Successful tips for weight loss

Every one dreams to look better, feel better, and live a healthier life. These tips are short and sweet and are intended as a starting point or quick reference for individuals seeking to lose weight by using the resources offered on Calories per Hour.

Dieting but not starving: Diets charm us with promises of quick weight loss. But focusing on quick weight loss can lead to unhealthy eating and only short term success. Because as we all know the right comes back on when you eat "normally" again. While most diets produce quick weight loss at the outset, they often cause your metabolism to slow. The result is that you have to eat less and less to keep losing weight. You quickly become discouraged, give up, and start eating like you used to. But now, with a slower metabolism, you regain all the weight you lost, and more.

Focus instead on improving your health and you will become slim and healthy in due time and with hard work. (sorry to say that, but it is true)

Control Your food: There are few things that we have complete control over, but what we put in our mouths is one of them. We don't have to lose control in a restaurant or a friend's home, and we don't have to eat everything that's put in front of us. Like one serving of pasta means 1/2 cup of cooked pasta. However, most restaurants serve a pasta dish with 4 servings of pasta!!! You do not need to finish and clean off the plate every time. You can simply ask to take home the leftover.

Eat Frequently, and Eat Slowly: It is important to understand what happens when you skip a meal or go on a crash diet. When you skip a meal your metabolism slows to conserve your energy. And when you lose weight too quickly for a few days, your body thinks it is threatened with starvation and goes into survival mode. It fights to conserve your fat stores, and any weight loss comes mostly from water and muscle.

Eating slowly gives our bodies time to tell us they are full before we've eaten more than we need.

Eat More Fruits, Vegetables and Whole Grains: People who eat healthy, mostly unprocessed foods, including fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and limited amounts of lean animal protein, often find that they can eat as much as they want without gaining weight. If they are switching from a diet containing lots of processed foods, they find that they can eat more yet consume fewer calories and they lose weight. Historically, the Chinese ate mostly rice and vegetables with a little lean meat for protein and flavor, nothing like the American Chinese restaurant dishes of deep fried sweet and sour pork.

A step back to more natural foods would improve our health and waistlines. Fruits and vegetables are packed with beneficial fibers, vitamins and antioxidants. They fill up your stomach fast so you feel full earlier. They are also low in calories and helps to keep your calorie count low.

Eat More Fiber: Fiber makes us feel full sooner and stays in our stomach longer than other substances we eat, slowing down our rate of digestion and keeping us feeling full longer. Due to its greater fiber content, a single serving of whole grain bread can be more filling than two servings of white bread. Fiber also moves fat through our digestive system faster so that less of it is absorbed.

Refined grains like white rice and those used to make white bread and sugary breakfast cereals have had most of their fiber and nutrients stripped away. They turn into blood sugar (glucose) so fast that, like sugar itself, they can cause a spike in our insulin level. This tells our body that plenty of energy is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it.

Eating foods with plenty of fiber will help keep our blood sugar at a more consistent level.

Less Sugar: Be careful about sugar in coffee and soda drink. It can add up quickly, and these drinks aren't filling. Watch for "hidden" sugar in processed foods like bread, ketchup, salad dressing, canned fruit, applesauce, peanut butter, and soups. And be careful with "fat-free" products. Sugar is often used to replace the flavor that is lost when the fat is removed. Fat-free does not mean calorie-free.

Don't cut out all the food you enjoy. Everyone likes the occasional takeaway, but ignore to diet. If you restrict yourself to just fruit and veg you'd give up very quickly. Everyone has his or her favorite treats. Simply allow yourself a little indulgence, but watch out for the frequency and the quantity. Having a small treat once in a while can be rewarding to your weight loss experience. Cutting too much of your favorite treats usually lead to an early relapse.

Exercise Regularly: People who exercise regularly not only lose weight faster, they are more successful at keeping it off. Yes, yes l know you have heard it before, but it's true.  Exercise makes it possible to create a calorie deficit and lose weight without starving your body and slowing your metabolism. Most authorities recommend 30 - 60 minutes of physical activity a day to stay healthy. Also try adding weight-bearing exercises at least 2 times a week. This will help burn some of the unwanted calories.

At home, at the gym, or playing sports, participate in both aerobic and strength building activities on a regular basis. Not only does the exercise itself burn calories, but your body will continue to burn calories at a higher rate even after you're done exercising.   If walking is all you can do, then walk because it's great for you. But muscle burns more calories than fat, so put on a little muscle if you can and you will burn more calories just sitting there... looking good. But don't sit too long. The human body is good at adapting. If you dig ditches without gloves, you will develop calluses to protect your hands. If you sit too long, you will develop extra padding to keep you comfortable!

Do not skip meals: Eating small frequent meals help to balance your calorie intake throughout the day also keeps your blood sugar level balanced. Instead of eating 3 big meals, try to eat 5 - 6 smaller meals throughout the day. Never skip a meal, especially breakfast, and eat healthy snacks between meals. Eating frequently prevents hunger pangs and the binges that follow, provides consistent energy, and may be the single most effective way to maintain metabolism efficiency.

Keep a balanced diet: Don't try to eliminate fat altogether, as dietary fat is necessary to maintain a healthy body. It is a vital component for building body tissue and cells, and it aids in the absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients. Many people eat too much of the bad fats, but also eat too little of the good fats required for optimal health.

You can achieve your goals, but it won't likely happen as a result of the next fad diet. Or the one after that. Learning to eat well and exercise is the only solution to long term weight loss. And the most important never give up.

(Sources: healthcastle.com, weightlossresources.co.uk)