Weight Loss Tips!

No More Sodas: 

First off, no sodas. Sodas contain phosphates which make weight loss extremely hard. These phosphates keep your fat cells surrounded and you have to work off the phosphates and then fat. So stay off the sodas for a week or so.

Lay Off The Carbs: 

Carbohydrates are the first things your body burns off, so when you exercise, it burns off carbohydrates, then fat. So, if you lay off the carbs, your fat gets burned first.

Protein Is The Key: 

You can't eat fat foods, so you should eat low-fat protein foods (nonfat yogurt, lean cut steak, protein shakes, etc.), because you need some food in your stomach.If you have a protein shake in the morning, you should be ok for breakfast. Protein also helps keep you aware and awake during the daytime. Protein is the key, because it is the last type of calorie your body burns off, and it helps keep your metabolism going.

Stay Active: 

Run, play a sport, bodybuild. I suggest that when you are on a diet, do less pounds with more reps. Some people don't explain that when they tell you to start getting ripped. More tone means more ripped muscles.

Start Squatting: 

You're probably tired of hearing that. Squats are the most important weightlifting exercise, period. They increase your metabolism, and increase your testosterone level.

Eating Smaller Meals:

Eat little. Eat small portions, and take Ripped Fuel. Ripped fuel helps keep your metabolism pumping

The Ultimate Dieters Guide!

Everywhere you look; there are signs, commercials, and advertisements trying to get you to buy their miracle fat-loss pill and/or diet. From Anna Nicole Smith and Trim-Spa to such potent supplements that are only recommended to people in need of losing over 30 pounds, there are so many options for the dieters of America.

Americans spend over 33 billion dollars annually on diet pills and devices. And with the recent ban of Epehdra by the government, Americans are resorting to anything that looks like it might work.

With so much hype out there about dieting and diet pills let us examine, some fad diets, tips to stay healthy, and new developments in weight management.

There are so many diets these days that one gets lost in the diet world frenzy. I have heard just about everything from the Oreo diet to the starvation diet. Most advertisements are backed by what the advertiser says is clinical proof the diet works.

Not only does it work, but it is backed by a doctor who was paid very well to appear in the ad. It has been said, that for every pound lost with a fab diet, the person gains twice as much back within months. So with all this hype about various diets, let us take a look and examine all of them.

The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet has been heralded by many. This diet is a low carbohydrate highprotein diet. So if you are a pasta craving Italian, it is doubtful you will survive a week on this diet. However, if you frequently snack on nuts, eggs, and meat, this may be a match made in heaven.

Atkins assures dieters that not only will they shed the pounds away, but they will be healthier in the long run. The diet is built on the theory that overweight and obese people eat way too many unneeded carbohydrates. By severely reducing carbohydrate intake and eating more protein, our bodies naturally lose weight by burning stored body fat more efficiently.

Or so they say. Here's the experts take on it. Gary D. Foster, PhD, clinical director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania said, "The Atkins diet works at producing weight loss. If you are looking for weight loss? it works?"

The Zone Diet

The Zone does not recommend that you eat fewer calories than you're currently consuming, just different ones. Although the book has a more complicated and exacting measurement of what to eat, it can be simplified as:

• A small amount of protein at every meal (approximately the size of your palm or one small chicken breast) and at every snack (one in the late afternoon, one in the late evening)
• "Favorable" carbohydrates twice the size of the protein portion -- these include most vegetables and lentils, beans, whole grains, and most fruits
• A smaller amount of carbohydrates if you have chosen "unfavorable" ones -- these include brown rice, pasta, papaya, mango, banana, dry breakfast cereal, bread, bagel, tortilla, carrots, and all fruit juices.¹

The Zone claims it is backed by 15 years of studies and extensive research. The Diet declares that it is effective because it regulates the insulin our body produces. Unlike the Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet petitions for a lower carbohydrate intake, not an absolute abolishment of them.

Simply put, I think the Zone is all about eating healthy for the long term. A meal would include meat and vegetables, but like most diets, portion control is key. Many doctors and scientists are skeptical about the status of this diet.

They say that the Zone's authors have blown research and studies out of proportion. Susan Roberts, PhD, who is a professor of medicine at Tufts University says, "Like most fad diet books, The Zone takes one of the several known controllers of energy, blood glucose, and blows it up into a whole book. It downplays the other factors that also determine how hungry we get and how much we eat, such as fiber and the caloric density of the food."

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach and Atkins Diet nearly walk hand-in-hand. Both diets preach about the restriction of carbohydrates. One of the main differences between these two popular diets is the fact that the South Beach Diet allows "good" carbohydrates, such that are derived from fruit and foods with a low glycemic index.

South Beach also advocates portion control. They allow snacking all day and do not count calories. However, if you are like most, and take advantage of these snacking periods by gorging on whatever you can get your hands on, the diet will not work.

It is funny how similar many of these diets are. As with the Atkins Diet, there is an "Initiation" phase that bans nearly all carbohydrates and then it is followed by the gradual increase of carbohydrates to the diet.

The problem is that with the initiation phase or as they the "Induction Phase" nearly all of the weight that is lost is water weight.

Weight Watchers

If you have not seen there own brand of food in the super markets you must be living under a shell. That or the fact you may not be the one who goes shopping. Weight Watchers comes equip with many low calorie options in grocery stores.
From full dinners to ice cream cones, Weight Watchers preaches low caloric intake. They believe that they are not teaching a diet, yet a way to eat healthier long-term. I have taken there point system diet and seen tremendous results while still eating the foods I wanted like Pizza and Hot Dogs.
The points system is run something like this: each food has a point value ranging from 0 for Jell-O to 8 for Pizza. Depending upon your body weight, you can have "x" amount of points daily. Stay under your limit, and lose weight.
But what makes this so unique is the fact that you are allowed to bank points and carry spare points over for days. Exercise more and get additional points. Finally a reward for going to the gym! Group support is another great feature.
If you are feeling in the doldrums or are not motivated simply go to one of the daily meetings at a Weight Watchers center and hear from others who have achieved there goals and get great tips from big losers. In April 1998 there was a study taken of doctors who had recommended weight loss plans. Remarkably, Weight Watchers was recommended 65% of the time.
The Weight Watchers' program has changed some over the years, but it has certainly stood the test of time," says Alice Lichtenstein, a professor of nutrition at Tufts University. This, to me, is the ideal diet. Reducing caloric intake to this point is the only proven way of losing weight, and Weight Watchers has calories down to a science

Slim-Fast
Slim-Fast is focused upon the idea that meal replacement makes you lose weight. Slim-Fast outlines a four-step approach to weight loss that is similar to most others -- emphasizing portion control, sensible eating, regular physical activity, and support.²

It is a slow and steady diet with average losses of one to two pounds a week. However, the Slim Fast website says that you will lose 10% of your weight in six months.Many know Slim-Fast for their shakes, but recently, the company has come out with products like snack bars and dinners. A positive about this diet is that it is very structured and I think that is crucial.
Many diets emphasize having so many foods available to you. However, with Slim-Fast they prescribe a day's worth of food, so it is near impossible to mess up. Nevertheless, if you do not like the taste of their products, it will be difficult to stay on the diet..

Dieting Tips
With all these diets and miracle pills, here is a list of tips that many physicians recommend to stay fit and healthy.

• 30 minutes of exercise daily will help burn off calories
• Portion control is key, don't super-size anything!
• Drink 8 or more glasses of water a day, it helps flush out toxins that help bind fat.
• Reducing caloric intake is the only proven way to lose weight
• Make sure to take a multi-vitamin.
• Make many short-term goals to get to the long-term goal.
• Reward yourself! Dieting is hard, make deals that if you lose 10 pounds, you'll go out and buy yourself a gift.
• You're not alone! Try to diet with another family member and push each other to stay on the diet. It's much easier that way. You can even try betting on who will lose more weight quicker.

What Is The Paleo Diet?

Regardless of whether your goal is to melt fat off your body or build up higher amounts of muscle mass and gain definition, you've likely done your research and realize that diet is a key element necessary for success.

There's no getting around the fact that the foods you put into your body on an everyday basis are going to be the largest determining factor in what you look like. If poor food choices go in, a poor body image will result. Likewise, if you're only choosing to put in the highest quality of nutrients, you can be sure that it's going to reflect upon your results.

One diet design that you might have come across either in a book or magazine, or have heard someone else raving about is the Paleo Diet. What does this diet consist of and will it really bring good results? By understanding the concepts behind the Paleo Diet approach, you can gain a clear picture of whether this diet is right for you. Let's take a look at what you need to know.

The Paleo Approach

The Paleo Diet, shortened from the true name of the Paleolithic Diet approach, is one that takes us back to the ancient years and essentially tries to create a diet that the cavemen would have eaten.

There's no debating that as time has moved onwards, modern technology and cooking processes have changed significantly from our ancestor's years. While they would have had to go out and hunt for the foods they were going to serve up for dinner, today we just take a simple trip to the grocery store where we're greeted with rows and rows of prepared and processed foods to choose from.

The problem with this is that through all these changes that have occurred, we've degraded the nutrition content of our daily diet and have moved further and further away from eating as Mother Nature intended.

The concept of the Paleolithic Diet then is to get back to ancient times. When adopting this dietary approach, you're going to forgo all the processed foods you find at the supermarket and instead focus on foods that either occur in the wild or come straight from the ground.

Essentially, if it was available thousands of years ago, it's going to have a place in your meal plan. This means that your daily diet will primarily consist of meat and fish, plenty of fresh fruitsand vegetables, as well as nuts and seeds. Oils are typically allowed in moderation and foods to be avoided included dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, starchy vegetables, fatty meats, and foods that are very high in salt content (such as processed meat products and salted nuts).

Pro's Of Paleo

So what are the pros of eating Paleo? Is this a diet you should adopt?

Right off the start you can see how well this diet is going to control blood sugar levels. In a world where many of us experience rollercoaster-like blood sugar fluctuations, this aspect alone proves to be an extremely beneficial aspect of the set-up.

The more stabilized your blood sugar levels are, the less likely you're going to be to experience food cravings, to battle ongoing fatigue, and to be at the potential risk of developing diabetesdown the road.

Since the Paleo Diet is also chalk full of healthy fats from all the seeds and nuts that are being consumed while also being low in saturated fat due to the restriction of dairy and high fat meat sources, this is also going to work to improve your cholesterol profile and help to reduce the risk of heart disease.

When using the Paleo Diet you shouldn't find you have any issue getting enough protein in either, which is something that's critical for both the fat loss and muscle building process as you'll be including lean meat sources with each meal. By choosing to incorporate a wide spectrum of fruits and vegetables in your menu, you're also going to help to keep calorie intake on the lower side, so this will be beneficial from a fat loss point of view.

If you are someone who happens to actively looking to build muscle and thus require that higher calorie surplus, you can simply add larger doses of nuts and seeds into the plan to help boost your calorie and healthy fat intake up higher.

Since the Paleo Diet has you moving away from all forms of processed and refined carbohydrates, most individuals will find this naturally lowers their calorie intake as well as less food choices are available. Without ten different flavors of chips to choose from or eight different types of cereals lining your pantry, you're going to have a much easier time sticking with your meal plan and getting the results you're looking for.

Is Diet Soda Making You Gain Weight?

If you feel better about having a burger and fries for lunch because you ordered a diet soda, you shouldn't. Studies show that diet soda may not be any better for you than regular soda. In fact, it may even be worse.

Close to 60 percent of Americans drink diet soda on a regular basis. Many of them believe diet soda helps them with weight loss, but there is mounting evidence that diet soda may actually cause you to gain weight.

Diet Soda and Weight Loss: What Research Revealed

"Recent literature suggests that those who drink diet soda weigh more than those who don't. That shouldn't surprise anyone. Does diet soda cause weight gain? I think that is the wrong question. I don't think people should drink diet soda, whether they have weight problems or not," says Darwin Deen, MD, senior attending physician at Montefiore Medical Center's Department of Family and Social Medicine in the Bronx, New York.

Of top concern, drinking diet soda has been linked to developing metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that include expanding waist size, increased blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, lower levels of good cholesterol, and high fasting blood sugar levels. Having three or more of these findings increases your risk of diabetes and heart disease. Here are some other research findings you should know about diet soda:

• According to the San Antonio Heart Study, the more diet sodas you drink, the greater the chance that you will be overweight or obese. For each diet soda you drink there is a 65 percent increase in your risk of becoming overweight.
• According to the Framingham Heart Study, if you drink diet soda you are at risk for weight gain andmetabolic syndrome.
• According to research done at Purdue University, rats that were fed artificial sweeteners gained more weight than rats fed normal sugar.
• Findings from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, show that meat, fried food, and diet soda are all significantly associated with metabolic syndrome.

Diet Soda and Weight Loss: Why the Weight Gain?

Although researchers can't say for sure why diet soda sets the stage for weight gain, there are several possible reasons. "I discourage my patients from drinking diet sodas because while they have no calories, they are created to simulate the sweetness of a regular soda. This leaves the drinker’s taste buds completely overwhelmed. For an example of this, take a sip of water and then bite into your favorite fruit. Then try the same experiment with diet soda. Note that the real food tastes flat after drinking soda," explains Dr. Deen. The distortion of taste may cause the diet soda drinker to seek higher calorie foods.

Another possibility is that people just eat more because they think they are saving calories from drinking a diet soda. A direct link between artificial sweeteners and a craving for high-calorie foods may exist. There is also the possibility that the link is related to unknown factors involving diet, exercise, or other personal characteristics.

Diet Soda and Weight Loss: Caffeine’s Role

Although diet soda has fewer calories than regular soda, the caffeine content may be greater. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a 12-ounce regular Coke contains 35 milligrams of caffeine and a Diet Coke contains 47 mg. At low levels, caffeine can stimulate energy, make you more alert, and may be beneficial for weight loss. In higher amounts it can cause nervousness, increased heart rate, and difficulty concentrating. You may also get withdrawal symptoms such as headache, irritability, or depression if you stop taking caffeine suddenly.

"Although caffeine can be helpful for weight loss, I recommend getting your caffeine from iced coffee. If you need to add sugar, add as little as possible for taste," says Deen. "I advise my patients to drink water. For a healthy alternative to diet soda, try adding one-third cup of fruit juice to seltzer water for a low-calorie and not-too-sweet beverage.”

Although the exact relationship of diet soda to weight gain and metabolic syndrome is not clear, it is obvious that diet soda should not be considered a “healthy” alternative to regular soda. When you choose to drink any soda, you are choosing to drink a beverage that is just not as healthy for you as milk, juice, or water

Stress management: Identify your sources of stress

Your response to the demands of the world determines your stress level. Take time to consider common stressors and how they affect you.

he kids are screaming, the bills are due and the pile of papers on your desk is growing at an alarming pace. It's undeniable — life is full of stress. Understanding the types and sources of stress — big and small, short-term and long-term, internal and external — is an important part of stress management. So what stresses you out?

Two main types of stress

Stress is your body's reaction to the demands of the world. Stressors are events or conditions in your surroundings that may trigger stress. Your body responds to stressors differently depending on whether the stressor is new — acute stress — or whether the stressor has been around for a longer time — chronic stress.

Acute stress

Also known as the fight-or-flight response, acute stress is your body's immediate reaction to a significant threat, challenge or scare. The acute-stress response is immediate and intense, and in certain circumstances it can be thrilling. Examples of acute stressors include a job interview, a fender bender or an exhilarating ski run.

A single episode of acute stress generally doesn't cause problems for healthy people. However, severe acute stress can cause mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and even physical difficulties such as a heart attack.

Chronic stress

Mild acute stress can actually be beneficial — it can spur you into action, motivate and energize you. The problem occurs when acute stressors pile up and stick around. This persistent stress can lead to health problems, such as headaches and insomnia. The chronic-stress response is much more subtle than is the acute-stress response, but the effects may be longer lasting and more problematic.

Effective stress management involves identifying and managing both acute and chronic stress.

10 Best Slimming Foods

Looking for a miracle diet food? It's time to call off the search — there's no such thing. "If you take in more calories than you expend, you gain weight," says David Katz, M.D., of the Yale Prevention Research Center in Derby, Connecticut. "It's simple biology, and no milkshake or mackerel can save you from that fate."

But before you throw in the towel, there are certain foods that promote satiety (the feeling of fullness that comes after a meal) more than others. While they're not miracle foods, they can help you eat less over the course of the day. "When you're looking for foods that are going to keep you fuller for longer, look for ones high in fiber, healthy fats and protein, or with a high water content," says Barbara Rolls, Ph.D., professor of nutrition at Penn State University and author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. "The additional benefit is that a lot of these foods are also really good for you and packed with important nutrients, vitamins and minerals."

Apples

An apple a day may keep the fat pants away, too. This portable fruit is the perfect snack, with a high water content and both kinds of weight-busting fiber: soluble, which helps prevent blood sugar spikes that lead to cravings, and insoluble, which helps fill you up. "A medium apple is about 85 percent water with 5 grams of soluble fiber, making it a snacking powerhouse," says Elisa Zied, M.S., same calorie level. To sweeten the pot, apples also contain quercetin, a flavonoid shown to help fight certain cancers, reduce cholesterol damage and promote healthy lungs.

TIP: Organic apples are worth the extra cost because commercial apples retain more pesticide residue than fruits you peel, such as oranges or bananas. And with half the fiber and most of the iron, magnesium and vitamin C, you definitely want to eat that peel to get the full slimming benefits.

Eggs

They're a great source of protein, which may be key to keeping you full. A recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that when people ate two eggs for breakfast, they took in more than 400 fewer calories over the next 24 hours than when they ate bagels. "The study proved our hypothesis that eating eggs induces higher satiety and keeps the subject fuller for longer," says lead researcher Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, Ph.D., from Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Although this was only a one-day study, eating eggs regularly may have long-term weight management benefits, says Dr. Dhurandhar.

TIP: For a healthier egg, farmers are improving the hen feed by adding canola oil, alfalfa, rice bran and even sea kelp. Try Eggland's Best eggs, which contain omega-3 fatty acids, along with more vitamin E and less saturated fat than regular eggs.

One study found that eating a breakfast of two eggs can leave you feeling full longer than a bagel.

Cauliflower

"When you are trying to lose weight, non-starchy vegetables such as cauliflower are one of the few foods that can be eaten in unlimited quantities," says Dr. Rolls. It's good for you, too. Cauliflower contains the cancer-fighting phytonutrient sulforaphane, as well as a good amount of folate and vitamin C, which may be helpful for weight loss. In fact, a review from Purdue University pointed to vitamin C status as a key factor in how much fat is burned during physical activity. All that and it's pretty tasty, too. (If you're not a cauliflower fan, try spinach or broccoli.)

TIP: Love the creamy consistency of mashed potatoes? Steam a head of cauliflower and mash it with garlic salt, a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese and a touch of butter.

Lowfat Yogurt

If the yogurt ads are to be believed, you should be fitting into that itty-bitty bikini before you know it. While yogurt and other dairy products are not weight-loss magic bullets, there is some truth in advertising. A recent study at the University of Tennessee found that dieters eating three servings of yogurt daily lost twice as much weight as their non–dairy– eating counterparts on a 12-week weight-loss program. Why? "Calcium combined with other bioactive compounds found in dairy products slows down the process of making fat and increases fat burning, especially around the belly," says lead researcher Michael B. Zemel, M.D., a professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. No word yet on how effective ice cream is at burning fat, but we're not holding our breath.

TIP: Sneak more dairy into your diet by adding plain yogurt to dips, sauces and salad dressings. You get the health benefits without the added sugar of flavored yogurts.

Oatmeal

Mom didn't know how right she was: Breakfast is the most important meal of the day — just eating it can make you slimmer. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley analyzed a national six-year survey and found that people who ate breakfast had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who skipped breakfast, and that those who ate cooked cereal had a lower BMI than any other breakfast-eating group. Also, oatmeal was ranked as the most satiating breakfast food on the Satiety Index, developed by Australian researchers a decade ago, and it's the third most satiating food overall. "Oatmeal helps you stay fuller longer, since it's packed with fiber and is a good source of protein," says Dr. Katz.

TIP: If you don't have time for cooked oatmeal every morning, make muesli by mixing old- fashioned oats with plain yogurt, dried fruit and fruit juice and leaving it in the fridge overnight.

Peanuts

Almonds and walnuts have been getting all the glory these days, but don't discredit peanuts, the most commonly eaten nut in America. Researchers at Purdue University found that peanut eaters end up eating less over the course of the whole day and are more likely to maintain weight, even if given as many peanuts as they want. So what is it about peanuts? Is it the protein? The fat? Turns out it's a little bit of everything. "We've tried to isolate different components of the nut to determine what makes it so filling,' says Richard Mattes, Ph.D., a nut researcher at Purdue. "But there is something special about the whole package."

TIP: Calories do count, so look for single-serving sizes at convenience stores and drugstores.

Soup

We all know soup is good food, but who knew it was slimming, too? A recent study published in the journal Obesity Research found that adding two 10-ounce servings of broth-based soup to a weight loss diet each day can almost double the amount of weight lost in a six-month period. Why? Adding water into a food makes it more filling than drinking water separately. "The water in soup adds volume to a meal and helps you feel fuller, without extra calories,' says Dr. Rolls, lead researcher on the study. "As a result, you take in fewer calories over the course of the day."

TIP: Add your own veggies or fiber-rich beans to broth-based canned soup to keep you full longer.

Fish

You might be surprised to learn that fish tops oatmeal and vegetables in the satiety department. The Australian Satiety Index ranks steamed white fish such as halibut or cod as the number-one most filling food out of 38 common foods. Also, a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden found that people ate 11 percent less at dinner after having fish for lunch versus those who ate a beef lunch. "This study demonstrated that a protein-rich lunch meal with fish protein reduced calorie intake compared with the same-calorie lunch meal of beef protein," says lead researcher Saeedah Borzoei, Ph.D. Why is it so filling? "We are still learning about the filling properties of fish, but we do know that fish has a strong flavor, which can lead to greater satiety and less of a need to eat," notes Dr. Katz.

TIP: To add some flavor to grilled fish, try a quick marinade of soy sauce, lime and ginger.

Bulgur

High-fiber grains are a great way to round out a meal, and fine-cut bulgur is easy to cook. Bulgur, which is a quick-cooking form of whole wheat, takes about 10 minutes or less to prepare once water is boiled and is a great substitute for white rice and pasta, which are low in fiber and heavily processed. "Fiber helps prolong the insulin response so you don't have the blood sugar spikes you have with low-fiber carbohydrates like white pasta or rice," says Dr. Katz. With all the good fiber comes some other benefits: iron and vitamins E and B6.

TIP: Find bulgur in health-food stores and organic markets. For a quick side dish, combine fine bulgur with chicken broth, diced canned tomatoes and some cooked onions.

Salad

When most people think of dieting, they think of salad. But if that means some sad greens topped with unripe tomatoes, it's no wonder diets don't work. "Salads are a great opportunity to add a lot of filling foods into your diet at one time: fresh vegetables, lean protein, beans and healthy fats," says Dr. Rolls. And research backs it up. A study from Penn State University found that women who ate a salad before a pasta lunch ate fewer calories for the whole meal than those just digging into the pasta.

TIP: Start your salad with mesclun, arugula or spinach. Not only are these greens tastier than iceberg, they also contain more iron, calcium, vitamin C and folate.

Creating a Weight-Loss Lifestyle

If you're looking into weight-loss programs, the best one is both the easiest and the hardest: Change your lifestyle.

"People should not go on a weight-loss program," says Keri M. Gans, RD, CDN, a nutrition consultant in New York City and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "They should develop healthy eating habits. The problem with a program is people feel they can go off at any time. If you instead change your lifestyle and how you approach food, then you're looking at a long-term plan for health."

The Best Weight-Loss Programs 

It all comes down to calories. If you eat 100 more food calories than you burn each day, you'll gain about a pound a month. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you slowly but surely will lose weight.

Figure out how many calories you should be taking in to maintain your current weight. The number can range from 1,600 calories a day for a sedentary older woman to 3,000 calories a day for an active young man.

Next, increase your physical activity to match or outburn the calories you take in every day. Also, plan your diet carefully to maximize nutrition while minimizing calories.

Lifestyle Obstacles to Weight Loss

Finally, begin your weight-loss program by carefully re-examining your life and recognizing some of the habits that can block weight loss. These include:

• Skipping meals. "Are you eating small, frequent meals throughout the day, or are you skipping meals and having long gaps between meals?" Gans asks. "That only makes you hungrier, and you'll tend to overeat at your next meal."
• Eating out without thought. "Do you dine out all the time and use that as an excuse not to make healthy choices at a restaurant?" Gans asks. "Even when you're dining out, you can make healthier choices. Order broiled food, not fried. Say no to desserts. Have a bowl of berries instead of pie. Order sauces on the side."
• Keeping unhealthy foods in your house. As part of a smart weight-loss program, you should clear out all the junk food and make sure you have a wealth of healthy options available for snacking and dining. "You need to keep fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy in the house so it's there for you to make meals out of," Gans says. Simply limiting some foods, such as soft drinks, that are high in sugars may help you significantly reduce calories.
• Keep your portions small. One quick way to control weight is to cut back on the size of your portions. Many personal weight-loss programs fail because people ladle out way too much food for themselves and then feel compelled to clean their plates.

Make Smart Food Choices

Your food choices can also help determine the success of your weight-loss programs. Healthy and nutritious eating will include:

• Fruits and vegetables. "Low in calories and rich in nutrients, fruits and vegetables can build your meal and help fill you up," Gans says. Orange and dark-green vegetables contain some of the best nutrition around.
• Whole grains. At least half the grains you eat should be whole. They contain loads of fiber and will help you feel full.
• Low-fat milk and milk products. They fill you up and ensure you get enough calcium to stay healthy.
• Lean meats, poultry, and fish. Everyone needs protein, which satisfies hunger like no other food group. So choose lean meats, poultry, and fish and prepare them by baking, broiling, or grilling — no frying.

Last but not least, remember that lifestyle-based weight loss will occur more slowly than with fad diets, melting off only one or two pounds a month, Gans says. But because you've changed the way you eat, you'll be glad to hear that those pounds are far more likely to stay off.

? Does Stress cause Cancer

One could say, that of the main causes of death today is stress. People think it is cancer, or heart disease. But how do you think it gets started?  Stress is present in all areas of our lives, and we have become so used to it that we are even unaware of its constant presence in our lives.  Yet, stress invades our space when we are stuck in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam and the cars are not moving. We feel stress when we rush to catch the morning train because we left a little bit later than usual.

Stress attacks us with billboards advertising everywhere your eye turns, with blaring music and engine noises. We are invaded with pollution, we go to shops and our senses are blasted with stimulus to get us to spend our money, music, announcements, colours, and signs to read. Have you ever been on a holiday to a really quiet place? If you've been to a quiet place, it might have been at the beach or the mountain, or in the country, but it would have been a place where there is no television, no radio, no music of any sort, and the external stimulation was provided by natural sounds. This is getting increasingly more difficult to find, even your local café or restaurant is saturated with music, loud cappuccino machines and many TV sets.

The fact that conditions such as stress have a serious impact on immunity is no longer in question. Temporary stress, like studying for an exam, can completely wipe out the body's interferon levels, literally reducing them to 0. Interferon is necessary for certain cells of the immune system to do their jobs. For example, one kind of immune cells is a lymphocyte known as the natural killer cell. Natural killer cells have 2 functions. First, they patrol the body and seek out virus-infected cells for elimination. Second, they seek out and destroy cancer cells. In students, the stress of exam week often results in colds, cold sores or other minor illnesses, perhaps as a result of the poor natural killer cell activity brought about by low interferon levels.

In terms of long-term health, chronic stress is much more important than short-term stress. Walter Cannon first described the body's response to acute stress which he called the fight or flight response, in 1929. When we are faced with an emergency, there is a miraculous symphony that plays itself out flawlessly in the body. Adrenaline pours out of the adrenal glands, causing blood pressure to rise and the heart to beat more forcefully. At the same time, sugar is liberated from storage in the liver and pours into the bloodstream. This rapidly burning fuel is quickly delivered to our muscles, giving us uncommon strength. Adrenaline simultaneously improves visual acuity, short-term memory, and mental sharpness. We can make decisions fast and then act on them, we can survive. To learn more about how stress causes disease, read Cancer Free For Life.

If you have a scare in traffic, your body responds instantly. A minute later, calm prevails unless you decide to wallow in anger or frustration. Then stress can become chronic when we hang on to ancient anger for years. Research showed that chronic stress leads to enlarged adrenal glands and the thymus gland, the producer of T-lymphocytes used to fight cancer, is very small. Chronic stress leads to illness. When we are stressed the hypothalamus secretes a hormone which causes the adrenal glands to manufacture cortisol. In the long run, it is a suppressor of the immune system. It prevents the formation of new immune cells, and inhibits the activity of the ones already in the system.

How to Sleep Well to Lose Weight

Wouldn't it be great if you could just go to bed and wake up thinner? Scientists are beginning to find a strong connection between sleep and weight loss.

Research Connects Sleep and Weight Loss

Several new studies suggest that sleep pays a key role in our ability to make better food choices. So if you're short on willpower and you don't have time to exercise, perhaps your best bet is to learn how to sleep well. The reason revolves around a hormone called ghrelin.

In 2010, researchers found that when people have higher levels of ghrelin, they were more likely to crave sweets and junk food. In a press releaseabout his research, lead scientist Tony Goldstone, MD, PhD, suggested that if we could find a drug to block ghrelin, we may be able to reduce cravings for high-calorie foods and help people lose weight.

But wouldn't taking a nap feel better than taking a pill? Another study published in Obesity Reviewsfound that catching a few zzz's might be just as effective at reducing ghrelin levels. Researchers from Louisiana State University found that stress management techniques like sleeping and exercising help to reduce both ghrelin levels and the cravings that come with them.

But the strongest link between sleep and food intake came when researchers from St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University in New York did MRI scans on people who had been deprived of sleep. They found that when people didn't get enough sleep, they craved more junk food.

Sleep Better to Eat Less

Most of us don't spend our days reading dry scientific journals, so it might be easier to takeweight loss advice from a noted fitness expert. "When I tell women that they are going to eat less when they sleep more, their ears perk up!" says Chris Freytag. Freytag is a nationally recognized health and wellness expert with more than 20 years of experience in the industry. She is also chairman of the board for the American Council on Exercise.

Chris explains that we can recharge our human battery in one of three ways: by exercising, by eating, or by sleeping. If we don't get a good night's sleep, she says, we are likely to refuel by eating too much. So how we do improve the quality of our sleep? Chris gave me tips for sleeping better as part of her campaign with Beautyrest Beds and Mattresses to promote healthy ways to refuel and recharge.

How to Sleep Well: 3 Tips from Chris Freytag

1. Evaluate your environment. If you can't afford to get a full eight hours of sleep at night, don't despair. Chris reminds us that it is the quality of sleep that matters more than the quantity. "Just because you are laying down for eight hours doesn't mean that you are sleeping for eight hours," she says. Her advice for better sleep includes making few simplechanges to your environment.
   • Minimize distractions, such as light or noise from a television.
   • Don't charge electronic accessories next to your bed as they create a subliminal distraction.
   • Invest in a high-quality mattress to achieve the best sleeping posture.
2. Skip the late night snack. If you find yourself craving a late night snack, Chris suggests trying to skip it and to refuel by sleeping instead. She explains that when our bodies aren't recharging through sleep, we look for energy in another form: food! "People tend to overeat when they are tired," she says.
   
   But if you really need a small snack before bed, she recommends passing up the typical chocolate treat and eating a complex carbohydrate like oatmeal or a piece of toast. These foods will keep you satisfied for a longer period of time.
3. Respect your own sleep habits. Work within your own guidelines to recharge your human battery. This might mean adjusting your daily habits. For example, some people find that exercising late at night is disruptive to a good night's sleep. But for others, an early morning workout isn't tolerable. The key, says Chris, is working within your lifestyle to find what works.

Lose Weight and Lose Pain, Too

Both obesity and chronic pain are widespread problems in the United States, but what you might not know is that the two conditions can be related. If you’re carrying extra weight, you’re at risk for chronic pain, especially after age 40. And the heavier you are, the greater the risk.

Recent research published in the journal Obesity made the relationship between pain and obesity very clear. This study of more than a million people suggests that obesity in and of itself may cause pain, even in the absence of a painful disease or condition. Researchers speculate that body fat increases

hormones associated with inflammation, leading to pain.

Weight Loss to Conquer Pain

You can dampen the risk of pain-causing inflammation by losing weight. In the process, you'll also decrease the strain that excess weight puts on your body, especially your back. “We ask a lot of our backs," says David Greene, MD, CEO of Florida Pain Network. "They carry our body’s weight [and] provide the ability to rotate, flex, extend, and absorb significant loads every step of the way.” He adds that carrying additional weight forces the spine to absorb more load than necessary, which may lead to herniated discs, sciatica, or spinal arthritis — all painful conditions.

Losing weight is easier said than done, but by breaking it down into small steps, the hurdle can seem less daunting. These ideas for long-term weight loss from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics will get you started:

• Change your mindset from a quickie diet to a permanent change in your eating habits, the difference in long-term success. Learn from past mistakes and don’t give up, even if you have to make several attempts to lose weight.
• Create both short-term and long-term goals before you start a weight loss program. Good general goals are to exercise more often or to eat healthy snacks, but you may have better success reaching them by setting weekly goals with a more narrow focus. For example, decide to eat an extra serving of vegetables each day instead of a starch. Or, replace that slice of cake for dessert with a cup of juicy berries.
• Slow and steady wins the race. Avoid making radical, across-the-board diet changes. Start by improving what you are eating for breakfast and advance from there.
• Make your food servings look appetizing by adding colorful fruits and vegetables to your plate. They’re loaded with nutrients as well as fiber, which keep you feeling full longer and make you less likely to snack between meals.
• Drink a large glass of water before each meal. Research has shown that people who drink water before a meal ingest about 75 fewer calories with the meal. Over a year’s time, that’s 14 pounds lost!

If you’re having trouble getting started, enlist a registered dietitian to help you with a sensible approach and get support and motivation from family and friends.

Exercise Gently to Conquer Weight and Pain

You might be tempted to rely on diet alone to shed pounds, but exercise is the second part of any successful weight-loss plan. Besides its many health benefits, exercise boosts weight loss — it helps you burn more calories and builds muscle, and muscle uses calories even when you’re at rest. Common examples of physical activity include walking, yoga, running, swimming, and lifting weights, but even small daily activities — climbing stairs, sweeping the porch — burn calories. And those calories add up. These steps can help you ease into exercise:

• If you’re out of shape and are battling chronic pain on top of that, start with low-intensity activities that don’t require much exertion, like walking around the block once or twice a day. Find ways to be more active at home or on the job — put down your remote control and get up to change TV channels, walk across the room a few times a day, and refill your water bottle at the office water cooler during breaks. Gradually, you’ll be able to exercise for longer periods of time.
• Once walking is comfortable, try a moderate-intensity activity, like swimming or riding a stationary bike. (Swimming is especially low-stress because the water cushions your joints, rather than straining them.) One easy way to tell if you’re at the right level is if you can talk during the activity but not sing.
• Strength training is another type of exercise that increases your fitness level and helps you lose weight. Start slowly by working with resistance bands or light hand-held weights, and target each of the major muscle groups two or three times a week (with a rest day in between). To avoid injury and learn proper form, try working with a certified fitness trainer to get started. As you get stronger, you can add more weight.

As you progress and as the weight comes off, you’ll find the motivation you need to keep going. Remember to reset short-term goals as you reach them and keep relying on your support network of loved ones and health specialists to stay on course for the long term.

Diet After Weight-Loss Surgery

In order for weight-loss surgery to help you lose a significant amount of weight — and keep it off in the long term — you'll need to adopt new eating habits. This not only means changing what you eat, but also how you eat.

"It's very important for patients who have had Lap-Band or bypass surgery to realize they've got a small pouch that holds only a small volume of food: Initially, it's about one ounce per meal, and after a few months it's about one cup to one-and-a-half cups of food," says Charles E. Morton, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of bariatric services at the Metabolic Surgery Center at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. That means you've got to be very choosy about what you eat.

The Right Foods After Bariatric Surgery

Eating lean protein (like chicken and fish) and vegetables before consuming rice or bread can increase satiety and nutrient intake, says Dr. Morton. "People should have at least 60 to 80 grams of lean protein a day to increase lean body mass and stay healthy and energetic during rapid weight loss," he suggests.

For some people, one side effect of the surgery is enough to encourage them to choose healthy foods: Their bodies find greasy or fatty foods (like fast food) more difficult to digest, which can result in "dumping syndrome" (bouts of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, and sweating). After Pamela Folle, 49, of Las Vegas, had Lap-Band surgery in November 2007, she found that she could not tolerate steak, hot dogs, hamburgers, and carbonated drinks. "Not even in very small portions," she says. Folle now opts for lean proteins and vegetables, and she limits her daily intake to four ounces of food three times a day.

Folle also takes a daily multivitamin. "My doctor recommended it," she says. That's because bariatric surgery causes patients to absorb fewer nutrients from food, which may leave them deficient in iron, calcium, folate, and vitamin D. Since few multivitamins contain adequate levels of vitamin D, your doctor may suggest that you take an extra vitamin D supplement in addition to your multivitamin.

The Wrong Foods After Bariatric Surgery

Which foods are most problematic can depend on the type of weight-loss surgery you've had. "Lap-Band patients must stay away from soft foods, foods that melt, and high-calorie liquids," says Morton. "Bypass patients should avoid any concentrated source of sugar such as sweets, whole milk, and milk shakes. These aren't tolerated due to the sudden deliverance of this type of food into the small intestines." That sudden deliverance often causes dumping syndrome.

No matter what type of weight-loss surgery you have, your new stomach probably won't be able to handle both solid food and fluids at the same time, says Laura Gittus, RD, who works with Morton and coordinates the bariatric-nutrition program at the Metabolic Surgery Center. Therefore, make sure you separate fluid and food intake by at least 30 minutes. When you do drink, sip — don't guzzle — and opt for at least 48 ounces a day of things like water and low-calorie beverages or tea, and up to 24 ounces per day of skim, low-fat, or soy milk.

Gittus also advises those who have undergone weight-loss surgery to minimize or eliminate these other high-calorie, low-nutrient foods: deep-fried foods like chicken and french fries; fast-food meals; high-fat foods like pizza, bacon, or breakfast sausage; high-sugar foods such as cakes, cookies, ice cream, and candy; and alcohol.

Slow Down and Savor Each Bite

Importantly, don't rush through meals. "Eat slowly and savor each bite to prevent overeating," Gittus says. "That will also help you enjoy food without feeling like you're restricted or on a 'diet'."

Guide to Quicker Weight Loss

Here are some simple ways to speed up the weight-loss process, without sacrificing health benefits:

• Buy food instead of packages. Challenge yourself to buy only fresh food for a week mdash; meat and fish from the butcher,fruits and vegetables from the produce section, whole grains from the health-food store bins, etc. When you buy "food" instead of "packages", you're eliminating any chance of unwanted processing, refined grains, added hydrogenated fats, and mysterious chemicals sneaking into your diet.
• Eat more chicken and fish for protein than red meat, beans, or eggs
• Skimp on you plate filling. There's no rule saying you have to load it up to the edges. Portions just a tiny bit smaller will pay off over the long run.
• Eat even more slowly. The longer you take at a meal, the less you're likely to eat and the more satisfied you'll feel. Find ways to slow down at all three meals, not just the one very leisurely meal of the day.
• Choose most of your vegetables from what we call "Tier 1." Tier 1 vegetables are more nutrient-dense, with fewer calories.
• Limit snacks to nothing more than a Tier 1 vegetable. If that's enough to tide you over until the next meal, why have more?
• Drink your snack. Try having a cup of hot tea or a tall glass of water instead of your usual snack. You may be more thirsty than hungry, and as long as you're not reaching your next meal in starve mode, those uneaten calories will pay off.
• If you haven't been exercising, start. If you have been exercising, push up the intensity a notch.