If you’re overweight, you are not a bad person. You’re simply
overweight. But it’s important to lose the extra pounds so you’ll look
good, feel healthier and develop a sense of pride and self-esteem. Once
you’ve lost the fat, you’ll need to maintain your weight.
In this booklet, you’ll discover how to lose 10 pounds a month – a nice,
safe loss of about two or two-and-a-half pounds a week – painlessly.
You’ll feel satisfied and more energetic than in the past without feeling
deprived.

Most Americans pack on those extra pounds by eating the wrong things.
Changing these poor eating habits is the key to long-term success.
Knowledge – along with the right food – is the key.
When humans lived in caves, they didn’t know anything about preserving
and storing food. They spent all their waking time and energy hunting
and gathering food. When they had it, they gobbled it down fast. Instead
of storing food in pantries or cupboards, they stored energy in their
bodies in the form of fat to burn during periods when there was little or
nothing to eat.
Each year, it was absolutely vital for them to put on a good layer of fat
during the warm spring and summer months. That was the only way they
could guarantee their survival during the lean and mean winter months.
And since women bore the young, they needed more energy to sustain
themselves and their babies, and that meant they were usually heavier.
Even though we no longer live in caves, we have inherited and
maintained this basic mechanism for fat storage from our hunting and
gathering ancestors.
Each one of us is born with a certain number of fat cells. How many of
these fat cells you possess depends on genetics. If you have a lot of fat
cells, maybe your ancestors were the biggest people in the tribe, which
was a good thing because they had the best chances of survival.
You can never get rid of fat cells, but – unfortunately – you can add to
them. Depending upon what you eat, your body will manufacture new fat
cells. And like those you were born with, they never go away.
That doesn’t mean you’re doomed to be fat once you put on extra
pounds. It is possible to shrink fat cells. That’s what happens when you
lose weight. You burn up the fat stored in those big fat cells. Think of
them as balloons. Burning off the fat inside them has the same effect as
letting the air out of a balloon.
A good weight loss program requires a certain amount of intake
restriction – the consumption of fewer calories. You burn off the fat by
eating less fat and becoming more active.
To guarantee a lifetime of weight-control success, you have to change the
type of foods you eat, so that you ingest less fat and still get the vitamins,
minerals, trace elements, protein, fat and carbohydrates your body needs
to thrive.
Extremely low-calorie diets may help you shed pounds quickly, but they’ll
lead to failure in the long run.
That’s because humans are genetically protected against starvation.

A part of our brain called the hypothalamus keeps us on an even weight
by creating a “set point.” That’s the weight where we feel comfortable.
The hypothalamus determines this point based on the level of
consumption it’s used to. It seeks to keep our weight constant, even if
that point is over what it should be.
When we drastically cut back our food intake, the brain thinks the body
is starving, and in an effort to preserve life, it slows the metabolism. Soon
the pounds stop coming off. Consequently, we grow hungry and
uncomfortable and then eat more. And then the diet fails.
How can you compensate for this metabolic slow-down? The answer is
that you have to change the nutritional composition of the foods you eat.
You will have to cut down on total calories – that’s absolutely basic to
weight loss. More important, however, is reducing the percentage of total
calories you are getting from fat.
That’s how you’ll avoid starvation panic in your system. At the same
time, you reduce the amount of fat in your food, replacing it with safe,
low calorie, nutrient-rich plant foods. This will convince your brain that
your body is getting all the nutrition it needs.
In fact, you’ll be able to eat more food and feel more satisfied while
consuming fewer calories and fats.
Plant foods break down slowly in your stomach, making you feel full
longer, and they are rich in vitamins, minerals, trace elements,
carbohydrates and protein for energy and muscle-building. This allows
your body to burn off its excess stored fat.

Fat Burning Foods

Each one of the following foods is clinically proven to promote weight
loss. These foods go a step beyond simply adding no fat to your system –
they possess special properties that add zip to your system and help your
body melt away unhealthy pounds. These incredible foods can suppress
your appetite for junk food and keep your body running smoothly with
clean fuel and efficient energy.
You can include these foods in any sensible weight-loss plan. They give
your body the extra metabolic kick that it needs to shave off weight
quickly.
A sensible weight loss plan calls for no fewer that 1,200 calories per day.
But Dr. Charles Klein recommends consuming more that that, if you can
believe it – 1,500 to 1,800 calories per day. He says you will still lose
weight quite effectively at that intake level without endangering your
health.
Hunger is satisfied more completely by filling the stomach. Ounce for
ounce, the foods listed below accomplish that better than any others. At
the same time, they’re rich in nutrients and possess special fat-melting
talents.

Apples

These marvels of nature deserve their reputation for keeping the doctor
away when you eat one a day. And now, it seems, they can help you melt
the fat away, too.

First of all, they elevate your blood glucose (sugar) levels in a safe, gentle
manner and keep them up longer than most foods. The practical effect of
this is to leave you feeling satisfied longer, say researchers.
Secondly, they’re one of the richest sources of soluble fiber in the
supermarket. This type of fiber prevents hunger pangs by guarding
against dangerous swings or drops in your blood sugar level, says Dr.
James Anderson of the University of Kentucky’s School of Medicine.
An average sized apple provides only 81 calories and has no sodium,
saturated fat or cholesterol. You’ll also get the added health benefits of
lowering the level of cholesterol already in your blood as well as lowering
your blood pressure.

Whole-Grain Bread
You needn’t dread bread. It’s the butter, margarine or cream cheese you
put on it that’s fattening, not the bread itself. We’ll say this as often as
needed – fat is fattening. If you don’t believe that, ponder this – a gram
of carbohydrate has four calories, a gram of protein four, and a gram of
fat nine. So which of these is really fattening?
Bread, a natural source of fiber and complex carbohydrates, is okay for
dieting. Norwegian scientist Dr. Bjarne Jacobsen found that people who
eat less than two slices of bread daily weigh about 11 pounds more than
those who eat a lot of bread.
Studies at Michigan State University show some breads actually reduce
the appetite. Researchers compared white bread to dark, high-fiber bread
and found that students who ate 12 slices a day of the dark, high-fiber
bread felt less hunger on a daily basis and lost five pounds in two
months. Others who ate white bread were hungrier, ate more fattening
foods and lost no weight during this time.
So the key is eating dark, rich, high-fiber breads such as pumpernickel,
whole wheat, mixed grain, oatmeal and others. The average slice of whole
grain bread contains only 60 to 70 calories, is rich in complex
carbohydrates – the best, steadiest fuel you can give your body – and
delivers a surprising amount of protein.

Coffee
Easy does it is the password here. We’ve all heard about potential
dangers of caffeine – including anxiety and insomnia – so moderation is
the key.
The caffeine in coffee can speed up the metabolism. In nutritional circles,
it’s known as a metabolic enhancer, according to Dr. Judith Stern of the
University of California at Davis.
This makes sense, since caffeine is a stimulant. Studies show it can help
you burn more calories than normal, perhaps up to 10 percent more. For
safety’s sake, it’s best to limit your intake to a single cup in the morning
and one in the afternoon. Add only skim milk to it and try doing without
sugar – many people learn to love it that way.

Grapefruit
There’s good reason for this traditional diet food to be a regular part of
your diet. It helps dissolve fat and cholesterol, according to Dr. James
Cerd of the University of Florida. An average sized grapefruit has 74
calories, delivers a whopping 15 grams of pectin (the special fiber linked
to lowering cholesterol and fat), is high in vitamin C and potassium and
is free of fat and sodium.
It’s rich in natural galacturonic acid, which adds to its potency as a fat
and cholesterol fighter. The additional benefit here is assistance in the
battle against atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and the
development of heart disease. Try sprinkling it with cinnamon rather
than sugar to take away some of the tart taste.
 

Mustard
Try the hot, spicy kind you find in Asian import stores, specialty shops
and exotic groceries. Dr. Jaya Henry of Oxford Polytechnic Institute in
England, found that the amount of hot mustard normally called for in
Mexican, Indian and Asian recipes, about one teaspoon, temporarily
speeds up the metabolism, just as caffeine and the drug ephedrine do.
“But mustard is natural and totally safe,” Henry says. “It can be used
every day, and it really works. I was shocked to discover it can speed up
the metabolism by as much as 20 to 25 percent for several hours.” This
can result in the body burning an extra 45 calories for every 700
consumed, Dr. Henry says.

Peppers
Hot, spicy chili peppers fall into the same category as hot mustard, Henry
says. He studied them under the same circumstances as the mustard and
they worked just as well. A mere three grams of chili peppers were added
to a meal consisting of 766 total calories. The peppers’ metabolismraising
properties worked like a charm, leading to what Henry calls a dietinduced
thermic effect. It doesn’t take much to create the effect. Most
salsa recipes call for four to eight chilies – that’s not a lot.
Peppers are astonishingly rich in vitamins A and C, abundant in calcium,
phosphorus, iron and magnesium, high in fiber, free of fat, low in sodium
and have just 24 calories per cup.

Potatoes
We’ve got to be kidding, right? Wrong. Potatoes have developed the
same “fattening” rap as bread, and it’s unfair. Dr. John McDougal,
director of the nutritional medicine clinic at St. Helena Hospital in Deer
Park, California, says, “An excellent food with which to achieve rapid
weight loss is the potato, at 0.6 calories per gram or about 85 calories per
potato.” A great source of fiber and potassium, they lower cholesterol
and protect against strokes and heart disease.

Preparation and toppings are crucial. Steer clear of butter, milk and sour
cream, or you’ll blow it. Opt for yogurt instead.

Rice
An entire weight-loss plan, simply called the Rice Diet, was developed by
Dr. William Kempner at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.
The diet, dating to the 1930’s, makes rice the staple of your food intake.
Later on, you gradually mix in various fruits and vegetables.
It produces stunning weight loss and medical results. The diet has been
shown to reverse and cure kidney ailments and high blood pressure.
A cup of cooked rice (150 grams) contains about 178 calories –
approximately one-third the number of calories found in an equivalent
amount of beef or cheese. And remember, whole-grain rice is much
better for you than white rice.

Soups
Soup is good for you! Maybe not the canned varieties from the store –
but old-fashioned, homemade soup promotes weight loss. A study by Dr.
John Foreyt of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, found that
dieters who ate a bowl of soup before lunch and dinner lost more weight
than dieters who didn’t. In fact, the more soup they ate, the more weight
they lost. And soup eaters tend to keep the weight off longer.
Naturally, the type of soup you eat makes a difference. Cream soups or
those made of beef or pork are not your best bets. But here’s a great
recipe:
Slice three large onions, three carrots, four stalks of celery, one zucchini
and one yellow squash. Place in a kettle. Add three cans crushed
tomatoes, two packets low-sodium chicken bouillon, three cans water
and one cup white wine (optional). Add tarragon, basil, oregano, thyme
and garlic powder. Boil, then simmer for an hour. Serves six.

Spinach
Popeye really knew what he was talking about, according to Dr. Richard
Shekelle, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas. Spinach has the
ability to lower cholesterol, rev up the metabolism and burn away fat.
Rich in iron, beta carotene and vitamins C and E, it supplies most of the
nutrients you need.

Tofu
You just can’t say enough about this health food from Asia. Also called
soybean curd, it’s basically tasteless, so any spice or flavoring you add
blends with it nicely. A 2½ ” square has 86 calories and nine grams of
protein. (Experts suggest an intake of about 40 grams per day.) Tofu
contains calcium and iron, almost no sodium and not a bit of saturated
fat. It makes your metabolism run on high and even lowers cholesterol.
With different varieties available, the firmer tofus are good for stir-frying
or adding to soups and sauces while the softer ones are good for
mashing, chopping and adding to salads.

Weight Loss

This entry was posted on Friday, May 30th, 2008 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.