Calories | DietMadeEasy.org

Counting Calories, Diet Plans and Losing Weight – What You Need to Know

When you look at all the information available about dieting, it is easy to become confused. Some so called experts will have us spend all day adding up grams of fat and counting calories. Diet plans that focus on number crunching to help with weight loss are ten a penny, but do you really need to be spending all your time with a calculator at the ready?

The Truth About Counting Calories

Diet plans requiring you to constantly count the calories of the food you eat can be a lot of work and high maintenance. Whilst there is nothing wrong with keeping an eye on your calorie and fat intake, as long as you are sensible with your diet it should be safe to leave the calculator at home.

When talking about being sensible I mean not eating high fat processed meat like bacon or bologna, not snacking on things like potato chips and cakes, getting some nutritious fresh fruit and veg in your diet, eating wholemeal bread and whole grain pasta instead of white and not over consuming on sugary or alcoholic drinks that also contain lots of calories.

Diet Plans You Can Follow At Home

As already mentioned, you should try and switch to brown bread and pasta instead of the white versions. The same goes for brown rice too. These healthier versions are much less processed than their white alternatives. This leaves them full of complex carbohydrates, which are good for weight loss because they leave you feeling fuller for longer. This should help you avoid snacking between meals.

Another way to avoid snacking is to eat smaller meals more often. By taking the food you consume over 3 or 4 meals a day and splitting it into 6 smaller meals, you will be doing a lot of good for your weight loss. The reason for this is that your metabolism will start to slow down if there is a long gap between meals, making it slower at burning calories. Diet plans that split your meals up into more regular smaller portions will give your metabolism a helpful kick-start.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation…Again!

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Thermogenic Foods – 5 Foods That Burn More Calories to Digest

Conventional wisdom has always been that whether you gain or lose weight day-to-day and year-to-year is simply a matter of computing total calories consumed minus total calories burned. This is a pretty easy formula and makes logical sense.

However, increasingly researchers are recognizing the role of the personal metabolism rates of each of us in terms of how – and how fast – we burn calories. It seems that different people have different resting metabolism rates. This simply refers to how fast we burn calories when we are not in motion, such as when sitting and sleeping.

Furthermore, it has come to light through research that there exist a number of thermogenic foods – foods that actually burn more calories to digest than they provide the body when eaten. These foods have been shown to actually increase your metabolic rate. They are a highly-recommended part of any diet whereby the person wants to lose weight faster than with diet and exercise alone.

If you are looking for a list of thermogenic foods, here are 5 foods to speed up your metabolism:

1. Celery:

Celery is one of those wonderful foods that actually burn more calories to absorb and digest than it supplies to the body. Celery is easy and fun to eat, and most people find that it has a mild and agreeable taste. Try it with a low-fat yogurt dip.

2. Chili sauce and mustard:

Spicy foods like chili peppers, chili sauce, hot salsa and mustard have actually been shown to speed up your metabolic rate by up to 25%. That’s exciting news because it means that these spicy treats actually help your body burn away the other foods you are eating with them much faster.

3. Cayenne pepper:

Another spice that really works well as a thermogenic food is cayenne pepper. Adding this in sufficient quantities to your food can speed up your metabolism by up to 20%, according to the Oxford Polytechnic Institute.

4. Ice water:

Drinking water can actually help you burn more calories, too – especially if it is ice water. Ice water is helpful because, due to its cold temperature, it requires more work for your body to process; your body has to heat up the water as it processes it. If possible, avoid drinking ice water with meals since it can dilute your digestive enzymes.

5. Green tea:

Green tea is a favorite morning and afternoon drink in countries such as Japan, but also increasingly in the West. Research has shown that the cannatic extract and gymnemic acid in green tea reduce the absorption of sugar into the blood. It also inhibits the action of amylase, which is a digestive enzyme which helps the body process carbohydrates – a leading cause of weight gain.

Consider these 5 thermogenic foods as you as an additional way, besides the right diet and exercise, to lose weight faster.

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