Sleep For Health and Fat Loss

Sleep is often the most underrated aspect of a healthy lifestyle, frequently to the detriment of people especially when getting into shape is the goal. Sleep deprivation may occur spontaneously, an unforeseen event that prevents it, overtime work, family problems or may be the result of bad habits such as late night TV or internet. Whatever the reason, sleep remains a primal need, even more important for athletes and people trying to get into better shape.

Cheat Meals: Do Not Slow Down Your Fat Loss Progress

A lot of people think getting in shape and fit is about constant restriction. Which in many ways it is, but not in the ways you think. Let's talk about one of the ways it isn't by talking about cheat meals and how they help your fat loss (I'll talk about the other ways getting fit can free you later).

How Do You Find Motivation for Fat Loss?

Finding the motivation to lose fat should be easy. Nearly 2/3 of Americans are considered overweight or obese. The side effects of carrying extra fat have been well documented: side effects such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, etc. Let us not forget about the psychological effects that can be associated with being overweight or obese. Such as low self esteem, decrease sex appeal and decreased libido. So how does one find the motivation to lose fat? It starts with two choices. 1. A choice to commit to making healthier choices. 2. A choice to be consistent.

Let me be more specific. It starts with YOU making the two choices. Understand nobody else can make the choice for YOU.

Getting in the Habit of Fat Loss

Change Your Eating Habits

I believe a well-designed exercise program is integral to long term fat loss. However, exercise alone won't make you leaner. Nutrition is key. There is a popular saying that I agree with: "You can't out-train a bad diet." You can still gain fat due to poor eating habits. Here are some important nutritional habits you can adopt to help you lose body fat while maintaining your lean muscle tissue:

Portion Control

Controlling portion size is essential to reducing your body fat. Try to eat smaller meals throughout the day, with each meal consisting of about a palm sized portion of three main food types: protein, fibrous carbohydrates (ie- vegetables), and starchy carbohydrates. This will help moderate your blood sugar levels, improve digestion, maintain energy levels, control your appetite, and make it easier to keep your calorie intake under control.

Eat More Often

This may sound contrary to your objective, but it ties in with the suggestion above. By eating more frequently your portion sizes will need to be smaller. I used to believe, as many trainers did, that eating more often caused your metabolism to increase. However, there is no science to demonstrate this. It appears that you whether you eat 3 times daily or 6 times daily, it does not necessarily affect your metabolism.

That being said, there are other benefits to more frequent meals. Eating 4 or 5 smaller healthy meals or snacks spread throughout the day may help regulate your blood sugar levels, improve digestion, control hunger, and maintain your energy levels. If you wait too long between meals you may find that energy levels will drop, leading to sugar cravings and fatigue.

A simple way to start reducing portion sizes is to add a high protein snack mid-afternoon, to break up the long stretch between lunch and dinner.

Milk Might Not Do Your Body Good

Although the dairy industry has been heavily marketing milk as an essential part of a healthy diet, too much dairy may interfere with your goals of getting leaner. Dairy does contain plenty of calcium and other important nutrients, but many dairy products have a high Glycemic Load which can affect your insulin and obstruct fat loss. Milk may also lead to water retention and mucus production, which can increase congestion.

In addition, a large number of people have a tough time properly digesting dairy. Much of the milk we drink has been highly processed and had various chemicals added. Unless you have access to clean, raw organic milk, I would suggest limiting your dairy intake to natural yogurt and kefir as they contain high levels of good digestive bacteria and are typically easier for your body to process.

To ensure you are getting enough EFA's I recommend supplementing your diet with two or three servings of fish oil every day. This will help your body burn more fat and has many other health benefits.

Avoid Refined Starch and Sugar

Sugar is the enemy if your goal is to lose fat! Sugar contains empty calories (minimal nutrient value), which provide a quick release of energy without actually feeding your body, and then a rapid energy slump soon afterwards. Sugar also interferes with fat loss, due the resulting spike in insulin. When insulin levels are high your body tends to be in a fat-storing or fat-sparing mode. Your body will also prefer to metabolize the sugar for fuel before getting into using fat stores. By including foods high in protein, fiber, and healthy fats you can control this rapid fluctuation in blood sugar. Foods rich in fiber help control blood glucose and insulin levels. Reduce consumption of most processed, low-fiber breads, cereals, breakfast bars, potatoes, and pasta.

Although reducing your intake of sugar and starchy carbohydrates will help you get leaner, a "no carb" diet is not a good idea. Your body needs some carbohydrates to maintain health, and it is unrealistic to follow such a restrictive eating plan. However, there are some benefits to eating fewer carbohydrates and more protein and healthy fats. First of all, lower carbohydrate diets also tend to be lower in calories. Secondly, protein has a much higher thermic effect, so it can lead to slightly more fat loss than a high carbohydrate diet with the same calorie count.

Goat milk products are also easier to digest then cow's milk. If you frequently suffer from congestion, sinus problems, and ear infections, try avoiding all dairy for a while to see if that makes a difference. Alternative sources of calcium include almonds, salmon, cruciferous vegetables, and calcium supplements.

Consume Smart Fats

Fat is a misunderstood nutrient. Many people still believe that all fats are "bad", and think that eating fat makes you fat. However, not all fats are created equal and consuming the right type of fat is not only essential for good health, but it will aid in the metabolism of even more body fat. The good fats are called essential fatty acids (EFA's) and include the Omega 3, 6, and 9 oils. Foods containing these healthy fats include fish, nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil, and safflower oil, among others. Flax seed oil and fish oil are common sources and are popular in supplement form as well.

In a weight loss study published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2005, researchers found that the group with the higher protein intake was less likely to regain the weight they lost, and any weight gained in the protein group was from lean tissue. The results were attributed to higher thermic effect and a decrease in appetite.

Finally, another potential benefit of reducing your carb intake is better glycemic (blood sugar) regulation. This means your insulin and blood sugar levels will be more balanced, which may help maintain a healthy body composition and provide health advantages for individuals who are "carbohydrate-intolerant".

As I mentioned, restricting your carbohydrates over the long term is not recommended. A more balanced method of moderating your carbohydrate intake is called "carbohydrate cycling" or "carbohydrate manipulation". This method involves decreasing your carb intake significantly for only two or three days in a row each week, followed by a carbohydrate "loading" day. During the low carb days you will need to increase your protein intake to make up the difference in calories. Carb cycling makes low carb diets safer, more effective and easier to follow.

Change Your Lifestyle Habits

In order to maximize fat loss, maintain your lean tissue, elevate your metabolism, and keep your energy levels up, you will need to make some other changes to your lifestyle. In fact, even with a sound diet and exercise plan, fat loss may be minimal if you do not include some of the following guidelines.

Researchers found that healthy men who slept for only 4 to 6 hours a night for 6 nights in a row had higher glucose and insulin levels in their blood. This is a very poor state of metabolism for someone trying to lose weight, because surplus insulin boosts body-fat storage.

Aim for 8 hours of sleep each and every night, and try to keep a regular routine where you have the same bedtime and waking hour. Pick the time you have to wake up on most days, and make sure you're in bed at least 8 hours before.

Eat More Slowly

Some animals chow down for about 15 minutes, feel full, and stop eating. But you are a human being. If you eat that fast your full stomach hardly has time to alert your brain to tell your mouth to quit chewing. If you eat more slowly and chew your food better you will not only digest better, but you will be less likely to over-eat. At your next meal, take your time, chew well, and rest between mouthfuls.

Stay Well Hydrated

Water is the most important nutrient, especially when you're trying to lose weight. You need it to flush the waste products your body makes when it breaks down fat for energy, or when it processes protein. You need it to transport nutrients to your muscles. You need it to help digest food and to stimulate your metabolism. Water also helps keep you from overheating during workouts on hot days.

To stay well hydrated, let water and green tea be your main beverages. Fruit juices, sodas and other beverages contain calories and often have added sugar. Therefore, avoid juice, pop, and sports drinks and focus on drinking plain water and green tea instead. A good guideline for water intake is to drink one liter for every fifty pounds of your bodyweight per day. Drinking enough water will also help control your appetite and assist with fat loss.

Don't Skip Meals

In today's fast-paced society I often hear people insisting that they are too "busy" to eat right or often enough during the day. If you are serious about getting leaner, eating regularly has to become a priority. One tip to help with this is to pack your meals in advance. This will also help you avoid fast food or junk food snacks. Keep your portions smaller and focus on including protein, vegetables, fruits and foods high in essential fats.

Chill Out

A high stress lifestyle can lead to adrenal fatigue and can also elevate your cortisol levels, which causes the body to retain fat. Some healthy ways to deal with the stress in your life include exercising, getting more rest, and a eating a well balanced diet. Sound familiar? Also try to reduce the stressful activities that you have control over. If you can't eliminate the stress, adopt healthy coping mechanisms such as positive thinking and relaxation techniques. Whatever you do, avoid using alcohol or other drugs to cope with the symptoms of stress... this will not resolve the problem but it will make losing fat even more difficult.

Diet Loss Program and Fat Loss Info

It seems that everywhere you look today there is a diet loss program that promises to give you the magic formula to weight loss. Take this pill, eat our prepackaged food and all your weight problems are solved. The biggest problem with that is that most of these diet loss programs just want your money. They over promise and under deliver. Fat loss and weight control really isn't that complicated once you have the right fat loss information.

The simple fact is that fat loss is a science and should not be hard. One pound of fat equals about 3500 calories. So if you want to loose one pound of fat a week you would need to burn 3500 more calories than you consume. Easy, right? The trouble is that we often will eat the wrong foods thinking a calorie is a calorie. Some foods actually contribute to burning calories. These are called "super foods" Apples, broccoli, extra virgin olive oil, blueberries, green or black tea. There are some substitutes that are not listed here but you can see that they are natural foods. Not only do these foods aid in weight control they could also help other areas of your wellbeing such as blood pressure, glucose level, digestive issues, etc. Without a doubt, what you eat is a very important factor in your battle for weight control.

The next area that you will have to address is your physical activity. The common misconception is that you have to spend hours in the gym using special equipment or achieving a healthy weight in impossible. The truth is that you probably have everything that you need to start your weight loss program. If you are starting from scratch the best exercise for you is simply walking. The benefits of walking are numerous.

-Walking is low impact
-Walking can lower your bad cholesterol and raise your good cholesterol.
-Walking can help lower your blood pressure.
-Walking is fun and relaxing.

If you are already somewhat in shape and just need to drop a few pounds, try bodyweight exercises. Simple calisthenics have been used successfully for fat loss by thousands of people. Push ups, sit ups, pull ups, jumping jacks, and squats are still used by the military today to keep our soldiers in fighting shape. Remember, you do not have to reinvent the wheel to lose weight. Keep it simple and you are sure to succeed.

Controlling your weight is simple once you have the right information. If you are serious about loosing weight you should visit www.diet-lossinfo.com immediately. Tips, insights, and information that will help you achieve your goals.

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