1 Flat Stomach Rule: Obey
Whether you need to lose a lot of weight or just a few pounds, there are all kinds of diet programs for you to choose from. Some of these programs are just money making schemes. Most diets will work, for a short while, but when you stop the diet you usually gain back all the weight that you have lost plus possibly, even more.
Many people constantly gain and lose, gain it back, and diet to lose it again. This kind of dieting is unhealthy, and you are always going back and forth, never able to keep your weight at a healthy level.
Food contains calories. A calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius. When you take in more calories than you burn up, the calories remain in your body as fat. If you continue to take in more than you burn, you will gain weight, and it takes exercise and cutting back on the amount of food that you eat to lose it.
The amount of weight that you need to lose will determine how long it takes to get it off. As was stated earlier, there are many different diets that you can choose. Some are good, sound, healthy diets and some are just a plan to get your money.
The best diet is one that includes foods from all of the food groups. We need vegetables and fruits in larger amounts, with minimal amounts of meat. Meats should be mostly poultry and fish (not fried) instead of red meats. Red meats are fine, in small amounts, and no more than three times a week. Another thing to remember when dieting, is the size of a serving. Most of our diets consist of servings that are twice as much, or more, than a normal serving size. A vegetable serving is usually one half cup, cooked, and a raw vegetable serving might be one cup. A meat serving is about the size of a deck of cards, or the palm of your hand. Bread servings include one roll, or one piece of bread, not the whole loaf. It is important that we get calcium, from milk and dairy products, and the vitamins that we need, from fruits and vegetables. We need vegetables of all colors in our diet, so don’t forget about greens, sweet potatoes, carrots, and beets.
Dieting is important in weight loss, but so is exercise. When dieting, if you don’t exercise, your muscles become flabby. Be sure to exercise the entire body, to keep your muscle tone.
The main rule, when dieting, is to cut back on portion size, the amount of calories that you ingest, and exercise. This rule, if followed every day of your life, will keep you healthy as well as thin. Watching the kinds of foods that you eat, also, will help. Do not eat a lot of sugars and fats. We need some fat to keep our bodies healthy, but we only need a small amount. If everyone would stay away from so many fatty foods; eat less sugar and sweets; and get plenty of exercise; including walking, swimming, biking, or whatever you enjoy doing, there would be considerably less obese people in our society. It is easier said than done, but it is possible, and all of us need to make an extra effort, for our health’s sake.