Lose Weight With Living Foods

Losing weight doesn't have to be boring when you focus on living foods. What does this mean? Simply by making sure your plate reflects a range of colors, you'll naturally create more balanced and healthful menus complete with a range of living foods.

What are living foods? They are re live, colorful, fresh and raw - fruits, vegetables and salads!

Let's Look At The Positives

1. Colorful foods have no preservatives and no added color!

2. Provide an abundance of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, water and trace elements.

3. Have a high water content - an excellent source of hydration for the body.

4. Are visually appetizing.

5. Their firm textures demand a good chew, so we eat them more slowly and feel full afterwards.

6. Are quickly and easily processed and assimilated by the body - less work for the digestive system.

7. Are safer - contain less undesirable man-made chemicals.

8. Are as nature intended (unlike processed, pre-packaged modern fast foods!)

9. Are pure energy - living food.

Consuming Cooked Foods

1. Heat destroys the vitalizing nutrients in colorful foods. So much so that sometimes, you may as well be eating cardboard for all the good it does your body!

2. The effectiveness of fiber in cooked fresh foods is reduced - vegetables that are floppy and overcooked pass through the body with a reduced 'cleansing' action.

3. If you cook vegetables, always steam them lightly and aim to retain their 'crunch'!

4. Cooked vegetables tend to turn out soft and therefore require less chewing, which means they are usually eaten more quickly, so are less satisfying.

5. Heat also destroys the enzymes in fresh foods, which are essential for digestion. This means the body has to tap into its own precious supply of enzymes to support the digestive process.

6. Heat also destroys the enzymes in fresh foods, which are essential for digestion. This means the body has to tap into its own precious supply of enzymes to support the digestive process.
 

Move, Move, Move For Greater Weight Loss

Incidental activity is very important in the process of losing weight as you can burn more calories than relying on dietary means alone. Fat is burned from the body when cells oxidize to release energy in the form of exercise or movement. When the exercise is done slowly to moderately then the majority of energy is taken from the fat stores.

The loss of fat comes from fat cells all over the body, not from one or more specific areas so spot reduction of a certain area is not possible. The main priority of this article is to show you the quickest and safest way to lose fat from the body. 

The key to effective aerobic training that burns off the maximum amount of fat is long-term consistency not intensity.  It doesn’t matter if you run a mile, jog a mile or walk a mile you will burn exactly the same amount of calories.

The best exercise by far for the purpose of fat-loss is fast walking either indoors on the treadmill or outdoors. What many don't know is that walking produces a greater percentage of fat loss as opposed to jogging or running. Other aerobic activities are the treadmill, bike, climber or any other training gear found in or out of the gym.

Walk or exercise until you are mildly puffing and hold that rate until the allotted time. If your aerobic activities leave you panting or breathless, your going too hard, your energy is coming from your carbohydrate reserves and not from your fat stores. Try fast walking for one hour a day every day of the week if you are able. 

Here are some of the benefits of fast walking. 

• Easy to Perform

• Most Conventional

• All Natural Body Movement

• Doesn't Cause Injuries

• Can Be Done Anywhere

• The Best Minimal Effort Exercise for Fat Loss

Research shows that regular, brisk walking is one of the best exercises we can do for overall fitness.  It suits people of all ages and fitness levels, its easy to get started and there's no complicated technique to learn or equipment to buy.  

Walking is an excellent way to get fit because it uses nearly all the muscles and, as you have to carry your body weight, you can get a good workout from it.

Its also safer on the joints and the back than most other forms of exercise because you're not jumping up and down, so the impact is low.

Studies have shown that taking a daily 20-minute walk can reduce the risk of heart attack as much as 50%, it also reduces high blood pressure and helps to burn fat to keep weight under control.  

Walking and other weight bearing exercises (Strength training) helps to increase bone mass, which protects against osteoporosis and bone fractures.

In the first two weeks, go for a 20-minute walk every other day and then increase this to 40 minutes.  At first try to do five 20-minute walks per week totaling 100 minutes a week.  Once you get used to the regular exercise, increase this to 40 minutes for five times a week. 

You can then gradually increase this as you see fit, if you want to walk every day for 40 minutes or even an hour so be it. Remember the more you walk the more fat that will be burned off.  The best pace for fitness training will make you slightly breathless, but you should still be comfortable and be able to carry on a conversation.  

As you get fitter, you'll want to stretch a little harder to keep your heart rate up.  Try lengthening your strides, increasing your pace. Keep your shoulders back, your chest lifted and your tummy pulled in when you walk, hold your head up for open, easy breathing. 

Practical Tips

• If your feeling stressed, try counting your steps repeatedly from one to ten as you walk, this helps some people achieve a meditative effect and can be a great tension reliever when practiced over a full 40 minutes.

• Time yourself, measure the distance or increase the gradient to make the workout more challenging. Drink plenty of fluids during and after your walk.

• Make safety your first consideration. Don't walk after dark except in well-lit, busy places. Start the walk slowly, and then gradually increase the pace.

In all other activities try to move, move, move. Try parking the car further away from your destination so you can walk the extra distance, hide all your remote controls so you have to get up and change the channels manually. These all help burn those extra calories and body fat from your frame.
 

Weight Loss Supplements and Diet Pill

More and more spend hundred and even thousands of dollars yearly on weight loss supplements in the hope of speeding up their metabolism.  The main desire is to be attractive and accepted but it is becoming a more difficult goal to achieve.  The fitness industry is booming but still a lot of people are unable to cut those fat in spite of all the exercise and diet efforts.  In America, more than sixty per cent of adults are overweight and thirty per cent are considered obese.  This is because: one, a lot of weight loss products promises unrealistic goals; two, dietary supplement manufacturers rely on the overweight persons failure to survive; and three, the information about the supplements in the market are just written by themselves just to make a sell.  

Although the Food and Drug Administration has successfully banned illegal marketers, some products are still available.  Consumers can be deceived of the labels which claims caffeine or ephedra fee not knowing that these supplements composes of other ingredients that may pose the same health risks.  These include heart and digestive problems, headaches, insomnia, and even psychological side effects.

Other supplement manufacturers say that their products contains EGCG which is a phytochemical ingredient found in green tea.  This so-called component claims to speed up metabolism but in reality poses to reduce the risk of cancer.  Some studies denote that it could slightly increase the potential to burn calories and now can be found in many weight loss supplements.  It has good points on the other hand since the body might conform to EGCG after a period of time.  Eve the weight loss benefit could sum up to 60 to 70 calories a day. This helps prevent excessive weight gain.  

A few other significant effects of weight loss supplements is that it may contain ingredients that makers claim will prevent the absorption of carbohydrates.  One good example is Chitosan, which appears most promising, which in fact shows no positive result in fat absorption.  It could even take up to seven months for men to lose just a pound of body fat and for women, there is no fat loss at all.  Thyroid supplements act as thyroid replacements help regulate and optimize the thyroid at a higher level.  This they say makes the body feel like a couch potato and wont perform the job it has to.

Diet Pills. According to manufacturers, diet pills use natural ingredients capable of prolonging life and containing alcohol used in medication or flavoring.  One thing is for sure, never take diet pills as substitute for cutting calories without the doctors recommendation.  There are simple but important steps to be followed when taking diet pills:

1. Never crush diet pills to mix in drinks or soups.  Take it whole with a full glass of water.
2. Diet pills causes a person to urinate more frequently due to its diuretic effect.  This could lead to dehydration, thus, causing complications.  As a precaution, it is best to drink eight glasses of water everyday while on diet pills.
3. Take only the recommended dosage.  Taking more than required will not help you lose weight but increase the risk of side effects.
4. Heartbeat should be less than 86 beats per minute.  Stop taking the pills if it reaches 90 or higher that is why regular checking of pulse is a must.
5. Always follow the instructions set by the dietician and/or doctor and not only rely on what’s enclosed in the box.  Also diet pills will only work as expected if diet plan is being followed.
6. After three months, stop taking the diet pills.  Common diet phenylpropanolamine is safe to use only up to sixteen weeks.  Other studies show that it can cause health problems if taken under one month.
 

Metabolism - What is it and How Can I Control It?

Many of my clients were initially overweight, not all, but most were. In fact, more than 60% of my clients came to me to help them lose weight. The other 40% is a mixture of people who want to live longer, who want to look sexier, who want to add muscle to their physique, or who just want to live a healthy, energy-rich life.

Today, I'm going to focus on helping those people who want to lose weight, not because I think that the topic of weight loss is more important than other topics I could cover, but because I think I need to clear up a few false ideas that are circulating in the industry.

First and foremost, if you're overweight, there's a very good chance that you have a low metabolism! I know that might not be shocking to you. You may have already thought that you had a slow metabolism, but here's why I'm re-stating it...

Having a slow metabolism means that you can eat 'only a little food' and still gain more weight than your neighbor who eats far more than you every day of his or her life.

Your metabolism is basically a bunch of organs and glands that are responsible for regulating how your body burns food for fuel and how it converts that food into energy. These include the thyroid, pancreas, stomach, small and large intestines, and the colon.

When you have a slow metabolism there's a good chance that one of more of these systems is out of balance or just plain not working properly (and that's almost always due to improper living, disease, drugs, or a severe accident).

But there are more causes for being overweight other than having a low metabolism. You see, overweight people tend to eat when they're not hungry, they tend to have a larger appetite, they tend to eat "diet foods" more often (which are rarely conducive to weight loss as the label suggests), they tend to eat before they go to bed, and worst of all they tend to see themselves as being overweight.

Now you can clean up almost all of this mess by living a healthy lifestyle, or if you've read any of my books or listened to any of the audio programs my company has out, then you already know all the basics associated with living a lean, healthy lifestyle.

But the underlying problem that can never be cleared up simply with your actions, is the way you see yourself when you close your eyes.

My studies regarding the National Metabolic and Longevity Research Center literature have taught me that overweight people constantly think about their weight in a negative way, thus creating the undesired effect. It's true that you become what you think
about, and if you constantly see yourself as being fat, you'll never be thin!

Here's a tip...for the next 30 days (it takes 28 - 30 days to change how you subconsciously think of yourself) take a few minutes in the morning and picture a great looking, tight, sexy body from head to toe - then put your face on that body. 
Do this exercise again in the mid afternoon, and then again right before you fall asleep at night.

Do this for 30 days and I guarantee that you'll experience a dramatic change in the way your body looks.

What Is The Mediterranean Diet?

In 1993, the Harvard Medical School released the results of research that studied the diets of those countries bordering on the Mediterranean. Their findings suggested that fat and carbohydrates were NOT the main culprit in obesity and heart disease, but rather that the RIGHT fats and carbohydrates should be the base for a healthy diet. The study pointed to low rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease throughout the region as proof of their contention. 
  
Exactly what is the Mediterranean diet and can it help you lose weight? There actually is no 'Mediterranean' diet - it's a compilation of the way that people in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea eat. Despite the differences in actual specifics, all of those studied based their diets on the same proportions of food groups and calories, and all included olive oil as their main source of fat. In fact, their diets contained far more than the recommendations made by the USDA - 40% rather than the 30% recommended for most healthy Americans. Still, the evidence was irrefutable. Therefore, it must have been the KIND of carbohydrates and fats that make the difference. 
  
The Mediterranean diet consists of the following guidelines: 
  
60% Of Total Carbohydrates From Grains, Fruits And Vegetables 

Those include whole rice, fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grain breads and cereals, polenta, pasta (made with whole grain, not refined white flour) 
  
Sparing Use of Red Meat, Fish And Poultry

The typical adult Mediterranean consumes about 15 ounces of red meat and poultry per week. Another 5-15 ounces of fish per week account for the bulk of their meat protein intake. Compare that to the typical American diet which might include a 1 pound steak for dinner one night, a 1/2 pound chicken breast the next, and on and on. 
  
Olive Oil

Olive oil is not a miracle oil. It is, however, mono-unsaturated - a good fat. Mono-unsaturated fats help lower cholesterol rather than raising it, and are healthy ways to add fats to your diet (and yes, even though we think of fat as a dirty word, your body does need some, or it can't use many of the vitamins you feed it!) 
  
The other important component of the Mediterranean lifestyle was activity. The typical Mediterranean day includes walking rather than driving, physical activity in the fields or the home and recreation. Physical activity is vital in helping the body to lose weight, and to maintain your new weight once you reach it. 
  
The secret to losing weight with the Mediterranean diet is to base your meals on healthy carbohydrates - leafy green vegetables, brightly colored vegetables, whole grains and meals. Use meat sparingly - no more than 3-6 ounces per day. Derive dietary fat from vegetable sources - or from fish oil. Exercise regularly to rev up your metabolism. The Mediterranean diet isn't a weight loss regimen. It's a new way of eating that will help you reach your goal weight and stay there when you get there.