We are creatures of habit. We have amassed lots of habits that have been developed over the years that sometimes become subconscious.

We are not aware of the things we do until we purposely take notice of them. For instance, observing the thought that leads to the action of us reaching for the cookie. What was the thought? Were we feeling upset?, distressed?, depressed?, angry?

If you find you want to reach for the jar of cookies, catch yourself in that moment. Examine your thinking. How are you feeling? What state of mind are you in? What is your mood? Disrupt your pattern by forming a new one.

Rather than indulging your craving, count back slowly from 100. With each number you find yourself wanting the cookies less and less. This is because you are disrupting your usual pattern of behavior and consciously replacing it with a new one. You’ll find that after 100 that cookie won’t be as tempting as it was.

Emotional eating can also extend to happiness too. Childhood habits can see us overindulge for doing something good which can spill into adulthood where we treat ourselves with food for rewards. This is fine as long as it’s periodically.

There are ways to treat yourself other than eating. Why not get your nails or you hair done? Why not treat yourself to a nice hot bath and a facial? Why not have a healthy lunch with the boys or the girls? There are other rewarding ways to treat yourself that are not based around tempting treats. It’s just a matter of thinking a little outside the square and replacing old habits with new and healthier ones.

Boredom Eating

If you find yourself reaching for that tempting delicious high fat food because you have nothing else to do, why not call a friend for a chat? Why not take up a sport and meet up with your friends instead? Guaranteed you’ll have so much fun you won’t even be thinking about junk food.

Mistaken Hunger

It should be a healthy appetite that drives us to eat. When our energy needs replenishing because we’ve depleted our energy stores our appetite signals for us to eat. It is a simple biological reflex. We get hungry, we eat. Sometimes our hunger is more psychological than physical and thinking our body is hungry, we feed it.

If you have eaten your last meal within the past 2 hours more often than not it will be thirst which your body can sometimes interpret as hunger. If you know you have just had your last meal within a short timeframe ago, why not try drinking a glass of water then waiting 30 minutes for the brain to register it. If you are still hungry after this time period then have a light snack.

Sometimes we eat out of boredom. If you find yourself sitting around and instinctively reaching for the fridge or the pantry, catch yourself.

It’s all about replacing bad habits with good ones because that is what will make your weight loss a permanent success. It goes far deeper than losing weight for the sake of it but rather arming you with the tools to make sure you really succeed this time.

Why we need a permanent solution is because we are reprogramming ourselves and our attitude towards our food. Look at this way, it took years to form these habits and it will take a little time to break them and create newer healthier habits in its place.

Nothing is more apparent then when we eliminate all of our favorite foods at once. Our body goes into shock, tries to override our good intentions and sabotages our efforts. Another diet bites the dust simply because we weren’t aware of how we conditioned our bodies over the years.

Our bodies are marvelous pieces of machinery and will stop at nothing to preserve us at all costs. That means that if we drastically reduce our food intake our body will shut down our metabolism to force us to eat. When we do, we binge and gain back all the lost pounds we fought so hard to lose. Don’t hate your body for that, it is just doing what comes naturally.

So how do we get around this? Work in alignment with your body. Introduce changes gradually. Don’t shock your body or it will thwart your best intentions to lose weight.

Medications

There are some medications of which the side effects can be weight gain.

Medications such as some antidepressant drugs can cause you to sleep more and expend less calories making you more susceptible to weight gain. There is also a tendency to snack on more carbohydrate rich foods which also contributes to weight gain.

There are things that you can do to lessen the degree of weight gain experienced by taking these types of medications.

Try to reduce the amount of calories you consume by identifying them in your current diet.

Don’t do anything drastic just eat smaller portions and reduce the amount of carbohydrates you may be consuming, the body needs a balanced diet so don’t be tempted to eliminate carbohydrates completely from your daily eating plan.
Make sure that you get plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, lean protein and whole grains.

Incorporate more exercise into your life to counteract the effect your medication might be having on your weight.

If all else fails, consult your doctor for any alternative medication equivalents without the side effects.

The Four Basic Food Groups:

- Grains, whole grains, cereals, breads, pasta
- Vegetables and Fruits
- Dairy , milk, cheese, yoghurt
- Meat, protein, poultry, fish, eggs

Breads, cereals and grains gives you sustained energy throughout the day as well as giving you bulk to help properly clean out your bowels protecting you against bowel cancer. In fact by just adding
35 grams of fiber per day can reduce rectal cancer by 67%.
Eating grains also protects against the risk of diabetes and insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease and lowers cholesterol levels.

In a study of 70,000 women over a 12 year period it was found that women who consumed grains as part of their daily diet weighed less than the women who consumed less grains.

Dairy, cheese and yoghurt helps strengthen bones and protect against future osteoporosis.

Studies have confirmed that a diet rich in calcium, magnesium and potassium which are nutrients found in dairy foods actually lowers blood pressure while reducing the risk of hypertension. It is also an important component for proper muscle and nerve function.

Fruits and Vegetables contain antioxidants which fight against free radicals that age the body. Like grains they also provide bulk for the bowel and therefore reduce the risk of contracting bowel and rectal cancer. Eating oranges and tomatoes also increases the ability to absorb iron from meat. Fruits and vegetables also contain carotenoids which reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke. Fruits and vegetables have been linked with memory improvement and slow mental decline with age.

Meats gives a natural source of Vitamin B12 that cannot be sourced from non meat products. The body can metabolise and absorb Vitamin B12 fives more from meat compared to its pill form. It is a rich source of iron which is needed to carry precious oxygen the organs and muscles and for proper neural function.

You can consume enough from your diet naturally that you shouldn’t have the need for vitamin supplements.

Dark green leafy vegetables are a great source for iron but compared with meat, weight for weight 100 grams of liver contains around 6,000 micrograms of iron compared to 325 micrograms in 100 grams of spinach. So as you can see protein is a great pure source of iron and many other vitamins and you can stay healthy by consuming around 75 grams 3 times per week.

The Recommended Daily Servings For A Balanced Diet

Grains: the recommended daily dietary amount is around 6 ounces per day

The reason why we don’t combine your fruit and vegetable intake is because you need to eat a specific amount from each.

Vegetables: 2 ½ cups per day

Fruits: 2 cups per day

Dairy: 3 cups per day

Meat and Beans: 5 ½ ounces per day

These fats tend to be the saturated fat and of the Trans fat variety. There is a link between saturated fats and cardiovascular heart disease, it is this type of fat that raises your cholesterol levels. It usually exists in diets that are high in animal fats which is why the Atkins and low carb diet models aren’t usually the best kind.

Although Atkins himself has found no increase in cholesterol levels with his way of eating, we still do not know what the long term effects this kind of eating will produce. Diets high in saturated (animal) fats have been linked to certain cancers.

If your diet is high in cholesterol, fats deposit themselves on your arterial walls restricting blood flow to your heart and to your body. Your heart then has a tougher job of pumping blood to the rest of your body which increases your blood pressure.

Your heart may also increase in size to force the blood through your arteries causing angina a condition known as enlargement of the heart. Through blood pressure increase comes kidney damage and damage to the smaller capillaries in your eyes causing eventual reduction in eyesight and possible blindness if blood pressure is not controlled.

Trans fatty acids are amongst the worst kind of fat to have in high quantities in your diet. Fats or oils that have partial hydrogenation are more than likely to be Trans fatty. This type of fat lowers the amount of healthy cholesterol (HDL – high density lipoproteins) which throws the system out of balance by increasing the amount of bad cholesterol present.
Good Fats

In their basic building block form they are simply known as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They play several important roles in hormone production and help to aid in proper cell function.

These types of fats contain Omega-3 fatty acids, fish is a source rich in this fat. Omega-3 has been known to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. If you want to preserve your health for the long term then you should make fish and fish oils a regular part of your diet.

If embarking on a diet low in fat the positives are that less fat consumed, less fat stored on your body. You are still able to eat many of the foods you enjoy without the restrictions of the Atkins or low carb diets. You get to have a balance in your diet. Simply restricting foods high in bad fats from your eating plan means you get to eat a wide variety of foods just avoiding the high fat versions.

Just remember, do not eliminate all fats from your diet, not all fats are bad for you. We need a certain amount of good fats in our daily diet for our bodies to function at their peak.

Be mindful this is still a diet nonetheless and you still have to exercise restraint over yourself when selecting foods. This diet is not as restrictive as those calorie counting ones yet you still may be tempted to cheat. If you are to go on this type of diet the control has to come from you rather than from a strict eating plan that does the meal plan for you.

What it comes down to as with anything in life, we have to be self governing and exercise commitment to our goals. Nobody can make you lose the weight or lose the weight for you. You have to want to lose the weight and stick to it until you do.

It’s very easy to do. Think about it, a hamburger, fries and soda (1,200 calories) and there’s most of your daily calorie allocation blown right there, to top if off it won’t keep you full for long either. Eat that every day for a year without much exercise and that adds up to some serous weight gain.

The reason why I love knowing that there are 3,500 calories in a pound is because it puts it all into perspective. I know that to burn that off, I will need to do more than 60 minutes on the cross trainer each day plus a 30 minute walk. So it makes me wiser in my food choices. The place where you wish you never had that extra donut or chocolate shake is right in the middle of your intense work out where you pay in sweat to work it off. Don’t worry if you’re coming to terms with this, the important thing is now you are aware of it you will start to see food in a different light and gain a healthier respect for it and the effect it has on your body.

These days all foods display the amount of calories on their packaging. This way you can know roughly how many calories you will consume and if it meets your daily requirements. This is also a great indicator of foods to avoid especially if they are loaded with empty calories.

Use your knowledge when determining the number of calories a meal has, be a calorie detective by making it a priority to know what’s going into your body.

Once you get good at it, figuring out how many calories a particular food has will become a breeze.

The Food We Eat

Calories aside the actual food we eat plays an important role in how we lose weight.

For example 100 grams of hard boiled candy will have a lot more fat than say 100 grams of lettuce. Even though foods may be of equal weight doesn’t mean that they will be equal in calories. So be aware of any extra fats or calories hidden in foods. Always check your labels.

You don’t have to be a food Nazi and restrict yourself to the point where you’re not enjoying what you eat. It’s important that you have the occasional treat so that you are not feeling deprived. Remember we’re aiming for permanent lifelong change by altering our lifestyle eating choices. You have to treat yourself now and then to avoid any derailing binges that come from feelings of deprivation.

Good Fat vs. Bad Fat

We touched upon this earlier in terms of the types of fats to avoid and the kinds that we should be incorporating more into our daily diet.

Foods High In Fat – What To Watch For

Here are some common fats that are high in saturated fat content:

- Animal fats such as dripping
- Bacon grease
- Crisco
- Margarine
- Coconut oil
- Palm oil
- Hydrogenated Oils
- Partially hydrogenated oils
Both Hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils are liquid oils that have been solidified by having hydrogen forced into them at high pressures. The process of hydrogenation is to preserve the oil for longer in its solid form but because this process change its form it also alters its chemical properties turning it from healthy unsaturated fat to Trans fat, the dangerous kind.

This is the type of fat that causes arteriosclerosis and blocks the arteries in your heart. Keep these fats to a minimum in your diet. In fact, if you want to lose weight on an ongoing basis you need to limit the amount of fat you consume to a total of 20 grams or less per day.

In a 3 scoop serving of Haagen Dazs Mint Chip Dazzler with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream you would consume around 38 grams of saturated fat (1,300 calories!).

So watch for calories and fat. You can be fooled by small snacks that seem harmless enough like with the ice cream treat, but it’s not until you find out the fat content that you realize how easy it can be to put on weight.

Foods High In Carbohydrates

We need carbohydrates in our diet. They are source of fuel the body uses for energy once broken down during the process of digestion.

During digestion, carbohydrates are broken down into sugars, providing the body with a steady source of energy. Carbohydrates come in two forms simple (monosaccharides meaning “one”) and complex (polysaccharides meaning “many”)

Once you understand the difference between both simple and complex carbohydrate you will know which offers the best quality fuel for your body.

Simple Carbohydrates

Come in the form of high energy, sugary snack foods which you would typically find in granola bars, candy, chocolate, cakes, cookies, donuts, soda also in fruits and dairy productsetc. These types of carbohydrates are broken down instantly and used for energy by the body. This is why some people experience intense sugar highs after consuming foods high in sugar.

The burst of energy is like a flash in the pan, it only lasts for a short time. Within an hour your energy levels have gone to an extreme high then plummets to a low. Your body then stimulates your appetite to consume more because it needs more energy.

Consuming diets high in refined sugar foods plays havoc with your insulin levels. Because there is such a rush of sugar in one huge amount, the body must accommodate this by releasing enough insulin to counteract it which is why you experience intense highs and lows.

Your body must get rid of that sugar from the blood immediately and any excess sugar that is not burned off as energy must be stored as fat. You have to understand that your body cannot allow any remaining sugar to be floating around in the blood as it effects your body’s normal functions. Once your body becomes unable to effectively remove all sugar from the blood, you become diabetic.

The scary fact is that most children under the age of 10 years are consuming around 70 teaspoons of sugar in a typical day. This is staggering; in fact it is believed that our children today will be among some of the first in their generation to die before their parents.

Examples of simple carbohydrates:
• Cookies
• Honey
• Soda drinks
• Chocolate
• Jam jellies
• Cake
• Oranges
• Plums
• Pears
• Blueberries
• Grapefruit
• Cherries
Complex Carbohydrates

Unlike simple carbohydrates these aren’t easily broken down and absorbed into the bloodstream as quickly.

Because they are complex in structure take longer to break down and are released gradually, not instantly into the bloodstream. This means that they provide a steady, stable source of energy and because they are slow releasing have a chance to be burned off rather than stored as fat.

Examples of complex carbohydrates:

• Vegetables (cellulose)
• Whole grain breads
• Wholegrain cereals
• Whole grain pasta
• Legumes
• Potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Brown rice
• Bagels
• Corn
• Beans
• Yams
• Peas
• Jasmine rice
• Lentils
You should incorporate more complex carbs into your diet but that’s not to say that you can’t have the occasional treat.

Just be aware of what you are eating and putting into your body and that any type of carb consumed, simple or complex, in the absence of any kind of exercise will lead to weight gain. Your body is efficient, if the energy you consume is not used it will be stored as fat.

It probably pays to eat to the conditions. What is that I hear you ask? Just like driving to the conditions if you know that it’s going to rain, you of course drive a little more cautiously, you drive to the conditions.

In the case of eating, you eat to the conditions. If you know that you are out to play an intense game of tennis for the evening then you consume extra carbs for energy. If on the other hand you’re going to be sitting in a movie theatre for 2 hours than you consume a little less as you won’t be undertaking any physical activity to burn it off.

Your diet should be higher in complex carbohydrates as it takes your body longer to break them down meaning a slow, steady release of energy. This is the best route to take for weight less as simple carbs tend to release energy too quickly into your bloodstream giving you massive highs and lows. Also the slow release means the less likely you are to contract Type II diabetes at some point in your life. However don’t forget that with any carbohydrate consumption must always be accompanied with exercise.

For example, if you consider water to be a food, then cold water is certainly a negative calorie food. It contains no calories at all and the body has to expend energy to bring it up to blood temperature. So every time we drink a glass of cold water we burn up a couple of calories and lose a little weight. But there are very few foods like this. Most foods that are on the list do not really use more calories than they add, or if they do the effect is negligible … until you remember that at the same time the body expends energy just to keep alive and breathing. Celery for example does not give us enough calories to cover both the energy that it takes to digest it, plus the energy that we expend even when we are doing nothing. So that is why people call it a negative calorie food.

Negative calorie foods are most attractive to anorexics. A negative calorie diet would obviously result in starvation in the long term and nutritional deficiencies can occur surprisingly quickly. The calories burnt usually come from muscle mass, and the result is debility and wasting.

A more healthy way to use a negative calorie diet is as a form of fasting or detox. It is something you can do for one to three days right after the Christmas season or another time when you have been eating a over-rich diet. Provided you are otherwise healthy it can be a great way to clean out the system. However it is still best to take medical advice before attempting this.

If you decide to use a negative calorie detox, keep the following points in mind:

1. It is never a good idea to eat huge quantities of one type of food, especially fruits. A lot of foods contain substances that can be damaging if consumed to excess. For example, the acid in grapefruit and pineapple can damage your stomach lining. Other foods put an excessive burden on the liver or may cause diarrhea. So try to use all the different foods in small quantities.

2. Do not spend all day eating. You will just become bloated and feel sick. If you are only doing this for a couple days, you should not feel too hungry. Plan four or five salad meals each day, and let your digestion rest at other times.

3. You will feel more satisfied if you eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly. You will also use more calories that way. So if the foods can be eaten raw, that will be more effective than cooking them. Foods like carrots and beets will also be more satisfying if you eat them grated.

4. Schedule time when you do not have any important commitments. As with fasting or any kind of detox, you may suffer some uncomfortable symptoms including headaches, tiredness, depression and irritability. If these become severe, stop the diet and see a doctor.

5. When you end the detox, plan a gradual return to normal eating.

If all the above points are checked and passed, let’s move on to the list of foods.

- Apples
* Asparagus
* Beets
* Blueberries
* Broccoli
* Cantaloupes
* Carrot
* Cauliflower
* Celery stalk
* Celery root
* Cranberries
* Cucumbers
* Eggplant
* Endives
* Garden cress
* Garlic
* Grapefruit
* Green beans
* Green cabbage
* Lamb’s lettuce
* Lemons
* Lettuce
* Onions
* Papayas
* Pineapples
* Prunes
* Radishes
* Raspberries
* Spinach
* Strawberries
* Tangerines
* Tomatoes
* Turnips
* Zucchini

If you’re serious about losing weight, there are certain foods that you can eat, and certain foods that you should not eat. This does not mean that you have to eat nothing but rabbit food, but it does mean that you have to pass up on that Big Mac with fries.

This entire book could be comprised of foods that you should not eat when you are on a diet. There are many foods out there that are delicious but are not good for you as they are high in fat or sugar. I am going to concentrate on foods that you will most likely eat in order to give you some diet dos and don’ts.

Foods To Avoid

The following are foods that you should avoid when you are seeking to lose 10 pounds in 10 days, or any time you are watching your weight. In fact, these foods are good to avoid…period:

- Fast foods
- Fried foods
- Products marked low fat or diet
- Cookies
- Candy
- Cakes and other sweets
- Frozen foods

Notice that this list does not include words like “carbs” or “trans fats” This is because dieting to lose weight is not a complicated plan. You do not have to cut out all of the foods that you eat or eat just protein, although you should increase your protein intake. You just have to avoid foods that are diet saboteurs.

Fast Foods

Fast foods are usually fried, greasy, high in fat, high in sugar, processed with chemicals or high in sodium. The first thing that you want to avoid when you are seeking a way to lose weight are any fast foods. That means any of them. Many of them are disguising themselves as “healthy foods.” They’re not. In order for fast food giants like McDonald’s to offer salads, they have to be able to buy the ingredients so that they can be stored and distributed all over the country. Those “diet salads” often have more calories in them than some of the sandwiches, especially if you add the dressing, which is usually high in fat and sugar.

Take your lunch. Even if you take a peanut butter sandwich from home, you are still getting less calories than you would if you ate at fast food restaurants. Actually, peanut butter, although fatty, is very good for you as it is a good source of protein. You just do not want to overdo it.

One of the first things that you need to do if you are going to lose 10 pounds in 10 days is to give up the idea of eating out. Skip the muffin that you get in the morning and the lunch that you eat at a fast food joint in the afternoon. Take your lunch for 10 days and you will see a difference in your weight.

When I wanted to take off weight in the past, the first thing I did was eliminate McDonald’s from my diet. I used to like McDonald’s, but knew that a Big Mac, an order of fries and a Coke were more calorie content than my body needed for one meal (that typical menu is 1300 calories). I was never big on calorie counting and prefer to do things simple, but I knew that the calories that I consumed for fast foods were more than those consumed from foods that I brought from home and didn’t really fill me up. Make eating fast foods the first thing that you eliminate if you are trying to lose weight.

Do not be fooled by Subway ads that say you can lose weight by eating their foods. They consist of processed meats and cheeses that are not good for you, either. In order for fast foods to be mass produced as they are, they have to be treated with chemicals. If you want a vegetable sandwich, make it at home and bring it to work.

Fried Foods

Fried foods are delicious. Even bugs would taste good if they were deep fried. But foods that are deep fried are high in fat, usually unsaturated fat. While many restaurants are getting rid of trans fats in their foods, due to demands by the FDA and other legal authorities, fried foods are high in fat and are not good for any diet. They are also high in calories. Eat foods that are broiled or barbequed if you want to lose weight and stay away from anything fried.

Many people eat fried foods because they are inexpensive and filling. But fried foods are one of the main reasons why people put on weight in the first place. They do not offer you the nutritional value that you need for your body and what little value they do have is diminished by the fact that they are fried. When you cook, use a George Foreman Grill to make meats and even grill vegetables. If you have to use any oils so foods will not stick, use Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Products Marked Low Fat Or Diet

So many people think that they can eat so-called “diet” foods when they are on a diet. The stores are filled with these foods that are usually loaded with chemicals and often are no better for you than the regular foods. For example, Cheezits – one of my all-time favorite snacks. There is a low-fat variety of Cheezits that I actually prefer over the regular Cheezits. However, if you look at the fat and calorie content, you will see that there is not much difference.

Snackwells are the same. These are low fat cookies and cakes. What people do not realize is that they usually end up eating more of these foods because they feel that they are “diet” foods. Foods that are sweet and marked for being a diet food contain a sugar substitute (one of the many latest to come around) that is worse for you than actual sugar.

People tend to overindulge in the low fat or diet snacks and foods that are out there, thinking that they are getting away with something. While you can replace your regular foods with low fat, you have to be aware of the chemicals that the foods may contain as well as the fact that they are not that much lower in calories. If you have a hankering for Cheezits, have only a small portion of the low fat type, but do not feel that because they are low fat, you can eat the entire box.

You are better off having real foods in your home than those that are marked low fat or diet as you will not be tempted to over indulge in eating that will sabotage your diet.

Cookies, Candy, Cakes and Other Sweets

Stay away from sugar if you want to lose 10 pounds in 10 days. Sugar is one of the main reasons why people gain weight. Many people have a sweet tooth and cannot help but indulge in these foods. Sugar is processed through the system very quickly. It is hard on the digestive organs and causes them to work extra hard to process the foods for elimination. Sugar stays in the blood stream and turns to fat. While it can be difficult for anyone with a sweet tooth to give up sweets, it is essential that you do this if you want to lose weight.

Sweets do not offer you any nutritional value whatsoever. They do nothing to help your body and are considered empty calories. You are eating them for nothing and they are showing up as fat on your body. Some diets tell you to avoid all foods that contain simple carbohydrates, such as bread. But while breads have nutritional value and are at least filling, sweets offer you nothing. Nothing but calories that will pile up on your body.

Frozen Foods

Lean Cuisine? Do not bother. Stay away from all frozen foods. They are loaded with sodium. They have to be loaded with sodium in order to keep. Sodium will also make you retain water and will hamper your ability to lose weight. If you think that those diet foods that you see in the frozen food aisle are your answer when it comes to losing weight, think again. Not only do they have excessively small portions, but the sodium content negates the low calories in these meals.

By cooking at home and eating real foods, you can end up not only losing the weight that you want to lose, but also eating healthier Avoid fast foods, fried foods, sweets, diet foods and frozen foods if you want to lose weight.

Foods To Eat

When you are looking for foods to eat on your diet, look towards natural foods. Also be careful how you cook them. You should also increase your protein intake so that your body will burn more calories.

One important meal that you do not want to miss is breakfast. You should eat protein for breakfast when you want to lose weight fast as this will boost your metabolism and cause you to start burning fat early in the day. Foods to eat for breakfast should be high in protein, but not contain sugar. Stay away from so-called protein bars.

Hard boiled eggs, broiled meats and whole grains are a good choice for breakfast. A soft boiled or poached egg is also a good choice when it comes to early morning food because eggs are a good source of protein. Eggs have a bad rap as being high in cholesterol, although this is not true. Egg whites are a good source of protein and as long a they are not fried, they make a good breakfast choice.

Salads are good for lunch. You can try a low fat dressing, although you can easily make your own salad dressing. Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar and add herbs like Oregano and Basil to the dressing and it will be low in fat and will not contain preservatives. Grilled vegetables are also a good choice for lunch meals.

You want to add protein to your diet, but not a lot of fat. Chicken breast is a good source of protein and if you broil it, you will be getting the benefits of the protein without the fat. Fish is also an excellent source of protein as is red meat. A hamburger without a bun, for example, that has been barbequed, will give you protein that you need for the day.

If you have a sweet tooth, eat fruit. While fruits have sugar, unlike sweets they do supply your body with the nutrients that you need. Vegetables are also essential to a healthy diet. You can eat vegetables like celery and carrots all day long – they have minimal calories and you actually expend more calories to chew these vegetables than they contain.

In most cases, the foods to eat when you are trying to lose weight are common sense. If you know which foods to stay away from, you should know which foods to eat. Cooking the foods is very important. You should cook at home instead of eating out and watch the oils and seasonings that you use. Simple substitutions, like hamburger that you make at home or chicken breast, for lunch instead of a fast food sandwich, can make a tremendous impact when it comes to weight loss. Substituting fruit instead of eating cakes will also make a difference.

Eat three meals a day and do not eat in the evening. You can snack between meals on raw vegetables. You will find that by following this diet plan, you not only lose weight successfully, but also feel better as well.

One thing that you have to remember is to eat only until you are not hungry any longer. Instead of stuffing yourself until you cannot eat any more, eat until you no longer have a hungry feeling. When you do have a feeling of hunger, eat something that is not one of the foods to avoid and then wait 20 minutes before you snack again. Often, it takes some time for the signal that we are no longer hungry to travel to the brain. You do not need to starve yourself to lose weight. You can do so and even be healthier at the same time if you follow this type of diet.

Green tea has health benefits that are not found in black tea. In general, tea is a drink that is good for you. There are hundreds of different teas and many different flavored green teas. You can have green tea either caffeinated of de-caffeinated. This acts as a diuretic and will cleanse out the system. I drink green tea all day long and have managed to maintain my weight after losing the weight I wanted to lose while going back to my regular diet.

While water works well as a diuretic, green tea is more stimulating. Speaking from someone who has tried both, green tea works better when it comes to dropping the pounds than just drinking plain water. I drink de-caffeinated green tea that I brew myself. You do end up visiting the bathroom often when you drink tea or water all day long, but you also manage to cleanse out your system and keep off the weight.

You should look for green tea in bags or loose that you can brew at home. One of the nicest aspects about green tea is that you can drink it hot or cold. It is easy to make iced green tea even without a tea maker. You just need to have tea bags, a container and boiling water. Put the tea bags into the container, add the boiling water and let it brew for about five minutes. Then fill up the rest of the container with cold water and remove the tea bags. Refrigerate it and you will have iced tea that you can drink all day long.

You can find flavors of green tea in the grocery store that do not contain any calories. Natural green tea, however, works the best. You should not add sugar to the tea as this will defeat the purpose in drinking it.

If you do not like the taste of green tea unsweetened, then drink water. You will find that you take off your water weight, which is usually about five pounds, right away by drinking plenty of green tea or water throughout the day. Not only will it help you lose weight, it also keeps you filled up. You tend to want to eat less when you drink unsweetened drinks all day long. To the contrary, sweetened drinks, even those that are made with artificial sweeteners, make you want to eat more.

Stay away from canned green teas or those that are sold in the stores that are already brewed. They will not allow you to lose weight but can also contribute to you gaining weight. You can also make “sun tea” by putting tea bags into cold water and putting the container by the sunlight. It will brew naturally throughout the day and the taste is often better than if you make it with boiling water.

There are diet green teas that are on the market that are supposed to let you lose more weight. These diet teas are usually heavily concentrated in caffeine. You can get the best effects, without the jitters that you get from taking in too much caffeine, by drinking regular green tea.

If you drink caffeinated green tea, switch to decaffeinated green tea as the day wears on so that you will not be kept awake by the effects of the caffeine. You may want to switch your morning drink from coffee to green tea so that you can get a head start on the day. Although both contain caffeine, the caffeine in coffee is more potent than that in the green tea and less of a diuretic.

After her fourth cocktail, she said that she was drinking more than she was used to. Apparently, she drank a few cocktails at night, every night. In fact, everyone in the entire department knew that this woman liked to drink but me. This was why she was not losing weight.

When you are dieting to try to lose weight, you often concentrate on the foods that you are eating. This is good – you need to watch what you eat when you are trying to lose weight. But you also need to watch what you drink.

Whenever I wanted to lose five pounds in a week without really putting myself out, I skipped the cream and sugar in my coffee. This simple thing allowed me to lose weight. I did not put that much sugar in my coffee nor cream. But I realized that sugar is really an enemy of those who are trying to lose weight.

Alcohol is filled with sugar. People think that they can have wine and get away with drinking and still lose weight. While red wine may be good for you in some capacity, it is not good for you when you are trying to lose weight. No alcohol is good for you – it all contains sugar. Some of it contains more sugar than others. Mixed drinks, such as cocktails, usually contain the most sugar. Beer is high in sugar. White wine is high in sugar. The lowest sugar content that you can get in alcohol is from a very dry, red wine. But you should still avoid that when you are trying to lose weight.

Soda is off limits. It is nothing more than liquid candy. Even diet soda is bad for you and will not promote weight loss, but rather weight gain. The carbonation in the soda leads to addition weight and hampers weight loss efforts. You should not drink soda or diet soda when you are trying to lose weight.

Milk is high in fat and should be off limits. Juices, while some of them being good for you, are high in sugar and are off limits when you are dieting to lose weight. You should watch juices anyway as many of them contain very little fruit juice and a whole lot of sugar.

Energy drinks and sports drinks are also high in sugar content and need to be avoided when you are trying to lose weight. You should not be drinking anything but water and perhaps black coffee and tea, when you are seeking a way to lose weight.

It is just as important to watch what you drink as what you eat when you are dieting. You may be consuming hundreds of calories a day with what you drink. The reason my colleague at work could not lose weight was because she was consuming more than the calorie content that her body needed through her alcohol intake. She was never going to lose the weight as long as she continued to drink.

For some people, a simple switch to water from their every day drinks can make all the difference in the world when it comes to weight loss. I knew a woman who was a heavy cola drinker who switched to water and claimed to have lost 30 pounds in a month just from making this simple lifestyle change.

If you want to lose weight, you need to not only watch what you eat, but also watch what you drink. Water, unsweetened coffee and unsweetened tea have no calories. Drink these only and stay away from so-called diet drinks as they will prohibit your weight loss efforts.

You need to eat three meals a day in order to lose weight, with breakfast being the most important. You are better off to consume most of your calories at breakfast than at any other time. This will allow your body to use that fuel that you give it to burn off the calories during the day. If you consume calories at night, you are not allowing the body to burn them off. When my father started eating three meals a day, he began to lose weight.

In addition to eating three meals a day, you need to stop eating before you go to bed. When you eat before going to bed, it not only can give you indigestion, but it stays in your system and does not burn off. You should not eat anything before bedtime. Give yourself a cut off time and find something other than eating to do before going to bed. You may want to make a lifestyle change of doing yoga or stretching while watching TV so that you are not tempted to eat snacks. Many people sit in front of the TV eating snacks before bed – this greatly adds to obesity in our society.

Also watch your portions. You should never eat directly out of the bag of chips, for example. While you will want to avoid chips when you are dieting, after you diet and lose the weight, you may want to have chips. This is not a great crime, but you should watch your portions. If you pour out the chips into a small bowl, you can control your portions.

Remember the fact that it often takes the brain time to register when we are full. Many people are eating out of habit and think that they are hungry, when they are actually not hungry. You should always wait 20 minutes after eating before eating again. This gives the brain time to register the fact that you are full.

Simply cutting your portions in half can also help you lose weight. Too often, we eat until we feel we are about to burst. This is not good. The secret to maintaining a healthy weight is to eat until you are not hungry any longer – not until you feel full. You should never strive for that uncomfortable feeling of fullness.

You should also eat at the same times every day. If you maintain a good eating schedule, you will have a better digestive system. People who eat regularly and on somewhat of a schedule tend to see that their digestive system works the same way every day. This eliminates constipation that can also cause bloating and weight gain. You should move your bowels once a day and usually around the same time every day. This leads to good weight control and aids in losing weight. It also keeps your digestive tract healthy.

Chew your food thoroughly. Many people have a habit of gulping down their food. You should not only do this to promote weight loss, but also to aid your digestive system. Large chunks of food are harder to digest than smaller particles. You also tend to eat more when you do not chew your food properly. Chewing your food 20 times is an old dieting trick that still works. You will find that this gives your stomach time to signal your mind when you are full and that you do not overeat.

Drink a glass of water before every meal. This also makes you feel full and allows you to eat less. By drinking a glass of water before each meal and chewing your food thoroughly, you will find that you are eating less and losing weight. If you have only 10 pounds to lose, these two tips alone can greatly aid in your weight loss.

Losing weight does not have to involve a drastic lifestyle or new diet. You can usually lose weight if you just take a look at your eating habits and make some changes. Be sure to look at how you eat as much as what you eat and you will find that those 10 pounds come off easily.