Losing weight is not only about how many calories you burn, but also what you are actually eating. Many people complain about not losing weight when they are working out. This is most often due to the fact that they are not eating properly. Without a properly balanced diet, losing weight is an uphill battle. It will do you no good to exercise everyday, and then eat cheeseburgers and full fat milkshakes! You will be canceling all your efforts in the gym if you are not eating correctly.

The intake of the appropriate foods plays a larger role in weight loss than most people realise. Therefore you need to plan your diet well. Also you will want to eat a variety of foods to keep yourself from becoming bored with your new diet. Eating appropriately will also give you the energy that you need to workout effectively.

Ideally, you should plan to eat small meals every 2-3 hours throughout the day. Some people will eat 4 times per day and some will eat 5-6 times per day. How many times per day you eat is up to you, but it is proven that multiple small meals spread throughout the day is far more effective for weight loss than the old standard of 3 meals per day.

Eating right during the holidays is tough for many of us. There are many appetising foods rich in sugar, excess fat, and carbohydrates. It is essentially part of almost every holiday to eat, drink, and be merry. This causes us to over indulge in foods that are not good for us. We have a tendency to eat even when we are not hungry.

The habits that we develop over the holiday season are hard to shed once the holidays are over. This is why the period between Christmas and New Years is so tough on someone trying to lose weight. It is also the reason why early in the New Years so many people struggle to get the weight off. If you develop good eating habits before the holidays and use determination, focus, and persistence you can avoid bad eating habits and picking up excess weight.

Following good eating practices can help you to continue eating right. Be consistent in your food consumption. Eat at the same times daily. This will help your body adapt to a routine, and help you to control your hunger. Eat in a relaxing setting and don’t eat while doing something else such as watching the television or reading a book. Focus your attention on what you are eating. Learn to eat for energy and not so much for taste. You can actually retrain your taste buds in a matter of weeks so that your body will become accustomed to not eating foods high in fats, sugars, and salts.

By changing bad eating habits over a period of time to a healthy, balanced diet which supplies you with sufficient energy to exercise daily, you will soon start to feel good about yourself. Make a conscious decision today to eat right in order to lose weight – and keep the weight off.

The reason why so many weight loss methods only seem to provide a short term fix and do not deliver a long term solution is because in order to stay with a diet or exercise programme, you have to really enjoy it. Not only that, but it has to be safe as well. Fad diets, celebrity promoted exercise programmes and weight loss pills and potions will help you to shed a few pounds, but as soon as you start to eat “normally” again, the weight often returns.

So here are 5 genuine suggestions to help you lose weight, which almost anyone can do, without excluding your favourite foods from your diet or spending every spare minute of your time in the gym.

Realistically, any weight loss program will take time. Diets which promise you instant results are either not being completely honest or are simply uninformed. At worst, they may be downright dangerous. As a suggestion, set yourself a realistic target and then follow one single weight loss programme for one month. Don’t weight yourself every day as your weight can fluctuate on a daily basis. I suggest you weigh yourself once a week to check your progress. If you are not losing weight in proportion to your target, first check that you are following the programme correctly. In the meantime, try the following suggestions to help burn off the calories.

Walking is an ideal form of exercise. If you can set aside 30 minutes every day to enjoy a leisurely stroll, you will be strengthening your legs and your heart while burning some calories in the process. With any exercise, start slowly and build up over a period of time. Your leisurely stroll will soon turn into a brisk walk and 30 minutes transform into an hour of excellent cardiovascular exercise!

A second ideal form of exercise is to get on your bike! I suggest you consult your Doctor BEFORE starting on any strenuous exercise to avoid causing any undue stress on your body, but cycling is a great form of exercise and is great fun. You may chose to cycle to work instead of taking the car, if this is possible, which also helps the environment. If you are fortunate enough to live in rural area, cycling enables you to enjoy the scenery often missed when you are behind the wheel of a car.

The next time you have a choice, take the stairs instead of an escalator or lift. This is a fantastic weight loss exercise which you can fit into your daily routine without even noticing the extra effort. Something as simple as walking up a couple of flights of stairs every day can make all the difference where weight loss is concerned. The next time you go to the supermarket, park in the middle of the car park and walk to the store. Avoid parking in the closest spot to the door, which is tempting, but opt to walk instead.

Do not cut out all of your favourite foods from your diet, but eat them in moderation. There is no single food that will completely hinder your weight loss attempt but, all foods if consumed excessively will certainly halt any attempt at weight loss. Cutting out the foods you enjoy will cause cravings and may lead to binge eating. So there is no reason to cut out your favourite food when a conservative amount of the things we love can still have a place in our lives, including during times when you are focusing on losing weight.

One of the major reasons people give for failure to lose weight when on a diet, or for never actually starting is TIME. Whatever exercise routine you decide to adopt it is imperative that you set aside a certain time each day to do it. Some people decide to get up an hour early to go for a walk, jog or cycle ride. It’s a proven fact that people who set a routine are much more likely to stay with it and find success than those who simply exercise only when they have time.

The secret to successful weight loss is:

know what you want your ideal weight to be
prepare a realistic eating and exercise plan to achieve it
make a commitment to yourself to take consistent action to achieve your plan
think of ways to make losing weight fun such as walking, jogging or cycling with a friend
do not give up – you can overcome any obstacle in your way to achieving your perfect weight
Remember, before you begin any weight loss or exercise programme, please consult your Doctor to ensure that you do not damage your health.

What is a bland diet? It is a diet specially set to treat certain gastrointestinal or stomach problems such as heartburns, ulcers and gas.

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An answer to a question, what is a bland diet, is that it is a simple treatment for people suffering from any one or more gastrointestinal disorders such as chronic gastritis, ulcer, esophagitis and dyspepsia.

Bland diet is a dietary regimen for people suffering from stomach disorders. Hence, it is quite understood that ingredients of a bland diet are soft food items, which are easy to digest with a capacity to keep the acidity to low levels. Questions about diet may be asked to your physicians and he/she can suggest the diet or recommend a dietician to do it.

Diet medical questions may include the queries about the food stuffs to eat and food stuffs to avoid during the time while a person experien ces any gastrointestinal disorders. However, before a dietician could decide the bland diet for a person, he/she needs to seek answers to several medical questions related to the person such as any food allergies or irritations associated with any food items and emotions medical questions of people.

Bland Diet:

The diet prescribed as a bland diet will include food items that are easy to digest and low in fiber and acid contents. Even giving up alcohol and smoking is advised while patient is on bland diet. Also a patient is advised to have 4 to 6 light meals after regular interval to avoid heavy and large meals.

Chewing food properly and eating slowly helps in the digestion of the food. Adequate sleep, avoiding smoking and controlling anxiety are supportive treatments for the standard treatment of the problem.

Allowed Food Items:

• Dairy Products
Milk, cheese, yogurt with low-fats and other dairy products are easily digested and hence, can be included as a part of bland diet. However, there is no restriction on ice-creams and one may consume even ice creams during bland diet, but it should not have any product such as nuts that are not allowed in bland diet.

• Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
Fresh vegetables and fruits are allowed to a bland dieter. However, while carrot, squash, green peas are good to eat in a bland diet, broccoli, onions and green peeper should be avoided as it forms gas. In fruits, oranges, grapefruits, and bananas are allowed.

• Proteins
Protein requirement of the body, while on a bland diet should be met with soy products and meat. Fried chicken and greasy hamburgers are not allowed to be consumed, while grilled and baked chicken is allowed.
Low-fat peanut butter and eggs are also efficient to meet the body’s protein requirement in a bland diet.

• Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are contained in whole grain breads, pasta, oatmeal, corn flakes, white rice and sweet potatoes. All these food items are allowed.

Bland diet is designed for treating certain medical circumstances such as gastrointestinal problems. Hence, to answer what is a bland diet, we can say that this is a diet that aims at improving the digestion with the help of a timed-routine diet and soft to digest food items. Once the problem is controlled patients can return to their normal diet.