According to the American Obesity Association, an astounding 64.5 percent of adult Americans (about 127 million) are categorized as obese or overweight. According to the website’s statistics, obesity causes at least 300,000 excess deaths and is responsible for 100 million dollars in healthcare costs each year for obese and overweight Americans. A very real and often devastating problem for so many, obesity should be considered a healthcare crisis and given the utmost attention.
And one would think that with all the fad diets and personal weight loss programs promoting quick and easy weight loss that those numbers would be much lower or at least in decline.

The problem is that Americans are fat. And we are getting fatter. Diet after diet comes along and yet we can’t seem to lose the weight and keep it off. Is there a solution, finally , to the crisis?
According to Dr. Michael Smith there is, and it has to do with focus. Perhaps everyone has been attacking the wrong problem.
In his ebook entitled, How to Make Your Diet Work, Dr. Smith, a graduate of UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas, believes that the challenge facing the overweight person is not losing weight.

Rather, the problem is in gaining weight. He states adamantly that for too long we have focused research and product development on the “how to lose weight problem” when we should have been focusing on the factors that make people gain weight in the first place.
According to Dr. Smith, the typical overweight person tries the latest fad diet. Most fad dietsl promote quick weight loss through an initial, drastic reduction in calories, carbohydrates, or fat. There is some initial success, but the drastic change in food intake causes the body to go into a state that Smith calls Diet Shock.

Diet Shock is when the body has suddenly been deprived of it’s usual intake of food (calories, carbohydrates, etc.) and then begins to store energy as fat at a higher rate to compensate for the loss. In other words, the body thinks it is starving, so it goes to work to turn what is left as well as future intake into fat so the body won’t be lacking.
This is what Smith believes to be the crucial problem. For example, in a typical fad diet a dieter drastically reduces her intake of carbohydrates for two weeks or some period of time .

They see initial success by losing a few pounds, but then usually hit a weight loss barrier. They then give up and go back to their old ways. They then cycle back to their former weight. Then at some point in the future, they try another diet and repeat the process over and over again.
This cycle, often called yo-yo dieting, is not only an ineffective way to lose weight and keep it off, but it is also hazardous to the health of those who are on and off the diets. Unfortunately, the fad diets are responsible, albeit unintentionally, for the yo-yo dieting which leads to frustration, a sense of failure, and continued obesity.

Dr. Smith has been working in the field of diet and nutrition for several years. He wrote Make Your Diet Work to reveal a revolutionary way of thinking based on his years of interaction with his patients and his research. The main idea of his work is that anyone can lose weight and actually keep it off no matter which diet program you use.
In other words, whether you use a low carb, or low cal, or low fat approach, Make Your Diet Work will show you how to make that diet work for you by maximizing the diet’s strengths and minimizing its weaknesses.

He will help you lose weight using the diet you choose, and the principles illustrated in Make Your Diet Work will also help you keep weight off… for good.
Make Your Diet Work accomplishes this through what Dr. Smith calls Five Simple Science Solutions. Implement these solutions and use them with the diet of your choice, and you will be successful he says. And each solution helps prevent weight regain. What are they?
First, to make your diet work and prevent weight regain, you must stabilize an active metabolic rate.

Simply put, Dr. Smith shows the dieter how to increase your metabolic rate and as a result increase the rate your body burns fat.
Second, the dieter must sustain a negative energy balance. This solution gives the dieter ways, diet tip, to create and sustain a negative energy balance. Weight regain will occur as long as you have a positive energy balance (when you aren’t burning more calories than you are taking in).
The third solution attacks the problem of false or faux weight loss. Most diets today lead to your body burning more protein (muscle) than fat.

So those initial pounds that come off do not constitute healthy weight loss. You are losing muscle and not fat (or perhaps volume depletion is occurring). In any event losing muscle is unhealthy. This solution will help you sustain and even increase your muscle mass while burning fat.
Fourth, Dr. Smith effectively and succinctly attacks the problem of food cravings. He asserts that people do not fail diets because they do not lose weight. They fail diets because they regain the weight they lost.

By curbing cravings, especially those that occur in the middle of the day, a major contributing factor in weight regain has it’s legs cut out from underneath it and is rendered ineffective.
Lastly, the fifth solution gives the dieter the know how to implement a weight maintenance program. Without a weight maintenance plan, which is where most diets fail according to Dr. Smith, the dieter will not keep the weight off. Solution five leads the dieter to an ongoing diet of 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 30% fat.

One thing that permeates Make Your Diet Work is Dr. Smith’s firm belief that all weight loss should be healthy weight loss and should occur without inducing Diet Shock. There is NOTHING drastic, unhealthy, or expensive in Make Your Diet Work. It should give the dieter a sense of comfort and confidence in knowing that a medical doctor, trained at one of the most highly respected medical schools in the world, designed this plan with the reader’s overall health in mind, not just producing fast weight loss results.

When you purchase Make Your Diet Work, you will notice quickly that this is not just another fad diet program. Far from it. The Five Simple Science Solutions can be used with the diet, diet tip, of your choice. So Smith is not trying to decry any diet on the market. Instead, he gives very clear action steps that enable you to modify easily your diet of choice, making it safer and far more successful in the long run.
And don’t think you’re going to have to do lots of study and conversions and extrapolations to figure out how to do this.

Nor will you need to purchase memberships, special foods, nor additional books. Dr. Smith has included easy-to-read charts which tell you exactly what you need to do to make your diet work.
In addition, Dr. Smith has included a Diet Mentor, a sort of interactive diet coach. The Diet Mentor summarizes key principles, reduces some of the more difficult ideas to easy-to-understand action steps, easily links back to the main volume by simply pointing and clicking on topic you want to review, and provides some encouragement along the way.

The Mentor can be used as a sort of quick reference help as well.
There is another powerful and user friendly tool Dr. Smith has developed for you that comes with Make Your Diet Work. Suppose you haven’t chosen one of the popular diets or you don’t even know where to begin. Then you can use the step-by-step, point and click guide that so easily assists you in setting up your own diet plan instead of using one of the fad diets on the market today. Again, Dr. Smith has provided you with the tool you need.

Just click on whether you want a Three Week or Five Week initial startup plan. Then you will be guided to click on either a low carb, low cal, or low fat plan. Then choose the method of how you will work on establishing a higher metabolic rate. Do you want to use resistance training or a walking program? You continue to point and click along these lines until you have set up your own customized diet plan.
And you can rest assured that it is a plan that is designed to help you lose weight, avoid Diet Shock, prevent Weight Regain, and do it all in a manner that is safe and effective.

Now, when you purchase and download Make Your Diet Work, you will have to wade through a minimal amount of scientific jargon. But no more that you would normally expect from a physician. After all, they aren’t always known for their bedside manner. But in my opinion, working through these sections that attempt to illustrate the scientific underpinnings of what Smith is trying to say is more than worth the effort. You don’t have to understand the jargon. All you have to do is follow the Five Simple Solutions!
The only other thing Dr.

Smith could have added to Make Your Diet Work is an expanded list of resources for the dieter. Specifically, obese and overweight people who have tried diet after diet could use a guide that leads them to different forums and support groups which are often crucial to long term weight loss success.
But those are minor deficiencies in a work that, in my opinion, constitutes a welcome paradigm shift in the way we should think about and approach dieting and the obesity problem. It’s not about losing weight.

It’s about a healthy diet and lifestyle that keeps the weight off!
Make Your Diet Work is listed at www.weight-loss-professional.com/make-your-diet-work.html for $24.99 with a 30-day, money-back-guarantee. Keep in mind that what the dieter gets includes the main volume (which includes sound recordings throughout by Dr. Smith himself), the Diet Mentor, the Diet Planner (which helps you set up your own customized low cal, low carb, or low fat plan), and two other ebooks which are definitely must reads.

One, entitled Diet Deception, deals with deceptive internet marketing in the health, diet, fitness, and nutrition world. The other ebook, entitled Double Down, gives the reader concrete and specific ways to develop better and more consistent sleep patterns which will exponentially improve your chances of losing weight and keeping it off.
In addition the buyer will get the benefit of future upgrades and additions, as well as a year’s worth of Medical Alerts and Cooking and Recipe tips sent directly to his or her email inbox each week.

As always, consult your physician before beginning any diet program. If you or someone you know needs to get serious about losing weight, I unreservedly recommend Make Your Diet Work. Dieting will never be the same again, and I am glad!
Mark A. Fuqua

http://www.weight-loss-professional.com

With 3 earned degrees and more than 16 years of experience as spiritual leader, pastor, director of marketing and investment banker, Mark Fuqua brings to the discussion table a breadth and depth of unique experience coupled with academic acumen.

He is Consultant and Chief Editor of Diet Basics, a website dedicated to healthy weight loss success.

I’m going to give you 5 practical tips to turn your body into a fat-burning machine - information that you can take with you and implement on a daily basis, both in and out of the gym or workout environment. Rather than quantify specific amounts, I’ll be giving you some simple ideas. Let’s get right to it:
Eat Fiber

A high-fiber diet decreases fat and cholesterol absorption in your intestine (preventing fat storage), slows glucose absorption in the bloodstream (meaning more sugar gets burnt as energy, less gets stored as fat), stabilizes insulin levels and delays stomach emptying (both of which decrease your appetite), and makes you full faster (so you eat less).

Research has shown that a low-fat, high-fiber diet results in nearly three times more weight loss than a low-fat, low-fiber diet. So how do you get your fiber? Here’s how I get mine: 1 fully loaded salad, 1 bowl of oatmeal, and 2-3 raw fruits every day (fruit bonus: vitamin C in citrus fruit can also help burn fat).
Eat Calcium

Research shows that three or four daily servings of low-fat dairy products can help reduce body fat. Higher levels of calcium stored in the fat cells may help enhance fat breakdown, as well as induce an increase in thermogenesis (the body’s core temperature).

The best calcium should come from dairy products like low-fat milk, yogurt and cottage cheese (and not from a calcium supplement). Other good sources, especially for those who are lactose intolerant, include dark leafy vegetables, salmon, almonds, and oats (notice the extra fiber bonus).
Eat Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Studies have shown that people who include a large and healthy breakfast in their diet lose significantly greater amounts of fat than those who avoid breakfast.

Skipping breakfast will not help you shed extra pounds, but may instead result in muscle loss and metabolism decreases, both of which hinder your fat-burning ability. A great breakfast example is a large glass of water with a bowl of oatmeal, fresh fruit and nuts. Just remember: breakfast can also work against you if it’s not healthy

The Low GI Diet is one of the most popular diets currently around. While it was originally developed in the 1980’s as a way to help diabetes patients control their disease it was found that it also provided numerous other benefits including the promotion of weight loss.

The idea behind the diet is to fill your diet with foods that are low on the glycemic index rather than foods that are high on the index. Foods which should be avoided or limited include high processed and refined foods. Of course, this includes most breads and many desserts such as pies and cakes.

Compared to many other diets the Low GI Diet is actually much easier to follow; however, there are some tips that can help you to make the process simpler and less complicated.

While many people get started with the Low GI Diet believing they must, diet tip, only select foods that are low on the GI scale there is another important component that can help you to achieve better results. Avoiding and limiting foods that high in saturated fats can help you to lose weight as well as reduce your chance of developing heart disease.

When you consume foods that are too high in saturated fats you can become less responsive to insulin and that can translate into forcing your body to produce more insulin. As your body feels forced to produce more insulin you are at risk for developing diabetes as well as weight.

It’s also a good idea to fill your diet with at least seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day. While other diets restrict the consumption of many fruits and even some vegetables because they may be considered to be high carb foods, on the Low GI Diet you can enjoy plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables as long as they are low on the glycemic index.

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables also have other advantages as well such as reducing the risk of developing many cancers as well as other life threatening conditions such as heart disease. Additionally, research suggests that eating different fruits and vegetables can help to boost antioxidants which boost your immune system and help you to fight disease. Ideally, it’s best to aim for a wide variety of fruit and vegetables to achieve the best results.

Under the Low GI Diet you can easily select cereals and breads as long as they are comprised of wholegrains.

These foods rank low on the glycemic index because whole grain foods tend to be digested slower by the body. This is a good way to also boost your intake of fiber, which can result in lowering your cholesterol level as well as changes of heart disease and cancer.

It’s also a good idea to try and replace a small number of large quantity meals with more small meals during the day. This is because some research indicates that even low GI foods can have a tendency to raise the body’s blood sugar levels to unhealthy levels when they are consumed in large quantities at one time.

By eating several smaller meals on a regular basis you can avoid this problem. One way to do this is to bring small healthy, low GI snacks with you to much on during the day.

Finally, don’t forget to consume a wide variety of foods for the best healthy benefits. Remember that you do not have to totally avoid foods that are high on the glycemic index; simply eat them sparingly in smaller quantities so, diet tip, they do not have such an impact on your blood sugar.

Along with regular exercise and an otherwise healthy and active lifestyle, the Low GI Diet can help you to lose the weight you want and enjoy a healthier life.

With the sudden boom of dieting in the country, different diet programs have been introduced in the country. Although many experts believe that proper exercise and not only diet can lose those pounds in a healthy way, many people still believe in the power of diet programs and diet plans. One of the most controversial kinds of diet plans is the low-carbohydrate diet program, which focuses on the reduction of carbohydrate consumption in the body.

According to the theory, when carbohydrates are no longer being taken in, the body will be forced to use fats and water as alternative sources of energy; thereby helping to shed off those unwanted pounds.

Fats, unbeknownst to many, can actually be converted to energy. The body just doesn’t use it as the first priority because it is more complex in structure and therefore, harder to break down and convert into energy. Among the popular low carbohydrate diets in the country is the Atkins diet.

Despite arguments from its critics, low carbohydrate diet has proven its effectiveness in terms, diet tip, of losing that extra weight. To date, it counts millions of followers not only in the country but also outside America.

Actually, cutting down on carbohydrates in the diet is a practice that people have been doing for years. When people cut down on their rice or bread or do not eat rice at all, they are reducing their carbohydrate intake. Of course, because it is not an official diet plan they are not really restricting themselves completely. When you are under a diet plan, you are not allowed to eat any kind of carbohydrates.

One of the advantages of low carbohydrate diet is the fact that it can actually increase the levels of good cholesterol in the body.

This is really good news to people who have a heart problem. This is perhaps the reason why Atkins diet was used for cardio patients. This diet plan can also reduce the amount of triglycerides in the body. Triglycerides can be dangerous when combined with a high level of LDL or bad cholesterol. Both can increase the risk for heart attack and heart disease.

Low carb diet plans are also found to be good in balancing mood swings. They will not be prone to extreme lows such as depression, diet tip, or extreme high.

People who are under the program are found to have fairly stable energy levels unlike those with high carbo levels.

Today there seems to be a stronger desire for that strong sexy look than ever before. People love to feel the surge in pride when they are complimented on their appearance. A proper diet that is low in fat and the addition of exercise can help even the unhealthiest of people achieve fitness and health.

Below you will see some diet tips that will help you organize a low fat diet plan.

1. First it is important to make a plan. Don’t jump in head first, or you might get frustrated and quit before you make any progress.

A great idea is to take some time in the evenings to plan out the meals for the next day. You should have talked to your doctor to determine the daily amount of calories that you need to lose weight, and you should plan each meal and snack around this.

2. To lose body fat it is imperative that you make healthier food choices. Some good examples include fruits, vegetables, whole grain cereals, low-fat or nonfat dairy products, meats that are low in fat, skinless chicken and fish. Stop living off the fatty junk foods that you have grown accustomed to.

It is better instead to exchange these with 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. If you do this, then you can make up 4-5 smaller meals and snacks throughout the day which are healthy, and this strategy will greatly reduce hunger.

3. Be sure to stock your kitchen and refrigerator with wholesome foods that are lower in calories and better for your health. Get rid of junk foods that have excessive calories like candy bars, cookies, pastries, etc.

4. Start the day off with a good breakfast with foods that have high quantities of vitamins and nutrients.

As a rule of thumb, breakfast should be organized, diet tip, with low fat (or fat free) milk, fruit juice, and whole grain carbohydrates.

5. Remember to drink lots of water. It is good for digestion, and it gives you a feeling of fullness.

6. Be sure to eat you meal slowly. Take time to enjoy your food, because this helps reduce hunger, which in turn causes you to eat less.

Essentially a good low fat diet will be assembled with the following food items:

? Olive oils, canola oils, nonstick cooking spray, flavored oil.

? Canned fish
? Canned vegetables and fruits like peas, carrots, corn, beets, peaches etc
? Tomato purees, sauces with no added salt.
? Legumes and grains; canned or dried black beans, pinto beans, chickpeas, barley, black- eyed peas.
? Whole wheat spaghetti, penne, lasagna sheets
? Low fat, low sodium canned soups.
? Whole grain breads, rolls and bagels, whole wheat flour, whole wheat cereals; oatmeal, bran flakes

Taking note of the items mentioned, diet tip, above here is a list of foods that should be avoided completely.

? Oil packed tuna and fish
? Cream soups and chowders
? Flavored pasta and rice mixes
? Gravy mixes, cheese sauces, pancake and biscuits mixes
? Sugary cereals
? Coffee creamer
? Regular mayonnaise and oil-based dishes
? Canned meats
? White bread

A well organized low fat diet plan strives to constrain daily fat consumption to a maximum of 30% of your total calories. The good news is that you can still create a great tasting meal that is satisfying as long as you don’t exceed your daily calorie limit as prescribed by your doctor.

For example if your daily caloric intake is 2000 calories then 30% of that would be 600 calories per day of fatty foods per day. Now figure that each gram of fat equals approximately 9 calories, then the total daily fat consumed on a low fat diet should be no more than 66-67g of fat. Out of these 66g of fat 10% or less should be saturated fats.

Calorie shifting diets have grown in popularity because it is a more efficient way for your body to still get healthy benefits, diet tip, from the foods you eat, while also losing extra fat that the body doesn’t need. It’s different than any other type of low calorie low carb diet plan.

The way the calorie shifting diet works is that instead of eating the same amount of carbs, proteins and fats each and every day, the diet plan has you eating a certain amount of carbs one day, a certain amount of protein another day and fat another day.

The result is that the total amount of calories that you would eat each day will vary - that’s why it’s called calorie shifting. Okay, now that’s the basic concept. While there are numerous books that utilize this method, the best of them all, in my opinion, is The Carb Rotation Diet by Jason Hunter.

While some books gloss over the fundamentals of calorie shifting and give you some foods you’re supposed to figure out how to make interesting, The Carb Rotation Diet takes the time to explain the concept in an easy-to-understand way so that you learn how your body reacts when you eat this way and why it’s beneficial to losing weight.

Jason has packed his book with meaty information about nutrition and dieting tips so that you aren’t left scratching, diet tip, your head, like with some plans, wondering why you’re eating two slices of turkey breast and a handful of nuts on Tuesday (actually, on his plan you’ll be eating a wide variety of foods).

I don’t know about you, but I like it when someone takes the time to explain things to me in detail. Plus, you get to learn what kind of nutritional value protein, fats and carbs have in relation to helping you to lose weight.

The diet is very structured so on some days you’ll be eating a high amount of carbs, other days a low amount of carbs and yet, other days you’ll eat no carbs at all.

Calorie shifting actually allows you to eat foods that are comforting like, brown rice, sweet potatoes, corn, black beans, turkey, tuna fish, beef and low fat cheese. So you won’t be banning carbs from your diet or eating only carbs and not much else like some other plans. Eating a well-balanced diet is key to success with this diet.

Another component of any serious weight loss plan is exercise. In order to lose the most amount of weight on any diet, you have to commit to doing some type of exercise.

Getting your muscles moving will turn them into mini fat burners and Jason’s plan shows you how to do this using an exercise ball and hand weights. There is a bonus book that has diagrams of how to do each exercise so you can replicate it at home.

Another thing that I really like about this plan is that there’s a specific plan for women called, The Dramatic Dress Reduction Diet and one for men called, Get Rid of My Gut.

The plans are very similar except that the exercises and bonus information caters to
either men or women.

Overall, I think this is the best calorie shifting diet book because of the amount of detailed information you receive, plus the solid facts that every dieter needs to know in order to really make a lifestyle change in their eating habits.

Thanks to Jennifer Aniston, Dr. Atkins’ low-carb diet is the latest craze among weight watchers. However, the furor it has caused in the medical circles is also due to the fact that it is steeped with immense benefits for diabetics. In fact, it is fast gaining precedence over the traditional low-calorie, low-fat diet once prescribed for diabetics

If you are on a salt free or low salt diet you have discovered how difficult grocery shopping and meal preparation can be. Your doctor told you to reduce or eliminate salt in your diet. Your initial thought is you could simply stop using the salt shaker, but soon discover that salt is really called sodium. You start reading the nutrition facts labels on food packages and wonder how you are going to cut salt out of your diet when it’s in everything you eat. Here is what you need to know about sodium in food.

Sodium (aka Salt) Facts
Salt is the common name for sodium chloride.
The nutrition facts panels on packaged foods use the word sodium so you may not have been aware that salt is actually listed as sodium.
Dietary sodium is measured in milligrams (mg). One teaspoon of salt contains 2,400 mg of sodium.
Don’t be fooled. Sea salt, Kosher salt, and other designer salts contain the same amount of sodium as ordinary table salt.
Count the milligrams of sodium in everything you eat including condiments and write it all down.

Your doctor probably gave you a target maximum number of milligrams you should consume per day. If not, the U.S. government’s Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommends consumption of no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. The National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine, which advises the U.S. government about recommended levels of nutrients, is more conservative and offers this guideline as an adequate intake of sodium per day: Ages 19-50: 1,500 mg per day. Ages 51-70: 1,300 mg per day.

Ages 70+: 1,200 mg per day.
Packaged foods are required to have a nutrition panel on the label. Always read food labels and do the math. The sodium content on the nutrition panel is based on the number of servings the package states. Example: a can of soup may say 770 mg of sodium but bases that number on 2.5 servings. 770 x 2.5 = 1,925 mg of sodium in that can of soup.
Read the list of ingredients on packaged foods, not just the nutrition panel, for sodium-containing compounds such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).

Look for sodium in words, such as monoSODIUM glutamate (MSG).
Sodium is prevalent in most processed foods. Health experts claim at least 75% of the salt we eat is hidden in packaged food. Simply claiming you don’t use salt, meaning you don’t sprinkle it on your food, is living in denial.
Recognize which foods are high in sodium and take control of what you eat. De-emphasize the use of processed foods where salt is used to excess.
Convenience foods may be convenient, but are laden with sodium.

By convenient I mean, if the food is packaged in a box or can and is easy to eat or quick to prepare, it’s probably laden with salt. The same for frozen one step meals like frozen dinners, appetizers, and pizza.
Fat Free actually means “Way Too Much Salt.” Any label on a package that claims their food is fat free, in my opinion, should be required to state, “We took the fat out. Now our food has no taste,, diet tip, so we poured in extra salt to give it flavor!”
The following foods have a lot of salt in them: canned soups, chili, salad dressings, pasta sauces, gravies, broths, sauces and marinades.

Many brands of canned soup and chili have more sodium in each can than you should consume in an entire day. If you must eat them, compare different brands and choose the one with the lowest sodium content.
Any packaged food that comes with a sauce, such as frozen vegetables in butter sauce, usually has too much sodium.
Cut back on instant flavored rice or pasta. If you open the package and there is a seasoning packet inside, it is a good bet that the sodium content is very high.
Pay attention to the sodium content of your favorite condiments, particularly meat tenderizer, steak sauce, soy sauce, salsa, and catsup.

Avoid gravy and seasoning mixes in those foil lined pouches.
Avoid ham, bacon, sausage, and lunch meat.
Many varieties of cheese contain a high sodium content.
Bread and baked goods have a high sodium content.
Avoid salty snack foods such as pretzels, potato chips, salted nuts, olives, and pickles.
These terms indicate high sodium content: pickled, smoked, marinated, teriyaki, soy sauce, broth, au jus.
There are no good choices at fast food restaurants. Ordering a salad may appear to be the healthy choice, but most salad dressings contain an exorbitant amount of sodium.

Healthy Choices
We need sodium in our diet to be alive, but very little. Health experts claim 220 mg to 500 mg per day is sufficient.
Cook from scratch. Know the sodium content in each of the ingredients used to prepare a meal or snack.
Use a kitchen scale. Calculate the weight of food to determine the sodium count. As an example, a skinless chicken breast has approximately 20 mg of sodium per ounce. Your chicken breast weighs 3.5 ounces = 70 mg of sodium. You’ll love having a scale.
Throw away your salt shaker.

Use sodium free AlsoSalt salt substitute at the table to season your food. You can have the flavor of salt without the harmful effects of sodium.
Cook and bake with AlsoSalt using it wherever salt is called for in a recipe.
Use fresh poultry, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned or processed types.
Choose fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables without added salt.
You can easily make your own chili, taco, and meat loaf mixes.
Use a bread machine, diet tip, and make your own bread with low sodium and sodium free ingredients.

Rinse canned foods, such as vegetables and tuna to remove some sodium.
When available, buy low or reduced sodium, or no salt added versions of foods. These foods are generally quite bland, but you can add AlsoSalt to replace the salty flavor.
Search for low sodium foods on the Internet. When you find products of interest, check to find where they are available in your area. Websites usually have a page that tells you which stores carry their products.
Use the Internet as a tool to search for low sodium foods and make your grocery list.

Write down the food product, the name of the manufacturer, and the sodium content of each item. This is so much easier and less frustrating than standing in the grocery aisle reading labels on hundreds of choices trying to determine which one has the lowest sodium content.
Mainstream grocery stores are not yet convinced they need low sodium products on their shelves. Talk to your store manager and tell them you need more low sodium food choices.
Snack on fresh fruits and vegetables, which are low in sodium.

Worth Repeating: Cook from scratch! Food in its natural state has enough sodium to give you what your body requires.
Copyright 2005 Joan Watsabaugh
Joan Watsabaugh is the CEO of AlsoSalt, LLC. A true scientific breakthrough, AlsoSalt offers the taste of salt without the adverse health risks of sodium. It is completely sodium free without the bitter aftertaste other salt substitutes have. You can cook and bake with AlsoSalt or simply sprinkle it over food. Plus, it has the added dietary benefit of nutrients which are essential to good health.

http://www.alsosalt.com/

Dieting is not easy. If it were, we would probably all be
thin. Since we are not, here are some tips that successful
people use to lose weight so that others can benefit, too.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 1: DRINK 8-10 GLASSES OF WATER EACH DAY
Okay, for many people this is a big problem. Water doesn’t
taste all that great generally because water doesn’t really
“taste” like anything. Drinking water 8 to 10 times each
day gets easier the more you actually do it. It is simply a
matter of conditioning your taste buds, and yourself, so
that it becomes easier to do.

Once you get started, you
will begin to crave, diet tip, water.
To begin with, you should drink a glass of water in the
morning first thing, before you eat. This is probably the
easiest glass you will drink all day and it will help you
remember to drink water all day long. Better yet, why not
drink two glasses?
If you really cannot bear the taste of water, try using a
water purifying pitcher or filter. You can also add a few
drops of lemon or lime to your water - but no sugar or
sweetener! Ice also helps.

Check out flavored waters on the market, too. Just keep an
eye out for additives.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 2: EAT BREAKFAST
Do not skip breakfast. If you need to go to bed a little
earlier so that you can get up 20 minutes earlier each
morning - do it! Breakfast is so important to your good
health and to weight control. According to Dr. Barbara
Rolls a professor of nutrition at Penn State University,
“Your metabolism slows while you sleep, and it doesn’t rev
back up until you eat again.”
Eating breakfast is not only good for overall weight loss,
it will help you stay on track with your diet the rest of
the day.

You are more likely to binge on something sweet
and in the “bread” group if you skip breakfast.
You can always keep a couple of hard-boiled eggs in the
fridge or some high-fiber, low starch fruit around. If you
plan to eat fruit at all during the day, breakfast is the
perfect time to do it.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 3: EAT AT LEAST 3 MEALS AND 2 SNACKS EACH
DAY
This can be one of the hardest adjustments to make. After
all, you are busy! You already have a “full-plate”. When do
you have time to worry about filling your plate with more
frequent meals?
Just like eating breakfast will increase your metabolism,
so will eating more often.

This will also help you curb
your bad-carb intake by making sure that your snacks are
planned and occur regularly throughout the day.
Really, it will just take a minimal investment of planning
time at the grocery store and at home each morning before
you head out for the day to make some healthy food choices
and prepare a few healthy snacks and meals.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 4: AVOID WHITE FOODS
This is one easy way to remember what not to eat. If it is
made from sugar, flour, potatoes, rice or corn - just say
no.

Remembering this rule of thumb will make it easier to
recognize those rice cakes as an unhealthy high-carb snack.
Always look for colorful fruits and veggies to substitute
for the white ones. Buy broccoli, lettuce, bell peppers,
green beans and peas, brown rice in moderation, leafy
greens like kale and spinach, apples, melons, oranges and
grapes.
These foods are not only colorful they are also high in
fiber, nutrients and important antioxidants. Eating
colorful fruits and vegetables will give your diet variety
as well as give you added health benefits.

SUCCESS TIP NO. 5: EAT YOUR VEGGIES
It is so easy to use a low carb diet as an excuse for poor
nutrition. Resist this temptation. If the only vegetable
you have eaten in the last 5 years has been the potato, now
is a good time to begin experimenting with other
vegetables. This is important for your overall health and
to avoid some nasty side effects of not getting enough
fiber in your diet.
If you try hard enough, you will find vegetables that you
enjoy eating. Experiment with grilling veggies and cooking
with real butter to add flavor.

You can also search for new
recipes on the Internet or in cookbooks.
Remember, if you are only eating 40 grams of carb a day or
less, two cups of plain salad greens contain only about 5
grams of carbohydrate. You have no excuse not to eat your
veggies.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 6: PREPARE YOUR OWN FOOD AS MUCH AS
POSSIBLE
While more and more restaurants are offering low carb
friendly menu items, many of them are still not ideal
low carb fare. There are many recipes for quick and easy
meals that you can prepare yourself at home.

Try to do this
as often as possible.
If you cook your own foods, you know exactly what the
contents are and you will be able to better control for
hidden sugar and otherwise processed foods.
Another benefit is the cost savings over the long run. Even
if you must go to the grocery store more often, you will
save a significant amount per meal as opposed to eating at
restaurants and fast food establishments.
It will also be easier to maintain your diet with your own
favorite fresh food selections on hand.

SUCCESS TIP NO. 7: INVEST IN A GOOD SET OF FOOD STORAGE
CONTAINERS
Having food storage containers of various sizes on hand
will make it so much easier for you to plan your meals and
snacks. When you buy nuts, fruits and vegetables in bulk
you can simply prepare, separate and store them for easy
use later.
For instance, you can pre-slice your apples and snack on
them over several days. Simply cut them, rinse them in
pineapple or lemon juice and store. This will make a quick
and easy snack for later.

Fix your lunch and take it with you to work. Better yet,
fix your lunch and 2 snacks for work.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 8: EAT SOME PROTIEN AT EACH MEAL & AS A
SNACK
In addition to everything that’s been discussed before,
eating protein helps you burn more calories. Jeff Hample,
Ph.D., R.D., a spokesman for the American Dietetic
Association says that, “Protein is made up mainly of amino
acids, which are harder for your body to breakdown, so you
burn more calories getting rid of them.”
Just think - eating a protein rich snack can help you lose
weight.

How about a few slices of turkey or ham or some
string cheese?
Eating protein will also help you feel full so that you are
less likely to crave unhealthy snacks.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 9: DRINK A GLASS OF WATER AFTER EACH SNACK
This will help you get in your 8 to 10 glasses of water
each day but it can also have other benefits. Ever feel
hungry after eating a handful or standard serving of nuts?
Try drinking water afterwards. The water will help you feel
full and prevent overindulgence.
Drinking water after a snack will also help remove the
aftertaste from your mouth and can help curb your desire
for more.

SUCCESS TIP NO. 10: EAT SLOWLY & ENJOY YOUR FOOD
You will feel full and more satisfied if you take the time
to savor your food and chew it slower. Don’t get in the
habit of eating while standing or eating quickly. Sit down
and chew.
Eating slower will help you enjoy your food more, pay
attention to what it is you are actually eating and get a
better sense of when you are actually full.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 11: EAT YOUR LARGER MEALS EARLY AND SMALLER
MEALS LATER
You will feel better and lose weight quicker if you eat a
large breakfast and eat a smaller dinner.

You may also want
to eat the majority of your carbs earlier in the day,
saving a salad and lean meat protein for dinner.
Eating larger meals during the part of the day when you are
most active will help you to feel satisfied throughout the
day and curb cravings for unhealthy snacks.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 12: CONSIDER EATING SALMON OR MACKREL FOR
BREAKFAST
Yes this may seem odd, but it is one way to work in Omega-3
fatty acids that are good for you and add some variety to
your daily diet. After a few months you may tire of eating
eggs and bacon for breakfast.

Substituting fish will give
you the protein and healthy fish oils you need.
You can try canned salmon or mackerel in croquettes for a
healthier sausage substitute. Or you could simply eat cold
leftover salmon the next morning with dill sauce.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 13: USE LETTUCE LEAVES INSTEAD OF BREAD
This tip can seem a bit odd at first but if you try it you
will probably grow to love it. Instead of eating breads and
buns with your sandwiches and hamburgers, why not try
leaves of lettuce?
You can make a double cheeseburger with onions, pickles and
tomato wrapped in a whole lettuce leaf.

Or you can make
tasty wrap sandwiches with lettuce instead of tortilla and
bread.
This will help increase your good carb and fiber intake
while giving you more variety in your diet.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 14: EAT A FRUIT DESSERT
Okay, we all want a little dessert sometime, but how do you
have your dessert and your low carb diet too? Why not try
cheese with fruit slices or berries? Better yet, why not
try cream with berries? You could even try sweet pineapples
or strawberries with cottage cheese?
Berries are sweet and high in fiber and nutrients and dairy
products are high in protein.

If your low carb plan will
allow it, this is a sweet and tasty alternative to more
sugary desserts.
An added benefit is that the protein in the dairy products
and the fiber in the fresh fruit will make these desserts
more filling.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 15: GET YOUR FRUIT FRESH NOT SQUEEZED
Fruit juice can be very tempting as a replacement for soda,
but just how healthy is fruit juice? If you read the labels
you will soon realize that in many of the commercial juices
available at your local grocery store there is very little
actual fruit juice.

What you will find is lots of sugar water and other
ingredients. Why not skip the juice altogether and eat a
fresh piece of fruit? Not only does fresh fruit contain
less sugar than juice, fresh fruit has fiber that is good
for you and will help you feel fuller longer.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 16: GO EASY ON THE MEAL REPLACEMENTS
New meal replacement shakes and bars go on the market
almost every day. These shakes and bars may claim to be
healthy, but almost all of them, even the Zone Perfect
bars, contain hydrogenated oil and sweeteners.

So be careful. The bars especially may be only slightly
healthier than a Snickers candy bar. Occasionally, they may
not be that bad for you but as a rule you probably don’t
want to indulge in a meal replacement shake or bar every
day.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 17: IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT
PROBABLY IS
Low carb doughnuts and muffins? You can find these
prepackaged low carb labeled goods at your neighborhood
grocery store and at many low carb lifestyle specialty
shops. That does not mean that you should make a habit out
of eating them.

While low carb pastries may be tempting remember that they
still contain all of the usual carbohydrate suspects: sugar
or a sugar substitute and flour.
They may be healthier than your typical muffin as an
occasional treat, but remember to stick with the basics for
continued low carb success.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 18: AT THE GROCERY STORE - SHOP THE OUTER
AISLES
It will be easier to stick with your low carb lifestyle if
you learn the one common thread in all grocery store
designs: the healthy foods are on the perimeter aisles.

Think about it, when you go into the grocery all of the
healthy stuff, fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy
products are arranged around the stores walls. You only
rarely need to enter the center aisle areas in those few
stores that stock butter and cheese in the center near the
frozen foods. For the most part all of the foods that you
need for your low carb diet can be found on the perimeter
of the grocery store.
Train yourself to start on one end of the outer aisle and
work your way around. It will be much easier to avoid carb
cravings and fill your basket with healthy items if you do
so.

SUCCESS TIP NO. 19: INVEST IN GOOD COOKBOOKS
Can’t figure out what to eat? Need some variety in your
diet? Turn to a cookbook. Granted, not all recipes in a
cookbook are low carb fare, but you will be surprised at
the number of low carb and low carb friendly recipes you
can find in your standard Betty Crocker Cookbook.
Cookbooks are great reference tools that often contain
handy tips on purchasing cuts of meat and preparing meats,
fruits and vegetables in new and exciting ways.
Plus, new low carb cookbooks are hitting the shelves all
the time.

So be sure to take advantage, diet tip, of these resources
to try something new, different and delicious.
SUCCESS TIP NO. 20: TAKE A GOOD MULTIVITAMIN
We can’t all do it right all of the time. Even the most
conscientious food combiner may miss some healthy vitamins,
minerals and trace elements in their diets. To help make
sure you get everything that you need, consider taking a
good multivitamin.
Check with your doctor first for recommendations and you
should be tested for anemia to see if you need a vitamin
with iron.

However, the longer you eat low carb and the
more red meat you eat, the less anemia will be a problem
and you should be able to take vitamins with less iron.
Your success is totally up to you. Assuming that you are an
otherwise healthy individual, your body will do its part.
Just remember to adhere to the low carb diet plan that is
right for you and add some variety to your meals to help
you stay faithful to your health and weight loss goals.
If you’re interested in losing up to 20 pounds this month,
try following our 30-Day Low Carb Diet ‘Ketosis Plan’ which
also includes over 300 healthy low carb diet recipes you
can easily make at home.

Visit
http://lowcarbdiet.your-health-guide.com

The most common reasons for being overweight are the intake of wrong food, eating meals in the wrong patterns and wrong types of calories per meal each day. In case you are trying to achieve significant weight loss, diet tips help you maximize your chances to reach your goal. If you are really over weight, follow these tips.