HOW DO I BEGIN A FAT LOSS PLAN?…LET ME COUNT THE WAYS!

Written by Aimee Deak


Most people are unsure about how to begin a fat loss program. They have many questions about food choices, meal composition and exercise.

Getting yourself in good physical condition will require willpower and dedication andrepparttar desire to get results. It is not easy to lose body fat. It took a long time to accumulaterepparttar 131311 fat and it will take just as long to remove it.

Remember that you should aim to lose 1.5 to 2 lbs. per week. Lose any faster and you are probably losing water and muscle. Losing muscle is detrimental to any fat loss program because it is muscle that burns calories. THE MORE MUSCLE YOU HAVE THE MORE CALORIES YOUR BODY REQUIRES!

If you lose fat slowly while learning to adopt a healthy lifestyle, you are more likely to keeprepparttar 131312 weight off. And, if you ever falter, you’ll know exactly how to get back to your goal weight without returning to your old ways.

Here is how to start a good eating program.

1. Increase your water intake. If you are exercising, try to drink at least 100 oz. to 128 oz. per day. 2. Limit yourself to two drinks per week. Alcohol slows your metabolism and decreases your body's ability to burn fat by as much at 40%. Empty calories! 3. Decrease significantly or completely eliminate sugar from your diet. If you are a dessert person, treat yourself once a week to something sweet. This includes soda. If you are a soda drinker, switch to diet and only have two cans per day…Splenda sweetened preferred! 4. Eat 5 small meals per day. This isrepparttar 131313 most important factor in losing fat. Eating smaller more frequent meals will speed up your metabolism and prevent your body from going into starvation mode. Each meal should be approximately 3 hours apart. 5. Try to eat a serving of vegetables with 3 of your 5 meals. Vegetables are water rich (so is fruit) and have plenty of vitamins and fiber. They are filling and of course they are good for you. 6. Do not eat 3 hours before bedtime. The evening is when you are least active and your metabolism slows in preparation for sleep. You risk storing late-night calories as fat. IF you are absolutely starving at night, have a few pieces of fat free turkey breast to fightrepparttar 131314 hunger.

Insulin

Written by Aimee Deak


Insulin has two critical roles inrepparttar body that we cannot live without, yet it can berepparttar 131308 root of many health problems, including diabetes. Insulin carries sugar (glucose), fat and protein into your cells where they are used for energy andrepparttar 131309 repair of your cells. When you eat, a certain amount ofrepparttar 131310 food will be converted into glucose and enterrepparttar 131311 bloodstream. Asrepparttar 131312 sugar levels rise,repparttar 131313 body senses it andrepparttar 131314 pancreas secretes insulin to lowerrepparttar 131315 sugar. This is insulin’s second main function.

If you eat too much of any food, especially carbohydrates (starch and sugar)repparttar 131316 levels of glucose inrepparttar 131317 blood rise to very high levels. In turn this triggers a large release of insulin fromrepparttar 131318 pancreas. Your cells will take what they need and then insulin will beginrepparttar 131319 process of convertingrepparttar 131320 excess glucose, fat and protein into fat and then put it all away in your fat cells. By combining foodsrepparttar 131321 right way for your body, you will maintain optimum levels of insulin throughoutrepparttar 131322 day.

The best way to control insulin and fight sugar cravings is to eat protein snacks when you are hungry or when you have severe “sweet” cravings. Also, try to limit yourself to three carbohydrate-containing meals per day and try to eat vegetables with most meals and snacks. A particularly good snack is non-fat cottage cheese and salsa. The only vegetables to avoid inrepparttar 131323 evening are corn, yellow or orange squash, peas, beets and carrots. They have high simple carbohydrate (sugar) content.

Good natural sources of protein for meals or snacks are:

Chicken breastTurkey FishLean Pork Lean Steak7% or less Ground Beef Egg whitesEgg Beaters TofuNon-fat cottage cheese Non-fat cheeseNon-fat cream cheese Non-fat sour creamFat-free Ham or Canadian bacon

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use