The human body is incredibly complex. Every second, millions of physiological and chemical reactions take place in order to maintain good health. The body both creates things eg. heat, muscle, proteins, RNA, hair, nails, enzymes, fat tissue, bones and breaks things down food, stored fat, etc.. These anabolic and catabolic processes, along with all organs and systems, need fuel to enable them to function. The fuel or energy that the body uses, comes from the food and drink that we consume in our diet. In a nutshell, food is human gasoline.

Carbohydrate is one of the three macronutrients, the other two being protein and fat. Carbohydrates provide essential energy for the brain, red blood cells and a growing fetus. Carbohydrate is also the principal fuel source for strenuous muscular activity. The carb food group includes many foods that are packed with vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals disease-protective plant chemicals. A healthy diet must include carbohydrates.

The brain’s favorite fuel is carbohydrate. If absolutely necessary, the brain will utilize fat in the form of ketones, but it performs less efficiently on this type of energy. Current evidence demonstrates a clear association between intellectual performance and the presence of carbs. For example, better performance was observed in all types of age and social groups after a carbohydrate meal. Although research is ongoing, it seems that for optimum intellectual activity, we need a regular intake of carbs.

In terms of chemical structure, the two main types are Simple Carbohydrate or “simple sugars”, like Monosaccharides and Disaccharides; and Complex Carbohydrates or “complex sugars”, like Oligosaccharides and Polysaccharides. Carbohydrate comes mainly from plant-food, such as vegetables, fruits, beans, and cereal grains, although the simple sugar lactose is found in milk and milk products.

Simple carbs include glucose, fructose and lactose. Common sources include table sugar sucrose, boiled sweets, syrups and honey.

Complex carbs comprise starches or fiber. Good sources of starches include, bread, pasta, rice, beans and some vegetables. Good sources of dietary fiber include vegetables, fruits, beans, along with the indigestible part of the grain, like wheat bran and oatbran.

Our food fuel comprises the protein, carbohydrate, fat and alcohol we eat. But the exact mixture our body uses typically varies according to circumstances eg. our physical activity, our last meal etc.. There is an “order of priority” that dictates which fuels are burned first. Alcohol calories are burned first. This is because we cannot store alcohol energy. Next, we burn protein, then carbohydrates, then fat. In practice, however, we typically burn a “mixture” of carbs and fat, with the ratio being dependent on meals. Just after meals we burn mainly carbohydrate, while between meals we burn more fat.

Need to lose weight? Dreading the thought of another diet program? You dont have to follow diets to lose weight. There are many people discovering this for themselves and they are the ones who are finding long term weight loss apposed to short term fixes. The key to weight loss is finding the right balance of what you eat, what you think, and what activity you do. It is not about following a perfect plan. It is impossible to be perfect every day! Finding the right balance helps you to decrease your calorie intake, increase your metabolism and keeps the self-sabotage at bay. Here are 8 steps to bring more balance into all corners of your life so you too can find weight loss success.

1. Eat more frequently during the day-
Skipping meals or waiting too long between meals can have a negative impact on your metabolism and results in overeating later in the day. Its best to have 3 small meals and 1-2 snacks throughout the day. You will feel more satisfied and eat less. Plan to have a snack or meal every 4-5 hours.

2. Watch portion sizes-
Appropriate portion sizes are still quite misunderstood. Most Americans are eating 2-3 times the recommended portion sizes. Limit your grains, cereals, pastas, and rice to – 1 cup serving sizes. Keep meat, poultry and fish to 4-ounce portion sizes. Restaurants are notorious for giving extremely large servings of food. Keep this in mind when eating out. Eat half of the food on your plate or take the rest home for lunch the next day. Studies show that when people are given large portion sizes, they eat up to 56 more calories without realizing it. To add insult to injury, our portion sizes are larger than they have ever been. Start to become more aware of the portions you are served wherever you are.

3. Eat the right fats-
Yes some fat is important. Omega 3 fatty acids are an important strategy for weight loss success and yet most Americans are not eating enough of these healthy fats. Some reports show these fatty acids may be helpful in increasing your metabolism. They are also shown to be a wonderful mood supporter and people report significantly less food cravings and triggers to eat when they incorporate omega 3 fatty acids on a daily basis. This is especially important for any emotional eaters out there. Omega 3s are found in fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, cod; they are also found in canola oil, walnuts, and ground flax seeds.

4. Increase fruits and vegetables-
Fruits and vegetables are not only packed with important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, they are also loaded in fiber and low in calories. Include 5-8 fruits and vegetables every day. This is one of the most important diet changes you can make. When you fill your plate up with fruits and vegetables you eat less of the higher calorie foods. For example, lets take a sample steak dinner.

Original meal
8 ounce steak
Whole baked potato with fixings
cup steamed broccoli

Meal Makeover
4 ounce steak
baked potato with fixings
cup steamed broccoli
Side salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, and 1 tbsp light vinaigrette dressing

By changing the balance of this meal to include more vegetables while decreasing the steak and potato we saved approximately 350 calories. Saving 350 calories daily can result in almost a 1 pound weight loss per week. Small changes are the key.

5. Eat when youre hungry, stop when youre full-
Our bodies have an innate weight management mechanism. It performs this task by making you feel full when it is time to stop eating. Every time you eat past full you are taking in more calories than your body needs which will result in weight gain. Start to become more aware of your internal cues for hunger and satiety fullness. You will be amazed how many times you wait too long to eat and how often you eat past full and enter into stuffed. Its common for all of us to do this from time to time. However, its time to check in with yourself and see how often you are falling into these food patterns. Listen to your body, it will tell you when you are physically ready for food and when you are ready to stop.

6. Exercise regularly-
I know, this isnt anything you havent heard before but it is a crucial part of weight management. It is important to engage in regular aerobic and weight bearing activity. The aerobic exercise helps you to burn the fat and weight bearing activity increases your metabolic rate. Muscle burns up to 90 more calories than fat. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you will burn in a day. By adding three to five pounds of muscle you could actually burn 100 – 250 additional calories a day. This combination of aerobic and weight bearing activity is what really kicks weight loss into gear.

7. Limit sugar-
Sugar becomes a major issue for many people wanting to lose weight. Not only does it add calories, it also causes insulin spikes leading you to store more calories as fat, it stimulates your appetite, and is a major food trigger for emotional eaters. However, it doesnt mean you need to go all or nothing. When people try to omit all sugar from their diet they can become obsessed about sugary foods and end up in a binge. Find the right balance for sugar. Avoid daily use of sugar and instead have some guiltless treats once in awhile. A little cake at a birthday party or some ice-cream with friends is a good way to incorporate sugar once in awhile to avoid the negative outcomes.

8. Pamper yourself regularly-
Who wants to argue with that?! The reality is many people eat for emotional reasons. Food makes us feel good on many levels. The problem occurs when eating becomes the only coping mechanism your subconscious knows of. This is why that pesky urge to emotionally eat is so strong. It is hard to reason your way out of it. For many people food is the only thing they know that makes them feel better. When you start to do other things that make you feel good on a regular basis such as taking a hot bath, going for a walk, having a hot cup of tea; then your subconscious starts to register these activities as coping mechanisms as well. Over time this will decrease the constant urge to use food. You cant expect to have a bad day, go take a bath and not have an urge to eat. It is something you need to do regularly and something you truly enjoy so your subconscious starts to recognize it as a new choice.

2005, Meri Raffetto

Obesity — it is as much the scourge of the developed world as poverty is of the Third World. Thousands in the developed world have been desperately — and rather unsuccessfully — trying to shed their pounds, even as thousands in the underdeveloped world have been trying to put some fat into their bodies.

The World Health Organization says that the United States is now the fattest country in the world. Ask anyone who has tried to burn away those calories. It’s easier to look for the proverbial needle in the haystack! And they will tell you that there are no shortcuts in a fat loss regimen.

There are many causes that contribute to weight gain. Often, it may not only be the intake of food. Hormonal factors, side-effects of medical conditions, and many other factors cause weight gain. Recent research has shown that the increased amount of chemicals and toxins in the environment is a factor contributing to obesity.

Dieting and fat burning exercises are often considered the only solution for fat loss. But such a regime should be tailor-made for your body composition and lifestyle to be effective. However, many people do not follow professional advice and cause more harm to their body than good while on a fat loss regime.

This is where we need to look at the new low-glycemic standard of healthy eating. Glycemic indexing basically measures by how much a given food raises blood sugar and insulin response. This is important because the rate at which your blood sugar rises after eating is important in managing your weight.

High-glycemic food causes many negative effects, including weight gain. They increase your appetite, and raise fat in your body system by increasing triglycerides. However, a low-carbohydrate diet is not necessarily a low-glycemic diet as is the popular misconception. Such a diet will only lead to more fat in the body.

So what is a low glycemic diet? Fruits and vegetables are low-glycemic food, and you should include them most in your daily diet. However, it is often not quite possible to stick to such a diet.

That is where glyconutritionals or glyconutrient supplements come in. Glyconutrients are a class of sugars that are found in fruits and vegetables and are necessary to keep the body ticking along perfectly. The are needed to some the fundamental biochemical process of cell-to-cell communication in the body, and tone up the immune system.

Eight of these essential sugars have already been discovered and six of these are not available in our daily diet. Taking glyconutritional supplements made from fruits and vegetables helps in two ways they help you maintain a low-glycemic diet and also keep your body strong while on a fat loss regime.

Please bear in mind that I am not a dietician, or a physician, and my opinions are those of a Yoga teacher and life-long student of Ayurveda. Always consult your family physician before changing your diet.

It may be generally agreed that eating wisely and weight loss do not often agree. Just look back that the parade of fad diets that didnt seem to work over the long term and, in retrospect, were not wise from the onset.

This article will be a union of ideas from Ayurvedic principles, modern fitness concepts, and overall strategies for better health.

It goes without saying that a vegetarian diet is healthy. Only a decade ago, there were many reservations, among local physicians in New England, in regard to this concept. How rapidly knowledge, insight, and opinions change.

Marie, my wife, exposed me to the vegetarian diet. Before that, I ate what is now called the Mediterranean Diet. The diet I eat, to this day, is a combination of the two. The combination of these two, classic diets, are easy for me to live with and it is not an effort, at all, for me.

That is the biggest hurdle for most people. Many of us take on a radical dieting change that we cannot live with. Most of us can afford to make a few small changes at a time, instead of changing everything at once – unless you are dieting under the guidance of your doctor or dietician.

Therefore, I propose a few small changes to your eating habits that will make sense. You do not have to change them all at one time.

Sit down and focus on eating your meal.

Avoid television, reading, heated conversations, etc.

Thoroughly chew your food at a slow pace and do not put more food in your mouth until you have swallowed the previous bite.

Be aware of how hungry you are before your meal.

Try to avoid too much time between meals, as this leads to over consumption and your stomach should never be more than three quarters full, after a meal.

Exercise tip Some of you practice Yoga and understand the many benefits of Sun Salutations, but have you ever tried weight resistance?

Strength training increases energy expenditure during a weight resistance training session. The high intensity of strength training indicates a high utilization of carbohydrates during a training session.

During the post-exercise recovery period, energy expenditure is elevated for a period ranging from two to fifteen hours 1. The increased energy demands are obtained by burning more calories, and a good portion of the calories are coming from fat stores.

Reference 1 – Melby C, Scholl C, Edwards G, Bullough R. Effect of acute resistance exercise on post exercise energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate. Journal of Applied Physiology 754 1847-1853, 1993.

Even if you work every body part just once a week, this method of cross training will effectively burn calories. When you combine this with any aerobic activity, you have a powerful combination. Rowing and bicycling are good substitute forms of resistance too.

Strategies for results Get help from a qualified Personal Trainer, Dietician, or a Life Coach. You could do it all yourself, but how much time do you have to spin your wheels. without any progress? These services exist for those who dont want to waste time and want solutions now.

Dieting plays an important role in providing better results of loosing weight with Phentermine. To achieve expected results with Phentermine, one has to stick to the diet plan prescribed by doctor. Taking recommended doses along with regular exercises and perfect dieting helps to achieve desired result in shortest period of time. Start your exercise schedule gradually and slowly increase exercising period.

This helps in losing your weight as per the program. Along with right kind of diet, start walking half an hour a day and your body will start tuning to the Phentermine pills.

In case you find difficulties such as pain and aches it is just for the time being and once you gear up it will be all right.

Dieting depends on various factors of individuals such as body structure, the life style, age, and health status of the individual. Dieting is not just reducing your food intake but right kind of food that reduces fats and calories. Before opting for the right diet plan consult your doctor so that he can provide you with right kind of diet plan. Along with the diet, one has to carry out exercises also to burn the extra calories. Diet plan and regular exercises go hand in hand to reduce the excess weight.

Phentermine acts as a controlling remedy to cater for the weight management program.

These pills affect the status of neurotransmitters of brain and help in controlling appetite. The brain stimulants are chemically activates the amphetamines and releases dopamine and adrenalin. These stimulants act as a controlling factor for diet and appetite. Phentermine also helps in stimulating hypothalamus glands and provides brain with changing eating patterns. The main functions of the hypothalamus are to control the nervous system, appetite, and body temperature. This results in loosing appetite and in turn reduces weight of the individual.

There are mainly two brands of Phentermine; one of them is Adipex and other is Ionamin. As we know Phentermine pills affect signals of the brain, so to cope up with this one has to adopt better dietary methods and regular exercises as per the physical conditions of the individual. If you are not adapting to the diet and exercises then Phentermine will not work for you to reduce your weight. In case you experience some difficulties during the course of Phentermine please refer to your doctor for advice and do not continue pills unless doctor advises you to continue.

Your dietary plan should contain vegetables, fruits and grains along with right kind of exercises and that will reduce your weight. Do not opt for the dairy products that contain fats, and meat that provides excess calories in your diet. Reduced calorie diets, especially balanced diet helps maintaining the over all structure of your body and enables you to carry on with your desired goal. Some people think taking weight-loosing pills will do all the work but it is not true and one needs to follow diet plans and workouts to get rid of the obesity. Along with these fundamentals one need to have will power and strong desire to achieve the goal of reducing weight.

Along with above prescribed diets, make a habit of carrying out physical activities such as walking, running and minor exercise. This will help you in adapting to the Phentermine pills and gradually you will be free from over weight problems. All of the above stated activities and dietary information is just for reference purpose and readers are advised not consider them as an authority for reducing weight. Further the readers are advised to approach their family doctors to get a right advice regarding the dietary supplements and about the daily workouts.

Yo-yo dieting, skipping meals, eating fat-free foods, no exercise and low thyroid all have one thing in common they promote a low metabolism. Your basal metabolism rate BMR is the rate at which your body burns food when you are at rest. When you hear people refer to their slow metabolism, they are really saying that they have a low BMR. Metabolism is the reactions that take place inside our cells to create energy. All the food we eat is broken down to produce the energy needed to maintain body temperature, to breathe, to move our muscles and keep our weight in check. A peak operating metabolism can burn up a lot of fuel food and create plenty of energy. Conversely, a slow metabolism will store fuel as fat. We can rev up our fat burning furnace quickly with clinically researched metabolism boosting foods and nutrients.

Breakfast

Eating a protein rich breakfast can increase your bodys ability to burn fat by 25 per cent, and that fat-burning action will last for up to eight hours. When you skip meals, your metabolic rate slows to conserve energy because you are starving your body. When you do eat, the body stores the food as fat because the body thinks you are in a famine. The answer eat a protein based breakfast every day, such as eggs, a chicken breast, a protein shake or protein powder mixed into plain organic yogurt. Protein enhances your metabolism and stops hunger pangs.

Fat for Fat Loss

Yes, eating fat can help you lose fat, but the fat you eat must be good fat. Fatty acids from fish or flaxseed oil omega-3 fats and conjugated-linoleic CLA acid help burn fat. Recent research shows that the hormone leptin is low in those who do not get enough good fats. Leptin is a hormone that regulates appetite, the size of our fat cells and how quickly those cells burn fat. Fatty acids enhance Leptin, decrease our appetite and burn fat faster. Make sure you eat fish a couple of times per week, use extra virgin olive oil, put ground flaxseed on your food, and, if you dislike fish, take fish oil capsules daily.

More than 500 studies support CLAs unique abilities. In 2000, it was reported that even without a change in diet or lifestyle overweight participants had a 20 per cent decrease in body fat and an increase in lean muscle mass. Minimum dosages of 4000 mg per day are necessary to obtain fat loss.

Metabolism Boosting Herbs

If you are one of those people who have reduced your calories, are dedicated to exercise and still cant lose weight you will want to add the clinically-researched herbs that kick-start your metabolism. Thermogenic herbs rev up and reset your rate of metabolism making fat loss more effective.

Green Tea

Sipping a cup of green tea or swallowing green tea capsules can help aid fat loss. In one study overweight participants took three capsules per day containing 200 mg of green tea extract. Participants experienced increased fat loss without accelerating heart rate. Switch from coffee to green tea to achieve a faster metabolism. Drinking three cups of green tea provides about the same caffeine as one cup of drip coffee.

The secret to weight loss also lies in your kitchen cupboards. Hot, spicy foods also jump start your metabolism. Have you noticed how curried foods make you sweat? This is one of the symptoms of an increased metabolism. Switch from black pepper to cayenne pepper for faster weight loss. Add ginger to foods and eat hot salsa to enhance your fat-burning furnace.

Fat-burning foods and supplements support a healthy diet and exercise program to quickly reset your metabolic rate safely.