Sunday, April 27, 2008

Calorie Shifting for Maximum Weight Loss

By Robert Kokoska

The biggest reason why most people can't lose weight is because their bodies have adapted to a certain amount of calories, and when this process happens it causes your metabolism to slow down significantly and weight loss is almost impossible. This is the problem with most of the available weight loss programs.

It is for this reason that people who go on starvation based diets only lose pounds for the first couple weeks, and then they get to a point known as a "plateau" which is a where their body adapts to the severely low amount of calories and all the weight loss comes to a complete stop. The other big problem with this type of dieting is that your metabolism will be alot slower after dieting and you will gain all the weight back eventually.

To lose weight permanently you mustn't allow your body to adapt to a specific level of calories daily, otherwise your metabolism will begin to slow down and you will cease losing weight. This also applies to eating a certain amount calories at the same time each day, so in order to avoid this problem you must never consume the exact same size breakfast, lunch and dinner each day.
To better understand this idea of dieting, you should always keep your body off-balance by doing these two simple things:

1. Always eat a different total amount of calories daily. As an example, one day you might consume 2000 calories, then the next day you will only consume 1800 calories. The third day you would consume 1600 calories. On the fourth day you would consume 1400 calories and on the fifth day you would consume 2000 calories again.

2. You also need to change the total amount of calories consumed at each meal (This is so that your body won't get used to eating the same size breakfast, lunch and dinner).

For example, one day you might decide to eat a large breakfast and then a medium sized lunch followed by a small dinner. Then, the day after you might decide to eat a small breakfast, a large lunch followed by a medium sized dinner.

As you can now see, your body won't be allowed to adapt to eating a certain number of calories at any one meal, as well as not allowing your body to adapt to any one amount of total calories each day.

To further illustrate this important part of any successful weight loss plan, we have drawn up a sample of how you might eat for the next one week period:

Monday: 2000 Calories Total - Breakfast = 700, Lunch = 650, Dinner = 650

Tuesday: 1800 Calories Total - Breakfast = 600, Lunch = 700, Dinner = 500

Wednesday: 1600 Calories Total - Breakfast = 700, Lunch = 500, Dinner = 600

Thursday: 1400 Calories Total - Breakfast = 450, Lunch = 450, Dinner = 500

Friday: 2000 Calories Total - Breakfast = 700, Lunch = 650, Dinner = 650

Fat Loss 4 Idiots is the #1 weight loss diet available online that enables you to lose up to 9 pounds every 11 days, plus you are provided with additional tools to help you succeed including an online diet generator. To Learn more about the Fat Loss 4 Idiots program visit: http://www.fatloss4idiats.com

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

Friday, April 25, 2008

10 Easy Ways to Fire Up Your Metabolism

By Kim Archer

Have you been trying to lose weight, and suddenly find yourself stuck on a dieting plateau? If the scale isn't budging despite your best efforts, a sluggish metabolism may be the cause.

Metabolism is a complex process that converts the calories in the foods you eat into energy to ensure the proper functioning of your body. If you have a high metabolism, you'll burn fat and lose weight more easily than someone with a low metabolism, even at the same level of energy intake and expenditure.

Generally speaking, if you're stuck with a low metabolism, you'll never be able to eat as much as your skinny friend with a high metabolism without gaining weight. That being said, there are things you can do to speed up your metabolic rate and get you over the hump towards continued weight loss.

Here are 10 ways you can rev up your metabolism:

1. Exercise. This is the single most effective way to raise your metabolism. The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you'll burn during everyday activities. Work out with weights at least twice a week, and fit in 30 minutes daily of cardiovascular exercise. Go for a brisk walk, run on the treadmill or cross train at the gym. Fit fitness into your day by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking your car further from the building, or doing some energetic housecleaning.

2. Have mini meals. Eating four to six small meals throughout the day rather than three big ones will keep your metabolism revved up constantly.

3. Don't skip meals. If you think skipping meals means you'll lose weight, you're wrong. If you don't feed your body when it expects to be fed, your metabolism grinds to a halt, thinking that you're in starvation mode. See tip number 2.

4. Eat more whole, unprocessed foods like vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. These foods help to keep your metabolism on an even keel.

5. Spice it up. Spicy foods such as hot peppers have been shown to boost your metabolism.

6. Cut back on sugar. High blood sugar levels cause you to store more food as fat.

7. Drink more water. When your body burns fat, it produces toxins. If you don't take in enough fluids to flush them out, your metabolism slows down.

8. Drink green tea. Studies have shown that green tea can speed up your metabolism. It also has numerous other health benefits that make it a worthwhile addition to your diet.

9. Get some sleep. Studies have shown a correlation between not getting enough sleep and weight gain.

10. Lose your stress. Emotional and physical stress can prompt the release of cortisol, a steroid hormone that lowers your metabolism. Plus, you're likely to eat more when you're stressed out.

So don't be discouraged and give up if the scale isn't budging. Try these tips to give your metabolism an edge, and you should be burning calories again in no time. Remember, healthy eating and fitness are a way of life, not just a quick fix to drop some pounds.

Kim Archer is publisher of women's wellness site The Internet Spa at http://www.internet-spa.com,where you'll find the information you need to rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kim_Archer

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Reviews of Weight Loss Programs

By Michele Ranieri

There are so many weight management programs available these days. Your choices include Nutrisystem, Atkins, and Herbal Life. Just like so many other things in life, the choice can be overwhelming.

Below I have reviewed a few of the best programs based on public reviews and popularity (however, these reviews are also my personal opinions).

Visit www.ultrawellnessproducts.com to find out more about weight management.

Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers is the top choice in reviews and has the most clinical studies. This program teaches and encourages how to change your eating habits and lifestyle on a permanent basis with a sensible diet consisting of healthy foods, exercise and a positive attitude.

Weight Watchers is easy to follow and is very flexible. They provide weekly meetings to attend designed for support and to keep you motivated. There are no prepackaged foods and is affordable.

They have a few different programs to choose from. One consists of counting points. You can check out the Weight Watchers website for all the details.

Because Weight Watchers teaches overall lifestyle changes, it has a vastly better long-term record than any other diet plan.

Slimfast

This program is convenient and great for people on the go and don't have time to prepare meals.

Slimfast comes in the form of shakes in a can and bars, both are very nutritional. It does help weight-loss but in many cases, it's only temporary.

After a few months, most people get bored because of the lack of variety. The Slimfast program can also become costly.

eDiets.com

Reviews on eDiets.com say it is the best online weight-loss program. It is convenient and a good idea if you do not like those weekly meeting and weigh-in's.

eDiets.com supports many of the commercial diet programs and also provides diet plans for those with health restrictions.

They, like Weight Watchers, promotes an overall healthy lifestyle. They do provide online support with chat rooms and personal advice from a registered nutritional counselors.

Check out their website for complete details on their plans and prices.

The bottom line to ensure the proper weight management and health is to eat a balanced diet consisting of healthy foods and exercise regularly.

Don't forget to check out www.ultrawellnessproducts.com to learn more about weight management.

Disclaimer: Please check with your healthcare professional before starting any weight-loss program. This article is for informational purposes only.

Michele Ranieri is a work-at-home mom with a passion for helping people achieve their best possible health and wellness.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

How Do I lose Body Fat?

By Rachel Harding

Natural weight loss is a big subject today for many people who do not understand the principle of eating only the amount they need for the amount physical activity they perform; advice like this is for the most part ignored. You would think this simple set of instructions should be easy to follow; with the number of overweight American citizens increasing, this advice obviously doesn't work. The conflicting aspect is that a large percentage of overweight people are desperately trying to lose those pounds whether it is because they are tired of the looks they receive or for health reasons.

What most people do not realize is keeping at the right weight is much, much easier than losing it. Even though many people know this subconsciously very few actually plan to ensure that weight gain doesn't happen to them.

Studies have shown that it is more likely a person who has lost weight using a calorie controlled diet, even if they actually enjoyed it, are more likely to go back to their old eating habits at some point. Natural weight loss is about losing weight for good and requires switching to healthy eating habits and implementing lifestyle changes to stay healthy.

The truth is there is a huge price to pay with your health when you are overweight and in particular, clinically obese. The annoying part is that natural weight maintenance is not difficult to understand but overweight people choose to ignore this.

Natural weight loss requires a balanced approach which means a diet that contains quantities of complex carbohydrates, fiber, reduced fat and not too much protein. A meal containing this group would be something like a baked potato, vegetables and some meat, lean of course but it would not contain gravy or sour cream.

Unfortunately, dietary fat contains higher amounts of calories than ordinary food which when consumed will just be converted to body fat more readily. Despite the number of either low fat or zero fat foods on the market, it's a surprise that the American people continue to put on weight, but there is a very good reason for this.

The misconception is if you are eating something fat-free then you won't be adding extra fat to your body but all food contains calories, just not always in the form of fat. If you really want to lose weight through a program you will need to dump the fat free products and eat small healthy snacks that are high in nutrition.

Some health care specialists believe that a good method is to eat smaller meals and healthy, nutritious snacks every 3 or 4 hours. When combined with regular exercise, this natural weight loss plan offers a way to lose unwanted pounds in the long run.

Article by Rachel Harding. Are you struggling to lose weight I was to till now. Go to http://offto.net/io0whp/ to find out what I did.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com

Eat All You Want And Still Lose Weight

By Adrian Alexa

Sounds great right? Well, it can be possible but you have to make some sacrifices for that. Until the age of 20, your body is very energetic and so it burns a lot faster the fat your body takes in with those Big Macs. After that, it gets slower and slower and without any effort from your side, although you eat the same or even less, you have all the chances to gain weight.

I know you look at those young women that can eat everything and still look like models and think that something is fishy. Well some of them are bulimic - the disorder that makes them throw-up after eating. This is not an option because this degrades your body in the long run and eventually makes your body weak and in danger of getting immunity degrading diseases. I'm sure you realize it's not worth it!

If you want to keep eating all you want and crave for, you have to help your body with exercise. Everything has to be calculated when you decide to follow this program. You must figure out how much calories you eat and then get rid of them with exercises that actually burn those calories and will not just get you tired. Remember: it's not about wearing you out, but burning as many calories as possible. The key is nutrition combined with exercise!

For example, a Big Mac has about 480 calories and you can burn them in 1 hour and a half by walking for two hours. When you come to think of it, it's not that simple but I told you - you have to pay the price of losing weight and still eating all you want. Try doing sports you like so that it doesn't feel like a burden or a chore. If you get bored at the gym, you can go for a jog in the park before going to work.

You have to feel ok with your program either way: if you eat all you want but need to exercise as much or even more, or you cut down that junk food and do less exercise - that is if you can't or don't like to stretch.

Losing weight is not really a small battle to take on but you have to think about what you want more: to eat and stay on your couch and looking or look and feel great while saying goodbye to that couch potato life. You can eat all you want and still lose weight but you are the only person that can start the fight and keep on fighting for the body you are looking for. Pay attention to every little detail you can while not neglecting overall body health and you are on your way to lose wait through nutrition and exercise.

Eat All You Want and Still Lose Weight first appeared on the Great Bodies blog, a great resource for Nutrition facts articles.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adrian_Alexa