Simple Dietary Change You Can Make To Lose Weight

Below are some simple changes you can make to your everyday diet to help you lose weight faster and healthier. This was first blogged on VeryWell.com. It merely demonstrates that losing weight can be easier than you think. It's the little things you do every day, the small decisions like adding a spoon of sugar to coffee or using cream instead of non-fat milk or what you eat for breakfast. It all adds up. It's easy to 1000 calories a day and you don't even realize it.

1

Make Water, Tea And/Or Black Coffee Your Sole Beverages

Benjamin Carpenter/EyeEm/Getty Images

Given that sugar-sweetened beverages have been identified as a leading cause of the obesity epidemic, it makes sense to eliminate those from your diet entirely. And while you’re at it, get rid of the high-calorie, high-end coffee drinks.

And the sports drinks and fruit juices, which are usually just “liquid sugar” by another name. Black coffee and unsweetened tea will be okay if you need your caffeine, as they are very low in calories (and tea and coffee drinking have been shown to have health benefits).

But “water, water everywhere” should become your mantra, and here’s why: water has no calories. Zero. Nada. Compare that to the hundreds of (wasted) calories that you could easily consume drinking sodas and other sugared beverages, and you can see how easily the balance will tilt in your favor.

2

Eliminate White Bread, and Eat Whole Grains in Moderation

Teubner/Getty Images

Whole grains are an important source of dietary fiber and essential nutrients, so look for 100% whole-grain or whole-wheat bread, and limit to two slices per day if you are trying to lose weight.

Research has found that reducing white bread intake is associated with a higher likelihood of losing weight and keeping it off. When it comes to bread, white bread, in particular, is problematic, because it is highly processed and full of refined carbohydrates that the human body quickly turns into sugar (i.e., it has a high glycemic index). Unlike whole-wheat bread, white bread has very little, if any, fiber, and thus is almost devoid of nutritional value.

Think of all the sources of white bread in your diet—sandwich bread and buns, pizza crusts, croutons (which, on top of everything else, are soaked in oil!), biscuits, dinner rolls, and more. And then stop eating them entirely. Switch to a 100% whole wheat source of bread or even go breadless. You’ll be amazed at how much weight you lose this way, and how fast.

3

Eat the Majority of Your Calories Earlier in the Day

Uwe Krejci/Getty Images

There is a famous line by American nutritionist Adelle Davis (1904 – 1974): “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.” In other words, make dinner your lightest meal instead of your heaviest.

And there is a lot of scientific evidence to back this up. Studies have shown that people who eat the majority of their calories earlier in the day tend to lose more weight—and do so faster--than those who save their calories for the evening or night. This may be because eating more food earlier gives you time to burn those calories as you naturally expend energy throughout the day, but other studies have shown changes in levels of the appetite hormones, leptin, and ghrelin, that also play a role.

You can tweet me with questions at #ray0369

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.

gettingtoahealthyweight.blog
idropped40pounds.wordpress.com
howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com
blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “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 e-book. 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 e-book 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

Do Men Lose Weight Faster Than Women?

The Rumor: Men lose weight more quickly than women

Many people believe that when it comes to weight loss, men have an advantage. Anecdotal stories of ladies sweating and struggling to lose a pound or two compare to tales of men cutting back on the junk, hitting the gym and watching the weight drop off. But what's the real truth?

The Verdict: Men do lose weight faster than women, at least at first

Men tend to have more lean muscle tissue, which burns more calories than body fat, even during rest. And when men and women cut the same number of calories, men usually do lose more weight -- but it’s short-term. “Over the long-term, the playing field is more equal,” says dietician David Grotto, RDN, self-proclaimed “guyatician” and author of The Best Things You Can Eat. “It’s not a race to see who can lose weight the fastest. The important thing is that you’re both going in the same direction.”

Comments from the author

This is a good read. Women get discouraged easily because it seems like they can't make any progress, but in fact, the first few months they are training their body to lose fat and it's not easy because a woman should have more fat. But that doesn't do any good knowing that when you look in the mirror.

Weight-loss programs often accentuate the difference. When sedentary men and women both start exercise programs, men tend to lose body fat, while many women don’t. In one study out of England, men and women were each put on commercial weight-loss programs such as Atkins, Slim-Fast and Weight Watchers. Two months in, the men had lost twice as much weight as the women -- and three times as much body fat. But by six months, the rate of weight loss had evened out between the genders.

If you’re a guy, you can thank the testosterone you have -- and the extra estrogen you don’t -- for your weight-loss edge. On average, women have between six and 11 percent more body fat than men, an assumed evolutionary adaptation to help during pregnancy. From puberty to menopause, women maintain more average body fat than men -- even when they take in fewer calories.

But it's important to remember that "fat" doesn't mean "unhealthy." Yes, women have larger fat stores, but it's part of their physiology, meaning it's not extra weight. So if a woman has 11 percent more body fat than a man, it doesn't mean she's 11 percent "fatter." A perfectly fit woman will still hold six to 11 percent more body fat than a perfectly fit man.

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.

gettingtoahealthyweight.blog
idropped40pounds.wordpress.com
howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com
blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “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 e-book. 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 e-book 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 Alcohol Hurts Your Waistline

If you've been trying to lose weight for any length of time, you're probably pretty good at monitoring your calories. Even if you don't keep a detailed food journal, you probably have a rough idea of the calories you're eating.

But there's one area we often fall short and that's in the calories we drink. Energy drinks, juice and smoothies can add extra calories, but alcohol is often our biggest enemy, going down so smoothly, we may have no idea just how many extra calories we're taking in.

If cocktails are a regular part of your diet and you're trying to lose weight, being more aware of what and how much you drink can make a difference.

Drinking, Weight Loss, and Your Health

If you're a moderate drinker, which is defined as two drinks a day for men or one drink a day for women, some studies have found possible health benefits such as:

• Reduced risk of developing heart disease
• Reduced risk of ischemic stroke
• Lower risk of dying of a heart attack
• Lower risk of developing diabetes

Of course, there are other ways to achieve all of these things without tipping a glass - exercise, for one, and lifestyle changes like quitting smoking and eating a healthy diet. While there may be some health benefits to moderate drinking and, of course, many of us just like it, there are some drawbacks as well, starting with your waistline.

I reblogged this post from WebMD, but I have a few observations I want to add. I'm of German decent and I like beer and red wine and I do have one drink a day or maybe two but I'm maintaining, not trying to lose weight.  I found, over a period of several years, that when I was trying to lose weight alcohol would keep me from losing and I don't think it was because of the calories. Alcohol will slow down your metabolism and keep you from burning calories. So does one glass of beer or wine really hurt you? That's a question you have to answer for yourself. All you can do is try one drink maybe every other day for ten days and see if it stops your weight loss. I believe substituting calories never works either. A coke and a beer will have about the same calories, right. But can I change my coke a day habit for a beer a day habit? That's where I believe that all calories are not the same so you can eat 2000 calories a day of healthy foods, like fresh foods (those are foods that have no label) or 2000 calories of manufactured foods (foods you buy in packages, cans, or bottles). 2000 calories of fresh foods will keep you healthy and 2000 calories of manufactured food will keep you in the doctor's office with problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight problems and even malnutrition.

Food companies are quick to blame you for your health problems, they say you over-indulge, you eat too much sugar, or you should exercise more. They don't want to say anything about the food they make. But when the sales of that food item start to go down, they are quick to drop the item or change the item, but as long as they can sell that item and make money, no matter how unhealthy it is, you will still find it on the shelf.

How Alcohol Can Pack on the Pounds

 Added Calories

One of the obvious side effects of alcohol is that it adds calories to your diet. But so does a soft drink. What the point? A couple of alcoholic drinks will increase your appetite and because alcohol will impair your judgment, you will make bad food choices that add even more calories. A night out once a week with your friends can easily add 5000 calories to your day's consumption. If you were dieting all week and working out every day that extra 5000 calories turned a 2-pound loss into a 2-pound gain that will take you 2 weeks to undo. But if your going out every Friday night with your friends all the dieting and workout may be for nothing. You don't have to quit going out, but you have to quit drinking alcohol, change to Club Soda w/twist and maybe you can do the driving.

While many of us have a handle on the calories we eat, we often don't know how many calories are in our drinks.This statement is the truth. Many overweight people consume more calories in their drink than in their food but don't keep track of their drinks.

While alcohol doesn't contain fat, it does contain 7 calories per gram. That's more than protein and carbs, both of which contain 4 calories per gram. To get an idea of what you're drinking, check out this brief list of common cocktails.

Does your favorite drink have more calories than you thought?

• 1 can (12 oz) Beer - 135-145 calories
• 1 can (12 oz) Light Beer - 101 calories
• 1 glass (3.5 oz) Red or White Wine - 70-75 calories
• 1 shot (1.5 oz) Gin, rum, vodka or whiskey - 97 calories
• 1 glass (6 oz) Cosmopolitan - 143 calories
• 1 glass (4.5 oz) Pina colada - 262 calories
• 1 glass (2.2 oz) Martini - 135 calorie

These drinks don't have that many calories, but some mixed drinks will contain more than 500 calories. If it tastes too good then it's probably loaded with calories.

A couple of beers can easily add more than 300 calories to your diet, the equivalent of 30 minutes of jogging for a 150-lb person. Having a few drinks after a workout may end up undoing all that hard work. Find more information about your favorite drinks at Calorie Counter.com. An experienced person who works out regularly will only burn about 300 calories in a one hour workout period.

 Increased Appetite

Some studies suggest that alcohol can actually stimulate the appetite, at least in the short term. This is especially true when you're at a party or some other social event where tempting foods are everywhere you turn. It's hard enough to avoid fatty or sugary foods when you're sober, but add alcohol and an increased appetite and it may become impossible.

 License to Indulge

Not only does alcohol add calories, it makes it harder to stick to a healthy diet. It takes a high dose of willpower to turn down high-calorie foods and that requires energy. But there is another reason to be careful consuming alcohol. Alcohol will stop the body from burning calories. I'll explain, once you become activity in the morning your put your fat-burning furnace in over-drive. And by staying active during the day you keep burning fat as long as you feed your body the nutrition it takes to keep burning fat. So to burn body fat I have to go on a low-fat diet and it worked for me. If I consumed little fat, my body had to burn body fat to create energy and that worked for my as long as I didn't drink alcohol. When I would drink alcohol my liver would stop burning the fat and turned to processing alcohol.

The liver has more than 100 functions and the most important is to filter anything that's going into the blood. Alcohol will go straight into the blood if the liver doesn't stop it. So, the liver has to drop whatever it's processing, which is generally fat from food, and tackle the alcohol because it will go through your system much faster than anything else. Now any of the food you consume with or after the alcohol will not be processed and will probably be stored in fat cells.

Adding alcohol to the mix drains that energy even more, leaving you less concerned about blowing your diet than satisfying your cravings. After a few drinks, that healthy diet you've been following so diligently suddenly doesn't seem all that important anymore.

The Day After

A night of drinking, even if it's just one too many, not only leaves you vulnerable to temptation, it may leave you too tired or hungover to exercise the next day.

When you're hungover, you're dehydrated, clumsy and nauseous - all things that preclude a workout.

Like everything else, moderation is the key when it comes to enjoying alcohol while watching your weight. Treat alcohol the same way you treat other things in your diet - as something you can enjoy from time to time without going overboard. Learn more about safe drinking to ensure that you're keeping your body healthy and safe.

You can tweet me with questions at #ray0369

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.

gettingtoahealthyweight.blog
idropped40pounds.wordpress.com
howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com
blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “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 e-book. 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 e-book 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

Fruits Have a Rightful Place in Your Diet

Eliminating fruit from your diet is not only unnecessary—it’s unwise

By David L. Katz, MD, Senior Medical Advisor, Verywell.com. 

There should be no need for me, a public health physician, to tell you that fruit—real, whole fruit in its native state—is good for you, because there's a good chance your parents already did that long ago. And their parents likely did the same.

Unfortunately, we are so good at propagating pseudo-confusion about diet and health that we have even managed to get nutty about fruit. (Nuts, by the way, are fruit, and they are good for you too—but that can be a topic for another day.) My most respected colleagues and I routinely lament the enormous opportunity cost of needing to re-establish—again and again—what we have long known about nutrition, rather than devoting our energies to learning what we don’t yet know, and perhaps more importantly still, putting what we do know to good use.

The Twisted Tale of Fruit and the Glycemic Index

Public understanding of the health effects of routine fruit consumption has fallen into just such a Groundhog Day quagmire for two reasons. First, beginning in the late 1990s, and extending into the early 2000s, right around the peak of interest in the Atkins’ diet, popular attention to the glycemic index exploded. While the index itself, and the related glycemic load, are very valuable measures in science, their use as a standalone indicator of nutrition quality was very misguided and symptomatic of our perennial inclination to seek out silver bullets and scapegoats. In case you are wondering, this is not just my assessment; the inventor of the glycemic index is a colleague and close friend, and he agrees.

In any event, preoccupation with the glycemic index as the one dietary truth to rule them all precipitated a spate of fad diet books based entirely on the metric, perhaps most famously The GI Diet.

In all such diets, fruit was banished from the diet, at least during the phases of promised rapid weight loss, because of its relatively high glycemic index. The banishment of fruit in the service of weight loss or the prevention of type 2 diabetes was always both silly and wrong, but fad diet authors are expert at making the silly sound scientific—and the books sold like low-glycemic hotcakes. Remember one thing if nothing else, "all calories are not created equal". The calories in ice cream are not the same as the calories in an apple and if you have equal amounts of calories of each, your body will use the calories from the apple but won't use the calories from the ice cream, they will be stored in fat cells. 

Comparing Apples and Oranges

We had only recently recovered from the GI boondoggle when the vilification of fructose captured the public’s imagination, nearly ten years ago. The focus on the harms of excess fructose was born of legitimacy. High-fructose corn syrup had diffused throughout the food supply as an alternative to sucrose (derived from sugar cane or beets) because of its low cost to manufacturers and its capacity, shared with most if not all sweeteners, to stimulate appetite.

There were, however, three problems with a fixation on fructose, and the on-going inclination to blame all dietary ills on sugar is symptomatic of them. The first was hyperbole: While an excess of added sugar (any sugar) is harmful to us, the contention that sugar in general and fructose specifically were “toxic” or “poison,” without consideration of dose, was wrong and misleading. Second, the conflation of high-fructose corn syrup for fructose was equally misleading. Like sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup is a mix of both fructose and glucose; the two sugars are more alike than different in both composition and health effects.

The third problem is our topic today. Long before it was known as a component of high-fructose corn syrup, fructose was known widely as “fruit sugar.” Fructose is, in fact, the principal or even only sugar in most whole fruits.

The problem here is obvious and predictable.  If fructose were toxic, and fruits were delivery vehicles for it, then eating fruit must be bad for us. The scientists impugning fructose didn’t necessarily mean to indict fruit by association, but they did.

But if eating fruit was in any way bad for us, it would be bad for us in the ways that excess sugar (fructose or other) is bad for us, and the ways that high-glycemic processed foods are bad for us, namely increased risk of weight gain, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes.

The truth is that routine intake of whole fruit has long been associated with exactly the opposite effects.

Whole fruit has long figured in dietary patterns associated with weight loss and weight control, as well as good health across the life span. Fruit has been shown to protect against diabetes.

The evidence that eating whole fruit not only is innocent of the transgressions of added sugar, but directly defends against them has long been strong. It recently became even stronger, fortified with the results of a multi-year study of roughly a half million Chinese adults, published in PLOS Medicine. Routine intake of fruit among those without diabetes at baseline was associated with a highly significant reduction in the risk of diabetes developing. Routine fruit consumption among those with diabetes was associated with a comparably significant reduction in the risk of complications or premature death.

Consider the Whole Package

There is a lot more to whole fruit than fructose. Along with a wide array of beneficial nutrients, most fruits are concentrated sources of fiber. Fiber is filling, effectively calorie-free, and can even help stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels. Because fruit juice eliminates fiber and pulp, tends not to be filling, and accelerates the delivery of fructose, it does not share the credits of its parent, and intake should generally be limited.

Whole fruit is a mainstay in the best diets for longevity and lifelong vitality. Routine fruit intake defends against obesity and diabetes alike. The truth about fruit is a reminder that scapegoating any given nutrient or property can obscure the health effects of a whole food that is more than the sum of such preoccupations. The active ingredient in blueberries, in other words, is blueberries.

Your parents were right: Fruit really is good for you.  We really ought to accept that once and for all and move on.

You can tweet me with questions at #ray0369

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.

gettingtoahealthyweight.blog
idropped40pounds.wordpress.com
howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com
blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “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 e-book. 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 e-book 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

Tips to Cut Calories and Make a Skinny Margarita

Calories in a Margarita: Tips to Cut Calories and Make a Skinny Margarita By Malia Frey

This post is just in time for the outdoor season that's coming up soon and we always consume more drinks in the hot weather. The "skinny margarita" has become outrageously popular. In the cooler weather "white wine" is the cocktail of choice by most women, but in the summer the "skinny margarita" has taken over as the cocktail of choice and because you can drink a generous amount of this cocktail on a hot afternoon, you can really bust your calories for the day. Whether it's Chardonnay or cocktails, we can blow a diet in the summer just with the extra calories we drink. The following post explains a little more about how you ca cut some of those calories.

If you love summer cocktails then you probably enjoy a margarita now and then. But do you know how many calories are in a margarita? The margarita is one of the most popular festive drinks to serve with spicy food or to enjoy on a hot day. Now that skinny margaritas have hit the scene, dieters enjoy this cool drink as well. But if you're trying to lose weight, there are a few things you need to know about margarita calories before you dive into this drink. How Many Calories in a Margarita? The number of calories in a margarita will depend almost entirely on how it’s made and where you drink it. There are roughly 156 calories in a strawberry-flavored TGI Fridays margarita. Many restaurant-made margaritas will have calorie counts in that same range.

If you make your drink at home, your margarita calories will depend on the ingredients. Many home bartenders use mixers because they make cocktails more simple to prepare. But many of the most popular mixers are full of sugar and calories. Frozen margarita mixers can be especially dangerous for dieters. A single 2-ounce serving of Old Orchard or Bacardi brand margarita mixer has 90 calories. Two ounces is about one quarter cup. Most drinkers will consume a drink that is larger than that. And your margarita calorie count still doesn't include the alcohol. A single serving of tequila provides 65-70 calories. So your homemade margarita will probably total at least 150 calories, but possibly more if you prefer a stiff drink. If you make your own margarita from scratch, you may be able to cut calories by using fresh, low-calorie ingredients. A classic margarita recipe is usually prepared with triple sec, tequila, sour mix and a splash or lemon or lime. It will probably provide between 100-150 calories depending on how you balance the ingredients.

Skinny Margarita Calories

If you want to limit the number of calories in your margarita, you might opt for a skinny margarita. Most skinny margarita recipes include fewer ingredients and provide fewer calories - but not much. Some dieters combine tequila, fresh lime, sugar (or agave nectar) and sparkling water to make a skinny drink. You may be able to save 25-50 calories with this recipe. Be careful if you choose popular “skinny” brands of cocktails to lose weight. The lower calorie count may be confusing. Bethenny Frankel’s Skinnygirl Margaritas contain only 35 calories per serving, but a serving is only 1.5 ounces. That's about the size of a shot glass. Make Your Own Skinny Margarita My suggestion? If you are craving a margarita, make your own. You can use HG's Magical Low-Calorie Margarita Recipe that uses diet lemon-lime soda and sugar-free lemonade powdered drink mix.
The drink provides 115 calories for an 8-ounce serving.

You might also want to check out skinny margarita recipes online. Take a traditional recipe like the Classic Skinny Margarita Recipe at The Cookie Rookie and tailor it to your own taste. You can decrease the amount of alcohol or add more ice to save calories. Or add a bit of sparkling water to make your drink bubbly, lower in calories and lower in alcohol. Or try a fruity Showstopper, made with low-calorie SkinnyGirl vodka. Adjust the ingredients to decrease calories and increase flavor. By making Your own you can use your favorite brand of liquor, probably a better quality than a pre-made drink and a homemade drink will have a fraction of the calories than you might get in a restaurant. Lastly, remember that if you drink just one, then you can enjoy a skinny margarita and stick to your diet. But if you drink more than a tiny single serving, then the calories in your cocktail will probably no longer skinny.

Calories from drinks we consume account for about half of our calories every day. Drinks that come pre-made in a bottle or can are manufactured for the benefit of the company to profit from the drink. You can’t always trust the label and you shouldn’t assume that the ingredients used will do no harm, just because you are saving calories.

If your goal is to lose weight, look on the internet for a real “skinny margarita recipe”. You might be surprised. The real goal to any sustainable weight loss is to lose body fat around the middle.

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.
gettingtoahealthyweight.blog
idropped40pounds.wordpress.com
howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com
blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.
There are two e-books. “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 e-book. 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 e-book 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

I Made Up My Mind, Where Do I Start?

Losing weight isn't as hard as some might think. You want to start by changing the food your eating. This is a common mistake many people make. They think if they just cut back on calories by eating less they'll lose weight. Maybe if you just want to lose 2 or 3 pounds. It's your diet that put on your extra weight and by the way that's extra body fat, not just weight. You can gain healthy weight and that's okay. Pro-athletes will gain healthy weight by adding muscle, but if your gaining fat that's the stuff you want to lose.

Changing your diet and eating healthy will give you more energy to exercise and be more active. The extra activity will help your burn more calories and you'll lose fat. Now the hard part is to get your body to burn the stored fat.

Your body only processes or burn enough to give you the energy you need at that moment. The body works in real time. In other words when your resting your body burns very little calories. It will burn some because your heart is always working and your brain is always working and there is other body functions that have to work constantly. When I sit and type out the post, I'm burning some calories, more than just watching TV, but if I was standing I would burn twice the calories because of the work your muscles have to do just to hold you up. So watching TV burns more than sleeping, but write my post at my desk burns more than watching TV and walking burn even more and running burns even more.

So if a normal person doing normal activity might burn 2000 calories a day, some hours you might burn 50 calories and some hours you might burn 150 calories. For example, a person who works out 5 days a week for one hour a day does a walk and run routine can burn 300 to 350 calories during that workout. All these statistics are to give you an idea of how many calories you might burn.

If you go to the Mall or grocery store and watch people for a long period of time you'll notice people who have a hard time getting around and some moving at a very fast pace. The point I want to make is that someone who spends most of the day either sitting or laying may only be burning a minimal amount of calories like 1000. The person burning 1800 might be the average office worker who could be sitting or lying as much as 16 hours as day, and that's even if they workout. And some people who are very active, working all day on their feet and working out every day and then working around the house after they get home, may be burning 2500 calories a day.

You want to be one of those people who burn more than 2000 calories a day and you can do it. But first, you want to start by eating healthy and building your energy. Next, you want to start walking more. Try to walk in the morning, before work, and then again in the evening after dinner. A good way to begin exercising is to walk more. Now is not that easy to judge the amount you walk because of your speed. So I suggest getting a pedometer. There cheap, just go to a sporting goods store. The average person doing normal things all day walks about 5000 steps a day, but to lose body fat and build strength you want to walk 10,000 steps a day. The pedometer will count for you, just set it to zero in the morning and hook it on your belt. If your short steps after dinner you want to walk before bed and finish the 10,000.

I think changing your diet and sticking to it is the hardest part. You have to start eating 'clean', no processed foods. Which means eating 'fresh' foods. Fruits, vegetables, dairy and grains and some meat. I follow the 'food pyramid'.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “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 e-book. 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 e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Eating the Right Way to Lose Weight

A great post from VeryWell.com explains why diet is the important part of losing weight.

Forget about starving yourself, losing weight is about eating foods that burn more calories and stop eating and drinking the stuff that puts weight on.

Nutrition and weight loss go hand-in-hand. It really comes down to chemistry and math. Consume too many calories (energy), weight is gained. Creating a caloric deficit stimulates weight loss. Sounds fairly simple.

Everyone seems to be on the search for something quick and easy. Very Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs) are popular but disregard possible health risks. They are also very expensive. Seems like a risky high dollar cost to shed unwanted pounds.

I teach eating “real” quality food to maintain a fit physique and at a cost saving. Want to begin a healthy weight loss journey? Review what you're eating now in order to make healthy changes.

Healthy weight loss is no more than one to three pounds per week.

Time for a Lifestyle Change
Losing weight is a pretty straight forward process. It will require a nutrition lifestyle change together with regular exercise for best overall results. Quality healthy food choices are important.

Are you eating processed foods, dining out, drinking alcohol and soda regularly? Revising these choices will be important for success. Start by keeping a food journal. Write down what you're eating and sub out unhealthy meals for healthier selections.

Studies show people who maintain a consistent food journal have the best weight loss success. The journal allows for accountability. You will be able to repeat personal best weight loss weeks simply reviewing what has been recorded.

The Right Foods and Right Portions
Eating healthy should be enjoyable, taste great and never a burden. Essential nutrients for weight loss include lean proteins, fiber, antioxidants and healthy fats.

Eating correctly portioned meals is essential. A portion size is what can fit in the palm of your hand and simplifies eating healthy. It also reduces the need to continuously count calories.

Normal hunger occurs every two to three hours so many people take advantage of nutrient timing. Eating several small meals per day keeps our metabolism boosted. It also promotes satiety and eliminates urges to binge on guilt laden food.

Keeping the focus on consuming healthy foods will be the success in adopting a healthy lifestyle and reaching your goal weight.

Enjoy a Variety of Healthy Foods
There are a wide variety of healthy foods to satisfy the pickiest eater for weight loss and overall healthy lifestyle.

The following foods will be helpful to start your eat-right journey for successful weight loss.

Best Proteins
Chicken Breast (boneless/skinless) – 3.5oz, 30g
Turkey – 7g protein per ounce
Tuna – 6oz, 40
Salmon – 3.5oz, 27g
Halibut – 4oz, 30g
Trout – 4oz, 28g
Sardines – 4oz, 10g
Eggs (high in EFA) – 1 large, 7g
Milk – 1 cup, 8g (1% or skim, if tolerated)
Cottage Cheese – 1/2 cup, 15g
Almonds 8g, Peanuts 9g, Cashews 5g – 1/4 cup
Peanut Butter – 2tbsp, 8g
Kefir – 14g per cup
Yogurt – 8-12g per cup
Tofu – ½ cup, 10g

Top Antioxidants
Blueberries - at least a fistful a day
All rich colored berries (strawberries/blackberries/raspberries/cranberries/aroniaberries)
Sweet potatoes – at least ½ cup serving daily
Broccoli – eat ½ cup raw or 1 cup cooked daily
Tomatoes – One medium
Acai – look for quality juice
Beans - Eat two 1/2 cup servings a day of cooked or canned beans
Oats (steel-cut is the best) - Eat at least three servings of whole grains per day. A serving equals one cup cooked oatmeal, 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats or 1/4 cup steel-cut oats
Spinach – one cup cooked spinach or leafy green vegetable per day
Dark chocolate - Eat a one-ounce serving daily
Red wine or Concord grape juice 4oz – 1 glass daily
Green and white tea – up to 4 cups daily

Eat Healthy Fats
Extra virgin olive oil
Coconut oil
Wild salmon (fresh, frozen and canned)
Ground flaxseeds
Flaxseed oil
Walnuts
Herring
Sardines
Sablefish
Anchovies
Farmed oysters
More »

Stay Consistent
In order to lose weight being consistent with healthy food intake will be necessary. There is no such thing as perfection and only progress.

Take one day at a time and know there will be slip-ups. If you do get off track, let it go and make a better choice with your next meal. Food guilt only drags us down and prevents moving in a positive direction.

Use the palm as your portion size, selecting healthy foods as listed above. Eating every two to three hours is a great beginning to reaching your goal weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “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 e-book. 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 e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.