2010 New Years dietary resolutions

Okay, okay so I've been lazy in updating this blog. One of my New Year resolutions for 2010 is to ensure that I spend more time working on this blog and imparting my knowledge in terms of dietary health and nutrition. I have been a nutritionist for over 20 years and my experience has taught me that traditional dieting mechanisms and fads such as the Atkins work for a short time unless the person is consistent with their eating habits real result in weight loss cannot be achieved.

This year I undertake to do the following for myself:

1. For one month in a year I will go on a strict no sugar diet. I have it on good authority that such diets restrict sugar intake dramatically improves pancreas performance and health.

2. For one month in the year I will give up eating all red meat.

3. And finally to be consistent throughout the year, I intend to eat -- and here is the big one -- no junk food at all. That means no KFC, No Macdonald's, no Burger King, no Pizza Hut, etc I think you get the drift.

4. Last but not least I intend to make sure I laugh a lot more this year. That means at least one comedy show that is live every month and signing up to cartoon websitea and joke websites such as Wonkie Cartoons! Laughter is truly the best medicine -- for your health and for weight loss too!

So have you made your resolutions with respect to controlling your diet over the next year? If not 2010 is a good year to start to be more conscious about your health.

Over the course of this year I will continue to publish more of my opinions on the latest dietary trends that are wrong in the world. I will also endeavour to explain the meanings of terms like a low GI diet etc. I wish you all the best over 2010 and made a New Year be a blessed one for you!

Laura

Choosing your weight loss programme

Choosing an Effective Weight Loss Program

Author: effectiveweightlossprogram

There are thousands of weight loss programs out there, and each one that claims to be fast, easy, and effective. However, not one of these is ultimately the “best” option. Rather, the benefits of any weight loss program vary from one person to another. So, if you are trying to drop pounds, it is important to choose the option that works best for you. How can you figure this out? Start by considering a few key factors about your lifestyle and goals. This means setting a time frame for your weight loss, deciding what lifestyle habits you are willing to change, and determining how much time and money you can contribute to your goal. Then, review some basic weight loss principles and create a program that will be fast and easy for you to follow.

The basic principle behind losing weight is that you burn more calories than you take in. The effective weight loss program use this fact in one of two ways . First, some programs focus on diet and finding ways to cut the amount of food you eat each day. By decreasing total caloric intake, you are able to drop pounds. Meanwhile, other programs emphasize exercise. Exercise requires energy in the form of calories. Consequently, you burn more off when you work out. Either of these options, or a combination of the two, can work within an effective program. The major variable is whether will you stick with one choice more than the other.

Many diet programs require you to give up foods you love and spend money on specific products. Consequently, they are not ideal for someone who can’t kick their fast food habit or conquer chocolate cravings. In contrast, exercise programs are only effective for people who have the time, energy, and will power to commit to a regular activity schedule. Which method is best for you? Only one person can answer that question. However, keep in mind that for rapid weight loss, you will probably want to combine both diet and exercise into your program. So, assess your personality and lifestyle, take stock of your resources, and start planning your own, effective weight loss program.

About the Author:

The basic principle behind losing weight is that you burn more calories than you take in. The effective weight loss programme uses this fact in one of two ways.

Article Source: ArticlesBase

Where Diets Go Wrong and How to Lose Weight

Author: Jo Mark

The first reaction of most people who discover that they’ve put on some weight is to eat less food. It sounds simple enough and reasonable. Since food is what got us into trouble, it follows that eating less of it will make everything right again. Nearly every diet or eating plan you find in magazines or on the Internet say the same thing: eat less food.

Therefore, the answer to this problem seems very simple. If eating too much food got you into this situation, eating less food will solve it. But unfortunately, just reducing your food intake doesn’t work.

Over thousands of years, humans have been subjected to many periods of starvation. As a result, the human body has evolved to cope with these hard times. Therefore, a simple decrease in the volume of food is not going to make a big difference because your body will simply compensate for it by lowering the amount of energy produced and limiting the capacity for effort.

The best way to reach your weight loss goal is to work around this defense system by eating smart instead of eating less. In most cases, overweight people and thin people eat roughly the same number of calories per day because they share the same required amount of food.

However, overweight people eat far more fat than thin people, who seem to prefer complex carbohydrates that are easily broken down and metabolized by the body. This is the biggest difference between the two groups and the best starting point when considering what and how to change your eating patterns.

Good dieting always takes time. The excess weight was not accumulated over night and will not go away in a single day. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are searching the Internet and reading magazines in order to get dieting tips and to find the modern Holy Grail: a pill that can make fat disappear in an instant.

The only way to lose weight for good is to avoid eating foods that are rich in fat and to exercise on a regular basis. Dieting without exercising is pointless because all the weight lost by eating less food will come right back in the following months. The sedentary lifestyle most of us lead is one of the leading causes in the number of overweight people around the world. Cars, office jobs and foods rich in fat have brought us an unforeseen problem because the easy modern life has a price tag, just like everything else.

If you are looking for a sensible and healthy diet plan, we recommend the South Beach diet. It is endorsed by the American Heart Association as a sensible, healthy diet plan.

For a great exercise program, we recommend The Get Fit While You Sit Program.

As with anything involving your health, you should consult with a physician before beginning any type of weight loss regimen.

About the Author:

Looking for a good weight loss resource? Get tons of free weight loss info and Improve Your Health!

Embracing your big fat ass - a book review!

Book Review: Embracing Your Big Fat Ass - An Owners Manual by Laura Banks and Janette Barber

Author: Simon Barrett

When I glanced at the cover, I mistakenly assumed this was going to be some kind of self help and diet book. A writing genre that induces a comatose state in me after page 2!

I was completely off base, Embracing Your Big Fat Ass is a wonderfully funny look at the how we perceive that others might view our 'sitting muscle'. Both authors are to be congratulated in producing such a witty dialog. Both are accomplished stand up comics, and I am sure that some of the material used in the book originated in their on stage performances.

B-Fabs (Big Fat Ass Babes), the authors assure us are all the rage, being a B-Fab should be worn as a badge of honor, not hidden behind tent like structures!

There are so many hilarious parts to this book it is hard to pick my favorites, one story that does stick out comes from Dana of Oklahoma. Very pregnant and shopping for maternity wear in her local JC Penny store, her darling five year old daughter wants to know why she is so fat. I am having a baby she patiently explains, its a miracle growing in my tummy. The five year old contemplates this concept for a few moments and then comments "I know that mama, but whats growin' in your butt?" Oh the joys of small children!

Laura Banks and Janette Barber tackle all sorts of everyday situations and offer sage advice for the B-Fab. For example, how to deal with competitive family eating. How can you ensure that you get your fair share in a 'serve yourself' at the table environment? Simple, sit down 10 minutes before everyone else and sneak nibbles under the guise of helping out.

The ideal boyfriend or husband we are told, is one that does grocery shopping unasked and likes to cook.

They even offer advice on underwear for the well proportioned, thongs are OK, but bright colors are recommended. That way, in the case of a trip to the Emergency Room, they are easier for the doctor to locate.

Although this is a richly humorous book, there are threads of a deeper concept running through it. Far too many people, women in particular worry way too much about their self worth and how others perceive them. This results in low self esteem, and even depression. The message in Embracing Your Big Fat Ass is loud and clear. Live for you, not for someone else's image of you.

A very funny read, and one that I can recommend, but I will give a word of caution to anyone thinking of buying this book as a present for their wife or girlfriend. You likely will be sleeping on the couch for a while. And I would definitely think twice about giving as a valentines gift.

With 'true confessions' sprinkled liberally throughout the book, you will be giggling from page 1. Although this is not a recognized genre of literature, in my mind Embracing Your Big Fat Ass falls into the 'Bathroom Reading' section. A book that you can pretty much open at a random spot, read a couple of pages and get a chuckle out of.

There is also a supporting web site http://www.embracingyourbigfatass.com/.

You can pick up your copy from Amazon.

About the Author:
Simon Barrett is the senior editor for Blogger News Net and maintains a personal blog at Simon B. Now semi-retired in the depths of Mississippi he has plenty of time to read books by up and coming authors.

If you enjoyed this review you may also want to check out another funny blog you may enjoy - particularly if you're in South Africa. Be sure to check out Wonkie cartoon blog for the latest Obama cartoons and my personal favourite, the Viva South Africa cartoon strip.

Fat Loss Tricks

Fat Loss Tricks - Finding Your Perfect Diet

Author: Tim Scott

Have you been disappointed by diets that promise the world, but fail to deliver? I am sick and tired of outrageous claims that never actually work!

Bad diets can really shatter your weight loss efforts (and hopes) and even damage your health. If you are like most people, you are probably completely overwhelmed by the endless diet choices out there.

Couldn't nutritionists agree once and for all on just few diets that work and let us be...?

Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen and we all are too different individuals with specific habits to have only a limited choice. That said... diets do work... and most of them if followed to the "T" will induce weight loss.

However... question is: Which diet will actually produce long-term weight loss results for you, will keep you healthy and will not make you suffer and crave to the point of despair?

Extreme diets aren't the solution, especially health-wise and long-term wise, so they are not recommended. For example, restricting yourself and not eating carbohydrates completely will never be a good solution if you've been raised to eat a banana and an apple a day and if you are to sustain a healthy weight forever...

A healthy and effective weight loss diet should include almost any type of food in good variety (as long as natural and not processed).

Most weight issues are the result of bad nutrition and processed foods, paired with lack of exercise.

It depends on your specific condition, but usually it's possible to start losing weight noticeably by only changing few habits and excluding few ingredients from your daily diet. Below are some quick steps that you can start employing today, that will make you lose weight (the healthy way).

(If you prefer a more regulated diet, see the resources below at the end of this article for diets that have stood the test of time and that actually work.)

Tip #1: Drink plenty of water, but don't drink DURING your meals (for better food absorption). About 15 minutes on both sides of a meal is best. Water alone achieves wonders. It speeds up your metabolism and induces fat burning.

Tip #2: Never skip meals, especially breakfast. Eat in moderate portions 4 times a day (without going completely full) and include some healthy snacks in between.

If you go hungry and starve, you may experience initial weight loss, but you have just messed up your metabolism. The key to weight loss is to speed up your metabolism and not to slow it down.

When you go hungry, your body reacts in panic and begins storing all fat possible, because it "thinks" that there is fatal food shortage in sight (which it is). As a result, with your now slow metabolism, you are going to put on all lost weight the minute you stop dieting. You may even gain more weight. (Yo-yo anyone?)

Tip #3: Eliminate processed foods AND soda from your diet; instead, concentrate on vegetables, fruits, nuts, lean protein, etc. Especially fast food is one of the main reasons for weight gain. Get rid of it.

Tip #4: Once a week, treat yourself with a meal you enjoy, that might not be in your current diet arsenal, just don't go overboard. Don't make it an entire treat day of fast food, just a meal, okay?

Tip #5: Plan your meals ahead of time. On a given day of the week, go to the grocery's, get what you will need in a week, cook it and freeze it. Bad habits will then be easier to avoid.

Please keep in mind: You can't out-train a bad diet. Don't eat badly and then just hope to make up for it in the gym. Exercise is a key ingredient in all your weight loss (and health) matters, but it only works together with healthy nutrition.

If you are struggling to lose that stubborn fat and find the right diet for YOU, then... (see below)

About the Author:
Click http://health-product-reports.com to browse through various diet plan fact-sheets and compare popular diets first (including consumer feedback and free videos), before you sign up. To see the #1 recommended weight loss course online, go to the Nutrisystem Reviews section. For a good overview, visit these opinions on Nutrisystem.

Pilates - have fun, get fit!

Pilates: Have Fun and Get Fit

Author: Michael Tasker

If you're looking for a fitness program that is fun, challenging, develops balance and control, provides total body conditioning, improves posture and breathing, helps reduce stress, and has a strong focus on a combination of core strength and flexibility, then incorporate Pilates exercises and principles into your weekly workout routine.

Regardless of age or fitness level there is always an appropriate place to start when developing your Pilates workout programme. If you're healthy, Pilates matwork can be a great way to get your workout programme started. There are over 50 different Pilates matwork exercises. A basic workout usually includes about fifteen to twenty exercises and, once you know what you're doing, can be completed in as little as fifteen minutes. This can be a quick stand-alone workout, or can be a great complement to an aerobic training program. An experienced student can complete an advanced Pilates mat workout in thirty minutes to an hour.

There are plenty of references such as Pilates mat videos and dvds that are excellent resources that you can reuse at your convenience, though many are unaware that matwork consitutes only half of the Pilates system. For ideal results, your Pilates programme should incorporate both matwork and equipment exercises into your workout programme. You will of course receive the most benefit through the guidance and coaching from a personal qualified teacher.

We all have dominant and weaker muscles, and don't always notice when we're cheating. Regardless of your athletic background, when you are learning the Pilates exercises, the eagle-eye of a good instructor can assist you in really getting the most from your Pilates training program. Once you know what you're doing, you should be self-sufficient and able to workout on your own with occasional sessions with an instructor to tweak your technique and progress your workout program.

When in doubt, it's always a good idea to start with a few one-on-one Pilates training sessions and let your teacher help guide you into a workout plan that's best for you. In less than one hour a whole body Pilates workout can be completed which also includes the use of equipment to complement the matwork. At the end, rather than being in a state of exhaustion, you should actually feel much more invigorated. The goal is improved mind, body, and spirit, increased circulation and blood flow, reduced stress, improved energy and enhanced vitality to enjoy life.

A Pilates exercise program can be one of the best ways to keep your whole body healthy. If you haven't experienced the benefits of Pilates, find a qualified teacher, studio, or health club that offers training programmes for both the matwork exercises and Pilates equipment, and check it out or perhaps to get you started, an instructional dvd to show you exactly what this exercise technique can offer you.

About the Author:

Pilates is one of the most sought after exercise methods to not only keep in trim but to solve common ailments such as back pain, poor posture and muscular problems. It is not strenuous to undertake a Pilates workout and anyone of any age can benefit. You don't even have to attend a class.

Go and benefit from a Pilates dvd workout in the comfort of your own home at

www.pilatesdvd.info

Article Source: ArticlesBase

Lose Unwanted Fat Fast

Author: Jane J Doe

In my quest to lose unwanted fat fast, I have stumbled upon a few very important facts that helps me to loose unwanted fat fast. Some is more difficult than others, but believe me it works. I have been struggling for years, and I think I am finally starting to understand how it actually works the best. Let me share with you what I have learned over time.

I have to lose unwanted weight fast, I have been overweight for a few years, and every year it just seems to get worse, and with every new diet I try it also just gets worse than before. Just suddenly the past few months, everything started to make more sense. All the expensive diet programs that I have been buying into all the years have just been making my wallet flat and slim, not me. I somehow keep getting bigger and bigger with every magic diet. All these magic diets that promises unrealistic results in the shortest time possible is just money making schemes, they don't work. Don't listen to all the empty promises, make sure you get what you want at the end of the transaction. There are some diet plans out there that actually does work wonders, but they do not promise you the fairy tale, look out for those and you will have success.

Many diets out there promise you can loose unwanted fat fast, NATURALLY. Well, if you have all the facts, and grow all your vegetables yourself and if you have the perfect will power to do so you will reduce unwanted weight permanently. I have to say this now, if I had the will power to do that, like a lot of people all over the word, then I would not have the unwanted fat in the first place. So that's not a very good option, and not something you should believe at all. And do not let any diet tell you that you need to eat their products only. They only get you to spend more of your hard earned cash on them. I have found better ways to reduce unwanted weight.

Do not fall for the quick weight loss schemes, no one loose unwanted fat fast without health consequences. It is extremely unhealthy to reduce unwanted weight too quick. And in most cases, after a month or two, sometimes not ever that long you will likely gain double the weight as before. Slow and healthy is the best way to go, and then it all stays off, for ever. Also, the quick schemes are usually just talk, to get you to buy into it.

I have bought into, and believed a few of these ridiculous Hollywood diets. I found all of these to be quick, unhealthy, expensive and unsustainable weight loss programs. Sure, if you only drink juice for a while, only juice, you will loose unwanted fat fast, but at what cost. Your body cannot get all the vitamins and nutrients it needs every day this way. And what about when you go back to eating normal again, your body basically thinks it was starved half to death, now it's got to make up for the next time and stuff everything put into it into all the little hiding places and store it all as fat. At least that is how it makes sense to me. And it is what happens.

Expensive exercise equipment has been one of my weak spots for a long time. I believed that if I had the most expensive biggest, wonder working exercise equipment on the market, that will do the trick. Needless to say, it did not, and I am stuck with the equipment that I ended up not using after all. Exercise does not mean that you have to do all those exercises every day, you don't need to have an expensive gym membership to lose unwanted fat fast. You just need to move, by moving I mean to take a walk a day, play with the kids a little more. Just do a few things that creates more movement for your body, movement causes calories to burn naturally.

These are some of the valuable lessons I have learned over the years regarding weight loss programs and diet programs out there. If someone only told me this years ago, I would have been the one that is skinny and thin, and my wallet overweight and fat, instead of the other way round.

About the Author:
I am an expert research writer, that spends most of my time doing research on all the many things in the world that I find appealing and interesting. I am passionate about giving my views, opinions and advice to people who can use my findings to improve their lifestyle. STRIP THAT FAT !!! FAT LOSS 4 IDIOTS !!!

Article Source: Articlesbase