Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips

How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off

In our eat-and-run, massive-portion-sized culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be tough—and losing weight, even tougher. If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight before, you may believe that diets don’t work for you. You’re probably right: traditional diets don’t work—at least not in the long term. However, there are plenty of small but powerful ways to avoid common dieting pitfalls, achieve lasting weight loss success, and develop a healthier relationship with food.

The key to successful, healthy weight loss

Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple: If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. And if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight.
Since 3,500 calories equals about one pound of fat, if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'll lose approximately one pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). Simple, right? Then why is weight loss so hard?
All too often, we make weight loss much more difficult than it needs to be with extreme diets that leave us cranky and starving, unhealthy lifestyle choices that undermine our dieting efforts, and emotional eating habits that stop us before we get started. But there’s a better way! You can lose weight without feeling miserable. By making smart choices every day, you can develop new eating habits and preferences that will leave you feeling satisfied—and winning the battle of the bulge.

 

 Getting started with healthy weight loss

While there is no “one size fits all” solution to permanent healthy weight loss, the following guidelines are a great place to start:

• Think lifestyle change, not short-term diet. Permanent weight loss is not something that a “quick-fix” diet can achieve. Instead, think about weight loss as a permanent lifestyle change—a commitment to your health for life. Various popular diets can help jumpstart your weight loss, but permanent changes in your lifestyle and food choices are what will work in the long run.
• Find a cheering section. Social support means a lot. Programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers use group support to impact weight loss and lifelong healthy eating. Seek out support—whether in the form of family, friends, or a support group—to get the encouragement you need.
• Slow and steady wins the race. Aim to lose one to two pounds a week to ensure healthy weight loss. Losing weight too fast can take a toll on your mind and body, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick. When you drop a lot of weight quickly, you’re actually losing mostly water and muscle, rather than fat.
• Set goals to keep you motivated. Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don’t work as well as wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children’s sakes. When frustration and temptation strike, concentrate on the many benefits you will reap from being healthier and leaner.
• Use tools that help you track your progress. Keep a food journal and weigh yourself regularly, keeping track of each pound and inch you lose. By keeping track of your weight loss efforts, you’ll see the results in black and white, which will help you stay motivated.

Keep in mind it may take some experimenting to find the right diet for your individual body. It’s important that you feel satisfied so that you can stick with it on a long-term basis. If one diet plan doesn’t work, then try another one. There are many ways to lose weight. The key is to find what works for you.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #1: Avoid common pitfalls

Diets, especially fad diets or “quick-fix” pills and plans, often set you up for failure because:

• You feel deprived. Diets that cut out entire groups of food, such as carbs or fat, are simply impractical, not to mention unhealthy. The key is moderation.
• You lose weight, but can’t keep it off. Diets that severely cut calories, restrict certain foods, or rely on ready-made meals might work in the short term but don’t include a plan for maintaining your weight, so the pounds quickly come back.
• After your diet, you seem to put on weight more quickly. When you drastically restrict your food intake, your metabolism will temporarily slow down. Once you start eating normally, you’ll gain weight until your metabolism bounces back.
• You break your diet and feel too discouraged to try again. When diets make you feel deprived, it’s easy to fall off the wagon. Healthy eating is about the big picture. An occasional splurge won’t kill your efforts.
• You lose money faster than you lose weight. Special shakes, meals, and programs are not only expensive, but they aren’t practical for long-term weight loss.
• You feel lost when dining out. If the food served isn’t on your specific diet plan, what can you do?
• The person on the commercial lost 30 lbs. in two months—and you haven’t.Diet companies make a lot of grandiose promises, and most are simply unrealistic.

Low-carbohydrate: Quick weight loss but long-term safety questions

Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution launched the low-carbohydrate diet craze, focusing largely on high-protein meats and full-fat dairy products, while banishing carbohydrates such as bread, rice, and pasta. One popular permutation of the low-carb diet is the South Beach diet, which also restricts carbohydrates but favors healthier, unsaturated fats found in nuts and fish, and allows more whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
The low-carb eating strategy is based on the theory that people who eat carbohydrates take in more calories and gain weight, while people on a high-fat diet eat less and lose weight. However, low-carbohydrate diets tend to cause dehydration by shedding pounds as urine. The result is rapid weight loss, but after a few months, weight loss tends to slow and reverse, just as happens with other diets.
The American Heart Association cautions people against the Atkins diet, because it is too high in saturated fat and protein, which can be hard on the heart, kidneys, and bones. The lack of fruits and vegetables is also worrisome, because these foods tend to lower the risk of stroke, dementia, and certain cancers. Most experts believe South Beach and other, less restrictive low-carbohydrate diets offer a more reasonable approach.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #2: Put a stop to emotional eating

 

We don’t always eat simply to satisfy hunger. If we did, no one would be overweight. All too often, we turn to food for comfort and stress relief. When this happens, we frequently pack on pounds.
Do you reach for a snack while watching TV? Do you eat when you’re stressed or bored? When you’re lonely? Or to reward yourself? Recognizing your emotional eating triggers can make all the difference in your weight loss efforts:

• If you eat when you’re stressed, find healthier ways to calm yourself. Try exercise, yoga, meditation, or soaking in a hot bath.
• If you eat when you’re feeling low on energy, find other mid-afternoon pick-me-ups. Try walking around the block, listening to energizing music, or taking a short nap.
• If you eat when you’re lonely or bored, reach out to others instead of reaching for the refrigerator. Call a friend who makes you laugh, take your dog for a walk, or go out in public (to the library, mall, or park—anywhere there’s people).

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #3: Tune in when you eat

 

We live in a fast-paced world where eating has become mindless. We eat on the run, at our desk while we’re working, and in front of the TV screen. The result is that we consume much more than we need, often without realizing it.
Counter this tendency by practicing “mindful” eating: pay attention to what you eat, savor each bite, and choose foods that are both nourishing and enjoyable.

Mindful eating weight loss tips

• Pay attention while you’re eating. Instead of chowing down mindlessly, savor the experience. Eat slowly, savoring the smells and textures of your food. If your mind wanders, gently return your attention to your food and how it tastes and feels in your mouth.
• Avoid distractions while eating. Try not to eat while working, watching TV, or driving. It’s too easy to mindlessly overeat.
• Chew your food thoroughly. Try chewing each bite 30 times before swallowing. You’ll prolong the experience and give yourself more time to enjoy each bite.
• Try mixing things up to force yourself to focus on the experience of eating. Try using chopsticks rather than a fork, or use your utensils with your non-dominant hand.
• Stop eating before you are full. It takes time for the signal to reach your brain that you’ve had enough. Avoid the temptation to clean your plate. Yes, there are children starving in Africa, but your weight gain won’t help them.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #4: Fill up with fruit, veggies, and fiber

 

To lose weight, you have to eat fewer calories. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to eat less food. You can fill up while on a diet, as long as you choose your foods wisely.

Fiber: the secret to feeling satisfied while losing weight

High-fiber foods are higher in volume and take longer to digest, which makes them filling. There’s nothing magic about it, but the weight-loss results may seem like it.
High-fiber heavyweights include:

• Fruits and vegetables – Enjoy whole fruits across the rainbow (strawberries, apples, oranges, berries, nectarines, plums), leafy salads, and green veggies of all kinds.
• Beans – Select beans of any kind (black beans, lentils, split peas, pinto beans, chickpeas). Add them to soups, salads, and entrees, or enjoy them as a hearty dish on their own.
• Whole grains – Try high-fiber cereal, oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, whole-wheat or multigrain bread, and air-popped popcorn.

Focus on fresh fruits and veggies

 

Counting calories and measuring portion sizes can quickly become tedious, but you don’t need an accounting degree to enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables. It’s generally safe to eat as much as you want, whenever you want.
The high water and fiber content in most fresh fruits and vegetables makes them hard to overeat. You’ll feel full long before you’ve overdone it on the calories.

• Eat vegetables raw or steamed, not fried or breaded, and dress them with herbs and spices or a little olive oil or cheese for flavor.
• Add nuts and cheese to salads but don’t overdo it. Use low-fat salad dressings, such as a vinaigrette made with olive oil.
• Pour a little less cereal into your morning bowl to make room for some blueberries, strawberries, or sliced bananas. You’ll still enjoy a full bowl, but with a lower calorie count.
• Swap out some of the meat and cheese in your sandwich with healthier veggie choices like lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers, and avocado.
• Instead of a high-calorie snack, like chips and dip, try baby carrots or celery with hummus.
• Add more veggies to your favorite main courses to make your dish “go” further. Even dishes such as pasta and stir-fries can be diet-friendly if you use less noodles and more vegetables.
• Try starting your meal with a salad or soup to help fill you up, so you eat less of your entrée. 

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #5: Indulge without overindulging

 

If you’ve ever found yourself polishing off a pint of ice cream or stuffing yourself with cookies or chips after spending a whole day virtuously eating salads, you know how restrictive diet plans usually end. Deprivation diets set you up for failure: you starve yourself until you snap, and then you overdo it, cancelling out all your previous efforts.
In order to successfully lose weight and keep it off, you need to learn how to enjoy the foods you love without going overboard. A diet that places all your favorite foods off limits won’t work in the long run. Eventually, you’ll feel deprived and will cave. And when you do, you probably won’t stop at a sensible-sized portion.

Tips for enjoying treats without overeating

• Combine your treat with other healthy foods. You can still enjoy your favorite high-calorie treat, whether it’s ice cream, chips, cake, or chocolate. The key is to eat a smaller serving along with a lower-calorie option. For example, add strawberries to your ice cream or munch on carrot and celery sticks along with your chips and dip. By piling on the low-cal option, you can eat a diet-friendly portion of your favorite treat without feeling deprived.
• Schedule your treats. Establish regular times when you get to indulge in your favorite food. For example, maybe you enjoy a small square of chocolate every day after lunch, or a slice of cheesecake every Friday evening. Once you’re conditioned to eat your treat at those times—and those times only—you’ll stop obsessing about them at other times.
• Make your indulgence less indulgent. Find ways to reduce fat, sugar, or calories in your favorite treats and snacks. If you do your own baking, cut back on sugar, making up for it with extra cinnamon or vanilla extract. You can also eliminate or reduce high-calorie sides, like whipped cream, cheese, dip, and frosting.
• Engage all your senses—not just your taste sense. You can make snack time more special by lighting candles, playing soothing music, or eating outdoors in a beautiful setting. Get the most pleasure—and the most relaxation—out of your treat by cutting it into small pieces and taking your time.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #6: Take charge of your food environment

 

Your weight loss efforts will succeed or fail based largely on your food environment. Set yourself up for success by taking charge of your food environment: when you eat, how much you eat, and what foods are available.

• Eat early, weigh less. When you eat—as well as how much—may also affect your weight. Early studies suggest that consuming more of your daily calories at breakfast and fewer at dinner can help you drop more pounds. Eating a larger, healthy breakfast can jump start your metabolism, stop you feeling hungry during the day, and give you more time to burn off the calories.
• Serve yourself smaller portions. One easy way to control portion size is by using small plates, bowls, and cups. This will make your portions appear larger. Don’t eat out of large bowls or directly from the food container or package, which makes it difficult to assess how much you’ve eaten. Using smaller utensils, like a teaspoon instead of tablespoon, can slow eating and help you feel full sooner.
• Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time. You will be more inclined to eat in moderation if you have thought out healthy meals and snacks in advance. You can buy or create your own small portion snacks in plastic bags or containers. Eating on a schedule will also help you avoid eating when you aren’t truly hungry.
• Cook your own meals. Cooking meals at home allows you to control both portion size and what goes in to the food. Restaurant and packaged foods generally contain a lot more sodium, fat, and calories than food cooked at home—plus the portion sizes tend to be larger.
• Don’t shop for groceries when you’re hungry. Create a shopping list and stick to it. Be especially careful to avoid high-calorie snack and convenience foods.
• Out of sight, out of mind. Limit the amount of tempting foods you have at home. If you share a kitchen with non-dieters, store snack foods and other high-calorie indulgences in cabinets or drawers out of your sight.
• Fast for 14 hours a day. Try to eat your last meal earlier in the day and then fast until breakfast the next morning. Studies suggest that this simple dietary adjustment—eating only when you’re most active and giving your digestive system a long break each day—may help you to lose weight.

Healthy dieting and weight loss tip #7: Make healthy lifestyle changes

 

You can support your dieting efforts by making healthy lifestyle choices.

• Get plenty of exercise. Exercise is a dieter’s best friend. It not only burns calories, but also can improve your resting metabolism. No time for a long workout? Research shows that three 10-minute spurts of exercise per day are just as good as one 30-minute workout.
• Turn off the TV. You actually burn less calories watching television than you do sleeping! If you simply can’t miss your favorite shows, get a little workout in while watching. Do easy exercises like squats, sit-ups, jogging in place, or using resistance bands or hand weights.
• Drink more water. Reduce your daily calorie intake by replacing soda, alcohol, or coffee with water. Thirst can also be confused with hunger, so by drinking water, you may avoid consuming extra calories.

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How to Eat Healthy

Eating healthy is easier than it sounds. Arm yourself with knowledge and you're halfway there. If you think of eating healthy not as a sacrifice, but more as an opportunity for self-improvement, you're almost at the finish line. Because you don't need someone to tell you the numerous health benefits that putting away the donuts and hamburgers will get you. You want someone to show you how it's done. Here's a glimpse.

  Choosing a Healthy Diet

 Choose the right carbohydrates. Simple carbs, like sugar and flour, are quickly absorbed by the body's digestive system. This causes a kind of carb overload, and your body releases huge amounts of insulin to combat the overload. Eat these in moderation. complex carbs. Complex carbs, on the other hand, are slowly digested by the body. They include whole-grain flour, hearty vegetables, oats, and unprocessed grains like brown rice. These foods are usually higher in vitamins and other nutrients that are beneficial to the body, and they are higher in fiber (which keeps your digestive system running smoothly). Consider eating leafy greens like kale, collard greens, mustard greens and swiss chard. They are packed with nutrients and will fill you up very quickly. A simple sauté with olive oil, garlic, a little salt and pepper and you have a surprisingly tasty meal that is very nutritious.

Eat lean, mean protein. Shoot to get between 10% and 35% of your daily calories from protein.Protein helps you build muscle and gives you lasting energy throughout the day. Some examples of healthy proteins include: Lean fish such as flounder, sole, cod, bass, perch, and halibut

Know the difference between good fat and bad fat. You need to consume fat for your body to function correctly. However, it's important to choose the right kinds of fats. Here's a quick primer.

• Monounsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids are good fats, which you should try to consume regularly. They help lower the bad cholesterol in your body by raising "good cholesterol." Foods that are high in fatty acids are olive oil, nuts, fish oil, and various seed oils. Adding these "good" fats to your weekly diet can lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart disease.
• Avoid trans fats and saturated fats. Trans-fats are a form of unsaturated fat commonly found in processed foods, and consuming them raises your risk of heart disease. Read the labels of what you eat, and look for "hydrogenated" anything on the ingredient list.

Stock up on superfoods. So-called superfoods may have a misleading title, but some truly are a cut above. Superfoods may have the ability to fight heart disease, stave off cancer, lower cholesterol, and even boost your mood. Here are just a few of them:

• Blueberries. Blueberries may facilitate brain health.If you don't have access to blueberries, try fresh berries, raspberries, or cranberries.
• Algae. It may not sound appetizing, but then again when you read the list of health benefits you may think again. Rich in vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, as well as beneficial in managing natural flora in the gut.
• Salmon. Another creature of the sea makes the list, and for good reason. Salmon is rich in omega 3 fatty acids, a good type of fat. Omega 3 fats are good for blood pressure, brain function, and heart health.

Watch your salt intake. Although humans need salt in moderation, too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and excessive stomach acid. Use salt sparingly, and always check labels on food for the "reduced sodium" option if it's available. 

Practice moderation. Don't over-consume any one food or type of food. Instead, try to vary your diet so that you eat a little bit of everything in a moderate amount.

• Some people might be great at giving up meat, sugar, alcohol, or other foods. However, most of us are likely to give it up for awhile, then break down and binge. Avoid this deprivation-binge cycle by allowing yourself to have small "cheats." For instance, if you want to eat less sugar, allow yourself to eat one dessert each Friday night and abstain for the rest of the week. Having a break to look forward to can help you power through the other days.

Making Easy but Healthy Decisions

 

Drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated with basic H₂O is an easy and dramatic way to improve your health and shed pounds, all while helping you feel full. Drink water during and after meals to aid digestion, and try to consume between 2 and 3 liters per day.

• If you feel like snacking, try drinking a full glass of water first. Some people confuse thirst for hunger, and eat a 400- or 500-calorie snack when a glass of water would have helped them feel satiated. If you're still hungry 15 minutes after your drink, then it's time for a snack.

Avoid soft-drinks, juices, sports and energy drinks, as well as other products containing artificial sweeteners. Giving up sugary drinks is one of the easiest ways you can instantly improve your diet and become healthier. A can of coke adds 139 extra calories to your diet. A glass of grape juice will set you back even more. Try drinking water only to improve and aid digestion.  A white chocolate creme frappuccino has a whopping 500 calories. While it's okay to treat yourself to these and other drinks every once in a while, it's not a good idea to make them a regular part of your diet.

Participate in Meatless Mondays. Meatless Monday is an international campaign that encourages people to give up eating meat one day per week. Eating less meat can have several health benefits, as most people already have enough protein in their diets. In fact, vegetarians and vegans weigh less than meat-eaters, and live longer on average.

Stay away from fast food. We all know fast food is "bad" for our health. Yet it continues to remain a weekly staple for too many people. For one, fast food is often fried, processed, and excessively salty. Add soft drinks and fries and your meal could easily burn through half of your suggested caloric intake for the day. To add insult to injury, much of the fat contained in fast food is trans fat, the worst kind of fat.

Drink one glass of wine or beer occasionally, but be weary of more. Adults who drink a glass of wine or beer with their meal report numerous health benefits, including improved memory function, reduced bacterial infection, and even boosted estrogen levels. Unfortunately, what may be good in small doses can be destructive in larger doses. Any more than two drinks of alcohol per day is probably detrimental to your health.

• Red wine, in particular, contains a polyphenol called resveratrol that scientists believe is particularly heart-healthy. Resveratrol works by improving the function of blood vessels in the heart and curbing the amount of "bad" cholesterol in your body.
• Are you pregnant and worried about drinking? While it's normal for expectant mothers to abstain from alcohol, scientists say that it's perfectly harmless to drink one glass of wine a day.

 

Changing Your Mindset

Adopt a healthy attitude towards food. Take a hard look at your eating habits. Do you eat more when you feel stressed? Do you withhold food from yourself in order to feel like you're in control? Try to evaluate whether you have an unhealthy emotional attachment to food. If you do, here are a few steps to consider:

• Find a healthier replacement. If you find that you tend to gorge on unhealthy foods when you're stressed, find a substitute activity — for instance, you could instead go for a walk, take a long bath, or call a trusted friend for a chat. Whatever you choose, it should be something that helps you decompress so that you no longer feel the need to binge.
• See food as sustenance. A lot of Western culture is rife with messages that food is for entertainment or for relieving boredom. Break yourself of this cognitive habit by consciously evaluating food in terms of what it can do to keep your body healthy. Ask yourself if what you're about to put in your mouth is good for you, and if it will help your body function as it was designed to.
• Consult a medical professional. Eating disorders are classified as mental illnesses, and you can't always just talk yourself into stopping destructive behaviors.  If you suspect that you have an eating disorder (whether it's over- or under-eating), ask your general practitioner to refer you to the appropriate care.
  

Determine how many calories your body needs to function each day. This number can vary widely, depending upon your metabolism and how physically active you are. As a rule, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you need to consume to function properly. Otherwise, your body will start breaking down muscle tissue for energy.

• If you're the kind of person who puts on 10 pounds just smelling a slice of pizza, then your daily caloric intake should stay around 2000 calories for men, and 1500 calories for women. Your body mass also plays a part in this — more calories are suitable for naturally bigger people, and fewer calories for smaller people.
• If you're the kind of person who can eat without putting on a pound, or you're physically active, you may want to increase your daily caloric intake by 1000-2000 calories, a little less for women.

Don't skip breakfast. Many people do this because they think they can drop pound, or they just don't feel hungry first thing in the morning. Although the scientific evidence is still inconclusive, there are several reasons why you might not want to skip what many people believe is the "most important meal of the day."

• Eating breakfast gets your metabolism going and keeps it active throughout the morning. Skipping breakfast may kick off the "starvation response" in some people. Your brain says "There is no food! It has been hours! It must be a famine!" The next time you eat, the body stores as much fat as it possibly can.
• Furthermore, skipping breakfast might leave you famished by lunch, causing you to binge as a way to compensate.
• A small breakfast is better than no breakfast. If you don't feel up to a full meal, at least drink some water and eat a piece of fruit, a granola bar, or a piece of toast. Get more nutritious bang for your buck by eating a breakfast smoothie.
• On the other hand, a technique called "intermittent fasting" has been shown to contribute to more rapid weight loss with possibly other health benefits. The effect, however, may vary from individual to individual. However, it may not be a good idea to skip breakfast the day of an important exam, job interview, or other critical event as you may be distracted by your hunger or not have enough energy to perform up to your potential.

Eat slowly. Have you ever gorged on a huge meal and felt fine immediately after, but felt like exploding 15 minutes later? This happens because it takes some time for your stomach to tell your brain that it's full. Circumvent the problem by consuming your food slower. That way, by the time you get the message and start feeling satisfied, you haven't consumed too much extra food.

• Slow yourself down by waiting 5 or 10 minutes between each course. Chew each bite 20 to 30 times before swallowing.
  
  
• Drink a full glass of water throughout your meal. Stopping for sips will slow your eating, as well as helping you feel fuller.

Eat five times per day. You may consider eating three meals per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner), with two snacks in between. Doing this allows you to eat slightly less at your meals, giving your body a more manageable amount of food to digest, and keeps your blood sugar steadier throughout the day because you're not going six hours at a stretch without eating.

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15 diet tips to help change your shape

Get active... one step at a time
You don't have to shell out on signing up for an expensive gym membership or a personal trainer just because it's January and New Year's resolutions time.
Try becoming more active one step at a time and slowly increase the amount you do each day and week.

Swap boring workouts for fun fitness regimes
Find an activity that you enjoy. Whether that's walking with friends, going for a bike ride with the kids or discovering a new exercise class. If you're having fun, you'll soon forget you're working up a sweat!

Swap the car for a walk when making short journeys
Whether it's walking the kids to school or parking a little further away from work and walking the difference, finding small, manageable ways to build activity into your everyday life will make it easier to keep up your fitness regime.

Swap watching TV indoors for time outdoors with your friends and family
You could invite them to go swimming, cycling or walking with you as part of your new routine. Slimmers say that it's always much easier to be active if those around you are, too.

Get into a new 'groove'
Successful long-term weight loss isn't only about eating differently, it's about developing healthy new habits that you can keep up for life. Often they become so ingrained that you don't even know you're doing them. Slimming World calls this getting into a new "groove".

Swap thinking about the end goal for smaller targets
Losing weight is a lifestyle change, not a race!
Thinking about your end goal can be daunting, especially if you've got a lot of weight to lose, so break your weight loss down into more manageable targets.
This could be how much you want to lose each week or thinking about your weight loss each stone or even half-stone at a time.
You will soon look back and realise just how far you've come.

Swap impromptu eating for planning meals ahead
When you don't have anything in the fridge, the cupboards are bare and you're starving hungry, it's easy to be tempted by speedy convenience foods.
Planning your meals ahead and even cooking in advance keeps you in control and you don't waste food or money!
Making a list before hitting the supermarket is a great idea, too, so you won't be tempted by those sneaky offers at the end of the aisles.

Swap going it alone for support and encouragement
Research shows that slimmers who get support by joining a group of like-minded slimmers are more likely to be successful than those who go it alone.
Every week Slimming World members share top tips, recipes and ideas for overcoming challenges and developing skills to tackle the emotional and psychological barriers linked to weight loss.

Swap separate diet meals for healthy family food
When we embark on a diet, we often expect to have to eat differently to the rest of our family, and the thought of having to force down a salad while everyone enjoys their favourite meal can be off-putting to say the least.
But by making small changes to the way you cook your food, you can enjoy all your family favourites, from curry to spaghetti bolognese or a roast dinner, and everyone will benefit from your new healthy recipes. Get some ideas with the Mirror's Slimming World recipes .

Swap eating in front of the TV for sitting around the table
When you're distracted while eating, it's easy to eat beyond feeling satisfied because you don't notice the signs that you're feeling full as quickly.
Sitting with your family will also mean everyone looks forward to mealtimes more.

Swap feeling envious of someone else's success for being motivated by them
Envying someone else's success can be excruciating, but wanting what someone else has can also be very motivating.
Keep positive by thinking, "what first step can I take to get what this person has? How can I learn from them?" Maybe even ask for their help and support.
Did you know the year after Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier for the first time, 37 other people did it, too?

Swap self-doubt for self-belief
We can all be our own worst critics and it's easy to focus on our failings.
But by noticing our successes and being kind to ourselves, we can believe in ourselves and achieve more.
So try this - instead of beating yourself up when something doesn't quite work out the way you would have liked, talk to yourself in the way you would a close friend, with care and reassurance.

Food for thought
 Good news! You don't have to live on carrot sticks and lettuce leaves to lose weight and eat healthily. With these small, simple tweaks you can enjoy the food you love and still lose weight.

Swap takeaways for fake-aways
Whether it's Chinese, Indian or fish and chips, slimming down doesn't have to see you go without your favourite takeaways.
Instead of ordering in, cook your own healthy versions of your favourite dishes, they'll be lighter on your waistline and your bank balance.

Swap skipping meals for three healthy, balanced meals a day
It's easy to go without breakfast if you're s and rushing to get out of the house in time, or to work through your lunch when it's busy. But research shows that people who eat regular meals and enjoy healthy snacks are more likely to make healthy food choices throughout the day - and much less likely to be reaching for the biscuit tin or heading to the vending machine when their energy dips.

Swap the same old meals for a variety of more exciting dishes
No one wants to eat the same foods over and over again. Mix up your meals and vary how you cook the foods you eat a lot.
For instance, potatoes can be mashed, roasted or baked as wedges or chips, and veg can be steamed, boiled or roasted. Adding a little spicy flavouring makes all the difference, too. After all, variety is the spice of life.

Swap juices and smoothies for whole fruit
Whole fruit helps you feel full, but with a juice, it's easier for the calories to slip down without satisfying your appetite.
Think about how full you would be after five oranges compared with how easy the juice from five oranges is to drink without feeling full.
You can also swap your usual store cupboard staples for lower-fat versions, including...

• Mayonnaise for extra-light mayo.
• Whole milk for skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.
• Sugary cordial or fizzy drinks for sugar-free or diet drinks.
• White bread for wholemeal bread.
• Sugar for artificial sweetener.
• Your usual cuts of meat for extra-lean cuts, trimming all fat from meat and removing all skin from poultry.
• Butter for low-fat spread.
• Regular yoghurt for fat-free natural yoghurts or fromage frais.
• Regular salad dressings for fat-free salad dressings.
• Oil for low-calorie cooking spray.

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Food for a healthy gut

A slice of dark rye bread spread with hummous, a bowl of fragrant dahl cooked with onion, a piece of watermelon ... if the friendly microbes inhabiting your gut could send out for their favourite meals, these foods would be on the list. What they all have in common is that they contain specific types of fibre that act as prebiotics - meaning they provide fodder for the good bacteria that help to keep us healthy. 

Our body's need for fibre is no longer just about beating constipation and reducing the risk of heart disease - research into gut health now suggests that encouraging the right balance of gut bacteria can do a lot to improve our health in other ways. One example is the gut microbes that produces a substance - butyrate - that helps protect the bowel lining from cancer, providing you keep feeding them the right stuff; that alone should be enough reason to dust off your dahl recipe. 

So what are these special fibres and what should we eat to get enough of them? One is resistant starch found in legumes, as well as in barley, firm bananas and cooked and cooled rice  - this is the fibre favoured by those microbes defending your bowel lining, says Dr Jane Muir, Head of Translational Nutrition Science at Monash University's Department of Gastroenterology. Another important group of fibres - called short-chain oligosaccharides - are found in nuts, seeds, onions, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes and watermelon, as well as legumes and grains. 

"These fibres feed other friendly microbes that produce fatty acids that are absorbed into our bloodstream and which may be important for reducing inflammation - meaning the kind of low grade chronic inflammation in the body that contributes to problems like heart disease and diabetes," Muir says.

An easy way of getting more of these fibres is by eating legumes and wholegrains - but these are also foods that some people have struck off the menu, including anyone who's avoiding grains containing gluten or who's following the Paleo Diet which excludes both grains and legumes.   

"We're a bit worried about people on these diets because they may miss out on these important fibres, "Muir says.

"Some people do need to be on diets that restrict these foods.  For example, if you've been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome then limiting them will help control gastrointestinal symptoms associated with IBS. If you've been diagnosed with coeliac disease then you also have to avoid foods containing gluten - but some people restrict gluten for other reasons, thinking it will help with weight loss or improve bloating. But by restricting grains like rye, barley and wheat you miss out on these indigestible carbohydrates that are so important for gut health."

The Paleo diet which aims to mimic a traditional hunter gatherer diet embraces vegetables, nuts, lean meat, poultry and fish but avoids grains and legumes as well as dairy foods. "It's a healthy way of eating in some ways because it's based on whole foods and avoids processed foods but it's a diet that makes it difficult to get enough resistant starch - although you could probably get enough short chain oligosaccharides on a Paleo Diet if you ate enough onions, nuts, seeds and Jerusalem artichokes," Muir says. For the rest of us her advice is to include more legumes in the diet because they're a good source of both resistant starch and short chain oligosaccharides, and suitable for people with coeliac disease because they're gluten free. "They're a powerhouse of these fibres - and they're also filling and cheap." We're also still only scratching the surface of our understanding of gut microbes and how they can affect our health, she adds - it's a question of 'watch this space'.

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reveals two-week rapid weight-loss diet - Lose 9 pounds in 14 days

Dr. Oz's diet helped his audience members lose over 1,000 pounds combined, or about nine pounds per person. "It's easier than you think," he said.
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Foods You Should Avoid
Dr. Oz's two-week rapid weight-loss diet suggests eliminating the following:
1. Eliminate wheat. One woman who eliminated wheat from her diet said she lost 16 pounds by making that one small change. In a previous episode, Dr. Oz detailed how eliminating grains causes rapid weight loss and prevents Alzheimer's.
2. Avoid artificial sweeteners. Dr. Oz said artificial sweeteners ruin your metabolism and fuel weight gain. New studies show that people who use artificial sweeteners experience a 70% increase in waist circumference compared to non-users.
3. Avoid alcohol and sugar. Sugar increases your appetite and wreaks havoc on your metabolism and hormones, making weight loss difficult. Dr. Oz said alcohol provides empty liquid calories, makes you eat more, and causes bloating.
4. Eliminate coffee. While coffee has been touted as a rich source of antioxidants, Dr. Oz said the stimulant effects of coffee can lead to unhealthy cravings. He said black coffee is OK, but adding sugar and cream makes it unhealthy.
5. Avoid dairy. Dairy is a major source of inflammation, which promotes weight gain, heart disease and diabetes.
Foods You Should Eat
Now that you know which foods to eliminate, Dr. Oz detailed the foods you should include on your rapid weight-loss diet:
1. Start each morning with a cup of hot water with ½ a lemon. This kick-starts your metabolism and digestive system and is a natural diuretic.
2. For breakfast, Dr. Oz suggests having a high-protein smoothie to stoke your metabolism while ridding your body of toxins. His smoothie recipe includes the following ingredients:

• 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
• ½ banana.
• ½ cup frozen berries.
• 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds.
• 2 tablespoons rice protein powder.

3. Your meals and snacks should consist of the following foods:

• Six-ounce portions of chicken, turkey or fish.
• Healthy fats like avocado and olive oil.
• Greek yogurt (this probiotic-rich food is the only dairy allowed).
• Fiber-rich brown rice.
• Organic green tea to replace coffee.

4. Dr. Oz identified the following low-glycemic vegetables as foods you can eat unlimited quantities of:

• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbages
• Cauliflower
• Mushrooms
• Peppers
• Snap peas
• Squash

5. To accelerate weight loss, Dr. Oz suggests taking a probiotic every morning. Probiotics, which Dr. Oz called the best weight-loss trend of 2013, aid digestion and promote weight loss.
Dr. Oz said if you follow this diet for two weeks, you can expect to lose about nine pounds, which is a great way to kick off the new year.

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Weight-Loss Companies Charged With Fraud

WASHINGTON — “Get a gym body without going to the gym” by sprinkling a powder on your food. “Significantly slim your thighs and buttocks” using an almond-scented cream. Lose up to one pound a day with just two drops under the tongue.

Such claims were too good to be true, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

On Tuesday, the commission charged four companies with deceptively marketing weight-loss products, asserting they made “unfounded promises” that consumers could shed pounds simply by using their food additives, skin creams and other dietary supplements.

The four companies — Sensa Products, L’Occitane, HCG Diet Direct and LeanSpa — will collectively pay $34 million to refund consumers. They neither admitted nor denied fault in the case.

The case is part of a broader crackdown on companies that the government says “peddle fad weight-loss products.” Linda Goldstein, the chairwoman of the advertising and marketing division at the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, said the settlements made clear that the commission would accept only double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to document the medical effectiveness of diet regimes.

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The F.T.C. imposed a $46.5 million judgment on Sensa Products, but it will be able to pay only about half that sum. Federal Trade Commission

The commission is also proposing new guidance for media outlets to help them catch potentially fraudulent claims. The F.T.C. said it would urge media companies not to accept advertisements that make dubious weight-loss claims.

“Resolutions to lose weight are easy to make but hard to keep,” Jessica Rich, the director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “And the chances of being successful just by sprinkling something on your food, rubbing cream on your thighs or using a supplement are slim to none. The science just isn’t there.”

The weight-loss industry has exploded in recent years. Consumers are expected to spend about $66 billion this year on diet soft drinks, health club memberships, dietary supplements and other products aimed at weight loss, according to Marketdata Enterprises.

But that growth comes with potential pitfalls. Weight-loss products accounted for 13 percent of the fraud claims submitted to the F.T.C. in 2011, the most recent data available. That is more than twice the number in any other category.

The F.T.C.’s latest initiative, called “Operation Failed Resolution,” follows a series of enforcement efforts in recent years against unfounded weight-loss schemes.

In 2004, the commission announced “Operation Big Fat Lie,” charging six companies with false marketing. Among the fraudulent products that year was Himalayan Diet Breakthrough, a diet pill containing Nepalese mineral pitch, a pastelike material that “oozes out of the cliff face cracks in the summer season” in the Himalayas. The seller, AVS Marketing, claimed that users could lose as much as 37 pounds in eight weeks while still consuming unlimited amounts of food.

In 1997, “Operation Waistline” targeted seven companies that marketed the weight-loss properties of products like “Fat Burners” diet supplements, “Svelte-Patch” skin patches, and “Slimming Soles” shoe insoles. Separately, the F.T.C. has also pursued dozens of cases against companies operating fake news sites that promote the weight-loss characteristics of acai berries.

Over the last decade, the F.T.C. has also lobbied the media industry to stop accepting ads for weight-loss products whose claims are too good to be believed. That year, the commissioned announced its Red Flag education campaign for media companies to help them spot dubious weight-loss claims.

In that time, the commission has seen “a significant reduction in the number of ads appearing” in major media outlets that screen advertising content before use, said Richard Cleland, an F.T.C. lawyer.

As part of the recent spate of cases, the commission noted that one marketer piggybacked on the reputation of well-known media outlets as cover for their claims.

For example, one television commercial for Sensa noted that Dr. Alan Hirsch, the creator of the product and a part-owner of the company, had “appeared on ‘Oprah,’ ‘Good Morning America,’ ‘Dateline,’ ‘Extra,’ the CBS ‘Early Show,’ CNN” and in hundreds of magazines and newspapers around the country.

Sensa charged $59, plus shipping and handling, for a one-month supply of the powder. The powder was supposed to be sprinkled on food to make users feel full faster, so they ate less.

But the company failed to disclose that some consumers were paid for their endorsements, the commission said. The F.T.C. also took aim at Adam Goldenberg, the chief executive of Sensa, and Dr. Hirsch, who conducted studies on the product but whose findings “were not supported by scientific evidence.”

The commission imposed a $46.5 million judgment on the company, which sold $364 million of Sensa in the United States from 2008 to 2012. But the company will remit little more than half the settlement amount “due to their inability to pay,” officials said. Sensa officials did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Dubious weight-loss claims are not limited to fledgling companies that advertise on late-night television.

The commission also charged L’Occitane, a retailer with more than 2,000 boutiques worldwide, with deceptive marketing on two skin creams, Almond Beautiful Shape and Almond Shaping Delight. L’Occitane trumpeted that the creams, which cost $44 to $48 for about seven ounces, could trim inches from a user’s body in four weeks, resulting in a “noticeably slimmer, trimmer you.”

The company “takes enormous care in developing our entire line of products and we want our customers to make well-informed decisions,” L’Occitane said in a statement. “As a result of the F.T.C. inquiry, L’Occitane has implemented a set of even more rigorous policies and procedures that will guide future clinical testing and ensure that our marketing and advertising comply with F.T.C. regulations and guidelines.”

L’Occitane agreed to pay $450,000 to refund customers. An F.T.C. official said that amount would provide for a refund of “substantial portions” of consumer spending on the products.

The commission also settled claims against HCG Diet Direct, which sold HCG Diet Direct Drops. The product contains a form of a hormone naturally produced by human placenta that has been “falsely promoted for decades as a weight-loss supplement,” the commission said.

LeanSpa settled charges that the company and its principal executive used fake news websites to promote acai berry and colon cleanse weight-loss products. Consumers were charged recurring monthly payments after signing up for a supposedly free trial, the commission said.

WASHINGTON — “Get a gym body without going to the gym” by sprinkling a powder on your food. “Significantly slim your thighs and buttocks” using an almond-scented cream. Lose up to one pound a day with just two drops under the tongue. Such claims were too good to be true, according to the Federal Trade Commission. On Tuesday, the commission charged four companies with deceptively marketing weight-loss products, asserting they made “unfounded promises” that consumers could shed pounds simply by using their food additives, skin creams and other dietary supplements. The four companies — Sensa Products, L’Occitane, HCG Diet Direct and LeanSpa — will collectively pay $34 million to refund consumers. They neither admitted nor denied fault in the case. The case is part of a broader crackdown on companies that the government says “peddle fad weight-loss products.” Linda Goldstein, the chairwoman of the advertising and marketing division at the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, said the settlements made clear that the commission would accept only double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to document the medical effectiveness of diet regimes. Launch media viewer The F.T.C. imposed a $46.5 million judgment on Sensa Products, but it will be able to pay only about half that sum. Federal Trade Commission The commission is also proposing new guidance for media outlets to help them catch potentially fraudulent claims. The F.T.C. said it would urge media companies not to accept advertisements that make dubious weight-loss claims. “Resolutions to lose weight are easy to make but hard to keep,” Jessica Rich, the director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “And the chances of being successful just by sprinkling something on your food, rubbing cream on your thighs or using a supplement are slim to none. The science just isn’t there.” The weight-loss industry has exploded in recent years. Consumers are expected to spend about $66 billion this year on diet soft drinks, health club memberships, dietary supplements and other products aimed at weight loss, according to Marketdata Enterprises. But that growth comes with potential pitfalls. Weight-loss products accounted for 13 percent of the fraud claims submitted to the F.T.C. in 2011, the most recent data available. That is more than twice the number in any other category. The F.T.C.’s latest initiative, called “Operation Failed Resolution,” follows a series of enforcement efforts in recent years against unfounded weight-loss schemes.

In 2004, the commission announced “Operation Big Fat Lie,” charging six companies with false marketing. Among the fraudulent products that year was Himalayan Diet Breakthrough, a diet pill containing Nepalese mineral pitch, a pastelike material that “oozes out of the cliff face cracks in the summer season” in the Himalayas. The seller, AVS Marketing, claimed that users could lose as much as 37 pounds in eight weeks while still consuming unlimited amounts of food. In 1997, “Operation Waistline” targeted seven companies that marketed the weight-loss properties of products like “Fat Burners” diet supplements, “Svelte-Patch” skin patches, and “Slimming Soles” shoe insoles. Separately, the F.T.C. has also pursued dozens of cases against companies operating fake news sites that promote the weight-loss characteristics of acai berries. Over the last decade, the F.T.C. has also lobbied the media industry to stop accepting ads for weight-loss products whose claims are too good to be believed. That year, the commissioned announced its Red Flag education campaign for media companies to help them spot dubious weight-loss claims. In that time, the commission has seen “a significant reduction in the number of ads appearing” in major media outlets that screen advertising content before use, said Richard Cleland, an F.T.C. lawyer. As part of the recent spate of cases, the commission noted that one marketer piggybacked on the reputation of well-known media outlets as cover for their claims.

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