Correct diet and moderate exercise are the cornerstones of any healthy weight loss program. Any advertisement or person that tells you otherwise does not know the basics of the human metabolism. The human body is a fantastic machine that stores fat for a reason. To lose weight, it is extremely important for a person to analyze why he or she put on weight in the first place. Was it bad food choices, stress, lack of exercise, pregnancy or some other condition? The reason for weight gain also shows us the path to weight loss and fitness. Before embarking on a healthy weight loss program it is critical to identify what went wrong. Once we know what the reason or reasons could be, we can work on designing the best possible program for long term fitness and health. This article looks at some common reasons for weight gain and a healthy weight loss program to combat it.

Weight Gain Due To Pregnancy

It is important to realize that the human body changes somewhat after carrying and delivering a baby. It is perfectly normal for a new mother to carry a few excess pounds in the first year. Trying too hard to lose that may cause more stress to the nursing mother than anything else. It is important to start thinking in terms of overall fitness rather than some specific weight goal especially if it’s just a matter of a few pounds. Stay focused on eating healthy and moderate exercise and there is no reason why you won’t come back to your original weight in due course.

Weight Gain Due To Age

As we grow older, our metabolic rate drops making it easier for us to put on weight. We also lose a substantial amount of muscle mass and gain fat which again has a lower metabolic rate compared to lean muscle. Most importantly, our activity levels decline also bringing down with them our calorific expense. The only way to get over weight gain due to age related factors is to either cut back on eating or exercise for weight loss. One great way is strength training which helps build muscle which in turn leads to sustainable and healthy weight loss.

Weight Gain Due To Stress

This is perhaps one of the most common factors of weight gain. Almost all overeating can be traced back to some kind of stress or the other. Unless a person is too young or illiterate, they know the kind of food that is healthy for them. Binge eating on unhealthy food once in a while does not lead to substantial weight gain. It is only consistent abuse of the body and total disregard for food choices over a long period of time that makes a person obese. If you are unable to control what you put in your mouth, then you may have a deeper problem for which you need counseling or at least self introspection. Once the demons of the mind are laid to rest, it will be easier to follow a healthy weight loss program.

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Some people think Metabolism is an organ or a human part that influences digestion. How wrong can they be? Metabolism is a word that defines the process of converting food into energy, yes it’s that simple!

You have probably heard this word being said from time to time; unfortunately people tend not to understand the concept of metabolism and metabolic change. There tends to be a lot of information about this subject and, from my own experiences, I know a lot of the information I come across on the internet to be inaccurate, this is why I have decided to help you understand. As normal with these concepts there are always a lot of opinions and speculation that get in the way and end up being the reason that so many people receive mixed messages.

There are scientifically proven methods to increase your metabolic rate, enabling your body to burn calories faster than it would have done previously. In turn, this would burn far more calories than it would have normally done before. Although speeding the rate of your metabolism burns calories faster, it also means that your body requires more food to sustain itself; this is not often a recommended method for general weight loss. Whilst I do not recommend this method to improve your weight loss results, the method is a good way for sustaining your weight loss in the not too distant future.

Eating certain foods more frequently is a way speed up your metabolism. It is advised that before you attempt to speed up your metabolism you start exercising and reduce the amount of calories that are consumed per day in order to start weight loss, using this method to begin with will enable you to lose weight at a steady rate until it is appropriate to attempt changing the speed of your metabolism.

It is also your metabolism that makes your hunger feeling, when your body has converted food into energy your body will tell you that it is time to eat, so having a faster metabolism will make you feel hungry more frequently as your body needs more energy to sustain itself. This is also a reason for keeping your metabolism at a slower rate when starting your weight loss program. Having a slower metabolism will keep you feeling full for longer and reduce cravings for food.

Every year millions of people that try to make a weight loss, fail miserably and often they realize that they are unable to successfully speed up their metabolism, this isn’t their fault, and it just doesn’t help when there are many external influences hindering their weight-loss. Starting your weight loss program using low scoring foods on the glycaemic index will help by making you feel full for longer and help prevent external influences.

SDG Tip – We advise you to keep your metabolism at the basal rate until a significant weight loss is achieved and you are following a stable diet and a suitable exercise regime.

An example of an external influence that causes people to get mixed messages about trying to speed their metabolism up is all these companies offering products which are low in fat. This makes the product more appealing, but these companies do not want you to know the real impact of these products on your body because otherwise they wouldn’t achieve those sales targets they are aiming for! What they do not tell you is that the low fat product that they are offering you actually contain carbohydrates and proteins that are laden with calories, unfortunately it is very likely that if you don’t burn them your body will actually change them to fats and store them. So essentially you are putting weight on without knowing how and why.

Metabolism is not only affected by the foods that you eat throughout the day, but also by the amounts of food in the meal and the timing of the meals during that day. It was recently agreed that a major contributor for speeding up the metabolism was the size and timing of your meals in a diet. As it has been for years it is seen that there are 3 meals a day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but recently it was found that if more, smaller meals are eaten throughout the day the body’s metabolism will increase and food will be digested quicker.

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Were all aware that water is best for us. But is everything else we think we know about drinks equally true?

1. Carbonated drinks are no more fattening than still drinks – TRUE

Bubbles in drinks are carbon dioxide, the same gas released by the body every time you breathe out. There is no evidence that carbon dioxide makes you fat. The issue with fizzy drink – or still cordial or squash – is the calories. So choose a low-sugar variety.

TIP – invest in a traditional Soda Stream machine to brighten up water, or sugar-free squashes.

2. Tea and coffee cause dehydration – FALSE

Caffeine acts as a mild diuretic, and while it is true that the water you retain after drinking a cup of plain H2O is marginally greater than if you have tea of coffee, this effect is tiny in comparison to the very much larger quantity of water you absorb. This means that a cup of tea or coffee is a good way to stay hydrated. Choose decaffeinated varieties if you want to limit your caffeine intake. Avoid adding sugar and use low-far milk to keep calories low.

TIP – Try herbal teas as an alternative low-calorie hot drink

3. Drinking more water helps to burn fat – FALSE

To lose weight you must eat fewer calories than you need so that your body draws the extra energy from its fat stores. Drinking more water will not help. The reverse is also a myth – restricting water intake is not effective. Any weight losses will be short-term and your body will rapidly adjust to retain extra water to meet your needs. Plus, this can make you feel dizzy and light-headed.

TIP – Flavored waters can often contain surprisingly large amounts of sugar – so watch out!

4. Drinking wine every day is good for the heart – TRUE

People who drink very small amounts of alcohol do seem to be healthier than non-drinkers, but having more than just one or two units per day increases the health risks. With larger glasses and stronger wines, many people are consuming far more alcohol than they may realize – or want to believe!

TIP – Dilute white wine with mineral water, or alternate alcoholic drinks with a soft, low-calorie mixer.

5. Smoothies are just expensive fruit juice – FALSE

Analysis shows that most smoothies are higher in Vitamin C and Fibre than fruit juice and also contain higher levels of antioxidants. This is because they contain, at least in part, the whole fruit. The leading brands of smoothies typically contain around 1.5g fibre per 100ml, compared to only 0.1g in freshly squeezed orange juice. Most people eat far too little fibre for good health, so the added fibre can make an important difference. Compared to fruit juice, this extra fibre may also help you to feel fuller and keep hunger at bay. Given their high fruit content, smoothies are high in sugar, too – about 12g per 100ml – so you’ll need to count calories. A typical 250ml serving has about 120-150 calories, but they do count towards your 5-a-day.

TIP – Try making your own – it’s a great way to tempt children to try new fruits!

6. A sports or energy drink after exercise is best – FALSE

These drinks are useful for competitive athletes to boost performance, but water is sufficient for most people, most of the time. Sports drinks contain as many calories as regular squash and you risk swallowing far more than the calories you have burnt off in exercise within just a few minutes. Many “energy” drinks also contain caffeine.

TIP – For maximum refreshment, make sure water is fresh and cool. Add sugar-free cordial if you prefer something flavored

Knowing the facts about liquids is a great way to aid Weight Loss, after all doing a session of exercise and then taking an Energy Drink which has High Calories will have a negative effect on your progress.

Many more Tips for Fast Weight Loss are available in the Simple Diet Guide.

Before you decide which machine to go on or what exercise to do in the gym you need to know your goals and what exactly you want from the gym. This article has been designed to help somebody who is starting out trying to lose weight by joining the gym.

Firstly I need you to understand that your body naturally chooses the way it utilises energy through a number of factors, the major factor you need to know is high intensity exercise makes your body turn to faster methods of using energy, and this means sugars (carbohydrates) get utilised instead of fats. To burn fats more efficiently you need to be doing your training aerobically, (the age old test is to try and hold a conversation whilst doing your exercise, and if you find this difficult it is a good indicator that you’re probably trying too hard).

Training at a lower intensity for longer is better than training at a higher intensity for a short period of time, remember this and pace yourself in the gym for an optimum workout.

Although training in this energy zone will improve your fitness I advise against letting your heart rate rise above 160 beats per minute and to try and stay in the 140 – 160 heart rate zones. You can measure your heart rate a number of ways, some machines have built in heart rate monitors, you can purchase a heart rate monitor from a store (good ones can count calories burnt). I suggest the Polar range of heart rate monitors I personally haven’t been let down yet by this range. You can also measure your heart rate manually, but you may find this difficult whilst trying to exercise.

The machines that I propose you decide to use in the gym are as follows: -

1. The Exercise Bike – Very good for a lower body work out, easy to control your heart rate through intensity and work load.

Tip – Join a spinning class if your gym does them, you will really enjoy them, it is something new and you will burn a lot of calories doing so.

2. The Stepper/Cross Trainer – Very good for an all round body workout, works the core muscles like crazy and you burn a lot of calories in the process.

Tip – Take extra care to find a setting that is comfortable, the longer you spend on this machine the more weight you will lose.

3. The Treadmill – Yeah you guessed it, Walking and jogging are unbelievable ways to lose weight, hit the 140 – 160 heart rate zones we talked about and the pounds will just drop off.

Tip – If you find walking/jogging too monotonous and boring and feel like doing more, try adjusting the incline, not only will you burn more calories but it actually feels like your climbing a mountain!

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Did you know that weight training isn’t just for those of you who are trying to put on weight, bulk out and have the ability to pick a car up?

Weights are for everyone, it just depends on how you approach it. Lifting weights is actually one of the biggest tools in the weight loss locker, and many of you are overlooking it due to the fear of putting weight on.

Lifting weights is an ideal way of boosting your metabolism, not only do you burn a good deal of calories whilst doing the weights, your body also continues to burn a large amount of calories during muscle repair over the following 24 hour period. Eating food high in protein within an hour of weight training will ensure that your muscles repair effectively and will get you ready for your next weight training session. Try to limit your weight training sessions to 2-3 times per week, a lot of my clients tend to rotate the muscle groups they train in order to stagger the muscles you use in each session, rest is exactly what your muscles need to ensure maximum results.

You will get the best results if you ensure that your training sessions have breaks of at least a day between them. I.E Monday, Wednesday and Saturday would be a perfect way to break down your weekly workout.

Tip – When you weigh yourself do not be put off by small weight gains to begin with, this is just a perfect indication that muscle weighs more than fat, and that you are being successful in your weight loss journey.

The type of weight training you do dictates the results you will receive, for example if you train for strength; this will increase the strength of your muscle fibres, burn large amounts of calories with no side effect of putting on any bulk. By the way all the conventional methods of training such as press-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups are perfect examples of strength training.

If you wish to take strength training to the next level it is best to join the gym, they have all the equipment that you need in order to work every single muscle group in your body. The more muscles you can work out the better results you will get and the more calories you will burn.

The direct benefits of strength training are as follows: -

• increased endurance and flexibility

• increases your energy levels

• protection of your joints (good for injury prevention)

• an increase in bone mass (this helps with prevention of fractures and degeneration from osteoporosis)

• And boosts your metabolism (the key reason weights are important in the weight loss game).

Tip – Ensure that when you finish your cardio workout you follow it with some strength exercises, this way you will burn a huge amount of calories in the workout itself, plus a huge amount in the following 24 hour period. This will make for some exciting results in a matter of only weeks.

You will receive Huge Weight Loss benefits, as well as getting that perfectly lean attractive body that everyone wants by using the Simple Diet Guide