10 Top Tips For Successful Dieting‏

It is common knowledge that regular exercise and eating lower amounts of food is vital to weight loss but some people still find it difficult to do. The right diet should not be difficult for you to maintain. Here are the best ten tips that will enable you to develop the right attitude for reducing your weight.

Information is a priority.

Be informed about the most up-to-date research. Go through articles in magazines to increase your knowledge about healthy eating. You will be more assured of achieving your weight loss goal if you are equipped with the latest information.

Make sure you are motivated.

At the start of your weight loss program, you have to write down why you want to lose weight. Commitment will be easier for you if you have clear goals. It should not just be about looking good. Your starting point may be to lose weight so as to improve your health. This list will motivate you if you look at it frequently.

Your body is a reflection of the food that you eat.

Write down the food items that you eat from day to day. If you know what you eat regularly, you can easily identify problem areas. Identifying the food that you eat will enable you to make necessary changes. This is a good way to maintain your plan and stay in control.

Set targets that are achievable.

It has been shown from certain studies that it is proper to begin by losing at least 10% of your body weight. You can break this into more controllable chunks, reaching for 2-3kg in one stretch. Maintaining your weight is a success in itself. On the other hand, when you lose a little weight over a period of time, your health improves. When you are ready to begin your diet program, take it one step at a time. Practical goals that are achievable will lead to success and make you more confident.

Eat small meals frequently.

You will lose weight if you burn more calories than you consume. This may not be easy if you are continuously hungry. Research has revealed that individuals who eat 4 to 5 small meals daily find it easier to manage their weight. Divide the food that you eat daily into smaller sizes and try not to eat after the evening meal.

Add protein to every meal.

Diets that are high in protein will enable you to eat less. The reason is that protein is more filling than fat and carbohydrate. You will feel fuller with a smaller quantity of protein so including a portion of lean poultry or fish will enable you to achieve this goal. Protein has a longer digestion time which helps you to avoid the sugar rush that is associated with a diet that is high in carbohydrate.

Most people eat more when distracted.

Most of the time, people tend to eat more when they are distracted. Be sure to set aside a particular time to eat. You will discover that you are more aware of what you consume and you will be taking in fewer calories. Studies also show that individuals who sit in front of the TV while eating consume 40% more calories in their diet.

You can take pleasure in your favorite dishes.

It will not be in your best interests to ban your favorite foods. It is better to have a menu that includes smaller portions of your favorite foods in combination with other healthier alternatives. Just find a way to enjoy what you love without overdoing it.

Find time for some exercise.

Your metabolism will increase when you do more physical exercise. You will have more energy; have better sleep and a more positive attitude. If you join a keep fit program, you will increase muscle mass and have a better body. It is easier to be motivated when you workout with a group.

Finally, be assured of your ability.

Do not think the changes will take place automatically because habits are hard to break. You may even deviate from your diet intermittently. Do not let this discourage you. Be focused and remember the reasons for setting those goals. Think good thoughts and ultimately you will succeed.

5 Tips For Weight Loss

Are you ready to lose some weight? Perhaps you're surfing for the magic pill that will vanish your weight away. Maybe you're simply searching for the right information to help you lose and keep the weight off. Whatever the case, here's some surefire tips to help you with your weight loss.

1. Do your homework. As you start your weight loss plan, take the time to carefully evaluate your situation. What caused the weight gain? Pregnancy? Inactivity? Overeating and binging? Emotions? There are many triggers in our lives that will cause us to gain weight. Some can be prevented or eliminated, some can't. It's important as you begin your weight loss to understand and come to grips with the cause of your weight. Be honest with yourself. Don't cheat on this one. Obviously, you want to have your weight loss become permanent.

In order to keep off the weight in the future, you may have to make some lifestyle changes to stay slim. Don't give up before you start. There's usually more than one solution to any weight gain reason. Just remain open-minded, and be willing to change to get the results you desire. Don't hesitate to read and learn as much as you can about weight gain. It's really easy to understand, and you may be surprised at what you learn.

2. Avoid Hidden Calories. Here's an over simplified version of weight loss and weight maintenance... if you eat more than your body needs, you gain weight. If you eat less (reduce calories) than your body needs, you lose weight! While it sounds simple enough, just eat less ....Right? Basically that's true. Yet, there are other things that come into play as one is trying to lose weight. One common mistake many people make as they diet is the fact they don't really understand how much is provided by the food they are eating. This is especially true with eating out and eating snack foods and beverages.

A serving as defined by the scientific communities on weight loss and a serving that your local restaurant provides is most often very different. For example, one serving of bread is typically one slice. Yet, the average bun in a fast food restaurant is actually almost three servings. A single serving of French fries is 15 fries. Just take a guess at how many servings are in a "Biggie" French fry container.

Also, don't be fooled into thinking just because a bag of popcorn is small, that it's a single serving. The same thing goes for beverages. The bottle may contain16 oz. Yet, the serving size may be 4 ounces. Pay attention to actually how many servings of food and beverages you are actually consuming. The amount may surprise you.

I'll give you an example, my son-in-law who's 28 was had put on several pounds. His favorite cola is Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew has higher sugar content than most other cola's. He didn't have a clue as to how may calories he was consuming by drinking 3 or 4 24 oz bottles a day. When my daughter told him, he was amazed. He replaced the cola with water and went from a 38" waist to a 34" waist in about two months. Be careful, you may be consuming more than you think.

3. Consider Diet Pills Carefully. Maybe one of your diet buddies has decided to buy diet pills, or maybe you've seen or heard a commercial for diet supplements promising easy fast weight loss. If so, please evaluate CAREFULLY! Even the most natural-sounding diet pills or weight loss supplements can be useless for weight loss, or dangerous, or both. Diet pills are very tempting things if you want to lose weight, especially if you have tried several conventional weight loss plans without success. The side effects and dangers of some diet and weight loss pills can vary enormously because many of these pills contain a cocktail of ingredients and because dosage instructions may be inadequate. Possible side effects include: nervousness, tremor, diarrhea, bulging eyes, racing heartbeat, elevated blood pressure even heart failure.

There are some instances when diet pills can be helpful. Usually these are indicated in the truly obese person. For the person wanting to lose 5 or 10 pounds, they usually aren't necessary. So you may ask, how does the diet pills work to cause weight loss, while I continue to eat the same amount? In recent years, it seems everyone has the PERFECT answer to help with your weight loss. There are almost as many weight loss methods and diet pills available as there are people who want to lose weight.

There are diet pills that stop your hunger so you eat less and burn more fat. There are diet pills that cause the body not to metabolize all the food you eat, so it's passed out of your system and not stored as fat. There's combination of these two. As you begin your search for the perfect diet pill, be careful as some can have harmful effects on your body.
Diet Pills work by shifting levels of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) that control satiety (fullness) and desire for food. Some also slightly increase your metabolic rate - the rate at which your body burns calories.

Examples of weight loss diet pills include:

Diethylpropion hydrochloride (eg. Tenuate)

Mazindol (eg. Mazanor, Sanorex)

Phendimetrazine tartrate (eg. Bontril)

Phentermine hydrochloride (eg. Adipex-P, Ionamin)

4. Monitor/Increase Your Activity - Regardless whether you're taking diet pills or not to help with your weight loss, it's still important to maintain a regular exercise program. This is beneficial not only for your weight loss, but also for your overall health. In many ways we in the developed country have a much more sedentary lifestyle than our bodies need. Obviously it's easier for us than in the era when people had to be very active simply to survive, yet it's not necessarily healthy for us not to be active. Start and maintain some sort of exercise plan no matter what your age. Especially for the middle-aged and older people exercise play a very, very important role in the quality of health and staying within normal weight ranges.

5. Develop a Plan for Maintenance. Even if you're taking diet pills to help with your weight loss it's important to keep in mind, that once you stop the pills, unless you maintain a balance between your activity level and the food you eat the weight will come back. While it may take some time to become accustomed to a change in diet and activity, the rewards are well worth the time and effort spent to reach and maintain a healthy weight.