Diet, Exercise and Weight Loss Tips

If you have been reading about losing or maintaining weight, chances are you have heard about metabolism, and that it contributes to weight loss or gain. But just what is it? How can it be controlled? With all of the different information out there on crazy diets and so called miracle diet pills, what is the truth about metabolism? There is just one simple truth about metabolism, and how it can be controlled. Weight gain can easily be avoided with a few changes in your daily eating habits and your exercise plan. There are safer, much healthier ways to get in shape and keep in shape to get the body you deserve.

Exercise not only helps you to feel healthier and more fit, it assists in increasing your metabolism so that you can lose weight.

Basically, metabolism is the rate at which your body digests and absorbs food and uses up food energy, called calories. For example, someone with a rather high metabolism would be able to burn more calories in less time, making it less likely that they will have an unhealthy weight. Some people with high metabolism are underweight, especially as teenagers. If you have a low metabolism, you will not be able to burn calories as quickly, and they will in turn become excess fat stored on the body, causing weight gain.

Why do some people have a higher metabolism? How can I speed up my own metabolism? There is an answer for everything. Some part of your metabolism is genetic, but mostly, it is created by your lifestyle and your diet. There is pretty much only one tried and true way to raise your metabolism, and that is to build muscle mass by exercising regularly. This is a simple way to use up the calories you take in, and you will continue to use up calories at a higher rate throughout the day. You will be able to eat more freely and avoid weight gain if you exercise to build muscle mass. If you are a woman, you might not want to create too much muscle on your arms, but you can run or walk, do cardio exercises, and even practice yoga to get to your ideal weight.

A secondary method to help increase your metabolism is to eat smaller portions but eat much more frequently. Eating more frequently will help you lose weight as your body won’t go into survival mode and your metabolism will usually increase as well.

The most important person you can seek advice from when it comes to metabolism and avoiding weight gain is your doctor. Involve your doctor in your weight loss plan as he or she will also help you find your ideal weight, and determine what type of diet is right for you. Remember, everyone’s body is different, so you can create a workout schedule that works for you.

What we eat plays an important role in increasing or decreasing our body weight. Certain foods increase fat accumulation in our body while certain foods help us in our weight loss program. Excessive intake of foods which are high in certain types of fats is not good for our bodies. Certain types of fats negatively affect our health and can lead to serious diseases. There are both good and bad types of fats, so let us look into this matter more closely.

Your body needs fats. Make certain that you're eating the right types of fats as part of your balanced nutritional diet.

The Helpful Dietary Fat

We know that dietary fat is essential for our body to maintain health and daily performance. While serving as a source of energy, these types of fats provide important fatty acids which are much needed for our bodies – for growth, maintaining of bodily performance, vitamin absorption, and healthy skin. These types of fats have 9 calories per gram. Fats are stored as adipose tissue in our body and can also be found in plasma and blood cells. They work to store energy and to insulate and cushion organs. However, excess of these types of fats is harmful. According to the USDA and FDA, our diet should contain up to 30% of calories from fat. People who are on a weight loss program should follow this recommendation closely.

Saturated Fats

These types of fats are considered the worst of all fats, since excessive intake of such fats can cause a high cholesterol level and heart diseases. These types of fats are mostly found in coconut oil, processed meats, dairy products, and red meats. Weight loss plans strictly advise you to avoid these types of fats. Avoid processed meats. Try to purchase extra lean ground beef and trim the fat off of your steaks. Chicken and lamb are great tasty alternatives.

Trans Fats

Such types of fats, found in commercially-fried and baked foods, are also considered bad for our health. People on weight loss programs should avoid eating cakes, crackers, pastries, French fries, donuts, etc. These types of fats are frequently used in packaged foods and in restaurants and fast food chains. As recommended by the American Heart Association, the daily intake of such types of fats should not exceed a total of one percent of the daily diet. If you are on a weight loss plan or not, for your health you should follow this advice.

Mono Unsaturated Fats

New studies show that mono unsaturated fats are good for the body and can reduce the risk of heart diseases. In the past, such types of fats were considered as having neutral effects on our health. Mono unsaturated fats are found in the diet called ‘The Mediterranean Diet.’ You do not have to worry with these types of fats even if you are on a weight loss diet plan. My favorite source of mono unsaturated fats is avocados.

Polyunsaturated Fats

Such types of fats help us lower cholesterol and help prevent heart disease. They also help us in the treatment of arthritis, joint pain and certain skin problems. Such types of fats are also known as Omega-3 fatty acids and are mostly found in seafood like salmon, herring, sardines, trout and mackerel.

It may sound strange if you are told that you would lose weight if you ate more frequently. It certainly sounds strange but it is true that eating more frequently will help you lose weight. The point is that to lose weight, you have to eat frequently, but with less food. It is said that if you follow this rule of eating more frequently, make that simple lifestyle change, you will be on your way to losing weight. Let us see why eating more frequently helps you lose weight.

Start eating more frequently and you'll be on your way towards losing weight.

Increases Metabolism

Eating more frequently increases metabolism, and therefore our bodies will not go into ‘survival mode.’ If we do not eat for a longer period of time, or when we leave the stomach with no food or inadequate food for longer period of time, our body’s metabolic rate will go down and it will not burn fats at a satisfactory rate. If you keep eating more frequently, the increased metabolism helps you lose weight by burning fats.

No More Over-eating

When we are eating more frequently, though less quantity each time, we do not feel hungry when we sit to eat and our desire to eat everything in sight will be much less, which is not possible when we feel very hungry. Several meals a day, instead of two or three major meals, helps us prevent the over-eating habit.

Prevents Binges

Eating more frequently helps you lose weight since your stomach will never get ravenous. When you are eating more frequently, you will be in good control of your hunger and the desire to fill your stomach to its limit will no longer exist.

Always try to take both protein and carbohydrates, like apple with peanut butter, a turkey sandwich or cereal with milk. Protein takes longer to digest than carbohydrates and taking protein prevents you from feeling hungry. Include more nutritious foods, fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet.

Eating more frequently will certainly help you lose weight. Instead of two or three major meals, eat six meals a day. While eating more frequently to lose weight, it is better to avoid fatty foods and sweets to help you lose weight more easily. Moreover, include dark chocolate and cocoa-based foods in your diet, unless your doctor prohibits it, since studies show that dark chocolate and cocoa-based foods help stabilize blood sugar levels and help the body to properly use the sugar instead of storing it for fat. As an added benefit of consuming these foods, you will feel less hungry, and your desire to eat sweet foods will decrease. By eating these items, you will feel a boost in your energy level, your mood will improve and you will not feel hungry.

I found that nights where I didn’t sleep much, in particular if it was a few nights in a row, I was craving food, especially carbohydrates. It seemed that the lack of sleep was throwing a monkey wrench into my weight loss plans. This, of course, piqued my curiosity. Was it just me? Did my lack of sleep actually effect my loss of weight? So on went the search to see if there is a cause-effect relationship between sleep, or lack thereof, and weight loss or weight gain.

Studies Show that Lack of Sleep Hinders Weight Loss and Causes Weight Gain

Doctors have been studying the relationship between sleep and weight loss for many years. Beginning in the 1980’s, there were studies that ran for as much as twenty years and the results of the studies demonstrated that women who sleep less than seven hours per night weigh more. They have a harder time losing weight, and often gain even more. One study followed 70,000 women and found that those who slept five hours nightly on average weighed 32% more than those who slept seven hours nightly. Those who only had six hours sleep averaged 12% more weight. So much for my weight loss plans if I’m not going to set enough sleep.

Sufficient sleep each night is required if you wish to fulfill your weight loss goals.

Since we are told that losing even ten percent of our body weight (assuming that you’re over-weight) can trigger immense health benefits, this fact can have a significant bearing on weight-related diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Women who are deprived of sleep for several nights in a row tend to have a rise in hormones that stimulate hunger. In spite of that, the women monitored did not actually increase the calories they ate, and that was not the source of the weight gain. It is thought that when you do not get enough sleep, your basal metabolic rate decreases. That means that you burn fewer calories at rest. This is a huge discovery for those who have sedentary lifestyles. Lack of sleep is pulling them rapidly downhill as their body conserves more and more calories. People who are sleep deprived even wiggle less, so they decrease this aspect of calorie burning as well. Lack of sleep suppresses the urge to fidget. In other words, a lack of sleep decreases the chance of you succeeding with your weight loss goals.

Why You Don’t Succeed in Losing Weight When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep

If you want to succeed in your diet plan (if I want to succeed with my weight loss plans), you will want to make sure you get enough sleep. When you do not get enough sleep, you do not metabolize carbohydrates efficiently. This leads to elevated levels of insulin as the body tries to manage higher glucose levels. The result is a greater storage of body fat and possible insulin resistance. At the same time, leptin is decreased and you crave more carbs. Growth hormone production is reduced, so weight is stored as fat, not muscle. While these problems are occurring, blood pressure can increase as well as the risk of heart disease.

In order to succeed in your diet plan and have a healthy weight loss you need to give yourself a gift. The gift you need to receive is to get enough sleep. Adequate sleep is one of the key fuels that propels your body toward better health.

As health awareness is growing, people are trying different measures to address their over weight issues and attempt to achieve weight loss. Many people know that weight loss not only makes them thin or fit-looking, but its effects on the overall health are beneficial also. When you seriously follow some weight loss program, you will shed excess fat from your body, will have a healthy physique and at the same time, your health condition will improve to make you feel stronger, fitter and a lot better all around. It is, therefore, imperative for overweight individuals to adopt a carefully-tailored weight loss plan to maintain good health.

If you're overweight, weight loss can be important to your overall health.

Starving Yourself is Not a Healthy Solution to Weight Loss

Some people make a mistake in thinking that weight loss can be achieved through starving or consuming less food. While depriving the body of some essential nutrients can lead to other complications, starving is not the answer to your weight loss problem. Dietitians and doctors recommend against starving to lose weight. You may find that you lose some weight but at the same time when you deprive the body of the necessities it needs, you will get weaker and will face several health problems.

If you are in a sedentary job and your physical activities are limited, you are less likely to have a good metabolism rate. Furthermore, to lose fat and gain muscles, you should combine both a healthy diet and physical exercise programs.

If we take a closer look on the relation between health and weight loss, we can find that being overweight invites scores of health problems. Research has shown that overweight individuals have 75% more risk of developing cancer. Overweight subjects are found to have low self esteem and cannot perform routine activities normally.

The known health risk factors of being overweight are numerous, such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, gallbladder disease, hypertension, cholesterol, etc. Moreover, obesity is also related with problems associated with infertility, pregnancy complications, increased surgical risk and increased mortality.

When we talk about the importance of weight loss and its effects on our health, we should look deeper into the physical and psychological problems associated with excess weight. Once we understand this fact, we do not need any persuasion to take all possible measures to lose weight. When you realize the necessity of losing weight, do not panic and do not get tempted by any uncertified measure claiming fast weight loss. Take those measures which are safe and approved by your physician, no matter if they offer slow results. You will definitely be advised to adopt both the exercise and diet control measures which suit your physical and health condition. This should always be determined by the right source: your doctor. You have to follow the weight loss track patiently and persistently to achieve the desired results.

Be Honest and Face Your Problem

Weight problems are a topic that many people try to steer away from. This is not something that most people are comfortable discussing with others. There are some people that have dealt with weight problems their whole lives. Then you have some people that have become accustomed to a sedentary lifestyle. This can make it difficult to lose weight. It can be a never ending battle to lose weight and keep it off. They are constantly trying a crash or fad diet that in the long run does more harm than good.

Fad Diets by Themselves Won’t Help You Permanently Lose Weight

Crash or fad diets are not very helpful for maintaining weight loss. These kinds of diets can help you lose weight fast, but because there are no permanent lifestyle changes the weight often comes back. Some studies say that the risk is as high as 83% that you will weigh more in two years time after undergoing a crash weight loss diet. The weight that returns often comes with some company as well. It is common for these diets to actually cause you to gain weight after you return to your normal routine. Maintaining weight loss for a long period of time requires lifestyle changes.

Say Yes to a Healthy Lifestyle and Weight Loss

Weight Loss and Lifestyle Changes

Lifestyle changes will greatly increase your chances of a healthy life. Obesity is the number one preventable killer in the United States. This is an epidemic that can be changed or prevented among the next generation. It is important that people realize that eating too much and little or no exercise will not allow for a healthy weight loss. Diets that allow this are only setting the individual up for disappointment. The best way to achieve a healthy lifestyle is to rethink the way you live.

A Healthy Diet

A healthy diet is the best way to manage any weight loss goal. This does not mean that you need go on a low fat, fat free, no carb, or sugar free diet. A healthy diet includes foods from all of the food groups. Incorporating fruits, vegetables, grains, and lean protein to your diet will help you achieve weight loss. Snacking can be a difficult time of day because you want something crunchy or salty. Eating fruit or crispy vegetables for a snack can greatly lower your calorie intake for the day. Grilled chicken instead of red meat is also an alternative that can help manage your weight loss.

Exercise: You’ll Lose Weight and Enjoy More Out of Life

Exercise is also a must when it comes to weight loss. Exercise is not what most people want to hear. It can be difficult for some people who are obese to manage exercise. Many people think that the only way to exercise is to go to the gym. While this is a great option, it is not the only option. Walking is a great form of low impact exercise that will still give you benefits. Walking will strengthen your legs and help develop endurance for later on. It is important to exercise along with dieting because without exercise your body can not get rid of fat as easily. Exercise will help speed up the weight loss process.

A great lifestyle change that will help with weight loss is to walk every where you go. Parking at the far end of the parking lot at the grocery store will allow for a few more minutes of exercise each time you go. Adding exercise to your daily routine will help you manage or maintain your goal. While at work, try taking the stairs instead of taking the elevator. These are only a few options that you have at your disposal that will not cost you anything. When changing your lifestyle keep in mind that everyone has slip ups every now and then. If this happens start fresh the next day and move on from there. It will take time and will not happen over night. Remember that every time you chose the right food and exercise you are one step closer to your goal.

Many people who choose to go on a diet to lose weight also keep a food diary to help them chart their progress. While this may seem like a waste of time to some, for others it is their life line and what helps them stay on track. A high percentage of doctors, nutritionists, and successful diet programs have food diaries as an integral part of the overall plan.

To begin with, it helps to understand that a food diary is much different than a regular diary. You don’t start out each entry with “Dear Diary” or anything of that sort. Basically, when you want to lose weight one of the most important things you can do is keep a written record of what you eat every day. Not only do you write down the foods you eat, but you will also need to record the time of day you eat. Make no mistake: This must be done faithfully or you may as well not do it at all.

A sample entry in your food diary may go something like this:

Day 1 – January 26

• Pre-breakfast: Protein Shake made with glutathione (GSH) protein, bananas and water
• Breakfast: 3 egg whites, spelt toast, 8 oz. blueberry juice
• 8 oz. water
• Morning Snack: Apple, 8 oz. cranberry juice
• Lunch: 4 oz. tuna, 2 slices spelt bread, salad (lettuce, carrots and cucumber) with olive oil and herbs as dressing, green tea (no sugar)
• 8 oz. water
• Afternoon Snack: 6 brown rice crackers, 2 oz. goat cheese, green tea (no sugar)
• Dinner: 4 oz. chicken, salad (lettuce and carrots), green beans, brown rice, 8 oz. blueberry juice
• 8 oz. water
• Snack: bowl of fresh blueberries

Of course, you would also need to add in any condiments such as salad dressing, ketchup, or mustard in your food diary. In order to lose weight, it is important that you keep track of everything that goes into your mouth and is swallowed. Keep in mind, many condiments are very high in processed sugars and should be avoided.

Now that you know how to keep your food diary, you may still be curious as to why this actually helps you lose weight. When you write down everything you are eating, it makes you SEE what is going into your system. For example, if your normal breakfast is 2 or 3 donuts and a huge cup of soda, you will start to crash sometime during mid-morning. Not to mention, you will also be starving. However, if you have never understood that you are causing that to happen to yourself, having it stare back at you in black and white from your food diary may (hopefully!) alert you in some way.

When you notice that you did not lose weight or not as much as you should have during a particular week, you can look back at your food diary and read what foods you ate during that week. It will help you see what affected you so negatively. That also works in the reverse. When you have an excellent week of weight loss, it will help you to be able to see what foods you chose for that week. As timing is also important in a diet, the time of day you ate will be there for you to see and consider how you may need to change it.

A food diary is an excellent tool in your quest to lose weight. You will see as soon as you begin using one.

1. I don’t like feeling like I’m on crack. Hard to believe, I know (okay, so I’ve never actually tried crack – but I’ve read enough addict memoirs to get a good idea of how it feels). Most diet pills make you feel jumpy and skittish, and have you folding your laundry at warp speed then getting sudden impulses to run around the neighborhood. I’ve got a sensitive metabolism and those diet pills are just too much for me.

2. If diet pills make me feel like that then what are they doing to my body in the long run? Long-term effects of diet pills can be nasty. Do you really want to end up at 40 in the hospital on kidney dialysis, or shopping for a new liver in India?

3. It’s not a sustainable plan for weight loss. You can’t take them long term, and the best way to stay healthy is to get into the habit of leading a healthy lifestyle. So instead of addressing the root of the problem, diet pills just offer a quick fix, meaning that you most likely won’t keep the weight off.

4. They don’t work. Studies have repeatedly shown that dieting and diet pills don’t work to keep pounds off in the long term (American Psychologist April 2007). So go ahead and waste your money if you want to. Buy some cellulite cream while you’re at it – I’m sure that will just melt your fat right off!

5. Some diet pills are dangerous for your heart. Really, who cares if you die of a heart attack – you look so thin in that coffin!

6. Diet pills can mess with your natural metabolism. What goes up must come down – and the last thing you want is to end up with the metabolism of a hibernating bear. Unless you’re a hibernating bear, that is.

7. Like a diet pill is going to solve all your problems. Let’s face it, we get fat because of lifestyle issues, not because there’s a virus going around. Stress, lack of exercise, unhealthy eating, all those things have an effect, so why do we think a diet pill is going to make it all better. To lose weight, you have to correct all those unhealthy behaviors, and there’s no diet pill that accomplishes that!

8. Taking diet pills makes me feels like I belong in Valley of the Dolls or an afterschool special or something. It feels like one degree of separation from bulimia and anorexia. It makes me feel…desperate.

9. There’s a whole class of diet pills – the kind that stop your body from absorbing fats, that have side effects too disgusting to write about here. Lets just say that if you take them, you’d better invest in some adult diapers, and can forget about wearing white pants. And you might want to set up a home office in your bathroom, cause you’ll be spending a lot of time there. Oh, and did I mention that they can lead to deficiencies of fat soluble vitamins like vitamin E, A, D and K? So you might get a bone disease, but at least you’ll look hot in that hospital robe.

Okay, so I hate diet pills. What do I believe in? Losing weight isn’t about taking a magic pill. It’s a lifestyle issue. If you want to change your weight, you have to be able to take a look at why you gained it in the first place. What are the root causes of your overeating? Here’s a simple psychology textbook exercise you can do to discover why you eat (other than the obvious, hunger) and some lifestyle solutions. This is the clearest, simplest method I’ve come across. Stop searching for the magic bullet and do the work people!

One of the first things you should do when you decide to take on the challenge of losing weight is to speak with your doctor about the diet plan you want to follow. Too many people do not do this ahead of time and a high percentage of those people land in the hospital because they have done something extreme or unhealthy to their bodies. However, this is only ONE of the reasons to check with your doctor BEFORE you begin any diet plan.

You should always consult with your doctor or physician prior to commencing any diet or exercise program.

Many times a person’s health is not the best and needs to be following a special diet. While it may not be one that is helping to lose weight, it is most likely one that is keeping you safe and alive. For example, if someone has a heart condition or is diabetic, they would need to follow some rather rigid eating guidelines. These people cannot SAFELY just suddenly decide that they need to lose weight and will be going on a diet. They MUST speak with their doctor before they jump in with both feet to make sure that all of their dietary needs are being met without adding anything that will be harmful to their conditions.

Involving your doctor in your diet plan is particularly important if you plan to take any supplements, specifically diet pills of some kind. There are several weight loss aids being touted as the best and fastest ones to use in the quest to lose weight. Of course, their advertisements include a blurb on just how effective and SAFE they are. You cannot afford to just assume they are telling you the truth. For these companies, it is all about business and making money. The last thing they will want you to know is if anyone was ever harmed by taking their product. Therefore, you need to speak with your doctor before including any supplements in your diet plan. Most of the time, these are rather useless and contain caffeine to keep up your energy along with some sort of appetite suppressant. Be sure to take a list of the ingredients in when you meet with your physician about the supplement.

Something else you may want to check with your doctor about is just how much weight you need to lose and how many calories you should be eating each day. Remember that it is unhealthy to lose too much weight just as it is dangerous to carry around an excess of weight. Therefore, if there is any question in your mind about what a healthy weight is for you, make it a point to ask when you go in for this consultation.

The thing to remember when deciding whether or not you need to involve your doctor in your diet plan is that it is his or her priority to keep you safe and healthy. You can feel more confident about starting a weight loss plan that has been approved by your physician.

There are so many complicated definitions of just what a calorie is that it is not surprising how confusing it can be to actually understand it. The most easily understood definition seems to be that it is the measurement of the potential of different foods to supply needed energy to the body.  This means, simply, that nearly all food has the potential to supply much needed fuel or energy to the body. However, some of these foods only provide “empty” or “bad” calories. When you are on a diet, it is important to understand which foods provide the “good” calories so that you can be sure to stay away from the “bad” ones.

You need the right amount of calories for a healthy, well balanced diet.

First of all, it is important to understand that your body needs a certain amount of calories to make it work. Compare calories to gasoline that you put in your car to make it run. You can think of a calorie to a gallon of gasoline. Just as your car needs fuel to operate properly, you need the right amount of calories in your diet to make YOU function properly.
Typically, the adult body needs at least 1,000 to 1,400 calories per day to properly fuel the main organs such as the heart, brain, and lungs. Your resting metabolic rate, or RMR, is the minimum amount of calories that you need. This number varies widely taking into consideration such things as your age, weight, sex, and muscle mass. You cannot function through each day actively unless you have more energy than what your RMR requires.  The general average of how many extra calories you need each day on your diet is typically 400 to 600. However, only a registered nutritionist will be able to tell you exactly what your specific needs are.

When you look at how a calorie will affect your body, it is important to understand that if you are taking in more than your body needs every day, eventually, you WILL gain weight. Keep in mind that if you consume an extra 3,500 calories, you will gain 1 pound of fat. That does not mean that you must stay on a diet all the time. You can treat yourself periodically, just not every day.

Most people start paying close attention to calories when they want to lose weight as it is typically harder for most people to lose weight than to gain it. Everyone knows that if you want to lose weight, you need to use or burn more calories than you are taking in. For example, if you are eating 2,000 calories each day to maintain your weight, burning 250 calories per day should net you a weight loss of a ½ pound per week. Now, if you go further and cut out an additional 250 calories a day, that would give you 500 calories less everyday and your weekly weight loss would be 1 pound.

By using this formula, you can fill in any calorie amount for your diet. Now that you understand how it all works, you will be able to get serious about losing the weight you need safely.