Do not eat anything beyond 3 hours before bed time. This is probably the most important factor in quick and in long term weight loss. And that includes all foods. Water may be an exception. Although, you shouldnt drink too much water either, during this time. It will make you get up in the middle of the night for a visit to the washroom which will increase the chances of going for a snack. Remember, your defenses are down when youre half asleep.
Cut down on starchy carbohydrates and eat only whole grain bread and pasta and brown rice. Avoid potatoes or cut down to very small portions. Eat yams instead of potatoes. Yams are much lower in starch; they have a low glycemic index and are much less filling.
Never combine two starches in a meal. For example, if youre eating rice, do not eat pasta, bread or potatoes. Fill up on fresh or lightly steamed vegetables and salad at the expense of starch and protein. Do not use any creamy salad dressings. Instead, add olive oil (not too much), apple cider vinegar, oregano and basil to your salads. Youll notice that vinegar replaces the need for salt.
Salt must be reduced because it retains water. And a lot of the bulk in an overweight person is simply water. Water is the first thing that comes off when people begin dieting. This article, however, as you have probably realized, is not really about dieting. Its about making certain changes replacing old habits with better ones.
Avoid eating deep fried products in restaurants such as, fried chicken, French fries and donuts (yes, they are deep fried). Avoid dessert completely. If you must eat dessert decrease your meal portion and have fresh fruit only for dessert - which brings us to the next point.
You must cut down on the total amount of food you eat. Remember, it still comes down to input and output. One method I use to lose weight is decrease the size of my meals to half and add an extra meal. In other words, if you have 3 meals a day each containing 1000, the total is 3000 calories. If you cut the 3 meals in half (500 calories) and add another meal (500 calories), the total becomes 2000 calories. In this example we have reduced the days consumption by 1000 calories. Just like that. And its not hard to figure out how to reduce meal portions. Simply visualize you regular meal portion and reduce it by half.
Avoid junk food snacks like candy bars, chips and so on (you know what I mean). If you feel like something sweet, have a fresh fruit or a non fat yogurt with fruit. When you want something not sweet, try crunchy fresh vegetables or unsalted walnuts and almonds.
As you may have noticed, what were doing is:
- Cutting down on total calories and choosing foods lower in fat and calories.
- Increasing high fiber foods (fruits and vegetables,) that fill you up while containing almost no calories.
- In addition, these fresh foods along with walnuts and almonds have 2 great benefits. One is they contain very powerful antioxidants that help fight against heart disease and cancer. The other thing is, foods like walnuts and wild greens, for example, increase a certain food ratio (the n6:n3 ratio) which has shown - in certain cultures - to extend life and reduce body weight. For more information on this, visit the site which contains the downloadable e-book I have written at http://www.nulife-weightloss.com/natural.htm.
- Decreasing starchy carbohydrates (your body turns excess carbohydrates into fat).
- Avoiding late night snacks which just end up getting stored as body fat, as the body does not burn many calories at rest.
- Avoiding junk food which is extremely high in fat and calories, high in salt and various unhealthy chemicals.
The final thing we need to include is something that most of us dread - daily exercise. Did you have to include this? The food stuff part is hard enough.you say.
I know, Im sorry but you want to lose weight very fast dont you? Well then you have to exercise and not just 3 or 4 times a week (thats the weight loss maintenance level). To lose weight quickly or even for the long term, for that matter, you must exercise 6 to 7 times a week. Your workouts should last at least one hour. Your exercise intensity target should be between 65%-85% of your maximum heart rate. In other words train at a moderately vigorous level.
If youre already exercising, increase it to the above level; if not get clearance from your doctor first and then increase your intensity gradually to that level. To find out the best way to lose weight with exercise go to my Blog and look for the title: Do You Lose More Weight When Exercising On An Empty Stomach? At http://topweightlosssite.blogspot.com
Depending on certain factors such as body fat percentage (BMI) and level of metabolism a person could lose from 10 to even 20 pounds in just the first week by following this program.
Good luck, good health and enjoy the beach!
References:
www.exrx.net, Aerobic Exercise Guidelines for Specific Goals, retrieved 17 May 2006 from http://www.exrx.net/Aerobic/AerobicGoals.html.
John Tiniakos helps make weight loss easier through proven weight loss methods using information and analysis from the worlds leading scientists. To subscribe to his blog or his free monthly newsletter that includes valuable, up to date tips on diet, weight loss and health and to receive 2 free reports visit http://www.nulife-weightloss.com. For more information on his latest ebook Nulife Natural Weight Loss Program visit http://www.nulife-weightloss.com/natural.htm
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