Fat Loss Diet - 3 More Myths That You Need To Know About

In a previous article I covered 2 diet myths that may be holding you back from achieving your fat loss dreams. Well, I have 3 more here for you. When going on any sort of fat loss diet it is important to keep these myths in mind and to understand that food is your friend and not the enemy. Some of these may sound strange to you, but just trust me and apply them to your diet.

1. Eliminating Carbohydrates - Many of my clients come to me while midway through some form of low carbohydrate diet. They are usually lacking energy, lacking mental focus and find it difficult to maintain the energy to workout. You need to understand that carbohydrates are necessary to losing weight, but you have to be eating the right ones. If your goal is weight loss, forget about simple carbs, such as white rice and white bread. Stick to complex carbs, such as wholegrain bread and wholegrain pasta. Simple carbs are almost guaranteed to spike your insulin hormone and lead to unnecessary weight gain. Also, try to stay clear of carbs after dark, as any of them that aren't used throughout the day will be stored for the day after (and stored as fat).

2. Starving Yourself - This does make sense at some rudimentary level, but this is the absolute worst way to lose weight possible. Every single person who tries this who does not have an abnormally high metabolism will end up weighing more than they did when they started. If you have read any of my previous articles, you will know that I am a big advocate of raising metabolism for fat loss. By starving yourself, you are shutting down your metabolism. When your metabolism is shut down, you will store almost anything you eat as body fat. You must avoid this at all costs.

3. All Chocolate is Bad - Not all chocolate is bad. It is true that the majority of chocolates found at your local convenience store are bad, but that is because they aren't real chocolate. When I refer to chocolate, I am referring to Cacao chocolate. The higher the Cacao percentage, the better for you. Cacao is an incredibly potent fat burner, as it will push your metabolism into overdrive, due to its high zinc content and other vital minerals. Aim to purchase chocolate that has a Cacao content of 80% or more. These can be found at any reputable health store and are the perfect addition to your fat loss diet.

By combining this article with my other article on diet myths, you will never be fooled again when it comes to nutrition. So now that you know the truth, you can feel free to add complex carbohydrates and Cacao chocolate to your fat loss diet, knowing that they are doing you a world of good, not harm.

John Stamford is a personal trainer, nutritionist and an expert in everything relating to fat loss. Visit John's website in order to discover "One Tip That May Be Preventing You From Losing Fat", plus receive free eBooks, reports and updates for life at:
http://www.FatLossEnigma.com

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The Importance of Sleep in Weight Loss

If you are seeking to lose a few pounds, you may or may not have heard about how important it is to get enough sleep. This article will provide the specific reasons why sleep is important in trying to lose weight and how it will aid you in your weight-loss endeavor.

Sleep helps the body with metabolism. Metabolism is the rate at which food is taken in, processed, and digested by the body. People with slow metabolisms and fast metabolisms can eat the same amount of food and achieve different results. Sleeping regularly aids the body in metabolizing food by making it easier for the body to store energy broken down from food.

Sleeping helps keep insulin levels down. You need not be a diabetic to understand the importance of healthy insulin levels- you need only be seeking to lose weight. Healthy insulin levels help the body break down sugars, thus preventing them from being stored as excess fats.

Sleep also helps keep leptin levels normal. Leptin plays a key role on energy expenditure, and helps keep the body regular in terms of hormonal balance and in terms of levels of exhaustion. Like many neurological chemicals, it important to have a healthy balance of leptin.

Sleep also prevents insulin resistance, which is important in preventing diabetes and other blood-glucose disorders. Insulin resistance leads to a storage of sugars as body fat. By preventing insulin resistance, you prevent the aggregation of excess sugars in the body as fat.

Sleeping regularly helps maintain a healthy blood pressure. This is important, because the movement of the blood and other circulation-related functions help the body filter out waste.

Sleeping regularly also helps to keep the risk of heart disease low, because it lowers the heart rate and allows the body to repair itself.

Sleep helps give the brain a chance to relax, reboot, and reprogram. This is important, especially in reducing stress. It also helps improve mood, and thus makes it easier to have a positive outlook on life, physical activity, and otherwise restrictive diets.

Sleep helps the body replenish its energy store, thus lowering cravings for carbohydrates-- a prime energy source. By lowering carbohydrate cravings, you lessen the chances of having excess carbs stored in the body.

Sleep also slows the rate of fat storage. This is particularly important in losing weight, as fat storage is particularly undesirable. Additionally, by lowering the rate of fat storage, the rate of waste removal increases, and the body benefits through the detoxification process.

Sleep is very important in overall health, not just weight loss. Healthy sleeping patterns help the body to perform at peak physical condition and therefore helps you perform at your best in any and all aspects, including cognitively, athletically, socially, et cetera.

It is imperative that you get enough sleep, both during and not during weight loss periods. Using the advice in this article will aid you in deciding when to go to sleep, particularly during weight-loss periods. Choosing to sleep over not sleeping is an important decision but may be the one that looses you the most weight.

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Weight Loss Plans for College Students

One of the things in favor of college students is that they are young and their bodies can quickly adapt to changes. Another positive is that college students can plan their day without expecting much deviance from the schedule. Weight loss should be a combination of cardiovascular exercises, weight training, fat loss diet and some lifestyle changes. Drastic weight loss can have a counter effect on your health so aim to lose just 1lb per week, not more than that. One important thing to remember when starting a weight loss plan is that you did not gain the weight in one day so don't try to lose it in one day or one month. If you have a problem with this, you risk endangering your health, recall the old adage 'slow and steady wins the race'.

Lot of people lose weight with fad diets but if you notice most of them will again gain weight in no time because it is difficult, if not impossible, to follow these quick weight loss routines. So if you want to lose weight and stay healthy, inculcate plans that are easy to follow.

Cardio Exercises
One of the most important tools of any weight loss plan is cardiovascular exercises. There are a few things that you should know before you begin huffing and puffing. When you do cardio exercises, do them for at least 35-45 minutes, anything less than that is ineffective taking into consideration your weight loss goals. Do not do the same routine day in and day out, your body will get used to the movement, and you will get bored. As part of your cardiovascular exercises routine, try a combination of the exercises given below.

Jogging
Swimming
Cycling
Aerobics Exercises
Kickboxing Routines
Tae Bo

Weight Training
Another aspect of weight loss is weight loss exercises that you need to inculcate in your routine. Following correct form and technique is as important as lifting considerable amount of weights if you want to avoid injuries and cramps. Do not do more than 12 repetitions in one set and do 3-4 sets of each exercise. Do weight training for at least three days a week.

DAY 1
Chest Shoulder Triceps
Flat Bench Press Military Press Close Grip Bench Press
Decline Dumbbell Press Lateral raises Kickbacks
Push Ups Front Raises Double Bar Dips

DAY 2

Back Bicep
Bent Over Rows Bicep Curls
Lat Pulldown Preacher Curls
Dual Pulley Concentration Curls

DAY 3
Legs Abs
Squats Crunches
Lunges Leg Raises
Calf Raises Oblique Crunches

Diet Plan
All successful weight loss diets give the dieter plenty of options, this is the secret that works. If you restrict your diet to particular foods then you will soon get fed up of eating the same things over and over. So try to understand what foods are good for you and inculcate them in your menu. On the other hand, also drastically cut down on fatty foods like fried chicken, ice cream, etc. One trick to follow your diet plan is to have what your heart desires once a week but just a small portion. For example, after one week of following healthy eating routines if you feel like eating deep-fried chicken, then just eat one small portion of fried chicken in that week.

Change your eating habits to consuming small meals every 3 hours and include vegetables and fruits in your diet plan. Some of the things that you could add to your diet are:

Vegetables Fruits
Asparagus Apples
Broccoli Berries
Celery Cantaloupe
Spinach Lemon
Tomatoes Orange
Zucchini Pineapple

Inculcate healthy lifestyle habits, cut down on smoking and drinking drastically. Try and maintain healthy sleeping patterns, remember 'early to bed early to rise makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise'.
By Indrajit Deshmukh
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/weight-loss-plans-for-college-students.html

Vegetarian Weight Loss Diet With Recipe Plans - Vegan Food Ideas

One of the biggest challenges with a vegetarian diet plan for weight loss is finding enough variety and availability of foods in local stores. If you're a vegan looking for recipes sometimes you need to get creative and look for alternatives when maybe your favorite vegetarian food items aren't available. Keeping that in mind, here are some tips to lose weight and include some solid natural weight loss foods to spice up recipes. To be honest, you don't even need to be a vegetarian to enjoy them. These are healthy foods in general to eat to lose weight for anyone.

1. Fiddlehead Ferns: These have a slightly bitter and nutty flavor. Many people will often replace something like asparagus with Fiddlehead Ferns. The harvest period is a limited time in May so keep that in mind. Also, the flavor tends to diminish after they've been picked so you'll want to use them as soon as possible.


2. New Zealand Spinach: Spinach in general is one of the best choices to include in recipes of healthy foods to lose weight fast. There are also some other healthy benefits besides weight loss of course - promotes healthy skin, bone strength and density, helps protect eyes from cataracts and aids in lowering blood pressure.


3. Garlic Scapes: Many people use these as a milder alternative to regular garlic. You can use them the same way as you would with regular garlic in your recipes.


4. Sea Beans: As some call them, the poor man's asparagus. There popularity has increased their value. However, they taste basically as their name might suggest, a salty bean.


5. Scorzonera: So while this ugly brown root of the scorzonera might turn people off it tastes just like oysters. You can easily boil them, cut them up and make a soup and it's great for weight loss. They do go bad quickly so make sure to use them when you get them.

Another great thing about choosing to eat a more vegetarian diet is that it typically ends up being cheaper for you in the long run. If your meals are predominately vegetables you can expect to save much more money since you're eliminating meats that may have been purchased in the past.
The above are some quick and easy vegetarian weight loss recipes for your diet. Remember to stay creative and try new alternatives to exiting recipes you may already have in your regular diet plan. These are some great foods to incorporate in your everyday diet plan.

Joe Sladee, from http://www.destinationfatloss.com, is a fitness fanatic who's dedicated to helping anyone and everyone who has an ounce of motivation to lose weight and get fit. Join him on his fitness journey and get all the tips for a lean tone body free by visiting him and his program at http://www.destinationfatloss.com.

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Best Foods For Weight Loss To Put On Your Grocery List

Scrambled eggs in the morning
On top of the list of foods for weight loss, you will find eggs. Why? They are rich in protein, they are tasty, and they keep you feel full for a longer time than sugar loaded treats. Studies conducted by specialists show that overweight women eating scrambled eggs for breakfast feel less hungry throughout the day and eat less than they would usually do.

Reduce calorie intake with salads
There are three important things to keep in mind about best foods for weight loss: they make you feel full, they have nutritional value, and they have low calorie count. For this reason, salads are considered some of the best options you should choose when you want to eat healthy, curb your hunger, and lose weight. Basically, you can eat as much salad as you want without getting fatter, as its calorie count is so low that you will feel full long before you could eat the equivalent in salad of a single sugary treat.

Boost your metabolism with olive oil
The Mediterranean diet, as people call the actual menu those living in Mediterranean countries eat on a regular basis, has many health advantages and one of its secrets is the use of olive oil with almost anything. According to health care professionals, olive oil has great properties that maintain people healthy and slim. Olive oil is considered a great metabolism booster, which means that you end up burning up more calories while doing the exact same thing. Especially for middle-aged people, seasoning their foods with olive oil will help them fight off extra pounds and live healthier.

Why best foods for weight loss also include fruits
Fruits such as pears and apples contain fiber, which is important for having a healthy digestive tract. A healthy body is more capable of maintaining a healthy weight, but this is not the only reason why fruits like the ones mentioned earlier should be included on your list of best foods for weight loss. They also contain a substance called pectin, whose role is to regulate the sugar level in your blood. For this reason, if you are eating fruits between meals, you will feel less tempted to nibble on snacks that add nothing to your diet, nutritionally wise, but add plenty of pounds to your waistline.

Suppress your hunger with beans
One of the reason people get overweight is because the foods they eat leave them feeling hungry or, even worse, they make them feel unnaturally hungry all the time. If you are looking for a true appetite suppressor to include on your list of best foods for weight loss, consider beans. They help you feel full, and they regulate the hunger hormone production in your body. Also, they can help you decrease your cholesterol levels, making your heart healthier.

You know, calorie counting is never the way to go for long term weight loss. Restricting calories is the single worst thing you can do to lose weight.

For more information on The Diet Solution Plan visit: http://bestfoodsforweightloss.co/

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