It’s kind of funny, in a sad sort of way, that the number of ineffective, short-lived fad diets continues to grow. And they grow despite the fact that they don’t work, at least not as a long-term solution to losing weight. So, what are you supposed to do if you want to lose weight? Eat better.

Yep. That’s it. Eat better.

Okay, seriously, it wouldn’t be much if that’s all I said. I believe we all know, deep down, that we need to eat better if we stand a chance of shedding those extra pounds. Don’t worry, this is going to be as common sense as it is easy to follow. No fad diet nonsense, just what works.

Food is nothing more than fuel for the body. It contains the vitamins, minerals and calories we need to survive. We only get in trouble when we eat too many calories without burning them off. Some foods are better than others, but nothing is forbidden. Here’s how you can use food to put the odds of weight loss in your favor.

Start the day with something to get the internal furnace started. That means eating breakfast. There is no reason to skip breakfast. It takes virtually no time at all to grab a piece of whole-wheat toast and spread some peanut butter on it, then wash it down with a glass of orange juice. Or boil up some eggs for the upcoming week. Then have an egg, a banana and a granola bar. Even a ready made breakfast shake is better than nothing. The trick is to get your body use to burning calories for the day.

Now that you have your metabolism fired up, you need to keep it going by snacking. A light snack every two hours is all it takes. A small handful of nuts, some carrot sticks with non-fat yogurt, or a protein bar, are good choices. Regular snacking will prevent you from experience mid-afternoon burn out, too.

So, now it’s lunchtime and you’re feeling great! You’re eating food you like and you’re not hungry. Let’s keep going with turkey breast on whole-grain bread, romaine lettuce, tomato and a smear of mustard. Add a veggie-rich salad and a small glass of juice or skim milk and you’re all set.

Don’t forget your two-hour snack break.

For supper try some baked salmon brushed with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. Include some fresh veggies of your choice (bake them with the salmon if you like), and a cup of homemade soup. Yummy!

Remember to eat your next snack.

As you can see, this is all reasonable, simple eating. Food is there to keep you going, and it needs to be tasty, too. Remember, nothing is off limits. If you must have some ice cream, just keep the portion under control. Make it a habit to increase the better foods, and eat less of the not-so-good ones and you lose weight fast. Faster than you may have thought possible.

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Looking in the mirror will not make the person lose the extra weight. It involves two things to turn that into a reality and that is namely diet and exercise.

Dieting doesnt always mean giving on some of those favorite meals but simply cutting down on some and getting the much needed energy for the body from something else. A good example is the Atkins diet. This type of program focuses on taking in less carbohydrates and more of proteins.

There are more than five diet programs that focus on less carbs. The reason is because one carbohydrate focuses on four water molecules. People that are able to stick to the plan are capable of losing more than 10 pounds in less than a months time.

Why cant the person just give up eating foods that contain carbohydrates? This is because people need this source of energy for brain activity and muscle function.

A good way to maintain a good amount in the system is to eat food such as whole wheat or gain and staying away from products such as pasta, bread or rice that are color white. Brown bread or red rice can be consumed.

The best way to maintain this is by making sure that carbohydrate intake should not exceed 65% in the food being eaten.

Fat is also something that the individual has to watch out for since this also contributes to weight gain. One way to maintain it will be to make sure that the person only consumes 30% calorie intake from these products. A few examples of these are non-fat milk, nuts, vegetables, fruits and other fat free products available in the grocery store.

Eating less will reduce the calories. Now, in order to burn the existing ones causing flabs to appear in the body, the person has to exercise. Cardiovascular exercises such as swimming, running, aerobics and cycling are some of the best ways to lose weight. This is because the individual will use muscle glycogen and fatty acids as an energy source through out the entire exercise.

The American Council for Sports Medicine believe that a cardiovascular workout should last for a minimum of 20 minutes and done at least three times a week. In order to lose weight, the individual should at least do it for half an hour for five days weekly.

It takes hard work and discipline to lose the excess weight and it is never too late to get up from bed and do whatever it takes.

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Here are some ways to lose weight fast.

1 – Take everything one step at a time. Begin simply by paying more attention to what you are eating, slowly cutting back on the bad foods and implementing more healthy foods into your diet. Once you have this under control, the next step is to add exercise to your plan. If you do not like exercising, take this one step at a time as well by implementing only 15 to 30 minutes at a time, at first.

2 – Choose foods and activities that you enjoy. If you do activities that you get enjoyment out of, you will find them to be much more successful than trying to exercise in ways that you do not enjoy. The same goes for foods that you implement in your diet: Choosing foods that you enjoy will help you enjoy your diet rather than craving bad foods.

3 – Build muscle. You lose calories based on your weight. Muscles, surprisingly enough, burn calories more quickly than fat does, pound for pound. Work out with weights to build muscle and lose weight, and then allow your extra lean muscle mass to burn more calories for you on a long term basis.

4 – Reduce your carbohydrates. Do not cut your carbohydrates out completely, because your body needs carbohydrates for energy. Cut out some of the white breads and pastas from your diet, though, to cut down on the carbohydrates that you consume. What carbs you do need to eat, you can replace with whole wheat and brown carbs for better health.

5 – Set realistic, measurable and attainable goals. Put deadlines on your goals, making them measurable. Make them realistic by choosing goals that you know you can attain. Set long term and short term goals and you will more readily achieve your expectations regarding quick and healthy weight loss.

6 – Give up the bad stuff. It may surprise you how unhealthy it is to eat candy, cookies, cakes and other sweets, and to drink soda and sugar laden drinks. Cut these bad goodies out either completely, or at least 80% of the time and the pounds will shrink away without you having to do much else to make the weight loss happen.

7 – Have a suitable breakfast. Most of your calories should be consumed early on in the day, and breakfast is no exception. Eat a nice breakfast to give your metabolism a good foundation to run from for the remainder of the day.

8 – Control portions by leaving something behind. Make sure your portions are correct based on the actual serving size of your food, and then make sure not to clear your plate completely. Exercising portion control will give you better control over what you put into your body for easy and achievable weight loss.

Implement these tips one by one and in no time at all you will begin to see a significant difference in your weight.

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When you go into your doctors office and you hear the words, Diabetic Diet you may tend to freak out, but you don’t have to. There are no actual Diabetic Diets out there for you to take part in. However, a licensed nutritionist and your doctor can give you support and guidance in the right direction. This article will provide you with some tips and give you some ideas for to discuss with your doctor and the nutritionist.

After you have some time to adjust to the idea of having diabetes, call your doctor and get some information on how to eat properly to control your diabetes. Since there are no exact diets to use for diabetes you can create one that will specifically fit your needs. The first thing to take into consideration is that when you have diabetes you don’t have to quit eating everything you normally eat you just need to eat them differently.

A few things you can change in your eating habits are:

1. How much you eat

2. When you eat

3. How you prepare your food

4. Decrease sugar and sweets

5. Watch how and when you eat carbohydrates

6.Increase the following:
Fruits
Vegetables
Whole wheat grains

7.Reduce fat intake

8.Moderation in alcohol

When you are trying to adjust to a Diabetic Diet Plan keep track of how much you normally eat at each meal and if you have snacks throughout the day. If you don’t eat regular meals, then its important for you to create an eating schedule. You need to see to it that you are eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with small snacks in between meals. It is important to maintain at least a 1600 calorie diet on a daily basis.

If you are used to eating a large amount of food then you will need to cut back a little bit at each meal. Adding small snacks during the day will help fill the void in your stomach. This will do positive things for you. It will help keep your sugar level. Keep your appetite under control. And keep you from pigging out when you sit down to eat a regularly scheduled meal.

A really good positive thing about eating like this, along with exercise, it will help you to lose weight. Not only will it help in the short term, but once you get used to it, you will find you can keep the weight off. In addition you may well see an overall increase in your physical health.

Make sure you eat breakfast every morning and try to include some fruit. Fruit not only taste good, but it is good for giving you energy and it can be a great snack. Its also important that you eat lunch every day to help you maintain a steady amount of energy throughout your day no matter what you are doing. If you are a person that normally skips lunch try starting out by having some crackers or a salad for lunch so you will be eating something and it will be a light meal.

The next important meal you need to eat is dinner. When you eat dinner try to eat a well balanced meal so that your body won’t feel over full or bulky. It is also important to eat at regular set times every day so that your body can adjust and process the food before you go to bed. Be careful not to eat too early. If you eat too early in the evening then you may become hungry again and want to eat before you go to bed.

There is one last tip to pass on about your diabetic meals. And this is how you prepare your meals. You should broil or bake your meats. In addition if you have to cook on the top of the stove use Virgin Olive Oil in lieu of butter and other Trans fat laden foods.

As you can see a diabetic diet is not the end of the world. If fact if it is followed, you will delay the worsening of your diabetes, lose weight and improve your health overall.

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