Myths And Misconceptions About Your Weight Part 2

Eating “carbs” such as pasta or bread will make you gain weight. Carbohydrates aka “carbs” are an essential part of the diet because they are what give the body the energy and fiber it needs. Besides, declaring an entire food group “off limits” just makes you crave it more, increasing the possibility of binging in a moment of weakness. Carbs help you to feel more “full”, which tells you to stop eating and taking in calories. In that sense, carbs can actually help you lose weight, not gain.

Diet sodas are healthier and less fattening than “regular” sodas. Not necessarily. Diet sodas cut down on calories in that they don't have sugar, but some artificial sweeteners can cause other problems. I have a friend who gets massive migraines any time she eats or drinks something with aspartame, the sweetener most commonly found in diet sodas. This isn't unusual and is hardly more healthy than taking in sugar! Diet sodas also do not satisfy cravings for sugar and thus increase the possibility of eating sweets to make up the difference.

Low fat=low calorie. Similar to the above, this isn't always true. While there are definitely low-fat foods that have fewer calories than the full-fat versions, sometimes the foods are processed in such a way that can negate any benefits gained from removing the fat. For instance, sometimes starches or sugars are added to improve the flavor and make a low-fat food more appealing. This can add extra calories, sometimes making the “healthier” version more caloric than the original.

Also, a big misconception many people have about low-fat or low-calorie foods is that they can eat more of them and not worry about gaining weight. That's not necessarily true. Snackwell's cookies might have fewer calories than the same-sized box of Keebler, but that doesn't mean you can eat the whole box and not take in too many calories.

People who exercise can eat whatever they want because they'll burn off the calories. That really would be nice, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, this isn't true for a few reasons. First of all, not everyone burns calories at the same rate. Just because you're in a Zumba class with someone doesn't mean you'll burn off the same amount of calories she will. It's not that simple; she may have a completely different metabolism, weight and body composition than you. Also, we don't always burn off as many calories as we think. If a 130-lb woman wanted to burn off 400 calories, she'd have to walk at a moderate pace for roughly 2 hours or spend an hour on the exercise bike. That's more than a lot of us are willing or able to do. However athletic we are, we still need to pay attention to calories.

The good news is that we burn a lot more calories than we think. Here's a page that gives the calories used for daily activities. http://www.nutristrategy.com/activitylist4.htm

These are just a few of the more common myths I've heard. What about you?

Myths And Misconceptions About Your Weight, Part 1

The obesity epidemic in the United States and other parts of the world have a lot of us scrambling to find information about how we can make sure to keep a healthy weight. Every week there seems to be a story about a new “superfood” or warning about how awful X type of food is for us.. We hear all sorts of things about our weight, but how much of what we hear is true? How much is false, or a lot more complicated than we think? In this post, I will attempt to separate the facts from the truth when it comes to the effects our behavior has on our weight.

People who are overweight are unhealthy. While there are a lot of medical conditions that are caused or exacerbated by weight gain, having extra pounds doesn't necessarily mean a person is unhealthy. A person's body composition is often overlooked in discussions about obesity, but it actually makes a huge difference in the effect of extra weight. Muscle weighs the same or more than fat, but it takes up less space on the body. This is why you might hear about professional athletes or body builders falling into the “obese” category on the Body Mass Index (a scale often used to determine a person's healthy weight) while “couch potatoes” don't. Basketball player LeBron James, for instance, has a BMI of 27, which would technically put him in the 'obese' category. However, the man is 6'8” tall and solid as a rock! In contrast, the sedentary person mentioned above would be at an increased risk for diabetes and cholesterol problems, particularly if the fat is around the midsection. The BMI scale can be helpful for doctors, but a person's activity and eating habits are a lot more important than the number on the scale.

If you eat less, you'll lose weight. While calorie and portion control are very important, eating less will not necessarily make you lose weight. It's not quite that simple. If the body doesn't get enough calories over a long period of time, it goes into “famine mode”; meaning, it holds onto what little food it does get and won't let go. This is why burning off more than you eat and exactly what you eat is a lot more important than calories in the long run.

Eating at night causes you to gain weight more than eating during the day. While it's true that calories consumed during the day are more likely to be burned off right away than calories consumed at night, eating at night isn't necessarily going to make you gain weight. Calories are calories.

Going vegetarian or vegan will make you lose weight. Not necessarily. Vegans and vegetarians do often consume fewer calories than their meat-eating counterparts because of the fats often found in meat. However, a lot depends on whether or not you eat processed foods such as “vegan” cookies or potato chips because these may still have some of the fats present in the “regular” versions. Also, it's important that a person balance their diet because it's very easy for someone to go without protein and other essential nutrients if they aren't careful about exactly what they're taking in. Protein is very important to the metabolism, which is what controls the rate at which calories are burned. A low metabolism can cause weight gain.

Using Fruit To Boost Your Overall Health

Fruits help to boost your overall health in many ways. They are stuffed with vitamins, minerals, nutrients, and they are an excellent source of fiber. For example, most fruits, especially oranges, are packed with Vitamin C. Vitamin C is a vital nutrient that helps keep your body healthy. It strengthens not only your bones, but your immune system as well. Your immune system helps you stay healthy by fighting off germs. If you intake an adequate amount of fruit, the odds of you getting sick are much less then those who are not consuming fruit with vitamin C. If you do come into contact with bacteria or a virus and you do end up getting sick, then vitamin C actually boosts your immune system to ensure that you recover quickly.

Fruits are also packed with antioxidants with help protect you from cancer. Antioxidants ultimately stop the splitting of cancer cells which stops the spread of cancer. Without multiplying cancer cells, the healthier you will be. They also help prevent the formation of cancer cells in the first place.

Fruit is great for your waistline as well. It’s not necessary a magical food that is going to cause weight to melt of your frame, however, fruit tends to be a better alternative as a snack then anything else you could be eating. If you usually have a sandwich and a side of chips, you should try substituting the chips for an apple. Not only will the snack help you lose or maintain your weight, it also tastes delicious going down! Fruit is also a better option than pretzels as well. Although some might fight this and state that pretzels have no fat and less sugar than fruit does, overall the benefits form the nutrients that the fruit provides will definitely give you a nutritional burst that pretzels just can’t match. Pretzels are essentially “empty calories” which means your body burns them for energy and that is it. You receive no nutritional value from biting into a pretzel rod other than quenching your hunger. Make your calories count by biting into something a bit more fresh.

Fruit smoothies are perhaps one of the healthiest things you can ingest, as long as you are careful not to add too many additives like sugar. Fruit itself is naturally sweet and has enough natural sugar in it to sweeten up any smoothie so make sure you are skipping adding additional sugar. One of the most popular fruit smoothies available is the strawberry and banana smoothie. This is very healthy for you because strawberries are packed with nutrients as well as bananas. Bananas have a lot of potassium which isn’t found in that many foods. When you mix strawberries and bananas with milk, orange juice, fat free yogurt, and ice, you have concocted an extremely healthy snack! All of the aforementioned ingredients are great choices and help boost your body’s health overall. Milk provides some protein, as well as the yogurt, and the orange juice provides your daily dose of vitamin C! It is the perfect power snack if you want to stay healthy!

Teen-aged Eating Disorders, Is Your Child in Danger?

In these times of economical upheaval many parents are working full-time and even additional side jobs to make ends meet for their children. While parents are so busy trying to properly provide for their children, often times, their teenagers are getting pulled into eating habits that are definitely not in their best interest. Teen-aged eating disorders are one of these dangerous eating habits.

Current Eating Disorder Research

The best way a parent can help their child to stay away from teen-aged eating disorders is to be aware of what they eat and to be a good role model where eating is concerned. When you call, text or touch base with your teen, ask them if they have eaten and what did they have that was good sort of thing? It not only shows them how much you love and care about them but it teaches them to become responsible for the food choices that they make on a daily basis.

A lot of parents that have children with teen-aged eating disorders often will say that they did not know this was happening with their teen. So, that all parents learn from this, it is time to become more aware of what is going on in your home and kitchen. Trying to schedule family dinner meals is also helpful because you can then actually see what your teens are eating.

Anorexia Nervosa is one of the top teenage eating disorders followed closely by bulimia. There are also teens that are compulsive exercisers and/or teens that will only eat certain foods with hardly any calories in them. Doing any or all of these things on a regular basis will result in your teen dropping a lot of weight in a short period of time. Boys have also been known to suffer from the same disorders, just not at the same high rate as the girls, however, boys can become compulsive about working out excessively to gain a more athletic build.

Some signs of these teenage eating disorders are weight loss, mood swings, secret activity, change in behavior, distancing themselves from you and any activities regarding food. Watch out for your teen if they are skipping meals a lot or if you have not seen your teen eating lately. Even though everyone is busy, you should still notice your teen in the kitchen eating or hunting through the fridge or pantry. If they are not, it’s time to find out why. Unfortunately, if your teen should have one of these eating disorders, chances are very good that they have gotten really clever about hiding it from you on a daily basis. A good test is to plan to take that one teen out to her favorite place for a lunch with just you. If things are normal, that child should be ordering their favorite menu item there and eating and enjoying just about all of their meal. Watch out for teens that are layering their clothes to a crazy level and not walking around your home in just a tee shirt and pj bottoms because they may be hiding this awful illness. If you suspect any of this is a problem in your home, always check with your doctor for care and advice.

Is What You Drink Ruining Your Nutrition?

Have you found yourself stuck in a weight loss plateau with very little options? Getting frustrated with the work you have put into your weight loss goals thus far with little or no results? It happens to everyone, usually at the very start of any weight loss plan you lose a few pounds, feel fantastic about what you have already achieved and then it hits you. You are stuck with the weight you are at and having trouble getting that scale to go down any further. One simple way to begin to break that cycle is to look at what you are drinking.

Believe it or not what you are drinking on a daily basis can be one of the culprits freezing your scale. Many do not realize the huge amount of calories they are allotting themselves each day through beverages. Does this mean you must drink water everyday for the rest of your life to stay fit and trim? Absolutely not, it simply equates to monitoring it much closer.

For example, many people have a drink schedule that looks something like this: they awake to a fresh cup of coffee, they then continue to another when they arrive at work or perhaps even get one of those frothy coffee drinks at a nearby shop. Next, they have a soda with their lunch, with maybe even another to follow suit during the rest of their workday. When they arrive home at dinner time, they have yet another soda or iced tea with their meal. Certainly they will become hungry once more before they settle in for bed for the evening and this could be another soda, glass of wine or maybe even a beer. Once you begin to look at all of those from a distance and add up those calories, the results can be shocking.

One soda for instance is over 100 calories, some are even over the 200 mark per serving. If you get yours from a fast food place you can instantly double that calorie total as the sodas they pass out are larger in size than what one would receive by drinking it in a can from home. Those calories add up all day long and some even result in drinking over one thousand calories per day which is unnecessary for a healthy diet. If you find that you are one of these people, start by cutting back on the drinks that are high in calories and substitute them for water as much as possible. Your body needs water to function properly and if you do not care for the taste of it, then invest in one of the fruit flavored varieties or place a slice of lemon in your water. For soda lovers, replace yours with a diet version immediately. At least those do not contain calories or they contain very few and that will greatly decrease the amount of content you are taking in each day. Track your progress with your new drinking plan and in a just a few days you will notice the difference when you lose additional weight and get out of your weight loss plateau.

Lose 10 Pounds Quickly

The potential to lose ten pounds quickly lies in a few simple changes to your diet. While this can be a challenge in the initial stages, the process quickly becomes much simpler when you make the effort to commit to it. Minimal lifestyle changes and better dietary decisions is what currently stand between you and the ability to love the way that you look. Losing ten pounds quickly is as simply as learning to pay attention to your diet choices, eating breakfast each day, and drinking a lot of water.

The first step to losing ten pounds rapidly is to start to pay attention to what it is that you put into your body each day. Many people do not realize the amount of food or the type of food that is entering their body on a daily basis. Start by writing down what it is that you eat on a regular day and analyze what foods that you can eliminate. Elimination does not mean starvation and you should begin this process by eliminating foods that provide empty calories such as high fat or high sugar content snack foods. Learning what it is that you are putting into your body can quickly help you to adjust your diet and your food choices.

It may come as a surprise that the second tip for losing ten pounds is to make sure that you do eat breakfast every day. Many people believe that skipping breakfast is a quick and easy way to reduce calorie intake, however this can be detrimental to your weight loss goals. Missing out on breakfast can destroy your metabolism. Eating first thing in the morning will help you to stabilize your body to start the day and reduce your cravings between the morning when you wake up and lunch time. Consuming breakfast has been shown to reduce snacking throughout the day and therefore assist in rapid weight loss.

A final recommendation for quickly losing ten pounds is to start replacing all the liquids that you take in with water instead. Drinking a significant amount of water is important to weight loss in that it flushes out many of the negative and unnecessary toxins that can lead to a weight increase. Water also helps to move essential minerals and nutrients to the different cells in the body, which will help you to lose weight as well. Replacing high calorie soda drinks or any other type of sugar filled drink with water will reduce calorie intake and lead to a rapid reduction in weight.

Losing ten pounds fast is within your reach and only requires a commitment to a healthier lifestyle. Making small changes to your diet can help to lead to permanent and bigger changes in your diet that will take you past the initial ten pounds that you would like to lose. By starting with the tips above, you have the ability to change the way that your body looks and the way that you feel about your body.