5 ways to shed weight for summer

Memorial Day Weekend kicks off bathing suit season – and diet season, too. Tempting as it may be to go on a crash diet to shed some extra pounds, think again. Starving yourself skinny is neither easy nor healthy. And quick fix diets, if they work at all, don’t keep weight off for very long. The truth is, you can eat well, enjoy treats, drink alcohol, and still lose weight. Here’s how:

Eat more to lose more

Restricting food can actually slow down your metabolism. Why walk around hungry when you can fill up on delicious foods that are satisfying and naturally low in calories? The secret is to eat foods that are high in fiber, such as fruits and vegetables - some have a few as 25 calories per cup.  

Sip more water

Did you know that dehydration mimics the symptoms of hunger?  For good health and to keep hunger at bay your goal should be to drink eight 8-oz glasses of water a day. It’s easy to do if you keep a full glass on your desk at work and pack a water bottle when you are on the go. Give ordinary water a favor boost with sugar-free powdered flavoring, some fresh fruit wedges, or some cool refreshing cucumber slices.

Get moving

You don’t have to go for a run to lose weight.  Your best bet is to focus on simple strength training. By building muscle you stoke your body’s calorie-burning machine while giving your body a lean, toned look.  Do this a variety of ways: resistance exercises, hand weights, yoga, or take a Pilates class.

Spice it up

Spicy foods have metabolism boosting properties. Chili, red pepper, cayenne, cinnamon and ginger all raise the body’s temperature and heart rate, which in turn actually burns more calories.

Banish bloating

Salty foods can leave you looking and feeling bloated and you can counter that by eating foods that are rich in potassium such as bananas, papayas, kiwis, strawberries, spinach, cooked beets and broccoli.    

For more tips, delicious high fiber meal plans, recipes, and proven ways to lose weight and look great, check out my new book The Miracle Carb Diet: Make Calories and Fat Disappear – with Fiber!

Tanya Zuckerbrot MS, RD, is a registered dietitian in New York City and the bestselling author of The Miracle Carb Diet: Make Calories and Fat Disappear – with fiber, and The F-Factor Diet: Discover the Secret to Permanent Weight Loss.  Follow Tanya on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and visit her website Ffactor.com

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/28/5-ways-to-shed-weight-for-summer/

How to Determine Your PERFECT Workout Plan

You hear it every day on TV: “The Perfect Workout Plan!”

You read about it in every magazine: “The one secret you need to lose weight!”

You find it on every fitness website: “Why this plan works and why that plan doesn’t.”

It can be confusing, and it can be intimidating.  Don’t you worry though, as I’ve come up with a solution to determine the PERFECT workout plan that will get you the results you want and allow you to have success.

Where did I find it?

Trekking through the Amazonian jungle, I stumbled across an ancient training plan, written in hieroglyphics on the wall of an temple from a long lost civilization.

Nope, that’s not it.  

How about…Mad scientists created the world’s most scientific 7-minute workout! 

Hmmm, nope. that’s not it either.

Here’s how I really discovered the PERFECT WORKOUT PLAN.

The Perfect Workout Plan

I get a few emails a day from people asking me advice on what plan to train with.

They want to know if the Rebel Fitness Guide is the perfect workout plan, or if they should be doing P90x, Insanity, a gymnastics routine, Couch To 5K, Yoga Strength, a bodybuilding routine, 7-Minute Abs, etc… Unfortunately, all routines tend to present different information, require different diets, and make an effort to present themselves as superior to all other training routines.

So, I reply with something they probably don’t want to hear, but need to hear:

The BEST workout and diet plan is the plan that you actually follow through with.

The best coaching, training plan, and/or diet plan based on your dietary needs doesn’t mean ANYTHING if you don’t actually follow through with it!

I’m proud to say that the Rebel Fitness Guide has helped a ton of people (like Joe,Ryan, Veronica, and Bronwyn) get healthy, but it’s not because it’s the best plan in the entire world.  It worked for them because they tried it out and it WORKED FOR THEM!

The plan helped those people succeed because it lined up with the Triforce of Awesome of Nerd Fitness:

• Happy – You enjoy what you are doing; you can wake up with a smile on your face.
• Healthy - You can do the things you want to do without your body slowing you down, and you get a clean bill of health from your doctor.
• Feel great and look good naked - You feel comfortable in your own skin, you have confidence, and you don’t think badly about yourself.

Now, here’s the thing: there are almost an infinite number of ways to accomplish those three goals, and every single person will have a different definition of what each of those things means.

• If you are a marathon runner, your ideal “look good naked” will certainly be different than somebody who wants to be a bodybuilder.
• If you hate lifting weights in a gym, your “happy” might be outdoor gymnastics orParkour.
• “Healthy” might be running a mile in less than 6 minutes, being able to do 10 pull ups, or having low cholesterol.

You know what? That is AWESOME. That’s what makes us different, special, andweird .

I once wrote an article called “What is Your Profession?“, creating different character classes based on your fitness goals.  This is one of Nerd Fitness’s most popular and discussed articles (450+ comments).  

It was one of my favorite articles to write, and the start of Rising Heroes, a project that is currently in beta testing as we speak (Sign up for the email list if you’d like to learn more, as we’ll be making another announcement on this really soon).

The reason that article has resonated so well with Nerd Fitness Rebels is that WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT.  Some of us are Warriors, others are Scouts or Monks, or Assassins or Druids.

This is what makes the Nerd Fitness community so freaking great.

Uh, so how do I pick which plan is right for me?

“Thanks for nothing Steve, you just told me all options can work. What the heck do I do then?”

For starters, your first step is to determine what your primary goals are, and what the most important thing is to you:

• If you want to run faster or improve your 5k time, then a running training program could work.
• If you just want to lose weight and get stronger, something like the Rebel Fitness Guide could work.
• If your goal is primarily to look good, a body building routine might work best for you.

Now, I already know what your next response is going to be, because I get this ten times a day too:

“Well, I want to lose some weight, build some muscle, and also build up more endurance.”

Here’s the truth: your body can only do so many things at once, and the three goals above will pull your body in three completely separate directions. Although there are some people with crazy genetics that are exceptions, more often than not:

If you want to build bigger muscles and add mass: You need to eat more calories than you burn, which means you won’t be losing fat. These are two separate physiological processes, as building bigger more explosive muscle requires fast twitch muscles, and you build those by doing fast-twitch activities.  Building up your endurance with lots of long distance running puts more emphasis on your slow twitch muscles and makes building bigger muscle and mass way more difficult.

If you want to lose weight, you need to eat a caloric deficit.  Remember,you can’t outrun your fork. And while strength training CERTAINLY helps you keep the muscle you have and allows you to get stronger, don’t expect to put 20 lbs of muscle while losing 20 lbs of fat.

If you want to get better at endurance, don’t expect to also build bigger muscles! Your body is going to use all of your excess calories to fuel your endurance instead of fueling the muscle building process.  You can run sprints while eating to build bigger muscles, which can help add to your endurance capabilities, but if you want to be the best runner possible, you gotta be running!

If you try to do all three at once, you’ll most likely never make true progress in any direction and get discouraged.  Instead, pick one main focus for the next few months and build your training around that.  Make that goal your primary focus, and then be satisfied with minimal/incremental gains in other areas as a side effect:

For example, my friend Ryan from Gold Medal Bodies wanted to perform a one-handed handstand, so he spent 14 WEEKS focusing on just that ONE movement. All other exercise was supplemental.  His endurance probably suffered, he probably didn’t build as much muscle as he could have following a bodybuilding routine, but he didn’t care. He found something that he wanted  to accomplish and built his training around it.  

These days, my goal is primarily focused on muscle and strength building, so I follow a routine that focuses on those things. I spend too much time traveling, I can’t squat and deadlift much these days, and I play basketball on Tuesday nights: all of these things are taking away from my potential, but I’m happy (which means it’s a routine I’m going to continue following through!).

Find a routine that lines up with your goals, and as long as they make you happy and keep you healthy, you have my full support.

I know what I want – what now?

“Well, I have my goals, but how do I pick the right plan for that goal?”

Do enough research to make you feel comfortable about starting that plan for your goals. Watch youtube tutorials, read up on basic workouts, and try to find somebody in your situation that has succeeded with that plan before (if possible).

And then start.  

Like, now.

Today.

Don’t become an underpants gnome.  Pick a plan, and try it out for 30-60 days. Follow it to a T. Do exactly what they recommend, and then reevaluate.

Here’s the truth: ANY halfway decent plan will produce results, as long as you are consistent. 

How will you know if it’s working? Remember: “That which gets measured, gets improved.”

You need to become your own guinea pig.  Every two weeks, take more measurements or new photos and track your progress. Take notes on your workouts.

Ask yourself:

Am I feeling better? Am I looking better? Am I happy?

If so, GREAT.  KEEP DOING IT!

If not, identify why you’re not seeing results: 

• Are you actually following the plan? Or are you cheating?
• Are there small adjustments you can make to improve your process?
• Are you trying to do too much?  Are you trying to accomplish 30 goals at the same time instead of focusing on dominating just one or two?

If after 6-8 weeks you don’t see ANY results in any way (weight loss, strength increase, endurance improvement) – which I would highly doubt – Congrats! Cross it off your list, and move on to another one.  Take the lessons you learned from your previous effort (“this worked, that didn’t” or “I could NEVER stick with that”), and make an informed decision moving forward.

Just don’t keep trying to succeed in the same way that lead to no success last time, or you’ll continue to get the same lackluster results.

As long as you are tracking your progress with more than one metric, you should be able to tell if you are moving in the right direction!

What if I don’t fit in?

“You will be judged…or you will be ignored” - Seth Godin

I think it’s important to have convictions in this world.  I am a firm believer in these ideals, and I have built the programs and products at Nerd Fitness based around what I believe will help the greatest number of people have the greatest chance for success at the three goals above (happiness, healthiness, and looking-good-nakedness).

That being said, I know there are a million and one ways for people to get healthy, and I love that.

It’s why our message board is segmented into guilds and classes: because everybody is different! 

Embrace your differences.  Be thankful that we’re not all clones of one another.  We might be a tight-knit group, but we’re a tight-knit group of misfits and weirdos, of oddballs and outsiders.  Nothing makes me happier!

If you want to focus on bodybuilding, more power to you.

If you want to be a powerlifter, that’s awesome.

If you are a vegan (or paleo), there’s no reason we all can’t coexist!

As long as you are happy AND healthy, keep doing what you are doing, and let others do the same.

Just like in any quality MMO group, we need people of all different classes here at Nerd Fitness and in the Game of Life!

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/05/16/how-to-determine-your-perfect-workout-plan/

HOW ONE CHEF LOST 55 POUNDS WITHOUT GIVING UP GOOD FOOD

Posted by

Jesse Schenker

on

May 21, 2013

This post was written by Jesse Schenker, chef and owner of New York City's Greenwich Village eatery, Recette. The views expressed herein are his and his alone.

Photo by Albert Cheung

It was on my son Eddie’s first birthday that I was first inspired to change my unhealthy habits. As a parent and chef/restaurant owner, I am always on my feet, and I had been experiencing more aches and pains than usual. When I hopped on the scale, the numbers quickly rose — all the way to 255. Over the course of the next six to eight months, I lost 55 pounds. But success was all about finding the method that was right for me. I wasn’t, and never will be, a cookie-cutter diet kind of guy. So I met Dr. Stephen Gullo, a psychologist who specializes in helping people shed weight, he understood that I wasn’t going to be counting points, carbs, or calories. We had to discover way to get healthier that would work with my lifestyle. First, we established what kind of eater I am, pinpointed my motivations for eating, and identified my trigger foods. By determining each of these factors, Dr. Gullo and I worked together to build a healthy diet around my life — not the other way around. I learned that I was a “finisher” — I eat for quantity. I like to finish the whole plate, bag, slice, or slab. So I was able to identify foods that I was able to eat all of — pound(s) of shrimp, mussels, or lobster; an entire head (or two) of broccoli (which I like to char in my home toaster oven). I didn’t have to change my lifestyle, or become a portion-controlled eater. I am a finisher, and I will always be. So now, I eat foods that I can finish.  I learned that, for me, the timing of meals doesn’t matter as many often think. As a chef, my daily schedule tends to be crazy. Normally I eat my last meal of the day between 11pm and midnight, and sometimes even after 1am. Dr. Gullo understood that the fad diets, which can prohibit eating anything after 9pm, just wouldn’t work for me. Instead of starving myself at night, I began eating healthy foods that were okay to eat late at night (like the recipe shared below).

Photo by Melissa Hom

The weight fell off quickly. In the first week, I lost 9 pounds. But, it was work. I had to look out for myself to avoid getting hungry enough to succumb to the wrong foods. Doing simple things like eating breakfast every day (Greek yogurt with fiber-rich crackers or my homemade egg whites salad) to get my metabolism going and ensuring I ate every three to four hours was key. I also stocked up on Chocolite protein bars (they are great!) and high-fiber crackers, which are both good on-the-go. Over time, it stopped feeling like a diet, and became my lifestyle. Now, I like to snack on raspberries or blackberries when I’m watching TV. Fresh fish, fruits and vegetables, and foods high in fiber are now staples in my life. Of course, there’s some wiggle room now that I’ve dropped the weight, but there are certain things I have given up, my trigger foods:  French fries (and most other potato based foods), breads, and desserts. They don’t make me feel good, and they aren’t satisfying to me. I don’t know many people who can stop after just one or two or three French fries, and I can’t either. The foods I know I can’t moderate myself, I’ve removed from my diet. For me, it’s easier to eliminate than it is to only eat a few.   There have been challenges along the way, some I still face today. Because I’m a chef, I spend a lot of time tasting the food at my restaurant,Recette. So I have re-educated myself about what a “taste” is.  If I do it appropriately, I can taste on an as-needed basis. I steer clear of olive oil and butter (which I used to consume too much of), and I also steer clear of a few of our less healthy menu items — like the duck fat fingerlings — because they are too delicious to just have a taste of!  In the little time I have away from Recette, my favorite thing to do is to see what other chefs are up to, check out new restaurants and revisiting my favorites. Now at a healthy weight, my focus is on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Luckily, that means I’m able to make food choices more freely, but initially, I had to watch carefully to make sure I did not touch any carbs or sugar. A few tricks early were to eat a salad after my meal and even order a second one if I was still hungry. Often, I’d double- or triple-up on sides of spinach or broccoli in place of a starchy alternative. I would get the quantity satisfaction by eating a pound or two of mussels or lobster or a substantial piece of fish. Japanese food has always been a favorite of mine, and I learned I could eat a lot of sashimi and other prepared fish dishes and stay within my diet. Over time, my stomach shrunk, and I required less food to feel full. Nowadays, I pretty much eat whenever I’m hungry (but skip the trips to fast food restaurants and doughnut shops). I stay away from foods that are on my “unable to moderate” list, and I pack my meals with fresh ingredients and plenty of vegetables (though I will treat myself to things like steak occasionally). Planning is key. I found a formula that works for me, and I am determined to hold onto it. Soon after I lost the weight, a friend told me, “Go to Home Depot and pick up a 50 pound bag of mulch. See how much everything changes when you do.” She was right – I was enormously moved by how much harder my body had to work holding all of that extra weight. Today, I am lighter in both body and mind. I do not miss those 55 pounds.

RECIPE: SAUTÉED SHRIMP AND BROCCOLI WITH SHIRATAKI NOODLES

Photo by Kate Morin

Serves 1 to 2 What You’ll Need:

½ pound peeled, deveined shrimp (or crab or lobster) 1 16oz bag organic frozen broccoli 1 7oz bag Shirataki noodles Fresh tomatoes or tomato sauce 1 pinch smoked paprika Salt Extra-Virgin Olive Oil spray What to Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Take noodles out of the bag and rinse well. Pat very dry. Set aside.
3. Take a large nonstick fry pan, glaze pan with extra virgin olive oil spray (you can find it at Trader Joe’s) and place over high heat.
4. While you're waiting for the pan to heat, start roasting the broccoli. Empty the bag of frozen florets on a baking sheet, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until tender, but not overcooked.
5. Place noodles down on center of pan and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes to create a super crispy crust. Flip it to cook the other side until crisp. Remove noodle pancake from pan and place on foiled baking sheet. Place to the side.
6. Combine shrimp with a pinch of smoked paprika and salt in the pan where the noodles were cooked. Sear shrimp for 30 seconds on high heat, then remove from pan and place on top of resting noodle cake.
7. Remove the broccoli from the oven, and turn on the broiler to high. Layer the tomato sauce, broccoli, and shrimp on top of the noodle pancake.
8. Place the entire dish under the broiler for 5 minutes to create additional texture. Finish with fresh basil, if desired.

http://greatist.com/health/jesse-schenker-healthy-weight-loss

Focus More on Your Brain and Less on Your Diet to Lose Weight

Weight loss is tricky business. Obviously what you eat has a huge impact on your health and body weight. But anyone who has ever tried to modify their diet for the sake of losing weight knows it isn’t so simple.

Most of us understand intuitively that broccoli is healthier than cookies. We can talk about sugar, fat, gluten, and antioxidants all day, but that doesn’t change the fact that cookies taste good and you still want to eat them. Any weight loss plan that simply tells you what to eat and neglects why you make the choices you make is unlikely to help you in the long run.

Nutrition knowledge is important, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. The real secret is understanding your behaviors and motivations at their roots, and using this information to have a meaningful impact on your health. In this sense, good health starts in your brain, not on your plate.

Willpower is a Limited Resource

The first thing you need to understand is that we don’t have as much control over our food decisions as most of us assume. We tend to believe that we can call on willpower anytime we wish and use it to order a salad instead of a burger, and if we fail to do so it is our own fault. However, self-control is not something we can simply turn on or off, and as a result the process of decision making––particularly when it comes to food––is much more complex.

Approximately 20 percent of the calories we expend daily are used by our brains. Because brain activity is so costly, things like self-control and decision making cannot be relied on indefinitely. As a result, willpower is a limited resource. Like a muscle, willpower becomes fatigued when exercised too frequently. All the decisions you make throughout the day deplete your willpower, and when you start running out of steam your ability to choose healthy food over more convenient food rapidly diminishes. Ironically, increasing your blood sugar can help restore willpower to some extent. But finding a healthy way to raise blood sugar in a state of depleted willpower can pose quite the dilemma. Tired brains find it much easier to just grab a cookie.

The way our brains cope with the willpower conundrum is to automate as much of our decision making as possible. It does this by creating habits. Habits are specific behaviors that occur in response to a trigger or cue. They are also always associated with some kind of reward, which in turn reinforces and strengthens the trigger. For example, a buzz in your pocket is a cue to reach down, grab your phone, pull it out, and glance at the screen. The information you see causes a bit of dopamine to be released in the reward center of your brain. We humans love novelty, which is why most of us have a reflexive response to checking our mobile devices when we receive a notification. This is how habits are born.

Once established, habits occur automatically without expending any willpower or mental effort. Scientists have estimated that up to 90 percent of our daily food decisions occur as a result of habits. This saves our brain energy for more difficult decisions where habits cannot be used.

How Can this Knowledge Help Us Lose Weight?

For one thing, it shows that willpower is not particularly reliable as a means to achieve lasting weight loss, and we’re better off spending our efforts creating healthy habits.

It also teaches us that any habit we wish to develop needs to impart a meaningful reward in order for it to stick. You can probably guess that some vague promise of future thinness is not sufficient––the reward for any habit needs to be immediate and tangible. This means that in order to achieve long-term weight control you need to find healthy foods you actually enjoy eating, physical activities you like doing, and spend your time making these as convenient and accessible as possible.

Fabulous news, right? Using willpower for restrictive dieting is difficult and incredibly unpleasant. We can all let out a collective sigh of relief that it doesn’t actually work. To achieve true success in health and weight loss, we’re better off quitting diets altogether and focusing on building healthy habits we enjoy. Try starting with something as simple as breakfast. Warm muesli with a splash of almond milk and cinnamon only takes two minutes to prepare and is absolutely delicious. Invest in a pedometer and challenge yourself to reach 10,000 steps a day. Setting and achieving an attainable goal is a very powerful reward, and is one of the reasons so many people love videogames.

Since our brains are easily overwhelmed, don’t try to develop too many habits at once. Work on just two or three habits at a time, and build from there. Habits take anywhere from two weeks to six months to take root, but on average about two months. Start with the easiest ones and work your way up. Once you’ve built enough good habits, your health will take care of itself.

Focus More on Your Brain and Less on Your Diet if You're Serious About Losing Weight | Summer Tomato

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Darya Rose is a neuroscientist and the creator of the popular blog Summer Tomato, which provides the ultimate guide to hacking our brains to achieve real and lasting weight loss. Her new bookFOODIST: Using Real Food and Real Science to Lose Weight Without Dieting, teaches you how to stop dieting, build healthy habits, and make life awesome.

http://lifehacker.com/focus-more-on-your-brain-and-less-on-your-diet-to-lose-507545694

I'm Always Hungry!

By Christine Luff, About.com Guide

If you've recently started a new running routine, you may be noticing that your stomach is growling more often than usual. It's normal to feel hungry when you get started with running or you increase your exercise frequency or intensity. You're burning more calories, so your body needs to take more in. It's one reason why some people find themselves not losing weight when they start running or even gaining weight when training for a long distance event, like a marathon.

Here are some ways you can avoid feeling hungry, with overindulging, and hopefully lose weight in the process:

• Get lots of healthy, high-fiber foods in your diet.Most high-fiber foods require more chewing, which helps to satisfy hunger. High-fiber foods are usually bulky so they fill up your stomach faster and can also delay the time it takes your stomach to empty. Also, many high-fiber foods are low in calories, so you can satisfy your hunger with fewer calories.
• Try eating five to six small meals as opposed to three large ones during the day. Eating more frequent, smaller meals helps keep you full, and lets you stay in control.
• Drink plenty of water. Dehydration can make you feel hungry, so if you get some hunger pangs, drink a glass of water. Then wait 15 minutes and see if your hunger subsides.
• Slow down when you're eating. If you eat quickly, you'll eat extra calories while your body is figuring out whether it's hungry. If you eat slowly, your brain will start sending signals to stop eating at the right time.                                                                                                                      http://running.about.com/b/2013/05/15/how-to-avoid-feeling-hungry.htm

Dr. Oz’s Top 6 Weight Loss Secrets

 

By Woman's Day Staff 

When it comes to weight loss, Dr. Oz has seen it all. Since launching The Dr. Oz Show in 2009, he's met and featured hundreds of people who have lost more than 100 pounds just by changing their habits. The secret he's learned from those who have succeeded long-term is to set yourself up to stay motivated. "Once people start to lose weight, they feel good and they're excited to keep going. But that fades. To combat this, build in some easy lifestyle changes that will keep you focused on your health. Eventually, those changes become permanent," he says. In other words, automate your lifestyle. Here, Dr. Oz helps you tackle the most common weight loss hurdles that squelch motivation so you can drop-and keep off-5, 10, 25 pounds or more! 

No ideas for breakfast?

DR. OZ SAYS: Eat the same foods every A.M. 

A recent study showed that women who ate the same meals every day consumed an average of 100 fewer calories over the course of 24 hours. One of the best times to do this is in the morning. Your body has been fasting all night, and you're gearing up for the day ahead. Start strong with yogurt and blueberries, as I always do. This dish has plenty of protein (to help stave off hunger) and vitamins.

Related: Try these foods that will keep you full longer.

No time to cook healthy meals?

DR. OZ SAYS: Make dinner in bulk!

Sunday night is family time. We gather in the kitchen to make food for the whole week. Usually we cook up an evening meal big enough to provide leftovers for the next day or two, then make soups and stews for other dinners and freeze them (we're huge fans of stackable glass containers, like this Pyrex one).

While we're at it, we prep extra raw vegetables and store them in the fridge. We microwave them as the week goes on, or eat them raw with some peanut butter as a snack. Peanut butter is affordable, nutrient-dense and helps you stay full. 

Eating healthy seem too expensive?
DR. OZ SAYS: Don't buy everything fresh

It might take a bit more creativity to consume healthy food on the cheap, but a recent study from the USDA shows that when you analyze price per portion, healthy food and junk food can cost about the same. What drives up price is availability, and you can get around that by buying frozen or canned goods, which are sometimes nutritionally similar to their fresh counterparts. (In certain cases, more so. Once food is harvested, it begins to lose nutrients. Because frozen and canned goods are usually preserved at the peak of freshness, you're often getting them with maximum nutritional value.) Also, buy what's in season. In our house, we'll often combine the two strategies: We buy a lot of blueberries when they're more abundant and less expensive, then freeze them so we can eat them year-round.

TRY THESE GOOD-FOR-YOU PICKS

Frozen corn

Frozen green beans

Frozen cherries

Frozen blackberries

Canned tomatoes 

Related: Learn about 8 calming foods that ease stress.

Keep gaining back the weight you lose?

DR. OZ SAYS: Find an activity you love

Americans put back on about a third of the pounds they lose within a year, and the remainder within three to five years. That's because after losing weight, many people just return to their old habits. Buck this trend by finding an exercise routine you enjoy. That might mean putting a favorite yoga video on your computer and in your DVD player so you don't have to go searching for it. Or maybe it's signing up for a ballroom dance class with a partner. 

Can't control your cravings?

DR. OZ SAYS: Have a treat

Life isn't all or nothing. Studies show that we get the most satisfaction out of the first bite of food. Give yourself permission to eat a bite, savor it very slowly, then walk away. After I have a bite of cake, I'll wash it down with several sips of water to get the taste out of my mouth, then focus on another activity to take my mind off the indulgence.

Related: Check out the 10 best fitness DVDs.

Hate to exercise?
DR. OZ SAYS: Take it easy

A workout doesn't have to be vigorous. One new study found that people who do low-intensity exercise, such as walking, for a collectively longer amount of time may enjoy more health benefits than if they did shorter, more intense workouts. Buy a pedometer or tracking device (like a Fitbit, below)-you'll be surprised by how easy it is to increase your score with little changes, like taking the stairs or getting up during TV commercials. 

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/dr-oz-8217-top-6-weight-loss-secrets-160700320.html

Photo by Brian Doben; hair by Anne Sampogna; makeup by Linda Melo; prop styling by Joe Maer; T-shirt by Hanes Cool Dri Tagless Available at Hanes.com 

Weight Loss Myths

DIETING: SEPaRATE THE FACT FROM FICTION

Common weight loss myths are heard through and through in our daily lives. Women, for example, think that we men don't care about our weight, and that we don't go on diets as often as they do.

Men tend to believe that weight loss, like a military operation, is something that should be undertaken only when truly necessary. We'll cut some slack on a bit of flab around the waist, but when things really get out of line, we're ready for action.

The problem arises when we are confronted with hundreds of possible ways to lose those extra pounds with the least amount of bother and fuss. Well, problem solved. The following are eight weight loss myths that we, as men, often believe for fact. Dropping a few pounds will be a snap once you discard these common weight loss myths.

pack on the starch

Myth: Starches make you fat.
Not true. Starchy foods such as potatoes, breads and pasta are the fastest-burning foods you can eat. All are carbohydrates, which provide the body's main source of ready-to-use fuel.

Nutritionists and dietitians recommend that the greatest share of our diet (60%) be composed of this fuel. "Only a tiny percentage of carbohydrates is ever converted to fat in the body," says Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., director of the human nutrition program at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health.

It's easy to confuse high-carbohydrate foods with high-fat ones because the two ingredients often appear together, especially in baked goods like muffins and potatoes. And it is high-fat foods that obese people crave, not the carbs.

High-fat foods that disguise themselves as low-fat ones include crackers, croissants, baked potatoes, and microwave popcorn.

cutting calories

Myth: You need to cut calories drastically to lose weight. 

Not really. When you cut back too hard on calories, the body goes into a conservation mode in which your metabolism (the rate at which the body's calorie-burning machinery turns over) switches to a slower pace.

This actually decreases your ability to lose weight. To make sure your body keeps burning fat, experts advise that you drop your total caloric intake only a little while adjusting the fuel mix. According to one study, men who got 25% of their calories from fat (as opposed to 38% typically for most men), but ate as much as they wanted of other types of food, lost an average of a half-pound per week.

the drastic diet

Myth: Only drastic diets work. 

Sure, if you eat nothing but oranges all day long for a week, you'll inevitably lose weight. But if you're considering going on a diet of this kind, we suggest you ask yourself: "Can I eat nothing but oranges for the rest of my life?" Right, sure, uh huh.

The problem here is that these kinds of diets aren't realistic. All of us eventually get a craving for a rib steak, and once we get back to reality, the extra pounds start rolling in.

To take weight off, and keep it off, we suggest gradually changing your diet habits. The brain often does not perceive small changes, and you start getting used to it. For example, the next time you go to a hamburger joint and order a burger, tell them to hold the cheese. This will automatically reduce your calorie intake from fats by 100 calories.

keep the yummy stuff

Myth: You have to give up your favourite foods. 

You don't. In fact, you can eat anything you want. Depriving yourself of pleasure isn't fun, and it doesn't work. "There's something called the abstinence violation effect, which says that if you insist on completely avoiding something, human nature makes it likely that you'll break your resolution," says nutritionist Dr. Susan Kayman. "Then you'll tell yourself you've blown it and simply give up. It's much better to allow yourself enjoyable choices every now and then, which makes the real issue how much you have and how often."

For example, red meat can readily be part of a healthy diet if you eat small portions once or twice a week. Choose a lean cut that allows you to eat bigger portions. A simple rule to follow: anything with the words "round" or "loin" is low-fat, such as Sirloin or Eye of Round.

snacks are sinful

Myth: You shouldn't snack.
Actually, the right kinds of snacks can help you lose weight. Again, follow the rule of "low fat burns fat." Fruits and veggies are the best kind of snacks. So are low-fat sweets such as brownies and cookies.

overeating is caused by hunger

Myth: When you overeat, it's because you're hungry. 

Hunger has nothing to do with it. We overeat for emotional reasons, and if you know your emotional triggers, you'll start eating better.

One of the major reasons is stress, because it causes you to eat more quickly. And the foods you want to eat when stressed are more likely to be fatty, pleasurable things. The best way to foil a craving is to take your mind off it, preferably by keeping yourself busy with a task where it's impossible to eat, such as going for a long walk.

burn, baby, burn

Myth: Burning fat demands intense exercise.

Not so. Most any exercise burns fat. According to most physiologists, increasing your activity level up a notch or two can make you lose a pound per week.

Walking, chopping wood, mowing the lawn, and cleaning the basement are some examples of added activities you can add on to your daily routine. It was believed that you needed an average workout of three times a week of intense training to melt away those pounds.

Such workouts are important at increasing cardiovascular fitness, however, fat burning takes place at lower intensity levels.

aerobics or weights?

Myth: Aerobic exercise is better than weightlifting. 

True, you'll burn more fat during an aerobic exercise, but the benefits from aerobics end shortly after exercising.

Strength training (or weightlifting), however, keeps your metabolism alive long after the workout is over. Look at it this way; weight training is like a salary, whereas aerobics is the bonus.

dig out those old trousers

The best part of all of this is that with nutrition experts now advocating occasional splurges, you'll never have to make another resolution about what you eat. So enjoy yourself!


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