Diet Pills That Work

Do you want to lose weight fast? There are many programs out there that claim rapid weight loss. Everything from the cabbage soup diet to grapefruit diets, cereal diets, and countless others. But if you want to lose weight fast it’s really pretty simple. You just need to start burning more calories than you take in. Keep reading to discover how you can accomplish this.

Water is a big factor in weight loss. Your body needs water to function properly. You should make it a point to drink 8 glasses of water a day. Try drinking a glass of water when you first get up in the morning and before each meal. You will lose weight faster if you do this every day.

Get rid of the sodas and start drinking green tea. This tea has many antioxidants and has been proven to help you burn fat. It also will help flush your system of toxins and make you feel healthier. It is a natural caffeine replacement so it can keep you alert throughout the day without the jittery side effects.

Eat fruits and vegetables and cut back on the breads and pastas. This will reduce your caloric intake significantly and help you lose weight faster. Eating small meals throughout the day will turn up your metabolism and help your body burn fat and calories. It will also keep you from being hungry and will reduce cravings.

The biggest factor in fast weight loss is exercise. If you want to burn more calories you are going to have to do something to burn them. Try to get at least an hour of exercise each day for rapid weight loss. Join a gym and work out with a trainer. He can help you sculpt your body and maximize your weight loss.

It’s important to remember that you should focus on the way your body looks, rather than the pounds that show on the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you have started working out, you may find that the scale shows minimal weight loss. However, you will probably have lost a few inches around your waist and hips. Don’t get so focused on the numbers on the scale that you fail to realize you have just lost three inches off your waistline!

Always consult your doctor before you start any diet or fast weight loss diet. You want to lose weight, but you want to make sure that you do it safely.

This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s The Healthiest Year of Your Life, which can be found at http://thehealthiestyearofyourlife.com. In this excerpt, Jill Fleming shares on weight loss results; how to achieve them and how to keep them.The Healthiest Year of Your Life with Jill Fleming, a certified nutritionist and author of Thin People Don’t Clean Their Plates.Kevin: Why don’t you tell me about results? I love hearing results. I love hearing about results. Why don’t you tell me one or two success stories that people that you’ve basically helped them change their lives?Jill: When I teach 8 week weight loss classes, which I do in my local community, I continue to monitor people after they’ve completed the class and the time they started the class to completed the class and we did this with measuring tapes and weighing and then I continue to track them for two years after taking the classes.Kevin: Two years? Wow!Jill: Two years. Yes, because beyond two years people moved and it was hard to get hold of them and then they didn’t want to come in and we had 92% success rate, which is exciting, which is how I knew I needed to put the information into a book, because so many other people could benefit from this information. When I speak in settings with large audiences the funny thing is to me that I’m up there talking to them about how they can improve their health and lose weight and feel better and have more energy and usually about one or two just really intensely take the information to heart and I will get an e-mail a month later that will say I’m 56 years old — I just got this two days ago – - 56 years old and never thought I could lose weight and gave away all of my smaller sized clothes and now lost 25 pounds and I have more energy than I ever had. Everyone’s asking how I did it and it was all because I added breakfast. It was all because I added more fruits and vegetables and had a smoothie and a salad a day. All because and they took away one or two nuggets of what we were talking about where they were weak in their Wellness Triangle and improved it to reach their ultimate goals. They’d given up. They thought they couldn’t do it.
In my local community I had a guy that when through my weight loss class and then he took it again and he took it a third time. He lost 115 pounds and just e-mailed me probably a month ago and said that he’s maintained 105 but the other 10 came back on and he’s going to get that 10 back off again and the interesting thing is he’s within about 10 pounds of his ideal body weight. He was planning to go through gastric bypass. I talked him out of it, because he loves food. He loves to eat as much as I do and I said if you love to eat, you’re really going to be giving up that choice. You’re going to be so limited in the amount and the types of things you can eat that it won’t be an enjoyable lifestyle for you. He agreed. He loves to go out and barbeque. He just has a little bit less of the fattier foods and he really went to town on the vegetables.Kevin: Okay.Jill: Exercises everyday and has tons of energy and he is definitely a role model that I keep coming back to him and saying how did you do that again? What are you doing?Kevin: Yeah.Jill: Tell me how you did that again? What was the piece of information that stuck out for you? But the interesting thing is that it’s different for every person.Kevin: Yeah.Jill: So what Dennis had to do versus what I had to do versus what someone else who wants to lose weight has to do, you can take all the information and see which is going to most affect your life in the positive direction.Kevin: And how did you measure the 92% success rate? What were the criteria?Jill: They could not gain more than 2 pounds back of what their final weight was.Kevin: Wow.Jill: The majority of people went on to lose even more weight, because they only had them, well we did an 8 week class with a one month follow up, so we only had these people for three months, but the changes that they made in three months were changes that they’ve kept for a life time. They said they could never go back to their old way of eating because they had too much information one and number two, they felt too good.Kevin: WowJill: And that’s the big thing. It’s not just about looking great in your skinny jeans. It’s about the energy that you have. You don’t need to fill your body with caffeine and chemicals to stay awake and alert. You can do it naturally.Kevin: Yeah. In a world where the studies say that 98% of people who lose weight gain it back a 92% success rate is just absolutely incredible.Jill: I think the big part of the success we had with our classes was that I was able to individualize and help people see how they could fit their lives into the plan. Not just switch from their life to the plan, but incorporate little things from the thin choices routine into what they were already doing. If they weren’t eating breakfast that was an easy one and I didn’t give everything all at once. I said lets work on breakfast and water today. Those are the only things that you’re going to work on this week and then come back and we’ll see how that feels and then start adding something else. So I think I think that’s the big part. Looking at the person and seeing where is the stress in their life and if they’re a stress eater, they’re eating for reasons other than true hunger. You’ve got to help that person realize what they can do to get the stress either out of their life or to help relieve it. Maybe they just need to do some meditation or take a yoga class. Their stress comes back under control and they’re better able to make choices in the other areas of their life.Kevin: And it’s probably not just about — I don’t actually know this. It’s not about what kind of stress or what they’re doing. It’s just about them recognizing it. Correct?Jill: Yes. Yes and if you’re turning to food, because you’re depressed maybe we need to look at the depression. What is the reason? Is it you’re living in Wisconsin and you don’t have enough sunshine in the winter? Maybe you need a sun lamp as opposed to turning to the food. I went through that about two years ago. We had 25 days without sun and I was just depressed and I was just craving chocolate and I thought what is wrong with me. I gained about 7 pounds and I just couldn’t get out of it. Well, I realized that it was a lack of sun, so I went on a vacation. As soon as we got about the clouds in Minneapolis and the sun was shining in, I was just drawn to the window and I realized that sunshine is a big part of my health, so I needed it. So I regularly schedule vacations in the middle of winter to get out of out of the cold and that helps to keep my stress level down, because I turned to food when I was feeling depressed.Kevin: It’s amazing how the health clues kind of unveil themselves as you continue on.Jill: Yeah and it was so interesting to me that no one else was impacted by this lack of sun in my house. I was the only one, so I just thought that I was crazy. I thought do I need drugs? What do I need? Do I need more chocolate? All I could think was that I needed chocolate, because I couldn’t think clearly.Kevin: Right.Jill: But it’s amazing, that sun. I thought, okay. That’s what I needed and I’m learning and you learn more about yourself everyday I think. You just have to be open to it and listen to what your body’s telling you.Kevin: Yeah. That’s incredible advice. Why don’t you –Jill: It could just have been the vitamin D that I needed, but I’d rather lie on a beach and think about it.Kevin: Yeah. Get your 15 minutes in.Jill: Exactly.Kevin: Where can someone go to find some more information about you and what you – why don’t you tell them what you have to offer?Jill: Okay. I have a website called simplelifestylechoices.com. You can also get there through thinchoices.com and you can get the book, Thin People Don’t Clean Their Plates, there and it doesn’t say this on the website, but anyone who ever orders a Thin People Don’t Clean Their Plates book, it’s been instructed that they will also get a Lifestyle Diary sent out with that.Kevin: Oh, cool.Jill: The Lifestyle Diary is so important and it’s just a small, probably 5 inches by 4 inch book that you can stick in your purse or carry in your back pocket and you just write down what you’re doing. For people who that just want to go to the website and get the free download, it will come out on a full size 8×11 paper but just start writing down what you’re doing, keeping track of it. Track it for a month. You’ll probably after three or four days of tracking see where you can make improvements and once you start doing that it will almost seem too easy and then please do e-mail me at jill@thinchoices.com, because I love the success stories. They just keep me motivated and that’s why I continue to do what I do.Kevin: Great. Well, Jill, thank you so much for that information. I know how valuable your time is and I want to thank you for sharing this information with us.Jill: You’re welcome. It’s very its fun. It’s always fun sharing your passion with others that it can help.Kevin: Yeah and I think what you’ve talked about really seems so easy and I think really it kind of is.Jill: It actually is so easy. I think we’ve made weight loss much more difficult than it needs to be. Stop dieting. Start listening to your body. It’s truly all about your choices.

Over the next few pages I will help you to understand a few pointers that will hopefully promote your efforts to shed pounds in a nutritious and effectual manner.
The first thing I’d like to see you do is to assess the amount of food that you are eating on an average day right now. Start out when you wake up in the morning and just follow through with your day without changing anything. You should make a strong attempt to eat the same foods as you would ordinarily be eating on any other day, and keep track of precisely what you are consuming plus the exact quantities that you consume. Most people agree that this activity calls for a high amount of seriousness on the part of the dieter. It is very important that you remind yourself that you have decided to lose weight the healthy way, and to abide by a sensible weight loss system.
This will end up being a great deal better for you over the long term than the newest crash diet program or weight loss pill. In all honestly, the entire activity will take no longer than a few minutes total, for the powerful long-term advantages that it will extend. While you are getting ready to go to sleep that evening, you will want to count up the actual number of carbs, protein, fat, and calories that you managed to eat during an average day. You need to be as precise as possible so that you will have an accurate perception of where you are at presently and what details of your present diet would likely be the most advantageous areas to get to work on.
There are same basic, simple, natural maneuvers that you should follow that will help you to drop the amount of food-energy that you are taking in in an ordinary day so that you can start losing weight.
The thing you’ll do can be to actually increase the quantity of protein that you consume in an average day. Medical research has proven that increasing your daily protein consumption without changing anything else will often cause significant fat loss, due to the fact that protein-rich foods are quite a bit more satisfying than anything else you could eat. As you start eating more protein, you should work on gently minimizing the amount of sugar and carbohydrates you are eating. Clinical studies have demonstrated that starch makes you feel less satisfied. This is why you will find that you usually eat a bigger portion of food for lunch if you have a glass of soda together with your lunch.
In addition to making these changes in your diet, you can dramatically improve your ability to burn calories by increasing your total muscle mass. The best way to do this is by lifting weights. Weight training can be extremely enjoyable since you don’t have to do it more than a couple times a week and the benefits can be seen and felt pretty quickly. The best way to do weight training is to do nice, slow exercises just a few times until your muscles are unable to continue. Drink a strong protein shake before and after each workout to speed up the rate at which your body builds muscle.
Doing cardio is simply not an effective way to lose weight. The reason for this is that you are not actually burning as many calories as you would expect to burn doing these exercises. Also, this type of exercise mostly burns off the sugars in your blood, quickly increasing your appetite and thus causing you to consume more calories after your workout. For this reason, doing cardio is not recommended unless you just really happen to enjoy it.
After one week of following this simple plan, you will likely be pleased to find that you have lost a pound or two. This is a nice easy pace to lose weight at, and it is good to keep this in mind so you will not get caught in the trap of crash dieting. The latest fad diet would probably take the pounds off more quickly, but you would likely damage your health and regain all the weight after a short period of time. If you continue to lose weight at this rate of just a pound or two per week, you will soon find that a year has gone by and you have lost a huge amount of weight–more than 50 pounds–by barely even trying.

Over the course of this article I hope to introduce you to some ideas that may increase your ability to reach your target weight in a salubrious and effectual manner.
An excellent way to start is to measure the amount of calories that you are eating in a single day. Begin when you wake up in the morning and just live out your day without making any special considerations. I want you to make a real effort to eat exactly the same as you would normally eat on any other ordinary day without changing anything, and take down a record of precisely what you put in your mouth plus the quantities that you consume. You’ll agree that this assignment requires a lot of seriousness on the part of the dieter. It is extremely important that you remind yourself of your decision to improve your health while losing weight, and to follow a level-headed weight loss system.
This type of system will end up being a lot more beneficial as time goes by than some new instant-gratification diet program or weight loss supplement. The fact is, the entire exercise will take no longer than 10-15 minutes out of your day, even for the many long-lasting benefits that it will extend. When it is time to hit the hay, take a moment to count up the total amount of calories, carbohydrate, protein, and fat that you consumed as the day went on. It is necessary to as precise as it is possible for you to be so that you will have a reliable picture of where you are starting out from and which characteristics of your present eating habits will end up being the most useful targets to work on.
Next, there are a few natural, easy actions that you need to follow if you are to diminish the number of calories that you are putting into yourself in an average day in order to initiate weight loss.
The tactic you can employ will be to actually raise the number of grams of protein that you consume in an average day. Scientific studies have demonstrated that increasing your daily protein levels in your diet without changing anything else frequently results in significant weight loss, due to the fact that proteins are a lot more filling than other foods. As you increase the amount of protein you are eating, try slowly lessening the amount of other carbohydrates that you are eating. Clinical studies have demonstrated that sugar can actually increase your appetite. It is a common experience that you usually eat a larger serving of food if you have a glass of soda pop along with your lunch.
In addition to making these changes in your diet, you will also want to increase your body’s ability to burn fat by gaining new lean muscle mass. This is done through weight training. Weight training can be extremely enjoyable due to the fact that you don’t have to do it every day and the benefits can be seen and felt pretty quickly. The best weight training technique is to do nice, slow exercises just a few times until your muscles are unable to continue. Load up on protein, and especially glutamine immediately after you finish working out to get the best recovery times.
Cardiovascular exercises have not been shown to be effective in promoting weight loss. The reason for this is that you are not actually burning as many calories as you would expect to burn doing these exercises. Additionally, cardio tends to reduce your blood sugar levels, quickly increasing your appetite and making you likely to eat more food than you otherwise would have. Because of this, doing cardio is not recommended unless you just really happen to enjoy it.
after just 7 days of following this plan, you will typically have lost a couple of pounds! This is a nice easy pace to lose weight at, and it is good to keep this in mind so you will not get caught in the trap of crash dieting. Of course you can lose weight more quickly using less sound methods, but you would likely damage your health and most likely stop losing weight very quickly. As you continue to steadily lose just one to two pounds per week by following this plan, you will soon find that a year has gone by and you have lost more than fifty pounds with very little effort!

Slim Fast and the Slim Fast diet plan have been around for more than 20 years now. Without a doubt they have become the most popular diet shake around. But, does this weight loss plan really work?

The Slim Fast Diet Plan

The Slim Fast plan is not difficult to follow. You have a Slim Fast shake for breakfast in the morning and another one for lunch. For dinner, the plan calls for a “sensible” meal. Sensible can mean many different things to people, but that’s another story.

You can also have two pieces of fruit each day as well as one of Slim Fast’s nutritional bars.

The shakes and nutritional bars can be purchased at any grocery store or Wal-Mart.

The Slim Fast diet plan also includes regular exercise and encourages you to drink 8 glasses of water a day. These are two important points and keys to success in any type of weight loss program.

Does the plan work?

The Slim Fast plan will reduce your daily calories to around 1200 if you eat that sensible dinner each night. This means that anyone should lose weight with the plan.

While you can definitely lose weight with Slim Fast, there are some drawbacks. Since this is a calorie restricted diet, you may not get enough vitamins and minerals to maintain good health. A multi vitamin could help.

The reliance on making yourself a sensible dinner can also be difficult. Because you have only had 2 shakes all day along with a piece of fruit, you’re going to be hungry. It’s very easy to get carried away at dinner. It will take some extra discipline to make it work.

San Diego’s Top Certified Personal Fitness Trainer Reveals the essential strategies for lasting weight loss and lifelong fitnessby oksanapet16 Tips for getting maximum Weight Loss and Fitness results in minimum time *Do you want to improve the quality of your life? *Do you want to look and feel better than you have in years – maybe better than you ever have before? *Do you want to protect yourself from disease and injury? And do you want to live a longer, more vital life? I’m confident that you answered “YES!” to each of those questions, just as have the hundreds of individuals I’ve counseled, coached, and trained in my career as a Certified Personal Fitness Trainer and Health Expert. Right now I’m going to reveal to you the 16 essential strategies that have enabled my clients to achieve these important goals. These simple strategies can be immediately implemented into your lifestyle with little sacrifice on your part (okay, if not eating artery clogging fast food burgers and fries is a big thing for you, then maybe you won’t look at that sacrifice as “easy,” but I guarantee you it will add quality years to your life). Why believe me? Because I have been training people for 14 years. Because I’ve seen people fail and others succeed. Because I’m the only person in San Diego who has 15 years of solid medical training, a NSCA CPT, and I am also a Certified Master Fitness Instructor through the Prestigious Coopers Institute. Because all of my Personal Training Clients are happy and getting good results. I am giving you this information because I’m tired of seeing people getting ripped off and wasting their time and energy on the latest “Miracle” diet or device. I’m tired of seeing slick marketers make a lot of money by selling people lies that won’t help them. So let’s get right into it. Read on to discover… 1. How to Stay Motivated.One of the biggest problems most people have is that they work out great for a couple of weeks, then just fade away. The people who stick with it are those who have these two things in common: * They don’t follow a set routine. Routines always become boring. They also set you up for repetitive stress injuries. They don’t work either. Your body quickly adapts to any routine and doesn’t need to change any more to keep up. * They get on an effective exercise program, so they get good results. The people who lose their motivation are the people who get frustrated because they are not getting good results. When you are getting good results, you will be so pumped that it’s actually hard to quit. A good fitness instructor will help you with both of these items. 2. Don’t make it so hard.Most people think of exercise as torture. They imagine that you must sweat and groan for hours every day to get in good shape. Not so, my friend! Two days per week of 30-minute low-intensity cardiovascular exercise (walking, jogging, biking, swimming); and two days per week of 30-minute light resistance training (using weights or resistance machines) is adequate in the beginning. As you become acclimated to the lifestyle shift, you can add more days and get improved results. But beware: if you try to do too much too fast, you may end up quitting altogether. If you’ve tried and failed doing it alone, then I suggest you get a training partner or personal trainer who will help you sustain your motivation. 3. Your exercise program needs only three things. If you skip any one of these three, your results will suffer. * Resistance Exercise. This will raise your metabolism and cause you to burn more calories all day, even when you are asleep at night. * Cardiovascular Exercise. Your heart rate during cardio exercise should be 60% to 80% of your maximum heart rate. The simple formula for calculating your 100% maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. If the intensity of your exercise increases your heart rate beyond 80%, slow it down a bit. If your heart rate isn’t at least 60%, quit loafing. Your personal trainer can supply you with a simple heart rate monitor you can wear during exercise so you always stay in your peak fat-burning range. * Proper Nutrition. A good, hard workout can burn maybe 300-500 calories in 30-45 minutes. It only takes one Big Mac to flush your entire workout down the toilet. 4. Don’t waste your time working small muscles with isolated movements.If you don’t enjoy doing resistance training or are pressed for time, concentrate on working the largest muscle groups with compound resistance movements. When I see overweight people doing wrist curls or lateral raises, I wonder why. It’s generally just a lack of understanding of how their bodies work. Most people want to lose fat and tone and firm their bodies. The way to do that is to use resistance (weights or machines) to train the large muscle groups. Men should be concentrating on legs, chest and back. Women should concentrate more on their legs and back. The best exercises for legs are lunges or squats (your personal trainer will show you the proper form and then monitor you during the exercise) and leg press. The best chest exercise is bench press, and the best back exercise is the seated row. All of these are compound movements, which means they incorporate multiple muscle groups. 5. Always, always, always stretch.Stretching improves flexibility, blood flow, muscle recovery, low back pain and a host of other things. Additionally, stretching can prevent injury, make you sleep better and improve your performance in all sports. Always stretch, but be certain not to stretch cold muscles. You should always warm up before stretching. However, it is very important that you know how to stretch. Never bounce! Your personal trainer will show you the proper execution and timing of your stretches. 6. Don’t do traditional sit-ups. Unless you are super athlete with an incredibly well-developed midsection, sit-ups can lead to a strained lower back and possibly lumbar injuries. But it gets worse. Rather than hitting your abdominal section, sit-ups can shift exercise tension to your hip flexors – which defeats the purpose. There is so much misinformation about how to strengthen, tone, and firm the midsection, it’s almost frightening. It is very difficult to learn proper abdominal exercise technique by reading about it or watching it demonstrated on a video. You need to do it with supervision and get feedback about your form from a knowledgeable source. And keep in mind that you use your abdominal muscles in almost every single movement you make. Strengthening your abdominal region is the single most effective way to prevent, or recover from, low back pain. 7. Set realistic, attainable goals.You must have tangible, quantifiable, short-term, and long-term goals for your fitness program so you can gauge your progress. It’s crucial to have a “baseline” before you begin, so you can measure success. Your personal trainer can give you a complete fitness analysis (you need this!) that will aid you and your trainer in developing a personalized fitness program, which addresses your particular needs. Having goals, particularly short-term goals, allows you to track your progress and keep motivated when times are tough and you don’t feel like exercising. Keeping a journal of your cardio and resistance training workouts, as well as tracking what you eat is truly a fitness success secret. Just remember that your goals should be realistic and attainable. The best way for you to understand what is realistic and attainable for you is to talk to a fitness professional – not to buy into the “hype” of infomercial’s, diet and fitness products that blatantly mislead. 8. Set exercise appointments with yourself.Use your day-timer to set appointments for exercise – and then stick to them. You wouldn’t miss a business meeting or client appointment, would you? So don’t miss your exercise appointment with yourself. Nothing is more important than your health. Nothing. Everything else will crumble around you if your health goes south. So make your exercise appointments a priority. If you find it difficult to keep these appointments, then consider hiring a personal trainer who will hold you to your commitment. When you have money invested, and someone waiting for you to show up – you are much more likely to actually show up! 9. Remember the benefits of exercise.Remember that feeling of euphoria you experienced after a particularly good work-out? You experienced that feeling because the most powerful “feel good” drug in the world – endorphins – were coursing through your veins. If there is a panacea, it’s exercise. Nothing feels better than the post-work-out high you experience after exercising. Revel in that feeling. Let it wash over you and truly experience it. Etch that feeling in your brain. It will fuel your motivation on those inevitable days when you just don’t feel like exercising. Being physically fit affects every single aspect of your life: you sleep better, eat better, love better, overcome stress better, work better, communicate better, and live better! 10. Exercise correctly.So much time is wasted doing, at best, unproductive exercise, or at worst, dangerous exercise. Get educated on how to exercise correctly. And the absolute best way to do that is to hire a personal trainer to develop a program for you and then teach you what to do and how to do it right. Personal training does not have to be an ongoing process. You can hire a personal trainer for whatever length of time you need to learn the ropes. It could be five sessions, or it could be fifteen sessions. It’s completely up to you. But statistics prove that those who understand how to exercise correctly, get better, faster results. And that’s what you want, right? Results! 11. Enjoy yourself.The most difficult thing is actually getting into your running shoes or going to the gym. But once you begin your work-out, relax and enjoy the process. Don’t fight it. Make exercise your personal time. When you are exercising you can focus completely on yourself. Yes, exercising can and should be somewhat rigorous (depending on your level of fitness), but it is just that investment which makes it supremely rewarding. As with anything, if you are in the moment, you can fully appreciate the experience and truly enjoy the process. 12. Americans eat too many carbohydrates for our lifestyles.I’m not advocating the high protein, high saturated fat diet that you hear so much about (frankly, its dangerous). But I am advocating minimizing your intake of bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and, of course, all sugary drinks. We are no longer an agrarian society participating in manual labor. Most of us are fairly sedentary throughout the day and therefore do not need the high levels of carbohydrates to sustain our energy. Additionally, carbohydrates are addictive. The more donuts you eat, the more you want. The bulk of your carbohydrates should come from vegetables and fruit. And those with high water content, such as cucumbers, grapefruit, tomatoes, cantaloupe, strawberries and even vegetable soups (watch out for high sodium), will fill you up nicely. By the way, numerous studies have conclusively proven that the quarter of the population eating the most vegetables get half the cancer of the quarter eating the least! 13. Deep-fried food has no nutritional value – none!Almost every food, whether it’s steak, chocolate or red wine, has some nutrients to contribute. But one thing is absolute: fried foods are garbage. Potato chips, French fries, onion rings, breaded chicken strips and all the rest of the deep-fried junk are pregnant with saturated fat and calories, and they contain almost zero nutritional value. If you’re trying to lose weight and/or reduce fat, simply eliminate fried foods completely from your diet. Yikes! That stuff is scary. 14. Never, ever skip breakfast.If you want to maximize your fitness results or fat-loss efforts, you’ve got to eat breakfast. Even if you don’t exercise at all – breakfast remains the most important meal of the day. Your breakfast should contain complete proteins and complex carbohydrates (if you’re trying to lose weight, you should eat the bulk of your complex carbohydrates at breakfast and lunch and only have vegetable carbohydrates at dinner). A great breakfast is oatmeal (not the pre-packaged, pre-sweetened kind) with a little honey and banana and a protein drink. Or try scrambled egg whites with Healthy Choice turkey sausage. 15. Drink plenty of fresh, clean water.Yes, I know that you’ve heard this over and over again. But there’s a reason for that – it’s the gospel truth! The recommended amount is approximately eight glasses, or 64 ounces, of water every day. When you are exercising, you need to drink even more. Over 75% of your body is water (even bone is more than 20% water). When you don’t drink enough water, and substitute diuretics like coffee, tea and caffeinated sodas, you dehydrate your body, your blood doesn’t flow properly, and your digestive system doesn’t operate smoothly (among other problems). Even a small deficit of water can radically affect how your body performs. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you’re urine is a dark yellow and/or has a strong odor, you’re not drinking enough water. Drink up! 16. Eat regularly throughout the day.Fasting or overly restrictive diets will enable you to lose weight – in the short run, because the weight you lose is primarily water weight and lean muscle mass. In the long run, it has exactly the opposite effect you want. When you restrict your diet, your body instinctively thinks it’s being starved and shifts into a protective mode by storing fat. Energy expenditures are fueled by your lean muscles. Therefore your body fat remains essentially the same and you lose vital fluids and muscle instead. The less muscle you have, the slower your metabolism becomes, and the less fat you burn. Instead of eating three big meals (or worse yet, one HUGE meal) eat five or six nutritionally balanced “snack/meals” each day. This keeps your metabolic furnace stoked, so you burn more at a faster rate. I know, it’s counter-intuitive, but it’s true!There you have it. 16 essential strategies for an effective weight loss and fitness program that will have you looking and feeling better than you have in years – maybe ever! I realize that starting (or re-starting) a productive and effective health and fitness program is not easy. That’s why I encourage you to get help. If you’re sick, you go to the doctor. If you’ve got a tax problem, you see an accountant (or an attorney!). Have a toothache? You’re off to the dentist. So why is it that so many people attempt to solve their health and fitness problems without consulting an expert? I don’t know exactly, but I encourage you to make the investment in yourself – in your quality of life – by hiring a certified personal fitness trainer to educate you and help you get started (because the hardest part is just getting started and sustaining your motivation until fitness becomes habitual). Once you develop the habit, which can take as little as thirty days, your whole life will change for the better. If I can be of any assistance to you, please don’t hesitate to call me. I’m happy to speak with you and give you my recommendations without any sales pressure (I hate it when people try to “sell” me, so I wouldn’t try that on you). Please E-mail me to obtain any additional information you may need. Thank you. Best in Health,Rivak E. Hoffmanhttp://www.somagenesis.com

About the AuthorExperience: 12 years and counting.

I’m not just your average trainer. Some trainers don’t look like trainers. Many lack the medical aptitude and experience to design and implement a safe and effective exercise program, and that’s a bad sign from the start. Some train their clients exactly as they train themselves. Many hurt their clients and send them back to their sedentary lifestyles.

Myself, I think “outside the box” and bring life to others. I don’t duplicate fitness programs and my training programs are constructive, not destructive. Each and every client I train has a unique experience. With the overwhelming, conflicting advertising and marketing campaigns in the health and fitness industry, the average consumer becomes confused and disoriented in their eating habits and exercise programs. I find it a personal challenge and responsibility to weed out the fact from the fiction. A hypothesis is only a guess until proven with real statistically proven hardcore research with large sampling. Solid facts also come from anecdotal experience and documented evidence over time.

Moreover, I have trained my mind and body for sports competition since age 13. I have learned how to incorporate my vast levels of knowledge in nutrition, resistance training, and sports-specific training techniques towards further achieving new goals and winning races.

18 years tenure as a board certified medical professional in General Medicine and Neuro-Ophthalmology gives me the expertise to analyze and evaluate metabolic and systemic medical factors that often complicate weight loss, weight gain, and metabolic problems. These factors seriously complicate the ability to lose weight, and most trainers do not have the knowledge to solve these dilemmas.

With my diverse background in both medicine and as a personal trainer, I can create a healthy, strong, high performance body, which will look awesome and perform to higher levels. My unique style as a fitness instructor coupled with my medical knowledge allows me to methodically design a safe, effective, and productive exercise program to suit your goals.

Here’s an overview of my experience and credentials:

National Strength and Conditioning Assoc.

Certified Personal Trainer Credential of Distinction

Coopers Institute of Aerobic Research

Master Fitness Specialist

American Academy of Health Fitness and Rehabilitation Professionals Medical Exercise Specialist

American Academy of Health Fitness and Rehabilitation Professionals Post Rehabilitation Conditioning Specialist

Member American Academy of Sports Medicine

Member National Strength and Conditioning Association

Member American Academy of Ophthalmology

Member Joint Commission of Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology

BS Biology University of Connecticut

Graduate Physician’s Asst Program

US Army Academy of Health Sciences Fort Sam Houston, TXArticle Source: OnlineEarnings Article Board

We all know that we should treat our bodies better than we do sometimes. But, more often than we would like, that is easier said than done. Some of us tend to try to burn the candle at both ends, so to speak, and a little to often. Despite our good intentions we can, occasionally, fall victim to a wide variety of temptations that are not too good for us.
One of these temptations is eating in a hurry because we are starving Marvin’s. In moments of weakness, our old diet habits shift into auto pilot mode and propel us into taking the path of least resistance. We succumb easily to fast and convenient foods because it’s easier not to plan ahead. I am guilty of that too, from time to time. You can do yourself a huge favor by learning to shop differently for food.
How about when we feel we must work harder, more hours, and more often than we like, or had planned? When we put those extra efforts into our work life, and sometimes our recreational life too, we end up short-changing ourselves on sleep. Not getting enough rest or relaxation can be something we have a hard time making up.
As a culture, and on the average, we tend to fall into old social pressure habits. We try to make up for our lack of stamina by fighting our body’s stresses with too much caffeine, using herbal supplements, energy drinks, and often combine these with almost no physical activity. We fool ourselves into thinking there is a quick fix for our lack of go-power somewhere.
So, when you hear about the two new latest buzz words called ’super foods’, and how they can help make you feel better you are all ears. Unlike other diet fads that have come and gone throughout the years, eating a diet high in a wide variety of super foods really do have a lot of healthy stay power. They are not likely to fall out of grace any time soon due to lack of results, as they really do have healthy enhancing benefits.
Congratulations, if you are making a real conscious decision to include more of them in your daily diet. However, you will have to do more than just drink a cup of green tea every day, or eat a piece of fresh fruit once in a while to get the full effect of erasing, or reversing, the damage done over many years.
Eating and drinking differently with the intent to get the healthy effects you are looking for takes a certain amount of dedication on your part. You have to understand that going this route will not be a quick solution. Don’t make the mistake of viewing these foods as boring, or as an unsatisfying, diet food plan. Look at it as a complete dietary lifestyle change.
Take small steps as you learn, and until you are feeling more confidant and secure in your new choices. Get comfortable with the idea that this may be a lengthy road you are taking. See it as a happy, ongoing journey of ever learning. Lower your expectations in how long you think it might actually take to reach your goal.
With that being said, technically, the term ’super food’ includes most all foods in their whole, raw, and unprocessed form, with a few exceptions. Here are just a small few of the miracle health foods to incorporate into a healthy diet plan.
Fruits and vegetables: Eat them freshly harvested when possible, and raw or uncooked. Steaming or stir-fry is acceptable, and considered lightly cooked. Frozen is next best, and preferred over canned. These plant foods are are full of photolytic compounds, antioxidant vitamins, minerals, fiber, and enzymes.
Oils: Fish oils found in cold water fish are high in heart, brain, and joint healthy omega-3 fatty acid oils. Coconut oil is a saturated plant oil that is necessary for optimal health. Try to find a coconut oil that has not been treated with solvents or heated to extract the oil. Olive oil is nutritionally best, although stronger tasting, when consumed as extra virgin. Extra virgin is less refined and higher in vitamin E. A mostly monounsaturated oil.
Nuts: Are chock full of minerals, and have vitamin B-9 (folate), vitamin B-3 (niacin), vitamin E, protein, fiber, and iron. They are higher in monounsaturated oil than polyunsaturated.
Sprouts: Are rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and protein. They are one of the most nutritionally complete of all foods. They are considered a living food because, even after their harvesting, they continue to grow slowly and the vitamin content increases upon refrigeration. They can be fun to grow yourself, and there are many different types of sprouts.
Green tea: Is considered to be the most nutritionally superior of all teas, although other varieties of teas do contain healthful properties as well. Green tea is especially high in antioxidants called ‘polyphenols’. This substance has recently been found to reduce the health damaging effects of HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). It is best, however, to avoid the commercially distributed product varieties and brew your own.
Flax seeds: Is a good plant source of omega-3 fatty acid, a different fat chain of omega-3 than fish oil. A photolytic compound called ‘lignans’ found in flax seeds is also a good source of fiber. Flax seeds are nutritionally better for you than flax seed oil. Grinding the seeds is preferred, as they are very small and are better absorbed by the body. A pepper mill works great for this, and you can eat the ground seeds on cereals, salads, and more.
Tomatoes and carrots: Are a few exceptions to the raw is better than cooked way of eating fruits and vegetables. One theory explains that more of the available photolytic antioxidants like ‘lycopene’ in tomatoes, and ‘beta carotene’ in carrots are released in the cooking process by breaking down the plant cells.
When it comes to fluid intakes, eliminating processed beverages high in caffeine, sugar and artificial sugar, and alcohol is a very helpful move, that has far reaching health benefits. You will be amazed at this one technique alone!
Outside of raw milk, fermented drinks like kombucha tea and kiefer, fresh juiced juices, or home brewed teas water should be, by and large, making up the bulk of your main fluid intake. It should be around three fourths of what to be drinking each and every day.
Don’t forget to add a bit of unrefined salt to your kitchen salt shaker. It is much higher in trace minerals than the cheaper, grocery store variety of refined salt. Increased water intakes calls for adequate salt ratios.
Expect some of these diet changes to taste a little differently to you for a while. It helps to ingrain in your mind a positive mental picture, in that these foods are way better for you than processed. Before long, you will begin to notice they actually do taste, and satisfy, better than refined, processed foods. You can season with fresh or died herbs if you like, to enhance the flavor of these foods even further.
Again, please don’t forget to drink plenty of water with your new diet plan. Water should be considered the ’super’ body fluid solvent to maximize your new super food diet results.

Were you ever curious about why celebrities find it easy to get back to their pre-pregnancy weight? The reason is that they only gain enough weight for the development of a healthy baby. Any weight that is from the baby’s development, placenta, womb, and additional blood supply for the baby, is not considered extra weight. According to many physicians, the majority of women can give birth to a healthy baby without gaining too much weight. With these tips, you will know how to avoid gaining those extra pounds.
Normal vs. Extra Weight Gain
The first thing you must understand is how much weight gain is normally expected during pregnancy as opposed to what is considered to be too much weight gain.
The average woman will put on 25 to 35 pounds during the nine months of pregnancy; underweight women should put on 28-40 pounds, and an already overweight woman should only gain 15 to 25 pounds. In most cases, this weight is gained slowly during the course of the pregnancy. During the first trimester, you can expect to lose 2 to 4 pounds; each week thereafter about 1 or 2 pounds is gained until delivery.
What purpose does this weight serve? This weight includes the growing baby, your womb, tissues and everything else that is necessary for development of a healthy baby.
Detailed accounting of weight gain:
* The baby’s weight will be approximately 7 to 8 pounds.
* The uterus will weigh 2 to 5 pounds.
* The placenta surrounding the fetus weighs approximately 2 or 3 pounds.
* The breast tissue has expanded and now weighs about 2 or 3 pounds.
* Fat held in reserve for nursing and delivery account for 5 to 9 more pounds.
* The weight of the amniotic fluid is about 2 or 3 pounds.
* Four pounds of weight comes from the extra blood needed for the baby.
Generally speaking, any weight gain above these amounts is extraneous and is not necessary for the development and growth of the baby. It is this weight that proves so difficult to eliminate after the birth of the baby.
Eating for Two
Eating for two is a fallacy and may cause pregnant women to gain more weight than necessary. Celebrities are aware that a healthy woman must merely consume an extra 100 to 300 calories daily for development of a healthy baby. This is about the same amount of calories found in a bowl of cereal and an apple. You may be disappointed to hear that if you are consuming more than that amount, the extra calories are being stored as fat. During your pregnancy you may not notice the extra fat, but when you try to get into your pre-pregnancy clothes, it will become painfully apparent.
Therefore, in order to avoid gaining too much weight, it is vital that you refrain from frequent splurging while pregnant. Keep your food choices smart by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. This nutrition is vital for the growth of your baby and it helps keep you fit and trim as well.
Move that Baby Bump
You will frequently see pictures of pregnant celebrities out for a walk in all of the tabloid magazines. Have you ever wondered why? According to most physicians, there is no problem with healthy expectant mothers exercising. Going for a long walk can assist in burning off any extra calories eaten during your last craving session, and your mood may improve too due to the increased blood flow. This is just another secret way in which stars keep their weight in check!
Please note that this advice only applies to healthy women who have consulted their doctors about not gaining excess weight during pregnancy. It is unwise for women to avoid gaining weight at all during her pregnancy as this could result in unhealthy side effects for both the mother and the fetus. Once more, consult with your physician.

After working with and getting to know top models over the course of a year in New York City and abroad, there are definite patterns in meal habits and exercise. Genetics can only go so far in keeping up lean, healthy bodies.

Of all the girls observed, the leanest and healthiest were not the ones that trimmed calories down to an unhealthy level, but instead carefully balanced nutrient intake and meal timing. The following are examples of actual meals throughout the day:

Breakfast, eaten anytime between 8am-11am:

1 cup raisin bran or similar whole-grain fiber cereal in 1% milk

or

1 cup of oats in 1% milk, cooked

and

1 small cup of low sugar yogurt

1 cup coffee

Small glass of water or orange juice

~500 calories

Breakfast, of any meal, is the time to eat either fatty or sugary foods. Your metabolism and daily plans can and will burn off this food throughout the day. Additionally, a hearty breakfast will satisfy you well into the lunch hours. This will leave you with focus to complete your daily responsibilities, unlike some diet plans that advocate only eating a morsel in the morning.

Lunch, eaten anytime between 12:00 noon-4:00pm

Turkey, chicken, or similar lean cold-cut with your choice of cheese, veggie toppings, as a sandwich between whole wheat bread slices. Be weary of dressings high in saturated fat or sugar. Olive oil and vinegar is a great substitute.

A complex carbohydrate in addition (such as quality, baked chips) will also help squash your appetite. A sugar-free carbonated beverage on top will leave you filling full. Now is also a good time of day to pop a daily multi-vitamin.

~500 calories

Dinner, eaten anytime between 6:00pm-9:00pm

Many sources stress dinner not being eaten approaching bedtime, but this is just silly. Most people’s evening activities are incredibly relaxed, blurring the line between resting rate burned calories while awake, and asleep.

When dinner time rolls around, it is best to avoid any sort of carbohydrate. Now is the time to pack on the protein and a small amount of unsaturated fat to kill your appetite. Options such as chicken breast, turkey, lean red meats, cooked with olive oil are great. Even a slice of cheese melted over is acceptable – The only truly treacherous thing is carbs. A small portion of vegetables such as broccoli or carrots is acceptable. Stay away from any overly-starchy veggie. Chase the meal with plenty of water to leave you fulfilled prior to bed.

~400 calories

The meals provided are just a small excerpt, but you can mix up the variety to suit your taste. There are a few key guidelines that need to be followed, at all costs:

AVOID SUGAR. It is never beneficial to eat sugar. If you’re going to do it, do it during breakfast. Even fruit juice is just as bad as soda as far as dieting is concerned. Check the label, if there’s a lot of sugar, head for the hills. Splenda should be your best friend when it comes to sweetening things. ALSO: Many fad diets advocate eating lots of fruits and vegetables. These nature-borne things seem to be so innocent and infallible for a diet, but in reality, fruits contain a boatload of sugar, and vegetables such as potatoes contain lots of starches that are similar to sugar. Oddly enough, fad diets and juice diets don’t work and are an unhealthy way to lose weight.

Scale your meal like a triangle, starting your earliest meal with a lot of calories, and decreasing as it grows later in the day. As mentioned, you’ll burn off the earlier calories by being active during the day.

Get Cosmo Free for a Year

As far as working out is concerned – Don’t make the mistake so many women make. Instead of doing nothing but treadmills and jogging, try actually lifting weights. As the fat comes off, you’ll actually have muscle tone underneath, for a healthier look, as opposed to loose skin on bone. Also, muscle mass burns more calories per pound than other tissue. If you build muscle, you’ll burn more calories just sitting around after your workout. And compared to running, lifting weights burns a greater amount of calories.

How to Lose Weight FastWant to slim down fast for that beach vacation or high school reunion? While there are many things you can do to shed pounds, losing weight too quickly, like any sudden change to your body, can be dangerous. While fad diets, diet pills, and fasting may indeed induce rapid weight loss, these methods can cause you to lose muscle and may also injure your heart and other organs fairly quickly. The best solution? Don’t go for an overnight miracle. Instead, follow these steps to lose fat rapidly, healthily, and sustainably.Steps 1. Determine your daily calorie intake . Losing weight is simply a matter of expending more calories than you take in, through exercise and your daily activities. To win the battle, it helps to know how many calories you are consuming in a day. * Write down all the things you eat on a typical day. Carry a small notebook with you and write down every snack, every drink, and the contents of every meal. There are also great websites that you can use to keep track of calories, get recipes, and help achieve your goal. Don’t forget to include the pats of butter or the spoonful of sugar in your coffee. It’s best to do this for at least a couple weekdays and a weekend; it’s even better if you can go a full week. There are also calorie tracking websites that can help you to do this, for example the US government website, My Pyramid Tracker. * Do an itemized calorie count. When possible, write down the number of calories in each thing you eat as you eat it. Keep in mind that the recommended serving size is often considerably smaller than the serving you actually eat. Look up the calorie count on the internet for foods that don’t have calories listed on the container or for fast food meals. You don’t have to be 100% accurate, but you do want a good estimate of the number of calories you’re taking in. There is an idea that multiplying your own weight by ten will produce a rough estimate of the number of calories you need to eat per day to maintain your weight. This is NOT true, you may wind up grossly under (or perhaps over) estimating the number of calories you should be eating. Use a scientific or health website to determine the number of calories you should eat a day or consult your doctor. Everyone has different metabolisms and there is no blanket rule that covers everyone’s recommended calorie intake. Reducing 500 calories per day from the calories you eat to maintain your weight can help you lose a pound of fat per week. 2. Go over the list and decide which foods to cut out or reduce. Cutting calories is usually a lot easier than you might think. For example, that daily tall latte in the morning may pack 500 calories. Since a pound of flab (lost or gained) is roughly equivalent to 3,500 calories, replacing that rich beverage with black coffee can help you lose a pound a week. Other easy cuts include salad dressing (salad dressing is the number one source of fat in the average American woman’s diet) soda pop, candy, and butter. Look at the nutritional information for the foods you eat, pay special attention to your intake of saturated fats and empty calories (high-sugar foods). You don’t need to cut these things out entirely, but if you reduce your intake of high-fat, high-calorie foods you’ll lose weight faster. 3. Seek out alternatives to the unhealthy foods you’ve identified. You can simply reduce the amount of soda you drink or mayonnaise you put on your sandwiches, or you can substitute healthier choices. Drink water instead of soda, for example, or use mustard instead of mayo. Low-fat and low-calorie options are also available for most foods, and many of these are natural, (although some are made with strange chemicals), and tasty. Start trying to eat healthy in most meals: * Choose lean meats. Chicken and fish are both very low in fat (and certain fish like salmon, sardines, and fresh tuna are an excellent source of antioxidants, which are also beneficial to your health), so aim to replace some or all of the beef or pork in your diet with these foods. * Replace high-calorie side dishes with healthier alternatives. Many people get a ton of calories from side dishes such as macaroni and cheese, French fries, or potato salad. You can eat healthier and lose weight by replacing these with fresh vegetables and salads. Pre-made salads are practically effortless, and when accompanied by a reduced-calorie dressing or no dressing at all, they’re weight-loss gold. * Start your days off right. A fattening breakfast of bacon and eggs or a pastry can be replaced with yogurt, oatmeal, high-fiber, low-sugar cereals; or fresh fruit for fruit smoothies. However, for those on a low carb diet bacon and eggs are a great combo for breakfast, since neither have carbs. But don’t fall into the trap of skipping breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast increases your rest metabolic rate earlier in the day, and reduces snacking before lunch. 4. Plan your meals. Look for healthy, delicious meals online or in your cookbooks, and create a menu for the week. Make sure that your meal plan reduces your total calorie intake: you’re not going to lose weight if you consume the same amount of calories by eating different foods. Make a list of what you’ll need for these meals, and — except for a few snacks, of course — don’t stray from your list when you get to the market. Planning your meals helps ensure you get a balanced diet and reduces the temptation to stop off for fast food or order a pizza. Remember, it’s easier to stick to your shopping list if you shop when you aren’t hungry. 5. Watch your portion sizes. Opening a bag of rice cakes and eating all of them in one sitting isn’t going to help you lose weight. When eating chips, nuts, or dried fruit put a portion in a small bowl and then put the bag away. That way you won’t mindlessly eat a larger portion than you had intended. Even if you only make minimal changes to your diet choices, reducing portion size will inevitably reduce caloric intake. A great way to watch portion sizes while snacking is to buy one serving 100 calorie packages – and they come in many favorite snack food items! 6. Graze on healthy snacks. Just because you’re getting healthy doesn’t mean you can’t snack. In fact, eating small meals and snacks throughout the day, or grazing, has been shown to aid weight loss, (compared to eating three large meals a day), by keeping metabolism steadier. Pick snacks that are low in calories and fat and high in fiber (dried apricots, nuts, rice cakes, fruits, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and so on). Vegetables are generally very low in calories, very high in fiber, and full of flavor and nutrition. Avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes, and try to eat vegetables plain, without fatty dressings or dips. Fruit also makes a good snack. Fruit contains more soluble fiber than vegetables, which slows your body’s absorption of carbohydrates, thus releasing energy more slowly, (preventing sugar highs), and keeping you feeling full longer. Fruit juices are not a replacement for the real thing. You need that fiber, and juices often have more calories than the equivalent serving of fruit — as many calories as soda! Be careful with dried fruits, because without the water, you tend to eat more, and fruits, when dried, are calorie-rich per ounce. With any dry or dried food, be sure to drink plenty of water. 7. Get more fiber. There are many myths about fiber, but there is science to back up its helpful role in the diet. Fiber keeps the right amount of water in your intestines, making your digestive system work more efficiently and helping to keep you regular. Thus, just eating enough fiber may help you feel slimmer in just a day or so. There is also evidence that fiber in the diet can help prevent stroke and heart disease, ease the effects of diabetes, and may even directly help in weight loss. 8. Drink plenty of water. Adequate water is essential for health, and a great many people simply don’t get enough. What’s more, if you’re chronically dehydrated, your body will retain water in unflattering places, so if you make sure to get plenty of fluids you can start visibly trimming down in as little as a day. Remember, the more you exercise, the more water you’ll need. See the related wikiHow for more details on how much water you should be getting. 9. Exercise. Remember, you can lose weight either by decreasing your calorie intake or increasing the number of calories you burn. Any health strategy should include both, but if you want to lose weight fast, exercise is essential. 10. Perform high-level aerobic activities. Moderate aerobic workouts incorporating jogging, brisk walking, cycling, aerobic machines, or classes not only burn calories — they also keep your heart healthy. Swimming is also great, especially if you are quite overweight or have joint problems, because you can get the same benefits of running — typically burning even more calories — with much less stress on your joints. Try to get at least 30-40 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three or four days per week. 11. Pump some iron. Resistance training, (weight training), can help both sexes stay lean by building muscle and raising metabolism. The fact is, hours and hours of aerobic exercise won’t help most people lose weight fast because your metabolism drops back to normal fairly quickly after stopping the exercise. If you gain muscle, however, your body’s resting metabolism, (the amount of calories you burn when you’re just sitting still), increases, because muscle requires a lot of calories to maintain. Studies have shown consistent weight training to raise the body’s metabolism by 15%. This means an average woman might burn 200-300 more calories at rest every day! Resistance training is the gift that keeps on giving! Although, keep in mind that muscle mass weighs more than fat (don’t be surprised if you gain weight but look slimmer). 12. Rest properly. This means not only taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, (and taking 1-2 days off from exercising each week); it also means getting enough sleep at night, since sleep deficiency impairs your ability to lose fat. 13. Be realistic. Don’t expect a miracle. Healthy weight loss can be achieved fairly quickly, but you’ll need to be patient. In addition, be sure to set realistic goals. Make sure that the weight you’re trying to reach is a healthy weight for you, and keeping in mind that gaining pounds of muscle will help you lose fat, be trimmer, and look better even though you don’t actually lose any weight. Your goal should be a healthy body, not a number of pounds! Everyone looks good at a different weight. A short person may look really good at about 112 pounds, but a person of a taller height would just look unhealthy. Keep yourself at a weight that makes you look good, not at a number that sounds good. 14. Make adjustments. A successful weight loss strategy based on reducing calorie intake and increasing activity can be adjusted to maintain your desired weight once you reach it. Unlike typical diets, this method is sustainable — it is a lifestyle change, not a binge-and-purge exercise. Slowly adjust your diet and exercise to include more weight training and calories, as much as is comfortable for you. If you do gain any weight back, you want that weight to be lean, toned muscle, not fat. In addition, weight training, no matter what your age, prevents muscle atrophy and can help stave off osteoporosis. * Instead of thinking of it as losing a certain amount of pounds, think of it as being a certain weight. So if you are 145 pounds, and you would like to lose 10 pounds, think of it as being 135 pounds. This helps you think about it as a long-term goal and not just losing the weight to gain it back again. 15. Be confident. You need to believe in yourself! If you want to diet, and you know that it will make you feel better, then you need confidence. Otherwise, the temptation to cheat on your diet will make it harder, and you will not feel better when you do lose weight. Avoid temptations like chocolate, ice cream, and cookies. They may taste good, but there are other foods that taste delicious, too, without being unhealthy. You need to always encourage yourself to achieve the goals that you have set. Learn to evaluate your efforts fairly and objectively. If you fail to achieve your target for the week, find out why is it so. Is it because you have missed a jogging session? Or you have been eating junk food for one of the days? After evaluating, look ahead to next week and try your best to stick to your plan. 16. Be consistent and disciplined, and have self motivation. To lose weight effectively, you need to stick to your weight loss plan religiously so as to see results. When you have the thought of giving up, visualize how good you will look when you manage to slim down successfully.Tips * Determine your objectives to lose weight. To succeed in doing something, you need to have a very compelling objective or reason so that you will not lose track of your goal. Losing weight just for vanity’s sake is usually less helpful than losing weight to improve health. Other than just exercising, you need to have a healthy diet so that you will have a better body and more energy to be positive throughout the day. * It’s very good to do a blood test before you begin your new diet and exercise regimen. Some people may not need to lose a lot of weight, but they may need to lower the blood sugar level slightly. You can also check for mineral deficiencies. * The goal is to lose fat, not just weight in general. If you are doing strength training during your weight loss (which you should be), you might actually see an initial gain in weight — don’t worry! You have probably lost fat and gained muscle, which is denser than fat and is much healthier. o A better measurement than what a scale reads is body fat percent. If you don’t have access to calipers or a body fat scale, a better gauge is how your clothes fit and how you look rather than your absolute weight. If you can, though, it is good to measure your body fat about once per month. Men should be between 15%-25%, but no lower than 4%; and women 20%-30%, but no lower than 15%. Females have higher fat percentage due to pregnancy and menstrual requirements. o Generally, you want to – with a combination of calorie reduction and increased activity – reduce and burn a certain number of calories a day, causing a net loss of calories so your body is forced to use its own stores of fat. How much aerobic exercise you need to perform depends on what you eat, how fast you’d like to lose weight, and how much muscle you gain. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Men can safely lose around two pounds a week, and women can safely lose around one pound a week. Any more than this and you might be losing more muscle mass than fat. Thus, with a combination of calorie restriction and aerobic exercise, a man should aim to run a 3500-7000 calorie deficit each week, and women should aim for a 1750-3500 calorie deficit. * With regard to weights, men and women differ on their goals with weight training. Women, don’t worry, no amount of weight training will make you as bulky as a man; women just don’t have enough testosterone to build large muscles. The female body-builders you see are either taking steroids or training 2-3 hours every day. Male and female beginners should start with 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions, and should use the heaviest weight you can while still maintaining good form, even to the last repetition of the last set. Get a weight training book or find a reputable website that will show you different exercises and the correct form. When lifting properly, you will stretch the muscle during the exercise, but you should still stretch properly to prevent injury! * No matter what the magazine article says, spot improving is a myth! When your body burns fat, it takes it from all over your body, even if all you do are crunches. No amount of crunches will get rid of that gut if they are not backed up by proper aerobic exercise and diet! Washboard abs do not come from millions of sit ups; they come from having low levels of body fat. So if that is your goal, make sure you do plenty of aerobic exercise in addition to your ab routine. * Sugar comes in many disguises. Check your food labels: fructose, glucose, molasses, and corn syrup are all sugars. Limit all sugars, but especially stay away from high-fructose corn syrup. It is just a corn syrup full of sugar. Choosing foods without it will help you reach your weight loss goals faster. * Remember your body needs ‘fuel’ just like a car needs ‘fuel’. Your body needs the ‘right’ kinds of food to lose weight effectively. * Don’t taunt yourself by not letting yourself eat the occasional snack that you’re craving. Just make sure you burn it off later with exercise. * Despite popular belief it is not terrible to eat after 6 p.m. A reasonable dinner (with extra protein if you’ve had a good weight training session) is going to help deliver nutrients to the body to prepare it for the next day. Additionally if you find yourself very hungry before bed, a small bowl of high fiber cereal and low fat milk will actually help maintain your metabolism while you sleep. The key is to not overeat in the evenings. * Take a multivitamin. While it is better to always get your nutrients from your food, most people miss something in their diet, especially when they’re trying to cut calories. Vitamins and minerals play an important role in keeping your body chemistry balanced and your energy levels healthy. * If you find yourself missing some of your favorite foods, don’t worry. There is no harm in having your treat once a week. Pick a day each week where you treat yourself to your guilty pleasure–remember, everything in moderation. If it’s pizza, try going to a gourmet pizza place that will use better ingredients and fresher vegetables. If it’s a Big Mac, try making your own. A homemade burger is generally much healthier than the food they serve in fast food restaurants. Electric grills that are slanted to allow most of the fat to slide off make nice, lean burgers. * Save some calories for potassium and protein for after you work out, this will help reduce soreness. (A banana and an egg does the trick.) * Do not forget to stretch. Stretching can help increase your strength and flexibility. * Cut down on your sodium. Many prepared foods have as much as 30% of your daily value. You get your daily requirement of sodium from a healthy diet; too much can cause you to retain water weight. * Try not to skip any meals as this only makes your body to retain fats for energy. A good weight loss plan is to eat healthily and exercise regularly. * To continue to lose weight fast[4] – eat a variety of foods. Just like in weight training, the body will get used to the same routine and plateau. Mix up the foods you eat to keep your metabolism high and prevent a metabolism plateau. * Also consider taking supplements like the Acai Berry. These are natural berry juices proven to speed up the weight-loss process with up to 78%.Warnings * Do not try to starve yourself. In the short run, reducing your calorie intake to unhealthily low levels will slow metabolism and actually cause you to lose weight more slowly. Then your body cannot process potassium so when you DO eat again, (the alternative to dying,) you will gain much more weight than you would if you weren’t starving yourself and overall, you may end up gaining more than you lost. In the long run, starving yourself (anorexia or bulimia) can kill you. * When creating a weight lifting routine, do not focus on a single muscle or group, doing so will overbuild that muscle while under building others – in other words, if you work your biceps, and not your triceps, your arms will begin to curl inward and you will look silly. If you work your chest and not your back, you will have a hard time maintaining good posture as your pectoral muscles overpower your back muscles and pull your shoulders forward. * If you have a serious medical condition (such as asthma or diabetes, or allergy to protein such as dairy products or you have lactose intolerance) or you are severely obese, consult with your doctor as well as a dietitian. * Do not take any harmful drugs. They are unhealthy and may ultimately make you gain weight instead. * Carefully consider whether you need dietary supplements. Most people may get the basic minerals and nutrients they need to sustain life through eating food. For example, excessive multivitamin supplements can make you overdose in some vitamins you need, and you can’t store most water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C as any excess will be urinated. Although you could be below the recommended daily intake, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are deficient in it if it’s a kind that is stored. So you may wish to consult with your doctor or dietitian to inquire whether you need supplements and how much you should take. * Losing weight too quickly is dangerous and can have adverse effects on your health. Despite the title of this article, getting into shape is best done slowly. If you find yourself losing more than a pound or 2 (or more than 500g) each week, you are probably doing something wrong.