Lose Weight the Healthy Way
It’s definitely no fun to lose weight — put it back on, lose weight, put it back on, and so on. Just as you learn the rules of a new diet, you find yourself trying to get around them. What if all you had to do to lose weight was to eat less?
You may think it can’t be done. However, experts say it can. Of course it sounds simpler than it is, but it’s no more difficult to commit to healthy eating habits than it is to follow the diets most of us have tried.
In the end, it will actually be easier because you will feel less restricted as you begin to learn how to eat right instead of how to follow the rules of the newest popular diet. Here are a few tips to help you started:
- Eat smaller portions, including items with protein, fat, and fiber in each meal. This combination is the one that researchers have found effective in helping to keep hunger pangs away.
- Drink two full glasses of water with each meal. It will help you feel full and keep your body hydrated.
- Eat breakfast. This critical meal jump-starts your metabolism for the day. But avoid empty calories like those found in doughnuts, many cereals, and sugar-laden pastries. They will only leave you feeling tired and hungry by mid- morning. For best results, eat items with plenty of protein and fiber.
- Don’t count calories or weigh food. Simply use the palm of your hand as a portion control guide. Most of us are fully aware of what a ‘too large’ portion looks like. We also know how it makes us feel. You should never feel bloated or stuffed-eat only until you are not hungry. You really aren’t giving up anything if you save the rest for later. If it helps, think of it as taking a break when you set food aside for another time.
- Give up something. It might be your nightly glass of wine, chocolate bars, or regular soft drinks. Then, commit to doing without the item for one full year. You’ll find that you’ll feel better without the sugar, caffeine, or alcohol. You certainly won’t miss the calories as your waistline begins to shrink.
- Identify your comfort food. What is it that you reach for in times of stress? Pizza, fried chicken, or a burger with fries all seem to top the list of foods people reach for when feeling down, anxious, and tired. Instead of reaching for food to comfort you, engage in a favorite activity. Go golfing, take a walk through your neighborhood, or hop on your bicycle for a quick spin.
- Be aware that food is often used as substitute for other types of satisfaction. Take a look at your job, your family life, and your spiritual connections. Work to improve areas that are causing you discomfort and you will see the desire for unhealthy food fade away. Maybe it’s time to start looking for a new job, go back to college, or find a church.
Taking control of your weight is more about taking control of your life than anything else. Don’t allow yourself to make decisions based on food. Why be chained to someone else’s diet rules when you know yourself better than anyone else. Put that knowledge to work, and watch your weight disappear.
If you want to make weight disappear faster, and to help keep those pounds off, be sure to exercise regularly. Walking 30 minutes daily is something most people can achieve and keep it up right into the senior years.
About The Author
Marlene Mathis is webmaster at Ana Health, the comprehensive health information resource. Subscribe to her ezine Health Vista at anahealth.com.
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High Carbs/Low Fat Diets and Cardio Vascular Disease
For the past 20 years, the American public has been bombarded with the message: “Fat is bad!” As a result, our food supply is now inundated with “low fat” foods, engineered foods and foods processed to remove natural fats. In every instance, low fat foods are loaded with carbohydrates.
The result: Americans are suffering from a variety of endocrine problems and degenerative diseases directly attributable to insulin resistance, excessive intake of refined carbohydrates and a lack of proper fat in the diet.
Actually, this information is not new. It has simply been ignored by the American food industry. In 1956 Thomas L. Cleave, Surgeon-Captain of the Royal Navy and research director of the British Institute of Naval Medicine, published a paper proposing that many chronic conditions were the result of a “master disease” resulting from the rise in popularity of sugary foods. He pointed out that it requires approximately 20 years “incubation” time for the chronic diseases to manifest themselves. Interestingly, the sudden rise in popularity of sugary foods just before the turn of the century coincided with the emergence of heart disease and disorders of the digestive tract as major killers after World War I. He cited other examples as well:
1. When Iceland’s diet became Westernized in the 1930s and sugar and refined carbohydrate consumption rose significantly, diabetes became commonplace in the 1950s.
2. In studies of Africans, he found that wherever rapid dietary change introduced refined carbohydrates, heart disease and diabetes began to spread approximately two decades later.
3. Finally, he pointed out that studies ranging from Kurds to Yemenites to Zulus found that the refining and processing of foods appeared to bring a rise in chronic disease in less than a quarter century. (The Kellogg Report, The Impact of Nutrition, Environment and Lifestyle on the Health of Americans, Joseph D. Beasley, MD., and Jerry J. Swift, M.A., 1989, p 331)
Closer to home, we have the example of the Eskimos. Subsisting on a diet of almost pure protein and fat, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and dental caries were unknown. With the Westernization of their diet, all of these health problems became scourges in the Eskimo culture.
Another interesting and well-documented phenomenon is the increase in heart disease with the introduction of:”refined” white flour and the dramatic drop in deaths from heart disease as the American public began to buy and consume vitamins.
Vitamin Sales and Deaths
Year Deaths per 100,000 Vitamin Sales per $Billions
1920
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