Archive for January, 2006
While shopping may not qualify as an aerobic activity, it can certainly help you to shed the pounds, if you follow the right formula. What you buy largely determines what you will eat. Therefore, if you want to maintain a healthy diet at home, you’ll need to do some advanced planning before heading out to the supermarket. The secret to weight loss may begin with your shopping list. You need to take some time before going to the store to assess what your nutritional needs are. For instance, a healthy diet might very well include breads and cereals, dairy products, vegetables and fruits, along with meat, fish and poultry. However, you’ll need to decide on exactly which products to buy within each food category. For instance, rather than purchasing white bread or cereals with little fiber, consider whole wheat bread and whole wheat cereals. Pass up the whole milk and whole milk yogurt and buy non-fat milk and yogurt instead. You should avoid iceberg lettuce and opt for Romaine; select fresh fruit rather than fruit in heavy syrup. You may be tempted to buy fried chicken, bacon or spareribs, but choose low-fat options such as baked chicken, lean hamburger, and grilled fish. It’s a good idea to go grocery shopping after you have eaten a full meal. Otherwise, your hunger could drive you to buy junk food and other unhealthy snacks. If you are operating on a full stomach, you’ll think more clearly and you will be less likely to buy food impulsively. Also, it is critically important that you do not buy more food than you need. Otherwise, you will have a powerful incentive to overeat. Before you go shopping, you might want to check out the layout of the supermarket. Find out where you can find those items that are likely to appear on your list. Otherwise, you could find yourself browsing the shelves, looking for food that appears interesting–but could also be quite fattening. Certainly, it may take some extra time to “scope out” the supermarket, but it will be well worth the effort, if it results in weight loss. Whenever possible, you should buy individually packaged food. These single servings allow you to maintain proper portion control. For instance, if you feel you must indulge in potato chips, you will be far better off if you buy a single-serving bag rather than the family pack. Remember, large portions equal weight gain. You might actually want to avoid shopping with coupons. Coupons can tempt you to buy high-calorie items that you might otherwise pass up.
While everyone wants a good bargain, you don’t want to end up paying for that deal by gaining additional pounds. It’s a sad fact that you will rarely find a coupon for fresh fruit and vegetables. But you might think of the situation this way: You will end up saving money if you eat “fresh” because you will not have to invest in additional clothes. Also, when you’re considering which foods to buy, concentrate on the product labels. There, you’ll find a great deal of nutritional information, indicating fat content, calorie content, portion size, and vitamin and mineral content. If you end up bringing the product home, you should serve the item according to the suggested portion size. In other words, if a portion equals one-half cup, don’t opt for two cups. In essence, you should be treating food as if it’s a medication that must be used as directed. In this way, you should avoid the weight loss that comes with overeating. It is interesting to note that the American Institute for Cancer Research determined that only 12 percent of shoppers determined portion size by using the label. As a result, paying attention to nutrition labels is a counter-cultural thing to do. But it is certainly a good habit to get into. Otherwise, at the end of the day, you could end up with far more fat than you bargained for. You may be amazed at the amount of weight you can lose just by diligent shopping. A little advanced planning can go a long way to ensuring weight loss. And you might actually save yourself some money, since you will no longer be buying expensive snacks.
January 26th, 2006
When it comes to weight loss, there’s no shortage of advice. Check any magazine rack or bookstore and you’re bound to come across that latest and greatest cure for being overweight. Some even work — for a while.
But what you need to look for is something that works for a lifetime — a weight-loss approach that can help you establish a healthy lifestyle to control weight. And the best weight-loss program for you is one that you’ll commit to long term.
Here’s a summary of five different types of weight-loss strategies in circulation today. Though these approaches may not be the ultimate weight solution to your weight-loss quandary, they may help you see the relationship between what you put in your mouth and its eventual effect on your body.
1. Low-fat diets
Eating foods low in fat is a logical strategy for losing weight. A gram of fat contains twice as many calories as a gram of carbohydrates or protein. So cutting down on high-fat foods can help you cut down on your daily calories and thus help you lose weight.
So why don’t low-fat diets always work? The truth is that even a low-fat diet can lead to weight gain when people ignore the total amount of calories they’re eating and regularly exceed their daily calorie goals. Too many calories from any source, low-fat foods included, can add pounds.
It’s also not a good idea to cut most or all fat from your diet. This may deprive you of essential fatty acids — which are necessary for the health of your body — and possibly other nutrients sometimes found in foods that contain fat. In addition, your body needs some dietary fat to help absorb certain vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E and K.
Whatever percentage of your calories is from fat, choose fats that will promote your long-term health. Limit saturated fats — found in animal products, coconut, palm and palm kernel oils — and trans fats (hydrogenated oils). Instead, use monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as those found in nuts and nut oils, avocados, and olive, canola and other plant oils.
2. Low-carb diets
Another popular strategy for losing weight is to limit the amount of carbohydrates you eat. The theory behind this weight-loss program is that carbohydrates raise blood sugar levels, which causes an increase in your body’s insulin production. High insulin levels drive blood sugar into your cells, where it’s converted to fat.
Proponents of low-carb diets, such as the Atkins diet, believe that a decrease in carbs will result in lower blood sugar and insulin levels, leading to weight loss. By reducing the amount of carbs you’re taking in, your body turns to stored carbohydrates (glycogen) for energy. When these reserves are exhausted, your body turns to the next source of energy, fat tissue, leading to weight loss.
Some people do lose weight on low-carb diets, but the weight loss probably isn’t related to blood sugar levels. More likely, it’s related to these factors:
- Loss of water weight. When you initially decrease your carbohydrate intake, your body burns glycogen. Glycogen contains large amounts of water, so burning glycogen leads to the release of water and increased urination, causing weight loss.
- Decreased appetite. Burning fat without carbohydrates creates byproducts called ketones that build up in your bloodstream. When this happens, you may not feel as hungry.
- Increased feeling of fullness. Low-carbohydrate diets are usually higher in fat. And fat takes longer to digest, which makes you feel fuller longer.
- Reduced calories. Most low-carb diets reduce your overall calorie intake because they strictly limit the variety of foods you can eat. Carbohydrates — including bread, pasta, rice, cereals, milk, most fruit and any sweets — are to be limited or avoided, thus leading to a significant reduction in calorie intake.
3. Glycemic-index diets
The glycemic index ranks carbohydrate-containing foods based on their effects on blood sugar. For example, eating highly processed foods, such as bread made with refined white flour, raises blood sugar higher and faster than does eating whole foods, such as coarse whole-grain bread or an apple. This earns white bread a high glycemic-index rating and whole-grain bread and apples a lower glycemic-index rating.
Similar to the theory behind low-carb diets, glycemic-index diets — such as the G.I. Diet or the Sugar Busters diet — are based on the premise that increased blood sugar levels lead to overproduction of insulin, leading to weight gain. Therefore, eating the right carbs — foods low on the glycemic index — can help you lose weight by lowering insulin production and regulating your appetite.
Using the glycemic index for meal planning is a fairly complicated process, however. Many factors affect the glycemic-index value of a specific food, such as how the food was prepared and what you eat with it. Also, the glycemic-index value for some foods isn’t known. And people typically eat a combination of foods, which may affect blood sugar differently than does a single food.
4. Meal replacements
Meal replacements, such as Slim-Fast, provide fewer than 400 calories a meal and are nutritionally complete. You replace one or two meals a day, such as breakfast and lunch, with a low-calorie shake or meal bar. Then you eat a healthy third meal, between 600 and 700 calories, of your own choosing. You can eat healthy, low-calorie snacks, such as fruits and vegetables, throughout the day. Most of these programs encourage regular physical activity. Meal replacements can be as effective as a traditional calorie-controlled diet.
5. Commercial weight-loss programs
Commercial weight-loss programs, such as Weight Watchers, offer a reduced-calorie diet and individual or group counseling. These programs assist your weight-loss efforts by giving you eating plans, exercise recommendations and ongoing support. Some programs also offer ready-made meals delivered to your home.
The most popular commercial weight-loss programs — Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and LA Weight Loss — vary in the services and programs they offer.
- Weight Watchers. As a member of Weight Watchers, you attend a weekly meeting for a private weigh-in, group information or activity session, and supportive conversation with fellow participants. The program involves a three-step approach encompassing the foods you eat, your activity level and the use of specific strategies that promote long-term healthy weight.
- Jenny Craig. This program encourages long-term weight loss through exercise, stress reduction and individual support. Jenny Craig also offers ready-made frozen meals delivered to your home overnight. The meals contain the proportion of fats, carbohydrates, proteins and other necessary nutrients you need. The plan also offers telephone counseling and an at-home program for people who don’t live close to a Jenny Craig center.
- LA Weight Loss. This weight-loss program includes one-on-one counseling sessions and help in planning meals and snacks, which you prepare at home. The program encourages clients to make food choices from readily available foods.
Which weight-loss plan is right for you?
How can you determine if a weight-loss program is right for you? The American Dietetic Association suggests that you ask yourself these questions. Does the program:
- Include various foods from the major food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains (particularly whole grains), low-fat dairy products, lean protein sources (meat, poultry, fish), nuts, seeds, and beans and other legumes?
- Include foods you find appealing and that you would enjoy eating for a lifetime — not just for several weeks or months?
- Feature foods you can easily find in your local grocery store?
- Allow you to eat your favorite foods, or better yet, all foods?
- Fit your lifestyle and budget?
- Include proper amounts of nutrients and calories to help you lose weight safely and effectively?
- Encourage regular physical activity?
If you answer no to any of these questions, the weight-loss program isn’t right for you, as you probably won’t stick to it long term. Successful weight loss requires permanent changes to your eating and physical activity habits. This means you need to find a weight-loss program that you can commit to and follow for life.
January 25th, 2006
Carbs are a part of nearly every dieter’s vocabulary. A number of diets are famous for fighting carb consumption. But you should know that not every carbohydrate is created alike. While it is true that you can lose weight by cutting carbs, carbs are also necessary for a good diet.To begin with, we should define our terms. Carbs are derived from a number of different sources. They are present in bread, pasta, fruits, and vegetables. There are also a number of different types of carbs. For instance, carbs come in the form of sugars, starches, and fiber.
For the most part, the digestive system divides carbs into sugar molecules which can be taken into the bloodstream. The majority of carbs are transformed into glucose or blood sugar. In this way, carbs provide energy for our bodies. Those who lack sufficient carbs in their diet may suffer from fatigue.
Carbs can be filled with nutrients. For instance, fruit contains vitamins A and C, fiber, and folate. Vegetables are also a good vitamin and fiber source; in fact, they usually contain a greater variety of minerals than other foods do. Whole grains can provide you with fiber, protein, and B vitamins. Legumes can provide you with protein, iron, and potassium.
But carbs can also be potentially bad for your health. For instance, cookies, potato chips, and soft drinks also contain carbs in the form of sugar and flour. You should know that refined carbohydrates have been linked with diabetes and heart diseases, making these carbs a dangerous choice. There are a number of good reasons to ban these carbs from your diet. For instance, they are extremely high in calories and offer little in the way of nutrients. Because they contain no fiber, they will not keep you satiated. In fact, such carbs offer you zero nutrients, but plenty of fat.
Therefore, you should avoid processed grains and sugars. Instead, eat whole grains, fruits, and vegetables to maximize your nutritional intake. Instead of eliminating carbs completely from your diet, simply ban those that increase the size of your waistline.
There is another way to think about carbs. You can generally divide them into two categories: simple and complex. A simple carb, such as sugar, promotes weight gain. As a result, you should select low-sugar foods, especially low-sugar beverages. In contrast, complex carbohydrates promote weight loss. Health experts recommend that dieters consume between 55 and 65 percent of their calories from these types of carbs. Such carbs include fruits and vegetables and a number of other natural foods.
But it isn’t enough to simply eat fruits and vegetables. You also need to avoid fattening sauces and condiments such as mayonnaise and butter. By adding butter to your broccoli or mayonnaise to your potatoes, you can raise the calorie amount exponentially, sabotaging your diet.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture promotes a food pyramid that recommends as many as eleven servings of bread, pasta, and cereal. However, a number of dieticians are suggesting that Americans should cut the carbs–period. In one poll, 81 percent of the respondents said they were abiding by a low-carb diet.
It is interesting to point out that neither the American Heart Association nor the American Diabetes Association believes that the glycemic index should be considered when following a weight loss plan. While the Diabetes Association concedes that various foods offer different glycemic responses, the Association’s leaders believe the most critical factor is the number of carbs rather than the form of the carbs consumed.
Granted, dietary information about carbs can be confusing. However, a number of dieticians say that, while you might not want to cut carbs out of your diet entirely, you should eat carbs only in moderation. Health experts also say that you should limit your carb intake to good carbs and pass up the bad ones. By following such a plan, you should have energy–but you shouldn’t pack on the weight. It may be difficult at first to follow such a diet plan, since many of us are conditioned to eat bad carbs in order to elevate our moods. In time, however, you may find that you enjoy the fruits and vegetables you’re eating, and you may not even miss those tortilla chips.
January 24th, 2006
You are overweight for the most simple of reasons. You are eating the wrong types of food, consuming unhealthy calories and you are also eating at the wrong hours of the day. Lack of exercise does not make you fat; it makes you unhealthy both internally and externally. You must have heard of the famous phrase- a healthy mind resides in a healthy body.
You get fat because you eat the wrong type of food at wrong times. The pattern you choose to eat your meals each day affects you more than any weight loss prescription pills. Our body needs to eat certain types of foods at certain intervals of the day. No dieting does not help.
The reason you cannot lose weight by starving yourself is because your metabolism will detect any major drop in calories and it will then adjust itself by burning fewer calories each day. So now you know the reason why despite all those diet packages you still haven’t lost weight. The idea is not to just lose weight temporally only to gain it back but to manage your weight.
The first rule of successful weight management is to accept that there are no short cuts. True, there are tons of fad diets that may cause you to lose weight, but few if any prepare you for the task of maintaining your weight reduction. Long term weight control requires the adoption of long term healthy eating habits. Nothing else suffices.
People gain weight because their calorie intake exceeds their calorie expenditure. They eat too many calorie-dense foods and avoid physical exercise. It is not easy to correct this energy imbalance through short-term dietary solutions.
Successful Weight Management requires a stable diet.
The only guaranteed way of normalizing weight is to follow a diet plan that teaches you the sort of healthy eating habits which you can sustain over the long term. Try eating fruits or fruit salad or even fruit juice instead of the usual craving for ice-cream or chocolate brownie. Eat small portions of meal rather than a large one. Huge meals cause heaviness in the stomach hence slow metabolism rate.
Include more red, yellow and green in your diet.
Drink lots of water. It helps flush out body toxins. Drink water when you feel the need to eat the evening-snacks. Your stomach sends out signals that it needs water which we usually misunderstand as hunger pangs.
Exercise is Crucial for Weight Management
Regular exercises not only act as stress-buster but also keep away those cravings.You feel happy and satisfied after a nice exercise and it also helps keep away those ice-cream sundaes. Adopting healthy eating and exercise habits is guaranteed to help you lose weight and then maintain it over the long term
January 23rd, 2006
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