How to Lose Weight

Although there are many ways to lose weight, from cabbage soup diets and detox fasts to intensive cardio training and military boot camps, the basic rules remain the same. Weight loss is not rocket science. You do not need a personal nutritionist to create your menu or a fitness instructor to take you through the moves (although it can help). In fact, a study a few years ago proved that published by Foxnews.com showed that the only weight loss program with proven results was the weight watchers program. All others could not guarantee success. So forget those fad diets and get fit quick schemes, and focus on losing weight the right way - slowly, carefully, with exercise and healthy eating. Here are our simple tips for losing weight. 1. Reduce the size of your portions No matter whether you are healthy or have a medical conditional, you can only ever put on weight as a result of overeating. Apart from a few very rare conditions which make maintaining a balanced diet very difficult to achieve, weight loss results from curbing your appetite. One trick though is to reduce the size of your serving plate. Simply by eating from a 10 inch plate instead of a 12 inch plate, subjects under test conditions eat 22% less food in a sitting. 2. Count your calories As energy in minus energy out equals surplus energy leading to fat, counting calories (energy in food) allows you to balance what you are eating against energy used. Women on average only require 2000 calories a day, men average 2500. If you are very active you will require more, but for most people this guideline works well. 3. Eat a balanced diet Eating more protein for breakfast helps us to feel fuller for longer, meaning less mid-morning snacks. Also, lunch portions can be reduced if a healthy breakfast is eaten. Avoid traditional cooked breakfasts of sausage, bacon and fried eggs though, as this can result in too much salt and saturated fat. Drink milk, eat cereals with milk, oatmeal, yoghurt and poached or scrambled eggs. The old rule of eating breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince and supper like a pauper still applies. 4. Eat more dairy and calcium Dairy actually helps the body to eliminate fats more easily, as shown by research by the NationalDairyCouncil.org: “We conclude that dairy-rich diets markedly augment weight loss by targeting the fat compartment during energy restriction.” 5. Exercise more Not only does exercise burn more energy, you continue to burn extra calories for 24 hours after exercising. Also, each time you exercise, you get fitter, which means that you can exercise more the next time. The fitter you are, the more energy and fat you can burn off during exercise. 6. Be more active As well as exercising and set times, get more active generally. Take the stairs instead of elevator, walk more when you can, leave the car at home, get off the bus sooner. Find fun activities to do with the family, play in the park, go skiing, swim etc. Just be more active in your day to day life. It is essential to make every effort to lose weight and get fit. Visceral fat, the fat that surrounds the internal organs, is the most dangerous form of fat. It leads to various diseases, including heart disease, as well as cancers and other internal diseases. So many people say that they have tried everything to lose weight. Almost all of them are living in denial. About 80% of people asked to keep a food diary actually lie in their journal, omitting snacks, chocolate, calories laden drinks. The key to losing weight is to be true to yourself, do it for you and your family, stick to the plan, never give up. Consider weight loss a battle that you must win. Fight for your life, do not let lethargy, green and obesity kill you. Source: MotleyHealth.com Weight Loss Articles

10 Foods For a Fat Burning Diet

There are two ways to effectively increase your metabolism, to enable you to burn more fat; 1. Exercise more, and specifically build more muscle (aerobics is not as effective as resistance training). 2. Eat fat burning foods (remember, not eating actually slows fat burning (lipolysis) which means starvation diets can make you fatter!). By eating fat burning foods, not only do you improve your chances of burning fat, but you also fuel your body to help build more muscle. So if you are serious about losing weight, reducing that belly fat and getting slimmer and leaner, then ensure that you are eating some of these fat burning foods every day: 1. Salmon. Salmon is great for our brains and contains essential fats. Diets high in Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown to improve weight loss. Also, liptin that is present in fish alters your metabolism to increase the chance of using stored fat for fuel. Ideally you should eat salmon or trout 3 or 4 times a week. 2. Soup. Soup is a fantastic way to lose weight, and the winter months make it more appealing too. A study published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Deitetics showed that on average men that ate soup 5 days or more a week had a body mass index of 23. This is an ideal bodyweight for a lean man with average build. 3. Beans. Beans are a great, especially kidney beans. So chilli con carne with a large serving of kidney beans makes a good weight loss meal. Kidney beans can stop carbs from breaking down into sugar, which slows digestion. This in turn prevents carbs from converting to belly fat. 4. Fat-free yoghurt. Fat free yoghurt helps to increase lipolysis (fat burning), however you need to eat at least 3 servings a day to see results. In a study carried out by the University of Tennessee, men that ate the fat free yoghurt diet lost 81% more belly fat than the non-yogurt eaters. The high calcium and protein properties make it a great weight loss aid. 5. Whey protein. Whey protein is one of the most popular supplements for bodybuilders. However, it helps to strip away fat as well as build muscle. The University of Toronto found that men that drank two whey protein shakes a day would eat on average 200 calories less than other men. Also the men on the why protein diet increased muscle mass by 8% and lost 3% more fat than the non-wheyers. 6. Chilli Peppers. The hotter the chilli the greater the fat burning potential. Chillies contain capsaicin, which not only protects against prostate cancer and maintains a healthy heart, but also increases metabolism to much that is strips fat off. If you want super hot, go for Scotch Bonnets! 7. Pistachios. The classic party nut. Pistachios are high in lean protein and they also curb the effect of carbs on your blood sugar. This means that eating pistachios helps to keep your waist slim. These make an ideal snack. 8. Cereals. Breakfast cereals such as Weetabix, Shreddies oats and muesli all help to keep weight down. A study by the National Weight Control Registry found that people that lost weight and kept the weight off were more likely to eat breakfast cereals rather than any other breakfast. Cereals are release energy slowly meaning that you are less likely to snack on junk foods before lunch. 9. Cottage Cheese. Another favourite of bodybuilders and athletes. 200g of cottage cheese has as much protein as a small steak, and it also contains casein. This means that cottage cheese is a slow digesting food, meaning that you are less likely to overeat later in the day if you eat cottage cheese for lunch. It also makes a great snack if you have an intense training schedule. 10. Grapefruit. Finally some fruit! The 5 a day rule is healthy, but does not generally help us to keep the fat off. Ideally you should eat one and a half grapefruit a day, split into 3 snacks. Grapefruits are high in vitamin C, which actually dilutes fat, making it easier the flush fat from your system. Researchers at Louisiana State University found that people who ate grapefruits regularly lost on average 4 pounds more over a 12 week period than other diets. Daily Fat Burning Diet With a little imagination you can consume all of these foods in one day, which will provide you with an excellent muscle growth / fat reduction diet. Breakfast: Start the day with muesli and a grapefruit Morning snack: Cottage cheese makes a good morning snack as it requires not preparation. Lunch: Extra hot mince beef chilli, with extra kidney beans. For dessert eat a fat free yoghurt. Afternoon snack: If your energy levels start to wane, grab a bag of pistachio nuts and munch your way through them. This should keep you going through to dinner. Have a whey protein shake too. Dinner: Soup of the day, followed by baked salmon served on a bed of watercress and rocket. Post workout (any time of day): Whey protein shake. This meal plan includes all the fat burning superfoods on the menu, and combined with regular weight training sessions almost guarantees that you will build muscle and burn fat. Enjoy.