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I was reading some news online a couple of days ago and saw an article about a new study that has found a link between vitamin D and weight loss. Although this study is still just speculating the weight loss benefits of taking vitamin D, there is no doubt that this vitamin is excellent for your health. So I thought today I would take a closer look at the “sunshine vitamin”, Vitamin D, and its role not only in weight loss but overall health.
 Recent studies have found a link between Vitamin D and weight loss that suggests the "sunshine vitamin" may help many to maintain or lose weight. You won’t find vitamin D to be a huge breakthrough in your efforts to lose weight, but you should consider making sure you have enough in your diet. As with other things in life, you should understand that when there is no one magical bullet for a problem, you can still fight with a whole lot of little ones. Vitamin D might just be one of those tiny bullets that, when used with others, can help you in your dieting endeavor. Vitamin D also helps with other areas of your health, so you can get double the benefit of making sure you get enough.
Vitamin D comes from the sun, and you can also find it in supplement form. Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, which is why you find it as a supplement that comes right in your jug of milk from the store (see the article “Dairy Fats and Calcium Absorption“). It is not hard to get your daily requirements. You only have to be out in the sun for an hour each day to get what you need, but that is not always possible for all people, nor is it all that good for your skin. To make sure you are getting enough Vitamin D in your diet it is recommended that you take a supplement or eat foods that naturally contain it, such as cod liver oil, salmon, tuna, sardines, milk, and eggs. You can also find a number of products, such as breakfast cereals, that are fortified with Vitamin D.
Vitamin D can help slow weight gain in women who have menopause. A study done of women in the Women’s Health Initiative suggested that any woman taking 400 IU (internal units) gained less weight than those that did not take the vitamin D supplement. This study was done over a period of seven years with 36,000 women between the ages of 50 and 70. Weight remained the same for those taking vitamin D, and some lost, especially when they were not getting enough calcium in their diets.
Other studies have pointed to vitamin D deficiencies being connected to conditions like insulin resistance and PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) (for more information about this connection, see the post “Weight Loss, Insulin Resistance and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome“. These conditions can be one in the same, but many times, they can also be separate or lead to the other. In any case, someone with either condition tends to gain weight easily and lose very little, even with great dieting efforts. It is believed that a vitamin D deficiency could play a role in this.
No matter what your age, vitamin D is essential to good health, and can help women maintain their body weight, or even lose some extra pounds. It won’t be all anyone needs to do to lose weight, but it is one small tool that can make a diet success that may fail otherwise. If you are struggling with losing weight, take a look at how much vitamin D you are getting, and if you think you are not getting enough, spend more time outside, drink more fortified milk, take Vitamin D supplements or eat more foods that naturally contain it.
Other Related Posts You May Find Interesting: “Best Foods for Weight Loss“, “Weight Loss Vitamins In Your Diet” and “Is there something Fishy about the Sardine Diet?“
Quite a buzz in the weight loss world was started when Oprah did a show on the use of deep brain stimulation surgery to help people lose weight. As of February 2009 there had only been two people to take on brain surgery as a means to losing weight, however according to West Virginia University Hospital there are now numerous obese patients who have signed up for this experimental weight loss surgery.
 Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery is a new and experiemental procedure to help obese patients lose weight. Losing weight can be an uphill and lifelong battle for some people. Not only is weight a problem with how someone feels each day in regards to how they fit into clothes and even society, there are serious medical complications that come with being obese. Some spend years trying different diets and medications in hopes of losing, only to fail. At times, they spend so much money their finances suffer. A new surgery for weight loss is being tested right now, but may not be available to everyone right away. This is brain surgery for weight loss, and while it shows promise, the final verdict is not yet in.
Very few of these surgeries have been performed, but many feel this may be an answer for those who are obese, have tried many different diets, and have failed to lose with weight with gastric bypass surgery. At the present time, this surgery is being performed in a trail approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The two doctors involved are neurosurgeons – Donald Whiting and Michael Oh.
This surgery is done while the patient is awake. This is because the patient must signal how they are feeling while certain parts of the brain are simulated. This allows the surgeons to know they have found the right spot to continue with the surgery. The area that controls the stomach (fullness and appetite regulation most specifically) is the targeted area. Once found, the area is connected to wires that will ultimately be controlled by two pacemakers that are implanted in the chest.
Once the system is in place, the patient learns to control hunger by sending electrical impulses to the brain to tell it that the stomach is full and that no more food is needed. In some obese patients, these signals are not getting to and from the brain naturally in due time to stop the person from eating more than they should. The voltage is slowly raised over the course of a few months to give the full sensation when needed to control eating.
Brain Surgery for Weight Loss Poll
While the success rate of brain surgery for weight loss is yet unknown, the second patient to have it done is reporting positive weight loss results. This is obviously not a surgery for someone with ten or twenty pounds to lose, and should never be taken lightly. Once it is available to the public, those considered obese by medical standards are going to be the only candidates that will have access. It will not come without risk, but the patient and doctor will weigh those risks against the risk of remaining obese.
For me, the whole idea of brain surgery for weight loss seems like an extreme step to take. However, perhaps if I had already been through all sorts of diets and bariatric surgery to try to lose weight and I was still gaining and eating out of control, then perhaps I would feel differently. In fact, even to be a candidate for deep brain stimulation surgery you need to have gone through all of these other weight loss methods without success. The only thing I don’t hear mention of in all of this is therapy. You hear about how the candidates tried all sorts of diets and had bariatric surgery, but you never hear about whether they actually had therapy and counseling for their eating problems. Really, there are many extreme ways to lose weight, such as Orthodontic Jaw Wiring (see the post “Orthodontic Jaw Wiring for Weight Loss“), but unless you address the reasons behind your bad eating habits, long-term weight loss may be forever out of your grasp even if you do have electrodes stimulating your brain (How long do the electrodes stay in the brain? Is it for life?).
Last night I spent some time in Yahoo! Answers, which is a really interesting online place where people can post all kinds of questions and answers. In the past I have asked a number of questions about weight loss in the health section and have had many people sharing their thoughts and advice that really helped me. And now it feels really good to be able to help other people who are trying to lose weight by going back there and answering other people’s questions. So last night I was writing away in Yahoo! Answers for about an hour and during that time I was struck by how many weight loss questions are being posted by young people. I read a number of questions posted by 10 to 14 year old children that were all focused on wanting to lose weight. And some of the methods that they have been trying to lose weight with were a nightmare – starvation diets and extreme low-carb diets just to name a couple. By the sheer volume of questions about weight loss by young people in Yahoo! Answers it is apparent that this is an area of education for young people that is being grossly overlooked.
 Talking to your children about healthy ways to lose weight can help them avoid dangerous dieting methods that can lead to eating disorders. Perhaps the problem is that talking to children about weight loss is almost as delicate and convoluted a topic as sexual education is. In fact, I would bet that many of these kids who are asking weight loss questions on Yahoo know more about sex than they do about losing weight in a healthy way. I was really hesitant at first to even write answers for some of these children’s questions because I have no idea what the proper way to speak to a young person about weight loss would be, but in the end I chose the no-nonsense, honest approach. I know that a number of them didn’t like my answers because I told them that what they were doing to lose weight was unhealthy, but hopefully some heeded my advice and took what they needed from it.
Although I don’t have any children myself, I have a number of friends with kids and I called a couple of my girlfriends last night for their opinions about how they think talking to children about weight loss should be handled. These were wonderful conversations I wish I could have taped for you, but instead I will summarize as best I can.
If you have battled with your weight at any time in your life, you know how hard it can be to hear someone tell you that you have to lose weight. Some are so insensitive that they blurt out that you are fat and need to stop eating, which is something that happens to younger people when they are at school and hanging out with their friends. These things are hard to hear, even if we know they are true. When it comes to dealing with children, things get even trickier. You have to be very careful how you talk to them about weight and weight loss, whether it is your own endeavor or something they should be doing. How you handle this can shape them for life.
When you are talking to your children about your own weight loss, you have to be careful to make it about health and not about vanity. Children as young as first and second grades are now calling each other fat and worrying about how much they eat. While good health is important, this means something is very wrong with our society. They are way to young to be consumed with thoughts about their appearance and body weight. Perfectly healthy children think they are fat and are on the fast track to an eating disorder.
If you are not eating, or if you are eating things that are different from what you are feeding them, they are going to notice. You can choose not to talk with them about what you are doing, but you do so at a risk. They will come up with their own conclusions, and those thoughts may not be right. Your best bet is to talk with them about good health and staying fit to live a longer life (see the related post “Sharing Your Weight Loss Goals“). Do not talk about how fat you feel or that you want to be ‘thin’ or ‘skinny.’ Those are harmful words, even if that is exactly what you are thinking.
When you want to put your children on a diet, do so in the same manner. You have to change the menu for the entire family – not just for the kids. Explain that you are making healthier choices for everyone because you feel that your meals are not doing anyone any good. Find ways to have family activity time, but do not talk about weight loss. Instead, get moving and have fun. Do not make it seem like a chore but rather something to look forward to as family time together (for another great post about this, see “Family Weight Loss“).
When your children come to you and talk about feeling fat, losing weight, and looking good, you have to take the time to listen to what they say. You can do all that you can to reassure them that you think they look great, but they are not always going to buy it. It depends on their age and what they have been exposed to through friends and media. Sometimes, the best you can do is to be honest, show them acceptance no matter what, and keep your eyes open for bigger problems like emotional eating, anorexia or other types of eating disorders that could become medically problematic.
If you are a parent of a child, regardless of whether they are overweight or not, it is a good idea to sit down with them and have a heart-to-heart about how they feel about their body weight. If your child is overweight, or you feel they may be heading in that direction, do not ignore this problem because guaranteed it is something that they are thinking about all the time. Just as it is with sex, if parents take a more active role in education their children about healthy body image, nutrition, exercise and healthy ways to lose weight then there is a better chance that these kids will grow up to be healthy adults.
Last week I got lazy. On Sundays I always sit down and plan out my meals for the week, but last Sunday I was too busy. You would think that after all these months of being so diligent with planning and following my meals, that one week wouldn’t make a difference. Afterall, I should be able to keep myself in line even if my meals aren’t planned, right? I’m sorry to say I was very, very wrong.
Without my meals planned last week I constantly found myself being very indecisive about what I wanted to eat. This indecisiveness lead to a lot more snacking between meals and poor food choices at meal time. I am angry with myself that I let it go like that all week long. And of course, as a result my weekly weigh in was dismal. As of this morning my weight was:
211 lbs
This is a four pound gain in weight over the past week. Grrrrrr!!! It’s so frustrating. Oh well, back to basics with me. I have my meals carefully planned for this week and so far so good. No more loitering in front of the refrigerator nibbling on this and that.
 Follow these five essential tips for planning your weekly meals to help you stay on track with your diet. Planning your weekly meals like I do may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you are following your own diet plan then I highly recommend it to you (also see my related post “Daily Meal Planning“). You can try to just wing it when you start a diet, but you probably are not going to get very far. You won’t know exactly how many calories you are eating at each meal, and you may not be sure you are eating the right foods. You have to make sure you have a weekly plan set out for all of your meals, and then a plan to have a list from which you can pick and choose. When you have such a list, each weekly menu will be put together more quickly in the future. Here are five essential tips for planning your weekly meals:
Tip 1 – Always have a good source of nutritional information. That means you must find a good book or online source that can give you the calorie count and proper portion size for most of the foods that you see each time you go to the grocery store, as well as any prepared foods you may eat from restaurants. This book or web site will be your Bible of information so that you can always monitor your calorie consumption and make sure you are eating enough and also not too much.
Tip 2 – Along with your nutritional information source, you have to have a place to chart your progress. This can be a notebook or it can be a web site that offers such a program. Online diet trackers are so good that you may wonder how anyone kept track before they existed (see my post “Best Online Diet Trackers” for a few suggestions). If you have one of these, you can input your meal plan and then track how well you kept to what you thought would be a good weekly menu. Then, you can see what works, what doesn’t, and what you should adjust for the next week.
Tip 3 – Some dieters find that a pre-printed grocery list is essential when doing a weekly menu. For myself, a grocery list is a must have when I go shopping. This type of grocery list can be made at home on the computer and printed or just write it up by hand. As you work on planning your menu, you can find or create a space to put each ingredient so you are sure that you never miss anything you need for your healthy meals while you are shopping. Not only does that save you time, it also ensures you have everything so you don’t give up and eat something you should not. Also, only buy what is on your grocery list and nothing else. This helps you to avoid impulse buying of foods that are not a part of your meal plans.
Tip 4 – You can not plan a good weekly menu if you do not understand basic nutrition. If you are just learning about how to build a healthy diet and you’re not following a structured program then the best place to start for information is the food pyramid (visit the page “USDA Food Guide Pyramid“). While some suggest the food pyramid is not great for nutrition, it can lead someone in a healthy direction if they do not have a specific eating plan in mind. Study the servings of each type of food to be sure you are getting what you need each day to be healthy.
Tip 5 – Lastly, you need the will to follow that weekly menu plan once you have worked it out and ready to go. The best menu in the world is not going to help your health or help you lose weight if you can not or will not follow it. If you have gone to all of that trouble, it only makes sense to give it your full concentration and effort. Enlist family and friends to help you out if you feel as if you are slipping.
I have been hearing more and more about a new weight loss trend that is capturing the attention of many dieters. This new trend is not based on any sort of structured weight loss program, exercise routine, diet pills or any other types of diet products. In fact, this new approach to losing weight is not really even considered a diet, more of a lifestyle change, which is why it is called the “Anti Diet”.
 The anti diet is a simple approach to losing weight that encourages you to make healthy food choices and increase your exercise without the use of a structured diet program. The Anti Diet is much like it sounds. This is not supposed to be a diet or eating plan, but rather, a new way to look at both food and exercise. If you are going on a diet you may go out and buy a ton of special food, a gym membership, and a host of other tools on the market. What normally happens next is a whole lot of nothing. This is because most diets do not work, are too restrictive, or are just too hard to follow in the long run. The Anti Diet promises to be fun, easy, and something that will stick with you for the rest of your life.
Normally, you have to cut calories, measure portions, and then starve. That is the main reason why many people fail at a specific and very rigid diet. The key to the Anti Diet is that you do not have to think about it that hard, you simply have to shop around the perimeter of your grocery store. This is normally where the fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy products are placed. You have to make an effort to cook your meals from recipes rather than opening a box and putting something into the oven or microwave. Natural foods are the way to go.
In fact, the Anti Diet urges you to shop for much of your food at your local farmer’s market. That is not always possible, as some foods only grow in certain seasons, but when you find food there, it is natural and good for you (for more information, see the post “Eating Organic Foods“). The processed, and sugar laden foods on the market today offer convenience, but are probably also the reason why your waist line has expanded. If you eat natural food, you do not have to worry about portions and calorie counting as much. You naturally eat right and won’t have the blood sugar spikes that often make people overeat and fall off the dieting bandwagon.
As you know, exercise is an important aspect of losing weight and staying in shape. However, there aren’t any fancy gym memberships or expensive pieces of equipment to buy with the Anti Diet. All you have to do is to think of natural ways to add more movement to your life. This means you spend more time cooking your meals, walking with your dog, and playing outside with your children. You can park further way at the store and go to the mall to get exercise by walking around more. You can do workouts if you wish, but with a little imagination, you can add all the exercise you need to your day with simple lifestyle adjustments.
Here are a few more articles that you may find interesting and helpful: “Best Foods for Weight Loss” and “Losing Weight on a Raw Food Diet“. Also, for reviews of numerous other diets, please visit Weight Loss Center’s comprehensive diet section here: Weight Loss Program Reviews
Have you heard? Stevia’s the word. Well, at least in the world of artificial sweeteners. Stevia is a sugar-substitute that may be one of the first healthy artificial sweeteners now available from your local health food store. If sweetening your beverages and food is adding empty calories to your diet then consider switching to Stevia, that contains almost no calories and is 200-300 times sweeter than table sugar.
 Stevia is a new sugar-substitute in North America that contains almost no calories, is healthier than other artificial sweeteners and is much sweeter than table sugar. There are quite a few sugar substitutes on the market today, but each one has consumers guessing if there are any health risks involved in using them on a daily basis (read a good post about Aspartame here: “Health Effects Caused by Aspartame”). Some artificial sweeteners have a very natural taste and some carry a strong aftertaste, but all have fans that use them religiously. Stevia is new to the US market, but is not new to the rest of the world as a sugar substitute or sweetener. If you find out a few more facts about this natural substance, you may want to make it your sugar-substitute of choice when trying to avoid empty calories and spikes in blood sugar levels.
There are two things about Stevia that make it ideal to some people. One is that it is natural, as it comes from a plant, and the second is that it has been used in other areas of the world for a very long time and is considered safe in those areas. Stevia is now being produced in the US, with the FDA finally caving in and allowing it to be consumed by Americans. It has been used in Japan for centuries, and many countries in South America, just to name a few. It is also available in Canada as a sweetener.
The Stevia plant, called Stevia rebaudiana, comes from a plant that grows in South America, but is also found in Central America. It can also be found in the US in the states bordering Mexico. The leaves of the Stevia plant offer a sweetness that is 10-15 times sweeter than sugar. The refined extracts of Stevia called steviosides, are said to be 200-300 times sweeter than table sugar and only a small amount can sweeten a beverage or food. Stevia has only a mild aftertaste that is similar to licorice. In the US, Stevia is now marketed by Coke and Cargill as Truvia, and by PepsiCo as PureVia. They are used in soda and other drink products and are becoming available for general use in packets as well.
Stevia has very little to no impact on the body’s blood sugar. This makes it ideal for those on a weight loss diet and for those with diabetes. Stevia brands can be used in cooking, but it will not caramelize as sugar will, making some desserts harder to reproduce. However, new Stevia recipes are popping up all of the time. At this time, it is considered safe to cook with in any type of food.
Is Stevia a safe artificial sweetener? Other artificial sweeteners, such as Aspartame, have proven negative health side-effects. Although a number of health studies have been conducted with Stevia, it seems that much more information is needed to make a decision about whether or not this sugar-substitute may cause health problems. Of particular concern is how our bodies breakdown Stevia into steviol, which may act as a carcinogen. Again, more research is needed, but as it stands it is believed that Stevia is relatively safe when taken in small doses.
Unlike table (refined) sugar and the artificial sweeteners on the market today, there is some small nutritional benefit to including Stevia in the diet. There are over or near 100 different types of phytonutrients found in the Stevia plant. In small doses, these are not enough to have much benefit, but it does add to the credibility of Stevia being safer and more natural than any other type of sugar substitute on the market today. If you wish to try Stevia, look on the shelves of your local grocery store. If it has yet to make it to your favorite shopping spot, you can usually find it in a natural food store or online.
In times when money is tight, some find it a challenge to afford the gym membership, fitness club membership or exercise equipment for their home that they feel they need to get a good workout. In some circumstances, people actually use these limitations as reasons not to exercise or begin dieting (I met someone like this recently, read my post about it here “Weight Loss Done Cheap“). The truth is that exercising at home can be very inexpensive, or cost you nothing at all, and the quality of your workout solely depends on you and not on the exercise equipment you may or may not have at hand. If you want to lose weight then you are going to need to exercise more. Start today, don’t put it off until you can afford a gym membership or a piece of equipment. If your budget is small, try these suggestions for exercise equipment you can make at home.
 Don't let your budget stop you from getting a good workout - lots of exercises are cheap or free, like jogging. Try these great suggestions for exercise equipment you can make at home. Gym memberships are great when trying to get into shape, or when trying to stay in shape. The big problems with memberships are that they can be too expensive, and many are hard to get out of when the gym situation is no longer working. Some people, especially those with some weight to lose, often feel uncomfortable in a gym atmosphere anyway. If you want to work out, but do not want to go to the gym, there are affordable ways to workout at home (also see the post, “Tips for Working Out at Home“). You can even make some things on your own so you do not have to buy expensive equipment you may not use for very long.
An exercise bench is something that you can use for many different types of exercise. This is something you can make very easily as long as you pay attention to all aspects of staying safe. You need a thick, wide board that can accommodate your body weight. This board can be leaned on something so you have an incline on which to do crunches or other ab exercises. You can also use it flat as a weight lifting bench. Just make sure your board is covered to avoid splinters, and also secured so that it will not fall and injure you while you are exercising.
Got rope? There are plenty of things you can do with a sturdy and lengthy rope. Remember to use gloves when exercising, however, as you can hurt your skin. A rope tied to a sturdy and weight bearing tree limb can be used to climb either the rope or the tree. You can also use that rope to pull various items that offer resistance. This builds muscle. Rope can also be used for skipping. Jumping rope can be a great cardio workout.
Though pull ups are often neglected for more modern types of exercise, this is one great way to build muscle and get the heart moving. A chin up bar can also be used for hanging upside down to do stomach crunches. You can buy a metal pipe or like-material from your local plumbing or home improvement store. Make sure your bar is secured into studs so that it will not fall while it is holding your weight. Also make sure you have enough clearance at the top so you do not hit your head while attempting your exercise.
Don’t forget that there are smaller things you can do at home to enhance your chosen exercise. If you are doing cardio in front of your television or dancing along with your stereo, you can use canned foods as weights to add some resistance. You can use your stairs for a great workout that gyms can only mimic with a machine. Also, don’t underestimate the power of just walking, jogging and biking outside to find something to do. Those exercises can be the most fun.
I’m sure there are many other types of exercise equipment you can make at home. If you have one that you have tried and liked, please share it with us. Also, please visit these related posts “Exercises You Can Do While Sitting“, “Fun Exercises That Can Help You Lose Weight” and “Exercises You Can Do At Work” for more great tips and ideas for inexpensive ways to workout.
This past week has been a very good diet week. I was very active last week, exercising six out of seven days and followed my meal plans fairly well. The only falter was a few drinks on Friday and Saturday, which I regret because they add so many empty calories to my diet, but at the same time I enjoyed myself and really felt like I was getting a treat. Sometimes a treat is necessary, especially when I am always so focused on what I cannot eat or drink. It keeps me sane.
At this morning’s weekly weigh in my weight was…
207 lbs
Yes, I’m very happy with a weight loss of four pounds last week. I really worked hard for it too. I am now back to where I was before my vacation, now over six weeks ago. Since then I have lost 7 lbs towards reaching my goal of losing 44 lbs in four months. I’m almost a quarter of the way there.
 There are a number of weight loss calculators you can use to make all kinds of estimates, such as calculating your basal metabolic rate or your body fat percentage. I was recording my new body fat percentage this morning (which is 31%, still on the high end of the scale) and thought it would be helpful to describe the number of free and helpful weight loss calculators that are available for everyone to use. Weight loss calculators are meant to provide you with a better understanding of your current weight, physical condition and your potential risk for weight-related health problems.
There are many helpful weight loss calculators online. These calculators can give estimates of your BMI (Body Mass Index), daily calorie needs, how many calories you burn during exercise and much, much more. The only word of caution that goes along with using these calculators is that the values they calculate are estimates only. Because weight loss calculators cannot take into consideration how much muscle your body has, your bone density or the speed of your metabolism, sometimes the values they give can be off from the true amount. Take the results of weight loss calculators as estimates only and then use your own common sense to figure out if the values are accurate or not.
BMI Calculator – This can tell you where you are when you start your diet and where you are as you go down in weight. You typically enter your height and weight to get your BMI or body mass index. This number tells you about your current state of health and your body fat. If you register at 30 or more, for example, you are in the area of being quite overweight or obese. You can also find out if you are underweight, healthy weight, or overweight. Try out Weight Loss Center’s BMI Calculator for free.
Body Fat Calculator – The body fat calculator will provide you with an estimate of your body fat percentage based on your gender, weight and waist size. For those of us who are an average frame and build, the body fat calculator can be fairly accurate. However, for those people with a large frame and/or have a large amount of muscle, body fat calculators will likely over-estimate body fat percentage. Try out Weight Loss Center’s Body Fat Calculator for free.
Healthy Weight Calculator – The Healthy Weight Calculator is a helpful weight loss calculator that provides an estimate of what your healthy weight should be. This is a very simple tool and can be useful when setting a weight loss goal. However, if you have a lot of weight to lose, setting a smaller weight loss goal for yourself is probably a better idea. Try out Weight Loss Center’s Healthy Weight Calculator for free.
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculator – This handy weight loss calculator will give you an estimate of what your basal metabolic rate is according to your gender, age, weight and height. Your BMR is how many calories your body expends just performing basic functions, such as keeping your heart beating, your lungs breathing, your stomach digesting and so on. Hypothetically, if you consume as many calories as your BMR requires each day, then any other physical activity, such as walking, grocery shopping and working out will create a calorie deficit that will force your body to burn body fat. Try out Weight Loss Center’s BMR Calculator for free.
Daily Calorie Intake Calculator – The Daily Calorie Intake Calculator is one weight loss tool I would recommend to anyone who is new to dieting and not sure how many calories they should be eating to lose weight. This calculator uses your gender, height, weight, age and exercise level to determine an estimate of how many calories your body burns each day. By simply subtracting 500 calories from the estimate of your daily calorie intake you will cause a calorie deficit of 3500 calories a week, which is a potential weight loss of 2 to 3 pounds a week. Try out Weight Loss Center’s Daily Calorie Intake Calculator for free.
Calorie Calculators – These can be used to keep tabs on all of the calories that you put into your body each day. This helps you decide if you are on the right track or not, or where you can cut down if you are taking in too much. Some of these are more complicated than others, so find one that works the best for you. Some have extensive lists of foods so all you have to do is find the food and enter the portion that you ate and it puts the right calories in for you. Others are not as extensive but are still useful. I just started using FitDay.com’s diet tracker for making all these calorie calculations (see my post “Best Online Diet Trackers“), but look around and find what works best for you.
Exercise Calculators – These work much like calorie calculators, but instead they keep track of how many calories you burn each day rather than how many you ingest. You can add the numbers on your own, but many will ask you for the type of exercise, your weight, and for how long you worked out. It then automatically tells you how much you burned and you can then see if you are getting what you need or improving if you are working your way up to a higher impact workout. Try out Weight Loss Center’s Activity Calorie Calculator for free.
Dieting Calculators – There are some weight loss calculators that you can find which help you set a goal before you put the other calculators into use. You can enter height and weight, and then how much weight you want to lose. You can enter pounds or percentage to get some advice on caloric intake and exercise outlines.
With so much focus on losing weight, it is sometimes easy to overlook the other big health benefits of switching to a healthier diet. One part of your body that will greatly benefit from you eating less fatty foods and more fruits, veggies and whole grains is your heart. Although some conditions that arise with your heart may be genetically related, many heart problems can be avoided or minimized by eating a healthier diet and limiting your consumption of alcohol (for more information, see my post “Alcohol Affects Risks of Cancer and Heart Disease in Women“). Some of these heart conditions include heart attack, heart disease and stroke.
 There are many foods that improve heart health that are also great diet foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. If you want to know more about keeping your heart healthy, there are plenty of things you can find and read. However, most of those things tell you about what you should not eat, rather than what you should eat. You can plan your diet to avoid those foods that are bad for your heart, but you do you know about the food that improves heart health? These are the foods that you should incorporate into your daily meal plan to keep your heart as healthy and as strong as it can be. It may just lead to a longer and more active life.
Foods on the bad list are usually ones we love to eat. However, we have to eat them in moderation, or not at all, in order to have the best heart health. These include foods with trans fats and saturated fats (refer to the post “Trans Fats and How to Avoid Them“). Those fats are the ones that clog arteries and contribute to a host of other health and heart problems. That does not mean you have to avoid all fats, however. Some fats are good for you, and can contribute to good heart health. Look for polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats to incorporate into your cooking routine.
One heart health powerhouse is berries. This includes berries such as strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and acai berries (here’s a great article “Acai Berry Health Benefits“). Berries contribute to your heart’s health because they are packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Try to have these a few times a week. The best thing about berries is that they are easy to add to many dishes. You can have them plain as a snack, or you can add them to your morning breakfast cereal. Try healthy versions of berry muffins, or have them fresh or half frozen in milk with a half a teaspoon of sugar. You can also look for great smoothie recipes that includes berries.
Another great food that improves heart health is oatmeal. This is traditionally a breakfast food, but you can eat it any time during the day (it makes a super simple and tasty lunch – one of my favorites). The oats are great for your heart and lower cholesterol levels in the body. Try adding the above mentioned berries to your bowl of oatmeal for a great meal or add the oats to some of your other meals. You can use them as fillers in meatloaf and meatballs, or you can use them as a coating to oven baked foods such as chicken breast strips, fish and casseroles.
Other great foods for your heart include salmon, spinach, soy, low fat proteins like beans, vegetables, and whole grains. Don’t forget the other things you need to keep your heart healthy. Add exercise to your weekly schedule, and try to keep your stress levels down as much as possible. If you smoke, stop, and avoid binge drinking. Lastly, don’t forget to keep an eye on your sodium levels.
For myself, I have a history of heart disease among the women in my family. About five years ago, at one of the heaviest weights I’ve been, I began to experience strange heart palpitations and needless to say I was very concerned. After a number of tests, my doctor could not find anything wrong with my heart, but I knew that my symptoms were just a sign of problems to come. And I’m ashamed to say that even though my heart was popping around like a ping-pong ball, I still didn’t change my diet, nor did I get more exercise. In fact, I became paranoid about exercising because I didn’t want to strain myself. Both of these were poor decisions, but at least I have turned it around now. Eating a healthy diet low in saturated fats, limiting my alcohol consumption and getting lots of exercise has improved all aspects of my health. I haven’t had an abnormal heart palpitation for over a year now and I know it is because my heart is stronger and healthier because of the life changes I’ve made.
If you are concerned about your heart health, get a checkup from your doctor and then start making diet and exercise changes in your life right away. Remember that even though some conditions are hereditary this does not mean you are doomed. Even hereditary heart conditions can be minimized or avoided all together and including these foods that improve heart health in your diet is a good start.
Most of us know that a healthy and balanced diet plays a big part in weight loss, but one of the other big benefits of a healthier diet is its anti-aging effects on your body. One of the simplest examples of this is the importance of drinking enough water during the day. Keeping your body well hydrated not only helps to optimize metabolism and curb hunger, which are both very important when trying to lose weight, but good hydration also helps to keep your skin looking healthy and removes toxins from your body that may be aging you prematurely.
 Eating foods that are high in antioxidants, such as berries, will not only help you to lose weight, but will make you feel and look younger. Aging is very subjective. There are many factors that determine how fast you age whether it be internally or externally. Either way, you want to do something about the factors that you can control rather than the ones that are out of your reach. Your genetics are going to play a part in your aging, but that is not something that you can stop or control. On the other hand, you can stay on top of your habits and your diet. Sometimes, eating the right things can help not only with your internal but your more superficial signs of aging as well.
What you eat can age you. You have to avoid some things and have to take in others. While smoking and drinking are not technically foods, they are things that can age you prematurely both inside and out. If you smoke you should stop, and if you drink, cut down on how much. Drinking red wine can actually be beneficial for both anti-aging and weight loss (see the post “Red Wine May Aid Weight Loss“), but you can not over do it. Despite some of the health benefits, limiting your alcohol consumption is particularly important for women, as was recently discovered in a European study (discussed in the post “Alcohol Affects Risks of Cancer and Heart Disease in Women“).
As you may have guessed, foods that are more natural and considered to be part of a healthy diet are the best anti-aging diet foods. Fruits and vegetables are foods that top the list of foods good to slow down aging. These are full of antioxidants and anti inflammatory substances that are going to be of the most help with slowing down aging. The more colorful ones are the most beneficial. If you already have a diet full of these, you are one step ahead. Remember, they help with a variety of health issues as well. Cold water fish, such as trout and salmon, are also said to be another source of good anti-aging antioxidants. These help keep your immune system strong, which helps the body stay clean and clear of toxins. As you can imagine, toxins are one of the top reasons for premature aging.
Other foods beneficial in keeping you looking and feeling young are nuts, whole grains, and yogurt. More specifically, eat barley, green foods of all types, hot peppers, beans, spinach, curry, tomatoes, almonds, lentils, and acai (acai may not do much for weight loss, but it’s a great food to improve health – see the post “Acai Berry and Weight Loss“). Perhaps the best food for anti-aging, at least in the aspect of culinary enjoyment, is chocolate. That’s right! If you love chocolate, know eating it in moderation is good for you, not only as an aid for weight loss (see my post “Chocolate Increases Weight Loss“), but also for its anti-aging benefits.
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