Enhance Your Weight Loss

Half knowledge is always more harmful than none at all. With a lot of information available all over for weight watchers and losers, it is important to make sure you are not victim of myths and negative information about weight loss. Many people who have lost weight (and gained it later) or others who have had successful weight loss stories post their experiences online. But it is necessary to ensure what you follow is healthy and will not adversely affect you.

Here are a few things you must consider seriously when wanting to lose weight:

1. Never skip breakfast: sure you may lose a few pounds, but this is unhealthy. When you skip breakfast, you unconsciously tend to supplement the lost calories by over eating during lunch, or choosing the wrong foods. You may also end up binging. This tends to increase in weight, rather than loss of it. When you start your day with a healthy hearty breakfast, you tend to stay fuller for longer. You blood sugar levels will be stable and you will resist unhealthy eating. Always keep in mind "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper".


2. Choose a low calorie diet: see a weight loss coach for an integrated low calorie diet. The juices, soups, steamed veggies, are pseudo low calorie foods. Juices have high glycemic index as they include fruits that have stripped off their fiber which in turn lowers the nutrition levels. Choose whole fruits over packaged fruit drinks. Steamed veggies can make you feel sick due to the blandness. Not only is this an unsustainable diet, it leads to unstable weight loss where, once you stop, you may end up gaining more than you lost. A diet plan should include low calorie foods from all nutrition types: carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and also fat. The body needs an adequate amount of each of these to function optimally, and hence a good balanced diet contains the right amounts of all of these.


3. Exercise: not eating too much through the day is no excuse for not exercising. Your body needs physical activity to lose weight and fat, and to tone up the muscles. It is important to exercise as it not only helps you burn calories, it will improve blood sugar and make you feel more energetic due to the aerobic reactions it will trigger in your body. While exercise is important, results will be more effective if exercise is teamed with a good balanced diet. The right combination of exercise and a healthy diet will increase metabolism, reduce acidity, bloating, lethargy, and anxiety.

Weighing yourself everyday: weight is subject to water retention and weighing in daily will give an accurate picture of the weight lost. What is more important is to monitor the fat percentage. Daily weigh in may only record the water loss and not the fat loss and may prove to be faulty. Hence, weigh in weekly to get accurate numbers and monitor weight loss.

Not only is this an unsustainable diet, it leads to unstable weight loss where, once you stop, you may end up gaining more than you lost. A diet plan should include low calorie foods from all nutrition types: carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and also fat.

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How To Survive the Summer Without Gaining Weight

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weight gain

 

What's there not to love about summer? There is nothing better than a sunny hot lazy day, spending time outdoors and indulging in delicious food and drinks while relaxing on a patio. Summer is the season of BBQs and social events that seem to evolve around tempting food and refreshing cocktails that are hard to resist. Even for the most disciplined health fanatics it can be challenging to maintain a healthy balance. It's no surprise to see after a summer full of indulgence can result in the numbers creeping up on the scale.

Fortunately we do not have to sacrifice our summer of socializing to keep healthy and fit. With a few clever tricks to incorporate into your lifestyle you can still enjoy all the summer celebrations without adding inches to your waistline.

1. Focus on Your Company Rather than the Food. Before you head out to the event be mentally prepared to BE social and to mingle with as many people as possible. Make it a priority to put your energy into your friends and family rather than the food that is laid out. Mid way through the event grab a small plate of healthy options available and only eat until you feel comfortably satisfied then continue chatting with guests.

2. Know What Your Weaknesses Are. Learn what your indulgences and trigger foods are and either limit or skip this food all together and choose a healthier version if possible.

3. Be The Healthy Host! Even though hosting a social gathering can create a lot of work, it is the best way to plan a healthy summer party for your friends and family. You can create your own menu with clean and mouth watering dishes by using fresh fruits and vegetables and lean healthy meats. Most traditional summer favorites can also be modified to reduce calories and extra fat. Your guests will love the new variety and will feel better for it!

4. Bring a Healthy Dish. If you are invited to a summer gathering, offer to bring a main or side dish rather than a dessert. This way you can choose to make something that is healthy and that you enjoy. As well, you may find that it is the only healthy option available so at least you can fill up your plate with your dish and take "tastes" of the other not so healthy options.

5. Be Mindful of Portion Control. Always be aware of the amount of food that you are loading onto your plate. Use your best "visual" judgment as a measuring guide. A good rule to follow is to fill half your plate with fresh fruits and vegetables, a quarter of your plate with lean protein, and the remaining quarter with grains (optional). In the summer months I tend to lean more towards fresh produce then grains, they fill me up and leave me feeling less sluggish.

6. Avoid Drinking Your Calories. Summer events always tend to lead to quenching your thirst with alcoholic drinks, high sugar sodas, juices and frozen drinks. One or two of these high calorie drinks can add up and before you know it you have reached your daily caloric intake! Try to reach for water as often as you can, it should be your main source of hydration. If you find that water tastes too bland then you can add fresh citrus fruits, berries, cucumber or crushed mint for a refreshing treat. If you do choose an alcoholic beverage try to choose vodka and soda with a splash of lime, wine and light beers. Avoid high sugary, juice-based cocktails as they can have as many as 500 calories!

7. Use the 80:20 Rule. All year round I encourage using the 80:20 rule, which is eating clean and healthy 80% of the time and indulging 20% of the time. It's okay to indulge once in a while and to not beat yourself up when you do. With an active lifestyle and a healthy eating plan in place, you shouldn't see any change in your body. Life is way to short to not enjoy the summer and to indulge a little. It is all about living a balanced lifestyle and feeling Healthy, Fit and Happy!

Karen Gallagher is a leading fitness professional with an elite athletic background combined with over 18 years of knowledge and experience. Along with fitness competitions, Karen's main focus these days are her businesses Fit 4 Her personal training, Butt Slayer Boot Camps and Performance Coaching. She supports her clients with motivation, goal setting and nutritional programs to best suit their needs and goals and has helped hundreds of people to experience profound life transformations.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8601027

Does Your Body Really Need Sugar?

Sugar is found in almost every processed food these days, to the point where it takes a conscious
consumer just to avoid it.

Sugar is even in foods like:

  *Ketchup
  *Salad dressings
  *Store-bought breads
  *Sauces
  *Almost all beverages

Remember this: your body doesn't need or want sugar at all; and sugar in excess, is extremely
dangerous.

"But I thought your brain runs on sugar?" you say. And you're right, but it's glucose your brain uses...  

Glucose is the sugar your body makes from the foods you eat, or even from burning its own stored
fat. Glucose is vital to your health, but these days, no one is lacking in glucose... just the opposite!   

Unlike natural sugar found in food, vegetables and dairy products, refined sugar does not contain any
vitamins, minerals, enzymes or fiber - it's just a quick hit of carbohydrates than elevates your blood sugar levels, triggers an insulin spike, puts your body in fat storage mode and causes a stress response which further activates your FAT Programs.  

Here Are Common Sweeteners to Avoid:
  *Refined sugars
  *Honey
  *High-fructose corn syrup

Here are Some Sugars that I think Are Better Choices:
  *Stevia
  *Coconut Palm sugar (however, consider the environmental impact here)
  *Xylitol

I hope this is helpful...

In health,

Jon
Gabriel Method

p.s. Xylitol is my personal favorite sweetener. It's unique in that it has less calories than sugar and doesn't cause the blood sugar spike that most sweeteners do.

Xylitol can be found in most health food stores or purchased online. You can buy it from Amazon here: List of Xylitol Products

Source: Gabriel Method

1 Weird Old Tip To Lose Fat