Weight Loss: Rid Your Body Of Those Extra Pounds

Some people can be embarrassed when they start losing weight. They can think that they are too big or too small to ask for the help they need. That's why the internet is such a great resource for people losing weight. If you need help losing weight, have a look at these great tips to start you off.

A great way to lose weight is to listen to music when you are doing cardio. Doing cardio can be very monotonous and boring without anything to distract you. When you listen to music, you'll stop checking the timer every few minutes, and you'll be more likely to put more time in.

If you're trying to lose weight, and are constantly hungry, you need to arm yourself with healthy, low-fat snack choices. Carrots and celery are always mentioned, and they're fine, but what if you want carbs? Choose healthy carbs such as nonfat (air-popped) popcorn with no salt. You can pop a huge bag of it, munch away along with a huge glass of water, and feel nice and full with no damage to your waistline.

A great way to help you lose weight is to share a meal with someone whenever you eat out. By sharing a meal, you and that person will be consuming less calories than you normally would. Sharing a meal will also leave you with some money in your pocket.

A tip that may help you lose weight is to reduce the amount of carbohydrates you eat in every meal. Carbohydrates are very important because they give us energy, but it can be really easy to eat too many, and excess carbohydrates are guaranteed to be stored as fat.

Try new foods when accomplishing weight loss goals. Borrow healthy eating cookbooks from the library or purchase some for your own use. Explore new ways to make healthy foods on the Internet. Share your new-found recipes with friends on social networks. This will help you find new and interesting ways to try new foods that are healthy for you.

You can illustrate your progress very easily by taking before and after photos of yourself. This helps you get perspective about your progress even when the scale says you haven't lost any weight. This also gives you a simple way to demonstrate your progress to friends and relatives.

Some fad diets recommend you forsake carbohydrates completely. From a nutritional standpoint, this is not the best idea. Everyone needs healthy carbohydrates in order for their bodies to function according to plan. They give energy so don't cut back on carbs if you are active.

Here is a great weight loss tip. Work standing up. There are a lot of tasks that you do seated at your desk that could just as easily be done standing up. You will burn more calories throughout the day by standing up in your work area rather than sitting in your chair all day.

One of the best possible diet plans you can get on involves eating five smaller meals per day instead of three moderate-sized meals. Eating to lose weight, as odd as it sounds, actually helps your metabolism stay revved up and busy all day. If your metabolism is at rest, a lot of the calories you eat are not needed and will be stored as fat.

Keep in mind you did not gain all of the unwanted weight in a day, and you cannot expect to lose it quickly either. It is important to establish realistic expectations for your weight loss, and just stick to you plan day by day. As time passes and the weight comes off you will begin to look and feel fabulous.

Skipping meals is a dangerous habit that will easily thwart your weight loss goals. Skipping a meal might seem like an easy way to cut down on calorie intake, but your body will subconsciously make up for the missed calories and you'll end up eating far too much during your next meal.

Many people tend to fill up their plate with food, and then finish all of it. If you realize that you are one of these people try using smaller plates. Kid-sized plates are actually the right size for an adult sized meal. It may look small to the naked eye, but you will find that you are just as satisfied eating that amount.

One of the best alternatives that you can have to snack on in the afternoon is pita chips. These chips are much healthier than potato chips, with a lower fat content and very little oil. Choose pita chips as an alternative to maintain your health and stay slim and fit.

If you're trying to lose weight and attending a party, bring a dish along with you. Having a fruit plate, diet friendly dessert or low-fat side on the table will help you to avoid sabotaging your weight loss plan. Your friends will enjoy the dish as well and never have to know that it's "diet food."

Keep your goals reasonable; don't try to lose more than one to two pounds per week. The average body can't burn fat any faster than that rate, so if you're losing any more than two pounds a week, some of the loss is probably muscle or water. The water weight will come back quickly, and the muscle loss can slow down your metabolism, making it harder to lose more fat and keep it off.

If it feels like obstacles are getting in the way of your weight-loss dreams, there are ways to overcome them. Try creating a buddy system so you know you are not alone on your journey. Also, try getting your workouts done in the morning, so your mind can be free knowing you are done with that important part of your day.

These weight loss tips are sure to kickstart your weight loss if you commit to them. When you're comfortable with these tips, add on more as you go along. Weight loss doesn't happen overnight, but once you start seeing results you'll be inspired to stick with it and lose even more weight.

Strategic Weight Loss - Weight Loss Strategies That Work

One of the first things that you'll do when you decide to lose weight is to set a goal weight. For most, that goal will be their 'ideal weight', but for many, that 'ideal weight' may be exactly the wrong weight for them to be aiming for.

Years of dieting or being overweight have the physiological effect of moving the body's concept of the 'ideal weight' from what is truly considered ideal. The 'set point' is the weight at which your body naturally feels most comfortable. If you've been overweight for a very long time, or if you've consistently 'yo-yoed', your body may respond to your initial weight loss by lowering its metabolism because it believes that you are starving to death. This slowing leads to discouraging plateaus that often knock people off their diets entirely, and lead to regaining all or part of the lost weight.

Find a non-food way to reward your efforts. Instead of treating yourself to a hot fudge sundae for reaching a weight-loss or fitness goal, treat yourself to a new workout outfit, a round of mini-golf or a spa treatment. This will train your brain to associate success with these kinds of activities, rather than food.

Instead of aiming for an 'ideal weight' that calls for you to lose weight steadily for months or even years, many experts recommend aiming for shorter-term attainable goals. Since the bulk of diet research shows that most dieters lose weight steadily for about 12 weeks, then hit a plateau, that's the number that they suggest you aim for. The strategy that many have found works best for them is one of alternating periods of weight loss and maintenance, each lasting 8-12 weeks.

A great weight loss tip is to pack your lunch. No matter how carefully you make your selections, food choices at restaurants are always going to be higher in fat, calories, carbs and sodium than what you can make yourself. You can still treat yourself to a lunch out on occasion, but make a habit of taking your lunch with you most days.

Choose a realistic amount of weight that you can lose in 8-12 weeks. Figuring that the most reasonable and healthiest weight loss rate is 1-2 pounds per week, 30 pounds in three months is not unreasonable. Diet until you reach that goal, or for 12 weeks, whichever comes first, and then switch to a maintenance diet.

Consider making weight loss into a fun adventure instead! Break up your workout routine by going out dancing instead. If you stay away from sugar-laden drinks and calorie-ridden chasers, you'll be burning calories all night. Who knows? You might even catch somebody's eye. Either way, you'll have fun with friends and sweat it out at the same time!

Why switch to a maintenance diet at that point? In part, you're giving yourself a 'breather', a break from more restrictive eating. The other part, though, is that you're re-educating your body and letting it establish a new 'set point'. Once you've maintained your new weight for 8-12 weeks, set another weight loss goal, and move back into weight loss mode. By giving your body a break from 'starvation', you'll have overcome its resistance to losing more weight, and be back to dieting for 'the first two weeks' - the weeks that most people lose weight more rapidly.

Weight loss is impossible without water. Many times your body can trigger a hunger response to thirst. If you drink a big glass of water before you eat you will know if you are really hungry or if you are just dehydrated. Keep a drink for yourself on hand at all times.

You'll also be giving yourself a chance to 'practice' maintaining your new, healthier weight. Researchers have found that more than half of the dieters who take off significant amounts of weight do not maintain that weight loss once they go 'off' their diet. By practicing weight maintenance in stages, you'll be proving to yourself that you CAN do it, and removing a powerful negative psychological block.

Although you may be hesitant to go out to a restaurant when beginning a new weight loss plan, try splitting a meal with your significant other, friend or family member. Portion sizes are notoriously large in restaurants, so sharing enables you to still feel full without overeating or consuming extreme amounts of calories.

This will work with any long-term weight loss diet, no matter the focus. You'll find it much easier to do if you choose a diet that has concrete 'phases', like the South Beach or the Atkins, since the weight loss and maintenance phases are clearly laid out for you to follow. Regardless of the diet you choose, though, by alternating between weight loss phases and maintenance phases, you'll teach yourself and your body how to maintain a healthy weight.

How to Lose Weight - 15 Great Ways 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 sauce on your salad; and half the oil in the frypan every time.

When you are trying to lose weight, focus on the positives about food, not the negatives. Don't think about cutting out the "bad" foods; think about all of the good things on the healthier foods you'll be eating. This will make you feel better about the food choices you're making, instead of regretting the loss of the junk foods.

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.

A great way to help you lose weight is to custom order whenever you eat out at a restaurant. For instance, you can ask to have your chicken baked instead of fried, or you can ask to have that rich sauce on the side instead of all over the chicken.

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.

A good way to help you lose weight is to stay current with all of the scientific information regarding nutrition. Periodically, studies are released that show whether certain foods can be good or bad for us. Studies like these can be really enlightening and might make you adjust your diet.

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.

A great way to help you lose weight is to avoid microwave dinners. Microwave TV dinners are very unhealthy. Most of them are high in saturated fat. Even proclaimed "healthy" microwave dinners aren't very good for you. It's best to stay clear of all microwave dinners and cook for yourself.

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.

If you wish to lose weight, you should reduce your daily consumption of fates and sugars. A healthy amount of fats and sugars is required, but it is already contained in the food that you should eat. You should stay away from pop and energy drinks, sweets and fast 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.

How to Burn Belly Fat - 3 Things You Can Do Right Away to Burn Belly Fat

Do you want to know how to burn belly fat off? Well you’re not alone. Belly fat can be attributed to many degenerating diseases and we should make an effort to take the extra fat off.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to directly target your belly to burn fat. However, you can still burn belly fat off. The body has its own system for burning fat. The way to start to burn belly fat off is incorporating the following into your life:

Burn more calories than you are eating.

In order to burn belly fat quicker, you can up your intake of healthy fats like Omega 3 fatty acids and the mono and polyunsaturated fats found in olive oil. An increase of healthy fats actually helps boost your metabolism and inhibit fat-burning enzymes in your body, thus enabling you to burn that belly fat quickly.

One of the best ways to burn belly fat off is a reduced calorie diet.  Reduced calorie diets are extremely effective in loosing weight and burning fat. The benefit of reduced calorie diet is that you do not have to change the foods that you eat, just eat a little less. 

You do not have to starve yourself with a reduced calorie diet. Even though a reduced calorie diet requires that you cut the calories you eat, you should only cut down a little. Cutting calories to a point of starving yourself will not work because the body has a mechanism for keeping fat to survive.

Don't do a ton of crunches if you're trying to lose belly fat. Crunches don't burn much fat, and too much attention on your abs can cause problems for your back and your posture. When you exercise for weight loss try to keep a balanced approach so you can lose weight all over.

Cutting down on the calories you eat is actually simple to do but it’s not easy. You should do is purchase a calorie counter book or look up common foods online to help you.  You’ll see how much calories each food contains. 

Exercise Regularly

A sandwich made with lean meat and fat-free spreads, makes a fine addition to any dieter's weight loss plan. You can up the nutritional value of any sandwich by opting for fiber-rich whole grain bread, which is more filling and free of refined products, such as, bleached flour. Compared with whole grain bread, white bread is notorious for its association with belly fat.

Exercising complements a reduced calorie diet because you burn calories with exercise.  So, the more calories you burn, the more fat you may burn. While exercise is very important, you still need a healthy diet to optimize your body’s fat burning process.

Exercises such as weight training builds muscle.  As you build muscle, you burn more calories. Muscles need food to build, therefore you burn calories.  Exercise also makes your body to work more efficiently by increasing blood flow. 

Most people do not realize that not getting enough sleep each night is actually causing a stress hormone to secrete in your body which leads you to make unhealthy choices with food the next day, more irritable and more stressed in your emotions. This in turn adds to belly fat and harms your metabolism. So make sure to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night to assist you with your weight loss goals.

As you exercise more you get in better shape. You can increase your metabolism which helps you burn belly fat off. 

Start Making the Right Food Choices

Trade the morning bagel with eggs in the morning. While bagels and eggs have the same amount of calories, eggs are full of protein and will help keep you full for a longer time than bagels. They can also help you eat less throughout the day. Eggs are also great for helping to burn belly fat off.

As I said above you can eat a little less and start to burn belly fat off. However, I would like to discuss the type of calories you eat. If you want to streamline the fat burning process you have to cut out empty calories. 

Even if you are burning more calories than you are taking in, you need to start thinking about increasing the quality of your calories. Here are some easy changes you can make to help you burn belly fat off.

If you drink soda, start to gradually cut down or eliminate soda from your diet and start drinking water. Soda contains a lot of processed sugar and can add unwanted calories to your diet. If you drink about 3 to 4 cans a day.  That is a possible 450 – 600 calories of unneeded calories per day. 

Try to cut processed foods for foods in a natural state. If you enjoy fast food during the work day, try bringing in your lunch.  For example, replace the burger and fries with meat and a baked potato. If you use the proper proportions, you are bound to save calories and you will be feeding your body better.

While burning off belly fat is simple it may be challenging. As we discussed it is very hard work since you cannot spot reduce a section of your body. However, with some basic changes and persistence, you’ll be able to trim down your belly.

10 Weight Loss Tips - How to Lose Weight

1. Burn more calories than you consume. If this makes you go: "D-uuuh!!", snap out of it and consider that this elementary aspect of dieting excapes countless clueless -- and doomed -- dieters. Tabloids may claim to have the "miracle foods" that'll allow you to eat like a pig and have the pounds melt off, but it's a load.

2. Establish your base metabolism, and set a target calorie goal approx. 500 calories below it. I wrote an article dedicated to establishing your metabolism earlier, so look it up in the article archive if you need a refresher.

3. Keep an honest log. Make estimates of how many calories you stuff yourself with every meal and tally up the total to make sure you stay within your target calorie goal. Convenient "mistakes," under-estimates and forgetfulness allows you to eat more now, but you're defeating the whole point of dieting.

One of the best tips for losing weight is to be consistent. Everyone wants to see immediate results and it can be really disheartening when you feel like you're making no progress. It's absolutely essential to stay patient and consistent because your workout program will produce results in time.

4. Actively choose good sources of fat. This may sound like stupid advice -- shouldn't you AVOID fat when dieting? Well, yes and no. You have to keep consuming some fat, just not going overboard. Avoid butter, bacon, whole milk, coconuts and such like the plague. Instead, make use of olive oil (virgin) and fatty fish. Peanut butter is an interesting topic. I used to put it in the same category as the "bad" fats. It belongs there, packing saturated fat as well as artery-clogging trans fatty acids. However, based on highly unscientific testimonies by others as well as personal experience, it seems like a handful of peanuts once in a while when dieting can do wonders in keeping energy levels up while not wreaking havoc with your overall diet. Strange and illogical? You betcha. But it just so happens to work anyway, kind of like bumblebees flying though they technically shouldn't be able to.

5. Eat small but frequent meals throughout the day. You've heard it a million times, I'm sure, but facts remain: In order to keep an even level of blood sugar, you have to eat small, balanced meals.

One of the handiest tips gained from many decades of dieting is to drink an entire glass of tomato or V-8 juice with 2 heaping tablespoons of bran stirred into it. You can also use psyllium seed husks. The reason for this is to give your stomach something to satisfy the need for bulk right away in the morning, and because it's low-calorie and high fiber, that breakfast drink will get things moving later in the day without adding much to your daily caloric intake.

6. Don't go wimpy on the weight training. When you diet, you're in the danger zone for losing muscle mass most of the time. To avoid this, keeping pumping iron, and be diligent about it!

7. Avoid alcohol. Given that barbeque-season is upon us, this can be tough when your friends bring out the ice-cold brewskis. The solution is simple: Only associate with other bodybuilders, so you at least won't be the lone dweeb sipping a diet soda! For those of you who have the ridiculous idea that your life should not revolve around bodybuilding: Snap out of it.

A great way to help you lose weight is to join an e-mailing list of websites and individuals that work to promote health and fitness. By joining an e-mail list like this, you can stay current on all of the latest fitness news and you can also gain tips.

8. Do cardio in moderation. Doing 45 mins on the stairmaster every day is a great way to get the pounds off quicker. 2 hours is not so great, since you're bound to start losing muscle mass. When and how much is individual (and depending on what you've had to eat earlier in the day) but avoid cardio sessions in excess of 1 hour. If you need the punishment do one session in the morning and one in the evening. Also remember to stay in the 65%-70% heart rate zone for optimal fat burn.

9. Schedule "cheating" days to stay sane. Dieting is no fun. No matter how gung-ho and motivated you are when you start out, you'll have days when everything is darkness and the world is out to get you. Make sure to get a treat once a week on a set day (Saturday is good) as it gives you something to look forward to. A juicy burger is fatty and calorie-dense, but if you prepare by doing extra cardio for three days in advance you'll come in right on target for the week.

A way to really motivate you to lose weight is to join an online weight loss group or forum. You can make friends online that will help motivate you to stay on target! You can also learn a lot about other people's experiences in weight loss and possible tips to stay on track.

10. Don't be afraid of soy. I used to avoid fake-meat products, but having been married to a vegetarian for 3+ years I've tried soy hot dogs, burgers, chicken patties, even riblets that taste just like the real thing. And here's the kicker: Soy products is mostly protein! Granted, soy protein is not the highest quality out there, but if you drink a glass of milk or have some other high-quality protein source with it you can bump up the overall quality in a hurry. Besides, soy has a number of great health benefits when eaten in moderation and contains very little fat.

Beat the Carb Cravings - How to Kill Carb Cravings

Anyone who’s been on a low carb diet will tell you that the first week is the hardest. Some report actual physical symptoms of carb withdrawal, like irritability, headaches, and lack of energy. Others say it’s the emotional struggle to stay away from rice, bread, pasta, potatoes the staples that they’ve grown used to serving with every meal.

These carb cravings can easily tempt you into giving up on your diet altogether. Don’t. You have so much to gain (or in this case, lose): think 10 pounds in the first two weeks, as some diets claim, and a visible reduction of tummy handles. (Hey, you’ll be able to fit in a smaller size of jeans!) So how do you survive the battle against bread? Here are some tips:

Indulge in the right food

For some people, at some times, a low-carb diet may really be the answer, at least in the beginning. The reason low-carb diets work is that your body normally uses carbs as a first fuel. When you give your body no carbs (the "induction" phase of most low-carb diets), your body needs to use something for fuel, and so turns to burning your own fat. These diets have proven very successful for many people, but should be undertaken with care as people do need some carbs in their diet. Most low-carb diets nowadays move from an induction phase into a much healthier maintenance phase, where "smart carbs" (high-fiber, lower-calorie choices) are reintroduced.

One of the advantages of low carb diets is that you don’t starve yourself. You can eat very well, just stay away from certain types of food. How does help beat the carb cravings? If you’re not ravenous, you’re less likely to raid the fridge in a mad fit of hunger. You can also replace a high-carb snack (like a chocolate bar) with an equally tasty bag of peanuts, and not feel deprived.

Veteran low carb dieters actually advise keeping stashes of low-carb diets in their desk drawers, or by the television the places where most people get the desire to munch on something. Keep the portions small, just enough to make you feel that you’ve had a treat, without actually turning into a binge. You’ll need a lot of small plastic bags, or tiny plastic containers. Another tip: prepare

Reducing the carbohydrates in your diet will go a long way toward helping lose weight. Remember that the key is to reduce carbs, not get rid of them completely. They are still an essential source of energy that will help you keep up your exercise regimen, but eating too much of carb-heavy foods like pasta will only deter your weight loss efforts.

the individual servings beforehand, preferably after eating a meal so you’re not tempted to put more than you should.

Keep yourself busy

A low carb diet is a very healthy and safe diet that you can choose to optimize weight loss. In this diet, you will reduce the foods that are very high in carbs such as pasta. Substitute fruits and vegetables as alterative foods to consume when beginning this diet program.

Most of us eat not out of hunger but habit. You’re bored, stressed, or you’re killing time before you take on the next item on your to-do list. Avoid temptation by keeping your mind on something you enjoy. Some dieters carry a book around, others start a hobby like scrapbooking which will let them pass long hours without even thinking about food. For those who work at the office, and need something to keep them away from the vendo machine, bookmark a website that you can browse until the snack attack passes.

Look for other forms of recreation

Pasta is one of the worst things that you can eat during the day for a diet, given its high fat and carb content. If you really love pasta, you can try eating whole wheat pasta, which is much better for you in your quest to lose weight and tastes great too.

It’s become customary to make meals the center of any recreational activity: eating chips while watching a movie, going out to dinner with friends. While you’re still getting used to the low-carb regimen, pass up the invitation to have drinks after work and invite everyone to watch a play, hit the badminton courts, or attend a museum opening.

Get a diet buddy

Everyone gets a different result from a different diet. By eating a diet that is low carb, many people experience results within seven days. The most important thing, though, is for you to pick a diet that suits you.

Dieting becomes more fun when you have a diet partner to give encouragement, praise you for every lost pound, and even help you scout for the low-carb friendly restaurants in your area. Don’t know anyone? Go online and join a dieter’s forum. Exchange recipes, share thoughts, and hey, even make new friends. You’ll still feel the carb cravings, but somehow, saying no is a little easier.

How to Lose Weight Fast - Quick & Effective Weight Loss Tips

Obesity is the widespread accretion of excessive fat in the body. Overweight refers to being ten percent above the expected body weight, given the height and build. Obese refers to being twenty percent over the desired target. The unmistakable fact is that Americans are getting fatter. According to statistics from the National Institutes of Health, over sixty-five percent of American adults are considered overweight or obese. That means close to a hundred million adults in the United States are ineffective at managing their weight. The most widely accepted statistical estimate used by healthcare professionals to screen for obesity is the Body Mass Index (BMI), computed by dividing the weight in kilograms by the height in meters squared; the equation therefore is kg/m2.

Alternatively, to calculate your BMI, simply multiply your weight in pounds by 704.5, divide the result by your height in inches; then again divide that result by your height in inches a second time. The Belgian statistician, Adolphe Quetelet, created the BMI in the 19th century. The medical definition of being overweight is having a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9. If your BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9, you are within the normal or ideal weight range. But if your BMI is higher than 29.9 you are considered to be obese. Obesity carries enormous health risks and economic costs. It is recognized as a major catalyst for developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and other debilitating conditions.

People who are obese or overweight are more likely to develop heart disease, strokes, hypertension, diabetes, and certain cancers, which are the leading causes of death. Estimates of the number of deaths attributable to obesity in the United States alone reach up to 350,000 per year. According to National Institutes of Health, adults aged over 18, having a BMI greater than 25, are at risk of premature death and disabilities, as a result of being overweight or obese. Usually interventions such as permanent weight loss and medications are prescribed to diminish the risk of developing diseases. Permanent, effective weight loss is the process of intentionally making and accomplishing a plan to reduce total body weight. This typically involves the lessening of total body fat. Ideally, you should go on a strict diet, by consuming nutritionally balanced low-calorie foods and increasing physical activity.

A good way to lose weight is to switch up your workout routine once in a while. Workout routines can become very stale if you do them for too long and your body can actually become used to the exercise, rendering it less effective. By switching things up, you'll stay interested.

Remember, effective weight loss is a premeditated, calculated attempt to lose body weight. Even though there are several permanent weight loss programs, the only proven - long-standing and harmless technique is to burn more calories than are ingested. Permanent and effectual weight loss can be achieved either by decreasing the caloric intake by eating less or healthier food and by increasing the energy outflow by doing more physical exercises like aerobics, brisk walking, swimming and bicycling. One pound of fat contains around 3500 calories, so to lose one pound a week; a person should consume approximately 3500 lesser calories per week. This can be easily achieved by reducing the daily intake by 500 calories per day, thereby providing the deficit of 3500 calories in a week. Thus, by regularly following this weight loss method, you can lose one pound a week!

The easiest way to start your weight loss journey is by simply walking. Exercise is key to losing weight and squeezing in a walk every day, no matter how short it may be, is a great place to begin. You can burn more than 100 calories by walking just one mile. Combining daily walks with a healthy eating regimen should provide quick and effective weight loss results.

To help you lose weight you should increase your level of physical activity every day. It does not have to be a large increase since doing any more than you currently do will be burning extra calories as well as building up muscle. Muscle is more effective at burning calories so even a minimum weight loss is a good start.

"Beauty lies in Simplicity". To end with, the key to weight management and enduring weight loss is to simply increase your daily activity. Small things like taking the stairs (instead of elevators) or brisk walking (rather than driving) make the real difference in successful weight loss. A slow, but persistent weight loss of one or two pounds a week; will eventually attain the ideal body weight.

Are you Starving to Lose Weight - Does Starving Yourself Help You Lose Weight?

It’s never too late to rethink on your diet plan and make fresh and realistic health resolutions. It is the right time to take stock of the situation. Ask yourself: Are we being fair to ourselves when we make these strict guidelines of diet and exercise? Most people recoil at the thought of dieting and exercising, especially on a cold winter morning. And for all those people who are fed up of diet dictums, the good news is that the best way to lose weight is not to diet or deprive yourself of all the good things in life. If this sounds too good to be true, wait till you try this:

Wellness - the latest buzzword to hit the health industry - is actually the best way forward. Most people who plan strict diets do it in the hope that after losing the extra kilos, they will look ravishing. But the truth is that lusterless sagging skin or loose abdominal muscles are not the result that people want. What we want is a happy, healthy, svelte figure munching an apple. But alas, that is not what we end up with very often. Therefore, after trying to lose weight for the nth time, it is now time to stop dieting forever and yet look slim.

A great tip that can help you lose weight is to be aware of all of the myths out there regarding diet and weight loss. Starving yourself, for example, is one of the worst things you can do to your body. The weight loss is only temporary and you can become seriously sick.

Wellness is not only about losing weight, it is also about a positive mindset and transforming oneself into a holistically healthy person. This kind of a change in focus will not only result in weight loss but also give you great skin, good hair, a glowing persona and best of all, freedom from diets. Here is what the wellness and diet schedule entails:

Avoid skipping any meals. Not only will this not help you lose weight, but you could be depriving yourself of important nutrients that you need everyday. This can cause your body to also think it's starving and so it will mess up your metabolism, By the time you do eat again, you will most likely overeat.

o    Understanding your food weaknesses and indulging in them two times a week.

In order to achieve a healthy body it is important to eat a balanced diet. This means having the right amount of protein (from 15 to 20 percent), fat (about 30%) and carbohydrates (50 to 55 percent). Another thing to remember is that starving yourself to lose weight is not good as well.

o    Maintaining a diet log book.

Before giving into your cravings, have a drink of water. The body can't tell whether you are hungry or whether you are just in need of a drink; so before assuming that you are starving, try a glass of water and wait about 15 minutes. This can save your waistline and your pocketbook as well.

o    Pick up a routine that you enjoy which is like an exercise: dancing, or walking the pet, floor exercises with music etc.

If you want to effectively lose weight, remember to eat plenty throughout the day. Purposely starving yourself is not an effective weight loss measure and is just flat out, unhealthy. Eating your regular three meals a day with snacks between meals and combining that with regular exercise, is proven to be the most efficient way to lose weight.

o    Never deprive yourself. Always add new healthy habits to the current schedule, like having a yummy soup in the evening instead of tea and a scrumptious salad during lunch with olives, balsamic dressing and some greens and cheese cubes.

One great tip to ensure successful weight loss is to avoid skipping meals. When you skip a meal, your body switches to fat-storing mode because your body thinks it is starving. This slows your metabolism down to a crawl, which makes it much more difficult for you to drop the pounds.

o    Enjoy your meal. Many people who eat hurriedly always miss out on the flavors, do not feel satiated and end up compensating by overeating.

Don't be an "extremist" with your weight loss journey. If your body is used to 3000 calories a day, and taking food in whenever you feel a pang of hunger, well it's not going to like you limiting the calories to 1200 calories and "starving" through those pangs. Set a goal of 1500 calories and spread them out throughout the day. Eat an apple or even a small salad for a snack. Chew on some celery or carrot sticks You would be surprised at what you now like.

o    And if all this does not convince you, count the number of times you have struggled through a diet program only to regain the weight with a few extra kilos.

Plan all your meals ahead of time. Doing this will help you stay away from feeling starving and just choosing something that is quick but not healthy for you. This will also avoid leaving you stressing about what to make for dinner, and give you the chance to prepare your meals ahead of time.

o    Looking at unhealthy habits and finding alternatives. For example, if you are prone to drinking too much of tea/coffee, substitute some for herbal teas which smell and taste good. If you eat too much of fried food, learn to make toasted snacks or baked snacks, and experiment with new roasted snacks.

By eating small portions on a regular schedule, you train your body's metabolism and avoid overloading it with huge infusions of calories all at once. People who try to limit themselves to one or two meals per day often over-eat during those meals, since they are hungry from starving themselves. Create a normal schedule for meals and follow it.

o    Do not starve or eat less. When we cut down on quantities, our emotional system retaliates, so the best option is to add healthy foods to the diet before cutting out on food suddenly.

4 Surefire Ways To Lose Fat Fast - Easy-to-Follow Tips & Tricks

The weight loss journey is indeed a mysterious one, for different people reach to different destinations while going through this journey. There are some people who make it to the top - they become slimmer and fitter.

However, the number of such people is extremely low. Then there are others who join a weight loss program for one month and when they don't get any results, they quit it and join another. Then there are others who rely on weight loss pills, fad diets and crash dieting and in time gain more weight than what they had started with! You might be wondering how a single journey can have so many different destinations, but it is a fact that in case of a weight loss journey, the type of destination you reach will depend on the type of person you are and the way you approach your weight loss program. In this article I will give four tips that will help you lose weight if you haven't already!

1. Before jumping into any weight loss program, make sure you take your doctor's advice. Different weight loss programs can recommend you different types of medications and if you suffer from some health-related problem then certain medicines can have adverse impact on your health.

To assist with weight loss, try working weight training into your daily life. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn. Combining weight training with proper cardiovascular exercise are not only great for your overall health, but perfect compliments to a healthy diet. Although muscle does weigh more than fat, it is really fat loss that you are desiring and not weight. Consult your doctor before any major changes in your routine.

2. Don't do crash dieting: Crash dieting is probably the worst thing you can do for your body. When you start crash dieting, your body senses that you are going to kill it; obviously it will take all the necessary steps to save itself. In order to save itself, your body tends to store fat instead of burning it. So, when you stop crash dieting and return to normal mode of eating, you will notice that you have gained back all the weight you had lost, plus some more as a bonus!

A great way to accelerate weight loss is to add interval training to your exercise regimen. Varying your usual workouts to include sessions comprised of short bursts of intense activity interspersed with longer periods of rest can produce impressive results. An additional benefit of interval training is that it promotes greater fat loss in a shorter period of time than traditional steady-state cardiovascular exercise.

3. Try to eat more fruits and vegetables: Try to incorporate as much fruits and vegetables as you can into your diet, because they can help you lose pounds in several ways. First of all, they contain all the nutrients that your body needs, secondly they are low on calorie, and thirdly, when you digest them, they use up a lot of your body's energy! Obviously, the more energy you use, the more fat your body will burn in order to produce even more energy!

If you are focusing your exercise program on fat loss, you need to include mostly cardiovascular exercises. Cardio gets your heart pumping, and in turn your body burns a lot more fat. You can determine if an exercise is a cardiovascular exercise easily by identifying whether it increases your heart rate. Find cardiovascular exercises that you enjoy doing, and incorporate them into your regular workouts.

4. Exercise: Don't forget exercises! While it is important that you eat healthy foods and cut down on calorie intake, it is even more important that you burn calories on a regular basis, and exercises are a sure shot way of doing just that! Studies have shown that people who exercise regularly are able to keep weight off successfully for a long time than others!

Reality of Fast Weight Loss

Do think there is fast weight loss?  Yes.  The fastest weight loss a teen can do is to stop eating or to starve until it can be tolerated.  It is the worst thing a teen can achieve as an empty goal.  Starving can lead to serious health conditions for some self-explanatory reason that eating is a basic need. 

Not eating for quite longer will definitely not last long, especially for healthy teens with hectic activities.  Without explaining further, simply starving is frustrating, tough to do when energy is needed at most during the times of hurdling at school.

Talking about real regimen for fast weight loss for teens will lead you to myriads of methods promoted by aggressive sales marketing people in the consumer world.  There is simply a drug created for every common ordeal in the face of the earth.  Diet pills flood the papers with the promise of ramp model silhouette as endorsed by top showbiz commercial personalities. 

Exercise can be pretty boring. When trying to lose weight, make sure you have some entertainment during those long cardio sessions. Get a book to read or even an audio book to listen to. Create a music playlist that is fast and high-energy and will keep your body moving.

When an obese teen gazes at a slim lady doing ads of diet pills or delivering some other scripted testimonials, there is a tendency to get lured by the beauty on how they say the ad message.   The reality will only be proven by walking and looking around a crowded downtown where you can see people from all walks of life, in all shapes and sizes.  The ramp models comprise not more than .8% at large. 

It means the average people are not endowed with such appearance as seen on TV.  Wake up!  The TV will only show the best part of the stage.  There is only a wall separating the re-enacted portrayals seen on shows, but behind is always the gaping reality:  not everyone is slim!

Treating yourself can actually be an important part of any weight loss diet. Making hard and fast rules about food, such as telling yourself that you'll never eat chocolate cake ever again, can actually make you obsess about food. This leads to stress and overeating, both of which can ruin your weight loss plan. Try to give yourself a small treat everyday, or a slightly larger one at the end of the week for making your goals.

But teens are becoming influenced by social stigma to look great.  It is indirectly associated with being trim all the time.  Sometimes it is not the issue of being overweight or not, but you will realize, it has something to do with wrong fat distribution in the body.  People of same weight would definitely look different:  one may have wide hips, while the other might be endowed with bulky upper body torso.

Breasts have weight too.  Fats usually hide in favorite spots like the inner thighs, lower and upper abdomen, belly, and arms.  When too much fat are noticeable in the said areas of the body, it surely becomes an annoying burden to carry around all the time.  Exercise can re-shape the ugly fat concentration, but it takes courage to accept the simple truth that genetic make will always take its course in one's physiological attribute.

When you're watching your weight, try to make smart choices at the fast food restaurant. Luckily, that's much easier to do now. Instead of the double burger with cheese, go for the grilled chicken filet sandwich. Also, ask for easy or light sauce, or no sauce at all, which will cut way down on calories. Order one of the salads, but go easy on the dressing - or better yet, dump the dressing in the lid and dip your salad into the dressing a forkful at a time.

For teens aspiring fast weight loss, forget it.  Yes, there are fast ways to weight loss but they will only lead to fast rebound of loss body fats if the motivation to permanently keep trim is not seriously thought of.  There are accounts of success stories on slow weight loss regiment worked out of strong determination on a daily basis. 

It is a combination of good diet, exercise, and stress-free indulgence of activities.  Weight loss has to be one's goal in a very realistic sense.  Fats are stored in a slow fashion after the food and nutrients have been processed.  Therefore, the capability to think at hand is faster before one can pop a high calorie serving of dessert in every meal.  Open your mind!  The best dieting tool around is centered in one's brain --- the decision you make in every meal.

5 Best Ways To Lose Weight

When you are dealing with a phenomenon as diverse as human beings, it is very difficult to create rules which will work equally well for everyone. Nevertheless, there are some characteristics shared by all human beings, and this means that some basic principles can be developed. Here are five proven techniques to help you lose weight.

Best Way 1

A good way to lose weight is to reduce the amount of time you rest between sets when you are lifting weights. By reducing the amount of time you rest between sets, you burn more calories and in a way, you're combining cardio and weights into one workout session.

The most fundamental strategy of successful weight loss is to burn more calories than you take in. You shouldn't find it difficult to apply this in some aspect of your life. Adjust your diet by cutting down on high fat food, and take some simple exercise for twenty minutes, three times a week. Going for a brisk walk instead of driving everywhere will have the desired effect, as will gentle jogging or swimming.

In order to lose weight, stay away from fast food. Fast food often contains large amount of complex carbohydrates that have a much higher chance of turning into fat, rather than energy. Also the fat content, sodium content, and sugar content in a lot of fast food type meals can be incredibly high. If you are in a rush and need to eat, look for any grilled items and stay away from obviously bad items.

Best Way 2

A great way to lose weight is to listen to music when you are doing cardio. Doing cardio can be very monotonous and boring without anything to distract you. When you listen to music, you'll stop checking the timer every few minutes, and you'll be more likely to put more time in.

Gym membership is becoming increasingly popular, and, as long the exercise you do is well planned, it can be extremely beneficial. Aerobic exercise has to be the focal point of your plan, otherwise you could do more harm than good. Provided you adhere to this basic rule, some anaerobic weight or resistance training can help tone up your body. This will give you more strength and vitality, and should increase your confidence.

If you're trying to lose weight, and are constantly hungry, you need to arm yourself with healthy, low-fat snack choices. Carrots and celery are always mentioned, and they're fine, but what if you want carbs? Choose healthy carbs such as nonfat (air-popped) popcorn with no salt. You can pop a huge bag of it, munch away along with a huge glass of water, and feel nice and full with no damage to your waistline.

Best Way 3

A great way to lose weight is to weigh yourself first thing in the morning. Weighing yourself first thing in the morning is the best time to be able to accurately weigh yourself. A lot of people get discouraged when they weigh themselves because they weigh themselves at the wrong time.

Going to see a professional nutritionist or dietician can pay off handsomely. If you go it alone, you will need to put in some serious research to make sure you are genuinely eating healthily, and many who try this find themselves discouraged by the lack of variety in their diet. It certainly doesn't have to be that way, as there are plenty of different healthy meals which help you lose weight. Getting the advice of a professional can make the task of losing weight seem so much more enjoyable!

Feeling full reduces our feeling of hunger. Feeling hungry causes us to eat. Eating causes us to gain weight. So feeling full more often will help us lose weight. One way you can "trick" your body into feeling full more often is by adding more fiber to your diet. Fruits and vegetables have lots of fiber, so do whole grains. But, if you can't eat more of either of those you can also add a powdered fiber product to drinks, sauces, and even dips.

Best Way 4

When your trying to lose weight it's a great idea to pack your snacks. It can be difficult when you're on the go to make good food choices. Always having a healthy snack handy will keep you away from those unhealthy vending machines and fast food restaurants. Having something on hand will keep you on the right track.

Find a friend to train with. If you and a friend are both regularly free at the same time of day, it can make sense to train together. Having someone to help you through the times when you don't seem to be getting anywhere can keep you in the game until the improvement suddenly appears. Having a social aspect to your exercise will help you look forward to it, and make you more likely to stick to it!

A good tip to lose weight is to eat before going out with friends. After a few drinks or peer pressure, you might become tempted to give into your cravings and eat unhealthy foods. By eating beforehand you won't have to worry about wrecking your diet, because you won't be hungry.

Best Way 5

Try eating canned salmon to lose weight. Some people do not feel comfortable cooking fresh, raw fish. If you are one of these people, consider buying your fish in cans. Alternatively, you can also find fish sold in tins, the freezer section, or even individually sealed packages. Most of these fish products require little to no cooking.

Eat less food more often. Many medical practitioners now recommend eating more meals a day, with less food at each one. This is a more balanced way to take food into the body, spreading the load on the body over a far wider period of time. The system of eating three meals a day is designed far more to fit in with the working day than it is to fit in with the needs of the human body. When you eat less more often, the body absorbs more of the nutrients in the food, so your body craves fewer calories.

A great way to help you lose weight is to not eat snack foods right out of their container. When you eat snacks right out of their container like a box of cookies, you'll be more likely to eat too many. Instead, put a serving or two on a plate.

The best and most effective method for weight loss does depend on the individual, but follow these time tested principles and you will see results. Click the links below to discover some effective resources to help you.

Simple Weight Loss Tips

Sometimes weight loss can be a whole lot easier than most people believe. Rather than trying to maintain a strict diet regime, the person trying to lose weight should just make small adjustments to their lifestyle rather than a dramatic change that will ultimately result in failure.

The simple process of drinking an additional glass of water each day, or a short walk around the block once or twice a week will ease the body into the changes that are required for weight loss.

One of the best tips for losing weight is to be consistent. Everyone wants to see immediate results and it can be really disheartening when you feel like you're making no progress. It's absolutely essential to stay patient and consistent because your workout program will produce results in time.

Another wise move is to stay away from the bathroom scales for a week or two, so the weight loss process doesn't become an all-encompassing ordeal that needs to be measured every day of the week.

One of the handiest tips gained from many decades of dieting is to drink an entire glass of tomato or V-8 juice with 2 heaping tablespoons of bran stirred into it. You can also use psyllium seed husks. The reason for this is to give your stomach something to satisfy the need for bulk right away in the morning, and because it's low-calorie and high fiber, that breakfast drink will get things moving later in the day without adding much to your daily caloric intake.

By leaving the weigh-in times a little longer apart there is more chance that they will show a reduction in weight, whereas daily weigh-ins can fluctuate depending on the time of day and various other factors.

A great way to help you lose weight is to join an e-mailing list of websites and individuals that work to promote health and fitness. By joining an e-mail list like this, you can stay current on all of the latest fitness news and you can also gain tips.

Even a small reduction in food intake can have a dramatic effect on bodyweight over a period of time. Alternatively, a change from one food to another can also have a huge effect on weight loss. A simple example of this would be to substitute a food high in carbohydrates with an equal quantity of food that is lower in carbohydrates and higher in protein. This change alone will help to reduce body fat and it will also help to eliminate hunger pangs.

A way to really motivate you to lose weight is to join an online weight loss group or forum. You can make friends online that will help motivate you to stay on target! You can also learn a lot about other people's experiences in weight loss and possible tips to stay on track.

Now consider the effect that a few extra glasses of water each day will have when combined with a walk around the block a couple of times a week and a change in foods from high carbohydrates to high protein. When you combine all three changes they can have a really dramatic effect on fat reduction over a period of time with little or no stress and emotional strain on the person losing the weight.

When getting advice from anyone on the topic of weight loss and exercise, you should take a good look at them. If they are overweight, then maybe you should consider getting advice from someone else. You should consult someone you know has experience in losing weight to get the best tips.

People who follow this method of weight loss are more likely to maintain such a program for a lot longer, and it is this constant change that ensures success, unlike the fad diets that people try off and on throughout their life.

Use This Weight Loss Tips to Make Things Easier and Faster

Even the most seasoned weight loss expert can use some weight loss tips every so often.

Our eating habits are tied very closely with our behavior and using a behavioral approach to dieting can be beneficial to certain types of people who have bad eating habits that can be overcome with a little behavioral intervention.

One of the best tips for losing weight is to be consistent. Everyone wants to see immediate results and it can be really disheartening when you feel like you're making no progress. It's absolutely essential to stay patient and consistent because your workout program will produce results in time.

Many times an individual eats without thinking. This means that the person’s habitual behavior has overrun his cognitive functioning. In a nutshell, we basically shove food into our mouths just because it is there. Among the many weight loss tips offered, thinking before snacking is the prime tip as far as the behavioral approach goes. When we act on impulse, we rarely make good choices.

One of the handiest tips gained from many decades of dieting is to drink an entire glass of tomato or V-8 juice with 2 heaping tablespoons of bran stirred into it. You can also use psyllium seed husks. The reason for this is to give your stomach something to satisfy the need for bulk right away in the morning, and because it's low-calorie and high fiber, that breakfast drink will get things moving later in the day without adding much to your daily caloric intake.

The behaviorist will look at the problem in a number of ways. The best approach would be to get into the habit of slowing down a little bit. Some good weight loss tips include waiting ten minutes before grabbing that snack that is calling you from the pantry. You may discover that you are not really hungry. If you wait ten minutes the craving will most likely go away on its own.

A great way to help you lose weight is to join an e-mailing list of websites and individuals that work to promote health and fitness. By joining an e-mail list like this, you can stay current on all of the latest fitness news and you can also gain tips.

You can also opt to go for a brisk walk when the urge to cheat on your diet arises. This is a great way to get much needed exercise along with self-control. You will be less likely to run to the pantry upon entering the home after a jaunt around the neighborhood. You will be more likely to go for a big glass of cold water instead.

A way to really motivate you to lose weight is to join an online weight loss group or forum. You can make friends online that will help motivate you to stay on target! You can also learn a lot about other people's experiences in weight loss and possible tips to stay on track.

Some people laugh at these two weight loss tips but they do work if you take a behavioral approach. You have to focus on your actions. The best way to look at it is making priorities. Do you want the chocolate cake or do you want to fit into those jeans tucked away in your closet? There are times that the chocolate cake will win but not often if you focus on your behavior.

When getting advice from anyone on the topic of weight loss and exercise, you should take a good look at them. If they are overweight, then maybe you should consider getting advice from someone else. You should consult someone you know has experience in losing weight to get the best tips.

Weight loss tips that involve a behavioral approach also include portions. We often need to train ourselves to understand how much is enough. Getting into the habit of buying single-sized servings or taking the time to measure will increase your chances of success.

Trying to lose weight? Blog about it. Everyone seems to have a blog about something these days. Make your site a place to corral all your weight loss tips and share your successes. It will help to keep you on track and you can feel good about helping other people out on their weight loss journeys.

You also may find that there are certain “triggers” that cause you to eat. This is a simple stimulus-response cycle that the behaviorists claim can be broken with a little effort. Weight loss tips in the trigger realm include avoiding the kitchen right after a stressful situation, eating only at the dinner table and keeping a diary of what happens right before you get a craving.

Lose Your Belly Fat And Show Off Your Six Pack Abs

Have you noticed that most people will never fail to include abdominal muscle exercises in their routines and yet somehow or other, they can never own that coveted 6 pack abs?

Have you been religiously doing your abdominal muscle exercises? Is your abs showing to your satisfaction? No? Why? Do you know that your abdominal muscle is one of the easiest muscles to build but yet why is it that most people have difficulty in developing that 6 pack abs?

In order to burn belly fat quicker, you can up your intake of healthy fats like Omega 3 fatty acids and the mono and polyunsaturated fats found in olive oil. An increase of healthy fats actually helps boost your metabolism and inhibit fat-burning enzymes in your body, thus enabling you to burn that belly fat quickly.

Here is the truth. Those of you who are working out your abs regularly do probably own that much sought after six pack. Yes, you do. The only trouble is that your belly fat is covering them. Your abs will not show up well if you have a body fat ratio of more than 12%. The more fat you burn off, the more defined your abs will be. You will own that rippling washboard abs when your body fat is 10% or less. So if you have fat on your belly, forget about abdominal exercises and burn off the fats first.

Don't do a ton of crunches if you're trying to lose belly fat. Crunches don't burn much fat, and too much attention on your abs can cause problems for your back and your posture. When you exercise for weight loss try to keep a balanced approach so you can lose weight all over.

There is another reason why people put in so much effort to develop their abdominal muscle and yet their abs are not showing although they have low body fat. Again, there is a simple explanation. They are doing the wrong exercises and working out in bad form.

A sandwich made with lean meat and fat-free spreads, makes a fine addition to any dieter's weight loss plan. You can up the nutritional value of any sandwich by opting for fiber-rich whole grain bread, which is more filling and free of refined products, such as, bleached flour. Compared with whole grain bread, white bread is notorious for its association with belly fat.

Let’s take for example the most common abs exercises, the sit up and the leg raisers. Everybody seem to be doing these two exercises not knowing that these exercises really don’t do much for their abs. Don’t believe me? Ok…try this. When you do your sit up or leg raisers, place your palms on your hip on the area connecting to your thigh and perform the exercises. Tell me what did you feel? Ahhh….you are getting it. Those muscles there are doing most of the work. Those are your hip flexor muscles. Since your hip flexors are doing most of the work, how can you develop your abs effectively?

Most people do not realize that not getting enough sleep each night is actually causing a stress hormone to secrete in your body which leads you to make unhealthy choices with food the next day, more irritable and more stressed in your emotions. This in turn adds to belly fat and harms your metabolism. So make sure to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night to assist you with your weight loss goals.

So you say, from now on I will do crunches instead. Well, I have another surprise for you. Most people perform their crunches wrongly too. Think about it. Why is the exercise called the “crunch”? It is because you must squeeze your abs so are that you are crunching them. In order to squeeze your abs hard, you have to curl up like a prawn and breath out all the air in your lungs at the top position and then squeeeeeeeze the muscles so hard that you feel a burn. That will take a few seconds to crunch out all the air before you lower to the beginning position again. You can’t do this effectively if you just go up, down, up down, up down rhythmetically. So, if you have been doing hundreds of crunches everyday with minimal result, now you know why. In fact, it is almost impossible for the average guy to do tens of properly performed crunches and not to say hundreds of them. The same squeezing principle applies to other abs exercises.

Trade the morning bagel with eggs in the morning. While bagels and eggs have the same amount of calories, eggs are full of protein and will help keep you full for a longer time than bagels. They can also help you eat less throughout the day. Eggs are also great for helping to burn belly fat off.

Ok….now that you know why your abs are not showing up well, so get on with burning your fats and perform your workout in correct form. You will then see your 6 pack abdominal muscle in no time.

Program Your Weight Loss in as Easy as a Week

The idea of the program is to be able for you to develop a consistent approach to weight loss as well as a healthy endurance when exercising.  The program’s objective is to get rid of the excesses in your body, the excess fat.  Not the healthy and lean muscle tissues and body fluids. 

The program first requires your focus and dedication, so therefore you need to be prepared in both mind and – of course – body.  It is highly advised that you first visit your doctor for a check-up before embarking on any weight loss program. 

It is important that when starting on any weight loss program, one should be positive enough to work for the results.  Some people get impatient easily but long term effects are assured as long as one sticks to the weight loss plan at hand. 

Drink a protein shake for a snack when you are hungry. Adding a small amount of protein powder into your drink will keep your hunger controlled, and you will not feel guilty about it.

Stretch, stretch and stretch some more.  Before actually doing those exercises and working out those muscles, a little stretching is needed in order to avoid any injury or soreness in your body.

It is also not advisable for anyone to try too hard.  Everything should be done in moderation.  Find the level of exercise and training that suits you.  It should be enough for you to be comfortable in but not too convenient that it will not be much of a challenge. 

One way to stay on track with weight loss is to set weekly goals. Losing more than two pounds a week is actually not good for you. Losing weight quickly can harm your healthy and usually results in gaining it back just as fast.

The first week

The first day of the program involves a long and steady walk in a little over twenty minutes.  After the walk, follow it up with a good stretch.  This takes so little of your time for the first day.  In less than an hour you have taken that first step to a weight loss program that could work to your advantage.

Wear comfortable shoes while exercising. If you don't put forth the effort to find well-fitting shoes, you will end up with sore feet on top of the muscle aches you are going to experience from increased activity. This doesn't mean you have to spend hundreds of dollars on the fanciest shoes. Instead, focus on purchasing well-made shoes that fit comfortably and properly.

By the second day, it is good to focus on an upper body workout.  This maintains your strength to be able to go through the whole program for the week.  On the third day, a brisk walk or jog for ten minutes is in order.  For beginners, a lower body workout should be done in the evening.

In the fourth day, a good rest is in order, as well as a good stretch.  This lag time should be used wisely though to sort out any negatives in your mindset.  The fifth day starts with a good ten minute walk.  Exercise the lower body in four sessions of workouts, follow this up with another ten minute walk, and another four sessions of lower body workout.

When eating you should pause for a few minutes. Often, your body has difficulty knowing when it needs no more food. That's why you need to take a break once you are halfway done eating. Take a short break to try to evaluate your hunger level. Calculate how much additional food you should consume according to your actual level of hunger.

The sixth day should be spent on a low impact exercise such as swimming.  To avoid boredom, do not be afraid to try something new.  The last day of the week is a time to solicit the support of the people you care about.  Spend time with them or get them to be with you in your long walk.  Again, follow up your walk with a light upper body workout. 

This is just the beginning though.  If by this first week you are able to stick to the program, you have a great chance to further boost your weight loss and stay with the plan until you achieve your desired result.  Try as much as possible to be unlike the people who give up easily just because they could not see the result they want at the time they want – like this moment, today, now!   Patience is a virtue.  The same way it took your body time to gain all that weight, think about it as the time your body will have to exert just to get rid of it.

5 Simple Ways To Lose Weight

Losing unwanted body weight does not have to involve prolonged workout sessions at the gym or self-defeating fad diet regimens. In fact, most people find that without a sustained lifestyle change, any weight that is lost during a period of diet or extreme exercise is gained back once the activity is no longer practiced.

If you would like to lose pounds and keep them off, then you need to invest in a lifestyle adjustment. By altering only a few important patterns in your diet and exercise routine, you can literally lose weight without much effort. Here are some tips to help you quickly drop those extra pounds:

1. Walk for 30 minutes each day. Walking is not only a stress-reducer, but it is also more effective in inducing fat loss than a 30-minute jog. Here’s why: running helps you burn calories and quickly tone leg muscles because of the repeated flexing and force exerted on the leg muscles. However, because running increases the heart rate to aerobic levels, the heart rate also drops quickly once the activity has been stopped.

If the primary goal of your exercise regimen is to lose fat, it's important that you focus on cardio. Cardiovascular exercises boost your heart rate, and burn calories effectively. Cardiovascular exercises vary but the general idea is that they increase your heart rate so find an exercise that works for you.

Walking, however, increases the heart rate to the fat-burning level. Any activity performed at the fat-burning level will have a longer-lasting impact. Thus, while you might flex and strain your muscles less during a 30-minute period of walking, the heart rate will stay elevated for a longer period of time.

2. Cut the portion in half. Whether you are eating a cheeseburger or plate of fries, divide the dish in half. If you are tempted to nibble on more than half, then give it away to a friend or have it wrapped up to take home (if you are dining out). Cutting your meal in half will not only decrease your calorie and fat in take dramatically, but it will help your body to become accustomed to smaller portions of food.

Try to have a salad prior to dinner meals. A salad is great for making you feel full due to the high fiber content, and it does not contain many calories that would have to be burned off. Avoid extra salad dressing or adding cheese, as this only adds calories and fat.

3. Get a full night’s rest. Many people find, and most doctors know, that getting a full night of undisturbed sleep not only leaves you feeling energized for a new day, but it helps your body metabolize your food much more efficiently. When they body is in the resting state during sleep, it actually works much harder to process energy than if you were to sit on the sofa watching the television. Furthermore, if you are fully rested, you will be more likely to take on projects with more vigor and energy the next day (which will help you burn more calories.) So go on – get those zzzz’s.

4. Call your mother. And take care of other items on your to-do list before they pile up. Undue stress has a very negative physiological effect on the body and contributes to fat storage in the cells. By reducing small amounts of stress in your life, you can quickly and simply reduce fatty deposits on your body, especially in the stomach area. So go ahead: call your loved ones!

To help with losing weight, you should keep track of you daily calorie consumption. Those who consume too much cannot lose weight. If you eat too much, you cannot lose weight. You can write down what you eat to assure you're eating the amount of calories needed to lose weight.

5. Drink plenty of liquid. Liquid hydrates your cells and helps them push harmful toxins through your body more efficiently. By drinking plenty of liquid, such as water, juice and even tea, you will help your cells function at their best without much effort at all.

If you drink tea and coffee, be aware that they contain caffeine, which can increase your metabolism while it is in your system, but tends to slow your body down once it leaves. Caffeinated beverages should always be consumed with an extra glass of water to ensure that you do not end up depleting your body of necessary liquids.

Take a break in the midst of eating. It can be difficult for some people to tell when they've eaten enough food. Pay attention to the signals your body sends you and stop eating as soon as you feel full. Stop for a minute and think about how hungry you actually are. Use this information to decide whether you need to eat more and how much you want to eat.

To ensure that your lifestyle alterations become lasting, practice them with friends and loved ones. Adjusting to any changes can be easier if you have a friend with whom you can share the journey and help to keep each other on track.