How Weight Loss Diet Plans Affect Us

The probabilities are that you must have undergone the dis-satisfactions and disappointments of being on a diet at one time or the other in your life, given the fact that obesity is the physical condition of having or carrying around excessive fat in our body, these points inevitably to the fact that you have weight troubles.

Every year millions of the American people go on one weight loss diet or the other, only for about 93% (ninety three percent) of same (those who have gone on such diet plans) eventually gain back this weight inside five (5) years. Worse still, considering the peril of shuttling between weight loss diet plans, one-third of these gain back, in weight, much more than they had initially lost, besides the usual methods in respect of achieving weight loss, giving attention to other forms of weight loss like the Fad method or the drugs (supplements) might as well leave you with as much weight as you had lost and great possibilities of related illnesses.

Over weight is known to be an antecedent to incapacitating health situations which includes, the disease of the gall bladder, 57% (fifty seven percent) cause of diabetes cases, cancer, and according to the Harvard university research team, all sorts of heart diseases where we have the obesity contributing to at least 19% of this disease. We still have the hypertension, osteoarthritis, just to name but a few.

Statistics has it that about 70% (seventy percent) of the American male populations are obese, even when they crave to be as trim or thin and fit as should be.
We also have records that say that:
1. Overweight contributes to as much as 400,000 (four hundred thousand) deaths each year.
2. The public health costs in respect of this condition (obesity) is on the very high side standing at an estimated 35 billion united states dollars ($35,000,000,000.00), with diabetes cutting its share with an estimated nine billion united states dollars ($9,000,000,000.00).

Laying Down Reasonable Objectives
Now, over the years it has been inevitable for these overweight persons to have fallen for one weight loss diet program or the other with guarantees of achieving weight loss as painlessly & quickly as possible, yet they eventually destabilize and somewhat damage your physical well being, causing discomfort of all sorts & flatulence. The worst and probably the most disappointing part of all this is experienced when you start to regain all the weight you seemingly shed.

Here are the bad sides of quick weight loss diet programs:
1. They exaggerate a particular type of food.
2. They breach or disregard the basic rules of good nutrition, which posits that there has to be the consumption of balanced diet for an average human being to stay healthy.
3. Permanent weight loss is almost always never achieved.
A lot of these weight loss systems take the center stage for a period, only to lose relevance, due largely to their resultant lack of productivity and condition of being unsafe for human consumption. Examples of these fad diet plans are the South Beach Diet, Atkins diet, the Grapefruit diet, Cabbage Soup diet, the Rotation diet, Beverly Hills diet, Breatharian, Ornish Plan even as the list is practically endless. These diet plans promote a particular technique (such as doing away with certain food, or eating only certain food combination s) in conjunction with the basic idea that the body makes up the difference in energy by breaking down and using some part of itself ability of converting matter into energy.

After all said and done these programs start out by breaking down stored body fats.

How Much Weight Loss is Healthy

Lose up to 10lbs in 10 days! “I lost 25lbs in just 30 days!” Weight loss with a deadline, they are all over the place. The advertisements suggesting weight loss in a time frame are confusing regarding what can realistically be accomplished in a given time frame. For some, they give false hope, and they will have multiple attempts at losing weight. For others, they give up all together.

So what is a good goal to set for healthy weight loss? Well, let’s discuss what weight is and what exactly it is that you really want to lose. You can also talk to LIVE’s online trainers to discuss your personal situation.

Body Mass- the total amount of weight minus fat stores. So lean mass includes muscle, bones, organs and healthy tissue.

Body weight-the total amount of weight of a person. There are 3 main types of weight that you will lose or gain. Muscle, fat, and water.

Muscle weight Muscle weight is the amount of lean body mass that a person carries. It uses a lot of calories to maintain itself. If the calories are not there, the muscle weight will decrease. So the more muscle weight you have, the more calories you need to maintain it. This is why it is important to make resistance training and exercise part of your program to lose weight, and Live’s personal training and diet programs can give you the support and education you need to be successful. People who workout, regardless of wanting to build muscle or lose fat, need to eat more healthy calories than when they were sedentary!

Fat weight – This is the amount of adipose tissue, or fat, that a person carries. Body fat does not need calories to maintain itself. It is stored calories that a person has already ingested and is burned as energy as a result of exercise. We need a certain amount of fat to be healthy. These percentages will vary between men and women but healthy ranges for men will fall between 4% and 15% and for women 10%-20% of total body weight.

Water weight – Water weight accounts for the levels of hydration in our body. This weight can fluctuate 5lbs in a single day based on hydration levels. If you have ever been sick and lost weight very quickly, it was most likely water weight. The contestants on the Biggest Loser TV show, lost up to 20lbs in 1 week, and it was most likely some fat, but a lot of water weight too. The reason NFL football players weigh in and out of each summer practice is because the are being monitored for hydration levels as they can lose 3-5lbs in a single practice session. And finally, this is the weight you will lose and gain rapidly with low carb fad diets.

So how much weight can you lose safely and keep it off? 1lb of fat equals 3500 calories. That is about 2 days worth of food for most of us. To lose weight and keep it off, a calories deficit of about 500 a day is acceptable. This means if you eat 2000 calories a day, you should burn through 2500. So by the end of the week 1-2 lbs of fat loss is considered healthy, achievable and maintainable. Muscle is what we want to gain so we can burn more calories and raise our metabolism. We will all gain muscle differently based on a number of factors including genetics, training regimen and supplementation. A good number to target is about 1-2 lbs a month. The reason for this is because it is difficult to put on muscle and lose body fat at the same time. So you have to have a strict calorie balance so you can gain muscle weight without gaining fat weight too.

There is more than one type of weight you can lose or gain making this a vague topic to quantify. This is why they use the term “weight” on TV and in advertisements when referring to an abundant amount of weight loss quickly. Set realistic goals, and if you are consistently changing your body composition by losing fat and putting on some healthy muscle you will eventually look and feel the way you want to, you will have done it the right way, and will therefore be able to maintain the new you for life!

Copyright (c) 2007 Charles Carter

San Diego Weight Loss Resources

If you are one of the many Americans who live in the San Diego area who has made it a goal of theirs to lose weight, we are happy to provide to you a list of resources that can help you achieve your dreams of having a fit and healthy body.

The San Diego area is one of the best areas in the country when it comes to allowing residents to stay outside and active all year round, however, sometimes, great weather and year round sun are not enough to promote exercise all the time. Therefore, you must devise another strategy for losing weight quickly.

Many San Diego natives who want to look good and improve their health will consult with a weight loss or fitness consultant or professional. These individuals can take a look at your lifestyle and your habits and help identify and make adjustments to areas where you might not believe there to be a problem. For instance, many people operate under the idea that just because they eat certain foods like leafy greens or lean chicken, that they are eating healthy. While those foods may be good for you, the way you might be cooking them isn’t. For instance, you might be cooking them in high fat oil or adding ingredients that inevitably discount their consumption as a healthy food. A weight loss consultant will be able to address those problems and help you create a better diet.

In addition, when you meet with a consultant in this area, they will also be able to help you devise a worthwhile exercise plan and act as a “coach” to help you stick to it.

For those San Diego residents who believe they need more than just a weight loss consultant to guide them through their weight loss issues, it may be beneficial to check out what a bariatric facility can do for you.

This type of facility typically performs a highly specialized type of surgery on the dangerously obese. While this is not a common weight loss tool amongst all people, those individuals who suffer from health issues related to obesity can benefit greatly.

This particular surgery has a high success rate and this is accomplished through the reduction of the size of the stomach. When it is complete, patients will feel less hungry and inevitably consume fewer calories, resulting in weight loss.

There are a variety of resources in San Diego for those people who dream of losing weight, but who don’t know where to begin. If normal diet and exercise are not working for you, consult with a health professional over your next course of action. Weight loss will not only make you look great, it will also make you feel great and benefit your health!

The Number One Secret to Weight Loss

The diets on the market would not work if they didn’t make you lose weight. The truth is, these diets must eventually be explained to everybody that the number one formula these diets must live by is eating less calories than you burn. If you don’t follow this formula, then all these carbohydrate reducing, fat loss, low glycemic eating programs won’t do anything towards you. This is why many experts are going back to the basic retreat of calories counting.

There is a science to this so called calorie counting algorithm, if you forgot what you learned back in high school, it wont take long to refresh your memory. This will also help you make better decisions about the foods you eat, and how to maximize your calorie resources.

First off what is a calorie?

A calorie is a measurement of certain potential energy in what we eat, we call this food. One calorie can raise the temperature of a single gram of water by one degree Celsius. In a way you can compare calories to gasoline. Gasoline is needed to fuel are cars, and make them “active”. Calories fuel our body, and make us “active”.

Now that we know what a calorie is, how exactly does are body convert these calories into energy?

The enzymes in are body located in the digestive system break down certain chemical bonds that store food molecules as one. The digestive system then discharges the energy in the bonds, which activates it for use.

What does you body do with the energy?

Like mentioned earlier as gas fuels a car, the calorie fuels everything in your body. It can range from breathing, meditating, growing nails, hair, or running a marathon. When you don’t use the calories you consume however, these calories get transported to the liver. The liver restores your glycogen. This is your body’s reserve fuel, and is easily accessible. When the liver is full of glycogen, it is then passed to the muscles, for temporary storage. This type of storage will help get you through your exercises. The liver and muscles together carry about 350 calories worth of energy. Think of these calorie storages as accounts, when you consume more, you can save your calories in here until they are converted to fat and spread out through the body.

How many calories do you have to lose in order to lose a full pound of body weight?

The answer is about 3500 calories; you can either eat fewer calories, and burn these off that way, or do some exercises for quicker results. Remember though even if your working out everyday, the calorie rule still applies. If you consume more calories then you burn off, you are going to gain weight. That’s the science.

If you want to know how many calories you need to maintain your weight throughout the day, look for a calorie calculator somewhere on the internet; you can also take a BMI test to see what your body mass should be. It has to do a lot with your weight and height.

What is the best way to keep track of your calories?

The 3-Step Weight Loss Plan

It is never easy to achieve weight loss within a short amount of period especially when you have spent years packing on the excess weight with an unhealthy diet. When you neglect your body and not do anything to keep fit, you are setting yourself up for layers and layers of accumulated fat. These then make you predisposed to developing various ailments and diseases to include hypertension, renal impairment, diabetes, and many others. There are no complicated steps to lose weight, but many simply choose to look for more complex solutions to their weight problems.

Take a look at these 3 steps that can get you on your way to successful weight loss. Do not expect any miracles. Believe that if you work hard at it, your efforts are going to pay off. As you get into the hang of being fit with these 3 steps, all other healthy practices that come with efforts to keep fit will also fall into place.

Step 1: Diet. Watching what you eat does not mean starving yourself. Watching what you eat means eating more of the foods that are good for you and less of the foods that are bad for you. In some of the fad diets, there is some wisdom to the food restrictions that they preach.

Regulating sugar intake to control the glycemic factor, for example, really does the body well. The trouble with these fad diets is that they take the restrictions too far to totally bar particular food groups out of the nutritional plan. What you want to do is to work on a reasonable diet plan that consists of a healthy balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fats that your body can efficiently metabolize.

Step 2: Exercise. If you sit around on the couch all day giving your fingers some exercise on the remote control, a thick pad of fat is likely to settle in your midsection. There is no age limit to exercising to keep fit. Even babies and seniors are taught to exercise properly. There is no reason why a strong and able adult cannot perform the right exercises on a regular basis. You do not even shave to enrol in a gym or sports club to get some exercise.

Find a sport that you enjoy playing, not on the gaming console but in real life. Running is an inexpensive form of exercise you can take up. You only have to invest in a good pair of running shoes to prevent injuries. Work on squeezing in at least a 30-minute run into your daily routine and see those excess pounds slowly vanishing.

Step 3: Supplement — the stress and fatigue that people go through today batter the body too much. These cause damage to your body enough to make your internal processes, including your digestive system, go haywire. You need to load up on your vitamins to make sure that your body has a complete arsenal of vitamins and nutrients necessary to fight cellular damage caused by stress and fatigue.

There are natural supplements that you can take to boost your bodys defences and bring its processes back to optimum working condition. When your bodys organs and systems are working properly, metabolizing food and flushing out toxins from the body results in successful weight loss.