Calories from Protein, Carbs and Fat

Foods that we eat contain calories from different nutrients. Pick up any packaged food item at the grocery and read the nutrition label. The nutrition facts will tell you not only how many calories the food contains but also how many calories of protein, carbohydrates and fat it has.

Do you want to know how many calories are in every gram of protein, carbohydrates and fat? Every gram of protein has 4 calories. Every gram of carbohydrates has 4, as well. And every gram of fat contains 9 calories. So if you were to eat something that has all three of them, you can look at the nutrition label and figure out how many calories each of the three is bringing in.

Let’s take for example 100 grams of bacon. It roughly contains 37 grams of protein, 2 grams of carbohydrates and 42 grams of fat. The remaining grams come from cholesterol, sodium, calcium and potassium. If we focus only on the grams from protein, carbohydrates and fat, we can calculate the calories as such:

(37 g protein x 4) + (2 g carbs x 4) + (42 g fat x 9) = 148 + 8 + 378 cals = 534 cals

Thus, 100 grams of bacon, which is just a little less than one serving, already contains 534 calories. And that number doesn’t even include the calories from grams outside of protein, carbohydrates and fat. For most people, 534 calories already make one-third or one-fourth of the daily amount of calories they need in order to maintain weight. A serving of bacon already makes one-third or one-fourth of the daily amount of calories for weight maintenance.

Calories also increase blood sugar which refers to the glucose in the bloodstream. This glucose produces the energy we need to perform our daily activities. The level of glucose should always be brought back to normal, a task that insulin from the pancreas is responsible for. People suffering from diabetes do not have enough insulin to control their glucose level. This is why it is even harder for them to manage their calorie intake.   Their diet should contain large amounts of dietary fiber. They should decrease their intake of fat and carbohydrates, too.

But diabetic or not, we all have to be mindful of what we eat. We should be aware of the amount of calories we consume per meal. Exercise should be a regular part of our schedule. Through exercise, we burn calories to maintain or lose weight.

Calories truly cannot be ignored. They are in everything we eat and they have an impact on our health and well-being. If you want to be fit and healthy, start minding your calories today. Be aware of how many calories your meals are giving you and set a goal for yourself. Start eating healthy today.

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The Link Between Comfort Food, Eating Disorder, And Emotional Eating
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How to Use Nutritional Labels

Fact – you have full control of your own health.  It’s a good thing that almost all foods we buy come with nutrition labels. Of course, it’s also the age where there are more foods that are unhealthy for us, which makes the nutrition facts label on foods all the more important. Nutrition labels tell you what exactly your favorite can of soup contains, and I don’t mean the ingedients. The nutrition label is also sometimes called Nutrition Facts.

The first thing you should look for in the nutrition label is serving size, which usually uses a common measurement unit such as ‘cup’. It also indicates how many grams that one serving makes. Right below it can be found exactly how many servings there are in one pack (or can). Pay attention to this part of the nutrition label because if you don’t you may actually consume two servings instead of one, essentially doubling your calorie intake.

The next part to look at on a nutrition label is the amount of calories per serving. This is useful when you already know how many calories you need in a day in order to maintain, lose, or gain weight. If the nutrition label on the canned soup tells you that one serving already contains 120 calories, you can deduct that amount from your recommended daily amount of calories and see how much more calorie allowance you have for that day.

The nutrition label also tells you how much of the different types of nutrients you’re getting. This is expressed in grams or milligrams. The three main sources of these are fat, carbohydrates and protein. The nutrition facts label tells you directly how many calories come from fat. It’s important to take a look at the fat content, cholesterol and sodium because these are the nutrients you have to eat less of.

Below the number of grams per nutrient, the nutrition label also tell you how much Vitamin A, C, calcium and iron is present. These, including dietary fiber are the nutrients that you need to eat more of. The percentage in which these are expressed in shows how much it covers your recommended daily amount. When a nutrient is 5% in daily value or below, you’re getting a low amount of it. When a nutrient is 20% in daily value or above, it’s a bit high. This part of the nutrition label will help inform you if you’re getting too much fat from a product or too little dietary fiber, for example.

Reading and understanding a nutrition label is not rocket science. It just requires common sense, knowing the good stuff from the bad and making the right choices based on that. Nutrition labels – always check them out.

Related Posts
Calories from Protein, Carbs, and Fat
Nutrition and The 7 Rules to Healthy Eating
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If you are diabetic, in addition to the information on this website concerning diabetes, eHow has a great series of interest.  They also have a video regarding Reading Nutritional Labels for Diabetics.

The Link Between Comfort Food, Eating Disorder, And Emotional Eating

Ever since the world began, food has been a means of nourishment for our bodies. Let’s face it we need calories and nutrients to live. But in today’s culture, food has evolved into more than just fuel for our body. Food has become our response to our emotions, problems or situations – hence the new terms we hear – eating disorder; emotional eating; comfort food, etc.

Many believe an eating disorder is actually a psychological condition. Those who suffer from anorexia nervosa or bulimia have a distorted perception of themselves, believe that depriving themselves of nourishment helps them correct their body image. Many people who are obese are also believed to be suffereing from an eating disorder or indulge in emotional eating that led them to overeat.

Though not alway true, emotions now have something to do with how and what we eat. Emotional eating is described as “eating as a response to a feeling or event.” Some kids display emotional eating by consuming a lot of junk food when they don’t get enough attention or are getting too much of it. Emotional eating becomes a cry for help or a means of release.

While the term ‘comfort food’ brings images of hot soup and bread on a wintery night, it hasd not morphed into the food we commonly eat in order to bring us comfort and make us feel better when something bad happens, except that we only knowingly load up on calories.

Emotional eating manifests itself in many ways. Some people turn to food when they’re angry, some turn to food when they’re stressed, then there are people who eat when they’re bored. When we have difficulty with relationships, we create a relationship with food instead – that’s when it becomes an eating disorder.

If you seem to fit any of the descriptions above, then you are into emotional eating and may be suffereing from an eating disorder. it’s time to examine your lifestyle and what role food portrays in your life. Start a journal and write down what you ate and how much of it AND what you were feeling at that moment. Explain what triggered you to eat – what happened before that? Who were you with?

After a week or two, you’ll be able to see if there is a pattern or recurring emotions or situations that lead you to food. By taking note of these emotions and events, you’ll be able to spot them the next time. When you do, think of an alternative activity you can do instead of eating. Take a walk, write down your feelings or watch something good on TV.

Dealing with emotional eating is not just about preventing yourself from gaining too much calories. It’s more about being healthy in mind and body. Emotional eating is an ever present threat. Don’t let an eating disorder get between you and your health.

Recommended:

• For the beginner, take our Diet/Eating Personality quiz and Fun Fitness Program Questionnaire to assess yourself.
• If you enjoyed this article, please take the time and take our fitness survey so we may continue to research articles of interest. Click Here to take survey

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To many people, dieting connotes restrictions and limitations in the foods that they take. But diet, overall, simply refers to the types of foods you select on a day-to-day basis. Some would jokingly say that they are on a chocolate diet or a diet of all things deep-fried.

Your diet corresponds to the outcome you see in your body. It is unavoidably directly related to your weight. But first, you need to know how much you should weigh; not everybody needs to be 100 pounds. We all have different ideal weights. The weight range that we need to be in tells us that falling below that range makes you underweight and being beyond it makes you overweight. Either case is not good.

There are ideal weight charts that only factor in one’s height. But the more helpful ones are those, which factor in one’s body type as well. There is a different weight range for a person who has a small frame, one who has a medium frame and one with a large frame even if they are all the same height. It’s good to consider your body frame in order to be realistic when it comes to setting weight goals.  To calculate your BMI and see if you are in the healthy range, click here.

Dieting greatly affects weight but it should not mean starving oneself to achieve the ideal weight. That simply does not work or it could but it’s detrimental to your health. To achieve one’s desired weight, provided it’s realistic, there should be a good balance between what foods to eat and the right amount of these foods in one’s diet. Everything we consume contains a number of calories, which give us the energy to do our activities.

• Diet goes hand in hand with the activities we choose to do because to maintain our weight, we need to be eating only the number of calories we can burn.
• To lose weight, one should be eating fewer calories than he can burn. Consequently, if one needs to gain weight, he should be eating more than what he can burn. Losing weight properly and at a healthy pace happens when the person is aware of how many calories he gets from what he eats.
• Counting calories may sound tedious but instead of treating them as numbers, every person who aims for good health should look at calories in food as a way to respond to what the body needs in terms of nourishment.

Nourishment should come from a nutritionally balanced diet. If you target to eat only a certain number of calories per day, you should eat the right foods in right amounts that will add up to that desired number rather than eating only one or two food groups in very large quantities in order to achieve that desired number of calories in food. Remember that your body responds to what you put into it and what you don’t. Review the 7 Rules to Healthy Eating.

Weight is, indeed, a very important thing. It’s not just about aesthetics and it’s definitely not about believing than thin is beautiful. Weight is one of the measurements of our health. Being overweight can lead to a number of chronic diseases; being underweight shows that the body is lacking in essential nutrients and amount of food.

If you enjoyed this article, please take the time and take our fitness survey so we may continue to research articles of interest. Click Here to take survey

Recommended next steps:

Determine Your Diet / Eating Personality and the Fun Fitness Questionnaire

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Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss

We all have different personalities. We also have different diet personalities or eating personalities. But what are these diet personalities or eating personalities?

• There are those who are too busy to eat during the day – no time to sit and have a decent meal. When they go home, they try and satisfy their hunger trying to make up for the way they have deprived themselves throughout the day. As a result, they snack well into the late night, paying no heed to proper nutrition.
  

  What is Your Diet / Eating Personality?

• There are the calorie counters, attentive to every calorie in the food they eat. They plan their meals to the T, ensuring not to eat more calories than they can burn. They tend to stick to their plan so much that they become guilty when they ‘cheat’. Eating is not a pleasurable activity for them.
• Then, there are the selective types. They prefer comfort foods and are not adventurous enough to try new things. Chances are, the nutrition that they get is not balanced.
• There are those who load up on carbs. There are those who are carnivores from day to night.

Whatever you think your eating personality or diet personality is, here are a few questions for you to answer. As you answer them, you’ll get to know more about the way you eat and how to identify habits that you can do without.

1)            In the course of a day, what type of food do you prefer eating more of?

Some are mostly carnivorous while some lean towards vegetables and fruits. Many people crave more for carbs such as pasta, rice, bread, or potatoes. A balanced diet should be 2/3 whole grains, fruits and vegetables and 1/3 protein. The calories you eat must be distributed into these parts.

2)            Besides the three regular meals, do you usually eat when you’re feeling bored? Stressed? Lonely?

Food sometimes is a response to what we’re feeling. When sad or stressed, it’s easy to turn to food for comfort, leading to bad nutrition. Food has also become a hobby to us. Those working in offices find it easy to snack away without being mindful of what they’re eating. This could be due to pressure at work or boredom.

3)            Do you prepare your food or wait for food to be prepared for you OR do you drive-thru on the way to work / home?

Today, many choose convenience over nutrition. We grab the easiest meal to get ‘more pressing’ matters done. Commerce has made it possible for a lifestyle where we can manage multiple things within a day at the expense of compromising nutrition.

4)            Do you eat only when hunger strikes or because it’s time to eat?

Usually those who eat only when hunger strikes tend to eat more. Consequently, they end up having more calories than those who eat at set times. Eating 5 to 6 meals a day helps us avoid hunger pangs, which makes it easier to manage cravings and get proper nutrition and a balanced diet.

5)            Do you keep to your diet and never stray from it?

It’s good to have a diet plan, if it gives you a balanced diet. How are you in terms of following your diet? Are you always failing or are you the type who follows strictly and perfectly, leaving you with guilt when you eat outside the plan?

6)            Do you eat food to live or do you eat food for the pleasure of eating?

Many of us struggle to limit food no matter how much calories, because it simply gives us so much pleasure. However, there are those who treat food as a means to survive. They eat only what they feel their body needs. It isn’t a bad thing just as long as they are able get a balanced diet and proper nutrition.

Understanding to how our body works and how it expresses its need for food is important. By reviewing our eating personality or diet personality, we may see activities we can change.

The end goal isn’t really the number of calories we consume in a day but to live a life that is healthy and content.

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“I will start eating healthy,” is probably the most overused New Year’s resolution – ever. But for over 2 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes, ‘eating healthy’ is not an option – it’s a commitment.
If you’ve recently been diagnosed or have a genetic predisposition to it (i.e. family has diabetes history), take heart. Science now knows how to control, head off, and even – some believe – reverse diabetes. We have modern medication aimed at improving insulin sensitivity, you can do beneficial exercises, and of course, the primary weapon of every diabetic: proper diet and nutrition.
The first – and best thing you can do is to visit a dietitian with experience advising diabetics and map out a nutrition plan. You can’t just stop eating certain foods or eliminating all sugars from your life. You should actually broaden your gastronomic horizon (in a safe and moderated way). Your new diet should take into account your lifestyle, medication, weight, age, and other medical conditions you may have. Going on a diabetic-friendly diet doesn’t mean depriving yourself, it simply means eating well in a way that will prevent the complications of diabetes and improve your overall health while allowing you the pleasure of good healthy food.
Diabetics should change their diet to achieve specific goals – maintaining a healthy weight, controlling blood glucose levels, and getting proper overall nutrition.
One way to do this is to follow the ADA’s Diabetes Food Pyramid guide. This guide can be found online and has an extensive list of examples. The ADA guide groups foods according to their carbohydrate and protein content, often guiding you regarding what you can eat, when to eat it, and serving size. The ADA’s guide contains and extensive list of grains and starches, vegetables, fruit, milk, meat and meat substitutes.
Another diet option is the Glycemic Index Diet, which ranks foods according to the rate at which they break down in the body to form glucose. High GI foods break down rapidly, while low GI foods break down more slowly. The Glycemic Index diet focuses on low GI foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, lean meats, and low-fat dairy products.
Another option is a low-fat vegan diet. Switching to a vegan diet seems like an abrupt change to some, however a study by Dr. Neal Barnard and chronicled in his book Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes Without Drugsclaims a low-fat vegan diet and foods with low glycemic index can help reduce or do away with medication, and even reverse the diabetes’ progression.
Following a diabetic-friendly diet can be both fulfilling and nutritious, as long as you are willing to change your lifestyle. Before settling on a diet, remember to consult your doctor and dietician and stick with it. If you’re a diabetic, now is the time to forget eating without abandon, it’s probably what got you here in the first place. Remember, the keys to a great life despite diabetes are proper medication, exercise, and a good nutritious diet.
Resources of interest:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/diabeticdiet.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes-diet/DA00027

Dr. Howard M. Shapiro is the founder and director of Howard M. Shapiro Medical Associates. It is a private multidisciplinary medical office in New York City, which specializes in nutrition counseling, weight control, and life management. His pioneering work in bariatric medicine gained him international recognition in 1981. He was able to establish a comprehensive weight control method which expanded to include psychological services.  Dr. Shapiro has authored Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss and Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss 30 Day Plan (Amazon affiliate link) among others. These books have made a great impact on many people.

Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss (Amazon affiliate link)
Comparisons in pictures give clear illustrations that, while an individual can make a choice of eating food with low calories, he/she can still have a large portion that is enjoyable to one’s palate.  The pictures get readers to think about their food choices. This book is a visual aid to some people who prefer large portions but still want to lose weight. Most people need to ‘see’ and not just ‘hear’ or ‘read about’ it.

This book is straightforward and easy to read. For many readers, this is not a “diet” book.

• It illustrates that losing weight can be easy. It teaches how to satisfy one’s hunger by actually eating more, provided you eat the right foods.
• It allows you free choice, you can control what you eat but you will not feel deprived. It is a realistic system.  This is a better alternative to low-carb diets which are harder to maintain and puts one’s heart at risk.

Another plus is the discussion on emotional eating where examples are cited on how “real people” can modify their eating selections.
While the book may be the best diet plan to many of Dr. Shapiro’s readers, there are some flaws in this book:

• Dr. Shapiro discourages milk and instead encourages an increase in intake of fortified soy products.
• This book leans toward vegetarianism but many people still prefer to have some meat in their diets as their protein source. Some people can only eat so much tofu. Soy products are also quite expensive and not available in some places.

There is no mention of alternatives to seafood in this book. This is a problem to people who are allergic to seafood. The discussion on exercise, as part of a balanced health regimen, lacked depth.
Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss (Amazon affiliate link)
is one of the best approaches to weight control. It is simple and easy to understand. It helps many people to lose weight in a doable, enjoyable way. In the end of it all, it is one’s choice whether he will make use of this book to improve his life.

Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss 30 Day Plan (Amazon affiliate link)

Just like its predecessor, Dr. Shapiro’s Picture Perfect Weight Loss 30 Day Plan (Amazon affiliate link) is a simple and easy book to follow. It has new food comparisons which are as colorful as the ones in the first book. There are real life stories of New York Fire and Police Department personnel, the Chicago 7 on Good Morning America, etc. In this book, there is nutritional information targeted at specific age groups (e.g. kids, teens and seniors).

There is a section addressing eating disorders like bulimia which is affects many young people. Unlike the first book, the 30 day plan book is more specific. As the title suggests, it’s a 30-day eating plan. For many people who are too busy to figure out the portions that they should eat, this book is a big help. However, like the first book, this is also a diet-focused book. Losing weight should also involve exercise.

While this is a one of the best weight control programs written, an exercise regimen would also greatly benefit the readers.

As with all other diet plans, there is one basic thing to remember. If you do not stick to this plan, you will easily regain all the weight that you lost. While this program was designed to be simple and easy to follow and understand, it still takes commitment on one’s part to do this regimen diligently to stay healthy.

Most of us have been accustomed to low-fiber, high-sugar, and high-salt diets. It may be because of the hectic lifestyle that most of us are leading these days. No time to cook, so we end up buying just about anything at the nearest fast-food restaurant. Maybe, we spend too much time in front of the computer or the TV, so, we eat while we are doing something else. Maybe, it’s because our moms just loved to cook those delicious, fatty foods when we were kids. So now, it’s just hard for us to switch to healthier options. Whatever the reason, obesity in USA alone, affects about 60 million people, mostly women.
Having bad eating habits has contributed greatly to obesity. Following are just some of the most common bad eating habits:

1. SKIPPING BREAKFAST
“Blood sugar usually drops overnight, so your brain is running on empty until you eat in the morning,” says Ellie Krieger R.D.
Studies show that those who skip breakfast tend to eat more calories during the day compared to people who don’t skip. You should eat something that will satisfy you enough to get you through the next few hours, like a bowl of bran cereal with low-fat milk.

2. STARVING YOURSELF
If you skip breakfast, your body would have been starved for 12 to 18 hours.
“Not consuming enough calories during the day could lead to increased craving for high-fat or high-sugar foods,” says Suzanne Farrell, MS RD, spokesperson for the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION.

3. BINGING
If you are used to a diet that is low in fiber and high in salt or sugar and partially hydrogenated Trans fats, you will tend to over-eat. This is probably the most common cause of obesity in America.
Instead of eating two or three large meals per day, it is better to eat five or six small meals of high-fibered fruits, vegetables, etc. during the day.

4. EATING ON THE RUN
Leslie Bonci, R.D. calls this, “grab, gulp, and go mentality”. Bonci states that this eating habit can leave you dissatisfied and unsure of what you ate and sometimes give you an upset stomach.
Just like meetings, conferences, etc., include meal times on your schedule. There should always be time for good nutrition. If, however, there is just too much going on in our life, be prepared. Always stock up on healthy options like low-fat granola bars, nuts and dried fruits or single-serving packages of crackers.

5. DRINK ENOUGH WATER
How many times have we been told that drinking 8 glasses of water daily should be a part of our health regimen?
Water is crucial for all organs of to work properly. Drinking a minimum of 8 glasses of pure water a day will help your body to burn fat.
While most people have developed bad eating habits through the years, here are some good eating habits that can make a lot of difference in our lives.

1. EAT REGULAR MEALS
When you skip meals your body feels deprived. It can lead to out-of-control hunger which results to overeating. So, no matter how busy you are, eat meals regularly.

2. EAT MODERATE PORTIONS
It will be easier for you to eat the foods you want and stay healthy by keeping portion sizes reasonable. You don’t have to let your body feel deprived.

3. KNOW YOUR DIET PITFALLS
Before improving your eating habits, you have to identify what’s wrong with your present habits. Write down what you eat for two to three days. If you see an unhealthy diet pattern (i.e. lack of fruits and vegetables or having too much creams or sauces) try to correct it.

4. BALANCE YOUR FOOD CHOICES OVER TIME
If you’ve been used to a diet high in fat, sugar or salt, choose other foods that are low in these ingredients. If after following a regular health regimen, you fall off the wagon, get back up and try to make up for it the next day. Nobody is “perfect” even when it comes to making the right choices on healthy eating.

5. MAKE CHANGES GRADUALLY
Nobody can change overnight. Start with modest changes, and build it up to positive lifelong eating habits. Good nutrition should be a way of life not a life sentence.

Reversing The Course of Diabetes You are what you eat is an adage science has repeatedly proven true. Eating less fats and trans fats lessens chances of heart disease. Some believe that a gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diet helps children with Autism recover. Now, Dr. Neal Barnard (University of Toronto, George Washington University) claims in his book, Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes Without Drugs(Amazon affiliate link)  that his diet can actually reverse the course of one of this century’s dreaded diseases: Diabetes. Fact – Diabetes has reached epidemic levels. More than 200 million around the world suffer from it. If left untreated, it may lead to severe conditions such as heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, amputations, etc.

• Traditionally, diabetes has been treated using a regimen of low carb/calorie diets and medication recommended by the American Diabetics Association (ADA) to keep the disease in check.
• Barnard’s book challenges this decades-long practice by saying that eating a low-fat vegan diet and foods with low glycemic index can do better, can help reduce or do away with medication, and even reverse the disease’s progression.
• In his book, he explains that in people with Type-2 diabetes, an “accumulation of tiny amounts of fat inside muscle cells” cause blockages that prevent insulin from opening the cell membrane and allowing glucose to enter.

Eliminating animal fat and taking in minimal protein is key in improving insulin sensitivity. People with diabetes take insulin to control their blood sugar (glucose). He studied two groups in his research; one control group followed the ADA diet while the other was placed on a low-fat vegan diet. The study found that while the ADA group were able to control their blood sugar levels as expected, the other group actually had to lessen their medication as their blood sugar began to drop dramatically.

• The diet also reduced the vegan group’s A1c (measure of blood-glucose control) three times better than the others.

The diet also appears to help reduce body weight, control cholesterol, improve glycemic control, control blood glucose levels, decrease triglycerides, and reduce blood pressure. Switching to a vegan diet is not easy, so for those concerned about the diet’s palatability, the book offers a tasteful menu of meals from cookbook author Bryanna Clark-Grogan.

The recipes are incorporated into the book’s “7 Days of Healthful Menus” section. There’s even a Nutrition Guideline, a section on the “New Four Food Groups”, and a list of permitted and non-permitted foods. Surprisingly, Dr. Barnard found that those who have been on the ADA diet were eager to jump ship.

Barnyard’s diet does not limit portion sizes, as it focuses on diet and nutrition not on counting calories and carbohydrates. However, the real power of this book is that it gives diabetics a choice, one that is rooted in science and has been tested and proven successful. No longer are they tied to certain foods and medication. As Barnard says to diabetes sufferers, “You are now in the driver’s seat.” Those who want to be in control should grab this book immediately.

The average person living in a Western country is now obese.  The secondary effects of this weight gain ranges from a decreased ability to be active with family and friends to diseases and illnesses that can be directly attributed to the body’s decreased ability to remain healthy at an increased weight.  The causes of this weight gain can be credited to several different factors which range from the Standard Western diet high in fat and processed foods, decreased exercise, more desk jobs and increased stress in the lives of people.

No matter what the reasons weight loss and increased exercise is the solution.  And because of the increased number of people suffering there are also a plethora of weight loss programs available to meet almost every need you can imagine.  But among those weight loss programs that are legitimate are also those that are unreasonable.

People who are desperate to achieve their goal are often at a higher risk of falling prey to those who would want to take their money without delivering on the promise.  There are some specific criteria to evaluate before you join a weight loss program or determine to follow a particular plan.  Let’s look at those criteria now.

1. Does the program promise quick, rapid, easy and painless weight loss?  Most legitimate weight loss programs won’t make a promise that you will lose weight rapidly because they know that such a thing isn’t possible.  The only promise they may make is that they’ll help you lose it as fast as medically possible.  So if you find a program that promises you’ll be in that bikini in 2 months – don’t walk away – run!

2. Does the program recommend the use of supplements to jump start or maintain weight loss?  Many weight loss programs will recommend using a multi-vitamin because in the process of cutting calories many people may also cut out the necessary vitamins needed to help maintain the functioning of the body.  However, if the program relies on a supplement as the basis of the program then it’s probably not something that you can maintain for any length of time.  And before considering any supplement consider the side effects, the long-term effects and any interactions with medications you may already be taking – such as blood pressure medication and any of the over-the-counter medications you may take for headaches, allergies or pain relief.

3. Does the weight loss program address the mental aspect of losing weight?  However good the program may be if you aren’t prepared for the lifestyle changes and the weight loss then the program won’t help you!  If the program appears to be legitimate and doesn’t make big claims about what you can accomplish but doesn’t have a support mechanism built in you may want to find your own support mechanism to use the program.

4. Does the program advocate incorporating exercise into your daily routine as well as dietary changes?  Research is clear about the health benefits of both.  Those who use both a dietary change and exercise will have better results than those who just cut calories.

Before joining any weight loss program it’s important to evaluate the criteria that make the program healthy and successful.  Those programs that encourage people to make drastic changes to their diet or exercise hours each day, are more than likely not going to be successful because of the amount of will power it would take to maintain the program in the first place.

Take a strong look at how the program will also affect your body and your health.  We are given one body to last this lifetime.  When we take good care of it – it will take good care of us.

Obesity is a barrier that stands between the individual and the world in almost 50% of the North American population. Shedding those extra pounds will not only improve self-esteem but also improve your overall health and energy levels. The decision to lose weight is one that is made by countless people every day and is one that should be applauded.

Obesity is a condition that leads to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and peripheral vascular disease. And, if ignored for a long time can prove to be fatal.

In this day of education and media coverage most people have figured out that the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you take in. But the calorie deficit shouldn’t be caused from crash diets, skipped meals or sudden intense exercise. These are unhealthy ways of losing weight and shouldn’t be followed because they all end up at the same destination.

Failure.

Instead of crash diets or starving your body consider changing your eating habits and improving your nutrition so that you are feeding the cells of your body the vitamins and minerals necessary to be healthy. A healthy body, that receives the right nutrition, will naturally lose weight.

The pounds that come off the scale when you crash diet or starve are only temporary and will come back bigger than before when you finally give in and eat the foods you did before. In reality you are losing lean muscle when you starve and not the stored fat. And when you lose muscle the weight is going to come back.

Weight loss is achieved by simply eating the right foods and moderately increasing your physical activity level. The right foods means raw fruits, vegetables, raw nuts and seeds with lots of pure water. Eating raw fruits and vegetables means that you can eat as much as you want, whenever you want. You are never hungry.

That means never hungry.

You have to get rid of the rice, white flour, processed foods, chips, soft drinks, alcohol and sugars. These are foods that will sabotage your efforts to lose weight because they are metabolized differently than raw foods and because they are calorie dense instead of nutrient dense. This means that there are more calories in each bit of these foods than there is in raw food and there are less nutrients.

As for exercise, while it’s an important part of being healthy and losing weight you have to remember that you aren’t training for the Olympics. If you’ve been sedentary just going for a 20 minute walk every morning will be enough to start out and you’ll see some great benefits in just a couple of weeks.

But if you’ve had a bit of exercise then other outdoor activities can be fun, help you lose weight and not get boring. Things like badminton, table tennis and volleyball can be played at parties and with friends. Running, swimming, walking and rowing are exercises that can be done alone to help you lose those unwanted pounds.

And with exercise it’s important to remember that you should change up the things that you are doing so your muscles don’t get used to exercising in a specific pattern. This only cuts back on the calories that are burned with each workout.

Using these simple factors weight loss isn’t as restrictive or strict as some programs make it. It is a simple equation that requires some dietary changes and persistence. Using the right tools of nutrition and exercise you can lose weight.

Remember too that losing weight with the support of friends and family will help keep you on track with your new dietary habits and exercise. Weight loss can’t be about boosting your self-image, although it is a nice side benefit. Instead, it is about being healthy, living longer and having more energy.

As much as you may want to be convinced by unscrupulous manufacturers and weight loss programs, quick weight loss of more than 2 pounds just isn’t possible. While you may be able to lose 10 pounds in one month the methods you use will likely be so extreme that you’ll gain that much back and more the next month. Just like you didn’t gain the weight in one week, or one month, you won’t be able to lose the same amount in that time frame. In fact, taking the weight off is more time consuming than putting it on.

It is important to note two things right now. Weight loss is very possible for those who are motivated to shed those pounds and weight gain often happens because you were leading an unhealthy lifestyle. I should then be obvious that in order to lose the pounds you have to learn to live a healthy lifestyle.

This is such a simple concept that it should be easy to understand. BUT, and it’s a big but, people are creatures of habit and have specific reactions to stress. In other words, when the habit is to grab the donut in the morning, skip lunch and eat a big dinner where vegetables make their appearance as the red coloring in the tomato sauce it’s no wonder that fad diets, starvation and intense exercise programs are doomed to failure.

The second point is that people will also react to stress. And with stress comes hunger pangs, nervous hands and an intense desire to chew. All of these things lead to a sabotaged weight loss program and probably weight gain.

When people are encouraged to exercise in their weight loss programs it is no different there either. If an overweight man or woman is told to workout regularly in order to lose weight they often hit the gym daily for a month or two. Then as quickly as their motivation bloomed it dies on the vine. They get fed up with slow results and quit going all together.

In both cases of dietary changes and exercise habits people may feel that their weight loss results are too slow to warrant them continuing to work at better health.

And when people stop doing the things that are necessary to move them toward a healthier lifestyle then their weight loss stops, energy levels decrease and health risk levels increase. These individuals believe that weight loss is impossible for them. They can’t maintain a fad, starvation diet nor are they willing to workout at the gym for 3 hours a day.

There are four important things that can be done to make your weight loss efforts successful:

1 Develop a weight loss program that fits your lifestyle and that incorporate factors of good health.

2 Commit to stick to the weight loss program.

3 Understand that weight loss doesn’t happen overnight. Instead plan on an average of one pound of loss per week and understand that you aren’t working toward weight loss but rather a healthier lifestyle that will result in a trimmer you.

4 Find support! People who find and use the support of friends, relatives or groups are more likely to stick to their program and lose the weight they desire – and they are more likely to keep it off.

Remember that just as Rome wasn’t built in a day neither did you gain that weight overnight. Weight loss is commitment that goes on for years – not weeks and not months. You aren’t dieting but instead are changing the way that you see and feel about food.

Weight Loss Motivation

Obesity and weight loss are a common problem among people and our daily news only confirm this trend.  Today’s nutrition includes too much fat, too much sugar, and too many processed foods.  Weight loss motivation often starts out in high gear and quickly goes down hill.  Many people are motivated many times in their lives to lose weight but keeping the motivation seems to be the problem.

People who successfully lose weight find that motivation remains high only with positive feedback and a support mechanism.  After the initial fast weight loss people are often left tired, hungry and either at a plateau of weight loss or losing minimal amounts of weight.  This decreases the level of motivation and the client is left high and dry.

Weight loss is much more successful when the individual receives positive feedback and has a support system to bolster them when the going gets tough.  This positive feedback is self-fulfilling when it comes from positive movement toward your goal.  Individuals also find that a support person can be a motivating force to keep them on track and help to keep their weight loss motivation high.

Another force that impacts motivation while trying to lose weight is that failure is bound to happen.  Too many times people diet using a definition to deprive themselves of specific foods they believe will keep them from losing weight.  The feelings of deprivation will only lead to certain failure.  Diets are also associated with hunger, fatigue and deprivation.

Instead those who wish to diet and do it successfully by keeping their motivation high should also realize that we are all human.  But admitting that perfection is out of reach they can also realize that the occasional slice of chocolate cake or missed work out doesn’t spell complete failure.  It spells a bump in the road that is surmountable and easily tamed.

Stop the cycle and fix the problem by first understanding that you are changing your eating habits for life and not developing a quick start diet.  This is not a ‘diet”.  You are learning how to put your body into a burning mode as opposed to a starvation mode.

When your body feels deprived and starved your metabolism slows considerably and weight loss is close to impossible.  This decreases your motivation and your positive feedback.  You end up going back to eating the way you did before the ‘diet’ and your body will put on more weight than you had before the diet.

Learn what good eating habits are.  Portions are really smaller than you might think.  The amount of meat that is one portion is considerably smaller than the normal portions at a restaurant or fast food place.  By learning good eating habits and improving your rate of success you will also keep your weight loss motivation high.

Weight loss success depends greatly on motivation and your ability to maintain a high level to achieve the dietary changes necessary.  It is up to you to focus on ways to improve your positive feedback and find a support mechanism that works for your lifestyle and personality.