Weight Loss on a Low Carb Diet

Low carb dieting has become fashionable in recent years especially with the publication of the Atkins diet. Losing weight is a goal for so many people and everybody is looking for the quick and easy way to lose weight. Some people do not need to lose weight at all but still get stressed over a couple of pounds. Others need to lose for medical reasons and may have one hundred pounds or more that they want to shed.

There are many different diets out there including low carbohydrate diets and the truth is that most of them will achieve weight loss if they are followed correctly. This does not mean always doing what the diet says every moment of every day. What is more important is how you deal with the inevitable occasion when you eat too much or feast on foods that are not on the plan. If you can write this off and return to the plan without giving yourself a hard time, you are likely to succeed. Everybody has those days - the important thing is to let them go and accept them as just another step on the road to permanent weight loss.

It is also important to find a diet that you can easily follow. Low carb diets suit many people because the rules are quite simple. As the name suggests, the diet consists of avoiding or limiting foods that are high in carbohydrates. These include bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and other grains. Sugar is also a carbohydrate. Once you understand what these foods are, it is a simple matter to choose dishes that avoid them.

Most criticism of low carbohydrate dieting is based on the fact that the dieters will get most of their daily calories from meat, dairy and other high fat products. This can lead to high cholesterol and other problems related to a high intake of saturated fats. Medical advice is advised before starting this type of diet. Sometimes weight loss is good in the early stages but people cannot handle the restrictions in the longer term and start to deviate from the diet.

One of the problems that many people have with low carb dieting is the elimination of bread and pasta. No more toast, spaghetti or pizza! Many of the foods that are quickest to prepare are based around carbohydrates - burgers in their buns, fries, sandwiches, pasta and sauce. Beer and other alcoholic drinks are high in carbs too. It is true that alcohol is generally restricted on any diet, because it is high in calories and very low in nutritional value, but low carb diets put particular emphasis on this.

Still there are many foods that can be enjoyed on a low carb diet. If you are fond of meat you will relish the opportunity to consume beef, chicken and other animal products. The popularity of these diets is clear from the length of time that they stay on the bestseller lists. It is just a matter of what suits you. Low carb dieting works for many people.

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Menopause and Weight Gain

Talking to most women over 50 you will quickly find that menopause and weight gain are linked in their experience. It is very common to put on weight at this time and while some of this may be due to lifestyle changes, that does not explain why suddenly we develop a tendency to put on weight at different parts of the body, especially the abdomen, while any weight gained when we were younger tended to be centered on the hips.

The truth is that hormonal changes do have a part to play in this, although the process is not completely understood. At menopause a woman stops ovulating, her monthly menstruation periods end, and her body produces much lower levels of the female hormone estrogen which is responsible for the ovulation process. Low estrogen has been shown to cause weight gain in animals and it almost certainly is the reason why our bodies change shape. While women of childbearing age store fat in the lower body, after the menopause they store it on the abdomen instead, like men. This leads to a greater risk of heart disease.

At the same time, both men and women tend to find muscle turning to fat as they grow older, and the metabolism slows down. This means that if you do not adjust your eating habits you will probably find that your weight increases. A person of 60 just does not need as many calories as a person of 40.

Hormone therapy with estrogen is sometimes prescribed to control menopausal symptoms. Many women will be surprised to hear that studies have shown that hormone therapy does not cause weight gain. Some women experience bloating and water retention in the early stages of hormone therapy but this is usually temporary and they have not gained any fat. Hormone therapy can reduce the risk of heart disease by preventing the changes in storage of body fat around the abdomen and lowering cholesterol. However, hormone therapy has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer in some studies.

If you find that you are gaining weight around the menopause, there are several things you can do.

- Eat a healthy, low fat diet with plenty of fiber, avoiding sugar.

- Take regular exercise. As people get older their physical activity levels naturally drop. Work often becomes less physically demanding, there are no kids to run around after, we take less active holidays and do things more slowly. 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day will help to balance out the effect of this.

- Maintain your muscle strength and mass. Use weights for arm muscles and walking or cycling for legs.

- Accept the changes to the shape of your body. If you are not overweight, but simply have a thicker waist and slimmer legs, that is fine.

Consult with your doctor before starting any exercise program if you have any medical conditions or your fitness levels are low. Your doctor can also help with symptoms of the menopause and weight gain.

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Losing Weight with Green Tea

Many people are now turning to inexpensive and natural green tea weight loss plans to help them in their weight control efforts. It is simple too. Green tea can be drunk like any other tea, usually without milk or sweeteners, or if you do not like the taste you can purchase green tea extract.

Research has shown that green tea helps to reduce weight by stimulating the body's thermogenesis process, which increases the expenditure of energy and the oxidization of fat in the body. Many compounds found in plants have this effect. The special thing about green tea is that it does not increase the heart rate, and is therefore believed to be safer than diet pills such as ephidrine that also work by stimulating thermogenesis.

A lot of people who are overweight have or are at risk of developing hypertension and other cardiovascular problems, so the fact that green tea does not put pressure on the heart makes it a good choice. Ephidrine is not usually recommended if you are in this group but green tea is considered a safe option. It means that you can gradually increase your exercise levels without increasing your risk of heart problems.

There are only two ways to lose weight: one way is by eating less (consuming fewer calories) and the other is by increasing expenditure of energy (using up more calories). Green tea works by increasing output and this can be by around 4%. Most scientists believe that this is caused by the high quantity of catechin that is in the tea and its extract.

Green tea has the added benefit of containing powerful antioxidants that may be beneficial to your health in many ways, strengthening the immune system and protecting against disease.

Keep in mind that green tea does contain caffeine so you should cut out coffee and other forms of tea while you are taking it. Decaffeinated green tea is not recommended because the chemical processes that are used to remove the caffeine may destroy the beneficial properties of the plant.

At the same time you will need to exercise control in what you eat. If you eat more to compensate for the calories that are burnt by the tea, you will not lose any weight. Keeping to the same calorific intake that you have now and taking green tea should result in gradual weight loss and better energy levels over a few weeks. You can of course increase the speed of this by reducing calorie consumption and/or increasing exercise.

Green tea is a simple, easy and inexpensive weight control aid that can easily be incorporated into any weight loss program. The choice of tea or extract offers something for everybody. Natural and safe, green tea weight loss should feature in your program if you want to keep the weight off permanently.

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Negative Calorie Foods

You will find a free list of negative calorie foods below, but first let's consider what this means. There is no such thing as a negative calorie - a calorie is a unit of heat and it cannot be negative. So when people talk about negative calorie foods, this just means a food whose calorie level is low enough that it takes more energy to eat and digest it than the food contains.

For example, if you consider water to be a food, then cold water is certainly a negative calorie food. It contains no calories at all and the body has to expend energy to bring it up to blood temperature. So every time we drink a glass of cold water we burn up a couple of calories and lose a little weight. But there are very few foods like this. Most foods that are on the list do not really use more calories than they add, or if they do the effect is negligible ... until you remember that at the same time the body expends energy just to keep alive and breathing. Celery for example does not give us enough calories to cover both the energy that it takes to digest it, plus the energy that we expend even when we are doing nothing. So that is why people call it a negative calorie food.

Negative calorie foods are most attractive to anorexics. A negative calorie diet would obviously result in starvation in the long term and nutritional deficiencies can occur surprisingly quickly. The calories burnt usually come from muscle mass, and the result is debility and wasting.

A more healthy way to use a negative calorie diet is as a form of fasting or detox. It is something you can do for one to three days right after the Christmas season or another time when you have been eating a over-rich diet. Provided you are otherwise healthy it can be a great way to clean out the system. However it is still best to take medical advice before attempting this.

If you decide to use a negative calorie detox, keep the following points in mind:

1. It is never a good idea to eat huge quantities of one type of food, especially fruits. A lot of foods contain substances that can be damaging if consumed to excess. For example, the acid in grapefruit and pineapple can damage your stomach lining. Other foods put an excessive burden on the liver or may cause diarrhea. So try to use all the different foods in small quantities.

2. Do not spend all day eating. You will just become bloated and feel sick. If you are only doing this for a couple days, you should not feel too hungry. Plan four or five salad meals each day, and let your digestion rest at other times.

3. You will feel more satisfied if you eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly. You will also use more calories that way. So if the foods can be eaten raw, that will be more effective than cooking them. Foods like carrots and beets will also be more satisfying if you eat them grated.

4. Schedule time when you do not have any important commitments. As with fasting or any kind of detox, you may suffer some uncomfortable symptoms including headaches, tiredness, depression and irritability. If these become severe, stop the diet and see a doctor.

5. When you end the detox, plan a gradual return to normal eating.

If all the above points are checked and passed, let's move on to the list of foods.

* Apples
* Asparagus
* Beets
* Blueberries
* Broccoli
* Cantaloupes
* Carrot
* Cauliflower
* Celery stalk
* Celery root
* Cranberries
* Cucumbers
* Eggplant
* Endives
* Garden cress
* Garlic
* Grapefruit
* Green beans
* Green cabbage
* Lamb's lettuce
* Lemons
* Lettuce
* Onions
* Papayas
* Pineapples
* Prunes
* Radishes
* Raspberries
* Spinach
* Strawberries
* Tangerines
* Tomatoes
* Turnips
* Zucchini

Please use this list of negative calorie foods wisely.

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Good & Bad Fats in Your Diet

Just like there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, there are good and bad fats. Some fats you need to eat to keep your body healthy, and others should be avoided. Again, it would not be wise to eliminate all fats from your diet as fats are one of the body’s main source of fuel. In a healthy balanced diet, fats should contribute about 25-35% of the calories consumed. Here is the ‘skinny’ on fats:

• Saturated Fats

These are the fats that you need to be careful of. They have a tendency to raise your LDL levels when consumed in excess. Saturated fats become solid at room temperature, although there are some exceptions. They come mainly from animal sources and include butter, lard and suet. Cream is one of those exceptions mentioned—it contains saturated fat but because it also contains milk it remains liquid.

Two sources of saturated fats that come from plants are coconut oil (this is from a plant, but it still hardens and becomes solid at room temperature, and palm oil. Palm oil is widely used in the making of pastries, candies, cakes and biscuits.

• Monounsaturated Fats

These are the healthier choice in fats. They are derived from plants.They are not known to contribute to a bad cholesterol level. In fact, tests carried out in Mediterranean countries where monounsaturated fats are commonly used indicate that these fats actually may reduce the amount of cholesterol in the blood and the increased HDL’s are able to clean excess cholesterol from the blood vessels.

Commonly used monounsaturated fats are avocado oil, canola oil, peanut oil and olive oil.

• Polyunsaturated Fats

These are also part of the healthier fats and are also derived from plant materials. These fats are found in most nut, seed and vegetable oils and include safflower oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, cottonseed oil and corn oil.

Polyunsaturated fats were traditionally used in combination with dairy foods to make many margarines and cooking oils, thinking that this would be a healthier alternative to butter or other saturated fat products. Recent findings, however, show that the process used to make the margarines (beating the oil) actually saturates it.

• Trans-Fats

These are not considered healthy fats and should be avoided in your diet. Trans-fats may raise your bad LDL cholesterol levels and lower your good HDL cholesterol levels.

Trans-fats are created when healthy vegetable oil is chemically altered with the addition of extra hydrogen molecules to increase a product’s shelf life and to keep them hard at room temperature.

Products such as crackers, cookies, baked goods, some breads and a lot amount of fast food contain trans-fats and should be avoided. When examining product labels, avoid products whose ingredients include “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated” fats or “vegetable shortening”.

• Omega-3 Fatty Acids

These are a type of unsaturated fats (the good kind of fats that help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease). It is believed that they help to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, reduce blood clot formation, help lower your blood pressure, improve skin and hair condtion, and help in the aid and prevention of arthritis.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids can come from animal or vegetable sources. Good sources from animal include mackerel, herring, sardines, tuna and salmon. Plant sources include flaxseeds and leafy greens.

• Flaxseed

The flax plant provides seeds and oilthat contain alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) which is a healthy essential fatty acid similar to the Omega-3 Fatty Acids found in fish. As mentioned, Omega-3 Fatty Acids may actually help your body in the health department and should be included in a healthy diet. Faxseed is the best plant source for such fats.

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Good & Bad Cholesterol

Do you know the difference between good and bad cholesterol? What is it that your doctor actually measures when he tests your cholesterol levels? And, how do you know what a good or bad cholesterol level is? These are common questions when you talk about cholesterol. Many people talk about their cholesterol levels, whether they be high or low, but few really know what it means.

Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance (a lipid and lipids are fats) that is contained in all parts of the body, including your nervous system, skin, muscles, liver, intestines and heart. It is essential for your health as it strengthens your cell membranes and is used to create nerve cell insulation, digestive acids, steroid hormones and Vitamin D. It is a substance that is both made by your liver in your body and acquired from animal products in your diet.

Cholesterol is transmitted throughout your body in your blood. That is why your doctor tests your blood to obtain your cholesterol levels. When your doctor reads your cholesterol levels, he is looking at four factors:

• Total Cholesterol: the measurement of all the types of cholesterol in your blood. A total cholesterol level of less than 200 is considered healthy, while higher levels may indicate an increase of risk for heart disease.

• HDL Cholesterol: (High-Density Lipoprotein) this is the ‘good’ cholesterol. It helps remove fats from your blood vessels. Here a higher reading is better. An HDL reading of under 35 means you are at risk for heart disease.

• LDL Cholesterol: (Low-Density Lipoprotein)-this is considered the ‘bad’ cholesterol. This type of cholesterol tends to deposit plaque on the walls of your blood vessels. Here a lower reading is best. A LDL of 100 or lower is optimal; 100-130 is good; 130-160 is borderline; while if your reading is over 160 you are at high risk for heart disease.

• Cholesterol Ratio: Your doctor also looks at your cholesterol ratio, which is derived from your total cholesterol level divided by your HDL. For example, a total cholesterol of 200 divided by an HDL of 50 results in a ration of 4.0. A healthy ratio would be a result of 5.0 or less.

So now that you know what the readings mean, how does this affect your dieting? Of course, one of the things that you need to get control of to stay healthy is your cholesterol levels. Managing your diet and losing weight can help in this regard. Other factors can affect your cholesterol levels, which can include a heredity component. In some cases your doctor may recommend that you take medication to control your cholesterol levels, but adjusting your diet also helps.

On a daily basis, your body produces about 1,000 mg. of cholesterol per day, while the average diet supplies another 500-900 mg. This is a great deal more than the average adult should consume on a daily basis—only 300 mg. per day is considered healthy. As a point of note, even if you did not consume any cholesterol with your diet, your liver (and to a lesser extent your body cells) would produce enough cholesterol for you body to function normally.

High cholesterol can be caused by over-indulgence in eating LDL cholesterol-containing foods. Some of the factors associated with high cholesterol are: drinking coffee, a diet that is high in saturated fats, lack of proper exercise, emotional stress, obesity, and a high intake of sucrose (sugar) or other foods that become sugars.

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Fruit & Vegetable Diet Tips

Fruits and vegetables are the mainstay of any diet plan—no matter which diet you wish to use. Even if you go on a no-carbohydrate diet, you will be eating a lot of vegetables, and eventually fruit is included on that diet as well. One reason for this is that fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and nutrients that your body needs to be in optimal working order.

Fruits and vegetables not only taste good, but they provide the fiber and roughage you need to help your body get rid of its excess. So the best way to losing weight is to eat mostly plant materials in the form of fruits and vegetables. Here are some fruit and veggie tips to help you along your path to dieting success:

1. Go crazy with vegetables. Most vegetables have few calories than other foods, but can really help you feel full. The leafy green vegetables are your best choice, so try to include a salad at least once a day with your meal.

2. Use vegetables as a snacking choice. Instead of reaching for potato chips or cookies, use fruits or vegetables as a stand-by snack. Grab an orange, a bunch of grapes or an apple instead of your usual snacks. Have carrot sticks, radishes or green pepper slices cut up and readily available in your fridge when you feel peck-ish. You don’t want to have to stop and cut them up when the craving hits, or you may end up reaching for whatever is at hand before you really think about it.

3. Eating fresh veggies are better than cooked or canned. Cooking vegetables can take away nearly half of the vitamins in them. Canned vegetables can have added salt or other processing that may make them more calorie-laden than fresh vegetables would be. Eating raw veggies can be more satisfying and filling as well—think of that added ‘crunch’ and texture.

4. Try to have at least one meat-free meal per week. Focus on a vegetarian menu for one night.

5. If your family is having a ‘spaghetti night’ use bean sprouts for your helping instead of the calorie-rich spaghetti noodles. Sauté the bean sprouts until softened slightly and top them with the tomato-meat sauce. This is a yummy alternative.

6. Carry parsley with you and munch on it in between meals. The parsley will not only provide you with a vitamin rich snack, but will also help make your breath fresher.

7. Try new vegetables and fruits that you may not have tried before. Experiment with new varieties so that your menus will not become too boring.

8. Stick to the fruits and veggies that are not too high in carbohydrates or calories. For instance, bananas are high in carbohydrates and calories. If you must have a banana, however, for help in your potassium levels—trying eating just half.

9. Be aware of the sugar content in fruits. These may tend to drive up the calories so check with a good calorie counting book before over-indulging. Also, though, eating fruit can help with your sugar cravings. Reach for them before reaching for the cookies or chocolates.

10. If you use canned fruit, make sure that you use ones that are packed in water or their own juices. Much of the canned fruit has added sugar so be sure to read the food label on the cans.

One last tip about fruit: Be careful of the fruit juices that you consume. Even the ones that say they have no sugar added can contain a lot of natural sugar that does not get taken into account in advertising programs. And, the amount of real fruit juice can be very low on the list of ingredients contained in the juice. Be sure to read the food label before you indulge in any consumption of fruit juice.

Hopefully the above tips will help you be a little more aware of how to use fruits and vegetables in your diet plan.

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Everyday Diet Tips That Work!

This article will give you dieting tips you can use on a daily basis. These are everyday tips that will help you lose weight and that can be used in conjunction with any diet plan you are following. Well, here goes…

1. Be aware of everything that you put in your mouth. It is sometimes the little things that can add up the most. This means that the garnishes that you use, or the sauces you add to your food can mount up to a lot of extra calories. Sometimes these can add up to more calories than the actual food you are supposed to eat itself. Consider the whipped cream on a piece of pie, or the calorie-laden cheese sauce on broccoli.

2. Create a set eating pattern for your day and try to stick to your eating times as much as possible. Your body will get used to eating at a certain time and you won’t be as tempted to eat at other times.

3. Smaller meals eaten more frequently throughout the day are best. That way your body has time to digest each small portion of food you eat before you give it more to handle. Also, you will always feel full and be less tempted to eat things you shouldn’t.

4. Pay attention to what you are drinking. Tea and coffee may be harmless on their own, but when you add cream and sugar the calories mount up—especially if you have 3-4 cups a day. There are different theories about the effects of caffeine on dieting. One states that caffeine helps increase your metabolism. Another states that caffeine isn’t good for you and should not be included in your diet plans—that it actually works against other foods in helping you to lose weight. You may have to do your own research to decide which theory to believe. But in either case, stick to black coffee or tea without all the added cream and sugar. (Hint: try tea with just a squeeze of lemon for flavoring.)

5. Do not skip meals. Skipping meals (although you may think you are consuming fewer calories) can actually have the opposite effect when you are dieting. When you skip a meal your body’s metabolism slows down. Also you get too hungry and you are then apt to over-eat at your next meal, more than making up for the calories you may have thought you lost by skipping that meal.

6. Try to eat your larger meals in the morning or the middle of the day so that you have a chance to burn off the calories. When you have your large meal at supper, you tend to be not as active as during the day and may not have the time to burn off the required calories.

7. Exercise. Not everyone loves exercise, but it really is important to helping you lose weight. Your body needs to move to exert energy to use those calories that you have eaten. Find an exercise you like, even if it is just dancing around the living room, and do it every day. Remember that every movement can be considered exercise so even just twisting your body while brushing your teeth can count.

8. Treat yourself once a week. If dieting means punishment for you, then you need to treat yourself to overcome that feeling. This does not mean that it has to be a food treat (although it may be a small portion once a week). It could be a new clothing item, going out to a movie, or a night out with a friend. Just do something special to celebrate how good you have been on your diet.

9. Never skip breakfast, and try to have it within an hour of waking up. Your body needs to refuel after having that long stretch of time without food while you were sleeping. If you leave it too long, you become too hungry and may tend to overeat. As well, your body goes into a slower metabolism mode where it may thinks it needs to hold onto that fat to fuel itself.

10. About alcoholic beverages—avoid them if you can. Beer is especially high in calories. If you must have a drink try to stick to a dry wine with a low sugar content—and only one glass.

If you try to incorporate the above diet tips into your daily life, you are sure to achieve success in losing weight.

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Diet and Lose Weight Ebook

Consider how many diets you have been on. Have you been successful? The truth is that most diets don't work long term. Sure you may lose weight initially, but then you get bored of the diet or just can't seem to stick to it...and the weight comes back on.

What you really need to do is to understand how to diet and how dieting should work for you. If you really understand the information that will allow you to lose weight (like exactly how carbohydrates affect you, or what body mass index really means) then you can learn to lose weight successfully on any diet you choose to go on. You will understand the relationship between your body and how your particular diet works.

That is where the Diet and Lose Weight Ebook really helps you. It outlines the facts you need to know to be informed about dieting. It helps you understand weight loss and how it affects you. Only when you understand the dieting basics will you be able to lose weight effectively.

Being informed is the healthy way to diet.

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Diet Mistakes to Avoid

Even though there is so much information available about weight loss, the same diet mistakes are being made over and over every day. We are not talking here about little slip-ups where you ate a slice of pie that was not on the plan, but big mistakes that lead to failure to lose the weight that you want to lose. Understanding these errors can help you develop the attitude that will lead to permanent weight loss for you.

THE ALL OR NOTHING ATTITUDE

All or nothing dieters will often pick out a complicated diet that is almost impossible for them to maintain. Before beginning, they will search the kitchen for anything that does not fit the plan and throw it in the garbage. They are planning to be the perfect dieter, and so they will be, for one day, three days, seven days or even a couple of weeks. Then, inevitably, something happens that means they cannot keep to the diet one time. Immediately the whole thing is ruined in their eyes and the diet is over. They go to the store and buy all the things that went into the garbage last week and proceed to gain back all the weight that they lost, as fast as possible.

If you are this kind of dieter you need to ask yourself some tough questions. Do you really want to lose weight permanently, or just lose a few pounds so that you can enjoy putting them back on again? The way forward is to make small changes to what you eat so that you have a slow but steady weight loss.

THE ATTITUDE OF SACRIFICE

Another common mistake is to view your diet as a period of sacrifice. You do not allow yourself the foods that you enjoy most while you are on your way to your target weight. You may have a great diet plan and be very successful in losing weight, but what happens when you reach your goal? You have not learnt to eat 'bad foods' in moderation so as soon as you start, you are likely to go out of control. It is better to include a little of everything in your diet and learn to enjoy it in small quantities. Yes, even chocolate!

GOAL FAILURE

Setting achievable goals is vital in any weight loss plan. Goals should be clear, realistic and set out in writing. While you probably do have an ideal weight in your mind, unless you are only very slightly overweight it is probably too distant to be useful. A more useful goal would be to lose two pounds per week for the first five weeks and then one pound per week after that. Some weeks you will lose more and some less, some weeks you may even gain, but if you track your progress on a graph you will see that ups and downs are natural and do not stop you progressing steadily toward your major goal.

If you have been making these mistakes, do not worry. The most important point in dieting as in so many other things is to move on. Learn from your failures as well as your success and do not use a mistake as an excuse for giving up. The only way to achieve your goal permanently is to make a commitment to become a healthier person. Remember that eating normally includes eating more some days and less others. Learn to enjoy food in moderation and you have every chance of avoiding these bad diet mistakes.

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What Diet Equipment Do I Need?

Diet equipment? That sounds very intimidating—like you need a whole lot of stuff to start dieting. That’s not true, but having certain things at hand will help you achieve your goal weight. And, it doesn’t have to be expensive either.

Weigh Scale: The first thing you need will be a good weigh scale. Choose one that you can easily read when you are standing on it and one that appears accurate. Whether it is totally accurate to world standards does not really matter, as long as it gives you a consistent weight each time.

When you go to the store to purchase the scale, try it out. Put it on the floor and step on it. Read the weight it displays. Then step off. Give it a minute to recalibrate itself. Then step on it again. Does it give you the same weight as before? You may need to try a few different ones to get a consistently functioning scale.


Tape Measure: It is a good idea to have a fabric tape measure to keep track of your measurements. Often weighing yourself on a weigh scale does not really give you the best idea of how you are progressing on your diet. Some days your scale may not tell you that you are losing weight (possibly due to water retention on that day), but taking your measurements and learning that you have lost an inch on your hips may give you a more accurate picture.


Tracking Book: In order to monitor your progress, keep a little book handy to mark down your weight and measurements.

You should also write down what you eat each day so that you can monitor what is working for you. Some foods may react differently with each person’s metabolism so that when you eat those foods you may not lose as much weight.


Food Scale: Although it may seem like a pain to weight the foods that you eat, it is often essential to portion control. Having a food scale aids in this regard.


Diet or Recipe
Books: (Optional) If you choose to follow a certain diet (like the Scarsdale Diet, for instance) having a copy of the book outlining exactly how to follow it, and having a recipe book for meal variations, is a good idea. Of course, you can borrow the books from your local library, or get recipe ideas from the web, but always having the books in front of you when you need them (like when you are cooking) is easiest.

Exercise
Equipment: (Optional) Exercise is an important part of successful dieting. Having some equipment to aid in your exercise routine is helpful.

Even if you take up jogging or walking for your chosen exercise, there may be days when it is raining or snowing when you may not want to go outside. In that situation, having a treadmill where you can do your exercise indoors would be helpful.

You also may choose an exercise routine that involves a certain type of equipment, such as an exercise ball or weights.

Diet Center Memberships: (Optional) Some people find that joining a diet center gives them the guidance and inspiration they need to achieve a successful dieting outcome.

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10 Ways to Control Your Sweet Tooth

One of the hardest parts of any diet is having to give up desserts and sweets. We all know that those foods are high in calories and do not normally contain many nutritious ingredients. But the problem is—they taste good and that makes them enjoyable to eat.

There are ways that you can control your ‘sweet tooth’ however. The following are some tips that might help you:

1. When you get a craving for sweets, eat fruit instead. Most fruits taste sweet and are definitely healthier and lower in calories that the normal sweet desserts that you crave. Eating a fruit can give you the sweet taste you want without adding a lot of the other calories and carbohydrates that can be detrimental to your diet.

2. If you are too tempted by that sweet dessert and you simply must have it, have only a nibble or a bite or two. Just that little bit may satisfy your craving without adding too many calories to your diet. And you won’t feel so deprived either, which may enable you to continue to diet successfully.

3. Brush your teeth after dinner instead of having a dessert. You can’t deny that toothpaste tastes sweet. The minty flavor and fresh feeling in your mouth can satisfy your sweet craving.

4. Use vanilla-scented lip balm. This can give you a hint of vanilla flavor that can help stop a sweet craving.

5. Read your food labels. There are cookies and other products available for dieters that contain few calories or carbohydrates. But you need to be careful and read the food labels to be sure which ones contain the least amounts. And be careful of the suggested serving sizes. Some packages will tell one cookie is a serving, while for others it may be three.

6. Eat any sweet things early in the day so that your body has a chance to burn off those extra calories.

7. Use artificial sweeteners in your coffee or tea, or when baking.

8. Having a artificially sweetened cola or drink instead of having a dessert of baked goods can help satisfy a sugar craving.

9. Stay away from sauces and foods that contain high fructose corn syrup—like ketchup. High fructose corn syrup can neutralize the enzyme that tells your brain you are full, so that contributes to all sorts of other cravings and you can have a greater appetite all day.

10. Use your mind to control your cravings. When you are watching T.V. and those ads come up for all the great looking high calorie sweet foods, make your mind focus on what you want to look like instead of the food shown. It is simply a form of ‘mind over matter’. What you tell your brain to do is the most important.

You can have real physical needs for sugar-sweet things, or you can simply have ‘I want’ cravings. Of course the physical cravings are the hardest to overcome, but it can be done. Your body is probably used to having those sweet items, but after a few days of withdrawal you can win out over these cravings. Brace yourself and prepare yourself in how to deal with those cravings and believe that they will get better with each day you are on your diet.

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Consulting Your Doctor Before Dieting

This warning comes anytime someone chooses to diet, and it is a valid one. It is important that you should consult your doctor before you go on a diet. You may not feel the need to do this, thinking that you both know you need to lose weight so why bother. But there may be health reasons (even ones that you may not presently be aware of) that dictate whether or not you should diet, or even which type of diet you should pursue.

Your doctor may help you determine which type of diet is the healthiest for you. Some diets out there today only suggest the fastest way to lose weight and are not necessarily the healthiest for your body. Your doctor should be able to steer you to the right choice of diet, or at least point out the worst ones. You may also have a pre-existing condition (such as Diabetes) that may dictate which type of diet is best for you.

It may also be important for your doctor to monitor your progress. He may want to keep tabs on your blood pressure, your blood sugar, or your cholesterol levels as well as your weight. You may think that losing weight very quickly is great, but your doctor should determine whether losing weight too quickly is the best thing for your health. He will also be able to tell you when you should stop losing weight. Remember that it is possible to be too thin to be healthy.

Your doctor may also be able to suggest other health professionals that can help you in your dieting endeavors. He may refer you to a qualified nutritionalist. He may send you to a heart specialist if he has a concern in that area. He may suggest certain diet centers that some of his other patients have had success with. He may be able to give you pointers on a healthy exercise regime, or even put you in touch with a personal trainer.

Your doctor can provide a wealth of information on healthy eating and dieting. He probably has a great deal of literature already at his office—or he may even have DVD’s or other material at hand. Remember that every doctor is inundated with medical company people offering materials in every health related area. You may be able to benefit from some of this.

Your doctor may also provide you with diet pills or medication if the situation warrants. Of course, dieting without the aid of medication is always the first choice. Every person’s situation is different however, and there may be reasons your doctor feels diet medication is right for you.

Visiting your doctor regularly can also provide encouragement for you. If you know that your doctor is monitoring your progress and you have an upcoming appointment with him, you just might think twice about having that extra helping at supper-time. He will also tell you how well you have done by losing three pounds this week. Wouldn’t you like to hear that? Hearing that encouragement can give you the will-power and motivation you need to continue succeeding on your diet.

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Causes of Being Overweight

There is no easy answer as to why someone is overweight. It does not simply mean that the person eats to excess, although that contributes to the problem. Never before in history have so many cases of obese and overweight people been reported. The increase in weight gain for the general population has had an alarming increase and has reached epidemic proportions. In fact, studies have shown that one in three people in the United States are overweight, and one in three are obese. Where once it was common to have nutrient deficiencies in our diets, today excesses and imbalances in our food intake has lead to our overweight population increase.

Basically, the cause of being overweight is when someone consumes more food than their bodies can process for energy. This means that you are eating too much and not expending the energy produced by your body in physical activity, so the excess is stored as fat. Having too much fat results in you being overweight or obeses. In short, too much food-not enough exercise.

This however is not the whole problem. In the past overweight people were stereotyped as people who ate too much and were lazy. Recently doctors have discovered that being overweight or obese may be influenced by heredity-it may run in families. Therefore being overweight may not be caused just by your eating or exercise habits.

Other factors that could influence your weight problems may be the result of your metabolism rate, environment, behavior, the culture you live within or your socio-economic status. Some medications and medical conditions can also contribute to you being overweight. Your behavior and the environment that you live in can play a major role in what causes you to be overweight. The good news is that these factors can be dealt with and changed to enable you to get control of the problem.
Here is a list of common causes for being overweight:

• Over-eating
• Pregnancy or recent child birth (many mothers retain weight after giving birth)
• Aging (the aging population is often less active, and may have metabolism changes due to age)
• Appetite changes
• Having a high fat diet
• Having a high carbohydrate diet
• Smoking/ or quitting smoking
• Excessive snacking
• Reduced exercise
• Having a sedentary lifestyle
• Lifestyle changes (which can lead to stress and over-eating)
• Your body’s reaction to previous dieting (Yo-yo dieting)
• Stress
• Depression or depressive disorders
• Compulsive eating
• Genetics
• Water retention problems or Edema (your body may retain water which is not really true weight gain)
• Premenstrual bloating
• Heart problems

As you can probably tell from the list, many of the causes of being overweight can be corrected by changes in your eating habits or through lifestyle changes.

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Do I Really Need to Diet?

Many people today who are on diets are influenced by the media. The media is always cramming it into our heads that the thinner you are the better. All the T.V. and movie personalities, music stars or ‘who’s who’ are always concerned about their weight—you see it all the time in commercials, magazines and tabloids. But what does that translate to for the average person? How skinny is good?

What you need to do is take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror—and be truthful. Stand before a full length mirror in your underwear (don’t worry—no-one’s watching). What do you see? Honestly now! Do you see a little ‘pouch’ here or a bit of flab there? That does not necessarily mean that you need to lose weight. It could just mean that you might have to exercise a bit to firm up that little bit of flab. Or it may mean that you are being over-critical of yourself.

Be assured that not many people (even all those movie stars or ‘special’ people) have a perfect body. Everyone has areas about their body that displeases them or that they need to work on improving. So, before you decide to go on a rigid diet to try to get rid of those imperfect areas, think honestly that perhaps a little extra exercise in those particular areas may work even better that dieting would.

If you do decide, however, that you have more than ‘a little extra’ perhaps a diet would help.

According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) there are three indicators that can tell you if you may need to lose weight or be at risk for certain diseases. They are your Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement, your waist circumference, and any risk factors you may have for diseases and conditions relating to obesity.

Your Waist Circumference:

To determine your waist circumference, place a measuring tape snugly around your waist just above your belly button. This measurement gives you a good indication of your abdominal fat, which increased your risk for developing heart or other diseases. If the measurement is over 35” in women, or 40” in men,
Determine your waist circumference by placing a measuring tape snugly around your waist. It is a good indicator of your abdominal fat which is another predictor of your risk for developing risk factors for heart disease and other diseases. This risk increases with a waist measurement of over 40” in men and over 35” in women. A Body Mass Index (BMI) of 20-25 is considered good, but a higher or lower BMI could increase your health risks.

Other Risk Factors that may indicate that you need to lose weight or be at risk for certain diseases are if you have any of the following:
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• High LDL (the ‘bad’ cholesterol)
• Low HDL ( the ‘good’ cholesterol)
• High triglycerides
• High blood glucose (or sugar)
If you have two or more risk factors listed above and the indicators according to the BMI and Waist Circumference Chart, then the NHLBI recommends weight loss. They suggest that even a small amount of weight loss (even 10% of your current weight) may help to lower your risk of diseases associated with obesity.

People who may be overweight have less than 2 risk factors listed above and do not have a high waist measurement may only need to prevent further weight gain to reduce their risk to diseases associated with obesity.

It is important to consult your doctor to determine your health risks. He will help you understand that people who are overweight or suffer from obesity have a greater chance of developing high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, Type II Diabetes, heart disease, stroke, or certain cancers.

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15 Tips to Lose Weight Fast

Want to lose weight fast? It's easy to say goodbye to 10 pounds of unwanted fat with these easy diet tips. Just pay attention to what you eat and be sure to have good tasting, fresh and healthy food (including snacks), fill up on vegetables, and keep your taste buds happy with fruit.

No need to make sacrifices! Just follow these simple guidelines to lose your first 10 pounds, last 10 pounds or give your weight loss program a boost when it seems to have stuttered to a halt. This is a balanced and flexible plan that you can use for as long as you want.

1. Keep a note of everything that you eat and drink. You do not need to estimate calories. Just write down what it was that you had and the approximate quantity. You will find that being more aware of what you are eating helps you to plan healthy meals and snacks.

2. Halve your intake of all pure or added fats. This means using half as much butter or spread on your bread, toast, muffins and potatoes; half the usual amount of mayonnaise or dressing on your salad; and half the oil in the frying pan every time.

3. Limit treats containing sugar to three times per week. This includes chocolate, ice cream, desserts, cake, pastries, cookies, etc.

4. Include a lower fat source of protein at most meals: chicken, fish, beans, cottage cheese, or low fat yogurt. Have eggs, nuts and red meat occasionally but not every day.

5. Plan at least one lunch and dinner every week without meat or cheese. Build those meals around whole grains, vegetables and beans to increase fiber and reduce fat.

6. Reduce the fat content in your milk products. If you are currently drinking whole milk, reduce to 2% fat. From 2% reduce to 1%. Choose lower fat cheese and yogurt. When you buy yogurt, also check that it does not contain sugar.

7. Have at least two servings of fruit every day. This can be for dessert or snacks. Choose fruit that is in season.

8. Drink water instead of sodas, juices, milky drinks or alcohol. Avoid diet soda - the sweet taste only encourages you to crave sugar. Hot water with a slice of lemon can be very refreshing in the morning.

9. Include at least two servings of vegetables at lunch and dinner. If you are getting hungry, have more.

10. Eat slowly. The body is slow to register when you are full and it is easy to eat too much if you are racing through your meals.

11. Grated carrot makes a great snack. You will find that a grated carrot is much more filling than a whole carrot. Strange but true.

12. Use whole grains wherever possible. The fiber will give you a fuller feeling and also help your digestion.

13. Choose food that you can chew. Again this will increase your fiber intake, and the act of chewing will make you feel more satisfied too. This means eating fruit instead of drinking juice. If you have soup, make sure it is chunky.

14. Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time. Plan your shopping too - make a list of what you need and stick to it. If you just grab something when you are feeling hungry, you will probably choose high calorie food.

15. Always switch off the TV when you eat. That includes snacks as well as meals. Studies have proved that we eat larger portions in front of the TV, probably because we are much less aware of what we are eating. When you eat, only eat if you want to lose weight fast.

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Yo-Yo Dieting

When you try to lose weight, many times you jump from diet to diet trying to find the one that is the right fit for you and your lifestyle. Although the switch from one diet to the next may initially help you lose weight, often times you gain all the weight you lost back—and then some. When you do this repeatedly, this is called yo-yo dieting. It is also sometimes referred to as ‘weight cycling’ or ‘chronic dieting’.

Here is a typical yo-yo dieting scenario—see if this fits your dieting habits:

• You know you need to lose weight and want to achieve weight loss in the quickest manner possible. A new fad diet has just been released promising you will lose a great amount of weight in record time. It could be an extreme calorie restricted diet, a diet with injections, or a high protein diet—whatever is the latest rage on the market. You decide to try it.

• For the first while you are ‘pumped up’ and excited so you stick to the diet strictly…and you may even begin to lose weight.

• As time goes on, you find the diet overly restrictive or you begin to feel unwell. You could experience feeling tired all the time, hair loss, being constipated or even having achy joints or cramps. These symptoms may cause you to re-think the diet plan and feel it may not be a healthy choice—so you quit.

• You then return to your regular eating habits and may possibly eat even more than before because you may be feeding your depression (because of feeling deprived from the diet or even trying to compensate by feeding yourself more to overcome your feelings of failure).

• As a result, you find your weight increasing again. In the end you may have gained back all the weight you lost, plus more (due to your lowered metabolism and eating more to comfort yourself).

• The next new fad diet comes along, and in hopes of losing weight again, you try the newest offering.

• And the cycle continues…

Yo-yo dieting is often the result of a too restrictive low calorie diet. Low calorie diets tend to slow your metabolism down. Your body goes into its ‘starvation mode’. This means that your body isn’t getting enough food for energy and thinks it is being starved. Your body then slows down or plateaus. It then tries to set up reserves for this perceived starvation period and becomes more efficient at storing fat. Hence the weight slows down or the weight loss stops, and you may even gain weight.

Yo-yo dieting also tends to cause you to ignore your natural feelings of hunger and fullness. Relying solely on the measured portions and diet plan of one low calorie diet can make you feel deprived, which can then lead to binging and more weight gain. This leads to frustration and a lowered self-esteem. You often then decide that this particular diet isn’t working, so you move on to the next one in an effort to lose the weight that you have just regained. And the yo-yo dieting process continues.

One major problem with yo-yo dieting is that the body becomes less efficient with each diet attempted. This therefore decreases your body’s efficiency at losing weight and you may find dieting more of a struggle each time you move on to the next new diet. Also with severely restricted diets, you may encounter a loss of muscle tone. And less muscle causes your metabolism to slow down even further. A common indicator of loss of muscle tone is flabby upper arms, which is due to the loss of muscle tone in your triceps as well as subsequent fat gain.

The way to avoid the yo-yo dieting process is to go on a healthy diet regime. Losing weight at a slower pace and eating the right healthy foods will not cause your body to go into its ‘starvation mode’. You will also not feel as hungry or deprived by eating the right amount of healthy foods. And you will not have the feelings of unwellness that some fad diets tend to produce.

Take a good look at your past dieting history. If you find that you do fall into the pattern of yo-yo dieting, weight cycling or chronic dieting, it is time to stop this unproductive type of behavior. Find a healthy diet plan and follow it before trying any of the newest, latest fads that promise the world, but may only lead to another failed diet attempt.

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On Dieting -- Just to Begin

I am creating this new blog for the sake of those of you trying to lose weight. It has also been my life-time struggle to lose weight, and I know how difficult it can be. I just want to share some information with you to perhaps make your goal of weight loss more successful.

This blog will contain a lot of tips and articles that will hopefully keep you motivated and on track in your weight loss endeavors. I know there is a lot of information on the web already about weight loss, but I hope I can bring you some new helpful tips and information that will guide you to success.

Some of the articles I intend to introduce will be health-based as well as those geared to your diet. I believe that health and diet go hand-in-hand. When you are eating the right foods to diet and following the right diet regime, you will also gain in your overall health as well.

This is just a short introduction on what you will see coming up in the future. Tomorrow I will begin posting articles.

Hope to see you visit my blog in the future, and if all goes well, I hope eventually you will lose enough weight that you don't have to visit my blog anymore (but please do refer me to your friends).

If you have any questions or subjects you would like to discuss, please let me know in your comments.

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