When the holiday period is looming fast, we may begin to worry about the effects of overeating and the impact it will have on our weight between November and January. We may consider the option of planning ahead with some useful techniques and strategies that will help us to maintain a sensible eating plan throughout the holiday period.

The first issue we need to address is that the holiday season should not be an excuse to abandon all our healthy eating and lifestyle habits and replace them with overindulgence, sacrificing positive healthy habits in favour of bad ones. Of course we will be invited to parties, there will be tempting, fattening foods and sweet treats, but do we really need to eat all these things? The answer is simple we do not have to eat everything on offer.

An important thing to remember is that if we can make healthy, sensible choices for our meals and snacks the majority of the time, it will help to prevent us from overindulging when we are attending parties and functions. We should try our best to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, and low fat dairy produce for our main meals and snacks.

Our diet can withstand occasional modest indulgences provided we are not overdoing it all day and every day. If we have eaten healthily all day, indulging in a small portion of something sweet or fattening will not be damaging to our diet. However we must remember that potion size is important. Having a small slice or taste of something fattening is not a problem, unless we have numerous tastes and slices of high calorie foods at every party or social event.

Our next consideration is beverage consumption. All beverages, with the exception of water contain calories, especially if they are sweetened. If we are going to indulge in small servings of high calorie treats, we should try to balance our calorie intake by drinking water rather than sweetened or alcoholic beverages.

Finally, many of us bake or buy lots of goodies for the holiday period, so we should be sure to pack and store them out of sight to prevent us from being tempted to pick at them. As soon as we bring them home or remove them from the oven, once cool wrap, pack and place them away in cupboards or store rooms as far away possible from temptation.

The key to maintaining a sensible diet during the holidays is to simply moderate our indulgences. If we want a slither of cheesecake, we should eat and enjoy it, but not keep going back for more. We need to discipline ourselves to be content with a small taste or serving, or avoid them totally if we cannot trust ourselves to be happy with only a morsel of a fattening indulgence.

Many of us feel like we cannot find the time to embark on a weight loss program, simply because it will take up too much of our valuable time and energy. If our lifestyle is already hectic, stressful and overwhelming, we may feel this way.

However there are ways to overcome our objection to committing time and energy to weight loss.

Many of us waste valuable time and energy on unproductive activities. For example, do we spend hours lounging on the sofa watching television? How much time do we waste aimlessly browsing the internet? Are we permanently in a state of disorganization and spend time searching for things that we have misplaced? How much time do we spend buying and eating junk and fast food?

If we were to calculate the amount of time we are spending on worthless activities and being unhealthy and overweight, we would soon come to the conclusion that we could simply make changes to our activities without sacrificing any more valuable time.

If we consider our dietary habits, we will realize that the time taken to prepare and cook a healthy meal or snack takes exactly the same amount of time as the preparation and cooking of an unhealthy one.

If we look at the amount of time we spend lounging around watching television, we could utilize this valuable time by taking a brisk walk or do some gardening.

When we are looking at ordering fast food, we can order a healthy nourishing grilled fish or chicken salad or fajita as quickly as we could order an unhealthy burger with fries.

Making the excuse of not having enough spare time for weight loss is merely covering the fact that we are reluctant to commit to switching our actions to much healthier options, but this will not improve or change any aspect of our lives.

There is really only one solution, we have to commit to changing our actions and habits immediately to achieve weight loss success and improve our health and well-being, no matter how much time it takes. Even if this commitment means we have to sacrifice double the time required, we are going to remain determined, focused, healthy and strong. The sacrifice will be well worth it as our health improves, our energy levels increase and most of all we will be shedding the burden of excess weight. We owe it to ourselves to stop making excuses and start making positive changes to our lifestyle habits and achieve our weight loss goals.

When we want to lose weight, one of the best steps we can take is to reduce our sugar intake. Eating sugar excessively can promote unpleasant chemical reactions within the body and also be responsible for promoting even more cravings for sugar.

The Glycemic Index is a scale for measuring how certain foods and beverages affect the increase of our blood sugar levels after we have ingested them. This can be an important aid to reducing our sugar intake, as foods which cause a dramatic blood sugar peak are considered high gycemic, while foods that cause less fluctuation are categorized as medium or low glycemic.

If we can program ourselves to eat mainly low to medium glycemic foods throughout the day, we will soon notice that our sugar cravings will diminish, if not disappear altogether. We simply will not want it anymore, whereas before we may have felt we needed or had to have it.

Which is the best type of low glycemic food to eat?

There are numerous good books that fully explain how the glycemic index works and we can source good glycemic index charts online too, but here are a few key pointers to get us on our way:

Firstly, we should bear in mind that most sources of protein are low on the glycemic index scale, so ideally we should include some protein element to each meal and snack. This will help to reduce the effect of any high GI foods we may have included in our meals.

Secondly, we should include fibre into our diet as foods with a high fibre content help to slow down the rate at which our food is digested. One of the issues with high GI foods is that they are very quickly digested and absorbed into our bloodstream, resulting in a rapid increase in blood sugar levels. With this in mind, we should be sure to include some fibre along with any high or medium GI foods that we eat. An excellent example is fresh fruit. Many fruits have reasonably high sugar content, but they also contain fibre which helps to reduce the impact on blood sugar levels. This means that most fruits are categorized as low to medium on the GI scale.

Finally, we need to make sure that we eat regularly to maintain balanced, stable blood sugar levels. If we miss meals or go long periods of time between meals, our blood sugar levels drop, which makes us feel hungry and crave sugary or starchy foods. We also need to be aware that starchy foods will have the same effects on our blood sugar levels as sugar itself has.

Reducing our sugar intake is simple once we have got used to it, and the less sugar we eat, the less sugar we will crave or want to eat.

We are all aware of the steps we need to take to promote weight loss: reduce food intake, be more active, eat better quality foods, increase our water consumption, and so on. This is mainly common sense, but many diets fail to address the attitude we need to achieve successful, permanent weight loss.

Below are three important tips for achieving weight loss success. If we combine these with our healthy eating and exercise regime we will find it easier and less challenging to lose weight and keep it off.

- Keep focused on our weight loss goal.

When we initially begin a weight loss program, we are full of enthusiasm and eager to get started. However, as the weeks go by, we may begin to feel anxious and frustrated that we have not yet reached our goal. This frustration and lack of progress can lead to cheating, binge-eating, or even completely giving up on the diet altogether. To overcome this, we need to keep focused on our goal at all times. We need to spend time each day focusing on how fantastic we will feel when we step on the scales and realise we have achieved our weight loss goal. Imagine how great that would make us feel. We need to imagine those feelings now, and it will inspire determination and motivation to achieve success for real.

- Work and effort will be needed.

We should not fool ourselves into imagining that losing weight will easy. Even when we have reached our goal weight, we will still need to work on maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regime, unless we want to regain the weight we have lost. This is a fact we need to be aware of and we need to be prepared to work tirelessly each day to make the correct choices for our body. Putting in the effort is not a bad thing, but it need not be excessively hard or taxing either. If we resist the work and effort involved in weight loss, it will only be harder. If we embrace and address weight loss issues, we will find it much more acceptable.

- Celebrate achievements to date.

Instead of becoming anxious, stressed, or impatient about how much further we need to go to reach our goal, we should spend a little time each day congratulating ourselves and celebrating our achievements so far. Even if we have only shed a couple of pounds to date, we should congratulate ourselves. We need to celebrate every pound lost, every inch lost, and every smaller size item of clothing we need to purchase. We should celebrate each time we do something good for ourselves, and this positive attitude will keep boosting our determination and motivation to drive us forward to our weight loss goal in no time.
Super foods For Dieting

When we are attempting to shed excess weight, we often fall into a rut with our meals and snacks because there seems to be so many restrictions on what we can eat. However, if we can simply use our imagination and creative skills, we can come up with innumerable nutritious, delicious, and easy low calorie options.

One of these options for meals and snacks surprisingly is sandwiches. Can including sandwiches in our diet help with weight loss? Yes it can.

We may assume that sandwiches are high in calorie, and in some cases this is true, but this is not always the case.

Here are 4 tips for making our sandwiches nutritious, delicious, and low in calories:

Weight Loss Sandwiches Tip #1 – Lean Protein Fillings

We need to avoid high calorie, high fat content meats and choose lean varieties of either pre-packaged lunch meats, or create our own nutritious sandwich fillings. We could use skinless broiled thinly sliced chicken or turkey breast. How about grilled fish fillets, prawn, crab, or lobster? Any type of lean meat, seafood or poultry can be used as a delicious low-calorie sandwich filling.

Weight Loss Sandwiches Tip #2 – Choose Whole Grains

As we know, white bread is not beneficial for encouraging weight loss, but the good news is there is so much choice when it comes to whole grain breads in this day and age. Ideally we should choose one which is high in fibre and low in calories. We can opt for a basic wholemeal bread, granary bread rolls, pita bread, or soft tortilla wraps. If our favourite bread is high calorie, we can compromise by using only one slice instead of two, perhaps making an open sandwich or toasted with a low-calorie topping.

Weight Loss Sandwiches tip #3 – Fill up With Lots of Vegetables.

When we are trying to lose weight, the last thing that we want to do is add lots of calories to our sandwich, but on the other hand we want feel full and satisfied. The best solution to this problem is to fill the void with lots of crisp, fresh vegetables. We can add shredded lettuce or spinach leaves, onions, tomatoes, grated carrot, sliced cucumber, or beetroot, by using our imagination and creativity we can build a substantial, satisfying, low-calorie sandwich.

Weight Loss Sandwiches Tip #4 – Be Sparing With Dressings and Spreads.

Spreads and dressings can add flavour and moisture to an otherwise dry and boring sandwich, but they can also increase our calorie intake unless we choose carefully. Of course mayonnaise is most peoples favourite, but being high in calories and fat, it is not the best choice for a weight loss sandwich. Fortunately, there are numerous other options that can be equally delicious. We could use various types of mustard, hummus, guacamole, or a low-calorie, low-fat salad dressing. We could also make a spicy salsa and mix it with tuna or cooked, diced chicken breast.

It is obvious how easy it can be to lose weight by eating sandwiches when we can use our creativity to make a nourishing delicious meal or snack, and it also helps us to increase our fibre intake, while reducing our calorie intake.
Super foods For Dieting

Perhaps we started a diet and things were progressing nicely, and then we did something which completely knocked us off track. Maybe we attended a party or function of some kind and knew we would find it difficult to stick to our plan, but we did it any way. We may perceive this as an outside influence, but in reality, we may have subconsciously decided to attend the function with the intention of sabotaging our diet.

What reasons would we have to sabotage our diet?

Perhaps it is because deep down some part of us is not ready to lose weight, or we resist maintaining a healthy eating and healthy lifestyle
seriously, another inner part of us is reluctant to change bad habits as we have always been happy with our habits the way that they were.

Overcoming these sabotaging behaviours may be challenging, but there are several ways to do it. We could try some positive self-talk to help convince ourselves that losing weight, eating healthier and exercising is what we choose to do. We can also be positive in our attitude to how we will cope once we are slim and dispel any fears we may have by making small changes which will not be as overwhelming and stressful.
We could alsotry yoga , meditation or hypnosis to help curb any resistance that we may be struggling with.

The good news is that once we have dealt with the issues which cause us to sabotage our diet and weight loss programme, we will find it much easier and effortless to maintain a positive, determined attitude to stick to our plan and reach our weight loss goals.

There are numerous possible reasons why our diet may fail, but here are 5 of the most common ones:

We struggle with changes.

We may desperately want to change, but we may also find it hard to make these changes. Most of us are creatures of habit and we like things to be comfortable and predictable. If we decide to make changes in our lifestyle habits, we immediately feel unsettled with the instability and unpredictability these actions bring.

We are faced with two possible solutions to this problem. We need to find a way to make our new habits more comfortable and acceptable, or keep telling ourselves that that the changes are for the best, even though they make seem alien to us in the beginning. In time our new habits will naturally become more manageable and acceptable to us. We need to maintain our new habits for a long enough period of time until we become accustomed to living a healthier lifestyle. Once we have established and can control our new habits, maintaining them will be relatively easy.

We lack motivation.

What steps can we take if we cannot get the enthusiasm to exercise, eat healthily, or improve our lifestyle in any way? We need to get motivated! There are many ways in which we can improve our attitude to our diet, boost our energy levels and make our lifestyle changes more appealing. We could enrol in a gym or swimming club, take up running or cycling, source new andexciting recipes . If we try to make our healthy new lifestyle fun and interesting, it will increase our motivation.

We constantly cheat.

We cannot expect to shed those unwanted pounds if we are still eating all of the foods which caused us to gain weight in the first place. Yes we can have the occasional treat, but if we do it every day, or even every week, we will not achieve the success that we are aiming for. Alternatively we should find ways to make our favourite meals and snacks lower in calories and much healthier. We could also create new low calorie treats which will be equally enjoyable and reserve any fattening treats for special occasions and even then we should only indulge ourselves with a few morsels just to satisfy our cravings.

Fear of losing weight.

We need to be sure that we want to lose weight
. There are many challenges to overcome as well as discomfort and we may sabotage our weight loss goals to prevent having to deal with these issues. Can we cope with the attention losing weight would bring? If we lost weight we would no longer have any excuses for not living the life we have always dreamed of, so we stay overweight. We need to remind ourselves that we have lots of challenges and discomfort when we are overweight, so it has to be easier dealing with issues when we have lost weight.

We struggle to deal with cravings.

Many of us struggle with constant cravings for sweets and junk food, and it can become so frustrating that we may be tempted to give up on our diet. There are many ways that we can minimise or even stop these cravings. The main thing is to keep our mind and body active to detract from the cravings. We should drink water if we feel a craving coming on or chew sugar free gum. We could take a walk or run or even keep ourselves busy with hobbies such as needlework, painting or anything which keeps our hands occupied and our mind off fattening foods. We need to mentally take control of the cravings and soon we will be able to ignore them.

Whatever our personal challenges may be, there is always a solution and to achieve success, we need to find the solution which is suited to our personal needs and which will give us the best results.

Some of the more traditional diets often leave us with low energy levels or feeling constantly hungry. They may also lower our self esteem as they fail to live up to expectations when we do not achieve the desired weight loss at a quick enough pace.

Weight loss
without diets involves simply changing our habits. Here are a few examples of the habits we need to change for the best results:

Cutting Calories

Counting our daily calorie intake is not a priority, but ideally we should omit many of the high calorie foods which we normally eat, and increase our consumption of low calorie foods. We can either invest in a good calorie counting guide or even use the internet to source calorific values of the foods that we typically eat and drink. If we calculate the calorific value of what we normally eat in a day, we may be shocked at the total calories consumed and may realise that we are eating far more than we thought or actually need.

If we can reduce our daily intake by as little as 500- 800 calories by making sensible changes, we can easily reduce our weight by one or two pounds a week. As an example we could substitute potato chips for raw vegetables, a sweet desert for fresh fruit or sweet sugary sodas for water.

Increase Activity

Doing as little as thirty minutes jogging, running, cycling, swimming or brisk walking daily will help us to burn calories and also help boost our energy levels. Weight training is also worth considering as muscle burns fat and calories, the more muscle mass we have the more fat will be burned even while we are resting. Of course muscle weighs more than fat, so the numbers on the scale may not reflect the extent of our weight loss. However, we will have more energy, tone our body so we lose inches and both of these are easily achievable with weight training.

Reduce Stress Levels

Stress is a major problem for many of us due to our hectic lifestyles these days and it can have a definite impact on our weight. The more stressed we become, the more our body releases a hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol is beneficial to our body in many ways, but it also encourages our body to store fat, particularly in the abdominal area of the body.

To combat this we need to take steps to reduce our stress levels. There are various ways that we can reduce tension and stress, perhaps meditation, yoga or exercise may help, or even a long walk or more rest. We need to find to find the best way that suits each of us as individuals to manage and control our stress levels, and with reduced cortisol levels, our body will function much more efficiently.

Weight loss without diets
can be simple if we employ the right tactics, and remain focused and determined to achieve success. We should take things step by step, day by day, listen to our body and take actions which we know will be beneficial to our health and well being in the long-term.

Lemons can promote a multitude of health benefits when we are aiming to lose weight and improve our general health. They are full of essential nutrients and chemicals such as vitamin C, citric acid and pectin, which all help our body function efficiently. Eating lemons or drinking lemon juice will help our body dispose of waste quicker which results in quicker weight loss.

As we all know lemons are quite tart and unpalatable to most of us if we attempt to eat them as normal fruits. The ideal way to introduce lemons into our diet to promote weight loss is by drinking lemon water. We can either squeeze lemon juice into a bottle or glass of water, or simply add a slice of lemon to every glass of water that we drink.

Lemons contain the highest levels of citric acid than all other fruits and this quantity of citric acid can lead to increased levels of acid in the digestive system. This increase in acid, added to the acid already present in the digestive tract, improves the function of waste disposal and leads to weight loss. The increased level of acid helps the digestive system break down food quicker, which boosts our metabolism. If we can combine lemon water with a healthy nutritious diet and exercise regime, we should lose weight in a quick and healthy way.

Lemons also contain high concentrations of vitamin C and this important nutrient helps to promote a strong immune system as well as helping with weight loss. Increasing levels of vitamin C also helps to prevent our body from storing excess fat in muscle.

Citric acid and pectin, which are other substances found in lemons, work similarly to vitamin C in that they also improve the efficiency of our digestive system. Pectin can also be beneficial for lowering cholesterol and glucose levels in our body. As a combination, all these factors lead to a beneficial and quality way to help maintain good health.

Added to all these benefits, lemons also have an alkalising effect on our body. As lemons are so acidic this may seem odd, but when ingested they alkalise rather than acidify. This has the effect of reducing inflammation and mucous in our body and helping weight loss.

To promote weight loss and help improve our health, drinking lemon water is one of the simplest and inexpensive ways of achieving success. Lemons are also low in calories and provide not only a boost to our intestinal health but also enhance the flavour of many foods. Due to lemons combination of vitamin C, pectin and citric acid, they provide an invaluable nutritional boost for those of us wanting to lose weight quickly and easily.

To achieve permanent weight loss, it is important to focus on the issues which caused us to become overweight and make permanent lifestyle changes which will prevent our excess weight returning. Dieting alone is a good temporary solution to shedding excess weight for the holiday season, a wedding or other event, but for maintaining a long-term stable, healthy weight, we need to address other issues as well as cutting calories.

Here are some important issues to consider for permanent weight loss:What are our habits in relation to eating and exercise? Do we have a tendency to avoid exercise because it is hard work and we cannot be bothered, or have not got the time? Do we habitually binge on fast-food on a daily or weekly basis? Are we in the habit of eating while watching television or working on the computer?

Our habits tell us a lot about the way we eat and our lifestyle choices, and if our habits are not conducive to good health and well-being, we need to work on making changes which can help us permanently lose weight and keep it off.

Do we have an emotional connection with food? Is frequent comfort eating, even when we are not hungry an issue? Do we become stressed if we cannot eat? Are we often drawn to high calorie fattening comfort foods, even though we have been adamant in the past that we will not eat them anymore?

Emotions have a strong influence in affecting the way we eat, and the habit of comfort eating can be a difficult one to overcome. The most efficient way to beat our comfort eating habit is to try and find other ways to satisfy and soothe ourselves and our emotions by other means rather than resorting to food for relief. Once we have established other ways of comforting ourselves, we will find that the desire to eat for comfort will no longer be an issue.

Finally, we need to take a look at our lifestyle habits in general. Do we smoke? Do we avoid exercise or physical activity in any form where possible? Are we more tempted to eat junk food rather than healthy nutritious food? Are we guilty of drinking too much coffee, tea or soda drinks or working too hard and not getting adequate rest or sufficient sleep?

All of these issues can have a powerful impact on our general health and well being. Dieting alone will not address these issues and if they are not resolved, as soon as we stop dieting our weight will gradually increase again until we are back to square one.

If we are constantly dieting and trying to maintain our weight loss goal without success, we need to take a step back and look into why our weight is fluctuating and take immediate steps to address the issues once and for all.