Advanced Diets Advice & News

Archive for the ‘Diets’ Category

 There is a lot of information these days about dieting and losing weight, and a lot of gurus with great advice, but sometimes it gets hard to decide what advice is real and what is not, so we have put together  a few of the more popular myths and the facts behind them.

Myth # 1 You don’t have to count calories.

Fact, Counting calories is very important.

You need to keep track of your calories  in order to lose weight, most people overestimate their physical activity level and drastically undervalue their caloric intake,don’t rely on guessing at your calories, write down what you eat every day and your amount of activity for the day, sure this isn’t easy, but if you stay consistent you will lose weight.

Myth # 2  Always eat breakfast

Fact  Eat sometime during the morning.

 If you wake up at 7 or 8 in the morning, you don’t have to immediately eat a big breakfast , it is not necessary to jump start your metabolic process, and your probably not even hungry as soon as you wake up. It is normally best to eat something inside 3 hours of waking up and the  planning   your meals throughout the day so you don’t get too hungry and end up overeating.

Myth # 3 Eat 3 times a day, don’t snack

Fact  eat when you want to conserve caloric intake

Once again  it is all about calories , you can eat six times a day or three times a day as long as you eat the same amout of calories each day. If you decide  to eat six times a day, obviously you are not going to be eating full meals. Writing down  your caloric intake is the best way to lose weight.

Myth # 4 Carbohydrates make you fat

Fact Carbs are necessary for a balanced diet

Carbohydrates do not make you  overweight , calories make you fat  calories are what makes you fat  , also a lot of carbs are refined and you don’t get the advantage of feeling full from fiber found in unrefined carbohydrates. For example, whole food grain pasta is more filling than white pasta  so you feel fuller longer and eat less, less food means less calories and  you lose weight.

Myth # 5 Avoid fats

Fact  fats increase your sense of fullness

Fat is doubly as calorie intense as carbohydrates or protien, but you don’t want to entirely avoid them. Studies show that fat gives you a sense of fullness and ads flavor to many foods. Cutting out fats causes  you to be hungry more and you will end up eating more. Fats keep your stomach from emptying out as fast and keeps you  satisfied   longer.

So many people look at dieting as a necessary evil for not having the perfect body. They believe that enjoying food is in some way bad for them. Nothing could be further from the truth . If you’re brave enough to admit it when it comes to avoiding foods the sacrifice shouldn’t be about giving up your favorite foods .  It should be about discovering new foods and flavors . At least that should be the goal for dieters who actually love eating well as well as adventure .

There are many flavorings that can make even bland foods more tasty . Fish and chicken are popular diet foods because they are so low in fat . However, adding a small amount of blackening seasoning. That’s a delicious way to put a little punch in your meal. Food will taste better without packing on the extra calories of dressing marinades or butter when cooking . Another idea is to add Italian seasoning. This adds flavor without the extra calories.

There are all kinds of seasonings that will work well. Many great seasonings for chicken is a great flavor when added to chicken that will be included in salads for healthier lunches or salad wraps. Whole grains is another food good for you. They are quite frequently the primary source of fiber in a diet. You need fiber almost as much as you need water. At any rate, simple things that spice up the same old lunch can have a huge impact on your enjoyment of food.

Once in a while you can enjoy an occasional treat when dieting as long as you do so sparingly. Learn about controlled portions and moderate indulgence. You can find many types of low sugar or low carb desserts to enjoy on occasion . You can even find sugar free or low calorie candy. Keep in mind the number of calories you are consuming, particularly when it comes to candy. That is a food you can eat unconsciously and the calories can add up quickly. You must pay close attention to what you are eating .

The point is you don’t have to sacrifice flavor to diet. You can live without butter. There are many tasty substitutes available . Seasonings are a great way to add a lot of flavor for a tiny bit of effort on your part. You can find many dips and sauces that can be made with fat free or low fat mayonnaise or sour cream to cut a few more calories during your diet.

These dips and sauces can often make a great substitution , when paired with vegetables and for chips and dips we so often miss when dieting. Cucumbers, green, red, and yellow peppers, broccoli, and carrot sticks all have a nice little crunch to them that when combined with a good low fat dip.

If you watch your calories carefully during meals you should be happy to know that there are a lot of small snack treats that you can buy in prepackaged packs for your enjoyment . This means that you can take advantage of those small rewards without sacrificing all your dieting efforts .  Almost everybody trying to lose weight will readily admit that if it were a simple process we’d all be thin . However, having low calorie snack packs to help you past the worst of your cravings can be the difference between dieting success or failure . The small treats   are unquestionably a major change from the old way of dieting and the new way of dieting without giving up tasty food .

Goji berries (Lycium barbarum) are the most nutritionally packed fruit on earth. They are a part of the nightshade family (Solonaceae), which contains all kinds of other common vegetables including potato, sweet potato, tomato, eggplant, as well as pepper, in addition to some poisonous plants such as belladonna and deadly nightshade. Native to the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet and Mongolia, automobile also grown in many other countries as well.

Although they have only been released in Western countries lately, gojis were used for thousands of years in Tibet as well as China, both as a cooking ingredient as well as medicinally.

Unique among fruits simply because they have all essential amino acids, goji berries also have the highest concentration of protein of any fruit. Also, they are full of vitamin C, contain far more carotenoids than any other food, have 21 trace minerals, and also are high in dietary fiber. Offering 15 times the quantity of iron obtained in spinach, in addition to calcium, zinc, selenium and also many other important minerals, no doubt that the humble goji berry is a nutritionary powerhouse.  And just in case you haven’t already guessed they can be a little costly, but so is anything else that is actually worth consuming.  If you wish to try some goji berries for cheap though you could use these kroger grocery store coupons.

This amazing tiny superfruit also consists of natural anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial as well as anti-fungal compounds. Their potent antioxidant properties and also polysaccharides assist to increase the immune system. It is no wonder then, that in conventional Chinese medication they are famous for improving strength and longevity.

In conventional Chinese medicine, the goji has been said to act on the Kidney as well as Liver meridians to help with spine pain, dizziness and eyesight. They are frequently eaten raw, made into a tea or extract, or even as an ingredient in soups.

Gojis are commonly available in dried form, and make a great snack eaten as is, added to trail mix, muesli or oatmeal. They may also be soaked for a couple of hours in enough water to cover them. Then the soak water is drained off and creates a delicious drink, or both water and also berries included in smoothies.

Please note that there might be adverse interactions in case you consume goji berries while also taking medicine for diabetes, or blood pressure, or take the blood thinner warfarin. So make sure you seek advice from your medical provider if that is the case.

Gojis can often be found in Asian food stores, but many of these originate from the industrial growing regions of China and also Tibet, and comprise high amounts of pesticides as well as synthetic fertilizers. Even some brands that claim to be natural and organic might not be, so make sure you get your goji berries from a dependable source and make the most of kroger coupons to cost down on costs.

I am currently learning how sugar effecfts weight loss from the book Sugar Busters, Cut Sugar To Trim Fat. The Sugar Busters way of eating is helping me to understand why I feel so sluggish most of the time. I’m gaining a real understanding as to why I haven’t been able to get rid of my belly fat that is adding an extra 20 lbs I have been carrying around.

I can see more clearly why processed sugar isn’t very good for health and longevity.

Like most people I was at my ideal weight until I hit about 30, at that time I started to add weight until I was eighty pounds over weight.

My trim 145 lbs body ballooned to 212 pounds and my friends started teasing me and poking me like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Even guys have feelings when it comes to being over weight.

I’d had enough of the jokes and teasing plus my clothes didn’t fit so I started taking weight loss pills. They  gave me the shakes continually so I felt jittery all the timemade me shakey most of the time and I couldn’t seem to get a good nights sleep but I did manage to lose sixty lbs of extra weight.

Although I was able to lose weight I couldn’t get rid of that last 20 pounds of belly fat. Not even walking 40 minutes could get rid of my pot belly.

Finally Took The Sugar Busters Book Off The Shelf

One day my wife brought me a book we had on our bookshelf since that late 90s. It’s called Sugar Busters. I started reading it and immediately realized what I needed to do for long lasting weight loss.

The Sugar Busters, Cut Sugar To Trim Fat book, my new best friend, is teaching me things that I should have learned years ago.

I noticed changes right away but sadly I didn’t think to measure my belly and waist when I started reading the book. I just wanted to find a way to get rid of my spare tire strapped to my waist. But, after a couple of weeks, with just a couple of changes in my regular diet I noticed my clothes weren’t quite as tight. What an exciting feeling that was and still is of course.

I did know that I had stopped losing weight when I hit 180 pounds. Even walking 40 minutes a day didn’t seem to get rid of my pot belly and spare tire. But when I made a couple of changes in my daily routine I noticed my clothes fitting a little less snug. I then jumped on the scales and found that I had lost a couple of pounds.

Small Changes With The Sugar Busters Diet (Lifestyle), Huge Difference

I probably should be using the term lifestyle instead of diet here as it’s something I plan to do for the rest of my life, hopefully a longer life now.

Right now it’s about removing sugar from my diet so I started with getting rid of sugar on my breakfast. For the past 50 years I have enjoyed brown sugar on my oatmeal, so much so that it just didn’t taste right without it, so I gave up my oatmeal. Maybe after a time I will be able to eat and enjoy oatmeal again.

Now I am eating sugar free granola and skim milk. We have been drinking skim milk for a long time now so I am used to it although it took me a while.

For at least 40 years I have put sugar in my coffee and I drink a lot of coffee. I couldn’t just stop using sugar as the coffee, well just tasted gross. However, over time I decreased the amount of sugar and after a few months I decreased it to the point I was able to just stop adding any sugar.

Just those two steps has cut a huge amount of sugar from my diet. And I have only just begun and see the difference already, even my wife has noticed I have more energy now if you know what I mean.

I am taking things one day at a time, otherwise I would have most likely quit reading Sugar Busters by now and gone back to the same ole same ole. Life is getting better one day and one step at a time.

I definitely recommend Sugar Busters for everyone who reads this. So, here are a few things from the table of contents in Sugar Busters:

• A Brief History of Refined Sugar
• Digestion and Metabolism
• Women And Weight Loss
• The Diet Concept

Those are just a few points Sugar Busters focuses on but there is so much in this little book. If you are having problems losing weight like I had or you just want to be eating for health you need to read the Sugar Busters book.