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Showing posts with the label Weight Loss

Why we Eat More in Winter & How we Avoid Gaining Weight

According to studies, people do eat more during the winter months, and there are a few potential factors that may contribute to this increased hunger. Most people would agree that winter is the season for rich, hearty foods. Heavy, carb-laden dishes, sugary treats and creamy sauces are all staples of the cold weather diet. Many people also report being hungrier in winter, with stronger cravings and an increased urge to snack. Is this winter appetite all in our heads, or is there a reason why we may want to eat more in cold weather and what can we do to avoid overdoing it? The human body functions at an optimum temperature of 98.6 deg. Fahrenheit or 37 deg. Celsius. In winters the surrounding temperature is much lower than that, as a result of which our body, esp our limbs get very cold. The blood in our body has the function of providing nutrients and heat to the body. The body has its own mechanism to warm itself up when it senses that it's getting cold, i.e shivering, wh

Which Has More Calories: Brown Sugar or White Sugar?

Most of the sugar consumed around the world is refined sugar derived from sugar cane. Sugar extracted from sugar cane can be white or brown. What Makes Brown Sugar Brown? Sugar is brown due to the addition of molasses at time of processing or may be brown in the first phase of processing prior the refining process take place Calories In Brown Sugar Brown sugar containing molasses has a high water content than white sugar. The calories of brown sugar per gram is 3.73. Calories In White Sugar White sugar has a low water content than brown sugar and it contains 3.96 calories per gram. One Teaspoon Of White Sugar The granule size of white sugar is very uniform in size. Using a standard measuring teaspoon, one teaspoon contain about 4 grams of sugar and about 16 calories. One Teaspoon of Brown Sugar The granule size of brown sugar is tend to be a little in size. The additional water content from the molasses m

Do You Burn More Fat Running on the Treadmill or Outside?

Organizations like the American Heart Association suggest that all adults get at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise each week, or about 30 minutes a day, most days of the week. One of the primary ways that many people achieve this goal is through running, which provides a high-calorie burn that can contribute to fat loss. When running you have two different choices, indoor and outdoor. However, the amount of fat you can burn with each running option is based more on intensity level rather than location. Calorie Deficit In order to burn fat, you need to create a calorie deficit. A calorie deficit occurs when you burn more calories than you consume. When this happens, your body is forced to turn to other sources for energy, typically starting with the fat stored in your adipose tissue. In relation to running, how much fat you burn depends on the intensity of your exercise, with more intense exercise be

How Extra Pounds Impact Cholesterol

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Carrying a few extra pounds? They could be making your cholesterol worse. Excess weight tends to increase your harmful LDL cholesterol levels, and one recent study linked a high ratio of body fat with higher levels of LDL. Three Key Measurements Do you use a bathroom scale to check your weight? Pounds aren't the only way to gauge health. Here are other, more accurate ways: BMI:  You can get an estimate of your body fat based on calculations of your height and weight. Waist circumference:  Anything more than 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. To measure your waist circumference, find the area between your lowest rib and the top of your hipbone. Place a measuring tape on bare skin and wrap it around the narrowest part. The tape should be snug, but not constricting. Waist-to-hip ratio:  This measurement takes into account the proportions of your body by comparing your waist and hip circumferences. The good news is l

5 Low-Cal Game Day Snacks

Combine 1 month of holiday feasting with 1 football season of noshing on high-calorie snacks, and what have you got? Double the size in belly, hips, and thighs. But cheer up! We've got diet snack solutions to help. That's right. Game day food makeovers that look and taste like the originals. Your guests won't even know they're low in fat (and you'll stay in your skinny jeans till baseball season). Lite Wings: Cut the saturated fat and sodium with these cornmeal-crusted boneless buffalo wings. Serve them with a light blue-cheese dip. Pizza-to-go: For maximum calorie control, make it yourself. If convenience is a priority, order a thin-crust veggie pizza from Domino's, Pizza Hut, or Papa John's. All three can deliver a pizza that weighs in at less than 250 calories a slice. Chips and dip: Serve baked chips with a Greek-yogurt-based fat-free dip. At about 15 calories a tablespoon, you can have more than a handful.   Chocolate fix: Make y

5 Ways to Skirt Holiday Weight Gain

Want a guilt-free way to feast on holiday fare without loading up on all the button-popping, belly-bulging calories? No problem. Just use this 5-step holiday action plan. Replace temptations. Piling up holiday "goodies" (think pumpkin pie, cookies, and fudge) in plain sight can prompt you to eat twice as much, twice as fast. Instead, keep alternate goodies, such as walnuts, pistachios, cinnamon-spice tea, juicy oranges, and ruby-red pomegranates, within easy reach. For your holiday table, try tossing together this recipe from EatingWell: Winter Salad with Roasted Squash & Pomegranate Vinaigrette . Don't skip exercise. Just make it short and sweet. Sticking with your routine during the busy holidays can be tougher than finding a radio station not playing Jingle Bells. Go for three 10-minute walks each day for a total of 30 minutes, and you're good. Too cold out for a walk? Choose libations wisely. Beer and red wine both raise your appetite-

Belly-Flattening Breakfast Choices

Need weight-loss help? This will make a big belly difference: Start your day with a high-protein breakfast (think eggs, maybe in a frittata). This shifts your appetite into neutral, where it will idle happily till lunch. Add some fiber to the meal, such as whole-wheat toast, and you'll curb afternoon cravings. Imagine getting halfway through a day of healthy weight loss without needinged any willpower! That’s because having plenty of protein and fiber early keeps you fueled and full for hours. ( Discover why breakfast makes you happier as well as slimmer. ) Not an egg lover? Have oatmeal topped with walnuts (make it overnight in the slow cooker), or smear peanut butter on your whole-wheat toast. Ready to just grab the toast solo as you zoom out the door? Think again. You'll be elbow-deep in the candy bowl before lunch. Block Snack Attacks with Protein News flash: If you don't get a certain amount of protein each day, but especially in the morning, your ap

The dos and don'ts of weight loss

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Not sure about how to diet, or of the best way to lose and maintain your weight? Well, here are a few do's and don'ts to help you on the road to fitness. Do Eat regularly Re-fuelling when you are hungry is a good idea, but make sure that you snack on the right things. Good snacks are fruit, vegetable sticks and low fat dips, scones (watch the butter), sandwiches, toast, smoothies and low fat or diet yogurt. Take a walk at lunchtime Just small changes make a big difference over time. Offer to make the coffee at work or wash up, just walking over to the kettle every day for a few weeks counts! Or could even exercise at your desk. Go shopping with a list There is nothing worse than standing in the chocolate aisle with a growling stomach, it makes it all the more tempting to grab foods that are high in fat and sugar. Make sure you do your food shopping with a list — and not when you are hungry too. Don’t be conned by marketing Low fat does not necessarily mean low ca

Love TV? Do This During Commercials

Are you a TV addict? Try this: When your favorite show breaks for commercial, get off the couch and step in place. Too much time watching The Real Housewives or ESPN contributes to weight gain and obesity because it often replaces pursuits that burn more calories. Experts at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, hypothesized that having people get up and step in place during all the commercials would help address that. The researchers measured the calories that 23 adults burned while resting, sitting, standing, stepping in place, and walking on a treadmill at 3 miles per hour. Then the participants watched TV for an hour while lounging and for another hour while stepping during commercials. Participants burned no more calories while sitting and watching TV than they did just resting. But when they stepped in place during commercials, they racked up an average of 25 minutes of physical activity and 2,111 steps to burn 40 calories per hour -- all without breaking a sweat or losing tra

How to Make TV Good for You

CSI  fans (and NASCAR nuts), take note: Prolonged sagging and slumping on the sofa while you watch your favorite show may be almost as bad for your back muscles as an injury. When muscles aren't used (they're not holding you up; the sofa is), they can actually waste away, setting you up for low back pain. Yes, you: Eight out of ten people will have back pain at some point in their lives. But plopping your butt on an exercise ball engages those muscles almost constantly, since even the littlest moves require small shifts and rebalances. Bonus: You won't snooze through the part where they figure out whose DNA really was at the crime scene. While you're on the ball, you might as well work on your abs during commercials (it beats grabbing a snack, for so many reasons). Use the ball to do these crunches. They'll give you even stronger muscles than if you did them on the floor. 1.  Sit on the exercise ball, feet flat on the floor, knees hip-width apart and bent at a 90-d

Weight Control Management with Mindful Eating

Want to lose weight fast, without changing what you eat? Quit multitasking. That's right. Sitting at your computer and catching up on e-mail and the latest video of crazy cat antics (yes, we like those, too) while you eat lunch could be making you fat. Not only do you eat more when you're in front of the screen (any screen), but you also eat more sweet stuff later. Why? According to a new study, the problem seems to be that if you're distracted while you munch your meal (the folks in this study played video solitaire), you have a fuzzier memory of what you ate. So you feel less full afterwards -- and hungry for dessert. Thirty minutes after lunch, the computer-solitaire players ate twice as many cookies as the distraction-free group. (Another study found this dessert craving 2.5 hours later, too. And several previous studies have found similar overeating patterns in people who ate while watching TV.) Here's how to lose weight the easy way:  No peeking at small screens.

No-Shower-No-Change-of-Clothes Workout

Start with a 15-minute walk. Afterward, climb stairs for 5 minutes. Then, do just 4 minutes of wall push-ups and chair squats. Finish with a 1-minute stretch. Excuse-Proof Exercise It's a total "anytime, anywhere" workout that covers all of the major muscle groups and has a healthy mix of cardio and body building to boot. Best of all, it doesn't require any special equipment or clothes, and you're done in just 25 minutes. Here's  Good Housekeeping's  breakdown on each step: Walk anywhere.  Pace the halls, circle the block, or walk in place for 15 minutes. This will get your blood pumping and your metabolism fired up. And, as a bonus, it will burn about 60 calories. Stair-step it.  Climbing stairs for 5 minutes will tone and tighten your leg muscles. Push the wall.  Stand 2 feet away from the wall, feet shoulder-width apart. While keeping your back straight, place your palms against the wall, and lean your body in for a count of three, then push back fo

A Watery and Fun Way to Lose Weight

Don't mind cutting calories, but hate to exercise? Toss your running shoes back in the closet and throw a swimsuit in your gym bag. Wet workouts may change how you feel about exercise. In a recent study, people who did twice-weekly aqua-jogging sessions dropped both body fat and waist size -- without going on a calorie-restricted diet. Wet and Wonderful Weight Loss During the 6-week study, the pool joggers went from feeling embarrassed, reluctant, or afraid of suffering an exercise-induced injury to enjoying exercise. Other benefits included a big drop in appetite, along with perceived improvements in fitness, self-esteem, confidence, and quality of life. Some folks were even moved to start a healthier, calorie-restricted diet, in addition to their new workout routine.  A Little is a Lot Bottom line: Even if it nets only minimal weight loss, a small amount of exercise can cause dramatic drops in many common obesity-related health risks, including high blood pr

Two Surprising Ways to Slim Down Faster

Dropping a few pounds is just a matter of eating less and exercising more, right? Wrong. You'll shed more weight if you add these two steps to the formula: Chill out and turn in early. That's right. A recent study found that curbing stress and getting plenty of sleep can boost weight-loss success. Relax, Sleep, and Lose Researchers put 432 obese adults on a standard eat-less/exercise-more weight-loss plan for 6 months. Although most folks lost weight, those with lower stress levels at the start of the study lost a lot more than their anxious counterparts did. Sleep also impacted the amount of weight lost. People who snoozed at least 6 – but not more than 8 -- hours a night were more likely to achieve the study's pre-established goal of at least 10 pounds, compared to those who got less or more shut-eye. Study participants with the most stress and sleep difficulties were 50 percent less likely than the mellow, well-rested dieters to reach the study's 10-pound goal.  Ho

Top 10 things that keep one from attaining the ideal body

A brother-sister team has revealed the top ten things that keep people from attainting their ideal body shape and weight. Dian Griesel, Ph.D. (Nutrition) and Tom Griesel spent 30 years working with scientific researchers while continuously experimenting with various diets, and found certain things that stop people from maintaining their diets. "The best of diet intentions fail in late afternoon and evening because dieters fall for certain traps that sabotage success," Dr. Griesel said. According to the authors, those traps include: 1. Traditional diet and exercise advice that is all wrong. 2. Motivation that is misdirected. The choice needs to be: Which do I value more? A chocolate bar now or a longer and healthier life with my family? 3. Eating when we are really thirsty. 4. Burning the candle too late, is counter productive to fat burning. A good night's sleep burns fat and keeps us from eating. 5. Dieting and aerobic exercising together reduce calories, so primitive s

Want to Lose Weight? Eat Here

Pop quiz: It's Friday night and you're trying to decide where to take the family for a healthy dinner on the town. Should you pick a) a vegetarian restaurant, b) a Japanese restaurant, or c) a farm-to-table restaurant? The answer is actually d): none of the above. For the healthiest meal, eat in. Recent research suggests that you make better food choices in the comfort of your own home. Round and Round We Go Scientists asked 160 women to log their emotional states and eating habits over a 10-day period, and found that women tend to eat healthier foods when they're happy and at home. And it sets up a brilliant chain reaction: Eating a healthy meal triggers even more positive emotions, which makes you choose healthier foods at the next meal, creating a cycle of positive reinforcement. And this cycle is more pronounced at home. Why? Scientists suspect it's because home is where you feel most content, and there's more comfort and happiness associated w

Sexercise! : Lost Weight with Sex

As anyone who's ever failed to make it past the first month's attendance on an annual gym membership knows, actually fitting a regular workout into your daily routine is easier said than done. But there is one form of exercise that, done right, you're guaranteed to want to make time for. That's right, ladies, sex isn't only about pleasure; with a little energy and imagination it can provide a great workout too. The naked truth A good session in the sack burns approximately 150 calories for every 30 minutes you indulge – better than a yoga class (at approximately 115 calories) and the equivalent to a brisk half-hour walk. And it's not just the nitty-gritty of sex itself – snogging alone burns between 60-90 calories in the same timeframe (depending on just how 'French' your kissing gets), while a vigorous half hour of oral sex can add another 120 calories to your sexercise total. Indeed, according to the Kinsey Institute the average human lo

Can't Get to the Gym? Drink This!

Wine lovers, rejoice! On those days when you're pressed for time and just can't squeeze in your 30-minute walk (you do take one, yes?), pop open a bottle of vino. A surprising new study has found that resveratrol -- the heart-protecting ingredient found in red wine -- may also help fight the muscle loss associated with too much sitting around. Use It or Lose It? Maybe Not Looking for ways to prevent some of the toll spaceflight takes on astronauts -- muscle wasting, bone thinning, insulin resistance -- scientists subjected two groups to weightless conditions for 15 days, and gave one group resveratrol supplements. The supplements group emerged with their muscles, bones, and insulin systems humming along. The group that did without resveratrol wasn't so lucky. The effects of space flight and a sedentary lifestyle are similar, say scientists, and while resveratrol is no substitute for skipping exercise altogether, it could be a way to slow muscle deteriorat

Healthy eating A to Z

Do you know your monounsaturated fats from your polyunsaturated? Your omegas from your antioxidants? If you are confused by food terminology we're here to help with a healthy eating A to Z, we've selected the most frequently used food and diet terms associated with healthy eating to help you to clean up your diet. Alcohol - we all know what this is! 'Alcohol' is the term used to refer to ethanol and contains a whopping 7 calories per gram! Amino acids - there are 20 different types of amino acid, eight of which are 'essential' - that is, the body cannot make these, so they must be found in the diet. Antioxidants - these are the good guys, protecting against free radical damage by giving up one of their own electrons, stabilizing the free radical and making it less reactive. BMI - a mathematical calculation used to determine whether or not a person's bodyweight is suitably healthy for their height.  BMI = weight in kg/height in m 2 .

Slim Down with This Vitamin

Lose a pound recently? Great! Then keep it off with this mighty nutrient: vitamin C. Research shows that your body needs sufficient vitamin C to burn fat -- and burning fat is key to keeping excess pounds away. So pop your C supplement, or snack on some C-rich orange sections before your next power walk. A Critical Compound People in a study who had low blood concentrations of vitamin C and walked on a treadmill for an hour burned 25 percent less fat than people with adequate C. But a dose of C brought fat-burning levels back up to par. Why? Seems C is essential for creating carnitine, a substance that turns fat into fuel. How Much Is Enough To keep the pounds you dropped from coming right back, you could start your day with some grapefruit, have an orange after lunch, or fill your dinner plate with C-rich veggies like red bell peppers, broccoli, and brussels sprouts. Here are a few more reasons to C up!

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