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Natural Weight Control

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Since the topic is high on nearly everyone’s list, it seems only fitting that we discuss diets and weight loss. It is very apparent in reading any magazines or newspapers that a vast majority of Americans are overweight. Studies have shown that this trend is on the rise nationwide.

A study released in October by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the number of Americans considered obese – defined as being more than 30 percent over their ideal body weight – soared from about one in eight in 1991 to nearly one in five in 2004. Overall, the population of obese men and women in the United States increased from 12 percent in 1991 to 17.9 percent in 2004, according to the CDC survey, which said that figure might be conservative.

Gaining weight or to be more specific, gaining fat, is the result of several factors. The most important of these are diet and exercise. A diet deficient in essential nutrients, skipping meals, or just eating too much can cause the scales to tip. Likewise, a lack of exercise gives the body no way to burn the calories that you’re taking in every day.

Many people feel somewhat limited in the amount of exercise that they can do. Therefore, it is vital that they monitor and control their eating habits to avoid weight gain. Carrying extra pounds puts an incredible stress on the entire body. Every system is affected to some extent. The circulatory system must build more blood vessels to feed the extra fat. The muscles and skeletal system wear out more rapidly from supporting the extra weight. The respiratory system must work harder to bring more oxygen to a larger area. In time, the additional weight begins to cause health problems.

High blood pressure, diabetes, heart and vascular disease all have very strong connections to obesity. A change in nutritional habits at any stage in life allows the body to begin to correct the damage already done. Increasing exercise or adding any physical activity to your daily routine assists your body in fighting weight gain.

These changes do not have to be the punishment or denial that we have come to believe that they are. Dietary change doesn’t mean giving up all those foods that you love. Likewise, exercise does not mean running marathons or spending two hours at the gym every day. Moderation is the key to a healthy lifestyle.

Exercise means simply moving more than you do now. Bending, twisting, moving your arms, walking around the block — all of these activities will burn calories, help build lean muscle mass and boost your metabolism. Just adding a few minutes of movement each day will help but it is important to be consistent. Try to do some of these activities at least three times a week, preferably in the sunshine and fresh air.

Diet changes should basically focus on reducing the intake of sugar and starches. Recent studies have shown that America’s sweet tooth is one of the key culprits of obesity. The suggested amount of sugar for the daily diet is 10 teaspoons. That equals one can of soda. In addition, sugar is added to almost everything we eat. It is seen in the ingredients as sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrins and other names. It is easy to see how we can be eating far more sugar than we know.

Starches are also to blame for packing on the weight. Potatoes, pastas, white bread and white rice are all foods that are easily turned into fat when eaten in excess or in combination with dietary fats. In addition, carrots, beets and corn can also be stored as fat when eaten in combination with other fats.

All the sugars and starches are considered high glycemic foods. It is preferable to eat low glycemic foods to maintain your ideal weight. High glycemic foods cause the insulin level in your body to rise. This results in an increase in fat production. Any of the carbohydrates or fats that were eaten that are not burned as fuel for the body are then stored as fat.

This process was verified and documented by years of studies by the Glycemic Research Institute in Washington D.C. The initial research was begun to determine an acceptable diet for Type II diabetics. The Institute has tested hundreds of foods and compiled lists of the glycemic value of each. If you would like more information on low glycemic foods for weight loss, contact me through my website.

This article gives you a small portion of an eight-week coaching program that I teach through the ‘Personal Coaching’ section of my website. I hope this information leads you to positive choices for healthy lifestyle.

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Source by Jerry Ryan

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Fast Effective Weight Loss Plans!

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Honestly, one of the most frustrating things in the world for most people is finding a fast, effective weight loss plan. Not only does the plan have to be something healthy, but to be quite frank, it needs to be something that let you keep the will to lose weight and stick to the plan.

Rapid weight loss programs are not the answer all of the time, sometimes you are just going to have to give in and change your lifestyle around quite a bit in order to get the results that you are looking for. In this article we will explore some foods that will make you lose weight and some tips and tricks that you can do to get results without turning your world completely upside down.

One thing that you should definitely take into consideration when you are looking to get results and lose weight is your portion size. In the United States especially, it is extremely difficult to control your portion size as many, many people overeat and so that is the reason that they are overweight. If you are at a restaurant, wrap up half of your order before you see it and you will definitely not regret it.

Also, choosing the right foods to eat is very important. Fresh, wholesome foods are definitely some of the best foods for you in the world, you want to avoid foods that are prepackaged and definitely avoid foods that have a lot of chemicals in them and that are not fresh.

So as you can see, just a few changes in your diet and your buying habits will definitely have you getting the results that you want. Simply control your portion size, make sure that you are eating fresh and wholesome foods instead of canned or packaged foods and you should definitely see results instantly!

The food that you consume when you are trying to lose weight is extremely important, but you always want to make sure that you are sticking to some type of plan too! Fat Loss 4 Idiots is a fantastic plan and book that really works for anyone's lifestyle!

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Source by Vicki Carrella

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The World’s Most Popular Diets For Weight Loss

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The world’s most popular diets and how they can work for and against you for weight loss / fat loss and muscle building is an oxymoron. (Far too many moron taking too much oxy with too much hype marketing to be honest and effective)

Seriously though, how can every diet in the world be the best diet in the world and how can they be right for you all the time. Well to be simply and brutally honest they can’t. Not every diet in the world is the best for everybody all the time. No one program is successful at fulfilling all your goals and maintaining your weight loss and your body for the rest of your life.

Many of the world’s most popular diets are 90% the same and 10% different. It’s that key 10% that they market and promote 90% of the time.

For example: Atkins Low Carb Diet by Dr. Robert Atkins. It’s great; it forces the body into Ketosis (for more weight loss and rid the body of sugars) for 6-10 weeks it works like magic for initial weight loss. Atkins Low Carb Diet then brings you into a re-composition or reintroduction of carbohydrates for a longer more sustainable lifestyle. The Atkins Low Carb Diet is clearly a “DIET” not a Lifestyle program any more than body builders pre-contest and offseason diet is. Sure you will experience rapid amounts of weight loss (mostly water weight) but you will then dip into serious fat stores for energy and when you introduce the carbs you may bounce back up in weight (fat and water retention) again. The problem is that too many people only read the first half of the book and think they know the answer. That’s when you can literally see that they are “off” their Atkins Low Carb Diet kick and the weight appears to fall back into place rapidly. The back half of the Atkins Low Carb Diet Book will teach you to introduce the right calories and right carbs into your lifestyle and that is where it is apparent that you will end up eating much more of a Zone by Dr. Barry Sears or balanced diet philosophy with a 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat ratio.

The same goes with South Beach Weight Loss Strategy. Honestly this one is more marketing and trend hype than anything as it is clearly a “balanced” eating lifestyle program. Really it is darn close to Zone teachings right from the get go. What I do like about this is that there is a 2 week induction or detox diet strategy to get you started, then move into the balanced lifestyle program with massive weight loss results. Did you know that South Beach is just one of the burbs in Miami Florida and was recently (2009) ranked as one of the highest “unhealthy” and “unfit” cities in the United States. Man, everybody looks so good down there in the sun; they must be hiding the fat and sick people in the alleys and closets or behind desks and suits all day long. Dr. Agatston sure picked the right place to start a practice and a trendy appropriately named series of books.

There is a lot to be said for each and every diet strategy in the world. The problem is this. They ALL work. Knowing which one works, at the right time in your life, when you are at the right body composition and effectively selecting the right program to follow at that specific point is a daunting task. In fact it is downright painful and can only be done in a trial and error format which leaves you frustrated, confused and often times a skinnier fatter version of your former self or with no energy to even bother trying the next hot diet that Oprah Winfrey suggests will work for you. Have you ever noticed how Oprah has bounced up and down the scales and from diet to diet (more on that another time). Literally she has a hot new diet every year (she has followed Zone, South Beach, Atkins, and many other diet programs over the years) and “this is finally the one that’s going to work for you”. They ALL work, short term, but the end game is knowing which weight loss diet strategy will work at the right time in your life, how and when to implement it and sustain that for life.

How can you select the right weight loss diet strategy at the right time for the right reasons that will work for you? That is the toughest question you are going to have to face as weight loss and diet information is rampant and leads to confusion with complicated rules, and ends up being way too consuming for many to embark on. Heck even nutritionists are wrong from time to time or are branded and following the trends not the science and proven theories of their own (people lie, not numbers, pictures and weight loss results). The best answer I can suggest is to get a professional coach, a full time nutritionist, and an educated trainer or spend years, months and thousands of dollars going back to school and become the nutritionist and weight loss diet pro for your family. The other solution is find some already done-for-you meal plans with a tool that will help you pinpoint what weight loss and diet strategies are right for you at what point in your life to accomplish your weight loss and lean muscle building goals. That is the cheapest, fastest and easiest way to start getting the results you want. Oh yeah I also suggest following a nutritional coach on twitter, facebook, blog or some rss type of thing and work with just 1-2 theories not following every nutritionist and kamikaze body builder playing Russian roulette with your health.

Start by just adding 1-2 tasks a week. Try these 5 simple tips and use it as a checklist. Just wait and see how you do in the next week:

  1. Cut obvious sugars out of your diet
  2. Replace obvious and not so obvious sugars with fruits and veggies in your weight loss plan
  3. Stop drinking your calories – yeah that means the triple triple cafe latte has to go… well just scale it down a bit, start with skim milk or non fat if you must have the triple triple cafe latte
  4. Increase your water intake – its calorie free, hydrating, satisfying, increases fat burning and protein synthesis – all good stuff
  5. Eat smaller meals and snacks more often – the same calories spread out will yield a slightly lower fat storage and that too is good for the body, mind and weight loss

(I bet you can lose 3-5 pounds this week, just trying these simple tips in your diet)

Enjoy these first steps to a new you and have your own empowered success story.

If you like this list, then look for my top 10, 20 and 50 nutrition tips to a successful transformation. Really it is easier to implement than you think and the results when you follow a done-for-you meal plans or check list are truly unbelievable until you do it for yourself.

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Source by Patrick McGuire