Negative Calorie Foods & Weight Loss

You gain weight when your calorie intake is more than your calorie expenditure. But if this calorie equation is reversed, then it results in "negative calorie" balance in your body. In this negative calorie case, you expand more calories than you take in, resulting in a decrease in the stored calories in the form of body fat, and you experience a weight loss. About 10% of daily caloric intake is used to process foods in the body. You can expand more by doing physical activities.

There are certain foods that show negative calorie effect because the body has to expand more energy to extract calories from these foods. The negative calorie foods need more calories to break down the foods and digest than the calories the foods actually contain. The extra calories are taken up from the stored fat in the body. Thus the negative calorie foods (may also be called as minus calorie foods or fat burning foods) are ideal for reducing the body fat and for losing weight.

Let us take an example. A piece of dessert consisting of 300 calories may require only 150 calories to be digested by our body, resulting in a net gain of 150 calories which is added to our body fat! So if you eat 100 calories of a food that requires 150 calories to digest, then you have burnt an additional 50 calories simply by eating that food. These 50 calories are used up from the stored fat in your body!

These foods are widely available in nature. Some of the foods from the list of negative calorie foods (about 100 in number) are: asparagus, broccoli, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, carrot, garlic, papaya, spinach, turnip, zucchini, apples, oranges, lettuce, grapefruit, pineapples, strawberries, and raspberries.

It is a great idea to eat these negative calorie food items to your full satisfaction without counting calories. Include these foods in your daily diet and plan your diet according to food pyramid. You will be amazed to see the fast weight loss results. You can follow negative calorie diet plan for safe and permanent weight loss.

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Copyright 2004 P. Mehta, www.fatfreekitchen.com

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Weight Loss: The Key to Discipline

Recently, two co-workers of mine were discussing their weight loss efforts and part of that conversation stuck with me. One of them said, "It sure is a lot harder to lose weight than it is to gain it." The other one answered, "Yeah, thats because gaining weight is fun." I laughed with them, because there is some truth to that statement.

Yes, it can be fun to eat with abandonment and not think about whether what you are eating is healthy or not; it is only the consequences that are painful. Examples of shorter term consequences are pain in your stomach, indigestion, and sluggishness. The longer term consequences are high blood pressure, heart disease, and shortness of breath. Seeing your appearance change for the worse is painful too. Focusing on these consequences is key to developing self-discipline.

Discipline is necessary to achieve your weight loss goals and any goal that you want to achieve in life. After all, you dont have to employ discipline to do those things that you enjoy. For example, I wouldnt have to discipline myself to eat chocolate bars because I enjoy them, however I do have to discipline myself to limit them in my life. How do I do it? Discipline requires two skills: Desire and diversion.

Desire means that you have to want the goal that your discipline will help you achieve more than anything. For example, I wanted to lose weight and get healthy more than I wanted the chocolate bars. Each time I desired the chocolate bar, I had to remind myself of the alternate goal and make it real and vivid. I had to see myself with that goal already achieved and experience the pleasure of it. I had to make that pleasure more intense than the pleasure I imagined I would receive from eating the chocolate bar.

The second skill is diversion, which is simply engaging in an activity that diverted my attention away from the undesirable activity. In the chocolate bar example, I had to either give myself something that I would enjoy eating that was healthier for me or perform an alternate activity that would help me better meet my needs. For example, if I was angry, eating a chocolate bar would not help me, but taking a long walk to cool off likely would.

My co-worker was right: For many of us, losing weight is harder than gaining it. But we need to remind ourselves that, although it is harder to lose weight, it is not impossible. It is also worth the effort. Then we use our key of discipline to help us achieve what we want. It is the only way to get the body that we deserve.

A Registered Nurse for many years, Kimberly Floyd battled obesity for much of her adult life. She achieved her ideal weight and has written a new book entitled 'Moneywise Weight Loss' which teaches others how to lose weight and save money--at the same time.

Kim has written articles for the Georgia Nurses Association publication and Nursing Spectrum Online. Now a technical writer, she has written training programs for corporate clients, including IBM, U.S. Bank, and Cingular.

Kim also teaches an online course called 'Goodbye to Shy'. This course is distributed to over 1100 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, and Australia through Thomson Learning. An accomplished speaker and trainer, she delivers presentations on health-related topics to enthusiastic audiences.

Weight Loss For Your Health

Possibly the saddest comment anyone can make about our modern way of life concerns our obsession over how we look. The diet and weight loss industry markets almost entirely on the basis of how we think we look, rather than how healthy we are or how we feel. As important as looks are, when we base our weight loss goals on looks, we set ourselves up for serious disease and ultimate failure in the looks department, too. This article will help you set realistic goals that will drive you, not to go on another crash diet, but to take the right actions for a permanent lifestyle change that will give you the good looks and much more.

Lose Weight For Health: You'll look better! Yes, looking good is more than fitting into the latest fashions. By far, the best looking people, regardless of age, have made good health a priority in their lives. We've all seen the pictures of smokers, alcoholics, drug addicts and the morbidly obese. These pictures all have one thing in common...the people look old well beyond their years and as sick as a living person can be. Healthy people not only avoid harmful, addictive things, but they pursue healthy activities as a lifestyle. Healthy people don't need to "go on a diet" because they manage their regular diet and exercise so they never need to lose more than 10 pounds. I envy them! I'm just learning to do this in my 50's. Considering where my health choices have left me, I would have felt a lot better most of my life, had I just made health my priority. Fortunately, there's still time for both of us to feel better.

Lose Weight To Feel Better: Instead of looks, we need to manage our weight to feel better. There's no question that people who feel better look better. Half the time, I look terrible because of the asthma and diabetes caused by my previous bi-polar health habits. Tired, crabby and out of breath aren't pretty. Now that I'm down 50 pounds from my high, six years ago, It isn't as bad as it was. Feeling better is a great reason to lose the weight we need to lose. Of course, no one who is on a diet feels good. Their bodies don't have enough nutrients (that's why you lose weight) and their minds are fighting them at every turn. Oh, why can't I have that pie, hamburger, French fry, Ice Cream? We go from feeling sick and tired from carrying around the extra weight to feeling sick and tired because of our drastic diets. If we want to lose weight to feel better, we'll find a smarter way...with a permanent lifestyle change, including eating and regular exercise.

Lose Weight To Be Smarter: While developing a healthy lifestyle is smarter, it makes you smarter, too. Weight loss diets deprive us of nutrients necessary for optimum brain function. We lose concentration and become more sluggish and irritable. It really doesn't matter whether you're cutting carbs or proteins, your body is teetering on the edge of starvation, and that makes thinking far more difficult. When you lose weight using a low fat, balanced diet and exercise, the opposite is true. You get mentally sharper, feel happier and think better. That's because a balanced diet provides all the nutrients your brain needs and less fat to clog up the blood supply, while the exercise pumps the blood more thoroughly through the brain and produces endorphins that elevate mood and relaxation. Though you lose the weight more slowly, you're happier, more energetic and mentally sharper than before the lifestyle change...in short...you start getting healthier immediately.

Lose Weight To Avoid Disease: Speaking of being healthier, avoiding disease is right on the top of that list. In addition to the diseases I mentioned above, being fat causes or contributes to cancer, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, depression, anxiety, phobia, rapid aging, allergies, and a host of other diseases. If your weight loss goal is to be healthy and avoid disease, the last thing you would want to do is stress your body further with a weight-loss diet. In fact, too few nutrients during a diet can cause many of the same diseases as being overweight. Based on my symptoms and blood tests at the time, I contracted diabetes when I was thin (170 pounds), after losing over 55 pounds in 6 months on a high carb/low protein diet program. My doctor never mentioned the high blood sugar, apparently because my weight wasn't out of control. Our bodies don't react well to the bi-polar practice of eating way too much and correcting it by eating way too little. It's a recipe for a health disaster.

Lose Weight by Healthy Living: Over the last 6 months, I've lost 20 pounds by eating the right balance of healthy, fresh foods and by getting lots of exercise, mostly aerobic exercise. Diabetes makes weight loss far more difficult because eating too few nutrients can cause a coma. This disease has forced me to use the very weight loss method I recommend in my articles and on my web-site. I expect to lose another 20 pounds over the next 6 months, then, to take about 9 months for the final 17 pounds, to reach my goal of 180. It's taking so long, because I'm replacing body fat with muscle, rather than just starving both on a traditional weight-loss diet. When you do this, you lose inches quickly, but weight slowly. So, I look lighter than I weigh. In my opinion, two things make this weight loss method superior to any other I've tried. The first is the fact that I haven't given up any kind of food. All I've done is eat the good tasting "bad" stuff less often. Pizza once every couple months, for instance. The second thing is, when I reach my goal I won't need to change a thing. The same eating and exercise that got me there will keep me there.

When you're deciding on a weight loss program, make sure you have the right motives for losing weight. If you lose weight to be healthy...to feel better, think better, live longer and avoid disease...you'll make the right choices for a healthy lifestyle. If your looks are the primary motive, you could lose your health...and your good looks.

Glen Williams is Webmaster for http://www.e-health-fitness.com, founder and CEO of EHF, Inc. He has done extensive research on personal and family health and fitness issues and has been helping and advising people on health since 1987. You can comment on his articles at Health And Fitness Forums.

Fat Loss Secrets - Diets Don't Work!

We've all tried fat loss programs.

A lot of these so called 'diets' have two things in common. They are unhealthy and they don't work!

We always concentrate on the outside of our bodies, what we look like aesthetically, but neglect the most important factor, what makes us what we are, our insides!

Shallow is one word that springs straight to mind. We all know that in our quest to get thin, we could indeed be doing untold damage to our bodies, but do we care? Do we heck!

Well... maybe we do really, somewhere deep down. Our conscience bleeps now and again, but we just ignore it and move on to the next fat loss program.

So what would you say if I told you that a lot of our weight problems are not to do with over eating or genetics? I bet you'd say great, tell me more!

I recently came across a lady doctor who has dedicated her life to researching what she believes to be the single most important factor in the fat loss process.

During her many years of studies, Dr Suzanne Gudakunst found that we all have horrible parasites living inside us. She discovered that by eliminating them through eating natural foods, people lost large amounts of weight in the process.

There were also other side effects. People with certain types of cancer found it disappeared after following Dr Suzanne's plan. Some diabetic cases were reversed. Her findings were truly amazing! (and genuine).

She decided to share her Fat Loss Secret with the world, but in doing so recieved death threats.

There are many organisations and companies out there who make millions out of the fat loss industry so it's not surprising that she upset many folk in her quest to educate the nation.

I think it would be like a car company discovering how to run a car on water. Imagine the effects financially that would have on the oil companies and the government. Catastrophic, I would say...

Well, Dr Suzanne Gudakunst went ahead and did it anyway. She teaches a simple and natural way to lose loads of weight fast, and be the healthiest you've ever been.

If you've tried every other 'fad' fat loss program and failed, might be worth taking a look at one that goes beyond just weight loss and actually does you some good into the bargain!

Thinking outside the box when it comes to fat loss is vital. Your key to successful weight loss is in your hands. Take a look at the facts and get the motivation you need to succeed in losing that weight and keeping it off for good. Visit us at http://fat-loss-secrets1.blogspot.com for more information.

A Weight Loss Pill That Works

If you are currently in the market for a weight loss pill that works then you have probably seen the same names thrown around. This is especially true if you have been looking at the over the counter prescription weight loss pills. There are however all natural herbal supplements that will help you lose weight just as good and in most cases better.

The most popular all natural weight loss pill available right now is Proactol. Proactol has been backed by doctors and is even recommended as one of the "Top 5 Way to Lose Weight" by The Telegraph which is the most popular newspaper in Britain.

Utilizing the power of herbal medicine, Proactol is able to work in ways that traditional weight loss pills have failed. The first benefit of going all natural is that there are no side effects what so ever. Everything in an all natural pill is just that, all natural. No need to worry about the side effects that you hear come with the pills you see advertised and talked about on TV.

Proactol is able to work as both an appetite suppressant and fat binder. Utilizing these two important factors, you are guaranteed to lose weight. The appetite suppressant will "fool" your brain and stomach into thinking you are full. Because you don't crave food when you feel full, an appetite suppressant can make it easier for you to lose weight. Proactol is also able to bind to 28% of dietary fat which means that of all the fat that enters your body daily, 28% will never affect you!

I was looking for a weight loss pill that worked and found Proactol. It was the best purchase I made so give it a try and order Proactol today

Why Calorie Counting Diets Are Doomed to Fail

Dieting sucks, especially in today's society where food is so readily accessible. Everywhere you look there is a stand offering food that is loaded with calories and is 'bad' for those trying to lose weight. Food companies - especially fast food companies have huge advertising budgets, and they spend millions on market research to see how best to tempt potential customers into purchasing their product.

It is almost like they are working against you personally, with that little voice in your head telling you it will be alright to just have a chocolate biscuit today because you can cut back on the amount you eat tomorrow. It is like you have a huge foe bombarding you with 'loaded offers' from close quarters and you have to stand and face this bombardment all alone - dieting sucks.

Not only are you being bombarded, but you are also being attacked from the other side because the people who promote diets are telling you that food is the enemy and to lose weight you must cut the calories.

Talk about dealing blows to your self esteem, one side promoting all these great tasting goodies and the other side telling you that you can't have them because if you do, you will be a failure. On top of this you look at friends and colleagues that seem to be able to eat what they like and never put an ounce on.

Dieting really sucks - and there must be a better way.

I don't know about you, but I have asked myself 'if calorie counting diets don't work, what does' there must be a better way. I may not be the most self disciplined person in the world but I certainly am not the worst in the world either, and the feeling of always being hungry is hard to put up with day in day out. I have also pondered why 2 people can eat basically the same things and 1 person becomes overweight while the other person does not, something doesn't seem right. I know a lot of factors can affect the preceding statement such as the amount of exercise that both people complete, but so often people that eat and do the same things end up vastly different in their weight.

I decided to do a little 'digging around' to find out why this might happen and I believe the answer lies in a person's metabolism. A person with a higher metabolism burns calories faster than a person with a slower metabolism, therefore 2 people eating the same things, the person with the higher metabolism will burn more calories in the same amount of time compared to the person with the slower metabolism.

The obvious next question was 'how do I increase my metabolism'? Do I have to become an elite athlete and be fit enough to run a half marathon. I found that fitness helps but is not the most important thing. I was glad to learn that my daily walk was sufficient because I really enjoy my 'mynd time' when walking. I know some people find it hard to exercise, so it is comforting to know exercise is not the be all and end all of increasing your metabolism.

What I did find was that the things that affect your metabolism the most are the kinds of foods that you eat, and the frequency that you eat food. I found this hard to believe, but you increase your metabolism by eating more frequently, which flies in the face of traditional weight loss programs. At last some dieting information that promotes eating and not 'food is the enemy'. Just don't tell the fast food companies or we will end up with the 'increased metabolism quarter pounder' being promoted all over the place.

To learn more about increasing your metabolism visit Increase Your Metabolism for Easy Permanent Weight Loss and forget about always feeling hungry.

Trying To Lose Weight, Forget About It, Unless You Stop Eating This!

I do a lot of research on health and nutrition and nothing makes me madder than the food industry intentionally, without my permission and yours, producing food that causes you and I not only to be addicted to it, but makes us fat! They do this by adding MSG to just about everything we eat!

I admire people like John Erb, who was a research assistant at the University of Ontario and wrote the book, "The Slow Poisoning of America", as one of the many people blowing the whistle on MSG. The subject of MSG is not new, but not enough attention is being paid to it and the food industry is certainly not going to tell you about it because they are making too much money from it.

MSG is so pervasive in our society that you may not be aware that you are consuming it daily. It is in processed foods, canned, frozen or boxed, restaurants and fast food chains. My husband and I were shocked to find MSG in almost all the vitamin supplements we had. Most consumers are not aware of it because we are being tricked with labeling.

MSG has many aliases. Here is a list of some of the other names for MSG:

- Monosodium glutamate, monopotassium glutamate, glutamic acid
- Anything that says hydrolyzed (such as hydrolyzed vegetable protein)
- Anything that says Autolized
- Anything that says natural flavor, or flavors, natural flavoring, flavorings
- Calcium caseinate
- Sodium caseinate
- Yeast extract
- Seasonings
- Soy protein, wheat protein, whey protein, anything fortified protein
- Textured protein
- Carrageenan
- Gelatin
- Soy sauce
- Bouillon, pork, chicken, beef
- Barley malt, malt extract, maltodextrin
- Enzymes
- Corn syrup, corn starch, dextrose
- Citric acid

You may be asking how it is possible that MSG can come under so many different names. The FDA has stated that if you use MSG in a product it must be labeled that way. If you use for example; hydrolyzed vegetable protein (which has MSG in it) it must be labeled by its common name and not MSG. This is the loophole the food industry uses to hide the word MSG.

Studies done over the last 30 years on rats have consistently shown that MSG makes them fat. Rats are not naturally fat so it has to be created. The studies done showed up to a 40% increase in appetite in the rats fed with MSG.

It works like this. Your tongue has receptors to detect sugars, carbohydrates, fats and protein, and it is used to determine if actual food is in your mouth. The food industry has figured out that MSG fools the taste receptors into thinking it is going to be receiving protein or sugars etc, so now your pancreas now goes into action releasing insulin to do its job. Within half an hour to an hour you have a blood sugar drop and you want to eat again. So you eat more food with MSG and you continue this circuit over and over again. And don't forget to check your diet foods, which are usually loaded with MSG.

True weight loss is achieved by the few who have true stamina and will power because for the rest of us, well, the odds are stacked against us. The food industry wants you to buy their food and keep you addicted and keep you gaining weight because now companies can jump on the band wagon and get you buying weight loss pills and prescription drugs. Is there MSG in the diet and prescription pills? The odds are very high that this is the case.

If you have struggled with weight and health issues without success, don't just give up hope yet. Education is the key. It is up to you to decide what you want to do with this information. For my husband and I, we have given up MSG and we eat organic. I have lost 20 lbs to date and feel great. There are some reputable companies that produce superior products without MSG and pesticides and it is worth seeking them out and supporting their efforts while getting you and your family healthy.

I hope this helps!

Sources: Blaylock, Russell L., M.D. Excitotoxins: The Taste that Kills, Health Press, Santa Fe, NM 87504, 1994. Schwartz, George R., M.D. and Schwartz, Kathleen A. In Bad Taste: The MSG Symptom Complex, Health Press, Santa Fe, NM 87504.

Willie is a researcher and freelance writer whose own health problems prompted her to gain information on health and wellness and share that knowledge with others. She is co-owner of http://www.cleanbodydetox.com a site that focuses on detox through foot baths and foot massager.

Lose Weight, Get Fit and Have More Energy

Can you financially afford high cost diet plans, expensive foods and supplements, a gym membership. You may hear of all the hype regarding the no carb diet plans and have may even seem your friends shed lots of pounds on them. Controlling the number of servings and portion sizes something many diet plans resort to, while others use other systems like the point systems. It's just that most people are clueless about the subject of "diet plans" and how to actually control their body and weight.

Diets are just simply what you eat on a regular basis. A good diet plan should give your spirit a lift and make you feel better, both physically and mentally. When selecting a meal plan, make sure you are consuming a balanced and complete diet. The best way to stay on a diet is to find healthy snacks and low-calorie diet foods you enjoy.

Weight gain occurs from fat accumulation and fluid retention caused by protein deposits in the body. It can be confusing to know who is telling the truth, who is totally basing their "fact" on studies that have never been promoted by anyone other than themselves, and who really has a handle on weight loss and general health and fitness. Weight loss plateaus are a fact of life for most dieters. Weight training will increase muscle mass, which burns more calories than body fat. Meditation helps you lose weight and feel relaxed.

Before beginning the diet and/or fitness programs described in this Website, you should consult a qualified physician, dietitian, fitness professional and/or other medical professional, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, elderly, or have any chronic or recurring conditions. Of the successful dieters, 83 percent said that they did it on their own, designing their own eating and exercising programs based on their needs and preferences.

There are numerous weight loss diet plans out there. Weight loss , diet plans, and muscle building is a great way to accomplish the body many dream about. People are willing to try gimmick diet plans, pills, and even plastic surgery for weight loss results. Lose weight, get fit, and have more energy. The bottom line is discovering a healthy lifestyle that you can implement forever is the key to long term weight loss.

Kevin King is the author and webmaster of KevinKingOnline.com. For more information on the subject of weight loss, visit Top Secret Fat Loss Plan

Fastest Way To Lose Weight

All the time I see people asking "What's The Fastest Way To Lose Weight?". And to be honest this is no simple answer, because it all depends on how much effort you put it. I think the answer to the question is; sticking to a plan. The most important thing about losing weight these days is having a consistant plan that we follow each and every day, if you don't follow a plan you're not going to lose weight, it's as simple as that.

Now at this point you're probably asking yourself "What's the best plan to follow?". And to put it simple, the best plan to follow is one that you can commit to every single day. But if you want to lose weight fast, your going to have to dedicate alot of time to a plan. And there is no slacking, if you slack you will fail to lose weight fast. I promise you that if you stick a consistant plan you will lose weight!

The Fastest Way To Lose Weight: A Consistant Plan

Here is a small but very effective plan for you to follow; Exercise, burn more calories than you eat, it really is as simple as that, or is it?... It sounds straight forward, but is actually very difficult and over 80% of people who are trying to lose weight fail to follow through on this very plan. Right, you need to dedicate an hour a day for exercising at least, more would be better and would speed up the process in how fast you lose weight, but an hour a day is fine. It doesn't matter what exercise you do, just as long as you don't try an spot reduce. General exercise is fine. I used to go for a swim for an hour a day in the morning, and on the treadmill for 30 minutes in the evening, and I seen a difference in my weight in just 3 days. It shows what can be done if you stick a consistant plan!

Thomas Lee Dean used to be a fat greasy monkey, until he found The Secrets to Weight Loss at BodyWorkout.org - click here