will always find lots of fatty food

At home:

* You’re cooking dinner and sample the food – these calories add up

* Your children don’t eat all their food – you eat that too – more calories

* While talking on the phone – there goes how many cookies?

* When you are worried

* When you are happy

* When you are bored

Dining out:

* You eat the bread that is served before the meal

* You have a drink before your meal

* You eat dessert which you usually don’t do

Parties:

* Endless party snacks that are full of fat and calories

* Talking while you eat is the easiest way to take in those extra calories

* Then those drinks again – it is easy to stack up the calories

Watching Television:

* We are so focused on what we are watching that we pay little attention to how much we are eating.

The first step is to tune in and be aware of those times that you consume extra calories. Then find ways to avoid them. For example, how do you avoid the candies on coworkers’ desks?

First become aware of how many calories there are in each candy and how long it will take to burn off those calories. You will look at the candies differently when you think of them in this light. If high fat snacking is a temptation at work bring some low fat food to keep you full and your hand out of the candy jar. To avoid eating a lot at a party eat a little before you go so you won’t be hungry and tempted to snack on everything you see. As for alcohol, you can delete your drinks with water.

One pound is equal to 3,500 calories. Depending on your gender, age, muscle mass, and size you need approximately 2000 calories per day to stay at your normal weight. When you consume more than this amount your body stores the added calories as fat. If you go over your daily requirement then you will have to exercise to get rid of those calories.

If you go to this site you will be able to calculate how many calories you need to maintain your weight. (The weight is in kilos)

http://www.thecolumn.org/how-many-calories-do-i-need.asp

Check out this site to find out how many calories are in candies and junk food

http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/item/19134.html

Why Making Small Changes in Your Eating Habits Adds up to Big Results in Your Weight Loss Efforts

First, get started by tracking your eating for at least a week or more. I carry a little purse sized notebook and just jot down what I eat during the day. Then each evening I input it into the Food & Exercise Diary for Windows software program I use (described in the Tools section of my website).

Tracking what I eat allows me to see trends over time, and also makes it very clear why my weight rises sometimes and falls others. If you decide to track your eating, it’s best to simply capture yourself being yourself. Don’t try to eat better just for the sake of logging better values. The idea is to discover your real eating habits and patterns.

Think You Know What You’re Eating?

To demonstrate how easily we “forget” what we’ve eaten, try to write a log of what you ate yesterday from memory. You’ll be able to remember the main meals, but you’ll probably have more trouble remembering the little bits here and there. You may even think you didn’t eat anything except the meals, but most people do and yes, chewing gum counts, and so does anything you put in your mouth. Just list the basic foods, meals, etc., as best you can recall. Then put that list aside, and today write down what you actually eat as soon as possible after you eat it.

Don’t write your log before you eat either. That’s not being yourself, that’s dictating a prescribed diet. If you’re following a certain eating plan, that’s fine, but still wait until you’ve eaten it to write it down. If you remember what you already ate today, write that down too, including that tiny nibble of cake as you walked past, and that little grab from the peanut dish. Everything you eat or drink including plain water, must be listed.

Those extra tastes and nibbles can easily add up to 250 or more calories every day. Especially if you tend to taste while you cook. Here’s a diet tip: Stop licking the spoon! Quitting those little tastes while you cook could save you from adding a few pounds this winter.

I know it sounds hard to do but stop licking the beaters, scraping the last bits out of the bowl and popping bits in your mouth “to see if it’s done.” Just wait until it’s ready, then go ahead and eat some, but remember, those tastes add up and they are not worth carrying around five extra pounds. Put the stirring spoons and beaters immediately under water if you must, or give them to the kids as a treat.

The point of a food diary is to capture your regular eating patterns, then choose one thing at a time to work on changing. It’s easier to work on changing one small habit at a time. No, each individual thing is not going to cause major weight loss but they do add up.

Resolve now that you will drop the habit of licking the spoon, or tasting as you cook. I can hear you wailing that you won’t know if it tastes right. Okay so you need one little teensy taste, but not hundreds, get it? A tiny bit on the tip of a spoon or fork tines, is not the same as multiple big bites while cooking. Tasting is not eating. Licking the entire remaining contents of the bowl you used for making pudding is not the same as a taste either. That’s a serving. It’s better to just break the habit. Sure, it’s a holdover from when you were a kid. It was a treat to lick the spoon, but you’re not a kid anymore are you? Let your kids have their turn but give this habit up for yourself.

Remember, it’s these little changes that create real results. It’s one trick of those who stay naturally slender. Likewise, when you discover your general eating habits you can choose one thing to change, cut back, or discard entirely. Sometimes it’s best to just take it slowly as in weaning yourself from whole milk to skim. First try 4% and when that seems okay, switch down again to 2%. Eventually you’ll be drinking skim milk and thinking it’s fine, in fact once you get used to it, you’ll think whole milk tastes like pure cream.

Of course whole milk tastes better than skim, so do thousands of other foods taste better than each other, but you must choose what you’ll regularly eat. Do you want to consume a large portion of calories and fat in your milk or would you rather eat something more substantial plus the milk?

Many Would Starve if McDonalds Went Out of Business

What if there were a global energy failure and we no longer had fast food restaurants? Would you curl up in a ball and not know what else to eat or would you simply learn what else is out there for nourishment? I’d venture you’d adapt to the circumstance. Look at “Restaurant Confidential” by Michael F. Jacobson and Jayne Hurley for a shocking surprise when you see how many calories are in a regular restaurant meal. Once you see you’re eating triple the calories you realize, it makes it much easier to cut back from eating out every night to three times a week, then twice or once, until one day you find you eat out for special occasions only.

I Hardly Eat Anything! Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

I hear from a lot of people who say they can’t understand why they can’t lose weight, yet they eat out at restaurants or have fast food two or more times a day. They simply don’t realize they are probably eating far more than 2000 calories a day, and if they are not pretty active, that can add up to quite a few extra pounds. It doesn’t do much good to figure out how many calories you need to lose weight and then far exceed that number simply because you aren’t paying attention.

Tracking what you eat does takes some effort but it’s a great way to discover what’s really going on regarding your habits and triggers.

You may find you actually reach into the candy dish six times a day or that you chew an entire pack of gum every day. You could be drinking hundreds of calories every day in just one or two extra soft drinks or coffee drinks. In fact, some coffee drinks contain more than 500 calories each. That’s usually more than you’d eat for your entire breakfast.

Start with just a small blank notebook, and if you enjoy the process you may want to look into a software program, but no matter what, the sooner you start capturing yourself being yourself, the sooner you’re well on your way to weight loss success.

Most people equate “low carb diet” with the Atkins low carb diet. However, a low-carb diet is not synonymous with the Atkins plan. Many times people, like bodybuilders, are referring to a low-carb diet that is high in protein.

Others are making reference to a diet that is low-fat as well as reduced carbohydrates. Fitness professionals start to pay attention when low-carb diets are combined with high protein consumption.

The most common low carb diet program is one that focuses on fibrous carbohydrates like green leafy vegetables, salads, etc, while reducing starchy and sugary carbohydrates. These encompass the so called “white carbs,” bread, pasta, rice, etc.

Never to miss a marketing opportunity, food manufacturers are creating and promoting foods that are low in carbohydrates. This is beginning to satisfy growing consumer demands for these offerings. Many companies like, “The Zone,” “South Beach Diet,” and others are cashing in on this trend.

Books featuring recipes low in carbohydrates can be found almost anywhere. Trying typing “low carb recipe” into google and you will be flooded with choices, many of which are free. Try the recipes that are low-fat so you can avoid high amounts of saturated fats. This is one of the big problems with the Atkins program. Finding choices is not the issue when you search on the web.

One question that keeps popping up for many people reviewing low-carb food lists is, “which and how much of these low-carb foods are good for your nutritional program?” Researching these foods is essential and knowing your individual needs is a must. Using a meal planning tool can simply your task tremendously. To ensure you are using the most accurate food nutrient data, find a meal planning tool that is tied into the USDA Food Nutrient Database. You can demo one such online tool at The Nutrition Guru!

Dieting is challenging enough, but proper planning for a low-carb diet can be a nightmare. True of any diet, whether low-carb or not is whether you are getting all your essential nutrients in your daily plan. Again, the proper meal planning tool makes this as simple as pointing and clicking. The benefit to you is that you know every day that your minimum nutrition requirements are met while you are losing weight.

It’s now official. The simple act of fidgeting can mean the difference between lean and obese. It’s the natural weight loss diet.

My friend likes to relate a story from time to time about when he was just a lad. His grandfather called him “Worm”, because he fidgeted so much. And between you and me, it can get rather annoying.

But he had the right idea, even if it wasn’t intentional. He’s 5′8″ tall and weighs around 145 lbs.

To my knowledge, he doesn’t work out, jog, or go to the gym. He fidgets. When we visit, I watch him twist and turn, tap his feet in the air, get up and down from the chair and walk around. It’s enough to drive you crazy, but his slim physique speaks volumes.

I’ve always believed that fidgeting is a result of a fast metabolism, so he naturally burns more calories, producing natural weight loss. But I also believe that fidgeting can be learned. Of course that’s all we need, more people to drive us crazy!

Now there’s a study to confirm what I’ve always believed. A detailed study conducted of mundane bodily movements found that obese people tend to be much less fidgety than lean people and spend at least two hours more each day just sitting still. The extra motion by lean people is enough to burn about 350 extra calories a day, which could add up to 10 to 20 pounds a year.

“There are these absolutely staggering differences between people who are lean and people who are obese,” said James Levine of the Mayo Clinic, who led the research. “The amount of this low-grade activity is so substantial that it could, in and of itself, account for obesity quite easily.”

Here are some things you could try.

* When a commercial come on TV, get up and stretch or better yet, move around. Just avoid the kitchen.

* Wriggle your toes and your fingers whenever you can. This will also tell you how sore they are and if their condition is so bad, just think of the rest of your body.

* Tap your feet in the air. Think of an upbeat song and tap along. This helps get your blood flowing.

* Do things like fetching, turning things off and on by yourself. Often when we come back tired from work, we tend to get others to do simple chores for us. These things are no big deal. They are things that we can very well do for our selves but we don’t.

* When talking on the phone, get up and pace. Just vary your walking area. You don’t want to wear a path in your carpet.

* Try breathing exercises. You might be surprised to know that breathing exercises too can lead to weight loss. If you are doing the breathing exercises properly, you will find that you can exert a lot of pressure on the muscles around the mid section.

You can feel a tightening of these muscles each time you breathe in or breathe out. So go ahead and breathe properly, it is good for you.

* Do not slouch in your chair, but try to maintain an erect posture with your tummy tucked in. Slouching is a very bad habit. Not only is it bad for your back but it also gives you a very flabby figure. It is your way of saying yes to a comfortable, weight-gaining pose. Make it a point to always sit as erect as you can. It is also a terrific way to ward off back problems.

Fidgeting isn’t a cure-all for obesity, but if you’re physically unable or just too plain lazy to eat right and workout, it’s a great start.

In terms of diet pills, before asking about their effectiveness, it’s better to ask: are they safe? Let’s face it – a diet pill manufacturer is going to brag about how many pounds you’ll lose by taking their product, not how many side effects you’ll have. As a result, most customers are not given enough information about the safety of diet products and unfortunately might put their health at risk.

Phenylpropanolamine and caffeine

Most over-the-counter diet pills contain a combination of medications that have various benefits and harms. Usually they include phenylpropanolamine and caffeine, which suppress appetite. Phenlpropanolamine stimulates the central nervous system and has many effects on the body, in that it controls appetite. This is why it’s a key ingredient in most diet pills. Caffeine acts in a similar way and also causes a person to be alert and awake.

There is proof that diet pills can effectively reduce a person’s weight, but many health experts question the relevance of this. Recently, there have been findings that show phenylpropanolamine to cause serious side effects such as high blood pressure, nausea, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, irritability and even hallucinations. Similarly, caffeine can affect a person’s blood circulation and its effects on blood pressure are unpredictable. Obese individuals are especially in danger of hypertension – which is ironic, as the heavier a person is, the more likely he or she will be to take a diet pill.

Laxatives and Diuretics

Some diet pills on the market contain laxatives and diuretics. These merely force a person’s body to eliminate vital body fluids. Specifically, a laxative stimulates a dieter’s large bowel to empty, but only after food and calories have been absorbed via the small intestines. So fluids are lost in the process and thus the body reacts by retaining water and consequentially, bloating occurs. This simply causes a person to feel they need to lose more weight. Basically, laxatives not only don’t work, but are counterproductive.

Prolonged use of laxatives also cause cramps, bloating, bulimia, anorexia, severe abdominal pain, dehydration, gas, nausea, vomiting, electrolyte disturbances, and chronic constipation and when laxative use finally ceases, a person can experience withdrawal symptoms. Laxatives should only be used to correct irregular bowel movement; otherwise they simply cause problems.

Likewise, diuretics are a very dangerous component of diet pills, since they cause heart arrhythmias and dizziness. They also lead to dehydration and ultimately, kidney and organ damage due to the subsequent imbalance of electrolytes within the body. In order to protect itself from further loss of water, the body will again, retain more water and cause an individual to feel even fatter than before.

Conclusion

So far, no pills or artificial diet supplements can adequately replace regular exercise and a nutritious diet. If you want to lose weight, your aim should be for a healthy body, not a damaged one. Don’t fall prey to misleading diet commercials and bear in mind that there is no such thing as a “quick fix” to weight loss.

Modern day living has taken a huge toll on waistlines all around the world. Fast food, lack of exercise and dropping out in front of the television has become a global epidemic and such the desire of these people to embark on a weight loss program only seems to fuel the fire. It really is time for the world to wake up and start a weight loss regime today. Obesity, as we all know is a serious problem that needs addressing and here are some simple tips to help with weight loss.

1. Why Fad Diets are a Waste of Time

Fad diets are a waste of time! Billions of dollars are spent around the world each year on the latest celebrity endorsed diet without any weight loss. It usually involve the unnecessary expense of enrolling for a useless weight loss program that at best; helps you lose weight temporarily and in some cases proves to be bad for your health.

2. Relax about Weight Loss

Relax… Take a long deep breath and then come to the realization that weight loss and reaching your target weight will take time. It’s about transforming your life; and that doesn’t happen overnight. After a while though, weight loss will happen.

3. Naughty Foods

What are the foods that you know are bad for and prevent you from your weight loss goals? Be completely honest about the quantity of the naughty foods you eat. Keep a log if you have to. You will soon realise that your weight loss relies on it.

4. Getting Exercise

If you lack exercise this won’t help with weight loss. Turn of the TV and go for a walk. Thirty minutes each day walking to the shops or to the gym! It is not necessary for weight loss to join a gym but it certainly won’t do you any harm.

5. Healthy Eating

When you walk around the supermarket, try to imagine how empty the shelves would be if all the processed foods, tins, packets and other junk wasn’t there. Buy raw ingredients like fruit, veg, flour, eggs, milk, and a recipe book and let your culinary skills shine.

6. Keep it Natural

By cutting out the rubbish foods you can still enjoy a lot of foods that you think could be bad for you. It is more important that you are eating natural unprocessed foods. It worked for our ancestors and it will work for us!

Forget what the celebrities are endorsing this week for weight loss and try to understand what your body is telling you about the foods you are eating. Is your body saying that when you eat chocolate for example it soothes your stressed mind? How can it possibly help? The truth is that chocolate has become a crutch and it feels like it helps. In reality, weight loss depends on you listening to what your body is telling you.

How do we define obesity? In simple terms, it can be viewed as the excessive accumulation of body fat. When boys possess more than 25% fat in their total body weight, and girls possess more than 32%, then they are considered to be obese. Adults have a variety of medications they can rely on to combat obesity. These include Apidex and Phentermine. It’s a different story, however, for children.

Obese children are at risk for developing a variety of illnesses and diseases. They are at risk for developing pediatric hypertension, for example. This disorder increases the risk of contracting type 2 diabetes, problems with the joints, as well as cardiac disease. What can be a worse – and more immediate – problem for children dealing with obesity is the social stigmatization they often become the victims of, which results in serious emotional and psychological problems associated with low self esteem. Obese children often grapple with depression – much more so than non obese children. But just because one is obese as a child does not necessarily mean they will grow in to an obese adult. There are all kinds of factors that determine obesity, including genetics and hereditary factors. If the problem is dealt with from an early age, adulthood obesity can be avoided.

But let’s focus on one of the less obvious aspects of childhood obesity for a minute. While the causes of obesity are well reported – namely lack of exercise and bad eating habits – there are also familial and hereditary instances of obesity that are less often analyzed. Children whose parents are obese have a much greater chance of becoming obese themselves. Perhaps this has to do with genetic factors, but more often than not, it has to do with the family’s sedentary lifestyle and eating habits. If parents do not take proper care of themselves, then their children can be born obese.

It is also true that not all children who lead the sedentary lifestyle so common of young people today – that is spending more time in front of the television and computer than outside playing sports and being active – wind up becoming obese. Researchers have been looking in to the reasons why this is so. It probably has more to do with heredity than anything else. Heredity can influence such factors as one’s response to overfeeding, one’s degree of fatness, as well as the way fat is distributed in one’s body. Recent studies have also established that babies born to overweight mothers tend to be less active and gain more weight in early infancy due to some apparently internal desire to conserve energy.

Children who are overweight and lead inactive lives, spending excessive amounts of time engaged in non physical activities such as playing video and computer games and watching television, certainly will not combat obesity in this fashion. Parents should do everything they can to discourage this “couch potato” lifestyle, while also monitoring their children’s eating habits. A healthy home life makes for healthy children, who are more likely to develop into healthy adults.