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Are you a diet conscious person? Looking for good meal plans for weight loss? You will find plenty of diet plans to weight loss in the market. However, when it comes make a decision, you should select a diet plan wisely. As obesity has become one of the most common health issues in the world and turning as a major epidemic, many people are becoming health conscious and start considering their diet seriously. In this regards, weight loss and diet meal plans have gained great importance. Though, it seems difficult to lose weight for many obese people, with the help of quality custom diet plan one can lose weight easily in a healthy way.

Some important weight loss tips that you should know to keep yourself healthy.

1. All you need is a balanced diet

The issue of overweight and obesity is caused due to unhealthy eating and lifestyle. Our eating habits and the way we live affect our health largely. Bad eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle are the prime reasons behind weight gain. Therefore, if you are eating fast food, sugary sodas, red meat, or fatty meals, then you should switch to healthy and balanced diets to drive positive results from the food you eat.

2. Prepare a custom diet plan

The best way to lose your weight and improve your fitness is to embrace a custom diet plan. In our busy life and hectic word schedule, we tend to eat fast food and other unhealthy food items unwillingly. But, if you really serious about your health and want to shed few pounds, then you should go for a custom diet plan that not only help you to know what to eat but also provide you with a balanced diet to improve your overall health and fitness.

3. Is a custom diet plan really helpful and effective?

Yes, absolutely custom diet plans are helpful to lose weight, build muscles and improve your health. If you choose the correct diet meal plan, then you can gain all the benefits of it. In this regards, you can consult a dietician or get online help to create a right meal plan suitable to your body type.

A custom diet meal plan is designed by keeping in mind your body type and food choices. Unlike restrictive diet plans or generic diet plans, it doesn’t keep you starving or make you eat food that you hate. It studies your daily meals and replace harmful food items with healthy food. Isn’t is wonderful?

Obesity or overweight is not a natural body condition for most of the people, perhaps, it is our own choice that we make due to unhealthy eating and bad lifestyle. If you want to get rid from obesity and live a healthy life, then you should change your eating habits and food choices first. Custom diet plans are customized to your needs and perform better than generic diet plans. It helps you to learn how to make right food choices to keep your weight under control.

A custom diet plan is specifically designed for you. It is like your personal diet, hence, it is certainly a good choice as it adapts you along with your lifestyle.

We, as consumers, are bombarded by before and after pictures and testimonials from people who have successfully lost weight with some fabulous new program.

Two years ago, another new diet book hit the shelves. It was called “The South Beach Diet”, written by Dr. Arthur Agatston. Since its release in 2003, The South Beach Diet has been listed on the New York Times’ bestseller list for an impressive 103 weeks. Dr. Agatston has released companion books, started a fee-based website, and is working with Kraft Foods to create a line of pre-packaged South Beach menu items. How is this diet any different from the others, and more importantly, does it work?

The main idea behind South Beach is to eat three meals a day along with snacks and even dessert, while avoiding highly processed foods. Dr. Agatston says that South Beach is not low carb or low fat, but rather good carb and good fat. The diet is broken down into three phases: phase one is very restrictive and lasts about two weeks, phase two is much more open with food choices and lasts until you reach your goal weight, and phase three is called ‘maintenance’, which should guide your food choices for the rest of your life.

During phase one, you can eat until you are full (not stuffed full, just no longer hungry) from a list of approved foods. The list consists of mainly vegetables and lean meat, including seafood, as well as low fat or fat-free dairy products and legumes. You can have sugar-free Jell-o or popsicles as treats; up to 75 calories worth per day. Nuts and natural peanut butter are also on the list, but with limits. You’re basically giving up bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, and sugar in all of its forms. The South Beach Diet book claims that you can lose 8-13 pounds in just two weeks on phase one, and that you will lose belly fat first.

Phase two widens your menu quite a bit. You can now eat whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice, select fruits, and (my personal favourite) sugar-free Jell-o pudding. Still no sugar though, except for the occasional bite of dark chocolate. Good carbs in the form of whole grains and legumes, and good fats in the form of unsaturated, non-hydrogenated things like I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter spray and olive oil are all approved.

Once you’ve reached your goal weight, you’re pretty much on your own. Phase three lets you eat within the phase two guidelines, adding occasional treats and ‘white’ food, but omitting the snacks you’ve come to depend on. There isn’t much guidance here, since by now you should know what your body is able to handle. Dr. Agatston recommends that you return to phase two if you find yourself gaining weight again.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? The book even claims that you don’t need to exercise to lose weight with this plan (although it does recommend that you add physical activity as part of your weight loss effort). While the eating plan is certainly healthy, there are some drawbacks to this diet – or at least with the way it is presented.

Phase one is very restrictive. Sure, you’re only on it for two weeks, and the potential weight loss is very encouraging. Many people, however, do not lose the ‘guaranteed’ 8-13 pounds in phase one and get discouraged. Not only that, but suddenly dropping all sugar and refined carbs from your diet can cause dizziness, light-headedness, an inability to focus or concentrate, and constipation (believe it or not). This rapid weight loss phase is designed to control your cravings, but sometimes the side effects just aren’t worth it. If you think you can manage your cravings, head straight for phase two.

South Beach also recommends that you use sugar substitutes, specifically Splenda. Some people have trouble digesting aspartame, while others prefer to avoid one unhealthy substance and substitute it with a chemically processed alternative. Explore your options in this case – there are other ways to sweeten foods without sugar or chemicals.

While you’re on phase two, your weight loss should slow down to one or two pounds a week, according to the book. This is reasonable, and slow weight loss is definitely healthier than dropping pounds rapidly. It is a balanced diet and has great effects on your health, with the added benefit of losing unwanted pounds. What is confusing as far as the book is concerned though is that there are ingredients in the recipes that aren’t found on the recommended “Foods to Enjoy” list. Also, Dr. Agatston asks that you add grains and fruit back to your diet slowly; only one serving a day to start, and gradually increase your servings until you find your weight loss slowing down. If you follow the daily menu plans in the book though, there are several fruit and grain servings for each day.

For anyone who needs a structured plan based on numbers, The South Beach Diet is not the way to go. But if you like the freedom of not having to count anything and using common sense to lose weight, then South Beach is more of a strategic eating plan than a rigid diet and would work very well for you. Keep in mind that all diets revolve around the same principal: take in fewer calories than you burn off. Burn more calories than you consume, and the weight will come off. Eating well and enjoying healthy food is integral to this process, and that’s where The South Beach Diet shines.

Over the years, scientists have proven that in addition to healthy eating habits, frequent exercise is the most efficient and healthy way to lose weight. It has also been proven that many illnesses and diseases, that are often associated with obesity, are also reduced through exercise and weight loss. If you are reading this article, maybe you have tried different diet plans or exercise programs and have had no success. Maybe you are new to exercise and don’t know were to start. Well, we’ve got good news for you. We’ve done some research and gathered together information on exercise and weight loss and have written out a list of 10 free exercise tips to lose weight. Here are some inside tips from weight loss experts as well as men and women who have lost 100 pounds or more and have kept off the weight! Here’s what they had to say.

What are you waiting for?

Find out what’s holding you back! I know your life is hectic you have a demanding job, kids, etc. You may have even tried different diets and exercise programs and failed. Your past doesn’t matter. If you don’t take the time to exercise you won’t see any change. Today is a new day so grab a pencil and schedule some exercise time.

Talk it over

Before starting any exercise program it is wise to talk it over with a doctor. All programs are not right for everyone but everyone can certainly benefit from regular exercise.

Be accountable

Almost all weight loss and exercise programs have some sort of accountability. You may be accountable to a trainer, a doctor, a spouse, or a friend. Find someone to be accountable to so you can be encouraged to stay on track.

Set the atmosphere

Get rid of all temptations. Make sure you rid the house of all foods, snacks and deserts that are considered “off limits”. However, you can replace them with healthy snacks so you won’t give in when the “urge” hits.

You are what you eat

You should plan out a good diet along with a proper exercise program. By eating the right foods daily you can maximize the effects of exercise on your body. It is important to give yourself all the nutrients and energy it needs to tone your body and build muscle.

Easy does it

Nothing is more frustrating than setting a goal to lose then failing because the goal was set too high. Start off slow. For instance, if your goal is to lose 50 pounds, set 5 goals of 10 pounds. Set several short term goals that will lead up to the long term goals.

Reward yourself!

Set several short term goals so that after you’ve achieve them you can reward yourself. Watch a good movie. Go get your hair and nails done. Buy some new clothes. You name it! There’s one important rule you must follow… no food rewards.

Track your progress

Keeping track of your progress helps you to stay focused on your short term goals. A record helps you see what works and what doesn’t. It tells you what you need to change and what needs to stay the same.

Warm up

Warming up is essential to exercise and long term weight loss. You want to make sure that you are loose, flexible, and ready to exercise.

Be encouraged

Find a support group or talk to people who have lost a significant amount of weight and have kept it off. Talking to them will give you the emotional boost you need to reach your next goal. If they can make it, you can too.

We all need motivation to make changes in our lives. But some motivations can have short-term effects whilst other motivations can have long-lasting, life changing effects. This article takes a very quick look at how we can cut to the core of making the long-lasting, life changing decisions easier.

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Why do you want to lose weight? Do you want to make someone else happy? Your kids, your husband? The only way to lose weight in the long-term is to lose weight for you.

While some or most of this article might sound like pointless new-age psycho-babble, at its core are valid, solid ways of changing your life. Do not give in, it may well be a life changing experience.

Whilst these are all valid reasons for losing weight they may actually be the reasons why so many people fail to lose weight or lose weight but then put it all back on with a little extra just for desert. In order to understand long term weight loss we need to look at the nitty-gritty at how the mind works and how we become, and remain motivated, to do something.

When we want to change something about ourselves we need to look deep. Not just “Because the doc said I need to lose a few pounds” deep or “I want to look nice when I lie by the pool” deep. We need to look at where we are now, where we want to be and the difference between the two. That is where the deepness lies.

Ok, let’s take any weight measurements out of the equation and look at body size and shape. We might imagine ourselves to look a long way from the way we want to look. But how does that make us feel? Pretty miserable right. But that’s where your change begins – connect with the feelings caused by the difference between the two you’s. The discrepancy between the you now and the person you want to be is the reality and sometimes the reality hurts! The difference between where we are and where we need to get to needs to be bridged.

You need to imagine what it would feel like to be the person you want to be. Stop for a second and think about it. Close your eyes. Really think about it. Think about the person you want to change for. Because this is only a short article I will give you the answer you need to come up with.

The only person you want to change for is you. There are just so many reasons you could have come up with for changing. Kids, husbands, wives, parents, friends, pets, teams – the list is endless.

The only person you need to change for is you. If this sounds too selfish and self-centred for you then I’m sorry. However, the chance of you changing long-term for anybody other than yourself are minimal. If you think about it another way, what would make the person you are changing for happy? Would they be happier to see YOU happy or would they be happier watching you trying to make THEM happy? So if we want to change we have to look at ourselves and see ourselves as we really are. We need to look to the person we want to be. From then on the person you want to be is going to be the person you are.

If you want to lose weight you need to do it for yourself, no-one else. Not only do you get to be the person you want to be but everybody else gets the benefit of basking in the glow of your happiness and success.

Are you interested in formulating an exercise plan that will assist you to remain trim and help you to get thin? Studies regularly show that there are two basic types of exercise that are both extremely efficient and successful. Of course, it stands to reason that you must be motivated in the first place, and that is why therapeutic hypnosis can help solve your problems.

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If you’re like most people, you are interested in creating an exercise system that will assist you to remain healthy and slim. It may shock you to find out that research studies usually demonstrate that only two core kinds of exercise are useful — which suggests that you can’t just choose any type of exercise to become trim.

Due to the fact that so many people have trouble with the motivation to exercise, performing the most efficient kinds of exercise is imperative, since the less time you spend exercising – and the less time you waste on low efficiency exercise – the more likely it is that you will persist in your exercise routine and therefore achieve your personal weight and strength target.

Our first type of exercise which has been regularly proven to aid people to lose weight and get trim is progressive resistance. In brief, progressive resistance is one type of strength training. It functions by progressively ramping up the pounds lifted, the number of sets, and number of repetitions performed. As a result, your muscles are never strained or subjected to damage – instead, they slowly and steadily strengthen without any setbacks.

Our second type of exercise that has been scientifically studied is cardiovascular training. This is any type of exercise that gets the heart rate up to 60 – 85 percent of its maximum rate. Some kinds of cardio training may involve jogging, jumping rope, aerobics, or treadmill, among other types of exercise, but it is your choice.

Although progressive resistance and cardio training by themselves have been found to be very efficient forms of exercise, scientists now know that performing both of these types of exercise is the best bet for success. If you combine both progressive resistance and cardio training, you will increase the strength of your muscle groups and increase overall endurance. According to a recent scientific study, exercisers who used both cardio and progressive resistance during a two month time period lost 45 percent more weight than exercisers who did cardio training or progressive resistance alone.

Just as important as the type of exercise you perform is, the way in which you exercise is also important. It probably will be unsurprising that being consistent is the name of the game. Exercising inconsistently may strain your muscles and will probably not aid you to build strength and endurance. In addition, it is unlikely to improve your whole-body health. According to most scientists, the best regime is to exercise for forty minutes to an hour three to five times per week.

Unfortunately, it turns out that for a significantly sized subset of the population, getting sufficient exercise is not as easy as attending the health club a few times every week or listening to what scientists claim. For this group of people, the motivation to exercise is the primary issue – this group of people simply doesn’t have the motivation to go to the gym. Actually, they might resist any and all exercise, to the point of severe anxiety.

Nobody knows what percentage of the population suffers from problems with the motivation to exercise, but scientists say that up to 20 to 40 percent of people claim that they “hate” or “dread” exercise. An even larger percentage of people might have more mild problems with the motivation to exercise, finding that even though it is simple enough to commit themselves to an exercise regime for a week or two, motivation eventually degrades, leaving them where they were initially – unhealthy and heavy.

If you are one of these people who struggles with the motivation to exercise, the good news is that there are some easy strategies to deal with the struggle. In a recent research study, volunteers who needed to start an exercise program were provided with a brief learning program that aided them to decide on the right kinds of exercise, were provided with a therapist who specialized in exercise motivation, and were given a brief course in hypnosis. After six months, they were asked to evaluate their progress. It turns out that over 85 percent of the participants had adhered to an exercise program throughout the whole six months. Even better, they generally lost an average of fifteen more pounds than the control group.

If you have an interest in this study, it might make sense to look into locating a motivational therapist, habit control therapist, or therapist who deals with hypnotherapy. These therapists are provided with special training in helping people to transcend anxieties, build the motivation to exercise, and reinforce the creation of good habits. One more choice for exercise motivation is self-hypnosis – which is a simple and inexpensive process that often helps people take control of their own inborn abilities to be motivated.

Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are risk-free ways of increasing motivation that have been proven to provide success in the case of exercise motivation. Hypnosis works by using hypnotic relaxation to enhance the powers of the unconscious mind to influence the modification of behavior and habit development. Hypnotherapy is a good choice for the exercise adverse because it can help increase the drive to get trim and lose weight easily and effectively.

Are you tired of the yo yo effect? These simple 5 steps can help you KEEP the weight off once you do lose it

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Why do some dieters suffer the endless frustration of losing and then gaining weight again and again, while others lose weight and keep it off forever?

And we know you don’t want to be the latter group?

Here are 5 very simple tips successful dieters implement – and you can easily adapt these good habits yourself.

1.) You know that old conventional wisdom that goes “The scale doesn’t matter when you’re dieting”? For a long time experts scorned the idea of frequent weigh ins, pointing out that the scale can be inaccurate because of fluctuations caused by water weight. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat. So if you’re exercising you may be gaining muscle and that will throw the scale off.

However, it turns out that weighing yourself every day is actually an excellent motivator for dieters. A study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that dieters who weighed themselves every day lost the most weight, and kept it off more successfully, compared to a group of dieters who did not weigh themselves regularly.

2.) Keep a log of everything you eat. When you log everything you eat you will feel MUCH more guilty when you cheat because you have to see it and read it.

3.) Do at least 1 15 minute activity everyday. ANYTHING. Walk your dog, go jogging, do tae bo. Most of us work at desks and sit at home all day – then do it at least three times a week. You will lose weight quicker and this is one of the big contributors of keeping the weight off.

4.) Plan ahead. If you are going out to dinner with friends or to a holiday office party or even to the movies, what are you going to do when hunger pangs hit? Eat something before you go and decide BEFORE you get to the party or movies.

5.) Schedule the occasional indulgence. Most weight loss experts suggest and encourage a cheating day. When you get to eat some pizza, brownie or some ice cream at some time in the week your chances of ditching your plan is much less likely. This can also be a day when you throw in some more activity.

For those of you out there who believe that you can only lose weight through fasting, you cannot be more wrong! Facts have shown that it is not how much you eat but actually what you eat that results in weight gain in most people. If you decide to eat correctly, you will surely be eating your way to weight loss naturally.

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In the developed world today, a whole lot of people seem to be struggling with a particular challenge common to them all and that is the issue of how to lose weight so as to live a healthier life. In the same vein, a good number of the people concerned tend to believe that the only way to lose that excess fat is by starving themselves or fasting. Nothing can be further than the truth in this case. It has been proven by the experts that one can achieve weight loss naturally through correct dieting.

In order to lose weight naturally, the main thing one has to keep in mind and practice is to eat wisely, take enough water and do some regular exercise. This combination of actions will surely help you get rid of that unwanted fat as well as give you a fitter and sexier physique.

It is pertinent at this stage to note that when I talk of losing weight naturally through correct dieting, I am not talking about some very strict diet but simple ones that can be found in some cook books such as the Metabolic Cooking. I am also not talking about a particular diet for the whole day but an intelligent mix of recommended diets that will end up giving you a healthier body through weight loss.

I suppose that at this stage some of you out will want to know exactly how to eat wise and reap the benefits of losing weight naturally in the shortest possible time. It is not rocket science but simply doing what is right as already suggested. For an example, the diet experts claim that our ability to shed fats is eighty percent correct dieting and twenty percent how much exercise we give to our body. This also means that you need to steer clear of that attractive and sweet junk foodstuff you have been destroying your system with only to go back to the gym to try to burn the fat you got from wrong dieting practice.

Another important aspect of correct dieting is the issue of the water intake level. It is a fact that taking a good amount of water on a daily basis helps in ensuring a clean body system. As a matter of fact, the experts have made it abundantly clear that in order to keep our body system in a clean condition we need to take as much as sixty ounces of water daily. This is much better than the sugary drinks that many people use to replace water in their diet. It is recommended by medical experts that every adult should drink at least eight glasses of water in order to enjoy a healthier life devoid of obesity.

In summary therefore, anyone who wishes to enjoy the benefits weight loss simply needs to combine a correct diet with a good water intake and do some exercise. That also means such a person needs to as well avoid taking junk food and replace that with the consumption of lots of fruit and vegetables. When fruits are added to your meals, it is easier for you to ward off the cravings for sweet since you are ingesting natural sugar instead of the artificial one. You are advised to take fruits such as oranges and or apples in between your meals as a means of eating your way to weight loss and good health.

You can begin to lose weight by reducing your stress level. Here’s how!

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There may be many reasons why you engage in the behavior of overeating. Overeating helps some people gain a sense of control over their lives. Other people overeat when they are stressed or upset. Think about the times that you have had a binge eating session? What was the motivation behind it? Do you turn to food when you are upset or have a stressful day? Do you find a sense of comfort in the food that you eat? If stress is a major factor in your eating habits, finding ways to help reduce stress can help you lose weight.

1. Find a Support System

Having people that you can rely on is a great way to start reducing stress. Call on your friends or family when you are in a stressful situation. They can be a great source of advice or just a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes going out with work friends after a long stressful day can work wonders to melt the stress that you feel. We all need to rely on our friends and family at some point. Being able to talk about your stress is a health alternative to overeating.

2. Post Positive Mantras

Think about the negative comments you make about yourself when you are feeling stressed. Most people struggle with negative self-talk at sometime in their lives. Begin to challenge your old ways of thinking. Replace those old thoughts with positive thoughts that will help you push through stressful times. If a long stressful day at work leaves you thinking that you are “no good at my job”, change your thoughts. Think about how hard you worked today. You put in your all and achieved a goal you had set. Whatever your new thoughts are going to be, post them around your house. This will help you stay focused on them even when you are headed for a stress out moment. Thinking positively can help curb overeating.

3. Find Time to Relax

It is important that you take a few minutes everyday for relaxtion. There are many different things you can do in order to relax. If you had a busy day at work and spent the evening running errands, take a long soak in a tub. If you find yourself working late one night, close your office door and read a chapter in a book. On the weekends, go for a walk around a nature trail. The activity can last five minutes or five hours; the important thing is to take some time to relax.

4. Meditate or Journal

Another great way to reduce stress is to be alone with your thoughts. This can help you sort out what is going on in your life in a healthy way. One way to do this is to meditate. Another way is to write in a journal. Writing in a journal is a great way to begin organizing your thoughts about the stresses in your life. Dealing with your stress in this productive way makes it less likely that you will overeat.

5. Listen to Your Body

Stop beating yourself up for overeating. Move forward into a new way of thinking about eating and food. By listening to your body, you will learn when your body is telling you it is full or hungry. Know the signals that your body gives off in order to begin recognizing the difference between hunger and emotional eating. You can pull through this struggle and be on your way towards a natural weight loss.