What You Eat Will Burn Body Fat

It's not the mystery of the Century. I wondered the same think before I lost my body fat. Losing your body fat is key to the mystery. In order to lose fat you must learn how to eat and what to eat so your body burns that excess fat. The mistake I made for many years was thinking that I could burn the fat by exercising.

Exercise is part of losing body fat but exercise itself won't burn fat, it helps your body to function better. You increase the oxygen in your blood stream and increase your strength and balance. You also strengthen your heart which is key to good circulation. It's better circulation and a strong heart that give you energy along with eating the right foods.

So how do people stay thin? Once I lost most of my fat, my BMI was 21 at that time, I was already in the habit of eating fresh food. I follow the suggestions on the food pyramid. This is referred to as the Mediterranean diet. It was voted the best way to eat for the past three years. Following the suggestions from the food pyramid is the healthiest way to eat. There won't be any calories to count and you won't starve, there are plenty of choices, just stick to the pyramid and don't cheat.




At first it might look like a lot of carbs, but they're good carbs, no processed foods here, they're all fresh foods. I know it has "sweets" listed on the pyramid and I do eat dark chocolate occasionally. I know that many of you don't see things on the pyramid that you like to eat, but that was the challenge for me. I had to stop eating desserts and drinking calories. Half of my daily calories came from the liquids I consumed.

Calories are your enemy when you're trying to lose fat. The good part for my was that I could stop counting calories. When I picked food from the pyramid I had no problem overeating. I would eat five small meals a day before six pm and nothing after. The 5 meals during the day kept me full and evens out blood sugar levels so you don't have food cravings.

At first you might gain a pound or two but after a few weeks your body will become accustom to your new meal plan and your appetite will decrease.

Along with daily exercise you can reach your goal. It's a long term plan but changing the food you eat is "life changing". You will regain the energy you thought you lost forever.

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, barnesandnoble.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.

More People Are Working Out

It use to be that the gyms were only for young people and weight lifters, but no more. Now health insurance companies are paying for gym memberships for seniors to workout and the gyms are filling up with retired seniors. You can find fitness classes for seniors, water Zumba for seniors and even yoga for seniors.

I was watching the news this morning and sports wear, the clothes you exercise with, is taking over the casual clothing market. We all know that exercising has been shoved down our throats for the last couple decades but it hasn't been until recently that more people of all ages are actually taking exercise seriously. You can go to the "Y" or any health club and you can see people of all ages. So why is being thin gotten so popular?

We know people are working longer now, and the competition for jobs is getting much harder. It's no secret that today the slim and trim people are doing better in the job interviews. They just look like they're a more serious applicant. They look like they're a harder worker. Your perception is a big part of a job interview and if you give the perception that you're a harder working employee than you might have the advantage.

We still have a majority  of overweight adults  but this might be the last generation. I think in twenty years you will see a big change in what we eat and how we take care of ourselves. Young people are adopting this new lifestyle and some of the over 40 group are all in. It's not that fast food is on the way out, but all food will be changing. I thing that finely all of us realize that we need more from the food you're eating. A new trend has started with younger adults and instead of looking for comfort food they're looking for healthy food. I'm not saying that comfort food is on the way out, but I thing in years to come we will see less of it.

When we get comfort food and other fried foods out of the schools and replace it with healthy food and healthy snacks that's when you'll see a difference in the way young people look at food in general. That's where we have to start making a change in eating habits. The government had a good idea when they wanted to change the food in schools but they didn't know how to implement it. Those changes have to be done on the local level. Parents have to get involved and demand change and then you'll see results. We also need to teach physical education again. Elementary School in particle stopped physical education due to budget cuts, so parents are finding outside activities for their kids and it's expensive and time consuming and most kids can't join in. Most of the schools in the suburbs have gym classes and other after school sports but inner city school have often been forced to cut out those programs.

Learning good health like diet and exercise has to be taught in schools from the earliest age if you want to create healthy habits that the child will care with them for life.

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information.

But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

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. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books 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. 

Understanding The Underlying Causes Of Weight Gain

By Jennifer R. ScottReviewed by a board-certified physician

I like this blog post from VeryWell.com. It answers a lot of the questions I get in my emails. Many of us don't understand what's happening to our bodies. They don't know why they keep adding weight? Answering this question is "key" to losing your fat. When you're adding weight, you're adding body fat and you have to correct the problem before you end up with serious health problems. Excess body fat will slow down body functions.

Most people who aren't overweight think that the root cause of overweight and obesity is deceptively simple. If you take in more calories than you use, you'll gain weight. And if you eat less, you lose weight. But in reality, there are several underlying weight gain causes that can contribute to your weight beyond just calories consumed and calories burned.

Normal Weight Gain in Daily Life

Some weight gain is a normal part of life, particularly for women.

Weight gain occurs with pregnancy, and many breastfeeding mothers maintain a certain amount of weight while nursing. In addition, most women experience a periodic weight gain each month before and during menstruation. While much of this weight gain is typically referred to as water weight, many women get used to rising and falling numbers on the scale. Rapid weight gain that can't be attributed to either of these normal causes may be a sign of dangerous fluid retention, and anyone experiencing it should notify their doctor.

Aging also contributes to natural weight gain in many adults. While it's unclear whether or not aging actually causes weight gain, it is clear that most of us gain at least a small amount of weight as we get older. So why does it happen? As we age, our body composition changes, we often lose muscle mass, metabolism slows, and our lifestyles change. Each of these factors can contribute to weight gain unless we reduce the amount of food we eat and get enough exercise to maintain our weight.

Other Possible Causes of Weight Gain 

You may also gain weight because of other reasons that are not a part of everyone's daily life. These are some underlying weight gain causes to consider if you start to add pounds or inches.

• Significant alcohol use. Booze calories add up quickly. And when we drink we often indulge in empty calories that can contribute to weight gain.

• The use of certain drugs such as corticosteroids, cyproheptadine, lithium, tranquilizers, phenothiazines, some antidepressants, and medicines that increase fluid retention and cause edema. If you've started a new prescription and notice weight gain, talk to your doctor or pharmacist to make sure that the weight change is normal
• Emotional factors, such as guilt and anxiety can contribute to changes in your weight. Some people lose weight during divorce, job change or other difficult transitions but other people gain weight during times of stress
• Quitting smoking often leads to weight gain in some people. Why? It may be that smoking was the way that you managed anxiety or nerves. Without cigarettes, some people turn to food.

Medical Causes of Weight Gain

If you notice that you're putting on weight and there is no apparent lifestyle cause, it is possible that something more serious is at play. Weight gain can be a symptom or the result of certain medical conditions. These can include:

• Certain endocrine diseases, such as Cushing syndrome and hypothyroidism
• Heart disorders
• Lung disorders
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• Depression

It's important to talk to your doctor today if you have unexplained weight gain and any of the following symptoms:

• Constipation
• Hair loss
• Sensitivity to cold
• Swollen feet and shortness of breath
• Uncontrollable hunger accompanied by palpitations, tremor, and sweating
• Vision changes

If you suspect that there is a medical issue that is causing your weight gain (or weight loss) don't be afraid to speak to your health care provider.  The good news is that weight gain, regardless of its cause, can often be managed with consistent lifestyle and dietary changes and an increase in physical activity. Your physician can help you determine whether or not these underlying causes may be leading to weight gain in your own personal situation.

He or she may also be able to refer you to experts including a registered dietitian, physical therapist, behavioral health experts for additional help. 

If you really want to lose the extra flab you can get help, I write 4 blogs and I’ve written two E-books. E-books are the easiest and cheapest way to learn about any subject without groping through hundreds of website looking for the material you want. 

My first e-book is “HowBadDoYouWantToLoseWeight” and it sells for $2.99 on most online bookstores like Amazon, BN.com, iBook, Kobo, and Gardner books in the U.K.

My second e-book is available in the same stores. And on smashwords.com.  Just type in the search line “getting to a healthy weight”.

The Military Diet, It Might Not Be What You Think

The Promise

The plan claims that you may lose up to 10 pounds in a week if you follow it. It’s a very strict, low-calorie diet with some foods that seem healthy and others that don’t. There are set foods to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but that’s it. There are no snacks, and there’s no wiggle room about food choices based on your tastes.

The diet itself only lasts for 3 days. After that, switch to a normal, healthy diet for at least 4 days. If you’d like to lose more weight, you can repeat the program as often as you’d like, as long as you take 4-day breaks every time after you do it.

Never follow the diet longer than 3 days in a row.

What You Can Eat and What You Can’t

Every morsel you’ll eat on this diet has been chosen for you ahead of time. You’ll need to follow the plan completely to get the best results.

It doesn’t include superfoods like salmon, almonds, or quinoa. Instead, you’ll find normal choices, like canned tuna, hard-boiled eggs, and cheddar cheese. Some meals have breads, but they aren’t the healthy whole grains you’d expect. At least one meal includes saltine crackers.

There’s a 3-day menu to follow, with a total of nine different meals. For example:

One breakfast menu requires you to eat:

• 1/2 grapefruit
• 1 slice toast
• 2 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 1 cup coffee or tea (no cream or sugar)

One Lunch menu includes

•  1 slice of toast
•  1 can of tuna
•  1 apple
• 1 cup of coffee or tea (no creamers or sugar)

One dinner menu includes:

• Two hot dogs without buns
• 1 cup of broccoli
• 1/2 cup of carrots
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream

You can drink water and black coffee or tea, but no soda, milk, juice, or alcohol. Stick to the menu as much as you can. You’re allowed to switch out some foods if you have food allergies or other dietary needs. But only make swaps that the diet approves. For example, you can have sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter or a tofu dog instead of a hot dog. But don’t switch the grapefruit to an orange or the vanilla ice cream to a scoop of mint chip or cookie dough.

So what do you do on the other days, well they have suggestions for that too.

Pick and choose from these menu items for a 4 day off meal plan for the Military Diet. Choose one breakfast, one lunch, one dinner and two snacks for an approximate 1500 calorie per day diet plan.

Breakfast

(Choose ONE of the following per day):

Yogurt Parfait: 1 cup of plain yogurt layered with 1 cup mixed berries, 1/4 cup granola and 1 tablespoon of sliced almonds.

Cheerful morning: 1 cup milk, 1 sliced banana and 1 cup cheerios. You can also eat 1 orange.

Egg on toast: 1 egg scrambled in 1 teaspoon butter on a slice of whole grain toast with tomato slices and 1/4 avocado sliced.

Bagel and lox: 1/2 whole-wheat bagel topped with 1 tablespoon cream cheese and 1 oz smoked salmon. Add thin tomato, cucumber and red onion slices.

Cinnamon Oatmeal: 1/3 cup rolled oats cooked with 2/3 cup milk and 1/2 cup chopped apple. Top with 2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts & cinnamon.

Walnut Waffles and Berries: 2 whole grain waffles topped with 1/4 cup strawberries and 1/4 blueberries and 7 walnuts.

Florentine Egg and English Muffin: scramble 2 eggs and 1 cup fresh spinach and eat on top of a whole wheat toasted English muffin.

Pear and Almond-Butter Toast: one slice of whole wheat toast topped with 1 tablespoon almond butter and 1 pear sliced.

Tomato-Basil Ricotta Toast: one slice of whole wheat toast topped with 1/3 cup ricotta cheese, 4 slices of tomato and fresh basil leaves.

Banana & Honey Smoothie: Blend (in a blender) 1 cup plain soy milk, 1 banana, 1 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoons oatmeal and 1 tablespoon of flax seeds.

Cheesy Omelet: 2 egg omelette with cheddar cheese.

Protein Power: 2 lean sausages, 1 soft boiled egg and a kiwi fruit

Lunch

(Choose ONE of the following per day)

Tuna Pita: Mix 1/2 can of tuna with 1/4 cup white beans, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of  lemon juice. Serve in a 4-inch whole-wheat pita with 2 leaves lettuce. Eat 1 cup of grapes on the side.

Protein Salad: Toss 2 cups lettuce, 1 cup chopped raw vegetables, 1 hard-boiled egg, 2 teaspoons of raisins and 2 teaspoons of almonds. Top with 2 teaspoons of balsamic dressing.

Mediterranean Plate: 1 piece of whole wheat pita bread stuffed with 1-ounce feta cheese, 1 cup of tomatoes, 6 olives, 1/4 cup hummus and 1 cup raw spinach drizzled with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

Veggie Lunch: 1 cup of lentil soup with 1 slice of toasted whole wheat bread topped with 1 teaspoon pesto, 2 tablespoons shredded mozzarella and 1 tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

Vegetarian Quesadilla: 1 whole-wheat tortilla stuffed with 1/3 cup shredded Cheddar, 1/4 cup black beans, 1/4 cup each sliced peppers & mushrooms, sautéed in 1 teaspoon olive oil. Serve with 1/4 avocado, sliced.

Tuna Walnut Greens: Toss 2 cups of spring greens, 3 ounces of tuna, 3 tablespoons of walnuts, and 1 cup of grape tomatoes cut in half. Top with 2 teaspoons of balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Turkey, Pear, and Swiss Sandwich: 2 slices of whole grain bread with 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 5 slices of turkey, 1 pear sliced, and 1 slice of Swiss cheese.

Black-Bean Wrap: Wrap 3/4 cup of black beans, 1/4 avocado, 1 cup of romaine lettuce, 2 tablespoons of salsa inside 2 whole wheat tortillas.

Chicken Salad Pita: Mix together 1 cup diced and cooked chicken, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup chopped scallions, 1 stalk of chopped celery and 1 cup of salad greens. Stuff inside a whole wheat pita.

Dinner

(Choose ONE of the following per day)

BBQ Black Bean Burger and Slaw: 1 black bean burger cooked with 1 tablespoon BBQ sauce, served on a whole wheat bun. You can eat the slaw in the burger or on the side. Mix 1.5 cups of shredded cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Shrimp and Zucchini Pasta: Cook 2 ounces frozen or fresh shrimp with 1 clove of garlic, 1 cup chopped zucchini, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Serve one cup of whole wheat pasta noodles of your choice.

Hot Peanut Chicken Wraps: Saute 2/3 cup of sliced chicken, 1/4 cup scallions, 2 tablespoons of peanuts, 1 tablespoon hot sauce and 1 cup of shredded cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrot mix in cooking spray. Wrap all this in 2 whole wheat tortillas.

Sushi: 1 cup miso soup, 1 Tuna roll and a small seaweed salad.

Pepper Cilantro Fajitas: Cook 1 cup bell peppers (red, green or orange), 1/2 small onion and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup refried beans on 2 whole wheat tortillas. Top with sauteed vegetables and cilantro.

Black Bean and Zucchini Quesadilla: Saute 1 cup chopped zucchini, 1/2 cup black beans, 2 teaspoons olive oil and 1 teaspoon of cumin. Place mixture on 2 whole wheat tortillas, sprinkle with 1/4 cup shredded cheddar. Fold in half and cook in a pan until the cheddar melts. Top with 2 teaspoons of salsa.

Tortilla and Cheese Chili: 1.5 cups of warm vegetarian chili topped with 2 tablespoons of chopped scallions, 8 broken tortilla chips, 2 tablespoons shredded cheddar. Eat with a side salad: 2 cups mixed greens and 1 tablespoon Italian salad dressing.

Florentine Goat Cheese Flatbread: Saute 4 ounces of chicken, 3 cups of baby spinach, 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and 1 garlic clove. Put all this on a piece of whole grain flatbread, topped with 1 ounce goat cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes or so.

Shrimp Fried Brown Rice: Saute 1 cup cooked brown rice, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 garlic clove and 1 tablespoon grated ginger. Then add 3 ounces of precooked shrimp and 2 cups of bok choy. Saute another few minutes.

Cheese and Artichoke Pizza with side salad: Top a whole grain flatbread with 3 tablespoons spaghetti sauce, 1/2 cup canned artichoke hearts, 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup mozzarella and bake for about 10 minutes. The side salad is 3 cups mixed greens, 2 tablespoons pine nuts and 2 tablespoons of Italian salad dressing.

Stuffed Chili and Cheese Potato: Top a baked potato with 1/2 cup of turkey or vegetarian chili, 1 cup cooked broccoli and 1/4 cup shredded cheddar.

Italian Sausage Pasta: Saute 1 sliced Italian sausage, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms, 1/2 cup chopped onions and 1/2 cup chopped zucchini. Add in 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce to warm and serve over 3/4 cup of whole wheat pasta topped with 1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese.

Cajun Chicken With Rice: Sprinkle 1 teaspoon dried Cajun seasoning on 4 ounces of chicken breast. Bake or grill. Saute 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 cup chopped onion, 1 bell pepper, in 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a few sprinkles of Tabasco sauce. Add 3/4 cup of precooked brown rice. Serve the chicken on top of the rice.

Snacks

(Choose TWO of the following per day)

Fruit-and-nut bar

1 cup snap peas with 1/4 cup hummus

1 cup of cantaloupe with 1/2 cottage cheese

1 cup carrot sticks with 3 tablespoons of hummus

1 apple and 22 pistachios

12-oz latte and 1 clementine or mandarin orange

10 tortilla chips with 1/4 cup guacamole

1 banana with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter

2 Crispy rye crackers with 2 tablespoons of cream cheese

1 cup plain yogurt with 1 cup mixed berries

1/2 ounce raisins and 2 tablespoons soy nuts
 
14 almonds and an apple

1/2 cup sorbet 

1-ounce chocolate-covered almonds

100-calorie mini bag popcorn

1-ounce string cheese and 4 whole-grain crackers

3 cups air popped popcorn, nothing added

I'm not crazy about the 3-day diet, I think it would encourage bingeing but the suggestions for the other four days look pretty good. If you could stick to that plan 24/7, I think you could lose some fat. 

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information. But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

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. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books 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. 

The Mysteries Of Weight Loss

So you’re finally ready to lose weight. Now the question is: How?

The standard advice -- to eat less and move more -- isn’t so helpful when it comes to the “how.” You probably know you need to cut calories, but how many? Are you better off getting those calories from low-fat or low-carb foods? And what’s going on with your metabolism, your personal energy-burning furnace? Is it programmed to keep you overweight? Is there any way to fan the flames so you can dream of one day eating a piece of pie without gaining a pound?

Even science is still stumped on many of the basic questions of weight loss.

“Amazingly, in this era of obesity, there are still many things that we really don’t know,” says Robin Callister, PhD, professor of human physiology at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

Here’s what we do know about some of the most persistent mysteries of weight loss.

Do You Have to Cut 3,500 Calories to Lose a Pound?

The idea that dieters need to cut this many calories -- with diet, exercise or both -- to lose 1 pound of weight comes from an influential scientific paper published in 1958. Max Wishnofsky, MD, a doctor who lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., tried to sum up everything we knew about how calories are stored by the body. He concluded that when the body is in a steady caloric state -- meaning it isn’t fasting or starving -- extra calories will be stored as fat, and it would take 3,500 extra calories to create a pound of fat. In that same steady state, he also said it would take a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose a pound of weight. For decades, the “Wishnofsky Rule” has been math that determined dieters live by.

The trouble is that it’s wrong.

The 3,500-calorie rule doesn’t work because the body adjusts to weight loss. It quickly decreases the number of calories it needs to maintain its new, lighter size, says Corby Martin, PhD, director of the Ingestive Behavior Laboratory at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA. That means weight loss slows down over time. People who expect to drop a pound for every 3,500 calories they cut will soon become frustrated when the scale doesn’t cooperate.

Let’s say a dieter knows they need to eat 2,500 calories a day to maintain their current weight. But they want to slim down. So they decide to shave 500 calories off their daily intake. According to the Wishnofsky Rule, after about a week of doing that, they should lose a pound.

“For the first week or two, the 3,500 calorie-per-pound rule kind of works, roughly, but after the first couple of weeks it doesn’t work,” Martin says.

Here’s why: In 3 or 4 weeks, you need less food to maintain that new, slimmer shape. I know you only lost a couple pounds and if you might only have to lose 10 pounds, you're going to plateau several times. The problem with this formula is that we don't have the same food today that we had in 1958. Believe me, I was there, I just started high school. In those days farmers did use pesticides to control bugs but we didn't chemical engineer our food like we do today. It's chemical engineered food that will cause food addiction and furthermore cause obesity.

Forget cutting back on the food your eating; you have to go back to eating fresh foods. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, it's best to buy organic. Ration the red meat your eating; it's marbled with fat and it's causing you to increase your body fat. Seafood and chicken or turkey are a better choice. Never eat tube meat or any other processed or manufactured food. If you don't eat foods that add to your body fat, your body will burn the stored fat you have.

Are All Calories Equal?

Fujioka counsels his patients to pay attention to how alcohol affects their eating.

“Some folks, when they drink alcohol, feel like they have license to eat whatever they want to, and they get into problems,” he says.

If a glass of wine weakens your will to resist that plate of cheese and crackers, it’s not doing your waistline any favors.

But if booze doesn’t affect your eating, then one or two drinks is probably OK, he says.

As for calories from fat, carbohydrates, and protein, this is where one size, or one eating plan, really doesn’t fit all.

There is good science to show that people who have high blood sugar levels -- associated with conditions like type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, gestational diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and fatty liver disease -- benefit from diets that are lower in refined carbohydrates and higher in healthy fats and lean proteins. Examples of this kind of diet are South Beach, the Zone diet, the Mediterranean diet, and the low GI diet.

If insulin levels aren’t a concern, there’s little difference in the amount of weight people lose if they cut their calories from fat or from carbs, says Kevin Hall, PhD, a senior investigator and expert in metabolism at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, MD. But he says protein calories are a different story.

In the lab, researchers have shown that higher-protein diets tend to increase the number of calories a person burns, Hall says. “So in that sense, a protein calorie is not equivalent to a carbohydrate or a fat calorie,” he says.

Protein helps you burn more calories during the day and helps preserve muscle. When people lose weight, they don’t just lose fat -- they also lose muscle. The more muscle you lose on a diet, the more your metabolism slows. That can make it tough to keep the weight off down the road. Protein also helps you feel satisfied for longer after your eat.

But people can eat only so much protein without changing their kidney function. U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that adults keep their protein in a range of 10% to 35% of total calories each day. Most diets fall into that range. Atkins, for example, one of the highest protein diets around, supplies 35% of daily calories from protein.

Weight loss is a mystery to some of us because we don't know how we gain the excess body fat, so we don't know what we have to do to lose the fat. Most of us think if we can just lose some weight the fat will disappear, but it doesn't work that way and that's why most of us give up trying.

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information. But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

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. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books 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. 

How Does Weight Loss Happen?

So you’re finally ready to lose weight. Now the question is: How?

The standard advice -- to eat less and move more -- isn’t so helpful when it comes to the “how.” You probably know you need to cut calories, but how many? Are you better off getting those calories from low-fat or low-carb foods? And what’s going on with your metabolism, your personal energy-burning furnace? Is it programmed to keep you overweight? Is there any way to fan the flames so you can dream of one day eating a piece of pie without gaining a pound?

Even science is still stumped on many of the basic questions of weight loss.

“Amazingly, in this era of obesity, there are still many things that we really don’t know,” says Robin Callister, PhD, professor of human physiology at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

Here’s what we do know about some of the most persistent mysteries of weight loss.

There are new calculators, like the Body Weight Planner available from the NIH and the Weight Loss Predictor from Pennington. Give them a few key details, like your sex, age, weight, height, activity level, and the date you want to hit your goal, and they’ll give you a more realistic daily calorie goal to get you there.

Once you know how many calories you need to eat every day, where should they come from? Is it better to cut carbs or cut fat? How much protein do you need each day? Will having a drink torpedo all your hard work?

Let’s start with the alcohol.

“There’s a big debate on whether alcohol calories are even useable, whether you can even turn them into fat. It’s not easy,” says Ken Fujioka, MD, a weight loss expert at Scripps Health in San Diego, CA. “When you look at various studies you actually get mixed results. Some studies say it’s not a problem, don’t worry about it, others say it’s associated with weight gain. So it’s a real open mess.”

Fujioka counsels his patients to pay attention to how alcohol affects their eating.

“Some folks, when they drink alcohol, feel like they have license to eat whatever they want to, and they get into problems.” If a glass of wine weakens your will to resist that plate of cheese and crackers, it’s not doing your waistline any favors.But if booze doesn’t affect your eating, then one or two drinks is probably OK, he says.As for calories from fat, carbohydrates, and protein, this is where one size, or one eating plan, really doesn’t fit all. 

There is good science to show that people who have high blood sugar levels -- associated with conditions like type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, gestational diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and fatty liver disease -- benefit from diets that are lower in refined carbohydrates and higher in healthy fats and lean proteins. Examples of this kind of diet are South Beach, the Zone diet, the Mediterranean diet, and the low GI diet.

If insulin levels aren’t a concern, there’s little difference in the amount of weight people lose if they cut their calories from fat or from carbs, says Kevin Hall, PhD, a senior investigator and expert in metabolism at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, MD. But he says protein calories are a different story.

In the lab, researchers have shown that higher-protein diets tend to increase the number of calories a person burns, Hall says. “So in that sense, a protein calorie is not equivalent to a carbohydrate or a fat calorie,” he says.

Protein helps you burn more calories during the day and helps preserve muscle. When people lose weight, they don’t just lose fat -- they also lose muscle. The more muscle you lose on a diet, the more your metabolism slows. That can make it tough to keep the weight off down the road. Protein also helps you feel satisfied for longer after your eat.

But people can eat only so much protein without changing their kidney function. U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that adults keep their protein in a range of 10% to 35% of total calories each day. Most diets fall into that range. Atkins, for example, one of the highest protein diets around, supplies 35% of daily calories from protein. 

“The potential to gain weight and become obese is in everybody. But for some people, the potential is clearly genetically much, much higher,” he says.

So far, more than 30 genes have been flagged as being linked to body mass index. The one most strongly tied to obesity is called the FTO gene. Researchers recently reported that people who get a faulty copy of that gene are more likely to store calories as fat instead of burn them for energy. The discovery, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, should pave the way for better weight loss treatments.

Though FTO is the most powerful single gene found to date, it doesn’t explain all obesity. Fujioka says obesity is probably the sum of many genes working together.“The more genetic flaws you get that lead you to obesity, you’re more like a loaded gun. The environment will pull the trigger and you’ll just get heavy.” Whereas people who don’t inherit those risk genes will be protected, to some extent, from weight gain, no matter how badly they eat.

Men vs. Women

If losing weight with your mate has you discouraged, ladies, take heart.

Yes, it’s true -- pound for pound, a man on a diet will drop 10 pounds faster than you can say “please pass the celery.” And researchers think that’s probably more of a size problem than a sex difference. Men are bigger than women and naturally carry more muscle, the tissue that burns the greatest number of calories. So they do have an easier time losing weight.

But here’s the thing about men: They start strong, but they often can’t sustain the effort.

“At 3 months, men are ahead -- definitely ahead on absolute weight loss,” says Callister, who recently conducted a study of studies, or meta-analysis, to look at the big picture of sex differences in weight loss. “But by 6 months, there’s no difference,” she says.

But do men really lose a bigger percent of their overall weight when they diet than women do?

Surprisingly, few studies have looked at that question. Callister says we still don’t know the answer.

One interesting study, though, compared the weight loss between men and women who had gastric bypass weight-loss surgery. The study found that after 24 months, there was no significant difference in the percent of weight lost by men or women after bariatric surgery. On average, men had lost about 66% of their excess weight, while women had lost about 73% of their extra pounds.

And here’s more heartening news: While women may take a little longer to shed the same weight as men, Callister says they seem to do a better job keeping it off, perhaps because they lost it more gradually in the first place.

What’s the Best Exercise for Weight Loss?

When it comes to dropping pounds, there’s no substitute for pushing back from your plate. But what about exercise?

While it’s important for overall health and mental well-being, it’s probably not going to help you dramatically shrink your size.

“It has dozens and dozens of benefits, but when it comes to producing clinically meaningful weight loss -- weight loss of 5% to 10% or more -- you really want to focus on dieting,” Martin says.

Exercising when you’re trying to lose weight is tricky. It does help burn calories, but not nearly as many as not eating those calories in the first place. And exercise increases appetite, so if you’re working out intensely, it’s really easy to eat back all the calories you just burned.

Martin recommends that people who are trying to lose weight focus on moderate-intensity physical activities, like brisk walking or gardening.

The National Weight Control Registry, which tracks people who’ve successfully lost 30 pounds and kept it off for a year or longer, reports that 94% of members have increased their physical activity in some way. The most frequently reported form of exercise is walking.

Where exercise becomes critically important is for weight maintenance. Martin says most people who successfully lose weight and keep it off exercise a lot -- nearly an hour a day.

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information. But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

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. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books 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. 

Do Carbs Make You Gain Weight?

This post from the HungryGirl website. It explains why you don't have to be afraid of  carbs.

Carbs can be downright confusing: Some sources claim that eating carbs can hinder weight loss and cause weight gain; others say carbs are a diet essential. I’m Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien, and I’m here to clarify the truth about carbs.

There are rumors out there that eating carbs can be detrimental to your diet. Low-carb diets have gone through periods of being super popular for weight loss. But here’s the deal:

Reality: Carbs Don’t Make You Gain Weight; Excess Calories Do

Carbs don't cause instant weight gain, but starchy carbs do have a tendency to be calorie-dense. And if you eat too many calories, you’ll probably put on weight, whether those calories are from carbs or another nutrient. Sure, it’s a problem if your diet consists only of carbs, but it’s also problematic if you’re skipping them completely. Carbohydrates play an important role in your diet; they provide energy to your body. The name of the game is balance: The USDA recommends that 45 to 65 percent of an adult’s daily calorie intake comes from carbs, with the remainder of calories coming from a mixture of protein and fat.

When it Comes to Carbs, There Are a Few Things to Keep in Mind

1. Not all carbs are created equal.

Certain carbs are better for your health than others. It’s important to limit refined carbs, which are prevalent in foods like processed white bread and cakes.

The process of refinement means the whole grains have been extracted, removing much of the fiber and nutritional value and leaving you with sugary carbs and empty calories. 

A better way to fill your daily carb quota is with complex carbs, which are found in whole foods like oats, whole grains, beans, green veggies, and potatoes.

Complex carbs are low in sugar and tend to be high in fiber. And fiber takes longer to digest than other carbs, so it keeps you satisfied and feeling full for a long time. That’s definitely true for me — if I snack on something like an apple, I’m much less likely to reach for a candy bar later in the day.

2. Even complex carbs can be calorie-dense, so watch your servings.

Always read nutritional labels, and practice portion control. One of my favorite ways to enjoy calorie-dense carbs in moderation is to bulk up the serving size with low-calorie foods like veggies: You get the health benefits of the carbs, plus a big portion and a low calorie count!

Green-leafy vegetables are carbs too and they are important to everyones diet. Complex carbs are the ones you want and the man-made carbs are the ones to avoid. 

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information. But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

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. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books 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.