Weight loss and dieting

• Eat less and often

  Eat less means consume less calories to get weight loss. The body needs to take as much nutrients as it can for as little calories as possible. This means, the diet should be of quality food and not the ready made meals, which tend to be high in sugar and fat.

• Exercise

  The secret to weight loss is ensuring the calories taken in is balanced against the calories burnt. The body not only burns more calories when exercising, but its been proven to help the body function more efficiently. People who exercise in their Aerobic zone have been shown to not only burn more body fat, but also to feel less hungry through out the day.

• Consume more whole grain, fruits and vegetables
• Avoid ready made meals, junk foods and drinks.

There have been a number of researches carried out focusing on one nutrient in isolation, such as the effect of deficiencies in individual vitamins and minerals. However, these types of research do not cater of the interaction of dietary, genetics, behavioural and social factors. It is for this reason that the weight loss industry finds it hard to determine a definitive diet for everyone. However, food companies prefer research into single nutrients because they can then use the result to sell products. For example, some companies add vitamins to sweets and market it as health food. Some food companies often use the "health" angle based on the individual nutrients to distract the consumer from the calorie content. This is also why many people think they are eating healthy, but they can't understand why they keep putting on weight.

Weight loss dieting facts:

• To reduce your weight by a pound of fat a week, a person will need to eat 500 fewer calories each day.
• Carbohydrates and proteins have about 4 calories per gram. The food fat however contains twice as much calories, at 9 calories per gram.
• Alcohol is digested in such a way that promotes accumulation of fat in the liver, which is where "beer belly" comes from.
• An adult will expend about 100 calories for every mile walked or run. It takes therefore takes nearly three miles to burn off the calories in cup of soft drink.

One of the main reasons behind an increase in obesity is due to the consumption of soft drinks. Soft drinks tend to be loaded with sugars and corn sweeteners, which provide your body with large amount of calories without any nutritional benefits. Virtually all the calories from soft, sports and juice drinks comes from added sugar. A research has shown that obese children tend to consume more than 1000 calories a day from sweetened drinks alone. Other research have also shown that children who regularly drink sugary soft drinks take in more calories and weigh more than those who do not.