Is Juice Fasting the Weight Loss Strategy You've Been Looking For?

Have you seen Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead? It is a movie that you can find at Netflix.com about a man who was very overweight and very sick and who came to the U.S. to carry out a 60 day juice fast. In the process he helps a number of other people get started and over come their problems as well.

What Is A Juice Fast?
Well, juice fasts are becoming very popular these days. It is a diet strategy where you take in only fruit and vegetable juices for a time. despite the movie a typical juice fast lasts only 3 to 7 days. On the fast, no matter what the length, you will detox and get a big nutritional boost from the fruits and vegetables you consume, all of this while taking in fewer calories.

A juice fast may not have been tops in your thoughts but it is something very much worth considering. You can literally consume plates full of fresh and raw fruits and vegetables and mainline all of that nutrition. It wil help you both lose weight and with your overall health.

What You Need to Get Started

1. You will need a juicer, the best kinds are ones with a big hopper where you can put most fruits and vegetables in without having to cut them down. You also want to stay away from centrifugal juicers these are usually lower cost and are not as efficient at extracting all of the juice and nutrition. You can find excellent juicers in the $100 to $200 range.


2. Find yourself some good recipes to begin, there are many on the web and a quick search on Google will find you all that you could want. After you have a little experience you will also want to experiment to find what you like best and what is best for you.


3. You will find particular vegetables or fruits recommended for a health condition that you may be interested in. Perhaps you don't like eating this particular item. You will find that in juice you can combine it with other items that you like better and over power it's taste and so be able to consume it.


4. The local farmers market is a great place to get your ingredients. You will get the freshest items and the best prices there.

Advantages of Juice Fasting

1. Weight loss, you can't miss getting this benefit. This is true even if you wimp out and only add juice in as a meal replacement instead of a full out fast. You will lose 3 to 4 pounds of fat every week at a minimum.


2. Detox, a juice fast is the best way to flush toxins out of your body.


3. Increased energy and clear thinking. You will get a boost as your body detoxes and
3. because your body won't be expending so much energy in digesting food.
4. You won't be hungry on this diet. You may find this one hard to believe until you get on this fast, but the concentrated nutrition will keep the hunger away. This is the most amazing part of it all.

You will definitely want to give yourself the experience of trying out a juice fast. It is the best way to weight loss, increased energy, clearing your mind, and gaining peace that you will find.

 By Michael Griffin

Start Your Weight Loss Journey Now! Go Ahead! It Really is Not That Difficult

You may be a little worried that the time is not right to start your program. Well, there may never be a better time either. Sometimes the hardest part of any journey is getting started. It's like doing taxes - every year the hardest part is just starting the project.

Once things are rolling along the journey really does not have to be that gloom and doom. It is the same with Weight Loss. And you know what, you do NOT need to have complete faith in completing the journey, nor do you need to know every detail about how you are going to accomplish - is all that you need is the courage to take the first step. And then the next step. But there's more good news!

Your weight loss journey can be a smooth and joyous process. More on that in a minute; but first, let's get you comfortable with the fact that you are capable of starting your weight loss journey at this very minute - and that is true even if you are holding a Snickers bar in your hand and are dead set on eating every bite of it immediately. Go ahead. Enjoy it.

The reality is that a successful weight loss journey does not start by giving up food - of any kind. It starts in that little bit of space right between your ears. It starts in your head. And it starts by you grabbing a compelling vision of how you are going to look. "Anything the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve."; that is a powerful statement from Napoleon Hill.

Lao Tzu said: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

Robert Collier said: "Take the first step, and your mind will mobilize all its forces to your aid. But the first essential is that you begin. Once the battle is started, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance."

The great Earl Nightingale said: "All you have to do is know where you are going. The answers will come to you on their own accord."

These are brilliant statements from brilliant people that accomplished unfathomable feats. Learn from them. Be inspired by them. And most importantly, take action based on the inspiration these words provide.

So just exactly how can your weight loss journey can be a smooth and joyous process? It comes back to what is between your ears. You see, we all think in images. Go ahead try to think about your kids, your home or your car without at least a fleeting image of them. Now do you agree.

If you saw yourself as slim and healthy, you would be excited about your future. You would develop a whole new perspective on life. You would no longer make the same decisions (such as how that Snickers bar got in your hand) as your perspective would be completely different. Once you vision on the inside becomes more compelling than external impressions, change is in the making!

If you have a vision of where you are headed, your mind and the world around you will start to realize it. And they will come to your aid. For anyone who knows where they are headed, who acts with a singular focus, they are not going to be deterred.

Start your journey. And enjoy the journey. You can get to your ideal body image and sometimes it is the little steps that matter the most. The first step is the most important. Grab a strong vision of your future.
Let The Vision Empower You!

 By Kevin E Graham

Failed at Weight Loss? Try This - The Mentality To Weight Loss Success

Lets talk weight loss, it's the most unmanaged aspect of so many peoples lives. Aesthetics aside, lets talk health. In my experience, this is never the priority in a persons life. We all KNOW how to be healthy (eat out in moderation, fill your plate with mostly fruits of vegetables, eat lean meats, work out for a minimum of 30 minutes a day, shop on the perimeter of the grocery store etc.) yet it is not executed. Even though the how-to's of weight loss our outlined for us, we fail to follow through.

This is where my passion lays: the psychology behind weight loss. Success, according to Tony Robbins, is 20% mechanics (the how-to's) and 80% the mechanics. We all know how to go about accomplishing goals, what ever they may be, but executing them is where we fail.

Another roadblock I have found is that we live in a world of comfort, if it isn't easy, we are not doing it. In reverse, if it is easy, we will spend endless dollars for the ease of a new diet program. Heaven forbid we do the work or put in the time. As a society, we don't even like to think for ourselves. We want answers instantaneously and if they are not provided, we move on. However, what happened to blood, sweat, and tears? What happened to leadership and making a difference for yourself on your terms? Lets chat about the MIND SET of success.

Why are you unhappy with your body? Chances are it is because your IDEA of the body you want for yourself isn't matching with the body you SEE in the mirror. Your perception and your reality are not aligning. When your idea of what you want does not match what you actually have, we become unhappy. This is true in all ares of life, not just weight loss goals. If this is you, you have two choices. Make a change in the idea of a perfect body, or make a change in the body itself.

I really love long torso's, and I was constantly unhappy with my body because I don't have a long torso. Because this is something I could not change, I had to change my idea of what a good looking stomach looked like. I believe that surrounding yourself images or mentors who already have what you want or have is a great way to set yourself up for success. So instead of idolizing the stomachs of Victoria Secret models, I would search women like Beyonce. She is still sexy as hell, but in her own way. She rocks a toned, shorter stomach, and the woman is sexy. I appreciate and relate to that, and in turn, chose to emulate her vs. a Victoria Secret model. This is an example of changing the idea instead of the body.

My arms are not what I want. I see strong arms like Cameron Diaz and I love them. I love the look on toned arms, muscle throughout the chest, and a strong posture. Do I possess this naturally? Nope, and I am sure Cameron does not either. But I CAN change my body to match my idea.

When I imagine myself with the strong posture and structure that I want to attain, I have a few questions to ask myself:

How will this goal effect my life?
What will accomplishing this goal do for my happiness?
What emotions will follow the success of this goal?

I am getting you to question the outcome of your goal to stimulate how you would feel if you accomplished them. How will the result effect your life?

Now if your answers aren't that inspiring, chances of accomplishing this goal is not likely. You need the PASSION for the MOTIVATION to keep you on track during the hard times. If you ask yourself these questions and it turns out that you are not inspired by the outcome, THAT IS OKAY! Your goal may stem from the wrong place. For example, if your best friend is passionate about yoga and is trying to get you to go, you may not stick to the schedule because it's HER passion, not YOURS. If you don't innately care, you won't stay motivated when your challenged to get dressed, get out the door, and get into the yoga studio.

Inspiration is what will keep you on track. How do you feel inspired for your goals as real life rolls in? Easy, by putting yourself in a optimal mental state. How did it feel asking yourself the questions about how the result's would effect on your life? Did it inspire you? Spark you? In these moments of being "high" as I call it, I believe you can accomplish any goal. When I think of those toned arms and how much I want them, I am experiencing an inspirational "high." There is no way you could make me eat a cheeseburger on that high, my focus for my goal is too sharp. The satisfaction that I will feel accomplishing my goal outweighs any satisfaction a cheeseburger could provide. I become a bulldozer for success, get out of my way because I have things to accomplish.

Have you ever had a conversation with a friend or a mentor, that leaves you feeling so inspired? This is essentially what you are doing, but learning to do it on your own.

Throughout the day as this "high" diminishes, you need to get another "hit." Refocus your thoughts by putting yourself back in that state, get "high" again. Getting "high" in the morning is great, but focusing yourself throughout the day is what creates the success habits. You may have a habit of hitting a drive through for lunch. But with this focus stimulating you throughout the day, that habit will change effortlessly. You will CHOSE to make better eating decisions based on your "high" or, your goals potential outcome. Usually, we make decisions based on convenience,which is not a good decision maker when you are trying to lose weight. Your habit will change because you want to sustain that high, and own it as a reality, not just a thought. I truly believe you will make better habits when you have better intentions for yourself.

 That focus is what gives you success, and the focus is fuelled by your state of mind. Who ever would have thought that getting "high" would bring you so much success?

This mental state and focus is what will keep you from eating chips. It is what will push you to not only go to the gym, but rock out at the gym. Furthermore, I believe that focusing on possibilities brings an instant smile to your face. Knowing that you can change and knowing how to change brings its own euphoria, even without the tangible success.

My passion for weight loss really stems from the psychology behind it because weight loss is really so simple: calories in vs. calories out. Yet it is a multi-million dollar industry because of the failure we all experience. This, I believe, is because people don't have mental control over their goals, even though they know how to accomplish them. Furthermore, apply this theory to any of your goals and realize the success you can have. Human potential is unbelievable, so lets tap into it.

Lets review the steps to accomplishing your goals from a psychological point of view:
Define you goal: ensure that your goal is so specific. Like the example I gave, I don't like my arms. I could have said "I want to lose weight" but for success you need to be specific: "I want to tone up my upper body so that I have strong muscle definition and fantastic posture. I want to accomplish this by April 1st."

Focus: Why do you want this goal? How would it effect your life if you accomplished this goal? Why would it make you better/happier? How would accomplishing this goal effect your relationships/work/social life? How will the outcome better your quality of life?
Get so focused on this. Imagine it, feel it. Envision yourself on a beach with the sexiest body you could own, envision how you would look in pictures or how you would look it that sexy dress you love. Feel it.

At this point I hope you feel "high." If you don't, perhaps this goal is not all that important to you. In this case, you need to change your IDEA, not your body. I hope you are inspired by the "could be's," now lets keep you high all day!

Keep Motivated: Start every morning with this focus, get "high." But to keep this "high" up, you need to frequently take hits throughout the day. Take moments, at your desk, between classes, as you drive to or from work, before lunch, before the gym, to regain focus. I call this taking "hits." This motivation keeps your vision tunnelled towards your goal. This motivation acts as momentum for your focus, to keep you focused all day.

I hope you enjoyed this, I feel inspired by possibilities just writing it. I would love from you. Furthermore, I would love to hear about your weight loss struggles. I am always passionate about the why's of weight loss and the blocks we hit in trying to succeed. If you are willing to share your story with me, I would love to provide any insight I have! Don't be a stranger.

 By Alexandra J Henderson

How to Keep Fit and Healthy at All Times

If you want to keep fit and healthy at all times, then you have to make some active effort. Keeping fit doesn't only mean looking good from the outside. It means being physically active, mentally sound, and feeling energetic and ready to face the tasks of everyday life.

In order to keep fit and healthy, you don't have to run for hours, or spend several hours at a gym, or playing football or tennis, or riding a bike. You can start by doing simple exercises. People have all sorts of excuses for not exercising. Most everyone has family, children, and busy work schedules to take care of. However, if you want to stay healthy and live longer, then you have to make some little changes towards a healthy lifestyle.

To keep fit and healthy, follow a healthy and balanced diet everyday. Make sure that your everyday diet includes lots of fruits, vegetables, and protein. You should cut down on red meat, junk foods, caffeine, and sugar intake. Avoid soft drinks or canned fruit juices. Instead, opt for a variety of fresh fruits, vegetable salads, freshly made fruit juices, milk, nutritious energy drinks, etc.

You need to be more active in order to keep fit and healthy. Modern life has become very sedentary, with fewer scopes for physical activities. You need to exercise in order to burn those calories. Minimum physical activity slows down your metabolism rate. So, you can put on weight even when you eat less. On the other hand, exercise and a more active life will burn up the calories, even when you eat a little more. You can simply go for a brisk walk, or jog, or you can join a gym. The important thing is that you must include some physical exercise in your everyday life, because fitness and health cannot be achieved without some physical exercise.

For a healthy life sufficient sleep is important. Lack of sleep can make you feel tired the next day. So work hard, but make sure that you have enough sleep; so that your body gets the time to replenish itself.

Do not skip your breakfast, no matter how busy you are. Breakfast is the first and most important meal of the day. It works as a fuel for your body and keeps you going for the rest of day. If you skip breakfast, you will feel hungrier in the latter part of the day, and you may end up eating more! So, you may run a risk of gaining weight, if you skip your breakfast frequently.

If you are not a healthy eater and find it difficult to improve your food habits due to busy, erratic, work schedules, then you may be depriving your body of the essential nutrients that are important for good health. In the long run, unhealthy food habits can lead you to serious health hazards. An easy solution to this problem is to include multi-vitamin supplements in your daily food intake. Multi-vitamins can be taken to replenish the nutritional deficiencies in your daily diet.

 By William Messruther

Weight Loss Vitamins

The best prescription for weight loss is a combination of eating less and exercising more. It's important not to eat too little, as your body will go in to starvation mode and hold on to stored fat thinking it's going to need it for later. Eating the right kinds of foods is also very important.

 Ensuring that your body has a sufficient amount of certain vitamins can help aid in the weight loss process. The most natural way is to ensure that the foods you're consuming contain these weight loss vitamins, but there are also several other sources that will still provide the needed vitamins for weight loss from pills, powders, and liquids. We're going to take a closer look at weight loss vitamins and which ones can help you achieve your weight loss goals.

B Vitamins
There are a variety of weight loss vitamins in the "B" family. There are 13 essential vitamins that the body needs, and eight of them are from the B family. Overall, they aid in metabolism, the production of energy, and red blood cell synthesis. Individually, here are some of the additional benefits and where you can find these weigh loss vitamins in your foods:

B2 - Riboflavin - B2 makes sure your thyroid and metabolism are functioning properly. It aids in providing you needed energy, therefore when you are exercising, it is used up and it is essential to replace it. Good sources of foods for B2 include dairy products such as milk, hard cheeses and eggs. Liver, kidney beans, almonds and leafy green vegetables are also good sources.

B3 - Niacin - B3 is similar to B2 in that it is necessary for the proper function of the thyroid. It is needed to produce the thyroid hormone. You can find B3 in tuna, salmon, and mackerel. Other sources include turkey, chicken, eggs, oats, barley, dried fruit, and brown rice.

B5 - Panthothenic Acid - B5 synthesizes and metabolizes fat, protein, and carbohydrates in the body. A deficiency in of B5 interferes with the body's ability to utilize fat. B5 can be found in meats including poultry, liver, and kidneys. Other good sources include green vegetables, whole grain breads, eggs, and nuts.

B6 - Pyridoxine - B6 is another vitamin in the B family that assists with the thyroid and metabolism. It regulates the production of the thyroid hormone and helps make sure the metabolism is running smoothly. Good sources of B6 include sardines, mackerel, beef, avocados, bananas, brown rice, wheat germ, and eggs.

B12 - Cyanocobalamin or cobalamin - B12 is probably the most common of the B-complex weight loss vitamins. It is essential for energy production and is involved in the metabolism of virtually every cell in the body. It also plays a key role in the correct functioning of the brain and nervous system. Good sources for B12 include meat (especially liver), shellfish, poultry, milk, and eggs.
Choline
Choline is a member of the vitamin B complex family and is necessary for fat metabolism efficiency. If you are deficient in choline, fats can become trapped in the liver. Good sources of foods for choline include beef liver, beef heart, egg yolks, cauliflower, cucumbers and peanuts.
Inositol
Inositol is another member of the vitamin B complex family. When it is combined with choline, it assists in the metabolism of fat. Sources of inositol include eggs, soy products, citrus fruits, beef heart and liver, nuts and whole grains.

Vitamin C
Although we hear a lot of benefits of vitamin C from boosting the immune system to preventing certain diseases, it has also been shown to be a valuable weight loss vitamin. It is necessary to help convert glucose to energy in the cells of the body.

Researchers have also recently found that higher levels of Vitamin C in the body cause fat to be burned at a quicker rate - helping the metabolism to speed up.
Good sources of vitamin C include oranges, lemons, strawberries, broccoli, green peppers, kiwis, Brussels sprouts and cabbage.

Chromium
Chromium is essential for the proper metabolism of fat. It also helps to reduce cholesterol, curb food cravings, convert glucose to energy, and maintain the proper blood sugar levels in the body. Good sources of chromium include wheat germ, raw onions, tomatoes, potatoes and whole grain cereals.

Do Women's Needs Differ from Men's in Vitamins for Weight Loss?
Women have some different needs then men when it comes to vitamins and nutrients in the body. So some vitamins for weight loss are more useful for women then they would be for men. Not that they would be bad in men, just not as effective for weight loss. This is due to the difference in structure of fat cells in women as opposed to men. Some specific types of weight loss vitamins that seem to work especially well for women are B2, B3, B5, B6, Choline, Inositol and Vitamin C.

Basic Tips for Weight Loss Vitamins

Before making any major changes to your diet, including taking weight loss vitamins, it's a good idea to see your doctor first. A good baseline of blood work and an overall physical will also show you the progress you are making as you make changes to your diet.
Take a good look at the food sources listed above to create meals that are rich in these vitamins. Many of the various weight loss vitamins are found in the same foods. What you will not find these vitamins in are highly processed foods and foods containing large amounts of sugars. That should give you a good hint of what to avoid!

Again, you can choose to get the majority of your vitamins for weight loss through eating balanced healthy meals. However, sometimes this is not practical for all meals especially if you have a busy lifestyle. You can also get these vitamins through a variety of pills, liquids, or powders. Another good source of getting your necessary weight loss vitamins is through a protein supplement.

No matter what protein supplement you use, take a look at the label to ensure the protein supplement you are going to take has a good selection of the vitamins you want. This can be an easy and convenient way to get your weight loss vitamins.

About Protica Research

Founded in 2001, Protica, Inc. is a nutritional research firm specializing in the development of protein-rich, capsulized foods (dense nutrition in compact liquid and food forms). Protica manufactures Profect protein beverage, IsoMetric, Fruitasia and more than 100 other brands in its GMP-certified, 250,000 square foot facility.

 By Jim Duffy

Creating Good Weight Loss Programs for Women

The biggest problem with weight loss programs for women is the fact that they might be built for someone else and they might not be suitable in your case. Contrary to what you might believe, the most effective weight loss programs are different from one person to the other.
We have to take into account a lot of factors from the pounds that need to be shed to the timeframe that you have to respect. So what can you do in order to create perfect weight loss programs for women?

The first thing to analyze is the weight problem that has to be taken care of. How many pounds do you need to get rid of? In the event that the amount is big you will have to be prepared to spend a long time till the results are gained. Then you will have to think about timeframe but you need to be realistic. It is true that there are some weight loss programs for women that are based on diets that will help you lose weight really fast. The problem is that the loss of weight is not at all proper. In most cases you will actually become dehydrated or you will lose weight that should not be loss (ie. Losing muscle mass structure). In all situations such a program will lead to health problems and eventually you are going to put the weight back on. Most women even get to be heavier. It is a really bad idea to not lose weight properly.

We recommend that you read as much as possible about this subject although there is a very strong chance that you are going to fail if you do not know exactly what you are doing. In most cases women should go to a trainer or a nutritionist in order to lose weight. Weight loss should be done as a proper combination between working out and dieting. Diets are really effective if you respect them. In order to lose weight all that you basically need to do is to burn more calories than you are eating. Although it sounds simple, this can be really difficult if you are not working out. Through a proper workout routine you are going to burn many more calories as opposed to a regular lifestyle.

Another thing that you need to take into account is that there are many nutritional supplements that are going to help you reach better results with your weight loss programs for women. We recommend that you also take this into account so that you can gain points when referring to timeframe needed. It is normal to want to lose weight as fast as possible but your health needs to be really important. You also have to take into account your overall health. In some cases changes have to be done in the event that there are foods that cannot be eaten or exercises that cannot be performed. The bottom line is that you need patience but you are surely going to succeed.

 By W Q Stevens

How to Work Out at Home: Why You Don't Need a Gym to Get Into Great Shape

Maybe you travel a lot and don't have access to a gym. Maybe you're sick of the typical gym crowd. Or maybe you're tired of shelling out $100 a month for a gym membership.
Whatever the reason, giving up the gym doesn't mean you can no longer work toward your health and fitness goals.

Because the myth that you can only lose weight and get in shape by going to the gym is just that: a myth.
If you know what you're doing, working out at home can be just as rewarding as going to the gym-and you'll save time and money in the process.

Here are 5 exercises you can do at home to get an effective home workout:

1. Pull ups
Pull ups are one of the best upper body exercises-ever. In fact, I'll do pull ups over any lat machine pull downs or other fancy equipment back machines any day.

They strengthen your shoulders, lats, traps, biceps, triceps, even your abs-and they're tough, even for the strongest of us out there. Plus you can get a pull up bar for your home for cheap.
If you can't do a pull up, no matter-get stronger by first jumping up to the bar and slowly lowering yourself down. If pull ups are easy for you, add a weight belt, wear a heavy backpack or tie a weight around your waist.

2. Push ups
Push ups are another upper body exercise you can do at home without any equipment at all. They're great for your shoulders, back, arms, chest and abs.

You can do push ups anytime, anywhere-during commercials while you're watching TV, as part of a high intensity interval training workout, even right before bed.

When you're doing a push up, it's important to make sure you have the correct form: back straight, abs pulled in, touch your chest to the ground. For an easier variation, start with your hands on an elevated surface such as a countertop or a chair, or simply lower your knees to the ground and do your push up from there.

For variations of the classic push up, try dive bomber push ups, reptile push ups, double knee touch push ups, and pike push ups.

3. Jumping rope
If you're looking for a cardio workout to get your heart pumping and burn mega calories, look no further than the jump rope. Classically used as a training method by boxers, it's now big in fitness crazes such as CrossFit because it's so great at building your fitness level quickly.

You can buy a jump rope at any sporting goods store or online, and they're cheap-most go for under $10.
Try jumping rope while watching TV or listening to a podcast to make the time go faster.
Or, for a quick, effective jump rope workout, try doing jump rope high knees as a Tabata workout: 8 rounds of 10 and 20 seconds. Work hard during the 20 second intervals, and rest during the 10 second intervals.

4. Burpees
Burpees are another fantastic bodyweight workout to get your heart pumping. Here's how to do a burpee:

• Start in a standing position.
• Drop into a squat position with your hands on the ground.
• Extend your feet back toward the ground in one quick motion to end up in a plank
• Return to a squat position in one quick motion.
• Jump straight in the air as high as possible-add a little clap for enthusiasm!
• Repeat.

For a challenging burpee workout, try doing 100 in a row. That'll beat the elliptical machine any day!

5. Air squats
No weights? No problem. You can still do air squats at home and get your legs a great workout. Just remember, since you don't have weights, you'll need to do more than you would do at the gym to get the same level of workout.
To add a greater challenge, try doing squats with a sandbag or by holding weights by your side.

Try doing air squats as part of a Tabata workout (8 rounds of 10 and 20 seconds), or incorporated them into a high intensity interval workout for a killer leg burner.

 By Krista Stryker

Weight Loss For Teen Girls: 5 Quick Appetite Tips

So you 're in school, you've had a pretty calm day, nobody teased you yet and you're getting kind of hungry. You know you can step out and go to the bathroom and pass the snack machine, unless you're in one of those states that has reduced snack machines in favor of salad bars. (I'm not knocking this; I'm for it since studies are showing that curbing the sugar foods in vending machines is helping a lot of girls with weight. It's also teaching a better way of snacking.)

So, you know there's some greasy food or sugary food in the vending machine that will hold you over, and you're really hungry. You just can't wait snack until you go home, so what can you do?

1)
Do you remember how great it was to drink out of the hose when you were little? I'm not suggesting this now, but water is the answer. A glass of water is known to reduce your appetite, and it fills you up at the same time.

When you're hungry, it's no fun to drink water because then you won't really want to think about the greasy, sugary, oily foods. Why? Because you will be full, your hunger hormones will have stopped raging and you will be balanced.

But the habit of answering the call of that midday hunger is pretty deep in you.
What's great about water is that there are drinking fountains in most schools. So, even if they are not filtered, which many of them are, if the water in your area is clean enough to drink right out of the faucet, it's very much available.

ACTION STEP
Put an empty bottle in your bag so you can keep filling it up and have all day at your seat. And to save on manufacturing costs, why not keep the bottle and use it over and over. Or get a fancy shmancy bottle that does the same job. Either way, having water at your disposable is a lifesaver.

2)
The next tip is kind of sneaky. It requires having a full bottle of water in each class. I know it's a pain to drink because then you might have to go to the bathroom. I never liked to drink water at night so that I didn't have to get up in the middle. But that was flawed thinking. The body needs it.

ACTION STEP
Drink, at least, 8 ounces of water - that might be half your bottle - 30 minutes before it's time to eat or snack. That way, the water will make it easier for you to stretch out the time, and it will help to balance out your raging appetite. If 8 ounces doesn't do it, try 16 ounces. 16 ounces can't really hurt your body. It can make you full and make it easy to control your appetite. It's also nothing anyone can tease you over. It's always good to hydrate the body, so that's what you are doing. Plus you will be more alert in class, even if you're just sitting there texting in class or writing notes.

3)
Tip 3 has to do with, yes, you guessed it, water.

ACTION STEP
When you are totally hungry, go wash your face, not drinking it, using it. Of course, not every teacher will allow you to leave the room when you want. But, if you can't go to the bathroom to wash your face, you also can't go to the vending machine.
Make sure to wash your face immediately after class, if you get the chance. It will slow your desire to race to the vending machine or corner store. While you are washing your face to slow down the hunger chemicals, drink a glass of water. It absolutely changes how you feel. Do it.

4)
The 4th tip has to do with what you bring from home. If you're having trouble with weight, it's a good idea to pre-pay for your lunch so that you can't get too much or the wrong food.
This would mean that you would make your lunch at home, if you're not on a meal plan.

This reminds me of my coconut milk ice cream activity. If I buy a pint, I will finish it by the end of the day. I won't carefully designate separate dessert portions. So I rarely allow myself to bring it into the house. Because, not only will I eat the whole container's worth, but I will get another container for the next 3 days in a row, until I will myself to stop through my super, duper WarriorsOfWeight Consulting method.

ACTION STEP
Leave your money home. Pre-pay for lunch or ask the dietician (through the school nurse) to plan your meals for you and only give you no choice, no matter what you ask for. You should have this discussion in private so that it is not a source of embarrassment.
Who knows? You might start a trend where everyone starts to ask for healthy food.

5)
The last tip is to be consistent. It's easy to take a tip and do it once. The way it makes an impact and sustains itself is if it continues to happen. It requires strong mindset which, by the way, you have because struggles make us strong willed. Anyone who can overeat with vigor, has learned a strong habit and way to act. The eating food habit can be changed to a different behavior with the strength the habit has created.

ACTION STEP
Follow through on tips 1 through 4 and write down how often the first week. Then, it should be a more natural process.

CONCLUSION
Good luck on this journey. Please don't give up if you continue to eat in ways that make you gain weight. Be patient, self-loving and consistent. Enjoy the small changes that will certainly come about. When you implement these tips, you will see how easy and effective they are.

 By Diane Gold

Vital Vitamins and Effective Weight Loss

Unless you're a health buff or a medical professional, you probably don't know each and every vitamin that your body needs. A vitamin basically supplies our bodies with compounds that we cannot sufficiently produce on our own or not at all. There vitamins that most of us are familiar with, like Vitamin C for our immune system, Vitamin A for our eye sight, and Vitamin D for the skin. One specific vitamin is essential to our body's normal performance. Vitamin B12 is an integral factor to the development of blood and is important our brain and the nervous system to work properly. But there is one other special benefit we can receive from this unique organic compound.

Also known as Cyanocobalamin, vitamin B12 has other great benefits for the human body. It can revitalize your body and boost your energy during the day. It also helps fight certain cancers keep your mental state balanced and upbeat. Individuals who lack the necessary daily requirement of vitamin B12 in their body are prone to depression, getting tired easily, anemia, gastrointestinal problems, and neurological complications like memory loss, paranoia and many more. B12 helps keep both the body and mind working as efficiently as possible, that is why it is so important to make sure you get you daily dose either through your diet or through supplements.

While all of these benefits are great, vitamin B12 is also known to help individuals lose weight. As vitamin B12 promotes a healthy digestive system and help our bodies maintain its metabolism, this in turn burns more calories and reduce food intake by satiating a person's hunger pangs.

Vitamin B12 injections have been available to the public not only to prevent B12 deficiency, but also to quickly lose weight in a safe manner. B12 injections takes your weight loss program a step further by giving you energy and a healthy feeling which helps you during your daily exercise regimen. Combine this with a healthy meal every day and you've unlocked the fast track to weight loss.

When taking vitamin B12 injections, it is enough for an adult to take at most, 3 micrograms a day. While overdosing on B12 is unlikely, anything in excess that the recommended dietary allowance is not recommended. Additionally, your body won't make use of the excess as it no longer needs it. Still, it is better to be safe than sorry. B12 injections are in a lot of ways better than capsules because it is easily absorbed by the body and it immediately gets the vitamin requirement it needs for the day.

For those who want to try out B12 supplements, a good brand to look for is Trim Nutrition's B12 injections. They also carry one specifically designed to aid in weight loss and combines B12 with other vitamin supplements that your body needs as well and may also help in treating other illnesses. However, you should know that B12 is not an instant cure at all, you still need to combine that with nutritious food and an active lifestyle to maximize its benefits and start losing weight.

By Kenneth Levenstein

Does B12 Help You Lose Weight?

So does B12 help you lose weight? Yes, it does, and let me tell you how it does that. If you are in a weight loss program, you might as well have heard about B12, but if you have not, do not fret, I will let you know what it is all about and how it is important in helping lose weight.
What it is:

B12 is vitamin which is normally referred to as vitamin B12. It is essential during the process of cell metabolism during which it is actively involved in the process of converting energy into fats and proteins. In fact, it is too used as a treatment for most anemic patients. But lately, it has gained popularity as a weight loss supplement more than an anemia treatment. So in view of all this, let us closely look at the truth about B12 and weight loss.

Where is it found?
This vitamin is readily available in most animal products. These include milk, eggs and meat. It is however available as a supplement or as an injection. However, the recommended form of vitamin B12 is the natural form. This is because the injection and the supplements have been found to have active ingredients responsible for evoking negative side effects such as nausea and suppressed appetite. So if you want to use weight loss B12, make sure that you consume foods that are rich in the vitamin rather than equip yourself with its supplements.

How does it work?
Though there has been a controversial debate on whether vitamin B12 does work in weight reduction, some experts have unanimously agreed that there is indeed a connection between the two. The vitamin is not directly responsible for weight reduction but to some extent it does.

 It is known to increase water retention as well as boost the energy levels. In so doing, the metabolic system is kept high by the retained water thus making the body a fat burning machine.

Similarly, when the energy levels are kept high, the burning of calories is made equally easy. Thus as you may find, those people that consume foods rich in B 12 are likely to lose some pounds with ease as compared to those that do not.

Precaution:
Well, there is very little scientific evidence as to whether vitamin B12 does really work well in weight reduction. But when it comes to weight loss, evidence from those that have tried it would be more useful than merely relying on some experts. If you would want to consider using the vitamin to help lose weight, then consider its natural form. This is because this is quite experimental and only the natural form would be safe to do so.

So at the end of the day, we can conclude from the question that does B12 help you lose weight, since in essence it is the evidence from those that have tried that matters. But always remember,to avoid being misled, you should do extensive research and finally decide.

 By M Edward

Weight Loss Success Stories For Women Can Start With A Few Simple Strategies

If you have been carrying a few extra pounds for several years, it is time to take a hard look at your diet. You cannot just push a button and start losing belly fat. Just like any project you undertake, there has to be some background data available to establish direction.

Yes, weight loss success stories for women start in the kitchen, but you have to go through the Planning Room to get there. Educate yourself about what foods provide energy and build lean muscle (which increases your metabolism naturally) and what foods are most easily deposited on your waist and hips as fat.

Something has got to go
You cannot go wrong by getting sugar foods and processed foods out of your current diet. These two groups do more to sabotage your fat loss efforts than any other. Yes, both of these groups taste great, but that is about where it begins and ends.

Sugar foods (pastries, boxed cereal, desserts, pop, energy drinks) are loaded with calories and jack-up your blood sugar levels which spikes insulin release. These foods are carried right to fat storage.

Processed foods are usually high-carb, high-fat, high-calorie...and bloated with chemicals you cannot even pronounce. Even though it may taste delicious, do you really want that lump lying in your stomach all evening?

Natural foods are the backbone of fat loss for women
Replace sugar foods and processed foods with those produced by Mother Nature. Fresh fruit and raw vegetables are your best source of carbs for energy. Just eating one apple can make you feel full for a couple of hours, and it is certainly better than chocolate-covered doughnut.
Be conscious of what you eat at each meal and snack. If you include at least one fruit, one vegetable, and one solid protein source each time, you are on your way to lifelong nutrition.

Fruits and vegetables contain a load of vitamins, fiber, and anti-oxidants. Truly, you will NOT find that in a bagel and cream cheese. Solid protein sources make you feel satiated (full) and are the building blocks of lean muscle tissue.

Educate yourself about eating healthy unsaturated fats and Omega-3's.
Natural foods are the "go-to" source for Olympic and professional athletes. Trust me, figure skaters, 200m butterfliers, and heptathletes are NOT loading up with foods out of boxes and plastic containers to win gold medals.

Eating less does not mean starving
Losing belly fat is not about starving yourself, but it is about reducing the intake of foods that are not good for you and creating a "calorie deficit" each week. The great thing about eating natural foods is that you can eat as many raw vegetables as you wish. (You can't do that with chicken nuggets or pizza, can you?)

Eating less bread and pasta will also help accelerate fat loss. Yes, I know they are promoted as energy for athletes, but unless you are training each day for a sprint competition, you can reduce your consumption down to one or two small portions each week.

Eating natural foods to lose weight also keeps you from extreme dieting strategies that can be harmful.
Meal planing is a key to weight loss success stories for women

Plan you meals, don't just grab food on the fly. Until quality food choices become automatic, use a pencil and paper to plan out several days of eating...and stick to it!
Start with your basic one fruit, one vegetable, one solid protein (like turkey, grilled chicken, or wild fish) and add in others. You will be surprised how an apple, several celery sticks, a few almonds, and a grilled chicken breast will fill you up.
 
Eating out can lead to pigging out
Eating out puts you in an atmosphere where you can easily stray from your nutritional path. You go into a nice restaurant where the smell of burning fat is seductive, the pictures in the menu look out of this world, and people are laughing and having fun. It is really hard to resist food that doesn't do anything other than sit on body as fat.

Yes, I know many restaurants promote their menu as "healthy for you", but unless you are ordering a house salad with light oil dressing EVERY time, you will sabotage yourself.
Why set yourself up? Save money and save the progress you've made by doing something special like a small picnic. You'll thank yourself at the end of the year.

Weight loss success stories for women require lifestyle changes
Weight loss success stories for women happen because changes are made for a more positive lifestyle. Dieting simply does not work because it is a short-term fix. You want to lose belly fat and thigh fat...and keep it off forever. You can do it by adhering to basic nutritional guidelines, and turning them into lifelong eating habits.

 By Cade Beach

Fastest Way To Lose Belly Fat Fast

When most people first embark on a weight loss program the first thing they'll look for is the fastest way to lose belly fat. Most people are completely wrong at first because they'll quickly believe that restricting calories is the best way to lose belly fat. In addition to severely restricting their calories they'll also begin a cardiovascular program as well but unfortunately for them there are much more effective ways of burning fat. This article will reveal the best and fastest ways to lose fat so you can stop wasting your times and instead get the maximum results from your efforts.

The main reason restricting calories from your diet is not a good long term weight loss strategy is because you'll eventually binge and ruin all the progress you've made. Restricting calories will work if you're going to be eating unhealthy foods but you should instead focus on eating healthier alternatives instead. This will help you lose belly fat more naturally and you won't have to go through the pain of starving neither. This way you will be able to have a long term strategy that you can realistically do forever instead of starving yourself and only getting short term results.

Some of the healthier foods which will help you burn fat include lean protein sources, fruits, vegetables and healthy fats. A few examples of lean protein sources include chicken, turkey, salmon and tuna. While some healthy fats that you should be consuming as a part of your diet include nuts, avocados and other unsaturated oils. Most people also think that just by avoiding fats in their diet they can burn more fat but actually you're body needs the healthy ones to function properly. Instead eliminate the junk foods, dairy and fattening starchy carbohydrates such as pizza, pasta and bread.

There have been quite a few studies which have looked at traditional steady state cardio and they have found it is not an effective way to lose belly fat. High intensity interval training has been proven through research to be much more effective at burning fat and it's a recommended exercise method over endurance training. Also most people stay away from weight lifting because they don't want to become bulky but in reality having lean muscle will help to burn fat as well as improve the toning of the body. When lifting weights instead of focusing on isolation exercises try using a challenging weight in total body exercises with minimal rest in between movements.

The above dieting and training strategies are going to be the fastest ways to get rid of belly fat. All the crunches and situps in the world are not going to spot reduce the fat on your abdominals but it may help build some muscle underneath to help tone them. The only real way to eliminate your stomach fat is by implementing a long term dieting and training routine.  Stop wasting your time with methods that have not been proven to help burn fat and instead focus on the above strategies to help burn more fat so you can lose belly fat the natural way.

 By Josh Schlottman

Women: Getting A Perfect Body - Believe It Is Possible

Knowing how to get a perfect body is important for many women, since having a beautiful body, of course, will get them more admirers and will open up many opportunities for them as well as helping them feel more confident and better about themselves.

Additionally, a great body is equated with perfect health. If you have a slim and well toned body then that simply means that you are in excellent shape. After all, being overweight or obese is one of the main causes of some of the most dreadful and deadliest diseases.
This article is for all women who want to know how to get a perfect body. Here, you will find three valuable tips that you can follow right away to get you nearer to your goal.

Believe that it can be done
Before you start searching for specific answers to the question of how to get a perfect body, you must first believe that it is possible for you to achieve this goal. Some women think that having an amazing body is a matter of having good genes, that you are either born with a great body or you are not. This is simply not true. No matter what shape you are in right now, you can get the body you want.

Start by envisioning yourself as someone with a sexy body and plan out when you want to achieve this by. Really try to imagine how it will feel to see all those admiring looks, and the confidence you will feel when you go to the beach or other social occasion with your amazing new body. Once you have these images clear in your mind, then take actions to support this vision.

Define your concept of a perfect body
You cannot reach a goal if you do not know what it is. To say that you want to get a perfect body is a very vague statement. The word "perfect" means different things to different people. To some women, having a perfect body means having a 24 inch waistline. To other women it is simply having a toned and well proportioned body.

Whether you would like some more muscle mass to bring out your natural feminine curves, or you want to lose the excess body fat to reveal the new you underneath, you must first have a clear definition of what a perfect body means to you before you set yourself in achieving it. Your goal will have an important effect on what approach you take in your nutrition and exercise plans.

Take action
This is really the most important aspect in your quest to a better body and healthier you. You'll
need a disciplined approach to your dieting and exercise routines to maximise your efforts.Whether your goal is to gain muscle mass or lose body fat or both, the key is consistent action taken frequently. It is better to workout for 20 minutes 3 times per week every week, than blasting out a marathon 2 hour session once or twice and then quitting.

In the case of getting a perfect body, slow and steady really does win the race.

 By John Wheeler

The Most Effective Way to Lose Belly Fat Fast - I Flattened My Stomach & Dropped 52 LBS In 8 Weeks!

Trying to lose belly fat fast but nothing ever seems to work out for you? Read on to see what worked incredibly well for me in just 8 weeks!

Okay, first things first. Please, take my advice and steer clear away from unnatural dieting. Unnatural dieting will never produce the results you hoped for. I tried so many of those fad diets you see all over the place ranging from the low carb, low calorie, low fat types to the banana diets, lemonade diets, prepackaged meal plans, and on and on!

You know what? None of those expensive systems worked for me as well as thousands of other people! They don't work because they are completely unnatural and will only reduce your metabolism... which is a BIG no-no (if your metabolism slows down, then this will cause yo-yo weight loss and will cause your body to store excess calories as fat)!

Now, after trying so many different diets once before and never getting the results I wanted in order to lose belly fat fast, obviously I was pretty skeptical with anything else I came across... until one day...

I came across this cool looking diet program that clearly made mention of the fact that it is based on natural methods of dieting and that it is against doing anything unnatural such as those crazy fad diets above. After using the program for 2 months, I dropped 52 pounds, I lost stomach fat, and I lost 4 inches from my waistline... EASILY!

Why was this diet more effective than anything I ever tried? Well, the reason this program worked while others didn't was simple. This diet was based around a powerful combination of getting 100% proper nutrition and boosting your metabolism to the maximum peak.

Since proper nutrition is the #1 rule of dieting, and the #2 rule is to naturally boost your metabolism, then obviously if you combine the two together, then you most certainly are going to have something special! All I had to do was eat NORMAL foods in a special way to cause my body to release several fat burning hormones... and that's it!

Bottom line, if you have been searching high and low for the best way to lose belly fat fast, then I highly recommend you look for a diet that is based on taking proper nutrition and combining it with boosting your metabolism. You'll be amazed at how quick but yet simple this type of dieting truly is!

By Avy Barnes

Diets and Exercise - What's Your Personal Style?

The diet and exercise industries are booming.
Experts say about 75 Million American adults are dieting at any given time and will "try" an average of 4 diets per year.

The diet industry rakes in about $61 Billion a year.
So why are there reports all over the news that we Americans are fatter, more obese, and more unhealthy than ever before in our history and, in some categories, worse off than any other modern, civilized country?

One Size Fits All Marketing
Naturally, there are many reasons for our declining health and increasing waist lines.
There is no single, simple answer.
But one factor is marketing.

You can't watch TV for more than a few minutes, it seems, without seeing an ad for a miracle diet program or a miraculous, revolutionary piece of exercise equipment.
All of those things can, actually, do you some good. In fact, in some cases, a lot of good.
But a diet can only help you if you get on the diet, follow it, and stick with it.

And a hot piece of exercise equipment will only work if you use it...on a regular and ongoing basis. It does you no good under the bed or in the closet.
The big problem is that the way the marketing machines present these to us often makes it seem like they're magic, take no effort at all, and are fun, fast, and easy.

And, to compound those misconceptions, they make it seem like "one size fits all." Like everyone can diet the same way and exercise the same way.
One Size Does Not Fit All

It sure would be easy if we could all lose weight and get fit the same way and if it really were fast and easy.
Of course you know that's not the truth.
You probably have some friends or relatives who seem to eat anything and never gain a pound. Or who just love to jump out of bed in the morning and go on a nice 5 mile run...and they do it religiously.

And you may also have friends who want to diet and exercise more but never seem to work up the energy or find the time to do it.
Maybe you're the type of person who starts lots of diets and exercise programs but gets bored quickly and quits one after the other while your cousin gets on a diet and exercise program and just patiently works and works and works at it until his/her goals are met.
We're all different.

It's About Your Own Natural, Innate Traits & Characteristics
The more consistently you do things in general in ways that are consistent with your own,

natural, innate, inborn traits, characteristics, strengths, likes, dislikes, and preferences, the easier and more natural those things are for you and the more successful you are at them.You (and everyone else) are born with preferred ways of behavior. Some are faster, some slower. You may prefer dealing with people or dealing with things and tasks. Perhaps you react strongly to emotions or maybe you're better with facts and figures.

We're all different and have a unique combination of these various traits and characteristics.
They It influence, impact, dictate, and determine your behavioral style in all aspects of your life...how you act, react, and interact in all circumstances, with all people you encounter, and with your emotions and feelings, too.

Therefore, it's obvious that they will also determine how you should approach dieting in general and how to use and implement a particular diet.
In fact, most people fail at dieting and sticking with exercise plans because they try to do them in ways they are contrary to their own natural preferences, traits, characteristics, and behavioral style.

So the way they diet literally becomes a fight. It's akin to a war...your against your own nature and you against your diet.
Go about dieting and exercising like that and you'll lose the diet and exercise wars.
Based on your natural traits and characteristics, you'll fall into one of four broad "how-to" diet categories:

• Slow & Easy
• Fun & Flexible
• Disciplined & Patient
• Fast & Furious

Which of those sounds most like you?
Just by looking at their names, you should be able to get a feeling for which you are and also see how radically different they are.

When it comes to easy and successful weight loss, one size definitely does NOT fit all.
The solution is to pay close attention to the ins and outs of your natural traits and characteristics.

Use those strengths to modify how you diet - regardless of what legitimate diet program you're on - and you'll find that you'll automatically lose weight easier and more successfully than you ever have before.

 By Dexter Godbey

Why One Size (Diet) Does Not Fit All

for many women, dieting is a way of life. In fact, at any given moment--according to various studies--somewhere between 33 and 45 percent of adult American females are dieting.
Are you one of them? If so, you've probably adopted a plan described in a magazine article or a diet book. It might look like a good food plan--but how can you know whether it provides enough calories?

Here's how to figure that out--and why it's so important.
Many diet plans for women recommend somewhere between 1,000 and 1,300 calories a day, and that simply isn't enough energy for you to exercise, protect your lean muscle tissue, and stave off hunger. That is, unless you're a very small person or have a slow metabolism.
Maybe you're thinking, But I'm in a hurry to shed this fat--so if I cut more calories, I can get lean faster.

I understand that you're hot to fit into your skinny jeans, but cutting calories too severely will backfire. Why?

• You're going to feel more hungry and deprived--and thus are more likely to cheat.
• You'll burn not just fat but also lean muscle, the engine that drives your metabolic rate and helps you burn more calories all day long.
• Your levels of the appetite-regulating hormones leptin and ghrelin will get out of whack, causing an increase in hunger. And who wants to end up after a diet with less muscle, more hunger, and a slower metabolism?

Have I gotten your attention? Good. Now I'm going to explain a better, smarter way than following a "one size fits all" diet plan.

Gathering information
Using a quick online calculator (just Google the term "daily calorie calculator," and you'll find plenty of them), you can get a fast and fairly accurate assessment of your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). That's the sum of the calories you burn just existing (basal metabolic rate) and through physical activity.
The calculator should ask for your height, weight, age, and sex. It's also going to ask you to choose an activity level, from sedentary through extremely active. The activity levels are defined as follows:

• Sedentary: person doesn't exercise at all
• Lightly active: person does light activity or sports one to three times weekly
• Moderately active: person does moderate activity or sports three to five days a week
• Very active: person does hard exercise or sports six or seven days a week
• Extremely active: person trains intensely more than once a day or performs a job that is very physical

Once you plug in those numbers and select an activity level, you'll get an instant estimate of "average actual metabolism" (your TDEE) and resting metabolism (the number of calories you'd burn if you performed no activity at all).

Yes, there is individual variation: some people require more energy (calories) than the estimate; some need less. But the number gives you a good place to start. You can always adjust as needed if you discover that you seem to burn more or fewer calories.

Figuring out how many calories to consume
Now that you've got your estimate, you can make a smart decision about how many calories to cut.

The most sensible strategy is to reduce calories by a specific percentage: 15 to 20 percent for a moderate pace of fat loss, 25 to 30 percent if you want to be more aggressive.
You can safely be more aggressive if you have a lot of fat to lose and do not have a history of losing, then regaining weight.

If you're smaller (and have 20 pounds or less to shed) or have been on and off diets for years, the more conservative approach is preferable.
Grab a calculator, and let's figure this out.

The "average actual metabolism" (TDEE) number you determined above is your maintenance level--the number of calories it takes to keep your weight steady. Decide which percentage of calorie restriction you want to use: 15, 20, 25, or 30 percent.
Multiply TDEE by the percentage. If, for example, your TDEE is 2,200 and you want to cut calories by 25 percent, that's 2,200 x.25, and the result is 550. That's the number of calories to cut from your daily intake.

Subtract that result from TDEE to get the number of calories to eat daily while on your diet. In this example, that's a TDEE of 2,200 - 550, which equals 1,650. At that rate, you should burn a pound of fat about every 6.4 days (subject to individual variation).
If you want to lose fat more quickly, consider increasing your activity level rather than cutting back on food.

Make sense?
Does this sound like a whole lot more food than a lot of diets permit? And, um, do you think it might be easier to stick to than that 1,000-calorie-a-day plan in your women's magazine?

Mary C. Weaver, CSCS, is a body-transformation coach for women over 40 and an NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist.

Her specialty is helping women lose weight, rev up their metabolism, and take years off their body.

 By Mary C Weaver

Secrets To Healthy Weight Loss

Are you looking for healthy weight loss secrets, or the next weight loss gimmick? There are many fad diets, crash diets, and weight loss gurus on the internet today. Each has the "best", the "easiest", and the "fastest" way to lose weight. But the question that you should ask before starting one of these plans is "is this a healthy way to lose weight?" What is the point of losing weight to fit into those skinny jeans if you are compromising your health in the process? You may fit into the jeans, but no one looks good when they are ill. Below you will find the secrets to losing those pounds without losing your health.

Get Plenty Of Sleep

If you are up all night, or spend the night tossing and turning, then your body suffers as well as your life. You reach for the caffeine and sugar to get you going in the morning. You are running late so you don't eat a healthy breakfast, instead grabbing some fast food, or even skipping breakfast. Your mood is negative and you just don't feel like doing anything. People that don't get 7-9 hours of sleep regularly weigh more than people that do sleep well.

Don't Skip Breakfast

Your metabolism is what controls how fast your body burns calories. After sleeping all night, your metabolism is very slow. If you want to lose weight, then within an hour of waking, you need to eat breakfast. Breakfast comes from "breaking the fast", which is what you body experiences as you sleep, fasting. Eating within one hour of waking jump starts your metabolism and you burn more calories throughout the day than you would if you skipped breakfast. Just make sure to pick something healthy and with nutritional value, like scrambled eggs and oatmeal, instead of empty calorie laden foods, such as doughnuts, danishes, and coffee cake. It sounds counter intuitive, because you believe that if you skip breakfast, then that means you eat less calories during the day. But the truth is that those that eat breakfast end up eating less throughout the day. You will also make better nutritional choices because you will not be battling cravings.

Eat The Right Foods

Wanna boost your metabolism and burn more fat? Then you should add some of the following foods to your daily diet. Some boost metabolism, some help flush fat, and some help build muscles. The more muscle you have, the more fat your body will burn. But all have additional nutritional benefit, such as being high in calcium or omega 3. Just remember, all things in moderation. Try these foods: pecans, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, flaxseed, grapeseed, mustard seed, celery seed, chia seed, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, hempseed oil, wheat germ oil, canola oil, olive oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, cottonseed oil, chia seed oil, avocados, mushrooms, hot peppers, apples, pears, citrus fruit, dried fruits, olives, kale, turnip greens, mustard greens, collards, bok choy, broccoli, celery, celery seed, marjoram, mustard seed, basil, thyme, garlic, cinnamon, ginger, oats, whole grains, brown rice, beans, sage, parsley, rosemary, lean meats, sardines, salmon, tuna, herring, spirulina, quinoa, lowfat yogurt, dark chocolate, vinegar, and purified water.

By Felix Makmur

How Certain Diets Lower Cholesterol Levels More Effectively

To avoid health problems like diabetes and heart diseases, you must take steps to maintain the cholesterol level in the body. There are many factors that are responsible for increasing the your cholesterol levels within the body.

An important factor that can increase these levels in the blood is the weight of the person. When you shed the excess fat from your body, you can lower the bad cholesterol level and increase the level of good cholesterol.

A few other factors that can increase the bad levels, also know as LDL or low-density lipoprotein, include age, gender and lack of physical exercise. Also, some people have high cholesterol levels in their blood because most of their family members also suffer from this problem. One of the best ways of dealing with this problem is making changes in your diet.

How Can Certain Diets Lower Cholesterol

Most health experts are of the view that low-cholesterol diet is the best way of lowering the cholesterol levels. Cutting down the intake of bad cholesterol by about 20 percent will help in lowering the cholesterol levels and minimizes the risk of heart diseases.

An ideal low-cholesterol diet will include fish and vegetable oils and will exclude foods that contain trans fat and saturated fat. One of the ways of switching from high-cholesterol diet to low-cholesterol diet is by replacing trans fat margarine, polyunsaturated oils and butter that you use with olive oil, plant sterol spreads and canola oil.

If you want to keep your pan moist when cooking, you can cook with white wine vinegar instead of butter. White wine vinegar helps in reducing the cholesterol levels without changing the taste of the food. You can also lower the cholesterol levels by replacing ordinary eggs with cholesterol free eggs.

The Right Way of Changing Your Diet

If you want your low-cholesterol diet plan to be effective, you must make the right changes in your diet plan. Some people are not able to get the desired results because they don't make the right changes in the food they eat.

People, who eat high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, run the risk of increasing their cholesterol levels. Cholesterol is an important requirement of the human body and our body has a backup plan if we make sudden changes in our diet.

When you eat low-cholesterol food, your liver starts producing cholesterol to make sure the minimum requirements of the body are met. When you eat high-carbohydrate, low fat diet, the insulin level in the body increases which triggers the body to move the excess sugar into the liver to produce cholesterol. Therefore, it is important that you include foods that contain good cholesterol in your diet plan.

Since the liver makes only about 75% cholesterol required by the body, the remaining cholesterol comes from the food you eat. If you reduce your intake of cholesterol and eat high carb foods, your body reacts by overproducing cholesterol to make sure the cholesterol levels are maintained.

This overproduction of cholesterol will not stop until you start eating foods that contain cholesterol. Therefore, it is important that you include good cholesterol foods in your diet plan and avoid eating foods that have high carbohydrate content.

 By Micah Chan

How Many Calories Should I Eat a Day?

The term "Calorie" has become very common as this is the measure recommended by dietitians and nutritionists to reduce body weight. Also, this is the term people are more concerned about, to avoid obesity and other ill effects.

Most people think that they consume less calories if they are not eating enough. But this is a wrong approach as this lowers the metabolic rate and puts body into starvation mode. The ideal way is to maintain your calories by eating right amount of highly nutrient food.

An active person who exercises every day will burn more calories than the person who is moderately active with less physical activities.

Men, Women and Children have different daily calorie needs as there are different metabolisms, different heights, weight, age and gender for every human being. The current lifestyle also has an impact in the amount of healthy calorie intake. In general, Men need 2000 to 2500 calories and Women need 1500 to 2400 calories per day depending on their age levels, height and weight. There are many ways to analyse your daily calories needs. There are calorie calculators that help you to estimate daily calorie needs based on gender, height, weight, age and activity level.

It is recommended to eat at least 1200 to 1500 calories per day if you want to lose weight, but this diet plan cannot be followed forever. You need to take balanced diet with enough calories to stay active and healthy.

Men at the age group of 20 to 30 years who do less exercise would need approximately 2400 calories per day whereas Women at the same age group, with the same type of workout routines would need around 2000 calories per day. Men of age group 31 to 50 with less physical activity levels would need 2200 to 2300 calories per day while women of age group 31 to 50 with less physical activity would need 1800 to 1900 calories per day.

This calculation applies to children as well. Children of age group 2 to 3 years would need 1000 calories per day whereas children of age group 4 to 8 years would need 1100 to 1500 calories per day with less physical activity levels.

Young boys at the age group of 9 to 18 years require around 1800 to 3000 calories and girls require around 1800 to 2200 calories per day.
Women above 50 years of age need 1600 to 1700 calories per day and Men above 50 years may need 2000 to 2200 calories per day with less physical activity levels.

Similarly, Men of age group 20 to 50 years with more Physical activity levels may need 2500 to 3000 calories per day and women may require 2000 to 2500 calories per day.
Men above 50 years would need 2300 to 2800 calories and women would need 1800 to 2300 calories per day with more physical activities.

Calorie Calculator
There are many calorie calculators available online to predict the daily calorie needs. Once you estimate your calorie needs, follow it for a week and start monitoring the changes to your body weight. Make adjustments in calorie intake as required so that you can maintain your weight as you wish.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
You need to calculate BMR to figure out ho many calories you need per day. BMR measures the amount of calories you need to maintain your current weight with normal body processes. The very simple and basic formulae for calculating your BMR is - just multiply your current body weight by 10.

For example, if your current weight is 100 lbs, 1000 calories per day is the basal metabolic rate. Basal Metabolic Rate calculation does not include the measure from physical activity levels (based on exercise limits). You can use some other formulas like Harris - Benedict formula and Katch-McArdle formula to estimate the BMR that includes activity levels.

Exercise is an important factor that determines your daily calorie needs. If you are more physically active or if you do lot of exercise, your body needs slightly higher calorie levels. However, there are other factors like age, height and amount of body fat you have etc also plays a vital role in determining calorie needs.

Maintain an Activity Diary
You need to evaluate yourself by maintaining an activity diary. You need to determine if you are sedentary, moderately active or active.
You are "sedentary" if there is not much physical activity in your lifestyle or job. It may involve mostly sitting, standing etc. You are "lightly active" if you do very light walking. You are "Moderately active" if you do slightly more physical activity than just walking. This may include doing some cleaning, some other work to be done manually. You are "Very active" if you do lot of work and more exercise. You are "Extremely active" if you are involved in any sports, regular hard work outs etc. Keep a track of these different activity levels in the diary.

Set a target of two weeks and keep a detailed record of things you eat and drink in two weeks period. Record all you physical activities, weight and update the diary every day with your routines. After 2 weeks, if your weight is the same when you started, you are on the right track and you are consuming the calories calculated by BMR. If you have gained weight during the 2 weeks exercise, you need to do the necessary changes in your diet plan.

Balance your diet with healthy foods
It is important to know what type of calories you eat every day. You need to allocate your daily calorie intake as follows:

1. Take 40% of protein rich food every day. You can get rich proteins from lean meat, fish, milk, eggs

2. Eat 40% carbohydrates that come from beans, peas, oats, lentils, yogurts etc. Do not go for items like sugar, beverages, cookies, pizza, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta etc

3. 20% of unsaturated or good fat is acceptable. You can eat nuts, seeds etc

Take only Balanced diet with healthy calories and please do remember that calories are the only way to keep check in your weight. You need to alter the calorie intake to lose weight. Any diet plan without a clear distribution in the types of calories will not be of help. Choose a correct diet plan and determine the daily calorie needs.

 By Jack Kern

Finding the Right Calories for Weight Loss

Dieting can be a mentally draining endeavor. There are so many diet plans which are often contradictory to each other; you don't know which plan is the best. You have low carb, low calorie, hypo caloric, gluten free, Paleo diet and so many others; you don't know what to choose.

No matter which diet you choose, the all must adhere to the same law of thermodynamics. If you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. The same holds true for the opposite. If you consume less than you burn, you will lose weight.

So how do you know how many calories you need to consume on a daily basis? Although you want to cut your food intake, cutting them too low can be almost as bad as eating too much.

Too much of a calorie deficit will lead to quick initial weight loss but soon your metabolism will slow down. When you return to your normal calorie intake along with your slower metabolism, you will gain weight and return back to where you started.

A healthy weight loss diet will yield 1-2 lbs. of fat loss per week. There are exceptions such excess water loss during the initial stage of the diet or obese individuals who hold excess water weight. If you don't fit in these categories and you are still losing 5 lbs. a week, you need to re-evaluate your progress to ensure most of that weight loss isn't muscle mass.

There are several ways you can calculate the amount of calories needed to sustain a healthy fat loss rate. There are complicated equations that take height, weight, and activity level into account. A simpler equation is to take your current weight and multiply it by 15. This is your maintenance calorie level. To lose weight you can take that number and subtract 500 calories per day. Each person is different so you may need to adjust these number a bit.

A truer measurement of you daily caloric intake is to actually measure the amount of calories you are consuming each day. For seven days, record everything you eat. Find a calorie counting website like Fitday to calculate your total calories eaten for the week. Take this number and divide by 7. This is your average daily calorie intake. Take your daily calorie intake and subtract 300-500 calories each day. To ensure accuracy, pick a day for a weigh in and weigh yourself at the same time of day each week. If you are losing weight, stay on track. If you didn't lose any weight, subtract an additional 200 kcals.

By Richard Ambrose

Are You Motivated to Lose Weight?

 

Everyone wants to look their best, but appearance should never be your primary motivation for losing weight and burning fat. The key reason to be slim and toned is to have good health. If you are committing to a fitness program, such as boot camp, and you're having a hard time staying motivated, you may not be placing exercise in the proper perspective or place in your life.

As personal trainer I tell my boot camp in Las Vegas members, exercise should be an every day health priority and have as much importance in your life as washing your hands or brushing your teeth. There are certain things we do because we know they're necessary to be healthy and avoid getting sick. We take vitamins. We make sure the dishes we're using are clean. We get immunizations. The list goes on and on. Many of us, though, miss out on the one thing that's most necessary to keep us healthy: a strong and lean body that comes from exercise.

Here are some startling statistics from the American Heart Association:
· Nearly 112,000 deaths per year may be attributable to obesity and the risk of death rises with increasing weight.

· Even moderate weight excess (10 to 20 pounds for a person of average height) increases the risk of death, particularly among adults ages 30 to 64.

· People who are obese (defined as having a body mass index [BMI] greater than 30) have a higher risk of excess death (they are more likely to die) from all causes, compared to people at a healthy weight.

· Obesity is now recognized as a major risk factor for coronary heart disease, which can lead to heart attack.
· High blood pressure is more common in adults who are obese than in those who are at a healthy weight.

· A weight gain of 11 to 18 pounds increases a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes to twice that of people who have not gained weight.

· Over 80 percent of people with diabetes are overweight or obese.
· Overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk for some types of cancer including endometrial (cancer of the lining of the uterus), colon, gall bladder, prostate, kidney and postmenopausal breast cancer.

· Women gaining more than 20 pounds from age 18 to midlife double their risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, compared to women whose weight remains stable.

· Sleep apnea (interrupted breathing while sleeping) is more common in obese persons.

· Obesity is associated with a higher prevalence of asthma.

· For every 2-pound increase in weight, the risk of developing arthritis increases by 9 to 13 percent.

Based on this information, being even a few pounds overweight can put you at risk for all sorts of illness and disease. If your extra weight comes from "enjoying life" think about the quality of life you would have with heart disease or arthritis. You can avoid a great many ailments simply by making exercise as habitual as many other daily practices.

Several of my boot camp in Las Vegas clients started with the program because of a desire to lose weight and like the way they look in the mirror. Boot camp is definitely a great way to lose unhealthy weight in a healthy manner, in a relatively short period of time. Once the optimal weight is achieved, boot camp helps maintain strength, cardio fitness and overall health. Boot camp in Las Vegas clients often start with the program to look better, but they continue because they feel better.

Next time you're thinking about sleeping in instead of going to boot camp, remember that exercise is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself and that your long-term health is a gift to everyone in your life.

 By Anthony Wood

How To Lose Belly Fat Fast - The Secrets

It is one of the most frustrating questions dieters and fitness enthusiasts could ask, 'how to lose belly fat." If you look at the six pack abs of fitness models and bodybuilders with envy then you need to continue reading this article because you are about to get the fundamental answers to this question.

First off - to lose stomach fat, doing hundreds of abdominal exercises a day is not the answer. I am not against ab exercises and you should do them but you don't have to do a lot of them. To lose belly fat, you need to focus on your nutrition and overall lowering your body fat.

Under all the stomach fat, you have a six pack waiting to come out. It is there, but having it come out is not a muscle development issue. It is an issue of lowering your body fat and nutrition.

One time on TV, I saw a man who does hundred of sit-ups a day. That is a great feat of strength and endurance but guess what? - he still had a big belly. No, he was not fat but he did not have a 6 pack either.

When it comes to belly fat, it is a case of first on last off. It is very easy (for men especially) to gain stomach fat but it is the last place to come off. Fat just doesn't come off specifically where you want it because certain parts of your body are from a hormone standpoint, more receptive to fat storage than others.

So to the question, how to lose belly fat fast, don't focus so much on sit-ups but focus on training your entire body. Also focus on eating a healthy diet and reducing the amount of calories you consume. Pay attention to your portion sizes because you can put on weight even when you eat too much healthy food.

 By David Cassell

What Is the Best Diet Program? The Inevitable Question

Is there a thing as a sure-fire, strict to the books diet program? A lot of people end up asking what is the best diet program for them to stick to but in all truth there really isn't a single diet program that can adhere to everybody all the time. All of this boils down to the one fact that everybody is different no matter the striking similarity between some people. Just because two people have the exact same weight and height it doesn't mean they have the same dietary needs; one person may have a weaker cardiopulmonary combination while the other may have a bigger bone structure but will have certain allergies to food.

So what is the best diet program if there isn't a specific diet program for everybody? It comes down to knowing what you are looking for instead of looking for a specific by-the-books diet. It may sound good to just drop eating pork, chicken and beef and go on an all-veggie diet but then this doesn't work for people who need certain number of calories or for people who don't get a filling in just eating greens. You need to consider not the best diet program for everybody in general but the best diet program for you individually. It becomes a subjective topic instead of an objective preference.

Here are some aspects to find out what is the best diet program for you specifically:

Know your calorie intake.

Watching people calculate the amount of calories they intake everyday used to be something to be laughed at but these days it has proven to be the sure-fire way to figure out how much calories your body needs, how much it doesn't need and how much you need to burn. By knowing how much you need to get rid of you can draw out a specific diet and a work-out routine to get the right amount of calories in and the excess burned off.

Focus on natural food.

Juices are great, that's a well-known fact, but when you drink natural juice you're only getting the vitamins but not the fiber found in the pulp of the fruit and this is why many dieticians prefer to just drinking water and compliment it with an actual fruit, particularly oranges.

Processed food may seem like a good choice especially since they usually market themselves to be health-focused but what happens behind the scenes is that the manufacturers strip down the food to their basic elements, process them for taste and marketing purposes then re-enrich them with nutrients. It just does not work as great as natural food that comes with all the good taste and nutrients already packed into them without any excess baggage like preservatives or manufacturing chemicals.

Water therapy works like a charm.

So it may be a baffle to some that the "eight glasses of water" is not really an accurate estimate on how much water one needs to drink everyday but it does give a good picture that a healthy diet program involves keeping you well hydrated, especially if you pair up your diet with an extensive work-out program that will keep you perspiring.

By M Edward

How Do You Get Rid Of Belly Fat?

Weight is largely determined by how balance your body when it comes to calories you consume and energy you burn. Age has a significant impact on developing body fat that tends to shift from the arms, legs, hips and most especially abdominal fat. Muscle mass gradually diminishes with age and fat accounts for a greater percentage of your weight. A decrease in muscle mass decreases the body's ability to burn calories which is why it is much harder for the body to loss excess weight. Excess weight also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and many certain diseases.

How do you get rid of belly fat? Here are few helpful tips for shedding excess weight.

1. Calorie deficit - It is one of the most effective ways to lose excess weight. A recommended calorie deficit per day is about 500 to 1000 calorie deficit from your daily calories required. Consuming less calories will set the body to process excess fat and use it as energy in order to function well. However, cutting your calories too low is not advisable since is harmful to your health and deprive your body from necessary nutrients.


2. Exercise - A well balance diet in combination with a proper and regular exercise schedule, is helpful in maintaining weight, preventing and reducing belly fat. Regular exercise not only helps you to lose weight but also helps keep you healthy and fit.


3. Avoid stress - Stress has been linked to weight gain as it activates hormone levels such as cortisol in the blood that affects insulin in the body. Stress can also weakens your immune system.


4. Reduce your alcohol intake- Alcohol has many side effects on the body, and developing belly fat is one of them. The reason for this is the high caloric content of alcoholic beverages and its effects on liver. Drinking less or even quitting drinking helps you lose weight and keep it off. Alcohol also leads to the munchies and often has you raiding the pantry even though you are not really hungry.


5. Avoid eating too much sugar - consuming food with high sugar content leads to weight gain. Excess sugars from soda drinks and junk foods are converted to fat in the body for later use. Better yet, choose healthy snacks, which contains natural sugars such as fruits and smoothies.

As we get older it becomes more of a challenge to maintain our weight or lose the extra pounds that creep on.

 By Sacha C Whitehead