November 15th, 2008 — carbohydrates, fats, healthy eating, proteins
One of the best ways to ensure healthy weight loss is to find the right balance for your meals. Proteins, fats and carbs are all essential, but you need to have the right amount of each to make sure that your diet will work. It can be a little difficult at first, but once you get started it will become easier.
First, you'll need to discuss your options with your doctor or with a nutritionist. They can help you come up with a percentage of each type that will work for your own unique needs. Remember, we are not all the same when it comes to the type of fuel that we need for our bodies. Some people can get away with a diet consisting largely of protein, while others will not be able to do without carbs.
In order to avoid feeling deprived, you need to find this balance and the right percentage. Commonly, most dieters stick to the 40/30/30 percentage, but you may find that you need to tweak this a bit for your own needs. With the right balance you should not experience feelings of dissatisfaction or cravings.
One of the main reasons that we suffer from cravings and have a hard time handling a new diet is due to blood sugar. After years of indulging in sweets, our bodies become used to that influx of sugar. If you suddenly stop eating these foods, your blood sugar can get out of whack very quickly. The sudden lows can lead to dizziness or feeling light headed.
To avoid this, make sure that you are getting the right amount of good carbs in your diet to replace the bad ones. For example, instead of eating white bread, switch to whole wheat. Instead of a can of soda, have a piece of fruit. You'll be giving your body the sugar it needs with much less calories.
Protein is a very important part of building lean muscle mass which in turn serves to ramp up your metabolism. Once again, the key to finding the right balance is substituting high risk protein with foods that are good for you. Instead of having a fatty piece of red meat, eat a chicken breast or a serving of tuna. Your body won't feel deprived, because it is getting the right amount of protein, just in a lower calorie form.
Although you wouldn't think it made sense, our bodies actually do need fat to function properly. If you try to aggressively cut all fat out of your diet, your body is definitely going to suffer. However, you need to make sure that you are eating the right kind of fat. Stay away from saturated fats, like butter, and use the "healthy" fats such as olive oil.
It may not be as tasty at first, but you'll be providing your body with the fuel that it needs to survive and retraining your cravings with much healthier foods.
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October 9th, 2008 — Meals, Weight Loss Journal, alternative ideas, diet, drink, food, goals, healthy eating, nutrition, sodium, sugar
For many of us, trying to consume fewer calories can be very difficult. If you are someone that has a hard time feeling satisfied on little meals, or you just can’t seem to make any headway with your calorie count, there are a few ways that you can dramatically reduce how many calories you are eating without feeling the pinch. These tips are about some small switches that you can make to get some big weight loss results.
1. Remove temptation.
If you are someone that will go through an entire bag of chips without thinking, it’s difficult to look at that big bag and not keep reaching in. One of the easiest ways to control this is to make use of the smaller kid’s size bags. You’ll still be able to eat chips, but you will have that automatic portion control already figured out for you. The key is to keep as few of these bags around as possible, so that you don’t make up for what you’re missing by eating a bunch of small bags. Possible calories cut: 150 – 600.
2. Try tasty replacements.
If you just have to have those salty snacks and the little bags aren’t cutting it, it’s time to find a different way to get your salt fix without eating too many calories. One of the easiest switches to make is to try some air popped popcorn, lightly salted. You can have three popped cups of this for what nine potato chips would cost calorie wise. This is an easy way to feel more satisfied and you won’t have to worry about eating unhealthy oils. If you can’t do without butter, try a light 1 second spray of butter flavored spray oil. It’s a lot easier to replace chips with popcorn than it is with celery. Possible calories cut: 150 - 600
3. Get that dressing on the side.
If you are eating restaurant salads and wondering why you’re not losing weight, the dressing is usually too blame. Restaurants slather salads with high calorie dressings. Look for a non-cream based dressing, or better yet, go with a vinaigrette. Get your dressing on the side, and dip in the lettuce. You’ll be surprised at just how much is left over. Possible calories cut: 50 to 500 depending on the dressing.
4. Forego the cheese and mayo based toppings.
If you must eat out, get a plain hamburger instead of a cheeseburger. Use plain ketchup and mustard and forget about any special sauces. You’ll still be eating something you enjoy, but you’ll also be saving on calories. Possible calories cut: 50 to 250.
5. Replace soda with flavored sparkling water.
Sparkling water still has that zing of carbonation, without all the empty calories of soda. There are some great flavors out there and once you get past the caffeine issue, you’ll be on track towards losing a lot of weight. Possible calories cut: 100 to 600 (depending on the amount of soda you drink)
All told, these are five easy ways to carve anywhere from 500 to 2550 calories a day. Now that’s significant!
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July 12th, 2008 — fatigue, weight loss
This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of online nursing school. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com. If you are interested in contributing a guest post please send me an email at kevin [at] weightladder (dot) com
It’s all very well to talk of losing weight, dieting and getting fit. What some people do not realize is that not everyone is built the same, that other people are having a hard time sticking to a diet and exercise routine simply because they find it too tiring, literally, to go on. Their bodies feel exhausted due to a combination of a lack of nourishing food and a strenuous exercise regimen, and as a result, work and other activities slowly start to get affected. Questions are being raised as to whether the get fit plan was the right idea, and doubts are beginning to creep in as they try to battle with their will powers to stay the course.
Fatigue is a common problem encountered by thousands of people as they try to lose weight and get fit, especially if they’re just starting out. While a certain amount of tiredness is routine and expected, fatigue that affects your ability to do your job is just not acceptable. Fortunately, there are a few sensible things that you can do to prevent excessive tiredness as you endeavor to shed a few pounds and get fit in the bargain:
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Sleep
Sleep well, at least for eight hours a day. Sleep is the best rejuvenator of tired and sore muscles. If you’re cutting back on your sleep even as you work out and diet, you’re bound to feel fatigued all the time. So make it a point to hit the sack early and turn the lights out so you fall asleep immediately.
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Supplements
Supplement your food intake with vitamins that provide you with energy and nutrients. Vitamins A, B and E are absolute essentials to prevent tiredness, and if you’re dieting, you’re likely to cut one or more of these from your diet without realizing it.
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Water
Drink lots of water, and not just at one go. Replenish your body throughout the day with glasses of fresh, clean water to keep fatigue at bay. If you’re not replacing the fluids you’ve lost when you exercise, you’re bound to carry around a feeling of tiredness with you all day.
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Breakfast
Never skip breakfast as a way of getting slim. For one, it’s the most important meal of the day, and experts have proven that uneaten breakfasts only make you put on more weight. Secondly, if you take a detour around the breakfast table, you’re depriving yourself of your day’s energy supply. Fill up on healthy whole grain cereals and low fat milk along with some fresh fruit and unsweetened juice and see the difference it makes to your energy levels.
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No Caffeine or Sugar
Give the caffeine and sugar in your diet a miss; while coffees and colas do make you feel perky and fresh in the short run, they sap your energy in the long. Take long sips of fruit juices that contain no sugar.
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Outdoors
Get out into the fresh air and take deep breaths. Even half an hour spent outdoors will have a significant improvement on your energy levels.
This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of online nursing school. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.
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May 22nd, 2008 — healthy eating, motivation, trigger food
Starting a diet can be a momentous event and most of us going into it with the best intentions. We want to lose weight and we want to look and feel better, at least for the first few days. Three days in however, and you may be ready to completely chuck your diet so that you can go back to eating real food again.
There are a few keys that will help you avoid cheating on your diet. You can employ any number of them to assist, but remember, even if you do end up cheating a little, it's not the end of the world. Call it a day and start your diet again. It's only a problem if you give up and lose focus. Let's go over a few of these keys that will help you avoid cheating.
1. Don't start a deprivation diet.
Strict diets usually get fast results initially, but these are usually wiped out if you cave to intense cravings. If you know that you have a hard time giving up your favorite foods, don't doom yourself to failure by starting a deprivation diet. Instead, find ways to simply eat less of these foods. You won't end up feeling as though your cravings are controlling your life.
2. Allow yourself a little wiggle room.
You'll need to have pretty good discipline for this to work, but your diet will be much more successful if you allow yourself a little freedom here or there. If you simply must have ice cream, than allow yourself to have one small portion every few days. Just make sure you can keep it to that portion or you will have sabotaged yourself.
3. Set up rewards.
One of the best ways to avoid cheating on your diet is to set up a rewards system with your goals. Just make sure that the rewards are not food related. For example, once you reach your first five pounds lost, go get a manicure, or do something that you really enjoy. This helps keep you motivated, even when the going is tough. It gives you something else to focus on and makes it easier to stay focused.
4. Stop kicking yourself.
You can preprogram yourself to fail if you believe that you cannot do something. Instead of saying that you can never stick to a diet and always end up cheating, tell yourself that you can do this. When the going gets tough, keep repeating "I can do this." If you do it often enough, you'll start to believe it and you'll be able to make it a reality.
5. Avoid known problem areas.
If you have a hard time sticking to your diet when you go out with friends, it's time to evaluate your activities. Stay away from restaurants where you know it's going to be tough to stay on your diet. Give up going to the bar every week. You'll be able to see results in less time and you'll be able to avoid the traps that always derail you.
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