Halloween candy is the unofficial start of holiday eating binges. It’s hard to refuse those few morsels that “trick or treating” children leave behind. No one wants to throw food out, so most people bring the candy to work and spread it around.

It’s that time of year again - when all of us could learn a little restraint and still be able to enjoy ourselves at the same time. Please observe, or pass on the following information, to your loved ones, friends, and students. Last year, I lost 10 pounds during the holidays, and 21 pounds since then, by using the following guidelines.

After you eat, your stomach should be half full, or less, with food. For every two parts of food consumed, you should drink one part water. Leave your stomach at least one quarter empty for movement of air.

When eating at a restaurant or party, eat half a portion, maximum, and wait five or ten minutes. Restaurant portions are commonly two or three meals on a single or double plate. This is way too much to consume at a single sitting, and you may find out that once you pause and sip your drink, you are already full.

In the Providence, RI area, there are some restaurants
where the single portions could feed a family of four. No wonder a man of 200 lbs. is now considered thin.

Establish control over your appetite. Most of us feel
guilty if we don’t finish a plate. This is usually
conditioning from your childhood. Bury your guilty past and have the rest “wrapped to go.”

Here are a few more guidelines that will help you during the holiday season and throughout the New Year.

Always eat something for breakfast and never “skip it.” When you skip breakfast, you will over consume, later in the day.

Eat slowly and thoroughly chew your food.

If you love carbonated drinks – drink carbonated water without sugars or sugar substitutes.

Make sure your last meal, or last “snack” of the day, is small and nutritionally dense. Examples: Cereal with fruit, cottage cheese with fruit, vegetable salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, rice with vegetables, and light popcorn, without the extra butter and salt. For those who eat meat or fish: turkey, chicken, or salmon salad on top of fresh greens.

In the last part of your day, skip desserts, sugary
cereals, bread, and second portions. Second portions of carbohydrates can contribute to high triglyceride levels. If you absolutely must have sugar: Eat fruit salad, fruit with rice, or yogurt.

If you must have coffee or alcohol, beware that these should be consumed in extreme moderation. Both substances will dehydrate your body, and you will have to drink extra water to make up for it. Wine is much better than hard alcohol, but one or two glasses a day is the limit.

Coffee consumption should be held to the same
guidelines (one or two a day). Remember that green tea is a good substitute for coffee.

Nutritious food is not an excuse for over indulgence. Even when you eat all the right things, the volume consumed should be in moderation. It will take a lot of exercise to make up for overeating anything.

Make your meal a meditation, by focusing on the meal you eat at the kitchen table. Pause every few minutes, think about the amount you have eaten, be thankful for your life, and breathe. Do not engage in unconscious eating while watching television or driving the car.

© Copyright 2005 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

By: Paul M. Jerard Jr.

Paul Jerard is the director of Yoga teacher training at Aura in RI. He’s a master instructor of martial arts and Yoga. He teaches Yoga, martial arts, and fitness. He wrote: Is Running a Yoga Business Right for You? For Yoga students wanting to be a Yoga teacher. www.yoga-teacher-training.org

If you've been looking for sound advice on weight loss programs and diet plans, we have some good news for you. We've compiled a top ten list of weight loss tips for women. These tips on losing weight are powerful and proven to get results. Best of all, you won't find any gimmicks or fads here. Only the best, most accurate and scientifically proven health advice made the cut and has been included in this fitness advice guide.

1) Our first weight loss tip for women is simply to exercise consistently. That may seem like common sense, but only 45 percent of adults are actually following their doctor's advice and getting the recommended minimum: 30 minutes a day, at least four days a week. After only four weeks of inactivity the body begins to shed muscle mass, and aerobic fitness levels start to diminish after missing only two weeks of workouts. That's why regular, consistent exercise is our first and most important weight loss tip.

2) Don't focus so much on fast weight loss. Instead, concentrate your efforts on achieving permanent weight loss. While it may be tempting to try the latest fad diet or prescription diet pill, keep in mind that quick weight loss doesn't always equate to healthy weight loss. As a matter of fact, when you diet without exercising, up to half of the weight you lose could be from muscle mass. Losing muscle is the absolute worst thing you can do when you're trying to acquire permanent fat loss, so don't be tempted by the gimmicks promising rapid weight loss. Focus on permanent weight loss through a sensible diet and exercise program, and you'll be pleased with the long-term results.

3) This weight loss tip is perhaps the best free medical advice you'll ever receive: Eat your recommended daily allowance of fruits and vegetables before indulging in any treats. This diet tip is so potent because it will help you realize better health in so many different ways. First and foremost, consuming at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day will help us lose weight because fiber moves fat through our digestive system faster so that less of it is absorbed. High fiber foods also make us feel full sooner and stay in our stomach longer, slowing down our rate of digestion and keeping us feeling full longer. Following this health tip will also lower your risk of several cancers and heart disease.

4) As much as possible, eliminate 'white' foods from your diet. High sugar and high carbohydrate foods create an insulin spike that tells our body to start storing fat. They also trigger a blood sugar high, which is inevitably followed by a low. This drop in insulin levels leaves us feeling hungry, tired, and wanting to eat more. Specifically, at the bottom of an insulin crash the body craves more sugar and carbohydrates, setting us up for a vicious weight gain cycle. With this in mind, it's good advice to simply avoid 'white' foods whenever possible. Choose brown rice instead of white, whole wheat bread instead of white, and cut back on goodies made with white processed flour.

5) Actively seek out all the expert advice on health, diet and nutrition that you can find. There are many reputable sources of online medical advice available, and much of it is free. Knowledge is power, and the more you know about weight loss, the more likely it is that you'll be successful in your efforts. Look for free advice and fitness tips from qualified sources like health club owners, physicians, and certified personal trainers. In short, learn all you can.

6) Get at least eight hours of sleep each night. Research has shown that people who sleep only four hours a night have an 18 percent reduction in leptin, a hormone that tells the brain there is no need for more food, and a 28 percent increase in ghrelin, which triggers hunger. This is one weight loss tip that should be easy for anyone to follow.

7) Drink water. Drink LOTS of water. Water suppresses the appetite naturally and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Studies show that a decrease in water will cause fat deposits to increase, while an increase in water can actually reduce fat deposits. Why? The kidneys can’t function properly without enough water. When the kidneys don’t function to capacity, some of the work load is taken on by the liver. The liver’s primary function is to metabolize stored fat into usable energy. If the liver has to do some of the kidney’s work, it can’t function at its optimal capacity. As a result, it metabolizes less fat. More fat remains stored and weight loss / fat loss stops.

8) Although it's not a workout tip or an exercise tip, staying motivated is probably the most effective weight loss advice you'll ever receive. Since each person in different, motivational techniques will vary. However, many have found that charting fat loss progress to be very encouraging. Others maintain that the single most motivating action is to find a friend and commit to exercise together. Whatever method you choose, find a way to stay motivated if you want to write your own weight loss success story.

9) Essential weight loss advice for a woman is to not exercise like a man. That may sound strange at first, but the fact of the matter is that there are several separate and distinct exercise methods available, and not all are proper for women. In fact, some types of exercise could possibly cause women to gain weight (although any weight gain would be from added muscle, not from fat). For maximum fat loss, women should be engaging in not only aerobic exercise but also in light resistance training.

10) Our final weight loss tip is to carefully select vitamins and supplements to help you attain your fat loss goals. There are a million diet pills and weight loss pills on the market, but the vast majority of them may not be appropriate for you and your personal needs. Instead of buying what you see on the infomercials, take the time to research what's effective and what's not. Most importantly, speak with your doctor before beginning any supplement program. Medical research has given us many breakthroughs in the last few decades, and vitamins and supplements can certainly be a valuable tool in your weight loss toolbox. Take the time to investigate the options and choose wisely.

Although there's a mountain of health advice available today, our Top 10 Weight Loss Tips for Women are the best, most accurate and scientifically proven recommendations at hand. Take them to heart, and you'll be well on your way towards fat loss success.

By: Tracie Johanson

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

Healthy diets promoted by many companies and gurus are anything but healthy diets - in fact, they can be harmful to your long-term health.

So if you are looking for healthy diets then you should consider if they take into account the 10 points below, which are universal in scope and are actually not that difficult to follow.

1. Balance Fat and Protein

Fat should supply around 30% of your total daily calories. Limit your intake of fat by having more vegetables in your diet.

Eat lean meats, light-meat poultry without the skin, fish, and low-fat dairy products. In addition, make sure you limit vegetable oils and butter in your diet.

Protein should be around 15% of your calorie intake. Don’t fall for the myth of so-called healthy diets that recommend eating protein at the expense of fat, it’s not natural and can cause health problems.

2. Limit Your Intake of Saturated Fat

This is the kind of fat, found mostly in animal products, that increases blood cholesterol levels and has other negative health effects. It should supply less than one-third of the calories derived from fat.

Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day.

3. Eat Foods Rich in Complex Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates should contribute around 55% of your total daily calories. Don’t fall for the hype that carbohydrates are bad for you they are not, just make sure you eat complex carbohydrates.

To help get the right sources, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and six or more servings of whole grains. This will help you obtain the 25 grams of fiber you need each day.

4. Avoid too Much Sugar

Many foods that are high in sugar are also high in fat. Look at the labels to see how much sugar is in a product - many products say they are low in fat, but they are high in sugar, and this turns to fat.

5. Eat Green, Orange, and Yellow Fruits and Vegetables

Examples would be broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods are increasingly important in helping protect against a variety of diseases.

6. Variety

Eat a variety of foods - this really is the key to a balanced diet. Don't try to fill your nutrient requirements by eating the same foods every day - it won’t work.

7. Limit Sodium Intake

Your sodium intake should be a maximum of 2,400 milligrams per day. This is equivalent to about a teaspoon of salt. Therefore, Avoid salty foods and be careful to check food labels carefully for sodium content.

8. Vitamins and Minerals from Food

Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Foods also provide the "synergy" that many nutrients require so that they can be effective, and be broken down in the body and utilized correctly.

9. Maintain a Desirable Weight

Don’t ignore exercise, it only needs to be moderate, you don’t have to kill yourself in the gym! The two biggest causes of obesity are processed unnatural foods and our modern lazy life style.

10. Enjoy your Food

If you drink alcohol, eat chocolate, crisps etc you can - but don’t overdo it. Why shouldn’t you eat what you really enjoy? There is no reason why you can’t.

Healthy Diets are Balanced Diets

There are many healthy diets to choose from, and they’re all different, but the basis of any healthy diet should take into account the 10 points outlined here.

By: Stephen Todd

More dieting and general health information and FREE exclusive diet and health magazines, are available on our web site: www.net-planet.org

I want to give you one of the most powerful keys I have ever learned and studied over the past few years.

You can have anything, be anything, and do anything in life if you just make the choice to do so.

The power to choose whatever you want is something that the words written here cannot give justice to.

Your future has not happened yet. In fact, you create your future. The choices that you make today will shape your destiny later in life. The fact that you are reading this book tells me that there is something that you want to change in the future regarding your present fitness and weight loss situation.

You can make it a habit to chose what it is you want in life. In fact, weight loss is also a choice you make. Much like you chose your mate, your occupation, or your place of residence, you can chose to lose weight and stay thin.

Being overweight is not a life-long sentence you have been handed down with nothing you can do about it. You can choose to change your situation at any moment. If you are at a moment of complete frustration with your current weight, now is as good a time as any to make the choice to change.

Is it a choice you are willing to make? Are you unsure of the first step to take after you've made the choice to change?

Do not worry. We are going to go over those steps. I am going to start with a clean slate with you, so even if you know little about losing weight, you will be successful.

Please do not make weight loss and weight management any harder than it really has to be. Sure, the willpower required may be a test of character, but the actual process required to lose weight isn't physiologically difficult.

You have to expend, or burn off, more calories than you consume. It seems as though the more we become technologically advanced as a society, the more overweight we also become.

Also, with all of the confusing and conflicting opinions on the best weight loss methods that are available, people are misled and misinformed about what it truly takes to lose weight permanently.

It's as though many people have suffered "paralysis by analysis". There is so many different points of view that become overwhelming, it causes some people to throw their hands up and do nothing.

The way to make weight loss permanent is to replace your old unproductive habits that created an unhealthy lifestyle with newer habits that support losing weight. It starts with choosing to do so.

Exercise your power of choice. You can choose to have anything, be anything, and do anything if you are willing to chose it. It is a tool at your disposal whenever you need it.

In fact, the very best tool you can use for long lasting weight loss is the tool between your ears. Your brain is the best piece of equipment you can use to lose weight and keep it off. The more you feed your mind with powerful, results producing information, the better you'll be.

Study weight loss. Make it your mission. But do not lose the simplicity of it.

Weight loss is no harder than choosing to eat right every three or four hours (the most important process in weight loss and weight management), exercising with some weights/resistance two to three times a week, and doing some form of cardio/aerobics two to three times a week.

To lose weight and stay in great shape does not require any more than 2 to 3 hours a week total of exercise. I've trained many people that have managed to stay incredibly thin and in great shape with only 2 hours a week total of exercise.

It all comes down to the way you choose to eat and live. It is your choice of lifestyle that determines what you weigh.

The most important step you can take is to make the choice that you are going to commit to this and stick with it until you accomplish what it is you want.

There are going to be many days where you want to throw in the towel and call it quits. But choose not to.

Have faith that you will get what you want. It will require patience and persistence, but so do all good things in life.

I asked you to dream about how it would feel to have your ideal body. How it would feel to be as thin as you want to be and as energetic and as vibrant as you'd like to be. How would you feel to have the strength and flexibility you want and to rid your body of those nagging aches and pains.

Dare to dream a little and then choose to go after and make those dreams come true. There’s a huge difference between identifying what it is you want and choosing to go after it. Identifying what you want is the first step in the process.

You must then make the choice to go after it. In fact, I've just given you the key that will unlock any fitness goal you may have now or in the future.

The key to permanent weight loss and superb health is the fact that you choose it. Weight loss, muscle toning, or any fitness goal you may have is simply a choice that you make.

Anything you want in life, any goal or desire can be yours if you simply choose to go after it. Things just do not fall into place naturally and without effort. Yes, they do fall, just not where you want them to.

You must first "think" of what it is you want and then choose to go after it. And if you do not get what you want? Try it again. Keep trying until you get it.

If you are persistent enough and work hard enough, whatever you wish for will be yours.

Whether you want to lose fat or gain lean muscle and increase strength, you choose to do so.

In fact, life boils down to a series of choices. The better choices you make, the better your life will be.

You can choose to slim down and fit into those jeans or you can choose to give into your false feelings of hunger and deprivation.

You can choose to get behind the wheel after drinking or you can choose to hand the keys to a friend. Some of the choices you make have a long lasting and dramatic impact on your life forever.

The great thing is, if you choose to go after weight loss, you can be assured that it's within your reach because others have accomplished it. Any problems that you may face in life, chances are that someone has faced them and has already battled and conquered them.

Just follow what it is they did to come out on top. The question of whether or not it's possible is not an issue.
It's whether or not you go after it. In fact, the choices you make dictate the life you will lead.

Where you are today is the result of all the choices you have made up to this point.

If you want better, you must make better choices.You can either move ahead or stay behind.

Remember, weight loss is a choice. It's a choice, much like we chose to go to school to further our education or a choice to take a new job.

We only do things after we make the conscious decision to do them and to put our heart into them.

You can want anything in life, but it's what you're willing to go after that matters. Look at your list of goals that you have identified.

Are you willing and determined to accomplish each and every one of those goals on the list?

It's that one small factor, the step between identifying your goal and choosing to go after it, that will determine whether you succeed at weight loss or not.

Simply having goals and choosing to accomplish them is what distinguishes successful people from those that merely wish.

It wasn't until I made the conscious choice to do a bodybuilding show that I began making plans about how I was going to win it.

It had started with a thought about what I wanted and how I was going to get it. But it wasn't until I made the absolute choice to do it that I took it seriously.

Choice is powerful. Choice can be the ignition switch that fires up your vehicle that will allow you to reach your goals.

Like I said at the top. You can choose to have anything, be anything, or do anything. The choice is yours.

Begin using your power of choice. Make it a habit to chose what it is you want in life and then resolve to get it. After you have thought about what you want, choose to go after it. So many people live lives of quiet desperation because they do not make the choice to act upon their dreams.

For whatever reason they are held back by fear and often times choose not to realize their dreams. Like I mentioned earlier, if you can dream it, you can achieve it.

Look over your list of goals you have written. I want you to make the choice, right now, whether or not you are going to go after your goals.

Choosing to go after your goals is like switching the "On" switch of a piece of machinery. Until you make the conscious choice to get what you want, you are still in limbo. By making the conscious choice to go forward, you start the process of taking steps to realize your goals.

Look over your list of weight loss goals. Are you going to make the choice to go full steam. Is something still holding you back? I can tell you from personal experience, until you make the choice to go after something, the likelihood of you realizing that goal is slim.

By: Shawn LeBrun

Lose body fat and gain lean muscle in the least amount of time possible. Personal trainer and natural bodybuilder Shawn Lebrun shows you exactly how: Visit Shawn Lebrun Fitness

Let's look at the effects and possible complications of obesity:

Obesity increases the risk of developing disease. Possible complications include:
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Gallbladder disease
• Breathing problems
• Bloating and stomach upsets
• Varicose veins
• Severe psychological problems

In fact, according to some studies, almost 70 percent of heart disease cases in the United States are linked to excess body fat, and obese people are more than twice as likely to develop high blood pressure.

Obese women are at nearly twice the risk for developing breast cancer, and all obese people have an estimated 42 percent higher chance of developing colon cancer.

Almost 80 percent of patients with Type 2, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus are obese.

The risk of medical complications, particularly heart disease, increases when body fat is distributed around the waist, especially in the abdomen. This type of upper body fat distribution is more common in men than in women.

The social and psychological problems experienced by obese people are also challenging. Discrimination for “fat” people is most likely to occur in educational institutions, employment, and social relationships.

Other psychological effects include stress, nervous tension, boredom, frustration, lack of friends, depression, inferiority complex, and poor self-esteem.

Here are some action steps to take.

1. The Proper Plan

Before taking actions in any problem we encounter, there should always be a plan first..

Beginning a task without planning is like building a house without a blueprint or fighting against a basketball team without a team play with your teammates. How can you expect a good outcome?

Losing weight is not at all different from any other situation. It also involves taking action based on proper plans built on good information. The better your plan, the more solid the information it is based on, the more satisfying your result.

2. Setting a Goal

Okay, so your weight is 20% above the considered normal for your height. You tend to eat more than 5 regular meals a day. You’re certain that you’re physically unfit. Now, the question is, what do you want to happen?

Setting a goal is the first step in planning. Know what you want to accomplish. This way, the road you are taking is clear. You can keep track of your journey – whether or not you are heading in the right direction. With a goal in mind, you are always motivated to finish a task, or in some cases, to start doing it.

3. Be Definite

Setting a specific goal, when planning to lose weight, improves your chances of success.

Be clear and definite with what you want happen.

Vague aims such as ‘I’d like to be healthier’ or ‘I need to lose a few kilos,’ tend to produce half-hearted efforts and poor results.

Instead, state your goal distinctly: ‘I want to lose 2-3 kilos this week and every week’ or ‘I will trim my waist line from 40” down to 32” by the end of the month.’

If you need to, write it down and put it where you will always see and read it. This way, you’ll always be reminded of what you want and need to accomplish by the end of the month, the week, or even the day.

4. Be Realistic

In establishing a definite goal, make sure that it is possible and doable – realistic, in simpler terms.

How can a goal like ‘I’ll lose 15 lbs in just a week happen if even the most accurate weight-loss diet suggests that you can only burn 6-7 lbs in a week?

Goals need to be sensible so that they can be achieved.

When you set an unrealistic goal, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Many people give up on their goals because they fail to base their plans on the correct information.

5. Strategizing

After deciding on your goal, the next step is planning how to accomplish it.

Planning involves proper scheduling of activities throughout the whole day for a certain period of time.

These include exercises, meals, and rest.

It also includes the time these activities should be done, the duration, and in the case of eating meals, the food to be consumed.

This way, inappropriate spur-of-the-moments decisions can be avoided.

A proper and effective plan consists of quality time for performing such activities. Give yourself enough time to meet your goals. For example, sleep should be scheduled to last for around 8 hours a day so that you’ll be able to get enough rest. Lack of sleep may cause improper eating habit the next day.

Again, plans should be realistic. Include only time and activities you know you can accomplish for a given period of time.

After preparing the plan, write it down since you can’t always keep the many details in mind. Post it in a place where you can always see and read it to remind you what your plans are for the day.

Try your best not to skip anything in your scheduled plan. Work on making it happen.

6. Change your mind, change your life

The first step to change is in your mind. Once you can activate a positive intention, the process of change begins. If you really want something to happen, you have to say “yes” to it. Then, and only then, can you see and experience ways in which you can shift your reality.

By: Saleem Rana

Saleem Rana is a psychotherapist in Denver, Colorado. If you would like more information on how to rapidly lose weight, you can get it at theempoweredsoul.com/obesityhelp.html

Just as certain foods can cause us to gain weight there are other foods that we can eat that will actually aid in weight loss. The key to the success of these foods is to avoid the temptation to add things like cheese, butter, and sour cream to these otherwise healthy foods.

The way this process works is quite simple. Certain foods actually consume more energy when digesting than they actually contain. The result is a negative calorie situation that helps in your overall diet plan. For example if you eat something that only has 50 calories and the body takes 150 calories to digest it you would have a calorie deficit of 100.

When we say that a food is a negative calorie food this is not to say that it is without calories, just that the effect of consuming and digesting the food creates a negative calorie situation. For example, eating lettuce with no salad dressing will create a negative calorie situation.

Some of the foods that work in this manner include fruits such as apples, grapefruit, lemons, and strawberries as well as foods such as lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and green beans. There are many others as well which you can find just by doing a search on negative calorie foods. All of these foods will be plant based and as close to their natural states as possible. You will not get the benefit by eating the foods from a can as they have too many additives and sugars which counteract the benefit. So stay as close to fresh as possible.

When implementing the negative calorie foods into your diet and exercise program you must be careful not to eat only these kinds of foods. Your body still needs a certain amount of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates as well as the attendant vitamins and minerals that come along with them to work properly. The use of these foods is merely to aid in the dieting process and it is not healthy to eat only these foods. This bears repeating, DO NOT eat only these foods. Use them ONLY to add another dimension to your overall weight loss program.

As with any diet program your results will be enhanced by including exercise in conjunction with your diet. You should aim for at least 30 minutes of exercise per day and work up to an hour a day. This does not have to be done all at once. You can break it up into increments of three or four different segments until you have the stamina to accomplish it all at one time.

By: Glenn Freiboth

Glenn Freiboth is a Certified Health Advisor lives in Illinois and has helped many overweight and obese people lose weight and keep it off. Get Medifast diet products at www.GetYouHealth.com

Eating out is a part of almost everyone life and being on a diet shouldn’t prohibit you from enjoying this fun treat. Luckily many restaurants today offer healthy options and some even cater to different diet plans like the Atkins and South Beach Diets.

The rules to sticking to your diet while eating out are the same as when you prepare your own food. Fill up on fruits and vegetables and eat lean meats and fish in small portions. Stay away from all those rolls!

Whether you're having lunch with the gang, or enjoying a romantic dinner for two, you can enjoy delicious-tasting foods that are low-in calories and good for you, with just a little forethought and planning. Here’s some tips that might help you stick to your diet while enjoying restaurant cuisine.

1. Think Ahead. Get a menu from the restaurant if you are not familiar with their dishes and select a healthy dish ahead of time. This can save you from ordering something fattening under the duress of hunger pangs at the restaurant.

2. Order first. Be the first one in your group to order and you won’t be tempted to change your mind and order some deliciously fattening dish that one of your companions has orderd.

3. Ask for smaller portions. Don’t be afraid to ask for a kids or seniors sized portion. Most restaurants will accommodate you -- and often you'll pay less as well!

4. Ask about the preparation of any dish you plan to order. You want to avoid anything that is cooked in butter and always ask if they have a heart healthy or fat free option.

5. Drink a large glass of water before the meal. This will help you digest easier, feel full faster and therefore eat less.

6. If everything on the menu is high in fat or calories, ask if the chef could prepare a plate of fresh fruit and vegetables. Many restaurants offer a vegetarian selection, so if you don't see it on the menu, ask.

7. When ordering meat or fish, ask that it be grilled or broiled, and prepared without oil or butter. (When you eat it, use lemon or herbs and spices to give it flavor rather than heavy sauces).

8. Order an appetizer and a salad as your meal. Or a soup and salad. For dessert, choose fresh fruit.

9. When choosing soup, remember that cream-based soups have many more calories than broth-based ones.

10. If you're having a full meal, split the appetizer and desert with your companion.

11. If you decide to order pasta, tomato sauce has fewer calories than cream-based sauces, just like soup.

12. Choose breadsticks over bread, or if you eat bread, don't add butter. Stay away from muffins and croissants, and choose whole grain over white.

13. Choose steamed vegetables instead of baked potatoes or other starches. Again, use lemon and herbs and spices rather than butter to flavor them with.

14. Whenever possible, eat like the Europeans do, and have your biggest meal at lunchtime. Not only will you save money, but you'll cut down on calories at the same time!

15. Take the time to enjoy your meal. Savor the flavors and textures of your food, and enjoy the company you're with. When you eat slowly, you give your body's internal clock the time it needs to know when you've had enough. When you're full, stop eating. Ask your server to remove your plate so you're not tempted to keep eating while you wait for your companion to finish.

16. Ask for salsa on your baked potatoes, rather than sour cream and butter. Not only is salsa much lower in calories, but it adds a "spicy" flavor to potatoes.

17. Order salad dressings and sauces "on the side." This gives you more control of how much to use. Another tip for salad dressing -- rather than pouring the salad dressing on your salad, dip your fork into the dressing first, and then into the salad. You'll get the same amount of flavor, without all the added calories!

18. Choose brown rice over white rice (or french fries), whole grain breads and rolls over white. Not only are they lower in calories, but they are better for you.

19. Stay away from "all you can eat" buffets and salad bars. It's too easy to lose track of the amount of food you're eating, even when it's salads. If that's your only choice, then stay away from the pasta, marinated salads, cheeses and fruit salads with whipped cream. Stick to soups, raw vegetables and fresh fruits.

20. Have your soup first. It will help to fill you up, and most soups have fewer calories.

21. If you're craving something sweet, and don't want fresh fruit, choose sorbet. If you absolutely HAVE to have the chocolate sauce, use the same trick as you did with the salad dressing -- dip your fork into it first, then your dessert.

22. Split your dessert with your companion. You'll still feel like you got to be indulgent, and you'll only have to exercise half as long to burn off the extra calories!

23. When ordering sandwiches, order them with mustard only, rather than mayonnaise. Not only does mustard have almost no calories, but you won't miss the mayo!

24. If the portion you were served is large, only eat half of it. Take the other half home. Not only will you get two meals for the price of one, but you'll cut the calories in half as well!

25. Go for a walk after eating. Stroll along the beach, walk through a park, visit a zoo. You'll burn calories and get your exercise at the same time!

By: Lee Dobbins

Lee Dobbins is the owner of Low Carb Resource where you can find more about low carb eating, the glycemic index and dieting. Visit the dieting article archives for more dieting tips.

I’d like you to ask you a question that you probably haven’t considered for quite some time: What’s important to you? Is it your family, your health, friendships, your integrity, your career, your faith or the amount you have in the bank? What’s important to you…..really important? Take a few minutes to carefully think about your answer. You might even want to write down the top five things that are important to you.

For many of us, this is a question we rarely (if ever) consciously ponder. Yet, every single day of our lives we are asked that same question – just not in so many words. It’s also true that every single day we answer that question. We answer not with our words, but with our actions.

What we do every day tells us what we really think is important. To get an unclouded and transparent snapshot of what we hold to be true priorities, all we have to do is examine how we use our time, how we give our attention, and where we commit our resources.

If you took the time to write down the top five priorities in your life, go back to that list now and really honestly think about how much time you devoted to each of those last week. Be honest! Nobody will see these answers but you.

What many people find when they complete this exercise is that they are actually spending very little time on what’s important to them. Did you list friendships as one of your life priorities, only to realize that you haven’t spoken with your best friends for weeks? Perhaps you consider family to be a valuable priority, yet you canceled the family vacation again this year due to work issues.

Or, like most people, maybe you listed good health as a top priority in your life. Yet you haven’t made the time to exercise for days, weeks, months or even years.

Later in life, when stricken with a dangerous and deadly disease, people often say "I'd give every dollar I have if I could just get my health back." By contrast, no one ever says, "I'd give up my health if I could just get a few more bucks." No one ever says that, but a lot of people live as though they believe it.

It’s time for a moment of truth: are your priorities what you thought they were? Does how you spend your time match up with what you listed as life priorities?

After going through this process, most people realize that they are spending far too little time on one of their top priorities: their health. Look carefully at the actions you have taken in the past regarding your health, and then look at the results. Does your reality parallel your priority list? Success in health, fitness and weight loss will not come from a priority list or what we think we’d like to achieve, but only from what we actually do day in and day out. The actions we took yesterday led us to where we are today, just as the actions we take today will determine where we end up tomorrow.

Take out that list of life priorities again and tape it up on the bathroom mirror for the next few weeks. Each morning you’ll be reminded of what’s truly important to you, and you’ll have the chance to organize your day so that you spend time on what’s important.

At this point in time, right NOW, your life is a clear picture of what has been important to you in the past – of what you have been committed to accomplishing. With that fact in mind, ask yourself one final question: what’s important to you now?

By: Tracie Johanson

* Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women, focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

Sometimes I just have to shake my head... I was driving down the street when a spied a Burger King about a block away. It had one of those signs where they can promote a particular item or special, and this is what it had written on it:

"Ultimate Double Whopper: Eat Like a King!"

Right, I thought... more likely it should have read "Eat Like a Pig!".

I came home and decided to look up the nutritional (Ha!) info on this kingly bit of food and here's what I found:

Calories: 1,250
Carbs: 55 grams (26%)
Protein: 69 grams (33%)
Fat: 84 grams (40%)

Nice, huh? It's the highest calorie item on their menu. We're talking HALF the amount of calories the average man should be eating per day in ONE BURGER. Keep in mind that most people are going to order a side of fries with that, and the large size adds 500 calories to the tally for a total of 1,750 calories!

Keep in mind that while on my fat loss regime that's what my target was for the entire day!

On a side note, I checked out Burger King's "French Toast Kid's Meal" as I was curious how many calories might be in that. I mean it's for kids, right? So it shouldn't be THAT high in calories...

Try 670 calories.

Do you know how many calories Burger King's much-advertised "man-sized" Enormous Omelet Sandwich contains?

740 calories.

So here we have the difference between an item meant for a child and a big, hungry man standing at only 70 calories.

That's just bloody wrong, folks and it makes me angry. It should make you angry too.

By: Victor Holtreman

Visit Low Cholesterol Diets to learn how to lower your cholesterol level.

We can deduce that while excess fat isn’t healthy, fat is also not necessarily a bad thing. Without some fat in our diet, the body won’t make nerve cells and hormones or absorb some of the fat soluble vitamins. Okay, so how can you determine your ideal weight? Just how much fat and how many calories should you consume to reach and maintain a healthy weight?

One answer won’t work for everybody. So you need to do some figuring to determine how much fat and how many calories you can have. First, you need to determine your ideal weight. There are many different charts and some people use fat calipers and body fat testing to determine exact body fat levels. While your exact weight may depend on how much muscle mass you have here is a simple method to determine what that weight should be:

For Women

The ideal weight for a woman who is exactly 5 feet tall is 100 pounds. For every additional inch above 5 feet, add five pounds. If you are shorter than 5 feet tall, subtract five pounds for every inch you measure below 5 feet.

Next, determine whether you have a small, medium or large frame. Using a measuring tape, measure your wrist. If your wrist measures exactly 6 inches, you have a medium frame and the weight number you calculated above, does not need to be adjusted. If your wrist measures less than 6 inches, subtract 10 percent from your ideal weight. If your wrist measures more than 6 inches, add 10 percent to your ideal weight.

For Men

The ideal weight for a man who is exactly 5 feet tall is 106 pounds. For every additional inch above 5 feet, add 6 pounds. To determine whether you have a small, medium or large frame, measure your wrist. If your wrist measures exactly 7 inches, you have a medium frame and you do not need to adjust your ideal weight. If your wrist is smaller than 7 inches, you have a small frame and should subtract 10 percent from your ideal weight. If your wrist is larger than 7 inches, you have a large frame and should add 10 percent to your ideal weight. For men especially this figure may fluctuate a little or a lot if you are into bodybuilding, but these recommended weights are very close for the average person.

By: Glenn Freiboth

Glenn Freiboth is a Certified Health Advisor lives in Illinois and has helped many overweight and obese people lose weight and keep it off. Get weight loss products at www.GetYouHealth.com