To start your diet plan, you should first identify the foods that cause you to overeat. You need to completely remove these items from your life, and make healthier choices. You will not be able to do this overnight, and that is acceptable. It is important to understand that you may be a bit fearful, or feel a bit overwhelmed, and it is necessary that you seek help and guidance from others. Many churches have support groups or weight loss clinics to help you on your journey.

Christian dieting plans and groups help you to understand what foods encourage weight loss, and which ones will cause your cravings and hunger to reappear. They promote exercise, not only as a source of fitness and burning calories, but also to help you connect more spiritually with the world. You learn to respect food, understand that you do not have to buy specialty diet products, or starve yourself. These practices stay with you for a lifetime, and encourage you and your family to lead the healthiest life possible.

Benefits of Christian Dieting

For people of the Christian faith who want to lose weight or take better care of themselves, Christian dieting plans offer guidance from God's word to support why they should make healthy choices and take care of their bodies. According to the Bible, the body is the temple of God and with this in mind, Christians who want to lose weight often choose a Christian diet plan because it helps them draw strength to do the right thing from God's word, even in regards to eating.

Another benefit to following most Christian diets is that they offer Scripture verses related to dieting for meditation. These verses help the dieter to stay focused on God's word and his will.

Cautions and Considerations

While many diets claim to be biblical, it is always important to do your research. If a diet is based on one verse taken out of context, then the diet may not really be biblically sound after all. Just because a diet claims to be Christian or biblical does not necessarily mean that it is. For instance in Romans 14:2 it says, "For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables." Does this mean anyone who eats a vegetarian diet is weak? The answer is no. It is always important to look at Scripture used to support a diet's claims. Determine who the Scripture is written for at the time and the circumstances surrounding what was said. Romans 14:2 had more to do with religious practices than dieting as we know it today.

Popular Christian and Biblical Diets

Christian dieting plans vary, but one thing they all have in common is that they offer a way for Christians to learn to eat less food and a more balanced diet. The goal is to help people avoid gluttony (overeating) and learn to eat a healthy selection of foods. Here are a few examples:

Halleluiah Diet

The Halleluiah Diet is based on Genesis 1:29, "And God said, "See, I have given you every herb [that] yields seed which [is] on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food." Based on this Scripture, the Halleluiah Diet recommends a diet of 85 percent raw foods and 15 percent cooked foods. This vegan diet program was started by Rev. George Malkmus who today runs Hallelujah Acres, a farm where followers of the diet can go to be trained to become health ministers. This diet promotes juicing vegetables as the most efficient way to feed our bodies the nutrients they need.

Daniel Fast

The Daniel Fast is based on the life of the Old Testament prophet, Daniel, when he was brought into captivity and refused to eat the king's food. Instead, in Daniel 1:12, he asked, "Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink." The account goes on to explain that at the end of the ten days, Daniel and his friends were healthier than those who ate the king's food. This Scripture has generated a number of different diets known as the Daniel Fast. Some are stricter than others. The thing to remember about this approach is that it is a fast. A temporary elimination of certain foods from the diet, but it is not a lifestyle diet to follow for the long term.

Prism

Prism is a low calorie approach to eating that helps to re-educate people regarding their eating. This diet takes dieters through phases. The first phase eliminates foods like bread, sugar, potatoes and pasta. It also requires the counting of calories and assigns homework which gets the dieter into the word of God. Assignments deal with eating issues, personal feelings, and applying God's word to the subject in a way that helps strengthen the dieters resolve based on their faith.

You want to be sure you’re picking a plan that you can stick with to see results. Before starting any diet, it is wise to visit your doctor for a complete physical. Seeking out a Registered Dietitian is also a good idea, because your dietary intake can be tailored to your individual lifestyle and needs. In addition to these healthcare resources, here are a few things to look for in a healthy weight loss diet.

General Requirements

Your diet plan should be realistic. Any program that claims you will lose weight quickly or that requires the purchase of expensive supplements should be closely scrutinized. A sound regime should include three basic principles: monitoring of food intake, increasing physical activity, and addressing the psychological component of weight loss, including the idea that it is a lifestyle change and not a quick weight loss fix. Including all three of these components contributes to easier weight loss and long-term success.

Slow, Gradual Weight Reduction

One pound of weight contains 3500 calories. This means you have to burn this many calories to lose one pound. With a daily deficit of about 500 calories, through decreased calorie intake and increased exercise, the rate of weight loss will be one pound a week. The recommended rate of weight loss is one to two pounds a week. This will help ensure that fat is being lost. A weight loss greater than this means you are losing your lean body mass in addition to fat. In the first week or two of your plan you may notice a weight loss of greater than one to two pounds. This loss is mostly water weight. The slow, gradual weight loss of fat usually begins after these first weeks.

Include All Food Groups

To ensure you get all the nutrition your body needs throughout your weight loss, your diet plan should include all the food groups. Food choices within each food group and portion size matter the most. A diet plan that tells you a food group (such as fat or carbohydrate) is “bad”, or a plan encouraging the exorbitant consumption of a single food group, such as “eat all the protein you want” is best to be avoided.

Most plans do not include a calorie breakdown, but a healthy weight loss plan should contain at least 1200 to 1500 calories a day to include all of the necessary vitamins and minerals. A weight loss plan monitored by a physician can be the exception to this rule.

Choose an “Everyday” Plan

A healthy meal plan is one that uses everyday foods and can fit into any situation. Remember that this is a lifestyle change and not a quick fix. Hence, a diet plan that requires specialty foods will be difficult to follow for the long-term. You should be able to apply your choices in any social situation, such as parties and eating at restaurants. In the beginning it might help to avoid situations you know will trigger overeating. As your habits change, and you become accustomed to your new lifestyle, it is reasonable to add these situations back into your life.

Choose a Well-Rounded Plan

In addition to addressing food, physical activity, and the psychological aspects of weight loss, a healthy plan should include rest, stress reduction, and an overall healthy lifestyle. Instead of a weight loss plan, it should be based on the idea of wellness that includes healthful eating and its role in an overall healthier lifestyle. A good example is learning how to deal with stress instead of turning to food.

Maintenance is Key

It is often said that losing weight is the easy part, keeping it off is the hard part. Whether this is true for you or not, select guidelines that focus on long-term maintenance of weight loss. It is best to focus on behavior change so when the weight is lost you don’t revert to old bad habits.

1. Consider the intensity that you want. If you want to lose a lot of weight, be prepared to include exercise into your daily regime and perhaps more restrictive dietary habits. However, be aware that it is generally not considered healthy to lose more than 1 to 2 pounds per week, so don't try to lose too much too fast.
2. Take the necessary time to learn about the diet program.Take time to learn about the diet program you choose to ensure that you follow the program closely. A diet is like a child or a relationship - it takes the proper amount of devotion and responsibility to make it work out.
3. Investigate the benefits of all of the diets you are considering. You also might want to consult your doctor before you begin a diet, to ensure safety.

Encourage Them to Exercise

It’s important that parents place an importance on exercise, teaching their child that it’s necessary for a healthy body. Family exercise can be one great way of doing this and will help teach the child the importance of exercise. There are a lot of great exercises that families can do together that will be fun and will also help when it comes to obesity and children. Taking walks, swimming, roller skating, dancing, and riding bikes together can be great exercises for families. By showing their children that exercise is important, parents can foster a love of exercise and being active in those children.

Ways of Treating Low Metabolism

Do you often wonder why children and teens can eat huge amounts of food and not gain weight? The answer has to do with metabolism, a process that can be described as how much the body burns calories every day. Children and teenagers have faster metabolism, which means their body is able to burn calories faster instead of having those calories stored in the body as fat. As we age, our metabolism slows down, which explains why, even if we eat the same amount of food as we always do, we end up gaining weight anyway. Weight gain as a result of low metabolism can be countered, though. And this usually involves making lifestyle changes and developing healthy habits.

What Causes Low Metabolism?

Low metabolism can be a combination of genetics, lifestyle and eating habits. People who live a sedentary life, get into crash diets and prolonged fasting, eat sugary foods and have hypothyroidism (under active thyroid glands) tend to have low metabolism. Fasting and crash diets promote weight loss, but only temporarily. What they do to the metabolism is slow it down since the body experiences low calorie intake, prompting the body to store the fat and burn it at a slower rate.

How to Increase Metabolism

You can increase metabolism in a number of ways. While metabolism can be increased through treatments and administering medications, the more effective ways are natural forms. If you have low metabolism, the first thing you should do is shun diets that require you to skip meals. You may lose a few pounds if you skip breakfast, lunch or supper but the weight loss is only short term. When you resume normal eating, you will quickly discover that the pounds come back, but this time they're twice as much as you have lost!

Another way to naturally treat low metabolism is to exercise regularly. If you can afford it, sign up for a gym membership and engage in muscle building and strength training as doing so will help further increase your metabolism.

Keep yourself hydrated by drinking water throughout the day, at least eight glasses of it. Avoid caffeinated, carbonated and sugary drinks. If you drink, try to cut back on your alcohol consumption. Limit yourself to an occasional glass of wine. Any attempts to raise your metabolic rate and lose weight would be futile if you can't cut back on drinking beer.

Foods such as green and red peppers (chili, cayenne, serano, habanera), protein rich foods, beets, mustard, cucumbers, celery, garlic and green tea are effective helping people with low metabolism. It is recommended that you snack on a celery stick or any of the foods mentioned in between meals to keep your metabolism occupied.

Don't skip breakfast. As much as possible, eat a healthy breakfast each morning. While you sleep, your body's metabolic rate has slowed down so for breakfast, you need to eat foods that are longer to digest so you will have more energy throughout the day. Instead of donuts, eat oats for breakfast. Ideally, you should consume about 400 calories for breakfast.

Metabolism and Thyroid

In the last decade or so, people have come to know more about the problem of thyroid deficiency and how widespread it is. Hypothyroidism, which occurs when the body is not producing enough thyroid hormone, is responsible for a whole host of symptoms, including low metabolism.

Some people with thyroid problems have very obvious symptoms, while others do not. There is such a range of possible symptoms that many other ailments may be tested for first before levels of thyroid hormone are checked. Some of the other symptoms people with hypothyroidism might include:

• Weight gain
• Anemia
• Muscle cramps and joint pain
• Fatigue
• Depression
• Migraines
• Impaired memory
• Increased sensitivity to heat and cold
• Paleness
• Brittle fingernails

A blood test can determine if someone has a thyroid problem, and there are several different treatments that should make this cause of low metabolism relatively easy to tackle.

Other Causes of Low Metabolism

Of course not everyone who has a low metabolism has a thyroid problem. The fact is, most people’s metabolisms decrease as they age There are all sorts of reasons for this, some of which are beyond our control. But there are some things you may do that can be the cause of low metabolism, so changing your behavior may change the way you feel.

Diet

One of the biggest factors in metabolism is actually what we eat. If you’re fasting or on a very low-calorie diet, odds are you have slowed down your metabolism to the point that you still aren’t losing a lot of weight even though you’re miserable from not eating.

The body needs nutrients and calories in order to work properly, and a lot of research seems to indicate that eating more often is better than eating only a couple of meals a day. That’s because it takes energy (calories) to digest and process food, and it keeps blood sugar levels more even when you eat regularly, which also keeps you feeling full.

Not only does how often you eat make a difference, what you eat can have an impact. Lots of high-sugar foods can mess with your metabolism because of the fluctuation of blood sugar. There are also foods that increase metabolism that should be consumed more often.

Water

Drinking enough water is important for a lot of reasons, but not being properly hydrated can really slow your metabolism. Most of the body’s functions, including digestion and metabolism, require water. If you’re not getting enough, your body can’t function at its peak.

It’s easy to start drinking more water if you make a habit of carrying a bottle or mug of water with you through the day. Replace sugary sodas with water and you’ll be doing your body even more of a favor.

Exercise

When your body is in good shape, everything works better. Having more muscle raises your body’s resting metabolic rate, or the number of calories burned just through regular function of the body.

A regular regimen of weight training can allow you to burn around 100 more calories each day. That may not sound like much, but if all other things remain equal that would lead to a weight loss of about 10 pounds in a year.

Stress

Stress may also play a role in decreasing metabolism because when the body is stressed, systems start working less efficiently. Also, people tend to overeat, eat the wrong things and not exercise when they are stressed, so it all goes together.

Ways to Improve Metabolism

• Drink more water.
• Eat smaller, more frequent meals.
• Cut back on sugary foods and beverages.
• Try to exercise at least 30 minutes a day most days of the week.
• Do some weight training if you’re not doing so already.
• Try to cut some stress from your life or learn better ways to handle it.
• If something still seems wrong, check with your doctor about getting your thyroid tested.

• It is advisable to eat smaller meals at frequent intervals, rather than eating a full meal on your fixed timings. This will help in increasing your rate of metabolism.
• Introduce a cut in your sugar intake. Regulating your consumption of beverages and other sugary stuff will be of great help in speeding up your metabolic rate.
• Try to do some form of workouts on an everyday basis, to pump up your metabolism. Daily exercise of minimum 30 minutes is the key to maintaining a speedy metabolism throughout the day.
• Undertaking some weight training is also highly beneficial.
• Try to keep yourself stress free and seek ways to lead a more healthy and relaxed life.
• Drink plenty of water, not just to cure slow metabolism, but also for keeping your body hydrated for the entire day.
• If nothing seems to be working, consult a physician and get a thyroid test done at the earliest.

I come across many ladies who are quite active. This is all fine and dandy, but when they are active and top that with teaching spinning classes, kick boxing, high energy videos, and general cardio machines, this can be a recipe for disaster, setting your further back than when you started.

Don't go overboard with cardio. Keep it simple, yet effective.

Cardio Intensity

Cardio intensity is a factor to keep fat burning beneficial. This does not mean to do an all out killer cardio routine that leaves you crawling from the gym in a near death status, but to simply shake things up a bit to force the body to respond.

A good way to master cardio is with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). There are many variations of HIIT and my favorite is the 2/2 ratio.

Example of 2/2 Ratio HIIT

Minutes 1-2 - Warm up
Minutes 3-4 - Low intensity
Minutes 5-6 - High intensity
Minutes 7-8 - Low intensity
Minutes 9-10 - High Intensity
Minutes 11-12 - Low intensity
Minutes 13-14 - High intensity
Minutes 15-16 - Low intensity
Minutes 17-18 - High Intensity
Minutes 19-20 - Low intensity
Minutes 21-22 - Cool down

With HIIT, your body never falls in a rut because you are constantly changing the intensity to prevent cardio adaptation.

Progressive Cardio

Another successful cardio tactic to use is Progressive Cardio. Your body can adapt to anything in a short amount of time and Progressive Cardio can stop adaptation before it occurs. Progressive Cardio is simply increasing your cardio each week by either the numbers of day or the amount of time to invite change and prevent staleness, provided you don't overdo it.

Example of Progressive Cardio

Week 1 - 4 times a week for 20 minutes
Week 2 - 4 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 3 - 5 times a week for 25 minutes
Week 4 - 5 times a week for 30 minutes

You will notice how each week is a step advanced from the previous. This is how you make cardio work in your favor to burn fat.

Adopt Weight Training

Have you even seen someone in the gym doing endless hours of cardio and still look soft and unfit? That is because she is lacking lean muscle, which is built from weight training and excessive cardio burns muscle.

Weight training builds lean muscle mass. The more muscle you add to your frame, the less you need to rely on cardio. Muscle is metabolically active and allows you to burn more calories at rest and at play. Of course, this does not mean to kick cardio to the curve, but having a balance of both in your program will keep things interesting and will give much better body transformation results.

Summary to Cardio Queen Syndrome

Once you understand how you can manipulate cardio, you will be able to master the fat burning game. Realize that you don't need three or four different cardio methods stacked on top of one another. Just use cardio wisely and you will have the advantage. Remember, cardio is a fat loss tool, not the determining factor.

It is no surprise that diet and fitness go hand in hand, and using cardio for weight loss is an excellent way to boost the body’s fat burning potential as well as take advantage of other health benefits that better fitness provides.

About Cardio Exercise

Cardiovascular exercise is a more technical term for familiar aerobic techniques. Cardio workouts are engineered to last for an extended period of time – typically 30 to 60 minutes – and use a wide range of large muscles to elevate an individual’s heart rate. As the heart rate increases, the body breathes deeper and expands blood flow to the muscles in use.

Cardio exercise stimulates weight loss because of its extended time frame. Initially, the body will burn glycogen, otherwise known as stored sugar, for the energy needed to maintain the exercise. After the available glycogen supply is depleted, however, the body relies on fat for maintaining energy for the activity. It is the burning of these fat stores that results in greater weight loss.

Types of Cardio

There are many fat burning exercises that can be used for cardio for weight loss. The key is to find an exercise that is enjoyable and easy (so you are more likely to do it more frequently and for longer periods of time), as well as one that uses large muscles that will help elevate the heart rate. Popular types of cardio exercises include:

• Jogging or running
• Singles tennis games
• Biking or cycling
• Swimming
• Brisk walks or hiking
• Stair climbing
• Elliptical machines
• Jumping rope
• Kick-boxing
• Step, dance, or jazz aerobics
• Aqua aerobics

Even individuals who don’t have time for regular exercise can still enjoy the benefits of a cardio workout by making adjustments to their daily routine. Speeding up the pace of housecleaning and yard work can create a cardio workout, and walking to a local store instead of driving can automatically add more cardio time into even the busiest schedule.

Regardless of the type of cardio you choose, it is best to find an exercise that uses a variety of muscle groups, a wide range of motion, and is suitable to your physical abilities. Before beginning any exercise regimen, consult a physician to discuss proper exercise techniques and what target heart rate you should achieve for the best cardio workout.

Cardio Benefits

In addition to using cardio for weight loss, many people enjoy additional benefits from this type of increased exercise. Cardiovascular exercise can:

• Increase physical stamina and endurance.
• Help lungs work more efficiently and gain a greater capacity.
• Stimulate more efficient blood flow to muscles, which helps relieve cramps and remove the body’s toxins.
• Release endorphins into the bloodstream, providing a natural “high.”
• Increase the body’s flexibility.
• Lower blood pressure and bad cholesterol levels.

Combined with weight loss, these health benefits greatly increase the quality of life and can allow individuals to enjoy far more activities than they would be able to without a healthy lifestyle.

Using Cardio for Weight Loss

To use cardio exercise to enhance weight loss, it is important to opt for a regular cardio routine. A steady regimen of 30 to 60 minutes of cardio exercise 3 to 4 times per week is recommended, though individuals who have not exercised regularly should start with shorter workouts to allow their bodies time to develop the stamina for longer sessions. Interval training – where more rigorous portions of a workout are interspersed with easier exercises in the same session – is particularly effective at increasing the heart rate while still adjusting to each individual’s exercise level.

To keep the workout fresh and interesting, it is also critical to change routines periodically. A new routine or different type of exercise will work different muscles, spreading the benefits of the exercise throughout the body. New techniques will also keep the participant interested and engaged in the activity rather than making it a chore. By staying interested in the exercise, it is more likely that a regular routine will be adhered to and the long-term benefits of cardio exercise can be experienced.

Best Time to Do Cardio

While there is no “wrong” time to do cardio for weight loss, there is some evidence that the most efficient time is in the morning before eating breakfast. The theory is that individuals who do cardio after a meal must first burn off the excess sugar and carbohydrates they’ve just ingested, which means that less fat will be burned away during the duration of the workout. By working out before eating, more stored fat will be converted to energy and the weight loss benefits may be noticed sooner. After the workout, eating a healthy breakfast will restore the body’s energy level and prevent the period of lethargy that may follow.

It is important to note, however, that doing cardio at any time is beneficial. If the only time an extended exercise period can be arranged is in the evening, the benefits will still accumulate, though the weight loss may be more gradual. In addition, many exercise physiologists and nutrition researchers believe that the primary key to weight loss is not what time you exercise, but rather creating a calorie deficit by either eating fewer calories with a properly balanced, healthful diet or burning more calories on a daily basis, and ultimately adopting a healthy combination of both.

Avoiding Injury

Because cardio workouts are so extensive, it is important to take appropriate precautions to prevent injuries.

• Wear appropriate footwear with adequate support and cushioning to prevent stress fractures and joint pain.
• Drink plenty of water before, during, and after the workout to keep the body properly hydrated.
• Be sure to stretch and warm up muscles before intense workouts to prevent strains.

Cardio Won’t Work by Itself

Despite the benefits of cardiovascular exercise and what it does contribute to weight loss, the most effective weight loss plan incorporates more than aerobic exercise. Healthy eating habits are essential to provide adequate nutrition to hard-working muscles, and strength training will help build muscles that can operate more efficiently, further stimulating weight loss. By developing a well-rounded diet and exercise plan, with cardio for weight loss as an integral part of the routine, it is possible to create a healthy lifestyle that will lead to many physical and emotional benefits.

Some patients actually lose weight on Celexa; in fact, Forest found that "Patients treated with Celexa in controlled trials experienced a weight loss of about 0.5 kg compared to no change for placebo patients." However, other patients report that the drug seems to prompt a craving for food.

Achieving or maintaining a healthy weight can be a real challenge for patients who suffer from this effect, but several options are available to them

A common question asked by depression patients is: "Can you lose weight on Celexa?" According to experts and clinical studies, the short answer to that is yes, it is possible.

Celexa

Lundbeck, a pharmaceutical company, developed Celexa in 1989. When the patent expired in 2003, the drug came out in various generic forms.

Typically, Celexa is prescribed as a treatment for depression. It is also considered a treatment for social anxiety disorder, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. From time to time, it can also be included in treatment plans for Huntington's Disease and premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Considered a mild anti-depressant, its side effects list is mild compared to many drugs of its kind. Just over 10 percent of patients taking Celexa experienced side effects including vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. Other side effects may be experienced, but these are the ones most linked to the potential for weight loss or gain. Studies have shown that these side effects are short-lived and decrease as the patient is on the drug longer.

Can You Lose Weight on Celexa?

It is very possible to lose weight while taking Celexa. Doctors haven't gone on record as to exactly why, but there are a certain percentage of patients who have actually lost weight without trying while on Celexa.

It could be said that the side effects of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are directly linked to the causes of the weight loss. If these side effects are somewhat severe in the first few weeks a patient is taking Celexa, it's understandable that weight loss would be experienced.

As the drug begins to take effect, patients may return to their previous eating habits. Their depression recedes and they start to get back to regular, daily activities, which may mean exercising. This is a natural way that the drug may, indirectly, cause weight loss. As their moods even out, it becomes less difficult to control eating habits and a focus on a healthy diet may return.

It Won't Happen on Its Own

As much as you might like to hope that it will, Celexa is not going to instantly make you lose weight and become thin like in your dreams. Just like any diet plan, it's going to take work, effort and determination on your part.

Healthy Diet

The first thing to do is to eat healthier. This means paying attention to calories, fat content, sugar levels, sodium levels, etc. You may need to cut portion size, or concentrate on not snacking on junk food throughout the day. Some dietitians recommend their patients eat several small meals each day instead of two or three larger ones. This dispersal of calories is more effective than bundling them all into two or three meals. It stretches out your chances to eat throughout the day, making you feel more satisfied and less hungry.

Exercise

You'll need to start exercising, too. Just changing your eating habits isn't going to completely help. It's healthy for you to exercise, and a routine that includes both weight training and aerobic exercises is going to get you pretty quick results. Exercising four days a week for 30 to 45 minutes each day will get you in the groove pretty quickly. It may seem hard at first, but just keep trying. You should alternate your types of exercise every day. For instance, if the first day you work on strength training exercises, then the second day should be some sort of aerobic exercise.

It is Possible

Even though it may seem your metabolism is working against you, there are no scientific reasons that weight loss on Celexa isn't possible. Ask yourself the question. "Can you lose weight on Celexa?" If you think you can, then you can. If you tell yourself that it's impossible, it probably is.

# Step 1
Discuss this and any other side effects with your health-care provider. (The pharmacy instructions include this warning: "Call the doctor right away to report new or sudden changes in mood, behavior, thoughts, or feelings. Signs to watch for include new or worsening depression, new or worsening anxiety, agitation, insomnia, hostility, panic attacks, restlessness, extreme hyperactivity, and suicidal thinking or behavior.") Some side effects vanish as you become physically accustomed to the drug over the course of a few weeks. If not, you and your doctor may decide that a side effect of weight gain is unimportant considered against the benefits of the drug. If you are on a high dose of Celexa, your doctor may suggest trying a lower dose.

#Step 2
Healthy eating and exercise may counteract any weight gain. Exercise itself is helpful in treating depression. According to a study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas published in 2005, "Individuals who participated in moderately intense aerobics, such as exercising on a treadmill or stationary bicycle--whether it was for three or five days per week--experienced a decline in depressive symptoms by an average of 47 percent after 12 weeks."
The Mayo Clinic recommends dealing with weight gain caused by depressants through eating healthy foods "such as plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains"; cutting back on sweets, sweet drinks, and fast food; getting 30 minutes of exercise each day; and consulting a dietitian or nutritionist.

#Step 3
The Mayo Clinic also recommends talking to your doctor about switching medications. The antidepressant bupropion (brand name Wellbutrin), for example, is not chemically related to SSRI drugs and not associated with weight gain. In fact, a study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine in 2005 found that 400 mg of bupropion daily was effective in treating obesity: "Over a period of 6 to 12 months, weight loss in the bupropion group (4.4 kg) was significantly greater than in the placebo group (1.7 kg)." However, many patients find that SSRIs like Celexa are more effective than bupropion in treating mood disorders, especially major depression.

A doctor may consider prescribing a mild dose of bupropion in addition to an SSRI to help counteract the effect of increased appetite. (Bupropion's effectiveness as an anti-smoking drug, marketed under the name Zyban, may be related.) It is important to note that other antidepressants, especially monoamine oxidase inhibitors such as Nardil, should never be combined with SSRI drugs.

# Step 4
You may need to learn coping skills to deal with increased appetite. Weight loss programs like Weight Watchers, weight loss counseling or a program to deal with eating disorders such as Overeaters Anonymous may be useful. Remember that you have taken a major step in dealing with mood disorders, and even good change can be stressful. Take advantage of help available to learn to adapt to these changes.

Sugar Free vs. Regular Lollies

For those with a sweet tooth, it's tempting while dieting to find a way to satisfy those cravings for something sweet. But if you really want to lose weight lollies are not recommended as a regular part of your diet because they are not only high in calories but are also in low-nutritional value. But a lollie here and there can keep you satisfied. A popular option is low calorie or sugar free candies. The thing you'll want to weigh in your decision is are they good for you? And how many calories do you really save?

For years, dentists have claimed lollies cause tooth decay, and doctors tell us they promote weight gain when eaten in excess. With obesity on the rise, healthier lollie choices are flooding the market and gaining in popularity. But the savings in calories, in reality isn't much. Regular hard candies usually fall between 15-20 calories each, while sugar-free varieties typically have half as many because the artificial sweeteners used are sweeter than sugar and have half the calories.

Calories in Lollies

Bite size pieces of candy can seem so innocent. Just pop one in your mouth after lunch when you crave something sweet. That's fine, but if you are counting calories or calculating carbs, you need to be aware that the calories in lollies add up. Don't sit at your desk and eat from the candy jar. Take a look at the following table and you'll see how easy it is to eat 100 calories or more without thinking. And if you're on a 1200 calorie diet, you'll want to find a snack that provides more fiber and sticks with you longer.

Calories in Breath Mints

If you crave that little something sweet, and are trying to cut calories, you may want to consider replacing your lollie with a breath mint. Yes, breath mints are candy flavored with mint. And not all breath mints are created equal when it comes to calories so it is still important to know what you are putting in your mouth. However, in general you'll find breath mints much lower in calorie than traditional hard candies and even many sugar free candies.

How to Use Lollies to Help You Lose Weight

Even though lollies add calories to your diet, they are much less than most other dessert options. Even Angle Food Cake which is considered low has 128.5 calories for a slice. Taking this into consideration, plan ahead the next time you're going out to eat. Slip a lollie or two into your purse or pocket. Then when your companions sit around the table nibbling their delectable delights you can pull out your long lasting lollie and walk away from the table satisfied not only because you had dessert, but because you stayed within your calorie limit.

The calories in alcohol are metabolised first by the body, ahead of burning fat - which is not desirable if on a weight loss diet.

How Many Calories are in the Alcohol You Like to Drink?

While it may be a normal part of your social life, the calories in alcohol can wreak havoc on your waistline. You may not realize it, but your happy hour drinks may add up to an entire meal or more.

Alcohol is Part of Life

Every year, over six billion gallons of beer are produced in the United States. The average consumption is 33 gallons per person in the U.S. Alcohol is prevalent at many social functions and is accepted as a normal part of many celebrations.

The Calories in Alcohol

Whether you know it or not, the alcohol you drink on a Saturday night with your friends has a huge impact on your diet. It wouldn't be so bad if you just drank one drink, but typically when the brew starts flowing, one isn't enough. Additionally, studies have proven that weight gained as a result of the calories in alcohol consumption tends to collect on the abdomen.

Beer Belly

According to the labels, beer has a lot of calories. For instance, one 12 ounce serving of Budweiser beer contains 145 calories. Coors Light contains 102 calories, and Corona has 148 calories. One bottle of Michelob contains 155 calories. So, if you just have one beer, it's really not too bad. However, if you consume four, you have nearly 600 calories in your system from just drinking.

Don't be a Whiner

Wine has gotten really good attention lately for containing a high level of antioxidants. It's been linked to preventing heart disease and some kinds of cancers and helping to deter strokes. Despite all of the good press it's been receiving, wine still packs a lot of calories. The recommended serving size for wine is one four ounce glass. Most wines contain nearly 100 calories per serving. Sauvignon Blanc contains 80 calories. Merlot adds 95 calories to your intake. Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon both contain 90 calories.

Liquor is Quicker

Liquor contains a lot of calories for such a small amount of liquid. The higher the proof, the higher the calorie content. A typical serving size is one and a half ounces. If the proof of the alcohol is 100 proof, it contains around 124 calories. 80 proof Liquor has 97 calories. One Gin and Tonic contains 200 calories. A single Long Island Iced Tea can add up to 750 calories to your daily caloric intake. A Margarita contributes up to 500 calories to your diet. A little bit of liquor goes a long way where calories are concerned.

What to Do?

It's hard to go out and about socially if you completely cut out alcohol because of your diet. However, there are ways to drink socially, but still control the calorie content. One key thing is to not snack while you're drinking. It's part of the social atmosphere, but typically as you're drinking, you're not as aware of how much you eat, and you fail to stop eating when you're no longer hungry.

Another solution is to reduce the number of nights you drink. Instead of drinking a beer every evening when you get home from work, just do it a night or two. Instead of going out drinking with friends on both nights of the weekend, just drink on one night. By reducing the amount of times you drink, you're going to drastically decrease your calorie intake.

If you don't want to reduce your time spent drinking, you can choose to exercise more. To burn 150 calories spend 15 minutes jogging, 30 minutes bicycling or 35 minutes walking.

Life in Moderation

They say that everything should be taken in moderation. Even gaining awareness that the alcoholic beverages that seem to be a necessary part of your Saturday night festivities are hindering your diet counts for a lot. Knowing how much of an impact they have on your waistline, you can plan accordingly when you know you're going to be in a social setting where alcohol is consumed.

Calories in Alcohol - Wine

Calories in Alcohol - Gin

Calories in Alcohol - Vodka

Calories in Alcohol - Rum

Calories in Alcohol - Other Spirits

Calories in Alcohol - Beer

Calories Needed for Women Differ

In general, men have leaner muscle mass than women and as a result will burn more calories. A woman doesn't burn calories as efficiently as a man and needs fewer calories. The caloric requirement for women can also differ from one woman to another. Caloric needs depend on a number of factors that are unique to your physical makeup.

Caloric Need Factors:

* Age
* Gender
* Genes
* Height
* Amount of exercise (activity level)
* Ratio of fat to muscle
* Weight, ratio of fat to muscle

Along with this standard list, you'll also need to take into consideration other variables such as being pregnant, breast feeding, or fighting an illness. All of these factors may increase your caloric need.

How Your Body Burns Calories

You don't want the process of determining how many calories you should eat to become an unsolvable puzzle that makes you throw your hands up in surrender. The easiest way to evaluate your individual caloric needs is to focus on your basal metabolic rate and level of physical exercise.
Basal Metabolic Rate

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) controls the amount of calories your body burns in order to keep running. Even when your body is at rest, you’re burning calories to keep all of your automatic body functions operating. Your lungs breathe, your eyes blink, your heart pumps, and your liver and kidneys continue to filter your blood. That just skims the surface of the automatic body systems that don’t require your conscious thought in order to function. When it comes to the number of calories women need, more than half of the required calories are used to fuel automatic functions.

Physical Exercise

The second factor to take into consideration when determining caloric needs is your level of physical activity. Physical activity burns calories, and the more you exercise or move around the more calories you need.
Determine Your Caloric Needs

Learning your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and factoring in your physical activity will help you determine how many calories you need in order to maintain your current weight. If you plan to lose weight, then you'll need to burn more calories than you consume. This is the crux of any successful weight loss.

One formula commonly used to determine caloric needs for women is the Harris Benedict Formula. This mathematical formula determines calories needed based on height, weight, gender, and age. The calculation also takes into account your level of exercise and adjusts the caloric intake requirement accordingly.

Harris Benedict Formula

To figure out how many calories you need in a day multiply BMR by the most fitting activity factor:

Harris Benedict Formula

To figure out how many calories you need in a day multiply BMR by the most fitting activity factor:

It's always beneficial to understand how to calculate the calories you need. If you want to bypass the math, you can try some of the handy online calculators that use the Harris Benedict equation. These online calculators make determining your caloric needs easy.

Eating Too Many Calories

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service, women and men are eating too many calories. It's easy to overeat when you're served giant portions of food. Many advertisements and TV commercials encourage you with slogans that claim you need and deserve a break. All of these messages translate into eating more than you need. Knowing the calories needed for women is a tool you can use to help break this unhealthy trend.

To determine the number of calories needed to lose weight we must first try to calculate the calories required by the body. Only then is it possible to slowly lower the calories needed by the body until we are in a negative energy balance. The gradual reduction in calories required encourages the body to slowly use up fat stores rather than burning up protein from muscle - this is what often happens when calories are cut too quickly and results in a lowered metabolism!

There are several accurate formulas to choose from. We will show the Schofield equation below.

Equations for estimating basal metabolic rate (BMR) for adult men and women.

Men:

• 10 - 17 years BMR = 17.7 x W + 657 SEE = 105
• 18 - 29 years BMR = 15.1 x W + 692 SEE = 156
• 30 - 59 years BMR = 11.5 x W + 873 SEE = 167

Women:

• 10 - 17 years BMR = 13.4 x W + 692 SEE = 112
• 18 - 29 years BMR = 14.8 x W + 487 SEE = 120
• 30 - 59 years BMR = 8.3 x W + 846 SEE = 112

Key:

W = Body weight in Kilograms - convert body weight here!

SEE = Standard error of estimation

The SEE value means the calculated BMR could be this number of calories out, in other words either too many or too little. As an example, if you are very muscular and possess more lean weight than an average person of the same height and weight, then you may have to add the SEE value to the BMR calculated. The simple reason is more lean weight means more calories needed!

An example calculation of calories needed for a woman aged 30 years and weighing 70 kilograms (154 pounds)...

• 30 - 59 years BMR = 8.3 x W + 846 SEE = 112
• BMR = 8.3 x 70 + 846
• BMR = 1427 calories needed for basal metabolic rate!

Now remember the SSE, this is 112. So if the woman is about average body fat percentage then we could say this value is about right. However, look at her age!

She is at the lower end of the scale (30 - 59 years) for this reason we may have to add the SEE value to the calculation simply because younger people generally need more calories. Therefore the real BMR for this woman is more likely to be around 1539!

What Is a Calorie?

When considering how many calories needed each day to lose weight, you hear the term calorie bandied about, but most people have a really nebulous idea of what a calorie actually is.

A calorie is a unit of food energy. Six nutrients contain calories. Carbohydrates and proteins have four calories per gram. Fats are more energetically dense, and have nine calories per gram. Alcohol has seven calories per gram. Other sources of calories include organic acids (such as acetic acid and lactic acid) and polyols (sugar alcohols such as Mannitol, Xylitol and Glycerol).

Calories and Weight Loss

One of the basic tenants of weight loss is that you need to burn more calories than you eat in order to lose weight. While this is true, the process is a little more complex than that simple statement indicates.

Calories – energy units – are burned by your body as energy. There is, however, a limit to the amount of calories your body utilizes as energy. This amount varies from person to person based upon a number of factors including your basic metabolic burn rate, the amount of lean body mass you have, and your activity level. Other chemical and hormonal factors may also affect how many calories your body burns each day, but they are beyond the scope of this article and are best discussed with a nutritionist or physician.

Any calorie consumed that your body does not convert to energy is stored as body fat.

Basal Metabolic Rate

Your basal metabolic rate is your minimal caloric burn rate. These are the calories you need just to exist and support bodily functions such as respiration, heart beat and digestion to name a few. This is an important number to consider when determing how many calories needed each day to lose weight. It is never advisable to have a daily caloric intake that falls below this basal metabolic rate (BMR). There are a number of methods that can be used to calculate BMR ranging from the very scientific which is done in a doctor’s office to an estimation that will work well for most people who are trying to get a handle on how much to eat. To get a general idea of your BMR, use this BMR calculator. This is the lowest amount of calories you should EVER eat unless directed otherwise by a physician.

Lean Body Mass

In general, the more lean body mass you have, the more calories your body will burn. Lean body mass is everything in your body that is not fat including muscles, bones, water and organs. Your lean body mass to body fat ratio is also referred to your body composition. There are a number of ways to measure body composition, including skin fold calipers and hydrostatic weighing. Most body composition calculations need to be done by an expert who has been trained in body composition. Skin caliper measurements are usually the least expensive method.

Activity Level

The more active you are, the more calories you will burn. Activity level includes more than formal exercise. It also includes how sedentary or active your job is, and whether you fidget a lot or sit still. There is a good basic equation that takes your activity level into account and recommends caloric intake based upon how active you are. This equation is called the Harris-Benedict equation. You can use a Harris-Benedict calculator to calculate your daily caloric needs.

How Many Calories Needed Each Day to Lose Weight?

Your individual answer will depend on the two numbers you derived – your BMR and your Harris-Benedict number. Since you need to burn more calories than you take in, a good rule of thumb is to take your Harris-Benedict calculation and subtract between 300 and 500 calories from that number. This, then, would be your required daily caloric intake for weight loss.

Eating Below Your BMR

Never eat below your BMR number, because your body will begin to convert your lean body mass to energy. This, in turn, decreases your lean body mass (even though your weight is dropping), which decreases your basal metabolic rate. This can become a vicious cycle that traps many dieters, who find they can eat less and less and need to exercise more and more to even be able to maintain their weight loss.

Increasing Your Body’s Ability to Burn Calories

Is the number of calories you can eat and still lose weight alarmingly low? You can increase your body’s ability to burn calories. There are two ways you can do this. First, you can increase your lean body mass through strength training. Secondly, you can increase your activity level. If you significantly increase your activity level, you will need to recalculate your caloric needs so that you can continue healthy weight loss that sacrifices minimal lean body mass.

Once you have determined how many calories you need to eat daily to lose weight, check out some of the different diet recommendations for a 1200 calorie diet, 1500 calorie diet and an 1800 calorie diet.

How is a Calorie Burned?

We use calories for every function our body endures. Breathing, blood flow, heart beat, and kidney function all require energy; hence calories are being used as these involuntary mechanisms are taking place. Every organ system in our body is made up of millions of cells and each cell created energy in an effort to function properly. This, then, is how calories are burned.Calorie restricted diet

Exercise Calories

Another way in which our body uses energy is through voluntary exercise. For example, it takes a certain number of calories to walk one mile. Every activity requires a different amount of calories. This is why highly trained athletes such as triathletes or cyclists, need to consume enormous amounts of food. The sedentary person requires much fewer calories since the only calories being burned on a regular basis is what the involuntary organ activities require.

Basal Metabolic Rate

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories that you body needs to run on a daily basis without any extra physical activity or exercise routines. It is this number that is key to weight management, whether it be weight loss, weight gain, or weight maintenance. For example, if a person’s BMR determines a caloric requirement of 1400 calories per day, then theoretically this is the amount of food that person would eat to maintain his or her current weight. If weight gain was intended, then an increase of 250 – 500 calories each day would result in a ½ to 1 pounds weight gain over the course of seven days. For weight loss, a deficit of that amount of calories would result in a weight loss of ½ to 1 pound over the course of week’s time.

How to Determine Number of Calories Burned

Physical activity is often recommended for weight management purposes because it causes the caloric deficit the body needs in order to lose weight. When incorporated into a healthy diet, exercise can significantly encourage weight loss. Here is a short list of some activities and the number of calories burned based on a 120 pound person per hour of activity. The number of calories increases as body weight increases.

• aerobic dance 330
• bicycling at 10mph 220
• bowling 165
• driving a car 110
• eating 80
• gardening 275
• golfing (walking) 250
• hiking 330
• horseback riding 220
• housework 135
• jogging 385
• sleeping 50
• soccer 385
• swimming 330
• tennis 385
• walking (brisk) 220
• watching TV 55
• weight training 165

As you can see, the more vigorous the activity, the more calories burned. This is why it is best to get up and move instead of being sedentary most of the time.

Metabolic Differences

Every person is made differently and so are their metabolisms. While age, weight, height, gender, and genetics are pieces to the metabolic puzzle, body composition is a large piece as well. A person with a lean muscle mass greater than fat mass will have a higher BMR than a person with a higher fat to muscle mass ratio. This is because muscle tissue is highly metabolic and burns more calories per hour than fat tissue.

Calories Burned During Exercise

Calories are the amount of energy that is produced by a given quantity of a food. Calories are supplied by the carbohydrate, protein, fat, and alcohol in food.

Why count calories?

Fact: When you eat more calories than you need, you gain weight. The wild card is determining what you need because there are so many variables. In general, an individual needs only the calories he is able to burn. You can maintain a healthy weight by matching the calories you take in to the calories you burn day-after-day. You lose weight by taking in fewer calories than you burn.

Counting calories is a real eye-opener. Research shows that most people don't realize how many calories they eat. They don't see the extra calories that come from large portions and from high fat foods.

As a weight loss method, calorie counting doesn't give you rules about what, when, and how much to eat. The only recommendation is to have a balanced diet of the foods you prefer within your calorie requirements. Calorie counting induces people to adjust their food choices, portions, and physical activity to reach their calorie goals.

How are calorie requirements derived for an individual?

Calorie requirements are determined by several factors, including your body composition, gender, and age. Larger people with more muscle need more calories, and men and younger people needing more calories than women and older people. Other factors, such as excessive thyroid hormone, fever and illness, and extremes in temperature, can raise calorie requirements temporarily. An individual's activity level also impacts his calorie requirements, but that is not a fixed factor because activity can change from day-to-day.

How many calories should I be eating in a day?

Assuming you are in good health, the answer depends on your height, weight, age, gender, activity level, and the amount of muscle you have on board. For instance, at moderate activity levels, a 30-year old woman who is 5'5" and 125 pounds needs about 2200 calories a day, while a 30-year old man who is 6'0" and 172 pounds, needs about 2800 calories a day. Calorie requirements should be based on a person's adequate weight rather than on a weight that is over or under the adequate range. A person's muscle mass is the wild card in setting requirements because it is difficult to measure muscle mass without special training and equipment. In order to lose weight, you should create a deficit of 500 - 1000 fewer calories than you need. To create that deficit, you have the options of eating less, moving more, or doing a little of each. The Calorie Target calculator in the Tools section will determine your calorie needs.

How much weight should I lose?

Ideally, you should lose enough weight to place you in the adequate weight range on the BMI chart, which is a BMI of 18.5 - 24.9. For example, for a 5'5" tall person, the adequate range is 114 - 144 pounds. The range accounts for differences in gender, frame size and muscle mass. Small-boned Asian and some Caucasian women should aim for the bottom of the range, while men, large-boned and African people are better placed at the top of the range. Considerable variation exists among individuals regardless of race.

The rate at which you should lose weight is another issue. An average loss of 0.5 to 2 pounds per week is the medical recommendation for good health. Success is defined as a loss of 10% of body weight over six months.

What should I eat in a day?

You should eat a balanced diet with all of the food groups represented. After you have the necessary food groups, you can spend them on "discretionary" foods that are tasty but lacking nutrients. Of course, you can spend your discretionary calories on wholesome foods as well. For great information about what to eat in one day, go to www.mypyramid.gov.

Do I have to eat three meals a day?

There is no law that says you have to eat three meals a day. You may eat two, four, five or more meals if you prefer. The three-meal plan follows the body's natural tendency to feel hungry about five hours after the last meal. If you choose to eat less often, you might become ravenous and be inclined to overeat. If you eat more frequently, your meals will have to be small to keep within your calorie requirements.

Read more in our library: Mini-meals and Metabolism, 1500-calories in three meals a day, 1500-calories in six meals a day.

Why must I eat at least 1,200 calories a day when I want to eat less?

In order to get the daily food servings you need for a balanced diet, it takes about 1200 calories a day. With careful planning, you could have a balanced diet on 1000 calories, but the restrictiveness of a very low calorie level can lead to binging and weight cycling. What's more, very low calorie diets can cause excessive muscle breakdown and metabolic adaptations, which can make you need fewer calories to maintain a higher weight.

Should I be following a low carbohydrate diet?

Research shows that dieters who follow a low carbohydrate diet, like Atkins, lose more weight at first, but after one year, there is no difference in weight loss between dieters who follow low carbohydrate or low fat diets. Calorie control makes the difference. As long as you stay within your calorie requirements for weight loss, the specific ratio of carbohydrate to protein to fat is not so important as long as you get the nutrients you need and do not exceed the upper limits for saturated and trans fats.

Part of About.com and The New York Times Company, Calorie-Count.com (as the name implies) offers calorie and nutritional information for common foods. These include a variety of categories, including:

• Fruits and Vegetables
• Meats and Proteins
• Snacks
• Cereals, Pasta, and Baked Goods
• Fast Foods
• Entrees and meals
• Beverages and Condiments
• Specific Name Brand Products

You can either browse the headings or use the calorie count search tool to find the food or beverage you're looking for.

Activity Browser

The Activity Browser, often referred to as a calorie counter, on the site provides a list of common activities and how many calories each activity burns per hour, including necessary daily activities, recreation, and occupational tasks. These cover a wide range, from bathing, carrying groceries upstairs, and cleaning carpets to painting, standing in church, or playing the cello.

Of course, the activities which are often thought of first when burning calories are included as well. The calories burned from exercise and highly active categories such as the following are also shown:

• Sports
• Running
• Bicycling
• Walking
• Swimming
• Aerobics

Recipes

Another feature of Calorie-count.com is their recipe collection. The member-submitted recipes are grouped according to type of food, listed by popularity, or available via the recipe search feature. Each recipe provides nutritional information, including the number of calories per serving.

Each recipe also features a nutritional analysis that gives the recipe a "grade" and points out the pros and cons, such as low in fat or high in sugar. If you want to know the caloric content and nutritional values of a recipe without submitting it to the site, Calorie-Count.com also offers an innovative recipe analysis tool that provides this information for several homemade recipes and dishes.

For those who love doing their own cooking and baking, the recipe center and recipe analysis tools are extremely helpful.

Additional Resources

Along with the calories counts for various foods and beverages, the activity calorie burning charts, and the recipe sections, Calorie-Count.com also offers other weight loss resources. These include forums, a library of health, diet, and weight loss articles, links to additional health sites on About.com, and a substantial FAQs page.

Although the resources are free, they ask you to complete a free registration. You can view the calorie counters and other resources without registering, but you cannot post to the forums or submit recipes.

Navigating the Site

The site is easy to navigate for the most part, including pertinent headings and recent and popular searches. They also include an interactive demo that shows you how to incorporate Calorie-Count.com into your weight loss program.

Improving the Site

A fairly new site, Calorie-count.com offers its audience a chance to improve the growing site by submitting features they think would be beneficial or would like to use themselves. The ideas that are already planned or in the process of being integrated into the site are tagged under a "To-do" list, while others remain on the suggestion list.

Drinking lots of water during calorie shifting helps speed up the process and increase the weight loss effect because the water will flush out the food and help keep metabolism high. Now most people make the common mistake of disregarding this diet altogether and just drinking water. This will help you lose weight but not as quickly.

Because you are eating meals in different calorie values, you will cause a unique reflex in your body which will raise metabolism and fat burning and keep it high for as long as you keep doing calorie shifting so you can lose weight while you sleep! The combination of eating 4 or more meals a day with different calorie values in each meal, combined with drinking plenty of water is the main idea behind how to calorie shift.

The Calorie Shifting Method, also knows as Calorie-cycling or Zig-zag diet, is one of the latest solutions to come along to help people lose weight.

Metabolism and Shifting Calories

Statistics say that 95 percent of diets fail, and in most cases dieters end up weighing more than when they started. The reason cited for these weight loss failures is that when a dieter deprives her body of certain foods or cuts calorie intake considerably, it results in a slower metabolism rate as the body's biological survival mechanism kicks in. When the body thinks it is starving, it slows the metabolic rate to use fuel deposits as efficiently as possible, making them last. A slower metabolism works against weight loss goals.

Calorie shifting is a weight loss method designed to keep the metabolism running high so dieters continue to burn fat quickly.

How Calorie Shifting Works

Calorie Shifting works to trick a dieter's metabolism. This is accomplished by rotating food types and amounts. It requires eating specific foods at certain times of day, and then rotating food choices so that the metabolism doesn't adjust to a specific diet regime. Promoters of this diet say that this is the key to not gaining weight back when dieters go off the diet. Following this diet keeps a person's metabolism guessing at how much fuel or energy it will have on hand, and when dieters lose the desired weight and go off the diet, their metabolism is still running at peak efficiency. As a result, when they incorporate other foods back into their diet, it doesn't flood a slow metabolism with an overload of calories or carbs that it can't handle. This shifting of caloric intake requires changing the following every few days:

• Kinds of food you eat
• The nutrients
• Calorie amounts

This can be accomplished by focusing your eating on carbs for a few days, then mainly protein, change your intake of fat, and mixing up the amount of calories eaten from day to day so the body can't find a metabolic set point.

The Downside

Following this rotation of varying calorie amounts is not easy. It still requires a plan to work. If you try to do this on your own, it requires the development of an expert menu based on the shifting calorie system. This is most often accomplished with the use of special software.

Diets that Use Shifting Calorie Method

The following diets claim lasting weight loss results for those who practice the Calorie Shifting Method:

• Fat Loss 4 Idiots Diet
• Zig-zag Diet - Varies daily calories averaging 1250-1300 calories per day over the course of a week. But one day you can eat 1200 calories, on another, 1600, then 1,000 and so on making sure your daily caloric intake for the week falls into the average.
• Calorie Restricted Diet
• The Idiot Proof Diet
• Calorie Cycling

Keep Your Body Guessing

According to those who promote the Calorie Shifting method, following a varying calorie intake from day to day will keep your body guessing. Your metabolism won't slow because it expects a certain amount of fuel to be burned. Instead the fluctuating calorie amounts will keep your metabolism running high, burning that unwanted body fat while you enjoy a variety of food selections. Change the kinds of food, the nutrients and the calories you eat every few days to keep your body guessing and avoid the yo-yo affect when you've reached your weight loss goal and go off the diet.

Counting calories is a common yet frustrating method of food monitoring, but now dieters and anyone interested in being knowledgeable about what they eat can turn to a convenient online resource: the Calorie King.

About Calorie King

This innovative website was launched in 1996 to help promote food awareness rather than mindless dieting. The philosophical goal to “set the food record straight” combines the idea of straightforward information with tools for lifelong weight control through healthier, informed food decisions. By offering visitors a rich diet of updated information and interactive resources, the company strives to alter society’s perceptions of food and encourages improved eating habits that lead to healthier lifestyles instead of just a temporary diet plan.

In 2003, a three month intensive program – Calorie King University – was introduced to educate users about nutrition, weight management, and lifestyle changes to promote better health. In 2004, that educational option was followed by the Nutrition and Exercise Manager desktop software, giving users another convenient tool to track their progress. Today, the website offers a wide range of materials to help users discover the many options healthy eating habits can encompass, as well as providing constant updates and ongoing support as users work their way toward better food awareness.

Available Tools

There are many online tools available for users to track not only the number of calories in their favorite foods, but also to monitor their eating and related lifestyle habits. Popular website features include educational materials, interactive tools, and the ever-growing food database.

Educational Materials

A successful dieter is one who understands what foods meet their nutritional needs, who knows how diets do and don’t work, and who is willing to learn more about diet trends and fads before blindly signing up for restrictive meal plans or alternative treatments. Calorie King provides a startling array of educational materials to help users learn more about their diets, including:

• Informational articles about diet myths, nutrition, children’s and teens’ dietary needs, and motivational topics.
• Illustrated portion guides for popular foods that demonstrate the increase in calories, fat, carbohydrates, and proteins as portion sizes increase.
• Recipes for any meal or taste preference with an emphasis on nutritional awareness and balance.

Food Database

The food database is undeniably the most popular feature. This comprehensive guide has information on more than 55,000 food items, including brand name products, restaurant menus, fast food calories, and general types of food, from alcohol and soda to soups, chocolate, bread, tofu, fruits, chips, and more.

Categorized entries make both searching and browsing convenient, and each type of food offers average data as well as specific information on calories, carbohydrates, fat grams, sodium, protein, and other nutritional components. Visitors can increase the serving size for an instant appraisal relevant to their eating habits, and each entry’s calorie breakdown includes the percent of recommended daily values for further comparisons.

Interactive Options

Users can personalize their online experience by taking advantage of the interactive features, such as:

• Simple quizzes to gauge grocery shopping habits, emotional eating tendencies, types of dieters, a chocoholic predisposition, and more.
• Calculators to provide personalized body mass index and exercise target heart rate results, as well as to help users understand how exercising contributes to the calories burned from a meal, snack, or treat.
• Forums, blogs, and live chats for members to share their triumphs and setbacks, building a supportive community of like-minded individuals.
• Success stories with a wide range of weight loss totals and before-and-after pictures to encourage both current and new users.

Learning More

Visitors can learn even more about dieting and nutrition by becoming website members for a modest fee (access to informational articles, most interactive tools, and the comprehensive food database does not require membership). A free e-mail newsletter is also available, as well as various shopping options for related merchandise.

How Calorie King Can Help Dieters

Unlike many calorie-oriented websites, Calorie King is not about dieting or losing weight through counting calories. Instead, the website promotes intensive awareness about the properties of food to help users make informed decisions about their eating habits. Rather than promoting dieting as a temporary measure, dieting is viewed as a lifestyle habit that helps determine an individual’s health and wellness, both things that can be improved with the tools and information available.

- Calorie King is a useful informational website with an extensive database of food entries, nutrition articles, and other resources to help everyone gain better control of eating habits through the most effective diet tool possible: education. With many interactive features and support options, every dieter can find the tools to help them succeed.

The CalorieKing Program

If you're like everybody else, you've lost weight before. What most of us aren't so good at, though, is keeping the weight off over time. The CalorieKing Program is a step-by-step, well-guided but self-driven series of levels structured to build a foundation for successful, permanent weight loss. You'll be given the basic science, practical steps and behavioral changes you need to lose and manage your weight for a lifetime.

For more information, visit CalorieKing com.

Counting calories is one of the basic methods to a weight loss plan. With some vital information about how this approach to dieting works, an effortless and easy loss of extra weight is sure to follow.

Many people repeat "A calorie is a calorie is a calorie". It's both true and not true. Calorie counting is a powerful technique when it comes to loosing excessive weight, but calorie counting alone, even if you use the most advanced calorie counter, wouldn't help much. When you try to lose weight, you consume less energy (food calories) to force your body to burn the energy already stored as fat (fat calories). What you have to realize is that your body needs to get adequate amounts of all essential micronutrients from food you consume especially when you try to lose weight.

Technically, there is no magic number of calories we should all eat each day to lose weight. While most people can lose weight eating around 1,500 calories, you can assess your own personal caloric needs with a little math.

The equation for weight management is an uncomplicated one and straightforward: calories in equals calories out. For weight loss, the equation is defined as calories in less than calories out. Hence, the amount of food eaten (and the calories contained in that amount of food) is either the same or less than the calories your body needs for involuntary energy expenditure and voluntary physical energy needs.

Why Counting Calories is Important

With the above equation in mind, it is important for weight loss purposes to achieve the necessary deficit of calories, keeping in mind that one pound of body weight is equivalent to 3500 calories. There are two way in which to do this:

*Eat less

*Move more

Counting calories on a daily basis is the only way to know for certain if you are eating the appropriate amount of food, whether you are seeking weight maintenance or weight loss. If weight loss is your goal, your body will use up stored fat for energy needs when the calorie shortage is reached. Daily caloric requirements differ for everyone. The following steps are critical for effective weight management:

1. Know your calorie requirement by finding your basal metabolic rate specific for you.
2. Calculate the amount of calories expended through your preferred physical activity.
3. Start counting calories.
4. Reach a 3500 calorie deficit and say good-bye to a pound of weight.

How to Count Calories

Calorie counting requires the following knowledge:

*1 gram of carbohydrate = 4 calories

*1 gram of protein = 4 calories

*1 gram of fat = 9 calories
It is the accumulation of carbohydrate, protein, and fat, the three macronutrients, which comprise total calorie intake. In contrast, vitamins and minerals, known as the micronutrients, do not contain calories and do not add to calorie content. So, if 50 grams of carbohydrate, 9 grams of protein, and 10 grams of fat make up your meal, your total calorie amount would be 326 calories

The Twist

Many foods contain a combination of the macronutrients, which generates a not-so-clear picture of calorie counts. For this reason, label reading and calorie counters are life-saving tools for keeping on track.

Label Reading

Finding nutrition information is easy due to the nutrition facts label on most packaged foods purchased at the supermarket. Be sure to first check serving size and total number of servings contained in the package before proceeding. Once this information is known, you can easily tally up your calories by simply locating the total calories per serving at the top of the label. Carbohydrate, protein, and fat calories are also specified below the total calorie amount.

Calorie Counters

For dining out, homemade meals, and overall ease with calorie counting, there are tools available that do the work for you. A variety of books, as well as computer gadgets, can be used. Likewise, pedometers are a popular gadget for summing up total calories expended during the course of your day.

Does It Work?

Indeed, consistent and persistent calorie intake awareness is one of the most successful methods toward a healthy body weight. Following a low fat diet plan plays a significant role in mastering this technique since fat contains nearly double the amount of calories per gram than carbohydrates and protein. Together with an exercise program that fits your lifestyle and fitness level, counting calories is healthful, safe, and effective.

Final

If you consider the overall picture, counting calories does not necessarily restrict you from eating any specific foods. In reality, there are no forbidden foods, but rather a focus on mindful eating related to balance and portion. Along with the idea of not feeling deprived of your favorite foods and treats, the outcome of this type of eating plan is enjoying what you eat while you lose or maintain your weight.