Why Female Fat Loss Is So Hard To Do

Fat Loss For Women – Why It’s So Hard For Women To Lose The Fat

Ok, ladies this post is for you. Guys – you can lose fat easier than women so you don’t need this information – of coarse unless your girlfriend, wife, sister or Mother has a hard time losing fat – now you will know why. No, it’s not their fault – they are really trying – it’s just that we are made differently than men and unfortunately one of the differences is that we hold on to fat longer and easier than men.

It may not sound very promising but women do store fat more efficiently than men.  And they do so in certain areas of the body where it’s considered unsightly the thighs, butt and hips.  But this is only because of the physiological difference between men and women.  Women store fat in those areas because they are designed by nature to do so.  Unfortunately, nature has made losing that fat rather difficult to do.  What can women expect about gender-based fat loss?  Here are some things you ought to know:

Easy on – not too easy off?

Blame it on lipoprotein lipase, a type of enzyme that is found in the fat cells located in women’s lower bodies.  These enzymes cause women to store fat in those areas very easily.  This is why the consequences of a few binges here and there are easily noticeable after only a short period of time.

Unfortunately, the same enzyme makes it rather difficult for women to obtain quick fat loss.  This explains why the areas where you gain fat initially are the same areas where they are difficult to shed.  If you’re still wondering why fat in the lower body is so hard to get rid of, it’s really just the enzyme doing its job.

The good news!

If there’s one reason to celebrate regarding female fat is that the extra bulge in the hips and thighs do not pose as much significant health risks as the type of abdominal fats found in men.  These fat tissues actually help take bad fats from the bloodstream, keeping these fats from clogging up arteries and causing potentially problematic metabolic or cardiovascular diseases and conditions.

There’s more! fat loss in women doesn’t have to be an impossible task.  As long as a sensible diet is followed and maintained, along with aerobic exercises combined with weight or strength training, women will still be able to slim down by over 15%.  The key here is to try to strike a balance between diet and exercise and avoid high fat foods.

Increasing metabolism

As mentioned earlier, strength training should be integrated as an essential component of any exercise program.  Muscles help increase metabolic activity, which helps women burn and lose fat more efficiently.
In the fat loss race, women also have a slight advantage over men in that women are much more likely to be better informed regarding correct food choices.  They are more likely to change their usual diet and switch to healthful one.

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What To Think About When Purchasing Juice

Usually when we go on a weight loss diet or a health diet we often eliminate junk food and read labels of snacks and treats. However, simple items such as juice should also be a place where we watch our calories and sugar content.  Yes, juice is an item you should take the time to read the label and thing about the following information.

In efforts to make healthy food choices many of us read product labels to determine if what it contains is what we want to consume. It is also a good thing to review those labels periodically, as manufacturers make changes from time to time without necessarily notifying their consumers. But sometimes we have to go beyond just checking the labels.

Obviously the foods we want to consume for health and longevity are those that provide the body with the nutrients it requires in carrying out the daily processes which allow us to function. We all know that the higher the quality of food we provide as fuel, the better the chance of our bodies remaining strong and healthy.

One of the choices you may have not thought about and not necessarily found on the label, but more so just on the packaging itself, is the choice between juices from concentrate versus non-concentrated ones. While this may not seem like such a big thing it’s worth considering when looking at the nutritional content of the juice.

The basic difference between the two is this: one is created straight from the fruit and vegetables, packaged and shipped to market. The second is created from a concentrate that is processed to have the water removed prior to it being shipped to a manufacturer who then replaces the water, packages the reconstituted product and sends it off to market. This is done to reduce the shipping costs as they are based on weight and results in the consumer being charged less for the product.

So what’s the big deal? The problem is that when the water is removed prior to shipping, the water-soluble vitamins go down the drain with it and in essence what you’re left with is concentrated calories. In hopes of alleviating this some manufacturers add vitamins back in to some of the juices, but there is still a big and ongoing debate about vitamin supplementation.

The B-complex vitamins (B6, B12, biotin, folic acid, niacin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin, thiamin) and vitamin C are water soluble vitamins. They are required by the body, but are not stored in the body, so must be consumed for the body’s use. In addition to being water soluble, they are destroyed by heat and exposure to air.

Obviously eating fruit and vegetables in their natural whole state is nutritionally the best as you then get the fiber, the micro and macro ingredients, the vitamins and minerals, the antioxidants and so on, of which none are lost due to processing, regardless of the concentration process. However, juicing can allow you to intake that much more with respect to nutrients, if the bulk is removed, but that is only if the nutrients are still in the juice.

So, ideally, the best is to make your own juice and drink it immediately. As this can be costly and time consuming, the next best would be to spend the extra to purchase the juices that are freshly squeezed, which are usually found in the refrigerated section of groceries stores. After that choose juice from non-concentrate on the shelves in the isles and then finally concentrated ones.

Remember that fresh clean water is still the best choice if you’re consuming fluid specifically for the purposes of re-hydrating and providing the body with fluid to carry out its tasks. Drinking any kind of juice can be adding extra calories into your diet that you may not have considered, and additionally empty ones, if they are coming from concentrated juice sources.

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More Holistic Weight Loss Strategies

Holistic  Weight Loss Strategies

With the extensive and long  history of dieting, countless weight loss strategies have come into existence and have also fallen out of favor. Not all of them have acquired the fame of popular diet programs such as the South Beach diet and Atkins diet have achieved. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting to know these less popular dieting methods and what may surprise you if the fact that once these were considered “way out there” but are now mainstream.

These unconventional weight loss methods may be right for you. Just be sure to discuss any treatments with your doctor or health care professional.

Hypnosis For Weight Loss

This is one of the last methods for weight loss that would cross your mind, but yes, there are actually weight loss hypnosis therapies available and they do offer help to many people.  Since not everyone is able to be hypnotized be sure that you can try just 1 session to see if it works for you. And no -don’t worry your hypnotist won’t have you walking around clucking like a chicken.

With this kind of program, you can visit hypnotist who can administer the proper procedure. You are placed into a state of mind in which you are able to control your food cravings and suppress your appetite. Hence, you wouldn’t fall into the pitfalls of overeating and can finally cut down your calorie intake. This then leads to weight loss.

Because of the mystique stigma attached to hypnotism most people laugh at the mention of this kind of dieting method – but if you read up on it you will find that it is one of the long lasting safer, weight loss methods.

Subliminal Messages

Just like hypnosis, subliminal messaging is used in weight loss. Subliminal messages have been an issue for a long time. There are still institutions that believe the human mind is capable of receiving subliminal messages that are embedded on various kinds of media.

For instance, you can listen to an audio tape or music that subliminally tells you to control your appetite and not eat fatty foods. The messages that you want to get can vary depending on your need. There are companies that actually render this kind of service. All you’d have to do is tell them what you want to achieve and they can embed a subliminal message to your favorite band’s music!

This is one good way of getting motivation, especially if you lack it, so you can exercise on a regular basis; thus, leading to weight loss. Before purchasing any of these subliminal tapes and recording just make sure that they have a money back guarantee as some are very legitimate and some are just crap. If they do not have a return policy – do not purchase.

Acupuncture Therapy

Another alternative method is acupuncture therapy. According to traditional Chinese medicine, people tend to have excess weight because of an imbalance within their system. This imbalance is generally caused by malfunctions of your spleen and liver.

With acupuncture, certain pressure points on your body would be targeted to bring back the normal function of your liver and spleen. The therapy would target the well-being of your endocrine system, which can leave you with a happy disposition.
Acupuncture therapy is growing in it’s popularity and there are several insurance companies that will help cover the cost – check out your health plan.

Massage Therapy And Weight Loss

Another alternative when dieting would be massage therapy. Believers in this kind of method claims that getting a massage can actually help in weight loss due to various reasons. Since massage can enhance one’s blood circulation, it is thought that it can increase a person’s metabolic rate. This increase in metabolism can definitely expend the stock energy inside the body and leads to weight loss.

It improves the strength of your muscles, which makes them more fit when exercising. You should understand that getting a massage is only considered to be a support for weight loss and not really a main activity for shedding weight. The massage does help you relax and sometimes you eat less “comfort type foods” when you are less stressed so it may help, but don’t expect miracles.

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Why Fad Diets Keep You Fat and Can Get You Fatter

Why Fad Diets Keep You Fat and Can Get You Fatter – or as I like to say -why fad diets suck!

Don’t you just love when a new fad diet hits the market? Everyone starts on it yet very few ever lose any weight and the majority of us will actually gain weight in the long run. And they can even train our bodies to get fatter and fatter.

Fad diets are so incredibly tempting, aren’t they? Just follow these simple steps and poof! Magically, you’ve dropped weight and look fabulous! Unfortunately, the results are always temporary. In fact, much of the “weight” you lose on fad diets is water weight, NOT FAT.

If you’re still not convinced that fad diets are ineffective at best and dangerous at worst, take a look at these reasons to stay away:

1) They deplete important nutrients

Many fad diets have you banish whole groups of food and gorge on other food groups. While these radical guidelines may indeed help you shed pounds quickly, they can also be dangerous, adversely affecting levels of potassium, sodium, and other vital nutrients your body needs to function.

2) They set you up for constant cravings- oh yeah – the cravings will get you

At first fad diets may seem like fun (“Oooh, I get to eat a few gallons of whipped cream every day?!) but within a few days you start to get really sick of eating all the formerly “forbidden” foods. Worse, now that other, healthier foods are forbidden, you start to crave those, and can’t stop thinking about everything you’re not allowed to eat. This just sets you up for constant cravings – or worse, complete failure if you can’t resist the temptations.

3) They are not meant for short term only

Some fad diets may be effective for the first few weeks, but can be detrimental several months or years from now. Just because something makes you lose weight doesn’t mean it’s good for your body. Why bother following a diet that will set you up for health problems later?

4) They don’t train you how to eat for the rest of your life

All right, maybe you can lose a few pounds by eating nothing but lean chicken breast – but your body needs more than that to be healthy. If a diet plan does not include fruit, vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats, it doesn’t have everything your body needs for optimal health and well-being.

5) They don’t address the reasons you gained weight in the first place

Fad diets are like a temporary fix for a permanent problem. They don’t help you resolve the mental, emotional and physical reasons why you put the weight on in the first place. If you instead focus on improving your habits, finding healthier ways to manage stress (besides eating), and exercising to help burn calories and strengthen your body, you are much less likely to gain the weight back later.

So, the next time you are tempted to go on the Jelly Bean and Tomato Paste diet, ask yourself if that’s really the best way to reach your goals for the long-term, or if it’s better to create a lifelong, healthy plan that you can really stick to forever? Shoot, if you really want to, you can even include a few tablespoons of tomato paste and a few jelly beans!

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Tasty and Filling Low Calorie Snack Foods for Weight Loss

Tasty & Filling Low Calorie Snack Foods for Weight Loss

Tired of always being hungry while your on a diet?  With so many tasty food choices there is no need to feel deprived.

One of the most challenging aspects of weight loss is hunger.  Since most diets require reducing your caloric intake, you may end up feeling hungry and dissatisfied for at least part of the day.  So What’s a dieter to do?

Low calorie snack foods that taste great but won’t hold back your weight loss.

Here are some great choices:

- Fruit

Fruit is a great snack option because it can help satisfy a sweet tooth, but also contains fiber and antioxidants.  Some of the lowest calorie fruits are: grapefruit, watermelon, peaches, berries like strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, apples, honeydew melon, and cantaloupe.

If you don’t want to eat fruit “as is” you can spruce it up in a number of ways, like making a dip out of lowfat cottage cheese, or whipping it into a smoothie with some yogurt.  You could even bake apples in the oven and sprinkle them with cinnamon, nutmeg, and top with a few chopped nuts.

- Raw veggies

Vegetables are very filling because of their high fiber content, but also low in calories.  Eating vegetables raw provides a satisfying “crunch” that can easily replace fattening snacks like potato chips.

Try snacking on raw peppers (sweet or spicy), grape tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumbers, radishes, and carrots.  If you don’t want to eat the vegetables plain, salsa makes a great low calorie dip, as well as hommus (ground chickpeas), or a ready made low calorie dip from the supermarket.

- Chicken and veggie “wrap”

One of my favorite snacks (or even for a meal) is to cube lean cooked chicken breast, chop up some raw veggies into small pieces, wrap them in a large lettuce leaf and drizzle with light salad dressing (or you could top it with salsa too).

Very low calorie, delicious, and contains a good amount of protein and fiber to keep you feeling satisfied for awhile.

If you don’t care for chicken, try it with cooked salmon, shrimp, turkey, or tofu.  Experiment with different varieties of vegetables and toppings too – no need to stick with the same old thing each day.

There are truly endless low calorie snack foods that will help you stay on track with your weight loss plan – just think about foods you enjoy eating that are low in calories, fat and refined carbohydrates, and come up with creative ways to combine them into a tasty snack.

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2 Quick Recipe Tips

[ Note: The guest writer section of weightlossplansandtips.com is the most popular section of all. This is due to having articles, videos, audio and tips like the one below written by guest authors. This particular post was written by fitness and nutrition author and expert Jon Benson. I have his permission to share it with you and I know that you will enjoy it as much as I did.]

One of the most surprising benefits I’ve discovered for being engaged to a gal from the Middle East, other than the vast cultural exchange, is the cooking.

Oh, yes ladies… my gal COOKS!

Which is good since I am a lousy cook. : )

Hanna enjoys it… and she brings a Middle Eastern flair to some really boring fitness/bodybuilding foods that I want to share with you today.

Here’s just two quick tips from Hanna on making the ultimate in “boring” foods — egg whites and tuna (yuck) — taste incredible.

TIP 1:
Lively Egg White Omelette

Let’s face facts: Egg whites suck. At least that’s what I USED to think until Hanna decided to experiment with my morning omelette.

Now I eat this stuff like it was candy.

Here’s what she does:

1. She cooks the veggies separate from the egg whites. You’d think this would be common sense, but I never did it and I’ve seen a lot of people just toss it all in together.

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil with 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil to the veggies. This alone improved the taste tremendously.

3. Add 1/2 egg yolk to the veggies after cooking for 1 minute. This, again, is primarily for taste.

4. Garlic! If you love garlic, here’s your chance. Garlic ROCKS in egg white omelets.

5. Use Pam or another non-stick spray for the egg whites and cook them like you would a normal omelette. Then pour the almost-cooked veggies in the middle. Do the omelette dance.

6. Here’s the SECRET SAUCE… literally. This will sound nuts until you try it:

Shrimp Cocktail Sauce

Okay… Hanna’s bright, but this was an accident. She thought it was salsa. But I’ve NEVER gone back to salsa after stumbling on this incredible treat! I have no idea why it tastes so good, but it makes the omelette.

Try these tips and see if your egg white omelette doesn’t become your favorite meal of the day.

TIP 2:
Canned Tuna Extraordinaire

Again, I have the lovely Hanna to thank for this.

Like egg whites, I used to HATE canned tuna. Now, again, I can eat this every night without complaint.

Here’s what she does:

She cooks the veggies the same way as in the omelette above and then pours the tuna from the can into a skillet. That’s IT.

I’ve never had “tuna ala skillet” before… and I have no clue why this tastes so smooth and delicious, but it does.

If you hate canned tuna for being dry or tasteless, try this. You’ll never go back.

If you want 40 pages of recipes like this… very yummy and VERY healthy… then be sure to pick up my EODD “Favorite Foods” Dieplan.

Here’s more about it:

Favorite Foods Diet + Recipes <– click.here.for.more

Remember:
Don’t Quit. Get Fit!

P.S. Most of the recipes that come with my EODD book can be prepared in 15 minutes or less… so do not let the clock become your enemy when it comes to getting lean!

And remember: You can eat your favorite foods several days per week on my plan and still get rid of excess bodyweight.

Why give up living when you don’t have to, right? : )

Favorite Foods Diet + Recipes <– click.here.for.more

Weight Loss Plans and Weight Loss Tips
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Healthy Substitutions to Your Reduce Calories and Fat Intake

Trying to watch your weight (no, not watch it go up but stay the same or go down)?
Having a hard time staying on your diet?
Are you getting diet food boredom?
If you can make the right choices most of the time you can afford to splurge on that high calorie dessert.

When you’re trying to lose weight, every calorie counts.  The problem is that sometimes it can be hard to reduce calories without sacrificing taste.  Below are some great ideas for healthy substitutions that can help you reduce calories and fat but still enjoy great flavor:

- Fat Free  Milk
Whole milk contains approximately 160 calories and up to 9 grams of fat per 8 ounce glass.  Compare that to 85 calories and one-half gram of fat per serving for skim milk; and 105 calories and 2.5 grams of fat for 1% low fat milk.

That may not seem like a huge difference, but if you were to drink just one 8 ounce glass of milk per day over 7 days, you would take in 1,120 calories and 63 grams of fat from whole milk, and just 595 calories and 3.5 grams of fat from skim milk.  Over time those calories really add up!

If you can’t stand the taste of skim milk, see if 1% or 2% are more to your liking.  Another option is to use whole milk but dilute it with water so you still get the richer flavor but consume less of it (this will also reduce the amount of vitamins and calcium you get, so it may not be the best way to go).

- Lean meats for sandwiches
Many cold cut sandwich meats available today are loaded with sodium and preservatives.  For a healthier and more delicious option, consider cooking your own lean meat, slice thinly and use it for sandwiches.  A serving (3.5 ounce) of lean, skinless chicken breast has about 150 calories and 5 grams of fat (or less, if you buy lower fat varities).  Three and a half ounces is a decent serving so you could probably use half of that amount for a sandwich, especially if you load on some good veggies too.  (For your sandwich bread, whole grains are a more nutritious choice than white.)

- Yummy Veggies dippers
Is one of your favorite snacks potato chips and dip?  Unfortunately they aren’t good choices when you’re trying to cut down on fat and calories.  There are healthier alternatives, however.  One good option is to slice low-calorie vegetables like radishes, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and peppers and use them as dippers in place of potato chips.

But what about the dip?  There are low calorie and reduced fat dips available – but here’s an even better option:  hummus!  Hummus is made from ground chickpeas, and it comes in a range of fantastic flavors like garlic, sweet red pepper, spicy cayenne pepper, roasted eggplant and more.  Only 25 calories and 1 gram of fat per tablespoon – it’s a perfect low calorie choice for dipping.

Weight Loss Plans and Weight Loss Tips
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Why Fiber Is Important To Your Weight Loss Success

We have all heard that adding fiber into our diet will not just make us healthier but will help us reach our weight loss goals. But do you know why or even how to go about adding more fiber into your life?

Today’s post will give you tips on how you can easily add more fiber into your diet & why and how it can help with weight loss.

Fiber is a great helper in weight loss for a few reasons: first, it helps slow the rate at which sugar is absorbed into your bloodstream, which can prevent rapid rises in blood glucose.  Secondly, it helps you feel more satisfied even if you are eating less than you normally do.  Last but not least, fiber promotes regular elimination, helping you to release toxins and keep your digestive system in top working order.

Here are 7 easy ways to get more fiber in your diet:

#1 – Snack on raw veggies
Raw vegetables like broccoli, spinach, avacado and tomatoes are high in fiber, and they make easy, delicious snacks.  Try snacking on a handful of grape tomatoes, or dip raw broccoli florets into salad dressing.  You can also enjoy a spinach leaf salad and cube some avacado on top.

#2 – Eat more fruit
Some fruits are loaded with fiber too – try apples, pears, bananas, figs, and strawberries.  Eat them for breakfast or as a snack at mid-morning or mid-afternoon.

#3 – Whole grains
Some of the best choices for whole grains are breads and cereals.  Try multi-grain bread for sandwiches, and whole grain cereal for breakfast. Look for the words 100% whole grain to be sure it’s not just colored white flour.

#4 – Beans
Beans are another good way to get more fiber, as each one cup serving can contain nearly 20 grams of fiber!

#5 – Oatmeal
Oatmeal is an excellent high-fiber food with many other health benefits, and you don’t have to have it just for breakfast – you can mix it into a fruit smoothie or even have it for a mid-morning snack with a handful of berries sprinkled on top.

#6 – Brown rice
If you usually eat white rice, you may want to switch to brown – simply because you can boost your fiber intake by a couple of grams for each half-cup serving.  Likewise with pasta – a one-cup serving of whole wheat pasta contains 5 grams of fiber.

#7 – Fiber supplements
If you still feel like you’re not getting enough fiber, consider taking a fiber supplement.  Usually they come in powder form that you mix with water, and sometimes they are flavored.  Others are tasteless and can be mixed into any wet food and will dissolve instantly.  They also come in capsule form.

One word of warning: avoid increasing your fiber intake too dramatically because most often you will experience some unpleasant digestive symptoms like gas and diarrhea.  If you currently eat little fiber, increase your intake gradually, adding perhaps 5 grams daily for each week until you are at the recommended 25 grams daily.  Also remember to drink plenty of water. Water is not just good in general but is especially good when you add fiber to your diet as it helps to “move along” all your body’s waste more easily and you will avoid getting constipated.

Weight Loss Plans and Weight Loss Tips
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