Healthy foods: The most essential element of weight loss

Weight loss can be futile process if you just go on diets without finding out what will really suit your body and metabolic system. You can diet for 25 years and still end up fatter with a slow metabolic system. So it is important to choose your diet in a way that you will actually benefit from it.

Fruits and vegetables make up a great diet. Amidst the cheese, butter, cream we have forgotten the classic delicious tastes of fruits and vegetables. So chuck the diet and eat healthy. Narrow down on the fruits and vegetables you love. You may be a huge fan of tomatoes, or cucumber. So take up the vegetable you love and look up for healthy recipes for which you favorite veggie forms the core. Find out as many recipes as you can and cook it up and eat healthy. Coming to fruits, cut pieces of fruit which you may like, apple, guava or anything and keep it store for quick snacks. This is definitely healthier than the fad laden potato chips, or the chocolate cookies.

Go for morning walks. It makes you brisk. Even if it's for 15 minutes, it's a healthy weight loss tip. See to it that you spend at least 30-45 minutes on walks per day. Follow a basic weight loss routine like dumbbells, weights etc. at home. Do not skip breakfast. Prepare healthy dishes like tomato sandwiches or a fruit salad for breakfast. For lunch and dinner cook up vegetables and mix it with brown rice. Use lemon juice to spice it and eat salads. These are not only healthy but they are delicious as well. Treat your taste buds to the taste of natural food and not junk food. Lemon, garlic, and tomatoes are a few ingredients you can use in almost everything, to make sauces, salad dressings, juices or simply to add flavor. Look up for such vegetables which has various healths advantages and make use of them in your diet. This way your diet will have variety and you won’t have a monotonous dieting regime with the same one or two dishes.

If you follow this kind of a healthy diet made up of your favorites you will look forward to your meals every day. At the same time you will not feel guilty of hogging something of high calories. Your weight loss regime becomes an easy task. Following this kind of a diet with pave way for a rapid weight loss and you will witness the change in a few weeks time or may be few days even. The best part is that the natural food goes down easy on your body and you will stay healthy since it won't affect your system. These weight loss tips will suddenly seem like a miracle cure which you were ignorant about all this time. So remember, weight loss is not about starving yourself, it's about eating healthy and staying fit. So keep it natural and enjoy the experience.

About the Author

To learn more about healthy & natural weight loss visit http://www.101weightloss.com/; a site featuring hundreds of articles on healthy weight loss.

Healthy Snacks Under 100 Calories

It is close to dinnertime and you are starving. You cannot wait and need something right now, but don't want to sabotage all that you have accomplished. Your willpower is growing dim and you are struggling, yet you must have something, just something that will tide you over. That cookie looks really good and that's okay, but you just know that one leads to two, and three, and........STOP!

Don't ruin it now. You have been working out for weeks and you are really noticing a difference in the way that your clothes look and feel. You have come too far for that and just think of that new dress that you want to wear to that special upcoming event. Instead here are some great snacks that will help you to squelch that rumbling tummy. Remember though...portion control is the key to success. Try eating these foods instead and you will get through those difficult times between meals.

Here is a list of foods under 100 calories:

Vegetables: Between 15 and 40 calories

Celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, green beans, radishes, green peppers, lettuce, pickles.

Fruits: Between 40 and 70 calories

Oranges, apples, strawberries, grapefruit, cantaloupe, tangerines, peaches, apricots, nectarine, ½ of a banana.

Crackers: Between 30 and 90 calories

Melba toast, Matzoh, pretzels (5), puffed wheat, puffed rice, Bran Chex, graham crackers (2 squares), breadsticks (1), vanilla wafers (5), rice cakes, cream of wheat, ½ a bagel, ½ of an English muffin.

Miscellaneous Items: Between 10 and 90 calories

Sugar-free gelatin, non-fat yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, sugar-free popsicles, sugar free fudgesicles, popcorn,a hard boiled egg, a piece of toast, Italian ice, a can of chicken noodle soup, slice of American cheese, fruit flavored yogurt, sugar-free pudding.

Drinks: Between 0 and 90 calories

Tea, coffee, seltzer water, diet sodas, grapefruit juice, orange juice, skim milk, apple juice, cranberry juice, carrot juice, tomato juice, water, sugar-free drink mixes.

Eat any of the above in a reasonable portion and you will be able to curb your appetite until your next meal without spoiling what you have accomplished. Also, don't forget to check out your grocery store for prepackaged weight loss packets of great snacks that are less than 100 calories. There are cereals, cookies, crackers, gelatin and pudding cups, popcorn and more items available that are already packaged to help you take the guesswork and temptation away from you. Or better yet, prepackage your own cereal and other items in little plastic baggies, which is more cost effective. It may take a little more time or be a little more costly, but worth it in the long run if it helps you to control your eating.

Choose your snacks wisely and plan your meals ahead. Think about when you will need a snack and be careful during your weakest moment. Keep a prepackaged snack and a bottle of water with you in case you have the munchies while you are on the go. Remember, you did not come this far just to lose it on a high calorie snack that could have been avoided with a little thought in mind.


About the Author

Follow a forty-something year old mom's journey from overweight to healthy and fit. Check out some of her favorite recipes and food finds at http://www.blogawaythepounds.com

Urban Health and Fitness Myths

Go to any gym or to your last social party and some person with spit out some urban legend as it relates to health, fitness, or weight loss. So many wise tales have been passed down from generations and especially on college campuses that we start to take them as fact. So, we have list 5 of the top urban myths around health and dieting to see do they tread water or not. Who hasn't thought that alcohol kills brain cells?

Urban Health and Fitness Myth or Fact

1. Inactivity turns muscle into fat: Almost Fact

a. The reality is that muscle and fat are two very different tissues with in the body. No, muscle can't turn into the fat though a sedentary lifestyle will cause your muscles to burn less calories. The fewer calories your muscles burn the greater amounts of fat a person will store. The correct statement is with inactivity fat replaces muscle. This is another way of saying you have a slow metabolism.

2. Women are going to get drunk quicker than Men: Fact

a. The key difference is body weight. The average male has more weight than the average female. The extra weight results in greater amounts of water in male bodies. The extra water lower the concentration of alcohol for men allowing them to stave off impairment longer. Another key difference is men has high amounts of gastric alcohol dehydrogenase, which breaks down alcohol is the liver. This allows men to break down more alcohol leaving less in the blood stream.

3. Drinking Alcohol Loses Brain Cells: Myth

a. Alcohol won't make you dumber though you may act dumber. Even binge drinkers are not going to kill brain cells. Studies have shown that heavy drinkers have the same amount of brain cells as the non drinker. Alcohol can kill brain cells though the amounts are too high to consume. You won't pass out or stop breathing before you would kill any cells.

4. Holiday 5 Pounds is a given: Myth

a. People don't gain an average of 5 pounds during the holidays. The average person gains about 1 pound over the 6 weeks from Thanksgiving to New Years. This isn't that different than the weight, from poor food diet and fitness choices that the average American gains at any point in time. The big reason we think about is that come January 1st we are making New Years resolutions and we are thinking about our weight more.

5. Drink green tea to lose weight: Myth

a. Many products and marketing are stating all the weight loss benefits of green tea. Green tea extract has been demonstrated to support weight loss and support increase in calorie burning from your metabolism. The amounts in the tea you drink are too low in concentration though to make much difference. You can still get the antioxidant properties of green tea in your drink though weight loss not much. If you want the benefits of green tea for weight loss you will have to go with nutritional supplements which deliver high concentrations.

Every myth or urban legend typically has some sort of truth to them. The issue it typically isn't exactly the way people think. The goal with any myth passed down is to do your homework.

Copyright (c) 2007 Al Short

About The Author
Al Short

WorldClassNutrition is a leader in discout nutrition supplements with the largest selection of diet pills, creatine products, protein powders, and bodybuilding supplements. Find more information on the products you are searching for at http://www.worldclassnutrition.com . Want more expert advice visit http://www.mynutritionworld.com/index.php.

Walking For Weight Loss And Optimum Health

If you've moved mountains to lose weight and it's just a war that you feel you can't win don't lose heart.The thing to remember is that all of us have failed at it,but that's not what matters.Failure is just God's way of letting you know that, that particular method is not for you.As Winston Churchill once told a group of students."The secret to my success is never give up,never give up,never give up." Don't give up begin walking!

I personally discovered walking for weight loss by accident after trying every program in the arsenal. At first I just took a cd player and did a short twenty minute walk (an hour a day is what's reccomended) then worked up to an hour, no big deal.What I noticed is a steady change in my health,fat loss and physical strength.I didn't go on much of a diet regimine, I didn't get on the scale every morning and stress, I just DID IT...Believe me this will work for you when nothing else will.

So what if we want to lose a serious amount of weight?Let's get started with a cleanse and a good nutrition program (preferably organic).If you follow the outline of what I've given you here you have every chance of losing 15 lbs. or more per month.Walking for weight loss is your ticket out of the pain and social stigma that overweight can be.I've provided some tips below to help you along.

TIPS FOR WEIGHT LOSS: 1.The first and foremost thing you should do is go through your pantry and/or refrigerator and do a label check.Toss the junk(this is the reality face it).Get rid of trans fats completely these are deadly and you should never consume them. Keep minimizing unhealthy saturates until these are non-existant as well.Concentrate instead on saturates that promote your well being.Walnuts,salmon, flaxseed oil. These are allowances which if used in moderation will get you where you're going.Once the bad fats are eliminated you will find that the weight comes off more easily and naturally.

2.Try walking on an incline whenever possible, this isn't just good strength training as some people think. It will actually decrease your blood sugar and is a good cardio exercise.It will increase the circulation over time and your mental focus will be sharper, your libido will stop by for a visit...

3.There are some obvious points to remember that some won't take into account.Always stay hydrated. Your muscles will talk back to if you don't give them what they want, namely water.

4.Diabetics should always snack on something before walking for weight loss as blood sugar can lower quickly during any excercise.

5.What my personal big gun is for health is a juicer.You can purchase this little miracle at any wal-mart store and you will be rewarded. Your skin, hair and nails will glow and you will take on a radiance you haven't seen in years.Try the wide mouth kind as it keeps you from having to slog through the chopping process. the vegetables/fruit can just be put in whole.I stay with the green vegetables, cucumber and apple as a sweetner.

6.Finally,walking for weight loss is not something you have to do alone.This can be a romance booster.It's a great way to find intimate time with your spouse,lover, family and friends.It's simple and something anyone can do together as it lends itself to open conversation...

And one more tip, never eat past the point of being full.This will expand the stomach and just cause more hunger later which is a vicious cycle in your eating habits.

So what's it going to be? Are you going to procrastinate and put this off for another year and watch your life pass you by? Don't! Take your favorite music, your dog or your iguana, I don't care but TAKE ACTION NOW! Whatever you need as a motivational tool get it and just do it.You'll find that walking for weight loss is the only cheap and simple resource that will help you get it off and keep it off. To your success in all endeavors...

If you find that this article helped you in any way and would like to explore more about the health reasons behind stubborn weight. I'd like to invite you to the following link. http://kodiak12.fatsecret.hop.clickbank.net/

About the Author

Holly Johansen is a published poet and songwriter and an advocate of indigenous native herbalism,nutrition and holistic healing.... If this article has helped you and you would like to learn more facts about weight loss check out this amazing site on the link provided. http://kodiak12.fatsecret.hop.clickbank.net/