Monthly Archives : December 2011

Five Foods to Abstain from for Speedy Weight Loss

Five Foods to Abstain from for Speedy Weight LossWeight loss is tough and mean because you are often forced to give up a lot of foods that you love to eat. Nevertheless, if you are on a weight loss regime, then there are things that you have to abstain from. However, here is a little good news. There is nothing mentioned about “complete abstinence” in any of the hundreds of commandments of weight loss. The key is “moderation”. Eat little, eat wisely and you will be happy. Below given are five foods that scream “moderation” to the highest degree!

Appetizers

The name says it all! These foods build your appetite and make you ready to eat more. When on a weight loss regime, switch to the main course of your meal after one small mouthful of appetizer.

Aerated drinks

Aerated drinks are nothing more than water, sugar and fizz. The high sugar concentration in these drinks make you put on weight. If you practice “complete abstinence” from aerated drinks, it will do you a lot of good in the long run because these high sugar drinks with soda are bad for the bones and the muscle tissues.

Snacks

Healthy snacks like sprout salads and clear soups are good. But if your definition of snacks is deep fried French fries, cheese filled rolls and cream dripping cakes, then abstain. These are a lot of unhealthy fats, which are bad for the heart, cholesterol level and of course, your weight. Do not be carried away by the brilliant ads about snacks that you watch on the television. It is the advertisers’ job to sell their product. Your job is to lose weight and lead a healthy, happy life.

Processed foods

 Sure, processed foods are easy to prepare and they save a lot of your time. However, they are not easy on your health. Firstly, preservatives are not good for the body. Secondly, foods with preservatives are low in nutritive content and high in undesirable sugars. Hydrogenated oils that are used in most of the processed foods are saturated fats and add a lot of pounds on you.

Coffee

Yes, not being able to cradle a cup of hot coffee in your hands is tough. But coffee makes you hungry and is not good for those on a weight loss regime. Coffee is also known to increase hunger pangs.

Goal Setting Tips for Losing Weight Quickly

Goal Setting Tips for Losing Weight QuicklyWeight loss is not a destination; it is a process or rather a journey towards a pre-determined goal. If you are looking for effective tips that will help you close the distance and reach those targets quickly, then read on. Weight loss is not all about exercising and controlling your diet; it has a lot to do with strategic planning as well!

Short term goals are always better for expeditious weight loss

Often, the process of weight loss is long drawn and thinking about light at the end of a very long tunnel is often not the best motivation for a lot of people to keep at their weight loss regimes. A better option is to set short term goals. It is easier reaching the top of the tall hill when the peak is within close reaching distance.

Set realistic goals if you want to lose weight quickly

Aiming for short term goals does not mean that you aim to lose 10 lbs in a week. Such unrealistic goals make you lose faith in your weight loss regime. You either tend to leave it half way and switch on to some other better marketed plan or give up dieting all altogether. Do not be surprised if you fail at it again because the problem is not with your weight loss regime; it is with your goal setting. Goals such as losing 3 lbs a week are realistic and when you reach your goal, you are spurred on to work harder and lose more weight speedily.

Set goals to set your habits right

Setting goals for weight loss does not always have to do with the number of pounds that you want to lose; they have a lot to do with your determination to change your habits as well. So, set goals that you will wake up an hour early, exercise, follow a precise timetable for meals, eat in controlled quantities and refrain from binging on fast foods. To make this more effective, you can make two lists – one of habits that you want to change and the other of habits that you want to inculcate. Make it your goal to put these lists into practice and weight loss will follow automatically.

High Density Foods – How do they Help in Weight Loss?

High Density Foods – How do they Help in Weight LossDieting can be a bother, especially if you have been a heavy eater. Eating tiny portions, no matter how many times a day, just does not satisfy your hunger. However, since you are on a portion-controlled diet regime, there is nothing much you can do about it. Or is it? What if there is a way by which you get to eat large portions and still be able to lose weight? Yes, it is possible and the solution is called “high density foods”. High density foods are foods that are rich in water, low in calories and rich in nutrients that are essential for the body. So, even if you eat a big meal, the calories you gain are very few.

A large part of weight loss regime is in your mind. As absurd as it sounds, your brain needs to feel full and satisfied with the food you eat for your stomach to feel full. When you eat small portions, your metabolism kick starts and your stomach acids are satisfied, but your brain is not, because it is used to ordering your body to digest more food in one meal. So, you crave for food and when it is your next meal time, you eat more to compensate for your pent up hunger.

High density foods are a way of tricking your brain into believing that you are full. So, although the energy that you gain from the food is low, you do not feel hungry. Subsequently, you lose weight quickly because you do not eat untimely meals. The metabolism of your body is active as well.

The density of energy in foods is influenced by three factors – water content, fiber content and fat content. Foods with high water content, high fiber content and low fat content are excellent for the body. Fruits and vegetables are the best examples of high density foods.

Dieting is more than just about controlled consumption of fats and sugars. An important concept is food density. High density foods can give you immediate results and you do not have to wait for weeks to watch the needle on the weighing machine dip. The effects are fast and prompt.

Meal Replacement Diets for Losing Weight

Meal Replacement Diets for Losing WeightIf you have been trying to achieve rapid weight loss, one of the best methods that you can adopt is meal replacement diets. The modern day meal replacement diets are a far cry from the typical tasteless diet meals of the past. You can have tasty, readymade meals, many of which are delivered to your home. Some of the best meal replacement diet plans can help you lose a pound a day, which adds up to 30 lbs in a month!

If you are apprehensive about the nutritional content of meal replacement diets, you can put fears to rest. These meals are very comprehensive and give you your daily dose of all vitamins, minerals and trace elements. You also get a healthy serving of proteins, soluble fibers and essential fats such as Omega-3 fatty acids. The only things that these meals lack in are excess calories and the emphasis here is on “excess”.

Meal replacement diets are not akin to fad unscientific diets that most people adopt for fastest weight loss. Whatever be your body weight, you do require a minimum daily calorific intake just to get through the basic daily chores. When you reduce your calorie intake, your body burns fats to compensate for the reduced energy intake and you lose weight. However, if you cut down on your calories drastically, your body burns muscles and stores fats for the rainy day. Meal replacement diets prevent such undesirable burning of muscles and keep you healthy while you continue to burn excess calories and lose weight.

Another point that is essential for dieters to keep in mind is “portions”. It does not matter if you have a cream cake; just make sure that you have the right “portion”. Meal replacement diets come with pre-fixed portions, which ensure that you do not eat more. This is why you find pizzas, chocolate crumbles, cakes and muffins included in meal replacement diets. You get to eat the right portions of food that is cooked in the right manner. So, you continue to lose weight even when you consume “taboo” foods.

Meal replacement diets are the greatest formulation in weight loss industry. With the right amount of nutrients and just enough calories, they help you hit your weight loss target in the fastest way.

Importance of Warm Ups and CoolDownsin your Weight Loss Efforts

Importance of Warm Ups and CoolDownsin your Weight Loss EffortsNowadays, people are becoming more and more inactive, and are living a sedentary lifestyle. But what many people don’t understand is that, a sedentary inactive life will lead to a number of complications later on in their lives. That is why, it is imperative to become healthy and fit with immediate effect. Exercising is the easiest and the best ever way to remain healthy.

When you exercise, you must have noticed that your trainer would always ask you to perform warm up and cool downs before and after exercising. This is because, they help facilitate weight loss, as well help you burn additional calories.

When you start your warm ups, your heart rate increases slowly. Rapid increase in the heart rate is not good, and hence warm ups are necessary before exercising. Also, warm ups help you increase your body temperature, and blood flow to your muscles. This is in turn, provides oxygen to your muscles, and prepares them for your other intense routines. When you are performing warm up exercises, you must focus on your chest, shoulders, hips, calves and thighs. They are the major regions where fat accumulates. Once your warm ups are over, you will be happy to realize that exercising now would become very easy for you.

After you exercise routines are over, you must perform the cooling down exercises. They are as beneficial as the warm ups. Cooling down exercises help your body recover from the strenuous workouts. It also brings your heart rate back to normal, along with your body temperature. Your breathing also improves significantly. When you exercise quickly, for a long duration, lactic acid is produce by your muscles. The cooling down exercises help reduce the effects of lactic acid, and prevent it from concentrating near one muscle group.

When you suddenly stop exercising, your body gets confused. All the blood tends to pool around your leg muscles, and you start feeling a little dizzy. Many people also tend to suffer from nausea.

All in all, warm ups and cool downs are an important part of exercising, and you should never skip them.

Fiber – An Essential Ingredient for Weight Loss

Fiber – An Essential Ingredient for Weight LossNowadays, people are becoming health conscious and are looking to lose weight fast. However, quick and speedy weight loss is not an easy task. You need to persevere and never give up. There are certain tips that will help you lose weight promptly, and you must definitely follow them.

One of the easiest ways to lose weight is to increase the amount of fiber in your daily diet. Fiber is one nutrient that facilitates rapid weight loss. It is a nutrient, which the body cannot digest and hence it does not contribute to any calories. However, it helps in the digestion of food.

Fiber is essential for regular bowel movements and it also helps prevent colon cancer. All the carcinogens in the body stick to fiber and move through the colon swiftly, thereby reducing the chances of colon cancer. Fiber also helps in removing the cholesterol from your body, thereby helping you to lose weight and preventing chances of heart diseases.

People who consume fiber in great quantities live a healthy and long life. Fiber also helps you to remain slim and fit. When you eat fiber, you tend to feel full very soon. Fiber stays in the stomach for a long duration, thereby slowing down the process of digestion. Therefore, you feel full, even after hours of eating food.

Some foods that are rich in fiber include whole grain bread, peas, lentils, fruits, and. Meat, milk and other dairy products including yoghurt, butter and cheese are not rich in fiber. Only raw food contains the highest amount of fiber. Therefore, it is recommended that you should avoid cooking foods rich in fiber. It’s best to eat fiber rich foods in the raw form as much as possible.

When you are increasing the fiber content in the body, there is one thing that you must keep in mind. You should consume large amounts of water too. Without water, it will become difficult to remove fiber from the body, and it will lead to constipation. So keep these little things in mind, and include a lot of fiber in your diet to lose weight.

How Can Protein Help Your Weight Loss Efforts?

How Can Protein Help Your Weight Loss EffortsObesity, diabetes, heart conditions and other such diseases are increasing at an alarming rate all over the world. And losing weight along with adapting a healthy lifestyle is the best ever way to fight them. Protein is an important nutrient for our body and it is used for a number of reasons by the body. Protein also helps build muscles and satisfies your hunger in an instant.

Many researchers are of the belief that eating meals rich in proteins are crucial for swift weight loss. When you incorporate a diet that is rich in protein and combine it with exercises like brisk walking and jogging, you tend to lose weight really quickly. Diets with high protein content also fill up your stomach in an instant, and you don’t feel hungry for hours together. A protein rich meal tends to help you take in lesser number of calories in a day as compared to a normal meal.

Proteins also help you reduce the fat levels in your blood as well as in building up lean tissues. This helps improve your overall physique. A protein rich diet also ensures that you don’t crave for food too frequently. When you take in proteins, the brain releases lesser number hormones, which stimulates your appetite. Hence, you eat less food.

However, before you promptly start trying out the protein rich diet, there are certain things that you must keep in mind. Firstly, you must consult your doctor to check whether you are on the right track. Secondly, you must ensure that the protein rich diet suits you. Taking in too much of protein is not harmful unless you are suffering from kidney diseases. So get all the tests done before you start this diet program.

You should remember that it is recommended that women take in forty six grams of protein per day, whereas men take in fifty six grams. You must see to it that you follow this advice properly. So start including proteins in your diet, and see how rapidly you manage to lose weight.

Food Substitute Ideas for Weight Loss

Food Substitute Ideas for Weight LossLosing weight is not an easy task and you need all the help that you can get. Making changes in your daily diet is important as you need to consume lesser number of calories. You have the option of going for fat free or low calorie meals. However, you may sometimes find it to be too bland.

There are some foods that you must incorporate in your diet if you want fast results. One such food is milk and milk products. Milk is possibly the best ever drink for those wishing to lose weight. It has a high amount of proteins and calcium as well as cholesterol in moderate quantities. For rapid weight loss, you must also eat eggs. However, eat only the egg whites as they contain the maximum amount of proteins. The yellow part should be avoided as it contains cholesterol.

You should also have a lot of soups and vegetable broths. These are like instant snacks, which don’t take too much preparation but are healthy nonetheless. They are also very filling, and you won’t feel hungry after consuming them.

For lunch, you can have lean meats. You can also opt for lightly grilled fish as it is a healthy choice. If you like beef or ham, you must trim it before you cook it, to reduce the amount of extra fat it contains.

You should also buy cold cuts or lean ground meats as the fat content is really low. If you are looking for a quick bite, then sandwiches are a great option. However, you must remember to use brown bread as a substitute to the normal white bread. Don’t add mayonnaise to your sandwich. If you are fond of cheese, then remember to use the low fat version which is easily available. Also include a lot of vegetables in your sandwich to make it more filling. When you are baking cakes or cookies, you should substitute butter with margarine. Also, avoid using rich ingredient like chocolate, full fat cream and so on as your toppings. Try to look for better low fat substitutes. Use these tips, because they will help you lose weight in the fastest possible time.

Exercise Tips for Expediting Your Weight Loss

Exercise Tips for Expediting Your Weight LossA lean and trim body improves your self-confidence and projects a healthy, dynamic image of yourself to others. To achieve a body which is the envy of all, you have to incorporate some sort of physical exercise in your daily routine. And the best thing is that you can always workout anytime anywhere no matter what your age or gender is. If you are still skeptical about the effectiveness of workouts in expediting weight loss, read on to know how you can further leverage the benefits of exercising to aid in your training program.

Make it a habit to exercise at least four or five days of the week. This does not mean you have to enroll at a gym or buy expensive equipments. Simple enjoyable activities like jogging, swimming and cycling all help you to lose about ten pounds within a couple of weeks if done regularly with equal intensity.

Include about half an hour of cardiovascular movements in your daily exercise schedule. Calisthenics like brisk walking, jogging and aerobics are very effective for raising your heart rate and boosting your body’s metabolism. These result in rapid melting of accumulated fat all around your body. Do some weight lifting movements to build more lean muscles. Lean muscles too boost your metabolic rate and contribute fruitfully towards expeditious weight loss.

Try to lift weight on at least two to three days of the week for a ten week period.

Motivation is one of the biggest factors influencing a person’s decision to continue with a prolonged weight loss program or to quit midway. Inspire yourself continuously by adding variety to your daily workout routine. Additionally, once your body gets accustomed to a particular weight loss pattern, you hit a plateau after seven or eight weeks when weight loss is not so swift anymore. Challenge your body by changing your movements often and incorporating different calisthenics styles.

Practice interval training wherein you combine short bursts of high intensity workouts with bouts of low intensity movements. Such alternate training method habituates your body to a higher metabolism thus ensuring that your body continues to burn fat even when you are not working out.

Three Eating Habits that Can Boost Your Weight Loss Efforts

Three Eating Habits that Can Boost Your Weight Loss EffortsLosing weight can be an uphill task which many people give up midway. There are plenty of diet programs and workouts that promise immediate weight loss. Whether or not you subscribe to any of these, there are some simple and easy habits which you can practice regularly to increase your chances of quick weight loss. Shedding the flab gradually is a prolonged process which must be developed into a healthy habit.

 Have wholesome and well-balanced breakfast, lunch and dinner at prefixed schedule and never juggle with meal timings. Let your body settle down to a pattern of receiving food so that it does not crave for unhealthy calorie-high snacks in between meals. Have most of your calories during the daytime when you are more active. Include healthy food items like whole grain breads and cereals, fresh fruits and veggies, low-fat and low sugar dairy items and lean meat in your diet menu. Drink a glass of water before any major meal. Water fills you up and you will naturally keep your portions limited. Avoid soda and processed fruit juices which are loaded with sugar. Have black coffee or use skimmed milk instead of the regular cream. You can also try herbal tea which has been shown to aid in expeditious weight loss.

Maintain a food journal and update it regularly. Be honest and note down all the forbidden foods that you may have succumbed to throughout the day. A food journal is like a mirror which reflects your daily eating patterns and food preferences. Focus on the unhealthy preferences and cut them down. Include more healthy preferences like fresh fruits and veggies which aid in quick and successful weight loss. You can also note the number of times you are snacking and reduce that drastically. Learn to control your portions.

At parties and buffets make it a habit of sticking to your normal portions. Opt for healthy snacking options like carrot sticks and apple slices, if available. Otherwise, skip the snacks and deep fried savory items. Fill up your plate once for all and sit away from the buffet table. Eat slowly so that you are not tempted to go back for second helpings. If you are following any meal replacement diet program, have your customized diet food before leaving for the party.