пятница, 24 сентября 2010 г.

Although, there are some myths we should be suspicious of following:

Believing that eating a little less and going on a diet will get the results you seek.
If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. You did not pack on those extra pounds overnight.
Don't expect a miracle pill to be the answer.
Dieters should not be focused on the pounds but on what is actually lost. Losing water and muscle weight is not
desirable.

During the dark age of dieting, people assumed that all they needed to do to get rid of excess weight was to eat
less. Focus on some of the suggestions in our healthy weight loss and healthy diets section and you will be on

the right track. Fast Weight Loss can be a surefire sign on future health problems.
You can lose weight quickly if you focus on the basics which are increasing your metabolism, exercise and good
nutrition. Starvation diets simply do not work. They usually can accomplish a desired objective for the short term
but are known for creating a yo-yo effect where the weight gain returns faster and furious.

Attempting 100% perfection on your nutrition program all the time is a sure fire recipe for failure.
If you have a strict time frame for fat loss, then this is okay, but for most folks, it's a disaster that's just waiting to
happen. Nutrition for weight loss doesn't mean starvation or deprivation but moderation. We don't have to give up
the foods we love and enjoy. It's okay to include modest amounts of treats in our nutrition plan.
The important hting to remember is that Weight Loss Supplements are only one part of the equation.
If you think that you will shed all of those unwanted pounds by simply ingesting a pill you will be sorely
disappointed.

However, if you are looking for a supplement to aid in the losing excess belly fat and you simultaneously
engage in excercise, cleansing and good nutrition you have solid science to assist you in reaching your weight
loss goals.

The Truth About Weight Loss and Weight Loss Programs



Millions of people try to lose weight every year.
Some opt fot the harsh speedy techniques.While Others
look to change bad habits. Here at SkinnyASAP you will
find that our purpose is
to be an objective voice in
defeating the battle of the bulge.

We tell it the way we see it. If we think a weight loss
program doesn't measure up, that is how we report it
regardless how slick the companies marketing and
celebritiy endorsements are.
Diet Plans are a dime a dozen.

All you need to do is go to a bookstore and you will
literally find
thousands of books in the diet section
that all promise to help you lose weight. The problem
is that weight loss is not that complex.


Weight Loss is not an easy task. Likewise, it does not have to be impossible or treachorous either.
We have reviewed over 2000 leading weight loss pills to make your job easier. We also have lots of
Healthy Recipes to make the journey that much more enjoyable and tasty.
We are huge proponents of
Healthy Weight Loss.

What we mean by that statement is that we have discovered that many weight loss programs are
actually harmful to your health. If you focus on our advice you will hear us say over and over
again, that you need to get your body in motion to increase your metabolism, change your diet
and focus on good solid nutrition. Weight Loss Information is everywhere you look online.
However, the question we ask is how much of it is actually beneficial and will help you should
those unwwanted pounds. Our Weight Loss Tips are simple yet effective.

For example, were you aware that MonoSodium Glutamate (MSG) which the authorities claim is a preservative is
actually an excitotoxin which means that it tricks the brain into thinking you are hungry.
We do a lot of research on health and nutrition and nothing makes us angrier than the food industry intentionally,
producing food that causes you and I not only to be addicted to it, but makes us fat!
They do this by adding MSG to just about everything we eat! The challenge is finding foods that do
not have MSG in them. Several members of SkinnyASAP have actually lost over 20+ pounds in a relatively short
period of time by simply eliminating MSG from their diets completely.
That is the type of common sense aadvice that we endorse here at SkinnyASAP.

If you want to know how to lose weight fast you will definitely find answers here at SkinnyASAP.com.

While there are various kinds and combinations of weight loss programs to choose from, the most effective diet plans are the combination of a healthy diet and exercise.

четверг, 23 сентября 2010 г.

Exercise to Lose Weight – What Really Works



You can increase your weight loss by increasing the amount of exercise that you participate in during the day. This does not mean that you have to join a gym, or run a 5-K every other day. What it does mean is that you need to increase the amount of productive movement that you participate in each day. Walking is a great form of exercise, with little impact on your joints. You can enhance your health and weight loss further by walking 20 minutes a day at least three days a week. However, you can also increase your movement patterns by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking on your lunch break around the block, march in place while waiting for the copier to print out your work, and walk around the block after you eat breakfast and dinner at home. To improve your motivation have a friend join you and have a walk and talk date where you can catch up on the local gossip while you exercise. You will find that walking with a friend where you can have a pleasant conversation will help the mile(s) go by faster and with less effort than if you walk alone. If you need more motivation to start a walking program, join a walking club in your hometown. You can often find thee kinds of clubs by going online. Not only will joining a club help motivate you to walk on a regular basis, it will also provide you with moral support. Other fun forms of exercise include swimming, bicycling, belly dancing, yoga, tai chi, or even fencing. Find a few exercises or sports that you enjoy and mix them up during the week. In order to keep things interesting don’t do the same things every day. Have fun and try new sports and activities. Keep your body guessing what you’re going to do next.

What Are The Best Exercises To Lose Weight?


Exercise is not a miracle. This does not mean you need to work out for hours and hours. There are a wide variety of work outs; some of them are efficient, while the other is not much. But their aim is to affect the groups of muscles and is appropriate for fitness levels and also helps in burning calories more successfully. You need to follow some effective work outs that would help you in producing an effective weight loss.

1. Walking: Your exercise routine must involve a cardio work out that helps to make your heart strong and burn extra calories. Walking is a type of exercise which you can perform anywhere you like and at any time according to your convenience. It does not require any machines or equipments. Walking is not only for people who have just started doing exercises. Brisk walk can help you to burn around 450-500 calories in an hour. Initiate walking at a slow pace and then gradually end up when you complete half an hour. It is good, if you lengthen your walk before increasing your speed.

2. Interval Training: Either you are a beginner or a walker and an aerobic dancer, if you include interval training in your work out routine, it will pump up your level of fitness and help you in the process of weight reduction. At this level, you need to slow your pace and then increase for say, a minute and then again your need to make your speed steady. Repeat this to get an expected outcome.

3. Squats: Strength training is significant. In order to burn more calories, you need to have more muscular fitness. Squats aims at multiple muscle groups. The most important thing in performing squats, you must know how to perform them effectively, if you are not performing it appropriately, it is useless and does not lead to loss of weight. In order to perform it accurately, keep your back straight and the knee must remain over the ankle.

4. Lunges: Similar to squats, lunges also works with the important muscles of the lower part of the body like gluteals, hamstrings and quadriceps. A lunge is an outstanding work out. These are more advanced than squats. It also aids in enhancing the balance. The process of lunges is first you need to take a large step in front, maintaining your spine in the neutral posture and bow your front knee to ninety degrees concentrating on keeping weight on the back toes and dropping the knee of your left leg towards the floor. If you want to perform lunges more effectively, you are required to step at the back and to each side also.

5. Push Ups: Pushups helps to make your chest, shoulder, triceps and the core trunk muscles stronger at the same time. It can be performed at any stage of fitness. 6. Abdominal Crunches: This can be proved as an excellent exercise, if done accurately. It helps a lot in weight reduction program. Copyright © Ryan Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

Most Effective Weight Loss Pills

Losing weight is said to be associated with many studious workouts and tasteless diet plans. This is the reason; it becomes a great turn off for many who think of losing weight . But there is another option out there which can help in losing weight and that too without taking any sort of fad diets or painstaking physical workouts. There are many such weight loss pills in the market nowadays because the number of such folks is increasing who are into taking weight loss pills to achieve their desired goals. The list of such pills can be very long but not all these pills are effective. Most of them are attached with one or the other type of side effects. Here are some most effective weight loss pills that are said to have no side effects.
Hoodia weight loss pills
These pills are very famous for their effective weight loss results. These pills are sad to be comprised of totally organic ingredients that not only help in burning fat but also in reducing the food carvings. T s said that a very special ingredient of hoodia diet pill helps to befool mind that the body is not hungry. In this manner, it tends to stop us from taking the extra calories that we can consume while following our blind food carvings.
Proactol weight reduction pills
Proactol has been declared the best weight loss pill for the year 2008. This pill is said to have miraculous effects when it comes to lose weight . It helps in losing weight by burning the fat and binding it up to 28 percent. This pill has been taken by such a massive number of people and they seem to be very happy with the efficient results of this pill. Proactol is also said to minimize the appetite and food carvings.
ProShape RX weight reduction pills
It is also said to be a very effective weight reduction pill. The good thing about it is that it is comprised of totally herbal ingredients. It aims at reducing the fat storage and helps in increasing the body digestive system and fat metabolism. It means that this pill helps in burning the fat and makes the body to use it as a source of energy. In this manner, proshape RX pill helps in the ejection of the waste materials lying in shape of extra fat in our bodies and it maintains the assimilation of different required nutrients by different bodily functions.
Liposafe weight reduction pills
These pills are being formulated on the thermogenic basis. It means that these weight reduction pills naturally help the body in burning the calories and using the fat as a source of energy.
So, these are most effective weight loss pills that have marked a margin of success for them in the realm of weight loss.
If you are looking for information regarding most effective weight loss pills then I would recommend you to visit weight loss articles

Five Steps to Weight Loss

The basic fact of weight loss is when you use 3500 calories more than you take in, you loose one pound. There are tons of fancy programs, workouts and supplements that promise something more. Most of these cost a lot of money. At the end of the day, you need to burn more calories than you take in. Here are five steps you can do to increase the calorie burn and decrease the calorie intake.
Step 1 - Knowing your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is a key component to losing weight . You use energy no matter what you’re doing, even when sleeping. Your BMR is the number of calories you would burn if you stayed in bed all day.
Your BMR decreases as you age. Depriving yourself of food in hopes of losing weight also decreases your BMR. A regular routine of exercise can increase your BMR, improving your health and fitness when your body’s ability to burn energy gradually slows down.
Step 2 - Increase your activity. Just from the BMR, a petite woman of 45 burns around 1200 calories a day. A large man in his mid thirties burns 2200. Most of us are in the middle. This is just for existing and breathing. You want to burn a few more calories with some activity. Whether this is running, walking or mowing the lawn, you are doing good by adding more. There are plenty of fun activities that burn a few hundred calories in one hour.
The goal is to be active. Moving your body and mind burns calories. Not all activities are the same. One can quickly burn an extra 500 calories a day with little effort. In one week that is a pound if you do nothing else.
Step 3 - Eat Less / Eat More. We want to eat less at each sitting. We also want to eat more often. Eating more often keeps your hunger at bay. Eating smaller amounts is simply putting less in you. Focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other non-processed foods. These can keep you filled longer and give you the energy you need.
A great goal is to have 3 meals a day not to exceed 500 calories each and 3 snacks a day not to exceed 250 calories each. An average active male can burn 3000 calories a day between BMR, one decent workout and everything else one does in a normal day. If that same person stuck with the meal plan, he would consume 2250 calories. A net difference of 750 calories. That is 6.5 pounds a month before exercise.
Step 4 Create a Food Log - We have a bad habit of underestimating how many calories we eat. A little bite here or just a taste there, it all counts. A single triscuit has ten calories. Eating from carton of ice cream is a good way to consume 3 or 4 servings and 500 calories.
The best way to keep yourself honest is to create a food log. Writing down everything you eat is a great way to not go over a calorie limit for the day. On days you eat great, it will be hard to keep it under 2000 calories. On days you are bad, you will see it grow to over 4000 calories.
Step 5 Set Realistic Expectations - Losing weight is not easy. It took you a long time to pack it on. It will take a while to get it off. It can come off faster than it goes on though. It takes work and discipline. The benefit is you live longer and live better.
Expect ups and downs to come. Plateaus will be there also. A big secret to get past these times is to change the diet or exercise routine. You can essentially confuse you body.
You are not going to lose 30 pounds in a single week, so do not expect to. Stick to a good daily plan and create the lifestyle choices to keep the weight off

Exercises Regularly to Lose Weight

The only way to lose weight and keep it off is to exercise regularly. And working exercise into a hectic schedule may be difficult, but it can be done. All you need to do is to evaluate your day. There is always a way to work in exercise, but of course, you have to want to do it and you have to be persistent.
Some people find that walking is an easy way to exercise. You can strengthen the heart and burn calories at the same time. All you need is a good pair of shoes. Simply by taking a brisk walk, you can burn up to 500 calories per hour. Start by walking for five to ten minutes and then work up to a thirty minute session.
The great thing about this exercise is that there are lots of places where you can walk. Anytime it is possible, leave the car at home and walk. Depending on the area where you live, you may find that simply parking father from the mall entrance will give you an opportunity to get in a little exercise. Make time to walk through the mall, you will be surprised at how much exercise you can get just doing some window shopping. Using a treadmill is a great way to exercise in your home. You can work out while you watch the news.
Fortunately, there are several exercises you can do to help burn calories and strengthen your body. Squats are excellent because they target the muscles. The perfect form is to keep the feet shoulder width apart and your back straight. Bend the knees and lower the rear end. It is much the same as sitting down in a chair; only the chair is not there. This exercise when done in repetition can help to strengthen the quadriceps, which is particularly helpful to those who have knee pain.
Exercise is really quite easy to incorporate in your daily life, if you want to do it. You can exercise the arms and legs while sitting at a desk. The real key to exercise is repetition. Choose to exercise at certain times of the day and be sure that you are doing enough of the exercises to make it worth your time.

How Do I Lose 10 Pounds in 2 Weeks

I know you are tired of hearing the same things over and over again, such as eat healthy, and exercise regularly to drop the fat fast. I know what you mean, I’ve tried starvation diets and lots of exercises, but I still failed, and if I did lose some weight, I gained it back in a short time period.
You don’t have to go through this anymore because I’m about to reveal some of the things that helped me drop the pounds fast, as much as 16 pounds in 10 days. Here’s a few helpful tips.
#1. Show your commitment
Prove to yourself how committed you are to losing weight . Start by creating a journal, and record make a list of all the things you want to accomplish, and keep track of your progress along the way. Don’t forget to weigh yourself once or twice per week to keep you motivated.
#2. Two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
Take 2 tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar with each meal everyday. This powerful liquid gently releases fat cells from the body which allows you to burn fat more efficiently. I usually mix 2 tablespoons with a 12 ounce glass of water 10 minutes before a meal.
#3. Fat burning exercise
It’s true that walking outside briskly is one of the best ways to burn calories each day. Walking without doing any other exercise can literally transform your body, making it lean and toned, but you have to do it daily. I walk every morning for an hour. I know it seems like a lot, but it’s not. It really is the easiest exercise for many people.
#4. Eat 4-5 meals a day
Try to eat at least 4-5 meals per day. This will dramatically boost your metabolism, but the meals should be small and satisfying.
Try to eat a meal within 45 minutes of walking because your body will be still in it’s fat burning mode after walking, and eat dinner about 2 hours and a half before bedtime.
Following these tips to lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks is very important if you are serious about shedding the fat fast. Do this and you will see a big difference soon.

Weight Loss Methods That Fat Person Should Do

Stop drinking anything that has calories
I’ll give you one exception - protein drinks. If that sounds difficult, I’m going to show you how to do it.
I used to love drinking Coke and Mountain Dew. But I changed all that in a matter of days by doing one simple thing. And this little step continues to save me thousands of calories every week.
And this is how I did it.
I started adding a couple of Stevia packets to the water I drink. Stevia is a natural substitute for sugar. This is not to be confused with all the other sugar substitutes that are unnatural man-made chemicals. And the water tastes exceptionally sweet. My cravings for Coke and Mountain Dew were gone in about three days.
It was that easy.
Make sure to eat breakfast everyday - and make sure it contains plenty of fiber and protein
Beyond a doubt, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It sets the tone for the rest of the day. A great ideal breakfast is half a can of black beans with scrambled eggs. That’ll get you going. They completely satisfy your hunger and rev your metabolism for the rest of the day.
After eating a nutritious breakfast, you’ll notice that you don’t crave junk foods as much throughout the remainder of the day. A scoop of protein powder added to rolled oatmeal is also a great breakfast if scrambled eggs and black beans aren’t your favorites.
This is the ideal fat person weight loss method to put into play.

10 Tips For Fast Weight Loss

Losing weight can be a challenge, especially if you have many pounds to shed. It can be difficult to sift through all the fad diets, and downright dangerous supplements and pills on the market today. How do you know what works and what doesn’t? Whom should you believe?
Here are 10 no-nonsense tips for fast, healthy weight loss :
1) Drink 8-10 glasses of water each day - this helps flush your body of impurities and fat. You can also substitute a few glasses of water for green or herbal tea.
2) Break up your meals into 5 or 6 smaller ones - this will help speed up your metabolism and keep you from getting too hungry in between meals.
3) Increase your fruit and vegetable intake - these are packed with vitamins.
4) Decrease your fat intake - try for no more than 20 grams per day.
5) Exercise for 30 minutes each day - take a walk, or play a game with your kids. Just get moving.
6) Find a hobby - take up knitting or painting to keep your hands busy.
7) Don’t eat that late night snack - Try not to eat for at least 2 hours before going to bed.
Listen to your body - your body will tell you when it is full, hungry, stressed, tired. Learn the signs and obey what your body is telling you.
9) Increase your fiber - choose whole grain pasta and bread.
10) Cleanse and detoxify - this may be the most important. Rid your body of harmful toxins and chemicals, while allowing it to function normally.
Cleansing is an important part of long-term weight loss success. Our bodies are laden with insecticides, pesticides, lead, and dozens of other harmful substances. These chemicals clog our internal organs and our bodies respond by coating these chemicals with layers of fat.
One way to cleanse your body of harmful impurities is by using Acai Berry. This fruit is a nutritional powerhouse and will get your body functioning normally again, so it can fight illness and disease. It will also allow your body to burn calories and fat faster and more efficiently. You will see a faster rate of weight loss, and you will be able to keep it off.
Acai berry has many health benefits as well, including increased circulation, increased metabolism, and increased mental clarity and focus.

5 Useful Tips to Weight Loss Permanently

You may lose weight last week, but this week you got fat again, and then you need weight loss again and again. Anyways to weight loss permanently? What is happening? you lost your weight so are you gaining it back now? And WHY are you gaining back your weight? You did everything that the latest diet product taught you, letter by letter, you only stopped this diet a week ago, and this diet program promised you permanent weight loss! You want your money back!
I’m sure you’ve been through this scenario, if not personally, you then know somebody who has: they’ve used the latest diet program that promised them weight loss in 3 days along with a permanent weight loss to follow, only to backfire: the fat returned, and that with a vengeance, and it seems it’s here to stay.
Well, truth is a permanent weight loss needs something more than following the latest fad diet program. It needs a complete shift in perception, action, diet and life style. But you don’t need to worry: this can be achieved gradually, with a minimum of effort and definitely with fewer sacrifices than the previous heavy diet requested of you.
So if you are after a permanent weight loss, you absolutely need to follow these few easy 5 steps:
1. Reduce fats in your daily food. Reducing fats will help with your goal because high fat foods have more calories than regular food, sometimes the ratio is as much as 2:1
2. Start eating more fruits and vegetables. This one is easy. With each lunch make sure you have sitting next to it a nice plate of fresh vegetables: one cut cucumber, a tomato, a nice green fleshy pepper, maybe a half peeled carrot. If you like, pour a healthy salad dressing on it to enhance the taste. When you get hungry, start munching on an apple, or a banana, or a pear.
3. Before go grocery shopping, eat. Have a sandwich, a healthy snack, or even a regular meal. Whatever you do, don’t go shopping on an empty stomach. You tend to buy much more stuff when you’re out hungry, and the ‘more stuff’ will invariably contain a lot of things that are not healthy for you, a lot of fast food, sweets and alcohol.
4. Start exercising. A permanent weight loss requires a shift in the way you act physically. Start slow, go for a walk every second day. Go to a gym and do Aerobics, or Pilates, or even yoga 3 times a week. Take up swimming. Swimming is not only good for weight loss, but it really strengthens the muscles of your entire body and will really bring out your abs.
5. Shift your thinking. You need to start thinking ‘health’ instead of ‘diet’. When we think of diet, we associate it with pain, with struggle, with difficult choice of foods to go through. Health means looking younger, better, and enjoying life more. Once you have a healthy attitude, everything will come along just nicely.
Start with any of these 5 tips, not necessarily in order, and not even necessary to do them all now. Start small, but start somewhere and don’t give up. Start with little thing, and once your brain and your body gets accustomed to the change and accepts it, you will know. And then, make the next small change. Before you know it, you have embarked on a permanent weight loss journey, which is here to stay, permanently.

The Ways For Long Lasting Weight Loss

In fact, many fat people can lose weight quickly, but most of fatter cann’t get long lasting weight loss. Why we cann’t get lasting good weight? Let’s show you some tips about long lasting weight loss.
When it comes to weight loss we are taught how to eat and how to exercise but the common and vitally important component that almost always gets overlooked is learning how to think right. Yes, when it comes to creating long-term weight loss, mind over matter is where you need to focus your energy.
This is not to say that you can abandon diet and exercise and just sit in a corner and wish yourself slim. But I am saying that if you neglect to pay attention to the thoughts you are allowing in your head then you are making weight loss much more difficult then it has to be.
How do you keep your thoughts in line with your goal?
1. Identify limiting thoughts. So often we let thoughts just drift into our head like a broken record and very rarely do we stop to consider how these thoughts are affecting our behaviors. For instance, if you go on a diet yet you are constantly filling your head with thoughts such as, “I hate to diet.” “I can’t wait till this is over.” How do you think that will affect your weight loss journey? I would have to say that it will either make you struggle or it will cause you to crash and burn.
2. Once you identify a limiting thought let it go. What we don’t always understand is that our thoughts are not a physical part of us. Therefore they are free to pass in and out of us. When you hear a limiting thought pop into your head ask yourself if you could simply let it go or release it. With very little practice you will find that any thought can be easily released.
3. Focus on the positive outcome. Research has shown that those who focus on the positive expectations of their goal are much more likely to reach their goal than those who focus on the negative side of a goal pursuit. Create a mental picture of how you will feel and look when you reach your goal and constantly redirect your mind back to that positive vision.
If your goal is long-term weight loss, mind over matter is what you need to focus on. Not only will you find your results come much faster but they will also come with less effort.

3 Best Exercises For Fast Weight Loss

If you want to lose weight fast , then these are 3 of the best exercises for fast weight loss that I have listed below that will help you lose weight in record time.
Losing weight is not difficult when you have the right information, at the right time, and the right tools to put it to use. I am going to give you the right information, you have to decide the right time, and the tools, in this case, are adjustable to your needs. If you will do these exercises on a consistent basis, week in and week out, then combined with a good diet, you will lose weight fast.
3 Best Exercises For Fast Weight Loss
1. Interval running: Running has the potential to burn more calories per amount of time worked than any other exercise there is. No, I don’t mean jogging. Although you can use walking, then jogging as a way to prepare yourself to be able to run in the future. Interval running is just running with short breaks in between. For example: run for 30 seconds, then take a 30 second break then repeat.
2. Rowing: I love rowing. Rowing is a complete body workout and can be done outside on a lake, in the comfort of your own home, or at a gym. It burns a lot of calories and builds lean muscle.
3. Squat Presses: This exercise is well known to trainers and athletes alike, but not to the mainstream. It is simply taking a dumbbell or a barbell, then doing a squat. As you come to the top of your squat, you press the dumbbells (or barbell) above your head and then bring it back down and repeat. This exercise works every large muscle in the body and if done with short rest periods can be a good cardio workout (gets the heart rate up).
If you really want to lose weight, and want to do it fast, then you will have to use exercise. If you do these exercises 3-5 times per week (and be sure to mix it up), then you will reach your weight loss goals.
Not only are these exercises popular exercises for weight loss, they are the 3 best exercises for fast weight loss.

How to Lose Weight Forever?

Over half of America needs to lose some weight… however only a tiny portion of us actually know how to control our diet! Let’s go over some basic weight loss and dieting steps not to just lose weight , but to get healthier!
Step 1
First you have to understand that dieting should never be a quick and easy little trick that makes you lose weight and fat at the snap of a finger. It is more a way of life, not a one time deal. So when you decide to live healthier, not to just look better but to live a longer and fuller life, then please read on.
Step 2
Understand EATING IS NOT YOUR ENEMY! How many times have we heard from obese people: “I’ve only eaten once today… I’m on a diet.” This is THE WORST way to get healthy! You know who eats like that? Bears… tigers… lions… we are human beings, let us live like one.
Step 3
Use eating as a tool to lose weight. Do you know that eating actually makes you burn calories? Of course it does… the stomach is one of the largest organs in the body, and uses energy/calories just like your quads or brain does. Yes, most times what you eat will outweigh the calories spent on digesting the food. However, how about closing the gap between the two? Imagine eating a quarter pound of celery or a quarter pound of rocky road ice cream… both are mostly water , but I assure you, one will help you lose weight more than the other.
Step 4
Now we know WHAT to eat, the next key is, WHEN do we eat? To put it simply, you want to make your body work often for its food, and feed it when it wants it real badly. This means eating 5-6 times a day, and try to eat your largest/heaviest meal within one hour after a good workout when your body is yearning to burn some grub to rebuild itself. This is also the best time to take in some protein, like a steak or even a hamburger.
Step 5
I know what you are thinking… That is a lot of food, there is no way I am losing weight ! Well this is the problem. When I go to an average American restaurant, I see mostly fit people either order small or take a lot of food home. The obese people? I NEVER see them take a doggy bag. That is the issue… portion control. Eating 2500 calories a day in 2 meals of 1250 cals each is devastating to you as opposed to eating five 500 calorie meals every 2-3 hours. In the first case, your body works twice in the day… second case, your body works 5 times. Do the math.
Step 6
Not ALL fat is bad for you! In fact, most people quit dieting because it makes them feel miserable doing it. Who wants to eat celery 3 times a day, and then steamed fish for dinner, and just an apple for the last snack? I like apples, don’t get my wrong, but eating like that will make you feel hunger pangs ALL day, and the psychological stress will not allow you to keep that diet up. Instead, workout and EARN that steak (better make it a 4-6 oz now, careful!) and have some veggies on the side.

What a good method of fast weight loss?

Your body won’t release fat stores if you lower calories below what it needs and increase exercise. It will slow your metabolism to compensate and store every spare ounce as fat. If you continue lowering your calories, it will continue lowering that set point, til you can survive off nothing and store fat on anything.
You will lose more body fat eating protein and fat (don’t eat protein alone) than not eating AT ALL. To lose weight fast eat all you want but nothing but meat, eggs, healthy oils, mayo, butter and half an avocado a day (you’ll need added potassium). Keep the calories high and the fat percentage high, at least 65% of calories. Adding in green vegetables & some cheese will continue weight loss but at a slower pace.
If you starve yourself by lowering calories lower than are needed for the body to function, your body will freak out and will want to store every ounce in case it doesn’t get nourished again. You need to give it adequate nourishment so it doesn’t slow your metabolism down to adjust for lower calories.
Simple carbohydrates (sugar, flour, bread, cereal, pasta, potatoes, rice) triggers insulin which can store the calories you eat into fat. The more protein you eat the more the fat burning hormone glucagon is released. The more carbohydrate you eat the more the fat storage hormone insulin is released.
Simple carbs are addictive and can be disastrous to our health. The best way to break the addiction is NO carbs for 3 days. Make a huge batch of deviled eggs and eat one every time you want “something” have huge omelets for breakfast, with bacon, a lil onion, peppers, mushrooms & cheese. Pork chops for lunch. Get pork rinds and eat them with tuna salad. Steak for dinner. Make a huge sugar free cheese cake for dessert. Eat so much you won’t feel deprived of anything. By the fourth day, your addiction will be gone and you can start making healthy choices.
High insulin levels unbalance other hormones. Controlling your insulin level will balance out other hormones & allow human growth hormone (HGH) to be produced naturally so you will gain lean muscle even without exercise. Any exercise will greatly increase your muscle mass with high HGH levels.
Once you get near your goal, you start adding 5 carbs every 3 days til you gain weight, then you subtract 10 carbs. That would give you your personal carb level (everyone is different and it depends on how active you are.) As long as you remain <9 carbs per hour, you will maintain insulin control, and shouldn’t gain weight. Many people gain weight on high carb, then switch to low carb to lose weight & then are shocked when they return to high carb that they gain weight. Many people can return to moderate carb levels but very few can really eat all they want of sugar and maintain weight or health.

What’s a great diet for fast weight loss?

Basic Diet Consists of 3-4 days of eating the following foods at each meal (4-5 meals/day):
4-5 oz of fish, chicken, lean beef, turkey
4 cups of veggies of these types (broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, brussell’s sprouts, collard greens, spinach) - these are usually frozen and I measure out 4 cups total of any combination of them
1 tablespoon olive oil
seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, hot sauce, soy sauce - anything without calories). No need to limit salt intake here if you like to salt your foods.
Supplements consist primarily of:
Specially formulated blend of Antioxidants
Specially formulated blend of High-Potency B-Vitamins
Ripwire
Branched Chain Amino Acids (a lot!)
Several other esoteric supplements like 7-Keto (I’ll go into these in detail at a later time).
Then, every 4rd or 4th day my diet consists of (really!):
Pancakes
Haagen-Daazs ice cream
Snickers bars
Rice
Bread
Donuts
Pasta
Ice cream shakes
Fill in with your imagination…
Amounts? AS MUCH AS I COULD STUFF INTO MY BODY. I averaged 6,500 calories on these days.
Doesn’t sound right? Doesn’t sound possible? Doesn’t sound healthy?
Well…
The proof is in my fat loss — so I must be doing something right
As for health, my cholesterol is less than 170, my HDL/LDL ratio is great, my triglycerides are very low, and every indicator of health on a recent bloodwork was exceptional.
I WILL BE HONEST HERE!
The last 3 weeks or so coming up I’ll be a lot less liberal on the all-you-can-eat junk food days. In fact, I’ll only have a high carb meal at the end of the day on Monday and Thursday for the next 3 weeks. This is only in order to get to the very low bodyfat levels.
HOWEVER….
Remember what I’ve been eating along the way and still lost all this fat. I’ve done so NOT in spite of what I’ve been eating (important!!!), but a result of WHAT I’ve been eating, INCLUDING all of the junk food. Junk food has ACCELERATED MY FAT LOSS to this point.
This means if you want to get to a significantly good shape, you DON’T have to give up your favorite junk foods. In fact, you should PLAN THEM into your diet every 3-4 days. If you don’t, then you WON’T get the results you’re after — TRUST ME!
Then, when and IF… your progress stagnates should you then do the restrictions I mentioned I’ll be doing over the next 3 weeks.

What are your remedies for fast weight loss

You need to eat lean meats (chicken, fish, turkey, lean beef) , low gi fruits (apples, bananas, pineapple, oranges), green veggies (broccoli, celery, green lettuce, spinach), only whole wheat breads (look on the package and see if the first ingredient is whole wheat flour, if it is it should be good unless it has high fructose corn syrup like Mrs Bairds does). Jillian Michaels from biggest loser has a great quote, “before you eat your food ask yourself, does it have a momma or did it come from the ground? If not don’t eat it.” Eat 5 - 6 small meals a day, this will increase your metabolism and help you to not feel so hungry in between meals. It’s all about portion and calorie control regardless of what food you are eating, but remember cleaning up your diet and eating X amount of calories of lean good healthy foods instead of X amount of calories of candy bars (I know you are probably not eating 4 candy bars a day but its just an example) will help you lose it faster. The leaner you are eating the faster you will lose it, and you will get a toned healthy look instead of a skinny jiggly look. You also need to drink at least 8 glasses (8oz) of water a day. Sometimes hunger is mistaken for thirst so if you are hungry drink 8 oz of water and wait 30 minutes, if you are still hungry then eat a light healthy snack. Water also helps you feel fuller longer and helps flush out toxins that may prevent fat loss. Also allow your self a cheat day (but don’t go over board and eat everything in sight or like 5 cakes in that day). Allowing yourself a cheat day once a week will help cut out cravings… Think of it like a reward if you did well with your diet and exercise that week have a piece of pie… If not just stick with you healthy food. You can find recipes for decent tasting healthy foods on sights like bodyforlife.com and bodybuilding.com and also on recipe sights like allrecipes.com, foodfit.com, cookinglight.com and foodnetwork.com
You need to do a good mix of both cardio and strength training, strength training is not going to make you look like Arnold, I promise (unless you are taking test). Toning and building muscle strength will help you lose fat quicker as you will be burning calories all day to feed your muscle tone instead of just while you doing cardio activity and it increases metabolism. Running, walking, rollerblading, swimming are good cardio work outs. You can also get some at home videos. I personally like Gilad’s Kick boxing, ten minute solutions videos (ten minute solutions are good because they have 5 ten minute segments and you can do one or all five or three or what ever you want to do at the time and they have a variety, like dance, pilates, yoga , etc.), shape and woman’s health videos. Get your self some 5 pound dumbbells or a gym member ship and do bicep curls, push ups, sit ups, squats, dead lifts, lunges, tricep over head extensions, chest presses, shoulder presses, etc. You can do most of this on your own if you just go and buy some free weights, but a gym membership is helpful as well. If you do end up getting a gym membership I would consult a personal trainer (most memberships come with a free session) they can show you what to do and come up with a meal plan for you… You can find the videos I mentioned on the web at collagevideo.com, or at ross (cheap cheap at ross) or walmart or any other place that sells dvds.
Lastly, don’t get discouraged, it takes time… you should be losing 2 pounds of fat a week safely, more is not typically safe. but you could gain weight especially if you are gaining muscle. So if you get on the scale and it says you’ve gain two pounds don’t freak out… just look in the mirror and go by how your clothes look and feel on you.

5 Superfoods for Weight Loss

1) Grapefruit. Ever tried the grapefruit diet? Turns out there may be some good research to back up grapefruit's reputation as a fat fighter. In a 2004 study at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California, researchers investigated the effect of grapefruit on weight loss and found that eating half a grapefruit before a meal can actually help people drop weight. The researchers studied the effect of grapefruit capsules, grapefruit juice and real grapefruit. All three seemed to help, but the folks eating the real grapefruit got the best results. The mechanism isn't completely understood, but the results speak for themselves. As an added benefit, grapefruit contains cancer-fighting compounds like liminoids and lycopene, and red grapefruit has been shown to help lower triglycerides. And half a grapefruit has only 39 calories.

2) Sardines. Sardines might just be one of the greatest health bargains of all time, and they're a boon to anyone wanting to lose weight. First of all, sardines are loaded with protein, which helps stabilize blood sugar, makes you feel full and helps stimulate metabolism. Second, they're a great source of omega-3s, which not only strengthen the cardiovascular system but also are helpful in boosting mood. (And when you're in a good mood, you tend to crave less junk food!) Third, sardines are convenient, easy to find and cheap. And because they're very low on the food chain, they're remarkably free of contaminants, such as mercury and heavy metals.

3) Pumpkin. You may know this vegetable for its central role in Thanksgiving celebrations, but it's also one of the greatest weight-loss foods ever. Plain old canned pumpkin is absolutely loaded with fiber and has a mere 40 calories. Dozens of studies confirm that high fiber intake is associated with a host of health benefits, including weight management. Pumpkin is also among the easiest food in the world to prepare. You can sweeten it with your favorite low or 0-calorie sweetener, sprinkle it with blood-sugar-lowering cinnamon and nutmeg for good measure, throw in some healthy almonds and make it one of the best tasting weight-loss treats around. It's filling and delicious.

4) Grass-Fed Beef. Meat is a great diet food -- if it doesn't contain antibiotics, steroids and hormones. Eat grass-fed beef and avoid the health concerns that go along with eating meat while getting all the terrific benefits. Buffalo burgers are a good alternative if you can't find grass-fed beef. High-protein diets are associated with weight loss for a variety of reasons: Protein stimulates metabolism, helps you feel full longer and helps decrease the desire to overeat. Grass-fed beef has a high omega-3 content, giving you multiple health benefits into the bargain.

5) Green Tea. This natural weight-loss stimulant might not be a food, but green tea is still a great slimming solution, not to mention that it's rich in antioxidants, promotes heart health, aids digestion and regulates blood sugar and body temperature. It raises the metabolic rate and speeds up fat oxidation, thus helping people lose weight. Drink it daily to boost your metabolism. Some research has shown that five cups a day is the magic number for fat loss. As an added benefit, the theanine in green tea is also a great natural de-stressor.

superfoods for weight loss

Steak
Beef has a rep as a diet buster, but eating it may help you peel off pounds. In a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women on a diet that included red meat lost more weight than those eating equal calories but little beef. "The protein in steak helps you retain muscle mass during weight loss," says study author Manny Noakes, Ph.D. Try to consume local organic beef; it's healthier for you and the environment.

Eat more Grill or broil a 4-ounce serving of top round or sirloin; slice thinly to top a salad, or mix with veggies for fajitas.

Eggs
Dig in to eggs, yolks and all: They won't harm your heart, but they can help you trim inches. Women on a low-calorie diet who ate an egg with toast and jelly each morning lost twice as many pounds as those who had a bagel breakfast with the same number of calories but no eggs, a study from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge reports. "Egg protein is filling, so you eat less later in the day," says David Grotto, R.D., author of 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life (Bantam).

Eat more Omelets and scrambles are obvious choices, but if you can't cook before work, bake a frittata on Sunday; chill it and nuke slices for up to a week. An easy recipe: Vegetable Frittata.

Kale
Long sidelined as a lowly garnish, this green belongs center stage on your plate. One raw chopped cup contains 34 calories and about 1.3 grams of fiber, as well as a hearty helping of iron and calcium. But kale's earthy flavor might take some getting used to. Spinach, another nutrient powerhouse, is a milder-tasting option.

Eat more Mix chopped raw kale into cooked black beans, says Jennifer Iserloh, founder of Skinny Chef Culinary Ventures, in New York City. Or slice kale into thin strips, sauté it with vegetable broth and top with orange slices. Make it a meal by tossing the mix with quinoa.

Oats
"Oatmeal has the highest satiety ranking of any food," Grotto says. "Unlike many other carbohydrates, oats—even the instant kind—digest slowly, so they have little impact on your blood sugar." All oats are healthful, but the steel-cut and rolled varieties (which are minimally processed) have up to 5 grams of fiber per serving, making them the most filling choice. Instant oats contain 3 to 4 grams per serving.

The Best Foods for Dieting

The Five Best Dieting Foods

Fresh or frozen vegetables.

Shop locally and choose vegetables that are in season whenever possible. This helps ensure freshness and taste. And, when your vegetables taste their best, they need little in the way of seasoning, so you avoid excess fat and salt.
When fresh isn’t possible; frozen vegetables are nutritionally comparable. Foods like frozen broccoli and frozen green beans are also among the best diet foods and they taste nearly as good as fresh.

Fresh fruit

Choose fresh fruit and eat it whole and unprocessed. Processing typically adds unnecessary sugar to your fruit.
Don’t substitute fruit juices, as they often have added sugar. They also lack the fiber of whole fruit, which helps you feel full.
Lean protein

Prepare your meats from scratch, rather than purchasing frozen, breaded and processed meats. Fresh meats taste better and you can control the amount of fat and salt added to them.
Have protein at every meal because it will help you feel full longer and will help you keep your blood sugar stable. Stable blood sugar helps you hold on to fat.
Whole grains

It’s time to get away from white flour and choose whole grains instead. Whole grain products are minimally processed and they have far more fiber and nutrition than their white flour counterparts.
Buy whole grain pastas, wheat and grain breads, oatmeal and brown rice. In addition to being more nutritionally sound, whole grain products are also one of the best dieting foods because they help keep blood sugar stable.

Green Tea

Green tea is one of the best diet foods for two different reasons. The first is that it is filled with anti-oxidants, so it helps to prevent serious illnesses like heart disease, high blood pressure and even cancer.
But, green tea also contains catechins that increase metabolism. And, though your metabolism is working overtime, when you rev it up with green tea you don’t feel any side effects, such as a fast heart rate.
All of these foods are foods you probably already enjoy. Preparing them yourself, rather than buying processed versions turns them into the best diet foods, because you eliminate all that extra fat, salt and preservatives.
You really can enjoy all your favorites while you lose weight, as long as they’re prepared and eaten sensibly.

Read more about The Best Diet Foods by Food and Weight Loss

5 of the Healthiest Weight Loss Diets

1. The Weight Watchers Diet

Weight Watchers has been around since the 1960’s and has been ranked over and over as one of the most successful plans.
Weight Watchers is a healthy weight loss diet because you can eat a variety of foods, so you never feel deprived. It offers you support and teaches you portion control, which is one of the most important skills for keeping weight off.

Read more about 5 Healthy Weight Loss Diet Plans by Food and Weight Loss
2. The Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet is the original low carbohydrate diet. It works by keeping your body in a state of ketosis, which ensures that it burns fat for energy.
In the first two weeks, you eliminate all carbs; eating only protein and some vegetables. No fruit, no grains and no sugar at all during this phase.
This is a healthy weight loss diet because it helps control your blood sugar levels to help you burn more fat. However, you should not stay on the first phase past the first two weeks.
3. The South Beach Diet

The South Beach diet is lot like Atkins, so it is one of the healthy weight loss diets. After the first two weeks, South Beach allows more carbohydrates than Atkins.
The diet’s focus is on eating the healthier carbs and eliminating the unhealthy ones, like white flour and sugar. Many people like this diet better than Atkins because it allows a wider variety of foods.
4. Nutri-System

Nutri-system is one of the healthy weight loss diets because it tells you exactly what to eat. You order your meals and have them delivered to your home. They come to you pre-portioned and balanced with good carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
You will also eat some fresh vegetables and produce that you prepare yourself. This diet is foolproof as long as you eat only the foods sent to you along with the other items allowed.
5. The Zone Diet

The Zone diet is a healthy weight loss diet because it focuses on finding the perfect nutritional balance of 40% carbohydrates, 30% fats, and 30% protein each time we eat.
This helps control insulin levels, much like low carb diets do, resulting in serious weight loss. This diet helps you learn to avoid processed and simple carbohydrates.
Healthy weight loss diets are the right way to take the weight off and keep it off. These diets help you to lose the weight while eating foods that provide you the nutrition that your body needs to be healthy and thin.

Sleep Well

Sleeping is one of the greatest and the quickest ways to weight loss. In addition, it is considered as the most effortless way to lose weight. So the power of sleeping well needs to be understood. It is crucial for a weight loss plan. Medical researches prove that sleep deprivation can induce hunger and in turn increase the appetite. This usually leads to excessive or over eating. On the other hand, good night’s sleep of about 8 hours will help you to bring the balance back to the level of leptin and in helping out in weight loss.

Start Exercising

Working out is certainly one of the most effective ways to lose weight and to enhance general health. A proper diet can help you to lose weight. However, they may not be able to perk up physical fitness, stamina, mental state and flexibility. On the other hand, regular exercises can help to attain several other advantages in the way.

Low Calorie Consumption

You can reduce calorie intake gradually. Put a check on the amount of calories you intake every day. This is the most strategic approach that will be helping you out to cut down binging and snacking that would be clearly sending you back from where you started.

Reduce Size of Protein Intake

Eat in small portions every day. Make a plan to eat 5 to 6 small meals at a regular interval of about four to five hours. This will be of help in boosting the metabolism rate and also in appetite suppression. It causes to burn out your additional fat without too much of physical effort.

Intake Lots of Water

This is one point which you must have heard over and over again. It’s really helpful. Drinking water help to replenish your entire system and the same time it helps to lose weight. Water is fluid which in a straight line passes through your colon. Drinking enough of water can help to flush out all the toxins and the unwanted fats. Make it a routine to drink at least 8 glasses of water regularly to attain best results.

Avoid Eating Junk Food

All your efforts to reduce weight will prove unsuccessful, if you are unable to resist the temptation of eating processed and junk foods. These mainly include fast foods and the other snack foods like fries, pizza, chips and others. All these foods include a poor nutritional value and hence it doesn’t make sense to carry on consuming them.

Here are 6 most important weight loss diet tips to help you.

If you are in favor of the conventional way to diet and exercise, then following the weight loss diet tips given below will be of great help:

Tackle roadblocks.

Is inertia a problem for you in the morning? "When the alarm clock sounds, it's easy to hit the snooze button," says Bryant. A workout buddy can provide motivation. "If you know someone is waiting for you, counting on you, you'll go. Once you go, you're happy you went. Once you get past that inertia, you're glad you did the workout."

Know your options.

What kind of exercise - or physical activity - will get you out of bed in the morning? A yoga video, walking, a workout session at the YMCA? Figure out what will motivate you.

Set your program

Decide what works best for you, such as 8 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. "You don't let anything interfere with that," advises Thompson. "That's not to say once a month something comes up you can't exercise. That's OK. It's when you're making excuses three, four, five days in a row -- that's a problem. It's got to be the highest priority because it's your health."

Analyze your morning schedule.

"You'll find there's a lot of free time there," says Gerald Endress, ACSM, fitness director at Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical Center. "People tell me it takes them two hours to get ready for work. It's not that they're prettying themselves up - they're basically just wasting time. But when they start exercising in the morning, they find they use their time better. One guy told me he got to work 20 minutes earlier on days he exercised. If you've got a structured period of activity, you know to keep things moving."

Don't limit yoursel

It's OK to eat breakfast food for snacks, lunch, or dinner. "You can eat a hard-boiled egg or cereal any time, not just breakfast," Stokes advises.

Buy healthy frozen entrees

hese have really improved," says Rolls. "They have more whole grains in them now, and they seem to be getting tastier. If I'm traveling and can't get to the grocery store, I make sure I have frozen entrees on hand."

Do it yourself

These are great prepare-ahead healthy meals that will keep you feeling full and help you control your weight:

Make a dried-fruit-and-nut mix for emergency snacking. (Be wary of granola, since it typically has lots of sugar, says Stokes.) Pack small amounts in a little plastic bag - great for the car or office.
Cook a big pot of homemade vegetable soup, which can be frozen for several lunches or dinners.
Try smoothies - blend low-fat yogurt and fruit - for a grab-and-go meal.
Mix up big salads or a pasta primavera with lots of veggies and whole-wheat pasta. Prepare large quantities so you can have a moderate-sized helping for dinner and then have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Plan healthy treats

ow-fat cheese or yogurt, hummus with veggies, and fresh fruit are great choices. Keep them at home; take them to the office. That will help you eat the right foods when you're starving - especially in the late afternoon, during drive time -- and when you finally get home at night.

Shop wisely

A well-stocked fridge and pantry can make it easier to grab a healthy snack or prepare delicious meals that are also good for you. Keep basics like these on hand: low-fat milk and yogurt, eggs, peanut butter, a variety of fresh fruits (include berries and grapes) and vegetables (include carrots and celery), soybeans, garlic, whole grain pasta/bread, fish, and high-fiber cereal.

Consider your options.

Keep lists of healthy foods and meals you love, and plan accordingly, adds Elisabetta Politi, RD, MPH, nutrition manager at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical School. "I advise people to think of five different breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. Then you'll have some freedom - you can choose from your favorites. But your eating will be more structured. That's what's important."

Use weekends wisely

When things are a little quieter on weekends, you can think about the upcoming week," says Stokes. "Decide what you're going to eat. Go to the market, so you're a little ahead of the game. You can even prepare food on the weekend and freeze it, then pull it out during the week."

Set specific goals

You can't just tell yourself to eat less junk food after 8 p.m. Be specific - 'I'm going to substitute popcorn for potato chips.' That way you know exactly what to do. There's no question

Keep it simple

Journals don't have to be labor-intensive, he says. Focus on your high-risk time slots when you're most likely to get off course. Example: You know you eat junk at night, or that you snack after 3 p.m., or between lunch and dinner. Just keep notes during that time period. You'll quickly see problem habits: banana split vs. banana, the whole container of nuts vs. a handful.

Planning for Weight Loss

Planning helps you build new habits, says Barbara J. Rolls, PhD, the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Pennsylvania State University in Pittsburgh and author of The Volumetrics Weight Control Plan. "Without planning, you're always going to be struggling - trying to figure out how to eat what you should. You'll end up making yourself eat things you don't want to eat. Eating will always feel like work."

Indeed, planning involves discipline - and that is a key trait that is evident among the "successful losers" who belong to The National Weight Control Registry. They have maintained a 30-pound weight loss for at least a year - and many have lost much more, and kept it off for much longer.

"It is very difficult to lose weight and keep it off - and people who succeed must have discipline," says James O. Hill, PhD, the Registry's co-founder and director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. "People who are most successful plan their day to ensure that they stick to their eating plan and get regular physical activity. It takes effort to be successful in long-term weight management."

2 Painless Ways to Lose Weight

1. Lighten the Foods You Already Love
One of the easiest ways to cut back without feeling denied is to switch to lower-calorie versions of the foods you crave. A pizza tastes just as good with reduced-fat cheese. And when you garnish low-fat crackers or low-fat ice cream with your favorite toppers, who notices the missing calories?

The key is to look for lighter versions of any product that contains fat or sugar, says the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic's "Recipe Doctor" Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, author of Fry Light, Fry Right! She recommends shopping for light sour cream, mayonnaise, and salad dressings; less-sugar preserves; and unsweetened frozen fruit.

And lighten up by switching to diet soda or light beer, or by adding a spritz of seltzer to your wine. Hate low-cal drinks? Try mixing your favorite beverages with a splash of a low-cal option, then increase the ratio as your taste buds adjust.

2. Share and Share Alike
With the massive meals served at so many American restaurants, it's easy to go Dutch -- with the dinner plate.

"When we go out, I often share a meal with my wife," says David Anthony, an information technology consultant from Atlanta. "We've been known to split a dessert, even a pint of beer."

You can share more than just a meal out. Why not double up on a bicycle built for two? Go halves on the cost of a personal trainer? Maybe split a gym membership?

"When people come in together they're more apt to encourage one another," says Lorinda Naegle, manager of a Curves gym in Oregon, which, like many fitness centers, offers 2-for-1 membership specials.

Half the cost, twice the motivation -- a steal of a deal.

10 Questions You Should Ask

Are you considering starting a weight-loss program? There are a few questions you need to ask before you sign up. Here are just a few to consider:

What does the program consist of?
Does it include counseling, group sessions or classes?
Do I need follow a specific menu or use packaged foods?
Will I need to keep food records?
Do you I need supplements to follow this plan?
Will you help me be more physically active?
Can you help me make behavior changes?
What are the staff or leader's qualifications?
At what rate can I expect to lose weight?

Find the Diet That's Right for You

Losing weight doesn't only come down to counting calories for most of us. The key is finding a diet that works for us and that helps you have a good relationship with food.

Experts agree that locating a diet that fits your lifestyle -- rather than overhauling your diet with habits that don't suit you and make losing weight harder -- is the key to success.

Weight Loss Blog

If you think your genes determine your weight and there's no way to change it, think again.
While genes do play a role (say, inheriting your mom's body type), for most people, the most important factor when it comes to weight is how many calories you consume and how much exercise you regularly get.

Even if your parents were both heavy, there are things you can do to avoid the same fate: Plenty of activity and strength training can both help you boost your metabolism and build muscle. And the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn even when you're not active making it easier to stay slim regardless of your family's weight issues!