Have you ever noticed that you can often find green tea or its extracts being sold near other weight loss products? Perhaps you never thought twice about it, but they don’t sell coffee, milk or other such beverages there, so why green tea? Let’s take a look at green tea and weight loss.

While it may not be 100% perfect (nothing is), you will see that green tea does have some pretty impressive benefits; not only on how much you weigh, but on your overall health as well. Ancient cultures have been aware of these properties for ages, but it is only recently that Western medicine and science have started to see how much this unassuming plant can do.

Before we get to the good stuff, it’s only fair to offer a few warnings. First, green tea contains caffeine, so those who can’t tolerate it, or have to avoid it for spiritual or health reasons shouldn’t drink it. Second, you should talk to your doctor before making any changes to your diet. Finally, none of the information in this article is meant to be medical advice of any kind. Always consult with your doctor and follow their advice. Okay, now on to the good stuff…

Green tea contains catechin polyphenols, which are powerful antioxidants. These appear to be the source of a lot of the health benefits associated with drinking green tea. Furthermore, the catechin increases your metabolism. Some studies have shown that green tea can boost your metabolism by as much as 4% for a full 24 hours after drinking it. Imagine drinking a cup or two of tea and then burning extra calories for a day afterwards.

The better metabolic rate is only the start of the good news about green tea and weight loss. One of the biggest problems with going on a diet is that you always seem to feel hungry. But green tea comes to the rescue yet again! How? First it helps to regulate blood sugar levels, which play an important part in how full we feel. Next, the polyphenols in green tea may suppress the body’s production of the enzyme leptin which makes us feel hungry. So, it not only makes you feel fuller, it also makes you less hungry at the same time.

So far it’s easy to see how green tea is a natural ally in the fight for losing weight, but we’re not quite done yet. As if increased metabolism and feeling full weren’t enough, there is also some evidence that compounds found in green tea reduce how much fat the body absorbs. The catechins, caffeine and theanine work to inhibit the lipase enzymes that signal the body to store fat.

Add to all of this the fact that tea has zero calories, and there should be no doubt that green tea and weight loss go together. Just drink a cup or two every day, and you should start noticing the positive effects before you know it.

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Today more and more of us are living life on a dangerous ‘cocktail’ of unhealthy life style choices. Many of us eat too much of the wrong things (and not enough of the good stuff) as well as way too little physical activity, and way too much stress. These issues are the main reason that some things are becoming more common, such as diabetes for example. The good news is that if you act now, many of this can be turned around such as weight loss and diabetes.

Most doctors will tell you to lose weight and exercise more, but what few doctors will help you with is finding the best method to do that. They don’t seem to want to admit that it is difficult, that you may fail a few times before you find the right combination of diet changes and exercises that you like to do.

Most people think that ‘working out’ is all about the work part. And it is work, but if you find an activity that you actually enjoy doing, it won’t seem so difficult and you may even find yourself having fun.

Remember when you were a kid and the sheer joy you felt when you would take off in a dead run? Or how free and alive you felt just skipping down your driveway? You can recapture a lot of that joy if you take the time to find a physical activity that you actually like to do. That is the number 1 ‘secret’ to being successful in your weight loss: find an exercise that you like doing.

Of course getting more physical activity is the first part of the weight loss and diabetes equation. The second part is to make better food choices. I hate to use the word ‘diet’ because that can have such negative connotations. People often equate that word with eating celery stalks for days on end (which is completely counter productive by the way)

Instead I think it’s better to make better food choices and lifestyle changes. Start simple and small. What is your biggest weakness? Too much soda, sweets, carbs? Whatever it is, start there. Now, don’t expect to go cold turkey and completely cut those things out of your diet. It’s unlikely that you will be able to succeed. Instead just make it a policy of cutting way back on that problem item.

If you like soda a little too much, than concentrate on changing that habit and cutting way back. Only allow yourself one soda a day, for example. It’s all about moderation.

Go easy on yourself. Instead of setting yourself up for failure by setting some grand, lofty plan that will be virtually impossible to stick with, give yourself every chance of success.

Choose to start smaller, with more achievable lifestyle changes. It won’t take longer because the overly confidant goals will probably never be accomplished anyway. Smaller goals have a much better chance of success, so start there.

Most health issues can be improved or prevented by maintaining a healthy weight and getting exercise. Diabetes is one of those illnesses, weight loss and diabetes reduction go hand in hand.

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If you are wondering on how to lose pounds fast, then you need to be smart about it. The reason is because it can be done, however it can be a dangerous situation if you dont watch yourself.

The first thing I would want to do is find a good diet plan to go by. I would want to do some home work on the diet plan and make sure it would be the right one for me. Sometimes a friend may offer you one that worked for her; however that same diet may not work for you.

Make sure your diet consist of low fat foods. There are many types of food that are good for you however, that type of food may have a high fat percentage. Eating fruit is one way of knowing youre not eating anything fatty.

Start baking or grilling your meals, this way you can stay away from the fried foods. Things like chicken and fish can still taste great even though they are grilled or baked.

Dont think for one second that you have to give up all of the good stuff. There are plenty of low fat yogurts that are out there that are flat out awesome. Stick with that diet plan and everything should be good to go.

You cant rely on the diet alone; you are going to have to put some grunt work into it. Pick a good exercise program and get ready to work. Thats the only way you are going to see results.

To lose weight quickly while exercising, you will have to have some high energy type of work outs. There are plenty of high cardio workouts that are on the market right now that you can do from the comfort of your own home. This way is also less expensive than a gym membership.

If you dont want to sit in front of your T.V. and watch a video of people working out; then getting out and jogging could be the thing for you. Jogging can easily burn just as many calories as a high cardio work out.

Just make sure whatever exercise program you are going to do, make sure you are prepared for it. By that I mean getting checked out by a doctor to make sure you are ok to start a program.

There you have it, follow those simple rules and you can quickly and more importantly safely lose those extra pounds you want to lose.

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When all is said and done there is still only one way to lose weight. You have to burn off more calories than you take in. Exercise is an important part of that equation, but we are going to take a look at some foods that can help you achieve your weight loss goals.

As a general rule weight loss foods are those that make you feel fuller without adding all kinds of empty calories. Adding these foods to your diet on a regular basis will help you to lose weight faster. Here are some of the top contenders.

Beans are at the top of list for several reasons. They come in many varieties, meaning they’re versatile and you don’t have to get bored eating them every day. They are low in fat, but very satisfying. They are packed with protein. And they contain plenty of fiber, which not only adds to how full you feel, but also reduces your risk for several diseases. The only thing you have to watch out for are re fried beans that have extra fat added, and canned beans that are too high in sodium. But you’ll be doing yourself a tasty favor by eating any variety of dried beans.

Whole grains. There’s one change you can make in your diet that’s very easy: stop eating refined grains. The “refining” process gets rid of most of the good stuff, making them so void of nutrition that they actually have to re-add nutrients to make the process complete. All of that so our bread and rice can be pure white. To be blunt, it’s ridiculous. Start eating whole grains to get the full nutrition nature put there in the first place.

Olive oil (or any other oil high in monounsaturated fat). Surprised? Yes, it still has many calories as any other kind of fat (9 calories per gram) but fat adds to the feeling of fullness. It also adds a nice flavor to many different foods. Besides olive oil is one of the healthiest fats that you can. So, while it may seem to be a lot of calories up front, the amount of calories you eat later will actually go down because it’s so satisfying.

Oatmeal is another one of the best weight loss foods out there. A few years ago it got some good press for being able to reduce cholesterol. It’s true, it is. But did you know that it has about the same amount of soluble and insoluble fiber? Again, it makes you feel fuller and is good for your overall health. Plus, it’s low in calories. Most people think of oatmeal as a breakfast food, but it has a flavor that works well with many different foods. Therefore, it can be incorporated into any number of dishes throughout the day.

There are many more weight loss foods, no question about it. But the four mentioned above will give you a great start on losing weight. Keep trying to reduce the bad foods, and increase the good ones and your waistline and health will be the better for it.

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