Weight Loss and Healthy Nutrition - Seven Tips

Want to lose weight and be healthy too? Weight loss without watching what you eat will not only set up a never-ending yo-yo dieting spiral, it can also trigger health problems. Here are seven new nutrition and weight-loss tips to help you drop pounds in a healthy way.

 

1. Start each meal by eating veggies. Veggies are loaded with vitamins and minerals as well as with fiber, so you will feel full quicker. If you start each meal with proper nutrition, weight loss will quickly follow.

 

2. Put away the salt shaker. A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says that two out of every three Americans need to reduce their salt intake to no more than 1,500 mg per day to avoid problems such as high blood pressure. Too much sodium will make you retain water and cause you to gain weight. For proper nutrition, weight loss and other benefits, use one of the many herbal, salt-free seasoning blends available. You'll be amazed at how good your food will taste. You won't miss the salt.

 

3. Try seaweed and algae. At least one celebrity is finding wonderful results by drinking seaweed and algae shakes. Some experts say these shakes break down fat deposits and prevent water retention. So not only do these natural products aid provide great nutrition; weight loss is assured. Remember Asian peoples have depended on seaweed, algae and similar plants for centuries and are known for their healthy lifestyles.

 

4. Eat the right kind of carbs. For years, there has been the myth that carbohydrates make you fat. Actually, your body needs carbs for proper nutrition. Weight-loss experts now believe that carbohydrates are no more fattening than any other type of food. It's the amount you eat and as well as the amount of fats, salts and sugars you add when preparing them that makes you gain weight. Have carbs if you wish. For nutrition's sake, have more whole grains, fruits and vegetables, which have more nutrients than junk food.

 

5. Watch out for artificial sweeteners. Just because artificial sweeteners provide no calories that does not mean they are good for you in terms of nutrition. Weight-loss experts are finding out that using foods with artificial sweeteners enhance our natural craving for sweets. A better bet is to eat fruit or to add natural sweeteners, such as cinnamon. These will help you to satisfy your cravings quickly.

 

6. Indulge your cravings, and then start again. With a little planning, you can eat your favorite foods without gaining weight. For example, if the holidays would not be complete without Grandma's cheesecake, go ahead and have some. Savor it slowly and really appreciate the effort she put into it. There may be no benefits in terms of nutrition, weight loss or healthy living, but you won't leave the table feeling deprived and gorging yourself later.

 

7. Learn to relax with means other than food. Many of us are overweight because we've learned to handle stress by gorging on junk food. One of the sources of our stress is -- you guessed it -- being overweight. Cut the cycle by learning other ways to handle stress. Learn yoga, hypnosis and other relaxation techniques and how to apply them to your daily life. Then, when the talk turns to nutrition, weight-loss and other stressful matters, you will have the tools you need to keep going calmly.

 

These seven nutrition and weight loss tips will go along way to helping you live a healthier life.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Julia_Denham

Nutrition Weight Loss - 3 Natural Weight Loss Drinks

With all the different diets and foods that claim to help you lose weight, how do you really know if you are getting enough nutrition? Nutrition and weight loss are a tricky combination, you have to make sure that what you take in will give your body the right vitamins and minerals it needs while not giving it calories and such. Drinks are of the same dilemma. Our bodies need liquid to survive and there are certain drinks that one cannot take in when trying to lose weight. There are on the other hand, good drinks - healthy and naturally helps our bodies lose weight. Which drinks are these? Read on to find out.

 

1. Vegetable Juice. Not as popular as fruit juice, vegetable juice actually has the same nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that fruit juice offers - minus the added sugars and calories. So basically, you get everything good that a fruit juice gives without giving your body the bad stuff. Vegetable juice is definitely a nutrition and weight loss drink in one.

 

Making your own vegetable juice would ensure the health benefits in your drink and also ensure that no added sugars are mixed in the drink. If you prefer store-bought vegetable juice though, pick varieties that have reduced sodium.

 

2. Black Coffee. Coffee is well known for its caffeine effect which helps us stay awake. Coffee has so much more benefits than just that though. For one, coffee has been proven to be good in weight loss. If drank black and in moderation, black coffee can help burn calories. According to nutritionist Anna Yuschak, "If (coffee) is consumed on an empty stomach first thing in the morning before a workout, it can boost endurance and prolong fatigue, which aids in fat loss." Coffee, being a diuretic, also improves digestion and helps us eliminate. Aside from these, black coffee offers other extra benefits such as - having great amounts of antioxidants that help reduce the risk of cancer; so long as you don't put in a truck load of sugar into your coffee, it has a good amount of anti bacterial and anti adhesive qualities that prevent cavities; and as studies have shown, drinking coffee decreases a person's chances of developing Parkinson's disease by as much as 80%.

 

3. Good Old Natural Water. Water is good for numerous bodily functions such as digestion, respiration, and circulation. What is important to take note of though, is that it is great for weight loss as it is calorie free! Aside from it having zero calories, water helps us feel full and boosts our metabolism. Drinking at least eight 8oz glasses of water will surely be beneficial for everyone.

 

Who would have thought that nutrition and weight loss could easily be achieved through drinking natural and healthy drinks? Contrary to popular belief - drinking is good for your health! (So long as it involves vegetable juice, black coffee, and water - no alcohol please!)

  

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Colin_Bright

Follow These Nutrition Tips And Lead A Happier Life

Are you being pressured by your doctor, spouse or family, to change your eating habits. You should put things in your body that you want to get out of it. You don't have to be bored with learning about basic nutrition. It is simple to incorporate new food into your diet. This article will introduce you to ways you can incorporate nutritious foods into your everyday life.

 

Be skeptical of any food merchandise labeled as zero trans fat or fat-free. Sometimes these low-fat items are not as healthy as they appear. Due to high sugar content, they can still be unhealthy. Look closely at the label, and see if they are unhealthy in ways the label doesn't advertise.

 

Don't eat larger quantities of food just because the food you are eating is healthy. If you consider what you are eating and how much it will help you lose weight. Eating huge portions always means you're eating too many calories.

 

Good nutrition is important. Keeping a balanced, healthy diet will make your mind and body feel great. Refined sugars are not healthy for the body, so decrease or eliminate them, whenever possible. Don't forget that drinks such as soft drinks and juices must be counted as well. These are culprits when it comes to being loaded with sugar. Avoid them. Keep the sugar out of your diet and you will notice a difference. This difference will be seen in how you look and even how you feel.

 

Go through your kitchen and get rid of unhealthy snacks, such as soda, cookies and other sweet treats. Buy things that are good for you like popcorn, beans, whole grains, or veggies.

 

It is important to keep the amount of sodium you consume to a minimum. Diets that are high in sodium can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, kidney problems and strokes. Sodium can also damage your bones due to losing calcium lost through urine.

 

A good way to instill a healthy attitude about food is to put less emphasis on desserts. Two or three nights a week is the maximum you should have dessert.

 

Nutrition is crucial for your body, but also your mind. If you lack some vitamins, you may feel tired or depressed. By following a healthy diet, there are many physical and mental health problems that can be avoided.

 

A great way to keep a healthy body is to consume garlic. Garlic works like a natural antibiotic in your body. Garlic is delicious and can be used in a lot of different foods. When roasted, it is also a great complement to a piece of toast.

 

Potassium is an essential nutrient that you can get from potassium rich foods like bananas, tomatoes, some types of beans and many other healthy food. Potassium helps maintain healthy blood pressure and protects you from serious conditions, like diabetes and heart disease. Dairy products are another good source of potassium. Try including foods such as milk, yogurt and cottage cheese in your diet.

 

Keeping up with your nutritional needs is an easy way to lengthen your life span and enhance your quality of life. While it might seem elusive at times, it is relatively simple to make this goal a victory. By doing research, you're already making the first step to a healthier lifestyle and a better you!

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Petri

Body Weight Exercises and Nutrition

Body Weight Exercises

 

Body weight exercises are one of the best ways to build muscle and develop strength quickly and effectively. This type of exercise will increase strength in the body's core while not putting on excess mass in the upper body. It's also great to build quality lean muscle mass. Body weight exercises are a useful addition to many strength-gaining programs because they build and condition the body's muscles. These exercises can be done by men, women and children alike, and generally are appropriate for any age.

 

These are some of the best exercises to include in your workout routine and are completely safe since it's just your body, requiring a minimum of additional equipment. Fitness is essential for your day-to-day effectiveness, even the Marine Corps utilizes body weight exercises to increase the recruits military effectiveness.

 

Body weight exercises include push-ups, pull-ups, dips, crunches, the one-legged squat, and the knee jump. Push-ups work several muscle groups including the chest, triceps and shoulders. Pull-ups work the upper back, your biceps and abdominal muscles. Dips focus its' work on the triceps, and limited exercise of the chest and back. Crunches and sit-ups work your upper and lower abdominal muscles, while the one-legged squat and knee jump work your legs.

 

Using a body weight program helps people who are overweight and who have health problems such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and fatigue. Physical fitness can treat and prevent many chronic health conditions that brought on by aging and an unhealthy lifestyle.

 

Physical Fitness

 

General physical fitness is achieved by focusing on correct nutrition, exercise, and getting enough rest. Physical fitness and body weight exercises are a necessary requisite for leading a healthy and active life. Thus, your diet should be based on your individual metabolism and what your fitness goals are.

 

Muscle Building

 

Muscle building is actually a long-term method which cannot be accomplished overnight. Muscle tissue is tight and dense, which gives it a streamlined look. Muscle is metabolically active, which means it needs a lot of calories just to maintain itself. Nutritionally speaking, protein is essential in building and maintaining muscle mass. Protein is required to build muscle and heal damage done to muscle that may have occurred during your workouts. Muscles are very receptive to the muscle-building effect of protein immediately following a workout.

 

Protein is found in meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, eggs, nuts, and dried beans, among other foods. Adding a protein supplement to your diet may help your body add muscle mass and cut excess fat.

Author R. W. Jonathan publishes a blog on Weight Loss and the Best Weight Loss Supplements available on the market today.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=R._W._Jonathan

The Nutrition of Weight Loss Food Programs

Some weight loss food programs are better for you than others are. Some companies are masters at marketing while limiting the actual quality of the foods they put into those pretty boxes. Others give you nothing but nutrition but it tastes so bad that you cannot enjoy it. When it comes to finding meals that are right for you, both your goal to lose the pounds and your desire to eat something good, it is important to look at the nutrition included in each meal. Is this the best possible product for you?

 

The Importance of Protein :

 

One of the key nutritional elements you need any weight loss food programs to offer is a good source of protein. It is the building block of muscles. As you begin to work out to enhance your dieting success, your body will develop firmer, leaner muscle mass. In fact, this leaner mass will burn through stored fat faster than any other cell mass in your body. However, to become strong, muscles need a good source of protein. It will give you the tools to build a strong body that is burning fat quickly.

 

You Need Vitamins and Minerals :

 

Though most individuals should still take a multi-vitamin, you can and should invest in products packed with nutrition. You need nutrients that are going to add to your energy reserves so that you can exercise and go through your day. If you are eating just low calorie foods all of the time, this simply will not work. You could just eat celery every day if you wanted that. This does not give your body enough energy, though, to get through your day. Every system, including your immune system, requires a source of energy from nutrition.

 

Calorie Restriction Is Important :

 

Finally, to lose the pounds, you simply need to reduce the number of calories your body is taking in. You could eat nothing but fruit and get the nutrition you need, but since this does have a high amount of calories, it may not be a good option. It's better for you and your overall health to focus on foods that balance nutrition and calories so that you can see the weight come off without lacking the energy you need to exercise and to go about your day.

 

The right weight loss food programs can do this for you. They base their meal selections on nutritional value, including protein and calorie restriction goals. This way, you have a simple, easy-to-follow plan that allows you to achieve the goals you have. Do not go with just a pretty box but rather a plan that is going to help you to cut off the pounds quickly.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=A_Aaronson

Nutrition Plans For Weight Loss

One of the most successful nutrition plans for weight loss to be introduced in recent years is the Jillian Michaels weight-loss plan. The plan accounts for three major factors which influence weight loss success in the long term: self, sweat and science. The plan recognizes that the process of losing weight is both a physical and a mental one, and aims to provide a gimmick-free plan for lifelong health and fitness. The plan recognizes that all of the conflicting information about nutrition can leave many dieters feeling lost and frustrated, and breaks down exactly what you should eat to lose weight in a steady and sustainable way. The nutrition plan helps people to discover which foods are optimal for their body type and metabolic rate, the number of calories they should eat each day to ensure successful weight loss, recipes fully customized to body type that are delicious and easy to prepare, and tips and strategies for eating out without straying from your plan.

 

Today Show nutrition expert Joy Bauer has formulated one of the simplest nutrition plans for weight loss available. Her highly popular diet is now an easy step-by-step online diet program which is fully customized for you to get the best possible result. The plan emphasizes plenty of healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains, lean protein, fresh fruit and vegetables - plus a range of delicious and satisfying treats that you can enjoy guilt-free. There are plenty of online tools to help you along the way, including a calorie calculator which will provide you with the nutritional information of thousands of foods to help you make diet-friendly choices; a meal planner and hundreds of healthy recipes to help you get started in the kitchen; and a food log for recording what you eat during the day, so that you can track your weight loss properly. The program offers a free diet profile - participants take a quick and easy quiz and receive a personalized eating plan which is based on the principles of Joy's Food Cures.

 

The South Beach diet has been enormously popular in recent years, thanks to the endorsement of the diet plan by a number of high-profile celebrities, with more than 5 million copies of the book sold in the US alone. This is considered to be one of the best diets that work. Originally formulated by Dr Agatson, one of America's leading cardiologists, as a diet plan for his heart patients to improve cardiac health, it soon demonstrated its effectiveness as a weight loss plan. Like many recent nutrition plans for weight loss, the South Beach Diet is based on the principles of the GI diet. After an initial period of restricted carbohydrates, the diet slowly reintroduces foods which score low on the glycaemic index, helping to break the cycle of carb binges and emotional eating which many dieters falls into. During this first phase, simple carbs such as cereal, white bread, sweets, cake, alcohol, potatoes and bagels are banned. The diet instead emphasizes low-GI vegetables, lean meat and fish, nuts and olive oil. It is claimed that you can lose between 8 and 13 pounds within the first two weeks, and then a respectable 1-2 pounds every week after that.

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jamie_E_Bell

Food Nutrition - How to Lose Weight Without Depriving Yourself

It is an incontrovertible fact that the right food nutrition will help you lose weight quickly and safely. As long as you know the relative importance of different food groups then you will be able to formulate the right kind of diet for yourself.

 

It is a very common misconception that weight loss necessarily involves deprivation. Yes, if you diet consists of burgers, fries and milkshakes on a daily basis then you certainly need to deprive yourself. However, most people do not have such extremely unhealthy diets and therefore don't need to make a lot of changes.

 

1. Eat the foods that give you pleasure, but in limited quantities. One cannot deny the fact that eating delicious food is a very sensuous experience. There is no point cutting out good food if you're going to feel miserable about it. You'll just end up overeating in compensation so you might as well eat small quantities of your favourite things.

 

2. Never eat food on the run. Take the time out to enjoy a meal so that you get the maximum satisfaction from it. Chew your food properly and eat it off a pretty plate. Stay away from the television when having your meals or you'll just keep shovelling food in. You'll feel satisfied after the meal and won't feel food cravings too strongly if you really enjoy what you're doing.

 

3. Stick to cuisines and recipes that don't involve a lot of deep frying or roasting. There are many delicious types of foods that don't require a whole lot of fat in the cooking process. Take a little bit of effort to find out about these foods so that you can enjoy delicious meals that are not packed with calories.

 

4. Make low calorie substitutions whenever possible. It is generally possible to make most dishes without using high-calorie ingredients or a lot of fat. A little bit of creativity goes a long way here. If you use whole grain flour in place of refined flour then you might have to add extra milk or water to it in order to make it light. Similarly, applesauce can be used to replace some (but not all) of the fat that goes into your batter for cakes.

 

5. Keep only healthy food at home. If you don't buy crisps, cakes, biscuits and the like then there is no chance of reaching for them when you want a snack. Be sure to have healthy snacks handy (cut fruit and vegetables, unsalted almonds, hummus etc.) so that you don't go crazy with hunger.

 

You'll find it very easy to lose weight and stay healthy if you have the right attitude towards food nutrition. Never make the mistake of dieting obsessively. You'll just be putting a lot of pressure on yourself if you punish yourself whenever you eat a bit more that you ought to. These simple tips will help you reduce the amount of food you eat without really being aware of the fact that you are dieting.

 

Are you ready to feel healthier and have more energy?

 

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stella_Meed