Tuesday, July 25, 2006

3 Easy Weight Loss Diet Tricks

Think you have to go to extremes to lose weight this year? Guess what, you absolutely don't. In fact, most people who are able to lose pounds and keep them off over the long term do so by making small changes in their diets. There are several easy weight loss diet "tricks" you can use to lose weight, feel better, and look great this year. Here are a few of the best...

1. Avoid calorie bombs.

Eating just one high-calorie, high-sugar, high-fat meal or snack per day can totally ruin a healthy diet and keep you from losing weight. For one thing, it's never good to eat too many calories (especially "empty" calories) at one time. For another thing, once you eat something really bad you'll be more likely to rationalize eating more bad stuff later in the day.

Remember, willpower and discipline can only take you so far. The most important thing is to get rid of all the unhealthy junk food in your house and to avoid places and situations where you're more likely to indulge in high-calorie foods. Avoiding "calorie bombs" in the first place makes weight loss much easier!

2. Choose healthier versions of your favorite foods.

Did you know that there are probably much healthier lower-calorie, lower-fat versions of many of your favorite foods? For instance, you can now buy ground beef that is much leaner than normal hamburger meat. Simply switching to 90% lean ground beef can save you thousands of calories over the course of a year. Plus, you probably won't notice much of a change in flavor or texture.

Are you a pizza-lover? Typical takeout pizza is loaded with fat, sodium... and thousands of calories! Switch to healthier low-fat frozen pizzas and you can still enjoy a delicious food while losing weight at the same time. Easy weight loss is all about enjoying the foods you love but choosing the "healthy" version.

3. Avoid soft drinks and high-calorie alcoholic drinks.

If you want to lose weight, the soft drinks -- especially high-sugar sodas, teas, and "juice" drinks -- have to go. They contribute thousands of empty calories to your diet every week (if you drink them). The same goes for high-calorie alcoholic drinks. Even diet sodas are starting to get a bad rap as some experts believe the artificial sweeteners can actually cause a spike in insulin levels, leading to weight gain.

For easy weight loss results, simply drink water or unsweetened teas. One delicious option is carbonated water with fresh lemon or lime juice squeezed in. If you feel like you must have something sweeter, drink iced tea sweeten it with a natural sugar substitute like stevia or xylitol. By the way, drinking lots of water also helps keep you feeling full, which can help you to avoid food cravings and overeating.



Monday, July 24, 2006

The Rule of Three – Easy Weight Loss Like You Won't Believe!

Here’s a weight loss tip that you won’t believe – but it really works! Instead of telling you to eat less, this one actually has you eating more. And what’s more, it works! By adding three times the nutrients to everything that you snack on, this diet is a great way of teaching you to regulate your eating.


Here’s how it works – both in real life, and in theory. You’re trying hard to reduce your fat and calories, and to eat a healthier, more balanced diet. But it’s inevitable – sooner or later you’ll slip up, and find yourself reaching for the chips or chocolate. We’re all human, and what’s more, some low calorie diets really are restrictive and leave you craving calories. And once a craving sets in, it’s hard to get rid of it.


The ‘power of three’ diet has this advice to give: don’t resist. Give in to the craving, have the chips or chocolate or ice cream cone. And – here’s the catch – add an equivalent – sized helping of a fruit or vegetable, and an equivalent helping of protein. So, you can have an ice cream cone, for example, but then you also have to eat an apple and a small piece of cheese, tofu or chicken.


Basically, you can have your favorite snack foods – you can eat whatever you want. But whatever you eat, you can’t have it by itself – you have to make it a balanced meal. The same goes for your actual meals – make sure that they have at least three components, and that they include a fruit or vegetable and a concentrated source of protein. As long as you have those two, it doesn’t matter much what the remaining third of your meal is – it could be pasta, dairy, bread – whatever you want!


Why does this make you lose weight? It is a bit bewildering. After all, it seems like you’re eating a lot more, not less. But studies show that this plan actually does help you lose weight or maintain weight loss, for several reasons.


First, most fattening snack foods have a high glycemic index, which means that your body responds by releasing insulin. This leads to fat storage and weight gain. When you add a protein and eat it at the same time, that lowers or stabilizes your glycemic index. In a way, it neutralizes the harmful effects of the other food. This is something that even the Zone eating plan (a high protein approach) advocates. They say that, even though simple sugars are not recommended, if you must eat one now and then, add a protein. Think of it as harm reduction.


There’s another reason why adding both a fruit or vegetable and a protein is effective, though. If you eat three different types of food every time you eat, you can’t help but balance your diet. People who eat a balanced diet are seldom overweight. It’s a great way of giving your body what it needs, and that, in turn, reduces cravings and urges to snack. If your diet is balanced, you are healthier, and it’s easier to stay in control of your eating.


Finally, if you eat three types of food every time you have the urge to snack, it’s almost guaranteed that you won’t need to snack as much. In fact, you might find that a sort of transformation takes place over the span of just a few days. On the first day that you follow this plan, you may snack as much as usual, and therefore eat three times as much. Don’t worry – it won’t last. The next day, you may only feel the urge to snack half as many times, because you are already so well fed and satisfied. Soon, you will be able to stick to a healthy diet most of the time. That’s when the pounds really start to come off.


Believe it or not, the ‘power of three’ system of eating really does work. By temporarily eating more rather than trying to eat less, you can stop feeling deprived and start being really well-fed. Over time (and it doesn’t take that much time!) you will be able to establish much healthier eating patterns.


For more great information visit Gabae Weight Loss the premiere resource for weight loss, diets, nutrition and living a great healthy life style!
Also if you're looking for more informative articles check out Gabae Weight Loss Articles.



5 Easy Weight Loss Tips You Can Use Right Now

Sometimes, just the thought of starting on a diet and fitness regimen can be so overwhelming, we stop before we even give it a shot. Let's not be overwhelmed then, OK? Instead, let's look at 5 easy ways you can start down the path to a slimmer, lighter you.


1. If you have a sitting job, stand up and stretch yourself every half an hour. Most of the jobs today are indeed sitting jobs that are in one word sedentary. This is especially true for those who sit and punch away at the keyboard or toy with the mouse all day long.


So if you have such a job, make it a point to get up at least every half an hour and stretch yourself.


2. Stop being a couch potato. It is the easiest thing in the world to become a couch potato. You know what we are talking about don't you? That shapeless thing that sits or reclines on a shapeless chair in front of the television and thoughtlessly munches away at something fried!


If you are inclined to become a promising old couch potato, break the habit, cut at the very root of the vine. And you want to know what is the best way for that? Take away that favorite chair of yours. In fact, it would be a very good idea if you could keep a chair that isn't too comfortable in front of the TV.


3. Eat only when you are hungry. Some of us have the tendency to eat whenever we see food. We use parties as an excuse to stuff our selves. Understand that the effect of a whole week of dieting can be wasted by just one day's party food. Whenever you are offered something to eat do not decline it completely bit just break of a nibble so that you appear to mind your manners and at the same time can watch your diet.


4.When you decide it's time to start working out, start slowly and don't get discouraged if you don't achieve your fitness goals after the first week. Many people make this mistake. They feel that if they really push their bodies they can lose more weight in a couple of work outs. This is a very serious thing in fact.


If you try to push your body too much in the first few goes, you are likely to end up with sprained joints, a sore back and even torn ligaments. The rule to be followed here is slow and steady wins the race.


5. Finally, I would like to let you in on a easy fitness secret. As it is I understand that most of us tend to put on weight particularly in the mid section, right. It is the tummy that seems to have a mind of its own. Well I will tell you a sure shot method to reduce the flab around the waist line. Mind you this doesn't hold true for post pregnancy tummies. This is what you have to do.


Breathe in air as strongly as you can and as you do so, tuck in your tummy as much as you can. Hold it like this for a few seconds and then slowly release your breath taking care not to let out your tummy. Try to keep breathing like this at least fifty or sixty times in a day.


In fact breathe like this whenever you can remember to do so. After the first day, you should feel the muscles of your stomach tightening each time you do this. Then you know that you are on the right track. If you practice this without fail for 20 days, at the end of the twentieth day, you will have lost at least an inch!


James B. Allen is the publisher of Power Living Press. He invites you to come learn more about living a healthier, wealthier, more beautiful and more powerful life TODAY by visiting:
http://www.PowerLivingPress.com




9 Sure Fire Tips For Easy Weight Loss

By the time you finish reading this you'll have some quick, easy and powerful tools to speed your weight loss along. Are you frustrated with complicated diets?


If you want easy weight loss, then follow these tips. Each helps a little bit, but put a few together and you have a powerful edge.


* Drink plenty of water. Water helps with weight loss for several reasons. Number one it speeds up your metabolism. The faster your metabolism is, the more calories you burn. Drinking water also makes weight loss easy because if you fill up on water, you won’t fill up on high calorie beverages or snacks.


* Eat lots of fiber. Fiber is very filling because it absorbs water as it moves through your digestive system. Additionally, foods that are high in fiber are low in calories. Examples include apples, rice cakes, carrots, and whole grains. Also, diets that are high in fiber reduce your risk for colon cancer and helps lower your cholesterol.


* Eat breakfast every day. It’s easy to skip breakfast but studies have shown that people who eat breakfast are more likely to have easy weight loss then those who do not. This is because eating breakfast jumpstarts your metabolism and therefore you will burn more calories throughout the day. Also when you eat breakfast, you are less likely to be hungry later in the day when your body is resting.


* Eat more! Eat 6 small meals throughout the day instead of 3 larger ones. Like drinking water, eating also helps increase your metabolism. When you refuel your body at regular intervals, your body burns calories faster.


* Add dairy to your diet. Recent studies have shown that adults who eat at least 3 dairy products a day lost more weight than those who did not. Researchers attribute this to the fact that calcium increases fat breakdown in fat cells. But remember, the number of calories you eat per day still matters!


* Cut out the booze. A 10 oz wine cooler has 125 calories. A 12 oz serving of beer has 150 calories. Mixed drinks are even worse. A Long Island Iced Tea has about 700 calories. A margarita has about 400.


* Learn the art of portion control. In order to obtain easy weight loss you have to control how much you eat. If you don’t have time to count calories, that’s fine. But you must reduce your serving sizes. Each portion of fruit or veggies that you eat should be the size of half of a tennis ball. Each serving of meat should be no larger than the palm of your hand. When you eat at restaurants, ask for a box with your meal that way you can box up half of it for later.


*Choose an exercise plan that you will enjoy. If you don’t like going to the gym, then you are not going to. If you don’t like running, then you aren’t going to stick to a running plan. You must find an exercise plan that you will enjoy. Perhaps you’d like an aerobics class. Or maybe you’d prefer to stay at home and do Taebo. Maybe you’d like to take a dance class. Whatever you decide, you have to choose something that will work for you and that you will stick to.


*Seek support from others. Having the support from others makes weight loss easy. Tell your family and friends about your goals. If they aren’t encouraging, there are numerous groups that you can join that are comprised of people trying to reach the same goal as you. Additionally join the free weight loss forums that are on the internet.


Your goal? To start using these tips on a daily basis and give your weight loss program a turbo charge!


Bill Urell reviews only the best diet and fitness plans, tips, and articles that promote healthier lifestyles. Visit us and claim your FREE E-book,1,000 Low Carb Recipes, or 101 Romantic Ideas as a welcome gift. http://www.online-weight-loss-resources.com