How about those fabulous mid morning summer bike rides in the park! What about the outdoor barbeque grilling on the deck? So are you ready for a bit of surfing and then tanning on the beach? Summer will be upon us in just a few more weeks. Not only do you want to enjoy the hot leisurely months that are rapidly approaching us, you want to look the part as well.

So it doesn’t matter if you need to shed a few pounds, or ten, or twenty, or even forty, it doesn’t really matter, the key is getting started!

Lose Weight Properly
Weight loss and a healthy diet should be a slow and steady process, while at all times focusing on cutting down calories and increasing fitness and exercise levels. It’s really important not to rush and refrain yourself from overexerting yourself. Proper weight loss takes time.

Are you someone who doesn’t acknowledges or accept the idea of dieting? The true definition of weight loss and dieting is being focused on counting and managing your calorie intake for specific amounts of time in order to reach a certain target weight goal. So this will probably concern you because it sounds like a temporary measure. You’re wondering what happens then, when you go back to your previous normal eating habits? You will most likely gain the weight back!

What you need to do is make a complete paradigm in the way you think about food consumption. You can start doing this by establishing good eating habits. Why not begin an eating habit of consuming only 500 to 600 calories for breakfast instead of the usual 1,200? If you replace eating bagels, muffins, pancakes, bacon and sausage, with fruit, or turkey bacon and cottage cheese. Doing just this, you will most likely find yourself at least 10 pounds lighter just on breakfast alone. Also, do the same calorie counting for lunch as well as dinner and you’ll lose an additional 10 to 20 pounds. Sounds too simple? Well, you are what you eat. Then throw in some good cardio exercises into the equation as well.

The Proper Foods And Exercising
Start with an intense exercise program for thirty minutes per day, at least four to six times a week, and you can watch additional pounds drop off.

Of course, this takes a lot of will power and determination, as well as discipline. That’s why habits are habits. Once you establish yourself on a dedicated routine of eating the proper foods, it then becomes almost second nature. Weight loss and the management of it, not only makes you look better, the biggest benefit is it helps you to feel better. You will then suddenly begin to notice an increase in energy and an overall improvement in health.

It’s important that you monitor the amount of cholesterol that you consume. Diets that are high in cholesterol can easily lead to heart disease or even worse, heart attacks and stroke. Be sure you get a cholesterol screening from your doctor or health practitioner on a regular basis. Eat fresh fish at least two to three times a week, preferably fish with darker flesh, such as: herring, salmon, mackerel, or trout. They are highly concentrated in Omega-3 fatty acids, which has proven to lower ‘bad’ blood cholesterol.

Avoid Foods Contributing To High Blood Pressure
It’s paramount you avoid foods that will contribute to high blood pressure. Also limit your alcohol consumption to less than one or two drinks per day. Limit you sodium (salt) intake, and try reducing all saturated fats in your diet. Saturated fat is found in animal products such as: cheese, milk, and fatty meat. Stop that disgusting cigarette habit and all tobacco products! Smoking is well known to increase the risk of heart disease, lung cancer and stroke.

What Foods To Eat
Try eating nonfat yogurt, fresh salsa, or nonfat sour cream instead of regular sour cream and butter on your baked potatoes. Substitute fresh vegetables and fresh tomatoes sauce for creamy sauces, when eating pasta.

Substitute all basic white breads and cereal grains for bagels, fat free muffins, and croissants.

A diet that is high in fruits and vegetables will help in warding off cancer and other serious diseases because of the natural cancer fighting agents that’s contained in them. They contain a lot of fiber, and a diet that’s high in fiber will decrease your risk of developing colon and other cancers. Fruits and vegetables also contain valuable amounts of Vitamin A (beta carotene) and Vitamin C, both of which contain antioxidants and cartenoids.

Cartenoid, a valuable nutrient, can also be found in dark leafy vegetables such as: spinach, broccoli and carrots, also fruits such as: cantaloupe, papaya, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. Additional excellent sources of Vitamin C can be found in: oranges, strawberries, green or red bell peppers. It’s recommended you always lightly steam your vegetables or eat them raw. The closer that they are to being raw, the better and higher their nutritional value.

How Can Exercising Give You Energy
A lot of people wonder how exercising can give you more energy. It makes more logical sense that exercising should take your energy away as you are utilizing and expending yourself when you exercise. Well, this is the complete opposite from the truth. The more that you exercise by working out and thus lose weight, the more energy that you get and retain because you are simply carrying less weight, which obviously takes less energy. The more you that you exercise, the more you are able to keep on exercising.

When you begin to get your weight to a more manageable level, make sure you monitor and keep a close eye on it. This includes weighing yourself everyday. That way, you can immediately take measures to work off that sudden weight gain. If you happen to find yourself five to ten pounds heavier than your true target weight, you should then cut back immediately. It will become a problem when you wait until we are 30, 60, or even 100 pounds overweight, and you know this can happen. It will then feel like you are fighting a never ending losing battle when your weight gain has suddenly become too extreme.

Walking Is The Best Way To Start
Start with making a list you can implement of the different ways to incorporate walking into your daily life. Say if you live near a transit station in your city, drive there, then park your car and ride the transit system and then walk the rest of the way to work. If you happen to be a new mother, get a baby stroller that will enable you to burn up those unwanted calories, while you’re walking your baby. Take the stairs as often as possible, instead of using the elevator.

You’ll also be pleasantly surprised at how many actual calories that you can burn by: swimming, gardening, skating, dancing or hiking. Whether you believe it or not, you can actually have fun while losing weight. Exercise, along with having a positive attitude, and a sensible healthy diet will help you in managing your weight, improving your health and instilling a positive outlook. Exercising doesn’t have to be a rigorous activity to be valuable. You’ll even actually be doing yourself a bit of a disservice by exercising too hard. So just take it easy. Gradually build up your body’s resistance to a manageable and workable level. Keep in mind that if you can’t ‘talk and walk’ at the same time, then you’re walking too fast.

Make Sure Your Healthy Enough
If you happen to have any of the following health problems, it’s a good idea to talk to your health professional or doctor before starting any exercise program.

• Chronic heart trouble
• Dizziness and/or faintness
• Chest pains
• Arthritis
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes

Eat The Proper Foods For An Excellent Diet With Low Calories:
• Eat Fresh Fish at least two times a week, preferable grilled, broiled or baked. Reduce the serving size to around 2-3 ounces.
• Reduce fat intake, by using lean poultry or fish, also use lean cuts of meat like top or bottom round and tenderloin cuts. Avoid eating second servings. At times replace meat with beans or grains.
• Eat three to five servings of fruit as well as vegetables every day. Eat fruits like: figs, kiwi, apples, blueberries and raspberries, which are extremely high in fiber and nutrition. Eat veggies such as, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, spinach, carrots, red bell peppers, chili peppers, squash, tomatoes and sweet potatoes, which all have high nutritional values, as well as great anti-oxidants (cancer-fighting agents).
• Eat lots of whole-grains, pasta, whole-wheat bread, tortillas, and raw cereals daily
• Eat cooked peas, dry beans, lentil beans regularly
• Eat popcorn without oil, salt, or butter
• Drink skim or 1% milk instead of regular homogenized milk
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily, especially since you’ll be exercising regularly.
• Limit cooking with oil
• Lightly steam your veggies or sauté them using wine or just a half teaspoon of cooking oil
• Use spices as well as herbs for seasoning, instead of pre-made sauces and butter
• Salads should only be eaten with fat-free salad dressing or a red wine vinegar and oil dressing
• Drink a glass of pure refreshing water in the morning when you first wake up

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 8:07 pm and is filed under Diet Plans. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.