Calorie Counting for Weight Loss

Starting to Calorie Count

According to the British Nutrition Foundation* "For weight loss, the energy intake from food must be less than the energy output".

This is why calorie counting is the most effective weight loss method. It goes straight to the heart of the problem - no fad diets, pills or special eating plans are necessary.Losing weight through calorie counting is relatively easy.

You won't have to put normal life on hold while calorie counting. Added benefits are that calorie counting raises your awareness of what your body needs; educates you about what's in what you eat, and helps you learn how to eat healthily for life.

First you'll need to work out how many calories you need each day to maintain your current weight, and how many to lose weight at a rate of 1-2lbs a week.

One pound of body weight is equivalent to 3500 calories. So in order to lose one pound of weight, we need to create a calorie-deficit of 3500 calories.

We can do this by increasing our calorie expenditure, by reducing our calorie intake, or (best) by a combination of both.

Example

• Suppose you need 2000 calories a day, in order to maintain your present weight.
• To lose one pound a week, you need to cut your daily calorie intake to 1500 calories.
  Over 7 days, this adds up to 3500 calories.
• The same result can be achieved by increasing your exercise by 200 calories/day, and reducing your calorie-intake by 300 calories/day.
• That said, a combination of calorie-reduction and increased exercise makes weight loss easier to sustain.

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Why Drinking Water Really is the Key to Weight Loss

by Maia Appleby

Don't roll your eyes! The potion for losing that excess body fat is all around you. It covers two thirds of the planet. If you eat right and exercise at the intensity, frequency and duration proper for you, but still can't get rid of a little paunch here and there, you're probably just not drinking enough water.

No need to get defensive. You're actually quite normal. Most people don't drink enough water. Most people are also carrying around a few more pounds than they would be if they did drink enough water. If you can't seem to get that weight off, try drowning your sorrows in nature's magical weight loss mineral. It works, and here's why:

"What on Earth is 'metabolism', anyway?" People use the term all the time, but ask them what it means and you'll get all kinds of answers. Merriam Webster defines it as, "The process by which a substance is handled in the body." A little vague, but that's really all it means.

There are many forms of metabolism going on in your body right now, but the one everyone is talking about it the metabolism of fat. This is actually something that the liver does when it converts stored fat to energy. The liver has other functions, but this is one of its main jobs.

Unfortunately, another of the liver's duties is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need plenty of water to work properly. If the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do their work along with its own, lowering its total productivity. It then can't metabolize fat as quickly or efficiently as it could when the kidneys were pulling their own weight.

If you allow this to happen, not only are you being unfair to your liver, but you're also setting yourself up to store fat.

"I've tried it and I couldn't stand it!" The problem is that, though many decide to increase their water intake, very few stick with it. It's understandable. During the first few days of drinking more water than your body is accustomed to, you're running to the bathroom constantly. This can be very discouraging, and it can certainly interfere with an otherwise normal day at work. It seems that the water is coming out just as fast as it's going in, and many people decide that their new hydration habit is fruitless.

Do take heed , though. What is really happening is that your body is flushing itself of the water it has been storing throughout all those years of "survival mode". It takes a while, but this is a beautiful thing happening to you. As you continue to give your body all the water it could ask for, it gets rid of what it doesn't need. It gets rid of the water it was holding onto in your ankles and your hips and thighs, maybe even around your belly.

You are excreting much more than you realize. Your body figures it doesn't need to save these stores anymore; it's trusting that the water will keep coming, and if it does, eventually, the flushing (of both the body and the potty) will cease, allowing the human to return to a normal life. It's true. This is called the "breakthrough point."

One recent finding, as irresponsible as it may be, that caffeine increases the body's fat-burning potential has many people loading up on coffee before going to the gym. This finding may hold some degree of truth in it, but caffeine is, in essence, a diuretic, and diuretics dehydrate.

Caffeine may increase the heart rate, causing a few more calories to be burned, but this is at the expense of the muscles, which need water to function properly. This isn't doing your heart any favors, either. It's already working hard enough during your workout. Never mix caffeine and exercise. In fact, your best bet is to stay away from caffeine all together. It's a big bully that pushes your friend water out of your system.

Water is the best beauty treatment. You've heard this since high school, and it's true. Water will do wonders for your looks! It flushes out impurities in your skin, leaving you with a clear, glowing complexion. It also makes your skin look younger. Skin that is becoming saggy, either due to aging or weight loss, plumps up very nicely when the skin cells are hydrated.

In addition, it improves muscle tone. You can lift weights until you're blue in the face, but if your muscles are suffering from a drought, you won't notice a pleasant difference in your appearance. Muscles that have all the water they need contract more easily, making your workout more effective, and you'll look much nicer than if you had flabby muscles under sagging skin.

"Eight glasses a day? Are you kidding?!" It's really not that much. Eight 8-ounce glasses amount to about two quarts of water. This is okay for the average person, but if you're overweight, you should drink another eight ounces for every 25 pounds of excess weight you carry. You should also up this if you live in a hot climate or exercise very intensely.

This water consumption should be spread out throughout the day. It's not healthy at all to drink too much water at one time. Try to pick three or four times a day when you can have a big glass of water, and then sip in between. Don't let yourself get thirsty. If you feel thirsty, you're already becoming dehydrated. Drink when you're not thirsty yet.

Do you think water is yucky? Drinking other fluids will certainly help hydrate your body, but the extra calories, sugar, additives and whatever else aren't what you need. Try a slice of lemon or lime in the glass, or if you really think you hate water, try a flavored water. Just make sure you read the labels. Remember that you're going to be consuming a lot of this fluid.

It's probably a good idea to stop drinking water a good three hours before you go to bed. You know why.

"How cold should it be?" This is debatable. Most experts lean toward cold water, because the stomach absorbs it more quickly. There is also some evidence that cold water might enhance fat burning.

On the other hand, warmer water is easier to drink in large quantities, and you might drink more of it without even realizing it. Do whatever suits you, here. Just drink it!

When you drink all the water you need, you will very quickly notice a decrease in your appetite, possibly even on the first day! If you're serious about becoming leaner and healthier, drinking water is an absolute must for weight loss. If you're doing everything else right and still not seeing results, this might just what's missing.

Yogurt May Help Burn Fat, Promote Weight Loss

Including Fat-Free Yogurt in Weight Loss Efforts May Trim Tummies Faster

By Jennifer Warner

March 17, 2005 - Adding yogurt to your diet may rev up your body's fat-burning engines, speed weight loss, and trim your tummy, according to a new study.

Researchers found that obese adults who ate three servings of fat-free yogurt a day as part of a reduced-calorie diet lost 22% more weight and 61% more body fat than those who simply cut calories and didn't bone up on calcium. Yogurt eaters also lost 81% more fat in the stomach area than non-yogurt eaters.

"Not only did yogurt help the study participants lose more weight -- the average weight loss was 14 pounds -- they were about twice as effective at maintaining lean muscle mass," says researcher Michael Zemel, PhD, professor of nutrition at the University of Tennessee, in a news release. "This is a critical issue when dieting -- you want to lose fat, not muscle. Muscle helps burn calories, but it is often compromised during weight loss."

The results appear in the April issue of the International Journal of Obesity.

Researchers say the results add to a growing body of evidence that the calcium and protein derived from eating low-fat dairy products may help burn fat and promote weight loss.
In the study, researchers compared the effects of adding yogurt to a reduced-calorie diet on weight loss in 34 healthy obese adults who were divided into two groups.

For 12 weeks, the first group ate three 6-ounce servings of fat-free yogurt providing about 1,100 milligrams of calcium per day; the other group ate only one serving of dairy providing 400-500 milligrams of calcium per day.

Both groups ate a controlled diet that contained 500 fewer calories than normal to stimulate weight loss.

As expected, all of the participants lost weight as a result of the calorie restriction. But the study showed that both weight and fat loss were significantly greater in the yogurt group.

For example, those on the low-calcium diet lost an average of 11 pounds, but those on the high-calcium yogurt diet lost an average of more than 14 pounds.

Participants on the yogurt diet also lost 81% more fat in the stomach area, which is the most dangerous type of fat. Excess fat in the midsection has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and some forms of cancer.

In an editorial that accompanies the study, Ruth Harris, associate professor of foods and nutrition at the University of Georgia, says the results of the study are impressive and provide additional evidence for calcium and dairy protein playing a role in determining body weight and fat.

But she says researchers have yet to identify the scientific reasoning behind these proposed fat-burning effects.

"The possibility the increased levels of dietary calcium can reduce body weight or exaggerate weight loss is attracting an increasing amount of attention," writes Harris. "For many in the scientific community, however, it is difficult to embrace the efficacy of dietary calcium and dairy protein without a good understanding of the mechanisms responsible for weight loss."

The study was supported by the Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition, General Mills Inc., which makes Yoplait.

U.S. Surgeon General Joins Forces with National Health Coalition to Promote Principles behind Healthy Weight Loss

New Campaign Educates the Public about How to Lose Weight Most Effectively

Washington, DC; October 18, 2005 -- At a time when an estimated 65 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese, a coalition of consumer, nutrition and public health groups has joined forces with the U.S. Surgeon General to drive home this important message: how you lose weight matters.

Because many overweight Americans have fallen prey to the come-ons of diet books and infomercials that promise a “revolutionary approach” to successful weight loss, the Partnership for Essential Nutrition has joined forces with Vice Admiral Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., U.S. Surgeon General, to promote the basic principles associated with healthy and lasting weight loss.

These principles include making food choices that not only restrict calories but meet current scientific guidelines for nutritional completeness, engaging in regular physical activity, and adopting a comprehensive weight loss program that avoids extreme lifestyle changes since they are unlikely to be sustained over time.

At the same time, the Partnership for Essential Nutrition, which last year issued health warnings about following extreme low-carb diets, hopes to remind the public about the health risks associated with fad diets that greatly restrict the intake of specific foods and nutrients.

Based on an extensive body of scientific evidence, extreme diets can increase the risk for a number of life-threatening medical conditions and produce physical discomfort, such as severe constipation, gastrointestinal problems, nausea, repeated headaches, difficulty in concentrating and the loss of energy.

“If you are one of the many Americans who are overweight, shedding excess pounds will significantly improve your health, as long as you lose weight in a healthy way,” said Surgeon General Carmona. “The path to healthy weight loss includes setting realistic goals and following a comprehensive weight loss program that is sustainable – meaning the method must go beyond losing the excess weight and address ways to keep it off.”

To raise awareness about the importance of losing weight in a healthy way, Surgeon General Carmona appears in a new public service announcement that the Partnership for Essential Nutrition is distributing to stations nationwide.

In the spot, the Surgeon General tells Americans “how you diet is as important to your health as losing weight” and advises overweight individuals to “choose a weight loss program that will lead to long-term weight loss.” The :30 spot will begin appearing on stations in October.

Behind this public service advertising campaign is extensive scientific research showing that how one loses weight makes a difference in how much they lose and how successful they will be in keeping the weight off.

This includes the findings of a major report, Weighing the Options, issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), which summarized the factors with proven links to weight loss success.

The factors include:

1) designing a diet program so it produces a weight loss of up to 2 pounds a week, the amount considered to be safe;
2) incorporating the current scientific recommendations for nutritional completeness into the menu plans;
3) encouraging “normal” eating patterns;
4) incorporating regular physical activity into the method of weight loss; and
5) developing programs that promote positive lifestyle change. In addition, experts in weight management stress the need for programs that are flexible enough so that people can apply the approaches that work best for them.

To promote these success factors, the Partnership has developed a healthy weight section on its web site – www.essentialnutrition.org – with advice for how to lose weight in a healthy way. Based on information developed by government agencies and leading public health organizations, the recommendations include:

Stay away from diets that sound too good to be true – Any diet plan or product that claims you can lose weight without lowering the calories you take in and/or increasing your physical activity is selling fantasy and false hope.

Set realistic expectations at the start – According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), successful weight loss is typically losing about 10 percent of your body weight in six months.
Choose a comprehensive weight loss program that is sustainable – This means the method must go beyond losing the excess weight and address ways to keep it off.

Remember, it’s the calories that count – That’s why nutrition experts recommend choosing what are known as “lower-energy density foods” – meaning foods that are higher in water content and not very concentrated in calories.

Watch your portion size – If you practice portion control, it is possible to eat almost any type of food and still stay within a healthy range of calories for the day.

Be more physically active – For weight control, the new dietary guidelines recommend 60 minutes of activity on most days during the week, which can include walking, dancing, housework and golfing.

Create a Supportive Atmosphere – Don’t overlook the benefits of losing weight with other people. Research has shown that dieters who recruited friends or family members to help them had better results losing weight and keeping it off than dieters who had no buddy system to fall back on.

Formed in 2004 to promote programs, policies and research that will advance public understanding about the essentials of a nutritionally balanced diet, the 12 members of the Partnership for Essential Nutrition are: Alliance for Aging Research, American Association of Diabetes Educators, American Council on Science and Health, American Institute for Cancer Research, American Obesity Association, National Consumers League, National Women’s Health Resource Center, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Shape Up America!, Society for Women’s Health Research, University of California at Davis Department of Nutrition, and Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center.

Weight Loss Psychology Why Most Diet Pills & Programs Fail

The truths about weight loss, diet pills and diet programs are unknown to most of us, because we do NOT want to face such truths.

However, the truth CAN set you free to pursue a more realistic weight loss path. So-- below are the unpopular weight loss truths I have discovered over the past 35 years...

For ALMOST ALL of you reading these words, there is NO diet program nor diet pill that will yield permanent weight loss UNLESS you are willing and able to process and resolve the psychological issues that you have concerning your extra pounds.

Let me repeat the above. Please read carefully...... for ALMOST ALL of you reading these words, there is NO diet program nor diet pill that will yield permanent weight loss UNLESS you are willing and able to process and resolve the psychological issues that you have concerning your extra pounds.

Also, to further discourage you, I as a student of personal growth over the past 35 years and a licensed therapist for the last 14 years, have found that permanent weight loss is customarily one of the LAST improvements seen in those pursuing effective healing tracks. And EFFECTIVE healing paths for most of us usually take DECADES.

And if that is not discouragement enough...Because most therapies are NOT oriented towards a cure, most of those following common therapeutic paths will ultimately fail too in their PERMANENT weight loss efforts.It is vital that you evaluate whatever weight loss choices you make as to their EFFECTIVENESS.

Ask about the longterm results and pay particular attention to the advising man/woman to see how they fare in terms of weight... (this male advisor today is 63years-old, is 5'10" tall, and weighs 162#).

Most of the weight loss advisors that I have seen are still overweight!

I offer you the "brainwashing" programs on this website to show you what is necessary psychologically...these programs will probably NEVER be popular, but they can show YOU where you are stuck if you pay close attention to your reactions to them.

Are you ready to find out where you are stuck psycholigically in terms of weight? Then please read about these "brainwashing" diet programs and/or take this free online weight loss quiz.

Benefits of Bariatric Surgery

With the help of safe, successful, and effective weight loss surgery, many patients lose between 100 and 200 pounds. Typically, patients are able to achieve a healthier weight and enjoy a new level of fitness.

Safe and Successful Weight Loss

Rapid weight loss is possible with the innovation of bariatric surgery, a serious solution to a serious health problem.

When performed by an experienced, skilled surgeon, gastric bypass and gastric LAP BAND® surgeries are safe, successful, and effective weight loss methods for those who seek surgery to manage obesity. The benefits of bariatric surgery are numerous.

Benefits of Gastric Bypass Surgery

The primary benefit of gastric bypass surgery is the weight loss itself. Studies have shown that 10 years after gastric bypass surgery—the most commonly performed bariatric operation—patients have maintained average losses of 60 percent of their excess weight.

Gastric bypass is a safe, successful, and effective weight loss option when the surgery is performed by a qualified, talented surgeon. Many health problems can be eliminated following bariatric surgery. These include:

High blood pressure
High cholesterol levels
Heart disease
Diabetes
Asthma
Sleep apnea syndrome
Acid reflux disease
Stress urinary incontinence
Low back pain and degenerative disk disease
Degenerative joint disease

Because patients’ stomachs are much smaller following successful gastric bypass surgery, there are physical limitations as to the amount of food that can be consumed. In addition, because the duodenum is bypassed and the digestive juices are added further down the gastrointestinal system, fewer calories are absorbed.

Since there are fewer calories available for use, the body burns excess fat for energy, which results in weight loss. Gastric bypass has proven to be a safe and effective weight loss surgery for treating morbid obesity, with the average patient losing approximately 75 percent of excess body weight one year after the weight loss surgery.

Perhaps more impressively, over 90 percent of the health conditions that are associated with obesity improved or abated following successful gastric bypass surgery.

Benefits of Bariatric Surgery

With the help of safe, successful, and effective weight loss surgery, many patients lose between 100 and 200 pounds. Typically, patients are able to achieve a healthier weight and enjoy a new level of fitness.

Safe and Successful Weight Loss

Rapid weight loss is possible with the innovation of bariatric surgery, a serious solution to a serious health problem.

When performed by an experienced, skilled surgeon, gastric bypass and gastric LAP BAND® surgeries are safe, successful, and effective weight loss methods for those who seek surgery to manage obesity. The benefits of bariatric surgery are numerous.

Benefits of Gastric Bypass Surgery

The primary benefit of gastric bypass surgery is the weight loss itself. Studies have shown that 10 years after gastric bypass surgery—the most commonly performed bariatric operation—patients have maintained average losses of 60 percent of their excess weight.

Gastric bypass is a safe, successful, and effective weight loss option when the surgery is performed by a qualified, talented surgeon. Many health problems can be eliminated following bariatric surgery. These include:

High blood pressure
High cholesterol levels
Heart disease
Diabetes
Asthma
Sleep apnea syndrome
Acid reflux disease
Stress urinary incontinence
Low back pain and degenerative disk disease
Degenerative joint disease

Because patients’ stomachs are much smaller following successful gastric bypass surgery, there are physical limitations as to the amount of food that can be consumed. In addition, because the duodenum is bypassed and the digestive juices are added further down the gastrointestinal system, fewer calories are absorbed.

Since there are fewer calories available for use, the body burns excess fat for energy, which results in weight loss. Gastric bypass has proven to be a safe and effective weight loss surgery for treating morbid obesity, with the average patient losing approximately 75 percent of excess body weight one year after the weight loss surgery.

Perhaps more impressively, over 90 percent of the health conditions that are associated with obesity improved or abated following successful gastric bypass surgery.

Fat Burning Zone #2

High Intensity sessions - just as good!

The implication from all this research is that if you wish to burn maximum amounts of fat then you should train in the 68 to 79% MHR window. The reality is that if you train at higher intensities you can burn just as much fat - you cannot be serious - read on

If you cycled along at 50% VO2max, fat would provide about 50%, on average, of the energy you needed to keep going. If you cycle along at 75% VO2max, fat would provide 33% of the required calories. Thus, the slower workout sounds better from the fat breakdown perspective - or does it?

A moderately fit athlete exercising at 50% VO2max generally consumes about 220 calories during a 30 minute workout. If the same athlete works out at 75% VO2max, 330 calories are burned during the same period.

Of course, 50% of 220 calories and 33% of 330 calories yield an identical number of calories coming from fat - 110 calories.

Fat provides all your energy

Let us consider the other extreme. If fat alone was meeting all your energy needs, you would not be breaking down carbohydrate during your workouts and as a result your leg muscles would be amply and permanently stocked with glycogen (assuming, of course, that your diet contained a normal carbohydrate content).

Each time you ate, the carbohydrate from your meal would be processed and transported to your muscles. Your muscle cells would say, 'No thanks, I don't need more carbohydrate, I'm already full.'

The surplus carbohydrate from your meal would then be converted to, you guessed it, fat. Looks like a no win situation - as fast as you burn fat off it is replaced.

Effective way to lose fat

Most exercisers are time constrained to some degree and do not have hours to spend on low intensity sessions. When time is limited, there is little reason to train in your Fatmax Zone. If your overall goal is to get leaner, the bottom line is that calorie burning is the best way to achieve it.

The most effective way to lose body fat is to burn slightly more calories than you take in, and to continue this negative energy balance over an extended period of time.

More weight loss information...

Fat Burning Zone

Many athletes and regular exercisers would love to lose body fat and improve their overall body composition. If we could identify the exercise intensity which evokes the highest rate of fat oxidation, then we could selectively carry out workouts at this intensity and make dramatic improvements to our bodies.

Low intensity sessions to burn off fat

There are two key variables that we need to know:

Fatmax - the exercise intensity at which the highest rate of fat oxidation occurs
Fatmax zone - the range of exercise intensities in which the fat oxidation rates remain within 10% of Fatmax

Researchers from Birmingham University's Human Performance Laboratory attempted to pinpoint the exercise intensities at which fat metabolism is maximised in a study of 18 male endurance cyclists with a training background of at least three years. Their work found that the Fatmax Zone is between 68% and 79% MHR

Alternative research has suggested that when you cycle, swim, row or run at a modest intensity of only 50% VO2max (about 69% MHR), fat provides about 50% of the calories you need to keep going for the first hour or so.

If you keep going after that, fat becomes even more generous, providing around 70% of the total energy after two hours and 80% or more if your work duration exceeds three hours. If you increase the intensity then the Fat contribution decreases - at 75% VO2max fat provides 33% of the energy.

More weight loss information...

NetFit Weight Loss

By NetFit.com

Most people who decide to lead a healthier lifestyle go on traditional diets. The truth is, however, that 95% of those who go on such diets fail; what's worse, they often end up in worse shape than when they started.

Diets are both ineffective and potentially harmful; long-term health-oriented programs should replace them.

Low calorie diets, result in muscle loss, in preference to fat so that the most useful tissue is preserved for times of starvation. Fat produces 9 cal's of energy per gram compared with only 4 cal per gram produced by your muscle tissue.

However, muscle determines the overall metabolic rate of the body, so if muscle is lost, the metabolic rate will be reduced. This means that when the dieter returns to a normal pattern of eating again, the lower metabolic rate will result in rapid weight gain.

The other problem with having a low level of lean muscle tissue is the feeling of fatigue, when doing simple exercise tasks. The muscles and the liver both store energy supplies, in the form of glycogen.

This situation has developed simply because many people are looking for an easy way to lose weight that delivers quick results. No such approach exists, yet the slimming industry continues to misguide people into believing that fast weight loss can be achieved with minimum effort.

Achieving target weight requires lifestyle changes. These changes include regular exercise, a sensible approach to healthy eating and the right mental attitude.

Why Dieting can make you FATTER

The conventional approach to dieting is a disaster. The first mistake is to call a program a “weight loss program”. There are many weight reduction programs, which if followed can produce rapid weight loss.

However, this weight loss is neither sustainable nor healthy as it involves dehydration and loss of muscle tissue.

When you are ill and bed bound similar results are produced in only 48 hours, especially if you have a complaint like food poisoning. How much weight do you think is lost in the form of excess unhealthy adipose fat tissue?

DEHYDRATION

70% of the body is made up of water. It is easy to design a dehydration diet that results in losing 10 lb. of water within several days. Many naive slimmer's are encouraged by these rapid results. Simply dehydration by 2-3 % of body weight can result in a 7% drop in physical performance.

LOSS OF MUSCLE TISSUE

If you lose weight too quickly, much of the weight loss will be muscle tissue. It is estimated that when people lose over 2lbs of weight a week, 30-40% of the weight lost will be muscle.
This is a disaster for keeping the weight off in the long term because muscle is five times more active metabolically than fat tissue.

Exercise and Healthy Eating the First Priority

The aim of an exercise program is to lose fat without losing muscle and without reducing metabolic rate. The exercise needs to be customized to fitness level and to specific goal of fat loss.

Together aerobic exercise and resistance training are the ideal combination of exercise to achieve fat loss and it should be part of your lifestyle.

Aerobic Exercise

Aerobic exercise metabolizes calories and raises the metabolic rate. The heart rate needs to be raised to a comfortable level for 20 - 30 minutes at least 3 times per week. By exercising aerobically, calories will be burnt at a rate of 300 + per hour depending on your weight and fitness level.

If you consider that just 1 pound of body fat has around 4,100 calories, then you can get a rough idea, of just how long it will take to shed those extra pounds permanently. Look again at how long it took to put them on, normally years or a complete lifetime of your own bodily abuse.

Now comes the debate of how hard to work. Personally I recommend that you work at a level that you know that you can maintain for a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes.

The debate comes in, when various fitness bodies suggest training at a high heart rate 75/90 % of max, for short periods or 55/80 % of maximum heart rate for easier longer periods.
I’am no scientist, but I have tried both methods on a number of clients, and have found like most things in life, it may work for one person but not necessary for another.

In short try both methods, unless you are a complete beginner to fitness, in which case I would recommend training at a steady pace for as long as comfortably possible.

Aerobic exercise will also raise the metabolic rate for up to 24 hours after you have finished training. This helps to burn up extra calories and prevents the metabolic rate declining.

Resistance (or weight) Training

Look in the section on this web site dealing with weight training for guidelines, or speak to a qualified trainer to aid you in both the correct exercises and techniques for yourself.

Inactive people lose about 10 % of their muscle mass every 10 years after the age of 25. However with regular resistance training it is possible to regain this muscle mass.

Resistance training should be carried out 2-3 times per week for around 30 minutes. Although not generally effective as aerobic training for burning calories, resistance training will still burn about 250-500 calories per hour and will raise metabolic rate.

Don’t feel that by doing weight training that you will develop a body that resembles a body builders, as these men and women spend a great deal of their time as well as strict diets and grueling weight sessions to achieve the physiques that they have.

Another important point is that muscle will not turn into fat, if you stop training. The muscle tissue will naturally break down and shrink in size, (hypo trophy). Important point because lean muscle tissue weighs more than body fat, your actual body weight may stay the same, during the early stages of your new lifestyle regime.

Don’t be alarmed, the weight will come of, however if it does not, your overall ratio of body fat compared to lean muscle tissue, will certainly be in a healthier ratio.

Try and avoid using the scales, unless they can monitor your body fat as well, instead measure your body at various points e.g. your hips, chest, stomach and thighs. Using an item of clothing is also a good way to measure yourself, as with a bit of time and dedication, you will find that the clothing fits you properly.

Healthy Eating Good nutrition is very important for fat loss, and focusing on health and health promoting foods is far more productive than focusing on fat loss and denial of favorite foods.
Adopting a whole food diet, avoiding salt, fat, sugar, additives, preservatives, processed and refined foods, needs to become part of a life style change.

By increasing natural foods with a high fibre and water content (fruit and vegetables) more food can be eaten to appease the appetite without gaining weight.

A whole food diet also has a much higher vitamin and mineral content than a typical diet containing processed and refined foods.

More weight loss information...

Heart Monitor Training #3

By Alex Sinha

How To Measure Results

The ultimate goal of training with a heart monitor is to be able to run longer and faster with a lower heart rate. If you keep track of your results, there will be a couple of ways to see the progress.

First, as you improve, you will see that running the same distances at the same heart rate will become easier. Effectively, you will be able to run faster for these distances without your heart having to work as hard. This is a direct reflection of increased efficiency of the heart. To see this, try running a set course - with your monitor - that is several miles long, and stick to a preset speed, perhaps your marathon pace.

Then, under similar weather conditions, try the same course again a few weeks later. Run it at the same pace as you ran previously, and compare your heart rates for the two runs. If you've gotten fitter since your first run, your heart rate should be lower during your second.

Another way to see results is to keep track of your resting heart rate by taking it down and recording it every morning before you get out of bed. Many trainers recommend that runners keep track of their RHR on a daily basis, and, as stated above in the RHR section, increased fitness should bring with it a lower RHR.

What Kind of Heart Rate Monitor Should You Buy?

While there are several styles of heart monitors, the most accurate and popular have two components: a chest strap that contains the sensor and the transmitter, and a watch-like display, with a receiver, for your wrist. These devices come with an array of different features, and can range greatly in price.

Basic Features: The most fundamental feature inherent to a heart monitor is the ability to measure your heart rate.

Also, since they are worn on your wrist like a watch, most heart rate monitors feature a display that has all the functions of an athletic watch, as well as a feature that allows you to set adjustable heart rate limits. These displays can differ with regards to the size of the digits and the size of the screen, backlighting, water resistance, and so on.

Other Features: A number of the more advanced features are potentially quite useful.

· Complex Data Analysis: Higher-end model heart rate monitors can make more complicated calculations and summaries of recorded data. Some heart monitors allow you to automatically record your MHR and your lowest heart rate for the workout, and to make more complex calculations, such as overall averages, disparities between high and low rates, and the like.

· More Sophisticated Data Collection: Some heart monitors can estimate the number of calories you are burning and measure the ambient temperature. Other options include altitude measurement and estimation of your VO2 (a value related to your body's oxygen consumption).
· Larger Memory Bank: Many basic heart rate monitors can record only one workout at a time, forcing you to record your data elsewhere between every use of the device. Heart rate monitors with larger memory banks can record multiple workout results without erasing earlier records. This can be convenient - especially if the monitor is not computer compatible, and recording results must be done manually instead.

· Computer Compatibility: If you wish to record your results accurately and quickly, it may be better to seek out a heart monitor that can be plugged into your computer, though this tends to be among the most costly of features.

These monitors come with software that will allow you to save and graph various readings that the monitor has taken over the course of your workouts. After a workout - or after several - you can download your results onto the computer, where you can display and analyze the data in a number of different ways.

· Coded Signal: Because heart rate monitors have two separate components (the chest strap and the wrist display), the readings from the sensor on your chest must be transmitted to your display. If the signal is not coded, then interference caused by jogging with another runner who is wearing a heart monitor can occur, yielding inaccurate readings.

· Recording of Bicycle Workout Data: Some of the more expensive models have a whole set of options for use while riding a bicycle, such as measurement of distance and a memory bank for more than one bicycle's wheel size, among others. This can be useful both for those who train by bicycle and those who are forced to use a bicycle to get back in shape after a leg injury.

Cost: A basic heart monitor can cost less than $50. A high-end monitor with many extra features can cost as much as $350, and possibly more. In general, the most expensive monitors are those that can download their data onto a computer. Ultimately, though, the feature combinations and the associated prices are so varied, that it is difficult to classify heart monitors by both cost and capability. There are quite a large number of functions as well, some which are not even discussed here.

You may find that some cheaper models may actually contain more of the features that are desirable to you, so it would be a good idea to decide which of these features you value most before deciding on a model.

Where to Buy:

You can find heart rate monitors at your local running or fitness store. This site, MarathonGuide.com offers a wide selection of monitors and is committed to providing the lowest prices.

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Heart Monitor Training #2

By Alex Sinha

How To Use a Heart Rate Monitor

Heart monitors are tools that provide feedback specific to your body. As a result, heart monitor training can only be effective if you use that information to design and implement a workout regimen that is tailored to your body and fitness level.

To do this, you will calculate the various work-rate zones for your heart, and use these zones to guide your work-rate during your workouts. The first thing you will need to do in order to accomplish this is to figure out a couple of key values.

Specifically, the zones you will calculate can be derived from two numbers: your maximum heart rate (MHR), which is the fastest rate your heart is able to beat per minute, and your resting heart rate (RHR), the rate at which your heart beats when you are completely at rest and in the absence of stressful external stimuli.

Step 1: Establish Your Max Heart Rate

Simple Formulaic Estimation of the MHR Based on Age: In general, this method will provide reasonable accuracy for about 80% of runners, but it should almost invariably be supplemented with an actual test. Typically, one of three simple formulas is used to estimate one's maximum heart rate.

Formula #1: The first formula involves simply subtracting your age from the number 220 (for men) or from 226 (for women). This method is preferred for beginning runners, those who have been leading a sedentary lifestyle. MarathonGuide.com Simple Heart Zones Calculator

Formula #2: The second formula is very similar, but is preferable for those who are already quite active. For this formula, simply subtract half of your age from the number 205.

Formula #3: The third formula runs along the same vein as the two preceding it. For men, subtract 80% of your age from the number 214. For women, subtract 70% of your age from the number 209.

All of these formulas provide approximations that are based on the standard curves representing the "normal" MHR's for any given age, and they get you close to your own MHR, but not close enough. The numbers you will get when you plug in your own age would best be used as a guide, as opposed to an accurate measure.

Actual Testing of the MHR Through Physical Exertion: The only way to truly find your maximum heart rate is to exert yourself vigorously for several minutes, obviously while wearing your heart monitor. In doing this, you have two options.

Option 1: Personal Test Perhaps the best way for most people to find their MHR is to calculate it themselves. The most effective method is to do interval training, preferably on a hill. A hill of at least 200 or 300 meters will suffice. Sprint up the hill and jog back down, using only the jog as a resting period.

Repeat this cycle five or six times, and you will likely attain a heart rate that is at least very near your MHR (your MHR being simply the highest number of beats per minute that you were able to provoke). In the absence of a hill, you may wish to extend the length of your intervals to 400 meters.

Option 2: Lab Test In a lab test, you will be put on a treadmill with a pulse monitor, and asked by a specialist to run a specific, short, intense program. This option tends to cost around $150, and is best if you have a heart condition, or if you are unsure of your physical health, for medical personnel and equipment are all either present or nearby.

Keep in mind that your MHR can be a little elusive. If, a week after you determine your MHR to be 186 BPM, you see 192 flash across your display as you do interval training, then your MHR is actually 192. This does not indicate a change in fitness or health, but would instead serve as evidence that when you tested you MHR before you were tired, rundown, or perhaps did not exert yourself hard enough.

Your MHR is genetically predetermined, and has basically nothing to do with your level of fitness. Some athletes have had MHR's in the 160 BPM-range, while others have rates that exceed 200 beats per minutes. The sole variation in your MHR is a decrease of approximately 1 BPM a year, a process that accompanies aging.

Step 2: Establish Your Resting Heart Rate

Unlike your MHR, which is basically fixed, the RHR is a measure of fitness, and should slowly decrease, as you get more and more fit. In general, the resting heart rates of different individuals can vary greatly.

Someone leading a sedentary lifestyle can have a RHR nearing or even exceeding 100 BPM. Most endurance runners will have one below 60 or 50 BPM, and possibly even below 40 BPM. The absolute lowest RHR's belong to elite runners, some of which dip below 30 beats per minute. The reason for this is that the stroke volume of these elite runners is so high that each heartbeat pumps more than twice as much blood as that of a sedentary adult.

This allows the heart to slow its rate substantially, while still supplying the entire body with adequate blood flow. A high stroke volume is reflective of a large, strong heart, which results from a high level of aerobic fitness.

Your resting heart rate is exactly what it sounds like: the rate at which your heart beats when you are totally at rest. While finding this number is less strenuous than calculating your MHR, it is easy to make the mistake of trying to derive your RHR at an inappropriate time.

The best method for determining your RHR involves strapping on your heart monitor when you wake up in the morning, before you even get out of bed. Simply lay there for two or three minutes; your lowest pulse rate will be your RHR. Doing this test first thing in the morning is logical, for there are many factors aside from physical activity that can lead to an increased heart rate - including stress and the presence of caffeine in your system - which can be eliminated by doing the test immediately after waking up.

Dehydration, on-setting illness, and insufficient rest can also manifest themselves in an increased RHR.

Step 3: Calculate Your Training Zones

Calculating training zones allows you to customize your workout to your heart and current fitness level. Using a heart monitor without tailoring your workout to your own personal training zones essentially eliminates the benefits of heart monitor training.

Once you have your MHR and your RHR, you can grab a calculator or visit the MarathonGuide.com heart zones calculator, and easily set up a chart to help you determine how much strain you are putting on your heart at a given heart rate. Typically the chart is based on percentile markers, where your MHR is 100%. To create your chart, calculate the percentile markers in 5% increments, descending from 100% to around 50%, and using the following formula:

((MHR-RHR) x Percent level) + RHR

For example, suppose your MHR is 190 and your RHR is 50. Your calculation for your 95% level would look like this:

((190-50) x .95) + 50) = 183 BPM

For your 90% level, your calculation would appear as follows:

((190-50) x .90) + 50) = 176 BPM

Your chart, then, would show 190 as 100% of your max, 183 at 95% of your max, 176 at 90% of my your, and so on down the line until you reach 50%.

These zones will be crucial when you determine your training program and start to track results.

Step 4: Implement A Training Program And Track Your Results

If you have completed the first three steps, then you are prepared to begin training using your heart rate monitor.

How you wish to train, however, depends on your ultimate goals. Some trainers recommend that runners should not run two consecutive days over their 70% level, setting that value as the ceiling for recovery days. Most agree that hard days should be run at the 85% level, if not higher.

Regardless of how you are training, and what you are training for, it will be useful to keep track of your results. It is highly recommended that you track not only your heart rate for each workout and the activities that the workout entailed, but also that you record your RHR daily.

Some have even worn their heart monitors for entire days, simply to see what kinds of activities and stimuli provoke what speed of pulse.

Where to Buy:

You can find heart rate monitors at your local running or fitness store. This site, MarathonGuide.com offers a wide selection of monitors and is committed to providing the lowest prices.

For more weight loss information...

Heart Monitor Training

By Alex Sinha

Athletic heart monitors have existed for several years now, but it wasn't until relatively recently that the technology behind them, and the development of heart monitor training techniques came together to make training with a monitor both simple and effective for the average runner.

While many runners own heart monitors, often they may not be using the devices to their full potential. Other runners do not own a heart monitor and are unaware of the benefits of training with one.

Why Use a Heart Rate Monitor?

Heart monitors are devices that are designed for wear during strenuous exercise, and serve the purpose of measuring and recording your heart rate, while giving you instant feedback about the work level of your heart. The fitness of the heart is the key to one's aerobic endurance - sometimes called 'cardiovascular respiratory endurance'.

Both for health and racing reasons, aerobic endurance is a point of focus for almost any runner. Heart monitors are one of the most effective aids for tracking and developing your progress on the path to increased aerobic endurance.

1) Accuracy And Ease: Heart monitors are the only effective way to track and record your heart rate over the course of an entire workout. Not only do heart monitors provide you with a complete record of your heart rate for the duration of your workout, but they are also more accurate than manual methods.

Stopping during a run to count your pulse disrupts both your workout and your heart rate, and even the application of pressure to the carotid artery - perhaps the most common point for manual pulse detection - slows down the pulse.

2) Monitor Your Fitness: Cardiovascular fitness is the single most significant factor in your speed as a runner.

Consequently, being able to track your cardiovascular fitness - not to mention tailoring your workouts to meet cardiovascular goals - is an extremely useful training tool. Measuring the work-rate of the heart is the most accurate method of determining how much benefit you are deriving from your workout (a discussion on how to gauge results can be seen in section III).

Other methods, such as how hard one is breathing, or how tired one feels, can reflect other factors and give imprecise impressions of the effectiveness of your workout.

3) Prevent Over-Training: For many competitive runners, every week's workout regimen is essentially a seven-day dance along the fine line between optimal training and over-training.

Using a heart monitor to avoid stressing your body too much means that you will maximize the efficiency of your training, while minimizing the opportunity for injury. Injuries are much less likely to occur when you are not over-taxing your body, and avoiding injuries is tantamount to avoiding setbacks in your training. While opinions differ on how much running is too much (we will discuss this more later), once you determine the desired intensity of your weekly workouts, you can use the monitor as a gauge. Are your recovery days really allowing your body to recover?

The surprising answer, in many cases, is that runners' easy days are simply not easy enough. Use your monitor to stay below a certain ceiling, and you will avoid depleting your body's glycogen stores, ensuring that you will have the energy to perform your intense workouts with vigor and that you will not have to take unexpected days off from fatigue.

4) Prevent Under-Training: Though perhaps less common than over-training, some runners simply do not run hard enough, often enough. In this case, the monitor can function as a sort of coach, telling you when your body can handle more, and consequently, when you should pick up the pace.

Set a minimum heart-rate goal for your run, and the monitor will sound an alarm when you have dropped below your target, telling you to work harder.

5) Pacing During Training: Perhaps the most obvious use for a heart monitor is to pace your training runs. Sometimes your time is not the best measure of how hard you are working. Different terrain, different energy levels, inconsistent distance measurements, and any number of factors can mislead you into thinking that you have performed well or poorly when the opposite may be true.

Your cardiovascular performance is best measured by the work-rate of your heart, so pacing your training runs according to your heart rate is the best method of targeting your cardiovascular fitness as you do your workout.

6) Pacing During A Race: Some runners not only train with a heart monitor, but race with one as well. The monitor is a better tool for gauging effort during a race than mile markers, as the appropriate speed of each mile during a race can vary.

Also, the monitor is indifferent to the wind, the paces of the other runners, the cheering of the crowds, the silence of lonely stretches that occur towards the end of some races, and any hills and curves; it is an objective observer than can help you maintain a consistent work rate, both over varied terrain and in areas where external factors affect your motivation and speed.

Within a racing context, a monitor is perhaps most useful in preventing you from going out too fast or working too hard early in the race.

7) Enjoyment: While many runners enjoy their long runs, using a heart monitor adds a twist to running, whether it is being worn for a race or for training, for one mile or for twenty. Monitors can give you an accurate and fun way to quantify your progress, and if for no other reason, contribute some variety to the activity.

Where to Buy:

You can find heart rate monitors at your local running or fitness store. This site, MarathonGuide.com offers a wide selection of monitors and is committed to providing the lowest prices.

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Food Myths

Myth: Nuts are fattening and you should not eat them if you want to lose weight.

Fact: In small amounts, nuts can be part of a healthy weight-loss program. Nuts are high in calories and fat. However, most nuts contain healthy fats that do not clog arteries. Nuts are also good sources of protein, dietary fiber, and minerals including magnesium and copper.

Tip: Enjoy small portions of nuts. One-half ounce of mixed nuts has about 270 calories.

Myth: Eating red meat is bad for your health and makes it harder to lose weight.

Fact: Eating lean meat in small amounts can be part of a healthy weight-loss plan. Red meat, pork, chicken, and fish contain some cholesterol and saturated fat (the least healthy kind of fat). They also contain healthy nutrients like protein, iron, and zinc.

Tip: Choose cuts of meat that are lower in fat and trim all visible fat. Lower fat meats include pork tenderloin and beef round steak, tenderloin, sirloin tip, flank steak, and extra lean ground beef. Also, pay attention to portion size. Three ounces of meat or poultry is the size of a deck of cards.

Myth: Dairy products are fattening and unhealthy.

Fact: Low-fat and fat-free milk, yogurt, and cheese are just as nutritious as whole milk dairy products, but they are lower in fat and calories. Dairy products have many nutrients your body needs. They offer protein to build muscles and help organs work properly, and calcium to strengthen bones. Most milks and some yogurts are fortified with vitamin D to help your body use calcium.


Tip: The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends consuming 3 cups per day of fat-free/low-fat milk or equivalent milk products. For more information on these guidelines, visit www.healthierus.gov/dietaryguidelines.

If you cannot digest lactose (the sugar found in dairy products), choose low-lactose or lactose-free dairy products, or other foods and beverages that offer calcium and vitamin D (listed below).

Calcium: soy-based beverage or tofu made with calcium sulfate; canned salmon; dark leafy greens like collards or kale

Vitamin D: soy-based beverage or cereal (getting some sunlight on your skin also gives you a small amount of vitamin D)

Myth: “Going vegetarian” means you are sure to lose weight and be healthier.

Fact: Research shows that people who follow a vegetarian eating plan, on average, eat fewer calories and less fat than nonvegetarians. They also tend to have lower body weights relative to their heights than nonvegetarians. Choosing a vegetarian eating plan with a low fat content may be helpful for weight loss.

But vegetarians—like nonvegetarians—can make food choices that contribute to weight gain, like eating large amounts of high-fat, high-calorie foods or foods with little or no nutritional value.

Vegetarian diets should be as carefully planned as nonvegetarian diets to make sure they are balanced. Nutrients that nonvegetarians normally get from animal products, but that are not always found in a vegetarian eating plan, are iron, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, zinc, and protein.

Tip: Choose a vegetarian eating plan that is low in fat and that provides all of the nutrients your body needs. Food and beverage sources of nutrients that may be lacking in a vegetarian diet are listed below.

Iron: cashews, spinach, lentils, garbanzo beans, fortified bread or cereal

Calcium: dairy products, fortified soy-based beverages, tofu made with calcium sulfate, collard greens, kale, broccoli

Vitamin D: fortified foods and beverages including milk, soy-based beverages, or cereal

Vitamin B12: eggs, dairy products, fortified cereal or soy-based beverages, tempeh, miso (tempeh and miso are foods made from soybeans)

Zinc: whole grains (especially the germ and bran of the grain), nuts, tofu, leafy vegetables (spinach, cabbage, lettuce)

Protein: eggs, dairy products, beans, peas, nuts, seeds, tofu, tempeh, soy-based burgers

Speed Up Your Metabolism

by Laurie Hedlund
L.P.N.

Metabolism gets blamed when people put on weight or have trouble with weight loss, but you can learn how to speed up your metabolism. Increasing your metabolism can help you burn calories, replace fat with muscle and give you more energy. The key to increasing your metabolism is understanding what it is.

Metabolism is a combination of physical and chemical processes called anabolism and catabolism. Anabolism is the constructive phase of metabolism in which body cells synthesize protoplasm for growth and repair. Catabolism is the destructive phase of metabolism in which complex substances are broken down into simpler compounds producing energy which is essential for the proper functioning of body cells. Together, these processes distribute nutrients which are absorbed into the blood after digestion.

Three factors determine your metabolic rate, which is the amount of calories your body uses every day. The basal metabolic rate(BMR) is the rate your body uses energy for vital body processes. The rate you burn energy during physical activity and the rate you use energy during digestion of food are the two other factors involved in your total metabolic rate.

To improve your metabolic efficiency you only need to alter what you eat and what you do a little bit to experience a difference in how you look and feel.

The best way to jump-start your metabolism is to exercise. Exercise will reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass. By increasing lean muscle mass, metabolism will increase and aid in the weight-loss process. Muscle tissue uses more calories than fat tissue because it has a higher metabolic rate. Aerobic exercise, like walking, swimming or cycling, has the added bonus of speeding up your metabolism for 4 to 8 hours after you stop exercising. Additional calories will be burned off long after you stop exercising.

Weight lifting, resistance or strength training, does not speed up your metabolism, but it does burn fat and increase your lean muscle mass which increases your resting metabolic rate. A combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training is best for optimal fat burning and metabolism boosting.

Exercise in the morning and you will reap the benefits of a faster metabolism throughout the day, or exercise in short 10 or 15-minute bursts every couple of hours to keep your metabolism pumping. Exercise any time you can fit it into your day and you will burn that fat away. By exercising just a little more than usual you can speed up your metabolism and use up stored fat in the process.

Eat breakfast!

Breakfast is essential. Your body has been deprived of food throughout the night, therefore your metabolism has slowed. If the cells do not receive sufficient nutrients they will begin to function less efficiently on smaller amounts, and they will actually store more fat to use during these times of nutritional deprivation.

Eat six small meals a day to keep your body's fuel supply consistent and keep your metabolism revved up. Avoid eating late at night because your metabolism naturally slows down in the afternoon and evening, so eat a hearty breakfast.

Consistency is important because your body metabolism adapts to your current weight. If you have been dieting or skipping meals your body's metabolism slows down to compensate for the lack of nutrients. When lean people overeat their metabolism speeds up and when obese people diet their metabolism slows down. The key is a balance of exercise and diet.

Eat fewer high-fat foods and less total calories. Choosing healthy foods, such as lean protein and vegetables, can actually increase your metabolism as well. Increase dietary fiber and limit sugary foods, alcohol, caffeine and don't smoke.

The best foods to increase your metabolism and help you lose weight are fish, dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, blueberries and other fruits, whole grains, and at least 8 glasses of water a day.

When your cells need energy they will break down carbohydrates first, then fat and finally protein. Your body converts carbohydrates into a form of sugar called glucose which is easily used as fuel by your body. Any excess carbohydrates you eat will be turned into fat for storage. Of course, any fat you eat will be stored as fat as well. Your body converts the fat you eat into body fat very efficiently.

If you exercise and eat wisely, however, you will burn those fat stores and increase your metabolism.

You can jump-start a sluggish metabolism through exercise and diet which will have lasting health benefits for you. Not only will you lose weight and gain muscle mass, but you'll have more energy to burn and you'll feel great.

Eating Breakfast Helps Weight Loss

If you are someone who thinks skipping breakfast will help you lose weight, think again! Studies show that breakfast - especially a cereal breakfast - is associated with better weight loss.

An ongoing study of people who have maintained weight loss of at least 30 pounds for more than a year shows that eating breakfast keeps people slimmer (National Weight Control Registry). Breakfast eaters tend to eat fewer calories, less saturated fat and cholesterol and have better overall nutritional status than breakfast skippers.

A Nielsen's National Eating Trends Survey showed that women who ate cereal on a regular basis weighed about nine pounds less than those who ate cereal rarely or not at all, while men who ate breakfast weighed about six pounds less than men who didn't eat breakfast.

What is the link?

When you skip breakfast, your metabolic rate slows down and your blood sugar drops. As a result, you become hungry and have less energy. This sets you up to impulsively snack in the morning - often on high-fat sweets - or to eat extra servings or bigger portions at lunch or dinner.

When you eat breakfast, your body feels nourished and satisfied, making you less likely to overeat the rest of the day.

Eating breakfast every day may reduce the risk for obesity and insulin resistance syndrome - an early sign of developing diabetes - by as much as 35 to 50 percent, according to a study presented at a recent American Heart Association conference.

Whole-grain cereals best choice for weight loss

Breakfast choices are endless, although whole-grain cereals top the list as the best choice for weight control and improving health.

A Harvard study found that participants who ate whole-grain cereal every day were 17 percent less likely to die over the next several years from any cause, and 20 percent less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, than those who "rarely or never" ate whole-grain cereals.

Look for cereals that list whole grain or bran as their first ingredient and contain at least 2 grams of dietary fiber per serving. Bran cereal and oatmeal contain at least 7 grams per serving, or about 25 percent of the recommended daily intake.
"No time" is no excuse

Time is at a premium for most of us. Nevertheless, it pays to make time for what may be the most important meal of the day.

Try to choose foods from at least two or more food groups. Protein foods take longer to digest and will provide sustained energy and keep you feeling full longer.

• Here are quick, tasty and nutritious choices to get your day off to a good start:
• Milk and whole-grain cereal
• Instant oatmeal topped with raisins and milk
• Whole-grain granola topped with fruit and yogurt
• Peanut butter spread on whole-wheat toast or a bagel
• Fruit smoothie made with yogurt
• Cheese and whole-grain crackers
• Do not overlook leftovers - a slice of pizza, leftover stir-fry or a bowl of soup zapped in the microwave can be tasty and tide you over to lunch

Energy bars have exploded in popularity. Although they are convenient and may satisfy your hunger in a pinch, read the label. Even though they contain a variety of vitamins and other added nutrients, they often contain little fiber, and are loaded with as many calories as a candy bar!

New Weight-Loss Discovery May Help Tens of Millions of Dieters!

By John Walker
M.D.

Have you heard of Hoodia? If not, I'm sure you'll be hearing more about its amazing appetite-suppressing benefits in the near future.

Hoodia gordonii is a plant native to South Africa, and has been used for centuries by the San people of the Kalahari Desert for a variety of medicinal purposes.

Hoodia belongs to a category of plant called "succulents." It actually looks like a cactus and has the consistency of a cucumber when eaten raw. However, the Kalahari Bushmen don't eat Hoodia for the taste. For many years, the plant has been a dietary mainstay for hunters on long trips. It helps them ward off pain, hunger and thirst while on hunting expeditions.

Hoodia apparently first came to attention of "outsiders" through a Dutch anthropologist who was studying the San Bushmen, but it wasn't until the 1960s when scientific interest in Hoodia began.

Since then, testing has revealed a substance called P 57 in Hoodia that seems to be the active chemical in appetite suppression. The P 57 molecule is estimated to be up to 10,000 times as potent as glucose in sending a signal to your brain that the body is in a state of satiety, or in common terms, not hungry.

The exact mechanism of appetite suppression by Hoodia has not been completely elucidated. It appears that the active ingredient stimulates a center in your brain called the hypothalamus that helps regulate hunger. It "tricks" the brain into thinking that you are full, and thus you don't want to eat. It works by mimicking the effect that glucose has on the nerve cells in your brain, thus curbing your appetite.

Furthermore, it also has been reported that people eating Hoodia noted an immediate improvement of their mood.

So, Hoodia might have some other positive benefits beyond appetite suppression. Just think: You don't want to overeat, and you feel good about it! I never thought I'd be able to say that.

Limited human studies have been done, but in both animal and human trials, Hoodia was able to substantially decrease the amount of calories ingested, thus leading to weight reduction. In fact, in a December 2001 study, Phytopharm completed a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study in overweight, but otherwise healthy volunteers using Hoodia Gordonii.

The larger doses of Hoodia caused a statistically significant reduction in the average daily calorie intake. In addition, a statistically significant reduction in body fat content was also observed compared to the placebo group after two weeks.

Some people who take Hoodia notice their appetite is suppressed within 20 to 30 mintues, and it may last for several hours. They have a diminished interest in food, a full feeling, a delay in the onset of hunger and in some cases an increased sense of well-being. In others, it may take up to 2 to 3 weeks to achieve its maximum effect. The great news is that Hoodia is not a stimulant, so it has not been reported to make people jittery or anxious.

In fact, there have been very few side effects reported with Hoodia use.Since Hoodia is only native to South Africa, the supply is somewhat limited, and the cost is significant. Additionally, its success and publicity as an effective, safe appetite suppressant has brought many unscrupulous suppliers to the market.

It is extremely important to know what you are buying and from whom you're buying, because the dosage and ingredients are very critical to success. NSI Hoodia Gordonii is an amazing 20:1 extract obtained entirely from South African Hoodia Gordonii plants.

This means that rather than filling the capsule with the fibrous plant structures, the active ingredients are extracted and fully present in the capsule. This allows the individual capsule to be more potent, safe and effective. You won't find a better Hoodia product on the market or at a better price.

If you have read my newsletters before, you know that I generally try things out on myself before I recommend them. I like to see what kind of results may be expected, and if there are any side effects that would make me hesitant to recommend a product. Earlier this year, I discussed an approach to supplements that would help you manage your weight. We discussed the beneficial effects of Green Tea, Tonalin® and Calcium.

I have been taking these supplements since January, and have had a slow, steady reduction in my weight, helping me shed those dreaded holiday pounds.But my downfall with weight loss-as I'm sure is true with many of you-was that I often remained hungry. Simply stated, if you are very hungry, you are at higher risk of overeating, and that can impair your weight reduction.

So while I was dropping the pounds, I was still battling hunger and not doing quite as well as I would have liked. Then, on a recent visit to the Vitacost.com home office, I was discussing products, and Hoodia came up.

After doing some research, I decided to start taking Hoodia before each meal. After all, if Hoodia was able to help control my hunger, then I could further cut down the calories. I was hoping that Hoodia would be the perfect complement to my present regimen.After taking Hoodia for two weeks, I noticed a dramatic difference in my hunger and my cravings. I now go into mealtimes without ravenous hunger, and I can control my portions much more easily.

In fact, I don't even need to eat the between-meal snacks that I used to need to help hold me over to the next meal. And since the green tea and calcium are helping keep my metabolism going, I don't need the snacks to achieve that effect. In short, Hoodia seems to be the missing piece to my weight-reduction puzzle.

I am now losing pounds and inches more quickly, I don't feel hungry and I don't overeat, so I no longer have food-related guilt.I must emphasize and stress one important fact: You must eat enough protein to help you maintain your muscle mass. If you don't, some of your weight reduction will be muscle, and your body's metabolism will slow down.

So don't forget to include one or two Walker Diet shakes in your daily intake. In fact, if you used them for breakfast and lunch, you probably would be just fine. Then, have a regular dinner with some source of protein, low glycemic carbs and plenty of vegetables. The Tonalin in the regimen will also help you maintain your muscle mass.

And finally, don't forget the importance of exercise, both aerobic and strength training. This will also help you burn calories and keep muscle.

I'd recommend that you take 2 NSI Hoodia Gordonii capsules 30 to 60 minutes before each meal. If after one week you do not respond to this dose, you can increase to 3 capsules. If after a while your hunger is reduced, then you can decrease the dose. Continue to use the Green Tea, Calcium and Tonalin, and you have a complete weight-reduction regimen that helps curb your hunger and keep your metabolism in high gear.

A Formula to Prevent Overeating

So much goes on around the table while you're eating, and so much of it can affect your appetite. Subtle cues—lights, temperature, aromas, the shape of a wine glass, a whiff of espresso—can all tempt you to overindulge.

But a recent analysis of dozens of studies on "food ambience" (those factors around you that tickle the senses) suggests you don't have to give in. Instead, experts say, you can make the environment work for your waistline and weight loss. Here's how:

Look before you eat
The brighter the lights, the quicker you'll eat. Physiologically speaking, light intensity revs up the nervous system, and you'll often respond by eating too fast. Result: You'll end up stuffing your stomach before your brain can tell you that you're full. Unfortunately, dim lighting is no solution, because it can hide signals of satiety.

"We lose track of what we have eaten," says Brian Wansink, PhD, a nutrition-science expert at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. That's why people tend to eat more in candlelit restaurants; they linger, picking at their plates even if they're full.

The antidote: If you have to eat in a brightly lit restaurant like a fast-food joint, Wansink says, remind yourself—repeatedly—to eat slowly. In dimly lit restaurants with more romantic settings, pick one: drink, appetizer, or dessert. And keep yourself attuned to your feelings of fullness. When they come, ask your server to box up what you haven't finished.

Dine on the patio
As a general rule, the hotter the climate, the less people eat, says Nanette Stroebele, PhD, a neuropsychologist at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. She co-authored the recent report on food ambience in Nutrition.

Heat slows down your metabolism, so your energy needs and your hunger decline as the mercury rises. Use that to your benefit.

The smart strategy: Ask for an outdoor table whenever the weather cooperates. Out where it's balmy, people seem to prefer food that's less dense and usually less caloric (salads instead of mashed potatoes, for example).

Tame your tableware
Supersized portions, whether it's French fries or frittatas, can make you think bigger is normal. That may override your "I'm full now" body sensors. Just as influential are the size of your plate and the shape of your cup. It's called the size-contrast effect, Wansink says: Bigger plates trick people into believing they're getting smaller servings.

So do short, fat glasses.

Even bartenders—renowned for their ability to "eyeball" a shot of alcohol accurately—will fill a shorter glass with up to 31 percent more than they pour into a tall, narrow one.
The solution: Avoid jumbo plates, and choose taller, thinner glasses.

Play hard to get "People tend to eat almost everything you put in front of them," says John DeCastro, PhD, a professor and chair of the department of psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso. Working alongside Stroebele on the ambience study, DeCastro found that convenience is one of the strongest triggers for overeating and snacking.

Wansink demonstrated the power of proximity in 2002, when he and colleagues gave a gift of Hershey's Kisses to some university secretaries as part of a study. The secretaries ate nine Kisses daily when the candy was on their desks in transparent bowls. Consumption fell to an average of six and a half candies when the sweets were placed in opaque containers with lids, and only four when the bowls were positioned three steps away. That's a difference of up to 2,500 calories a month—and a prescription for gaining nearly 12 pounds per year.

The answer: At family gatherings and other occasions when overeating is likely, serve the food—and then put the serving platters on the counter or even in another room. Buy fewer ready-to-eat snacks, de Castro says, so you'll have to work harder to nibble when you're not hungry. Parcel out snacks into single-serving zip-top bags, Wansink suggests, and avoid buying food in bulk. What if you just can't resist the price on that 60-count box of granola bars? Stow away the extras in the back of the pantry. Out of sight, out of mind, out of tummy.

Getting Started: Losing Weight for the Long-Term

Losing weight and keeping it off is not easy. Before you get started on a weight loss program, consider the following tips. They should help you reach your goal of obtaining and maintaining a healthy weight.

Set the Right Goals

Setting effective weight loss goals is an important first step. Most people trying to lose weight focus on just that one goal. weight loss. However, the most productive areas to focus on are the dietary and exercise [link to exercise. 6.4] changes that will lead to long-term weight control.

Successful weight managers are those who select two or three goals at a time that they are willing to take on.

Keep in mind that effective goals are specific, attainable, and forgiving. For example, "exercise more" is a wonderful goal, but it's not specific. "Walk five miles everyday" is specific and measurable, but is it attainable if you 're just starting out?"

Walk 30 minutes every day" is more attainable, but what happens if you're held up at work one day and there's a thunderstorm during your walking time another day? "Walk 30 minutes, five days each week" is specific, attainable, and forgiving.

Reward Success (But Not With Food!)

Rewards that you can control can be used to encourage you to attain your weight control goals, especially those that have been difficult for you to reach.

An effective reward is something that is desirable, timely, and contingent on meeting your goal. Rewards may include treating yourself to a movie or music CD or taking an afternoon off from work or just an hour of quiet time away from family. Keep in mind that numerous small rewards, delivered for meeting smaller goals, are more effective than bigger rewards, requiring a long, difficult effort.

Balance Your (Food) Checkbook

This means that you should monitor your eating behavior by observing and recording some aspect of your eating behavior, such as how many calories you eat in a day, how many servings of fruits and vegetables you eat per day, how often and for how long you exercise, etc., or an outcome of these behaviors, such as weight.

Doing this can really help you determine how you are doing and what you need to do to meet your weight control goals.

Avoid a Chain Reaction

Identify those social and environmental cues that tend to encourage you to undesired eating, and then work to change those cues. For example, you may learn that you're more likely to overeat while watching television, or whenever treats are on display by the office coffee pot.

Then work to sever the association of eating with the cue (don't eat while watching television), avoid or eliminate the cue (leave coffee room immediately after pouring coffee). In general, visible and accessible food items are often cues for unplanned eating.

Get the (Fullness) Message

Changing the way you go about eating can make it easier to eat less without feeling deprived. It takes 15 or more minutes for your brain to get the message you've been fed. So slow down the rate that you eat food. That will allow satiety (fullness) signals to begin to develop by the end of the meal.

Eating lots of vegetables or fruit can also make you feel fuller. Another trick is to use smaller plates so that moderate portions do not appear meager. In addition, by changing your eating schedule, or setting one, can help you reach your goal, especially if you tend to skip, or delay, meals and overeat later.

Burning Fat Isn't The Problem

WE SEE the advertisements all around us, encouraging us to burn more fat with:

• Diets
• Special Foods
• Drugs
• Supplements
• Exercise Programs & Videos
• Exercise Equipment

They all promise to burn fat for weight loss. You've used many or all of them, but, once again you find yourself still fat. Could it be that the promises in all these advertisements are false?

NO! All these items burn fat, just as they promise.

Then why can't you achieve weight loss? The truth is longer term and dedication is lacked.

Top 10 Reasons To Exercise In The Morning

If I had to pick a single factor that I thought was most important in a successful exercise or weight loss program, it would be to exercise first thing in the morning - every morning! Some mornings, you may just be able to fit in a 10 minute walk, but it's important to try to do something every morning.

So why mornings?...

1. Over 90% of people who exercise *consistently*, exercisein the morning. If you want to exercise consistently, odds are in your favor if you exercise first thing in the morning.

2. When you exercise early in the morning, it "jump starts" your metabolism and keeps it elevated for hours, sometimes up to 24 hours! That means you're burning more calories all day long just because you exercised in the morning!

3. When you exercise in the morning you'll be *energized* for the day! Personally, I feel dramatically different on days when I have and haven't exercised in the morning.

4. Many people find that morning exercise "regulates" their appetite for the day - that they aren't as hungry and that they make better food choices. Several people have told me that it puts them in a "healthy mindset."

5. If you exercise at about the same time every morning, and ideally wake-up at about the same time on a regular basis, your body's endocrine system and circadian rhythms adjust to that. Physiologically, some wonderful things begin to happen; A couple of hours *before* you awaken, your body begins to prepare for waking and exercise because it "knows" it's about to happen.

Why? Because it "knows" you do the same thing just about everyday. You benefit from that in several ways..

a) It's MUCH easier to wake-up. When you wake-up at different times everyday, it confuses your body and thus it's never really "prepared" to awaken.

b) Your metabolism and all the hormones involved in activity and exercise begin to elevate while you're sleeping. Thus, you feel more alert, energized, and ready to exercise when you do wake-up.

c) Hormones prepare your body for exercise by regulating blood pressure, heart rate, blood flow to muscles, etc.

6. For many people, that appointed time every morning becomes something they look forward to. It's time they've set aside to do something good for themselves - to take care of their body, mind, and soul. Many find that it's a great time to think clearly, pray, plan their day, or just relax mentally.

7. Research has demonstrated that exercise increases mental acuity. On average it lasts four to ten hours after exercise! No sense in wasting that brain power while you're sleeping. :)

8. Exercise first thing in the morning is really the only way to assure that something else won't crowd exercise out of your schedule. When your days get hectic, exercise usually takes a back seat!

9. If finding time to exercise is difficult, anyone can get up 30 to 60 minutes earlier to exercise (if it's a priority in your life). If necessary, you can go to sleep a little earlier. Also, research has demonstrated that people who exercise on a regular basis have a higher quality of sleep and thus require less sleep!

10. You'll feel GREAT! DO IT! :)

Author Profile: Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry, offers FREE weight loss success stories and his "Fast, Healthy Weight Loss" newsletter at his site: Fitness http://www.practicalweightloss.com/loseweight/landry.html

12 Keys To Super-Charging

You hear it all the time - "metabolism", but what is it? It's the process of converting food to energy (movement and heat).

Metabolism happens in your muscles and organs and the result of it is what we commonly refer to as "burning calories". Metabolism is essentially the speed at which your body's motor is running.

"Basal metabolism" is the metabolic rate or caloric expenditure needed to maintain basal body functions such as your heart beating, breathing, muscle tone, etc. It's how fast your "motor" is running when you're still in a reclined position or sleeping. Basal metabolism accounts for about 75% of the calories you expend on a daily basis!

The good news is that there are 12 ways you can "boost" your metabolism! The more of these you're able to incorporate into your life, the more you'll boost your metabolism. That means you'll be expending ("burning") more calories 24 hours a day leading to weight loss!

1. Always eat breakfast!
Skipping breakfast sends the message to your body that you're starving because you haven't had food in 18+ hours. As a protective mechanism, your metabolism slows down. Food, especially complex carbohydrates, fuels your metabolism.

2. Eat earlier in the day!
Research has demonstrated that you can lose weight simply by eating a substantial breakfast and lunch, and a light dinner. Dinner should be eaten as early as possible, preferably at least four hours before bedtime.

3. Never eat less than 1200 calories per day!
Less than 1200 is usually not enough to support your basal metabolism and thus will slow your metabolism.

4. Snack frequently!
Complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, and grains) fuel your metabolism. Also, snacking prevents you from becoming too hungry. The hungrier you are, the less control you have over what and how much you eat.

5. Eat more carbohydrates (food from plants), and less fat (food from many animals and other food with added fat)! Carbohydrates boost your metabolism and have fewer calories per weight than fat.

6. Do some type of aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, stationary cycling, aerobic dancing, etc.) on a daily basis (preferably in the morning)! Forget this twice-a-week stuff. Our bodies were designed to be active on a daily basis! When we are, our metabolism soars!

7. In addition to your regular aerobic exercise, take a brisk 10 to 15 minute walk at lunch or in the evening. This serves to boost your metabolism even more!

8. Tone your muscles with weight training three days per week. Toned muscles send your metabolism through the roof. Do it!

9. Look for situations to be active.
Park as far from the store as you can rather than looking for the closest parking spot. Use the stairs rather than the elevator, a broom rather than a blower, etc. Look for the "hard" way to do things!

10. Avoid alcohol!
Alcohol depresses your metabolism and stimulates your appetite.

11. Drink 60+ ounces of water a day.
Your metabolism needs plenty water to function properly. Carry a bottle of water with you and drink frequently throughout the day.

12. Avoid the"3 P's".....pills, powders, and potions!
There are NO quick fixes! Get started today! You'll feel better and your metabolism will be in "great shape"!

Author Profile: Author and exercise Physiologist, Greg Landry, offers free weight loss success stories and articles, and unique weight loss programs at his site. http://www.Landry.com

Curb Hunger and Cravings (press release)

Hoodia Gordonii, nature’s most effective appetite suppressant is now available.

Hoodia helps you achieve weight loss by curbing your hunger and cravings. Elite Hoodia is richly formulated with Royal Jelly, 5-HTP, B-12 and additional key nutrients which will enable you to take control of your eating habits and reach your slimming goals.

60 MINUTES on CBS news featured Hoodia, reporting " Hoodia is very different from other diet stimulants like Ephedra and Phenfen that are now banned because of dangerous side effects. Hoodia does not stimulate the body. In fact, scientists say it fools the brain by making you think you’re full, even if you've just eaten a morsel."

What enables the San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert of South Africa, one of the world’s oldest and most primitive tribes, to stave off hunger during long hunting trips?

They consume Hoodia Gordonii cactus! It is quickly becoming known as the greatest natural appetite suppressant of all time. This cactus has an incredible virtue. The Hoodia cactus contains the highly active molecules P-57 that directly influences the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls satiation or the sense of being completely full. P-57 extract " misleads" the brain and body by allowing you to believe you have just eaten.

Furthermore, It works by imitating the effect that glucose has on nerve cells in the brain, which is to fool the body into thinking it is full, even when it is not, thus curbing the appetite.

We have been involved in the health and wellness industry for a number of years. We are charter members of Goldshield Elite and supply cutting edge, scientifically backed nutritional products.

Original source:http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb262594.htm

Online Program Targets Eating Disorders in College Women

By Yahoo

TUESDAY, Aug. 8 (HealthDay News) -- An online intervention program may prevent some high-risk, college-age women from developing eating disorders for weight loss, says a California study funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

The study of 480 college-age women who were identified as being at risk for developing an eating disorder included an eight-week, online cognitive behavioral intervention program called Student Bodies, which previous small-scale, short-term studies had found to be effective.

The intervention program is designed to decrease concerns about body weight and shape, enhance body image, promote healthy eating and weight maintenance, and increase users' knowledge about the risks of eating disorders.

The women were required to do reading and other assignments, such as keeping an online body-image journal, and they also took part in an online discussion group that was moderated by clinical psychologists.

The participants were interviewed immediately after they completed the online program and annually for up to three years after that in order to determine their attitudes about their weight and shape and to check for the onset of any eating disorders.

The program seemed to be most successful among women who had body mass indexes (BMIs) of 25 or higher at the start of the study. Among these women, none had developed an eating disorder after two years, compared to 11.9 percent of women with comparable BMIs in a control group that did not use the intervention program for weight loss.

The program also seemed effective among women who had some eating disorder symptoms at the start of the study, such as self-induced vomiting, laxative, diet pill or diuretic use, or excessive exercising for weight loss.

Among these women in the intervention group, 14 percent developed an eating disorders within two years, compared to 30 percent of women with the same characteristics in the control group.

The findings were published in the August issue of the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.
"This study shows that innovative intervention can work and offers hope to those trying to overcome these illnesses," Dr. Thomas Insel, NIHM director, said in a prepared statement.
More information

The U.S. Center for Mental Health Services has more about eating disorders.