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Dieting that May Kill You
Killer Diets
At any given moment, approximately half of the women in the American population are dieting. With the push toward lean, well-toned bodies in this country, some people have approached weight loss with a mania. Unfortunately, a...
Do You Have Creaky Joints?
Regardless of your age, you could have Arthritis. In North America over Fifty five million people suffer from this debilitating disease. Arthritis is an inflammation of one or more joints. It is characterized by pain, swelling, stiffness, deformity,...
Eating for Health, Happiness and Successful Weight Control
Don't diet, just eat and lose weight! First, the following "diet" is really not a diet, in the conventional sense, but a natural way of eating. It allows one to eat essentially anything one wishes, while attaining weight loss or weight...
Is it Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Undiagnosed Celiac Disease?
Your doctor tells you your stomach problems are from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). So he treats (or mistreats) you for your symptoms when in fact you don't have IBS. What your doctor may have missed is that you have a little known condition,...
Key Elements for a Bigger Bench Press
Proper positioning on a weight bench to maximize leverage Keep the bar in line with the eyes; if you are too far towards the top of the bench it puts your shoulders in a weak position and wastes energy, and creates unsteadiness when lifting...
Rejuvenation and Protein Revolution in Your Kitchen
Article Title: Rejuvenation and the Protein Revolution in Your Kitchen Author Name: Marilyn Diamond Contact Email Address: Marilyn@spiritualjava.com Word Count: 464 Category: Self-help, Alternative Health, Weight Loss Copyright Date: 2003 ...
The Diet Bore.
You probably know a diet bore: there's at least one in every
office, every group, and at every get-together. It's almost
always female - men lose weight too but don't seem to feel the
same compulsion to convert the entire world. Blame it on...
Weight Loss & Obesity Reduce Life Expectancy!
We hear it all the time…lose weight for your health. Few people however, realize the extent to which this is critical to their physical well-being and ultimately their life expectancy. In January 2003, the Journal of the American Medical...
When Losing Weight Should You Weigh Every Day?
How to Break the Weighing Habit Face it, if you weigh yourself more than once a day, you are a serious scale addict, and if you let the number on the scale affect how you feel, you are probably a bit too involved with that appliance. Danger,...
Womens Hair Loss
The hair care industry is a billion dollar industry. “A perm, relaxer or color ranges in price from $65 to over $100 and most women get their hair retouched every 2-3 months. That’s a lot of money spent per year! The models that grace the pages of...
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The Role of Calories In a Nutritional Program
As far back as we probably can remember we can all usually recall the word 'calories' when the topic of diet and weight loss is discussed in typical mainstream fitness. For some the word is infamous and generally equated with restriction. For others it is just a byword. This time around we will explore that little word in a little more detail examining its role and also the positives and negatives regarding how they can be used.
First of all, what is a calorie? Without getting too technical, a calorie is a unit of heat. It takes one calorie to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree celsius. Calories are used by our bodies for heat and energy purposes. As I'm sure you are aware of, different foods have different levels of calories. In some cases we take in more of this unit than we need to be used for energy therefore resulting in an caloric overload. Since the body cannot use these calories at that particular time they will be stored in the form of fat.
Now how can this help me you ask? In a lot of ways. Once we understand briefly what calories are and what they are used for we are better suited to come up with ideas and tricks in order to work with them more efficiently.
The main question that people will usually ask when it comes to calories is 'Do I have to count them?' The answer is both positive and negative...yes and no. Let me explain. I will start off with the beginner. Usually someone that is first starting off trying to lose weight will have very poor instinct when it comes to food portions and quantities. For them it would be ideal and very wise to count calories until they at least come to the intermediate and advanced level. It is just like training wheels on a bike. Once you don't need them anymore you take them off.
A lot of commercial diets fail because of this fact. Sure the idea of not counting calories is appealing but in reality that's what resulted in getting the dieter in the
mess they're in to begin with. Some diets are more beneficial assigning a point value system to foods and you can look them up making sure you do not exceed this limit. When you look at it they are really just coming up with another way of saying calories. This idea is more appealing but sticks to the golden rule...if you take in less calories than you burn you will see success.
For the one who has either met their goals or who have been dieting for awhile I have good news for you. You won't have to spend the rest of your life counting calories! Nobody wants to do that. This is the point where you develop instinct - doing what's right for you. Your metabolism and body type will differ from person to person and nobody will know your own body better than you! Over time and a little trial and error you will be able to just look at a plate and know how much to take or how many meals you can eat during the day based upon what you have taken. This becomes particularly handy when you are eating out. And when you are thinner with more muscle mass your body will already be more efficient at burning calories in the first place.
Counting calories can still be beneficial to advanced people as well but these are usually athletes who have to make a certain weight or look by a certain time, like wrestlers or bodybuilders for example. You see in the long run that dieting and weight loss when you study it is a science and therefore you have precise units of measurement. And this gets back to the golden rule mentioned earlier. That is why if we take a scientific approach when we are starting out we are more likely to be met with measureable results. You can't argue with science!
About the Author
Randy Mclean has a diploma in Fitness and Nutrition from Education Direct, a YMCA individual conditioning certificate and is the author of Instinct - Master Your Mind And Your Body! For free tips and tricks visit www.weightlossguidance.com
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