Lose Weight

Losing weight doesn’t have to be boring when you focus on bright, colourful meals. What does this mean? Simply by making sure your plate reflects a range of colours, you’ll naturally create more balanced and healthful menus. Not everyone has the rime or the patience to count calories, but assessing the colours on your plate is something anyone can do - and it only takes an instant!

Why Colour Is Important

Many fatty and caloric foods, such as dairy products and startchy carbs, are beige or brown. When there are too many of these drab colours on your plate, weight gain is almost certain.

That’s because these beige foods often are high in calories and can leave you feeling hungry later. A cup of beige or brown beans can be over 200 calories….but a cup of red or green vegetables is under a hundred! Add fresh greens, deep purple-reds and bright yellow-orange to a meal, and water the nutrient content go up, while calories go down! Plus, you’ll get more enjoyment from eating when there’s a variety of colours and flavours on your plate.

Although these ideas may sound whimsical, they’re grounded in scientific fact. Dr David Heber, renowned nutritional expert from UCLA’s Centre for Human Nutrition established the role of colour in his book, “What Color is Your Diet?” So, next time you visit the refrigerator, think colourfully. And remember to mix, not match!

Kim Beardsmore M.B.A. (H.R.M.), B.Sc. (Biochemistry) is an independent Herbalife distributor, weight loss coach and creator of the online weight loss & fitness magazine Weight Loss Health. For a free weight loss consultation, newsletter and resources to help you lose weight and keep it off forever, visit http://weight-loss-health.com.au Online Herbalife store at http://weightlosshealth.herbalcoach.com Herbalife home business opportunity http://free2liv.com

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Are you often overcome with an urge to splurge on candy, cookies, and cake - and do you then hate yourself for caving into your cravings?

Do you pop by the drug store for paper goods but always leave with junk food, too? And do you feel like an incurable sugar addict with zero will power?

Take heart. You can quit (or at least cut back on) both sweets and processed, “much-like-sugar carbs” such as white bread, white rice, and pasta.

Back in 1998, I did just that. After diagnosing hypoglycemia, my M.D. told me that eliminating quickie carbs could banish my low-blood sugar symptoms, including my ferocious headaches, unexpected mood swings, debilitating “brain fog” and severe PMS.

Amazingly, all 44 ailments disappeared! I do not exaggerate! After kicking sweets, I felt reborn!

That’s why I’m now on a mission to help you, too, break free of your habit. I know that spurning inferior sweets and quickie carbs could turn your life around. You could benefit if you’re hypoglycemic, diabetic, overweight — or if you’re just wanting more energy and better concentration.

Here’s the non-sugar-coated scoop. If you continue to over-indulge in these nutrient-lacking foods you could:

Pack on the pounds
Sap your energy
Become unfocused
Undergo Jekyll-Hyde personality transformations
Jeopardize your love life, and
Possibly develop hypoglycemia, insulin resistance or diabetes.

If, instead, you choose quality, fiber-filled carbs, you could:

Peel off excess weight
Increase your energy
Concentrate better
Boost your moods
Maybe rev up your libido, and
Possibly reverse your pre-diabetes

Pretty promising, eh?

Here, then, are 7 tried-and-true tips and tactics to help you “just say no” to quickie carbs:

1. Adjust your mindset - and pronto! Before you can begin to make better dietary decisions, you need to totally change your thoughts. Toss away such negative views as: “Oh, boo hoo, I don’t want to quit sweets!” Instead, dwell on positive ideas like this: “Wow, I’ll feel so great by kicking quickie carbs.” Now fill your mind with pleasant, powerful images. Visualize yourself easily turning down low-quality carbs and becoming a happier, healthier, sweeter you. See yourself in charge instead of enslaved.

2. Plan a pity party. I know this might sound counter-productive, but I’m convinced that before you cut out low-quality carbs, allotting a specific, short amount of time - say, a week - to feeling sorry for yourself can work wonders. But then get over it and get on with it!

3. Watch yourself like a lab rat. Begin to face your truth by keeping a food journal. Jot down what drives you to simple carbs, when you clamor for them, where you eat them, why you want them, and how you get them (i.e., do you stealthily drive across town in the middle of night to buy a carton of ice cream because you need it?) Journaling can be potent preparation for stomping out your sugar habit!

4. Power up with PFF. By this I mean, pump up the protein (such as fish, chicken, tofu, legumes and lean meats), fill up with fiber (vegetables, fruits and whole grains), and embrace healthy fats (olive oil, flax seeds, avocado, etc.) - consuming them all in moderation, of course. These three dietary changes alone can help moderate your blood sugar levels, take the edge off your appetite, keep you feel satisfied longer, and provide needed nourishment.

5. Relish the goodies provided by Mother Nature. Learn to savor the flavor of fresh, natural, wholesome, colorful, nutritious, preferably organic vegetables and low-sugar fruits. Next time you yearn for something sweet, enjoy a few tasty cherry tomatoes, a chunk of red pepper, or several fresh strawberries. Yum! (Nibble on some protein at the same time to keep your blood sugar stable.)

6. Begin with breakfast. Always start your day with a healthy meal - you know, something like a veggie-filled omelet with a piece of orange or a small bowl of slow-cooking oatmeal. Many research studies show that breakfast eaters concentrate and perform better. If you skip that vital first meal of the day, you’re setting yourself up for overwhelming sugar cravings. (Many nutritionists and physicians I interviewed often emphasized the benefits of breakfast.)

7. Develop a kick-butt attitude. Abandon that woe-is-me stance! Tap into your inner strength instead. Even if you’re furious with yourself for having eaten nutrient-poor foods for so long, use that anger to reinforce your “I-can-do-it” attitude. Because you can! Now go for it and trust in your ability to succeed. Believe me, you can “Enjoy a Sweeter Life Without Refined Sweets.

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Did you know that when you are on a diet, if you eat something and no one sees you - it doesn’t contain any calories! Of course that’s not true…but it is how many of us think!

Do you eat when you are bored, upset or angry? Do you find that every day requires a chocolate bar to get you through the afternoon? If you are trying to lose weight, you may feel guilty about snacks. As a weight loss coach, I find some folk (particularly women) laugh nervously when I ask them what happens to their food consumption around 4pm. This often is the time of the day when the “Snack Monster” takes control of them! Some berate themselves for being weak, out of control and without discipline. They either eventually give up on their diet altogether or develop counter thoughts so they don’t feel so bad. “It didn’t really matter - it is fat free”. Or, “if no one notices, the calories don’t count”.

The good news is that a healthy eating programme leading to weight does not have to be like this. You can lose weight without being hungry or guilty! It’s possible to take control of the “Snack Monster” and healthy snacking can lead you to weight loss success, not failure. So instead of being full of regret about snacking, choose your snacks wisely and have more energy and vitality, without the guilt.

The keys to healthy snacking are to select foods that:
* Can satisfy your hunger,
* Supply your body with energy, and
* Provide important nutrients

Look for foods that contain the following:

* Whole grains. Whole-grain snacks are rich in complex carbohydrates and fibre, which give you immediate energy that has some staying power. Consider items such as low-fat whole-grain crackers and whole-grain crispbreads.

* Fruits and vegetables. Eating fruits and vegetables provides a feeling of fullness with no fat and only a small amount of calories. They also provide vitamins, minerals, fibre and other nutrients.

* Nuts and seeds. Nuts and seeds are a good source of protein, which helps keep you feeling fuller longer. Nuts and seeds are high in calories, however, so don’t eat them in large quantities.

* Low-fat dairy products. Cheese, yogurt and other dairy products are good sources of calcium, protein, and other nutrients. Be sure to choose low fat versions.

Prepare for your week and have a range of healthy snacks on hand at home or in the office and snack on healthy choices with peace of mind.

Kim Beardsmore is a weight loss consultant whose business operates across 60 countries. Tons of recipes, articles, resources, free newsletter and more to help you lose weight and keep it off forever. Estimate your healthy body weight or receive a free weight loss consultation at http://www.weight-loss-health.com.au

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