Weight Loss Eating Plan: Why I Eat Breakfast (And Why You Should Too)

Sometimes I get reminded of how naïve I am with weight loss and nutrition. I stupidly assume that most people know the absolute, no-brains fundamentals of weight loss...such as eating breakfast each morning.

In my mind, there are very few effective weight loss eating plans that do not include a meal in the morning (commonly referred to as breakfast).

However, I am often reminded that most people are not aware of this simple fact, and furthermore, most people skip breakfast...especially those who are trying to lose weight! Little do they know that they are literally making it more difficult for their body to burn fat and lose weight.

Does this sound like you at all? C'mon, be honest. I promise not to judge.




After all, if you have previously skipped breakfast thinking that it was actually conducive to burning fat, you are not alone. Millions of Americans alone think just like you.

It is natural to think that eating less means losing more weight. Well, that is not exactly so. Let me explain to you why eating more, and especially eating a healthy breakfast, is necessary for the most effective healthy weight loss plans.

When we sleep, our body goes into a semi-state of preservation. Not having a consistent flow of nutrients, our body's systems slow down in an attempt to preserve the energy stores that it has within the body. During this period (sleep), our body is conserving energy and thus burning more calories.

When we awake, and we begin to move, our body wants to start speeding up energy production. However, without a supply of nutrients to break the fast, our systems tend to remain in this slowed down state...again, to conserve energy.

When we eat our first meal of the day, our body begins to receive the nutrients and knows that it is ok to speed up the processes that make up our metabolism. However, the longer you go while awake without feeding your body, the more likely your body is to want to stay in that state of preservation, the slower your metabolism will be, and the more fat you will tend to store.

Now, that being said, simply eating breakfast is not exactly enough for weight loss if we are feeding our body with poor food choices. You have to make sure that when you do break the morning fast that your weight loss eating plan includes foods that promote lean muscle gain and fat burning.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Christopher_L_Allan/810993

Extreme Fat Loss - Top 3 Exercises to Help You Lose Belly Fat

A regular routine and extreme fat loss exercise will help lose those calories. Diet pills, fat burners, and appetite supplements, will only work well if you have the exercise to assist them. You do not need to have expensive medications to support the weight loss effort. All you need is the right kind of workout program that will not only burn up calories but will tone down the body. Rapid and quick methods to lose the excess body mass may work well at first. However, you need to follow it up with a good dose of regular fitness exercises to get rid of that belly flab.

Some tips and a simple guide to getting rid of that belly will suffice in assisting these methods. The routine must be something that will work on all the muscle groups, although you will be focusing more on the belly. It is suggested by fitness experts that to rest between sets are favorable to the body. However, on the other hand, to burn up the fat, some cardio exercises for about 30 to 45 seconds will work out. These include jumping rope, treadmills or stationary bike routines. Workouts like these will help pump up the heart and detoxify the body through sweating. Thus, with cardio fitness workouts you lose weight faster.

Three major extreme fat loss exercises to tone that belly may be as follows. First, consider doing lunging exercises. Some other times, these can be referred to as the squat type routine. Fitness instructors suggest assisting the routine with dumbbells to also put pressure on the body and help tone the biceps. To simply do this, push your hips back, bend your knees and drop your body forward in a lunging motion. Another type of exercise that helps cut the fat in the belly is the crunches and sit-ups. They work well by putting pressure on the belly with constant contractions.




Lastly, you can help tighten the muscles on the belly and have extreme fat loss by using ab-trainers. Stability balls and crunch devices are good tools that will assist you in burning up the fat in the belly and firm them up. Cable crunches and hanging knee raise are also acceptable devices that will definitely help you in the toning and firming up of the body. The belly is perhaps the most conscious part of any person's body. If you get rid of the flab, you will definitely be more confident and sure of your outlook.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Brian_Spiney/729860

The Japanese Diet - a Diet To Lose Weight, Remain Slim & Be Healthy!

For no people on earth is it more true than the Japanese, when you say, "you are what you eat". The Japanese are, by all accounts, the people with the least obesity problem, the highest longevity rate, and best health record. What are they eating?

The importance of rice

Rice is the main carbohydrate food in Japan, consumed with every meal. However, the real basis of the Japanese diet is not rice but fish, consumed at more than 70 kilos per person per year--which means 190 grams daily. This combination of rice and fish, as their staple food is far superior to the American meat and potato, the European little of this, little of that diets, and light years ahead of the Russian pork, potato and mayonnaise daily fare.

Let's see what else they eat. Miso and other soy products! Miso is a fermented soy product, and a soup is made from it that is light tasting and easy to digest. One gets all the benefits of soy from it. Also, the famous soy sauce. Japanese people, on the average consume about 200 grams of soy products daily.




So why are they so thin and so healthy?

There are a few very good reasons. One is their sparingly consumption of sugar.

Low in sugar

Japanese consume only 20 kilos of sugar per year (compared to the American 71 kilos per year). Another is the Japanese consumption of cereals (which obviously includes rice) to be 105 kilos per year (compared to the American 68 kilos per year).

The human body appears to be doing much better with natural cereals and less sugar than fried potatoes and 'sugar in everything you eat' diets. The Japanese have far less incidence of heart disease and cancer than Americans. As they eat as much meat as the Americans do (or more), and smoke more, the theory is refined sugar and stress are the two biggest contributors to destroying one's health.
Portion size

Another important factor in the Japanese diet is portion size. The portions are small.
This means they savor their food; eat slowly and enjoy it. No "scarfing" down hamburgers and fries here, and king size cola drinks.

Eating with chop sticks help, as you eat more slowly, take smaller bites and are able to appreciate what you are eating. This aids in digestion, and that is a proven fact.
There are two more factors which must be mentioned that make the Japanese diet so successful.

The first is breakfast.

The typical Japanese breakfast can (and usually includes) green tea, steamed rice, miso soup with tofu, spring onions and omelet and both raw and grilled fish.

This gives your body all it needs to start your day well. You will feel better, and such food does not add weight to your body at all. In fact, it stimulates the metabolism mechanism. You will not gain weight, and if overweight, will lose weight.

Variety Never be bored

The second factor is variety.

A typical American will have about 30 varieties of food per week. A typical European (especially southern European) will have about 45. The typical Japanese will have about 100 varieties of food per week, and will include lots of fresh fish, vegetables, fruit and a variety of meats.

There is one over-riding element here as well; the Japanese cook their foods lightly and thus are never feeling stuffed and stuffy after eating.

As you can see the diet is great and its healthy and is perfect for those wanting to lose weight and avoid illness.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sacha_Tarkovsky/24542