Daily Dieting & Health Tips: October 2017

Dieting – Eating A Balanced Diet

On closer look, the world is able to supply all that the body needs to keep it strong, healthy and living well. Dieting is not always abstaining from food rather, it is eating a balanced diet. It is the preference of one food group over the other that create the imbalance.

Sodium for example is essential to the functioning of the body. Without it various illnesses arise. More than that, sodium makes us sweat out the toxins that the body has accumulated whether naturally or not. Sodium is also an agent that helps keep the body temperature at operating limits. Fat is too. Fat for all its portrayed grossness keeps the skin looking well and toned. It is the body's best insulator against cold and is a source of the lubricant for the different parts of the body. One of its best purposes though is that it is the body's storehouse of energy if you will. It will keep the body going and surviving long after all the other nutrients are gone. Fat and sodium might be the top food to avoid according to most dieting programs but ask those who are not selling health concoctions. The answer might be slightly different. But take all things in moderation. In like manner, fiber is bad for the body if all that the body gets is fiber.

The issue then is not so much with what is introduced to the body but the manner and proportions by which it is introduced. Take for example sugar. Processed sugar is good as a quick source of energy. Fruit sugar is better. The sugar in the fruit is burned by the body in slower quantities and therefore lasts longer unlike its processed counterpart. Fruit sugar does not give the feeling of a quick energy surge like that which we feel with processed sugar. Coffee likewise is a good source of antioxidants aside from its various benefits. Antioxidants keep us healthy, vibrant, and arrest the aging process. Of course too much coffee is too much coffee. Just like anything that is ingested in copious amounts, the benefits are negated and often illnesses if not discomfort occurs.

The best way to diet then is to have a balanced diet. Everything that we eat must be limited to or as close as possible to prescribed amounts. There is this food chart that is commercially available that will help anyone determine the correct ratio that the body requires. Elementary really but very informative, it tells us of things that we should already know but do not.

In an effort to get the best diet, we sometimes go to lengths to buy the expensive foods. Fine sentiment but really unnecessary. All food has its purpose; all food has its own nutrient that will serve the body well. Everything that is edible under heaven is to provide life. The difference sometimes is in the advertising, who endorses it and how successful is the hype. Otherwise the difference is not much, only the price.

No one could go wrong with water. Water, even when taken copiously, will always be good. You can never get enough of it. That which the body does not need is either perspired or flushed out.

The best way to a balanced diet then is to eat that which is available and to have variety but only in prescribed amounts. If obesity is the issue, think of that which you eat most and limit its intake or do not take it for a while until your weight normalizes. But drink water, lots of it.

Dieting – Fast Fat Weight Loss Programs, Why There Is No Such Thing

There are a lot of fast fat weight loss programs that people subscribe. There is no such thing. Here is why.

The Miracle Diet Cure
There is just no guaranteeing several pounds of weight loss in very few days let alone overnight. Fat in the body, especially the fat in the belly burns last. Fast fat weight loss programs have to be better qualified specially the "fast" word. All results of "fast fat weight loss" programs, without exemption, are inconclusive, under study at best although failed-until-now is an honest word. It may be unfair to give a blanket statement and call these products as scam but until a conclusive government report comes out the tip is don't. Just don't.

The Quick Weight loss Program
No two people have the same metabolism. Different bodies react differently. Again the "quick" word. This is a tired but proven catch phrase to make you draw out your wallet and part with your money. In a country where "busy" is the operative word and "no time" is the norm, it is just so sad to see good money wasted. Why? Because chances are the product is a hunger suppressant. Now, why in heaven do people have to earn so they do not eat. The usual given argument is to get fit but then again, why starve the body the nutrients that it will need to survive or at least be healthy?

The reason why the "fast" and the "quick" word needs better qualifying is this. All the energy that the body does not need, we know, is stored in the body as fat. Now fat is important (too much of it is not but that is another story). The fat in us is stored so that when the body runs out of fuel, it will draw from this storehouse of energy to keep it going for a long time but only when the energy stored in the muscles are depleted. But that is precisely the point. When we the body undergoes a weight loss program, the body reacts by storing as much energy that it could. It will recognize the lack of nutrients much similar to how we recognize that a food shortage is about to happen. Like us also it will store and conserve all the energy that it possibly could for future use. Like us, it will be very stingy in releasing the energy, releasing only as far as we would need to function. And that is exactly what happens. The body will first take out as much water from the cells. Next it uses the muscle for fuel. Then and only then will it use the fat that has been stored to enable you to survive. As the good book said, we are beautifully and wonderfully made, why tinker with that?

What to do then?
Regulate the diet. True, fat, sugar and sodium must be limited but that is because most of us take more than three times our daily requirement. Eat, but eat healthy. Get a good diet plan and stick to it. If there is too much temptation that you failed for a while, shake off the dust, get back on the saddle, and do it again. Exercise too because nothing is better than sweating it out. Muscles will only develop when stress is applied to it and so get a good daily workout. Get fit gradually. Disrespecting how the body is designed always end up badly. Fast fat weight loss programs? Nah.

Dieting – Health Foods

The truth of the matter is that all foods are health foods. The variety of foods that are available has their purpose and uses. The food that grows in one region is a balanced food for that region and is not superior to those that grow in another which is also the food that is very appropriate for that region. Everything is where it should be. No amount of hype and sales pitch could change that, and no matter the try, people will remain healthy if people eat in variety and in correct proportions without gorging.

Health foods however is a term used by health proponents in the 1920's to foods that have special benefits to specific health issues. Health foods for example are those foods that are low in sugar and fat since these are the primary causes of obesity when left unchecked.
What are these?

Organic Foods
These are foods farmed as organic in nature. Organic foods for most of human history had been the staple in farming. These are foods farmed without the use of pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides. For livestock, organic classification mean that the animals were not injected with antibiotics, are not genetically modified nor growth hormones used in raising them. Today, there are two basic kinds of farming of organic food. One is the private garden which will also sell their produce labeled as organic, the other are organic food industries regulated heavily by most governments.

Natural Foods
Natural foods are health foods that are similar in ideal to organic foods although these foods are processed without the use of refined sugar, food coloring, refined flour, and flavorings.

High Fiber Foods
High fiber foods are health foods that have high fiber density. Examples of high fiber foods are berries, cabbages, and fruits and vegetables that have high fiber concentration. The thing that is so important with foods that are high in fiber is that it improves the absorption of nutrients in the body as it cleanses the digestive system. A clean colon and healthy colon for example prohibits 64 different kinds of diseases that would otherwise afflict the body when the gunk and the junk in the system are not flushed out.

Omega 3 rich foods

Unlike foods that are low fat and low sugar, foods rich in Omega 3 are good sources of essential fatty acids whose benefits are too numerous to name. Some of the benefits of foods rich in omega 3 are that it has excellent anti aging qualities, is a good cancer retardant, good for heart problems, skin, hair, metabolism, rheumatism, good for the memory and brain health, etc. What is good about these foods is that it is everywhere and is not expensive. Examples of foods are, Avocado, berries, soya beans and soybean oil, flaxseeds and flaxseed oil, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, olive oil, Brazil nuts, tofu etc.

Vegetables like, broccoli, squash, kidney beans, green beans, lettuce, cauliflowers are very rich in Omega 3. Likewise fish especially the cold water/fatty variety are excellent sources of Omega 3. Some of the fish are the trout, swordfish, milkfish, salmon, mackerel, herring, and Albacore tuna.

Health foods are everywhere. Those mention here are just a few of the examples but mostly the healthiest and among the best. Dieting through health foods is as easy as picking the next choice.

Dieting – Healthy Diet

A healthy diet involves including in the diet all the food groups that one sees in the food chart. It is eating in variety. It is enjoying life including titillating the palate. The main pitfall of obesity and being unhealthy is sticking to a particular food group day in and day out. The habit of eating only a particular food group nourishes the body, energizes it in fact but limited only to the nourishment that a particular food group offer. And so it is very important to diversify your menu although that done, it is just as important that the correct balance is achieved.

Throughout the country, it is very common to see large people that are undernourished. For example, while sodium helps the body to function normally, it is a fact that sodium consumption is often three times the required daily intake. Fats and calories are too, sometimes even more. This is attributed (fair or not) to fast food chains serving much soda, sugary foods and foods that contain saturated trans-fats. Since foods served here are almost similar in content, and are readily available, favoring a particular diet is common. Variety is lost and so are other essential nutrients.

It has often been said that when we buy food we should read the label or at least know the caloric content to arrive at a healthy diet. Wise advice that should be heeded. Label information is very important if we do not want to go over the required fat, calorie and sodium intake. But if you are like most people, the less bother you have the better. Besides who really enjoys counting calories inside a restaurant or read labels in a grocery all the time, every time. And so the list below is translated to the number of cups or servings if you will, so that the diet is easily monitored. For brevity though, ages are those that are in the adult range. The list is based on people of average weight. The heavier and the more active you are the more you will require depending on the difference of the weight against people in the normal weight range. The approximation is very close and effective for all activity ranges that do not have particular diet requirements aside from getting sufficient nutrients in the food and staying fit.

There are six main food groups that are to be included to the diet. The food groups in order of serving size priority are:
1. Grains – Average daily serving for adults should be about six ounces, half of which are whole grains
2. Fruit – Eat fruits daily equivalent to two cups. This is the minimum requirement eating more than that is advisable.
3. Vegetables – About three cups is the minimum
4. Meat, Beans and Proteins – Three quarters of a cup is ideal.
5. Milk Groups – Three cups a day is sufficient.
6. Oils – should be about six teaspoons
When these requirements are met, you can still eat as much as 260 calories of added sugars and fats at your discretion.

Eating a healthy diet then simply means eating various foods to get the entire nutrient that the body needs. It does not really have to be costly. It does not have to be anything special. It is simply enjoying the entire spectrum of food that nature offers and then regulating it.

Dieting – How To Maintain the Ideal Weight

Once you lose weight, maintaining the ideal weight is not as hard. There are several choices that you could do and most are as easy as picking the correct products and choosing right.

Things to do
1. Cook at home. Cooking at home gives you a very good idea of the contents and the limits of the nutrition that you are serving. In short cooking at home makes you manage well what you serve. One of the main causes of improper dieting is the drive to the fast food. Hefty amount and sodas have already taken its toll. Limited variety of the food in the diet nailed the malnutrition issue. Being too busy and having less time is a good reason why eating fast food meals were preferred. Eating imbalanced diet negated it.
2. Have variety in your diet. There are six basic food groups, all of which have their own advantages. Ideally you must have portions of them in recommended amounts to maintain the ideal weight. Understandably, that will not be possible every time. If that is the case, just limit the eating of food that contains fat, sodium and much sugar. While these are needed too by the body, the cause of overweight and being undernourished is that the average person have more than three times the amount of these foods in their daily meals.
3. Exercise. No matter how busy the person is, exercise is a must. The main cause of being large whatever the age is eating and being sedentary. You do not need expensive exercise equipments for this. Jogging, brisk walking, climbing the stairs and hanging on a tree limb or a doorjamb, do the trick.

Things not to do

1. Do not take weight reducing pills, fat loss pills, and fat managing pills. If ever, take only that which is government approved. Fat weight loss providers make their products very appealing. It has to be. Testimonials abound and as if it were not convincing enough, fancy laboratory titles backs up the claims where there is also proof of testing, research and recommended dosages. Of course it would be that way. If the advert is only on the say so of the manufacturer, then take it as it is. It is only the say so of the manufacturer. There is only one fat blocker that is government approved. Even that had gone several revisions and the effect is only moderate. In oriental medicine, there is a saying that the medicine that you take will cure the targeted part that is ailing the body but will destroy another. The word then is caution.

2. Do not return to the same diet as before. That is very obvious but the temptation to backslide is so strong that resolves are sometimes thrown out the window just to indulge in a "harmless" little more, followed by a little bit more.

3. Do not under eat. Under nourishment is just as dangerous as over eating, sometimes more so. But if you must want to feel light, take power foods. There are several foods in the market that are very inexpensive. Oatmeal, avocado, cereals, fish, berries, walnuts etc, are the foods that are usually taken lightly but are in fact are very good choices when the idea is maintaining the ideal weight.

Dieting – Successful Diet Plans

There are gazillion ways in the internet and on television shows that tell of successful diet plans. True enough. The problem often is that what works for a group of people may not work for another, but more on that later.

The Human Factor
Most diet programs will tell you to stick to the diet program and given a few weeks you would have lost so much weight. Ideally that works. The truth is the temptation to exceed the required calories is sometimes too strong to resist that there are occasions when the person ends up indulging more than the prescribed caloric count. When that happens (and often it does) the person doing the weight loss program end up feeling guilty and thinks that the program is over for them. If ever, they would repeat the same procedure from the start. Wrong. We are people. Just like anybody else, we fall to temptation. When we do and if we do, all it takes is to jump to the saddle again with resolve. If we fall again, saddle up again. The weight gained previously by a little indulgence often does not add up much if the resolve is there.

The Quick Fixes
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is not. Yet it is everywhere. What makes it tempting is that work is out of the equation. The truth is that does not work that way. Juices, concoctions, pills, tablets, preparation, exotic fruits etc. that reduces several pounds of body weight in a few weeks or days are not just true. Hunger suppressant maybe, but when the body cries out for the nutrient that it needs, the weight kicks back with a vengeance.

Again there are drugs advertised to make the body slim, fast. These are often very expensive against the benefit that the person gets. The most proven drug that blocks calorie from getting into the system of the body is still Orlistat. However, you do it with exercise and diet to get the most benefit which is at best modest. Since Orlistat is the only drug that have proven definitely (in conjunction with other weight loss activity) to reduce calorie in the diet, any claim beyond that is still under study at best. To make the diet work for you, exercise must accompany the program. Besides, there is really nothing better than sweating it out.

Exercisers
The old-fashioned running and brisk walking are tired exercise methods that always work. The exercisers sold on TV may work and if you are convinced of the gadget remember only that the models selling them did not trim their body on those exercisers.

Different people have different metabolic rates. There are also other hidden causes that may hinder the affectivity of the weight loss program subscribed. The best way to do this (almost everybody know this although not always adhered to) is to check with your physician first. Get a confirmation whether the alternative diet, exercise programs, weight reducing methods, etc. will work well for you or at least will not conflict with your current health status and age. Because often, testimonies are good and true, but they always provide generic approaches and solutions. So take your health into your hands. Successful diet plans are those that you can realistically follow. No matter how agreeable the methods are, check it out with the doctor first. You may belong to a different class with a different set of dieting needs.

Dieting To Gain Weight

Being underweight poses several problems to health. In a world where being fashionable is synonymous to being thin the danger of malnutrition, physical defects, a weakened immune system, mental disease and other diseases that could lead to death is very real. The only recourse to get the body back to the track of proper nutrition is to gain weight back the earlier the better. Remaining to be underweight could make the person develop repulsion to food that will form complications that will be difficult to treat later on.

Aside from the usual problems that accompanies malnourishment, physical activities let alone exercises to tone the muscles will never take place. Now there are only a few major pathways to good health. Two of these are proper nutrition and exercise. When that is not done, other complications follow.

In general though, malnourishment is not the only cause for being underweight. A person could be skinny but remain very healthy but if genes are not the cause, the following may be reason for you to have a check with your doctor so that a program to gain weight or a program of treatment is done.

Malfunctioning digestive organs- There are several causes for this that should be consulted with a physician. Upfront, the following will help.

Fruits and Vegetables - Fruits and vegetables contain digestive enzymes that aid digestion and the absorption of nutrients. Aside from that, this food group contains fiber that cleans the digestive tract down to the colon. Choose fruits and vegetables with very high fiber content. When the digestive system is clean, many illnesses in the body are prevented. When fruits and vegetables are not enough, there are drinks and concoctions that offer fiber to reinforce that which is lacking. Drink vegetable juices where fiber is generally higher. If you cannot do that yet freshly squeezed fruit juices are a good way to start.

Yogurt – Contains good bacteria that help digestion. When there is more harmful than good bacteria in the digestive tract, health problems occur.

Aloe Vera – Eat food preparations that have Aloe Vera. This plant helps soften stool and facilitates easier flushing of the junk in the system.

Water – Drink plenty of it.

Anorexia Nervosa – This is a psychiatric illness that needs immediate attention. Anorexia nervosa is voluntary starvation caused mainly because there is a fear to gain weight.

Superior Mesenteric Artery Syndrome – Although rare, this gastrointestinal disorder is life threatening. This is characterized by compression of the duodenum in the digestive tract.

Depressive disorders and anxiety – While psychological in nature and treatment, the disorder are basically caused by thoughts that are negative in nature that influences moods and behavior but leads to more serious health problems. Check with your physician.

Other causes of lack of appetite are tuberculosis, cancer treatment, type 1 diabetes, drug use and the use of stimulants and inflammatory bowel diseases to name a few. The treatment varies and the difficulty of treatment varies. No matter, affliction is the more reason to find ways at gaining weight through proper dieting and nutrition.

Usually though, if the main reason for being underweight is not caused by poverty, the reason is self induced and voluntary. Both are sad while the latter has the latitude of choice. Choose health. Gain weight. Get the proper diet.

Dieting To Lose Weight

Dieting to lose weight is just as hard or as easy as changing the habit. One way to look at this is to see how the habit formed. Habits do not take place overnight. It is an accumulation of little things done over a course of time until the effect sets in.

Likewise, dieting to be really effective has to be gradual. So for now, stay off the crash dieting, fast reducing and fast fat burning menus, pills and concoctions. It may guarantee to reduce your weight but not your nutrition and well-being. True there are specific foods and food preparations that benefits particular health and weight issues. True also that fast reducing concoctions and food preparations are prepared not to really make you enjoy the simple pleasures of life like a good meal but for you to endure it. It is so easy to agree that there are hard rules to observe in order to lose weight fast without suffering and insure good nutrition in the process too. It is so politically correct to mention that all the so-called weight-reducing products do wonders for the body. Being politically correct though is not being honest.

The fact is everyone has claims, but nothing is officially proven in the entire area of dieting to lose weight. Not one fast weight loss program is endorsed by a credible health organization. The best that is said is that a certain product is under study, is under weighty consideration, or is still waiting laboratory confirmation. Until then, stay off it but here are things that you can do to regain your ideal weight while being kind to your body in the process.

Decide now

Make small changes in your attitude to food. The little changes you make now will spell a lot of weight and nutrition problems later. Look at it as an investment. Treat it as a way of loving yourself. It is like this. If we want for example to prepare for retirement, we start saving early. The earlier we start the better and the longer the lead-time we have to save. The more we save the better we enjoy. Likewise, reducing the amount of food that we eat today, no matter how small the portions are, when done overtime will ultimately be the difference between being obese or fit. It will spell the difference between being healthy or ill and between being fashionable or waddling in oversized clothes. Changing the eating habit cannot be put off for long because the longer it takes for a person to take resolve, the harder the effort to make the resolve becomes.

Eat well

Every food has its purpose. Food in any region did not just happen. It is there for the people to enjoy and to take the right and balanced nourishment. It is the choices, the preferences, and the current activity that limits the nourishment provided to the body. So eat well. Get nutrition from all the six food groups and do it regularly. The main reason that there is too much noise regarding overweight is not because there is fat, sodium, and sugar in the meal. It is because today, 150 million people are obese because they eat more than three times the required daily intake of fat and calories.

Pump Iron

Dieting to lose weight is not complete when not coupled with exercises. While eating the right foods in the right proportion, exercise. It will help to distribute the correct nourishment to the targeted areas in the body.

And then you enjoy, live well, feel good, and look good.

Dieting – Try These Healthy Foods

Include these healthy foods in your diet. No matter how much weight you are working out to loose or gain, these healthy foods will enhance any diet. Do not mind about the added calories, they are so minimal. To think of it, most food contains calories. The benefits you get from these foods are great.

Let us drink to your health

• Water for the body is good. Water with flavoring? As Rabbis usually says, we could look at that in different ways. Funny sometimes are Rabbis but actually there is too much wisdom in that. You see, you will never go wrong with water. No one does. Any water that is not needed by the body gets out of the body. The more is flushed out, the cleaner our system gets, and the healthier we become. What should be bothering is what we mix with the water.

• Fruit juices? Okay but make it natural. Juices squeezed out of fresh fruits do wonders for the body. It has some calories but the benefits far outweigh whatever the added calories. The sugar in fresh fruits unlike processed sugar is good. The calories derived from it give constant, steady burning energy unlike table sugar that gives sudden energy boosts and the feeling of tiredness afterwards. Because of the natural sugars, the feeling of being full lasts and so we feel hungry less. If the diet leans on strict adherence, do not buy bottled juices or powders. There are so many other additives in it that may upset your dieting program. This is the time where you should read the label. Read the fine print too. You may be getting more of the additives and less of the fruit juice. Most fruit juice preparations are so watered down, perked up with additives, highly sugared and not worth much in the healthy foods department.

• Coffee – Yes. Coffee are very rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants benefit the body in many ways. One of these is the slowing down of the aging process. Now, eating food that are rich in antioxidants may not shave off years to our looks but it makes our body function better. But limit that to a few cups because of the caffeine.

Then We Feast

• Eat avocado and no, do steer off it because of the fat. The fat in avocado is good and considered in nutrition circles as "healthy Fat". Avocado is one of the richest in fiber especially those that are fully ripe. Actually the more mature it gets the better the fiber. It is one of those rare food that are very filling without calories. Just like coffee avocados are very rich in antioxidants less the caffeine. It is also an excellent source of Omega 3 fatty acids. Avocados could be a complete meal when mixed with milk. It also blends very well with many different kinds of food like salads, guacamole, tortilla etc. This is not a boring health food.

• If avocado tops in fiber, walnuts top in Omega 3. Good as salad and pastry toppings, it is also a good portable snack. Hemp oil is almost similar in benefits.

• Likewise, apples, potatoes, oats, Brazil nuts, and fishes of the fresh water/fatty variety are healthy foods that you will never go wrong even when you eat plenty.

Dieting – Why Fad Diets Fail

Fad diets are those diets that claims fast weight loss in just a few days with minimum effort except to stick out with the diet plan. There are several of those being flooded into the market every month, always well advertised sometimes well endorsed and fatally frustrating. Simply put, fad diets are always starvation diets and therefore unrealistic. It fails this way.

Fad diets are foods that one has to endure. On top of that, a person on a fad diet is told to eat less and if the fad diet comes with an exercise program, to work more. The only saving value is that it is low on fat and generally low on sodium but so is water. These, therefore, need preparation. Every preparation however tastes unappealing bordering on unpalatability.

Fad diets may sometimes come together with an exercise program. But if one is to observe carefully, initial weight loss happens this way. A body that perspire losses water and water is heavy. When the dieter checks the weight after the exercise, there is truly a weight loss. But drink water and the body go back to the original weight. The water then that was lost during the exercise will only equal to the weight that was lost on perspiration. The impression however will be different.

The body then starts to slowly react to the starvation diet losing water in the cells which then translate to weight loss. As you continue the starvation diet, the body will start feeding at the muscle and therefore you lose weight. Because you are avoiding the eating of fat (which the body by the way also needs), the tendency of the body is to conserve all the fat that is in store. It will go on for a time say 15 days depending on your metabolism. Now, when the body has burnt most of the energy in the muscle, the person starts to get weak. The reason for this is that it is already starting to burn the fats that are stored in the body and which the body has tried much to conserve.

The irony is that, fats do not burn easy. Unlike other energy foods that the body is used burning to provide the energy to stay alive, burning the fat will in itself take more time to provide the energy needed and then the person on a fad diet starts being phlegmatic in movement. Performance will be poor, activity will slow, and even the exercises will take a lot more effort that, after a while, is dropped also.

Obviously, the point in going on a diet is to be healthier, let alone fit. A fad diet works to the contrary. The weight loss effects are immediate; it always is because it has to be, but the desired effect and the ideals in which the dieter started with is not.

True enough weight loss happens even emaciation (if the person will last that long), but lack of energy and other unhealthy symptoms does too. For most people, realization sets in fast. The body that has been crying out for the nutrients to keep it functioning will eventually be heeded and the fad diet forgotten. As that happens, the person will start to eat and regain all that which was lost during the time that the body is being starved. What is more is that it usually does not end there. The craving for food that has been suppressed are often overpowering that weight in fact starts gaining more.