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Articles About:
1. Weight Loss Solutions
2. Weight Loss Success
Top Twenty Weight Loss Tips, Tricks and Solutions
By Roy Barker Here are some everyday, helpful hints to get you
started, keep you going, and help you stick to your diet.
1. Never leave home "starving." Always have a light snack before
eating dinner in a restaurant, such as a piece of fruit, a glass of juice
or a carrot.
2. Don't go food shopping on an empty stomach! You'll be tempted to buy
everything in sight.
3. Don't be tempted by treats. Store them out of view, off counter-tops
and as out-of-reach as possible.
4. Don't eat in front of the TV. Watching the boob tube -- instead of watching
your plate -- lulls you into overeating. Also avoid being tempted by food
and snack commercials.
5. Make it a rule in your house to confine your meals to the dining room
or kitchen table! Never eat standing up! This leads to mindless snacking.
6. Think before you drink. Alcohol adds lots of calories, but no nutrients.
Also, it weakens your willpower to avoid the wrong food choices. Hangovers
can cause wicked cravings for fatty or high carbohydrate foods that can
sabotage any attempt at weight loss.
7. Fill up on soup first. Begin every meal with non-cream hot soup; it
forces you to eat slowly and fills you up so you won't overeat.
8. Take time to taste your food. Don't gobble food down! Rushing through
your meals doesn't give your brain the time that it needs to signal your
body that you are full.
9. When dining out, request sauces and low-calorie dressings on the side.
10. There is no law that requires you to finish everything on your plate.
11. Prepare a shopping list (with menu ideas in mind) and stick to the
list. Avoid being tempted by bargains that grocery stores place on the outer
aisles and at the back and the front of the store. The healthiest foods
are usually in the long narrow aisles.
12. Use non-stick pans to reduce the need for cooking with fat.
13. If you must use oil, try a flavorful one like olive or sesame oil.
Now remember, a little goes a long way! Make just a spritz of oil go even
further by buying a Misto. A Misto is an aerosol can that you can fill with
a good fat such as olive or canola oil.
14. A pinch of grated cheese or blue cheese will provide a flavorful kick
without adding a lot of calories to a salad or grain dish.
15. If you cook in large quantities for your family, store leftovers in
individual serving size containers. This is a way to practice portion control
for yourself so you don't eat too much at one sitting.
16. Nibbling off someone else's plate may seem harmless -- but those calories
do add up!
17. Drink six to eight glasses of water a day. A beverage before mealtime
will also help you feel full faster and longer. Water also helps your body
digest food, which is especially important now that you're eating a fiber
rich diet.
18. Store really tempting treats in opaque containers or silver foil --
and stick them in the back of the refrigerator. Out of sight out of mind!
19. Are you stuffing yourself? If you have to loosen your belt a few notches
after meals you're definitely eating too much!
20. Mashed bananas, prunes and apple sauce are great baking substitutes
for fat, especially in bread, brownie and cake mixes.
The Milk Diet -- Is it Your Solution to Losing Weight?
By Michael A. Smith, MD For sometime now, you've been hearing about
the Milk Diet and it's benefit in helping you lose weight. I recently searched
on Google for the Milk Diet and could only find vague references to milk
as a supplement to help you lose weight.
To date, there is no actual Milk Diet. Instead, supporters of milk as a
supplement to losing weight suggest adding milk to any diet. They claim
the amount of weight loss will increase simply by adding more whole milk
to your diet.
So, does milk help to increase the amount of weight loss? If so, how does
it work? First, here are some surprising facts about milk...<ol><li>It's
normal to be lactose intolerant. That's right, about 85% of the world's
population is lactose intolerant. As an adult, the enzyme that breaks down
lactose, the main sugar in milk, no longer functions.
Milk fat, the main benefit of drinking milk, is only necessary for newborns.
Once you're old enough to eat solid food, there's no need for milk fat and
the lactose enzyme becomes non-functional.
This is why a majority of the world's population is lactose intolerant.
You don't need to drink milk as an adult. But why are some people lactose
tolerant? Cultures that live at the most Northern regions of each hemisphere
don't receive enough sunlight to convert chemicals near the skin surface
to vitamin D. To provide themselves with vitamin D, they have retained the
function of the lactose enzyme. This accounts for only about 15% of the
world's population.
<li>There are many other sources of vitamin D and Calcium. As a matter
of fact, milk ranks some where in the middle as a good source of calcium.
Here is a quick list of good sources of calcium...
-Bean sprouts
-Spinach, cooked
-Collard greens, cooked
-Mustard greens, cooked
-Almonds
-Chestnuts
-Walnuts
-Raw oysters
-Shrimp
-Salmon with bones
-Garbanzo beans, cooked
-Soybeans, cooked
-Tofu, firm
The Milk Diet
The evidence that milk can help you lose weight is inconsistent at best.
A few poorly designed studies show a benefit and a few poorly designed studies
show no benefit and may even reverse your weight loss efforts.
These studies are poorly designed because they are not rigorously controlled
and compared to a group not taking milk. There are a few studies about to
finish and report their findings within the next couple of months.
I have decided to wait and not make any conclusions until the proper studies
release their results. Until then, follow a more traditional method of losing
weight. Restrict calories gradually and moderately. Reducing your caloric
intake about 250-550 calories from your baseline per day and exercising
will result in about 2-3 pounds of weight loss per week.
For more on the Milk Diet, visit...
www.weight-loss-professional.com/milk-diet.html
To Healthy Living!
Michael A. Smith, MD
Chief Medical Consultant
Diet Basics Website
New Weight Loss Solution--How to Make Your Diet Work
By Michael A. Smith, MD Statistically, two out of three dieters (roughly
68%) experience weight regain, which is gaining weight immediately after
stopping a diet (in some cases during dieting). Weight regain posses a significant
health risk to dieters because it initiates weight cycling, or the Yo-Yo
Diet.
Why is this bad? Weight cycling has now been shown to decrease life expectancy
rates and increase mortality associated with cardiovascular disease and
certain cancers. For you, this means you must lose weight without gaining
it back and avoid the dangerous cycle of the Yo-Yo Diet.
How do you diet to lose weight and not gain weight back? It's not easy but
I will share with you a few steps from my own research to help make it possible.
Diet Shock to Weight Regain
A quick review is in order before sharing with you the steps involved to
prevent weight regain. Diet shock is the body's reaction to eating fewer
calories and losing weight.
Unfortunately, diets on the market today employ the exact method of weight
loss that causes diet shock...severe calorie restriction producing extreme
weight loss in the shortest time possible (aka, fast weight loss). This
type of dieting method will eventually cause weight regain.
Why do the current dieting plans promote a weight loss method destined to
fail? It's what you want. Fast and extreme weight loss is what sells. Slow
and low weight loss (the method I designed several years ago for my overweight
patients) does not satisfy the immediate gratification mentality of our
society. In a nut shell, slow and low weight loss doesn't sell.
Once in diet shock, your body initiates a series of reactions that ultimately
slow down your metabolic rate. From there, weight regain is just around
the corner.
Remember, weight regain is not good for two reasons...
1. Leads to the Yo-Yo Diet, which has now been shown to be as much of a
health risk as obesity.
2. Weight regain results from a slower metabolism brought about by the breakdown
of muscle tissue. The weight you gain back is all fat, replacing the lean
tissue (muscle) that was lost due to diet shock. You're actually worse off
then you were before starting the diet.
In order for you to lose weight and keep it off, you must make your diet
work by adding five simple solutions. As a whole, the five solutions will
prevent diet shock and weight regain. Without the 5 simple solutions, weight
regain is inevitable.
Five Simple Solutions for Losing Weight and Keeping it Off
1. Keep, tone, and build muscle through resistance exercises using resistance
bands.
This is an easy way to, at least, tone muscle. Additionally, I teach a
little trick that can actually tone muscle faster, in about half the normal
time. It's simple and quick with one training session lasting only 30 minutes.
2. Add more protein and raw vegetables to your diet.
Just keep your total protein intake under 1.5 grams per kg of body weight
(1 pound=2.2 kg).
3. Shape your weight loss goals and cycle your diet.
On average, you can double your chance for weight loss success by doing
applying the two techniques (based on research collected from my patients).
4. Exchange it, couple it, and combine it.
Three more techniques to almost guarantee your success at losing weight
AND keeping it off.
5. Follow a maintenance plan to keep it off (it's almost like a separate
diet).
The simple maintenance plan that I developed is an absolute requirement
for successful prevention of weight regain.
Don't even try to diet without applying these simple solutions. For details,
check out my site at the URL given in my Bio section.
To Healthy Living!
Michael A. Smith, MD
Chief Medical Consultant
Diet Basics Website
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Dr. Michael A. Smith trained and studied weight management at The University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The information Dr. Smith publishes is considered by many in the medical field to be a glimpse into the future of weight management. Visit his website and read about his amazing new dieting plan "Make Your Diet Work!" at www.weight-loss-professional.com
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Mind Over Matter: Key Strategies for Weight Loss Success
By Nishanth Reddy Katie, a 33-year-old mother of two, has been on
her share of diets over the years. From Weight Watchers to the Zone to Sugar
Busters, she feels as if she has tried them all. While she has had moderate
success in losing weight from time to time, she has never found a long-term
weight loss solution. Her weight is a point of contention in her marriage;
her husband-who also happens to be obese-wishes she were thin, but says
he loves her anyway. The two have been separated a number of times, and
even filed for divorce once. The stress has caused Katie to begin binge
eating again.
There is hope for Katie and others like her who feel as if they're trapped
on the diet carousel. The key to long-term weight loss success may not be
the body, but the mind. Research indicates that those who have a positive
outlook on life are more likely to lose weight-and stay thin. But how can
you have a positive outlook when you've been burned so many times before?
Is it possible to "will your way" to losing weight?
One technique that has been proven effective in sports training is something
called visualization. For instance, a baseball player might visualize his
bat connecting with a ball, leading to a homerun. A soccer player might
visualize kicking the winning goal in a soccer match. And a golfer might
visualize sinking the winning putt in the Masters Tournament.
The same technique can be used by dieters. Visualize yourself as thin.
Picture yourself in that dress that is now two sizes too small. Imagine
stepping onto the scale and being pleased with the result. Visualize yourself
saying "no" to that piece of chocolate cake or that plate of Fettucini
Alfredo. These mind exercises can help to spur you onto weight loss.
When people learn they are suffering from cancer, they are encouraged to
imagine their cancer cells being destroyed by healthy cells. You can follow
the same technique in order to lose weight. That means imagining your fat
cells being destroyed by thin cells. Through such a method, you can "think
your way" to a healthy weight.
In addition, it is critically important that you maintain a positive attitude.
Be forgiving of yourself. If you veer off your diet plan, simply get back
on course with your next meal. Don't spend precious time "beating yourself
up" over your failures. Instead, celebrate your successes-in a non-fattening
way. For instance, when you reach a milestone-say you've lost ten pounds-reward
yourself with a trip to an art museum or to your favorite coffee shop (but
skip the cream and sugar). Marking milestones will give you a sense of accomplishment,
a sense that you are triumphing over food.
Another helpful technique can be prayer or meditation. Some support groups
even offer Bible-based weight loss programs that use scripture verses to
help inspire. Taking stock of your life and handing your weight loss problems
over to a higher power can be cathartic and may give you a sense of peace
about your weight difficulties. It has been said that a clear head leads
to a healthy body. Try praying or meditating ten minutes at the start of
your day. Chances are you will feel refreshed and ready to tackle the weight
challenges that come your way.
Yet another technique you might consider is role-playing. Grab your spouse
or a friend and ask him or her to act out a situation in which you might
be tempted to overeat. You'll be forced to come up with strategies to fight
temptation. This rehearsal could prove to be quite helpful when a real life
diet dilemma comes your way. If role-playing works for job interviews, it
should be beneficial for your weight as well.
Mind over matter is not just a clever saying. It can actually be the solution
to your weight loss problems. By using your brain power, you can develop
the techniques needed to make healthy food choices. When your mind and your
body are both healthy, you have the best of both worlds.
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