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.

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Moderation is one thing that you should be looking for when you are considering which healthy eating plans are the best. To put it another way, if the plan has extreme restrictions or makes wild claims, then the chances are good that it’s unhealthy. The best diets will focus on moderation in the types of food you eat, as well as the portions it recommends.

If you have been considering various plans, then you have probably seen those that make claims that can tip you off to why they may not be so good. A common example is a diet that says you can eat as much of one food as you want, but then severely limits how much you can eat of other foods. Low carb diets may be the most popular example. They let you eat all the protein and fat that you want, but try to get you to cut out as many carbohydrates as you can.

While these so-called “healthy eating plans” say you can eat all the meat, fish and eggs you want and lose weight, you need to realize there are also risks. First, people are designed to eat a whole range of foods. Yes, you may be able to lose weight on a low-carb diet, but it could have negative impact on your health if all you’re eating is meat and eggs. Second, the idea of eating all the bacon (for example) you want sounds very appealing at first, but the craving for carbohydrates is more than most people can handle, and they end up binging on carbs…and weighing more than when they started.

Any type of diet that makes similar claims should be looked at with suspicion. A diet that tells you that you can eat all of the fat you like is just as bad as any diet that tells you to eat as much sugar as you want. It just doesn’t make sense. To be fair there are also diets that tell you to cut out all fat. Surely these must be healthy eating plans, right? Not really. Again, they are too restrictive for certain foods, and that’s your clue that they may not be good for you. The truth is that there are healthy fats. Again, the key here is moderation.

Of course the appeal for all of these types of diets is the same. What happens is that a person may try a reasonable diet, but then they find they crave certain foods. Say the diet says you shouldn’t eat cheeseburgers. There’s nothing wrong with that, but then you start wishing you could eat a big, juicy cheeseburger and go off the diet. Then later on you decide you’d like to lose weight again. But here’s the catch: you look for a diet that allows you to eat the cheeseburgers you missed on the last diet. You start off doing great, but even though you can eat your burgers, the new diet doesn’t let you eat pasta. So, you go off this diet and look for one that lets you eat pasta…and you keep repeating this cycle over and over again.

But real healthy eating plans let you eat just about anything you want, but only in moderation. In other words, they make allowances for the occasional treat, but they offset it in some way; they balance it out. Such a plan is much easier to stick to and will give you long term results.

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More and more people are eating out than ever before. That wouldn’t be a problem, except for a few things. You have no way of knowing exactly what goes into each dish you’re ordering, and restaurants are noted for using lots of salt and fat to make their food taste better. A more recent problem is restaurants have been steadily increasing their portion sizes, and that means even more calories. While home-cooked fare can be more healthy, nobody is saying you should never eat out. Instead, it’s better to know how to keep from packing on the pounds when dining out.

Did you know restaurants will add butter or oil to some entrees just to make them look better? A pat of butter is often applied to meat when it’s done to give it a shiny finish. Grilled entrees may be brushed with oil before cooking to keep them from sticking, and again after cooking for that shiny look. That means you could be eating extra calories without even knowing about it. And if they use saturated fats (such as butter), then it can have a negative impact on your health as well. It’s also a common practice to add butter to steamed vegetables, largely for the same reasons.

Rubs and marinades often contain sugar, salt or oil in some combination. Those on low carbohydrate diets may be surprised to find out that their marinated chicken breast is hiding a tablespoon of sugar. Salt isn’t good for those with high blood pressure. Oils are the most calorie-dense and can add to your daily intake quickly. Vinegar marinades will usually be your best bet.

If you’re on a diet, then try to avoid cream sauces. These are usually made with heavy cream and loaded with extra calories. Even sauces that contain flour will usually have a lot of added fat, with the typical ratio being one tablespoon of fat to one tablespoon of flour for each cup of liquid. A better choice would be a vegetable based sauce, such as marinara.

Mixed drinks before dinner can be another source of extra calories. The trick is to order drinks that are mixed with plain soda water. Fruit juices add extra calories as they are mostly sugar. Of course you could always skip the pre-dinner cocktail and eliminate those calories completely. Water, coffee and tea are all calorie-free alternatives.

As mentioned earlier, portion sizes in restaurants are getting bigger. In fact they can be three to four times as much as the recommended serving sizes. For example, a serving of meat is only three ounces. But if you order a fifteen ounce steak, then you are having five times as much as you should. You can always see if somebody else at the table would like to share it with you. You may still have more than a serving, but you will be keeping it under control to some extent.

The main thing to remember is that eating out doesn’t have to mean gaining weight. As long as you know a few tips for losing weight when dining out, you can have a good time without feeling guilty about it.

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With all of the new diets coming to the market every single day, it’s no wonder that there is a lot of confusion surrounding healthy eating diets. To make matters worse, diets often contradict each other. For example, one diet may tell you to eat all the meat you want, while another practically forbids it. So, how can they both be correct, right? It’s enough to drive even the most educated dietitian crazy, let alone the average person. So, the real question, then, is how can you find which are the best healthy eating diets for you?

First and foremost, you should know that how new a diet is doesn’t tell you how effective or healthy it is. There are new fad diets coming out all of the time. Some work, some don’t and some are downright dangerous. It’s this last group that you have to really watch out for. At the same time, you should also know that you don’t necessarily have to follow any one particular plan, but can combine elements from several diets to best suit your needs.

For example, a diet low in carbohydrates can be just fine for those who have the right insulin resistance and blood sugar level. However, they would have a very negative impact on somebody who needs to have a decent amount of carbohydrates in their diet to be healthy. In fact, it’s possible that eating almost nothing but protein and fat can make feel sick after a couple of days doing it. Whatever the case may be, you need to pay attention to any diet you try, and how it affects you personally.

As long as we’re on the subject of carbohydrates, it should be pointed out that they come in two main forms: simple and complex. Generally speaking, it’s best to avoid simple carbs, which include white flour, white rice, candy and sugar. These are the kind that cause the biggest spikes in blood sugar, and typically have a poorer nutritional profile. Complex carbohydrates include whole grains and some fruits. These are much more healthy and can usually be added to any eating plan (within reason).

If you want to attempt your own healthy eating diets, then there are a few basic guidelines to follow. You can start by reducing or eliminating simple carbohydrates. Then add foods that are high in lean protein, such as the white meat of chicken, fish, and some cuts of beef. Other good sources of protein are nuts and legumes. Next, cut out all trans fats, and reduce how much saturated fat you take in. You can eat healthier fats (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) without too much worry. The other rule of thumb to stick to is to eat foods as close to their natural state as possible.

Healthy eating diets come in many different forms. As mentioned earlier, some of them are actually quite good. Before trying one, look at it with some common sense and see if it includes a variety of foods. For the most part, any diet that restricts whole groups of foods is going to be harder to stick to, which would only defeat its purpose.

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