This article will tell how to eat healthy for life and avoid the fad diets.
- If you consume more calories than your body needs each day, your body will store the excess energy as fat. In today’s society, that excess body fat is unnecessary. We are no longer gatherers. Your next meal is as close as your local grocery store and we do not need extra energy stores to hold us over till the next meal.
- Eating healthy will give you some health benefits, but you will not achieve the full benefits possible unless you exercise. Exercising doesn’t have to be hard, and you don’t even have to break a sweat. Just going for a short 30 minute walk four times a week will greatly improve your health.
- Use extra virgin olive oil when cooking. It is purer, and is better for your heart than other kinds of olive oil. The darker the better. Furthermore, “light” olive oil has as many Calories as extra virgin olive oil — the “light” refers to the color and flavor intensity. Unfortunately, though, using extra virgin olive oil when cooking at higher temperatures ruins the flavors that make it “extra virgin”. But olive oil is not necessarily the most healthy oil, canola oil may be better.
- This takes patience. You won’t see a drastic drop in your cholesterol level or weight or increase in your energy level immediately. You need to give the changes in diet some time to kick in.
- Have a positive and upbeat attitude. If you start your new diet thinking “This is something I have to do,” instead of “This is something I want to do,” then you’ve already failed before you started.
- Adding whole, unrefined grains to the diet can add valuable vitamins and minerals that would otherwise be lost, however it can completely upset our digestion as well. Many animals that eat grains have four stomachs they use to digest them adequately, and ferment them so they can uptake nutrients. Humans have only one stomach, and if you introduce grains without first fermenting or sprouting them you may experience digestive upsets. There are various anti nutrients in grains (like phytic acid) and enzyme inhibitors that will prevent mineral absorption and lead to deficiencies and digestive problems. To remedy this, take oatmeal and soak it the night before in a little bit of yogurt. This will make it taste slightly sour, but make it more digestible. Sourdough bread is also another good example.
Lettuce is a great choice of natural fiber, and can taste great with the proper healthy dressings. You can make a great salad with nuts, raisins, and whole wheat croutons. Mix it in a bowl so it’s evenly distributed and place it on top of a salad. Use a sugar free and low carb balsamic dressing; it has less than 1 gram of carbohydrates and 0 Calories. The head of lettuce is 21 Calories, plus the nuts and raisins and whole wheat croutons which could range depending on size but for this example we will estimate 100 Calories, bringing you a very low calorie and filling meal for only ~120 Calories.
- Smoothies are great for breakfast. Combine the following:
- banana
- 4 medium-size strawberries
- 1/2 cup of skim milk or soy milk
- Choose wheat (brown) bread instead of white bread. Processed carbohydrates such as those found in white bread are harder to draw nutrients from, and therefore are seen as empty Calories.
- For protein, try substituting beans for higher calorie foods like boneless skinless chicken breasts, or tuna. Not only will you be getting additional phytochemicals from the plant based protein, it will not have the harmful saturated fat content. Remember that even an orange has more than 5% of its calories from protein!
- Carry water with you at all times. Try to drink water in place of soft drinks and other flavored beverages. A good rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces per day.
- Non-fat yogurt can make a great snack, and its healthy bacteria can help with various stomach problems.
- Consider eating organic. Organic food isn’t made with the use of a lot of harmful chemicals, or other harmful processes. Not only is organic food good for you, but it is sustainable and good for the environment too! Other foods can be extremely harmful to the environment.
- Read the labels on everything you eat. Do not just buy something because it is marketed as being “healthy.” Lots of companies trying to sell their food off as healthy when really it is full of high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, and hidden sugars. This is also the best way to learn about a product. It gives you almost all the information about that product you’ll ever need. If you’re trying to lose weight, try to choose foods with low calories. If you want to gain weight for a football team or some such reason, you are going to choose food with lots of calories. However, too many calories, not enough exercise, and eating too much at one time, can make you fat.
Continue Reading October 15th, 2008
An essay on the topic of weight regain used an example of a patient; who after undergoing gastric bypass regained 80% of the weight she had lost. Keeping in mind that such a surgical intervention leads to weight loss as much as 60% of your initial body weight this is some serious weight regain.
An essay on the topic of weight regain used an example of a patient; who after undergoing gastric bypass regained 80% of the weight she had lost. Keeping in mind that such a surgical intervention leads to weight loss as much as 60% of your initial body weight, this is some serious weight regain.
Just to give you the numbers, if the lady weighed 350 pounds with the gastric bypass she could have weighed 140 pounds having lost 210 pounds. But with the regain she would weigh about 308 pounds having regained over 160 pounds.
The question then that comes to mind is how in heavens name do you gain all that weight back on 5% of your stomachs capacity, that restricts food intake and re-routed intestines which minimally absorb calories?
Weight regain after gastric bypass is a frustration many surgeons have to deal with, unfortunately the surgery only affects your digestive system. The surgeon does not operate on your mind. And if the patient chooses not to stick with a lifestyle consistent with managing a healthy weight, regain is inevitable.
In the case of the said female patients she regained all this weight by having a sleeve of crackers on her desk. She ate a cracker every 10 minutes throughout the day for months.
With gastric bypass, the restrictive end of the procedure reduces the stomach into a small pouch the size of a golf or tennis ball. You just cannot have a lot of food in one sitting. Even further, since the intestines are so close to the esophagus (the food pathway from your mouth to stomach) it is easy to develop dumping syndrome when you eat high sugar foods like crackers.
This is because the food attracts a lot of water that tend to “flush backward” making you nauseous and can make you vomit. Though not a desirable experience it is a good thing as it teaches an individual to eat little and avoid sugary foods by force.
However the said lady managed to beat the “system” by eating small amounts of crackers all day long, a phenomenon known as grazing.
Another method of regaining weight even with gastric bypass is retraining your stomach. By the sixth to ninth month the small pouch of stomach is completely healed. It usually has restored it ability to stretch. And with slow but sure training you can stretch it to carry more and more amounts of food.
Combine an expanding stomach pouch with a high glycemic index diet that gets you hungry just hours after eating and your bathroom scale will start that clockwise movement again. Studies show that one can regain some substantial weight in 5 years from surgery if they are not careful.
More on weight loss and related topics like weight loss tools e.g. body mass index, glycemic load as well as weight loss programs
Continue Reading July 17th, 2007
While some diet programs claim that, when it comes to losing weight, what you eat is more important than what you do, the truth is that losing weight is a two-fold commitment.
While some diet programs claim that, when it comes to losing weight, what you eat is more important than what you do, the truth is that losing weight is a two-fold commitment. Exercise is an important part of health and wellness –and losing weight– that can’t be overlooked.
Everybody has different weight loss preferences and methods. I, for example, am the type of person who prefers to exercise rather than follow a restrictive diet. During a time when I wasn’t careful about nutrition, but stuck with a good exercise routine, I was still able to continue losing inches. I had tons of energy and I felt great. But although I was buying smaller sized clothing, there was no evidence of real weight loss on the scale.
Through much trial and error, I’ve found that I can lose a small amount of weight by watching my diet carefully or exercising, but it is only when I combine both methods together that I see faster and longer-lasting results. Dieting alone is not enough for me to lose weight… and depending on your body and lifestyle, it may not be enough for you, either.
Balancing Calories
Some diets will have you believe that losing weight is all about “calories in” verses “calories out”. In other words, you have to burn more calories than you eat in a day to create a calorie deficit. In theory, this makes sense. But I have discovered that my body doesn’t really work that way. I have experienced plateaus and weight gain even when I do all the things I know I need to do to lose weight, including dieting and exercise to burn off more calories than I eat.
Losing weight is a complicated process that takes time and a real devotion to a healthy lifestyle. Water cycles, medication, salt intake, dehydration, adding muscle and other things beyond your control can interfere with your weight loss progress.
When Diets Fail
Even the best diets can lead you to a plateau where you are stuck at one weight for an extended period of time. Often this happens because your body adjusts to the food and exercise routine you’ve adapted. This is a good time to evaluate your weight loss plan to see what’s working and what isn’t. Mix up your routine to keep things fresh and keep your metabolism fired up.
Plateaus can also occur at your body’s natural “set point”. My set point, for example, is unnaturally high. Getting beyond a certain point seems nearly impossible. By keeping a positive attitude, staying motivated and pushing forward rather than giving up, I know I can push past my set point to reach a new low.
I know that dieting alone is not enough for me to lose weight. I need to workout, have the right support system in place, maintain a positive attitude, and stay motivated to keep reaching for success. Try to find out what helps and hinders your weight loss goals, and make changes in your life that will reflect in your body.
Toronto LaparoscopicBAND Centre offers a safe, stable and sustainable way to lose weight with Laparascopic Band surgery. http://www.tlbc.ca/
Continue Reading July 17th, 2007
The secret to any weight loss regimen is to burn more calories then you take in. This is basic Weight Loss 101. There are several ways you can remedy a slow metabolism and turn it into a fat burning machine.
The secret to any weight loss regimen is to burn more calories then you take in. This is basic Weight Loss 101. There are several ways you can remedy a slow metabolism and turn it into a fat burning machine.
First though let’s take a quick look at metabolism and how calories are used by the body. Calories are the fuel source for the body’s cells and systems. Without consuming a certain amount of calories everyday we would not only starve but all our bodily functions would start to shut down, much like a car running out of gas. This is what makes dieting such a hard way to keep any weight off that you may lose. As you reduce your caloric intake your body reacts by going into its “I’m starving” mode. Your metabolism will actually begin to slow down as your body begins conserving it energy which is of course your fat stores.
The human body requires a certain amount of calories each day to sun at optimum efficiency. Once you go below this threshold your results will begin to diminish and your body will actually begin to turn on itself, using lean muscle tissue to get the energy it needs to survive.
But there is a way to remedy your metabolism situation. By simply making some lifestyle changes you can rev up your metabolism to not only lose weight but keep it off and live a much healthier life. There are two areas that you will need to focus on, but with a little work and patience you will see the results you want.
The first area that needs to be looked at is diet. The food you eat will dictate how much you can increase your metabolism and start losing weight. As stated above food is the fuel that powers the body. The higher the grade of fuel the better the engine will run. What happens if you pour sugar in the gas tank of a car? It clogs up the injectors and the car will eventually not run. The same thing happens to your body when you eat processed and refined foods; it plugs up the body’s systems and turns easily into fat.
The best slow metabolism remedy when it comes to diet is to eat foods that have a high nutrient value. That is they are full of vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. Some of these foods, particularly the fruits and vegetables, are considered negative calorie foods and actually require more calories to digest then they contain.
The second area that will promote a metabolism boost is exercise. Both cardiovascular and weight training are proven to increase the amount of calories burned not only during the exercise session but also after while the body rests and recovers. This is especially true of weight or resistance training. The more lean muscle mass you have the more calories you will burn just maintaining it and maintenance of muscle occurs during times of rest, not during the actual workout.
The remedy for a slow metabolism is simply making a few lifestyle changes. Start eating right and get some exercise to start the process. Keep adding to what you know and what you do and before long the weight will have come off and it will stay off allowing you to enjoy life the way you always wanted too.
If you are serious about losing weight then you must increase your metabolism.html. To find more information about your metabolism please visit the website Metabolism by clicking here.
Continue Reading July 17th, 2007
Just about everyone wants to know how to speed up their metabolism. And why not? The faster ones metabolic rate runs the more calories they expend even when at rest. For those who say they have a slow metabolism that well may be true, but for many of these people some simple lifestyle changes can turn their metabolism around and turn their own body into a fat burning machine.
Just about everyone wants to know how to speed up their metabolism. And why not? The faster ones metabolic rate runs the more calories they expend even when at rest. For those who say they have a slow metabolism that well may be true, but for many of these people some simple lifestyle changes can turn their metabolism around and turn their own body into a fat burning machine.
The human body is an engine that runs 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Its metabolic rate will vary depending on what it is doing at the time but it never shuts down. Understanding how metabolism works can help us understand how to increase our metabolism. The food we eat is the energy our body’s need to function. The thing is that not all food is equal when it comes to the energy provided. Some foods provide better energy, or calories, than others.
For those who have a slow metabolism cutting calories is actually not a good idea if they are trying to lose weight. In fact doing so will make their metabolism even slower as their body starts to conserve its energy stores for the perceived lean times it is going through. By changing the type and amount of calories eaten from healthy and nutritious food sources a metabolism increase can occur.
Eating food high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, and vitamins and minerals will give a definite metabolic boost. The body will actually expend more calories digesting and metabolizing these types of food over a longer period of time then the processed and refined food found on most supermarket shelves today. These processed and refined foods and sugars are one of the main reasons for the obesity epidemic we are seeing today.
One of the best ways to speed up a slow metabolism is to start exercising. This works in two ways. Any form of physical activity naturally raises the body’s metabolic rate as it takes more energy to do the activity. This can be as simple as going for a walk 3 or 4 times a week to starting a full fledged exercise program at the local gym. The other thing that exercise can do, and this is particularly true of weight training, is it raises the resting metabolism of the body. That is your metabolism is higher even during times of rest or inactivity.
The secret to speed up a slow metabolism is really not a secret. It’s simply making some changes in diet and exercising more. By making these lifestyle changes you can lose weight and live a more healthy life.
To learn more about your metabolism, how it works, and how to speed up metabolism click here.
Continue Reading July 17th, 2007
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