Diet Tips: How To Eat Less

Today's installment of the diet plan is a dose of tips I've learned that make it a bit easier to eat less without feeling hungry. So, without further delay, here are my collected tips. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

1. Eat less. More often. Rather than eating large meals, chop up your eating into smaller portions throughout the day. I found myself eating 3 meals most days and having a snack around 3pm as well as another in the evening. That was enough to keep me from feeling hungry while still eating less in total.
2. Don't eat right before going to bed. I've read this numerous times and don't get why it works, but it does. I set a limit of 3 hours. So I planned to go to bed at midnight, I wouldn't eat past 9pm.
3. Brush your teeth early. For whatever reason, I won't eat when my teeth still feel clean. By brushing them several hours before bed, it was easier to accomplish #2.
4. Kick the sugar habit. If you drink sugared soft drinks (I used to be a Mt. Dew and Coke fan), replace them either with their diet counterparts or water. This can make a very, very big difference.
5. Eat vegetables before the main course. Whenever possible, I'd make sure to have an ample serving of a vegetable (you get very few calories for the amount you eat) before eating the denser main course--often a meat or fish. You'll need less of the dense stuff to be happy.
6. Update your spreadsheet daily. Keeping a running count will help you ration out the rest of your daily calorie allowance, which we'll talk about tomorrow.
7. Get used to leftovers. When you eat out, expect to take some of your meal home. If you eat standard restaurant portions, you'll almost certainly overeat.
8. Shop with calories in mind. When you're at the grocery store, spends some extra time reading the labels and nutritional information. You'll probably end up changing your shopping habits along the way. You'd be surprised by the how widely the calorie counts in various granola bars varies, for example.
9. Slow down! When you eat fast, you end up ingesting more food before you body has a chance to figure out that it's satisfied (not full).
10. Drink more water during the day. This is fairly generic advice, but definitely seems to help.
11. Trick yourself with gum. Sometimes we eat out of habit or because it just feels good to get some flavor in your mouth and chew for a while. Find yourself some sugar-free chewing gum and use it when the urge strikes.
12. Reduce the amount of breads, chips, crackers, and salty snacks you eat. A lot of starchy and/or salty food make you want to eat and drink even more. This comes straight out of Atkins diet culture.

13 Keys to a Healthy Diet

Developing healthy eating habits isn't as confusing or as restrictive as many people imagine. The first principle of a healthy diet is simply to eat a wide variety of foods. This is important because different foods make different nutritional contributions.

Secondly, fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—foods high in complex carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals, low in fat, and free of cholesterol—should make up the bulk of the calories you consume. The rest should come from low-fat dairy products, lean meat and poultry, and fish.

You should also try to maintain a balance between calorie intake and calorie expenditure—that is, don't eat more food than your body can utilize. Otherwise, you will gain weight. The more active you are, therefore, the more you can eat and still maintain this balance.

Following these three basic steps doesn't mean that you have to give up your favorite foods. As long as your overall diet is balanced and rich in nutrients and fiber, there is nothing wrong with an occasional cheeseburger. Just be sure to limit how frequently you eat such foods, and try to eat small portions of them.

You can also view healthy eating as an opportunity to expand your range of choices by trying foods—especially vegetables, whole grains, or fruits—that you don't normally eat. A healthy diet doesn't have to mean eating foods that are bland or unappealing.

The following basic guidelines are what you need to know to construct a healthy diet.

1 Eat plenty of high-fiber foods—that is, fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. These are the "good" carbohydrates—nutritious, filling, and relatively low in calories. They should supply the 20 to 30 grams of dietary fiber you need each day, which slows the absorption of carbohydrates, so there’s less effect on insulin and blood sugar, and provides other health benefits as well. Such foods also provide important vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (plant chemicals essential to good health).

2 Make sure to include green, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables—such as broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods may help protect against developing certain types of cancer and other diseases. Eat five or more servings a day.

3 Limit your intake of sugary foods, refined-grain products such as white bread, and salty snack foods. Sugar, our No.1 additive, is added to a vast array of foods. Just one daily 12-ounce can of soda (160 calories) can add up to 16 pounds over the course of a year. Many sugary foods are also high in fat, so they’re calorie-dense.

4 Cut down on animal fat. It’s rich in saturated fat, which boosts blood cholesterol levels and has other adverse health effects. Choose lean meats, skinless poultry, and nonfat or low-fat or nonfat dairy products.

5 Cut way down on trans fats, supplied by hydrogenated vegetable oils used in most processed foods in the supermarket and in many fast foods.

6 Eat more fish and nuts, which contain healthy unsaturated fats. Substitute olive or canola oil for butter or stick margarine.

7 Keep portions moderate, especially of high-calorie foods. In recent years serving sizes have ballooned, particularly in restaurants. Choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything.

8 Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day. Cholesterol is found only in animal products, such as meats, poultry, dairy products, and egg yolks.

9 Eat a variety of foods. Don't try to fill your nutrient requirements by eating the same foods day in, day out. It is possible that not every essential nutrient has been identified, and so eating a wide assortment of foods helps to ensure that you will get all the necessary nutrients. In addition, this will limit your exposure to any pesticides or toxic substances that may be present in one particular food.

10 Maintain an adequate calcium intake. Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. Get your calcium from low-fat sources, such as skim milk and low-fat yogurt. If you can't get the optimal amount from foods, take supplements.

11 Try to get your vitamins and minerals from foods, not from supplements. Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Foods also provide the "synergy" that many nutrients require to be efficiently used in the body.

12 Maintain a desirable weight. Balance energy (calorie) intake with energy output. Exercise and other physical activity are essential.

13 If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation. That is one drink a day for women, two a day for men. A drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits. Excess alcohol consumption leads to a variety of health problems. And alcoholic beverages can add many calories to your diet without supplying nutrients.

Get Lean Abs With Non-Ab Workouts

If you want to get lean abs you may want to forget about ab circuits and ab crunches for a few weeks and start focusing on fat blasting workouts that target the entire body and core in a totally different way. Below Truth About Abs creator Mike Geary shares 3 of his favorite non-ab workouts that burn tons of fat off your body and challenge every inch of your core for lean toned abs.

Staircase Workouts Stairs can be found just about anywhere including football fields, hotels, office buildings, parking structures, and in your own home and can be a great way to burn loads of fat off your body which is essential for lean abs. MG suggests "to get an awesome full body workout by mixing stairs sprints with an upper body exercise like pushups or pull-ups. If done with a high enough intensity, stairs workouts help to create changes throughout your entire body due to the muscle building and fat burning hormonal response and metabolism increase that you get through working the biggest muscle groups in your entire body". Great Alternative: Hill Sprints or Wind Sprints.
Rope Climbing Because this is something you probably haven't done since you were a kid it's going to be challenging, fun, and will burn serious fat and calories. MG suggests "you incorporate rope climbing into intense workouts by climbing up, then lowering yourself back down. Then while your upper body is recovering for the next climb, you can do a lower body exercise like squats or lunges, or go up and down stairs. Keep alternating the upper body rope climbs with the lower body exercises in between for an awesome full body workout". Great Alternative: Indoor Rock Climbing.

Jumping Exercises There are countless jumping exercises like squat jumps, box jumps, lunge jumps, broad jumps, and even jumping jacks. According to MG "the explosive and powerful nature of jumping exercises works your leg muscles in an entirely different way and they also elicit the greatest testosterone response of all tested exercises. That means more muscle and less fat on your entire body, not just your legs. Try super-setting jumping exercises with upper body exercises for some really intense workouts". Great Alternative: Jump Rope or Mountain Biking.

Boost Energy Workout Tips

Can't seem to generate enough energy to workout with the intensity necessary to get great results. The boost energy workout tips below will help you transform your tired going through the motions routine into an energized fat blasting workout that works.

Boost Energy Level by Boosting Oxygen Levels: One of the biggest problems with clients when they come in to train after work or after school is horrible posture from sitting all day (in the car, at the desk, at meetings). Hunched over shoulders, a forward head, and tight upper abs have become very common and have a direct effect on breathing. If the ribcage can't move the way it's supposed to then you physically can't get enough oxygen and your energy levels decrease considerably. The good news is it only takes about 5 minutes of corrective exercise to fix this and the boost in energy is instant.

Boost Energy by Focusing On Breathing: If you're exhausted from dealing with problems at work or at home all the time then getting out of your head will instantly energize you but not worrying is not an easy task for highly stressed people. The quick and simple solution is kapalabhati, a yoga breathing technique that relaxes and rejuvenates within seconds.

Boost Energy with Water: You already know that dehydration can be a big energy drain and you probably drink water all day but make sure you hydrate about 30 minutes before a workout then again 5-10 minutes before your workout (one glass each time should be enough). Another way to use water to energize yourself is with a quick cool water shower or a 10 minute pre-workout swim. If you don't feel like getting wet before a workout spraying water on your face, neck, and hair works well too. An even better H2O tip is to move like water. Using circular movement patterns releases tons of energy and is a great warm-up for any workout. It takes as little as 10 minutes and the best part is it boost fatloss too.

Exercise & Pain

Exercise and pain often go hand in hand for people starting new workouts routines but this doesn't have to happen to you. If you're in pain after exercise then keep reading to find out how to get out of pain, how to prevent injuries and how to avoid pain after exercise all together.

What Hurts & What Have You Been DoingTake a quick inventory of what's hurting and then write down what you've been doing the last couple of weeks (the writing down part is important so don't skip it). Have you been running daily but not stretching after workouts even though your hips or knees are killing you? Does your weights routine consist mostly of two moves and not much else or are you working primarily one body part or one type of exercise (running, yoga, weights)? SolutionTake a look at your weekly schedule and be honest about how unbalanced your workout is then come up with a plan that includes exercises for all body parts and that also addresses all aspects of fitness including cardio endurance, flexibility, full body strength, mobility, balance, fatloss, and especially fun.

Address The Pain Before Starting New Workouts
The thing about overuse injuries and imbalances is that they don't go away unless you correct them. If you've been biking, running, or doing tons of hiking and your low back and knees are killing you then it's time to stretch the tight areas then work on strengthen your weak areas. If your arms or shoulders hurt from doing tons and tons of heavy curls or presses then it's time to take a week to let those muscles recover and to come up with a more balanced plan that works your entire body. When your body is in balance you can do just about anything without pain.

Keep The Pain Away With Change & Variety Find a handful of workouts that you can do each week that include a variety of exercises for all body parts and that train all areas of fitness. The more variety the less chance of injury. The added bonus is that you'll get more fit in less time. Change up your workouts every 2-3 weeks this way your body won't experience overuse injuries from doing the same thing day in and day out. You'll get much better fatloss and fitness results when you switch out workouts every couple of weeks.

Exercise for Cancer Patients

All the latest research findings conclude that starting an exercise program before, during or after cancer treatment has many benefits including reduced fatigue and bones loss, less nausea, depression, and pain, as well as reduced weight gain and recovery time. A properly designed cancer exercise program can also improve endurance, strength, self esteem, appetite and cognition. The challenge with exercise for cancer patients is getting started with exercise that promotes optimal health and fitness vs. something that is totally counterproductive.

According to Dr. Anna Schwartz, cancer survivor and author of Cancer Fitness: Exercise Programs for Patients and Survivors, "developing an exercise program, whether you are a healthy cancer patient or one who has become significantly debilitated from treatment or the effects of your disease, requires creating a program designed specifically for your current physical ability, physical limitations, past experience with exercise and treatment regimen." Below are some factors to consider and some cancer exercise tips to help you get started.

What type of cancer do you have? An individual with prostate cancer may need completely different exercises than an individual with lymphoma. While a woman with breast cancer has entirely different exercise needs than other cancer survivors and these needs can even vary within this type of cancer depending on the type of treatment. Customizing your program to your type of cancer is critical to healing.
Cancer Fitness Tips: Recovering from prostate cancer? Focus on core strength first. Recovering from breast cancer surgery? Focus on shoulder and chest mobility first.

What type of treatment will you be receiving or have you received? The type of treatment you’re undergoing is a big factor that determines how often you can exercise, with how much intensity, and for how long. A treatment that is aggressive and causes severe fatigue and nausea requires a different exercise prescription than a treatment that is time consuming and causes discomfort, pain, or skin irritation.
Cancer Fitness Tips: Not exhausted or dizzy? Try 15-30 min. of circuit training or walking 3-4 x per week. Completely fatigued and nauseated? Try seated yoga poses for 10 min. a day. Having balance problems and depression? Try a quick and easy stationary bike ride while watching a funny t.v. show any time you feel terrible.

What type of side effects are you experiencing? Are your side effects mainly physical or are they also mental and emotional. An exercise program that will help you recover faster must help alleviate all your symptoms not just focus on fitness. Regardless of where you were with your fitness before, it’s your current state of health and your weekly response to treatment and exercise that matters most.
Cancer Fitness Tips: Experiencing severe depression and joint pain? Try a quick mobility routine and 5 min. of uplifting cardio like Zumba. Dealing with mobility issues, muscle loss and weakness due to surgery? Try 10 min. of functional training and flow yoga.

Keep in mind that the more you customize your exercise to your needs the better the result and the faster you will reach your fitness goals.

Work out tips for injured or sick people

Would you like to continue to exercise even if you're injured, sick, dealing with overwhelming amounts of stress, have a serious illness or condition (i.e. caner, neuropathy, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, obesity)?

Here are some really important work out tips to follow:
1. Get clearance from you doctor about whether you can workout and what you should and shouldn't do.

2. Assess don't guess about what your body needs. Loads of people just start doing random workouts that make no sense and then end up worst off. Find out what areas need improvement then get busy finding the exercises and workout routines that will help you make progress.

3. Be patient with your body and yourself. Maybe you used to run marathons or lift big heavy weights or walk every day. What your body could do a few months or a few years ago doesn't matter. It's where you are now that counts. Keep this in mind and stick to exercise your body can handle right now. Eventually you can get back to your old routine.

4. Think outside the box. Don't limit yourself to what you've always done. It may no longer work for you but maybe one day it will again. Try new things, different things, things you would not have considered. Now is the time to get out of your rut and find something that works. This may not sound appealing if you're a creature of habit but just go with it. You might surprise yourself.

5. Prioritize yourself! If you have no clue how to workout then spending a little on education from an expert can really turn things around. You might have to sacrifice your nail appointments and your clothes buying or your eating out habits for a while but your body and health are worth it. Be smart and think $400 on shoes and clothes and extra calories vs. $400 on an expert that will help me feel better forever. It's a no-brainer.