Christmas Season Weight Loss Tips

Christmas, or the "silly season" as it is affectionately called, is a particularly perilous time for those of us who want to lose weight. In this article we provide our top ten weight loss tips for the holiday season so that many of us can maintain our weight loss momentum, maintain our weight in an acceptable zone for the holiday period, or at least minimize the 'weight gain damage' so that come January 1, we'll have a few less kilos of weight loss attached to our New Year's resolution.

Tip 1. Keeping our alcohol consumption in check.

Alcohol is high in kilojoules/calories. In fact 1g of alcohol contains around 28 kilojoules or 7 calories. In addition, all of these calories are known as "empty" calories because they provide no real nutritional value to our body. One of the reasons many of us put on weight during the Christmas season is because our alcohol consumption 'goes through the roof' during this time.

Drinking at office parties, get-togethers with friends, Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner and of course the big one, New Years Eve are all part of the festive season and at most, if not at all of these occasions, alcohol consumption is part of the social mix.

But we don't have to be a party-pooper if we're watching our weight. We just need a strategy to cope with the situations we know we'll find ourselves in.

For example we can try:

-Alternating alcoholic drinks with low calorie non-alcoholic drinks or water.

-Using or asking for low calorie/diet mixers with our spirits.

-Making wine Spritzers using mineral or soda water and our favourite wine.

-Substitute pre-prepared "alcoholic soft-drinks" with a shot of our favourite spirit and a low calorie mixer.

-Making allowances for alcohol in our daily diets (kilojoule/calorie quota) - without skipping meals to compensate, which is not a good idea.

-Remembering that moderation is the key.

Tip 2. Ask for sporty presents for Christmas.
If our partner, family and friends don't know what to buy us for Christmas, perhaps we should suggest that we would like something sporty or that involves physical activity of some kind.
For example, why not hint that we would love to receive:
 

-A new pair of walking or jogging shoes.
-Some new workout wear, like t-shirts, shorts, or a new tracksuit.
-A new bicycle or tennis racquet.
-Some exercise videos or a Swiss Ball.
-A six month gym membership or membership to the local golf club.
-A dozen sessions with a personal trainer.
-Some rollerblades.
-A set of dumbells for working out at home.


Tip 3. Allowing ourselves some indulgence days.

Christmas and holidays are meant to be enjoyed; a happy time to spend with close friends and family.Part of that enjoyment comes from eating and drinking our favourite foods and drinks and it would be a real shame to deny ourselves some of these simple pleasures.Having said that, balance is the key to really enjoying the festive season and this includes balancing out our meals each day and balancing our 'good' and 'bad' days each week.Having one indulgent day per week is usually OK, even if we are trying to lose weight.

So if we think that the whole of December is the most dangerous time for us, we can allocate 4 days within that month where we can let our 'hair down' a little and enjoy the good stuff.If we were to allocate, for example, Christmas day and New Years Eve as two of those days, we still have two others to allocate to enjoying an office party or get-together with friends and we'll still be right on track.

Tip 4. Don't let our exercise routine slip.

The end of year holiday season may be a time of catching up with old friends and family mixed with a little overindulgence, but it shouldn't be a time when we have to give up completely on our regular exercise routine.

Sure, we'll all be very busy during December shopping for presents, cards and festive foods, making plans for BBQ's, Christmas lunch and dinner and New Years Eve, and catching up with people during the week and on weekends, but these things needn't interfere with our healthy habits, like exercising.

If we exercise in the mornings, there aren't any good excuses not to continue to do so before the rigours of these hectic days begin (other than a hangover and lack of sleep from partying the night before!).

If we like exercising throughout the day or in the evenings, and there are now some festive activities competing for the same timeslot, perhaps we can make allowances for this by changing when we exercise and perhaps how we exercise - like exercising in the mornings and increasing the intensity so we can burn the same amount of energy during a shorter workout - just until all the festivities are over.

Tips When Dining Out

Do you consistantly starve yourself until you get to the restaurant, and then order everything on the menu to fill the hunger gap? If you are serious about watching your weight there are things you can do to be a more ‘informed diner’ so you make the right decisions on what food to eat when you dine out.

Fitness expert Bob Green (yes, the same Bob Green from the Oprah show) gives us a few tips on what to consider at different types of restaurants.

Italian Restaurants
-Skip the bread basket. At the very least, don’t have it sitting in front of you for the whole meal.
-Split the pasta dishes. Portions are normally large enough for two.
-Choose soup for a meal, like Minestrone.
-Avoid anything called ‘parmagiana’ as it is usually fried and layered with cheese.

Chinese Restaurants
-Watch the oil and avoid anything deep-fried.
-Remember most of the calories are hidden in the sauces.

Boost Your Memory With Caffeine

There have been a lot of negative reviews of the consequences of consuming coffee, tea or eating chocolate because of the amount of caffeine that these substances contain. There might be a silver lining to the caffeine cloud though and that's how caffeine can play an important role in boosting your memory.

Often we experience short term memory problems. At times it can be whether we turned off the water after we brushed our teeth or if we locked the door before we went to bed. These things can nag at our minds enough that we turn our car around to make certain that we won't be faced with a flood because of running water or we jump out of bed only to find that we did indeed lock the door.

Life is busy and it's easy to forget some of the smaller things that we take for granted. Our minds might have trouble focusing because of a conflict at work or stress at home. This isn't an uncommon occurrence and it happens everyday to people of every age. Losing track of tiny details is common but certainly not something that we need to live with. There are steps that we can take to improve our memory enough that we never have to deal with having our minds filled with those nagging thoughts again.

Nutritional Goodies Of Apricots

Apricots are somewhat lesser known in society, but pack a super nutritional punch.

Alexander the Great fell in love with this surprisingly sweet fruit in Asia, where he found them growing wild. When he returned to Europe from his military expeditions, he brought some with him.

The ancient Romans gave the apricot its name - from the Latin word for "precocious" - because the apricot is the first fruit of the season to ripen. The name stuck, and the apricot spread all over, from Europe, to America, and all the way to Australia.

The apricot is a fantastic fruit - loaded with beta carotene, iron, fiber, vitamin C, and several B vitamins. If you dry an apricot, its nutrients get more concentrated, making dried apricots a great snack.

Whether fresh or dried, eating apricots will help you fight the effects of aging, protect your eyesight, ward off cancer, and prevent heart disease.

4 ways apricots keep you healthy

The Seven-Minute Workout

Get fit in just seven minutes with this exclusive workout from Dr. Oz and trainer Joel Harper.

Are Your Relationships Making You Fat?

Are you constantly surrounded by temptation? Can’t say no to those fattening lunch dates, or those home-baked pies from your mother-in-law or to the huge box of chocolates from your partner? The diet is hard enough without high-calorie foods being pushed in your direction.

How can you stick to your resolve?

WebMD experts offer five simple strategies to help you stick to a healthy eating plan (even when you're surrounded by non-dieting friends and loved ones).

1. Make a Statement. It’s up to the dieter to make his or her feelings known. Directly ask your loved ones not to give you food as gifts or eat in front of you. No matter how strong you are, you can't stare fattening foods in the face every day without your willpower breaking down.

2. Keep Temptation Out of Sight. Even if your loved ones agree to eat their fattening goodies when you're not around, ask them to keep it in a cabinet where you don't normally go for your diet foods - you'll be less tempted to eat it.

Can Exercise Make You Smarter?

Be Healthier With Veggies

The new food guidelines issued by the United States government recommend that all Americans eat between five and nine servings of fruits and vegetables each and every day. When you first hear that number, it may seem like a lot, but it is actually much easier than you think to fit that many servings of fruits and vegetables into your daily diet. For one thing, the shelves of the grocery stores are fairly bursting with fresh fruits and vegetables. In addition, vegetables and fruits are some of the least expensive, most nutrient rich, foods in the supermarket. With all these fruits and vegetables to choose from, it is very easy to make these nutritious, delicious foods part of your daily meals and snacks.

When you take into account how much a serving really is, it is actually quite easy to get five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day. For instance, the recommended daily amount actually equates to a quite reasonable two cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables every day. When you consider how many fruits and vegetables are available, and how low the prices usually are, it is easy to see how easy to reach this daily goal really is.

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How To Become A Morning Exerciser

Exercising in the morning will jump-start your metabolism and keep you feeling energised all day!

Statistically, people who exercise in the morning are more likely to stick with their routine. Morning exercisers also burn more kilojoules, eat less junk, and feel more energised throughout the day.  And these are just some of the benefits of working out in the morning!

1. Slowly Start Moving Up Your Bedtime
Working out in the morning is counterproductive if you’re not getting enough sleep (numerous studies have linked a lack of sleep to everything from weight gain to an increased diabetes risk, not to mention low energy and fatigue), and trying to wake up early if you aren’t fully rested is even more difficult. Your strategy: First, decide what time you’ll need to start waking up to make your workout happen, and then calculate what your new ideal bedtime should be (most experts recommend 7-8 hours of sleep each night for best health and weight-loss results). If you usually hit the sack at midnight, don’t expect to start falling asleep at 9 p.m. right away. Start going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night until you gradually reach your ideal bedtime (and remember, the hours you spend in bed are not the same as hours spent sleeping, so be sure to allow yourself some time to unwind and fall asleep too). In the meantime, you can still fit in a morning workout! Use this “sleep transition” period to focus on shorter, targeted workouts.

8 Simple Steps To Eating The Mediterranean Way

1. Eat lots of vegetables. From a simple plate of sliced fresh tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and crumbled feta cheese to stunning salads, garlicky greens, fragrant soups and stews, healthy pizzas, or oven-roasted medleys, vegetables are vitally important to the fresh tastes and delicious flavors of the Med Diet.

2. Change the way you think about meat. If you eat meat, have smaller amounts – small strips of sirloin in a vegetable sauté, or a dish of pasta garnished with diced prosciutto.

3. Always eat breakfast. Start your day with fiber-rich foods such as fruit and whole grains to keep you pleasantly full for hours. Layer granola, yogurt, and fruit, or mash half an avocado with a fork and spread it on a slice of whole grain toast.

4. Eat seafood twice a week. Fish such as tuna, herring, salmon, and sardines are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and shellfish including mussels, oysters, and clams have similar benefits for brain and heart health.

5. Cook a vegetarian meal one night a week. Build meals around beans, whole grains, and vegetables, and heighten the flavor with fragrant herbs and spices. Down the road, try two nights per week.

6. Use good fats. Include sources of healthy fats in daily meals, especially extra-virgin olive oil, nuts, peanuts, sunflower seeds, olives, and avocados.

7. Enjoy some dairy products. Eat Greek or plain yogurt, and try small amounts of a variety of cheeses.

8. For dessert, eat fresh fruit. Choose from a wide range of delicious fresh fruits — from fresh figs and oranges to pomegranates, grapes and apples. Instead of daily ice cream or cookies, save sweets for a special treat or celebration.




Reference : Oldways

Switch On Your Fat-Loss Hormones

Struggling to lose weight? Learn how you can optimise your body’s natural weight-loss weapons.

1) Ghrelin: Ghrelin is your hunger gremlin. It is produced in your stomach and, like many fat-loss hormones, works with your brain to signal that you are hungry. Reducing kilojoules, in an effort to lose weight, causes an increase in ghrelin. Even after 12 months of a reduced-kilojoule diet, research shows that ghrelin levels stay elevated. In other words, your body never adapts to eating less and constantly sends the “I’m hungry” signal, which is why maintaining weight loss is often harder than losing it in the first place.

What to do: Intense exercise decreases ghrelin levels, making it a key component to fat loss and weight maintenance.

2) Leptin: Leptin is a type of hormone called an adipokine that is released exclusively from fat cells. Leptin interacts with your brain to get your body to eat less and burn more kilojoules. The more body fat you have, the more leptin your fat cells will release. However, too much body fat leads to too much leptin being released—a condition called leptin resistance. When this occurs, your brain becomes numb to leptin’s signal.

What to do: To maximise leptin sensitivity, get adequate sleep and pack your diet full of antioxidant-rich berries and green and red vegetables. Losing weight also enhances leptin sensitivity and gives you some momentum, as the more weight you lose, the more effective leptin will become in your body.

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10 Awesome Weight Loss Tips For Busy Women

1. Have an eat out strategy

Eating out is one of the main reasons many career women say they’re carrying extra kilos, but if you make healthier choices, frequent business lunches need not derail your weight loss efforts. In her diet book The Wall Street Diet (Hyperion), nutritionist Heather Bauer says you need to determine a dining out strategy before you hit the restaurant.

• Decide in advance: Will you have a cocktail, a piece of bread from the bread basket, or a light dessert such as sorbets?
• Check out the restaurant’s menu ahead of time (most are available online) and pick a simple dish, such as a lean steak, grilled salmon, or a chicken salad.
• Ask for any sauces and dressings to be served on the side, and always opt for vegetables or a baked potato instead of chips.
• Business lunches can be distracting because you’re focusing on the conversation, not on how much you’re eating, so remember that restaurant portions are generally much larger than what you actually need. Don’t feel pressure to finish your meal; eating more than you need is just as wasteful as leaving some left over.
• Another useful tip is to order fiddly food, such as prawns or mussels. Having to pick them out of their shells will slow down your eating, and research shows the slower you eat, the less you’ll consume.
• Eating with chopsticks may do the trick too, so sushi or Asian dishes are a good bet (but opt for veggie stir fries rather than creamy coconut milk curries).

4 Ways to Stop Stress Fast

Is stress affecting your body? The answer to this question is a big “YES! The number-one complaint that I am hearing these days is: “I am under so much stress and it is causing me to overeat. I am storing fat around my midsection; what can I do to de-stress myself so that my body doesn’t suffer?”
First, we all need to get in touch with our bodies so that we can recognize what it feels like to be relaxed and how it feels when we are stressed.
 The first thing I like to ask a person is are your shoulders (trapezoids) up by your ears? When we are stressed, our shoulders rise up to ear level; it causes your shoulders to slump over, and allows gravity to take over and continue to pull our bodies toward the ground. This ages our bodies more than you can imagine. Bad posture makes us look much older than we really are, and it can cause headaches among other things.

If we can all learn to relax, we will solve our eating/stress problems at the core level where they need to be addressed. If work or life is making you so stressed that you can’t seem to relax, there are solutions out there for you that can help you feel better right away so that you can navigate your way through what needs to be done.

4 Ways to Stop Stress Fast

Stress check. Not sure how stressed you are? Perform a posture check to see if your shoulders are visiting your ears or if your breathing has become shallow and quick. Try taking a deep breath and tell your shoulders to “wilt” or “relax”. They will relax just by the power of suggestion and your breathing should slow down. If you are very tense, this may take multiple breathes. If you are super tense, this may take time, so be patient and don’t give up. It is well worth the trouble, and you will not only feel better, you will look fitter too.

Food That Flush Fat from Your Body

Did you know that certain foods can actually work to naturally fight body fat? Learn how to really make your diet work for you.

You don’t always have to subtract foods from your diet to achieve results. In fact, by adding these foods to your meals, you’ll help your body blast fat so you can shed stubborn pounds.

Chia Seeds
Chia seeds are super high in soluble fiber which, in addition to filling you up, has cholesterol-lowering properties and prevents the absorption of fat.  For a hydrating metabolism-boosting beverage, try a chia seed cocktail. Add chia seeds, a slice of lemon and a dash of agave to distilled water.

10 Foods NOT To Eat

Weight Loss Guide for Busy Women

A healthy weight is essential for disease prevention and overall health. Between work deadlines, family responsibilities and other everyday activities, busy women may find it difficult to schedule gym workouts or prepare elaborate home-cooked meals. By making a few simple changes in eating and exercise habits, busy women can lose weight with time and energy to spare.

Eat Breakfast
Breakfast plays an important role in weight loss by preventing mid-morning hunger and providing energy for physical activities. Even if you don't have time to cook breakfast every morning, you can still squeeze in a healthy breakfast. Try nutritious and convenient options like a fruit smoothie made with low-fat yogurt or oatmeal topped with dried berries and almonds. Even something as simple as a handful of whole wheat crackers or a low-fat cheese stick can help keep you full and energized until lunchtime.

Cut Portion Sizes
Reducing the amount of food you eat at each meal is an easy way to lose weight. Sharing a meal with a friend, skipping dessert and taking home part of your meal for later can help reduce portion sizes when dining out. Putting foods on smaller plates and eating more slowly are good ways to adjust to smaller portion sizes at home. To prevent overeating when snacking, take only a small portion and avoid eating directly from the bag.

10 Healthy Eating Guidelines

1. Eat plenty of vegetables and fresh fruits
2. Food should be served as close to its natural state as possible to maximise nutrients. Try and enjoy at least 50% raw vegetables and fruit every day.
3. Use cooking methods like steaming, baking, grilling, sauté or stir-frying and eliminate deep fried foods
4. Try not to over cook or reheat vegetables as this causes greater nutrient loss. 
5. Cook with lots of fresh herbs and spices not only for taste but for their health and medicinal  properties. This will also allow you to use less salt. A high salt intake can contribute to high blood  pressure. 
6. Avoid processed foods which are high in preservatives, flavour enhancers such as (MSG / E621), sugar + artificial sweeteners, saturated + trans fats, salt + non-nutritive ingredients that are linked to disease and poor health.
7. Eat small amounts of healthy anti-inflammatory oils such as extra virgin olive oil, avocado, macadamia nut, linseed, almond and walnut oils. Avoid trans fats and hydrogenated oils.

The Basic Of Losing Weight

Failed diets and out of control obesity may lead you to believe that losing weight is difficult but it is quite easy, at least on paper. The only thing you need to do is keep the calories that you burn greater than the calories that you eat.

Failed diets and out of control obesity may lead you to believe that losing weight is difficult but it is quite easy, at least on paper. The only thing you need to do is keep the calories that you burn greater than the calories that you eat.

Your first step is to figure out how many calories you are burning each day. There are a few formulas that have come out over the years that estimate how many calories you burn per day based on your sex, age, weight, height and physical activity. When using these formulas, keep in mind that the number you get gives you an estimate not a number that never changes day to day. It will fluctuate.

Safe weight loss is considered 1-2 pounds per week. While it is possible to lose more, it is extremely unhealthy to do so. So how many calories do you actually have to cut out of your diet? One pound of body fat equals about 3500 calories. If you want to lose one pound in a week, you need to cut 3500 calories out of your diet per week. While this might sound like a lot, per day it comes out to a 500 calorie deficit.

Your next step is to ask yourself how you want to get rid of any unwanted weight. You can cut 500 calories out of your diet per day, or increase the amount of calories you burn by 500 calories per day. A combination of these two methods is the best way to go.

The Miracle Noodle Craze

Miracle Noodle Soup

Calorie-Free 'Miracle Noodles' Are The Latest Diet Craze
A virtually tasteless gelatinous mass doesn't sound that great, does it?
 
That's why they call it the miracle noodle instead. This latest diet-food craze is being used as a replacement for traditional noodles and rice in some American homes, but originally came from Japan. They are called shirataki.

Yummy Or Gross?

Shirataki is produced in warm subtropical regions of Asia made from a plant that goes by many names and kind of resembles a yam. The plant is then ground into a powder and made into a gelatin like substance.  Naturally this gelatin is white colored but because hijiki is added it gains a rather unappealing grey hue.

Although the healthy nature of Konjac is well known in Japan, its general lack of taste relegates it to simply adding texture to dishes like sukiyaki.  It’s hardly considered a food that stands on its own.  Depending on the dish it’s either added in its slab form or in a thin noodle form called Ito Konnyaku (Thread Konjac) or Shirataki.

These noodles are calorie-free, all natural. They have barely any flavor, similar to a rice noodle. They are available in many different styles: angel hair, fettuccine, even as a 'rice' substitute. They don't need to be cooked, really just rinsed off. They can be used in warm or cold dishes, from pasta salads to Ramen.

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The Wonders Of Raspberry Ketone

Raspberry Ketone: Fat-Burner in a Bottle

Research has shown that raspberry ketone can help in your weight-loss efforts, especially when paired with regular exercise and a well-balanced diet of healthy and whole foods. Raspberry ketone is the primary aroma compound of red raspberries. This compound regulates adiponectin, a protein used by the body to regulate metabolism. Raspberry ketone causes the fat within your cells to get broken up more effectively, helping your body burn fat faster. The recommended dose is 100mg per day. To get the same benefit from the whole fruit, you'd have to consume 90 pounds of raspberries.

Raspberries Helps You Lose Weight

Raspberries Help You Lose Weight

Raspberries are a small, delicate fruit that are very low in calories, low in fat and high in fiber. They are also full of essential nutrients that can improve your overall health. The variety of nutrients found in raspberries boost digestion, help the immune system, protect against certain diseases and aid in weight loss.

Raspberries are known for being low in calories and fat. A cup of raspberries contains 50 calories and 0 grams of fat. Raspberries are very high in fiber, containing 8 g per cup. They're also a good source of vitamin C, the B vitamins, folic acid, manganese, copper, magnesium and iron. According to the FitDay website, eating 1 cup of red raspberries provides half of the recommended amounts of vitamin C, 60 percent of the RDA for manganese and 33 percent of the RDA for fiber.

So what are the magical benefits of raspberries and how does raspberries help you to lose weight?

How This List Of Fat Burning Foods Will Boost Your Metabolism

What foods work great for fast fat burning? We all understand that we need to eat our fruits and veggies because they have he highest vitamin and mineral content of any other food.

Did you know that these are the best foods for weight loss also?

Raw fruits and veggies carry a much larger content of vitamins and minerals than your cooked foods.
Heat during the cooking process damages the vitamin and mineral content and kills natural enzymes. Vitamins and minerals give you the building blocks for your cells to stay healthy, and for your hormones to work properly which is why they are classified as foods that help to burn fat fast.

With the bad press that multi-vitamins have gotten recently, we should explore all possible areas for getting our vitamin and mineral requirements met naturally. I’ve put together a list for you of some of the best raw foods with lots of vitamins and minerals to make your body healthy, your age decrease and your belly, butt and thighs to slim down.

When used in addition to a moderate amount of healthy organic grassfed meats, and some raw dairy products, it is possible to get our nutrients from diet. It is also important to note that some foods truly are ‘super-foods’ like green leafy vegetables or broccoli. That’s because they provide a significant amount of more than one nutrient per serving.

Here is your list broken down into vitamin/ mineral content:

Vitamin A
Any green leafy vegetables including Spinach
Peppers
Yellow vegetables like Squash
Dried Apricots
Tomatoes
Broccoli
Asparagus

Exercise Tips To Lose Your Double Chin Fat

When your stomach gets flabby, you tone your abs. When your butt gets saggy, you work out your glutes. Yet, when you get a double chin, you pay for expensive creams and treatments instead of treating the real problem. Although a double chin can occur when your skin naturally weakens with age, it is also a symptom of obesity and poor diet. Target the root of your double chin by toning your mentalis and platysma, the supportive muscles below your chin that operate your jaw.

Sitting & Standing Exercises To Lose Your Double Chin

Step 1
Stand straight and tilt your face up toward the ceiling. Relax your facial muscles. Purse your lips into a kiss and try to kiss the ceiling. Feel the slight pull along your neck and on either side of your lips. Hold the kiss for five seconds. Relax and repeat in sets of five, suggests the Facial Exercises Guide.

Step 2
Keep your head tilted back. Open your mouth as wide as possible. Hold for five seconds and feel the stretch in the bottom of your jaw. Close your mouth and stretch the underside of your chin. Hold for five seconds. Repeat in sets of five.

Lentils and Weight Loss

Lentils, sometimes called the fast food of the legume family, trace their roots as one of the first known crops, dating back at least 8,500 years ago in the Neolithic agriculture period, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When dieting, including lentils in your meal plan offers you benefits in losing weight, improvement in your lipid profile and digestive function.

Benefits Of Lentils When Dieting
Including lentils and other legumes into your diet may have a positive impact on your weight-loss success and also reduce your cholesterol levels and blood pressure, according to a study published in the February 2011 issue of the "European Journal of Nutrition." Lentils are a low energy-dense food, and the fiber and protein in the lentils has a filling effect. Eating lentils regularly while losing weight enables you to feel fill on few calories, which will help you keep your calorie intake at your desired level.

Eat This To Shed Off Your Pounds

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Do You Know Cucumbers Help With Weight Loss?

Cucumbers are vegetables with high water content and few calories per serving. Watery vegetables can help you lose weight when they are used to replace higher-calorie fare. Use cucumbers strategically as part of a low-calorie diet plan to reduce hunger and stimulate weight loss.

Benefits
You can use cucumber to add volume to meals without adding a lot of calories. Cucumbers' high water content can help you feel full, leading you to consume less food at meals. Cucumber acts as a natural diuretic, making you urinate more often, which reduces bloating and water retention, notes Mayo Clinic nutritionist Katherine Zeratsky.

Setting Smart Goals for Health

Good and healthy body does not appear magically, but through constant planning for diet, exercise and discipline to fulfil this goal. Just as maintaining or losing weight, or wanting to have a shape body sounds easy but difficult to do. A goal stands as a guide and direction to wellness. By learning about SMART goals and how to set them for your health objectives will help you to get the healthier lifestyle you want.
SMART goals acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bounded. Let’s have a short review on setting smart goals for health.

S – Specific:
In setting goal, one characteristic is it should be specific. Example of being specific is setting goal as “to lose 20 pounds” than a general goal of “to lose weight”. To be specific has greater chance to accomplish it than a general goal.

M – Measurable:
Measuring your progress help you keep track on your goals.    A goal should be measurable for your progress. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds, you can scale the amount of pounds you have to lose per week. It is essential for achieving your goal.

A – Attainable:
In setting up goal, it should be vital to you and figure out how you reach this goal. The goal should be encouraging that it induces you to success. If you are not firm to achieve your goal, barriers will be very hard to overcome.

Portion Control and Diet: 10 Easy Tips for Smaller Servings

Portion control is an important part of maintaining a healthy diet. Here are 10 easy ways to limit what you eat.  
When most of us sit down to eat, the last thing we want to think about is portion control. But for anyone on a diet or just looking to maintain their current figure, that’s exactly what they should be doing. 

Gone are the days of eating a bagel or muffin and feeling safe about its calories. In fact, researchers measured typical servings from takeout restaurants, fast food chains, and family-style eateries and found that bagels were 195 percent larger than the standard set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), muffins were 333 percent bigger and cooked pasta exceeded the standard by 480 percent. Scariest of all were cookies, which were a whopping seven times the USDA recommended serving size. 

Portion Control and Diet: How It Works

The first step in successful portion control is learning the correct serving size — the amount of food recommended by government agencies, such as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans put out by the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services, and the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. The serving size can usually be found by reading nutritional labels. But the portion is the amount of food or drink a person chooses to consume. In many cases, the portion eaten is larger than the serving size simply because we don’t know any better. 

“Portion control is limiting what you eat,” says Mary M. Flynn, RD, PhD, chief research dietitian and assistant professor of medicine at the Miriam Hospital and Brown University in Providence, R.I. “It is being aware of how much food you are actually eating and what calories are in that serving.” 

Portion Control and Diet: 10 Easy Tips for Smaller Servings

The good news is that with a little practice, portion control is easy to do and can help people be successful in reaching and then maintaining a proper weight. 

Here are 10 simple ways to keep your portions a healthy size: 

1. Measure accurately. For foods and beverages, use gadgets like a measuring cup, tablespoon, teaspoon, or food scale. 

10 Foods To Help Lose Weight

The foods we consume daily play an important role in our daily struggles to maintain our desired weight. One key factor in order to achieve a healthy weight is to choose what you eat. Starvation is not the answer. In fact, by allowing yourself to eat right, you might lose weight faster than starving.

For healthy weight loss, there are 10 best foods that can help you get through it. These healthy foods will keep you full and satisfied keeping you from unnecessary eating and snacking.

Cucumbers
Cucumbers are packed with water and low in calories. It works like a diuretic and helps improve body fluids and remove excess fats. It helps you lose weight faster.

Apples
Apples are best for its antioxidants properties and abundant in fiber. An apple a day, keeps your fats away.

Oats
Oats are high in fiber and a good choice for breakfast. It provides you energy to jumpstart your day, its rich fiber content helps you feel full longer avoiding overeating later thus help you lose weight.

Blueberries
Berries are great food packed with antioxidants for the body. These blueberries are among the best of its kind, which have the highest antioxidant level. Moreover, the fiber in this fruit will make you feel full for longer period.

Fig, Nutmeg and Walnut Porridge

Give your body the start it deserves with this healthy Fig, Nutmeg and Walnut Porridge

 With enough fuel to keep you going until lunch, plus the nutrition of walnuts and figs, and the wonderful flavours of honey and nutmeg, this recipe ticks all the boxes.

Serves 1
100ml cow's milk, skimmed or semi-skimmed
40g porridge oats
10g walnuts
1tsp honey
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 dried fig

Place the porridge oats with the milk and water into a saucepan. Bring to the boil, stir in the chopped dried figs and then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve the porridge with walnuts sprinkled on top, a little nutmeg and a drizzle of honey

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