Category Archives: General

Exercise and Weight Loss

  By admin | March 13, 2010 - 12:22 PM | About weight loss, General, Weight Loss Treatment
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Weight loss is a simple process of burning more calories than you consume. You must have heard it many times – to lose weight, you need to exercise regularly and monitor your diet so that you burn more calories than you eat. There are possibilities that despite of working out rigorously over last few months, you are still not able to lose extra pounds. Do not despair, there are some facts about exercise and weight loss which you may need to know.

Exercise is not all about weight loss but a part of the whole story. Exercise helps with weight loss only when done consistently but in specific volume. A lot of people fail to achieve any meaningful even after months of trying due to slow metabolism. In that case, you need to work out on improving metabolic rate to achieve weight loss. Few exercises simply don’t help with increasing metabolic rate because you just don’t get to burn enough calories with them and weight loss is all about burning more calories.

Apart from metabolism, genes and age can also be reasons if you are not able to lose weight with conventional exercise programs.

Exercise is as important for weight maintenance as it is for losing weight.

Before you start with any weight loss and exercise program, be sure to consult with your doctor. A doctor would be able to recommend exercise regimen that would be best for you.

Losing weight – Reduce intake of calories and adopt a smart nutrition plan

  By admin | March 3, 2010 - 10:04 AM | About weight loss, General, Weight Loss Treatment
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If you have excess weight or are obese, you need to get started on a weight loss plan right away. There is also a good chance that you might be suffering from associated health risks like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure or high levels of cholesterol. This is why you need to lose weight and that too without wasting any time.

Reduce calorie intake for weight loss
Start counting your calories to achieve effective weight loss. Consult a health expert to know just how many calories are suitable for your overweight body. Also, learn about ways and means to cut down on your caloric intake and how this reduction is going to impact your health. When it comes to cutting down on calories, you need to maintain a perfect balance between a high caloric count and low caloric count. Some people might consider cutting down as many calories as they can, but this can have a detrimental affect on their body.

Smart nutrition plan for successful weight loss
So what is smart nutrition all about? Well, even if you are overweight or suffer from obesity, you still need to eat. There are some enthusiastic dieticians who might ask you to eat minimally and control your hunger pangs. But a smart nutrition plan is all about cutting down on non-essentials and providing your body with essential nutrients that are going to improve its overall functioning. An example of this can be healthy snacking. Obese people can snack as much or as less as the next person. But while someone else is eating those greasy fries, a smart nutritional plan will mean that the obese person will snack on fruits rather than fatty fries.

Both, a reduced calorie diet and a smart nutritional plan are not all about cutting down on the amount of food that you eat. It’s more about eating right and making sure that you stay away from all kinds of unhealthy food.

It is easy to cut the calories without dieting or feeling deprived

  By admin | February 19, 2010 - 1:54 PM | About weight loss, General
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‘Dieting’ does not necessarily mean eating less to lose weight; although, this word is primarily associated with weight loss. But the word ‘diet’ also describes the food that you normally consume on a day to day basis. The aim is to improve your day to day diet by incorporating gradual but permanent changes so that you lose weight while still remaining healthy; restricting calorie intake may not always give you the desired results.

Low calorie and fad diets could have serious health implications — insufficient vitamin and nutritional intake, lethargy, reduced metabolism, hormonal effects and even dehydration. Dieters are commonly known to experience intense feelings of hunger and deprivation; this then leads to ‘binge’ eating over time.

Here are a few tips on how you can cut calories sensibly without ‘dieting’ or feeling deprived.

  • Research shows that recording exercise and food intake is one of the best predictors of successful weight loss
  • Understand your eating patterns as well as eating triggers
  • Learn how to make sensible nutritional changes
  • Read food labels as this is the key to healthy portion sizes
  • Measure portion sizes
  • Hold the fat; fats from olive oil and canola are healthy. Similarly, nuts are nutritious and healthy to eat but in moderation
  • Limit the amount of oil used by using non-stick pans
  • Skimp on butters, dressings and creams, using just enough for taste
  • Blot out the fat from greasy foods
  • Spice up foods, flavour with red peppers or chilli peppers; this helps boost metabolism

It is believed that making changes to your diet, that is, replacing high-fat and high-calorie foods with fruits and vegetables that are high in volume, fibre and nutrients, can in fact make you feel full faster. Similarly, whole foods are low in calories but loaded with good health

Alcohol is a favourite pastime for most people; but alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, as well as lowers self-control when a person eats after drinking in excess. So it makes good sense to limit your alcohol intake or drink in moderation after a meal.

Water is the elixir of life! Drinking water throughout the day helps curb your appetite, burns calories and gives body at least 10 minutes more energy for exercise. Lowered water levels in your body can slow down your metabolism.

For a healthy lifestyle, follow a diet that is easy to stick with, try incorporating some or all of these easy strategies to reduce calories without giving up the pleasures of eating.

Practical Weight Loss Tips for Fast and Lasting Results

  By admin | January 20, 2010 - 6:15 AM | About weight loss, General
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Finding a weight loss programme is easy but it is extremely tough to stay committed to it. This article offers you helpful tips to keep you motivated for weight loss so that you can achieve lasting results.

  • Drink lots of water – Drinking plenty of plain unflavoured water throughout the day helps to revitalize the body’s cells and help them to operate more efficiently. As a result, you get more energy for exercising to burn off fat. Besides, water acts as a solvent for many vitamins and minerals. It also enables transfer of nutrients into and wastes out of cells, which helps the body to function properly.
  • You need to exercise – Excessive dieting is not the right solution for healthy weight loss. Take up an activity that you enjoy or plan your exercise regime with a friend. This can keep you motivated and enjoy the weight loss process, instead of making it look like a chore.
  • Take a diet plan which is sustainable for long – Don’t commit yourself to a diet plan that restricts you from eating your favourite food or makes you eat food that you hate. It is likely that you won’t stick to it for long. Go for moderate dieting plans that you can continue successfully for long.
  • Find out why you overeat – Many people are inclined to go on binge eating when they are stressed, depressed, lonely, angry or bored. The idea is to identify your eating triggers and address them without food. This can help you maintain your weight loss for a long term.
  • Incorporate lot of fibre in your diet – A better way to lose weight is to curb your hunger pangs by increasing your intake of dietary fibre such as fruits, vegetables and wholegrain cereals. This is because dietary fibre is quite filling; it makes you feel full even if you eat less.
  • Consume low-fat food – Fat contains more than twice the amount of calories/gm than protein or carbohydrates. So when you cut down fat in your diet you automatically reduce energy intake without reducing food intake too much. Experts believe you should not consume more than 25% of your calories from fat – and that fat should be the “non-saturated” type.
  • Motivate yourself on being healthy, not on becoming thin – By changing the perception you can keep your spirits high. Experts believe that people should train their mind towards eating healthier food rather that worrying about foods that affect your body’s weight. This helps you stay committed towards weight loss.