The diet you eat plays a large part in weight management. What you eat, how much you eat. All this, together with your physical activity and metabolic rate determines how much you will eventually weigh,

The GI diet or glycemic index diet is based on how fast the food you eat is converted to glucose in your bloodstream.

High GI foods are digested and converted to glucose rapidly. Examples are white bread, rice cakes and baguettes are quickly converted to glucose and cause glucose spikes in your bloodstream.

Low GI foods are digested more slowly and take longer to be converted to glucose. Eating low GI food keeps you full longer and stabilizes your blood sugar levels. As a result you eat less.

Examples are wholemeal bread and brown rice.

Following a low GI diet can be tricky as food combinations change the speed at which food is digested. However you can follow a low GI diet by making simple food substitutes

1. Eat brown rice instead of white
2. Switch to wholemeal bread
3. Cut down on potatoes
4. Cut down refined carbs

Do that for starters and add more veggies to your diet. Here’s to a healthier you!

this is brown rice

Brown rice is unrefined rice. Unpolished grains of rice.

Rice grains, the seeds harvested from rice fields are a staple in Asia and many parts of the world. The husk of the rice is removed and rice is polished to give you white rice which is softer and easier to cook and eat.

The problem with white rice is that the outermost layer of the grains, which are rich in fiber and vitamin B, are discarded in the processing. What’s left is far less nutritious than the whole grain, the brown rice. In fact, the eating of only the polished rice has led to beri beri in some parts of Asia. The symptoms of these disease includes severe fatigue and lethargy. Beri beri is a vitamin B deficiency disease. The introduction of vitamin B into the diet prevents beri beri.

Brown rice, a.k.a. unpolished rice is rich in vitamin B.

Besides vitamin B, brown rice contains traces of calcium, some iron, magnesium, zinc and lots of fiber.

Eating brown rice makes you feel full on less food and you stay full longer. That helps curb one’s appetite. As you end up eating less, eating brown rice goes a long way in helping you lose weight. One cup of brown rice contains 218 calories and the fiber keeps you full much longer than white rice would.

How to cook brown rice?

If you have a rice cooker, it’s easy. Pour one cup of uncooked brown (rinse it first) rice into the cooker, pour in 2 cups of water. Switch on the cooker and let it cook.

If you are using a saucepan, boil 1 cup of brown rice in 5 cups of water until the rice is soft.

If you are using a microwave oven, wash 1 cup of rice 3 times, then put  it with 4 cups of water into a covered microwave cooking container to cook. If the microwave oven has a porridge or rice setting, use it. If not, microwave 10 minutes covered and 20 minutes uncovered to cook the rice.

Eat your brown rice with steamed veggies and tofu or meat for protein for a healthy diet. It’ll nourish you and if you watch your portions, you’ll lose weight, or maintain a healthy weight.

A medium sized apple has 95 calories. While they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, will it keep the unwanted fat away too?

apples calories

Carbs, short form of carbohydrates, refer to starch and sugars. These store energy which we consume in the food we eat.

Foods with carbohydrates include wheat, cereal, rice, fruits, sweets, potatoes and anything sweet or starchy.

Some of the popular quick weight loss diets are variations of the low carb diet. In these diets, you cut down on carbohydrates and increase your intake of protein. The Atkins diet is a very popular low carbs diet, where you eat all the meat you want but avoid starches altogether. The theory behind such diets is to force the body into ketosis.

During starvation or long physical activity, fat is used up for fuel instead of sugars. This fat burning state is the aim of these low carb diets. Ketones are produced. There is some controversy whether eliminating all the carbs from the diet is dangerous. One thing’s for sure, a high fat diet, low carb or not, would clog the arteries and would be bad for the heart.

Another alternative is to go for low Glycemic Index foods. The Glycemic Index measures how quickly glucose is released into the bloodstream when a particular carbohydrate is consumed. The lower GI foods are better as you stay full longer. Higher GI foods leave you hungry faster. So a Low GI diet can help you lose weight.

Low GI carbs are what you get in chickpeas, beans, whole grains, most fruits and vegetables.

High GI foods include cake, ice cream, white bread, white rice and corn flakes.

Personally, I’d go for a Low GI diet, to lose weight safely.

HCG or the hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, taken in conjunction with a 500 calorie diet is promoted as a quick way to lose weight. On the 6th December 2011, FDA issued a press release saying warning of the deceptive nature of this purported weight loss program. At the same time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued 7 warning letters the companies that were selling “homeopathic” HCG products that they were violating the law by selling these drugs which are not approved for weight loss.

The HCG diet comprises of 3 phases.

The 1st phase, lasting 2 days, lets you eat all you want while you start taking HCG.

The 2nd phase is where you lose weight on a 500 calorie per day diet while using HCG, until you reach your desired weight.

The 3rd phase requires you to continue on the 500 calorie diet each day for 2 days.

Well, of course you lose weight fast! On 500 calories a day, you’re practically starving yourself and run the risk of malnutrition.

Yes, while HCG is found in the urine of pregnant women and is used for fertility treatment, HCG is also produced by cancer cells. While it does not cause cancer in itself, it can aggravate pre-existing ovarian cancer. HCG’s possible side effects include Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome which may be life threatening.

These HCG products marketed over-the-counter are unproven to help with weight loss and are potentially dangerous even if taken as directed.

If you’ve already bought HCG products for weight loss, for your health’s sake, stop using them. Throw them out.

If you want to lose weight, do it at a sustained rate. If you consume less than 1,200 calories a day, your body goes into starvation mode and burns calories more slowly.

What you need to do is to combine exercise and your diet. Start a food journal to record everything you eat and drink. Drinks contain calories too. Then see how you can replace unhealthy food choices with healthier ones.

At the same time, get active. Go for regular workouts. Walk more. Climb the stairs instead of using the lift. Every bit counts.

affordable dresses that are slimming

Give yourself a pat on the back.

Yep, you may still be a long way from your target weight, but hey, to reward yourself, treat yourself to some new dresses to show off your new figure.

No point spending too much on these dresses though as you know you’re gonna slim down further and soon, these won’t fit either.

Instead, get affordable dresses to encourage yourself. To show yourself the progress you’ve made.

You look better and better as you go on with your weight loss program. Get new dresses to remind yourself that, to motivate yourself, and once these get baggy too, you can always a new wardrobe to showcase the new you.

Dresses For Women

These dresses are flattering on real women like yourself.

The last thing you want is to look cheap even as you look for wallet friendly dresses. These gorgeous dresses won’t break the bank, but you’d find something you’ll look amazing in amongst them. These were chosen for their slimming designs. Simplicity is slimming.

Fashion Tips:

• If you have big hips, go for wraps, or dresses that cinch your waist.
• If you’re apple shape, go for something with a higher waist, or nips just below your bustline. A babydoll dress would suit you.

So got a craving for something sweet?

Ice cream? Chocolates? Mousse? Rich cakes?

How do you lose weight when you crave for sweets?

Well.. you could have your high calorie sweet desserts, then cut down the calories for the rest of the day and go for a run and some intense workout to balance the added calories.

baby in a watermelon

In summer, that’s doubly superb. Watermelon is 90% water anyway, so you get to quench your thirst and cool off.

Yes, there’s sugar to satisfy that sweet tooth completely, and lots of fiber to satisfy your appetite. Watermelon is rich in vitamin A (betacarotene), vitamin C and lycopene, potent antioxidants, that offer an antiageing effect.

Ok, that’s baby eating watermelon, not someone who looked younger because of watermelon, but hey, that’s one healthy, happy baby.

Natures bounty is healthy. Fresh produce are healthy foods. Fruits and vegetables harvested from the farm are delicious and full of nutrients, fiber to keep your full and help you keep off the excess weight. Watermelon is a healthy food.

It’s hard controlling calories when you don’t cook your own meals.
Lately, I’ve had my meals out. But outside food tends to be oilier, and higher in calories.

One way to watch the carbs is to ask for less rice and even then, eat only half of what’s on the plate.
One can order sandwiches but not eat up all the bread if there’s a carb overload.

One of my favourite places for healthy sandwiches is Subway. At least I’d get my fresh veggies there.

I need meat. Preferably beef, so I didn’t go for the healthier 6 grams of fat or less versions that day.
I needed steak, my comfort food.. also, I needed the iron and calcium, so I went for steak and cheese.

The steak cubes were put in the bread first and slices of cheese went over it. That was toasted in the oven before I shot this video.

As for the sauce, go for the red vinegar dressing.

I like that they show the zero fat dressings and 6 grams of fat or less sandwiches clearly in the menu. That makes sticking to a healthier diet much easier.
Here’s Subway’s nutrition information list in case you plan to eat there.

That’s one of the possible options for healthier eating out. Beats Macdonalds anyway. :p

You may cut down on your carbs and eat smaller portions during your meals. You may even cut down on snacks, yet somehow your weight doesn’t seem to go down the way it should.

One possibility is that your metabolism has slowed down due to yoyo dieting.

The other possibility is that your calorie intake is higher than you realise.

100ml of coke contains 43 calories. That means 1can of coke contains 141 calories. Likewise with any regular soft drink.

100ml of orange juice del Monte has 44 calories.
1 glass of beer has about 72 calories . Some contain more, some less, but your body metabolizes alcohol like fat which is double whammy for some one trying to watch his weight.

Water has zero calories. You can drink as much of it as you like without worrying about calorie count.

If plain water is boring, add a slice of fresh lemon to a jug of cold water for a refreshing drink.

Switch to water and cut the calories!