You really don’t want to expose those extra pounds to the world, but you do want to put on your swimsuit and feel OK about it. A crash diet seems to be your only option, but aren’t crash diets unhealthy – not to mention ineffective – after the first week? Not if you approach them correctly.

Despite what many nutritionists have preached for years, low-calorie diets can be healthy if you do them right, and can work wonders on pounds and inches in just a few weeks.

Clinical experience shows that somebody with a serious commitment to weight loss can lose up to 20 pounds – and two to three dress sizes – in two months. That’s a lot of weight, and an enormous change in appearance for most of us.

Best of all, if a crash diet is done right (and you make permanent changes to how you eat) it can yield results that will stand the test of time just as well as those slow and careful, long-term diets that emphasise depressingly incremental drops in weight.

Conventional wisdom says that rapid weight loss leads to rapid weight regain, but a new generation of science is showing that slow isn’t necessarily better.

In fact, fast weight loss – if achieved with a healthy, caloriecutting food-based diet – can bring long-term success equivalent to the more gradual weight-loss programmes, which is reason for procrastinators everywhere to rejoice. In fact, for some people, healthy crash dieting may work even better than a diet that lasts all year.

A recent study from my laboratory at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, found that the slow and careful approach seems to be sustainable only by those dieters who are not sidetracked by rich food, party snacks and other common food challenges in daily life.

So where does exercise fit into all of this? The drumbeat of get moving to lose weight has become so loud that almost everyone blames his or her weight problem on not spending enough time working out.

The food we are putting in our mouths seems to take a back seat.

But a look at the evidence doesn’t support the hype.

‘Exercise doesn’t necessarily make you thin’
National surveys show that people who do manual jobs – construction, farming and domestic work – are often heavier than people who sit in front of a computer screen all day.

Indeed, physically strenuous jobs carry a 30 per cent increased risk of obesity in the U.S. when compared with office jobs.

Of course, comparisons like this don’t factor in social class, or whether you eat chocolate or take a run after work, but that’s the whole point – compared with factors like what we snack on, hard manual labour just doesn’t make as much of a difference.

Even if your day is spent shovelling gravel, you’re still going to develop a pot belly if you lunch on pizza and fizzy drinks every day.

This is not to say exercise is bad – exercise is, of course, important for maintaining health, strength and vitality. But when it comes to weight loss, it doesn’t seem to be the panacea that it is often made out to be. And the evidence isn’t just anecdotal.

My laboratory summarised 36 years of published studies on exercise and weight, conducted between 1969 and 2005, and found that adding even an hour of exercise per day results in an average fat loss of just six pounds over the course of several months – hardly the benefit one would expect from all that work.

At some point during the day — and often, multiple points — most people crave a snack. It’s easy to grab a snack that’s gratifying but high in fat, calories, cholesterol or sodium — and low on nutritional value.

The desire for healthy snacks (or at least less unhealthy snacks) is not a new one. What is new, however, is the emerging mindset that packing more for the punch, or doing more with less, can allow people to have their snacks and eat them, too. With a few lifestyle adjustments, the 3 p.m. snack — or the mid-morning or late night snack, for that matter — can continue.

Get Dense
To gain more from your snacking experience, go for nutrient-dense snacks that are enhanced with a greater amount of better-for-you ingredients. If you have an extra apple or some celery stalks on hand, take advantage of built-in nutrients and pull them out of the refrigerator.

If you are in the mood for a bag of munchies to satisfy your cravings, remember that today’s bagged snacks come in a wide range of better-for-you varieties. Snyder’s of Hanover, for instance, offers products like multigrain pretzels, chips, and puffs, and recently developed a dedicated EatSmart line of better-for-you snacks that fall into the nutrient-dense category.

Indeed, beyond traditional salty snacks made with whole grains, many bagged snacks today are made with non-traditional snack food ingredients. You can actually increase your intake of vegetables with products like vegetable-based crisps. EatSmart Veggie Crisps and Soy Crisps, for example, are made from real potatoes, tomatoes, spinach and soy.

Make Bold Choices
Nutritionists and foodies alike can attest to the fact that eating more flavorful food lends a certain satisfaction to the eating experience. Those who eat boldly flavored snacks may be less likely to over-consume and can take their time to enjoy how the food tastes.

Recognizing that bold flavors enhance the eating experience, manufacturers are responding with more intense and gourmet flavor profiles for snacks, such as pesto, parmesan, chipotle peppers and fire-roasted tomatoes, among many others.

A quick glance at a supermarket shelf in the snacking section supports the notion that consumers are seeking more unique flavors for snacks. Even the most popular chips come in a broader range of flavors beyond traditional cheese, ranch or sour cream and onion, while crackers are also topped with everything from cracked black pepper to bits of rosemary. Snyder’s EatSmart All Natural CheddAirs and Veggie Crisps include a variety of bold flavors you’re sure to enjoy.

Go Natural
For those looking to maximize their snacking experience, all-natural snacks offer an added benefit of “clean” labels, namely, with fewer preservatives and artificial ingredients. Again, supermarkets and restaurants are offering more natural and organic products, in response to growing customer demand.

Looking for “all natural” or “organic” wording on packaged snacks and taking a few seconds to read the label is an assurance that what goes into snacks doesn’t have to be unpronounceable.

Realize that Size Matters
Mindless eating, particularly snacking with little thought of controlling intake, is where a lot of people get into trouble. It may not seem like it when we’re eating while working, texting or watching TV, but it’s very quick and easy to overdo it.

To make it easier on consumers, snack food providers continue to introduce portion-controlled packaging, through 100-calorie packs and snack size products. Those items, ranging from chips to pretzels to snack cakes, are specifically designed to help people keep track of their snacking and stick to a pre-planned intake.

Pretty soon there won’t be an excuse not to snack, given all of the available options. Better-for-you snacking fits into just about any lifestyle – and, in turn, can help ensure a better fit into that swimsuit.

For more information on Snyder’s of Hanover full line of “Better-for-you” snacks, call (800) 233-7125 or visit the company Web site, www.snydersofhanover.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Scientists for years have been studying the relationship between a persons genetic make-up and their ability to gain and lose weight.

As the research progresses it won’t be too far off that you will be able to obtain a genetic profile and then have a dietary plan personally designed for optimal health and weight loss to fit your profile.

Geneticist Jose Ordovas says that current research is uncovering the complex interactions between diet and a person’s DNA, which could in future lead to “more personalised advice about what to eat and drink to stave off heart disease, cancer and other chronic conditions”.

While some nutritionists have been quick to label the theory “another gimmick”, two recent landmark studies have found that an individual’s genes do have a lot to do with how their bodies react to certain foods.

One study of 32,000 people by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometic Traits, discovered six genes that were linked to appetite control and obesity, five of which are active in the brain.

Dr. Peter D’Adamo a naturopathic physician (aka diet guru), is already practising this method and is gaining a loyal following, even from perpetual dieter Opray Winfrey.

Dr. D’Adamo explained that an individual’s DNA is unique, and that is why a “one size fits all diet” is ineffective.

In Dr. D’Adamo’s latest book, The GenoType Diet (Broadway), loosely based on his bestseller, Eat Right For Your (blood) Type (Putnam Adult), he suggests that eating certain foods based on your genetic make-up is the key to staying trim and healthy and living a long life.

He has identified six basic gene types and provides a customised food plan for each one, emphasising the foods and supplements that “will work best” for weight loss and health.

“Most significantly, it decides which foods will help you lose weight and achieve vitality, and which illnesses you’re most at risk of,” Dr D’Adamo says.

So which genotype are you?

The Hunter
Tall and thin, full of nervous energy and prone to allergies and asthma.
Eat: Meat-rich, low-gluten foods.
Superfoods: Beef, lamb, salmon, hard cheese, wild/brownrice, artichokes, broccoli, grapefruit.
Avoid: Nuts, grains, wheat, sugary foods, soft cheese.

The Teacher
Strong and sinewy, with great stamina.
Eat: White meat and fish.
Superfoods: Turkey, white fish, black beans, peanuts, peas, tofu, flaxseeds, .
Avoid: Sugary food, white carbohydrates, red meat.

The Explorer
Muscular, broad shoulders, narrow hips and low body fat.
Eat: Legumes, liver, beans, cheese and meat.
Superfoods: Liver, lamb, ricotta, mozzarella, lentils, parsnips, ginger, raspberries.
Avoid: Alcohol and caffeine.

The Gatherer
Full-figured, gains weight easily, has trouble processing alcohol and caffeine.
Eat: High-protein, low-GI.
Superfoods: Liver, lamb, ricotta, mozzarella, lentils, parsnips, ginger, raspberries.
Avoid: Fried and microwaved food.

1) Don’t diet to extremes. Reducing calories by 15-20% a day will almost exclusively burn fat while larger cuts in calories will burn a combo of muscle tissue and fat. Muscle drives the metabolism – calorie burning. If you’re currently eating 3000 calories, reduce to 2400-2550, but do so according to smart guidelines like those laid out in The Living Health Weight Loss Audio.

2) Graze all day. Professional athletes and models eat all day long yet keep their total calories under control. The grazing method, 5-6 small meals, elevates the metabolism. Each time you eat, the metabolism increases, and over a 6-10 week period, that increase can parlay into another 2-3 pounds of fat loss.

3) Increase Protein. Carbs, protein and fat – are equal in their efficiency to be stored as body fat, but protein exerts a greater metabolic boosting effect than carbs or dietary fat. When calories drop, protein saves muscle which helps keep the metabolism elevated. Aim for 1.2 grams per pound of bodyweight daily.

4) Play with Carbs. Carbs help retain metabolic boosting muscle yet they can stimulate fat storage. Following a modified low carb diet – staggering your carbohydrate intake is one of the most effective ways to jump start your
metabolism and to burn stubborn fat fast (as outlined in Maximize Your Metabolism and the Living Health Audio Program.)

5) Go Backward. One reason fat loss comes to a halt; the body downgrades its metabolism to meet its dwindling intake of calories. The solution: dramatically increase your calorie intake once every 2-3 weeks. The one day splurge “re-sets” the metabolism by restoring thyroid levels, the calorie burning hormone that declines with dieting.

6) Skip the Late Night Carbs. Carbs eaten before bedtime are more likely to be stored as body fat so focus on lean proteins and fiber based vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and salad fixings. The lone exception: if you train late at night and your goal is to build muscle mass, you’ll need the carbs to replenish glycogen and support growth.

7) Go Fish. When calories are controlled, the inclusion of omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon, trout and sardines may promote speedier fat loss. One study revealed dieters who ate fish on a daily basis lost more weight than those who ate fish just once a week (Am Journ Clin Nutr 70:817-825, 1999)

8) Go Spicy. Red peppers, the spicy ingredient in Mexican and Indian dishes contains Capsaicin which can increase the metabolic rate by effecting the Sympathetic Branch of the Nervous system. Spiking your chicken dishes with red might be a small benefit or you can gulp 5 to 10 encapsulated grams of Capsaicin from your local health food store. (Journal of Nutrition 116:1272-1278, 1986.)

9) Don’t Be Cardio Crazy! Radically reducing calories slows the metabolism short circuiting fat loss. Same is true with radical caloric expenditure. You know: 2 cardio sessions a day. Excess cardio slows the metabolism, promotes a loss in muscle and even can lower testosterone levels. For real results, stick to 4-6 sessions a week, 30 – 45 minutes at a clip and maintain a high level of intensity.

10) Separate Cardio From Weight Training. What happens when you do cardio first and follow it up with weight training? You don’t build as much muscle density. How about cardio after training? You risk overtraining and the negative hormonal milieu that can stifle the metabolic rate. The best scenario; hit the cardio in the morning – on an empty stomach – get in a few meals and return to the gym later in the day to build muscle density.

But what is our responsibility in the nutrition game? Do we understand what our nutritional requirements are, how to fulfill those requirements, and how to look for real nutritional value in our foods?

I’m not sure that nutrition has been successfully addressed in its own right. We hear nutrition in relation to our vitamin intake, our fortified cereals and milk, and in the context that we need “nutritional value” from our food choices.  But what really is nutrition when applied to our daily bodily functions?

Today, we must determine how much nourishment we need, how much physical exercise we need, and how best to accomplish those ends. Calorie needs, nutritional needs, physical needs, and education about those needs now is information we should all understand, at least as it applies to our individual self.

probably as high as 80% or the population is lacking in a least one of the vitamins and mineralsIf you will visit your local doctor, library, or fitness center, there are massive amounts of information available to help educate and to help you make good health choices, no matter what the age group.

Nutrition refers to the nurturing of our body, in our ability to keep it healthy and functioning as it is supposed to do. Our ability to provide the body with all it’s necessary food, vitamins, and minerals so that we continue to thrive in our daily life processes.

If you were to take a cross section of the population, and check for adequate levels of the most used and fortified vitamins and minerals, you would probably find that as high as 80% or the population is lacking in a least one of the vitamins and minerals.

Now, that doesn’t sound too bad, until you stop to think, what if it’s calcium?  A calcium deficiency brings on osteoporosis, a deteriorating of the bone. This disease alone costs millions in medical expense to the population.

Can you see how a little more cooperation and open-minded participation on the part of our medical field could result in far fewer health problems?  It would also have provided the general population with a viable way to discern their nutrition, vitamin and mineral needs, accurately.

So how do we determine that we are providing the essential nutritional needs? That knowledge comes by educating ourselves about what our individual needs are, the needs of our family, and then taking that knowledge and applying it to the foods we buy, that we prepare, and that our families consume.

Quite often, our vitamin and mineral needs outweigh our caloric needs. In those instances, we turn to manufactured vitamins and minerals to fill the gap. This is a part of our nutritional needs, also.

Nutrition is one of the most complex areas to gain useful knowledge about, because there are so many components, and because each person has their own individual needs.

Women’s needs differ from those of men, and older women’s needs differ from those of a young girl. As we age, our needs constantly change; therefore continual education about nutrition is a fact of life. The nutritional needs of a cardiac patient are different than those of a healthy, middle-aged hiker.

Can you see the complexity of the situation now?  What we really need is to develop a scale that determines the nutritional needs of our bodies on a cellular level, so that as we age, as our physical condition changes, or our health changes, we can recalculate our needs, based on cellular changes and content in our body.

Individuality is the key to understanding each person’s nutritional needs, and then working to educate us is the key to fulfilling those nutritional needs.  Good nutrition should be the ultimate goal of every person alive.

Part of the problem is that because we as humans have it ingrained in us to constantly change things, we are the only creatures that invent food. No other animal or insect does this and they don’t have the diseases humans do unless we have poisoned their environment. We have so much in the way of processed food that have little nutrient value, that we pack on the pounds and become slower moving.

Make your first step the decision to become healthy and fitIn the wild, animals that eat the raw greens, grasses fruits and berries are very healthy animals. The meat-eating animals consume the healthy plant-eating animals and remain virtually disease free. Our farms on the other hand, need to mass-produce cattle and chickens so we give them hormones and phosphates and the like and we consume them. That is by the way, some experts now think younger girls are developing much earlier than they used to because of the hormones in meat and dairy products. We can however, luckily eat raw organic fruits and vegetables and we should do so on a daily basis.

Another culprit is our need to once again, change our environment. We have more machines that do things for us now and it won’t stop there. This is both good and bad. The good is a higher rate of production for the products we need, bad because we are slowing down physically. In as little as ten years ago we could go out on a Sunday morning and see someone pushing his or her lawn mower. (And I mean pushing). Now a days, you’ll see more of sit down mowers or power mowers that literally pull you along with it. Our fore fathers were much more active and they ate nutrient rich foods. And they could eat a lot of it without getting fat because of how much energy they spent from hard physical labor.

Is all lost for us in this day and age? Absolutely not!!! We are perfectly capable of reversing this trend, but it does require a) your dedication and b) follow through. This can be done no matter what your weight and activity level.

Make your first step the decision to become healthy and fit. Once you have firmly made that decision you are on your way. Now take the time to evaluate your lifestyle and really look at it. Be honest with yourself about your eating habits and activity level.

Changing your diet to eating healthy whole foods is a good way to start. It’ll not only help you lose weight and help you feel better, but it will enhance your quality of life. You’ll have more energy and life just feels better when you are healthy.

There are many popular diets out there. The Zone, the Blood Type Diet, Atkins, the South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers and the list goes on. They all have had their share of successes so it is hard sometimes to know what to do. I can only say, do your homework. You will find the right one that works for you and you will be more likely to stick to it.

If you want to do it on your own you can be just as successful if you know some basic rules.

1. Portion control. Cutting down to smaller portions can help tremendously. A great way to eat less food at one sitting is to drink a glass of water before you eat and then drink more water with your meal. Water takes up a lot of space in your stomach so you will feel full faster and water won’t give you any extra calories. Awesome!
2. Water, water, water. Drink lots of clean pure water. Your body needs it and more than you think. Most North Americans are in a state of semi dehydration. Water flushes out toxins, gets your bowels moving. (Did you know that the amount of pain you feel from injury or minor aches and pains are directly proportional to how dehydrated you are? An interesting tid bit)
3. Eat raw fruits and vegetables as much as you can especially dark greens. Cooked veggies lose some of their nutrients so eating a salad every day would benefit you. Most of your vitamins and minerals are going to come from fresh fruits and leafy green vegetables. And try to stick to organic on this to avoid the pesticides and chemicals.
4. Fiber. You need to keep the bowels moving and the combination of water and fiber will do the trick. The best fiber comes from fruit and whole grains. But consider this: You would need to eat 10 bran muffins to get the same amount of fiber as in a half cup of raspberries.
5. Protein. The best source of protein is from meats such as beef, chicken or turkey. But do limit the amount you eat at one time. You don’t need a 10 or 12oz piece of meat at one sitting. You can get protein from dairy and cheese but consume only small amounts because they digest too slowly. Nut is a source of protein but they are high in fat so consume small amounts.
6. Sugar, confectionary treats, soda’s, junk foods and some processed foods are your enemy. Nothing gives you weight gain and that sluggish feeling quite like this grouping. I am not saying you should never partake of them, but do so only occasionally. We do after all need our cheat days once in a while. Just make them small portions.
7. Find an exercise regimen that you like and will stick to. Pretty much any exercise program will help you lose weight if you stick with it. You will see on TV all the equipment people want to sell you but after watching for a bit you usually know what appeals to you or not. You may just want to pop in a video and exercise with that.
8. I can’t say enough about sticking with your program. It takes time and you can experience losses in the beginning when it seems it is not going fast enough, but if you stick with it, you will get your reward and you will reach your goal weight and have energy to burn.
9. And finally, because some of food is deficient in nutrients from growing in poor over used soil it might be a good idea to get some good vitamin supplements to assisting in getting our daily requirements in. Getting it in food is the best but that is hard to do these days so find a qualified nutritionist to help you in selecting what’s best for you.

Good luck and good health!

Do you really know what is healthy food?

We all try and stick to choosing healthy items when grocery shopping or eating out, but how well do we really know our foods? Discover how to find out about reading between the lines, what to look out for in labels and how to dine out healthily.

When shopping in your local supermarket, it’s very easy to be attracted to colourful aisles filled with crisps and chocolates. It can sometimes take a lot of will power to resist grabbing a few treats…especially if you are food shopping on an empty stomach!

99% Fat Free – but can you really believe it? Watch the video and learn the truthSo the logical choice is to head for the aisles that sell ‘healthy’ food. But how genuinely healthy is the food that you are buying? It looks healthy, it sounds healthy, but you may actually find that it contains ‘hidden’ fats, salts and sugars. In short, anything BUT healthy!

Fat free? Sugar free? Calorie free?

Phrases such as ‘fat free’ and sugar free’ sound great in theory, but a closer inspection may be needed. A claim such as ‘fat free’ usually means that in order for the item to be ‘fat free’, something else has to be added to make it taste edible.

[relatedposts]So check the label at the back to see what has been added to make up for the lack of fat. The product could be significantly high in sugar, and so, even if the product is fat free, it will probably be packed full of calories. The same goes for products boasting a low number of calories or no sugar at all. Again, check the back label because the fat content may be very high.

Also check to see whether the nutritional information relates to the portion size or if it’s per 100g. When cooking a meal, think in terms of portion size to get a better idea of how much fat and calories each person will really be consuming