Weight Loss

By Zach Thompson

Obesity is a life threatening condition and is spreading at an alarming rate throughout Western society. It is particularly prevalent in the USA. However there are some steps you can take to reduce your weight and improve your health and lifestyle.

Reducing calorie intake:

What are calories? A calorie is a unit used to measure energy. It is required by most governments to print the calorie value of foods on the nutrition label of all foods that are sold to consumers. Because if this it is easier to calculate your calorie intake. Reducing calories means not just cutting food intake but being careful of the actual caloric value of the foods you are eating.

Reduction but not eliminating fats and oils: fat and oil is necessary for the body but we often eat foods which are too high in fats thus taking in more fat and oil than we need to. When you cut down fat and oil you will reduce calories and definitely manage to lose those pounds.

Decrease but do not eliminate carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are necessary to the body but we often eat too much of this class of food resulting in the body storing these foods as fat. When you cut down carbohydrates you will reduce your weight.

Increase your protein levels: It is often good to eat foods that are high in proteins as they are not as fattening as other foods. High protein foods are good to eat when you are reducing weight to prevent any muscle loss occurring as you shed those pounds.

Eat more fruits and vegetables: These are good for providing nutrients to the body and are low in calories. They are a good alternative to “junk food” snacks. They will also increase fiber in your diet.

Reduction in sugar and sodium. Sugar is readily broken dawn by the body into energy and excess stored as fat making it a fattening food. Sodium eaten in excess can contribute to water retention by the body and prevent weight loss.

Increasing fiber in your diet: this will help you to curb hunger pangs as fiber rich foods will help you feel full as they take longer to digest. Your digestive system will work better with an increase in fiber.Whole grain foods, unrefined foods, fruits and vegetables will give you more fiber.

Increase your fluid intake: Drink more pure water especially. This will help to improve your health and fill you up.

Increase exercise: Regular exercise will help you reduce weight and build muscle instead of storing fat. You can either work out for about 20 minutes 3 times a week or take a brisk daily walk.

When you use these steps you will reduce your weight. You will not achieve a super figure in one day but when you keep up a healthy diet you will lose weight steadily. Maintaining a healthy diet with regular exercise will ensure that you not only reduce but will keep the weight off. You will feel healthier and have more energy to do the things you really want to do in life.

Zach Thompson is a Glyconutrients Consultant. His clients range from pro athletes and actresses, to cancer patients and children with Learning Disabilities. Learn the truth about nutritional supplements at: http://nutritionalreview.com/79.php.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zach_Thompson

Posted by Orce37 at 12:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

By Sharyl Calhoun

If you are one of those people who leisurely pedal around the block or over a flat stretch of scenic road, you’ve probably been riding for sheer pleasure. Riding bikes for pleasure is a good form of aerobic exercise. But unless you map out a plan to “push yourself,” you probably won’t lose much weight.

I really get sick of hearing people say, “No pain, no gain!” But the old adage is true when it comes to riding bikes to lose weight. By pushing your cycling distance or speed, you are sure to feel some pain in your leg muscles, your hands, wrists, and your derriere-- even some pain in your throat and lungs as your body tries to accommodate your increased demand for oxygen.

HEALTH TIP: Stretching exercises prior to exercising are helpful in preventing injury!

GETTING YOUR BICYCLE READY...TO ROLL OFF THE WEIGHT

Your first concern will be outfitting your bicycle. If you need an excuse to purchase a new bike, this is an excellent opportunity! I went from a 3-speed bicycle for leisure riding, to a 24-speed bicycle for more committed exercising. Once I learned how the different gears worked, I was very thankful for the extra speeds. They make my ride faster and the hills a lot easier to handle.

We’ve found the guys at the bicycle shop to be very helpful, and concerned for our unique cycling needs. Rather than simply steering us toward the most expensive bicycle available (as I had expected), they asked how much riding we would be doing, whether we were trying for speed or leisure, and whether we would be riding on paved roads or dirt trails. When you honestly share your goals and level of experience, the sales clerks can match you with exactly what you need. They want you to be successful in your biking venture!

Some state laws require bicycle lights. But if you will be riding anytime from dusk to dawn, common sense demands that you have lights on your bicycle. These little accessories are battery-operated and last a long time. There are a variety of lights to choose from. My tail light has different blinking speeds, and is designed to make my bike visible to cars approaching from both the rear and the sides. Check for brightness before you buy one. Install the light where it makes the most sense.

We held off on buying a speedometer and odometer unit for our bikes, but once we got serious about losing weight and getting in shape, this feature became a “must have.” You simply cannot track your progress without knowing how far and how fast you’re riding.

If you already have a bicycle, take it to the bike shop for a safety inspection each season. They should check the gears, tires and brakes to make sure everything is working properly. They can adjust your seat to fit your height and adjust the handlebars to fit your reach, making your ride more comfortable. If you’re lucky, they might even clean and polish your bike!

If you want to save money in the long run, you can find books and videos that teach you how to care for your own bicycle. It’s always a great idea to know how to change your own flat tire and adjust a loose chain.

Another must have is a bicycle pump. Ask your bike dealer how many pounds of air pressure to put in your bicycle tires. Check the tires each time you get ready to ride! We guessed at the air pressure one summer day, and lived to regret it. We rode the bikes to the swimming pool, not realizing that one tire was too full. While we were cooling off in the water, the hot sun was rapidly expanding the air in the tires–one tire blew as it sat in the parking lot. The day in the sun was not so fun, once the pool closed and we had to wait for a truck to haul us home!

HEALTH TIP: Talk with your doctor first, and get his or her blessing before you increase your rate of physical activity!

STAYING COMFORTABLE ON YOUR BIKE

Sitting for long periods of time on a bicycle seat can cause pain, discomfort, and even serious blood circulation problems in avid bicyclists. At your local bike shop, you’ll find a variety of bicycle seats made specifically for your comfort and health. The salespeople at our local bike shop encouraged us to try out new seats on our bikes for a few days. My husband found the split seat to be more comfortable for himself, while I opted to keep my old gel seat. Someone has even invented seats that look more like a bird perch than a bicycle seat!

HEALTH TIP: Get off your bicycle seat and walk around every 25 minutes or so to get the blood flow to important unmentionable parts of your body.

Think about your clothing...you don’t have to have padded biker shorts and special clothing to start riding bikes. There are actually scientifically engineered fabrics designed to pull sweat away from your body in the summer and to keep you from getting hypothermia in the winter. But for now, just wear layers of comfortable sports clothes.

Make sure your clothes aren’t so tight that you are miserable trying to pedal. But they shouldn’t be loose enough to become entangled in the bicycle chain, either! If you become overheated, strip off a layer. If you get cold, add a layer. Wear light or bright colors to allow drivers to see you easily.

It really helps to have a small cargo rack on the back of your bike. Mine looks like a little shelf over the back tire. It has two bungee cords to keep any cargo securely fastened to the bike. I’ve used it to tote a small picnic cooler, a shopping bag or extra clothes.

I had the bike shop attach a water bottle holder to the bike under my seat. I can grab a quick swig as I ride or pour some water over my pulse points to cool off a bit. Take small sips of water when needed during your bike ride, rather than chugging huge gulps.

A helmet is almost a must. Life is filled with hazards–and biking has its share. Be smart. Wear a helmet. You can buy a cool rear-view mirror for your helmet. The mirror helps you see when it’s safe to turn and lets you observe traffic coming up from behind.

I recommend wearing sunglasses–both for the sun and for bugs! At certain times of the year, the air is thick with flying insects. Getting a tiny bug in your eye is a painful event. For contact wearers, carry a contact case and lens cleaner on bike rides for just that reason. Some day you’ll be glad you did!

HEALTH TIP: Shake your hands downward frequently to get the blood flowing and to prevent pain or numbness in your arms and hands.

MAPPING OUT A WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

You will want to keep a record of your daily diet and food intake, your weekly body measurements and weight, as well as your bicycling miles and time.

The WORKOUTWARE Personal Training Workstation software (see the Home Fitness page at www.poshbungalow.com) for your personal computer is an excellent way to track your progress. It is very easy to use–simply type in your information you wish to track. As the only software of its kind, you’ll find it to be a fantastic motivation tool that will print out charts and graphs to show how much progress you’ve made in a few days, a week, or a month!

It keeps track of your food, vitamin, and supplement intake. Thousands of foods have already been analyzed by experts for number of calories, fat, carbs, and protein. You simply select the foods you ate from a pull down feature, and the daily total is tallied for you. Make sure you don’t exercise when you’ve just eaten, or when it’s almost meal time. Both times will slow you down.

No matter how humiliating it is, measure your arms, legs, chest, waist, neck, hips and thighs once a week. The software keeps track of your weight and body measurements. The thrill of seeing those same inches melt away in the coming weeks will be worth the effort. It’s especially impressive seen as a graph!

Consider investing in an instrument that actually measures body fat–there are inexpensive pincer-type instruments that measure fat by pinching you, or buy a set of bathroom scales that cost more but calculate body fat quite painlessly.

Try to ride 4-6 days per week. When you map out your weight loss plan, your short-term goals will change as you change. You’ll quickly develop stamina for longer distance. As fat turns to muscle, your speed will increase. Each week, try to increase either your mileage or your speed.

You know how far you’ve been able to ride, thus far. Start keeping track of the exact route you are taking, the total mileage, and the length of time it took you. Make notes in your records for special circumstances. Did it get dark outside so you were forced to cut your ride short? Did the road crews dump a layer of gravel on your normally paved road?

What was the weather like? Was it dangerously hot? Was it windy? The wind can be your friend or your enemy. When the wind is behind you, your ride is a breeze...but coming from any other direction, be prepared to huff and puff. Accept any length of time as a job well done and simply get the ride accomplished!

Finally, add an upper body workout three times per week. Bicycling works your legs, but to get the rest of your body firm and trim, you’ll need to exercise your upper body, as well. The WORKOUTWARE Personal Training Workstation software, created by a certified personal fitness trainer, has excellent features which allow you to design and track this portion of your fitness program, as well.

Bicycle riding is a fun, inexpensive form of aerobic exercise–it’s good for every part of you. But be warned–you will need to buy a whole new wardrobe for the thinner, more beautifully fit body that emerges!

Sharyl Calhoun

See our Home Fitness page at http://www.poshbungalow.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sharyl_Calhoun

Posted by Orce37 at 4:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

By Michael Russell

Most all of us look for ways to lose a few extra pounds. The key to weight loss is to keep it simple. Here are 10 tips to help you lose those unwanted pounds.

1. Instead of using butter, try fruit purees. The next time you have mashed potatoes, leave off the butter. Try substituting a fruit puree instead. This will reduce the calories and give your mashed potatoes a nice flavor.

2. Take the fat out of the cheese. We all know that cheese contains lots of calcium and is very good for you. But it also has a lot of fat in it, making weight loss very difficult. An easy was to remove the fat is to put the cheese in your microwave oven for approximately 10-15 seconds. Remove it and immediately drain off the fat. Be sure you don't overcook it or you'll have a big mess on your hands. The other option is to simply buy a low fat cheese at the store.

3. Don't eat your meals in front of the TV. This tip may sound silly, but it's probably one of the biggest reasons for weight gain. It's so easy to overeat while watching the TV. You become so engrossed at the program you're watching that you just continue eating and eating. Weight loss and TV don't work well together.

4. Never try to exercise before eating a meal. When you go out and physically exercise before eating your meal you are going to make yourself even hungrier. You're burning fat and losing weight. But you're also making yourself hungrier. For better weight loss make sure you exercise after eating. Be sure you don't exercise right after eating though, or you will more than likely get sick. Give yourself an hour after eating before exercising.

5. Be sure to eat a good breakfast. The word breakfast means to break your fast. Since you most likely haven't eaten since dinner the night before, you are literally breaking your fast. It is a proven fact that eating breakfast, even if it's a piece of toast, will help you burn more calories and lose weight, then if you skip eating breakfast all together.

6. Use the right milk. Make sure you use skim milk rather than whole milk. Whole milk contains cream and of course, adds calories. Skim milk on the other hand contains no fat and helps contribute to weight loss. Skim milk will still give you all the benefits of milk and has very little taste difference.

7. Remove the trans fatty acids. All trans fatty acids are bad fats. A good example of a trans fat is margarine. Butter on the other hand is not. Be sure to never use margarine or butter when cooking. Use cooking oil instead, preferably olive oil. Always read the labels on food you buy at the store. Avoid hydrogenated oil at all cost, in order to lose weight. It contains loads of trans fatty acids.

8. Fructose is an appetite suppressant. Drink water or fruit juice with fructose and not glucose to help with weight loss. Did you know that drinking a glass of orange juice an hour before you eat a meal will help in suppressing your appetite?

9. Trim the fat from meats before cooking. Most of us love to eat meat and that's fine. But in order to help with weight loss, you need to trim off all the excess fat from meats prior to cooking. This will dramatically reduce your calorie intake from meat. Your other healthy option is to eat more fish and skinless chicken.

10. Four egg yokes or less each week. Eggs are full of the wrong kinds of fat. The whites of an egg is worse than the yolk. In order to help with weight loss, limit the number of eggs you eat to four or fewer every week.

While there are many other tips available to help you lose weight, these ten are a great start. Follow these tips and you'll be on your way to losing these unwanted pounds.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Weight Loss

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

Posted by Orce37 at 2:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

By Michael Russell

Along with being healthy, we all want to look as fit as possible. Sometimes this is can be a challenge. With so many different diet plans and foods available, it can be difficult to figure out what works and what doesn't. Well, there are still some old-fashioned ways to lose weight that have been tried and true for years now. These 5 tips will not only help you to lose those unwanted pounds, but they will also help you have a more healthy body.

1. Eliminate The Junk Food

This tip might not make you smile, but it will help you lose weight faster than any other thing you can do. Cut out the junk foods from your daily diet. These snacks only hurt your health and your body. They are chock full of carbohydrates, fats and calories. Try to replace the junk food with more healthy snacks, or bars.

2. Eat More Fruits And Vegetables

We have been raised as children to eat our fruit and vegetables, so why do we stray away from that the older we get? Eating all kinds of fruits and vegetables are a must on any weight loss plan. They contain essential vitamins and nutrients that your body needs along with fiber that are good for your digestive system.

You can eat as many of these foods as you like without having to worry about putting on weight. Fruits and vegetables contain very few calories.

3. Eliminate The Soda

This is another biggie for most everyone. The amount of soda consumption in the U.S. is growing every year. From what used to be a standard 12-oz can of soda has now become a 48-oz "big gulp". The sugars and carbohydrates soda contains can add several pounds to the average person.

And with soda it's not just the weight increase you need to be concerned about. It creates more cases of Diabetes than any other single factor. Your best bet is to add more water to your daily diet. Water is healthy for your body and it will give you a full feeling, allowing you to eat less.

4. Always Eat Breakfast

Never starve your body. Many people mistakenly believe that skipping breakfast will help you in a weight loss plan. This just isn't true. It will mess up your body and cause you to have cravings. Then, when you can't take it anymore, you'll start eating everything in sight. This just defeats your purpose. In addition, it's simply not good for your body. You should definitely eat 3 meals a day and you may want to consider eating 6. Yes, consider eating 6 small meals a day. The key is to make sure they are small.

5. Exercise

With any weight loss plan you will need to add in at least a little exercise. It helps to burn off those unwanted calories, which in turn lowers your weight. It also gives your body the energy you need and makes you feel good. Even if it's 30 minutes of walking, be sure to get some exercise.

These weight loss tips may be old school, but the bottom line is, they flat out work.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Weight Loss

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell

Posted by Orce37 at 2:06 PM | Permalink | Comments

By Audrey Okaneko

As women, as we get older, our bodies change yet again on us. As they change, our bodies do not want or need as many calories as when we were teenagers. Yet we still love cheesecake, cheeseburgers, and milkshakes. So how can we have these foods while still keeping those extra pounds off?

I’ll share some of my own personal tips and secrets.

Living each day for just that day is really important. If yesterday, you overate, you can not undo that. No matter how upset you get, how much you want to change what happened yesterday, we can’t. So, forget about yesterday and think about just today.

I try to be very aware of what I’m eating. It’s so easy to eat food mindlessly, either while watching T.V., or while talking on the phone, or even while reading. When we eat mindlessly, it means that we really are not tasting or enjoying the food. Instead, take a short break and enjoy the food and become conscious of what you are eating.

Cut white breads out of your diet. When I eat bread, I eat either grain or whole wheat bread. I am a white bread lover, so it did take some getting used to, but I actually much prefer 12 grain bread over white bread now.

I am very careful how many “low fat” items I buy. Low fat products almost always have higher sugar content. When you put more sugar into your body, your body naturally craves sugar. The more you reduce the sugar going into your body, the less your body will crave it. Because of my love for chocolate, I could never be sugar free, but again I make very conscious choices. If I have a slice of chocolate cake, I try to stay away from other sugars that day.

Don’t deprive yourself. When we know we “can’t” have something, or know we “shouldn’t” have something, we want it. We think about it. We crave it. Instead of deprivation, instead think of moderation. I love Snickers bars. A trick I learned was to cut one bar into 4 pieces and then freeze it. When I want a Snickers bar, I take one piece out of the freezer and see if that satisfies my craving. Very often it does. When I want ice cream, I never put it in a bowl. Instead I take one of two spoonfuls from the container. Again, almost always I feel satisfied. I also love Starbucks. I go there twice a week. I feel very satisfied and there are some weeks I only go once a week. Again, moderation, not deprivation.

Eat more fruits and vegetables.. I have tons and tons of different salad dressings. This is one area where I do buy both fat free and low fat. I also buy tons of ingredients for the salad, lettuce, tomato, zucchini, cucumber, bell peppers, raisins, olives, broccoli, carrots and more. Oh my gosh, if it’s in the vegetable section, I buy it for salads. I do not eat salad every day, but I do enjoy salad several times a week. We do buy a lot of fruit. I love melons, peaches, grapes and cherries.

Rotate what you eat. Variety is important is not feeling deprived. Plan menus a week in advance. Most weeks, I never have the same thing twice for dinner. When you cook nice meals, you often have leftovers for lunch the next day. This premade lunch is yet another way to lower your calorie intake. A piece of chicken with vegetables is much lower in calories than the lunchmeat sandwich.

My last suggestion is about exercise. I think I’ve only met a handful of people in my entire life that say “I love to exercise”. Most of us would rather do anything other than exercise. So, turn exercise into something fun. Dancing is exercise. Bicycle riding is exercise. Swimming is exercising. Golfing is exercise. Yoga is exercising. Do you have dogs? Walk them, but go a bit longer. Walk with them for 30 minutes. There are just so many ways to turn exercise into something fun. If working out at a gym is not your thing, save your money and try swimming or biking instead. Instead of meeting a friend for lunch, meet for a walk.

Combining all of the above tips helps me be very conscious of what I’m eating and how much exercise I am getting.

Audrey Okaneko can be reached at audreyoka@cox.net or visited at http://www.scrapping-made-simple.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Audrey_Okaneko

Posted by Orce37 at 2:38 AM | Permalink | Comments