Friday 16 April 2010

What Is Dieting? How Should Your Diet Plan Compliment Your Weight Loss Plan?

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Dieting means following a pre-designed pattern of food intake in order to attain certain specific short-term goals. Dieting must not be confused with a more basic and thorough concept of diet regulation whereby one tries to shape one's general habit of nutritional intake so as to derive long term health benefits. For instance, a vegan prefers a diet entirely bereft of animal products. In his diet even milk has no place. However, this is not 'dieting' despite being a form of controlled and regulated food intake.

The commonest objective of dieting is weight loss, and it is for this reason primarily that so many people around the globe practice it.

To begin with, a weight loss program restricts the intake of certain specific foods in order to achieve reduction in body weight. Now, this has no general application, for no two human bodies are exactly alike.

Therefore, if something works for one, it may not work for another at all. The difference basically lies in individual metabolisms and lifestyles. It has also been pointed out by many experts that short-term dieting may not lead to long term weight loss. In other words, if you practice weight loss today and manage shedding some weight, it is not necessarily a permanent weight loss. One has to keep working out and to keep one's diet in check in order to keep the weight constantly under control or else the digits on your weighing scale might start piling once again bringing you to square one.

The most prominent adverse aftereffect of dieting is the body's going into famine mode wherein it starts stockpiling excessive fat, for it reads low food intake as a signal to start the process of self preservation. As a result, during the dieting period the weight sinks considerably, but the moment you start eating normal, the body starts storing food and the body weight shoots up. Therefore, for effective long term weight loss what is required is careful dieting coupled with regular exercise.

Do not make dieting plan your starvation scheme for that wouldn't work and would invariably do more harm than good.

By: Ashish Jain

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Monday 12 April 2010

Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan - 3 Tips To Help You Create A Plan That You Can Stick With

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Are you not sure how to create a healthy weight loss diet plan? There are so many diets available that it can become difficult to stay focused on a weight loss diet plan that you can stick too. That is because most diets don’t fit our individual needs. For example, many people don’t want to lose weight by eliminating entire food groups such as a no carbohydrate diet. It’s just not convenient.

If you are looking to find a healthy weight loss diet plan that fits your needs here are some tips to get you started.

Learn the basics of eating right

In order to create a diet plan, you need to learn the basics of eating right. Research what foods are good for you and uncover foods you need to avoid most of the time. A good place to check is your local book store.

While there are many books out there that will help you. I suggest a book that is straight forward and doesn’t provide fancy gimmicks. Your source should be very fundamental and provide plenty of information on eating right. It should be a resource you can refer too while you are refining and perfecting your own diet plan.

Another place to look is the internet. You can find a lot of great information about proper nutrition from many sources. Also, you can find up to date information and keep your diet plan fresh by trying new things out. Remember, creating a healthy weight loss diet plan that fits your needs is all about researching what will work for you.

Set the standards of your diet

There is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to a healthy weight loss diet plan. We all have unique tastes, lifestyles and cultural values. Embrace that and write down all the foods that you like.

During your research on eating right you will learn which foods are optimal for you and which foods are bad. Proper nutrition is a complex subject. Keep a list of these foods so you have a constitution to your program.

Another important standard is that your weight loss diet plan should fit your lifestyle, not the other way around. Healthy diet plans that fit your life style are much easier and more compelling to follow and stay with. For example, if you’re a parent your food choices should not be abstract of what the rest of your family eats. In other words, your meals should be the same as what your family eats.

Create a plan each week

Planning is the key to success or failure with maintaining your diet. First, your plan should consist of your short term goals. For example, “I will lose 2 lbs” is a goal. Use your plan to think through trouble spots for the week.

Some examples of common trouble spots are, nights when you eat out, school functions, working late, little league games, days that require a lot of driving and ordering out at the office. Your daily menu of all meals should be included with your plan and approximate times that you will be eating. You should also set up a meal or two as cheat meals.

With a little research and planning you can create a healthy weight loss diet plan. You just need to learn about feeding your body correctly and identify what will be a fit for you. Once you are up and running with your own plan, then you’ll be able to be more consistent at staying with your diet.

By: John Purfield

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Wednesday 7 April 2010

Rapid Weight Loss Diet Plan - 5 Tips For Your Weekly Weight Loss Diet Plan

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Whether you are following a rapid weight loss diet plan or trying to lose weight slowly, you are facing a life style change that is totally based on how your work week goes. Usually most work weeks are filled with long commutes, long hours and perhaps social outings that seem to deliberately throw us off from our plans.

If you need to loose weight quickly, then you need to be near perfect in executing your weight loss plan. Here are five tips you help you be most effective in losing weight. These should be part of your weekly routine.

Please note these tips require some thought and it is suggested you execute some of these items on your day off.

Create your weekly menu

On a rapid weight loss diet plan, your success or failure is solely based on what you eat and what you don’t eat. So, you should create a menu. The menu should serve as a guide to every meal you will eat during the week.

I suggest you buy a spiral note book or composition book and date the menus you create. This way you can take notes and review past menus.

Keep the menu with you during the week and mark down if you ate what you planned. Also make notes of when you cheated.

Create your shopping list and go shopping

After you create your menu, you need to look at the meals you have planned and make a shopping list. Your shopping list should be very simple with only the items that support your menu.

Identify Possible Cheat Days for the upcoming week

No matter how hard you try to lose weight you will always be in a situation where you may be tempted to over eat. This includes social outings with co-workers or friends. Identifying these days will help you over come them.

Prepare your meals ahead of time.

Preparing your meals ahead of time provides the following: you are making a commitment to eat that meal and you are ensuring yourself you are going to eat a meal that is helping you reach your weight loss goals.

Review your week

Always review the week to see how successful you where with your weekly menu. You’ll be able to see what you worked and didn’t work. Simply, take a look at your menu and then review the meals you ate. If you took good notes, then you’ll be able to use the review process as a learning experience to fine tune your rapid weight loss diet.

By: John Purfield

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Friday 2 April 2010

Advantages and Disadvantages of Different Weight Loss Plans

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Losing weight is one of the greatest concerns of society today. With this fact comes the reality that almost every day, a new program comes out. As a result, it is now difficult to find the right one among these many weight loss plans and the assurance of effectiveness is not guaranteed. In effect, the generally simple task of losing weight is made very difficult and complicated.

Here are some of the popular weight loss plans available. I would discuss briefly the advantages and disadvantages of each so that anyone wanting to lose weight could have a general idea of the different plans out there and arrive at a decision of what plan to follow.

The low-fat diet is the best and most effective weight loss plan IF properly followed. A low-fat diet program is a diet that is based on the notion that a reduction in the intake of fat along with regular physical activity would result in long-term weight loss. Thus, this kind of diet recommends meals with low fat or no fat at all. The good thing about this diet is that it results in steady weight loss if properly set up or administered by an experienced weight loss and health professional. Unluckily though, there are many low-fat diet programs that recommends meals with very low fat content reduced to such a level that it becomes unhealthy for the individual.

Some low-fat diets on the other hand, are more on the high-carbohydrate notion which is not good as well. Most often also, low-fat diet plans do not yield results quickly. Fat loss is very slow as a result of the un-optimized meal programs and diet menus. Reiterating what I have mentioned earlier, the low fat diet is the most effective way of losing weight. The downsides mentioned are due to the incorrect way of administering the diet and not of the diet itself.

A high-protein diet recommends meals of high protein and low carbohydrate. This program is based on the principle that carbohydrates contributes greatly to fat accumulation and weight gain, thus, reducing its intake and replacing it with protein results in fat and weight loss. This diet would make you lose weight faster than the low-fat diet but is not very effective for long-term weight loss. This diet is also healthy in the sense that it results in a steady blood sugar level.

On the other hand, this weight loss plan which encourages a high consumption of protein equally means that it encourages a high consumption of saturated fats. This is very unhealthy as it increases the risk for heart-related diseases. In addition, since the amount of carbohydrates being consumed is very low, the burning of the fatty acids by the kidneys are very quick making them work overtime. This could lead to serious health disorders. Hence, I suggest that this weight loss plan be avoided.

The fixed-menu program provides you with a fixed list of meals that you are allowed to eat. Pros include the fact that since the food choices have already been selected for you, keeping count of the amount of calories would no longer be a problem for you. However, since the food choices are very minimal, it is not very effective in the long run because the dieter tends to experience difficulty in following the program and slip to his old habits of eating whatever foods he wants. It could also be harmful in the sense that a balanced diet is not provided.

By Bernice Eker

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Monday 29 March 2010

6 Step Weight Loss Plan to Help You Stay on Track

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You will need a long-term goal. Since long-term goals are harder to stick to, make short-term goals to help you along the way. You have a better chance of reaching your goals if you make sure that the weight loss plan that you use is reasonable right from the start.

The following are steps used by the experts to form weight loss plans and set personal goals.

Step 1 - Be realistic. Most people's long-term weight loss plans are more extreme than they have to be.

For example, if you are 45 years old and weigh 170 pounds and your long-term plan is to weigh 120, this may not be a realistic weight loss goal. Especially if you haven't weighed 120 since you were 16.

One way to find your reasonable weight is to go by your body mass index or BMI. This can be a good indicator of whether you need to shed pounds or not. According to the National Institutes of Health, the ideal BMI range is between 19 and 24.9. You are considered overweight if your BMI is between 25 and 29.9. Any numbers over 30 are in the obesity range.

Using the BMI to measure how much weight you need to lose will help you set goals that apply to you and your body type.

Step 2 - Make objectives that will keep you motivated. Find your reason to lose weight.

For some, using a weight loss plan just to look better is psychologically less effective than losing weight to improve your health. For example, avoiding stroke or heart attack can be a great motivator.

Other people may find that looking better means to feel better and more self confident. It may be that excess weight is keeping you from applying for that great job or stopping you from socializing.

In either case, you have made a big step forward if you are using a weight loss plan that includes exercise and eating right in order to feel better and have more energy to do something positive in your life. Now write out and post your objectives where you can see them each day. This can help you stay on track.

Step 3 - Use measurable measures. Saying that you are going to get more serious this week or be more positive this week is not a goal that you can measure. This will not benefit any weight loss plan.

Using exercise in your weight loss plan will help you make a solid, measurable goal and stick to it. You can count up the minutes of exercise and keep track.

Step 4 - Focus on doing, not losing. Instead of saying that you are going to lose a pound this week, say how much you are going to exercise this week. This is something that is in your control so you can follow it.

Step 5 - Take smaller steps. Short-term weight loss plans should not be too extreme. For example, if you have never exercised at all, your best weight loss plan for this week should be to schedule three exercise days. Try finding three different one-mile routes that you can walk next week. If you have an exercise bike or treadmill, plan the time you will work out, for how long, and what music you will listen to while you are doing it.

And, again, be reasonable. If you don't exercise because the next hour of heavy breathing and movement is too much to bear, then set a goal of 10 minutes. Pretty soon 10 minutes will easily flow into 20 and so on. Work up to at least 30 minutes three times a week. This is an excellent start.

Step 6 - Use self-encouragement to motivate yourself. We have been told for many years to lose weight we must have an all-or-nothing attitude. Unfortunately, this only sets you up to fail. Learn to evaluate your efforts fairly and objectively. If you don't reach some of your goals, don't worry, instead look ahead to the next week. You did not "blow it." Just get back on track and move forward from there. And remember it's what you do most of the time, not some of the time.

By Cindy Papp

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Thursday 25 March 2010

Discovering the Best Weight Loss Plan

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There are many people in today's world are looking for the best weight loss plan that will work for them. Today's world is vision focused representing the idea that to be beautiful you have to be thin, and this goes for both men and women alike. So, this puts many people in the world searching for the best weight loss program. For many people the best weight loss plan will be one that allows them to lose weight in the shortest amount of time possible.

There are countless weight loss plans for a person to choose from all claiming to be the most effective, best weight loss program there is. Not all of these will be the best weight loss plans. There are many weight loss supplements, like weight loss pills, that have a variety of negative side effects. Diet pills can cause nausea, loose stool, constipation, dry mouth, trembling, urinary tract infections and other urinary tract disorders, heart palpitations, and even headaches. The best weight loss plan to look for is usually the ones that lead you down a more natural and healthier way of losing unwanted pounds. Surgical intervention is also another quick weight loss method that is most certainly not for everyone. Surgical procedures are usually not done unless a person is in the category of being morbidly obese.

Be judgmental and scrutinize the weight loss plan especially if there are weight loss supplements involved. Make a list of the pro and cons about the program and then make an informed decision. Please just do not jump into a weight loss program with checking out the product, the company, and the ingredients if a weight loss supplement is involved. You also must be fully committed to the weight loss program to succeed with weight loss.

Diets that concentrate on eating only particular types of food are usually a bad idea as well. For instance, the Atkins diet completely cut carbohydrates out of a person's daily nutrition. This is a terrible thing to do. You do not want to take any important nutritional supplement out of your diet; rather you will want to limit its intake if anything. It is not a medical fact that being thin makes you healthy. As a matter of fact, that is very far from the truth.

However, being obese is in general terrible for any person's body. The best weight loss plan should not put your health at risk in any way. The best weight loss program should be the right balance of healthy foods and exercise. A weight loss plan that brings in some sort of balance will surely let a person attain their ideal body mass index.

When finding the best weight loss plan, it is a great idea to seek medical consultation. This should really be done before starting any diet plan to make sure that a particular weight loss plan suit's the individual that is involved. The best weight loss program will involve a diet that includes food with all the nutrients in the food pyramid. The best weight loss plan will also involve the proper exercise and rest for your body to work properly. When you body is working properly it will burn excess fats more efficiently and allow you to succeed with weight loss.

By Faye B. Roberts

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Monday 22 March 2010

How to Choose a Weight Loss Plan

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In the developed countries the weight loss industry is booming as obesity soars. As such there are many weight loss plans that are entering the market with the aim of providing us a weight loss solution. Unfortunately there have been many diets and weight loss plans that have entered the market that promise fast weight loss, however are not offering long term weight loss solutions. The points below will have you choose a weight loss plan that best suits your weight loss goals.

Firstly a weight loss plan should meet the following needs for you:

- Match your lifestyle and food choices

- Promote healthy living habits including exercise and a balanced diet

- Meet your nutritional needs.

- Be a long term weight loss solution

Things to avoid when choosing a weight loss plan

- Avoid fad diets

- Avoid promises of excessive weight loss without exercise

- Plans that cut of out major food groups entirely (i.e. no carb diets)

- Promote fast weight loss with a wonder drug or pill

Set your weight loss goals

Before you can chose a weight loss plan that matches your weight loss goals and lifestyle you need to be clear about what you want to achieve. Do you want to lose 5-10kgs? What's your weight loss goal? What time frame? Is that realistic.

Establish a support network

The success of a weight loss plan is accelerated when you have support from family and friends who are encouraging you to reach your weight loss goals. Perhaps look at starting a weight loss plan with a friend or family member.

Keep a food diary

Tracking what you eat is essential. Try this for a week and analyse your eating habits. There are some great online food journals and food calorie counters to help you lose weight.

Monitor your health

This is especially the case when following a restrictive weight loss plan like no carb plans for instance. Its important to monitor lipid profiles (blood fats including cholesterol and triglycerides). Very high protein plans can also effect kidney performance. If you haven't been following a very healthy diet i would be careful about shifting to a diet that suggested cutting all carbs and only eating lean protein foods. I would check in with a doctor before starting any weight loss plan.

By Michael Jenkins

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