photo credit: g_kat26

What you drink during the day can have almost as much an effect on your weight as what you eat. If you drink two or three cans of Coke a day you are going to gain weight. Its simple. So what should you be drinking when trying to lose weight? Here are a few ideas.

1. Green Tea
Green tea is, without a doubt, the best thing a woman can drink when trying to lose weight. It should be a part of everyone’s daily intake and it should be drunk many times per day. As you will see in the post linked to above, green tea can reduce your chances of getting cancer and it can actually help you to burn calories. What a wonderful drink.

2. Water
You knew this was going to be in here! Boring old water. Well, the truth is, we need to learn to love it. Water is the basis of all life on Earth and we need it to stay hydrated, healthy and awake. It is a good idea to drink a tall glass of water every time you have a meal. This will help you flush out a lot of toxins and help keep your appetite suppressed.

3. Milk
Milk is not often thought of as a good drink for weight loss. But, in reality, milk is a very valuable drink for all women. Not only does it contain a lot of calcium, it has a lot of protein which can help you lose weight by adding more lean muscle mass. A glass of milk with breakfast is a great idea for long term health and weight loss.

4. Soda water
A simple carbonated water can be a very nice treat when you are trying to lose weight. Especially in the hotter months, there is nothing better than a glass of chilled soda water with some lemon and lime juice added in. It keeps your hydrated and it is tasty without the sugar. A great weight loss drink

Conclusion

Do not ignore what you drink if you are trying to watch your weight. It can make or break your fat loss progress. If you make your main drink water, green tea or soda water you will be fine. It is time, however, to give up the Cokes and other sugar based drinks.

photo credit: stu_spivack

Every time I sit down with friends I am shocked at how little they know about food. Last night I went out with a friend who said that she was on a weight loss diet but then proceeded to order a main size pasta because it was “low in fat”. Bad idea. In this post I am going to show you 5 common foods that are making you fat.

1. White bread
Of all the common foods out there it is white bread that is doing the most damage to your waistline. If you could cut out one food from your diet today and never eat it again this would be a good choice. White bread is full of refined sugar, preservatives and a lot of salt. All of these things slow down your metabolism and make you fat.

2. Pasta
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, pasta is not great for your weight. It is extremely high in carbohydrates and as such it will fat you up. The other thing about pasta is that you usually add fatty foods to it as a topping. Cheese is one of them. Mixing fat and carbs is a surefire way to put on weight.

photo credit: grggrssmr

3. Coffee
Yep, that’s right. Coffee is making you fat. But not because of the coffee itself, because of all the sugar, cream and biscuits you add to it. Ask yourself how many sugars you have in your coffee and then times that amount by how many coffees you have in a day. Pour that amount on to the counter so you have a visual impression of what we are talking about. Do you realize that almost all of that will be stored as fat? Slow down on the coffee.

4. Beer
The older I get the more I realize how dependent many people are on alcohol. It seems as though no event is alcohol free. Even after sporting games people go and get drunk. But these nights out are making you fat. Beer has a lot of calories in it and it is also a massive metabolism depressant. The more you drink the less calories your body will burn.

5. Fat free meals
Fat free has to be one of the most misleading marketing schemes in the history of food. Fat free does not mean it will help you lose weight. In fact, fat free foods are some of the WORST foods you can eat if you are trying to burn fat. Why? Because they pack the food with preservatives, salt and especially sugar. None of these things are good for you. Next time you see a fat free item pick it up and look at the amount of sugar and salt in it. You’ll never buy it again.

Conclusion

If you can avoid these five foods your diet will be well on its way to becoming more healthy. How many of these foods do you eat?

photo credit: DanieVDM

Sometimes when you are trying to lose weight it is difficult to know what foods to eat. Snacks, breakfast, lunch dinner… it can become a bit overwhelming. In this post I am going to give you some great ideas for what you should be eating when it comes to weight loss time.

How to pick your foods: what should you eat?

When you go to pick out a pair of shoes in the store you know what you are looking for. If a pair of shoes isn’t possessing all the right features you simply won’t buy it. If it doesn’t have the right name, the best fabrics, the correct shape, etc. you won’t put it on your feet. The same should be true of food. You need to learn what to look out for and when the food on the shelf doesn’t meet those requirements you don’t put it in your stomach.

1. Food should be natural
When it comes to losing weight you need to get rid of all the highly processed foods and start choosing natural. Natural foods are good for you. The human body has adapted over many thousands of years to rely on these foods and thus works best when you eat them.

The best natural foods are plant based. This means fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and so on. The human body’s digestive tract is perfectly built for these foods and our cells operate extremely well when we eat them. Try to get as much of these foods as possible.

2. Foods should be low in sugar
When you are looking for those extra sauces and flavors to go on your natural foods you need to make sure that they are low in sugar. Sugar is, without a doubt, your number one enemy when it comes to losing weight. It will add pounds to your butt and waist before you even know it and it will add zero in terms of healthy benefits.

3. Foods should be colorful
When you are in the fruit and vegetable isle looking for the ingredients to this week’s meals you should keep your eye out for one thing – bright colors! There are many theories that suggest that the human eye sees in color in order to help us find the right foods. And the best one’s are bright!

Think bright green spinach, deep yellow bananas, blood red tomatoes and full orange pumpkin. These are the types of foods you should base your diet around.

4. Eggs and meat should be free range
While I do not believe that meat is 100% necessary for a healthy weight loss plan I know a lot of people like to eat it. If you are one of those people you might consider purchasing free range meats and eggs. There are two reasons why: it is ethical and it is healthier.

Non-free range animals are kept in terrible conditions. They are often force fed their food and kept in cages that don’t allow them to turn around or stand up. Many scientists also believe that this makes them a lot less healthy to eat – hormones and cancers produced by a terrible life are then eaten by us. Choose free range or miss it all together.

Conclusion

If you stick to these basic principles you will find that selecting your meals will become a lot healthier. Weight loss, actually, is more about getting healthy than it is about trying to lose weight. Try it and see how it goes for you.

photo credit: gahdjun

One question I get asked a lot is whether or not drinking water will help you lose weight. The answer is simple – you bet it does. In this post I am going to show you the main reason why drinking lots of water will help you shed some of that pesky fat.

Why does water help you lose weight?

Here are a two simple reasons as to why drinking water will help with your weight problems. Remember, all of this is just science until you put it into practice. Start drinking more water today and see the results for yourself.

1. Water stops you from snacking
The main reason that water helps you lose that belly is because it makes you feel full. As we all know, water has 0 calories so consuming it will just hydrate you and make you feel full. This means you will be less likely to snack on things during the day.

2. Water keeps you hydrated
Many people do not know this but one of the symptoms of dehydration is actually hunger pains. If you are not drinking enough water there is a chance that you will be feeling hungry and that leads you consume more calories. Drinking will keep you hydrated and, as mentioned above, stop you from snacking during the day.

Conclusion

Water is essential to good bodily health. If you don’t drink water you will be dehydrated and this will lead you to snack. Try drinking at least five tall glasses of water each day and see how you feel. I am betting you will lose a few pounds over time as well.