Losing weight can sometimes be a very difficult task, requiring a large amount of energy and a lot of motivation. Knowing how to calculate weight loss percentage can really be a morale booster for your rough times because your actual results can only encourage you to perform more of the taken actions - like jogging, dieting or others.

It can also help you stay on track and not exaggerate with anything, as we do know that anything done in excess can harm your body. It can help you set goals and achieve them step by step.

But how do we calculate weight loss percentage? Is it a difficult math task? No way! It's a pretty basic formula. First of all you'll need to remember your initial weight. Secondly, you'll need your actual weight at this point. Now, the formula goes like this:

((IW-AW)/IW) * 100= weight loss percentage

In this formula IW is your initial weight and AW is your actual weight at this point. It's not as complicated as it initially seems: practically all you do is subtract the actual weight from the initial weight and divide the number obtained by your initial weight. Multiply the result with 100 and you'll get the exact percent.

Now you can see that it's pretty basic - but opening a lot of possibilities. For example, you can measure your weight once a week and create an Excel table which instantly calculates the weight loss percentage for you. This can really help you keep track of your progress and can be a real motivation booster as I previously mentioned.

With this you can also create a weight loss percentage graphic - actually drawing your progress at certain points.

Well, if you fully understood how this works, you can conclude that now you know how to calculate weight loss percentage. If not, try to re-read the article more carefully.

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If you need a step-by-step guide to quick weight loss, the this article will come as help to you. The most important thing people need to consider when it comes to weight loss is making sure that they can actually keep it off. If you go on type of crash diets you are setting yourself up for failure in the near future. Most of the time these type of diets will actually make you gain back twice the weight. With that being said lets get started, im about to give you a quick run down of how to lose weight and keep it off.

Exercise of course is important, but its only one part of the equation. You need to make sure that you exercise at least 3 times a week. I find it easy to do this if you have some type of schedule, that way you are organized and can actually see your goal. A effective step-by-step guide to quick weight loss would consist of three main concepts.

-Make sure you exercise at least 3 times per week. You should aim to run at least a half mile per day if not more. As always you should consult your doctor before considering any new type of diet or exercise program.

-eat at least 2-5 small meals per day. Make sure these meals are high in fiber and low in fat. When you eat frequently throughout the day it actually raises your metabolism and burns fat throughout the day.

-lift weight lightly as they will help build muscle and even raise your metabolism even more!

I know this article is pretty vague, but in essence these are the 3 keys to losing weight quick and keep it off. You can see a step-by-step guide to quick weight loss in my bio box below if you need more information. Remember that weight loss does not have to be complicated!

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Log onto the internet and look for weight loss tips and you will come across a hundred different websites offering them. There are 'Top 10 weight loss tips', 'Top 50 weight loss tips' and 'The best 3 weight loss tips'.

But when you browse through them all, they either have repetitive content or are out there to promote a weight loss company.

They all start off with a testimonial saying 'How I lost 30 pounds in one week' and so on. But the question to be asked is, 'Just because it worked for him, will it work for me?' The answer to this question is no. I mean, it might just work. But the keyword here is 'might'. It brings into account a certain level of probability.

In this article, I am pouring my heart out. Being an obese person all my life, I know what it takes to get those stubborn kilos off your body.

Lifestyle changes

Simply eat less and burn more. You don't need to give me $1000 to get this tip. You don't need to go through a 2000 page e-book or buy a video tape that shows you cranky exercises. The only thing that you need to do is get a calorie counter and measure the calories that you are eating.

Now get into the habit of exercising regularly and measure how much you are burning. You can start off with moderate exercises like a slow walk. It will be difficult but the end result will be much better than popping miracle pills into your mouth to lose weight. Try to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Keep realistic goals

Accept the fact that you are obese and it will take time for you to shed those kilos. The faster you accept this, easier it becomes to lose weight. Keep realistic goals. Do not accept to lose 30 pounds in 15 days and so on. Once you have a realistic goal, work towards achieving it and slowly but surely, you will be there.

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Many people who are absolutely desperate to lose weight have been inquiring about fasting as a viable way of dropping pounds, and doing it quickly. And of course, as you would expect, there are a variety of methods being promoted online for doing just that, so I thought I would chime in with my thoughts on fasting as a practice, and more importantly for you, as a strategy for safe and efficient weight loss.

The first thing you need to know is that prolonged fasting is absolutely NOT a viable plan for losing weight, staying in shape or maintaining an ideal physique. It is however, a viable plan to segue into a new diet, or a good short term strategy for optimizing your body, and your mind. Let's take a closer look.

Fasting, in my parlance is NOT a total abstinence from food. Obviously this would be unhealthy, and could only be done for VERY short periods without supervision. These are often referred to as water fasts, and while you CAN go without food for a few days, (or longer) depriving yourself of water is simply dangerous and could be deadly as well. Fasting for our purposes will refer to juice fasting, or a raw diet, where you ingest nothing but juices in the former, or simply raw juices and veggies in the latter.

Both of these have been shown to have really positive benefits for those who have embarked on this sort of regimen, and adherents claim a refinement in their senses, clarity of thought, physical rejuvenation and even a spiritual rebirth! You will of course, also lose weight...but this is RARELY the reason that people embark on a fast.

Much of the weight lost in this sort of endeavor WILL be regained once you resume eating, and therefore is not really looked upon as a diet strategy. Rather, you many want to incorporate elements of this approach to food as part of a living strategy per se, or part and parcel of a lifestyle that focuses on whole foods, organic eating and short periods of abstinence to cleanse the body.

But for good old fashioned weight loss, even the most devout fasters will tell you to pick a REAL diet first, meet your target goals, and then incorporate some of these holistic lifestyle choices into your choice of cuisine, and your life!

Read On to Discover the 6 Biggest Lies About Weight Loss... and how to avoid them like the plague!

(Not knowing them MAY be KEEPING you heavy... watch the weight melt away like magic once you do!)

1) Rather than try diet after diet, you need to understand your body and how it uses the food it is given. Know which foods cause weight gain and which ones help you lose weight. This may vary from person to person.

2) You need to know and understand your metabolism. Your metabolism plays a major role in weight gain or weight loss. Your metabolism is controlled by the different types of foods you give your body. Some foods will cause the metabolism to become sluggish or shut down completely leading to weight gain. You need to have a good understand on which foods to eat to speed up the metabolism in order to lose weight, and which ones that cause weight gain.

3) When following a specific diet or a fad diet, certain foods may be eliminated, but this can lead to weight gain rather than weight loss. Our body requires certain foods in order to work properly. Understanding and knowing which these foods are will help you towards losing weight.

4) Todays eating habits have gotten so out of control that it is not a wonder our bodies have gotten out of control. We have a tendency today to skip meals or even avoid foods that are necessary to maintain a healthy metabolism/body. But in doing so, for example, you skip meals or eat just once a day, then you risk putting your bodys metabolism into starvation mode. That means everything you eat goes to fat stores to be used later as your body does not understand food is available and it will be fed later.

5) Portion sizes have increased. With all the super sizing and bulk packages we now have we expect more. But by eating larger amounts at a time, our bodies can not use up all this extra food, which leads to ours bodies getting larger/fat. Getting back to eating smaller meals more often and eating the right combination of foods, should help you lose or control your weight.

6) Some diet programs require you to buy their products however, you will only achieve any weight loss while you consuming the product. This makes you dependent on their product. Wouldnt it better to control your weight naturally rather than depend on products, which can become costly?

7) Diet pills and diet shakes may contain caffeine or amphetamines, which will artificially speed up your metabolism. Over time this can be harmful to your health or may become addictive. Get proper weight control naturally, not artificially.

When we are trying to control our weight, eating the proper foods should not be difficult. Losing weight should not be a struggle nor should it be difficult to introduce good eating habits into your lifestyle. But first, you have to want to understand how certain foods affect your body and also how the body uses the food it is given.

8) Teach your children/family proper nutrition and good eating habits. It is better and also easier to introduce healthy eating habits when your family are young rather than try to change their eating habits later. If your family is eating healthy it will be easier to lose and control your weight.

9) If you follow a diet that stops you eating foods you enjoy and forces you to eat foods which you do not like you will feel cheated and will fall back into your bad eating habits. Follow a program that fits your schedule and your metabolic needs.

10) Exercise is also needed for weight loss. This does not mean getting a membership at your local gym and fitness centre or running a marathon. You need muscle in order to burn fat. If you have been overweight for a period of time you probably have lost your muscle tone. You will have to work on getting some of that back in order to lose weight.

A few simple changes will help get you started. Walk up and down stairs rather than taking the elevator or escalator. If you have a dog, take it for a walk a couple of times a day. Instead of jumping into the car to go to the local shop or dropping the kids off to school, walk if it is within a reasonable distance. If you work or attend classes make time for a walk or a little exercise during your lunch break. If you have to sit most of the day, make a point of getting up periodically and doing a brisk walk around. If you have to stand in one spot for long periods of time, do some jumping jacks or jog on the spot.

Once you start incorporating some exercise into your daily routine, you will find you have more energy and you will also find you will start shedding some of your weight.

Healthy eating habits, knowing what foods to eat, eating smaller portions, and understanding your body and its metabolism is the long term answer for losing weight and also how to keeping it off.

Mary Leahy is a registered nurse with many years experience in nutrition and understands the benefits of a healthier lifestyle. She had the opportunity to observe and study a variety of cultures and their eating habits. With the help of her husband they came up with a healthy eating program designed to help you understand food, lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. http://www.mnb-weightlossprogram.com

There are very few people I've known in this life who haven't wondered how to get rid of love handles or how to get rid of belly fat. Those of us who have love handles, also known by other colorful names like spare tire, and belly fat, not so affectionately referred to as a pot-belly, find very little to love about those handles and that belly says we've been letting ourselves go to pot.

Love handles and belly fat are basically nice ways to describe the fat that accumulates on the lower abdomen and on each side of the waist. But any way you view it, those love handles are warning signs of undesired weight gain. Yes, let's call it what it is, that belly fat is just unwanted weight. And the only way to get rid of love handles and to get rid of belly fat is to lose weight.

That means you've got to find a reliable eating plan that will both nourish your body while reducing that pot-belly and those love handles. Finding reliable weight lose information can be an absolutely discouraging endeavor since there are quite literally hundreds of weight loss plans on the market today that make all types of preposterous claims

First, find a healthy plan you intend to keep. To reduce your overall body fat and keep it off, you need to find a healthy eating plan. It's tempting, when you're trying to lose weight, to skip meals to reduce your caloric intake, but a better--and easier--way to cut calories is to find a reliable diet that fits your tastes and lifestyle; one you can adopt for life. So to prevent or reduce excess weight around the abdomen, or wherever you're genetically predisposed to deposit it, you need a healthy diet.

Compare the different diets based on the type foods you enjoy, and the ones you already know pack on the pounds now. Don't be tempted by plans offering huge weight loss over a short period of time. A plan offering fast results is not a healthy one, and you want a plan you can stick with for the rest of your life; a healthy diet that will keep the weight off.

Once you start losing body fat, you can firm up your body by exercising. The main thing to remember though is that spare tires and pot-bellies indicate too much body fat. And losing body fat is the best (read only) way to get rid of love handles and to get rid of belly fat.

If you want to lose weight then find the right diet for you, and then get up off the couch and go for a walk, take a ride on your bike, or go to the gym. When you maintain a healthy diet and institute a regular cardiovascular workout routine, your love handles and belly fat will gradually reduce without any particular special exercise to get rid of them. So, there you have it: the skinny on how to get rid of love handles and belly fat.

B.J. Gordey is the owner of Top10-diets.com. Are you looking for a way to "get rid of love handles" and "get rid of belly fat"? You can learn a lot more about how a successful diet can help you at Top10-Diets.com.

Exercise alone will not make you lose the amount of weight that you want if you're still taking in more calories than you burn off. However, eating less and exercising more will only decrease your resting metabolic rate, which accounts for roughly 60-80 percent of daily calorie expenditure. Exercising plays a very important part in learning how to lose weight fast naturally. Exercise alone doesn't work. We need to try something totally different.

Eat veggies raw, fresh or cooked. No fats, no sauces, no butter. Eating fruits, vegetables, dairy, meats and grains is the best. Eat carbs in moderation only, like pasta or white rice. Eating a regular amount of proteins will prevent this from happening.

Drink a protein shake that's a 50:50 mix of whey to casein proteins. The best time to drink the shake depends on your physical activities. Drinking more water will help flush these toxins out. Water also helps with basic cellular functioning and, importantly, metabolism.

Choose low and non fat dairy products, as well as the leanest cuts of meat (round and loin) and skinless poultry. Beans, nuts, and whole grains round out the list of heart-healthy foods as well.

Fast food is readily available and it's very tempting. As you probably already know eating fast food is never as healthy as a well-planned, balanced diet. Millions of people all around the world are flocking to these very unhealthy foods daily. The fast food lifestyle is a epidemic in the United States that is killing us and our future.

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Weight loss program that works

If you have ever followed a diet regiment to lose weight you know the hardest part is to keep the weight off. You can lose weight fast by following a diet and doing exercise but you must understand that to keep it off you will need to make a few small changes in your lifestyle. Here are a few tips to help you:

At the start of of a diet the change in your diet may come as a drastic one. You will most likely not be looking forward to another meal of 'healthy' food. The biggest pitfall is to revert back to your old ways once you've achieved your weight loss goals. Instead of doing so, try spicing up your old diet meals. Garnish your meat with a low fat sauce, add a side dish of steamed vegetables, and from time to time treat yourself to a dessert. The key is to not overdo it. With time you will come to enjoy these types of meals and will lose the craving for greasy, fried and other high calorie foods. You should never keep any sweets or salty foods in the house. Eliminate all chips, ice cream, chocolate. You are still in a detoxification mode so there's no need for any more temptation.

Nobody likes to exercise and it is very easy to blow it off in favor of an extra 20 minutes sleep in the morning before work. Exercise doesn't have to mean going for a 6AM run, or doing a series of 50 crunches and lunges. Walking up the stairs instead of taking the escalator, taking a 20 minute walk after a meal, or doing aerobics for 20 minutes once or twice a week will help you to keep the weight off and doesn't have to interfered with your normal lifestyle.

To lose weight and keep it off requires a certain amount of effort and sacrifices and while there's nothing wrong with indulging from time to time, it helps to keep us sane, you need to control what you eat.

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Want a fast weight loss plan? It's easy to say goodbye quickly to 10 or 12 pounds of fat with these diet tips. Simply follow these tips and learn how to lose weight effectively.

The basics ..... eat plenty of good tasting, fresh, and healthy foods, fill up on vegetables, and keep your taste buds happy by eating lots of fruit. You should eat 3 small meals along with 3 small snacks each day.

No need to sacrifice! Just follow these simple guidelines to lose 10 or 12 pounds, or to give your weight loss efforts a boost when it seems to have screeched to a halt. Implement this balanced and flexible plan which shows you how to lose weight effectively.

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Keep notes about everything you put into your mouth. No need to estimate calories. Just keep a record of what you eat and drink along with the approximate quantity. You will find that becoming aware of what you are eating helps you to plan healthy meals and snacks.

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Cut your intake of all pure or added fats in half. Use half as much butter or spread on your bread, toast, muffins and potatoes; use half of your usual amount of mayonnaise or sauce on your salad; and use only half of the oil you normally put into the frying pan.

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Eat treats containing sugar only three times per week. This includes the usual suspects: chocolate, ice cream, desserts, cake, pastries, and cookies.

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Most meals should include a lower fat source of protein such as fish, chicken, cottage cheese, low fat yogurt, or beans. You can eat nuts, red meat, and eggs ..... just not every day.

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Cheese and meat should be absent from at least one lunch and dinner every week. In order to increase fiber and reduce fat, those meals without cheese and meat can be built around whole grains, vegetables and beans.

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Consume milk products containing reduced fat. Reduce from whole milk to 2% fat. Over time, reduce from 2% to 1%. Consume lower fat cheese and yogurt. Always read the labels to confirm that the yogurt you purchase does not contain sugar.

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Eat a minimum of two servings of fruit every day as dessert or for snacks. Choose fruit that is in season.

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Substitute water for sodas, juices, milk or alcohol. Do not drink diet soda because the sweet taste makes you crave sugar. Many people find that hot water with a slice of lemon can be very refreshing in the morning.

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Include at least two servings of vegetables during lunch and dinner. You can have more servings of vegetables if you are still hungry.

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Eat slowly in order to give your body time to understand that it is no longer hungry. This will reduce your tendency to eat too much.

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Grated carrots are great for snacks and are much more filling than whole carrots.

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The fiber in whole grains gives you a fuller feeling and will also help your digestion.

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You can increase your fiber intake by choosing foods that need to be chewed. Chewing helps us to feel more satisfied. For example, eat some fruit instead of drinking juice. And always try to eat chunky soup instead of broth.

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Plan your meals and snacks in advance. Plan your shopping in advance, too. Make your list and stick to it. Don't take the chance of loading up on high-calorie food when shopping while you are hungry.

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Studies consistently prove that we eat more food while watching TV than we do when the TV is turned off. So, when you eat meals or snacks, leave the TV turned off.

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How To Get A Six Pack

If you have decided to go on a fat loss program then there are some things you need to know about why fats are a requirement in your daily eating plan and how there going to spell success or failure in you meeting your goals.

There seems to be a myth out there that say's the first thing that you must avoid doing if you want to lose body fat is eating fat, well there is nothing further from the truth and it really makes me wonder where they could have come up with that type of nonsense if they really understood how the body works.

Assuming that we are going to keep our daily consumption at 30% or less of our total intake of calories at the end of the day, let's take a look at the type of fats available and determine how they work for the body and why they are so important for normal body functions.

All of the fats are equal when it comes to the amount of calories they contain in one gram, which is 9, but there is a difference in how each affects the body and your health. The body needs fats in order to stay healthy so we need to keep them in our eating regiment.

Monounsaturated fats are the healthiest type and have been shown to lower your LDL cholesterol which is the bad type and raise the good HDL cholesterol. Olive oil is one of the best sources of getting this healthy fat and I might point out that olive oil helps you feel full for a longer period of time. I also like to use natural peanut butter which contains nothing but peanuts and salt.

Polyunsaturated fats are known to lower LDL cholesterol, but also lower HDL. So you don't want as much of this fat as you would the monounsaturated. You must be somewhat careful when choosing this particular oil so read labels. Polyunsaturated fats are sometimes hydrogenated to make margarines and you don't want to eat anything that says partially hydrogenated on the label.

Saturated fats are at the bottom of the list as for daily intake but are still needed for proper bodily functions so you want to keep the amount that you consume to 10% or less of your total daily fat intake. Too much of this type of fat is known to raise your total cholesterol level and cause coronary heart disease but at the same time they are responsible for proper functioning of certain organs as well as improving the body's use of omega-3 fatty acids.

The omega-3 fatty acids which are found in fish help keep your heart healthy and lower your bad LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels. They have been shown to help protect you from diabetes and depression.

Your body does need fats in order to stay healthy. Fats supply the building blocks for the manufacturing of hormones and carry the fat soluble vitamins A, E, K and D throughout the body. To get all the benefit from our food we need a macronutrient mix of protein, carbohydrates and fat. You can play around with the ratio of each but it must contain all three if you want to reach your goal.

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Would you believe me if I said the fastest weight loss method available actually involves eating more food? Of course you wouldn't, but amazingly this isn't a joke or a scam. So what is this diet that sounds too good to be true.

The diet in question is called calorie shifting and yes it really does work by eating more. Calorie shifting works by increasing your metabolism to work at a higher rate which brings on faster weight loss.

It does this by mixing up the foods you eat and the calories you in take each day. This stops the body from figuring out any sort of routine and sensing you are on a diet. Thanks to the confusion it causes your body will actually burn calories faster.

You eat 4 meals a day on the program and the only thing you really need to make sure of is that each of the meals consist of different calorie amounts and you will soon see results. A menu generator can also be attained for those that want an extra level of help with an eating plan.

By eating 4 meals a day or more if you like you will keep the metabolism working constantly throughout the day meaning calories are being burned all day. This is why eating more really can help you to lose weight.

Calorie shifting diet users tend to report losses of between 8 to 15 pounds in the first 2 week and since the diet works on a continuous cycle the results will keep coming for as long as you use the diet.

You can get more information about the calorie shifting diet if you visit here.

Getting Started on The Clean Diet

If you want to lose some weight then following a healthy eating plan is a good start, but allowing someone else to dictate exactly what, when and how much you can eat is crazy making. Guidance is good but ultimately you must learn to make better choices in your eating which leads to your gaining the ability to maintain your new shape after the weight has been lost. The Clean Diet is the answer.

What is the Clean Diet?

The Clean Diet means different things to different people. My version is less strict than some because frankly I'm not a competitive body builder and I don't have a modeling contract. Unless you must maintain a specific body weight (as actors sometimes do for instance), you probably are of the same mind as I; that being, I want to lead a basically normal life. Eating out sometimes, enjoying parties sometimes, and generally not feeling like I have to "watch what I eat" or suffer the consequences. The way I eat is sometimes called the non-dieting approach because I don't diet, but I do pay attention. That's what the Clean Diet means: paying attention to what you're eating.

What Can I Eat on The Clean Diet?

Vegetables: Enjoy unlimited raw, steam, baked. Go for it. I don't know anyone who got fat because they ate too many vegetables and that includes carrots, beans, corn and potatoes. Unless you are allergic, there is no reason to shun fresh vegetables. Yes they contain carbohydrates. Get over it. Wean yourself from sauces, and learn to like them without added butter or salt. Vegetables like carrots and beets for instance are very high in natural sugars (that's the point -- nature intended to give you sweet things whereby you'd WANT to eat them and would consequently get adequate Vitamin C among other things).

Fruit: Try to eat at least one or two pieces a day. More is fine. There is no reason to restrict yourself to one-quarter of a cantaloupe or 1 small apple. Who comes up with these rules anyway? An apple contains less than 100 calories. That's not exactly going to break the diet bank, is it? Eat all the fresh fruit you like, especially late at night if you're working on learning to give up your chips or cookies habit. Apples are great for snacking, as are grapes, bananas, kiwi or anything else you like. Try to eat mostly fresh fruit, and saved canned fruits for once in awhile.

Dried fruits such as raisins are a super concentrated food source and should be treated with respect. A few thrown on your morning cereal or in your trail mix is fine, but remember super concentrated food is also high calorie food. You don't need a lot to get the nutrients. Learn the difference between densely packed nutrients and loosely packed nutrients. Fresh fruit is loosely packed, high in water content, and dried fruit is dense with little or no water. Corn-on-the-cob is loose, corn syrup is dense (and processed too).

An ounce of raisins contains 85 calories and 201 mg of Potassium, while an ounce of fresh grapes is a mere 20 calories. You'd need four times the fresh grapes to equal the dried.

Clean foods are as close to their natural state as possible without being fanatical about it. There is a world of difference between a baked potato and a bowlful of potato chips. One is a good source of nutrients and one is a highly refined, richly saturated fat, greasy, salty, modified source of nothing but smears on your napkin. One is satisfying and one leaves you wanting more. Betcha can't eat just one was more than a catch phrase for Lay's Potato Chips. It's a truism.

Grains & Beans: Whole grains like whole wheat, rice, millet, barley, and others. Drop the habit to eat chips and crackers out of a box. Once in awhile is okay, but if you eat them regularly, then you need to make a modification. Cakes, crackers and the like are simply not good for everyday fare, if you want to reach a healthy bodyweight. Once in awhile, or special occasions is fine, just not every day. Not even every other day. Once a week is plenty, and if you can't commit to weaning yourself off those foods, then you need to adjust to living with a higher body weight. It's not a character flaw, but it is a fact you must face. What you eat, dictates how healthy you will be, both mind and body.

Whole grain means whole grain. Bread that lists whole wheat is not 100% whole grain. Watch out. Seeing Whole Wheat on the package means nothing. You want to see either 100% Whole Wheat or 100% Whole Grain. Brown bread is not always whole grain, but it may be brown because some molasses was added to color it brown. Whole grain breads are heavier, more dense, chewier. I think they are better. You might not share that belief, especially if you're used to the light and fluffy white bread. When I was a teenager I could easily eat 10 slices of white bread french toast and still not feel satisfied. How ridiculous is that? I could, on the other hand, eat about three pieces of whole grain bread french toast and that was enough.

Isn't Brown Bread Better for You?

Many people think if it is brown it is healthier, but it is not true. If it is whole grain it is better than refined, but that isn't licence to eat lots of bread. A sandwich now and then is just fine, thank you. The best breads are heavy. Think of being a peasant sitting around a fire cooking a thick soup. What kind of bread would be best to sop it up? Some lame white bread that would disintegrate if liquid touched it, or a thick, hearty brown bread that could serve as a staple if need be? I'll take the second.

My favorite thing to eat is brown rice with stuff. "Stuff" means any vegetable concoction, or sauce, or just something to sort of mix in there. Use a little oil, preferably olive or sesame for flavor. My favorite quick vegetable is steamed sliced carrots and onions. Both onions and carrots are naturally sweet and ultra delicious all by themselves. Once you learn to simply eat foods the way nature presents them, you'll find your appetite stays more in line with better health.

I didn't intend to create a food rule book. My intention is to point out that you need not live on a skimpy portion of grains like 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1/4 cup skimmed milk and a half a slice of dry toast for breakfast. Eat hearty. I'm an example of how hearty eating will enhance your health, and bring your weight into line, not the opposite. I'll have one or two cups of oatmeal with raisins and a sprinkle of brown sugar (it won't kill you) or if you've grown used to it, no sweetener at all. Use milk if you like, or soy milk.

Lean Meats, Chicken, Fish: Support your local butcher and farmer. When you buy your meat from a local butcher you can be assured you are getting the best available. Okay, it costs more than the grocery store brand. If you want the best, buy the best. Avoid farm bred fish at all costs. Simply ask your meat counter to stock fresh fish.

Desserts, Treats & Snacks: It's okay to eat these things, but practice moderation. If you can't do that, and think you'll eat the whole bag, then don't get them when you're alone. Share some with someone else. Buy the smaller size package. Do whatever it takes, but don't tell yourself you can never eat any certain food again, because that just makes it all the more difficult to handle it when the time comes.

The Clean Diet is More a Way of Life than a Strict Set of Eating Rules

Most people will allow themselves one or more "cheat days" every week. The best plan is simply to choose eating clean as your primary eating style, and when you don't you don't but every meal stands alone. If you over ate at breakfast, you just eat your usual lunch. You don't try to "make up for it" by skimping on lunch. That's an equation that will never work. Just eat normally, and when you occasionally overeat, so be it. That way, rather than always thinking in terms of, "I'll start my diet again next Monday," you just get right back on your plan. While no foods are forbidden on a clean eating plan, common sense rules the day.

See if eating a Clean Diet might work for you. Start by adding more fresh fruit, and a few vegetables. Buy frozen vegetables and add them to your other foods, such as when you eat a frozen meal for instance. If you want chips with your sandwich, take a handful (and a half, if you want) and put it on your plate, rather than bringing the whole bag of chips to the table. Decide in advance how many cookies you'll have. Will four be enough, how about five? It's still better than half a bag. Take it one day at a time, one meal at a time, and you'll find things happening in no time.

By Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

Diet pills, diet patches, prepared meals. There seems to be millions of ways to help with fast weight loss these days that it seems strange that we are experiencing record obesity rates around the world does it not?

It seems more about the industries ability to push our "lose weight fast" buttons than it does to actually help anyone with weight loss.

We all know the real key is to learn how to eat and teach ourselves how to do it without being hungry all the time. If we can manage to find the way to drop the pounds without being hungry then we probably have a plan we can stick with and keep that extra weight off for good.

Is there really a quick diet fix? I think that is a matter of what we are willing to do to make it happen.

Finding the right plan and sticking to it is the key and being able to see results fast and steady is all the motivation most people need. Well that and not having to take out a second mortgage to pay for a diet plan. The prepared meal plans have been billed as some of the best but let's be honest that the food does not really taste that good and it is way over priced for what we are getting. Besides that most of us are capable of making our meals if we just knew exactly what it was we were supposed to prepare.

The best fast weight loss I have ever experienced was being able to be flexible with the meals I choose and not having to starve myself or fight urges when I am feeling hungry. I have learned that food is not my enemy when I understand how it reacts within my body and it has been the key for keeping the weight off.

I have a small site that provides more information about fast weight loss without the pills, patches and expensive meals. You can visit it at:

http://loseweightfast.weebly.com/

A word of caution: your weight loss plan is probably doomed.

As you probably remember, you just got over the holiday season. You spent a week stuffing your face with everything, from chocolates to cookies, like there's no tomorrow. And the result? You're afraid to step on the scale or look at yourself in the mirror because your weight has soared.

It's probably about then that you decided that you need to start losing weight. But even if you were to put yourself on a starvation diet and spent 6 hours a day on the treadmill, you would probably still not lose weight as effectively as you could with this simple mental exercise - goal-setting!

How do you set goals? Before we go any further, I want to set something straight - goals that you set should be SMART! SMART is a business acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-Bound. In essence, when you set a weight loss goal, it should be:

• Specific - for example, "I will lose weight by exercising 5 times a week and eating no more than 2,000 calories a day"
• Measurable - for example, "I will lose 20 pounds"
• Attainable - your goal needs to push you slightly beyond the limit of your capabilities, but not so far as to make it impossible to achieve. For example, losing 20 pounds when you weight 300 is achievable; losing 200 pounds is not (or not yet, at least)
• Realistic - in this case, it means that you have the resources and the knowledge to accomplish the goal. For example, exercising 3 times a day if you will be travelling every day for the next two weeks is not realistic
• Time-Bound - for example, "I will meet my weight loss goal by the end of March 2008"

Here's what this is all about - effective, SMART goals will keep you motivated and stop you from giving up on your weight loss process. You will be able to keep track of your progress and stop yourself from deviating from your plan of action. But here's the real kicker - SMART goal setting takes very little time but increases your likelihood of meeting your diet objectives by a whooping 84%.

As you can see, goal-setting is an extremely powerful - and often overlooked - component of any weight loss effort. But here's something else to keep in mind - goal-setting will also allow you to improve your weight loss effort by being able to tell exactly what works and what doesn't. For example, if you set a goal and it is clear that you are not meeting it in time, you will notice it much earlier and hopefully identify a way to improve the weight loss process.

For more weight loss tips, please check the site in my signature. You'll be amazed how easy it is to take control of your weight in record time.

To YOUR Weight Loss Success,

George Chernikov

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