If you are like most you will have to diet sometime in your life. I know I have dieted off and on for years going all the way back to my bodybuilding days when strict tuna and water diets were the means to attaining as low a body fat measurement as possible. I would like to share with you some of the things I have learned over the years to help with the dieting process.
Regardless of the diet you choose it is essential that you set goals for what you are trying to achieve. When I say goals, I mean written goals. If you don't write your goals down your chances of success are almost nil. Also, set rewards along with the goals. If you reach a certain weight goal in a week reward yourself with a favorite snack, in a small portion of course. Another thing you can do is reward yourself with some new clothes.
Now, let's get into the dieting itself. Many diets are doomed to fail because they make you hungry. Yeah, I know everyone tells you that if you are trying to lose weight you have to be hungry, but you don't have to be feeling like you are starving all the time.
One way to avoid this on any diet is to split your meals into smaller portions and eat every 3-4 hours instead. This is what all professional athletes do because it makes the most efficient use of the food you are taking in.
Another simple method is to realize that your stomach's size is naturally about the size of your fist. Knowing this, when planning a diet the portions you are consuming should be about the size of your hand during each meal. Most of us eat five or six times this amount.
One time tested method I have used in addition to the smaller meals is to drink lots of water. I know you have heard this stressed over and over but not only is it crucial for removing toxins when you are dieting, but it will also help you to feel fuller.
When choosing a diet, investigate it fully and also ask your personal physician about it. There are a lot of scams out there, especially on the internet. If someone tells you that you can lose ten pounds overnight or even every week, don't believe it. The maximum you will lose on a long term diet is around three pounds per week. You have to remember, it took a while to put it on and it will take awhile to take it off too.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Some Helpful Tips For Dieting
Diabetes Diet Guidelines - Time To End The Confusion of What to Eat
For the diabetic, knowing what to eat, what foods to avoid, and how to achieve and maintain a healthy weight can seem very difficult.
To complicate matters even worse, there is no specific diet for diabetics. Help is available to make sure you have the information you need to learn and understand about diabetes diet guidelines.
Not following diabetes diet guidelines, is a common mistake made by most diabetics. Many diabetes don't understand the needs of diabetes diet guidelines...or how closely tied to good diabetic control the food you eat can be.
The American Diabetes Association has what's called the Diabetes Food Pyramid. Designed much like the revised (2005) version of the USDA's Food Pyramid, this pyramid provides excellent information and diabetes diet guidelines to help you gain control of your blood sugars, your weight, and your diabetes.
Gain Better Control Of Your Diabetes Today Using Diabetes Diet Guidelines
The diabetes food pyramid is divided into six groups. The size of the groups varies. The larger the group, the more servings per day of foods within that group should be consumed.
Grains and starches (carbohydrates) is the largest group. This includes foods such as rice, pasta, breads, and cereals, potatoes, corn, peas, and some beans. The recommended number of servings per day is 6-11. Most people should use the lower number of servings.
The next group is vegetables. Vegetables are naturally low fat. This makes them a good food choice for everyone. Spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflowers, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumbers are examples of vegetables in this group. Please note the more starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and others are in the grains and starches group. The recommended number of servings per day for this group is 3-5.
The middle layer of the Diabetes Food Pyramid is fruit. This group also contains some carbohydrates. Berries, melons, apples, bananas, peaches, grapes, and other fruits are found in this group. The recommended number of servings is 2-4 per day.
Following the fruits is the milk group. This includes milk and milk products. For those trying to reduce their weight and cholesterol choose low-fat dairy products. Recommended servings are 2-3 per day.
Almost at the top of the pyramid is the meat group. The meat group includes chicken, beef, turkey, fish, eggs, dried beans, cheese, and peanut butter.?You only need 4-6 ounces servings per day.
At the top of the pyramid are the fats, sweets, and alcohol group. This group should be avoided. Most recommend keeping your portion sizes small and only having these foods on special occasions.
While diabetes diet guidelines do have some basic principles the best meal plan for you can only come by consulting with a nutritionist, with diabetes experience. Nutritional needs of diabetes vary from person to person. For example, a thin type 1 diabetic with kidney disease won't have the same needs as an overweight type 2 diabetic
By evaluating your needs individually, diabetes diet guidelines can be established especially to meet your specific health and weight needs. A nutritionist will also be able to help you learn to make good choices when dining out, during holidays, and other "special times." The nutritionist will also be able to factor in your likes and dislikes to create the best diabetes diet guidelines for your particular situation.
Don't think of the diabetes diet guidelines as a diet. Think of it as your ticket to better control...and a healthy and happy life.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Weight loss and calories (part 1)
We all know that for a woman they have only got a daily allowance of 2,000 calories, compared to men who are allowed 2,500 calories. But ask someone what calories are, and the majority wouldn't be able to give you a complete answer.
All they know is that too many calories can contribute to weight gain.
So what are calories? Calories are essentially units of energy. Energy which is used to raise your body temperature. Take this example. One calorie equals the same amount of energy that is needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius.
We know, what has this got to do with food, but calories are our way of measuring the energy content of the foods we eat.
Another metrical tool you need to know when you are losing weight, which you won’t traditionally find on a food label, is joules. These measure food energy too, but work on a higher setting. In this case, 1 calorie equals 4,184 joules (with such high figures it is easy to see why companies opt for calories).
Even when you measure it in kilojoules, one kilojoule is still 1,000 joules.
With us so far? Well here is the next secret. When it comes to losing weight, the number of calories you can have will depend on your existing weight.
Take for example this scenario. You have got 2 people who want to lose weight at a rate of 2lbs a week, but one of them is 2 stone heavier than the other.
In this case, the person who is heavier will be able to consume more calories whist losing weight at the same rate as their friend.
You see, because they are carrying extra weight, they need more energy to move it and keep their weight loss steady. Cut your calories down too low and you will not have the energy to keep your body functioning.
Saying this, once the lbs begin to drop off the heavier person of this scenario would have to adapt and lower their calorie allowance to cope with their new weight.
So as you can see, calories play an important part on your path to weight loss. Take this following piece of information for example. To lose just 1lb, you need to burn 3,500 calories – more than your daily allowance.
Now although this looks as though you need to starve yourself in order to lose weight, you don't. We recommend that by cutting your calorie consumption by 250-500 calories a day, you can effectively lose weight at a rate that will enable you to then keep it off.
PLEASE NOTE: you shouldn't cut your calories to below 1,200 a day as this can lead to increased health risks.
The next question is: how can you tell how many calories there are in food? A topic we shall discuss in our next article.
Happy New Year!
I would like to say 'happy new year' to all of you. Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope your diet will be success :D
Read More......