Lose Weight FAST: 9 MAGIC Steps to Lose Weight and Keep It Off FOREVER!

Dec 16 by Joanna

There is so much contradicting information about weight loss out there, that it is sometimes hard to find out what’s true and what is just marketing hype. If you have been spending a fortune on recommended supplements and “super foods” (like I once did), but didn’t feel healthy and felt disillusioned, keep reading to discover what’s the healthiest and the fastest way to lose weight and keep it off forever!

But first, let’s get something straight here.

Conventional diets and fad diets do not work for most people. Calorie-counting diets, the detox diets, B-12 Shots, hCG diet, the low-carb high protein diets, diet pills, protein shakes and powders, Sensa system – in my opinion these all will fail you and, even worse, most of them are tedious, pointless and even dangerous to your health.

Sure, you may lose a few pounds in the process, however, in the long run, the majority of people are not able to stick with these dietary regimens and gain the weight back on quite quickly, often putting on even more than they lost in the first place.

A “diet” should not be about starving yourself, or depriving yourself of vital nutrients, but instead, a new lifestyle with plenty of healthy food choices that make sticking to it long term so much easier.

Instead of “quick-and-easy” weight loss that doesn’t work, you want a steady approach. Less time efficient, but better off in the long run. Commit to a lifestyle change, eat well and healthy (grazing like animals do throughout the day), sleep for as close to 8 hours as your schedule permits, and exercise regularly. I know the results aren’t instant, but it’s so much healthier.

If it took you years to get to where you are, you can’t expect immediate results!

Steps To Take If You Want to Lose Weight (Fat) Naturally and Keep It Off Forever

1. Consume at least 60% or more of your daily calories in the form of RAW FRUITS and VEGETABLES.

If you really want to lose weight fast, 70%, 80% or 90% is even better; 100% is best but few people can stay 100% raw diet successfully long term.

The average American diet is roughly 7% fruits and vegetables, even less than that in raw state. We are told to eat 5 or more portions a day, but to get real impact on your weight or health, you need to RADICALLY and DRAMATICALLY increase daily intake, and put a special focus on green vegetables like spinach, broccoli and salad.

High levels of fresh fruits fruits, vegetables, and greens help you lose weight because they are low in calories, high in volume and high in critically important nutrients. There is also a growing body of evidence that shows that plant-based foods help to control food cravings and overeating. They are nutrient dense, which simply means they are packed with all sorts of good things for you, which is something most of us know.

The power of raw foods is not only one of the most well-known “rejuvenation” secrets of celebrities and Hollywood stars (such as Demi Moore, Pierce Brosnan, Sting, Edward Norton, Carol Alt, and many others) it is also a concept that has the potential of giving you what you’re looking for: incredible health, increased energy, and a youthful and slim body.

(Keep in mind, that not all raw-based diets are created equal, some, for example, recommend you limit consumption of fruits, having you consume excessive amounts of fatty foods instead, which is NOT what I’m advocating here).

This can certainly seem daunting at first, so to make it easier for yourself, each time you go grocery shopping, start by filling up your basket in the produce section.

2. Drink GREEN SMOOTHIES every day.

Green smoothies are rich in fiber but low in calories so they will you up quickly. They are also DELICIOUS tasting – so they are excellent to combat cravings for unhealthy stuff!

They are easier to make than juices, and take much less time to prepare and to consume than salads. Think about all the chopping and chewing you will need to do in order to eat a big bowl of greens and veggies – if you blend them with some water and drink, it only takes two minutes for the whole process! The blender will do all the chewing for you!

It’s important to become creative with blending. Experiment with various greens, fruits and vegetables, trying as many combinations as possible. The possibilities are endless. I discovered so many good combos just by asking, “I wonder how this and that taste together in a smoothie?” I encourage you to do the same.

For example, try apple-celery-spinach, apple-celery-spinach-banana, blueberry-pear-celery-spinach, lettuce-honeydew, Romaine lettuce-strawberries-banana, pears-kale-mint, kiwi-celery-banana, strawberry-apple-spinach, or more savory tomato-celery-onion-pepper-avocado, or other combination.

Try adding various types of greens: lettuces, kale, parsley, spinach, and other. Add some water, blend and drink!

The best blenders to use to make green smoothies are Blendtec blenders and Vitamix. No other brand will produce such smooth results, especially if you add such tough greens as kale, celery, or collard greens. Unfortunately, both of them are quite expensive – although well worth the price if you consider them a long-term investment in your family’s health.

However, if you have a blender already, you may just as well start with what you have.

3. Include RAW VEGETABLE SALADS in your diet.

Even if you are drinking your smoothies, you can still enjoy your salads.

But, what is a salad, really? It’s any combination of fresh RAW VEGETABLES, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, celery, okra, zucchini and other squashes, cabbage, peppers, eggplant, etc., etc., with possible addition of fresh fruits, and small quantities of nuts and seeds. Vegetables are great because they are lowest calorie foods. The absolute best vegetables to help speed up weight loss are green vegetables – Lettuce, Collard Greens, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Cabbage.

Adding cheese, beans, chicken, tuna, eggs, mayo, commercial dressings and other ingredients, turns a salad into a tossed meal. So if you are one of the people who live only on “salads,” and yet cannot lose weight, take an honest look at the ingredients – and proportions of ingredients – raw veggies versus everything else – of your tossed meals.

Instead of fat-laden commercial dressings, have some fun and experiment. Blend some lemon juice with avocado, or strawberries with parsley, or blend pineapple with tahini as the dressing. Other combinations you may try: pineapple-red pepper, grapefruit-tahini, strawberry-almond, oranges-bell pepper-Brazil nuts, orange-pistachio.

If you are worried that you will not consume enough fats, especially the beneficial omega 3 fats, you should know that everything we eat contains some amount of fat. In fact, a natural diet of fruits and vegetables, along with some seeds and nuts or avocado, provides the body all the essential fatty acids it needs!

4. Eat LOTS OF FRESH, RAW, RIPE FRUITS.

I said before in number 1, but I feel this needs more emphasis and explanation.

Fruit contains three keys to weight loss: fiber, vitamins and water. Fiber creates a feeling of satiety and helps clean the digestive tract. The vitamin content of fruit allows the body to crave less food because it satisfies nutrient requirements. If the body is depleted of nutrients, one becomes hungry to satisfy those deficiencies. Therefore, diets high in foods that contain these nutrients such as fruit keep hunger at bay. Fruits are also rich in water, which keeps the body hydrated.

Many people have misconceptions about sugar found in fruit. Refined sugar is very different from natural sugars. Refined sugars can cause a shock to the body, causing a spike in blood sugar levels that set the pancreas into overdrive. Thanks to the rich fiber content, sugars from fruits are slowly digested and burned at a steady rate. So, even though fruit is high in sugar, such natural sugar should not be avoided. If you compare a soda and a piece of fruit, although they may contain the same amount of sugar, the sugar in each can cause very different reactions in the body. Ditch soda to lose weight, but keep the strawberries.

The human body requires fuel to operate and you must get that fuel, via calories, from somewhere. Fruit is excellent fuel for humans. It is very easy to digest, provides fast energy and is alkaline-forming. Fruit is a way to obtain simple carbohydrates which match our physiological needs. We must stop eating mostly acid diet, and consume more alkaline foods, i.e. raw fruits and veggies.

Eating fruit as the basis of our diet is a new and revolutionary concept for most of us, and often people fail to realize how much fruit it takes to provide energy for an entire day. Forget the saying “an apple a day” – certainly one serving is not enough. Eat enough fruit to meet your calorie needs – which means eating a LOT of fruit by most people’s standards. Allowing lots of fruit in your diet makes succeeding in this weight loss plan easier than any other approach to eating.

To develop the healthiest and sanest relationship with food, and in order to stick with a dietary plan that will work for you for the rest of your life, have all the fruit you care for to eat for breakfast, lunch meals and snacks. Even your vegetable meals should begin with as much fruit as you like, until you are certain that you will not crave sweets at the end of the meal.

Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are at the top of the list when it comes to helping speed up weight loss. You might be worried about the calories in strawberries but you need to realize there are only 74 per cup and those are the calories you want. There are even fewer calories in raspberries. They will give you energy, make you feel great and help burn off fat very quickly. They also help to fight cancer.

The only caveat is that you should not eat lots of fats when eating diet high in fruits. Fats make it difficult for the body to properly digest sugar, possibly leading to some increased blood sugar levels.

If the idea of eating such large quantities of raw fruits and vegetables seems daunting, and you cannot imagine yourself ever getting even close to 60%, let alone 80 or 90%, don’t worry. Start by replacing some of the foods with healthier alternatives.

5. Make water your primary drink

Throughout your day, focus on water instead of soda. Drink lots of it – it’s great for weight loss!

5. Make yourself FRESH, RAW VEGETABLE and FRUIT JUICES.

This is another tasty way to add more fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet. Raw juices, especially green juices, are vital. A juicer separates the juice from the fiber of the fruits and vegetables leaving you with only the pure organic water. This organic water that is extracted from plants contains all of the vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, that go straight to the cells to do their work, so your body will not waste energy on digestion. By juicing fruits an veggies we can consume much more of the organic water because the fiber doesn’t fill you up. Also, the juices (especially green juices) provide perfect cellular hydration and can take the place of drinking glasses of water.

There are many juicers on the market today, but the Breville juicer is probably the easiest to use when you are juicing lots of greens. Look for a juicer that extracts the pulp, as it will allow you to make more juice without having to stop to empty it. This is important, since you need to be juicing a lot of greens.

I used to do quite a lot of juicing, however, since I bought my Vitamix and started blending green smoothies, I noticed that I have been juicing less and less. Green smoothies have numerous benefits for human health AND are easy to prepare (especially the cleanup is much faster).

6. Other Foods to Eat

Add beans, whole grains, and nuts to your diet in moderation.
Limit the amount of animal protein in your diet. Eliminate all processed foods from your diet.

However – this is very important – don’t deny yourself any foods that you crave.

Just tell yourself that you can have them as soon as you are finished with your smoothie, salad or other healthy snack. You may find that you don’t crave it any more, or if you still do, have a really small portion.

Treat high-calorie foods as jewels in the crown. For example, take a spoonful of ice cream the jewel and a bowl of fruit the crown.

7. Be active and exercise.

Walk for 45 minutes a day. Walking is great and the reason I’m suggesting 45 minutes instead of the typical 30 is that some studies found that while 30 minutes of daily walking is enough to prevent weight gain in most relatively sedentary people, exercise beyond 30 minutes results in weight and fat loss. Burning an additional 300 calories a day with three miles of brisk walking (45 minutes should do it) could help you lose 30 pounds in a year without even changing how much you’re eating.

In addition to walking, if you are up to it, try running, weight lifting, yoga, jumping rope, boxing, or any other exercise program that you like. You don’t need any special equipment or even gym membership to do that. If you don’t want to spend any money, start with walking 20-30 minutes a day. It’s also important to some weight bearing exercises. There are many exercises that you can do that use your own body weight – squats, lunges, presses. Eventually, though, you should add some weights to your routine. If you never worked out with free weights, think you are too old, too young, too fat to start, or whatever, read “No fat chicks” “Old broads: the golden years of pumping iron,” and other articles on the www.stumptous.com blog.

To add variety to your workouts – and make them more fun, you may want to invest in some basic exercise equipment. Get a mini trampoline to keep you moving when watching tv. Get a bike – ride it every day. (If the weather is bad, you might get yourself a bike trainer, such as one of the fancy Kurt Kinetic bike trainers or Minoura bike trainers, or just a cheap, second-hand stationary bike that you may find on craiglist). The important part is to start moving. If you need some motivation, get yourself a Bodybugg or Gowear Fit armband. The point is to start moving. It will get easier with time – I promise.

8. Listen to your body.

Whenever possible, eat with other people as much as you can and don’t eat if your are not hungry. Have a piece of fruit, a small raw vegetable salad, a glass of raw juice or a glass of water.

However, don’t put up with hunger pains either. Far too many people place their meal times around the clock. It is much healthier to place your meals around your hunger in the same way that children do, and pay less heed to the clock. Also, don’t feel like you have to finish eating everything on your plate, even after your hunger has been fully satisfied.

8. Keep a Food Diary

Carry a small notebook everywhere you go for one week. Write down every single morsel that enters your lips. Studies have found that people who maintain food diaries wind up eating about 15 percent less food than those who don’t.

Questions? Comments? Weight Loss Tips?

Why not add to the conversation in the comment section below! Are you trying to lose weight? What type of diet are you following? What are you struggling with?

Want to share some weight loss tips with other readers? I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

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Protein Shakes For Weight Loss: Powder-Less Protein Smoothie Recipe

Nov 1 by Joanna

High protein diet plans are among the more popular diets promoted these days by mainstream fitness magazines and media, and many people who are trying to lose weight and build muscle turn to protein shakes.

They are said to be good for people wanting to lose weight and because of the high protein content, dieters don’t need to be worried about losing muscle.

I am quite skeptical about high protein diet plans for a number of reasons about which I wrote about in other posts. Today, let’s look at the protein shakes and powders.

What are protein shakes?

Protein shakes are dietary supplements that provide protein for consumption. There are various types of protein powders available on the market today. Whey protein powder is the most common. Soy protein is an alternative protein for vegetarians. Egg white protein is for people who are lactose intolerant. Hemp protein is another popular one.

90% of the protein supplement companies source their raw materials from third parties, often importing them from third world countries.  Inferior resources usually found in cheap protein shakes may have high level of heavy metals and cattle hormones. This has been elucidation from recent tests and published widely in the consumer reports.  Then there are the additives and artificial sweeteners.

So, are protein shakes really needed and/or recommended for weight loss?

Protein shakes for weight loss

Manufacturers of protein shakes claim that their products decrease body fat or promote weight loss, but protein shakes aren’t a magic bullet for weight loss.

While it’s true that replacing certain meals with protein shakes may help you reduce your daily calories, which will result in weight loss; however, if you rely on protein shakes for regular meals, you’ll miss out on the nutritional benefits of whole foods.

And consuming too much protein can actually make losing weight more difficult — especially if you drink protein shakes in addition to your usual diet.

How much protein do we really need?

There is a lot of discussion about how much protein we need and a lot of misinformation regarding this subject. The need for protein has generally been greatly exaggerated by market forces, and protein’s functions have been misrepresented.

Most people are convinced that we need large quantities of protein for energy or to keep us from getting sick.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

The primary function of protein is growth, which is negligible in adults, as well as repair from injury and replacement of worn-out cells. The average adult needs 46 to 56 grams of protein a day, depending on weight and overall health.

Even if you work out a lot, as long as you’re eating a healthy diet, adding extra protein — either through protein shakes or other sources — isn’t necessary.

There is no such thing as “protein deficiency” in the Western World.

For most people the low consumption of protein isn’t the problem, it’s the low consumption of whole foods: fresh fruits, vegetables and greens.

That’s why I keep promoting the green smoothies for weight loss.

Without any protein powder in them (or any green powder either, for that matter).

They will help you lose weight naturally, without any additives or powders.

Remember, the key to losing weight is burning more calories than you consume. Choose whole foods — with lots of fruits, vegetables, and greens — and include physical activity in your daily routine.

So, should you add protein powder to your smoothies?

Again, if you read my post about green smoothies for weight loss, you know that I don’t recommend adding any protein powders to the smoothie.

I don’t believe additional protein is needed and I have to say that I don’t like any “artificial food”. This includes commercially produced liquid diet powders or shakes. I just don’t like the idea of eating highly processed foods. In addition, the side effects and possible toxicity of commercially produced shakes has not been studied adequately.

I highly believe in eating whole foods – fresh and raw – as much as we can.

Green Smoothies are Rich in Protein

No, really.

They are chock full of amino acids because greens contain lots of amino acids. Your body uses these amino acids to produce protein.

The more greens you eat, the more amino acids that you provide your body with.

Dark green leafy vegetables contain similar or larger amounts of amino acids than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). However, because of the confusion between vegetables (roots) and greens, we are told that vegetables, including greens, are a poor source of amino acids. Dr. Joel Fuhrman wrote in his book Eat to Live: “Even physicians and dietitians… are surprised to learn that …when you eat large quantities of green vegetables, you receive a considerable amount of protein.”

I like the explanation provided by Victoria Boutenko on her blog:

Let me explain the difference between complex proteins found in meat, dairy, fish, etc. and individual amino acids, found in fruits, vegetables, and especially in greens.

It is clear that the body has to work a lot less when creating protein from the assortment of individual amino acids from greens, rather than the already combined, long molecules of protein, assembled according to the foreign pattern of a totally different creature such as a cow or a chicken. I would like to explain the difference between complex proteins and individual amino acids with a simple anecdote.

Imagine that you have to make a wedding dress for your daughter. Consuming the complex proteins that we get from cows or other creatures is like going to the second hand store, and buying many other people’s used dresses, coming home and spending several hours ripping apart pieces of the dresses that you like and combining them into a new dress for your daughter. This alternative will take a lot of time and energy and will leave a great deal of garbage. You could never make a perfect dress this way.

Consuming individual amino acids is like taking your daughter to a fabric store to buy beautiful new fabric, lace, buttons, ribbons, threads, and pearls. With these essential elements you can make a beautiful dress that fits her unique body perfectly. Similarly, when you eat greens, you “purchase” new amino acids, freshly made by sunshine and chlorophyll, which the body will use to rebuild its parts according to your own unique DNA.

Contrary to this, your body would have a hard time trying to make a perfect molecule of protein out of someone else’s molecules, which consist of totally different combinations of amino acids. Plus, your body would most likely receive a lot of unnecessary pieces that are hard to digest. These pieces would be floating around in your blood like garbage for a long time, causing allergies and other health problems. Professor W. A. Walker from the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, states that, “Incompletely digested protein fragments may be absorbed into the bloodstream. The absorption of these large molecules contributes to the development of food allergies and immunological disorders.” Source: Raw Family Blog

The Basic Protein Smoothie Recipe

Feel free to use this basic green smoothie base and experiment. (Remember #11!)
• 2 Bananas
• 5 Strawberries
• Handful Spinach (increase greens gradually over time, and you’ll find you crave more of them!)
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 cup water

After you make your first green smoothie, you’ll want to learn about trying new recipes and rotating your greens.

Questions? Comments? Weight Loss Tips?

Why not add to the conversation in the comment section below! Are you trying to lose weight? What type of diet are you following? What are you struggling with? Have you tried green smoothies for weight loss?

Want to share some weight loss tips with fellow readers? I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

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How to Stop Food Cravings: 2 Proven Tips to Stop Sugar Cravings and Stop Craving Food When Trying to Lose Weight

Jan 26 by Joanna

If you are trying to lose weight or even just trying to eat a healthy diet, cravings for junk foods and sugar cravings can really sabotage your efforts. So what can you do to satisfy that sudden urge for rich, fatty, sweet stuff, that you just MUST HAVE NOW??!!

One of the ways that works best for me are green smoothies.

What are green smoothies?

Green smoothies are simply fruit smoothies – such as banana, peach, strawberry, apple, berries, etc. – with the addition on greens, kale, romaine lettuce, spinach, celery tops, and other. I am going to write more on the subject of green smoothies, but for now just read the following tips.

How to Stop Food Cravings – 2 Easy Tips to Stop Craving Sweets and Other Foods That Are Bad For You

If you’re struggling to lose weight, food cravings can sabotage your efforts and make it impossible to stay on your diet. “I’ll only have a small piece of chocolate”, or “A tiny slice of cheese can’t do any harm” – and before you even realize it, you’ve eaten an entire box of chocolates or a half pound of cheese. You start to feel like you are never going to be successful at weight loss and will just stay fat forever.

How the food cravings develop?

One reason is that you’re physically addicted to certain foods, and this is why you crave them. Foods that cause addiction contain opiate-like chemicals that make you crave those foods. The primary addictive foods include sugar, chocolate, cheese and meat.

The other reason is this: The diet that an average person consumes today is deficient in many essential nutrients. The Standard American diet (or SAD), does not provide adequate levels of fruits and vegetables to begin with, and most Americans don’t even meet the minimum recommendation of 2 servings of fruits and 3 servings of vegetables a day. Instead of eating foods rich in vital nutrients, we consume large amounts of refined foods high in calories, sugar, fat and cholesterol.

I’m sure you’ve heard all this before, but my point is this:

–If your body does not get what it needs to function properly, it will demand you eat more and more food. –

That’s why you get strong cravings. So if you are asking how to to stop craving sweets or how to stop craving food that is not good for you once and for all, you need to provide your body with the nutrients that it needs to function.

Here are two great tips to curb cravings for unhealthy foods.

1. Add green smoothies to your diet.

Make yourself delicious green smoothies by blending some fruits, vegetables and greens together with a little bit of water and drinking them twice a day. For example, you may want to try the following combinations, or experiment and create your own:

–Celery, banana, apple and spinach smoothie

–Spinach, strawberry, banana smoothie

–Romaine lettuce and celery with blueberries

2. Add freshly made vegetable and fruit juices to your diet.

Fresh juices provide all the necessary vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, proteins, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, and other nutrients that the science has not even discovered yet. By drinking juice, you are providing your body with these nutrients in a concentrated form that is the easiest to absorb – without the fiber that your body needs to eliminate anyway. They give you a great boost of energy and help eliminate unhealthy cravings.

The quality of your life begins with the quality of the foods that you consume. The quickest and surest path to a healthier, more energetic, disease-free lifestyle starts with a diet rich in natural, plant based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Such diet will also produce a beautiful, lean body that you always wanted.

Watch this video for inspiration. I would recommend to skip the flax oil and stevia that she adds to the smoothie, though. The bananas and other fruits give the smoothie enough sweetness.

If you’re truly serious about shedding those pounds, then follow the common sense advice that you find on this site. This is NOT A FAD DIET, NO GIMMICKS, NO PILLS OR EXPENSIVE SUPPLEMENTS, just common sense advice you can use EVERY DAY. If you don’t lose some weight quickly… I’d really be surprised!  Read more on the Fastest Way to Lose Weight blog. Read my posts Fastest Way to Lose Weight – FOREVER! and Fastest Way to Lose Weight Program: Wonderful Side Effects.

Questions? Comments? Weight Loss Tips?

Why not add to the conversation in the comment section below! Are you trying to lose weight? What type of diet are you following? What are you struggling with?

Want to share some weight loss tips with other readers? I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you!

Thanks!

read more