Here is an easy way to shed calories: trim the fat off of your meat. Although you will need some fat to enhance flavor, if there is excess fat on the edges of your protein, trim it off before cooking it. In doing so, you will not only reduce the overall amount of fat in your diet, you will also reduce the most harmful type of fat: saturated fat. When trimming fat, always use a sharp knife, and if you can, arrange the protein so that the fat is closed to you. Hold onto a small piece of this fat and insert your knife in between the fat and the meat. As you cut, keep the fat taut and don’t try to cut it all off at once. If you’ve tried this method and are still having trouble, consider putting the meat in the freezer for twenty minutes so that the fat can solidify before allowing it to reach room temperature for cooking. Never thaw meat and put it back in the freezer, as this is a great way to trap harmful bacteria.

To lose weight and for your body to function at its best, you need to eat carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. The food choices you make each of those categories plays a big role in how effective your weight loss strategy will be and how easy or difficult the process will be for you. Some food will make you feel more full, while others will leave you hungry for more.

When it comes to carbohydrates, you know that complex carbohydrates, like brown rice and quinoa, are better than simple carbs, like white rice and pasta. For fats, you know that unsaturated fats are best and you should choose olive oil and avocados over coconut butter and whole-fat dairy products. When you are selecting the proteins for you meal, reach for lean proteins. The healthiest proteins you can eat are poultry; deep water fish, such as tuna, mackerel, and salmon; shrimp; and legumes. These protein are low in calories and overall fat, and some provide other important nutrients. For example a three-ounce serving of lean, broiled turkey contains eleven grams of fat versus seventeen for beef and eighteen for pork. if you do decide to dine on proteins that contain saturated fat, such as beef, make sure to trim as much fat off the protein as possible in order to cut down on the harmful fats and the total calories. The best lean protein are:

• Skinless chicken breast          Fat free dairy products
• Skinless turkey breast             Beans
• Egg whites                               Fish
• Shellfish

I wanted to share this 20 benefits of exercise by Greg Landry.

Starting or continuing your exercise program is much easier if you know some of the benefits derived from exercise:

1. Elevates your metabolism so that you burn more calories everyday.

2. Increases your aerobic capacity (fitness level). This gives you the ability to go through your day with less relative energy expenditure. This enables a “fit” person to have more energy at the end of the day and to get more accomplished during the day with less fatigue.

3. Maintains, tones, and strengthens your muscle. Exercise also increases your muscular endurance.

4. Decreases your blood pressure.

5. Increases the oxidation (breakdown and use) of fat.

6. Increases HDL (good) cholesterol.

7. Makes the heart a more efficient pump by increasing stroke volume.

8. Increases hemoglobin concentration in your blood. Hemoglobin is part of the red blood cell that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.

9. Decreases the tendency of the blood to clot in the blood vessels. This is important because small clots traveling in the blood are often the cause of heart attacks and strokes.

10. Increases the strength of the bones.

11. Causes the development of new blood vessels in the heart and other muscles.

12. Enlarges the arteries that supply blood to the heart.

13. Decreases blood levels of triglycerides (fat).

14. Improves control of blood sugar.

15. Improves sleep patterns.

16. Increases the efficiency of the digestive system which may reduce the incidence of colon cancer.

17. Increases the thickness of cartilage in joints which has a protective effect on the joints.

18. Decreases a woman’s risk of developing endometriosis by 50%.

19. Increases the amount of blood that flows to the skin making it look and feel healthier.

20. Exercise, in addition to all the physiological and anatomical benefits, just makes you feel GREAT!

Reference: http://www.landry.com/top20.htm

Thankfully, things have improved since Robin Williams first tried organic whole grain bread. Carbohydrates are important to helping your body and brain function. In addition to being absolutely necessary for survival, without enough of them you might become crabby and depressed. Oh the other hand, if you consume a lot of simple carbohydrates, like sugar, fruits, and milk (though the latter two are also great sources of nutrients) they will rapidly raise your blood sugar levels and your body will quirky burn through the fuel they provide.

To avoid crabbiness and provide your body with fuel that will last, opt for complex carbohydrates instead.  These longer chained molecules take more time for your body to digest and also won’t spike your blood sugar levels. They are also more likely to be packed with fiver and more nutrients than simple carbohydrates So swap out your refined carbs (white bread, white rice, etc). for whole grain choices like brown rice, whole wheat bread, and grains like quinoa. Add more vegetables, beans, and nuts to your meals and snacks, as well.

You can use this technique to achieve your weight loss goals. This visualization has two parts. First, instead of looking at yourself and seeing your flaws, look at what you love about yourself. whether it’s you eyes, your nails, your skin, or your stomach, find at least a few things that you think are beautiful about yourself, and whenever you are looking in the mirror, turn your attention toward those. This way, as you work to reach your fitness goals, instead of feeling discouraged when you look in the mirror, you will feel happy and that positive attitude will help you work through those though workout weeks. As you transform your body, you will also start to find even more things to love!

Second, start to imagine what your ideal body looks like, is there a picture of you from years ago in which you are a size you want to get back to? Stick that on the fridge or on the bathroom mirror as inspiration. If you don’t have a photo of yourself like that, look through magazines and find someone who has a body that you want to strive for. Just keep in mind mos images in magazines are enhanced, so even that person might not look that way in real life. Imagine yourself achieving this shape while you are working out or when you are getting ready for your day, and you will start to find that you manifest this destiny by making changes in your life that guide you toward it.