How To Diet And Eat Out

October 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

While dieting, everyone runs into dieting dilemmas at some stage. It is inevitable that you will be tempted to go off your diet and ‘cheat’. For instance, you have successfully been sticking to your diet for a while, but now you have been asked to go out with friends to a restaurant for a lunch or dinner. You know you may not have the will-power to adhere to your diet plan. What are you to do?

Of course, you can refuse the invitation and sit home miserably while you think of your friends having all the fun. That is not really a good solution, because not only will you feel more deprived, but it can cause you enough grief that you will say ‘the heck with your diet’ and give it up anyways.

Your best option when dealing with a possible temptation situation is to plan for it. And there are several ways you can help yourself stick to your diet while eating out.

First, try to steer your friends towards a restaurant that you know may be more diet-friendly. Try to stay away from eating in restaurants or fast-food places that you know will be serving mostly calorie-laden foods (such as French fries, burgers or even rich French foods). If your friends really care about you, they will help you by choosing a restaurant that may be more accommodating for your weight loss needs .

When you know which restaurant you will be eating at, try to plan a little in advance what you can order that will best suit your weight loss plan. Most restaurants nowadays have websites which post their menus. Call up the menu of your chosen restaurant and pre-select what you will be eating. Compare the menu with your diet plan, and choose foods that you are allowed to eat. Then when you get to the restaurant you don’t even have to be tempted by the menu. Just order what you have already decided on.

Another way to help you stick to your diet if you need to eat in a restaurant is to plan your day’s eating around your restaurant outing. For example, if you are allowed a certain amount of calories per day and you are eating out for dinner, cut down on your breakfast and lunch allowances so that you can eat more calories at dinner.

Making little sacrifices while eating out can also help you stick to your diet. Try choosing a lesser calorie dressing for your salad, like oil and vinegar instead of a higher calorie creamy dressing. Or try to have a clear soup instead of a richer cream variety. Eat chicken instead of beef. Omit the bread or crackers. Have frozen yogurt for dessert instead of a piece of decadent calorie-laden chocolate cake. All of these small sacrifices can add up big time when you are counting those calories.

You can also choose to for ego your diet for that one outing. This does not mean you should go ‘hog-wild’ and eat everything in sight, but having a small helping of dessert may not be out of line. Everyone needs a bit of a break every once in a while, and as long as you get right back on track with your diet then this need not affect you too much.

Losing weight and eating out does not have to be a problem when you are dieting. If you use the tips above and common sense, going to a restaurant should not affect your diet plan in the long run.

3 Weight Loss Myths That Can Put Your Life In Danger

October 30, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

If you read health magazines regularly, you’re sure to find many tips on weight loss. Some of these tips actually work and others do not. Those who do not are generally those who suggest that the fad diets, supplements and pills for weight loss. The advice that really work for everyone are always simple: diet and exercise. However, the industry of weight loss is full of myths and misrepresentations, and people tend to distort the truth, either selfishness or simply ignorance. In this article I will discuss three myths of weight loss.

1. Myth # 1: Reducing the amount of fat is possible: Not quite true, and I am sure that any expert in weight loss by acting unanimously, will agree with that. You can not force your body to the point of reducing fat in all circumstances, regardless of the type of exercise you do. Doing crunches and lift your legs as often in the hope of reducing belly fat, you will notice that instead of reducing your belly fat, reduced muscle mass, is found in the abdomen. For this reason, attention should not focus on crunches and leg lifts alone, you must also follow a healthy diet that could speed up your metabolism and helps burn fat fast!

2. Myth # 2: A drastic reduction of calories reduces body fat: This myth has led many people about to crash diet. People take crash diet in hopes of spreading those extra pounds less, include a system of accident damage to their bodies rather than helped. In fact, when they die of starvation or fasting, the body realizes that you will kill and then go into the starvation mode. While in starvation mode, your body lowers its metabolic rate and burn your muscles (instead of fat, which is kept in reserve) for energy production. In this way, not losing fat at all, in any case, you lose precious muscle. And once you return to your normal diet, you gain the extra weight!

3. Myth # 3: Cardio-vascular exercise alone help you lose weight if it is true that cardio exercise can help you lose fat, not true that the only type of weight loss exercises available, n Do not forget aerobics. In fact, the amount of fat you lose or do cardio or aerobics is almost equal. In addition, lifting weights is better than cardio and aerobics, as it not only helps burn fat during training, but even after that!

Remember that fad diets are not the best way to lose weight and keep it off. Fad diets often promise quick weight loss or tell you to cut certain foods out of your diet. You may lose weight at first on one of these diets. But diets that strictly limit calories or food choices are hard to follow. Most people quickly get tired of them and regain any lost weight.

I sincerely hope that this article has managed to translate the truth of the reality of weight loss before you!

Three Simple Tips To Shed Fat

October 19, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

Why do you want to lose weight? People often give very general reasons for wanting to lose weight, such as “to look better”, or “to become healthier”, etc. These reasons aren’t specific enough. If you ultimately want to change behavior, you need to dig a bit deeper so you can find something to really help you to commit.
There are so many tips to lose fat fast printed all over the internet. Some of these are written by experts while some are produced by people who were able to experience firsthand the process of losing weight quickly. The fact that there are so many resources online, a person might find it difficult to rightly choose which one to go for. However, let it be known that it is not really necessary to go for complicated methods of losing pounds.

Without a plan, you won’t know where you’re trying to go. You may have all the information in the world; make the right food choices, increase your exercise intensity, etc, but if you don’t plan your great intentions that will go right out the window.

Today it seems people are willing to go through almost anything to lose body fat. Fad diets, pills and magical exercise equipment are costly and most often simply ineffective. In order to lose those pounds you have to have a basic understanding of the food you are eating, and how to utilize various forms of exercise.

There are three things to consider when losing body fat.

Diet watch your carbs in general and especially simple carbs. Avoid consuming lots of carbs in the evenings. Quite simply, to lose weight you must burn more calories than you consume.

Weight training having more muscle mass is a huge aid to burning calories and getting lean. Each additional pound of muscle burns 30 50 calories per day at rest.

Cardio to burn the most fat it helps to do it in a glycogen depleted state, such as immediately after waking (before consuming any carbs or fat) or right after lifting weights. HIIT-high intensity interval training has been shown to be exponentially more effective at fat burning than endurance type (level resistance) cardio.

All too often people are looking for the hidden secret when ti comes time to lose a few pounds, when in reality, it just takes a bit of work and some basic understanding of diet and exercise.

Many folks become discouraged when beginning an exercise or weight loss program because they expect a magic bullet, or overnight success. But starting a simple exercise program or reading a “diet” book won’t cure a 30 year ice cream or soda addiction.Small steps each day mean big changes in the long run; nothing will happen overnight and it’s important to continually encourage yourself. Unhealthy habits weren’t created overnight and they won’t be changed overnight. You need to work towards improving your habits day after day.

Four Tips To Fast And Easy Weight Loss

October 19, 2009 by · Leave a Comment 

Probably one of the most difficult goals to achieve in life is that of weight loss. Weight loss is difficult, but even more difficult is keeping the weight off. While there are several ways to lose weight, not all options work for everybody. For some people, plain diet and exercise will help them lose weight. For others, simply dieting and exercising aren’t enough; they will need to take weight loss supplements and perhaps work a bit harder than others.

Remember not to get weight loss tips and advice from your friends because some of these suggestions may not work for you. Moreover, some of the suggested tips can actually be harmful for your body. Bottom line is that YOU need to decide how you are going to lose weight. If you have chosen to tread the path of the conventional diet and exercise, then I will give you some tips in this article:

1. Avoid Junk Foods: All your weight loss efforts will do down the drain if you cannot keep yourself from eating junk and processed foods. These foods have high calorie content and will add to your pounds. You should always try to eat healthy. To make sure that you don’t give in to any temptations, make sure you have a considerable stock of raw fruits and vegetables in your house. Also make sure that you cook your own meals, so you can decide how much oil to use. Keep in mind the less oil you consume, the better for you!

2. Eat in small portions: Don’t be lazy. You may think that if you eat just once a day you will survive anyway but if you want to lose weight then eating a large meal may not be in your best interest. Ideally, you should split your large dinner into five or six small meals and eat each small portion every four or five hours. Every time you eat, your metabolism will increase and you will be able to burn a lot of fat. Plus it will help suppress your appetite as you won’t feel hungry all the time!

3. Cut down calories without depriving yourself: You can lose weight only when you consume less calories than what you burn, and to make sure that you can achieve this end, you should start cutting down on your calorie intake by small percentages everyday. However, you should look to it that in the quest of cutting down your calorie intake, you don’t deprive yourself of your favorite foods, otherwise you will start binge eating which will cause weight gain!

4. Exercise: Exercises are one of the best ways to lose weight. However much you hate to workout at the gym, you must do it if you are serious about losing belly fat . Workouts not only speed up your metabolism, it also increases your muscles mass. Increase in your metabolic rate as well as your muscle mass will help you burn more fat in less time. You should also look to it that you increase your physical activity level as much as you can. If you go to the marketplace in your car, start using your legs instead. If you reach your office room using the elevator, try to take to the stairs instead!

As you can see, there is no better way to lose weight than by diet and exercise. However, if this doesn’t work for you, then your best bet is to visit a doctor and ask for advice. More often than not, your doctor will ask you either to take some weight loss supplements and pills or go for surgery.