Friday, May 31, 2013

Truth About Low Carb Dieting

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Low carb dieting offers appeal to a vast number of weight loss seekers mainly because of its claim to quick results. However, before opting in to this type of plan, make sure that you understand everything involved.

A low carb diet focuses on eating lots of protein and limiting (or altogether avoiding) carbohydrates. The reason for limiting carbohydrates is that they are easily converted into fat. So, in theory, by eating few or no carbohydrates, you take out the possibility of something being turned into fat. This then is supposed to cause you to lose fat (weight). But the question is. . .does low carb dieting really work?


As with many "quick fix" weight loss plans, it does. But only for a short time. What it really comes down to is that your body needs carbohydrates. when it becomes starved for them, it starts taking its energy from glycogen stores. A little bit of science here. . .for every gram of glycogen, there are four grams of water attached. So, what you are actually losing when you lose weight is water. It might look good for a while but as soon as you start eating carbohydrates again (as you will eventually have to do), you will gain back the water weight.

what you need to keep in mind that any type of diet which claims that you need to only do it for a little while and then return back to "normal" eating habits will not work. Instead of focusing on a diet, you need to change your lifestyle and eating habits. This scares many people because they think it means never eating a piece of chocolate or french fry again. That's not the reality. In fact, the strict quick diets are what enforce this kind of "no exception" concept. Then, when the diet is over (as it eventually must be because you cannot continue to adhere to such strict restrictions), you gain back the weight.

A good weight loss and maintenance plan is doable for a long time. It involves putting healthy food into your body (whole grains, healthy proteins, fruits, vegetables, fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids) and cutting down on the bad stuff like sugar, processed and fried foods, etc. Can you eat the bad ones every once in a while too? Yes. Just try to be mindful of how often you are doing it. Of course, to get the best results with losing weight loss and maintaining your goal weight, you also want to be doing some sort of light, regular activity. Make it something that you enjoy or that already fits into your schedule. For example, some people who live in the city can actually walk to work (weather permitting). It might actually take the same amount of time than sitting in traffic or on public transportation.

Low carb dieting is one of the many diets that offer short-term results. Stick to something more realistic that you can follow for a lifetime.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013

The Secret to Help You Lose Pounds in a Week

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You know the drill: you've got some special event coming up, whether it be a wedding or an anniversary party or a work-related event, and you realize you need to lose just a little weight so you can get into your favorite dress or your best business suit. Or maybe a trip to the beach is on the agenda, and you want to be able to fit into that teeny new bikini or those cool new board shorts. Well, you might be surprised to know that you can actually lose pounds in a week, just in time to be ready for that big event or so that you can look your best on the beach.

First, remember that you shouldn't modify your diet or embark on a diet or exercise plan without consulting your doctor or medical professional. Changes in your daily diet or adding strenuous exercise can be problematic, therefore expert advice is necessary to ensure that you approach your plan to lose pounds in a week in a healthy and safe manner.

If you maintain a healthy diet but still find that you need to lose pounds in a week, you should look carefully at your daily food intake and the amount of exercise you get. You may be able to cut back on your daily calories by a reasonable amount, perhaps ten percent, and in that way you can force your body to burn some of your stored fat. Decreasing your daily intake of calories too drastically can put your body into starvation mode, and you'll find that you actually don't lose any additional weight because your body believes that food supplies are scarce. Therefore, you may discover that you begin to store up fat for future use -- and that means you won't be able to lose pounds in a week as you hoped.

Additionally, you may be able to burn more fat by increasing the amount of exercise you get. Again, a reasonable increase -- perhaps ten percent more activity -- is all that you should expect to take on. Dramatically increasing your exercise without proper preparation can be dangerous to your body and your overall well-being. If you intend to lose pounds in a week you should take great care to ensure that you don't stress your body's limits through unreasonably harsh or strenuous exercise. You may find that the added stress ends up doing more harm than good.

Despite what you might think, it is possible to lose pounds in a week. In order to get the best result, you should carefully examine your diet and exercise routine, and consult with a qualified medical professional. Together you can plan a short-term program of diet and exercise that will help you reach your goal in a healthy and safe fashion.
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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Secrets of Counting Calories Weight Loss and Your Health

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Achieving reasonable weight loss usually requires a number of lifestyle changes in order to have long term and lasting success. Many people mistakenly attempt to focus on only one aspect of their lifestyle when planning to drop unwanted pounds. Often they feel that simply reducing their daily food intake is all that should be required to slim down and eliminate that extra weight they've carried around for far too long.

But the plain truth of the matter is that this strategy is unlikely to produce the desired results, because when you only count calories weight loss is more difficult to achieve. In fact, simply reducing your caloric intake can actually slow your metabolism and restrict overall weight loss.

If we accept the premise that we must do more than count calories weight loss -- real long term and significant weight loss -- will be something that we can look forward to and, in fact, actually achieve. So what other aspects of our personal lifestyles must we address in order to drop unnecessary pounds? No doubt you've probably heard this many, many times before, but an appropriate amount of exercise is also critical to lasting weight reduction. Changes in diet alone typically won't be enough for most of us to get the weight loss results we're hoping for. Instead, we've got to safely increase our physical activity. We've got to get off our rear ends and get our bodies moving in order to reach our weight loss goals.

Activity is essential to our overall well being. When we rely solely on reducing calories weight loss is more than likely going to be much more difficult for us to achieve, because we need to raise our energy levels and boost our metabolism when we reduce the amount of food in our diets. While it may be appropriate to cut back on our daily food intake because we're exceeding the amount of calories our body needs to function properly, cutting back too harshly or too quickly will likely have very adverse affects on our ability to lose weight. The bottom line is that we've simply got ensure that we're getting the right amount of exercise, otherwise by simply cutting down on calories weight loss will not come as expected.

Remember, these are just general weight loss principles and each person is different. Before you embark on a weight loss regimen, you should first consult with your doctor or health care professional. This advice is essential to ensure that you approach your weight loss program in a safe and healthy manner. Changes in our diet and our exercise plans could have significant effect on our overall well being, both positive or negative. While we may want to jump right in and start exercising and counting calories weight loss will be much more risky without the guidance of a qualified health care professional. When it comes to losing weight, be smart and stay healthy.
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