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Snacking Smarter ArticlesSUNDAY 07 MARCH, 2010 |
 Healthy Weight Loss Weight loss should be a process, not a one-week fling thought up as a New Year’s Resolution. Healthy weight loss demands time, persistence, and preparation. Weight loss should not be a crash diet, based on a 1,200 calorie daily intake. It should involve both dieting and exercise. Some people who struggle with weight loss often misunderstand the correct approach. As a result they increase their stress level, become easily discouraged, and ultimately gain weight. The important thing is to remember that there is a widely accepted approach to healthy weight loss. It is based on Diet, Exercise, Mental Attitude, and Personal Support. DIET: If you want to lose weight the healthy way, you will need to decrease your calorie intake. This does not mean you should skip meals and starve yourself. You should gradually decrease your calorie intake to 300 – 500 calories per day, but not below 1,500 calories. Consume 4 – 6 small portion meals per day, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Your meals should consist of protein and complex carbohydrates. The protein builds lean muscle, while the complex carbs give sustainable energy throughout your day. These snacks should be - Egg whites, and oatmeal (Oatmeal) - Whole wheat turkey sandwich - Steak and sweet potatoes - Apple, and beef jerky (Beef Jerky) But remember do not eat if your not hungry, and again not less than 1,500 calories. You can cut your calorie intake by - Eating smaller portions - Cutting out sugars and sweets - Using fat free and low sodium condiments - Avoiding alcohol and sodas - Don’t nosh on food randomly (this often leads to hundreds of extra calories) EXERCISE: In addition to your diet, remember to exercise. The combination of diet and exercise creates the perfect dynamic effect on your body. Lowering your calorie intake and then burning the calories helps boost your metabolism, and allows you to shed the extra pounds. Just as in dieting, exercise should be gradual. Start with a cardiovascular workout, such as running or biking. However, don’t jump into a major workout without a simple warm up and a stretch. Also, maintain a gradual pace, so you don’t run out of breath or energy in the first ten minutes of your workout. In fact, the best way to burn body fat is with a steady paced exercise. Of course if you don’t have time for the gym or a full workout, try doing extra movements throughout your day like - Picking up the trash around your work and home - Using the stairs instead of an elevator - Parking your car further away for a longer walk - Using an exercise bike or treadmill while watching TV MINDSET & PERSONAL SUPPORT: Although diet and exercise are important, never forget the power of the mind. When you wake up in the morning remind yourself that you’re on the road to success, even if you haven’t seen the results. Write down your goals and the things you want to accomplish, such as wearing smaller size clothing, increasing your stamina, and improving your general health. This helps you establish a goal-oriented mindset and will keep your eyes on the prize. If possible, find a committed work out buddy or a trainer who will encourage you. There might be days when you’ll feel overwhelmed and ready to give up; a work out buddy can help keep you accountable and enable you to go the extra mile. If you can afford a trainer, I highly recommend one. Because your body is custom made, you need a custom plan, and a trainer will create just the plan for you. Keep in mind losing weight is a process, sometimes you might fall off the wagon, but remember to get back up and keep at it. Stay in the game, no excuses. And if you’re ever discouraged, come back and read this over. Remember that Snacking Smarter is not just a better way of eating, it is a smarter and healthier lifestyle. Negative Calories In addition to our previous weight loss article, we bring you another chapter to weight loss. It’s called negative calorie foods. The term negative calories stem from foods that contain fewer calories than the amount of calories the human body uses to breakdown these foods. This is one of the most fascinating fitness friendly diets a person can adopt. Let me break it down for you. Imagine eating a piece of cake containing 350 calories, but your body uses 100 calories to digest the cake, leaving you with 250 calories. Now picture eating an apple containing 60 calories and about a couple of hours later your body had just used 100 calories to digest the apple, leaving you with 40 negative calories at its finest. The majority of negative calorie foods are made up of fruits and vegetables. So aside from all the natural healthy benefits fruits and vegetables contain, we now have even more of a reason to eat our favorite fruits & vegetables on a regular basis. Now remember to not get this confused, negative calorie foods are not actually foods that contain less than 0 calories. They are foods that contain fewer calories than the amount of calories the body uses to digest these foods. Here are some negative calorie foods that can help you cut back on your calories, and help lose weight the snacking smarter way. FRUITS
News for Saturday 06 March, 2010
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