To get the number on the scale to go down, you have to chow down. Between 10 and 30 percent of the calories you use each day get burned by the simple act of digesting your food. Now that’s pretty cool — satisfying your food cravings actually fries calories! But not all foods are created equal. Your body uses more calories to digest protein (about 25 burned for every 100 consumed) than it does to digest fats and carbohydrates (10 to 15 burned for every 100 consumed).
That’s why the Abs Diet concentrates on adding lean, healthy proteins. Eat more of them, in a sensible way, and you’ll torch more calories. Protein is also the nutrient that builds muscle — and the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism and the more calories you’ll burn throughout the day. When you lift and lower weights, you create microscopic tears in your muscles. To mend the tears, your body parachutes in new protein to assess the damage and repair the muscle. Proteins fortify the original cell structure by building new muscle fibers.
This wonder child of the nutrition world also makes you feel fuller faster. But the good news doesn’t stop there. Following an eating plan that emphasizes lean proteins will accelerate weight loss from your midsection first.
The Abs Diet plan is simple: Just stick to the six guidelines below and follow the Abs Diet Quickstart Workout for weight loss success. You can burn a serious hunk of fat — from your belly first — in just a few weeks.
Let the belly flattening begin!
Read the rest of this entry »
Your cube mate advises against eating after 8 p.m., a girl from your yoga class swears by the grapefruit diet, and your best friend warns that mixing carbs and protein can pack on the pounds. Sure, you’ve been hearing diet tips like these from well-meaning people for years, but is there any truth to them? To set the record straight on the most oft-repeated advice, we consulted a team of nutrition experts. They revealed which strategies you should forget and which live up to their get-slim promise.
Q. Will chewing low-cal foods like sugar-free gum and celery help me burn calories?
A. It might, but hardly enough to trigger weight loss. Gum and certain veggies are often called “negative-calorie” foods because they supposedly take more energy for your body to chew or digest than they contain.
The negative-calorie myth was put to the test when researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, asked people to chew sugarless gum at a rate of 100 bites per minute. After calculating the energy expended (about 11 calories per hour), they concluded that a person who chomped on a piece every waking hour of the day for a month would lose less than a pound. As for celery? All that crunching does burn energy, but it amounts to less than the 6-calorie stalk contains. The bottom line: If you really want to shed pounds, give your jaw a rest and start moving your body.
Q. Can coffee really rev up my metabolism?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles | Posted on 15-04-2010
0
If living with your parents taught you anything, it’s that the more rules there are, the more you want to break them. And losing weight can seem like nothing but rules. Fortunately, rebellion has its advantages: Disregarding strict food guidelines could be the secret to a successful slim-down.
A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that people with a flexible approach to eating-one that allows for sweets and other perceived slip-ups-had a better record of maintaining weight loss than dieters with an “all or nothing” strategy. How can you do it without skidding into a diet danger zone? We got top nutrition pros to confess the supposedly vital weight-loss principles they violate. Employ their secrets to stay satisfied without gaining an ounce.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, Supplements | Posted on 14-04-2010
0
It may sound too good to be true, but you can trick yourself into eating less. Drop pounds effortlessly with these five stay-slim strategies.
1. FOOL YOUR APPETITE
“The amount of food on a plate – whether it’s one helping or four – is what most people consider a ‘normal’ serving,” says Jim Painter, Ph.D., R.D., a food psychologist at Eastern Illinois University. His recommendation: Downsize your dishes. “If you have a visual cue that tells you to stop before you get stuffed, you’ll eat less but feel just as satisfied.”
2. SAY NO TO CRIME
You may want to record the latest episode of CSI or 24 so you can watch it after you finish dinner. “TV shows that feature murders or medical emergencies tend to remind us of our own mortality,” says Dirk Smeesters, Ph.D., an associate professor of marketing at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. “On a subconscious level, this can make some people feel a little depressed or upset – which can then trigger them to eat more food than they normally would.”
3. GIVE YOUR FORK A REST
Chowing down like it’s an extreme sport can seriously up your calorie count, according to a new study Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, General tips | Posted on 10-04-2010
0
Set yourself up for body-trimming success with these five lifestyle tweaks.
Call in a Support Crew
Obesity loves company: Your odds of packing on pounds rise when your friends, family, and even neighbors chunk up. The good news: The reverse also seems to be true. A study in the International Journal of Obesity found that the spouses of dieters enrolled in weight-loss programs also lost flab—without trying. The average loss by matrimony was five pounds in a year, higher in some cases (one woman lost 14 pounds to her husband’s 35). If no one you know is cutting calories, it’s easy to find a diet BFF using a free service like bluepont.com. Download the free software to your cell, enter your preferences and location, and you’ll be alerted when a match is found.
Eyball Ingredients
A 2008 USDA report found that consumers read labels less often today than they did 10 years ago. Other studies have shown that shoppers who do often end up confused—who wouldn’t be, when a tiny bottle of OJ turns out to be 2.5 servings? “Labels can lie,” says Tanya Zuckerbrot, M.S., R.D., author of The F-Factor Diet. Sign up at eBrandAid.com, which lists red-flag ingredients like artificial sweeteners and MSG (recently linked to an increased risk of being overweight). Easier: Swear off any packaged food whose first four ingredients you don’t recognize.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, General tips | Posted on 07-04-2010
0
Learn why your body weight fluctuates so much and what exactly is causing the weight gain
Feel like your weight seesaws more than your 4-year-old niece on a sunny day at the playground? Relax. Even if you’re doing everything perfectly, there are lots of reasons why the number on the scale could be up by a pound or two. According to Melina Jampolis, M.D., author of The No-Time-to-Lose Diet, these are some of the usual suspects.
You were thirsty! Downing 16 ounces of any fluid can cause an immediate “gain” of 1 pound.
You’re backed up. Constipation can tilt the scale by as much as 2 pounds if it’s been more than a couple of days since your bowels did their thing.
You’re going on vacation. To Thailand. The changes in air pressure can make you retain water on flights longer than 4 hours, which can show up as an extra 1 to 3 pounds on the scale.
You ate the Chicken Kung Pao. Have a salty dinner and you could wake up 2 to 3 pounds heavier your body retains water to dilute all that sodium.
Aunt Flo’s on her way. Hormone fluctuations in the 3 days leading up to your period can make you retain up to 5 pounds of water.
(Article from http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/balance-weight)
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in General tips | Posted on 05-04-2010
0
Getting enough sleep is very important. Without even realizing it, we tend to eat more when we are tired; it is a way to “perk” ourselves up. While eating something high in carbs will give you a burst of energy, it will soon fade away. Feeling well-rested may help keep that “afternoon slump” at bay (and you away from the fridge).
To be an efficient fat-burning machine, your body requires at least eight hours of
sleep a night. If you think that you’re doing yourself a favor by sleeping less, you’re mistaken. Give your body time to rest itself, both mentally and physically. Sleep is very, very important (if only for mental alertness for the following day).
Sleep just right. Don’t sleep too long or too short because according to a study done by researchers at Laval University in Quebec, people who slept too long (over 8 hours) & people who slept too short (under 6 hours) were more likely to gain weight than people who slept the normal 7-to-8 hours.
Also when you don’t get enough sleep the levels of
leptin in your body are lowered. Leptin is a blood protein that suppresses your appetite. With your levels of
leptin being lowered due to sleep depravation your appetite is tend to grow.
This is one of the easiest and most pleasant recommendations of how to loose weight fast and effectively at home.
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, General tips | Posted on 03-04-2010
0
We’ve got our health truths down pat. For physical wellness, eat good, wholesome food and get plenty of exercise. But what about the myths out there about diet and exercise? Watch and learn as we bust five of the top diet and exercise myths.
Myth #1: Carbs are the Enemy
Maybe we can blame Dr. Atkins and other proponents of the low-carb diet craze for this one. Experts suggest that carbohydrates play a star role in keep you energized and your organs functioning properly. The carb bad rap should rest squarely on the shoulders of “white carbs” like white bread, white rice, and sugar. These refined carbs, dietitians suggest, are more likely to pack on the pounds. Stick with whole grains like whole wheat pasta and brown rice for a healthier diet.
Myth #2: Never Eat After 8PM
The habit of under-eating all day only to overdo it at dinner time is likely where this myth came from. Eating excess calories at any hour of the day will lead to weight gain. Just remember: It’s not when you eat, it’s what you eat.
Read the rest of this entry »
The worst thing you can do while watching you diet and trying to lose weight is skip a meal. It has just the opposite effect of what you want. You need to have at least four regular meals every day.
Important fact: While skipping a meal will reduce your calorie intake for that hour, it will leave you much hungrier later on.
Have an egg for breakfast. Studies found that an egg for breakfast helped overweight people feel more full over 24 hours than a bagel-based breakfast of equal calories and the people who ate the egg breakfast ate 330 calories less during the day and after an 8-week study.
The people who had eggs for breakfast instead of bagels lost 65% more weight and they lost 16% more fat and don’t worry about your cholesterol levels going up because even though the people in that 8 week study had 2 eggs for breakfast everyday.
Please leave a comment if you found this weight loss tip useful.
Posted by Virginia H. | Posted in Articles, Physical activity | Posted on 30-03-2010
0
If I had to pick a single factor that I thought was most important in a successful exercise or weight loss program, it would be to exercise first thing in the morning – every morning! Some mornings, you may just be able to fit in a 10 minute walk, but it’s important to try to do something every morning.
So why mornings?…
1. Over 90% of people who exercise *consistently*, exercise in the morning. If you want to exercise consistently, odds are in your favor if you exercise first thing in the morning.
2. When you exercise early in the morning, it “jump starts” your metabolism and keeps it elevated for hours, sometimes up to 24 hours! That means you’re burning more calories all day long just because you exercised in the morning!
3. When you exercise in the morning you’ll be *energized* for the day! Personally, I feel dramatically different on days when I have and haven’t exercised in the morning.
4. Many people find that morning exercise “regulates” their appetite for the day – that they aren’t as hungry and that they make better food choices. Several people have told me that it puts them in a “healthy mindset.”
Read the rest of this entry »
