Healthy Diet Dos And Don’ts

Dieters are proved to loose 10% of initial weight within six months, most is being lost within the first three months. Dieters suggest dos and don’ts for those who want to slim down and adopt healthy eating habits.
1. Staying hungry for more than 5 hours is wrong. When you are very hungry, you eat whatever you find in the kitchen. Also you eat to much than needed, but when you realize it, you’ve already eaten too much.
2. Well developed muscles burn calories well. A pound of well trained muscles can burn up to 14 calories a day. Meanwhile a pound of fatty tissue burns only from 2 to 3 calories a day.
3. Some of dietarians advise to avoid pasta because it contains carbohydrates, which is later turned into sugar and then into fat. But scientists suggest that a small amount of pasta, such as 2 or 3 ounces, is acceptable.
4. Coffee doesn’t make a major sense in loosing weight. A reasonable amount of coffee may exist in a diet, but you need to make sure not to have any cream or cocoa added. If you add any, you should take the calories included in cream into account.
5. Dairy products contain calcium which is considered as fat burner, but these products can not make you loose weight. Milk and other dairies are considered as an important part of healthy diet, but you still need to use low-fat versions.
6. Dieters must be physically and emotionally be prepared to long-term diet. It’s wrong to decide to loose weight within a month and start exhausting diet. The diet must be smooth and easy for long-term maintenance.
7. You need to know the right protein and carbohydrate containing food that is healthy. Protein is common and useful in lean meats, poultry, dairy products and tofu. Carbohydrate is common and useful in whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
8. If you want to loose much weight you shouldn’t just start starving. Of course you’ll see great results if you cut lots of daily calories, but this kind of diet will not be easy to maintain, and sooner or later you’ll give the diet up and will gain even more weight. Instead you should choose a smooth diet and keep if for a long time.
9. Most of us are sure that diet food is helping to loose weight. However, we should also pay attention on other nutrition facts such as calories. Just buying diet food is not the right decision. You must also count calories you take a day despite of whatever is written on food labels.
10. Fat is supposed to stimulate weight gain. However, there are healthy fats called monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and unhealthy ones called saturated fats. Healthy fat is contained in canola, safflower, and olive oil, nuts, and fish. Unhealthy fat is contained in packaged foods, fried fast foods.
Dean Ornish, the founder of Preventive Medicine Research Institute says: "If you indulge yourself one day, eat healthier the next. As you move towards the healthier end of the spectrum, you’re going to look better, feel better, live longer, loose weight, gain health, and maintain healthy diet."

Why should I lose weight?

Carrying around extra pounds can be detrimental to your health. If you are considering starting a healthy eating and exercise plan or you have fallen off your diet, this article may motivate you to get in gear.
What Extra Weight Can Do to Your Body
1. Carrying around excess body fat will decrease your energy level. Having just 10 lbs. of excess body fat is like carrying around a 10 lb. bag of lard.
2. Your heart has to work overtime to support more of you. Obesity has a harmful effect on your entire cardiovascular system. Your cardiovascular system includes your heart and all your blood vessels like arteries and veins.
3. You may develop breathing problems. For example, sleep apnea is a breathing problem that causes you to stop breathing for short instances during sleep.
4. Extra weight will take a toll on your joints. Obesity has also been linked to Gout.
5. Women can develop problems with their reproductive system including infertility.
6. Type 2 Diabetes has been linked to obesity.
7. Extra weight will put you at a higher risk for certain types of cancer. Obese men have a higher risk of developing colon, rectum, or prostate cancer. Obese women have a higher risk of developing gallbladder, breast, uterine, cervical, or ovarian cancer.
8. Being overweight may have an effect on your self-esteem that, in turn, will have a negative effect on your overall health.
Assessing Your Risk
Body Mass Index or BMI is an estimate of your total body fat. You can see a charts for calculating BMI here: http://www.nutricounter.com/articles/bmi.htm
Weight loss is recommended if your BMI is over 30.
Weight loss is recommended if your BMI is 25 - 30 and you also have two or more of the following risk factors:
1. If you're a man, a waist circumference of over 40 inches.
2. If you're a woman, a waist circumference of over 35 inches.
3. High blood pressure
4. High cholesterol
5. High triglycerides
6. High blood glucose
7. Family history of premature heart disease
8. Physical inactivity
9. Cigarette smoking
By the above standards, if you think you need to lose weight, you should see your health care provider for a more accurate assessment.