Saturday, 21 January 2012

Best Exercise for Weight Loss



Running

Running is touted the best exercise to lose weight. Whether you are running on a treadmill or outside, make sure that you do it regularly. Many people prefer running in the evening and some love to run early in the morning. Running targets the entire body and strengthens the calf and thigh muscles. When trying to lose weight with running, make sure that you introduce certain resistance stages such as running uphill. Also, do your knees a favour and get a pair of running shoes. A knee injury is the last thing that you want to happen. You stand to burn approximately 100 calories for every mile than you run and believe us when we tell you that running is addictive and you will get hooked!

Bicycling

Bicycling is one the best exercises to lose weight. However, it is not good for pear shaped women as it targets the lower body which is a minus for this particular shape. Bicycling strengthens the calf and thigh muscles and also offers a total body workout. However, beneficial results are noticed only when one increases the amount of time spent on the bicycle and the level of resistance.

Swimming

Enough cannot be said about the benefit of swimming when undertaken to lose weight. Swimming affects and exercises all the parts of the body and the water works as a natural resistance increasing the number of calories burnt.

Elliptical trainer

The elliptical trainer is for those who want to lose weight from their entire body. The resistance offered by the trainers impacts both the upper and lower body. The elliptical trainer also burns more calories than a treadmill within the same timeframe and it is easier on the joints and feet.

Step aerobics

Step aerobics primarily focuses on the lower body including the hips, gluteus muscles and calves. It is considered as one of the most intense exercises for weight loss. It works on the principle of the height of the step and on the speed of exercise.

Jumping rope

Jumping rope can be easily done within the confines of your home if you do not have the time to go to a gym in order to lose weight. Jumping rope is excellent for weight loss as it targets the entire body. It is estimated that 10 minutes of jumping rope burns more calories than running a mile within eight minutes.

The only way exercises will work for you in losing weight is if you do them religiously. There is no point in spending thousands of rupees for a gym membership and then gawking at the television while working out. Focus is of key. Remember that you will have to push yourself. Do not slacken the pace or else all the pervious effort put in, will go to waste.

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Diet Tips For WeightLoss





Diet Tips – 33 Different Ways For Successful Dieting

The fallowing are the 33 different diet tips that will help you in losing weight with successful dieting.

SECTION A

1. Check with your doctor before starting any diet.

2. Pick a reasonable ideal weight for yourself.

3. Examine your thinking about food.

4. Change your eating behavior.

5. Formulate a good exercise routine to be followed at the same time as you are dieting.

6. Record your weight once a week.

7. Keep a chart of your weight and measurements.

SECTION B


8. Educate yourself about food.

9. Make a list of low calorie foods and carry this list when you are shopping.

10. Keep plenty of low calorie foods on hand.

SECTION C

11. Pinpoint the specific emotional state, which usually brings on an eating binge. Feelings of discouragement, anxiety and boredom are some of many causes of compulsive eating patterns. Break your habit pattern by finding something else to do instead of eating whenever you feel that familiar emotion overcoming you. Any activity, whether writing a letter or calling friend, will do the trick.

12. Practice over coming your urge to eat: open the refrigerator saying out loud,” I just can’t stop myself from eating this food”, and then close the door and walk away. Thus you will prove to yourself that you can break your snacking habit, and the more you practice this little exercise, the more automatic will become the action of losing the fridge door.

13. Be more sensitive to your stomach. If your stomach tells you that your appetite has been satisfied, then stop eating at once.

14. When confronted with your favorite food, compare it with a mental image of yourself as slim as you want to be. You will have no trouble deciding which is most important to you.

15. Change the emphasis of meal from the food to social occasion. Make a point of eating with another person, eating slowly and stopping when you feel comfortably satisfied. Then start practicing this alone until you are completely in control of yourself.

16. Rate your food on a 5 point scale, according to how important it is to you, making 5 the most important. Then allow yourself only the food highest up on your scale. This will save you many calories.

17. Break your habit of eating as soon as you get home by changing your usual routine. Park differently, use a different door, and immediately involve yourself in another activity rather than entering the kitchen.

SECTION D


18. Don’t eat more than four meals per day.

19. Don’t eat snacks in between meals.

20. Don’t eat after 7 p.m.

21. Don’t eat while watching T.V

22. Don’t eat when you are upset.

23. Don’t keep “wrong” foods in the house.

24. Don’t eat large amounts.

25. Don’t be inactive; keep busy all the time.

26. Don’t eat fast.

27. Don’t stay up late at night when dieting.

SECTION E

28. Decrease consumption of fat, sugar and starches.

29. Increase consumption of vegetables, fish and cheese.

30. Drink plenty of water.

31. Eat plenty of grapefruit.

32. Avoid salt and season your food the low- calorie way by using herbs, spices, garlic, onions, chives, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, vinegar and lemon juice.

33. Drink a cup of skim milk before bedtime.

Monday, 16 January 2012

A Food Scale: Your Best Diet Tool

Starting a diet often has a learning curve, especially when it comes to counting calories and measuring portion size. Learn how a food scale can help you figure it all out.


If you’re on a diet, you’re watching serving sizes and calories. A great way to keep yourself honest is to use a food scale. Why? Because many people normally eat servings that are much larger than recommended amounts. A food scale teaches you portion control and keeps you from eating more than you planned.

“I definitely promote food scales,” says Liz Weinandy, RD, MPH, a dietitian in the non-surgical weight-loss program at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus.

A food scale can be used for any meal plan or diet that specifies a serving size in ounces. A national survey of more than 6,000 adults showed that people who measured their food were more successful at losing weight and keeping it off than those who did not.

Food Scale: How it Works


When starting a diet, measuring food is an important part of learning about correct serving sizes. A food scale will show you that the portion you thought was four ounces may actually weigh eight ounces. That’s the kind of mistake that could derail your diet.

Weinandy stresses that a food scale is only one of the measuring tools you will need; measuring cups and spoons are also essential diet implements. Food scales are best for meat, which should weigh in at 3 ounces per serving, and cheese, 1.5 ounces per serving. Cups are best for cooked pasta or rice — a serving is 1/2 cup — and fruits and vegetables.

Generally you’ll measure your food after it is cooked. However, a food scale may also be handy if you are preparing meals using meal plans or recipes that specify certain weights of ingredients.

Food Scale: Calculating Portion Sizes While Eating Out

You could take along your measuring cups and scales when eating out, but that is a bulky way to travel. Weinandy prefers teaching dieters about visual comparisons that can help guide their recognition of serving sizes on their plate.

For example, a serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards, and a serving of pasta should fit in the palm of your hand.

“I really focus on those [images] because people can visualize them when they are out and about,” Weinandy says.

If you frequently use a food scale at home, you will gradually become accustomed to the look and feel of correct serving sizes. Data show that exposure to correct serving sizes does help people make better choices in restaurant settings, too.

Food Scale: Choosing the Best One


Food scales range from a small plastic cup on a small plastic base to old-fashioned metal scales with weights and measures to expensive, programmable digital scales that can give you the full nutritional information for each serving size. The best food scale for you:

Is within your budget
Has numbers you can read easily
Has a cup or bowl large enough to hold the food you need to weigh
Is easy to clean and store
“What I find is that people will go out and buy one and then it ends up in the cupboard,” says Weinandy. “I usually just recommend one of the cheaper kinds. It’s not like you’re measuring your food for some kind of experiment.”

If you find that measuring your food suits you, you may want to upgrade to a more expensive model. “Some people really like to get very precise with a food scale,” she says.

Using a food scale, even if you eventually stop using it, can help you learn more about correct serving sizes, which is a good investment in your long-term weight loss and weight management plan.