dieting for dummies

Simple Diet Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:21:00 +0000

Here some information i found about simple diet plans or tips

When selecting a meal plan, make sure you are consuming a balanced and complete diet. Your assignment is to set realistic and attainable diet goals. Start by following the simple guidelines below.
Nutritional and Diet Plan Guidelines

Commit to consuming 4 - 6 small meals and snacks everyday.
To succeed, you must plan ahead by packing your foods the night before. Thus, you should always have fresh and low-fat foods around.
Keep it simple. Don't get too caught up on the specifics or your diet. Start by simply just counting calories.
Eat your foods slower.
Make healthier food selections like fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, and beans, low-fat or nonfat dairy products, low fat meats, fish and skinless poultry.
Avoid foods that are high in fat and calories.
Avoid foods that are high in sugars such as pastries, candy bars, pies and candy.
Use a variety of fruits and vegetables in your nutrition plan. Start by trying to eat 5 total vegetable and fruit servings every single day.

Why Do People Diet?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:15:00 +0000

People diet for many reasons. Some are at an unhealthy weight and need to pay closer attention to their eating and exercise habits. Some play sports and want to be in top physical condition. Others may think they would look and feel better if they lost a few pounds.

Some people may diet because they think they are supposed to look a certain way. Actors and actresses are thin, and most fashions are shown off by very thin models. But this look is unrealistic for most people — not to mention physically damaging to the models and stars who struggle to maintain it.

By the time they turn 12 or 13, most teen girls start to go through body changes that are natural and necessary: Their hips broaden, their breasts develop, and suddenly the way they look may not match girls on TV or in magazine ads. Guys develop at different rates, too. Those guys with washboard abs you see in clothing ads are usually in their twenties.

Why Do People Diet?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:47:00 +0000

Simple Dieting Tips & Healthy Eating Plans - Chocolate Diet V Low Fat Chicken Recipes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:53:00 +0000

Did you ever hear the likes, a “chocolate diet?” Brace yourself because you hear right. Chocolate acts as a vitamin replacement; if this is true then healthy benefits derived from this particular diet may not be so bad after all
The chocolate diet is just one of many fad diets which include you eating favorite foods. While consuming your specified amount of yummy allowance keep in mind it is supposed to control high blood pressure and prevent heart disease. Although encouraging reasons for using the diet, what of rotting teeth and the people who bang weight on if they as much look at a bar of chocolate.
The diet mainly consists of fluids. Powder or supplements are given to the dieter to mix with milk or water. Is this not cocoa as we all know it?
Chocolate contains anti-oxidants that help prevent arteries clogging. Does this not leave the dieter in a catch 22 situation after being advised to avoid sugary foods because of fattening issues? Weighing up the good and bad is it not healthier to carry a little excess weight to avoid pores clogging or having a heart attack. Chocolate prevents heart disease and obesity increases the risk of heart disease. Is obesity not the same as fat? I am confused.
Chocolate powder shakes are not for replacing or substituting meals, but designed as healthy snacks to stop a rumbling belly. Is this diet so bad when the sugar supply gives us that much needed energy boost?
The question is does the chocolate diet work. . It’s not clear that chocolate stimulates metabolism or helps the fat burning process. Beyond that, too much of anything can be bad. While chocolate does have health benefits, a diet with an emphasis in chocolate may not be the best way to lose weight. To shed pounds stick with a sensible eating plan.
Diet - Throughout the day you can munch two 40 gram bars of chocolate and drink sugar-free coffee with non-fat milk. Make eating exciting and appetizing, mix chocolate chips with strawberries in a glass bowl. Glass allows visibility of the delicious filling which guarantees lip licking. Slice a couple of bananas and drizzle melted dark chocolate over them. You have to take the chocolate diet for 5-7 days and no longer. After one course take a break for 3-4 days. The chocolate diet is a decreased calorie diet that centers on drinking liquid diet shakes to fill the gap. People use it as a replacement for food and if you consume less food this clearly indicate fewer calories.
I am not sure I agree this can be called a sensible diet when evidence proves different i. e. pounds piling on instead of dropping off and decaying teeth. Before dieting speak to your doctor or dietician
The sensible thing to do is ignore fad diets and embark on the sensible by following a sensible eating plan. Choose the wrong diet can be dangerous - seek expert advice. The best way to evaluate a diet is by the promises made. Overnight weight loss or miracle cures are promotional pledges you should snub.
Crash dieting is unhealthy. Weight loss is for more than just losing pounds. Exercise for skin and muscle tone is just as important. Exercise is necessary but it won’t replace a diet. A combination of both is ideally the key source to losing weight. Give yourself time to adjust and not to lose focus when you begin your first diet.
Consider a low-key diet that aims at healthy foods:
1 Choose an apple over a chocolate bar.
2 Cut out cordials and drink water.
3 Walk rather than use the car or bus.
4 Limit portion sizes of what you eat. It is easier than counting calories and carbohydrates.
5 Use a smaller plate to serve dinner on.
6 Replace sticky puddings for pieces of fruit
To lose weight, fewer calories have to be burned off than what you take in. Skipping meals and eating fewer calories can cause severe consequences; it can lead to binge scoffing later because of low energy and blood sugar levels. A sensible and healthy eating plan will include between 1200 and 1400 calories daily for women and 1500 to 1800 calories for men. Breakfast being the most important meal of the day is one you must not skip. Eat 4 to 5 times a day but in moderation.
Chicken breast is a good source of protein also low in fat. Two recipes below cooked in 15-30 minutes, low in fat, and under 400 calories a serving
Chicken & Vegetable Kebabs
4 Blocks of egg noodles
2 Skinless chicken breasts
1 Jar/195g yellow bean sauce
3 Button mushrooms
1 Medium courgette
½ yellow & red pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
4 spring onions
1 red chilli
Wooden skewers
Method
1. Fill large pot with water - bring to the boil, add noodles, return to the boil and simmer for 4 minutes.
2. Dice chicken breasts and place in a bowl. Add ¾ jar of yellow bean sauce and stir coating the chicken.
3. Preheat grill.
4. Prepare mushrooms into quarters; slice courgette; deseed. Slice peppers into squares. Size is up to you.
5. Skewer a mushroom quarter followed by chicken, courgette, pepper and so on.
6. Place kebabs on the grill and cook for 10-15 minutes turning frequently.
7. Heat some oil to smoking point in a wok, add spring onions chilli and stir fry for 60 seconds. Add noodles and remaining sauce - stir to coat. Heat through.
8. Serve kebabs over noodles.
Chicken Pancakes
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
3 Skinless chicken breasts
Jar hoi sin spring onion stir fry sauce
Spring onions, sliced lengthways
1 Cucumber
8 Chinese pancakes
Method
1. Slice spring onions lengthways into 3″strips. Cube cucumber and slice into thin batons.
2. Thinly cut chicken into strips.
3. Heat oil in wok till piping hot, add chicken and stir fry for 7- 8 minutes
4. Preheat Chinese pancakes as instructed on packet.
5. Add stir fry sauce to cooked chicken - coat and heat through.
6. Serve chicken spring onions and cucumber onto pancake - roll and serve
Enjoy stay slim and healthy

Keeping New Year's Resolutions: 5 Strategies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:08:00 +0000

Well this is it... the week where millions of Americans stand up and announce that they will make a change, reach a goal, achieve a lifelong dream, or all of the above.

I am referring, of course, to the old faithful ritual of making New Year's resolutions.
Whether you intend to exercise more, lose weight, stop smoking, cut down on alcohol or eat a healthier diet, experts agree that one of the keys to making a successful resolution lies in one's own confidence that he or she can make the behavior change and the commitment to making that change!
Here are my top 5 tips to keeping you on your path to a better you.
1. Think about what you would most like to do or change and stick with one resolution for now.
Trust me on this one! I have been told by past clients that they were going to lose weight, stop smoking, begin an exercise program (after 25 years of sitting on the couch)... and to do all of this while they are going back to school for a second career!
Urgh! Talk about setting yourself up for failure. It is far better to add another resolution -- even if you add it in May -- after you master the first than trying to accomplish three major changes all at once.
2. Once you pick what's most important be clear as to why you want this.
It is definitely all about commitment. For example, do you really want to lose weight or are you doing it because someone else wants you to?
3.Have an emergency plan ready.
Know what you will do in case that stressful event comes up which has triggered you to eat everything in the refrigerator, pantry and local convenience store! Have coping strategies and alternatives to eating in order to deal with problems that will come up.
4. Break down a huge resolution into smaller goals.
You are more likely to achieve your goal by focusing on 5 pound increments rather than the 50 pounds. Set weekly and monthly goals and focus only on those. Once achieved, reward yourself. Treat yourself to a spa day, a pedicure, a favorite perfume you've been meaning to buy or even a new hairstyle!
5. No matter what, always love and accept yourself.
You are NOT that 50 pounds you need to lose. You are a great and beautiful person who just happens to want to lose 50 pounds. Remember, You are the same person with or without the 50 pounds. So be you! Don't wait to be happy until you lose that 50, be happy now!

How the Cabbage Soup Diet Works

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:53:00 +0000

When winter winds to an end, there are plenty of things to look forward to -- warm weather, blooming flowers, cookouts and the beach. But, for many people, that last item comes with a bit of hesitation. Before you strip down to that bikini, that winter weight has got to go. So when spring and summer are just around the corner, many are looking for a quick fix.

That's why the cabbage soup diet has withstood the test of time, outlasting its "fad diet" reputation. The diet lasts one week and is said to result in weight loss of about 10 pounds (4.5 kg) [source: Zelman]. In a short span of time, double-digit losses are possible. Some people, maybe because they became discouraged and unmotivated by the slower results of other diets, swear by the quick cabbage soup diet. After all, participants cut their caloric intake by at least 50 percent, taking in roughly 800 to 1,000 calories a day [source: Zelman]. The diet isn't by any means appropriate for a lifestyle, but it does help incorporate vegetable and fruits into an individual's meal plans.

Of course, the cabbage soup diet has its drawbacks. First off, it's a bit bland and boring, which makes cravings tough to ignore. It also cuts out a good amount of nutrients along with those calories. The extremely restrictive nature of the diet makes entire food groups off-limits on certain days. And while it does produce quick weight loss, much of this is water loss, not the more beneficial loss of fat. This means dieters will likely gain back a lot of the weight after they return to their normal eating routines.

So, the diet has its pros and cons, but you get to lose weight while keeping warm those last weeks of winter, right? Continue reading to learn more about the cabbage soup diet and its possible side effects.

6 Core moves and Stretches

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:57:00 +0000

When you hear the word core, what comes to mind? Abs? Lower back? Obliques?
If you thought one or more of these answers, you're partially right. Basically, your core comprises all the muscles that are responsible for moving and stabilizing the trunk or spine. Simply, your core is your body without arms and legs. If there's any weakness in any muscle of this system, your core is compromised.

I hear all the time about people who have strong abs, but a bad back. One of the reasons is because they do 5 million crunches a day and neglect the other muscles of the core like the lower back muscles, transverse abdominis, or obliques.
Tight upper body muscles like the lats or pecs, which would give you rounded shoulders (the caveman posture), do not help either. They would pull on the spine, forcing it to be out of alignment, or its natural curve.
What ends up suffering for most people is their lower back. Think about it. How many people you know wake up in the morning and say they're suffering from ab pain? If they do, it’s more likely from stomach issues. Many people wake up, or go throughout the day with back pain - that annoying feeling like you have two pit bulls gnawing on your lower back muscles. Or it may be triggered from simple tasks like driving, or carrying a baby. I've been there.
Strengthening all the muscles of your core, while stretching the tight muscles, is the most effective way of preventing or alleviating back issues.
The muscles of the core that surround and stabilize the spine are mostly made of slow twitch muscle fibers. In laymen’s terms that means they fire more slowly than fast twitch fibers and can go for a long time before they fatigue. (Hence the 5 million crunches.)
However, a plethora of repetitions are not necessary. Your core is at work all day long when you breathe or move. But don’t fool yourself and think that breathing and moving will get you a six-pack or a healthy back.
I would suggest 15-20 repetitions for various core exercises, with the proper amount of resistance that’ll bring you to fatigue.

I've come up with some general but effective exercises that can strengthen your core, along with a few stretches for common tight areas.

How do diets that limit your carbohydrate consumption cause weight loss?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:22:00 +0000

When your body is not given fuel in the form of carbohydrates, it uses fuel in other ways. So, let's say you've just started following the Atkins plan and are consuming a modest 20 grams of carbohydrates or less. Here is what's happening inside your body:

The liver stores glucose by converting it to glycogen. It holds perhaps a 12-hour supply of glucose in its glycogen. Once you finish digesting all of the carbohydrates that you last ate, the liver starts converting its stored glycogen back into glucose and releases it to maintain glucose in the blood. Lipolysis also starts breaking down fat in the fat cells and releasing fatty acids into the bloodstream. Tissues that do not need to use glucose for energy (for example, muscle cells) start burning the fatty acids. This reduces the glucose demand so that nerve cells get the glucose.

Once the liver runs out of glycogen, the liver converts to a process called gluconeogenesis. Gluconeogenesis turns amino acids into glucose.

The liver then begins producing ketone bodies from fatty acids being made available in the blood by lipolysis. Brain and nerve cells convert over from being pure consumers of glucose to partial consumers of ketone bodies for energy. This process is called ketosis -- which is why the Atkins plan is also known as a ketogenic diet.

So, what does this mean in simple terms? In theory, the Atkins diet enables your body to switch from a machine that uses carbohydrates for fuel to one that uses fat for fuel. Therefore, a diet with little or no carbs forces the body's storage of fat to become its main energy source.

To further understand the way your body loses weight on the Atkins diet, you must consider the way the body uses sugar as fuel. To turn sugars into fuel, your body uses the hormone insulin. Insulin enables our cells to turn carbohydrates into glucose by controlling the amount of sugar in our blood. The body secretes insulin to keep blood sugar from getting too high. Insulin is a storage hormone, meaning that it causes sugar we don't use for fuel to be stored as fat. It also keeps the body from burning stored fat. The Atkins diet suggests that it is this "insulin response" that continues to add fat to our bodies. This function is an asset when food is scarce, but an abundance of sugar-filled and high-carbohydrate foods will promote the accumulation of body fat.

On the contrary, a low-carbohydrate diet allows your body to release less insulin. According to the Atkins plan, when insulin levels are normal, your body will begin to burn its own fat as fuel -- thereby resulting in weight loss. By keeping insulin levels stable, not only does your body burn fat, but it may also lead to less hunger and fewer cravings. Simply put, according to the Atkins folks, their diet attempts to control insulin levels by controlling the amount of carbohydrates you eat.

How Diabetic Diets Work

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:31:00 +0000

Diabetes is an increasingly common disease, affecting about 8 percent of Americans -- and nearly a quarter of all Americans older than age 60 [source: CBS]. It's so common that it has made its way into regional dialects; it's known variously as "sugar," "the sugar" and "sugar diabetes" [source: Patrick].

As those nicknames suggest, diabetes affects the body's ability to process dietary sugar. If untreated, it can lead to numerous complications, including blindness, nerve damage, heart and circulation problems, gangrene and amputation of the feet, kidney failure and early death. The good news is that, in many cases, treatment, which usually involves a combination of diet and medication, can greatly reduce the risk of these complications.

There are two types of diabetes. Type I (formerly known as juvenile diabetes) is sometimes called insulin-dependent diabetes. That's because Type I patients have to take insulin, either via regular injections or via an insulin pump. Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas that helps the body process sugar. Type I patients don't make enough insulin on their own.

Type II diabetes (formerly known as adult-onset diabetes) is almost always a complication of being overweight. Although its causes and treatment are different from those of Type I, its symptoms and complications are highly similar. In type II diabetes, the body stops being able to use its own insulin.

Type II patients may take insulin. They must also change their eating habits. The goal of a diabetic diet is twofold: to get the patient to a healthy weight (thereby reducing the physical causes of diabetes as well as many of its complications) and to regulate blood sugar by regulating the intake of the foods that produce it.

In this article, we'll look more closely at diabetic diets -- what goes into making a diabetic eating plan, which foods you'll need to be careful about, and some tips for sticking to a diabetic diet in our decidedly unhealthful world.

How Diet Pills Work

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:28:00 +0000

Diet pills are a tempting quick fix for an increasingly overweight American populace.

Their ads claim they can help you "feel more fit," "boost your energy" and "melt away the pounds." Who needs diet and exercise when a little pill can erase the weight quickly and easily? With more than 60 percent of Americans now considered overweight or obese, diet drugs have turned into a multibillion dollar industry in the United States.

But although diet pills promise a quick fix, can they deliver? Can they help you lose weight? And if so, can they help you keep it off? Weight-loss questions aside, several diet drugs over the last decade have been associated with serious heart problems and other health-related issues, and diet pills have even been linked to a number of deaths.

Diet drugs are available in several different forms, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs and herbal supplements.

Prescription drugs such as Meridia and Xenical are only available with a doctor's prescription. They are carefully regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, and their use is closely monitored by the prescribing doctor.

Over-the-counter drugs are available without a doctor's prescription, right in your local drugstore or supermarket, and are also regulated by the FDA. According to AnneCollins.com, "Products considered by FDA to be over-the-counter weight control drugs [as opposed to dietary supplements] are primarily those containing the active ingredient phenylpropanolamine (PPA)." In 2000, the FDA requested that drug manufacturers voluntary reformulate PPA-containing products in the wake of evidence that phenylpropanolamine can increase the risk of stroke, so there are few diet drugs on the market that still contain this ingredient. OTC drugs also fall under the jurisdiction of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Herbal diet supplements are also available without a prescription. You'll typically find a huge variety of these in health food and nutrition stores as well as in regular supermarkets. Herbal supplements are often labeled "all natural" and are considered by the FDA to be food products as opposed to drugs. As such, they fall under the jurisdiction of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and are regulated differently from OTC drugs.

There is also a selection of diet aids that are administered by patch, as a powder or in liquid form. These types of drugs may fall into any of the above categories -- it is only the delivery method that is unique.

In this article, we will look at the wide variety of diet pills available, find out how they work and what their side effects are and see if they live up to their promises.

Weight Loss Myths

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:11:00 +0000

There are dozens of weight-loss myths that help to derail people. Here is a list of some of the most common so you can try to avoid them:

The myth that some kinds of calories are different from others - A calorie is a calorie. If you consume 4,000 calories by eating 1,000 grams of white sugar or 4,000 calories by eating 444 grams of fat, it is still 4,000 calories.
The myth that low-fat foods are okay or that you can eat as much as you want if it is low-fat - A product can have 0 grams of fat but still have lots of calories. Many fat-free foods replace the fat with sugar and contain just as many or more calories as a fat-containing product.
The myth that any passive device, acupressure rings and bracelets or soaps or whatever, can help - There is no way to burn calories but to burn them.
The myth that you can lose 54 pounds in 6 weeks - Despite what the ads say (I LOST 54 POUNDS IN 6 WEEKS WITHOUT DIETS OR EXERCISE!!! or LOSE 10 POUNDS THIS WEEKEND!), you cannot lose a pound of fat unless you burn off 3,500 calories. To lose 54 pounds in 6 weeks, you would need to lose 9 pounds in 7 days, or 1.3 pounds per day. That 1.3 pounds of fat is equal to 4,500 calories, so you would have to burn off 4,500 calories per day. The only way to do that would be to eat nothing AND run a marathon every day for 42 days. That's impossible. The only way to lose that much weight that quickly is either through dehydration or amputation. The ads are lying.
The myth that anything can create an "enzyme-driven fat-burning cycle" - All sorts of things, from nettle seeds to apple pectin, are supposed to contain enzymes that create an ENZYME-DRIVEN FAT BURNING CYCLE THAT BURNS CALORIES 24-HOURS-A-DAY!!! No.

What is true is that you have to eat fewer calories than you burn in a day if you want to lose weight. You can do that by eating fewer calories than you need, or by exercising more, or both. It is true that some people burn more calories per day than others (just as some people are taller than others, some people have to use the restroom more frequently than others, some people lose their hair faster than others and so on -- people are different). You simply have to find the number of calories your body burns in a day and consume fewer calories than your body needs. That's not to say it's easy -- the psychology of food and eating is very powerful. But that is what you have to do. It is a mental game, and there is no way around it. But now you know the rules of that mental game.

For more information on dieting and related topics, check out the links on the next page.

Fitting in Exercise

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 11:18:00 +0000

Exercise is one tool you have to control your weight because exercise is a way to increase the number of calories that you burn in a day. Online resources like this exercise calculator show you how many calories different forms of exercise can burn. One way to make the most of exercise is to integrate some form of exercise into your daily routine. Here are several examples:

Try to find some type of exercise that you enjoy (or at least can tolerate) and do it every day for 30 minutes, 60 minutes or more. It might be walking, riding an exercise bike while watching TV, or working out in a gym at lunch.
Try to fit micro-exercises into your daily life. For example, instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs. Park farther away from stores when you go shopping. These little things can add up.
Put a set of weights at your desk and use them three or four times during the day, as you think or talk on the phone.
Find an exercise partner. Exercise, for some people, is a lot easier if there is someone to talk to. A partner will also help make exercise a routine.
Try to exercise every day. It is easier to remember to do something if you do it every day.

Building a Sustainable Diet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:15:00 +0000

Photo courtesy USDA
The new USDA Food Pyramid.

Building a sustainable diet and exercise plan is the key to maintaining a consistent weight. This is not easy for many people. As described in the previous sections, the landscape is literally covered with calories, and exercise takes time and energy.

The first step to building a sustainable diet is to start counting the calories that you consume in a day so that you become conscious of two things:

You need to understand exactly how many calories you are eating on a "normal" day.
You need to realize where each calorie comes from -- you need to build a calorie database in your brain so that you know, whenever you eat something, just how many calories it is supplying.

In the United States, any food that you buy in the grocery store is required by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to have a nutritional label with that food's calorie content. You can also look at a chart like this one to find out the number of calories in different foods. Any chain restaurant will supply you with nutrition information both at the store and on the Web (or you can see a Web site like this).

The second step is to figure out how many calories you need in a day. You can use the "12 calories per pound" rule, or you can get more precise by looking at the formulas in How Calories Work.

Pick your "ideal weight" -- the weight that you would like to maintain. Then calculate how many calories a day you can consume to maintain that weight.

The third step is to compare the two numbers -- You may be startled by the difference between the "number of calories you need" and "the number of calories that you take in" in a day. That is where the extra pounds are coming from.

The fourth step is to figure out how to bring the two numbers in line. What you will soon realize is that 1,600 or 1,800 or 2,000 calories per day just isn't that many. You have to watch and count everything you eat and drink every day and stick to your daily limit.

The fifth step might be to add exercise to the mix so that you can raise the number of calories you can consume per day. Online resources like this exercise calculator will show you how many calories different forms of exercise can burn. Burning 250 or 500 calories per day through exercise can make a big difference.

How Dieting Works

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:28:00 +0000

Let's imagine that you are overweight and you would like to lose several excess pounds. To lose 1 pound of fat, what you have to do is burn off 3,500 calories. That is, over a period of time, you have to consume 3,500 calories less than your body needs. There are several ways you can create that deficit. If you assume that you weigh 150 pounds and that your body at rest needs 1,800 calories per day (150 * 12 = 1,800) to live, here are several examples (some realistic, some not):

You could lie in bed and starve yourself. Since you are lying in bed, you are consuming 1,800 calories per day. Since you are starving yourself, you are taking in no calories. That means that, every day, you create a deficit of 1,800 calories and, approximately every two days, you will lose 1 pound of body weight.
You could consume fewer calories than your body needs. For example, you might choose to consume 1,500 calories per day rather than the required 1,800 by controlling what you eat. That creates a 300-calorie deficit every day. That means that approximately every 12 days, you will lose 1 pound of weight (12 days x 300 calories = 3,600 calories).
You could consume 1,800 calories per day and then choose to jog 2 miles (3.2 km) every day. The jogging would burn about 200 calories per day, and over the course of 18 days you would burn about 1 pound of body weight (18 days x 200 calories = 3,600 calories).
You could consume 2,500 calories per day and run 10 miles per day. You will burn 1,800 calories per day at rest and then 1,000 calories per day running, for a total of 2,800 calories. You are consuming 300 calories fewer than you need, so you would lose a pound every 12 days or so (300 calories x 12 days = 3,600 calories).

As you can see from these examples, the only way to lose fat is to consume fewer calories per day than your body needs. For every 3,500 calories that your body takes from its fat reserves, you lose 1 pound (0.45 kg) of body fat. You can create the deficit either by monitoring and restricting your intake of calories, or by exercising, or both.

The idea behind most diets -- everything from Weight Watchers to the grapefruit diet -- is simply to help you somehow lower the number of calories that you consume each day. That's all they do.

Sample Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:29:00 +0000

Face it, many of us are over-worked, over-booked and totally over-extended. So, convenient food often takes the lead in our daily diets. In a typical day someone might consume something like this:

You might have two Pop-Tarts® for breakfast,
then hit Pizza Hut for lunch,
grab some SnackWell's and a cola for a snack,
head for McDonald's for dinner
and top it off with some potato chips while watching TV.

You can see how the number of calories coming in can easily reach 3,000, 4,000 or 5,000 per day without any effort at all. That's the problem.

Your body, it turns out, is extremely efficient at capturing and storing excess calories. Whenever your body finds that it has excess calories on hand, it converts them to fat and saves them for a rainy day. (See How Calories Work and How Fat Cells Work for details). It only takes 3,500 excess calories to create 1 pound of new fat on your body. If you are taking in just 500 extra calories per day, then you are gaining a pound of fat per week (500 calories x 7 days in a week = 3,500 calories/week). Since it is easy to get 500 calories from just one ice cream cone or a few cookies, you can see that weight gain is completely effortless in today's society. Food is just too easy to find

Taking Calories In

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:57:00 +0000

The 1,800 calories that a typical person at rest needs per day is just not that many. For example, if you go to your neighborhood McDonald's restaurant and order the Big Xtra meal, you will get a sandwich, a large order of french fries and a large Coke®. This meal contains:

710 calories in the sandwich*
540 calories in the french fries*
310 calories in the drink*

(*See McDonald's USA Nutrition Facts for details.)

A meal at McDonald's can add up to almost a whole day's worth of calories.

In other words, just this one meal provides 1,560 calories you need during a day. If you get an M&M® McFlurry™ with it for dessert, you'll get 630 more calories, so you are already consuming almost 2,200 calories just at this one meal!

Similarly, if you go to Pizza Hut and get a Meat Lover's Pan Pizza®, each slice contains 360 calories.* If you eat three slices and get a large drink to go with it, that's 1,390 calories -- just 410 calories shy of a full day's worth of calories. (*See the Pizza Hut Nutrition Guide for details.)

Similarly, if you eat 12 SnackWell's Crème Sandwich Cookies -- which, if you think about it, really is not that hard to do -- you've taken in 660 calories. That's more than one-third of the daily caloric intake.

These three cookies contain 165 calories.

The point here is not to slam these products or make them look bad. For example, I've got two kids and I go to McDonald's at least once a week. The point is that, in America and most other developed countries, it is incredibly easy to find and consume calories. Let's take a look at what someone might consume in a typical day.

Your Body's Efficiency

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:54:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered why, for so many people (and especially for anyone older than 30 years old), weight gain seems to be a fact of life? It's because the human body is way too efficient! It just does not take that much energy to maintain the human body at rest; and when exercising, the human body is amazingly frugal when it comes to turning food into motion.

At rest (for example, while sitting and watching television), the human body burns only about 12 calories per pound of body weight per day (26 calories per kilogram). That means that if you weigh 150 pounds (68 kg), your body uses only about:

150 X 12 = 1,800 calories per day

Twelve calories per pound per day is a rough estimate -- see How Calories Work for details.

Those 1,800 calories are used to do everything you need to stay alive:

They keep your heart beating and lungs breathing.
They keep your internal organs operating properly.
They keep your brain running.
They keep your body warm.

In motion, the human body also uses energy very efficiently. For example, a person running a marathon (26 miles or 42 km) burns only about 2,600 calories. In other words, you burn only about 100 calories per mile (about 62 calories per km) when you are running.

You can see just how efficient the human body is if you compare your body to a car. A typical car in the United States gets between 15 and 30 miles per gallon of gasoline (6 to 12 km/L). A gallon of gas contains about 31,000 calories. That means that if a human being could drink gasoline instead of eating hamburgers to take in calories, a human being could run 26 miles on about one-twelfth of a gallon of gas (0.3 L). In other words, a human being gets more than 300 miles per gallon (120 km/L)! If you put a human being on a bicycle to increase the efficiency, a human being can get well over 1,000 miles per gallon (more than 500 km/L)!

That level of efficiency is the main reason why it is so easy to gain weight, as we will see in the next section.

Introduction to How Dieting Works

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:41:00 +0000

Dieting is one of those things that is completely integrated into American culture. On any given day, a huge portion of the U.S. population is "on a diet" and "counting calories" in one way or another. And look at how many of the diet names in the following list you recognize:

The Atkins Diet
The Cabbage Soup Diet
The Grapefruit Diet
The Hollywood Miracle Diet
The Rice Diet
The Scarsdale Diet
The South Beach Diet
The Zone Diet

You probably recognize many of these names because you hear them all the time!

In this article, we will look first at weight gain and why gaining weight is so easy. Then we will look at what you can do about weight gain -- in the form of diet and exercise -- to maintain a consistent weight.

Body weight

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:56:00 +0000

Although some people prefer the less-ambiguous term body mass, the term body weight is overwhelmingly used in daily English speech as well as in the contexts of biological and medical sciences to describe the mass of an organism's body. Body weight is measured in kilograms throughout the world, although in some countries people more often measure and describe body weight in pounds (e.g. United States and sometimes Canada) or stones and pounds (e.g. among people in the United Kingdom) and thus may not be well acquainted with measurement in kilograms. Most hospitals, even in the United States, now use kilograms for calculations, but use kilograms and pounds together for other purposes. (1 kg is approximately 2.2 lb; 1 stone (14 lb) is approximately 6.4 kg.)

The term is usually encountered in connection with:

food and feeding behaviour
normal and abnormal growth and development
the physiological and hormonal control of ingestion and digestion
foraging for food in animals
hunger and other motivations to eat
problems in regulating body weight, often resulting in obesity
eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa
effects of disease
athletic competitions where the participants are classified according to their body weight

Food Balance Wheel

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:33:00 +0000

The Food Balance Wheel suggests an alternate interpretation of the USDA Food Guide Pyramid^[1] recommendations for balanced eating. Created by author Art Dragon^[2], it converts the principles of the food pyramid from a number-based format to a visual presentation that may be more accessible to users interested in balanced eating.

Low glycemic index

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 02:12:00 +0000

"The glycemic index (GI) factor is a ranking of foods based on their overall effect on blood sugar levels. The diet based around this research is called the Low GI diet. Low glycemic index foods, such as lentils, provide a slower, more consistent source of glucose to the bloodstream, thereby stimulating less insulin release than high glycemic index foods, such as white bread."^[27]^[28]

The glycemic load is "the mathematical product of the glycemic index and the carbohydrate amount".^[29]

In a randomized controlled trial that compared four diets that varied in carbohydrate amount and glycemic index found complicated results^[30]:

Diet 1 and 2 were high carbohydrate (55% of total energy intake)
- Diet 1 was high-glycemic index
- Diet 2 was low-glycemic index
Diet 3 and 4 were high protein (25% of total energy intake)
- Diet 3 was high-glycemic index
- Diet 4 was low-glycemic index

Diets 2 and 3 lost the most weight and fat mass; however, low density lipoprotein fell in Diet 2 and rose in Diet 3. Thus the authors concluded that the high-carbohydrate, low-glycemic index diet was the most favorable.

A meta-analysis by the Cochrane Collaboration concluded that low glycemic index or low glycemic load diets led to more weight loss and better lipid profiles. However, the Cochrane Collaboration grouped low glycemic index and low glycemic load diets together and did not try to separate the effects of the load versus the index

Low carbohydrate versus low fat

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:28:00 +0000

Many studies have focused on diets that reduce calories via a low-carbohydrate (Atkins diet, Scarsdale diet, Zone diet) diet versus a low-fat diet (LEARN diet, Ornish diet). The Nurses' Health Study, an observational cohort study, found that low carbohydrate diets based on vegetable sources of fat and protein are associated with less coronary heart disease.^[12]

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials by the international Cochrane Collaboration in 2002 concluded^[13] that fat-restricted diets are no better than calorie restricted diets in achieving long term weight loss in overweight or obese people. A more recent meta-analysis that included randomized controlled trials published after the Cochrane review^[14]^[15]^[16] found that "low-carbohydrate, non-energy-restricted diets appear to be at least as effective as low-fat, energy-restricted diets in inducing weight loss for up to 1 year. However, potential favorable changes in triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol values should be weighed against potential unfavorable changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol values when low-carbohydrate diets to induce weight loss are considered."^[17]

The Women's Health Initiative Randomized Controlled Dietary Modification Trial^[18] found that a diet of total fat to 20% of energy and increasing consumption of vegetables and fruit to at least 5 servings daily and grains to at least 6 servings daily resulted in:

no reduction in cardiovascular disease^[19]
an insignificant reduction in invasive breast cancer^[20]
no reductions in colorectal cancer^[21]

Additional recent randomized controlled trials have found that:

A comparison of Atkins, Zone diet, Ornish diet, and LEARN diet in premenopausal women found the greatest benefit from the Atkins diet.^[22]

The choice of diet for a specific person may be influenced by measuring the individual's insulin secretion:

In young adults "Reducing glycemic [carbohydrate] load may be especially important to achieve weight loss among individuals with high insulin secretion."^[23] This is consistent with prior studies of diabetic patients in which low carbohydrate diets were more beneficial.^[24]^[25]

The American Diabetes Association released for the first time a recommendation (in its January 2008 Clinical Practice Recommendations) for a low carbohydrate diet to reduce weight for those with or at risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Side effects

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:37:00 +0000

Side effects

Dieting, especially extreme food-intake reduction and rapid weight loss, can have the following side effects:

Prolonged hunger
Depression
Reduced sex drive
Fatigue
Irritability
Fainting
Sinus problems (especially post-nasal drip)
Muscle atrophy
Rashes
Acidosis
Bloodshot eyes
Gallbladder disease
Seizures
Malnutrition, possibly leading to death
Subsequent weight gain

Weight loss groups:Dangers of fasting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:09:00 +0000

Lengthy fasting can be dangerous due to the risk of malnutrition and should be carried out under medical supervision. During prolonged fasting or very low calorie diets the reduction of blood glucose, the preferred energy source of the brain, causes the body to deplete its glycogen stores. Once glycogen is depleted the body begins to fuel the brain using ketones, while also metabolize body protein (including but not limited to skeletal muscle) to be used to synthesize sugars for use as energy by the rest of the body. Most experts believe that a prolonged fast can lead to muscle wasting although some dispute this. The use of short-term fasting, or various forms of intermittent fasting have been used as a form of dieting to circumvent this issue.

Weight loss groups: Stimulants

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:18:00 +0000

dieting for dummies

Simple Diet Plans

Why Do People Diet?

Why Do People Diet?

Simple Dieting Tips & Healthy Eating Plans - Chocolate Diet V Low Fat Chicken Recipes

Keeping New Year's Resolutions: 5 Strategies

How the Cabbage Soup Diet Works

6 Core moves and Stretches

How do diets that limit your carbohydrate consumption cause weight loss?

How Diabetic Diets Work

How Diet Pills Work

Weight Loss Myths

Fitting in Exercise

Building a Sustainable Diet

How Dieting Works

Sample Menu

Taking Calories In

Your Body's Efficiency

Introduction to How Dieting Works

Body weight

Food Balance Wheel

Low glycemic index

Low carbohydrate versus low fat

Side effects

Side effects

Weight loss groups:Dangers of fasting

Weight loss groups: Stimulants

Stimulants such as ephedrine, green tea, caffeine or synephrine work to increase the basal metabolic rate.[

Stimulants such as ephedrine, green tea, caffeine or synephrine work to increase the basal metabolic rate.^[