Chinese Diet – 10 easy things you can do to lose weight

When we moved to China 7 months ago we were very worried about what we would be eating, and how would we live. We never thought that we would fall in love with the Chinese eating habits and style. We also never imagined that we have lost 80+ lbs!! We thought we should share some of our tricks with you. Here is the Chinese Diet – 10 easy things you can do to lose weight.  Simple things that you can do to lose weight and you don’t have to move to China!

Before we get to the juicy stuff here is a little behind the scenes on us.
From the beginning
We came to China with an open mind about everything including the food. We had a few rules; no feet, no head, and we really don’t enjoy intestines so that was out as well. Our diet tips don’t require you to eat anything crazy. We have not broken our rules…yet.
We were not fat in the US or at least we didn’t think we were. We ate a typical Midwestern diet and were in a daze at how bad our eating and lifestyle was. We wish we had known these simple tricks back home that make such a difference in your waist line.

10 things you can do today to start losing crazy weight!

1. Eat your food family style
   1. I used to hate eating family style, we steered away from these restaurants. I wanted what I wanted and didn’t want to share it with anyone. Now all of our meals are placed in the middle of the table.
   2. Keep in mind that you don’t make 5 lbs of meatloaf and just throw it in the middle of the table. You make your normal three dishes; (what you would think of like your main dish and two side dishes) however you don’t make one larger than the other. They are all about the same size.
2. Use a smaller bowl – much smaller
   1. Go into your cupboard and find your smallest bowl. Now that will be the bowl that you will eat out of. You can use your normal plates to serve your dishes on in the middle of the table. See you didn’t even have to get new bowls. How is that for easy.
   2. You might be thinking how am I going to be full on just one bowl of food that small? Not to worry you are not limited to only one bowl, but every time you finish your bowl you have to consciously get more food. You pick what you want to eat and how much of it. By doing this you actually pick much much less food than someone would naturally serve you.
3. Vegetables are your main course
   1. Vegetables dishes are what two of your three plates on your table are. For example you might have one plate of a cucumber dish, one of corn & carrots, and then another with ribs. If you wanted one night to have diced potatoes, chicken, and eggplant that would also be okay.
   2. We were not fans of vegetables before either, but find a few dishes that your whole family loves and rotate those. Trust us.
4. Cut down on your meat & dairy
   1. We eat very little meat. Most Chinese eat very little meat because it is expensive. We have opted out of eating lots of meat because it isn’t the main course of a Chinese diet and that is what we wanted. We found that meat is actually harder on the digestive system than we ever thought. After a night of heavy meat eating we all feel a little more lethargic.
   2. If you love meat, then don’t cut down too much, but be conscience of how much meat you are eating versus veggies. If you are worried about the nutritional aspect of it make sure you introduce different protein dishes that are not meat. There are tons out there.
   3. We eat very little dairy. It was hard at first coming from the cheese head state of Wisconsin. Cut it down and try to limit it to eggs, milk and yogurt. You will be surprised at how awesome you will start feeling.
5. Use chopsticks to eat
   1. You don’t know how to use them. Well watch this little tutorial and then practice away. Remember practice makes perfect, JUST DO IT! We love eating with chopsticks and wonder why we didn’t use them more at home. They are so cheap to buy and are actually lots of fun once you get going. Our 4 year old Lupita now eats all of her food with chopsticks too and she is left handed.
   2. You eat a lot slower, A LOT. I still have seen people shovel food with chopsticks so I know it can be done, but for most of us it is a lot harder to do so.
6. Introduce rice and noodles into your meals
   1. A Chinese diet includes a lot of rice and noodles. So our daily diet is no different, we eat rice and noodles 3 times a day.
   2. We have grown to love it. We feel like our meal isn’t complete if we don’t have some.
   3. White rice and white noodles is the color of choice. The Chinese actually feel that brown rice is in the same category as the plague, they avoid it at all costs and find it a bit insulting. What about all of the calories and the carbs in white rice? These people have been eating it for thousands of years and look better, live longer, and are healthier than anyone else. So I will trust them and stick with my WHITE rice. Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken!
7. Eat your left overs – don’t waste food or the money you spent on it.
   1. The Chinese know how to recycle and reuse things like no other society I have ever experienced. Coming from a consuming/disposing society this has been an eye opener. I will admit I really don’t enjoy left overs. I am not sure where my hatred for yesterday’s food comes from, but it has been there for sometime.
   2. Now we don’t make enough food to feed an army, we just make enough and if there are some left overs they don’t turn gross in the fridge over night. I am guessing it is because there isn’t pounds of butter or grease so the food looks very similar to what it did the day before. We rarely throw out food.
8. Don’t deprive yourself of everything – just don’t gobble it.
   1. Don’t think that we just sit around eating carrots and celery all day and that is how we lost all of our weight. We eat food we crave and love too. I am a sucker for a coke and a snickers bar. I don’t want to know how many calories are in there or how many carbohydrates. But I have one of my power pick me up doses about twice a week at least. Some afternoons I feel like I just need a little something to get me through the day and I run down to the convenience store and pick up my little snack.
   2. We crave McDonald’s and so do our kids, so about once a week we have our American treat. We either choose McDonald’s or KFC. It is much more expensive to eat MCD’s here than it is in the US, so that keeps us away too. We do not deprive ourselves and feel bad about eating some food that we know is extremely bad for us. Anyone knows that depriving yourself of the little joys in life will only throw you off the wagon sooner.
9. Don’t keep a stocked pantry of snacks or “just in case food”
   1. We come from a family that keeps food around in case the Apocalypse comes or maybe the next group of teenage boys. The problem with keeping all sorts of yummy food around is that you eat it when you aren’t suppose to. You might have will power, but we don’t!! Especially Zeek, he will go and snack on just about anything he can dig up at 11 or 12 at night. So we have eliminated having snacks around all together.
   2. If you have kids you know that they can and want to eat many more snacks than we do. Remember, you are teaching them their eating habits now. When their metabolism dies like ours has they will begin to pack on the pounds and not know why. This is the time to teach them about healthy eating and snacking habits.
   3. Everyone in China I encounter grabs an apple or some yummy fruit to snack on. That is considered their sweet, good food for thought.
10. Don’t use too many bottled spices, natural spices are best and really are all that you need.
    1. This might sound odd, but it is true. We use to have about 30 bottles of spices in our cupboard. I admit that I didn’t know how to properly use 28 of them. In our Chinese diet we use about 4 or five different spices in total. They are ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, chives, and soy sauce. The ginger, garlic and chives are cut freshly and put into the dishes. Why not use fresh seasons if you can.
    2. We believe it has helped with bringing out the natural flavor of our food and made all of our veggies extra yummy.

Source: internationalcravings.com

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Yoga for Weight Loss?

It can help you find your bliss, and some say yoga may also help you shed those extra pounds.

Jennifer Aniston does it. Reports are that Liv Tyler, Halle Berry, Madonna, David Duchovny and supermodel Christy Turlington do it, too. Many professional athletes are said to be doing it in an effort to improve their games.

The "it" is yoga, a sophisticated mind-body exercise many believe can do everything from tighten your buns to change your outlook on life.

But can this no-strain, work-at-your-own-level exercise really help you lose weight?

It's true most types of yoga don't have anything near the calorie-burning power of aerobic exercise. A 150-pound person will burn 150 calories in an hour of doing regular yoga, compared to 311 calories for an hour of walking at 3 mph. But it is exercise, after all, and many practitioners believe yoga can indeed help people take off extra pounds.

"Yoga is a phenomenal way to put you in touch with your body the way nothing else can, and yes, it can help you lose weight," says instructor Dana Edison, director of Radius Yoga in North Redding, Mass., and a certified personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine.

Celebrity yoga trainers Ana Brett and Ravi Singh, who have worked with such hotties as Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, also believe in yoga's weight-loss powers.

"We have seen it in ourselves, we have seen it in our clients – yoga can give you a real workout even if you are a beginner," says Brett, who, with Singh, created the best-selling DVD program Fat Free Yoga.

How Does It Work?

In 2005, medical researcher and practicing yogi Alan Kristal, DPH, MPH, set out to do a medical study on the weight-loss effects of yoga.

With funding from the National Cancer Institute, Kristal and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle led a trial involving 15,500 healthy, middle-aged men and women. All completed a survey recalling their physical activity (including yoga) and their weight between the ages of 45 and 55. Researchers then analyzed the data, teasing out other factors that could influence weight change – such as diet or other forms of exercise.

The end result: They found yoga could indeed help people shed pounds, or at least keep them from gaining weight.

"Those practicing yoga who were overweight to start with lost about 5 pounds during the same time period those not practicing yoga gained 14 pounds," says Kristal.

For the study, he says, practicing yoga was defined as at least one 30-minute session per week for four or more years.

Kristal says it's not clear just how yoga might help people keep off the pounds, at least from a scientific standpoint. His own opinion is that the effects are subtle, and related to yoga's mind-body aspects.

"The buzzword here is mindfulness -- the ability to observe what is happening internally in a non-reactive fashion," he says. "That is what helps change the relationship of mind to body, and eventually to food and eating."

Adds Edison: "Yoga makes you more susceptible to influence for change – so if you are thinking you want to change your lifestyle, you want to change the way you think about food, you want to get over destructive eating patterns, yoga will help give you the spiritual connection to your body that can help you make those changes."

Another idea is that yoga forges a strong mind-body connection that ultimately helps make you more aware of what you eat and how it feels to be full.

"Essentially, in yoga you learn your body is not your enemy, and the conscious awareness of the body that you gain translates into better appetite control," Edison says.

Power Yoga: The New Attitude

While some say yoga is too tame for extreme weight loss, many devotees of the practice known as "power yoga" disagree.

Power yoga is an Americanized version of traditional Kundalini techniques. Instructors like Singh and Brett believe it can offer all the fat-burning potential – and heart benefits -- of an aerobic workout.

While traditional types of yoga are based on breathing techniques paired with static poses, Singh says, power yoga combines meditative breathing with faster, more active movements. The result, he says, is a workout that can be more aerobic than . . . aerobics!

"Aerobic means to exercise in the presence of oxygen, so when you are doing the traditional yoga breathing along with the more active exercises, you're doing exactly that," he says. "Our 'breath of fire' technique, for example, is one of many we use to help you burn calories while you breathe."

Edison concedes power yoga may help some people lose weight, but she questions whether it could work for the yoga novice, or the average out-of-shape dieter.

"Can yoga build muscle? Yes. Is a fast-paced, power class aerobic? Sometimes. And can you sweat out water weight in a 105-degree room? Sure. But can the average overweight person effectively shed pounds through a one-size-fits-all physical yoga practice? Not realistically or safely," Edison tells WebMD.

What about using power yoga to jump-start a weight loss plan? Kristal says even the most forceful power yoga techniques won't equal the health benefits of a cardiovascular workout -- nor will yoga ever burn calories quickly at a significant level.

"It's just not medically feasible – it's not going to happen," he says.

Still, Brett and Singh say they've seen firsthand that it can work, even for beginners.

"People come to yoga for many different reasons, but we have seen many success stories in terms of losing weight and learning to control weight," says Brett. "Active yoga, even for the novice, can change your body and your life."

Making Yoga Work for You

One thing all our experts agree on is that yoga can be a terrific introduction to the world of fitness.
To help get you started, they offer these tips:

1. Practice in a room without mirrors, and put the emphasis on your internal experience rather than your outer performance.
2. Learn to experience the sensation of movement, down to the tiniest micro movement.
3. Always try to find your "edge" -- the place where your body feels challenged, but not overwhelmed. When you achieve this, keep an open, accepting state of mind.
4. Give yourself permission to rest when you're tired.
5. Combine your yoga session with positive self-talk. Appreciate your efforts and praise your inner goodness.
6. Go to class faithfully. If you work out at home, set a specific day and time for your yoga session and stick to it.
7. Recognize that you are not only working on your body, but are also working to develop qualities like patience, discipline, wisdom, kindness and gratitude.
8. Look for a teacher (in a class or on video) who you feel offers a balance between gentleness and firmness, and who inspires you to practice.
9. Recognize that simply buying a yoga DVD or attending the class is a step toward creating a better you. Use it as momentum to keep going.
10. Realize your efforts are not just inspiring you, but also inspiring others as you become more attuned to who you are, inside and out.

 Source: www.webmd.com

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Does Zumba Work for Weight Loss?

Lots of people swear by Zumba for weight loss, but does it really work?

The answer is of course yes, Zumba can help you lose weight but the important thing to realize is that the dance sessions are no magic fix for dropping pounds, it just happens to come in a package that most people don’t detest; instead of slaving away on a treadmill, you get to spend an hour or so dancing with friends and strangers to loud music. Because people find the classes fun, they keep attending, and that is what makes it work. My theory is that whatever gets you moving is good, and if it keeps you coming back because you enjoy it, even better.

If you want to use Zumba for weight loss, or if you’ve already been trying and haven’t seen the numbers on the scale budge yet, there could be several reasons why.


The problems with Zumba for weight loss

Not all classes are equally intense; you may be getting much less of a workout than other Zumba-ers.
I’ve done it a handful of times, I’m not a huge fan of it but it can be a good way to break up the monotony of the gym. Different instructors (and different gyms) have different class formats, songs, and dances, which leads to varying intensity levels when it comes to energy expenditure. In short, I have been to classes where in an hour and a half I break a sweat, and really get my heart rate up. It feels like a workout and it’s fun. The majority of the times I’ve tried it, however, I find that in 90 minutes, the dance moves have me barely moving, I haven’t broke a sweat, and I’ve got enough spare oxygen that I’m literally yawning.

If you’re trying to lose weight with the dance classes, be aware of how challenging it is for your own fitness level. If the Zumba classes you’re taking don’t get your heart rate up and you don’t feel challenged, don’t expect to start dropping weight just because you’re present for the class for an hour or two. It is a great starting place for those new to working out but you may need something more intense as you get more fit, depending on the difficulty of class.


Zumba does NOT burn 1000 calories an hour
The Zumba 1000 calories an hour myth is untrue and a misleading hype that is unfair for those who are truly trying to drop weight.


There’s no strength training component to Zumba.
Strength training is important for many reasons; a toned body that burns more calories at rest being among the more superficial motivators. It also prevents bone density loss, reduces chances of injury, improves posture, joint health, and the ability of the body’s muscles to support those joints, just to name a few benefits. If you want to use it for losing extra pounds, make sure and incorporate a strength training component as well and you will likely see that you lose weight faster.

Check out Fitness Blender Workout Videos to find home workouts that use bodyweight moves to build strength and tone the body.


What is Zumba?
It is a Latin inspired dance fitness class that usually lasts between 60-90 minutes. Typically instructors start with a very short warm up (after calling out all of the “newbies” to the class) and then go straight into the dance portion where you will be expected to burn calories shaking your thang to the tune of a blend of Salsa and hip hop music. Don’t be intimidated if you “can’t dance”; the majority of Zumba dance classes take place in the dark, often even with a disco ball spinning lights across the room. Plus, you can take comfort in the law of physics that everyone looks foolish when they dance.

If you don’t feel comfortable dancing around in front of strangers, you can always try the Wii Zumba Fitness game in the comfort of your own living room. Here’s a list of other games that let you draw the blinds and work up a sweat; Wii Games for Weight Loss.

Source: www.fitnessblender.com

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Why You Can’t Lose Weight

If you’ve ever thought—I’m a runner. Why do I still struggle to shed pounds? It’s not fair!—we’re right there with you, sister. Get the body you want without the headache by avoiding these common weight-loss traps.
Wonder why you can run 13 miles but can’t lose those 13 pounds? You’re not alone! Many runners have trouble getting down to a healthy weight and are naturally frustrated. Visit the finish line of any marathon and you’ll see runners of all shapes and sizes—and hundreds of people who can complete the grueling race but are still struggling with their weight.
Running is unequivocally awesome, but sometimes our beloved exercise falls short when it comes to fat loss. Every year, women decide to train for a big race as a means to drop pounds. But believe it or not, training for fat loss and training for a long-distance event are (almost) mutually exclusive objectives. To successfully train for a marathon, you need to make your body extremely efficient at running, so you can complete 26.2 miles using the least amount of energy possible.
To train for fat loss, you must avoid efficiency by constantly putting new demands on your body to burn the most amount of energy possible. Keep in mind, another word for “energy” is “calories.”
That doesn’t mean runners can’t lose weight. We just have to steer clear of common traps. If you are struggling with your size, never fear! Here’s how to overcome every obstacle . . .

TRAP

You run long, thinking that you need to keep going for at least an hour to burn fat.
Forget everything you learned in the 90s about the “fat-burning zone.” The latest research shows that running for less time is actually more effective for fat loss than running long and slow. A recent study published in the American Journal of Physiology discovered that regular 30-minute workouts resulted in more weight loss than regular 60-minute workouts. At the end of the 13-week study, the half hour workout group lost 8.8 pounds, while the one hour workout group lost 8.4 pounds. Scientists hypothesize that our bodies compensate as the exercise session drags on, thereby dampening the results.
In addition, a number of studies have revealed that high-intensity interval training is much more effective for fat loss than steady-state cardio. One study had a group of women perform 20 minutes of interval training on a stationary bike three days per week. Over 15 weeks, these women lost an average of 5.5 pounds (although some lost nearly 20!) without dieting. Those in a separate group who performed 40 minutes of steady-state cycling three days per week actually gained a pound of fat over the same time period.

Solution: Cut your workout time in half and step up your intensity. Try performing each of these workouts once per week:
* Using a treadmill, warm up by jogging for 5 minutes, then ramp the incline up (5 to 10 percent) and increase the speed to a pace that feels fast but not impossible (4 to 9 mph). Run for 8 seconds then place your feet on the sides for 12 seconds. Repeat this for 10 to 15 minutes.
* Find a route near your home with clear markers (e.g., telephone poles, short blocks, tightly-packed houses). Sprint to the first marker and walk or jog to the next. Continue repeating this pattern for 20 minutes.
* For more interval workout ideas, check out “No Time? No Problem!” on page 20.
RELATED ARTICLE: GET STRONG, REDUCE INJURY & BURN MORE FAT!

TRAP

You skip your post-run snack.
Many women avoid eating post-run in an effort to cut calories. Big mistake. After you work out, your body is crying out for fuel. Research shows that ingesting both carbs and protein in a 2-to-1 ratio post-workout will help replenish glycogen stores and shuttle protein into your muscles to help you recover.
If you skip this snack, your muscles can’t repair properly. This means the next time you work out, you won’t be able to go faster or work harder because you never recovered from your previous session. Remember, your body needs to be challenged in new ways in order to lose fat. If you can’t push yourself progressively harder, your weight won’t change.

Solution: Eat a 200-calorie snack with both carbs and protein 30 minutes to one hour post-workout. Good options include:
* A smoothie made with almond milk, one banana and a scoop of whey protein powder.
* One apple with two cubes of cheddar cheese.
* Two slices of deli turkey and a handful of blueberries.

TRAP

You never take days off.
Do you run day after day without giving your body a break? Keep in mind that you gain results while recovering from your workouts (as your body repairs itself), not from the workout itself (when your body breaks down). Whether you’re running for fun or training for a marathon, you must prioritize recovery as part of your plan. If you never allow your body to rest, it can’t become stronger and faster. Your workouts will turn into time spent going through the motions, and you won’t be able to push yourself hard enough to lose fat.

Solution: Take at least one day off per week to let your body recuperate. Get the most out of your recovery:
* Do nothing more strenuous than gentle stretching on your day off.
* Eat foods with antioxidants. Think: bell peppers, beans, berries and leafy greens.
* Sleep for seven and a half hours or longer every single night.

TRAP

You’ve been running for years, hoping that you’ll finally shed the pounds.
A longtime commitment to running is something to take pride in. Unfortunately, when it comes to weight loss, your body may have adapted. This is why women often see significant weight loss when they initially start running, but notice that these results wane over time. The first time you ever ran a mile, you may have burned 100 calories. Now that number is likely significantly lower because your body has become a finely tuned running machine. If you want to lose weight, you need to change up your program and start cross training.
Solution: Trade two to three days of running per week for cross training. The best cross-training workouts include:
* Weight lifting and strength training.
* Interval training on a bike.
* Sports-specific training. Join a soccer, basketball or Ultimate Frisbee team!

TRAP

You never lift weights.
Muscle is metabolically active and helps to burn calories and fat. When you are trying to lose fat, muscle is your best friend. If you have been putting in a lot of mileage, you may be burning muscle and slowing your metabolism. One study from West Virginia University compared aerobic training with strength training for weight loss. The aerobic group performed four hours of aerobics a week while the resistance-training group completed a few sets of 10 strength exercises three times a week. The resistance-training group boosted metabolism compared with the aerobic group, which decreased metabolism because of lean muscle loss.
Besides building muscle, strength-training workouts also increase your metabolism for 24 to 48 hours post-exercise, which will help you burn calories even when you’re not in the gym.
Solution: Schedule two to three strength-training sessions every week to build lean muscle and give your metabolism a boost. 

Source: www.womensrunning.competitor.com

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Fat Loss Through Nutrition

Cleaning up your diet will increase the effects of fat loss and give you more vitality. Learn how to eat smart with fiber, carbs and protein in your diet. 

Personally, I think that most people that want to lose weight claim that eating healthier is the largest barrier standing in the way of their goal. However, I do not believe that this is due to pure laziness. The lack of knowledge concerning nutrition is what I feel prevents the majority of people from starting or sticking with a diet. Companies have made, and continue to make millions off of this fact. Take your average fitness magazine; every month there is at least one new diet for readers to try out. Dr. Atkins (who just recently had a heart attack) has made a fortune off of his famous high protein and fat, low carbohydrate diet. So, what should you eat, how much, and how many times a day? That depends on you!

Being Too Strict

The biggest mistake that I have seen with dieters is that they go into a diet with the intention of being overly strict on what they allow themselves to eat. The problem is that when they slip up and cheat, they see it as absolute failure and quit the entire idea. The result is a retiring back to old, bad habits. This is called the Abstainence-Violation Effect and needs to be avoided at all cost. You need to approach dieting with a flexible mind set, allowing yourself to have food, here and there, that doesn't go along with the program. Otherwise, you will drive yourself nuts and end up worse off than when you started.
Dieting can be very simple, if you allow it to be. Fat gaining is achieved when you consume more energy, in the form of calories, than you expend throughout the day. Fat cells are simply cells that store excess energy. The only way to get rid of that excess energy is through burning off more calories than you take in, plain and simple. In addition to exercising more, cleaning up your diet will increase the effects of fat loss and give you more vitality.

Are Carbs Really the Enemy?

For some reason, Americans have this idea that eating carbohydrates is actually what makes you fat. This is true if you eat large amounts of high giglycemic index(GI) carbohydrates. The GI is a ranking of carbohydrates that refers to the amount of blood glucose that appears after ingesting a form of carbohydrates. High GI carbohydrates result in higher amounts of blood glucose, leading to higher levels of insulin following ingestion. Low GI carbohydrates result in lower amounts of blood glucose and insulin. The increase in insulin has been related to increased fatness in individuals tested. This is because insulin is the body's main anabolic hormone, increasing glycogen stores, protein stores, and fat stores. This occurs through activation of enzymes that cause cells to store these nutrients and inactivation of enzymes that cause a release of these nutrients from cells. Studies conducted have demonstrated that animals fed low GI diets were leaner and had lower blood glucose than animals fed high GI diets.

High GI Carbs

Sources of high GI carbohydrates are those that are high in refined sugar and refined starch, "starchy carbs". Examples of high GI carbohydrates are most cereals (cereals high in bran have a lower GI), white bread, potatoes, rice, popcorn, and carrots. Now, be reasonable, although carrots are high on the GI, a person would have to consume a large amount of carrots, daily, in order to get the full effect as you would from a normal serving of something like white bread. Sources of low GI carbohydrates are those that are high in fiber. Examples include virtually all vegetables (excluding carrots) and fruit. While fruit is high in sugar, fructose, it is low in glucose, which is why it is a low GI carbohydrate. Another reason why vegetables and fruits are low on the GI is because they both contain relatively larger amounts of fiber. Fiber cannot be digested and absorbed for energy by the small intestine. However, fiber can be broken down in the large intestine by bacterial flora. This process results in fermentation in the colon to produce carbon dioxide, alcohol, and/or an organic acid.

Fiber

There are two types of fiber, water soluble and water insoluble. Soluble fiber is rapidly broken down and fermented while insoluble fiber is not. Soluble fiber slows the appearance of glucose in the blood due to its viscous property. The viscosity of soluble fiber slows down the transit time of foodstuffs in the upper digestive tract, and lowering nutrient absorption rates. This, in turn, lowers the blood concentrations of ingested macronutrients, leading to lower amounts of absorbed energy. Other great sources of fiber come from melons, oat bran, psyllium, wheat, and whole-grain breads.

Eat Fat!

Fat should not be avoided. While fats are the most energy dense of all the macronutrients, they are a vital part of a diet. Diets high in saturated fats, such as lard, should be avoided. Saturated fats keep lipolytic enzymes (enzymes that break down fat for energy) dormant, thus promoting increased fat stores, not to mention the health risks that are involved in diets with high amounts of saturated fatty acids. Trans-fats are made through hydrogenation that solidifies oils (unsaturated fats). Sources include margarine, cookies, crackers, and most snack foods. Unsaturated fats, both mono and polyunsaturated fats are oils and are both healthy sources of fat, if taken in moderation/low amounts. This is because many unsaturated fats are essential; our body does not make them. Without these fats, our bodies would not function properly, and you need proper functioning if you want to lose fat. Great sources of these types of fats are olive oil, flaxseed oil, corn oil, soybean oil, salmon, tuna, cod, walnuts, peanuts, sunflower oil, and safflower oil.

Ahhh Yes, Protein

protein is the only macronutrient that has an RDA, Recommended Daily Allowance, and it is .8 g of protein/kg of body weight. A lot of the new literature is stating that athletes may benefit from increasing protein intake to 1.2-1.6 g of protein/kg of body weight. However, the typical American diet usually exceeds these amounts in a given day. Excessive protein is stored as fat just as excessive fat and carbohydrate intakes. If you do decide to increase protein intake, you might want to consider increasing water intake also in order to keep your kidneys healthy. Quality protein is important. There are nine essential amino acids that we must get from food. Eating a variety of protein sources will ensure that you are getting all nine of these amino acids. Quality sources are usually in the form of animal tissue such as beef, fish, chicken, and eggs. However, you can get all nine amino acids from mixing beans and corn. Also, tofu and enriched soy can also yield quality protein.

Tips to Chew on

I've listed many food choices that you can choose from when you get ready to start your diet. Don't forget to allow yourself room to cheat. Personally, I have a cheat meal once every 3-5 days. Here are some things to keep in mind!

1. Stay away from fried foods.
2. High fat foods make a person fatter if overconsumed.
3. Foods high in refined sugar and refined starches make a person fatter.
4. High GI foods make people fatter even when low GI foods have identical calorie content.
5. Eat in variety and moderation.
6. Avoid the Abstinance-Violation Effect.
7. Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits.
8. Eat between 3-5 meals per day.
9. Don't starve yourself.
10. Be positive.

Also, here are a couple of figures to keep in mind when designing your diet

• 50-60% of calories should come from carbohydrate.
• 20-30% of calories should come from fat.
• 10-20% of calories should come from proteins.

Source: www.bodybuilding.com

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28-Days-to-Lean Meal Plan

With the right plan and the right discipline, you can get seriously shredded in just 28 days.

 

You're training hard every day with your program, going heavy on the weights and sweating up a storm with cardio. Newsflash: While that's critical to your ultimate success, that's just not enough for you to lose the fat you want to.

To reach your get-lean goal, you must also follow a get-lean diet. Why? Even if you work out hard for an hour every day, that still leaves 23 more hours for you to wreck all your hard work in the gym with just one slip-up: a measly handful of chips, a beer with the guys or a burger at lunch. Diet is a huge, so to speak, part of the fat-loss equation. It's the backbone of your entire plan, the foundation of a hard body.

Bodybuilding nutrition consultant Jim Juge says nutrition determines your success or failure, plain and simple. "The diet is 65% of what you need to get in shape," he says. Juge would know, as he's helped countless dedicated people reach their goals, from achieving their best body ever to placing first in bodybuilding competitions.

You've got 28 days to get to your goal, so we've recruited Juge to help you every step of the way. He's adapted a traditional bodybuilding competitor's diet for a non-competitor (that means you!) who wants to look his best, shedding as much fat as possible in a very short time. With just under a month, there's no time to fool around, so commit today! Go to the grocery store and stock up tonight. Come breakfast time tomorrow, follow his plan as strictly as you can and get ready to show off those impressive muscles in a month.

Strict. Strict. Strict. This is your mantra for the next 28 days. There'’s just no way around the diet, says Juge, and eating clean is the name of this get-lean game. Juge'’s diet plan is filled with fresh, clean foods that are as unprocessed as possible. Here are his three simple principles to shed fat fast.

1. Eat at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, daily. If your protein intake is too low on a restricted-calorie diet, you'll lose a lot of muscle in addition to any fat you'’re lucky enough to shed. A high protein intake will help you preserve lean mass during your dieting phase. Choose lean high-quality proteins like egg whites, poultry, lean red meat and protein supplements. The diet provided here contains about 220-–250 grams of protein daily, fine for a male weighing 200-250 pounds. Up your protein only if you'’re heavier than 250 pounds, or you're very hungry and need to add food during the day. Juge suggests an additional protein shake for an easy quick fix. (If you'’re under 180 pounds, cut out 3 ounces of meat or chicken per day from the diet.)
2. Keep your carbohydrates low to moderate when trying to lose weight. "“On a low day you'’ll have closer to 100 grams of carbs,"” he says. "“A moderate day is about 150 grams of carbs." Juge prefers to rotate low and moderate days in order to keep energy high and provide a change of pace. Good, clean, fiber-rich carbs include oats, potatoes, rice and whole-grain bread.
3. Drink at least a gallon of water per day. It'’ll keep you hydrated and healthy. Water should be your primary beverage during dieting. Though many rely on diet sodas, Crystal Light and other low-calorie sweetened drinks, plain old water is really your best bet.

How to Stay on Track

Habits and cravings are the devil when it comes to dieting. Let's deal with habits first. Juge explains that it takes a good week or two to ease into dieting. "“Fast food is so easy and there'’s a McDonald'’s on every corner. The hardest thing is to develop the new habit of preparing your meals and taking them with you."” The first week is the most difficult, so prepare yourself for some challenges as you abandon your usual routine. For example, you might usually go out for a sub sandwich or burger at lunch. You"’ll now have to bring your food with you and resist the temptation of spicing up your meal with the Doritos in the vending machine or your usual can of Coke. It can be a real mental battle to stick to your food plan.

To stay motivated and deal with cravings, Juge has a couple of great recommendations. First, schedule a cheat meal on every seventh day. "Many of my clients have their cheat meal on Sunday, so then they're ready for Monday and the week to come," he says. If you feel deprived during the week, concentrate on the cheat meal to come, knowing you can eat absolutely anything you want to -- pizza, lasagna, doughnuts, beer, chips, you name it! Remember, though, it's just one cheat meal, not an entire day of cheating. Afterward, get right back on the wagon with your next scheduled meal.

Second, take a few photos of yourself to keep your motivation up. "Most of the people who come to me are doing it for a reason," he explains. "They're going on vacation, competing in a bodybuilding show, or maybe going to a reunion. I always have them strive for that goal. I take front, side and back pictures of them at the beginning and have them post the photos on their mirror at home. I tell them, just keep looking at that picture and think of what you'’re going to look like in a few weeks."

When it comes to cravings, protein drinks and bars may also help cure your need for sugar, says Juge. He recommends mixing a flavored protein powder in a blender with as much ice as possible, so it'll taste more like a milkshake. Day Five's protein shake includes a cup of berries, which will also help with sugar cravings. Once or twice per week, Juge adds, you can have a low-sugar high-protein bar. The newest varieties taste more like candy bars, with state-of-the-art sweetening techniques.

Your habits and cravings may both rear their heads at restaurants, where it's easy to blow your diet in seconds. To stick to the plan, says Juge, be diligent in ordering. "Ask them to grill your meat without oil or grease. Ask for steamed vegetables with no butter. Get a salad (no cheese) with either fat-free dressing or a vinaigrette." After his 14 years in bodybuilding, Juge testifies that he's found many restaurants are accommodating, so there's no reason to avoid them as long as they'll cook to your preferences.

What to Expect

Some men can lose up to 5 pounds per week, says Juge, if they follow the diet strictly. He recommends striving for a weekly 2-3 pound loss for more lasting effects. "That way it's not such a drastic change and you'll be less likely to put all the weight back on when the diet's done," he adds. Weigh yourself naked just once per week, at the same time, preferably on the same scale. That way it'll be as accurate as possible.

If you haven't lost any weight after the first week, it may be time to troubleshoot. In addition to following an exercise program, Juge's first line of defense is upping your cardio. Instead of one cardio session per day, he recommends doing 45 minutes of cardio in the morning, on an empty stomach. Then add a second 30-minute session in the late afternoon or evening.

If that doesn't stimulate weight loss, Juge's second line of defense is to cut carbs slightly. On lower days, drop to 60-80 grams a day rather than 100. Eat this low-carb diet for two days, then insert one higher-carb day (150 grams).

Think of your nutritional plan as the anchor to stabilize all of your other efforts. Eating right will help you shed fat, increase your energy and definitely look the way you want to. Follow this get-lean plan faithfully, and you'll be showing off your new, leaner body in less than a month.

3 Favorite Diet Foods

Here are Juge's picks for the top three foods to turn to when you're trying to shed fat.

Egg Whites - "There's no fat or cholesterol and they're pure protein. They're very easy to prepare -- they take just a couple of minutes to make."

Oatmeal - It's low in sugar, high in fiber and provides sustained energy. Choose the old-fashioned variety if you have a few minutes to spare, and the one-minute oats if you're in a rush. In a pinch, you can even rip open a packet of instant oatmeal (plain flavor only) -- just add hot water and stir.

Green Veggies - They're healthy and deliver many benefits, like fiber for improved digestion. They contain many valuable vitamins, phytochemicals and antioxidants for better health. Plus, they're bulky and fill you up for just a few grams of carbs per cup of veggies. (Quick tip: To quickly steam veggies, put an inch or two of water in a bowl, add veggies, cover bowl and microwave for 2-3 minutes.)

Maintain Your Gains

Your 28 days are up -- you look great and want to keep it that way. Juge has an easy plan to maintain your body, yet enjoy greater flexibility with your diet. Number one, he says, is to eat a good, clean breakfast. If you're at home, it's much easier to do - just scramble a few egg whites and have a whole-grain item (whole-wheat bread or a bagel, for instance) and/or some fruit. Eat dinner at home, again a healthy clean meal consisting of a lean protein source, green vegetable and whole grains. Then, bring a protein shake or bar with you to work for a midday meal. "You've now got three clean meals taken care of," says Juge. So if you're eating at a restaurant at lunch and you want to have something different, you can have it. Just keep the rest of your meals pretty strict, without added sugars and fats.

Source: www.muscleandfitness.com

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8 Most Extreme Weight Loss Methods

Getting Urine Injections

Just when you thought there were no more diets to try, here comes one of the strangest. The regimen involves a daily injection of urine. Sheryl Paloni lost 43 pounds and more than 30 inches in 5 months. That's when she heard about a very unorthodox weight loss program. The urine comes from pregnant women. Sheryl injected herself with it daily.

One weight loss counselor who offers the program said it's not the urine, but the hormone in it that takes off the pounds. “It's human chorionic gonadotropin,” said Iris McCarthy of Success Weight Loss Systems. She said hCG tricks your brain into thinking your body is pregnant. McCarthy said science has shown her hCG helps the body metabolize faster. “This will help you have patience to learn how to change your ways and change your relationship with food,” said McCarthy. (Link | Via)

Having Sex up to 7 times a Day

The world's heaviest living woman is burning 500 calories by having sex with her ex-husband.

Pauline Potter, 47, became the Guinness World Record holder for heaviest woman last year when she weighed in at 700 pounds, but she's managed to lose nearly 100 pounds in the last year by rekindling her romance with her ex-husband Alex. Married for three years, they split in 2008 but reunited when he heard about her Guinness title. It didn't take long for them to land in bed together - repeatedly.

Potter describes how her reignited sex life with ex-husband Alex has helped her lose 98 pounds. “I can't move much in bed, but I burn 500 calories a session –- it's great exercise just jiggling around," Potter told "Closer." Potter, who had been consuming 10,000 calories a day, hopes to reach her goal weight of 532 pounds with the help of Alex. The two have sex up to seven times each day. Alex, who weighs just 140 pounds, does most of the work in the bedroom.

Instaling a Nasogastric Dripping Tube

It's truly disturbing when doctors come up with seemingly fad diets that could prove dangerous, but that appears to be happening all the time and most of them are also pretty successful. The latest to join the trend is an American doctor who is providing a drastic and quick weight-loss method, the K-E Diet. It involves putting food into your body through the nose, using a dripping tube.

The K-E diet stands for Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition diet and is the work of Dr. Oliver di Pietro, from Florida. He promises to help anyone shed 20 lbs. in as little as 10 days. As part of the diet, dieters have to get a small nasogastric tube inserted into their nose going all the way to the stomach, through which a liquid solution drips constantly. The solution supposedly contains a mix of protein, fat and water and makes up 800 calories. A few hours of this and a process called ketosis is said to be triggered, which burns body fat due to the lack of carbohydrates. The fat is burned but the muscle and water in the body remain untouched. Dieters who want to achieve the best results aren't supposed to eat anything for a period of 10 days and also have to carry around the bag of nutritious fluid everywhere they go.

With Paintball Shots

Forget fad diets and gastric bands, the latest innovation in the war on obesity is fat busting paintball sessions. A UK paintball company has announced what is believed to be the world's first ever paintball fitness classes. During the sessions, people wanting to get fit will be invited to dodge paintballs while running an assault course, while the paintball centre's staff attempts to shoot them.

Organisers UK Paintball is targeting obese people with the sessions, which they believe will massively help with weight loss. The sessions will run as part of a ten week course, costing £199 per person, and it's believed that each participant can expect to burn between 800-1000 calories a time. Three or four shooters will be employed during the sessions to ensure that safe areas are kept to a minimum and that participants have to continue to run throughout.

Objects such as oil drums, felled trees, tyre walls and makeshift huts will all be removed to offer as little protection as possible to participants – encouraging them to keep moving and stay clear of the marksmen.

Having an Imaginary Gastric Band

A gastric band (the LAP-Band) is a restrictive band placed around the patient's stomach that gives the sensation of a full stomach after eating smaller portions of food, thus letting the patient eat less and lose weight without going hungry. But fitting the band requires surgery, with potential side effects – so here's a novel idea; making obese patients believe that they have an "imaginary" gastric band through hypnosis!

A therapist convinced Marion Corns, 35, she had had surgery to fit the band by talking her through the procedure while in a trance. Hospital smells were even pumped into the room to boost the effect. Housewife Marion, who has slimmed from 15st 6lb to 11st 7lb, said: “Bizarrely I can even ‘remember' being wheeled into theatre, the clink of the surgeon's knife and smell of the anaesthetic.”

She spent £780 on five sessions with a therapist at the Elite Clinic in Marbella after her weight ballooned despite trying numerous diet aids. Afterwards Marion felt her stomach had tightened and she was full up on just a small portion of food.

Now she is losing 3lbs a week and her dress size has plummeted from size 22 to 14 in four months.

With a Painful Tongue Patch

If you've tried all the diets under the sun and still can't lose weight, cosmetic surgeon Nikolas Chugay has got your back. Actually, make that your tongue. There is a new medical procedure that will help you lose weight by making it painful to eat.

The medical procedure involves stitching a small piece of polyethylene mesh onto a patient's tongue, making it painful to ingest solid foods and forcing a low-calorie, liquid diet. "The patch is a pattern interrupt," said Dr. Nikolas Chugay, the California-based plastic surgeon who developed the concept. "It is uncomfortable to eat solid foods, so people will all of a sudden remember, I am only to eat liquids."

Over 60 people have opted for the surgery, resulting in an average weight loss of 20 pounds (over the one-month period the postage-stamp-sized piece of fabric stays stitched on). "These are people who have been through every conceivable diet; they've tried everything and for some reason they just cannot stop eating," he said …

Using a Bite Counter Gadget

Mindless snacking is a problem for many weight watchers who might find they have polished off a box of chocolates while they are distracted by the TV. Now scientists have developed a device they say will help people pay more attention to what they consume by monitoring how many mouthfuls they eat. The Bite Counter is worn like a watch and tracks a pattern of wrist-roll motion to identify when the wearer has taken a bite of food. It was developed by researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina, who described it as a pedometer for eating.

Spending a Week at 8,700 feet Altitude

Psst – wanna lose weight while eating all you want and doing no exercise? No, it's not a spammy Internet ad – it's real science! All you have to do is live a while at high altitude.

Overweight, sedentary people who spent a week at an elevation of 8,700 feet lost weight while eating as much as they wanted and doing no exercise. A month after they came back down, they had kept two-thirds of those pounds off.

The scientists ferried 20 overweight, middle-aged men by train and cable car to a research station perched 1,000 feet below the peak of Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze. During the week-long stay, the men could eat and drink as much as they liked and were forbidden from any exercise other than leisurely strolls. The team measured the men's weight, metabolic rate, levels of hunger and satiety hormones before, during, and after their mountain retreat After a week up high, the subjects lost an average of 3 pounds. A month later, they were still 2 pounds lighter. The scientists' data showed this was likely because they ate about 730 calories less at high altitudes than they did at normal elevations. They may have felt less hungry, in part, because levels of leptin, the satiety hormone, surged during the stay, while grehlin, the hunger hormone, remained unchanged. Their metabolic rate also spiked, meaning they burned more calories than they usually did. A high-altitude weight loss strategy could be viable, though studies have shown peoples' appetites bounce back after about six months at high elevation, Leissner said. “If you could do intermittent periods for one week, then go down, and then go back up, this might actually be helpful.”

Source: oddee.com

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