I Need to Lose Weight and Fast: What Kinds of Foods Should I Eat?

by isabel

I spent a lot of my life overweight. One day I finally looked at myself and said, “I need to lose weight and fast.” To help me achieve this goal, I learned everything I could about nutrition. While I didn’t drop the pounds overnight (no quick fixes, remember), the excess flab did come off, and I haven’t had any trouble maintaining the results since then.

If your weight loss journey isn’t working out like you’d hoped, you may be eating too much of the wrong stuff or avoiding too many of the right kinds of foods. Here are some nutrition tips to help you lose that stubborn flab once and for all.

Replace Processed Food with Real Food

If your definition of real food is frozen fish sticks, pasta and canned green beans, we have some work to do. These foods are a small sampling of the processed junk that harms our bodies and causes us pack on the pounds.
When foods are processed, most of the nutrients are zapped right out. So when you eat them, you take in a bunch of empty calories that get stored in your body as fat. Definitely not something you want to happen when you’re on a mission to lose weight.

Real food comes from farms; it is not processed or created in factories. The bulk of your diet should include real foods like fresh vegetables and fruits, grass fed beef, free range poultry, organic eggs, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and fresh fish.

When you replace the processed junk in your diet with real food, you eliminate unnecessary calories, and you have an easier time losing weight.

Embrace Fat in Your Diet

Wait! Before you bash me over the head, hear me out. Fat gets a bad rap because it is believed to be the culprit of obesity and heart disease. This is absolutely not the case. Eating fat is not going to make your heart explode or turn your bum into blubber—unless of course, the bulk of your fat comes from unhealthy processed food and trans fat.

Fats that are derived from nutritious foods like olive oil, nuts, fatty fish, avocados, coconut oil, organic eggs and naturally raised meats make meals more satiating and keeps hunger at bay.

Get Enough Protein in Your Diet

When you are trying to lose weight, protein is a must. When you eat protein, your body releases a hormone that helps you burn stubborn fat. Protein also helps you stay full longer so you eat less during the day.
There’s no need to go overboard with the protein. Adding a sensible serving of this nutrient to each meal will do the trick. Some healthy protein choices include beans, fresh fish, naturally raised meats, legumes, free range poultry and organic eggs.

Eliminating processed foods, and adding healthy sources of fat and protein to your diet can help you lose weight faster. Of course, if you really want to see consistent fat burning results, combine your nutrition plan with plenty of exercise.

Healthy nutrition is the key to losing weight and keeping it off. Watch this video to see what I do when I need to lose weight and fast so you can achieve your dreams of permanent weight loss.

10 best fat-blasting exercises

Great exercises for losing weight: Kettlebells

Interval training

Interval training, whether you do it on a bike, on a rowing machine or through running, is one of the best fat-blasting exercises. When you do interval training sessions both your adrenaline and growth hormone levels increase. These hormones help to burn fat and they also suppress your appetite, which is good news if you want to lose weight.

The plank

As well as firming up your core, the plank will help you to lose weight because it requires your body to use up kilojoules. To make this exercise harder push your body up from the plank position and support your weight using one hand, before bringing up your other hand and supporting your weight with that too.  Once you are in this position return to the plank before repeating.

Kettle bells

Kettle bells have been around for hundreds of years and it’s easy to see why. Not only are they excellent at toning up flabby areas, the aerobic nature of common kettle bell exercises helps you to burn fat because these exercises increase your heart rate. Kettle bells also help you to burn fat because they build muscle and the more muscle mass a person has the more kilojoules they burn.

Run just below your lactate threshold

The Journal of Sports Science and Medicine found that men who were relatively unfit burnt more fat when they ran just below their lactate threshold compared to very fit athletes. To run below your lactate threshold warm up and begin to jog. Accelerate your speed every two minutes until it becomes difficult to breathe and your muscles begin to burn. When you feel like this you have found your lactate threshold, so slow down and run below this speed to increase the amount of fat you burn when running. 

Metabolic resistance training

Metabolic resistance training is a methodology that suggests that if people want to maximise the amount of kilojoules they burn and boost their metabolic rate they should perform exercises that engage their entire body (or as much as possible) and do these exercises back to back at a high intensity.

Example: 10 mountain climbers, 10 kettle bell swings, 10 V sits, 10 mountain climbers. Repeat this five to 10 times depending on your ability.

High knees

This fat-burning exercise is simple yet very effective. When performing high knees keep your back straight and bring your knees up as high as possible towards your chest, swinging your arms to stay balanced. After 15 to 30 seconds your heart will be racing and this increased heart rate is essential if you want to transform your body and lose weight. 

Heavy lifting

Lifting heavy weights during strength training sessions is an excellent way to burn fat through exercise. Lifting heavy weights, either through squats or deadlifts, will help you to burn kilojoules because the intensity of your lifts will be increased. Also lifting heavy weights will help you to burn more kilojoules after your workout because it increases your lean muscle tissue and in turn this tissue elevates your metabolism. 

Never lift beyond your means, as lifting weights that are too heavy will mean you will sacrifice your form and this is a big no no.

Super sets

Doing two exercises back to back that work different parts of your body is an ideal way to burn fat because your heart rate is kept high throughout your session. Plus, according to the Colorado State University, after you finish your superset workout you will keep burning fat for up to 16 hours after you’ve stopped training. 16!

Make sure you perform each exercise without resting in between; for example, go from a bicep curl straight into a tricep pushdown.

Skipping

Skipping is tough and is a high-intensity form of aerobic exercise that can help you to lose weight because it helps to raise your metabolism even once your workout has ended. This is important because it will mean you burn more kilojoules overall over a greater period of time compared to doing an aerobic exercise that was not as intense.

Walking

Although high-intensity workouts are great for boosting your metabolism, low-intensity aerobic workouts, such as walking, can also be helpful when you are trying to trim down. This is because low-intensity exercises burn a higher percentage of fat, using it to fuel your workout. So if you want to burn fat and are not used to doing a great deal of exercise, going on long walks or gentle jogs may help you to achieve the body you want. 

Ref:  http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/news/10-best-fat-blasting-exercises-090323436.html

Could this be the ultimate secret to flat abs?

Researchers have found a way to get rid of belly pudge and increase lean muscle. We're psyched about the results, especially considering they don't include the words "do crunches" or "stop eating a certain kind of food." No, the authors of the study say that if you're looking to slim down around your middle, you should eat more protein in the form of dairy products since that was found to lead to overall weight loss and abdominal weight loss in women.

The study, which was published in the September issue of the Journal of Nutrition, compared three groups of overweight women. One group ate a low amount of dairy food, one at a medium amount, and the third ate a high amount. Their exercise routines were identical. At the end of the four-month testing period, the women who were on a higher-protein, higher-dairy diet "experienced greater whole-body fat and abdomen fat losses, greater lean mass gains and greater increases in strength", according to a write-up on EurekAlert.org. More specifically, those who consumed a lot of dairy lost twice as much belly fat as the others. 

These women had a "major change in body composition," explained Andrea Josse, lead author. "The preservation or even gain of muscle is very important for maintaining metabolic rate and preventing weight regain, which can be [a] major problem for many seeking to lose weight."

Related: 7 ways to have a successful morning before you get to work

The women in the other two groups also lost some weight (thanks to the exercise plan all the participants were on), but some of that downtick on the scale was due to a loss of muscle tissue. And the researchers said it's for this exact reason that a dietary success shouldn't be based on weight alone.

Related: How to score sexy, toned legs

Oh, and this doesn't give you free rein to start eating ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sure, it's high in dairy, but the calories and fat content will counteract the belly fat-blasting power of milk products. Instead, up your dairy intake by adding low-fat or non-fat milk or yogurt to your diet. OK fine, and ice cream on occasion. 

Ref:  http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/news/could-this-be-the-ultimate-secret-to-flat-abs--055830649.html

The 7-day body makeover plan

Day 1 – Today you MUST set some goals

Even the lovely Beyoncé couldn’t achieve her svelte figure if she didn’t set some realistic goals. You might have read that you need to set some solid targets if you want to lose weight in the past, but have you actually ever set some? Most people skip this stage of losing weight and never manage to stick to their diets as a result.

If you haven’t set a goal you have to start this body makeover plan by setting at least one, or we won’t let you move on to Day 2. So, think about what you want to achieve. Do you want to lose 2.2kg, 3.3kg, 22kg? Do you want to be able to run a mile in eight minutes? Do you want to drop a dress size?

Once you have chosen a goal it’s time to get creative. Create a chart where you can monitor your progress visibly on a week-by-week basis. You should also set smaller goals that help you work towards achieving your main goal and add these to the chart. Setting up a rewards system is also good. For example, with every mini goal met treat yourself to a new book, a trip to the cinema or a new piece of kit.

Day 2 – Today you should address your diet

The last thing you should do is cut your kilojoules drastically. If you do your metabolism will slow down and you will also lose muscle mass. This means that once you return to eating normally again you will not burn off as many kilojoules as you used to and you may gain weight.

So, how much should you be eating?

There is not an exact number of kilojoules you should be consuming if you want to lose weight because everyone requires different amounts. However, the general proportion of kilojoules that should be provided by each of the major nutrients stays roughly the same for most people, as follows:

• 20 to 30 per cent fat
• 50 to 65 per cent carbohydrate
• 12 to 17 per cent protein

However, according to research done in 2000, when you are dieting and trying to lose fat you should adapt these amounts to the following:

• 20 to 25 per cent fat intake
• 50 to 60 per cent carbohydrate intake
• Remainder from protein (usually meaning protein intake will be a little higher)

Put this into practice

To cut your fat intake by roughly five per cent, limit the amount of fat-heavy sauces and processed meats you eat. Don’t cut out healthy dairy products though. It is thought that calcium can promote weight loss. To ensure you eat enough protein eat lean meat, eggs, fish and nuts, and eat wholegrain foods like brown rice and wheat bread to get your daily fix of carbohydrates.

Day 3 – Today you need to overhaul your exercise regime

Sweating it out on a treadmill every evening isn’t much fun and it’s also not the best way to makeover your body. Rest is the key ingredient in any training program and you need to let your body recover after a training session. Ideally you should have at least one rest day following each workout to facilitate recovery and to avoid fatigue and boredom. 

To make sure you have the best exercise regime for you, create your own training plan so that you can schedule your sessions around your busy week. Aim to do around four sessions per week, doing a mix of cardio and weight training exercises.  Finding something you love to do is the key to success when it comes to exercise. Try new sports, such as rock climbing, skipping or roller derby, attend some fitness classes and experiment with your exercise regime. Trust us, you’ll reap the benefits if you try a few new things, even if you consider yourself to be an exercise pro.

Day 4 – Today you need to beautify your body 

No makeover plan would be complete without a beauty section because no matter how toned your body becomes and no mater how much weight you shed, if you don’t give your body a little TLC you will never feel body-confident.

Cellulite affects many women (as many as 80 per cent). Although it’s difficult to completely rid skin of that orange-peel look, you can help reduce the appearance of cellulite. You can body brush, drink more water and eat foods containing essential fatty acids, such as flaxseed oil and oily fish, to banish cellulite from your body.

Another tip that can help you to feel body-beautiful is to tackle any spots or acne you have. Applying an ice cube to a spot can help reduce the swelling and redness of the odd annoying spot, but if you suffer from acne research suggests that spearmint tea could reduce acne and hormone imbalances in women and might help you reduce the amount of spots you have.

Today you should target certain areas of your body, whether it’s your skin or your hair, that you want to improve and that will help you feel beautiful in your birthday suit.

Day 5 – Today you need to learn how to improve your posture

Poor posture can lead to health problems and can make you look less attractive. If you think you might be a sloucher, regularly realign your spine with this simple exercise. Stand with your back against a wall, keep your feet flat and tuck in your chin. Then walk away from the wall and see how long you can maintain this posture for. 

You can help to improve your posture through exercises too. Strengthening your thigh muscles and your abdominal muscles will help you to maintain a good posture throughout the day and doing activities like Pilates and yoga can help you to stand up correctly and stop slouching. 

Day 6 – Today you need to find ways to enjoy your body makeover plan

You know that if you enjoy doing something you are far more likely to dedicate time to it. Finding a way to enjoy your new body makeover plan is therefore essential if you want to maintain the positive changes you introduce into your life.

How you enjoy your makeover plan is down to who you are. If you love music then create lots of great playlists to accompany your exercise sessions, or if you love a gossip find a makeover buddy who also wants to change the way they look and who can follow the plan alongside you. If you’re a creative soul starting a blog might help you get the most out of your plan. 

Adjusting your plan to fit you and finding enjoyment in it is the best way to achieve your goals.

Day 7 – Today you need to pull everything together

Your week of learning about how you can makeover your body should now be over and it’s time to think about ways you can incorporate all of the elements you have learned into a structured plan. 

You need to think about your diet and your exercise, your beauty regime and your posture. If you feel a little lost remember that before you begin you must set a goal. Your makeover plan should be a lot easier to create once you have something to aim towards. Good luck! 

Ref:  http://sg.news.yahoo.com/7-day-body-makeover-plan-091109714.html

Bye, Bye, Belly: Lose that Pooch on Your Next Run

You've been eating right and exercising for a while, but that stubborn belly fat just won't budge! Along with including these foods that fight fat in your diet, here are some ways to burn that pooch away while you are out on a run.

• Switch up your pace: Intervals are proven to reduce belly fat and rev up metabolism; instead of running at the same pace for the entire workout, try alternating between periods of pushing your body to the max and periods of recovery.
• Go a little longer: Unfortunately you can't spot treat when it comes to weight loss, which is one reason why solely doing crunches won't whittle your waistline. The key is to decrease overall body fat, and the one way to do that is to burn calories. Lengthening your workout will do just that. Every five minutes of running at a 10-minute-per-mile pace burns about 45 calories. Think about that on your next run, and it'll motivate you to keep going!
• High knees: You're working hard to diminish your overall body weight, which will slim down your belly, so you can reveal toned abs underneath. Here's one way to strengthen your core. Do one-minute intervals in which you run with high knees. Concentrate on using your abs rather than your leg muscles to kick your knees up as high as you can.
• Try this killer treadmill move: Here's another core killer if you're using a treadmill. Set the pace to 1.0 mph. Place your feet on a Plyo Box that's set up about two feet behind the back of the treadmill. Come into plank position with your hands straddling the treadmill belt. Step your hands on the belt and start walking, keeping your torso in one straight line. Do this for one minute, pulling your belly in toward your spine. Watch the above shredmill move in action here!

Ref:  http://sg.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/healthy-living/bye-bye-belly-lose-pooch-next-run-222400418.html

8 Ways to Burn More Fat, Faster

News flash: You don't have to overhaul your life to work off mega calories. Here are our eight simple rules for squeezing the most out of your everyday routine to score the silhouette you've been sweating for. 

Related: Get a Firmer Butt in 30 Minutes 

Rule #1: Be an early bird to get the workout. 
Lace up first thing and you'll increase your odds of exercising today threefold. A study of 500 people at the Mollen Clinic, a preventive medicine and wellness center in Scottsdale, Arizona, found that 75 percent of those who worked out in the morning did so regularly, compared with just half the afternoon exercisers and a quarter of the post-work crowd. "At the beginning of the day, you have the fewest excuses for skipping exercise," says clinic founder Arthur Mollen, DO. Not waking up early enough, of course, is the main one. "Limit using the snooze button to only five minutes so that you don't fall into a deep sleep again," Dr. Mollen advises. Bonus! You'll go to work feeling focused: A recent study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that 20 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise improved concentration, reading comprehension, and cognitive function. 

Rule #2: Hit the metal before the pedal. 
Instead of going from zero to 60 to sweat off the calories, consider this: Doing a quick sculpting routine pre-cardio could increase the amount of fat you melt. Exercisers in a study at the University of Tokyo who biked within 20 minutes of lifting weights tapped more of their fat stores than those who rested longer or didn't tone at all. 

The firm-then-burn order is also good for your heart: Arteries stiffen during resistance training, increasing blood pressure, but a cardio chaser such as a 20-minute run counteracts these effects and expedites your arteries' return to normal, explains Rohit Arora, MD, chairman of cardiology at the Chicago Medical School. Plus, strength training "takes coordination and good technique, so you get more out of it if you come to it fresh," says Kent Adams, PhD, director of the Exercise Physiology Lab at California State University, Monterey Bay. "Meanwhile, cardio is a rhythmic, low-skill activity that's the easier of the two to do in a fatigued state," Adams says. 

Rule #3: Push your pace, rev your metabolism. 
Finished toning and ready to get sweaty? Gun it a bit for a bigger afterburn. "High-intensity exercise increases the release of growth hormones, which mobilize fat to be used as fuel, plus it causes your metabolism to stay elevated about 10 to 15 percent above its baseline, so you're burning more fat for several hours post-workout," says Arthur Weltman, PhD, director of the Exercise Physiology Laboratory at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. In other words, if you worked off 300 calories during your session, you'll get a bonus burn of about 45 calories even after you've toweled off. 

To net the effect, stick to a speed you consider challenging: In a 16-week study that Weltman conducted with obese women, those who worked out at what they felt was high intensity (a brisk walk or jog in most cases) three days a week and at low intensity for two whittled an inch and a half more from their waists than the low-intensity-only group. Or try alternating between sprinting (racewalking, pedaling fast, swimming at top speed) for one minute and slowing down enough to recover for the next minute. 

Related: How to Rev Up Your Metabolism 

Rule #4: Give up your seat to trim your bottom line. 
Even regular exercisers could benefit from extra toning of their tush, the largest muscle group in the body, which dozes all day at your desk job. "When you're walking or running, it's your hamstrings, hip flexors, and calf muscles that get the most work," says FITNESS advisory board member Vonda Wright, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Unless you're going uphill, your glutes don't play a major role." The good news? If you bailed on doing those butt-firming squats during your workout, you can easily sneak them in when your cube mate isn't looking. Stand up from your chair, feet shoulder-width apart. Lower your bottom to the seat as though you're going to sit, touch down, and then spring up, squeezing your glutes as you straighten. Do three sets of 10 to 15 reps two or even three times throughout the day. 

Rule #5: Take a power walk to beat a midday slump. 
Call it the 20-20 rule: As little as 20 minutes of low-intensity aerobic activity such as walking can give you a 20 percent surge in energy, research at the University of Georgia in Athens finds. "It's paradoxical: Many people assume that they'll get tired from exercise. But the opposite actually happens," says study author Patrick O'Connor, PhD, a professor of kinesiology. "We're not certain what the biological mechanism is," he says, "but indirect evidence suggests that brain chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin are altered and cause the improved energy." Besides, that quick recharge just burned about 75 calories. Sure beats adding 250 spike-then-slump calories' worth of Skittles. 

Rule #6: Do the two-step. 
When you opt for the stairs, go at them two at a time -- as long as you're not wearing heels. The quick bursts of power activate your legs' fast-twitch muscle fibers, which burn more calories than slow-twitch fibers. Plus, you'll be using a part of your muscles that commonly doesn't get enough action. "Fast muscle cells are designed so you can jump far, kick hard, punch fast -- moves that you call on less and less in modern society," says Scott Mazzetti, PhD, a professor of exercise science at Salisbury University in Maryland. "But unfortunately it's a use-them-or-lose-them situation, so it's good to activate them regularly." 

Rule #7: Go like Gumby. 
Consistent stretching significantly decreases muscle soreness, according to a study at the Norwegian Knowledge Centre for Health Services in Oslo. Skipped your stretches postexercise? Wind down with this 17-minute allover loosener from Jennifer Huberty, PhD, an exercise physiologist at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. 
• Warm up first with 5 minutes of brisk high-knee marching. 
• Toe-reach stretch (targets hamstrings, which remain shortened all day as you're seated): Sit on the floor with your left leg straight in front of you, knee slightly bent, right leg bent out to the side and resting on the floor. Reach for your toes without bouncing and hold for 30 seconds; relax. Do 3 stretches, then switch legs and repeat. 
• Hip-flexor stretch (targets hips, which also are tight in desk jockeys): Lie faceup on the floor with your left leg bent, left foot flat, and bend your right knee out to the side so your right ankle is crossed over and resting on the lower left thigh. Grasp your left thigh with both hands and pull it toward you until you feel a comfortable stretch in your right hip, glutes, and outer thigh. Hold for 30 seconds; switch legs and repeat. Do 3 stretches per side. 
• Side stretch (targets upper back and waistline): Stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Raise arms overhead and interlock fingers with palms facing up. Keeping your middle centered, hinge at the waist to the right; hold for 30 seconds. Return to center and reach up; hold for 30 seconds. 
• Switch sides; repeat. Do 3 stretches on each side.
 

Related: Your Stretching Guide to Loose and Limber Muscles 

Rule #8: Set out your sneakers. 
A recent FITNESS poll found that sneakers -- with sports bras being a close second -- are the piece of gear that is forgotten most often, foiling women's workout plans. Clear that obstacle by, well, making them an obstacle in front of the door you exit in the a.m., suggests Diane Klein, PhD, chair of exercise and sports sciences at Tennessee Wesleyan College in Athens. "Seeing them will remind you that you planned to exercise," Klein says. For motivation to move, kicks are worth a thousand words. 

Ref:  http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/healthy-living/8-ways-burn-more-fat-faster-205100743.html

5 strange fitness tips that work

Keep your hands cold

Ever thought about adding ice to your water bottle? If you haven’t and you want to improve the amount of time you can exercise for, it might be worth giving a go. A study conducted by a researcher at Stanford University School of Medicine found that obese female participants held a hand-cooling device they were able to exercise for longer, compared to other obese women who did not hold onto a hand-cooling device.

It has been suggested that those women who held onto the hand-cooling device were able to stick at their workouts for longer because the speed that their internal temperature raised was reduced. This meant that the women did not store as much heat and were therefore more comfortable. 

Ditch your shoes

One strange fitness tip that is thought to work is to ditch your shoes and go barefoot. Going barefoot has been a hotly debated topic since the publication of a running book called Born to Run back in 2009. Since then, many people have begun to think that exercising without your shoes on is beneficial to both your training and your health; especially for injury prone runners. Yet the research is limited and the debate ongoing.

Those that support barefoot training, such as the group called Barefoot in Toronto, claim that going barefoot gives you better circulation, stronger bones and can even improve poor posture. Another study that lends support to the benefits of barefoot training found that running barefoot led to a decrease in energy expenditure by four per cent. This suggests that running barefoot could help improve the amount of time you spend running and possibly your race time.

Drink coffee or take caffeine supplements

If you’re a coffee fan this fitness tip is for you. Research has found that caffeine taken before a training session can help to burn more fat during your workout. Incredibly caffeine can also decrease the amount of pain you feel in your muscles when training. This is great news for those who want to work out for longer or for those who want to do more reps.

The study behind this theory comes from the University of Nebraska, which found that those participants who took a caffeine supplement pre-workout increased the maximum weight they could bench press by five pounds.

Get vocal

Getting vocal could be very beneficial to your workouts. A fitness program called IntenSati asks its participants to shout out encouraging phrases when exercising, such as ‘I can do this’ and ‘I am strong’. Whilst saying these positive affirmations, class members perform a variety of exercises including yoga postures, dance moves, martial arts and interval training.

The theory behind IntenSati is that by shouting out these mantras people alter their mental attitude towards their training, which in turn makes them feel positive about their abilities. As well as receiving a boost in motivation, shouting out these phrases is thought to distract class members from the pain or tiredness they might be feeling during their workout.

Drink chocolate milk

Although not the healthiest of drinks, chocolate milk is thought to help you recover after a workout. A study conducted by Indiana University found that those athletes who drank chocolate milk did not become as fatigued in their second intense workout, compared to those athletes that drank a sports drink. Similarly, researchers at the University of Texas found that those participants who drank chocolate milk had improved race times compared to those participants who were given a sports drink.

It is thought that chocolate milk has such a positive effect on athlete’s recovery because it is full of protein, calcium and antioxidants (the antioxidants are the result of the chocolate). If you want to make this drink healthier you could always swap the cow’s milk for soy or goat’s milk and add dark chocolate, which contains more antioxidants than regular chocolate.

Ref:  http://sg.news.yahoo.com/5-strange-fitness-tips-work-090000086.html