The Basics of a Healthy Diet

Eating a healthy balanced diet can help you keep slim and trim and give you lots of energy. You want to eat a diet with the right number of calories, lots of good foods, and a whole lot less of foods that are bad for you.

OK, that seems a little too simplistic. In reality, it takes a bit of work to eat a healthy balanced diet, so I'll walk you through the process. If you're unsure of what your diet says about you & your lifestyle, this quiz is here to help!

How Many Calories Do You Need?

On average, an adult will need somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day to maintain his or her current weight. The number of calories you need depends on your natural size (that's the size you should be), muscle mass, activity level, age, and gender. There are calorie tables and calculators that will help you estimate your daily calorie need. But keep in mind these really are estimates—since you may have differences in your metabolism, you may need a few more or a few less calories than what the calculators show. Over time, you will know to adjust your overall calorie intake up or down by monitoring your weight. The less you weight, the less calories you need. I think that 2000 to 2500 is okay for an active person that is working out everyday and weighs over 160 pounds. The average person doesn't need 2000 calories a day if they have a small frame and if your trying to lose weight 2000 might be too many calories.

Keep a Food Diary

If you need to lose weight, gain weight, watch your fat, protein, or sodium intake, you'll have an easier time if you use a food diary. You can use a notebook, or you can use a web-based diet program, to keep track of your diet online.

Start by just writing down everything you eat for 3 or 4 days before you start a diet so you can see how many calories you're currently consuming.

Look at how many healthy foods you eat now and how many unhealthy foods you choose as well.

Once you understand your current diet, you will learn which healthy foods you need to eat more of and which ones you need to eat less of. Eating the right foods will help you lose weight.

Choose the Right Foods

Once you know how many calories you need, your next step is to choose foods that will offer lots of good nutrition for the calories you take in. What that means is that for every calorie you consume, look for the nutrition you'll get out of those calories. Avoid calories that aren't giving you any nutrition like sugar. Sometimes you can burn more body fat, not by cutting calories, but by changing the foods you eat. Empty calories won't create any energy and you need energy to burn body fat.

For example, at snack time, you could choose a healthy food such as a cup of blueberries for about 85 calories or a small glazed doughnut for 100 calories. Although there is only 15 calories difference between the two, the blueberries make a much better choice for a healthy diet. The blueberries are packed with vitamins, antioxidants and very low in fat. The glazed doughnut has very little nutritional value and a lot of unhealthy fats and sugars for such a small treat. Eating snacks with protein like a cup of Greek yogurt will create energy for your body to burn body fat. Try and eat some protein at every meal. But only eat meat once a day. 

Here's another example. Think about selecting fish for a meal—either 6 ounces of salmon or 5 fish sticks. Both the salmon and the fish sticks would offer roughly about the same number of calories, but the salmon would be a better choice because it's a great source of protein, B vitamins, and omega-3 essential fatty acids, while the fish sticks contain loads of unhealthy fats and sodium from the breading. Don't get confused, seafood is not meat, and it's a great substitute. Poultry is also a good substitute for meat. The trouble with meat is the animal fat you consume with the meat. You can talk to your doctor about that.

In general healthy foods are foods that are not covered in sauces, not baked into desserts, not deep-fried, heavily refined or processed.

By this I mean:

An apple is healthy; a piece of apple pie is not.
A lean piece of broiled steak is better than a greasy chicken-fried steak.
Turkey or chicken is lower in saturated fats than red meats.
Whole grain bread and cereals offer more fiber than white, refined bread and cereals.
Whole grain plain breakfast cereals are a better choice than sugar frosted breakfast cereals.
Eating a healthy balanced diet also means eating a variety of foods. Choose foods from each of the food groups to make sure you are getting all of the nutrients that you need. And pick healthy foods, not junk foods.

If you're not sure of the nutritional content of any packaged food, be sure to read the Nutrition Facts food labels to understand the nutritional content for the amount of calories per serving.

Dairy and Calcium Sources

Choose two or three servings from the dairy and calcium group each day. If you don’t like, or can't eat dairy products, look for deep green leafy vegetables or calcium-fortified orange juice and other foods.

1 cup of low- or non-fat milk
2 slices of cheese
1 cup of yogurt
1/3 cup of shredded cheese
1 cup cooked spinach
1 cup cooked or fresh broccoli
Whole Grains and Cereals

The United States Department of Agriculture suggests that you eat from six to eleven servings of grains and cereals each day, and at least half of those servings should be from whole grains.

Whole grains and cereals are great ways to get enough fiber in your diet and to add beneficial vitamins and minerals.

1 slice of whole wheat bread.
1/2 cup brown rice.
1/2 cup cooked quinoa.
1 cup of whole grain cereal.
1/2 cup oatmeal.
4 or 5 whole grain crackers.
2 cups air-popped popcorn
More Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits and vegetables provide lots of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fiber, and you probably need 2 or 3 cups, or more, of vegetables per day, plus some fruit. It's difficult to imagine being healthy without eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Good fruit and vegetable serving choices include:

1/2 cup of sweet corn
1 piece of fresh fruit such as an apple, a pear or a peach
1/2 cup fruit cocktail
1/2 cup berries like strawberries or raspberries
1/2 half cup of black beans or pinto beans
1 small baked potato
1 cup of green beans
1 cup of broccoli
Healthy Protein Sources

You can easily get all the protein you need from plant sources such as dry beans and nuts, but most people prefer meat, fish and eggs as their main protein sources. You need 2 or 3 servings of protein each day.

3 ounces of cooked lean beefsteak.

3 ounces of lean cooked pork chop.

I cup of non-fat Greek Yogurt

One small baked chicken breast.

6 ounces of cooked oily ocean fish such as salmon or tuna.

1/2 cup of dry beans such as pinto beans or navy beans.

1 ounce of nuts, about 25 almonds, 13 cashews or 9 walnuts.

Healthy Fats and Oils ( plant based )

Olive and canola oil are good fats. So are the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and soy.

Trans fats are bad and eating too much saturated fat—like the fat in red meat—isn't recommended. You don’t need to add a lot of extra oil to your diet, just make healthy food and cooking choices, and you'll do just fine. The Mediterranean diet (recommended by most doctors) will only recommend red meat twice a month. Poultry and seafood are the best meat choices. The fats in seafood and poultry aren"t the same as animal fat and your body can process these fats. 

Also, don't drink calories and don't drink anything containing fat. Your dairy should be non-fat and your drinks no-calorie. The best is filtrated water.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

The New Years Resolution

This is the one big promise we make to ourselves every year but seldom keep. I can't speak for everyone, but for the ones obsess with losing weight, don't make that resolution about the bathroom scale. If this is the promise you have been making for years, "this is the year I'm going to lose weight", it's time for a change. This year you want to promise your going to "live a healthier life".

Step off the scale now and no one will get hurt. Focusing just on weight loss can lead to cycles of losing and regaining weight, lower self-esteem, and a preoccupation with food and body image.

“You’ll do better if you have goals that have to do not with weight, but with health,” says Carol Landau, Ph.D., clinical professor of psychiatry and medicine at the Alpert Medical School, Brown University. While a New Year’s resolution is a great way to get in touch with what’s important and how you want to change, “Most diets don’t work,” she says.

“A focus on weight loss tends to result in a quick-fix approach to a permanent challenge,” she says. “Instead, focus on finding health results in lifestyle changes that are more likely to last.”

The irony is, if you make your resolutions about wellness, rather than weight, you may get the best of both worlds: You’ll feel better, get healthier and yes, lose weight. By eating the right foods and being more active your body will burn up that excess body fat.

"The reason most people fail to lose weight is that they don't realize that it's their lifestyle that caused them to gain the excess body fat and it's their lifestyle that prevents them from losing their fat." In most all cases when an adult gains weight it's because they're gain body fat.

Good: Resolve to change daily behaviors

“If you’re totally inactive, it may be walking a mile every day". “If you’re already pretty active, it might be training to run a 5k race.” Or it could be a promise to cut out processed foods. Let your goals be achievable and based on things you can actually do, rather than weight-loss results. It could be eating a healthy breakfast every morning, or eating fish twice a week and making sure you sit down when you eat.

You might resolve to eat a fruit or vegetable at every meal of the day. Eating more fruits and vegetables, along with drinking plenty of water and walking daily, has been shown to be a pretty powerful combo when it comes to weight-loss success. But that’s not your concern now. Before you get there, your goal is to create a healthy habit you can sustain. Same goes for exercise: Your goal is to create a habit that will improve the health of your body and mind.

You won’t have to rely on the scale to know if you’ve been successful, either. If you have an orange at breakfast, a salad at lunch and a green vegetable at dinner, you’ve won. Took a 20-minute walk during your lunch break? Pat yourself on the back. Any improvements you can make in your diet or your activity level will improve your health.

That said, The more improvements you make the quicker the results. Yes, any small improvements will help over the long term, but big improvements can show results in a short amount of time.

When I first decided to "get healthy" I stopped eating my normal diet and started to eat a low-fat, low-carb diet of meat and vegetables. Oatmeal for breakfast and a salad for lunch. That it. I didn't skimp on food, I ate a small amount of food every two hours or so. Between my three basic meals I'd eat fruit or a yogurt cup. I was eating 6 times a day in small quantities. I never got hungry. I was eating all fresh foods. That alone will curb your appetite. Fresh food is more sadisfying than manufactured food and yogurt is manufactured, but I stuck to Greek yogurt, it has less sugar and has more protein. Eating protein is important and you should try and eat protein at every meal.

You can tweet me at #ray0369

I write several blogs, Check out some of my other sites.

gettingtoahealthyweight.blog

idropped40pounds.wordpress.com

howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com

blogonlosingweight.com

blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

Reasons Your Not Losing

The one thing that's so hard about exercise and weight loss is this: It's hard to burn enough calories with exercise to make a serious dent in your weight. In fact, the workouts that are most effective for weight loss are the hardest ones:  High intensity interval training, tabata training or metabolic conditioning. 

If you're a veteran exerciser, you might enjoy torturous workouts on a regular basis. If you're not?  You may find any amount of exercise hard to accomplish. Unfortunately, that may end up hurting your weight loss efforts.

So, how much exercise do you need and how can you fit it in? Use these tips below to make the most out of your exercise time.

Cardio

For weight loss, you'll need to do at least 5 days of cardio at a moderate intensity for at least 30 minutes but, frankly, it usually takes more than that to really burn calories. Your best bet: Interval training 2-3 days a week and more moderate workouts on the other days. By alternating high intensity segments with recovery, you'll burn more calories and build endurance more quickly. You'll also get a great afterburn. You don't have to be an experienced exerciser to try interval training.  Strength Training

Strength training is incredibly important for weight loss, but some people - well, let's just be honest...women - stick with cardio because they like it, it burns more calories in one fell swoop and they don't want to get bulky. But muscle is much more active than fat, so the more you build, the more weight you lose over the long term.

Your best bet with weight training: Circuit Training. By doing an exercise, one after the other, you keep your heart rate up and burn more calories. It also makes the workout a little more exciting so you're not as bored.  If you're a beginner, start with this Basic Cardio and Strength Circuit or try one of these circuit training workouts. Do a couple of circuit workouts along with your cardio and you'll start to see some results.

Note:  Many people don't lift enough weight to really challenge their muscles. If that sounds familiar, check out Weight Training 101 and my Workout Center to learn how to lift weights and get some workout ideas.

2

You're not getting enough sleep

Lack of sleep can contribute to weight gain, though experts aren't exactly sure why. In her article, Sleep More to Lose Weight, Mary Shomon discusses a recent study that found that women who slept 5 hours a night were more likely to gain weight than women who slept 7 hours a night.

The reasons? Some studies have shown that losing sleep could affect metabolism by making you feel hungry, even if you're not. Sleep deprivation may affect the secretion of cortisol, one of the hormones that regulates appetite. There's also a theory that we move around less when we don't get enough sleep, which means we burn less calories.

Getting enough sleep is crucial if you're trying to lose weight, not just because of how it affects you physically, but mentally as well. Sleep deprivation makes you cranky, confused and can even make you feel depressed or angry.

Make sleep a priority by trying to get to bed at the same time each night, shooting for about 8 hours, if you can manage it. Having some bedtime rituals such as a hot bath or some time writing down your worries can help you unwind before bed. You can also try power napping, which can be a great way to reduce stress and increase your productivity.

3

You're too stressed out

Stress and weight gain (or lack of weight loss) go hand in hand. Though you may not be aware of it, being under constant stress can increase production of the hormone cortisol which can cause an increase in appetite as well as extra fat storage around the abdominal region--a big no-no since abdominal fat is linked to diabetes, high cholesterol and other health problems.

Dealing with stress can be as simple as taking a few minutes a day to relax, scheduling a massage as often as you can or cutting down on work hours and increasing play time. The one thing that's so hard about exercise and weight loss is this: It's hard to burn enough calories with exercise to make a serious dent in your weight. In fact, the workouts that are most effective for weight loss are the hardest ones:  High intensity interval training, tabata training or metabolic conditioning. 

If you're a veteran exerciser, you might enjoy torturous workouts on a regular basis. If you're not?  You may find any amount of exercise hard to accomplish. Unfortunately, that may end up hurting your weight loss efforts.

So, how much exercise do you need and how can you fit it in? Use these tips below to make the most out of your exercise time.

4

You're eating too much

This may seem obvious, but unless you're tracking your calories each day, you may be eating more than you think. Portion control is one culprit, especially with restaurants providing enough food in one meal to feed several people.

If you're really serious about losing weight, you need to get serious about your eating. Start by keeping a detailed food journal for one week, without changing any of your eating habits. Be as specific as possible, measuring when you can, looking up your calorie and nutrient content and adding up your calories for each day. You'll be surprised how those calories can sneak in when you're not keeping track. 

Something else to think about is metabolism, which can drop as you get older if you don't preserve your muscle mass. Some estimates show that muscle mass declines about 4% each decade from age 25 to 50. If you're still eating the same number of calories as your metabolism drops, your weight may creep up over time. Start exercising and lifting weights now to keep your metabolism in check.

5

You're not consistent with your exercise and healthy eating

If you find your workouts are hit-or-miss and that you give in to temptation a bit too easily, your weight loss may hit the skids. For exercise to work, you have to do it on a regular basis. Once your body adapts to your program, you then need to change it to keep your body challenged. If you skip too many workouts, it's almost like starting all over every time.

Sticking with exercise starts with finding a program you enjoy and that fits in with your lifestyle, goals and needs. That means being realistic about what you'll really accomplish each week rather than going by what you think you should be doing. Use these resources to learn more about enjoying your workouts and making exercise a priority:

Learn how to Enjoy Exercise
Get Out of Your Rut

6

You blow it on the weekends

Having some treats now and then is fine, but if you find you do very well during the week only to eat yourself silly on the weekends, you may be hurting your weight loss goals.

To lose one pound of fat in one week, you would need to cut 500 calories with diet and exercise for 7 days. If you only follow that for 5 days, then eat way over your limit for two more days, you're taking two steps forward and one step back. The trick is to plan your indulgences so that you can have some fun while staying on track with your weight loss goals. Try these tips for a healthy weekend:

• Avoid a free-for-all weekend. Instead, choose one or two treats to enjoy and continue eating healthy the rest of the time.
• Avoid rewarding yourself with food. If you've been eating healthy all week, it's natural to want to reward yourself with a yummy treat. That kind of thinking can set you back (much like a smoker who rewards himself for staying smoke-free with a cigarette). Instead of food, reward yourself with a calorie-free treat--a trip to the movies, a massage or a new pair of shoes.
• Keep moving. If you like to rest on the weekends, why not make your rests more active? Spend time taking a long walk with your family or tossing a football in the backyard.

7

You haven't given yourself enough time to see results

 The problem comes in when trying to determine how many calories you're burning with exercise. You can use a calorie calcuator, but that's often overestimated. How many calories you burn with exercise often comes down to things we can't measure such as how hard you're working and your fitness level.

Add to that the fact that there are many factors that affect weight loss which, again, can't always be measured or accounted for with the tools we have to track progress. In that sense, your body may be making changes that can't yet be measured with a scale or a tape measure.

Give your body time to respond to what you're doing. It may be weeks or months before you see significant changes so don't freak out if you're not seeing results after only a few weeks. Being patient and taking it one day at a time will allow you to enjoy the journey instead of focusing on the destination.

8

You have a medical condition

Some medical conditions and medications can contribute to weight gain. While not everyone will find this to be true, it's important to explore every avenue if you're genuinely following an exercise program and a clean diet and still not losing weight.

One condition known to affect weight is thyroid disease. A thyroid deficiency can cause a decrease in metabolism and may lead to weight gain. Visit these resources to learn more about the symptoms and treatment:

Thyroid Disease 101

Prescription Medications

There are any number of drugs that may have weight gain as a side effect for some people. Some common ones include hormonal medications for birth control or menopause, oral steroids, some anti-depressants, diabetes medications and anti-psychotic medications. Wrong Diagnosis offers a comprehensive list of other medications that may affect weight.

You should get a diagnosis from a professional in order to determine whether your weight problems are medically-related.

9

You've hit a plateau

Almost everyone reaches a weight loss plateau at some point. As your body adapts to your workouts, it becomes more efficient at it and, therefore, doesn't expend as many calories doing it. You may find that after your initial weight loss, your progress will slow down and eventually stop.

Some common reasons for plateaus include:

• Doing the same workouts over and over. Your body needs to be challenged to progress, so make sure you're changing some part of your program every 4-6 weeks.
• Not eating enough calories. If your body doesn't have enough fuel to sustain your level of activity, you can actually stop losing weight.
• Overtraining. If you exercise too much, the body sometimes responds by decreasing the amount of calories you burn during the rest of your day.

Learn more about whether you've hit a plateau by keeping an exercise calendar and tracking your workouts, how often you change them and whether you're working too hard or need to boost your intensity. Get more tips at Understanding Weight Loss Plateaus.

10

You don't need to lose weight

Despite what you hear on the news or read in popular magazines, not all of us need to lose weight. In fact, many of us have unrealistic ideas of what a healthy weight and body shape is. We all have different shapes and, though we can make changes to our bodies, we can only improve on the bodies we have--not turn them into someone else's body.

I have a challenge for you: Take away all the reasons you want to lose weight that have anything to do with how you look. Now, look at what's left...are there any other reasons that you need to lose weight? Are you at risk for medical conditions such as diabetes or heart disease? Is your BMI in an unhealthy range? Are you within your ideal weight range? If you're at risk, losing weight may be important for staying healthy. But, if you're very close to your goal and can't seem to get rid of those last few pounds, ask yourself if you really need to lose them. Would it be possible to be happy at your current weight?

You can tweet me at #ray0369

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks.  “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

It's Christmas, Forget The Diet

It's a very special day for every family. A day of celebration. I hope you can spend some time with your family, even if it's on the phone.

Celebrating has always involved food and drink, it's a tradition that has gone on for thousands of years and I'm sure it will continue on, but we don't have to pig-out.

Yes, you have to taste the important traditional dishes that your friends or relatives have taken hours to prepare, but use a small plate, take small amounts and try and avoid the sugary stuff. Remember you can't work-off a lot of calories.

A one hour workout for an experienced athlete will only burn about 300 calories. For a person with less athletic experience you might only burn 100 calories. On a festive holiday like Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year it's easy to consume 3000 to 4000 calories between all the food, snacks, and drinks for the day. That kind of consumption can increase your weight by 2 or 3 pounds at least.

So if you can hold down your calorie count to say 2000 calories which should only be a few hundred more than normal, you should be able to work off those extra calories in a couple of day.

The problem we all have this time of year is the continual party, one after the other with very little time inbetween to recoup. Than there's the shopping for gifts. We go after work and spend a couple hours trying to find gifts and no time to eat, so we eat in restaurants with friends which involves more celebrating and more calories.

Did you know that the hoiday season is the busiest time of the year for restaurants. It's not unusual for a family to eat out 4 or 5 times a week during the holidays. So if you add up all the meals we eat in restaurants and all the social events we have to attend, it's no wonder that the average adult will gain between 5 and 10 pounds during the holidays.

This is the typical weight gain you have to avoid. It can take months to recoup, if you can recoup. Most of us will try to diet in January. We'll lose some weight but not much, because the winters are cold and in the cold weather we tend to eat more comfort food and that's high-calorie food.

Eating the wrong foods even in small portions will keep you from losing weight. You can't exercise away a bad diet. Once the weather starts to warm up most of us find it easier to cut back on food, but by that time it's hard to break the bad habits we had during the winter. We will trim down a little because we are more active in the spring and summer because the days are longer and we have more time to work outside.

I know all about this life cycle because that is the way my life was. All the weight I would gain during the cold months never quit left me. I always ended up one or two pounds heavier at the end of the year. Of course, we never remember how much we weighed the year before, so we don't realize we keep gaining weight every year. That cycle is call "creeping obesity". The one or two pounds you gain every year and don't even realize it. Then when you get to be 50, you wonder how you gained all that weight. On average, a 50 year old male will weigh between 40 and 60 more than he did on his 21st birthday. The more you weigh when your 21, the more you'll gain over the years. This doesn't hold true in all cases, it's an average over the entire population, some people are very athletic and never gain weight. I weigh the same today as I weighed when I was 17, of course I spent years yo-yoing from 220 pounds down to 160.

Be mindful what you eat. Keeping your body is good condition is your responsibility. It would be better for you and better for your health if you never gained any extra weight. When an adult gains weight they are adding body fat. Not good. The human body is only built to carry a small amount of body fat, like 15% of your weight. It's there in case of emergency. When you can't find food your body will still have fat to survive on. But because of the American diet we are adding too much fat and it only causes health problems.

Controlling your weight and keeping your body in good condition is your responsibility. Your doctor can only relieve your symptons. Give a pills or repair a broken bone. Your body has to heal itself and your have to feed it the nutrition it needs to do that.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks.  “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Getting the Skinny, Slim Body You Always Wanted

The best time in your life to get the body you want is when you're in your 20's. When your younger it's easier and your skin will contract easier.

Are you ready to get serious about your body? This might be the first time you’ve had to really think about losing weight or getting in shape. If your out of school now and you started to work this may be the perfect time to get in shape. But there's no need to panic. You can take off the pounds and set up healthy habits to get skinny and keep the weight from coming back. Post this list on your bathroom mirror to serve as a daily reminder of the things you need to do to get in shape so that you not only get fit, but you stay lean and healthy for life. If you can get this right now, your life can be so much better going forward.

Ways to Get Lean and Healthy 

Redefine “skinny.”

We often use the word, “skinny,” but let’s face it, ladies, skin and bones are not sexy. What you really want is a sleek, tight physique. That means muscle. “Contrary to common belief, muscle makes you leaner, smaller and firmer, not bigger and bulkier.” 

Eat more protein. Yes, I know there are cupcakes and pretzels in your office lunchroom, but if you want to get fit and healthy you won’t eat them. Opt for snacks and meals that are full of protein to build muscle and boost your metabolism. Lean protein will also help you feel full so you eat less throughout the day.

Workout harder.

Short, intense workouts are most effective for weight loss. When you’re young, you’re more likely to be healthy enough for vigorous activity. So take advantage of it! Learn how to do interval training to burn more fat in less time.
Ignore magazines. Did you know that women’s magazines contain 10.5 times as many ads promoting weight loss as men’s magazines? Many of the ads promote unrealistic claims and use airbrushed images that can make you feel hopeless. Focus on building the strongest, fittest version of your own body to boost your confidence and keep your commitment in tact.

Skip the fad diets.

Quick weight loss is effective in some circumstances, but many fad diets promote short-term loss that will mess with your metabolism. “If you are young and haven’t done too much yo-yo dieting, your metabolism will respond to pretty much any change you expose it to,” says Hundt. She recommends that you skip the trendy diets and opt for a healthy diet of lean protein and vegetables. It’s often cheaper than processed food, too!

Drink less booze.

Heads up, party girls! Your drinking may be causing more than just a morning headache. The calories you consume from drinking wine, beer or cocktails can add up to pounds on the scale each year. Want to make a single change to slim down? Make a plan to drink less for weight loss and better health. It works!

Build healthy habits.

Now is the time to establish daily activity habits to burn calories. Healthy lifestyle routines will help you slim down in the short run and prevent weight gain in the future. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, stand up while you work at the office, walk to lunch instead of taking the car.

Get organized.

The hardest thing about losing weight in your 20s is trying to eat healthy when you have a crazy social schedule. Let’s face it, you have better things to do than slaving over a hot stove to cook healthy meals every night. So learn a few basic meal-planning strategies to minimize your food prep time and maximize your access to diet-boosting foods will keep you lean even when you’re on the run.

Clean out your closet.

Think of your weight loss plan as a long-term strategy, not a quick fix solution. As you slim down, get rid of the clothes that no longer fit. According to Hundt, when you keep bigger items “you send your brain the message that you will eventually get back to your old weight.” Go all in, girls! Kiss the fat jeans goodbye and don’t let them back in your closet.

Watch your snack habits.

Do you know how many calories should come from snacks each day? Get the answer based on your caloric needs. Then try to be more aware of your snack habits throughout the day. Try to eat less when you watch television and rein in the late night nibbles when you’re out on the town.

The good thing about trying to get skinny in your 20s is that your body is more likely to respond to small changes, says Hundt. So get organized, get serious and get confident to make small adjustments and get a fit, healthy body for life.

Your diet is "key", make Greek Yogurt your go to snack food along with small amounts or nuts, fruits and seeds. Eat natural foods and skip the processed foods.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

“How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

How Long Will It Take To See Results?

I can't tell you how many people will write in with this same question. They've been dieting and can't see any difference.

So I looked for some answers and found this post. This post first appeared on VeryWell.com. Check it out.

The time it takes for you to see (and others to notice) weight loss results can vary from person to person. Many factors, including your starting size and your eating plan, can make a big difference. In general, however, many people can see results in one to two weeks if they stick to their plan. Let me add something, sometimes "how long it takes" depends on how long you have carried around the extra weight and your age, but in defense of this author, I will say that anyone in normal health can lose weight.

Factors That Affect How Quickly You'll See Weight Loss Results

There are many different factors that affect how fast you'll see diet results.

Unfortunately, there is no clear cut answer about how soon your weight loss will show. These are some of the reasons that results can vary.

Your starting size. If your starting weight falls into the obese range on the body mass index, it is not impossible for your weight to change up to 20 pounds in a single day. But that amount of weight loss may not be very noticeable on a larger frame. However, if you are a petite woman and you lose 20 pounds that amount of weight loss can be the difference between several clothing sizes. It would be nearly impossible (and terribly unsafe), however, for a tiny woman to lose that much weight in a day. If you are smaller, you are likely to have less weight to lose and it will come off a little bit slower. When your starting body size is larger, you are likely to lose more weight at a faster rate—especially in the early days of in your program.
Diet type. Some diets are set up to include an initial phase where you lose more weight. Atkins, South Beach and many other popular programs include a jump start for a week or two when food restriction is more intense and you lose more weight. You can lose five pounds or more per week during this initial phase. As a result, the weight loss will be noticeable sooner.
Healthy Eating

Learn diet tips and recipes that make food the easiest part of your weight loss plan.

Carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrate restriction can lead to quick water loss. When you lose water weight, you are likely to feel and look thinner. For some people, lost water weight can make the difference between two different clothing sizes. But losing water weight is different than losing fat. While cutting back on carbs is a smart approach to weight loss for many dieters, it needs to be part of a comprehensive program of healthy eating for sustained weight loss to occur.
How often you weigh yourself. You're more likely to see big changes in the number if you weigh yourself less often. Why? Because if you weigh yourself once a week, the result will be the total number of pounds lost over seven days. If you weigh yourself everyday, you're likely to see small changes and you may even see weight gain. There are many different reasons that your weight changes every day and it is not always the result of how well you followed your diet.
How you measure weight loss results. When you start a diet program, your goal may be to fit into a smaller clothing size. Or perhaps the number on the scale means more to you. Others want to see changes to a certain body part—like thinner thighs or a flatter tummy.

In most cases, you're likely to see changes on the scale first, especially if you have a high tech scale. A digital scale can pick up small changes in your total body weight (even fractions of a pound )that may too small to notice on a single isolated part of your body.

Next, you're likely to see changes in your clothing. Your actual size won't change right away, but you'll notice that your clothes start to fit more comfortably and hang a little bit looser. You're most likely to notice this change sooner if you typically wear more fitted (tighter) clothing. Eventually, if you stick to your weight loss program, the weight loss from your total body will result in a reduction in your clothing size.

Lastly, you'll see changes to each body part. Of course, these changes will be happening throughout the entire weight loss process. But you may not notice thinner thighs, for example, until you've lost several pounds. You're more likely to see body part changes sooner if you start an exercise program while you are dieting. Keep in mind, however, that exercise can improve the shape of your body and make it tighter and more attractive. But improved muscle mass can result in weight gain on the scale—even though your body is smaller and looks better.
How Long Until My Clothing Size Changes?

One of the best parts of the weight loss journey is when you go to the store and learn that you fit into a smaller clothing size. For most dieters, this is the moment when you feel that all of your hard work has paid off. So how long does it take before you enjoy that special experience? Again, it varies. Height plays a big role.

If you are a petite woman who is five feet tall, a ten pound weight loss may mean that you've lost up to ten percent of your body weight. That amount of weight loss will be very noticeable and can change her clothing size up to two sizes. But if you are a very tall athletic woman, a ten-pound loss probably won't even be noticeable and may not change your clothing size at all.

Many experts say that you should expect to change one clothing size with every 10-12 pounds of weight lost. But we usually don't lose weight evenly throughout our bodies. Unfortunately, the stubborn areas usually take the longest to change. So your bra size may get smaller faster than your pant size. Ultimately your clothing size depends on the measurement of each particular body part.

To change your pant size you need to reduce your waist size by about 1 to 1.5 inches and your hip size by the same amount.
To change your top size you need to reduce your bust and waist measurement by approximately one inch in smaller sizes (size 8 and under) and 1.5 inches in medium and larger sizes (size 10 and up).
To change your dress size you need to reduce your waist, bust and hip measurements by approximately one inch each depending on the style of the dress and the fit you prefer.
When You'll See Weight Loss Results (Sample Timeline)

Remember that a new clothing size and smaller body are not the only benefits of weight loss. These are some weight loss changes that you're likely to see and a sample timeline of when you're likely to see them if you stick to a healthy reduced-calorie eating plan and a moderate exercise program.

Week one: Most dieters start to see some change in the scale (usually up to five pounds) during this week. You're likely to feel better, but not see major changes in your body.
Week two: During week two you're likely to start to see changes in the way your body looks and feels. Exercise starts to feel easier and your clothes will start to feel loose.
Week three: Week three is when you start to feel momentum in your weight loss journey. If you've been consistent in your plan, your body is responding well and you start to feel like the program is successful.
Week four: By week four it is very possible that you've lost enough weight (safely) to be a different clothing size.
After week four your new eating plan is starting to feel like more of a normal routine. Depending on the amount of weight you have to lose, you may start to return to an adjusted eating plan for weight maintenance.

For anyone to notice a weight loss, I had to lose two pants sizes. This really doesn't have much to do with your weight. You have to lose body fat and that will change your appearance.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

“How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

Brisk Walking Will Keep You Thinner

Which exercise is best for keeping off weight? A long term study found that people who enjoyed a 30-minute brisk walk most days had the smallest waists and lowest body mass indexes. Brisk walking beat gym exercise and sports for staying slim. Brisk walking was associated with being thinner, especially for women, and people over age 50.

Does Brisk Walking Beat Other Physical Activity for Staying Thin?

In Britain as well as the US and many other countries, health authorities recommend 30 minutes or more per day of moderately intense physical activity for health and weight management.

The researchers wanted to find out which activity was most effective, and the data showed that brisk walking was the winner.

What is Brisk Walking?

Brisk or fast walking is at a pace where you are breathing heavier than normal and the heart rate is elevated. To be in the moderately-intense activity zone, you should have a heart rate of 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate. Use our heart rate calculator to find this number for your age.

The study focused on brisk walking rather than strolling at an easy pace and lower heart rate, in order to compare it to jogging, gym exercise and sports.

The subjects of the study determined for themselves whether they were brisk/fast walking.

Study Finds Brisk Walking Associated with Lower Fatness Measures

The study looked at data collected in the annual Health Survey for England (HSE) from 1999 to 2012. Over 68,000 respondants reported on how many days in the past month they engaged in 30 minutes or more of moderately intense activities.

The categories were:

• walking at a fast or brisk pace
• sports or exercise including swimming, cycling, gym workouts, dancing, running/jogging, football, tennis and other racquet sports.
• heavy housework
• heavy manual activities

Measurements were made of body mass index, which uses the ratio of height to weight, and measurement of waist circumference. A wider waist shows central obesity, which is associated with developing health problems independently of BMI.

The exciting results were that brisk walking beats the other activities for predicting who has a lower BMI and smaller waist. The graphs of the data show a consistent downward trend in these fatness measures with the number of days of brisk walking each month. Brisk walking five or more days per week was a good target, consistent with the health recommendations for physical activity.

Who Benefits the Most from Brisk Walking?

The good news is that brisk walking worked best for populations who may be less inclined to join in sports or didn't have access to recreational facilities.

• People over age 50 regardless of gender
• People who are pressed for time. 
• People who are unable to do conventional exercise

There is no monetary cost to walking so it is very likely that the benefits will outweigh the costs. A simple policy that 'every step counts' may be a step towards curbing the upward trend in obesity rates and beneficial for other health conditions.”

Why would walking be found to be more effective than spending the same amount of time in the gym? Walkers may be more faithful to their regimen over time. It can also be harder to know how much of your time spent in the gym is in moderately-intense exercise and whether you are performing the exercises correctly. Walking is much easier to get right and to know when you are breathing harder and working up a sweat.

How to Start Brisk Walking

People who enjoy walking at an easy pace can take steps to walk faster and raise the heart rate and breathing rate into the moderately-intense zone. Walking with good posture and arm motion can speed up the feet.

People who have difficulty in walking faster due to arthritis or other conditions can add walking poles or small hand weights to their walking workouts. Using walking poles can raise the heart rate while walking at your usual pace.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks.  “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.