Weight loss help

Running & Appetite Problems

2009-07-13T11:58:00.000-07:00

I have recently found that when I exercise at a greater intensity it seems to boost my appetite. I started to run about a week ago, and built up to longer distances every time I ran. I noticed that a few hours after my run I craved sweet foods. After one session I ended up eating 2 bars of chocolate which meant I consumed nearly 400 calories!

It made me think what's the point in me running, unless going for fitness of course. If I burned off more calories from running but ingested two-thirds back over the course of the day, then my energy balance won't be in a negative state for me to lose any weight. So I have decided to walk more often and for further distances in order to burn off more calories and limit increases in my appetite.

When I do plenty of low intensity exercise such as walking, even for very long periods, my appetite seems to regulate itself. The result is I hardly ever seem to overeat. My portion control seems to control itself after walking, which is a bonus.

I will continue to walk and monitor my appetite. Then in a few weeks I will do running again just to see if the same process happens. Keep posted!

View Home To Lose Weight

Bad Habits that May Limit Weight Loss

2009-06-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Lets look at some examples of habits which may be causing limitations..

Work:
pressures or boredom at work could tempt people to seek refuge in food.
some may sit at home (less exercise) in their spare time worrying about how to meet deadlines rather than joining in some recreational activities (more exercise) to help relax.
sitting at desk all day-then too tired or don't feel like any activity after work
don't take sandwiches- so no control over meals as works canteen don't supply many healthy options.
meetings with clients in restaurants- habit of eating too much

Family Life:
family cooking methods, ingredients used or unhealthy recipes repeatedly used due to long-term habits.
another family member has control over selection and cooking of food in the household- a change may not suit them
Consuming too many calories at family meals because of the social interaction surrounding mealtime - not aware of amount of food consumed.
family problems/arguments- result in binge eating or drinking too much alcohol
children's choice of snacks in the cupboards- causes temptation

Social Life:
drinking too much too often- to be with friends or in social situations, meet in pubs / snack bars / coffee shops
social pressures to drink- to be with the " lads "
frequenting restaurants for nights out with partner or family

General habits:
sucking on sweets all day to make work more pleasurable.
Stocking too many sweets or snacks when food shopping
watching films but must snack during viewing
depending too much on use of vehicle even for trip to local shops
must eat quickly as too little time for cooking with fresh natural ingredients- results in choosing convenient food high in fat/calories

Recreational Habits:
rent movies often but must snack whilst viewing
unstoppable cravings for chocolate or sweets
stopping smoking may affect the amount you eat

For more information and help losing weight visit our Weight Loss Homepage

Here are some of our recent new pages added to the site:

Common Body Shapes & Toning Secrets Revealed

Media Influences on People's Body Shapes & Sizes

What are the Aging Effects on our Metabolism?

What Triggers Overeating - Emotions, Foods, Stress, Boredom or the Environment?

Dangers with Developing Unhealthy Relationships with Foods

Social & Family Influences on Dietary Intake & Eating Habits

Further Ways To Boost Metabolic Rates

2009-05-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

There are other ways to increase your metabolic rate

Intense workouts: Although most gyms and trainers will advise steady cardio work to lose weight, allow us to be so bold as to say that they may actually be wrong. According to some studies, the best way to lose weight is shorter, more intense workouts.

When researchers compared high and low intensity workouts, they found that while at low intensity it took 78 minutes to burn 500 calories, at high intensity it took just 51 minutes. This is simply wonderful news.

But that's just half the story. They also found that an hour after exercise, the high-intensity group were burning twice as many calories as the low intensity group. In fact, even three hours after the workout, they were still burning 24% more fat.

There are many high intensity workouts to choose from, including interval training, spinning classes, cycling and intense weight training.

What you eat and when you eat it: Your metabolism will also be affected by what you eat and when you eat it. Most dieticians are concerned about how much processed food and simple carbohydrates have become the mainstay of Westernized diets, and rightly so. Recent research compared two diets; one high protein (21%), the other regarded as normal protein intake (8%). It was revealed that even though the total calories were the same for both diets, the high protein dieters burned 37% more fat than those on the normal protein diet, even at rest.

There was also a marked difference after workouts. Whereas the high protein group burned fat after working out (as described above), consuming simple carbohydrates after a workout ceased the burning of fat post-workout.

The lesson from this is clear; consume more protein and less simple carbohydrates and avoid simple carbohydrates after a workout.

Green Tea: You may wish to consider adding green tea to the diet. In addition to all its other wonderful properties (green tea contains anti-oxidants and cancer fighting chemicals); it has also been found to increase the number of fat calories burned by 35% . To date, science is unclear as to why.

Dietary Supplements: The sales of dietary supplements that purport to aide with weight loss is a multi-billion dollar industry. While some extra nutrition may prove helpful in the transition from an unhealthy lifestyle to healthy lifestyle, there really exists no cheap way out. When purchasing dietary supplements, be certain to choose natural vitamin supplements. However, a diet rich in whole foods truly is the answer to successful weight loss.

The bottom line is that if excess fat tissue invades the body's structure, the base metabolic rate will be slower. Understanding that the human body is not designed to exist in this condition is step one in increasing the metabolic rate. Step two is putting forth effort to lose excess body fat and increase muscle mass. A muscular body simply burns more calories than a body burdened by excess fat.

Research into Fatty Acids & Oils

2009-03-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Some research has proven that some fatty acids have an important health role, especially for maintaining a healthy heart and circulation.

Studies show that people with a diet rich in oily fish are more likely to have a stronger and healthier heart.

The oily fish such as mackeral, herring, pilchards, sardines, salmon and trout contain ample amounts of eicosapentaenoic and decosahexaenoic acids which make up Omega-3 fatty acids. It is these rare oils that we require for optimum health. Experts recommend we eat fish at least twice per week to ensure good supply of these essential oils and fatty acids.

To read more information on essential oils and fatty acids, read our articles below:

Benefits of Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids

Different Fats in the Diet

Different Types of Fats

The Good & Bad oils & Fats in Foods

Fat Storage on the Human Body

The Benefits of Walking to Lose Weight

2009-03-04T15:52:00.000-08:00

Walking is not only a great exercise for maintaining health its also one of the best exercises to help control weight. Many people trying to lose weight often perform an exercise they believe burns more calories and wonder why after a few weeks they hardly see any results. Permanent fat loss will take time, even though calories do count its not just about burning as many calories as possible, especially during the beginning stages of weight loss. To lose fat weight its vital to start off with an exercise that will help burn fat directly, one which also helps to slowly develop fitness levels so that higher calorie burning exercises may be performed later on in the program in order to speed up weight loss. Walking is probably the best exercise to start losing permanent weight.
Even though a walk won’t burn lots of calories just look at the positive benefits of walking:

Higher percentage of body fat burned
Increase health & fitness
Boost energy levels
Decrease in health risks

Also remember walking is:

Easy to participate
Fun with friends
No equipment is necessary

For more information on exercising to lose weight visit our site!

http://www.weightlossforall.com/

Jogging to Lose Weight

2009-02-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

Many people ask me if it's ok to jog for weight loss.
Any exercise can be good to lose weight, it really depends on the person and their preferences as well as the present fitness level. Someone who is less fit, will probably be better off doing an exercise that is less intense, and one that doesn't place as much strain on their joints.

I think some of the best exercises for most dieters are rowing or swimming. The intensity for both these exercises can easily be controlled and balanced to match the individual's physical ability. Also, they do not place as much strain on the knees and ankles like jogging would.

Some tips for jogging.

Try to jog on grass rather than concrete paths. Grass will give a softer impact and may help reduce the potential for injury. Although, BE AWARE that jogging on grass could result in a minor accident if your foot lands awkwardly on a lump, small hole, mud patches or debris from trees, so you may need to find a flat field to jog on as well as keep aware of the terrain ahead!
Do not jog on consecutive days. You need to give the joints and muscles plenty of time to recover fully. So jogging every day is NOT recommended, it would be better to jog on alternate days, and preferably jog only twice each week or less. If you need to burn extra calories you could always complete a different exercise that doesn’t strain the joints as much, rowing or swimming are good examples.
Always wear the correct footwear when jogging. Some trainers are better suited for running than others. Make sure you pick the best footwear designed for running.
Preferably jog on a treadmill with a training partner nearby. Treadmills are better suited for running as you can do the session indoors (or at gym) and away from pollution (in cities), dangers on the roads, and danger of uneven grounds, as well as other potential problems. A training partner will help encourage you and also be there if anything bad does happen.
Always warm up thoroughly before a jogging session!

Jogging can be a great way to lose weight, however, you'll need a certain amount of fitness before jogging every workout. You want to avoid possible injuries, as it will stop your workouts until recovery!

Learn why recovery is important when exercising to lose weight

Fat Genes Are Real!

2009-01-13T16:01:00.000-08:00

There was a report out last years revealing that scientists had discovered a gene called FTO which increases the risk of becoming obese for those who have the gene present in cells. People with the gene are more likely to become overweight, plus, they will always have a difficult time trying to lose weight.

The good news is that the weight gains are reported to be only a few pounds, and that people who are more than 15-20 pounds overweight can only blame a small percentage of the weight gain on the "fat gene". The reality foir many overweight people is they have eaten too much and exercised too little.

The gene is inherited from one or both parents, and it has been reported that if a person inherits the gene from both parents then they'll be even more likely to become overweight in the future.

The research can partly explain why some people find it so hard to lose weight consistently, and also why some can eat lots and never seem to gain much weight.

However, the researchers did say that healthy eating and regular exercise are still key to maintaining a healthy weight regardless of whether we have the gene or not.

So don't despair and keep moving!

www.weightlossforall.com

Are the Calories in Food Wrong?

2008-12-11T16:28:00.000-08:00

Calories are rounded on food labels, so when you multiply the grams of protein, carbohydrate or fat, you may come out with a different value than appears on the label. Foods that contain 50 calories or fewer are rounded to the nearest 5 calorie increment; foods with more than 50 calories are rounded to the nearest 10 calorie increment. And foods that have fewer than 5 calories can be listed as having 0 calories.

Although it may seem that this rounding could be misleading or inaccurate, keep in mind that a 10 calorie difference is actually negligible in the grand scheme if things.

Find out the Number of Calorie in Different Foods

How much weight can I lose in a week?

2008-11-17T23:39:00.000-08:00

This is a question that many dieters would love to know but this is almost impossible to determine. Firstly how much weight one can lose depends on several factors:

Body Type or shape
Metabolic rate speed
Activity level
Hormonal balance
Percentage body fat
Calorie intake
Nutrient intake
Motivational level
Timing of meals

This list could be a lot longer, but it does show that the answer to the question is highly individual and would require individual assessment.

I think another question should be asked after this one; do you just want to lose weight or burn excess body fat?
The reason for this question is because it is quite easy to lose just body weight. It’s possible to lose up to 5 pounds in one day just through dehydration alone. Many boxers or jockeys do this to make weight for an event. Yes dieters do seem aware that fast weight loss can often mean water loss, but many don’t understand why, or realize that just going on a diet will cause most weight lost to come from fluid loss. So if it’s fat loss you’re after then you must think long term.
That means one or two pounds each week!

That may sound rubbish but it’s quite fast if you think about it. Yes in a month you may have only lost 8 pounds but there is more chance this will be long term loss. Think about it this way; say you lost 20 pounds in a month through strict dieting, but 60% was from water loss. The water will probably be slowly gained back over the following month. This really means you only lost 8 pounds for that month, that’s the same amount lost through healthy eating and frequent exercise.

The easiest way to go about losing weight is to just get started by eating a healthy balanced diet full of fruits and vegetables. Aim to lose a little at a time and make small, easily obtainable goals.

Change Breathing Patterns to Burn Fat Naturally

2008-11-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

A technique in breathing patterns can be used to help burn a greater percentage of fat whilst exercising. It involves the conscious thought to control breathing during light or aerobic exercise.

Usually we breathe using only one fifth of our lung capacity, however when we learn to use our lungs more effectively during exercise it's possible to help supply greater amounts of oxygen to the working muscle cells. A greater supply of oxygen to muscles means more excess body fat can be burned!

I achieve this by inhaling slightly deeper than normal then exhale slightly further than normal. Once I'm into the swing I can push the breathing further, but I always make sure breathing comfortably without making myself light-headed in any way. It does take practice, and I always warm up first. Sometimes I can exercise and take in deep breaths and then exhale firmly to expel most of the air from my lungs. I eventually work upwards until I can speed up the exhalations but maintain a steady inhalation cycle of breathing.

www.weightlossforall.com

March To The Sound Of Losing Weight By Stepping

2008-10-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

Dieters must find ways to burn off calories if they wish to continue losing further weight. We often think about what type of exercise must be done to acheive extra calorie burning, and also how long do we need to exercise for?

There is one easier way to guide how much exercise is enough, this is to count steps instead of minutes of exercising. Counting steps is much better than thinking about performing some kind of workout every day.

All you need is a cheap pedometer and atach it to your side for the day. It counts how many steps you've made in a day. Experts recommend we step around the 10,000 per day mark, but this really will depend on how many steps you're taking at the moment. For instance, if you count only 3,000, then simply try to increase this amount by 500 per day for a week. You can gradually build up the daily total over several months until you reach about 10,000 per day. At this point you should start to see some good weight loss results within a few months, as your calorie burning would have been dramatically boosted. Of course, this is providing that your diet is balanced and has a negative calorie balance to enable you to lose weight.

Counting steps to lose weight is much easier than thinking about going to the gym for 50 minutes of sweat and pain, then having to do it all again a few days later. Who wants that?
One of the problems with completing your calorie burning with steps alone is the potential for injury. Consistent walking will place lots of strain on your joints, especiall the knees and ankles. For this reason, check with your doctor before increasing your daily step number. You may need to balance steps with some non weight bearing activity.

Tips When Not Losing Weight

2008-10-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

Try the following tips when having trouble losing weight

1. Keep active with regular exercise
2. Do not starve yourself when attempting to lose weight
3. Lower calorie intake gradually, lowering calories to much too soon doesn't give you much adjustment when weight slows
4. Consume plenty of low calorie, high fiber foods
5. Consume more natural foods high in complex carbohydrates and reduce highly processed foods loaded with extra fat, sugars and salt
6. If doctor approves try weight training to help the body hold on to lean weight while losing fat
7. Try to change workout routines and gradually challenge the body to adapt to higher levels
8. Don't train too hard too soon, gradually build up intensity levels as fitness levels increase
9. After a few weeks of exercising try to work the whole body during each workout to boost calorie burning

Blog Flux Directory

What Food? Less Food! Maybe Change Food!

2008-09-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

So many of my clients want to know what to eat to lose weight.
The first point I fell needs to be made is that losing weight generally requires eating less food than required, and as a result, they shouldn't always focus on WHAT to eat, but more importantly on How Much they should be eating!

Remember, we can all still gain weight by eating more calories, whether those calories come from junk foods or health foods. Calories are still calories after all.

If however, I would have to choose a food type which would probably help a little more, then it would have to be a complete protein food source. The reason is because protein requires more energy to digest completely, plus, for protein to be used as an energy source by the cells it must first be converted into sugar by the liver. This again costs the body more energy for the process.

A huge amount of protein must also be used for its other needs, such as growth and maintenance of skin, nails, hair, muscles and antibodies. This is yet another positive effect as less excess protein would be available for fat storage.
These benefits are one of the reason why the low carbohydrate diet/ high protein diet are still popular with many dieters. They do have some benefits but generally high protein diets have far too many health drawbacks to be used as a consistent diet regime.

Although, it must be remembered that many protein sources are from animal origin and thus tend to potentially have high animal fats and thus calories. This is the reason for choosing the leaner prepared sources of animal protein foods.
Also, one should always be aware of their own potential for eating different types of food sources. Some people may not be able to eat high amounts of protein foods or single foods due to an intolerance to a particular food. You should always check with a dietitian before changing your diet!

Exercising to Help Lose Weight

2008-08-10T14:37:00.000-07:00

I'm often asked what is the best exercise for losing weight. I believe a simple answer to this is, that any exercise is better than no exercise at all.

However, there will be some exercise that would be better for certain people depending on their specific health/fitness levels, as well as their specific situation. For example, it's no good explaining to someone that walking or jogging is a good weight loss exercise, if that person has problems with his/her knee joints.

So it's important to look at each person and assess what might best suit their needs. I think another good point is not to get an unfit person to do intense exercise too soon in any regime. We all need time to build fitness up, and pushing someone who doesn't really like exercise is only going to test their motivation level to the limits.

It might be a better idea to list a few good exercises and let each person choose what they feels is the one they would like to perform, so it wont affect the motivation to exercise too much. So, here is a small list of different exercises that could be good for burning off calories.

Some good exercises & activities for losing weight:
(listed in no particular order).

Walking
Fast Walking
Jogging
Swimming
Rowing
Cycling
Boxing
Circuit Training
Cleaning
Gardening

I think the best thing for anyone is simply to get up or go out and become active. As an idea, even shopping can become good if it involves walking around for long periods!
The idea is to just get moving on a regular basis, and just do something that we enjoy!

Exercise for Seniors

Our Need for Sugar

2008-07-24T04:41:00.000-07:00

We all need sugar. What we don't need is the excessive amounts of it. Natural food in its whole state will supply your body with all the energy demands, even for marathon runners, and athletes.
On the average, each of us consumes 18% of our total calories as refined and processed sugar. It is suggested that we should reduce our refined sugar intakes to 10% or less of our total calories. Keep in mind, many of us could go without all refined and processed sugars. Your body will get along just fine on nature's sugar found in complex carbohydrates. Save the refined sugar for infrequent sweet treats. Since we're eating so much refined food, it's easy to understand why our intake of nutritious complex carbohydrates is so low. We each consume only about 28% of our total calories in this form. We should increase that to at least 48%. For those involved in physical performance, the intake of complex carbohydrates and naturally occurring sugars can go as high as 80% for some people.

More Information on the subject of sugar & carbohydrates:

The Basics on Carbohydrates in the diet

What Are Carbohydrates?

Different sugars added to Foods

The Truth about Sweetners and Artificial Additives

Taste Sensations & Weight Control Problems

Do Carbs Make us Fat?

What is the glycemic index?

The G.I. Diet & its Problems for Losing Weight

The Glycemic Loading in the Body after Eating Sugary Foods

Setting Weight Loss Targets

2008-06-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

When trying to lose weight, most of us want results, right?
And many people want results fast!

Unfortunately, fast results are also unrealistic, or not permanent results!

Dieters seem to want to lose 10, or 15 pounds in a week or two. This is simply not going to be done, unless you lose mostly water weight.
Fat weight loss needs to be gradual. An average of 1-2 pounds a week is good progress. If this was mostly fat loss then in only ten weeks, you would have lost up to 20 pounds of fat!

A loss of this much will certainly make a difference to the appearance. Weight lost gradually is more likely to stay off, so I think people should learn to be persistent.

Also, everyone loses weight at a different rate - your rate might be faster or slower than others, so try not to get discouraged if the scales don't seem to move from time to time.

I think it's best to realize that every time you do some form of activity or exercise, then you'll be one more step closer to your ultimate weight loss goals.

Be strong and keep it going!

Need motivation to exercise & lose weight? click here!

Gain Good Nutrition with Less Food

2008-06-15T17:40:00.001-07:00

During our studies into the nutritional content of numerous common foods, we noticed a few "super" foods come through and shine. These are so because they seem to contain a large amount of certian nutrients for the portion or weight of the food itself. In other words, they contain a high density of certain nutrients for good health.

One of the natural foods I noticed was Brazil nuts. These contain high levels of Selenium, rich in Magnesium, high in Phosphorus, good for Calcium and contains some Iodine.

This is on top of the good protein content and the fact that they contain a little Zinc!

Foods rich in nutrients like Brazil nuts are great for slimming because when eating smaller amounts of food overall, we need to find some rich in nutrition to help gain essential nutrients for health. In small portions, Brazil nuts can help provide a large amount of nutrition during dieting periods. the only downside to eating nuts when dieting is they do contain lots of calories. Although, this can be controlled by the portion size, just maybe eat a few each day!

Oh, and before you start eating Brazil nuts please check first to make sure you don't have a nut allergy!

For more information on losing weight effectively check out our homepage!

Raising the Metabolism with Little Exercise

2008-06-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

Raising the metabolism is the best way to burn body fat stores, and experts will agree that exercising more will help raise your metabolism. The problem is many people don’t want to be exercising for hours in the gym just to raise the metabolism. People want to spend less time exercising to boost metabolic rate. So how little exercise needs to be done in order to boost the metabolism rate?

Can you raise the metabolic rate without long exercise sessions?

Is it possible to raise the metabolism with very little exercise, and without the need to exercise aerobically such as jogging, cycling or doing an hour of this or that? The answer is yes! It is possible to raise the metabolism without lots of exercise. I know this because my metabolism rose quickly when I first started weight training many years ago. At the time I wanted to build strength and muscle and I knew it was important to start light and gradually build strength without trying to do it within the first few workouts.

I started weight training by performing only 3 main exercises; squats, dead lift and bench press. These are multi-joint exercises that target the major muscle groups of the body, thus I was getting a whole body routine with only 3 exercises. When performed correctly these three exercises tax the major muscles and stimulate muscular growth quickly. This is how I was able to raise my metabolism quickly without too much exercise. By training all the biggest muscles of the body I was also burning a lot of energy within a small time span.

I performed the 3 exercises twice each week for a total workout time of around 30 minutes, that’s one hour per week to raise the metabolism quickly. I performed the routine in a progressive manner, starting off very light for the first few workouts then gradually worked at building up the resistance every session. If I managed to do ten repetitions with my regular weight I would raise the resistance for the next session and again keep trying to complete ten repetitions before increasing the resistance.

This routine helped raise my metabolism within a week or two, but the only problem was it did take some effort and determination. In the beginning the workouts seemed far too easy but after a few weeks when the weights started getting heavy I had to dig deep and keep pushing myself. I believe this is NOT a routine for the obese as it requires a certain degree of fitness; hard training places a lot of strain on the heart. For this reason I would recommend you consult with your doctor and a qualified instructor before attempting a routine of high intensity weight training. If you have a slow metabolism when dieting you should try to learn more about why this happens, then you can increase your metabolism quickly.

More information on increasing the metabolism is on our site:
www.weightlossforall.com

A Q & A about fat burning foods

2008-05-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

Question:
What are the best thermogenic fat burning foods for burning body fat?
Answer:
That depends on your definition of a "fat burning food." When you say "thermogenic," many people instantly think of supplements or exotic herbs, hot spices or foods like cayenne, chili pepper, mustard, cider vinegar, guarana, green tea, etc., which "magically" ramp up your metabolism and burn off body fat.
There might be some science behind some of those things, but focusing on tiny details (especially before you’ve mastered the fundamentals) is putting your attention in the wrong place. It’s like getting excited by the idea that drinking enough ice cold water is "thermogenic" and is going to get you ripped because the body has to "warm it up" and that expends energy... when meanwhile, you're skipping meals, drinking beer every weekend and working out sporadically or not at all. That makes no sense.
I agree that details are important and that little things matter, but when you give too much attention to small stuff (and "weird stuff"), before you know it, you’ve fallen for the latest cabbage or grapefruit diet. Focus on the big stuff first - the fat burning fundamentals - only then begin to "nit-pick" and take advantage of those "little things" that might help an extra percentage here and a percentage there.
Actually ALL foods are "thermogenic" because the body must use energy to digest them. This is known as the "thermic effect of food" (TEF) or "specific dynamic action of food." When you say "thermogenic food" to me, I think of REAL, WHOLE FOODS, and the most thermogenic fat burning food (my "favorite") is lean protein from solid foods, especially lean meats. Protein powders are great for convenience and some - like whey - even have functional properties (as antioxidants and immune boosters), but powders aren't as thermogenic as real food.
It’s commonly known that of all the macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat), lean protein has the highest thermic effect. Personally, I believe the thermic effect of protein is even higher than most people realize.
Combine thermogenic lean protein foods with the right amounts and types of essential fats, add in plenty of green vegetables and just the right amount of natural starchy carbs and whole grains (at the right times), and your body will literally turn into a fat burning machine - without drugs, supplements or weird diet gimmicks.
You can learn more about this entire process of natural thermogenesis using real food (not pills or powders) in Tom's Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle e-book. You'll also learn all the fat loss fundamentals, which are responsible for 80-90% of your results. Also, for a limited time, you can get two three free reports about fat burning foods when you order the Burn The Fat, Feed the Muscle e-book: (1) Foods That Burn Fat, (2) Foods That Turn to Fat, and (3) The A Food B Food Lecture: How To get Good Grades on Your Food Choices. Visit the home page for more details - click here to view BurnTheFat.com

Weight loss help & advice

Boosting the Metabolic Rate

2008-05-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

Some exercises can increase the metabolism for up to 15 hours after the workout. This normally happens when the intensity of the exercise is high, such as for many anaerobic exercises. It accelerates the metabolism because the muscles need to recover from the stress. Intense mechanical stress brakes down some of the structural elements within the protein filaments of the muscle cells, and it also degrades the chains of stored glycogen (carbs in muscles).

Repairing these elements requires the body to send more protein and nutrients to these exhausted muscles so they can restore the muscle back to their pre-workout state. The process to restore muscle elements (usually referred to as Anabolism) creates a greater need for energy, thus the metabolism is speeded up until the muscle cells are restored back to normal. As the oxygen consumption is back to normal, most of the extra energy can be supplied through excess fat stores.

For this reason, it is important to exercise regularly in order to lose weight faster than just dieting alone. However, the most important secret is to exercise early in the morning so your metabolism is elevated for the day ahead. This means your body can be in a fat burning mode for longer periods so you get the most out of every workout you do. Meaning you can exercise less for greater results than those who exercise mid to later in the day and then ruin it by resting at a time when they could be making the most of an increase in metabolism.

Putting Carbohydrates Into Perspective

2008-04-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

One of the misconceptions about the food pyramid guide that's often repeated in many popular diets is that eating plenty of carbohydrates is recommended. yes, the idea is to build a base of grain foods but not an unlimited amount of them.

When fat became villainous in the 1990's, carbohydrate foods became known as a bit of free foods, because they're often fat free. That kind of thinking led to overconsumption of carbohydrates. For example, how many people does a one-pound box of spaghetti serve in your house? If it's fewer than four, you're eating too much. There are eight servings in a pound of cooked pasta; having two would be the equivalent of two servings, the same as a sandwich.

The other lost message in the guide to food pyramid is that most of the carbohydrate servings are whole grains. however, USDA data shows that we eat less than one serving of whole grains a day.

For more information on the Golden Rules to Healthy Eating

Answers to many weight loss questions

Eating Junk Food & Still Losing Weight!

2008-04-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

Can we still eat junk foods and lose weight?

This is a question I have see a few times in the weight loss forums online. The answer is simple, YES.

It is possible to lose weight and eat junk foods. Losing weight is about making sure that for the majority of time, we are consuming fewer calories than the body requires. If this is achieved consistently, then weight will gradually fall off.

The problem is many dieters eating junk food, often end up consuming more calories than they should. Put it this way, even if you only consume a little less energy than required, such as 100 calories per day, you still won't see much in the way of weight loss. You need to cut calories by roughly 500 per day (made up of dieting & extra activity), in order to see significant results on the scales.

Junk foods generally provide more calories per serving than healthier foods, thus it's so much easier to go past calorie quotas.
So, yes losing weight while eating junk food is possible, but it may become much harder to see the results on the scales and in the mirror.

What are the pitfalls of eating junk when trying to lose body fat?

Ways to tackle over-eating when dieting to lose fat weight

More Weight Loss Tips & Tricks

2008-03-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more dieting tips while I was just thinking them up in my head.

1. Buy a few dried herbs and spices so you can add them to the healthy "boring" foods to make them taste a little better. Don't be scared of experimenting with flavours too.

2. Try your best to drink more water over tea and coffee. Water has no calories in it so it's best way to fill up with before a meal to limit the amount consumed.

3. Eat higher fibre foods with each meal. These will fill you up quicker so we consume less energy at each meal, thus reduce total calories for the day.

4. Don't neglect protein foods. We need a steady supply of essential proteins sources to help maintain a good metabolism for losing weight effectively.

5. Exercising does not have to mean going to the gym or running about outside. ANY activity will burn calories and help with weight loss,
try:
more cleaning, playing with pets, general household chores or fixing things to increase your calories burned each day!

Good luck!

Weight loss Help Pages!

Move at the Hips Please!

2008-03-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

I once had a client ask me how to burn a greater amount of calories when exercising. After seeing her exercise, I noticed she had a tendency to limit her movements. Yes, she moved continuously but, the movements were either limited, or she moved only the smaller muscle groups.

I informed her that to burn more energy during exercise, she really needed to use the bigger muscle groups of the body. For her, it meant moving more at her hips, and less at the shoulders and arms.

Imagine the difference between squat thrusts, and performing arm lateral raises? The arm raises will burn much less energy because the muscles involved are small groups. Squats thrusts will burn more because she would be using the muscles of the thighs, buttocks, and all the torso together.

I think this is one reason why doing tons of sit ups will never beat performing aerobic workouts to burn more energy and help lose fat around the belly. Aerobic workouts include a whole host of general movements which require more effort; such as, standing, bending at the knees, lunges and squats, as well as twists of the torso.

Burning large amounts of energy can be acieved quicker if we put more effort into all our movements, whether exercising or doing daily chores!

Learn How To Lose Weight Permanently

Metabolism Talk

2008-03-03T04:07:00.000-08:00

I was talking to a client the other day, and she asked about the metabolism.

I pointed out that I believe it would be much better to increase the metabolism a month or so before starting any new diet.

The reason is because a diet low in calories will inevitably lead to a decrease in lean muscle, which in turn causes a lower metabolic rate.

Exercising before a low calorie diet helps raise lean mass as there will be sufficient calorie intake to enable anabolic processes to occur. This means you would be burning many more calories just to maintain normal weight. At this stage she would be able to reduce food intake a little but get some good results quickly. Plus, she will have much more room to decrease intake further once she hits a plateau in weight loss.

Continuous weight loss requires the ability to adjust diet / exercise at regular intervals, if a person drops calories too low then they would have no room to adjust when the body adapts to the intake.
A higher metabolism gives the ability to adjust without starving oneself!

Learn more about the body and how to lose weight at weightlossforall