Is Your Salad Really Healthy?

We have equated salads with healthy eating and weight loss. Because salads mostly contain vegetables and are easy to prepare, it's a fixture on most weight loss plans. However, there are some cases wherein going for the salad is not the healthier choice.How can you go wrong with a bowl of vegetables, you ask? You can; apparently, with what you add to these vegetables are the ones sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Even at small amounts, the dressing, croutons, bacon bits and cheese count against the calories you give up in order to lose weight.The fact that most of the salad dressings we tend to favour use mayonnaise should have us re-evaluate the steps we take towards a healthier lifestyle. While these salad dressings are indeed full of flavour, these dressings are also loaded on calories that put a dent on our calorie limit. Moreover, the preservatives in these dressings are can also have an effect on your health.Apart from the dressing, the toppings we put on our salad can also make a difference. Sure, the greens are good for you, but if you keep on adding chicken crisps, croutons, cheese and the like, that just defeats the whole purpose of eating healthy. You may as well forget the salad and snack on chocolate bars instead. These toppings are high in calories and just off-set the multiple health benefits of the vegetables.Basically, the fixings and the dressings are the key to keeping your salad healthy. Try out these tips on how you can make your salad really work for you and your weight loss goals:1. Watch your portions. It's better if you make your own salads at home because you're in control of how much you eat. But if you're eating out, eat half an order.2. Avoid calorie-rich creamy dressings. If you can, opt for dressings with olive oil or balsamic vinegar which are healthier but just as flavourful. When eating out, ask the staff to serve dressing on the side so you're in control of how much dressing goes in your salad. One trick you can try is dipping your fork into the dressing, then onto the salad with each bite. This way, your salad isn't swimming in high-calorie dressing.3. Go for dark leafy greens like spinach and fresh herbs, which have more nutritional value.4. Pick healthier proteins. Opt for grilled chicken, shrimp, tofu or a hard-boiled egg instead of meat and fried toppings.5. Swap out croutons for more vegetables. If you're looking for more texture in your salad, toss in cherry tomatoes, olives, peanuts, carrots, corn, peppers, onions or cucumber.6. Pick healthier cheese. For a big serving of salad, 1/4 cup of feta, blue, mozzarella, cheddar or goat cheese would suffice.7. Add fruits. Why stop with vegetables when you can enjoy the health benefits of fruits in your salad to? Try orange slices, strawberries or cranberries to add a fruity twist to your dish.The great thing about salads is that you can get creative with them. Just keep these tips in mind so you can make the most of your green, leafy meal.

Sugars That May Help You Reduce Belly Fat

People who are on weight loss programs are often told to stay away from foods containing sugar; especially foods like cakes, donuts, sugary drinks, chocolates and candy. But as you know, somewhere entangled in our evolutionary history we have developed an intense affinity for all things sweet. Unfortunately, unlike our predecessors who spent most of the day in physical pursuits, modern man spends almost the entire day sitting and lounging. This preponderance of inactivity allows little or no time for the body to burn up the great amount of sugar we consume on a daily basis. As a result, excess sugar in the body quickly turns into fat and stimulates the development of common ailments like hypertension, diabetes and of course obesity.Sugar is the fertilizer for obesity. Belly fat in particular thrives on the availability of sugar and given the way we eat and drink today no wonder our waistlines are continually expanding. But are there any sugars we can eat without the fear of weight gain or even more importantly adding ghastly inches to our waistlines? Believe it or not there are; in fact theses sugars may even help you lose weight and reduce your waistline. I have listed a few of them below:

• Stevia is a natural sweetener made from the leaves of plants native to South America. Unlike refined sugar, stevia does not elevate blood sugar levels. Many studies have shown that when stevia is added to a healthy diet it may actually help the process of weight loss.

• Fructose is sometimes confused with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Unlike HFCS which is highly processed, fructose occurs naturally in fruits like oranges, apples, pears, etc. It is safe when eaten in moderation and does not spark weight gain.

• Raw honey is produced naturally by honey bees. It has long been used as a sweetener and for medicinal purposes plus it is packed with antioxidants. When consumed in moderation its impact on total weight or weight gain is minuscule.

• Dark chocolate is a product of the cocoa plant. Because it is the purest form of chocolate with only a small amount of additives, the negative health impacts usually associated with other types of chocolate do not obtain. Moreover, its overall health benefits are well documented.

Given what we know about sugar in terms of its deleterious effects on health and the role it plays in perpetuating obesity, it is rather counter-intuitive to say that some sugars may actually help you manage your weight. But studies have shown that when natural sugars like stevia are used weight gain may be reduced and associated problems like belly fat can be effectively eliminated.

Dieting: Why Am I Not Losing Weight?

Bad food choices:Even though we say we are on a diet, we still tend to make bad food choices. The word diet on its own can be very daunting, because we think we have to deprive ourselves of the food we enjoy. Especially with bad food choices we are very rarely aware that we are making them. Most times it is a subconscious decision we make for instant gratification of a craving for a certain type of food or other times it is driven by how we feel.Bad food choices include eating:• Sweets/ chocolate• Potato chips• Greasy and oily food• Junk foodBad diets:A bad diet is anything which says you should eliminate any of the essential food groups. Carbohydrates, protein, dairy, fruit and vegetables and fats are all part of the essential food groups. Deprivation of any of these food groups will not allow your body to function optimally. You will feel tired and moody if you do eliminate any one of the food groups listed above. You will wonder what is wrong with you, but it is all due to not eating the correct nutrition. When you do come across any of the essential food groups you will tend to eat them in excess, because they had been previously banned from your diet. This will result in you gaining weigh instead, which is the complete opposite of your goals and will send you into depression.The other end of the spectrum is to make:Healthy food choicesThe word diet on its own can be very daunting, because we think we have to deprive ourselves of the food we enjoy. That is why personally I don't like the word diet but instead replace it with healthy food choices. Sounds better doesn't it. This change in wording also places the power to lose weight back in your hands. As now you will see it as a conscious decision to make healthier eating choices and not as a task. As we humans are governed by our emotions and taste buds, I suggest you keep a journal to write down what you eat every time you are emotional or craving something. This will help you keep track of the wrong food choices you make, so that you can try to not repeat that choice next time. I am by no means saying that you should completely cut out all the foods you enjoy, but those unhealthier choices should be kept to a minimum.In as much as weight loss is about seeing results physically, it can also be quite mentally and emotionally challenging. Changing the way we think about food and especially cutting out most of your favorite foods which tend to lean more towards the unhealthier side, can leave you feeling like a dragon permanently breathing fire. In order to see results when it comes to losing weight you should also have the following mentally: will power, determination and be able to persevere, so that this new change in thinking about food can be a lifelong decision to remain healthy.Here are some tips:• Drink at least 6 - 8 glasses of water a day. Water aids in increasing your metabolic rate (rate at which your body burns food).• If u can also drink green tea, this also helps with weight loss and also counts towards you 6 - 8 glasses of water for the day.• Eat breakfast. This helps the metabolism to get started after a few hours of not eating. Breakfast is to break your fast. If you skip this essential meal, your metabolism will become very slow. When your body eventually receives food it is not certain what to do with it and will store it as fat and not burn it as fuel, the way it is designed to do. Thus resulting in weight gain.• Eat smaller meals. Rather have 6 smaller meals (as this will keep you metabolic rate working at a constant speed) than 3 large meals (this will make you feel more sluggish and tired).• Make sure your meals consist of healthy carbohydrates (whole grains, low GI, brown carbohydrates). This will keep you fuller for longer. Also include protein such as fish, meat, poultry, eggs, dairy to help build strong bones and muscles. Include healthy fats. Examples of foods which contain these are fish, avocados, eggs and beef.• Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. The more colorful the better. This will also be more appealing to the eyes. Don't forget we eat with our eyes first. So the more appealing food looks the more likely we will eat it and enjoy it. Also please note that when it comes to vegetables do not add unnecessary creamy sauces and oily salad dressings to make it more appetizing, as this will defeat the objective of being healthy. You can still have your sauces and salad dressings, but just opt for the low fat options.

Changing Your Life With Liposuction

If you are overweight and have tried everything on the market to lose weight, you may want to consider liposuction. This procedure removes the extra fat that has been deposited between the muscles and the skin for years. The procedure involves the insertion of a steel cannula into a small incision and the fat is sucked out, resulting in an improved look of the body over the next few weeks.It is hard not to have expectations, but it is important that you keep them real. This results of the procedure will be permanent, so if you do gain a little weight, it will just be a larger version of the original results. The cells that produce the fat do not come back, so you will have the new body for life. However, you don't necessarily lose weight, just the fat, leaving you with a more shapely body.Even though the now removed fat cells never return, if you do gain weight, the present cells get bigger, leaving you with a slightly larger shapely you. However, if you gain a sizable amount of weight, new fat cells can develop in other places on the body. You should lose a little weight after the procedure and if you do not gain weight, your fat will not come back in the treated areas, even through the natural process of aging. Even if you get pregnant after your procedure, your body will return to its treated look after the birth and the baby weight is lost. More people are satisfied with the results of the liposuction to the abdominal area after pregnancy than those of a tummy tuck.On a single procedure it is not safe to take out more than eight pounds of fat, which equals roughly a gallon. If you need more than that removed, it is recommended that you have more than one procedure done in the process of about a month to avoid the complications that can happen with the surgery.Results will not be seen immediately, but should take roughly three months. You will have swelling for the first few weeks, but it will go away. How fast depends on how the procedure was performed and how you take care of yourself after surgery. If your surgeon uses the ultrasonic method and the holes are left open, the swelling goes down faster than if the holes are stitched closed.If you are careful to follow your surgeon's instructions after surgery, you should have good results. Because your fat will not return, if you take care of yourself properly, you should enjoy a lifetime of results.

The Art of Fitness and Diets

The Right Diet PlanWhat is the CKD Diet? It wouldn't make sense to write an entire article about this particular plan without at least giving you a brief outline of what it actually consists of. As you will soon discover, this is not considered an easy plan to stick to. It is considered a more extreme diet that is mainly used by competing bodybuilders because of the extreme results it produces in the minimum amount of time. By now, I'm sure that I have your attention. The analogy I like to use when explaining how this diet works is a car analogy. Imagine if you could choose which type of fuel you wanted to use for your car... if it was cheaper now to use diesel, then you could use diesel; if not, then you could use gasoline. Your choice entirely. This is sort of how the CKD Diet works. Your body is now using carbohydrates for fuel. However, it also has the ability to use FAT for fuel. Imagine being able to burn all of that excess body fat all day long just by telling your body that you want to use fat for fuel, instead of carbohydrates.So how do you tell your body that you want to switch to sing fat for fuel? Amazingly, it is done by eating more fat! Once your daily diet consists of about 60% fat, 35% protein and less than 5% carbohydrates (the less the better; ideally, 0% is best), it gives your body the signal to change its fuel type. The actual process is actually more complicated than that, but the purpose of this article is not to go into the specifics. The purpose is to make you aware of the logistics that also come along with this extreme plan; which are often ignored, and are very often a cause of failure. So let's move on to the important stuff...The Right PersonWho should start the CKD Diet? Almost everyone wants to lose SOME body fat. Almost everyone wishes they could change SOMETHING about their appearance that is related to diets or fitness. So those simple questions are no good here. The successful CKD Dieter will possess more than just a "want to be better looking" attitude. You must have desire and determination. It is this combination of emotions and mindset that will get you through those challenging times where your will power is tested; and there will be more than one instance. It is far too easy to destroy your progress with this particular fitness plan. Although it includes two "carb reload days," you can be assured that those carbohydrate cravings may still persist throughout the week. That is when the true test begins. And the fruits of your labor will be a direct indicator of how strictly you have managed to follow this diet.The Right PlaceEnvironment will (and almost always does) play an important role in the amount of success you enjoy. Being surrounded by party animals who focus each waking moment on the next time they will be able to "party like a rock star" will definitely hinder your progress. Likewise, laid back friends who rarely see any project through to completion will also eat away at your initial determination to improve yourself. The CKD Diet is a fine example of a project that ties into your inner goals and ambitions and requires real effort and determination all the way to the end. By the way, "the end" is not a fixed place. It is simply a physical state that you want to reach. You may decide on a certain body fat percentage goal, or a total body mass goal. It will vary for each individual. Also, just because you made it to the end does not mean you are finished and can let all of your hard work go down the toilet... on the contrary, it is up to you now to maintain this magnificent sculpted body of yours.The Right TimeThe right time is equally as important as the other two things described above. It can refer to the right time of day, or even the right time in your life. Are you at a moment in your life where you can devote yourself to a goal and see it through to the end without being distracted? This can be a tough question to answer because distractions often do not warn you before arriving. Your drive and ambition simply have to overpower any and all distractions until your routine becomes ingrained into your current lifestyle. Once your new diet and fitness way of life becomes habitual, every day distractions become easier and easier to deal with.As for the right time of day, it ties into the habit conversation we just had above. Make a routine that you can easily stick to. This is especially important in the early stages of your new plan. That is when it is easiest to give up because everything wasn't exactly perfect. All of the lights weren't green so you decided not to even begin your journey. This is a very common pitfall that snares a vast majority of people in any new endeavor. The truth is that it will never be the "right" time to begin anything new. You just have to start. Once you start, you then have to learn how to roll with the punches and stick it through the hard times. Once you are clear of the rough patches and have set your routine, you then have to keep it up and don't slow down just because you see some improvement. Use that improvement as fuel and re-ignite your passion to continue on at full pace.

Weight Loss Ideas for Women

It's important to have access to effective and safe weight loss ideas for women. For example, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but have you ever skipped breakfast because you thought that it would help you to lose weight?Dieting by skipping breakfast is a widely used weight loss technique, but according to experts, you can lose weight more efficiently by making sure that you eat breakfast every day.Eating breakfast prevents hunger cravings throughout the day and gives your body the energy to burn calories and fat more effectively. However, eating the wrong foods at breakfast can make you gain weight and slow down your metabolism. This makes your body less efficient at burning calories and fat!3 Tasty Breakfast Recipes for Women: 3. Omelet with Brown Bread: Metabolism Booster 2. Oatmeal: Full of Fiber and Reduces Cholesterol 1. Berry/ Yogurt Parfait: Fiber and Antioxidants/ Calcium breaks down Fat3. Omelets with Brown Bread: Metabolism BoosterThe egg omelet is a very good weight loss meal for breakfast. Eggs are rich in vitamin B-12 which boosts your metabolism and causes your body to burn fat faster.However, eggs are high in cholesterol which can make you gain weight, so make sure that you don't eat more than two eggs per day. Add some green and red peppers to your omelet to boost your metabolism, and make it the ultimate fat-burning meal. Eat whole wheat bread with your omelet to add some fiber to breakfast. Whole wheat bread is high in fiber which keeps you feeling full longer than other breads.2. Oatmeal: Full of Fiber and Reduces CholesterolOatmeal is a great weight loss food for breakfast since it gives your body energy and fiber, that keeps you satisfied and full during the day. It also reduces cholesterol levels and maintains good blood sugar levels, which is essential to help you lose weight and control your appetite. Avoid flavored and instant oatmeal because they contain more sodium, sugar, and fewer nutrients because of the pre-cooking process at the factory.To make healthy oatmeal for breakfast, add steel-cut oats and rolled, oats to boiling water. Once the oats have absorbed the water, add vanilla extract, and sprinkle some unsalted almonds on the top for additional fiber, protein, and vitamin E. You can also add raspberries or blueberries, which are high in antioxidants that help to regulate blood sugar, boost metabolism, and burn fat.1. Berry/ Yogurt Parfait: Fiber and Antioxidants/ Calcium breaks down FatIf you're fond of sweets, maybe you'd enjoy a berry and yogurt parfait for breakfast. There are plenty of berry parfait weight loss recipes on the internet. Yogurt is rich with calcium that helps break down fat.Berries are rich in fiber and antioxidants, that help to boost your metabolism and regulate blood sugar. Use low-fat yogurt to get vital nutrients with less fat. You can also add granola on top of your berry parfait for more fiber, which will reduce hunger cravings by helping you feel full for a long time.

Weight Loss Ideas for Women

It's important to have access to effective and safe weight loss ideas for women. For example, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but have you ever skipped breakfast because you thought that it would help you to lose weight?Dieting by skipping breakfast is a widely used weight loss technique, but according to experts, you can lose weight more efficiently by making sure that you eat breakfast every day.Eating breakfast prevents hunger cravings throughout the day and gives your body the energy to burn calories and fat more effectively. However, eating the wrong foods at breakfast can make you gain weight and slow down your metabolism. This makes your body less efficient at burning calories and fat!3 Tasty Breakfast Recipes for Women: 3. Omelet with Brown Bread: Metabolism Booster 2. Oatmeal: Full of Fiber and Reduces Cholesterol 1. Berry/ Yogurt Parfait: Fiber and Antioxidants/ Calcium breaks down Fat3. Omelets with Brown Bread: Metabolism BoosterThe egg omelet is a very good weight loss meal for breakfast. Eggs are rich in vitamin B-12 which boosts your metabolism and causes your body to burn fat faster.However, eggs are high in cholesterol which can make you gain weight, so make sure that you don't eat more than two eggs per day. Add some green and red peppers to your omelet to boost your metabolism, and make it the ultimate fat-burning meal. Eat whole wheat bread with your omelet to add some fiber to breakfast. Whole wheat bread is high in fiber which keeps you feeling full longer than other breads.2. Oatmeal: Full of Fiber and Reduces CholesterolOatmeal is a great weight loss food for breakfast since it gives your body energy and fiber, that keeps you satisfied and full during the day. It also reduces cholesterol levels and maintains good blood sugar levels, which is essential to help you lose weight and control your appetite. Avoid flavored and instant oatmeal because they contain more sodium, sugar, and fewer nutrients because of the pre-cooking process at the factory.To make healthy oatmeal for breakfast, add steel-cut oats and rolled, oats to boiling water. Once the oats have absorbed the water, add vanilla extract, and sprinkle some unsalted almonds on the top for additional fiber, protein, and vitamin E. You can also add raspberries or blueberries, which are high in antioxidants that help to regulate blood sugar, boost metabolism, and burn fat.1. Berry/ Yogurt Parfait: Fiber and Antioxidants/ Calcium breaks down FatIf you're fond of sweets, maybe you'd enjoy a berry and yogurt parfait for breakfast. There are plenty of berry parfait weight loss recipes on the internet. Yogurt is rich with calcium that helps break down fat.Berries are rich in fiber and antioxidants, that help to boost your metabolism and regulate blood sugar. Use low-fat yogurt to get vital nutrients with less fat. You can also add granola on top of your berry parfait for more fiber, which will reduce hunger cravings by helping you feel full for a long time.