Weight Loss Tips

Most of us realize that in order to lose weight we have to reduce our daily caloric intake and/or increase our daily caloric expenditure. The challenge for the average person is to figure out how to do this as simply and painlessly as possible. If we can do these things simply and painlessly, then we have a better chance of continuing to do them and being successful for the long term. So what are some ideas on how we can meet this challenge while keeping it as simple and painless as possible?

Let’s keep in mind that most sensible weight loss plans recommend losing no more than two pounds per week. In caloric terms that translates to a change of about 1,000 calories per day. That probably sounds like a lot, but let’s look at some simple things that will help.

Here are four ideas that I think meet the bill:

1. No matter what kind of weight loss plan you are on, you need to include exercise as one of the components. Why? Because exercise not only burns calories, it builds muscle. And muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue. In other words, you get extra caloric benefit by exercising.

A 175 pound person can burn about 10 calories per minute by walking briskly or jogging slowly. Exercise professionals generally recommend a minimum of 30 minutes on most days of the week of aerobic (walking, etc.) exercise to maintain heart health. Let’s do the math. Thirty minutes of aerobic exercise each day will burn about 300 calories. If we throw in 2 days of strength training (which is also recommended), we can be pretty confident that we will average a daily caloric deficit of 300 calories. And that doesn’t take into consideration the fact that the aerobic exercise will increase our general metabolic rate, which will help us burn even more calories.

There are a number of researchers out there now that are talking about using the concept of high density, low calorie foods to help us make major, positive adjustments to our diets. Using these concepts will help you to feel fuller, while eating substantially less calories.

2. Try cutting down on some of the high calorie foods that you eat. Remember that fat has twice as many calories as proteins or carbohydrates. Also, sugary foods and many white flour foods have a lot of calories and very little nutritional value. So try to cut down on high fat items as well as foods with a lot of sugar. Cakes and cookies usually have a lot of both.

3. Eat foods that have a higher moisture content. Try including more salads, juicy fruits, and broth based soups in your daily diet. Because of their high water content, these types of foods will add volume without adding calories. This will help you to feel full faster, and might keep you from eating the high calories foods mentioned above.

4. Make sure you include lots of fiber rich foods in your diet. These foods take up more room in our digestive tract, once again helping us to feel fuller. High fiber foods can also help reduce cholesterol and reduce the chance of getting things like colon cancer.

One of the researchers who have done several studies on items 2, 3, and 4 is Barbara J. Rolls, PhD. Her results indicate that following these principles can help a person to reduce their daily caloric intake by 700 to 800 calories. This, coupled with the exercise suggestions in item 1, will help you meet the 1,000 calorie per day target that will allow you to lose a safe 2 pounds of weight per week.

These are suggestions that anyone can follow simply and painlessly. So, give it a try. You may be pleasantly surprised by how easy it can be to lose weight and become healthier.

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Online fitness coach Tom Manfredi is the creator of the site “fitness-after-50″. He has a master’s degree in exercise physiology and over 20 years of practical exercise experience.

This site is designed with the mature adult in mind. There is a lot of information available on the site for anyone looking to start or restart a sensible exercise program. Learn more by going to fitness-after-50.com

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Made famous by a certain Doctor and his best selling books. Here is the lowdown on the low carb diet.

A brief history lesson…

A low carb diet was first documented as being used for weight loss in 1862. A Doctor (not Atkins) used it to treat a patient for an illness caused by obesity. There have been many reincarnations of it since but none have caught on like Dr Atkins.

Despite many of Dr Atkins peers at the time who disagreed if a low carb diet would work he went ahead and found that it did. He first published these findings in 1972. Twenty three years and 10 million selling diet books later, the techniques are still being used today.

How you do the low carb diet

Simply eat low carb foods instead of high ones. Low carb foods include red meat, poultry, salads, fish and cheese. High are breads, pasta, rice and cereals. See individual labels on foods and add the daily total.

• Weeks 1 & 2 - Limit carb intake to 20 grams per day
• Weeks 3 to Desired Weight - Add 5 to 10 grams to the daily total per week. Ensure your weight is always decreasing and lower the daily amount if it isn’t.
• Desired Weight to Lifetime - Desired weight is now achieved so increase the final daily total by 5 grams. Then monitor your weight, if it starts to rise slightly decrease the daily total. If it starts to fall increase daily amount. You should end up with an exact number of grams of carbs you can eat each day where your weight doesn’t change. This is the “lifetime” amount.

How the the low carb diet works is not fully known and has resulted in two main theories. First is that low carb foods tend to be low in calories and it is the lower calorie intake that causes the weight loss. Second is that the level of insulin in the blood dictates how much fat is stored. Eating less carbs is said to lower the amount of insulin in the blood so the body is less inclined to store fat.

Lack of carbs in the body

The main function of carbohydrate in the body is to provide energy. When the body is short on supply it will find an alternative source. This will be from the extra fat and protein you eat to replace the carbs or if there is a calorie deficit, your body will use it’s fat stores. Many people report headaches and other symptoms in the early stages and this adjustment could be the reason.

A diet high in fats and protein has it’s own health risks. A high fat diet is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. (Stephen Barrett M.D.) Too much of something is never a good thing and protein doesn’t escape either. An excess has been linked to potential kidney, bone and liver problems. (Web MD)

The low carb diet overall

The low carb diet will make you lose weight and it’s not due to fluid loss (your body adjusts by making you feel thirsty). However the problem is the body simply needs carbohydrate. Evolution still expects us to be physically active and carbs are our main source of energy.

We don’t need to forget the low carb diet approach entirely but there are now better alternatives. These include the South Beach diet and the GI diet where certain carbs are allowed and/or slowly re-introduced. These modern versions are much better nutritionally. Overall do look at the original low carb idea but move on when it comes to a long term plan.

By Simon Gould - taken from http://www.FitnessBegin.com/ - the well-being resource.

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What About Those Obstacles and Unexpected Events?What about when you decide on a path to follow and something comes up unexpectedly? For instance, you decided you’re going to work out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday after work at 6:00 PM. This works great on Monday and Wednesday but Friday someone asks you to join them after work for drinks or dinner. Maybe that cute co-worker you’ve had your eye on. If you think about it, it’s likely something will come up often on Friday night.

What do you do? Do you say, “No, thanks, I have to work out,” or “No, I already have plans,” and sound like a jerk ensuring you’ll never land that date, or “Maybe some other time,” and you know there’ll never be another time, or “Yes, that sounds great,” and then berate yourself for being a loser and not following through with your workout plan? Either way you’re not going to feel good about your decision and you’re setting yourself up to fail.

Set things up so you will succeed, no matter what. Before you decide what you want to do, think it through completely. This is part of the “Creating a Compelling Outcome” process (taught in my 8-week course and used in private sessions).

When you decide what you’d like to do you must also consider everything else that will be affected and whether your plan is workable in the real world. Maybe Friday night workouts are going to be interrupted often. Better to choose a different day or time that will work.

If you thought about it, you may have realized that things would often come up Friday evenings, so you decided to work out on Monday and Wednesday evenings plus Saturday mornings. That makes better sense. Thinking about what might interfere is why many people do their exercise in the early morning hours virtually ensuring nothing else will interfere. No one invites you out for 6:00 AM except perhaps your running partner!

If you want to get up early, think it through. Are you a night person? Early morning hours probably won’t work for you, but some other time will. Do you have a spouse who’d complain loudly? Consider them as well, but don’t let everyone else’s preferences keep you from doing what’s best for you. Consider others and any objections they may have, and then decide in advance how to counter those objections. It’s basically a way to look at your plans from all the angles, figure out the danger zones, decide in advance on strategies to keep you on track, and then get started.

Once in awhile you won’t be able to keep to your plan and that’s just fine. For instance holidays interfere with gym hours. I’ve been annoyed when the gym was closed on Christmas Day! Sometimes despite your best efforts, things will come up, so must be flexible, while at the same time persistent to make sure you have scheduled a plan that can work the majority of the time.

Remember too, you’re creating a plan you can live with. Choose one small thing to change, one habit, one event. Then, when those special situations arise, you’ll know what to do, because you’ve already planned ahead, and even if you abandon your plan, for a vacation perhaps, you just get right back on track when you return feeling refreshed and excited to get started again.

Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, Weight Loss Coach and owner of One More Bite Weight Loss is the author of “Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss.”

Learn to use Kathryn’s One More Bite Approach with The Daily Bites: Mini lessons in using EFT for weight loss http://www.OneMoreBite-WeightLoss.com/getnews.html

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