WeightLossDietSecrets

The key to successful and permanent weight loss is not “dieting”. If you go “on a diet”, you will sooner than later go “off the diet”. If you don’t pay attention to your eating habits and physical lifestyle, what’s going to happen?

“Rationally, you know the answer, but emotionally, you engage in wishful thinking, hoping that this time you will lose the weight and keep it off”, says Tom Venuto in his eBook Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle.

Please stop “dieting” - this is a plea, and it’s for your own good. By simply paying attention to what, and how you eat, you will be lightyears ahead.

A “Stick-to-It” Diet Is More Important Than a Popular One - A comparison of several popular diets by ARS-funded researchers showed that at the end of the day, or in this case at the end of the year, sticking with a diet—more than the type of a diet—is the key to losing weight. Read the full article here.

What Is The Best Diet Plan?

Keep in mind that you want to develop lifestyle habits that will help you maintain your weight in a healthy range. A short-term “diet” that you “go on” and then “go off” is not the answer to long-term weight management. Diets that severely restrict calories or the types of food ‘allowed’ can lead you to be deficient in the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs, also the weight that you lose by going on such diets consists of about 25% muscle. This is like wanting to create a painting, but throwing your canvas out the window.

So, again, What is the best diet plan? You know it -

• Eat the right foods. Stop eating the wrong foods.
• Eat 4-6 smaller portioned meals per day.
• NEVER skip breakfast.

By including an exercise regime, you will in most cases be able to eat more, and not less, than what you eat now.

Healthy Diet Basics

You don’t need to be a dietitian to simply focus on six basic food groups - these will ensure that you get a well-balanced diet that provides the daily nutrients you need:

• Whole Grains: Whole grains include whole wheat breads and pastas, brown rice, oatmeal and whole grain barley. Avoid refined foods - including many breads, pastas, and breakfast cereals.
• Vegetables: The deeper the color, the greater the concentration of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. From dark green vegetables, like broccoli, kale and mustard greens to orange varieties such as butternut squash and sweet potatoes, are excellent choices. Green vegetables also contain substantial amounts of the mineral magnesium, which is needed by all the cells in your body - also in the process of metabolism.
• Fruits: Fruits can be enjoyed in many ways - fresh, canned, frozen, dried, whole, cut-up, or pureed. Be aware of fruit products that contain added sugars, such as many fruit juices. Best to steer clear of those. The way I prefer to enjoy my fruits is by making creative smoothies. the first thing I look for in any kitchen is a blender.
• Dairy Products: Use only low-fat dairy products. Also, as with anything else, organic dairy is best. Be aware of dairy products that contain rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin - see note* below). Also, if you’re lactose-intolerant, choose lower-lactose products or more preferably lactose-free products, such as hard cheeses and yogurt.
• Lean Protein: Vary your healthy eating protein choices with a variety of fish, poultry, eggs, low-fat dairy, tofu, beans, legumes and nuts. Try to steer clear of red meats (containing high levels of saturated fat), and if you simply don’t have a choice - go for the lean cuts.
• Oils: Fresh, high quality fats from olive and linseed oils, avocado, raw nuts & seeds, coconut and fish (omega 3) provide the best sources of healthy fatty acids in your diet - you need them in your diet - just make intelligent choices.

* BST can be produced synthetically, using recombinant DNA technology. The resulting product is called recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), or artificial growth hormone. It is administered to the cow by injection and used to increase milk production.

The Best Healthy Weight Loss Advice

• Take your time and be patient. Don’t lose faith when you’re not losing weight as fast as you’d like! By losing weight quickly, you’re losing mostly water and muscle - your goal is to lose fat, and that is better done slowly. The last thing you want to do is harm your body. Aim to lose 1-2 lbs a week to ensure healthy weight loss.
• Never give up.

Playing Your Own Game

“When you starve the fat, you also starve the muscle. When you starve the muscle, you lose muscle along with the fat. When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down and your body enters the ’starvation mode’. When your body enters starvation mode, fat loss comes to a screeching halt as your body tries to conserve its energy. When the fat loss stops, you either give up (and gain back the fat you lost), or you grit your teeth and drop your calories (starve yourself) even more. If you drop your calories even more, your metabolism slows down even more. And if your metabolism slows down even more, fat loss comes to a screeching halt again.

Eventually, you always end up throwing in the towel because you can’t keep dropping your calories forever. It’s a vicious cycle. You just can’t win the very-low-calorie-diet game”.

Tom Venuto, in Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle