Monthly Archives: May 2014

Advances In Food Are Keeping Us Fat

Every day people exercise, and think they are eating right. Their results, they remain overweight and their health remains in decline. I am a person that struggles with weight loss. Like many of you, I have added a serious exercise regime to my life, and try to make smarter food choices. In the time I have been doing this, I have been cycling more than 20 kilometers a day, through paths up and down hills, and have worked hard. I eat while wheat breads, whole grain pastas, meat, vegetables and do my best to refrain from eating on the fly. What I have noticed is that there is very little reduction in weight. As an overweight person, the amount of activity I am doing should have brought a drastic jump start to my weight loss. This has not happened and it poses a question.

What is in our food that is keeping us fat? I am not a scientist, nor am I an expert on nutrition. The reality is though, if we make intelligent choices, eat often and light, then weight should come off. I see this NOT happening for many people, and this is strange to me. I have a belief that the amount of sugar and filler used to replace the actual good ingredients to reduce costs for companies are the problem. This cost cutting measure is not only unethical, it is unfair. We as consumers stand no chance against these odds. If a food claims to be a whole food, I think it is a reasonable expectation for it to be whole.

This begs another question. If whole foods have less stuff done to them, why are they so much more expensive? Yes that’s right, slap the word organic on it and it poof, you pay double or triple the regular price. As a consumer this makes no sense. They throw around words like supply vs demand, and smaller yields for organics means higher prices. This is infuriating as the government keeps stating we need to be healthier, and then provides no way to be healthier. I am not asking the government to intervene. I am just stating that improvements in food quality, and lower prices would provide better health. This in turn could provide less expense for hospitals and less burden on the health care system. Thereby allowing for a better health care system.

I am just one man, concerned about the quality of the so called healthy foods we eat. These foods are not exactly what they are cracked up to be. I believe it is in our best interest to be more diligent and possibly demand a push back to wholesome food.

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Advances In Food Are Keeping Us Fat

from Learn Languages

Features of a Good Weight Loss Program

Matters of losing weight have continued to affect a great fraction of the human population. This is because excessive weight is associated with a lot of disadvantages. For example, both recent and old research results have shown that having excessive fats in the body can lead to a variety of life threatening medical conditions such as cardiac artery thrombosis and heart attacks. This explains why most people are chasing after weight loss diets. Notwithstanding the high demand for high quality weight loss diets, it is not easy to come across a reliable fat loss diet. This article will highlight the major features of a good fat loss program.

Diet Depends on the Food Combination:
One of the most notable features of a reliable fat loss diet is the combination of the food. This is very important because it can have a huge bearing on the amount of fat you can lose within a specific period of time. A good food combination is one which carters for all the needs of the body. This means that the diets must have enough carbohydrates for energy purposes, enough proteins for the repair of worn out tissues and general growth and enough fats for the lubrication of joints and body insulation. However, the diets should not have too much fat and sugars because such foods have the ability to contribute to further weight gain.

Good Diets Must be Designed by Professional Dieticians:
Good diets for weight loss must be designed by highly qualified dieticians. It is important to understand that the food you will be eating will have a notable impact on your overall health. If you want to remain healthy after following a certain program for losing weight, you have to go for weight loss programs that have been designed by highly qualified dieticians or medical practitioners. This will save you from being a victim of medical conditions related to following a particular fat loss program. It is often advisable to know if the credentials of the designer behind a particular fat loss program are reliable or not.

Physical Exercises are Indispensable:
Another important feature that is worth looking out for is the presence of physical exercises. Usually, people overlook the vitality of including physical exercises in their fat loss program. But, you cannot rely on the effects of eating certain foods alone. You need to include physical exercises to enable you to burn some excess fats from your body. It is usually advisable to ensure that your program for losing weight does not cause you to lose more weight than you had desired. You can easily manage to lose the amount of fat you had desired if you combine physical exercises with a balanced diet. For a person who has excess body fats, this refers to a combination of foods which contain the least amount of fats.

Good Diets are Specific:
Good programs for fat loss are usually specific. This means that the fat loss program must be meant for a certain group of people. It must be easy for you or any other person to know whether that program is meant for you or not.

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Features of a Good Weight Loss Program

from Learn Languages

Five Ways to Get Healthier and Lose Weight

Losing weight is no easy task and if you are not living a generally healthy lifestyle, chances are you will not be able to accomplish your weight loss goals. This is because everything can affect your ability to lose weight. Not just the food you eat, but even the amount of stress in your life.

Here are five ways that you can try to improve your overall health and leave a positive impression on your body, so that it begins supporting your weight loss ambitions.

1. A complete diet overhaul.

The first thing that you should do is assess your diet. Obviously, what you eat is the biggest factor of whether or not you are able to lose weight. You may benefit from going as far as throwing out any bad foods in your cupboards and fridge. Make sure that your daily diet consists of nothing but food that is at least ‘generally healthy’ so that you are not setting yourself back by consuming junk food, pastries, processed meals, etc. Don’t forget to drop the soda, too!

Once your diet is changed, chances are you will not be taking in as many calories to keep yourself full. This is because healthy foods are usually less calorie dense than unhealthy foods. This alone will trigger your body to start losing weight.

2. A complete physical overhaul.

Not only is your diet important, but your physical activity level plays a vital role in your ability to lose weight as well. Sedentary people barely use any calories a day and are not very efficient at burning any additional calories that are brought in. Their body simply has no use for it, it’s still working on the other calories that it got earlier in the day.

So get more active. You could even start with just going on 30 minute walks or 15 minute jogs every morning. Hopefully as you get more interested in getting active, you will begin working out at the gym – whether it’s just cardio or weight training too, being physically active and putting some effort into it will provide tremendous weight loss results. Paired with the healthy diet, you’re good to go!

3. Lose the cravings.

Sometimes people end up getting cravings for unhealthy foods. One reason for this is hunger – our bodies often tend to think of all the foods that we hate to love when it starts to get hungry. Preventing yourself from getting hungry will help you out a lot here. This comes in having a balanced diet with proper meal timing. If early morning is your issue, try a coffee to curb the hunger and have oatmeal for breakfast, as oats keep you feeling full for a lot longer and they are a healthy source of complex carbohydrates.

4. Lose the bad habits.

There are many bad habits that people have that interfere with weight loss. A big one that comes to mind is drinking alcohol. When you consume alcohol, your body spends all it’s time and effort trying to digest the calories from the alcohol. This means that other foods consumed, in what is a pretty large time window, and are not being effectively digested. If you smoke cigarettes, it’s obviously good to stop, but try to stay conscious to how your diet is after quitting, as you tend to eat more when you quit smoking.

5. Track your progress.

People often get unmotivated because they don’t see the results that they have wanted. This often happens because people are impatient and unrealistic with their goal setting. However, they tend to blame the diet and believe that they simply can’t lose weight. This is not the case – progress occurs when the fundamentals are correct and if you aren’t seeing it, tracking your progress so you can look back and say “look at how much I lost so far!” will definitely help keep you motivated.

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Five Ways to Get Healthier and Lose Weight

from Learn Languages

Looking For Ways To Lose Weight? Read On!

When you are looking for ways to lose weight, you could spend years searching for the perfect solution while losing valuable time that you could be using to drop those excess pounds. Your best option is to find an approach that you think you can stick to, and then begin your weight loss journey one pound dropping off at a time. Here are two points to keep in mind when you begin your journey.


Yes you are overweight, and yes you need to make changes to key areas of your life, but are you really never ever EVER going to eat a piece of pizza again? You need to be realistic if you want to lose weight as this is the number one downfall for many on this journey.

Do you really want to be the person sullenly eating lettuce covered with a water vinaigrette while the rest of the people at your table are enjoying three courses of hearty Italian cuisine? Of course not! If you are out, you do not need to deprive yourself. Just look for healthier options than what you would normally choose. If there are no healthy options, then enjoy your pig out, and do some extra exercise during the week to make up for it. You do not need to go on a strict, no-treat diet as this is unrealistic, and you will not stick to it. Instead, start off by looking for one bad eating habit that you have every day – and break it. Once that one is taken care of and you are comfortable moving on, look for another.


Not being a gym junkie is no excuse for not exercising every day. As long as you are physically able to do so, you must find something that you will participate in willingly every single day.

Walking around the block, dancing to a Zumba game on your PS4, competing with the kids in a jump rope race – these are all easy exercise tasks that you can do at home without any expensive equipment. Find the thing that makes you happy and do it. While making changes to your diet is one of the best ways to lose weight, starting to exercise is the other. You will not achieve the weight loss you really want without doing both at the same time.

There are plenty of methods to shed some fat, but the most effective method is going to be the one that you will enjoy, or at the least, not hate. Anything that brings you pain or misery is not worth it. You’ll only stick to it for a few days, and then the next thing you know you are beating yourself up for failing.

Pick your battles when it comes to losing weight, enjoy the occasional piece of chocolate or hamburger, but know that you will need to put a little extra effort into your next exercise session. A healthy approach to cutting out the fat is one that will stick with you long term, and that is how you will ultimately lose the weight.

Our site features a whole lot of good information if you’re considering a healthier diet-plan. Check it out and see all the awesome articles and posts we have to offer at: – NowSkinny

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Looking For Ways To Lose Weight? Read On!

from Learn Languages

6 Best Low Calorie Desserts That Can Help in Fast Weight Loss

When trying to lose weight, one of the challenges that many people have is trying to give up foods that they love. This is especially the case with sweet treats that people enjoy on a daily basis but which are considered to be unhealthy when losing weight. Watching what you eat to lose weight does not however mean giving up the occasional treats. It is still very possible to enjoy the foods once in a while as long as they are low on calories.

You do not have to scrap desserts from your meals to lose weight. There are healthy desserts which are also very easy to make still help in losing weight just as fast. Below are some of the desserts that you can enjoy when losing weight:

1. Strawberry Lemon Mousse: the mousse is loved by many. You can substitute fat free yoghurt and gelatin for the common cream and eggs that are typical with the mousse. The strawberries add a delightful taste to the mousse and come packed with vitamins which are very healthy.

2. Stuffed Peaches with Baked Almond: they together provide a warm dessert. The peaches need only be stuffed with crushed ameretti crumbs, toasted almonds and dried apricots before then baking them to a delightful bubbly brown. The fact is that every serving of these is less than 200 calories and therefore very healthy. This fruit dessert together with sour cream makes a delicious healthy treat.

3. Whole Wheat Bran Biscotti with Grapefruit: this is a fresh tasting option for a dessert. Grapefruit has vitamins which help in boosting the immune system. The fruit also has antioxidants and high fiber content that greatly assists in weight loss. Two biscotti contain 57 calories making them a great dessert that is low in calories.

4. Cookies with Almond Butter: this healthy twist will be loved by anyone who loves cookies made with peanut butter. Almond butter in this case is a much healthier option. Whole almonds to the cookies will keep the cookies crunchy and nutritious. It is a dessert that is very simple to do.

5. Fruit Sorbets: it is the perfect choice for those craving ice cream but still have the need to lose weight. The fat free refreshing sorbets make healthy and delicious substitutes for any ice cream. By personally preparing them, you manage the sugar amounts for the dessert to keep it as healthy as it ought to be. You can go granite in case you do not have an ice cream maker at hand.

6. Peach Crostini: the dessert is made using berries, peaches, fresh mint and maple syrup on cream cheese canapé. This light dessert is sumptuous and very healthy with the use of low fat cream cheese. Two of these will give you a total of 80 calories which is a very reasonable in a weight loss program.

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6 Best Low Calorie Desserts That Can Help in Fast Weight Loss

from Learn Languages

Can’t Lose Weight? Maybe You’re Committing One of the Common Weightloss Mistakes

So you are eating healthy, exercising and still not losing any weight. It’s so demoralising doing the right things and not seeing any results but could you be falling into one of the common mistakes people make when trying to lose weight? Keep reading as I dissect the most common errors people make and then you can decide where you’re going wrong. The main focus on this article is that you’re doing the right thing wrong; changing your lifestyle and diet is massive. But fine tuning this to ensure success is a small change that shouldn’t put off your weight loss ambitions. You’ve done the hard work now just adjust it to get your body burning away that fat!

Firstly let’s have a look at diet. You are eating healthy, getting enough fruit and vegetables, you have reduced your sugar intake and are eating lots of healthy fats. But are you still keeping track of what you eat? Healthy fats still contain a fair amount of calories. One gram of fat contains approximately nine calories compared to four calories for one gram of protein and carbohydrates. So if you simply swap in fat for carbs but don’t adjust the amount you eat you will be over doubling your calorie intake! But don’t despair; firstly it is unlikely that you have swapped fat for carbs at the same weight you are probably just not checking the label well enough, and secondly fat will make you feel fuller – so there’s no worries about remaining hungry.

Staying with diet; are you keeping track of what you drink? If you drink anything other than water you are consuming some amount of calories (or chemicals if you’re drinking “Zero Calorie” drinks). Think about that coffee with milk and sugar, what about that fizzy drink with lunch, or that pint after work. All of these add up.

Do you eat out a lot? This is another very common mistake. Although there is a shift in behaviour from restaurants and they are becoming far more transparent about the contents of their food, particularly calorie content, there is still some degree of guess work involved in ordering from a menu. Next time you eat out check out the calories at home after (if they don’t have them available while ordering) you’ll be surprised!

Now exercise… There is one of three things you could be doing and they include; over doing it, under doing it, and doing it right! If you’re doing it right, bravo. If you are under doing it then simply do more or eat less! The real and most common is over doing it. Doing too much exercise and not eating enough will result in you losing weight initially but as your body starts to break down lean muscle for fuel and store what you eat as fat, at some point you will stop losing weight (or at least it won’t stay off). The best way to correct this is to monitor it more, be really honest, and only try to drop 500 calories from what your body needs per day.

So hopefully if you have been struggling to lose the weight you have now identified yourself a being in one of the brackets above and can now make the small changes needed to really kick your weight loss into gear. Personally, if you take anything away from this article it is don’t give up just because it’s not working straight away. You’ve done so much hard work changing your lifestyle and diet just persevere a little more and you’ll soon start seeing results.

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from Learn Languages

How to Get Fit and Trim in 7 Easy Steps

When you know how to get fit and trim, it’s much easier to get started on your journey. As with anything, proper planning is a catalyst for success. With so many fat loss rules and guidelines it may be hard to figure out where to start and what to do. It’s not your fault, there’s a new gimmick everyday claiming to give you the best results. When the real trick is going back to the fundamentals. So, it’s time for us to look at ways to get fit and trim with 7 easy steps:

What you will need to do first before you should begin:

1. Take a before photo
(This will help you continually see why you have made this change for the better)

2. Write a lengthy Facebook post about what you’re doing and why you want to accomplish it.
(The support you’ll get from friends will be a huge help in your journey. Plus, it will hold you accountable)

3. Find something that motivates you
(Inspiration is the best motivator. If you take the time to marvel at the changes you want to make daily you will inevitably reach your goal.)

The 7 Steps to Take:

1. Create a list of your goals
This is the most important step. This is where you find out where you are, and where you want to be. The best way to make a goal is to be as specific as possible. This way you can continually look back and see how far you’ve come and how close you are. Without goals, you won’t be able to tell how close you are. Also, make sure you put down what you want to achieve on a weekly, monthly, and even daily basis. And celebrate every milestone.

2. Clean out your fridge and pantry
The best way to start is by getting rid of all of the junk foods and soft drinks. You aren’t going to need them since you want to get fit. You can donate them, give them to friends, or throw them in the garbage, so long as they aren’t in your home. This is the best way to remove any temptation for junk foods.

3. Get good foods
Now that you’ve gotten rid of all of that junk food, it’s time to replace it with good, clean, healthy food. While grocery shopping, get lots of different kinds of veggies and fruits. I personally suggest getting frozen veggies though. If you happen not to eat all of the veggies you bought, you won’t have to worry about them going bad. Avoid canned foods at all costs.

4. Create a to-do list
With your busy schedule, wouldn’t it be nice to have something to tell you when you need to do something goal orientated? Well, this is great for your Smartphone. You can usually set an alarm for everything you want to accomplish on a daily basis. Set up your meals 3.5-4 hours apart and eat whenever an alarm goes off. You can also schedule your workout sessions.

5. Pre-make your food
By pre-making your food you are making a commitment to not skip a meal. This also saves on a lot of prep time. So when your alarm goes off, you can simply take out a pre-made meal and eat. This is one of the best ways to ensure you stick to your diet. You won’t be a victim to hunger ever again.

6. Train with high intensity
It’s simple, the more you put in, the more you get out. The harder you train the more you change. Intense training is important when it comes to getting fit, but not as important as safety. Make sure you don’t overdo it. It’s not worth getting injured over. Then you won’t be able to work out for days, weeks, or months. That will set you back in a big way.

7. Relax and Relieve Stress
When you are stressed out, your body produces a hormone called cortisol. This is a big reason why a lot of people have trouble losing weight. To help you relax and relieve stress, you can try yoga. Not only does it provide you with a great workout, but you also get the added stress management that comes with it.

This 7 step guide is here to help you get from where you are now to where you want to be soon. To get the best results, cycle through this list consistently and watch the results come in. Soon, you might not even be able to recognize yourself.

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How to Get Fit and Trim in 7 Easy Steps

from Learn Languages