Top 5 Characteristics of a Good Weight Loss Plan

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A great weight loss plan strikes a good balance between a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. It sounds so simple in theory, yet most of us who want to lose weight find it hard to stick to this philosophy alone. What’s worse is that we have read a tumultuous amount of literature regarding the “proper” or the “best” way to lose weight, and, somehow, we end up confusing ourselves even more.

When you make a commitment to lose weight, you have to make sure that you’re choosing a healthy weight loss plan. You may ask how can you ensure that the weight loss plan you’re about to make is the right one that will work for you. Well, simply put, it is all about watching what you eat and making sure you are engaged in an active sports or exercise program. For people who are bordering to obesity, it is best to consult a health fitness coach or a nutritionist to ensure that you get professional advice on the best weight loss plan that will suit your needs and lifestyle. However, for people who have gained a bit of weight and are wanting to live a healthier lifestyle, here are the top five characteristics of what constitutes a truly healthy weight loss plan.

1. Proper Nutrition Over Single-Item Diets

There is no short cut to healthy eating. For your benefit, simply avoid any weight loss plan that urges you to eat only one food item. Most people are under the impression that if we eat only foods that will increase fiber or protein intake, we’re good to go. It is worth emphasizing that healthy weight loss means eating a well-balanced diet from all food groups. Starving and food deprivation will definitely crash your system in the long run. You may lose weight temporarily but this will only encourage an unhealthy relationship with food. The key thing to remember is moderation.

2. Calorie-Conscious Diet Plan

Being mindful of what you eat is the first step to healthy eating. The best way to do this is to follow a plan that allows you to track your calorie intake. Being aware of how much calories you take in is an essential part of losing weight. A lot of us find it tedious to count calories. However, a healthy weight loss plan ensures that you get just the right amount of calories your body needs to burn energy. There is no need to eliminate caloric foods in your diet. Just choose a diet program that makes it convenient for you to calculate the number of calories you need to lose a certain amount of weight. Reading food labels is a good start.

3. Portion Management, Water Intake, and Weight Loss

Aside from calories, a good weight loss plan should encourage you to cultivate portion control. Again, there is no need to deprive yourself of food. A good weight loss plan allows you to exercise your inner discipline to consciously eat in moderation and in reasonable amounts to keep you satisfied and healthy at the same time. In addition, proper hydration is a key factor in healthy weight management. Most of us take water for granted. We don’t drink enough water during the day. Worse, we forget how important water is in healthy living. Proper hydration plays a major role in detoxification. Drinking 8 or more glasses a day washes away all the toxins, wastes, and even excess water weight, making you feel light, healthy, and fit. It’s even a good technique for enhancing satiety when eating.

4. Workout Program

A good weight loss plan should involve a regular exercise program. Regardless of what type of sports or exercise you wish to participate in, being active is a major requirement for losing weight the healthy way. Make sure you engage in a gradual change. Nothing too intense at first, and then slowly increase the intensity to ensure proper body conditioning. A lot of people who have gained weight have lived sedentary lifestyles for a long time, so it’s important to get active slowly but surely to avoid injury and to ensure long-term success. You should start gradually, say 20 minutes a day. You can start by simply taking a walk or a jog around the park. Overtime, you can then increase the intensity and duration of your exercise program to avoid exercise rut and to keep the challenge. Just like a well-balanced diet, there is no short cut to losing excess fat than moving your body. A workout program is also a great way to enhance your mood and self-esteem in the long run.

5. A Weight Loss Plan That Suits Your Lifestyle

Losing weight the healthy way is basically a big lifestyle overhaul. You don’t have to be fazed by this long-term goal. Choosing a healthy weight loss plan should require an assessment of the lifestyle that you currently have. To ensure that you can stick to your weight loss goals, plan a weight loss regimen that allows you to still live the way you want to without compromising your health and your happiness. If you are a career-driven individual who is always on the go, choose a weight management plan that doesn’t require 24/7 of your time. Better yet, find inspiration in the current lifestyle that you have and extend it to your healthy living goals. Busy people can stick to an afternoon or weekend schedule for their exercise regimen. Eating healthy food when you’re always on the go requires a bit of meal planning and time management. There is always a way to adapt a good weight loss plan regardless of your career or family demands. You just have to manage your time well, and be committed to making healthy choices.

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Source by Kate Trillin

Your Diet For Belly Fat

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I’m always surprised with the issues people seem to have with losing weight, while at the same time they just keep on eating junk food. One interesting thing I have seen after years of helping people to lose weight and get lean is that almost every one claims they are “trying” to lose weight but their kitchen is filled with all sorts of junk food rather than natural whole unprocessed food.

People will always say that they are doing their best to lose weight, but I will still notice candy, cookies, cakes in their cupboard and fizzy drinks in their cooler.

So why is it when people really want lose weight badly, do most still have junk foods to hand in their homes?

Most people hate the idea of giving up their favorite foods because they look on junk food as one of life’s little pleasures”

But consuming junk foods has nothing at all to do with enjoying life… In truth, when you stop eating junk foods you will enjoy life so much more because you feel better and have more energy daily. Also, getting into better shape by cutting out these things will certainly help improve the way your body looks. Therefore you will probably have more confidence

Healthy eating does not have to mean boring eating with bland tasteless food. When you start enjoying whole, natural food and start trying out all of the varieties of natural food on offer to you, you will realise that you can truly enjoy the taste of natural foods a whole lot more than salty, sweet, processed foods.

I used to drink sweetened tea and put a lot of sugar in coffee, but slowly I reduced the amount of sugar I would use in coffee and tea, I can now drink them both with no sugar or sweeteners.

Everyone should be able to enjoy what they eat without consuming highly processed junk food which is just about the worst thing for giving you an ugly fat belly! Actually, people are usually pleasantly surprised to find that many foods that they think of as junk food, have tasty and healthy alternatives that they never would have expected.

For example:

Junk food: a milk chocolate bar or a chocolate cookie

Healthy eating alternative: Extra-dark chocolate (with more than 70-75% cocoa content)… high in fiber and has a lot less sugar than milk chocolate

Junk food: Deep fried and battered chicken with fries (loaded with bad trans fats)

Healthy eating alternative: grilled chicken without the skin with peanut sauce for dipping, plus vegetables

Junk food: Fast-food processed meat burger on a white bun

Healthy alternative: A burger made from grass-fed meat, which is high in CLA. Along with grass-fed cheese on a wholemeal or grain roll

All healthy food but still tastes good!

Hopefully what you get from this report is that there are plenty of alternatives to eating junk food. Alternatives that not only taste good, but also helpwith your diet for losing that unsightly belly fat!

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Source by Geoff G Payne

Weight Loss Pills – Are They Worth It?

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With millions of overweight men and women in the world today, so many are looking for a 'magical' pill or answer to their obesity, instead of sticking to a healthy eating plan and exercising each day. There is no way that one would not lose weight if they followed a healthy weight loss diet like one of the following tried and tested world renowned eating plans:

o The Jenny Craig Diet
o Weight Watchers
o The South Beach Diet
o FatLoss4Idiots Diet
o The Atkins Diet

Unfortunately as mentioned above, desperate people are looking for a quick fix, which usually comes in pill form.

Some of the popular weight loss pills on the market today are:

o Acai Berry
o Hoodia
Hydroxycut
o Dietrine
o Resveratrol
o Alli
o Lipo 6 Fat Burner

There is a lot of information about the above diet pills and others. Be sure to check with your doctor that none of the above, or any other diet pill interferees with the medication you may already be taking. Many diet pills suppress your appetite, while others may speed up your metabolism, while others promise to burn fat.

Do these weight loss pills work? Some may live up to what they promise, but buyer beware! Many do not perform as well as they may say they do. Nearly all diet pills do have side effects and some can be serious.

There is another diet pill called Phentemine, it advertisements that it stops the body storing fat, but many have reported uncomfortable stomach upsets on this diet pill. Acai Berry, mentioned above, is one of the healthier, more natural herbal diet pills. It is filled with antioxidants, fiber and fatty acids and has been found to improve your overall health.

So overall, diet pills can just make you lose your money and not your weight. The best way to lose pounds and lead a healthy, happy life is to follow one of the healthier diets listed above, which have been tried and tested and well researched.

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Source by Debbie O Turner