If you are seriously overweight, your health will eventually suffer, in fact, you may already be experiencing some of the unpleasant side effects of carrying too much weight. If you continue to overeat, these can only get worse, putting you at risk of diabetes, which can also affect your eyes and kidneys, heart attack, cancer, liver disease and a whole range of other conditions. In fact, obesity is the second major cause of preventable deaths in the US. Not only that, obesity is limiting life expectancy to the extent that many of today’s young people are expected to die before their parents, which is a chilling thought.

However, embarking on an over-strict diet is not the answer, as quick weight loss can have serious side effects, not least being the effect it has on your metabolism. If you restrict your calorific intake too drastically you may lose weight quickly at first, but eventually your body will adjust and your basal metabolic rate will drop. So you’ll need to eat even less to lose weight. It is unlikely that you’ll be able to keep this up for long and so you’ll end up putting the weight back on. However, if you do keep up a very low calorie diet for an extended period, your body will be malnourished and thus open to another set of problems related to malnutrition. Yes, an increasing number of people in the West are suffering from malnutrition, not because they don’t get enough to eat, but because they are not getting the nutrients they require. This can be the result of eating only junk food or it can stem from following a weight loss diet which does not encourage eating balanced meals.

So if you need a weight loss diet health must be a primary consideration. It is therefore important that you seek the advice of a doctor or dietician.

© Waller Jamison 2007

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First of all, what would be the attributes of the world’s greatest diet?

1. It would be comprised of easily available foods.

2. It would NOT require any fancy measuring or fixing.

3. It would be easy to follow at a friend’s dinner party, a fine restaurant, or Mickey Dee’s (McDonald’s to old fuddy-duddies like me).

4. It would not just help with weight loss and weight management, but with health in general.

5. It would be made up of our favorite foods.

HMMMMMMM! TEACHER! I SEE A PROBLEM!

Okay, you can put your hand down. I see it too. It’s that “favorite foods” thing, isn’t it?

Everybody has different “favorite foods”, and we won’t even get into gourmet, regional, or ethnic cooking. I’ll leave that to my daughter and her husband. (Psst! Seen the pictures of my grandkids?)

Anyway, let’s see if we can put together the world’s greatest diet for health and weight loss…for you!

You see, there’s the rub, as my good friend, though somewhat older than me, Billy Shakespeare would say.

We are all different. We are different ethnically, environmentally, educationally, genetically (ran out of e’s), and, dare I say it, sexually. All of these things are important, because they exercise an influence on the results of any diet that anybody tries out.

Hey, there’s a good word, “try”. How many people do you know who actually stay on a diet…especially for the rest of their lives? I guess we need to add another attribute. The world’s greatest diet would have to be one:

6. You could and would stay on for the rest of your life.

WHY THE REST OF MY LIFE?

Simple. I don’t care what diet you go on and how well it works. If it does work and you stop eating according to that diet, over time you will find yourself right back where you are now and wondering where you put this article.

So, to build your “world’s greatest diet” we have to go back to the title of this article, “The World’s Greatest Diet For Weight Loss And Health”. I put “weight loss” AND “health” in there for a reason. There are diets that don’t really help you lose weight, there are diets that are not good for your health, and weight loss does not automatically equal health…particularly if that weight loss is accomplished thru dieting.

Here we go. It doesn’t really matter what foods you eat. You like apple pie, have some apple pie. You like popcorn, have some popcorn. Filet Mignon? Sure, why not.

Let’s back up for a minute. A “diet” is simply a list of the foods you eat. In the last few decades, the word has gotten loaded down with all kinds of extra stuff like the pancakes at IHOP. A doctor can give you a “diet” to help you avoid hives, get over a stomach upset, or even to gain weight if that is what is needed for your health.

If that doctor gives you a “diet” that says you can only eat seven foods, he or she would be doing you a grave (pun intended) disservice. In order to get the nutrients your body needs for health AND for weight loss, you need a diversity of foods…and that diversity can range from soup to nuts…or Filet Mignon! You don’t have to JUST eat cabbage. You NEED to eat cabbage, hamburgers, biscuits, broccoli, apples, apple pie, chicken, fish, carrots…you get the idea. You can deny yourself a lot of the foods you like, take a lot of enjoyment out of your life, and even damage your health without even losing any weight by trying weird fad diets and strange pills that cause your body to act in an unnatural manner.

Your personal “greatest diet in the world” is going to be the foods you normally eat and enjoy eating.

THERE’S GOT TO BE A “BUT” HANGING AROUND SOMEWHERE!

Absolutely. It’s not about WHAT you eat. It’s about two other things:

1. How MUCH you eat, and

2. How you live the rest of your life.

You see, weight loss and health is about balance. The weight loss balance has been known for years. Eat more calories than you use, the excess gets stored as fat. Attempt to use more calories than you eat, your body burns the available fat and abracadabra you have weight loss. However, simply cutting calories down to the bone denies your body nutrients necessary to health and does not allow for the activity that helps keep a body healthy. Exercising (the way we most commonly burn extra calories) while continuing to eat excess calories not only makes it harder to lose weight, but still creates a condition in which our health can be threatened by that excess anyway.

A balanced program for health and weight loss does not deny you the foods you like to eat, it merely tasks you to realize what you are doing to your body and use some self control and limit yourself when food is offered or available. As far as the exercise side of the equation is concerned, “exercise” scares people, so let’s just talk about activity. Your exercise program can be gardening, swimming, bicycle riding, yoga, tai-chi; or gardening on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, bicycle riding on Wednesday, yoga on Thursday, and tai-chi on Friday!

There is an old saying: Keep doing what you have been doing, and you will keep getting what you have been getting.

Makers of diet pills and sellers of diet books know that you realize this, so they offer you something that seems to change that no-win equation. The problem is that without actually creating an actual change of the manner in which you eat and exercise, these diet pills and fad diets at best will only temporarily seem to change the actual equation and allow you to lose weight for a short time if at all. They will not make a permanent change in your life or your health, and their “weight loss” effects, if any, will wear out quickly, often leaving you in a worse situation than when you started.

An article such as this is much too short to get into all the various aspects of weight loss, diets, exercise, and health, but the basic equations are simple. Too much weight can adversely affect your health in a multitude of ways. Losing weight in an unhealthy manner may leave you in as bad a state as you were in when you started…or even worse. Combining formal exercise or enjoyable physical activity with a sensible enjoyment of food so that calorie intake and calorie use can be balanced will result in weight loss, health and a lifestyle that will continue to bring benefits for years.

Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, the environment, happiness, self improvement, and weight loss. He occasionally blogs on subjects related to health at http://nodiet4me.blogspot.com and has a website on the subject of weight loss and health at http://informationclickdepot.com/health/ .

Eat everything you love, as long as it has a “Bright Color”!

Instead of focusing on what you should NOT eat, focus on all the fabulous things you CAN eat that are good for you! My patients ask me “what is the best thing to do for weight loss, optimum health, and energy?” When I tell them to stop eating wheat, wheat products, dairy, and all refined sugar and sugar products, they look at me and ask, “What should I eat then?”

This question needs to be asked, “What are my needs, goals and what is realistic for my lifestyle?” Most people’s goals are more energy, weight loss, and optimum health. The best foods are simple foods that have the most color. I tell all my patients to go to a great health food store or farmers market and look at the huge amount and variety of foods that are green, orange, yellow, red, and purple. Foods with lots of color indicate lots of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants. They are fabulous tasting and naturally sweet.

Fruit is an easy, on the go snack that can be found anywhere. Vegetables are great raw, steamed, stir fried, and baked. You can eat tons of them at one time with minimal caloric intake. They keep for days in the refrigerator, reheat easily, and make great snacks that truly satisfy hunger. Once you try regularly eating, fresh fruits and vegetables, 4 to 5 times a day, they will become your new potato chips with more health benefits.

My favorites are:

Broccoli: It’s so flavorful that you don’t have to do much to it. Marinate it in olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh lemon. Barbeque, steam, or sauté it and then add a little more lemon. Make a large batch as it keeps for days in the refrigerator. It is great served cold as a big afternoon snack or it can be added to salad as a salad green.

Artichokes: They are delicious hot or cold. Make low calorie aolies sauces for dipping. Lemon and basil are amazing with this vegetable. They are so filling and delicious you feel like you ate an entire meal.

Asparagus: Absolute gift of the gods!!! This is another one great for barbequing. Baste with olive oil, salt, and pepper. The oil will keep more moisture in the asparagus. Steam and then add light sesame oil, shaved Asiago cheese, salt, and pepper

Summer squash: Lightly steam or sauté, add fresh tomatoes and kalamata olives. Add fresh basil, green onions at the very end to kick up the flavor. Sprinkle shaved Parmesan on top.

Sweet potatoes: Sweet potatoes are great baked and sautéed. Try drizzling olive oil over cooled diced potatoes. Add arugala, cilantro, chopped tomatoes, green onions, and feta cheese. Think of this as a very vitamin enriched potato salad.

Tomatoes: Use the cherry tomatoes. Lots of olive oil, small balls of mozzarella or feta cheese. Add salt, pepper, chopped Napa cabbage and 2 to 3 cups of chopped basil and a little green onion.

Cherries, blueberries, raspberries, and most melons are very low in calories and sugars. Mix these with plain non-fat yogurt and natural sweeteners, like Stevia; you have a low calorie, anti-oxidant, delicious dessert, snack, or light meal. Add a little fresh mint as an accent flavor.

As humans we have lots of predictable habits and patterns. For instance, every morning when we wake up we stumble over to the coffee machine. For optimum health and energy, we need to change our habits into new healthy choices that are satisfying and supportive to the body. The benefits are many. The body is an exhaustible energy field and has amazing regenerative ability. So make fruit and vegetables your new health snacks and see how much better you look and feel.

I hope you enjoy making some of my favorite recipes. In my series of articles I will be writing about “How To Keep your Brain Happy and Healthy”; “Super Foods What they are and How to Use them”; ” Why You Need Antioxidants”; Natural Supplements and Herbs That Boost Energy and Fight Fatigue”; and ” Your Immune System and How to Help It”. So stay tuned.

Dr. Barbara Custer L.A.C, O.M.D., runs a clinic in Mill Valley, California combining natural and western medical techniques. To effectively do this she uses Western Medical testing, nutritional programs, Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine. If you are interested in optimizing your health, energy and happiness, please visit Dr. Custer’s website http://www.drbcuster.com

Dr. Barbara Custer, runs a clinic in Mill Valley, California combining natural and western medical techniques. To effectively do this she uses Western Medical Testing, nutritional programs, Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine

If you are planning to go on a VLC diet, consult your doctor first and make sure you do not have any reason not to do it. If it is all right, you need to follow some simple advice for this type of diet, so you do not make yourself worse than simply overweight. Crash diets can cause gallstones. There is medicine to prevent this, which is one reason to talk to your doctor first. Also, VLC diets are usually focused on one low calorie food so you do not get a balanced nutrition. This is how to lose weight fast, but you need to be ready to slow down and start eating again.

The way you will lose weight is to burn more calories that you eat. Usually, this means you need to do more exercise than you normally do. If you are on a VLC diet, it is not advisable to exert yourself. It will be too stressful on your muscles because they are not getting any nutrition to burn, and it will exhaust you. Save your exercise for when you start a more balanced diet, after you have finished the starvation regimen. Now that you know how to lose weight fast, you can be sensible how you do it.

One suggestion that will help you understand how to lose weight fast is to drink water. You may get a craving for ice cream or a cheeseburger and you are trying to convince yourself not to give in. If you drink a glass of plain water it will fill you up for a few minutes and help you get past your cravings. By the time the full feeling is gone you will have gotten control of your desire and have will power to continue. You could also suck ice chips to give your mouth something to chew on.

When you ask the question, how to lose weight fast, remember, you need to do this alone or with someone losing weight as well. It will help you to change your eating habits temporarily. After all, this VLC diet will only be for a few days, so plan those days as quiet ones, not during the Christmas party season or Thanksgiving with your family. Once the diet is finished and you have lost some weight, regard it as a head start to a longer race. Now is the time you need to try to lose weight with a carefully balanced diet, albeit low calorie, and some exercise.

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What makes sense to you?

Do you think you should:

a. believe that you will lose weight even if your body is in a toxic state

b. believe that you could try a natural parasite cleanse to make sure your body is not full of toxin-producing parasites.

You may not be aware of the effects a parasite infection can have on your body without you even noticing. Over 50% of the U.S. population has some form of parasite infection and over 75% of these sufferers are not even aware of any symptoms.

I say, go for option b.

Which one sounds more effective?

a. Doing one hour of cardiovascular exercise each day

b. Doing 10 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training each day

This might surprise you, but scientific studies have actually concluded that HIIT is more effective than regular “fat-burning-zone” cardio in every way. It was found to:

1. Increase aerobic capacity more than regular cardio

2. Increase metabolic speed more than regular cardio

3. Increase VO2Max more than regular cardio

This is good news! It means that you can spend less time doing cardiovascular exercise and effectively get better results with your own health, fitness and weight loss!

There really is a way that you can make weight loss easy.

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Chris Taeni

The majority of people who is looking to get fit put too much attention in exercises alone. Often, they forget that a proper diet also plays an important role. In fact, almost eighty percent of the overall fitness exercise routine is affected by your diet. So even if you have a detailed exercise and fitness workout routine, without a proper diet it won’t amount to much. Therefore it is crucial to find the balance between knowing exercise workout routines and knowing the correct food to eat.

Types of Workouts

To put it simply, any form of exercise that can get your heart pumping for an extended time period can be considered as a good exercise and a source of fitness workout. However for it to be more effective, you will need to carefully decide and tailor the type of workouts according to your intended fitness goals. For example, if one strives to get thinner, they will need to put more focus on cardio based routines than regular exercises.

If your main objective is to build up bigger and stronger muscles, you should be focusing on more the routines that build up your strength. But if you are one of those who prefer to become thinner and build the muscles at the same time, you can combine both the cardio and strength training for a more effective routine. An important factor to have an effective routine is your ability to stay consistent. You need to ensure that you exercise in good form and be alert of any injuries you encounter.

You should also remember to occasionally revamp your routine exercise once every six weeks in order to avoid a plateau effect. Once your body gets too comfortable in the exercise routine the workout loses its effectiveness. That is why you need to continue adding in new routines so that your body fuels itself to develop better and stronger in each session.

You Are What You Eat

If you look at the kinds of food we are eating as a society, you have to agree that we have a rather unhealthy eating habit. Our diets contain a lot of sugar, artificial sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup and preservatives. Even those labeled natural foods are processed in the way that they hardly appear and taste like the original food. It is not surprising that cases of obesity, diabetes and heart disease are increasing at an alarming rate. We must understand that we need to start eating real food, natural with minimal preservatives, if we want to find success in our exercise and fitness plan.

There is no lack of healthy choices if you look in the market. Learn to choose the right type of vegetables, lean meats, fruits, whole wheat and healthy snacks, if you really want to see results. Think about the eating habits you have now. If you think you can learn to eat healthily, there is no better time to start than right now. Having a balanced and healthy eating habit will ensure maximum results from your exercise and fitness plan.

Roy Forchet has been writing articles for almost 3 years. Come and visit his latest website at http://www.weighttrainingbench.org/ where he writes about several things to keep in mind when buying a weight training bench or other workout equipment.

The best fitness workout routine is something that provides the results at the shortest time possible. One of the fastest ways to build muscle is to engage as many muscles groups as possible in an exercise Many experts are now extolling the merits of compound exercises or those that utilizes more than one muscle group in a movement.

An ideal exercise routine pays as much importance to the rest period as to the exercises. This is because the rest period actually is the time when muscles develop. Ideally, muscles should be able to rest for at least 48 hours in between workouts. This time ensures that the muscles would have recovered completely in time for the next set of strenuous movements.

These are just some of the things that you have to remember when looking for the best fitness workout routine.

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The convenient factor of a workout is important. By doing regular workouts, a person will place a better need on his or her stored body fat and will trigger the metabolism to gradually increase. The body will become fit and more toned. The level of fitness will boost with every exercise routine performed. A home workout is a superb way to understand the best workouts in burning fat as well as developing lean muscle mass in order to workout at home at a comfort zone.

This type of home exercise routine is affordable compare to an expensive gym memberships or high-priced gym equipments. They will actually provide the instructions and inspirations needed to a complete home workout. Having this exercise program back home available 24 hours a day can save a lot of money.

A home exercise routine at home is ready for any fitness level starting from beginners to experienced individuals. As the level of fitness accumulates, one can proceed to more progressive workout activities to sustain a healthy body and reduce weight faster than with dieting alone.

Remember, it’s a good idea to alter the workout routine regularly to keep challenging the body and continue to lose weight to hit the target. After doing the same workouts repeatedly, the body will need more progressive workouts that will continue burn the fat and calories. Fatigue training will enable a person to make progress at an exact pace and provide a good metabolism to burn fat for stamina. This training program will give all the important means to perform the workout efficiently to obtain muscle tone as well as reduce weight easy.

A regular home exercise routine is crucial to the body’s health and well-being. Choosing a suitable training program will change the lifestyle of individuals to achieve their goal and start an exercise at home instantly. The body will appreciate the efforts to look as well as feel better than what is looks like in years. Weight reduction is exceptionally simpler when proper diet is coupled with workout. Home workout programs at home are an excellent means to get in shape as well as experience rapid weight loss.

The Control Fatigue Training goes beyond anything you’ve read before, including the home exercise routine, basic edition of CFT, and outlines even more training and nutritional strategies in order to skyrocket your results! This information is red-hot and has never been revealed until now!

Pre-Exercise Nutritional Needs

The key to a good workout is making sure you have enough energy to sustain the activities included in your exercise routine.  While there are no hard and fast rules as to what you should and shouldn’t eat, it is necessary for everyone to remain properly hydrated before, during and after exercise.  For this reason you should make sure you drink at least 16 ounces of water one to two hours before you begin your workout.  As for food intake, that varies by person and exercise requirements.  You should learn to recognize the signs if you need to eat first or if you have enough energy to carry you through.  Avoid working out while hungry, not only will it effect your physical performance but also your ability to focus on your routine.  If you do eat before a workout make sure you do not overdo it, which will likely make you feel less motivated to get moving versus giving you the pick-me-up you are seeking.  Try the following pre-exercise snacks to get the right amount of energy without weighing you down (pun intended).  You should consume these snacks anywhere from 30 minutes to one hour prior to exercise.

o    Energy bars

o    Sports drinks

o    Fruit or fruit smoothies (try pineapple, banana, mango or watermelon)

o    Whole grain crackers

o    Vegetable juice

o    Raw veggies

o    Yogurt

o    Hard boiled eggs

Post-Exercise Nutritional Needs.

It stands to reason just as some people need energy to get moving before their workout, other individuals also need to eat after a workout to make up for energy burned.  Just as you needed to get hydrated prior to working out you must also pay attention to ensure you drink enough water during and after your workout to avoid dehydration.  This is particularly true if you have a strenuous workout or tend to sweat a lot during exercise.  When it comes to post-exercise nutritional needs, you should wait at least 30 minutes to two hours before eating after a workout to give you body a change to cool down and get back to a resting state.  It is common for many people to feel they are now able to eat whatever they choose as a “reward” for working out.  This mentality will only serve to undo all your hard work.  This is not to say you should be overly obsessive about what you eat, but understand that just because you work out doesn’t mean it’s time to hit the all night buffet.  With that in mind here are a few things to consider when eating after exercise.

o    You don’t necessarily have to worry about calories as long as you are staying within the recommended range for your goals (weight loss or maintenance).  Eating after exercise while it shouldn’t be a free for all, should also not be limited due to concern over undoing what you just accomplished.

o    The best time to eat what normally is on the “do-no-eat” list of carbohydrates is after working out.  Again, everything in moderation is the key.

o    Be sure to include protein in your post-exercise snack/meal as it is needed to help repair and rebuild muscles and prevents your body from using your muscle tissue as fuel for energy.

Many of the same snacks that are good for you before you workout are also good as a post-exercise snack.  For most people who exercise regularly knowing when and how much to eat becomes second nature.  As long as you understand what your body needs and listen to your own body schedule you will quickly find out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to eating before and after exercise.

Tisha Kulak Tolar is a writer for Fit4EverYoung.com, where she writes about bodybuilding, exercise, general health and fitness, nutrition and supplements.

Despite being aware of the importance of exercise, not everyone really makes it a part of their everyday lifestyle and this can sometimes be a problem. If you recognize the value that a person gets from doing exercise on a regular basis, you will see why it is so important for a person’s health.

But prior to discussing some of the individual benefits, it is a good idea to understand exactly how often a person is expected to exercise. The advice given by many people is that a person should exercise for a good half an hour several times a week as a minimum amount.

Most people know that exercise can really help to reduce a person’s weight and this is something that can benefit a lot of people. Many people have obesity problems these days and this is a great way to solve that problem.

People also benefit psychologically from exercise. It is not difficult to see how much of a difference exercise can make on a person’s mood in general and on their outlook even from just a little exercise.

Disease can also be fought off due to exercise in ways that you might not be familiar with. Although it might not be a guarantee, it is very likely to help.

Posture is also something that people tend to be indifferent about but which can really improve a person’s feelings. When a person stands up properly, they feel better about themselves and feel better.

Also, doing exercise will give a person more energy and improved stamina not just for the exercise you are doing but for all activities that you undertake. By having that additional energy, you will be able to take on more than you think you can throughout the day.

It is clear now just how beneficial it is to do a regular amount of exercise and how it can help you out in your entire life and how far reaching it really is. So if you can just find it in yourself to stick to a plan then you can get all of these benefits from your exercise routine.

Sheker wrote above regarding the benefits of exercise but he also writes a lot about weight loss routines as well as stair climber.