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Monday, March 2, 2009

Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plan - 3 Tips To Help You Create A Plan That You Can Stick With

Are you not sure how to create a healthy weight loss diet plan? There are so many diets available that it can become difficult to stay focused on a weight loss diet plan that you can stick too. That is because most diets don’t fit our individual needs. For example, many people don’t want to lose weight by eliminating entire food groups such as a no carbohydrate diet. It’s just not convenient.

If you are looking to find a healthy weight loss diet plan that fits your needs here are some tips to get you started.

Learn the basics of eating right

In order to create a diet plan, you need to learn the basics of eating right. Research what foods are good for you and uncover foods you need to avoid most of the time. A good place to check is your local book store.

While there are many books out there that will help you. I suggest a book that is straight forward and doesn’t provide fancy gimmicks. Your source should be very fundamental and provide plenty of information on eating right. It should be a resource you can refer too while you are refining and perfecting your own diet plan.

Another place to look is the internet. You can find a lot of great information about proper nutrition from many sources. Also, you can find up to date information and keep your diet plan fresh by trying new things out. Remember, creating a healthy weight loss diet plan that fits your needs is all about researching what will work for you.

Set the standards of your diet

There is no “one size fits all” solution when it comes to a healthy weight loss diet plan. We all have unique tastes, lifestyles and cultural values. Embrace that and write down all the foods that you like.

During your research on eating right you will learn which foods are optimal for you and which foods are bad. Proper nutrition is a complex subject. Keep a list of these foods so you have a constitution to your program.

Another important standard is that your weight loss diet plan should fit your lifestyle, not the other way around. Healthy diet plans that fit your life style are much easier and more compelling to follow and stay with. For example, if you’re a parent your food choices should not be abstract of what the rest of your family eats. In other words, your meals should be the same as what your family eats.

Create a plan each week

Planning is the key to success or failure with maintaining your diet. First, your plan should consist of your short term goals. For example, “I will lose 2 lbs” is a goal. Use your plan to think through trouble spots for the week.

Some examples of common trouble spots are, nights when you eat out, school functions, working late, little league games, days that require a lot of driving and ordering out at the office. Your daily menu of all meals should be included with your plan and approximate times that you will be eating. You should also set up a meal or two as cheat meals.

With a little research and planning you can create a healthy weight loss diet plan. You just need to learn about feeding your body correctly and identify what will be a fit for you. Once you are up and running with your own plan, then you’ll be able to be more consistent at staying with your diet. For more Tips

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Walking And Weight Loss: Tips For Creating Your Own Walking Weight Loss Program

Of all the exercise programs, walking is perhaps the simplest and cheapest. Walking can also be one of the most effective exercise programs because walking is an exercise that many of us enjoy and will actually take time out of our busy days to do.

Walking results in the same benefits of many other types of physical exercise: It helps strengthen the heart and lungs, improves circulation, increases your confidence, reduces the risk of certain diseases, strengthens the bones, improves muscle tone, and just generally brightens your mood.

Walking works for weight loss, but you'll need to make sure you're walking long enough (or fast enough) to burn some calories.

When you are just starting your walking regimen, many experts recommend focusing on distance before you focus on speed. If you get too caught up on your intensity, you may burn out before you have established your walking routine on a daily basis.

You can burn roughly the same number of calories with a short, fast walk as with a long, slower walk. The biggest factor in your overall success will be your consistency. Make sure that you choose the right combination of pace and intensity that keeps the exercise fun for you. There will be some days that you want to take a long stroll. Others, you may want to power walk, burn some energy, and really get your heart pumping.

Most walking fitness experts recommend that you have some sort of activity each day. You can alternate your sessions of higher-intensity power walking with lower-intensity workouts. Just make sure you're getting out there at least 5 days a week, for 30 to 60 minutes at a time.

If you can't walk for 30 minutes when you are just starting out, start small and work your way up. It won't take long before you are walking for longer distances, especially if you make a goal to walk nearly every day.

For maximum health benefits, you will also want to make sure that you are walking fast enough to increase your heart rate. Fitness experts say that, for weight loss, you need to be walking for 30 to 60 minutes at 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. Of course, you'll need to stretch first and walk slowly for five minutes before and after the workout.

You can also try interval training, in which you walk quickly for a few minutes, and then slow it down for a few minutes. Alternating between higher- and lower-intensity periods throughout your workout can get your heart pumping and help you to quickly build physical endurance.

Once you have established your walking routine, you can burn even more calories by choosing a route with challenging hills or by strapping small weights to your wrists or ankles. There are also several techniques that will help you build muscle tone as you walk. Concentrate on keeping a good posture, for example, flex your leg muscles and hold in your stomach. Focusing on good walking techniques such as these can help you maximize the time you spend in your walking shoes.

Make it Fun

Here are few ideas to help you make walking a fun adventure that you will look forward to each day:

- Make sure you are comfortable and hydrated. Invest in a good pair of walking shoes, which will increase your comfort and reduce your risk of injury. And drink water before, during, and after your walking workout.

- Search out new walking or hiking trails in your town or county.

- Check out books on tape from the library or download an mp3 to enjoy on your headphones while you are walking.

- Schedule your walk like any other event in your busy day. Put it on your calendar and regard it as an important appointment.

- Find a friend to be your walking partner. Your friend will hold you accountable and may make the miles seem to pass more quickly. Sometimes, when we get very busy, our friendships can become neglected. When you walk with a friend, you carve out time for physical fitness and your friendship.

- If you have small children, take them out in the stroller. Older kids can walk alongside you. My young son likes to ride his bike alongside me.

- Take a dog. When I take my dog along, I feel as though I'm doing something constructive with my time. If you don't have a dog, see if there is an animal shelter in your area that needs volunteer dog walkers. This is a great way to serve a greater purpose and get in your daily walk at the same time.

Stay Safe

Here are a few considerations to help you stay safe during your daily walks.

- Walking with a friend (or even a dog) is safer than walking alone.

- Tell someone when you are leaving, where you are going, and when you expect to return.

- Don't bring valuables with you on your walk.

- Vary your route.

- Stay in well-lit, busy areas.

- Stay alert. Keep your headphones on a low setting so you can still hear what's going on around you.

A walking routine is a great way to enjoy all the benefits of regular physical exercise. Enjoy creating an exercise program that will be part of your life for a long time to come.

Note: The tips in this article are for general information only. Before starting any exercise routine, you should consult with your doctor.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

More Evidence That Green Tea Blocks Fat Absorption

In recent years, green tea has gained a lot of attention for its health benefits. Many studies have been conducted that have shown various ways that green tea helps keep you healthy. Among these findings include evidence that green tea helps lower cholesterol, reduces your risk of heart disease and cancer, and helps you lose weight. In the beginning, it was thought that green tea’s effect on weight loss was due to its ability to speed up the metabolism, and much of this ability was thought to be due to the fact that green tea contains caffeine.

However, many recent studies have suggested that green tea’s ability to speed up the metabolism is not due to its caffeine content alone. In some studies, subjects were fed the caffeine equivalent of green tea, but did not show the same weight loss results as subjects who were actually fed the green tea, suggesting that green tea contains something more than caffeine that affects weight loss.More recent research suggests, however, that speeding up the metabolism is not the only way that green tea helps you lose weight.

Other studies have suggested that green tea may also increase your ability to burn body fat and that it may also block the absorption of dietary fat. This means that less of the fat you consume in your food may end up in fat on your body.This is important news. If green tea can block the absorption of dietary fat, it may have tremendous weight loss potential. There is already one prescription diet drug on the market that blocks fat absorption, and it has helped many patients lose weight. However, this drug has significant side effects, and is not recommended for long term use.

While blocking the absorption of the fat in your diet is not the total weight loss answer, it could be a great help. To sustain long term weight loss, it’s important to make changes in your dietary habits, not just rely on a weight loss supplement to reduce your fat absorption. However, when such substances are used in conjunction with a sensible diet and exercise plan, they can make losing weight and keeping it off significantly easier.

One important study on this subject was reported by the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, and evaluated the absorption of dietary fat through the gastrointestinal tract and through the pancreas, and how this absorption is affected by the anti-oxidants in green tea.

The study examined how fat absorption in the stomach and pancreas was affected when green tea extract was included with the dietary fat. The study was conducted in vitro, meaning that the activity was observed in the lab rather than on human or animal subjects.
The study concluded that fat absorption was inhibited by about 60mg when green tea extract was used. This is an amount that would be considered significant to human diet. Though this study was conducted in vitro, researchers concluded that the results would be likely to be the same in humans.

Overweight and obesity are fast becoming our nation’s number one health concern. Today, nearly 60% of us are overweight, with more than 30% of us considered obese. This means that our country has a lot of weight to lose, and that we need all the help we can get. Being overweight or obese significantly increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer. So, our lives literally depend upon getting our waistlines under control.

And, that’s what’s so great about green tea. While drinking green tea is no substitute for eating sensibly and exercising, it is the perfect adjunct to these important habits. That’s because green tea has been shown to reduce your risk of precisely many of the diseases that obesity contributes to, and it helps you lose weight in the process.

Study after study has shown that green tea can help reduce cholesterol, a leading contributor to heart disease. Green tea has also been shown to help regulate blood sugar, which may reduce your risk for Type II diabetes, and may even help you to control diabetes if you’ve already been diagnosed. And, green tea reduces your risk for cancer, too.

So, if you’re overweight, it’s time to get your health in order. Take a look at your diet. Reduce your intake of saturated fat, white flour and sugar. Increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Get 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week. And, add green tea to your daily diet.

Green tea is easier to find than ever. Most grocery stores carry green tea in teabag form and many fine tea purveyors carry a wide variety of flavored and plain green tea in loose form. You can even find green tea bottled to make it more convenient than ever to get your daily dose.

Green tea is just as effective whether you drink it hot or cold, and whether or not you add milk or sweetener. To benefit your health and your weight loss efforts, it’s recommended that you consume 3-5 cups of green tea each day.

Green tea is good for you, tastes delicious and has no side effects. Even the caffeine in green tea is better tolerated by the caffeine sensitive than the caffeine in many other beverages. So, what’s stopping you? There’s no downside to drinking green tea. And, its benefits to your health and your waistline may be significant.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Best Diet Tips For Dieting

Are you amongst the thousands of people in the world that want to lose weight or is dieting, but not seeing any results? Are you tired of this? If you are, let me tell you about some of the best dieting tips. Dieting is extremely important for people in the world today. This is because it helps one achieve a body they want. A better body results in an increase in a person's self confidence and self esteem. You will be able to feel comfortable showing off your body and be extremely satisfied with your body!

Just imagine...you have learned the best diet tips using a weight loss program and lost lots of weight. Your friends are begging you to tell you the best diet tips and secrets, and you smile to yourself thankful of that diet program because you have now officially became the center of attention. People of the opposite sex find you more attractive, and you are feeling great about your own body.

You can go to the mall, try on any clothes you want without fear. Don't you want to become one of these people? Now the best diet tips compose of many things. One of the most important diet tips is motivation. You have to be motivated in

he diet to work. If you aren't you will ose motivation to diet and reach your goal of achieving a great body.

The second thing in best diet tips is consistency! You have to take the secrets, tricks, and tips you have learned and apply them to your daily life! This is the only way you will lose weight extremely fast! The third tip in the best diet tips is signing up for a diet program. A good diet program will promote and teach you healthy ways that you can lose weight fast. It will also teach you secrets and quicker ways that you can achieve a great body.

The fourth step amongst the best diet tips is maintaining that body! If you want to maintain your amazing body, you have to continuously apply what you have learned into your daily day life. If you don't all that fat will come back, and that's something you definitely don't want.The fifth key point is to enjoy the process of losing weight and enjoy your amazing body. This shouldn't be too hard to do for most people.

What are you waiting? Go find a great weight loss program to learn the best diet tips, and start losing weight now! I hope some of my best diet tips helped!
Good luck on achieving the body you want!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

PILATES SECRET TRAINING KEYS TO LOSS WEIGHT

Of course, no amount of training will prove effective if you don't have self discipline. You need to keep track of the foods that you eat everyday and that includes the three major meals as well as the snacks you peck on all throughout the day; not only that, you should also watch all your fluid-intake. By taking the right amount of fluids everyday, you can help in the chemical reactions inside your body to keep them running smoothly. The last thing that you have to do to get the proper exercise and you can do that with Pilates.


The catalyst that brings together all your efforts is the exercise routine that you choose. By doing Pilates Training, you can help in improving your digestion, mood, energy levels, and weight loss. If you want a lean look, try to visit the site of Pilates on the internet. But like many other people, you may be hesitant if Pilates will work for you. With Pilates training, there are two essential keys that you need to remember.

Together with your training, you should also include cardiovascular exercises. Any form of resistance training can help you in shedding those extra pounds by burning off calories. However, you need to know that Pilates is not a rigorous cardiovascular workout. The exercise routine should be followed as per instruction. It is highly discouraged for individuals to do the routines in a rapid manner because this will not serve as your cardio exercise and it can harm you in some way. You will only end up hurting yourself by speeding up your exercise routines.


The movements followed in your training require focus and precision. Pilates offers trampoline routines that are already built in their machines. If you want, you can get DVDs of workout exercises to help you in your workout.


For your cardio exercises, you can do walking, cycling, swimming, play tennis, or jogging. If you dread the stationary gyms and treadmills, these cardio exercises are really interesting alternatives. By adding any or all of the cardio exercises in your training, you can definitely make a huge difference in terms of your goals in losing weight. Shedding poundage is just part of the whole equation but you also need to be sure that your progress is measured correctly.


The final key to succeed in losing weight through Pilates training is adopting an accurate weight loss measure. Progress is not only measured through pounds but also in inches. According to Pilates training, leaner look is achieved through proper muscle toning. It can help you in toning your abs, butt, thighs, and underarms. By losing weight, you can also gain toned muscles. By having toned muscles, calories are burned more efficiently so you can maintain your desired weight.So if you want to lose weight effectively, remember the two important keys suggested by Pilates. By following the keys and then following your exercise routine properly, you can shed those unwanted pounds in no time. Just learn to be patient and control yourself. Practice self discipline at all times in order to maintain your desired weight.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

How To Make Weight Loss And Muscle Gain The Powerful Lifestyle Choice

Busy people live their lives according to their diaries which is effective and efficient. Yet for some reason, often when starting an exercise program they won't book themselves in. Rather they will simply decide to exercise and sure enough because that's what they want to do, they will set out and begin. The problem is though that they are busy people and as such 'life' gets in the way of their exercise very quickly. Booking themselves for exercise is a key practice that serves to minimize the various disruptions to the kind of consistency required to achieve significant muscle gain and fat loss for a better body.

It is important in a couple of ways. First of all it creates a tangible and subconscious importance for the exercise session and as such, it is given due consideration when arranging all other affairs as opposed to always being the first thing to be sacrificed for other priorities. This small step can make an amazing difference to a person's consistency. Simply by giving the time required to create a better body at bare minimum an equal footing, people get smarter and think laterally and design their lives to be able to meet this new commitment. Of course there will still be scheduling conflicts (though far less). In these cases though, diarizing exercise alongside everything else again makes people solution focused and sharpens their organization in order to be able to make it possible to meet both objectives should a conflict arise. Exercise becomes part of the priority hierarchy and over time, may even move up the list. This means that the busy person willingly increases their commitment to exercise and will muscle gain and fat loss results faster but most importantly, they will do so in a stress free manner because exercise is balanced against all their other life priorities.

The second key once time has been 'created' for exercise is to maximize it. Does any high achiever settle for second best? Do they haphazardly attack challenges without a sound strategic understanding of various cause and effect relationships so that they can navigate a course of action that will allow them to achieve success in the most effective and efficient way possible? For busy people who want to maximize lean muscle gain and fat loss, knowing the exact specifics of the entire process is critical. By understanding how the body responds to food and training will keep you on the most productive path possible. Yet so many simply seek training methods and adopt them without any idea if they are sound because they have no objective framework with which to evaluate them. The exact same goes for various crazy diets people try. If you don't understand how food works in the body of course any option, especially if it is hyped up my slick advertising, sounds plausible.

In terms of acquiring this knowledge, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the actual truth of this information can be a little hard to find. There are countless sources of misinformation and agenda based pseudo science to push certain viewpoints and products. At best even when you find solid information, there are some conflicting arguments that are equally valid, where only trial and error can determine the best approach. The good news is that once you find a good source of information - the truth about what the people who live with the lean muscular bodies that they desire really do it is actually reasonably easy to understand and achieve an excellent working understanding of it all. With someone who really knows what they are doing and sources of honest truth in your corner, it is no exaggeration to say that your comprehension of nutrition and training will outstrip many people in the fitness industry in about a month or even less.

In very simple terms, the second foundation is: Find out and understand the nutrition and training strategies that work best (for your individual makeup) and why. Once you know what you need to do for maximized muscle gain and fat loss, do it.
The third key is on the surface the most simple (though perhaps most esoteric) yet it completely underpins the success of the first two foundations. Once you have the first two foundations in place the third key is to just relax and enjoy the process. Don't stress about anything related to nutrition and exercise.

Busy people generally have some degree of stress in their lives already. The secret to ultimate body success is to make the process required to achieve a lean and muscular body and keep it for life become truly effortless. Get it out of your head that it's all hard work. When people think of nutrition and exercise it generally conjures up feelings of panic, pain, sacrifice and effort. Whilst some of us have a certain masochistic streak, why bother with all that when the alternative is a peace of mind and living in an effortless natural state that achieves far superior results?

Of course with any Zen-like sounding state, it will take some time to achieve and the exact process is complex topic that you could write a whole book on (maybe I might one day). The key take home message though is to make you aware and question the overwhelming societal norm to view nutrition and exercise in a certain negative light. Beyond a powerful (though unattached) desire for a successful result, I believe that the initial determination and work ethic must evolve into a peace of mind that has a calm core of absolute, unshakable certainty for long term results.

Getting the body you want in the fastest time possible for someone with a busy schedule is not about what exercises they need to do and what food they need eat. It certainly is not about exercising 'a bit' and eating a little better. It is about creating the lifestyle foundations and following systems to make it all work for you. The reward is that you will be able to take your place among the fitness elite - those who live their lives in such a way discover the body they desire, is an effortless by-product of their lifestyle.
Ben Kong is the author and co-creator of

Friday, January 9, 2009

Why Loss Weight Pills Are Ineffective For You

You just bought a nighttime and daytime formula of weight loss pills. You have been taking them for … months. Lets face it, this weight is not falling off your body and you got to wonder why this is taking so long. It’s obvious there is some kind of problem here with your weight loss program. Maybe pills aren’t the answer?

Dr. Berneathy has some rather unexpected statistics on the subject of weight gain. He mentions in his talks that the body will be almost immune to weight loss pills because of one simple reason. The body has to detoxify. Your body has to get rid of all of the junk and garbage that you put into it through eating fast foods, non-foods, and harmful substances that clog up your system.

What Is Detoxification?

Being overweight and suffering from obesity are becoming all too common these days. This carries a huge load of negatives such as health risks and illness. It is for this reason you must detoxify your body.

That means getting rid of anything that’s man made. I would scrap any product that had artificial sweetners, additives, artificial coloring and preservatives in it.

I would get my hands on a green drink too ASAP. I found some liquid chlorophyll in my health food store a few months back and I liked it. I made a drink out of that with some purified water. I found this naturally uplifting and it put my body in check. My pH level increased to a deep rich green color, (yes I use the testing strips) in a matter of a few days.

You will notice some differences when you start to clean your body out. My sweat didn’t stink anymore and I had no foul odors. This sanitized my body from the inside out. I started to notice real change too in how I approached food once I was cleaned out. I didn’t have cravings for things that I thought I would miss. In fact, I had gotten so wound up in my work that I would forget to eat breakfast AND lunch. I am not suggesting that you do this but my energy level soared through the roof.

It was after I had experienced this body cleansing that I decided to do something with my exercise program and the foods I ate. I wanted to reach higher levels of this type of living. I learned one thing that Spring and that was detoxification is the key to a better life.

Getting back to the Weight Loss pills for a moment. The marketing pitch for a lot of these products claim that you can eat whatever you want and still lose the weight. The foods they show in their ads include pizza, chocolate, cake and pies. Good grief.

If you are going to detoxify yourself then make sure the foods you eat are good foods and not junk foods. There is no point in going back to a “fried chicken diet” or a “chocoholic overload diet”. If you are going to start taking care of your body and are willing to go all the way we got some good news for you.

The weight will start to come off of you after you detoxify.

Lets Get Back To Basics
So does that mean you can do all of this with diet pills? Perhaps but if you do not have the right fundamentals of weight loss and how your body reacts to certain foods you could be on the never ending rollercoaster. It is no wonder why so many diets fail when they hit the market. You need to know what combinations of food are good for you and which ones aren’t.

To learn more about detoxification and how it affects weight loss you need a coach.
Ted Cantu and Dr. Jerry Berneathy can be found at: