The more difficult you make your diet the less likely you are to stick to it and succeed.

If you are constantly having to think about your diet throughout the day and keeping account of all the foods that you eat and the calories that you are counting then it becomes very difficult to maintain for the long-term and eventually those types of diets result in failure for most people.

By keeping your weight loss program simple you are going to achieve a lot better results because it allow you to get on with enjoying everyday life without having to think about food and cutting back on your food for all of your waking hours.

Even mention of the word diet has negative effects for many people because it immediately places restrictions on their lifestyle.

There are enough things to contend with in modern day life without having to constantly keep a track of what you’re eating although you do need to be aware of the types of food and the portions that you are consuming because this is what determines whether you gain or lose weight.

Healthy weight loss can be achieved quite simply by just reducing by small amounts the portions that you have at each meal even if you don’t change the types of foods you are eating.

This is generally the best way for people to start dieting as it doesn’t require anything that is too difficult and too hard to maintain for enough time to see results.

Once people see results from the weight-loss program then there is an incentive to carry on and do better and particularly if these results have come about by using simple techniques that haven’t burdened the enjoyment of life.

Before you start on any diets consider the consequences and how it will impose on your life and whether you have the type of personality that will allow you to maintain what is required for that particular program.

The biggest problem with most people gaining weight is due to the quantity of food they consume.

That sounds obvious but you need to understand that there is often a good reason why some people feel the need to consume larger quantities of food than others and in doing so become overweight.

It all relates to the types of foods that we eat and their nutritional value. If you eat foods that are low in nutritional value they will leave you wanting more because they haven’t delivered the nutrients required to supply you with the energy you need and they haven’t satisfied your appetite.

They have left you feeling hungry and it is human nature to eat more food until that hunger goes away.

If you were to eat the right foods your nutritional needs would be met and you wouldn’t feel hungry. If you didn’t feel hungry you wouldn’t continue to eat and that in turn would ensure that you didn’t gain excess weight.

You can understand now why fast foods are responsible for the high incidence of weight problems due to the simple fact that they aren’t delivering the essential nutrients that the body needs.

By making some simple changes to the foods that we eat and replacing those foods that are low in nutrition with more appropriate foods for healthy living it becomes a lot easier to maintain a good bodyweight without having the burden of hunger to contend with.

The problem with most diets is the fact that they are just too hard to maintain for any amount of time and this shouldn’t be the situation as hunger is not supposed to be a part of a balanced lifestyle.

Good food in good quantities will help you to maintain a healthy bodyweight and you will feel satisfied after your meals.

Once you realize that most weight problems are related to bad habits you will understand that if you can eliminate these bad habits weight loss will follow.

The first step in the process is to determine what your bad habits are. Look at the times when you tend to overeat and see if you can understand what triggers these reactions.

If you can eliminate those triggers and you can only do that by determining what they are in the first place then you will find it a lot easier to sort out your eating problems.

You should also look at the types of food that you go for during these times as often they will be comfort foods and more often than not these comfort foods are of very low nutritional value and due to that fact they will stimulate overeating.

By simply changing your comfort foods, with those that are of a higher nutritional value you will still be satisfying your needs by eliminating the negative side effects that are associated with poor food.

As most things that we do in life are habitual we rarely think about the actions we take as we go about our daily routines on autopilot. Unfortunately everything we do throughout the day includes both good and bad habits and it is those bad habits that are causing the damage.

As we age, more and more aspects of our life become habitual and it becomes more difficult to realize we have these habits and even more so to get rid of them particularly if we have had them for a long time.

With a bit of personal analysis you will quickly become to notice the various different things that are leading up to your eating and weight problems.

If you only target one of these habits at a time it becomes a lot easier to make the changes and often changing one habit can have a positive affect on many other habits. The process certainly becomes easier the more you do it in and by concentrating more on that area rather than the food itself you will find that weight loss is not such an overwhelming part of your life.

By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Burn The Fat

A new study just published in a recent issue of the journal Obesity has revealed that thin people eat very differently than heavy people at all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants.
Researcher Brian Wansink and his team from the Cornell University Food and Brand Laboratory observed diners at 11 different Chinese buffet restaurants across the United States.

Their goal was to find out whether the eating behaviors of people at all-you-can-eat buffets varied based on their body mass.

Trained observers recorded the height, weight, gender, age, and behavior of 213 patrons. The various seating, serving and eating behaviors were then compared across BMI levels.

The heavier (higher BMI) patrons:

• ate more quickly
• chewed more food per bite
• used forks
• sat facing the food buffet

The thin (lower BMI) patrons:

• ate more slowly
• chewed less food per bite
• used chopsticks
• sat facing away from the food buffet

This study confirms earlier research from the University of Rhode Island published in the journal of the American Dietetic Association which found that eating slowly leads to decreases in energy intake.

Scientists even have a name for this now:

“TIME-ENERGY DISPLACEMENT”

Time-Energy Displacement means that the more time you take to eat, the less energy (calories) you are likely to consume. The faster you eat, the more energy (calories) you’re likely to consume.

But wait, there’s even more! A study from the University of Alabama looked at satiety (how full a food makes you feel), energy density (calories per unit of volume) and eating time of various foods. To maximize the effects of Time-Energy Displacement, it was found even more advantageous to choose foods that FORCE you to ingest calories more slowly.

This includes choosing more:

Foods that have a high satiety factor such as high fiber and high water foods (so you feel fuller more quickly):

Peas
Red beans
Raspberries
Broccoli
Green beans
Chick Peas

Foods with a high “chew factor” (so you can’t eat them fast if you tried; you have to chew them thoroughly):

Lean meats such as top round, lean sirloin
Celery
Apples
Pears
Peaches
Foods with a low energy density such as salad vegetables and greens (so you’d get tired of eating before you took in a lot of calories):

Tomatoes
Artichoke
Cucumber
Salad Greens
Cabbage
Okra
These results also confirm all the studies that have been advising us not to drink our calories. Liquid calories, especially soft drinks and dessert coffees are two of the biggest sources of excess calories in the typical American’s diet.

The problem: calories in liquid form can have a very high caloric density and can be consumed very quickly. Liquid calories also do not activate the satiety mechanism in your brain and gastrointestinal tract the way solid food does.

“Don’t inhale your food” used to be an admonishment about proper eating etiquette you heard from your mom. It is now scientifically-proven fat loss advice.

To learn more research-proven tips for burning fat, visit the “Burn The Fat” website at www.BurnTheFat.com

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
Burn The Fat

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified personal trainer and freelance fitness writer. Tom is the author of “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world’s best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: BurntheFat.com

There’s no doubt about the fact that the body changes as we age and fat is stored in places that we didn’t have to worry about when we were younger.

The metabolism slows and the digestive system doesn’t work as well as it once did.

Hormonal changes in the body can also affect the shape that you are in but there is one thing that always remains the same at all ages – If you eat too much food and drink too much alcohol you will gain weight.

Many people use their age as an excuse for being over weight but this is not acceptable. Consider how many elderly people there are who are still slim, fit and healthy and you will see that age is not an excuse.

Lifestyles create the body we have to live with and the effects of poor lifestyle choices are multiplied as we age because the abuse that we have been giving our body through poor food choices throughout our life accumulates with fat and other health related problems due to poor nutrition.

You can and should expect to keep your fat percentage at an optimum level throughout your life. The health benefits from doing so will pay dividends with a better quality of life and reduced dependence on medication and other health related expenditure as you age.

At any stage in your life, no matter how old you are you can benefit from improved nutrition and exercise.

Anything that will reduce the excess levels in your body fat will assist in helping you to live longer and to enjoy that time more.

Starting on an exercise program and taking care to improve your nutrition is the best way to turn back the body clock and it is never too late to start winding back the years. Obviously the sooner you start the better but starting is the essential ingredient that you need right now.

The sooner you start on the path to reaching your weight loss goals the sooner you can enjoy all the benefits of better health and well-being from the reduction in body fat that you will be able to achieve.

If you have been considering a weight loss program for some time, or you have been on other weight loss programs in the past and have not succeeded to date, then today can be the day that you decide to change your way and give yourself improved health for the rest of your life.

Even the smallest change that you can make today will be the first step to a new you.

If nothing else, decide to drink enough water today to remain hydrated and accept that alone as your first step towards improving your health and reducing your weight to more acceptable levels where you can feel happy about your body.

The start of any weight loss program can be the smallest change in direction in your life. What is the most important factor is actually making that change and taking that first step.

Doing that today could be the breakthrough that you need to push yourself to better things.

Nobody even needs to know that you have started on a weight loss program because the change will be minimal and very often talking about doing something stops people from actually doing it. Energy can be wasted in words whereas action will change your life.

The fact that you are reading this information means that you have either taken action already or you are still anticipating taking the action that you know is needed. For your own health and well-being today is that day.

The quality of your life in the future can very well depend on the action that you take right now.

There is not one diet that is perfect for everyone but there are some very good programs available that will give most people very positive results and these are all based on the same foundation of sound nutrition, good exercise and realistic expectations.

Realistic expectations will get you a long way to achieving your goals so do take the time to consider what you can do, and what you can maintain over the long term.

Once again using good quality supplements can help considerably by maintaining balanced nutrition and reducing hunger that comes about from your body telling you that something is missing in your nutrition.

Having the support of those people around you will increase your chances of success and can help to give you the opportunity to set higher expectations and achieve your goals a lot sooner.

Support for your goals is a huge factor in achieving them even if you don’t need other people to remain motivated so accept all and any help that comes your way.

The fact that you are considering a weight loss program only proves that you know what is good for you and all that is required now is for you to take action and make the necessary changes to your lifestyle that are overdue.

The first step is always the hardest and the further you go the easier the journey becomes provided of course that you have chosen the right path to follow.

For many people who are overweight starting an exercise program can be quite difficult.

What you need to understand is that you don’t have to immediately start going out for long-distance runs. In fact to do so if you are quite overweight could be detrimental to your health.

In the beginning of an exercise program it is better to start by going for walks and don’t be too concerned if initially they are short walks and slow ones at that.

You can’t expect to run before you walk and you will find that once you start taking the steps towards your goal it will become easier and easier.

Even if you don’t like exercise you need to be aware of the fact that exercise is one of the fastest ways for you to reduce weight and improve your health and speed up your metabolism to help reach your goals.

The more exercise you do, the more energetic you will become and this in turn makes it a lot easier for you to achieve your daily activities.

Exercise also helps to flush out toxins in the body and improve your digestive system with increased blood flow throughout the body so even small levels of exercise are going to benefit to some degree.

Any exercise that involves the use of resistance such as weightlifting will boost your ability to lose weight considerably as muscle burns fat and any muscle that you can build will help to lower your fat levels.

These resistance training type exercises also help to increase the strength of your bones that is very important as you age.

If possible, it is good to have some physical activity each day and at least you should assign time to do a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise three times per week.

If you find that you can’t do that initially don’t be too concerned as you will build up to it before too long and most people end up enjoying it and make it part of their regular lifestyle.

There are many different reasons why people become overweight.

It is not as simple as saying that overweight people just eat too much because there can be any number of psychological reasons that make people want to eat more.

Emotional triggers such as stress, sadness, depression and so on can all make a person want to eat more food.  This is due to the fact that there are certain chemicals in the brain that are linked to both mood and hunger.

Many people associate eating with various different emotions and for this reason they choose to eat more food to make themselves feel better, or happier, or more comforted.

If you feel that this is the reason for your weight problem then it is probably better to get those issues resolved first by seeing a specialist rather than trying to attack the food problem first.

For a lot of people it is habit to over eat and behavioral modification will be the key to weight loss success in these cases.

One of the easiest ways to change your eating behavior is to eliminate any temptations. This is best done at the supermarket by not actually buying foods that are going to cause you a problem.

By not having these low value foods in the house you won’t be tempted to eat them because they won’t be there and this will encourage you to eat better foods and in doing so change your behavior patterns.

This process is made considerably easier if all members of the household will help towards achieving the goal of better eating.

If you do the shopping then you will be able to determine what food is purchased and this will help to make your weight loss easier, and in doing so it will help the nutrition of all members of the household.

By getting into a regular pattern it makes the task of losing weight considerably easier.

If you know that you are going to exercise at the same time every day then your body will soon become adjusted to the fact that it will be exercising and this not only makes the exercise easier but it also ensures that you will stick to the plan and reach your goals a lot sooner than you would if you weren’t consistent in your actions.

By keeping a record of your fitness training, you will be able to improve your performance in small steps that will result in big gains over the course of your program.

A regular checkup with your doctor is always recommended to ensure that all aspects of your health are improving and any concerns that you might have can be answered before they have the chance to escalate.

You might occasionally have a break from your weight loss program and this is not unexpected. It can actually do you a lot of good to have the occasional break from routine, provided of course that you get back to the program in a reasonable time and don’t slip back to your old habits.

By adding variety to your food and your exercise it will ensure that you don’t get bored as this is one of the main reasons that many people struggle to maintain their plan and achieve their goals.

If possible get others to join in with you when you are training as this can help to relieve any boredom and also inspire you to do more training and improve your performance.

Always try to associate with positive people and those who will help you to reach your goals and don’t accept any negative energy from others as this will only hinder your chances of success.