A Healthy Diet Plan
Renee Kennedy

How do you plan to lose weight?

Losing weight, gaining weight or maintaining a healthy
weight can be a difficult task. However, if you learn to eat healthy and
exercise regularly, and you train your body to accept that – instead
of a daily task, it can become a “way of life.”

Here is a simple 5 step plan that can help you learn how to live
a healthier life:

1. Get into a Healthy Eating Mindset:

   If you are going to lose weight or gain weight you must believe that you
   can do it. If you are discouraged, you will not be
   able to do it. You must think, I CAN LOSE WEIGHT. I WILL
   LOSE WEIGHT. I WILL GET HEALTHY STARTING RIGHT NOW!

   This may seem a little over the top – but it’s not.
   You need to get yourself into a healthy mindset. You need
   to give yourself positive reinforcement and pump yourself up.

   You may need some help to get into a healthy mindset.
   It is not a weakness to admit that you need
   help. In order to be a healthy person, you have to admit
   that sometimes you just can’t do it by yourself. You may
   need the help of a trained professional (a doctor, a dietician,
   a personal trainer) or simply a support network of friendly
   people. If you have tried to do it on your own and have failed,
   then it is time to get the help that you need – start with your
   family physician.

   Your support network can be composed of people that
   are available for you to talk to, they should be positive people
   and they should believe in YOU.

   If you don’t want to count on your friends and family – you may
   need to go out and pay for a diet plan – Weight Watchers,
   Jenny Craig, NutriSystem are a few of the programs that also
   provide a support network of actual people you can talk
   to and find encouragement from.

2. Find Motivation, Set Goals, and Reward Yourself:

   Motivation to lose weight or get healthier is going to be
   completely up to you! Whether you are just trying
   to lose a few pounds to go to your high school class reunion
   or you are trying to lose fifty pounds so that you can
   be a healthy person and play with your children… You need
   to find a motivation.

   Once you have a motivation, set attainable goals.
   Set goals that you know you can achieve.
   In other words, don’t try to lose five pounds in one week.
   One or two pounds per week is a small, attainable goal.

   Also, plan to reward yourself when you’ve reached your goal.
   For instance, if your motivation is to shed ten pounds to
   go to your class reunion, then reward yourself with a new outfit
   to wear to the reunion. Or, if your motivation is to lose
   50 pounds so that you will feel healthier, plan one fun day going
   to an amusement park when you’ve reached your goal weight.

   Take little steps. Motivate yourself using rewards every step
   of the way. Set goals and rewards. For instance,
   “When I lose 5 lbs, I will reward myself with a new pair
   of shoes.”

   Set your own rewards based on what you really, really want.
   Follow through – don’t just say you will reward yourself and
   then conveniently forget because there are more important things
   to buy or do – GO THROUGH WITH YOUR REWARD PLAN.

3. Plan to Eat Healthy Foods and Healthy Serving Sizes:

   The US government has provided us with a healthy “food pyramid.”
   This plan works! So don’t be afraid to use it.
   It’s simple, too. If you are an adult, each day you should have
   the following allotment:

   1. Fats, Oils and Sweets – use sparingly.
   2. Milk, Yogurt, Cheese – 2 to 3 servings.
   3. Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Nuts, Eggs – 2 to 3 servings.
   4. Vegetables – 3 to 5 servings.
   5. Fruits – 2 to 3 servings.
   6. Grains, Bread, Cereal, Rice, Pasta – 6 to 11 servings.

   6 to 11 servings is a wide range.
   The amount of servings you need per day will be based on your
   daily activity and special needs:

   A breast-feeding mother will need the highest amounts –
   3 servings of milk and cheese, 3 servings of meat.

   A middle aged woman who has a desk job
   will probably need the lower servings suggested –
   6 servings of the grain/bread group, 2 servings of meat.

   6 servings of grains may seem like a lot of food – but –
   you must be careful on the serving size. A pasta meal at a restaurant
   may equal 6 servings of pasta. Watching the amount of food
   is as important as the kinds of food.
   Serving sizes follow:

   • milk group – – 1 cup 2%, 1 cup yogurt, 1 1/2 oz of cheese
   • meat group — 2-3 oz. of meat, 1/2 cup cooked dry beans,
   • vegetable group — 1/2 cup of cooked or raw cut up, 1 cup raw leafy
   • fruit group — medium sized piece of fruit or 1/2 cup cut up, 3/4 cup of juice
   • grain group — a serving is 1/2 cup of cooked pasta or rice, 1 slice of bread, 1 oz.
     dry cereal.

   Do not assume that the serving sizes on packaged products
   are the same as the above. Use common sense. Be honest
   with yourself about serving sizes.

   Here is a cool visual chart that makes for great printing. Print
   it out and tack it up on your refrigerator! Another great motivator is tacking up a picture of
   yourself on the fridge – as you are now or as you would like to be.

4. Plan to Exercise:

   You don’t need to run a marathon every day in order to get exercise.
   There are little ways that you can get the exercise you need everyday.
   Here are some suggestions – choose at least one of these and do it
   everyday or at least once a week. I guarantee that after a
   couple months – if you don’t get your exercise, you will MISS it!

   1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
   2. Park the farthest away spot from the store every time you go.
   3. Take a 30 minute walk everyday. (This is the one that I do – I
      love my walk, if I don’t get my walk, I really feel at a loss – and
      I am definitely NOT an exercise fanatic, but I never miss my walking
      even on vacation – and I feel GREAT because of it.)
   4. Take an aerobics class or a dance class. (Do you have a partner?
      Take ballroom dancing! Not only will you get some exercise, you will
      also learn a useful, fun skill.)
   5. Get off the subway or bus stop one stop before where you normally
      get off and walk the rest of the way home.
   6. Decide to take up a sport like Tennis, Racquetball, or even join
      a Softball team. Check out your community athletic center or the YMCA
      for sports that you think you might like to participate in.
   7. Buy a work out video and commit to working out 20 minutes a
      day.
   8. There are some awesome workout programs for free on the
      internet. Here’s one at Drop a Dress Size in Six Weeks.
      (I like the free ones you can do at home, because if you’re like me,
      you’re a clutz and are embarrassed to be seen doing any of those
      exercises in public!)
5. The Right Tools:

   1. Support Network –

      In the first part of the plan, we discussed a support network. This
      network may be made up of health professionals or simply
      a group of family or friends that you can talk to. They are positive
      people that will help you over the rough spots.

   2. Healthy Eating Guide –

      You need to know the right balance of foods to eat.
      Use this cool food pyramid.
      This pyramid is taken from the US Government Recommended Daily Allowances.
      If you join any type of Diet plan, they all have their individual
      ways of keeping track of your calories or nutritional intake,
      however, they are all similar to the Food Pyramid.

   3. Nutritional Counting Device –

      Make your healthy diet fun! The NutriCounter can help you keep
      track of your daily eating habits, it’s a wonderful way to get into
      a routine and stay healthy.
      Learn more about The NutriCounter.

About the Author

Come and visit the NutriCounter web site for more information on how nutrition influences weight loss, diabetes, pregnancy, heart disease and more!
http://www.nutricounter.com

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If you have been struggling to lose abdominal fat you are one of many. People in the US have become increasingly obese at every turn of a year. Why? Too may bad carbs and far too less exercise. Fast food joints are more prevalent than ever and it is just too easy to say the heck with it and pick something up on the way home instead of taking the time to cook a nice, healthy meal.

The first step in being able to lose abdominal fat is to change your mindset. No one can do it for you and there is no magic pill that you can take when you go to bed so you wake up thin in the morning. Losing weight takes dedication and perseverance.

Basically, you have to change your mindset and then reset your body. Our bodies work on a schedule and if you mess with that schedule then your body gets confused and because it is confused then it just stops working for you altogether and you gain weight.

If you are stuck on carbs then you need to quit them or change over to healthy carbs. Get the heck away from breads and all the processed foods you find on the shelves of your grocery store. Start eating fresh, whole foods. Get your carbs from fruits and vegetables and eat lean protein like fish, eggs and chicken.

Trim the calories you take in everyday, too. Settle on a 1200 or 1500 calorie per day eating plan. Did you know if you lose just 20% of your body fat you cut your risk for heart disease and diabetes almost in half? That’s right. It is never too late to start losing weight.

Part of resetting your body comes in the form of resetting your insulin pump. When you eat carbs, especially bad carbs, your body is ready to burn that energy you have given it up by converting it into simple sugars. When those simple sugars are not burned up the insulin that the pancreas has pumped into your system converts the simple sugars into fat and deposits that fat around your middle.

Since insulin stays in your system for a lot longer time than the simple sugars then anything you eat after that also gets immediately stored as fat around the middle. Resetting your insulin pump is the most important thing to do when you want to start losing weight.

We have all heard this one before, quit drinking pop and other sugary drinks and just stick to water. Half of your body weight in ounces every day. If you think water is boring and can’t stand to drink it, try this.

Take about a cup of frozen fruit, a berry mixture works very well, and let it sit in the bottom of a pitcher of water for about an hour. When the hour is up strain the fruit off and chill the water. Basically you have made your own type of smart water and the best part is you won’t need any sugar in it. With these tips you will not have to wait very long to lose abdominal fat.

Tags: Atkins, Bad Carbs, Breads, Calories, Eating Habits, Eggs And Chicken, Fish Eggs, Food Joints, Fruits And Vegetables, Gain Weight, Grocery Store, Heart Disease And Diabetes, heart disease;, Insulin Pump, Lean Protein, Losing Weight, Magic Pill, Mindset, Pancreas, Perseverance, Processed Foods, Simple Sugars, Whole Foods —

I know it is frustrating, but did you know there are so many reasons a woman can t lose weight it is like the whole world, and our bodies, is working against us. I am not kidding, with so many things not in our favor it is amazing that any woman can lose the weight she wants to.

It’s just not fair, I mean, men can seemingly eat what they want and if they should put on a few extra pounds all they have to do is think about it and the extra weight is gone, right? Ok, maybe not all of them but I know a guy who just recently lost 35 pounds in about 7 weeks. It took me 6 months to lose that amount of weight then as soon as I stopped working hard at it, I put it all back on and then some.

On average women carry 6 – 11 percent more body fat then men do. This is necessary for the regulation of certain hormones and regular menstruation not to mention having all the curves in all the right places. But if you have too much body fat and can t lose weight don’t you think you deserve some answers?

One of the reasons is that sometimes we think that if we do not eat we can lose weight. This is so far from the truth that when you read this you will probably kick yourself. Skipping meals is the number one reason why women GAIN weight. That’s right, I said gain weight.

Why? Because our bodies enter into what I like to call starvation mode and instead of burning off the excess it holds on to it because it doesn’t know when it will be getting more fuel. Your metabolism actually slows way down almost to the point of not working at all. So the fix is to eat five or six small meals a day to keep your metabolism stoked. Make those meals as low carb as you can get, too.

Another reason is lack of exercise. Did you know that all you need to do is walk for thirty minutes a day to lose those extra pounds? Who can’t do that? Ask a friend to do this with you or record some favorite music on your mp3 player and just get moving. This along with your new eating plan should be enough to start losing some significant weight.

If you have not yet reached the age for menopause or even perimenopause you might want to do all you can to lose the weight before the time comes. Once you reach this age losing weight will become even more difficult. Menopause comes at different times for every woman so talk to you mother and find out the age she went through it. This is as good a starting point as anything.

Other reasons a woman can t lose weight include stress, lack of significant restful sleep, and ineffective blood sugar metabolism. Which does not mean that you have diabetes, so don’t worry, it could just mean you eat too many carbs and you are keeping your insulin production at a high rate. When this happens your body automatically converts the carbs you eat to sugar and when that sugar doesn’t get burned up, your body converts it and stores it as fat, usually around your middle section.

Tags: Atkins, Average Women, Body Fat, Curves, Eating Habits, Extra, Favorite Music, Gain Weight, Hormones, Lack Of Exercise, Lose Weight, Losing Weight, Low Carb, Many Things, Metabolism, Mp3 Player, Signi, Skipping Meals, Starvation Mode, Truth, Woman, Women Right —

I just had a conversation with my son a little while ago. We were talking about how drinking plenty of water can help with weight loss. Since he wants to lose a few pounds and I know he has been drinking more water lately, I asked him if the water help for weight loss has actually worked or not.

Apparently, the jury is still out. He said he hasn’t noticed but he did want to know what drinking water had to do with weight loss. He actually thought that water help for weight loss was impossible, he thought that drinking as much water as he was drinking would actually make him gain weight since he felt so full all the time.

That, I told him, is just one of the benefits of drinking plenty of water everyday. You will actually feel full longer and that may make you eat less which, of course, can lead to weight loss.

I told him it can be helpful to have a big glass of water right before you sit down to eat a meal. That water will fill you up so you won’t want to eat as much.

Another benefit of drinking enough water is that you can flush toxins out of your system which will help with your overall health.

There are chemicals in pretty much everything we eat and drink (and a lot of the things we put on our skin or in our hair are also loaded with chemicals too).

Over time these chemicals can add up and have a negative impact on your body and your overall health. Getting these toxins out of your body is a good thing and drinking plenty of water is one of the best and easiest ways to do it.

Another great benefit to drinking plenty of water is that you keep your body functioning properly. Most people don’t realize it but they may already be dehydrated.

It is sad that much of the world doesn’t have a large supply of clean drinking water, we in the U.S. do but many of us are still dehydrated, that just makes no sense.

How do you know if you are dehydrated? There are two very easy ways to figure it out: if you feel thirsty you are dehydrated and if your urine is a deep yellow color you are dehydrated.

If you are getting enough water daily your urine will the a light yellow color, think lemonade. If not you need to drink more water throughout your day.

It is recommended that you drink half of your body weight in ounces of water every day. Failing that, you should drink at least eight 8 oz. glasses of water daily. You may need more if you are doing strenuous activities.

There are so many ways that water help for weight loss. Not only can drinking enough water help you lose weight, it will also help your body continue to function in a healthy way. And ultimately, that is what you need to have weight loss and a healthy life in general.

Tags: Benefit, chemicals;, Clean Drinking Water, Clean Water, Colo, Gain Weight, Glass Of Water, Hasn, Health, Lead Weight, Losing Weight, Negative Impact, Water Weight, Weight Loss, World Doesn —