To lose weight we must go on a diet, right?

I’d like to share with you that a weight loss diet is not the best path to a long term, healthy weight loss.

There are many fad diets that not only not true but are also damaging to our bodies (think of infamous cabbage soup diet).

Do these quick weight loss diets work?

Long term, no!

Flaw #1 Such weight loss diets are not sustainable. You can’t drink juice or eat cabbage soup for the rest of you life. You’ll have to go off of soon and then weight comes back and then some.

Flaw #2Undermines health and brings on physical discomfort (stomach cramps and flatulence)

Flaw #3 Many of these weight loss diets do not encourage exercise and physical activity. So when the person go on it, they lose a lot of muscle mass and reduce their basic metabolic rate

Flaw #4 Many weight loss diets are based on food folklore from 19th century (cabbage soup… do I need to say more?). They have not been shown to be safe or effective in long term.

Flaw #5 Focus on now instead of charting a long term solution.

Did you ever go on a diet? What happened after a few months?

Internet has a lot of information. Some is good, some is bad, other is irrelevant.

I found these online weight control tools to be not just good but awesome. Lets face it, trying to lose weight without understanding how many calories to consume can be frustrating and time consuming. Following weight control tools should make things a bit easier:

#1 Calorie Counter (American Cancer Society): This tool approximates how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. If you would like to lose weight, eat 500 calories less than the number stated. If you would like to gain weight, eat more.

#2 Body Mass Index (BMI) Calculator (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute): please remember that BMI has it’s limitations. If you have much muscle mass, your reading will not accurately reflect your state of health. If you are an athlete, this tool is not very useful. For an average person this tool gives a decent estimate of how overweight/fit you are.

#3 Interactive Menu Planner (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute): The name says it all Simple and effective menu planner

• BMI Calculator will tell you whether your current weight is healthy or not
• Calorie Counter Tool will tel you how many calories you should be consuming to maintain, lose or gain weight
• Meal Planner Tool will help you plan your meals so that you meet your caloric goal

Did I miss something? What tools do you use?

USDA’s recent nutrition recommendations are hitting the wallet hard according to recent University of Washington research.

Latest changes to USDA’s recommendations will increase food bills of many families. An example that NRP articles “USDA’s Advice For Eating Right Is Hard on the Wallet”sites is that in order to meet new USDA’s requirements for potassium alone, food bill of an average family would go up by $380 a year.

This is the estimate calculated through research at University of Washington.

The concern is that low income families will fall even further behind on the health and wellness curve.

It is no secret that organic, raw food is much more expensive than a cheeseburger from local fast food chain.

First step would be to educate. After all, replacing soda and sugar water with water is cheaper.

What do you think?

Should we subsidies healthier foods and make it more affordable?

All diets work short term. Key to successful weight loss and maintanence is ability to create good habits, capacity to stay consistent and maintain the achieved health and fitness.

Paleo diet is not for everyone but will definitely work for many of us.

With paleo diet you get to eat like a caveman or a cavewomen. No processed, yucky stuff.

Not part of paleo diet:

• Grains like wheat, corn, oats, …
• Vegetable oils and margarines
• Legumes like soy, peanuts, lentils, …
• Sodas, sugar, fruit juices, …
• Dairy products
• Processed food and preservatives

Instead, paleo diet uses:

• Meat: Beef, pork, chicken, bison, …
• Eggs: Omelets, Frittatas, …
• Fish: Salmon, sardines, trout, …
• Fruits and vegetables: Berries, spinach, beets, …
• Shellfish and seafood: Mussels, scallops, shrimps, …
• Good fats: coconut oil, tallow, clarified butter, olive oil…
• Nuts: almonds, macadamia, walnuts…

Paleo eliminates modern processed and sugary foods and instead focuses on nourishing foods that do a body good.

If you are interested in learning more about this type of meal planning, I would highly recommend this Paleo Recipe Book that contains over 370 paleo recipes.

Paleo Recipe Cookbook contains

• over 370 paleo recipes
• full of photos
• instant access ebook

It also includes an 8 week meal plan for you to follow.

For details and to see samples visit The Paleo Recipe Book

I’ve been using it myself for sometime now. Like it very much and confident that you will like it too and see great results.

Enjoy! Look forward to hearing how it effects your fitness and health.

How should we eat to lose weight? And no, we are not talking about a diet here.

Studies has shown that diets do not work in the long run since after diet is over and weight is lost, the individual bounces back up in weight. This is called yo-yo dieting. Read our post “Dangers of Dieting”.

We are not suggesting dieting, instead focus on creation of new eating habits that are maintainable and will help you succeed in weight loss and weight control throughout life.

How to eat to lose weight?

• Drink more water. Get in the habit of drinking water instead of sugary drinks like sodas or juices
• Eat slowly and take your time. When eating quickly, we don’t recognize in time when we are full and tend to overeat. Slow down and pay attention.
• Decrease overall sugar intake (candy, donuts, etc). If you are craving a sweet have some fruits or berries
• Learn to recognize when you are full. If you eating out, remember that you don’t have to finish everything on your plate. Take leftovers home. If you are eating at home, get a smaller portion and then if you are still hungry get seconds.

These are first steps how to eat to lose weight. If you follow them you will notice a very positive reaction from your body.

Let us know how it goes. How do you eat to successfully lose weight?