weight loss

Apply the 80/20 Rule to Your Diet

10:00PM Kevin Purdy | The 80/20 rule of economics can be applied to a lot of life’s dilemmas, but blogger Jodie Clements used the rule as one of her “10 Commandments” to help her drop 10 pounds and feel better overall. The 20 percent, in her case, applied to eating the foods she really wanted to enjoy: Eat healthy 80 percent of the time – the other 20 percent – eat whatever the hell you like (but not after 9pm). The whole point of eating well for the long term (your whole life) is knowing that you can also have whatever you want sometimes and that yes, a little bit of what you fancy really does do you good. So – how about eating healthy Monday to Friday and saving the fun for the weekend? Works for me. More »

Start Your Healthy Eating Habit

6:00AM Tamar Weinberg | Get into a healthy diet by following a Calorie Counter’s excellent beginner’s diet guide. Learn the basics of nutrition and get definitions of nutritional facts (calories, fat, carbohydrates, sodium, etc.). Craft a diet after determining how many calories you should be consuming each day, and then select the foods that will supply those calories. Organise your food intake, whether with a written plan or with improvisation. Most importantly, once your diet is planned, be consistent. Once you understand the basics of nutrition, turn your diet into a permanent way of living and you can make it healthy and a lot of fun. The Beginner’s Guide to Diet, Nutrition & Healthy Eating [a Calorie Counter] More »

Hack Your Metabolism

8:00AM Tamar Weinberg | Need to get your metabolism going? Personal trainer and blogger Lauren proposes that you can bolster your metabolism by eating enough (not too little, like most people who diet), eating more frequently (5-6 small meals a day), and adding more protein and fiber to your diet. Exercise should also be added to your daily regimen. Weight-training, building muscles, and doing more high-intensity cardiovascular exercise are critical. A 10 minute [intense] bike interval session would be much more beneficial than a slow 30 minutes session. In general, it’s a good idea to do small physical activities that add up, such as making your bed, parking your car further away (so that you’ll have to walk home), and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If you have any other tips that help shake the weight off and keep the fat burning, we’d love to hear them in the comments. Increase Your Metabolism: 11 Hot Tips to Get Your Furnace Burning [LaurensFitness] More »

Track Your Eating Habits with Tweetwhatyoueat

7:30AM Lifehacker US Edition | If tracking your calorie intake is part of your New Year’s resolution and you already use Twitter, create and maintain a food diary using the Twitter-enabled Tweetwhatyoueat service. Here’s how it works: on Twitter, friend the Tweetwhatyoueat bot (named twye) and direct message it your meals and snacks throughout the day from the web, your phone, instant messenger, or your Twitter client of choice. Tweetwhatyoueat creates a food diary based on your direct messages, calculating your calorie totals as you go. (Your food intake isn’t public, so your friends won’t know about those Twinkies.) Being a closet Twitter fan, I love this new way to make the service actually productive. After the jump, check out Tweetwhatyoueat in action. More »

Trick Yourself into Eating Less

9:00AM Gina Trapani | In his new book, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, author Brian Wansink argues that lesser obvious, small changes over time to our daily habits can lead to gradual weight loss. What kind of small changes? Reason Magazine reports: Wansink recommends such tactics as using smaller plates (which make portions seem larger), keeping serving dishes in the kitchen (which discourages second helpings), replacing short, wide glasses with tall, thin ones (which make drinks seem bigger), keeping food scraps and bones on your plate (which reminds you how much you’ve eaten), and dividing snacks from big packages into smaller bags or plastic containers (which discourages you from devouring the entire package). Love all these ideas, which won’t make you feel like you’re depriving yourself at all. What little ways are you helping yourself eat less? Let us know in the comments. Secrets of Weight Loss Revealed! [Reason Magazine via 43 Folders] More »

Keep Your Weight Loss Plan Simple to See Results

2:00AM Kevin Purdy | If you’ve got both a weight loss goal for the new year, don’t spend money (or gift cards) and time obsessing over the latest and greatest diet book. That’s according to the New York Times’ personal health columnist, who offers a helpful reminder that if you cut your calorie intake below your maintenance level, you will slowly but surely lose weight: My advice here is to save your money, toss out (or donate to a soup kitchen) the leftover high-calorie holiday fare, gradually reduce your portion sizes and return to your exercise routine (or adopt one if you spent too much of ‘07 on your sofa). Also simple but still relevant, the Times says, is the “gold standard” meal, stacked with vegetables, fruits and whole grains, with a small bit of protein. For a helping hand achieving your goal, check out Gina’s compilation of weight loss hacks. No Gimmicks: Eat Less and Exercise More [New York Times] More »