Five easy tips for losing those pounds

Does this sound familiar? You have lost a couple of pounds in the last few weeks, only to regain them in the next couple of weeks. Do you wonder if it is possible to achieve lasting weight loss? And how is it possible to lose weight at first only to gain it later on? If you follow the following diet tips you can keep your weight at a healthy level continuously.

Tip 1: Change your daily caloric intake

First you have to determine your daily calorie requirement.  This is calculated by multiplying the so-called basic metabolic rate with the activity factor. Here you can calculate your daily caloric requirements with our caloric needs calculator. If you want to lose a pound per week, then you should decrease your caloric intake by about 500 calories per day. That is, the calculated caloric requirement minus 500 calories is the daily target amount.

An example:

A 35-year-old woman who weighs 80 kg and doesn't do any exercise, has a daily calorie requirement of about 2000 calories. If she wants to lose about a pound per week, she must save 500 calories per day. That is, only use up 1500 calories a day or burn 500 calories more by doing   exercises.

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Tip 2: Eat at least 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day

Fruit and vegetables are high in fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. This will help you feel full faster and will also help with getting the amount of calories down.
How big is a serving?

• Two tablespoons of vegetables, either  raw or cooked.
• A medium apple, orange or banana
• A bowl of mixed green salad or
• Small bowl of raspberries, strawberries or grapes

Tip 3: Pay attention to the portion size

One serving is equivalent to half a cup of cooked pasta noodles. In most restaurants, a pasta dish contains 4 portions of pasta! While most of us leared in our childhood that we should finish our plate. With the current portion size has lead this behaviour to obesity. If you are in a restaurant ask if you can take the leftovers home with you. At home change you switch to smaller plates to make sure you are eating less.

Tip 4: Eat healthy and fresh foods

Buy fresh food and avoid ready meals and fast food. Ready meals and fast foods are convenient but contain often a higher fat content or preservatives. You will be surprised how easily you can lose weight by taking a home prepared lunch from home instead of going out to lunch at a diner or a fast food restaurant. You can also stock your fridge with home made snacks and lunches you made.

Tip 5: Avoid sugary drinks

Cola, lemonade and iced tea are known to be fattening. However, the so called, healthy juices can make you fat because of their high fructose level. For easy weight loss, it is better to drink plenty of water or even tea without sugar. Also the amount of low-calorie liquid in your stomach will help you feel full much longer.

The psychology behind lasting weight loss

The biggest problem with lasting weight loss is not the decision to get started, but the motivation  to keep going. Most people lose their motivation even before they are getting some results. How can you keep motivated and stick with your diet plan and/or exercise program? Use these easy tips to keep you going when things get tough.


1. Imagination

One of the most easiest ways to keep you motivated. When you exercise or just prefer your salad instead of the lasagna, you should always keep your “want to lose weight” thought in mind. This could be your ex-boy/grilfriend who has left you because of your weight, or the slim sexy brunette makes you always so jealous, or maybe that great dress that you would finally want to wear again. No matter what your motivation is, keep this in mind, imagine that you already have this, and make it to your everyday companion.


2. Reminder

Another way to maintain your motivation for weight loss, is that you are constantly reminded of this. Grasp your motivation in words and write them on a large banner. Take pictures of your motivation, that have lead you on the road to losing weight, and make it a big poster, or write it on notepad. No matter what form its reminder, make sure you attach them to a place such as the refrigerator, next to the TV, or even in your office. It is crucial that these must be places that are visited regularly by yourself.

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3. Motivation partner

This is by far one of the best methods to maintain your motivation to “lose weight”. If you just follow the advice of the “motivation partner” or combine it with the other, you can be sure to always be on the right track and stay on it in order to reduce weight. If you opt for a motivation partner, make sure that he / she is symphatizes with you but at the same time is strict. Make sure that this person wants the best for you and always be there for you when you need them. These could be the parents, siblings or friends. Whoever it is, you have to make sure that this person is willing to help you in losing weight and can not impress them if you decide to abandon your efforts, but you are still motivated.

4. Dear Diary …

If you do not have a motivation partner you can instead write in a diary. Besides the idea that you write down every night, but you should still write down your weight and what they have done to reduce your weight. In this way you will not only be able to keep track of your progress, but also be determined enough to keep going until the end.
What do you think of these weight loss tips? Use the comment feature! Do you know any good weight loss tips? Please let me know!



Remember that besides doing exercises to get rid of your excess weight that a proper diet is a major component to weight loss. Try to limit sugar and refined food and instead eat fruits, vegetables and whole foods. This along with strengthening your core and losing the fat above it, you will see your abs pop through in no time.

Exercises To Get Rid Of Belly Fat

Do you have a large belly? Why not do some easy exercises to lose that belly fat. Exercises are still one of the best methods to get rid of belly fat. Doing exercises has more advantages than just doing a diet. Besides feeling more fit one will learn discipline and enhance one's stamina by doing these exercises.

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If you have developed this belly after having a child, or maybe you have always had it? Losing the last 10 pounds seems like an impossible task. Whatever the cause, belly fat seems like the final hurdle between final weight loss. I know what it feels like when it is a battle going on between you and the fat cells. Fortunately we know more and more these days about the causes and solutions and this will lead hopefully to tighter abs and flatter tummies.


There are specific exercises to get rid of belly fat.  You might have heard that specific training exercises do not have effect on losing weight at certain areas, but new research says this information is outdated. According to the Mayo Clinic website, there are new studies that show stomach exercises do have a great effect on visceral fat. Visceral fat is the fat deep below our skin and surrounding the organs. This fat is actually more dangerous and is associated with  a variety of diseases.

A good exercise is this one:
Lie on your back with your feet up in the air. Reach for your toes toward the spy while raising your bottom off the ground. Do 20 to 25 reps, rest for 30 seconds and then repeat the exercise. Do three "sets" to help with the lower portion of the bulge. If you have trouble going 20 or 25 reps start with a lower number and increase if you are able to do more.

Then get on all fours, holding your back nice and straight. Allow your tummy to hang down and slowly pull it up like there is a string inside your belly button and someone is pulling you up. Now hold for about 10 seconds while still breathing. Then release, rest for 10 seconds and repeat. This is an exercise you can also do while you are sitting or standing like waiting to pick up your child from school or in the grocery check out.

The other fat, subcutaneous fat, is the fat that people are more concerned with when they think about their appearance. No fat is great for you, but the fat right below your skin is definitely less dangerous than the visceral fat around your organs. Unfortunately, it’s what makes us look fat.

So, how do we get rid of that? Subcutaneous fat will most likely not respond to stomach crunches and crazy ab routines. Instead do a lot of cardio, aerobic exercise and combine that with stretching and strength training. Think pilates-type long stretches and time on the elliptical.

Some of the best stretching and lengthening can be done in a pool. You can really feel long, and lean and move some muscles more than you ever have before in a safe environment. Hold the side of the pool with your hands, put your head down so your neck is straight with your back and just reach all the way through your body. Imagine you are trying to touch the other side of the pool.

For an out of the pool exercise, hold your hands above your head and gently stretch backwards, feeling your entire core stretch out. You can also do this exercise with bands for some resistance.

Remember that besides doing exercises to get rid of your excess weight that a proper diet is a major component to weight loss. Try to limit sugar and refined food and instead eat fruits, vegetables and whole foods. This along with strengthening your core and losing the fat above it, you will see your abs pop through in no time.

Exercise For Belly Fat

Do you want to get rid of your belly fat?  There are several factors that are important when you want to lose those extra few inches around your waist.  Get a proper diet without compromising on nutritional value, enough rest and good exercise are a good way to lose those pounds for good.

The best exercises for belly fat weight loss - beat the bulge!


Many people assume that in order to get rid of belly fat and having a well toned flat stomach, they have to work hard and have to do crunches, sit-ups and other difficult fitness training. Or they believe the stories that it is possible to get a six pack abs with just 5 minutes of daily workout.

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The best way to get rid of your belly fat is simply by just changing your eating habits, and doing cardiovascular exercise.  The companies who are trying to sell the fitness equipment are not for losing fat but to tone muscle. Toning muscles is useless without losing the fat that is covering it. Simply because nobody is able to see your beautiful toned muscles.

So the easiest thing you can do to burn away the body fat is by changing your diet. You can increase your metabolism by eating more frequent and smaller meals, this will help you burn off excess fat. The reason why it works like this, is because our ancestors used to live in caves and hunted for foods. Our bodies are designed to store fat for future use, when the hunt for food was not successful.

When you just eat 2-3 times a day your body will store the fat and also slow down your metabolism to conserve energy, because it will not know when the next meal will come.
You can trick your body into burning more fat instead of storing it by eating small meals 5-6 times a day. Because it thinks it is getting regular meals it will start burning fat instead of storing it.

Also no exercise is going to work it you are eating the wrong foods. But you do not have to make immediate and complete overhaul of what you eat. Start by eating wholegrain bread instead of white and wholemeal pasta and brown rice. Try and cut down on saturated fats, sweets, cakes and pastries. For a snack try some fruit instead of potato chips.

To be successful with losing weight you will have to combine your new healthy eating habit with some fat burning workouts. By doing cardiovascular exercises combined with a lower calorie intake will help you  burn off the extra pounds and get rid of that belly fat. When your body is consistently burning off more calories than you are putting in, weight-loss in inevitable.

So now you know what the best exercise is for getting rid of belly fat. Start today by doing some cardio exercise in your spare time instead of sitting and watching TV. Also when you make your next grocery trip, remember that just a few changes will make a huge difference and will start to pay off!

Fat Belly Pictures

Do you also have a large belly like those depicted in some of these fat belly pictures? Would you like to lose stomach fat? Read the article below with tips how to lose weight.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How to lower stomach fat levels to create a more sexier slim version of you. 


Many people, especially women, struggle with the problem of unsightly stomach fat. A lot of women in otherwise perfect shape struggle with a huge bulge below the waist. They try stomach crunches and twists, with little or no effect. That lower belly bulge stubbornly refuses to budge or shrink.

The first thing to remember is that there is no such thing as spot reducing. You cannot lose weight in just one area of your body. To take off pounds in the stomach, you will have to lose weight over you whole body. If you’re happy with the way the rest of your body looks, then the best way to attack it is with exercise. Choose exercises that involve the whole body, or at least most of it. Trying to target just the abdominals is ineffective. Use weights that you can manage comfortably, but which are heavy enough for you to have to exert yourself.

The rest of the problem is in what you are eating. It is not necessarily how much, but often the types of foods you eat that are putting fat on in the stomach area. Try to eliminate all processed foods and fast foods from your diet. Opt for fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats or poultry. Avoid carbohydrates and fat.

Some excellent foods for reducing stomach fat are raw vegetables like broccoli, celery, lettuce, and cauliflower, plus lean beef, turkey, and skinless chicken. The vegetables are low in calories but also require a lot of work for your body to process them. They are also good sources of fiber, which can help keep your digestive system regular. Protein, like lean beef, also requires your body to work harder to digest them than it has to with carbohydrates. Don’t ruin its benefits by deep frying it; opt for baked, broiled, boiled, or fried without any additional fat.

Drink plenty of water, preferably ice water since it will have to be warmed in your stomach before it can be processed. This will raise your metabolism, as will warm water with a little lemon juice in it.

Don’t let yourself become constipated. Many people find that a lifetime of high sugar intake has led to a system that depends on the sugar for regularity. Once the sugar is removed from the diet, constipation results. Just three or four days of being constipated can mean that you are carrying around ten or twelve pounds of waste, and it is in just the spot you want to reduce–your stomach area. Making sure that your water and fiber intake is adequate can help keep you regular.

Finally, if you have stomach fat, don’t slouch. This only makes it look worse. Stand up straight and pull in your muscles. This will not only make you look slimmer, but it is a good habit to start and will help tone your muscles. Notice the posture in the before and after pictures for diet supplements or weight loss equipment. You will probably find that in the before pictures, the shoulders are sagging and so is the belly. In the after pictures, the shoulders are squared and the stomach muscles are pulled in. Correct posture can make you look thinner instantly, and the other tips can further the cause.

Bonus Tip: If you really want to Lose Weight fast, there is a proven step-by-step technique that can help. You can shed pounds every week with this method!

Foods that contain trans-fats

Trans-fats are present in a wide range of foods: according to one estimate, 40 percent of products in the typical US supermarket contain trans fat, and the UK is not far behind.

This is because the hydrogenated vegetable fats which provide most dietary trans-fat are a mainstay of the food industry - a cheap bulking agent perfect for padding out expensive processed products, with a long shelf life and a luxurious ‘mouth feel’.

They are to be found, for example, in margarine, vegetable shortening, ice-cream, puddings & pudding mixes, ready-made pies, cakes & cake mixes, biscuits, pizza, potato chips, fritters, doughnuts, gravy & sauce mixes, artificial creamers, confectionery and other processed foods, including many foods marketed at children, including some sugary breakfast cereals.

When shopping in the US, always inspect the list of ingredients before you buy any product, looking in particular for:

•     hydrogenated vegetable oil
•     partially hydrogenated vegetable oil
•     vegetable shortening
•     margarine

In other countries (such as the UK) there may not be a requirement to list whether an oil has been hydrogenated, but if the man ingredient says vegetable oil it is very likely canola or rape seed oil which is high in poly-unsaturates and therefore trans-fats could very likely have been created during the oil extraction process, so be aware of that.

For more information:

http://www.tfx.org.uk/page13.html

The fats you didn’t know could kill you

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For years, healthy eaters have been warned about the dangers of saturated fats. But now, there’s a new enemy on the horizon: trans fats.

Recent research has found that these new fats make you pile on weight around the abdomen, even if you’re on a diet. This abdominal fat is dangerous because it pumps out chemicals that are linked to the risk of diabetes and heart disease.



Trans fats have other negative effects, says scientist Dr Joanne Lunn of the British Nutrition Foundation: “They have been shown not only to raise LDL (bad cholesterol) in the blood but also to lower HDL (good cholesterol).”

They increase blood levels of two other compounds linked to clogged arteries: a fat-protein particle called lipoprotein, and triglycerides, another type of fat. Trans fats are also thought to inflame and stiffen arteries.

Some experts believe that trans fats are more damaging than saturated fats, and the Consumers’ Association has suggested cutting consumption of these fats could reduce UK heart disease deaths by 25 per cent a year.

Full Story

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