If you want to stop cravings, the first step is to give your body the nutrition it needs. Your body is designed to make you seek out the foods it requires for good health. If you starve it of important nutrients it will send you rummaging through the fridge and the cupboards to find them. You will eat almost on autopilot, trying to satisfy a deficit you can’t even name. Even when you are full you will still want to eat more.
When you want to lose weight you must start first by adding in everything your body has been missing. Only then will your poor, nutritionally starving body breathe a sigh of relief and relax its desperate quest.
The first need – and the easiest to satisfy – is thirst. If you crave sweet foods then this is your confused primeval body telling you to eat some fruit so it can have the water stored inside the fruit. This is why a piece of chocolate or spoonful of icecream is so moreish. Your body did not actually want the chocolate, icecream or other sweet thing. It wanted the water it thought would come with it. So the moment your mouth is empty you want more. You can devour a whole chocolate bar or tub of icecream, bite by bite, when you’re not really hungry.
Or you can eat a piece of fruit. Or get your piece of chocolate or scoop of icecream, put it in a bowl and put the rest away, drink a couple of glasses of water and then have your treat. It will be much more satisfying. You can finish by brushing your teeth. You’ll be amazed how much easier it is to resist the rest of the chocolate or icecream.

Convincing my kids to eat a healthy breakfast is nigh impossible, so this weekend, my wife was looking to put together a new muffin recipe, with  a goal of incorporating apple flavor to lure them  in, and sneaking in whole wheat for nutrition.  These delicious apple cinnamon bran muffins were the result.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Quick Oats
• 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 cup Ground Flax
• 1/2 cup All Bran Buds
• 1 cup All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBSP cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup apple butter
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 3 apples, finely chopped or diced (Granny Smith, or other tart firm variety)

via livefitblog.com
 

If you are wanting to lose weight, you should never skip meals, especially breakfast, and you should watch out for “hidden” calories that you either add to your food or that you drink, such as soda or juice.

Another key strategy to losing weight is making yourself feel full. Try drinking a glass of water just before you
begin eating. By doing so, the water is occupying space in your stomach. You will feel full faster. Most
importantly, eat foods high in fiber.

Foods that are high in fiber (such as fruits, whole grains, and vegetables) contain bulk with considerably
fewer calories-to-volume-of-food. Fiber is a substance that your body does not use as a calorie source. Yet,
it occupies space in your stomach which in turn makes you feel full faster.

Most fruits and vegetables are excellent choices when you are looking for a food low in calories. Watch out for avocados and coconuts. Both are high in fat, thus high in calories. Including a rich amount of fruits and
vegetables in your diet not only makes sense for a weight loss plan but for any diet plan. To promote good health, you should always incorporate a variety of fruits and vegetables.

Should a weight loss plan be fat-free?
No. A sensible weight loss plan will include fat, 15 to 30% of the calories from fat. Your body does need fat, so it is not a good idea to omit it from your diet. It is also not a good idea to eat too much fat, more than 30% of calories. Serious health problems can occur as a result of eating a diet rich in fat.

When a product states that it is fat-free or that it is lower in calories than the original version, be sure to
read the label. Always check the number of calories and know the serving size. Many fat-free versions of some of your favorite foods are not necessarily lower in calories.

Final comment, there are no “magic” foods. Eating grape fruit religiously, while it is a healthy food choice, do
not expect this practice to burn any extra calories.
Slurping down cabbage soup, sorry to say, will not produce any wonderful results either. Simply put, use
your head when you hear or read some quack’s new revolutionary diet plan. Nope, combining foods a certain
way is not going to make you drop the pounds either -

You hear it all the time – “metabolism”, but what is it? It’s the process of converting food to energy (movement and heat). Metabolism happens in your muscles and organs and the result of it is what we commonly refer to as “burning calories”. Metabolism is essentially the speed at which your body’s motor is running.

“Basal metabolism” is the metabolic rate or caloric expenditure needed to maintain basal body functions such as your heart beating, breathing, muscle tone, etc. It’s how fast your “motor” is running when you’re still in a reclined position or sleeping. Basal metabolism accounts for about 75% of the calories you expend on a daily basis!

The good news is that there are 11 ways you can “boost” your metabolism! The more of these you’re able to incorporate into your life, the more you’ll boost your metabolism. That means you’ll be expending (“burning”) more calories 24 hours a day!

1. Always eat breakfast! Skipping breakfast sends the message to your body that you’re starving because you haven’t had food in 18+ hours. As a protective mechanism, your metabolism slows down. Food, especially complex carbohydrates, fuels your metabolism.

2. Eat earlier in the day! Research has demonstrated that you can lose weight simply by eating a substantial breakfast and lunch, and a light dinner. Dinner should be eaten as early as possible, preferably at least four hours before bedtime.

3. Never eat less than 1200 calories per day! Less than 1200 is usually not enough to support your basal metabolism and thus will slow your metabolism.

4. Snack frequently! Complex carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, and grains) fuel your metabolism. Also, snacking prevents you from becoming too hungry. The hungrier you are, the less control you have over what and how much you eat.

5. Eat more carbohydrates (food from plants), and less fat (food from many animals and other food with added fat)! Carbohydrates boost your metabolism and have fewer calories per weight than fat.

6. Do some type of aerobic exercise (walking, jogging, swimming, stationary cycling, aerobic dancing, etc.) on a daily basis (preferably in the morning)! Forget this twice-a-week stuff. Our bodies were designed to be active on a daily basis! When we are, our metabolism soars!

7. In addition to your regular aerobic exercise, take a brisk 10 to 15 minute walk at lunch or in the evening. This serves to boost your metabolism even more!

8. Tone your muscles with weight training three days per week. Toned muscles send your metabolism through the roof. Do it!

9. Look for situations to be active. Park as far from the store as you can rather than looking for the closest parking spot. Use the stairs rather than the elevator, a broom rather than a blower, etc. Look for the “hard” way to do things!

10. Avoid alcohol! Alcohol depresses your metabolism and stimulates your appetite.

11. Drink 60+ ounces of water a day. Your metabolism needs plenty water to function properly. Carry a bottle of water with you and drink frequently throughout the day.

Get started today! You’ll feel better and your metabolism will be in “great shape”!

If you would like to learn more about losing weight and speeding up your metabolism in a healthy way, I suggest you check out Ultimate Weight Loss Revealed by the internet’s well respected fitness expert Brad Callen. The book tends to be more for women in their mid 30′s than for men, but is still an excellent resource to have on hand.

Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry, M.S.,
publishes a FREE email newsletter, “Fitness, Health,
& Weight Loss”! To start your free subscription….
Fitness-on@mail-list.com or http://www.Landry.com

Copyright 1998 by Greg Landry, M.S.