The concept of the glycemic index was created in 1980 by Dr. David J. Jenkins and some of his colleges at the University of Toronto as they were studying what the best foods for diabetics were. Basically, if carbohydrate that are ingested by the body break down rapidly during digestion, then they release a lot of glucose into the blood stream. These types of carbohydrates are said to have a high glycemic index. On the other hand, if the carbohydrates that are ingested break down at a slower and more natural pace, releasing glucose on a steady stream, then they are said to have a low glycemic index.

As time went on, every type of food imaginable was assigned a glycemic index number. This number is a rating of between 1 and 100 and the breakdown is as follows:

•    55 or less = LOW
•    56-69 = MEDIUM
•    70 and higher = HIGH

The whole idea behind the glycemic index and weight loss is based on the levels of insulin that is produced by the body when certain foods are eaten. When you eat foods that have a high glycemic index value your body will produce higher amount of insulin as the result of the fast breakdown of the carbohydrates that creates a high level of glucose, which is basically sugar. So, the body has to put out these higher levels of insulin in order to combat the higher levels of blood sugar and the result is a crashing of the blood sugar levels. This makes the body store fat and can actually make you feel hungrier.

One the other side of the fence, if you eat foods that are low in the glycemic index then your body will create less glucose and less insulin as a result. So, your blood sugar levels will be sustained and the end result will be a fuller feeling when you eat and instead of storing the fat given by the carbohydrates, your body will actually burn it off steadily and absorb it slowly over time.

So, if you eat foods that are low on the glycemic index then you will be able to sustain long term weight loss. This is probably why doctors are now recommending a low glycemic diet for obese people as well as those who have diabetes.

Some of the low glycemic foods that can be enjoyed on a low glycemic diet include sweet potatoes, milk, certain fruits, certain veggies, and grains. There is a lot more on the list, but this gives you a starting point.

If you think that a low glycemic diet may be the key to lasting weight loss, you should talk to your personal physician about it and see what they say. While the whole process may have been started to help diabetics be able to enjoy more foods, the end result has been the creation of a way in which people can lose weight simply be altering their eating habits.

A weight loss supplement review can give you important information on weight loss supplements made available to the public. With the general goal of clearing up the difference between lies and truths in the weight loss industry, a review is created to protect weight loss supplement consumers from falling victim to greedy weight loss supplement manufacturers.

Weight loss supplements: What to choose

Choosing what weight loss supplement to use can be quite confusing in general. It’s not just about the great number of products available to you but rather, the amount of information that each one is giving you. It is not enough that you compare products basing on what is currently popular. While not the best means, finding out what’s popular will give you an idea on which one works for other people. To help you, start by looking up the ingredients list of a weight loss supplement. After that, look up a list of ingredients that the Food and Drug Administration has tagged as harmful for consumption. Apart from knowing that the ingredients listed in a product are safe, this also protects you in case you are allergic to certain foods. With the list of ingredients as your initial guide, you should be able figure out if it’s safe for you to take a particular weight loss supplement or not.

Are prescription weight loss supplements for you?

Prescription drugs, in general, are more potent compared to over-the-counter products. Weight loss supplements that come with prescriptions are usually given to very obese patients or if an individual has a particular need regarding weight loss that cannot be solved by regular over-the-counter weight loss supplements. Because they have highly-specific content, prescription weight loss supplements are approved by the Food and Drug Administration. As with any weight loss supplement, the degree of how effective it is is dependent on the person. However, most who have taken prescription weight loss supplements are reported to lose as much as 10% of their weight. While normally given to very obese patients, prescription weight loss supplements may be prescribed to individuals who have healthy body mass indexes as long as they have been cleared by their doctors to take them.

Over-the-Counter Weight Loss Supplements

A lot more weight loss supplements are available over the counter. (Over-the-counter weight loss products mean that you don’t need a prescription to take them.) However, a weight loss supplement review would tell you that weight loss supplements over-the-counter actually pose more threats because their use is not regulated. Any individual can hoard as much as they want, in as many brands as they want without taking into consideration what would work best for them. Basically a trial-and-error process, the danger also lies in using too much weight loss supplements at any given time. While thinking that more will be mean faster results, weight loss supplements are not normally intended to be used alongside another weight loss supplement. Because each one is proud enough to claim that it singlehandedly address all your weight loss needs, they aren’t designed to be friendly to other weight loss products. Using too much weight loss supplements at the same time can actually put you in worse shape. By overloading different substances into your body, you may be overworking your body systems in the process. This makes your body slow down and weaker in defending you against threats from all around.

Claims not proven

Weight loss supplements labeled as herbal or natural can be misleading so be careful. Just because they are labeled as such, that does not guarantee that they are indeed safe for consumption. Poison ivy is natural but you don’t go up to it and rub yourself against it. To be safe, make it a habit to read product labels for ingredients. If a weight loss supplement doesn’t list its ingredients, skip it.

Protection

As any weight loss supplement review would tell you, learn how to protect yourself. When buying any weight loss supplement, check to see if a weight loss supplement review has been done on it. This will give you a basic idea of what other people say of it, how it functions, and what it containsome of the very basic things you have to know about any weight loss supplement, or any product for that matter. Rarely approved by the Food and Drug Administration, be very, very careful of products that splash the words: easy, breakthrough, magical, guaranteed, new discovery, effortless, secret, exotic, mysterious, and miraculous. If you’ve realized the importance of taking the time to find out how a particular weight loss supplement works, then pass on the good news and take the time to tell other people about it. Create your very own weight loss supplement review and help make sure that other people are properly informed and protected as well.

Author: Phillip England
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rates

Lets face it. Everyone wants to get the fat off as quickly as possible – and having that desire is not wrong its simply human nature. However, you must become aware of some serious problems that can occur if you try to force it and lose weight too quickly. The faster you lose weight, the more muscle you will lose with the fat, and that can really mess up your metabolism. An even bigger problem with fast weight loss is that the loss just wont last. The faster you lose, the more likely you are to gain it back. Think about it: We dont have a weight loss problem today, we have a keeping the weight off problem.

Weight loss will be the healthiest, safest and most likely to be permanent if you set your goal for about two pounds per week (and even if you lose only a single pound each week, that is healthy progress). This is the recommendation of almost every legitimate and respected dietician, nutritionist, exercise physiologist and personal trainer, as well as exercise organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Dietetic Association.

Are there any exceptions to this rule? Is it ever okay to lose more than two pounds per week? The answer is yes. It may be ok to lose slightly more than two pounds per week if you have a lot of weight to lose because the rate of weight loss tends to be relative to your total starting body weight. Generally the rule is that its safe to lose up to 1% of your total body weight per week, so if you weigh 300 lbs to start, then 3 lbs a week is a reasonable goal.

But there IS a catch.

What really matters is not how much weight you lose, but how much FAT you lose. Where did your weight loss come from? Did you lose body fat or lean body mass?

“Weight” is not the same as “fat.” Weight includes muscle, bone, internal organs as well as lots and lots of water. What you really want is fat loss, not weight loss. If you only wanted weight loss, I could show you an easy way to lose 20 or 25 pounds in about 5 minutes. Just come over to my house. I have a really sharp hacksaw in my garage, and well just slice off one of your legs, after all its just extra weight right?

Lets look at an example with some numbers so you can really grasp this concept of weight versus fat and then you can see, clearly illustrated, what will happen when you lose weight too quickly (because I know you probably dont believe me and you STILL want to lose weight as fast as possible read on and it will all become clear to you).

As an example, lets take a 260 pound man who has a lot of body fat to lose – lets call it 32%. With 32% fat, a 260 pounder has 83.2 pounds of body fat and 176.8 pounds of lean mass. Using this example, lets look at a few possible scenarios with losses ranging from two to four pounds per week.

Weight Loss Scenario 1:

Suppose our 260 pound subject loses four full pounds instead of the recommended two pounds per week. Is this bad? Well, lets see:

If he loses a half a percent of body fat, here are his body composition results:

256 lbs 31.5% body fat 80.6 lbs fat 175.4 lbs lean body mass

Out of the four pounds lost, 2.8 pounds were fat and 1.2 were lean mass. Not a disaster, but not good either. Thirty percent of the weight lost was lean tissue.

Weight Loss Scenario 2:

If he loses a half a percent of body fat and only three pounds, here are his results:

257 lbs 31.5% body fat 80.9 lbs fat 176.1 lbs lean body mass

These results are better. Although he lost less body weight than scenario one, in this instance, 2.3 pounds of fat and only 0.7 lbs of lean mass were lost.

Weight Loss Scenario 3:

What if he only lost two pounds? Here are the results:

258 lbs 31.5% body fat 81.2 lbs fat 176.8 lbs lean body mass

These results are perfect. Even though our subject has only lost two pounds, which seems slow, 100% of the two pound weight loss came from fat.

Weight Loss Scenario 4:

Now lets suppose he loses three pounds but he loses more body fat: .8%

257 lbs 31.2% body fat 80.2 lbs fat 176.8 lbs lean body mass

These are the best results of all. When the weekly fat loss is .8%, 100% of the three pounds lost is fat.

So the answer to the question is yes – its safe to lose more than two pounds per week but only if the weight is all fat or at least mostly fat with minimal lean mass losses.

If you take example one with thirty percent lean tissue loss and compound that over a few months, youre talking about a massive muscle tissue loss which can dramatically slow down your metabolism and turn you into nothing more than a skinny fat person (a person with low body weight because they lost all their muscle, but still holding stubborn body fat because they slowed down their metabolism).

One thing you should know is that water weight losses sometimes distort the numbers, especially when you first begin a new nutrition and training program. Its very common to lose 4 – 5 pounds in the first week on nearly any diet and exercise program and sometimes even more on low carb diets. Just remember, its NOT all fat – Its water!

The best advice you will EVER get is to focus on losing fat, not losing weight. If you lose three to five pounds per week, and you know its all fat, and not lean tissue, then more power to you!

Of course the only way to know this is with body composition testing. For home self-testing, I recommend the Accu measure as first choice. I suggest using the bio-electric impedance analysis body fat scale only as second choice behind calipers for home self testing because this device gives some funky readings sometimes.

Even better, get a professional caliper test from an experienced tester at a health club, or even a water (hydrostatic) or air (bod pod) displacement test.

From literally hundreds of client case studies, I can confirm that its rare to lose more than 1.5 – 2.0 lbs of weight per week without losing some muscle along with it. If you exceed 2.0 to 3.0 pound per week, the probability of losing muscle is extremely high. If you lose muscle, you are damaging your metabolism and this will lead to a plateau and ultimately to relapse.

Lack of patience is one of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to losing weight. If you want your weight loss to be PERMANENT, you have to take off the pounds slowly.

This is one of the toughest lessons that overweight men and women have to learn – and they can be very hard learners. They fight kicking and screaming, insisting that they CAN and they MUST lose it faster.

Then you have these TV shows that encourage the masses that rapid, crash weight loss is okay. I say to the producers of these shows SHAME ON YOU! To the personal trainers, registered dieticians and medical doctors who are associated with these programs, I say DOUBLE SHAME ON YOU, because you should know better.

The rapid weight loss being promoted by the media for the sake of ratings and by the weight loss companies for the sake of profits today makes it even harder for those of us who are legitimate fitness and nutrition professionals because our clients say, But look at so and so on TV – he lost 26 pounds in a week!

Sure, but 26 pounds of WHAT – and do you have any idea what the long term consequences are?

Short term thinking, folks foolish. There are hundreds of ways to lose weight quickly, but only one way to lose fat and keep it off in the long term.

Do it the right way – the healthy and sensible way. Take off the pounds slowly with an intelligent nutrition and exercise program make this a new lifestyle, not a race, and you will never have to take the pounds off again because they will be gone forever the first time. No more yo-yoing.

Author: Tom Venuto
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Creditcard Currency Conversion Fee

Going on a “diet”. Most people have success with diets, however the problem with going on a diet means eventually you will go off a diet.  It’s better to start something sustainable like eating healthier foods and smaller portions.

Start over again on Monday. Another problem with setting unrealistic goals is that when you do slip up – eating too much one day or skipping the gym – we feel like the entire week is a wash.  We tell ourselves I’ll just wait and start fresh next week.  If you slip up, accept it and keep with your plan.  Putting it off until the next week won’t help anything.  

Eat less to lose the weight faster. This is a recipe for disaster.  Actually the less you eat, the slower your metabolism gets.  The end result – you actually lose weight slower!  Slowly cut back on your calorie intake, don’t make a drastic change.  Another problem with drastically cutting your calories – you will feel more deprived and your cravings will surge.

Only looking at the long term goal. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds, be sure to set smaller targets as well.  It’s a long road to lose those twenty pounds  – don’t put off your success until the finish line.  Set smaller goals and celebrate those. For example, lose five pounds in a month.  When you reach that goal you will feel proud and motivated to keep working at your next goal.

Losing weight will solve all your problems. Many people have false expectation of how losing weight will change their life.  Dropping pounds will not solve all your problems.   Solely losing weight will not make new friends or find the love of your life.  Think about why you want to lose weight and what your expectations are.

Recognize these lies that can derail your efforts.  Set realistic goals and take small steps.  Think about your lifestyle and come up with a plan that works for you.  Being realistic can help set you up for success.

For severely overweight individuals that have failed to see results from diet and exercise alone, weight-loss surgery has become the safest and most effective means of achieving significant weight loss. In fact, studies have shown that with diet and exercise alone, nearly 95% of obese patients will gain all the lost weight back within 5 years. On the other hand, long-term success rates for weight-loss surgery – including the LAP-BAND procedure – are remarkably high, allowing patients to maintain a loss of between 50-70% of their excess body weight. Though there are many factors that can impact an individual patient’s weight-loss success, weight-loss surgery is simply the most effective long-term weight loss and healthy lifestyle solution for severely obese patients.

Studies show that most patients that undergo weight-loss surgery will lose between 50-70% of their excess body weight within the first three years following their procedure. Those that undergo gastric bypass surgery will lose excess body weight more rapidly in the first 12 months than those that choose LAP-BAND surgery. However, gastric bypass patients typically experience a greater number of complications and side effects than LAP-BAND patients, as the LAP-BAND procedure allows for more gradual and natural long-term weight loss.


From a clinical perspective, a weight-loss surgery is considered successful when the patient loses at least 50% of their excess body weight and keeps the weight off for at least five years. While important lifestyle changes need to be made to ensure that the weight loss is maintained in the long term, studies have shown that most weight loss surgery patients are able to maintain a 50-60% loss of excess body weight 10 years after the surgical procedure. However, it is important to note that a weight loss of just 10% of total body weight can begin to have positive health effects in resolution of obesity-related condition like asthma, gastric reflux (GERD), and diabetes. As weight-loss surgery is usually performed on patients that are at least 75-100 pounds overweight or have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 35 with a health condition, overall weight loss can range anywhere from 40 pounds to over 100 pounds. But the patient is really the leader behind achieving these results.

While patients will certainly look and feel better after weight-loss surgery, there are also numerous health benefits associated with successful weight loss. In most cases, health conditions that develop as a result of excessive body weight or are worsened by obesity can be improved upon or, in some cases, remedied by weight-loss surgery.

But there are other ways to measuring success with weight-loss surgery, like the LAP-BAND System. For instance, many weight loss surgery patients take great pride in being able to perform certain activities that may not have been possible for a number of years, like crossing their legs, bending over to tie a show, walking up stairs without being easily winded or sitting comfortably in an airplane seat.

While most patients that undergo weight-loss surgery experience incredibly positive results, there are many factors that can impact the overall success of an individual patient’s procedure and follow-up treatment. Here are some important factors to consider as you try to determine whether weight loss surgery is right for you.

Pre-surgery Weight

Generally speaking, the higher a patient’s pre-surgery weight or BMI, the more excess weight the patient can lose after surgery. However, recipients of weight-loss surgery with less excess body weight will eventually come closer to their ideal weight when committed to long-term diet and exercise. Also, resolution or improvement in obesity-related diseases can occur with even moderate amounts of weight. Often many diseases can become closer to cured than improved with earlier intervention at a lower weight.

Overall Health

While pre-existing health conditions can impact the overall success of weight-loss surgery (for instance, patients with type 2 Diabetes typically lose less excess body weight after surgery), studies have shown that many ailments linked to obesity are either improved upon or fall into remission after a successful procedure. For instance, a 2000 study performed on 500 weight loss surgery patients showed that nearly 96% of health conditions associated with obesity – such as high blood pressure, depression, sleep apnea, back pain and diabetes – improved greatly following loss of excess weight and long-term commitment to diet and exercise.

Surgical Procedure

As there are potential risks and complications associated with any surgical procedure, potential patients should always seek to have their weight-loss surgery performed by a trusted medical staff. Prospective patients should inquire about their surgeon’s success rates with weight-loss surgery and listen to the experiences of former patients. Additionally, a patient’s weight-loss success may also be impacted by the quality of post-surgery care and counseling provided by their bariatric outpatient facility.

Diet and Exercise

As diet and exercise are two of the most important factors in any weight loss plan, patients with the physical ability to exercise after weight-loss surgery have increased chances of meeting their goals. To maintain the weight loss achieved by surgery, both exercise and healthy eating habits must become integral parts of a patient’s lifestyle.

Commitment

The ability to remain committed to suggested dietary guidelines, exercise regimens and any follow-up care recommended by the bariatric outpatient facility is important for both short-term weight loss and long-term weight management.

Motivation

Patients that are motivated to lose weight and willing to follow through with diet and exercise prior to receiving weight loss surgery may experience greater levels of success immediately following the procedure and in the long term. Most people did not find themselves severely obese overnight. It took years to reach that weight and therefore patients should be patient with the weight-loss process, which will also not occur overnight. Successful patients find small victories along the way to celebrate and stay motivated.

Support

As weight-loss surgery will require some time away from everyday activities, it is important to have the support of family, friends and coworkers before undergoing any surgical procedure. Furthermore, as the ongoing weight-loss process following bariatric surgery may require a certain level of emotional support, prospective patients may want to establish a support network – including friends and family members that can join in on exercise and healthy eating.

Considering that significant weight loss can not only remedy many health concerns, but also improve an individual’s quality of life, the potential benefits of weight-loss surgery are plentiful. For severely overweight individuals that are unable to lose weight via diet and exercise alone, weight-loss surgery is the most effective method of losing weight – and keeping the weight off.

Author: Carole S. Guinane
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: WordPress plugin Guest Blogger

We all know that eating out does little to benefit our waistlines.  Not only do we tend to eat more when at a restaurant, food also often contains more calories and fat when not prepared at home.  So, why not explore other ways to celebrate that are good for you?
Here are a few ideas for alternative to that dinner out.

•    Buy a new outfit.  Each time you wear your new threads you’ll be reminded of your accomplishment and look good.
•    Get a new cookbook filled with healthy recipes.  Sometimes we fall into ruts with our recipes.  A new cook book may give you that spark to get excited about healthy eating again.
•    Subscribe to a cooking or health magazine.  You’ll receive monthly tips and motivators.
•    Get a new kitchen gadget.  There’s nothing like a new gadget to get you excited about cooking in the kitchen.

If you really want to celebrate your accomplishment with others, as an alternative to going out for dinner – host a party.  You can serve healthy snacks and enjoy an evening with friends and family.