Food Labels and Weight Loss - Friends or Foes?

Food labels are your friend in the game of weight loss. They can quickly reveal how useful something is to fuel your body. For weight loss to be successful, you still have to enjoy your food. Labels can help. Below is a highlight of some of the information available.

Serving Size
What you and I consider to be a serving is not same as the food processors. A box of cereal supposedly feeds 15 people. If you ever tried handing a box of cereal to 15 people and asked them share, how willing would they be? Serving sizes can leave you hungry, but it is an important number if you want to do accurate math with the rest of the information on the label.

Calories
Calories are the amount of energy that serving will provide. If you are keeping track of how many calories you want to eat during one meal or one day, this information is helpful. One drawback, however, is it wont tell you how you will feel after eating the food. If it is a high sugar food, you may not feel to good later on due to the sugar high and the sugar crash. More label reading is necessary.

Fat
There are numerous fat numbers on the label to help you discern what kind of fat the food contains. Some fats are healthier than others. The drawback here if it contains hydrogenated fats it can still be zero on the label.

Carbohydrates & Fiber
The amount of carbohydrate and fiber will help you decide if the food you are eating will stick to your ribs, reduce cravings, and help maintain a steady blood sugar level.

Protein
Protein is important for tissue repair and healing, especially for heavy exercises. Protein also satiates appetite and helps the brain realize you are not hungry so you dont overeat.

Vitamins & Minerals
This is a list of the basic vitamins and minerals that are in the food. Most products that have food labels are processed, however, and they may also be fortified with vitamins and minerals. Because they are fortified with synthetic nutrients, absorption and quality are questionable. It is recommended to balance out the diet with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well.

Ingredients
The last portion of the food label lists the ingredients which is very important if you want to know the sources of nutrition information. Anyone with allergies studies this list very well. Food reactions are different from person to person so knowing if you are sensitive to specific ingredients can be necessary. Trial and error is usually how someone figures this out. Mood swings are commonly seen with a high carbohydrate diet. High fat foods and diary are culprits in digestive distress. If you want to avoid artificial sweeteners or hydrogenated fats, they are listed here, also. Ingredient types may have multiple forms such as sugar which can be lactose, maltose, dextrose, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, etc. Artificial sweeteners also, have many different names.

The only piece of information not listed on food labels is how tasty something is. Taste is an opinion that can lead to overeating if we are not careful about maintaining a balanced diet. While being able to enjoy your favorite foods is key to successful weight loss, Using food labels to help you decide what to eat and how much to eat can make the job easier.

Dr. Lisa Ann Homic, a chiropractor and wellness coach in Auburn, NY, also started the Numbers Don't Lie Diet Program. Visit http://www.CreatePurpose.com

What Do You Think The Fastest Way To Lose Weight Is?

The short answer to this question is diet and exercise. The difference between those who lose weight fast and those that do it slow is strategy selection. What does this mean?

There is no one best way to lose weight. There are, however, some strategies that will work best for you. You need to find these strategies. There are literally hundreds of weight-loss strategies. I have an eBook that highlights 50 of them.

Not all of these will work for you. But some of them will and you need to find them. Here are three strategies you can consider right now.

Stay Away From Drugs

Using drugs and pills is not the fastest way to lose weight. It is the most dangerous way. Proper exercise and diet works, period. Remember, being overweight is due to your lifestyle. You can not take a pill for the rest of your life.

Therefore, if you take a pill to lose weight, but do not change the way you eat and exercise, then you will regain the weight the pill may have allowed you to lose after you stop taking it. This is not a sustainable way to lose weight and keep it off.

Furthermore, the side effects of diet pills are very harmful to the body. Moreover, weight loss pills are not cheap and therefore they are simply a waste of money.

Women and Men Are Different

The fastest way to lose weight will differ for Men and women. Also, men are able to lose weight faster than women can. If you are a women, you will really set yourself up for disappointment if you try to lose weight as fast as a male friend close to you is able to.

It just will not happen. Simple set your goal of losing either one or two pounds a week and stick to it. Do not worry about what others around you are able to do. Especially if those around you are able to lose more than two pounds a week. That is unhealthy for your body and should not be done.

Take Vitamins

Multivitamins may assist in improving your health and make you feel less hungry. The theory goes as follows. One of the reasons we eat so much or are hungry all the time is because our body is craving nutrients that it is not getting from the empty-calorie unhealthy food you eat.

Obviously, in your attempt to lose weight you will want to start eating more healthy foods and less junk food. However, should you ever find yourself in a situation where you are stuck eating fast food or some kind of junk food, take a multivitamin along with it to boost its nutrient level.

Finally, the fastest way to lose weight is not the safest. It is not safe to lose more than two pounds a week. Do not attempt to set a goal that requires you to lose more. You will only disappoint yourself and hurt your body. Look over my 50 weight loss strategies to find the ones that work for you. Implement one strategy at a time until you master it, then move on to another one. Good luck!

Learn how others are losing pounds of body fat week after week with my 50 Weight Loss Tips ebook. Just send an email to fatlossmadeeasy@aweber.com.

Learn more about how to lose weight here.

Learn about the importance of food portion control when dieting safely.

See what this article says about the fastest way to lose weight?

Weight Loss Camps For Adults

Weight loss camps for adults first materialised during the early 1980s and were based on the familiar summer camp experience. These camps, not only for adults, but teenagers alike, are an excellent choice for those looking to find healthy ways to lose weight, gain motivation, and with the added benefit of meeting and making new friends along the way. Weight loss camps for adults, or fitness holidays, are now becoming as popular as following well known diet plans.

In the early days, such activities were known as "fat farms" or "boot camp" weight loss programs. These early programs failed to address essential behavioural and emotional experiences, such as body image and body acceptance issues. True effective weight loss management is about understanding the patients emotional experiences as well as the physical problems to be overcome.

Many experts would agree that results are short-lived because true behavioural change can only occur with the understanding of healthy living principles, and how to deal with related emotions and stresses the patient may well be experiencing in everyday life. A good weight loss camp should not just be about diet and exercise but about tailoring a programme to meet individual needs.

Thankfully, weight loss camps for adults have come a long way since those early days of the 1980's. The key to successful weight loss is making changes in your eating and physical activity habits that you can keep up for the rest of your life. A good weight loss camp will develop an exercise and nutrition program specific to each individual needs and capabilities that can be continued long after leaving the camp. The staff of a good camp should include qualified counsellors, nutritionists, registered dieticians, psychologists and exercise physiologists. Each plays a very important role in providing a complete programme to promote healthy living.

For families wanting to work together, there are weight loss and fitness camps consisting of communities of parents, children and staff working together to achieve the same fitness goals. These camps are designed to help adults and children alike embrace a healthy lifestyle, and discover just how fun and rewarding it can be for the family to get fit and stay fit together. Many families who enrol on these programs lose weight and return home feeling fitter and more motivated to continue a more healthy active lifestyle.

If you are looking for a fun but hard work way of finding much needed motivation to lose weight and get fit, then weight loss camps for adults can be an excellent starting point for losing excess body fat and starting a new healthy and fitter lifestyle.

To learn more about effective weight loss secrets and to receive a FREE weight loss secrets report please visit http://www.stuarts-ebooks.com/WeightLossSecrets.html.

Fast Weight Loss Tips

When people look for a diet, many of them look for fast weight loss tips or a fast weight loss diet so that they can lose weight more quickly. Care should be taken however to make certain that you select a diet which is capable of meeting your physical requirements while also providing you with a method for losing weight rapidly while remaining healthy.

The sad truth of the matter is that most weight loss plans do not work for more than a few days while you restrict your diet. As often as not, your health will be the only thing that you lose for any length of time. The weight you lose will often come back as soon as you revert to your normal eating habits. While this is not true for all diets, it is especially true when it comes to rapid weight loss and fast weight loss diets.

So does that mean that this is always the case and that fast weight loss tips should be summarily ignored or dismissed? The fact is that with the proper quick weight loss tips, a little self control and some knowledge, you can lose weight, keep the weight off and stay healthy all at the same time.

Fast weight loss diets do work well as long as you are careful and pay attention to your dietary needs and other considerations regarding quick weight loss. If somebody is promising that you can lose five pounds a day there are probably going to be some unhealthy side effects. Most fast weight loss tips will allow you to lose somewhere between one and two pounds on the average day.

Most of the best and most valuable fast weight loss tips involve learning how to properly control your caloric intake by eating the right foods. Starving yourself in order to lose weight quickly is unhealthy, no matter what. Neither do you have to spend countless hours exercising and trying to burn fat in order to lose weight quickly. Healthy and fast weight loss tips and diet plans will show you how to eat properly in order to maintain your health and lose weight all at the same time.

Low calorie diets do not work for most people. A lot of the dietary supplements and diet pills have long-lasting detrimental effects on many people. If you are attempting to lose weight quickly, your health should be your primary concern. In fact, many of the quick weight loss diets do not take your personal habits into consideration at all.

Once you learn how to prepare and consume the right foods to meet your daily requirements, you can begin a healthy regimen for your diet. Learning how to eat properly is the key factor in quick weight loss diets and it should be something that you learn about more before deciding which fast action diet is going to be right for you. If you want a fast weight loss diet that works, you need to learn how to eat properly and once you can accomplish that, you can easily accomplish all of your weight loss goals.

Want to learn more about fast weight loss? Click How To Lose Weight for a weight loss plan that will get you on track to reach your goals.

Michael Maciejewski is a fitness, and nutrition expert. Revealing the truths about healthy living, one article at a time.

Weight Loss Motivation Advice - The Hallmarks of Weight Loss Hype

Weight loss motivation advice is everywhere. You can find it one magazine covers, television commercials, talk shows, and from the people around you. Everyone has an opinion, special diet, or pill that will help you lose belly fat and get flat abs.

Unfortunately much of this is just plain marketing hype. Following the hype leads to frustration and failure. The net result of this that you lose all motivation to do what it really takes to lose weight. For this reason it becomes very important to discern the hype from sound weight loss advice.

Here are 5 hallmarks of weight loss hype:

1. You can lose weight fast. You can't lose 5-10 pounds per week. That's hype. Plan for 1-2 lbs. of body fat loss per week. Anything more than this is usually water loss and is quickly regained. Additionally, you may lose lean muscle mass. This will decrease your body's ability to burn calories while you are at rest.

2. You can lose weight without exercise. Crash diets and pills will not lead to the kind of weight loss that is healthy and permanent. It takes some exercise. Aerobic exercise helps you burn calories while exercising. It also helps raise your metabolic rate so that you burn more fat while resting. Strength training also helps your burn fat by building lean muscle mass. You have to move to lose belly fat.

3. You can lose weight and still eat whatever you want. If you're overweight you will need to change what and how you eat. Don't buy into any gimmicks that say otherwise. Changing your eating habits and establishing a sound nutrition plan is absolutely essential to losing weight and keeping it off. The diets that tell you to eat all of the pizza and ice cream you want and still lose weight are leading down the road of failure and frustration.

4. You can lose weight by taking this special supplement. This is really the epitome of marketing hype. These are rarely anything other than a mixture of vitamins and herbs. Don't waste your money.

5. You can lose weight by using this special machine. These are typically abs machines. Some of these machines have the potential to tone your abdominal muscles. However, if you don't lose belly fat those muscles will remain hidden. These machines will not help you create a sufficient calorie deficit to lose body fat. You're better off going for a 45 minute brisk walk and doing some push-ups.

I hope that knowing these hallmarks of hype will help you stay motivated to lose excess belly fat and get the flat abs you've always wanted.

Dr. Steve Tuggle is a practicing dentist, certified personal trainer (ACE, ACSM), certified wellness coach, life coach, ordained minister, and internet entrepreneur. You can learn more about how to improve your health and wellness at http://www.elite-wellness-coaching.com

For more motivation and information on HOW TO LOSE BELLY FAT visit http://www.elite-wellness-coaching.com/weight-loss-motivation-advice.html

Plot Your Weight Loss Course

I'm sure you already know that weight loss and improved fitness don't happen overnight. But did you know that there are steps that you can take to improve your chances of weight loss success before you even start your healthier eating and exercise plan?

There are five distinct stages of behavioral change. Knowing what stage you are at now will help you to create a road map which will help you to achieve your future weight loss and improved fitness goals.

Here are the five major phases:

Stage 1 - Pre-contemplation:

This is the point where you don't feel that any change in your lifestyle is necessary. You may be thinking that exercising just takes too much time or that fast food is just too convenient to even consider giving up. Starting a fitness or healthier eating program during this stage would probably result in failure. The best thing you can do during this phase is to reassess your life goals and educate yourself further about health, diseases and risks.

Stage 2 - Contemplation:

During this stage you may start thinking that a change is necessary.

So, you think that maybe cutting back to eating fast food only three times a week is not so bad and you might be able to at least take a walk once in awhile. This is a good time to learn more about the benefits of healthy eating and regular exercise.

Stage 3 - Preparation:

At this point you are getting more serious about taking action. You've penciled in a walk with your friend for next week and are planning to go grocery shopping to cook a home meal. You may want to research exercise equipment, gyms, personal trainers, and healthier eating programs to learn more about what you can do to get in better shape.

Stage 4 - Action:

Here's where you actually take the first step. The first step may be as simple as taking a daily walk, reducing your fast food visits to twice a month or just cutting back on daily soft drinks and unhealthy snacks. Or, you may go as far as hiring a personal trainer or joining a gym. During this stage it is very important to learn coping mechanisms that will help you avoid relapsing into your old ways. One way to avoid exercise dropout is to form new healthy habits that lead to permanent lifestyle changes.

Stage 5 - Maintenance:

This is, of course, the stage that everyone should strive to be in. Being here means that you are exercising regularly and eating healthily most of the time. It is important throughout this stage (which should last the rest of your life) that you include a variety of exercise types or workouts that change relatively frequently. You should also seek and encourage the support of friends and family and include them wherever possible in the healthier aspects of your new life.

What stage are you in right now?

So, now can you identify what stage you are at? You may find that you are in the pre-contemplation stage for nutritional habits but that you are in the preparation stage for exercises. That's okay. It's not critical for you to force both areas into the same stage. You can work on changing your nutritional and exercise habits separately.

The key to success is first identifying your stage and then taking steps to advance to the next level (unless, of course, you are already at the Maintenance stage). Use the suggestions mentioned above in each stage to help you move to the next phase.

It's also important to tune-in to your fears, past struggles and expectations. Making nutritional and exercise changes is not easy and should be approached slowly. Remember to make small changes. Don't try to go from a completely sedentary lifestyle to an hour of daily exercise overnight. Build up slowly starting with even just 10 minutes of exercise every other day.

And lastly, be sure to inform your family and friends of your plans and enlist their support. Support is extremely important for anyone with weight loss and fitness related goals.

Scott Haywood is the editor of Australia's leading weight loss and healthy lifestyle website weightloss.com.au. Weightloss.com.au is a free weight loss resource that has healthy recipes, weight loss product reviews, a weight loss business directory and a very popular weight loss forum.

Online Tools for Monitoring Weight Loss Programs

One of the best ways of staying on track with your weight loss program is to keep a diary of your progress, by recording your weight each day or week and comparing it with your target. You can do this with a hand-written diary, or a spreadsheet or various programs that you buy or download. This will help you see how you are progressing towards your weight loss goal. There are various software programs available that you can use for this and many of the diet and weight loss programs include such tools. Recently a number of online tools have been developed which allow you to keep a weight loss diary simply by accessing a website. This is much more convenient as you can enter data anywhere and at any time and there is no need to download and store the software at home and at work. This is especially convenient when the tool also allows you to record details of your food eaten and exercise you have undertaken. You can enter your lunch details or lunchtime jog, walk or swim exercise, straight away immediately after you have eaten or finished the exercise. But there is much more on offer - Food, Exercise, and Calorie Deficit!

What are the features to look for when choosing an Online Weight Loss Tool?

Weight and Target Weight

The tool should allow you to enter your weight each day or week and compare it with your weight loss target for that day that week. For example, let's say you want to lose 2 pounds or 1 kilogram per week towards your final goal. The program should allow you to enter your weight (say 100lb) in a diary and compare it with your daily and weekly target (say 99lb), and show both on a graph for your program. There are various tickers and other tools for doing this, but most do not allow you to compare your daily weight with your daily target for that day. This is essential to keep you on track.

Calories Eaten

The tool should allow you to record the number of calories (or kilojoules) eaten each day. There are lots of calorie counters available, but most are too complex and a pain to use. Most people have very similar meals especially for breakfast and lunch, and a small number of dinner meals that are regularly eaten. The best tools are those that allow you to work out the calories for each meal once, and then record the meal details and calories for the meal in a table. Then you can easily work out your calories eaten in a day by having the tool add up the calories for each meal you have eaten that day. You want to be able to add meals and make simple changes, for example halving your portion sizes or eating 2 apples rather than one. The tool should allow you to record meals, portion size and calories and add up your calories for the meals eaten each day.

Calories Burnt through Exercise

The tool should allow you to record the total calories burnt through exercise each day. It should help you work this out once and record it, without the need to go through the tables each time. Most people have a small number of exercises that they undertake for their program. For example, - walk at a fast pace for 5 miles, jog slowly for 10miles, swim at moderate pace for 10 laps of the pool, half hour workout at the gym. The energy expended depends on you weight, vigor, and time and distance for the task. There are lots of tools for calculating the calories burnt for each of your tasks. But the best allow you to record your own exercise tasks and their calories burnt values, once in a list. You can then easily work out your total calories burnt each day by adding up the calories for each of the tasks done each day. The tool should do this for you, and allow you to record total calories burnt through exercise.

Basal Metabolic Rate and the Calorie Deficit

Your Basal Metabolic Rate is the energy you consume in maintaining your basic metabolism doing your routine activities - that is during 'rest' or your normal daily life.

It is the energy needed for your body to maintain itself and the energy needed for all the routine things you do each day. Your exercise program consumes extra calories on top of this. Your Basal Metabolic Rate depends and your age, weight and how active you are doing the routine things each day. There are lost of ways of working this out and your tool should allow you to record this. The Calorie Deficit is basically the difference between the number of calories eaten in your food, and the number of calories burnt each day. If you are dieting you will aim to eat fewer calories than you consume, so that your body will burnt fat to make up the difference. Your calorie deficit is the calories consumed in your basal metabolic rate, plus that consumed in exercise, minus the calories eaten in food. It's that simple! If you have a calorie deficit each day, and you stick to it, you will lose weight! The higher the deficit - the faster you will lose weight. Your online tool should calculate this calorie deficit each day so you can see how you are going with your diet and exercise, and how much it affects your weight loss.

Putting it All Together - Plotting your Progress

Ideally you want an online diary to record your weight each day or week and see how it compares with your target. Also, you want to record your calories eaten and burnt through exercise, and estimate your calorie deficit. You also want to see your data plotted on graphs so you can monitor your progress, and see the relationship between weight loss, diet, exercise and your calorie deficit. There is nothing like a graph!

This is 'Telling it like it is, Man'!
Is your weight at or below your target?
How many calories have you eaten?
How many calories have you burnt?
How large is your Calorie Deficit?
You need tables to show this information and graphs to display and compare these values. You need to know if your program is working and how to fix it!

Conclusion

So keep these ideas in mind when you are looking for an Online Weight Loss Tool for monitoring your weight loss program. There are many new online tools to choose from. Choose the one that best suits your needs. Online tools offer the convenience of allowing you to record information anytime, any where, which will help you keep focused and on track to achieve your weight loss goal.

John Anderson is a developer of online website tools. John has developed many websites over the years in many areas. He developed Desizeme.com - Online Weight Loss Tool for his own Weight Loss Program and for his friends. He has developed websites for travel, education, wineries and general directories.

Weight Loss - Lose Weight With Interval And Resistance Training

A common mistake made by men who want to burn fat is to focus on losing fat. I know it may seem incredible to say that it's not the right way to burn belly fat, but I guarantee that if you focus on burning carbohydrates, you will have better results.

Let me explain. You need to use resistance and interval training.

When you are training against a resistance, your body is using a lot of carbs, and hence, you are using a lot of calories. This is how you lose weight. In fact, you are using way more calories than when you are doing simple cardio exercises.

You need to plan most of your exercises to be against resistance. Short reps work very well. I mean 6 to 10 reps per exercise. Be sure to work with intervals. Here is how it works.

Let say that you are doing 10 pushups and that you have some rest between each series. Be sure to make a pause that is equal to your exact number of reps between each series. This is a secret I use to be ultra effective in martial arts, and this will also help you to lose weight.

Let's take an example. You are going to make 5 series of 10 pushups. Between each series, you want to rest for the same amount of time it takes to make your 10 pushups. You should rest for 10 seconds.

Doing this will ensure that you are burning the maximum amount of carbs, and losing weight is inevitable. Plus you are gaining muscles in the process. This will work with abs as well. In fact, you can use this interval training method for any of your workouts.

Finally! Discover a powerful weight loss system used by thousands of bodybuilders and people around the world to obtain low-low body fat level. Learn how you too can get rid of your stomach fat for good when you visit: http://www.positiveattitude4life.com

Franck Silvestre is a professional Martial Artist. Visit his website today at Turbulence Training