Diet & Weight Loss Articles: Weight Loss, weight control & cardiovascular endurance.

There are different stages in the process of reaching your perfect weight and ideal phisical conditioning. For an inactive person, completely out of shape, finding the proper nutrition and diet program is the start of it.

There are so many diets in the market, so many different concepts of what is the most effective program, and so many supplement products that perform "miracles" in your body (not to mention the alternative of surgery).

We want to choose the natural way, the healthy way, and in the long run, what is going to keep us well-fit for life. Forget about all the quick and easy alternatives that promise you the perfect body. Very often we hear stories about people who lost 80 lbs, and later on regained it all back and more.

The diet that worked for me when I was 45 lbs over my weight, was a simple low-fat, low cholesterol diet, and the elimination of artificial sugars and some of the carbs. What carbs are good, and which ones are bad?

I always liked bread. I first started eating wheat bread, instead of white bread or French rolls. Now, I only eat low carb wheat bread (Joe Bread, Atkins, etc), 4 grams of carbs per slice. I don't eat pasta, rice (even brown rice which is healthier than white), pizza, or potatoes.

I eat big servings of vegetables (specially the green leaf ones), and fruit (they are all good for you, specially the berries, which are lower in carbs). Since my main weakness is liking sweets too much, I buy sugar free deserts and yogurt (like Carbolite Yogart, sugar free brownies and chocolate, made by companies like Keto and others). They taste really good.

Another important element in losing weight is how you eat (besides what you eat): I eat at least 3 meals a day, with a snack in between. Big breakfast, usually a bowl of cereal (low carb, low sugar) with soy milk (low carb/sugar free) and fruits (blueberries, strawberries, and half of a banana).

I eat more carbs early in the day. Because a get a great amount of exercise in the morning (when I usually train or coach) I have a protein bar (Low carbs-no sugar, 3 grams of carbs, 250 calories per serving).

You need to be careful with nutritional bars. Don't over eat them (they can make you gain more weight), and find the right ones.

Always balance the calories intake, the fat (specially eliminate saturated fat, which is bad for your cholesterol level), sugar, and carbs.

I also watch for the amount of sodium (salt). Some of the diet products have too much sodium (not good for your body in large quantities, and it can make you gain weight).

When choosing cheese, I recommend low sodium cottage cheese. Cheese is low in carbs, but some of them are very high in fat, and very caloric.

For lunch I eat a good amount of protein: lean meat (fish, tuna, chicken, turkey), lots of veggies, and desert. I eat dinner no later than 8:00 pm (I usually go to bed no earlier than midnight), light dinner, usually one serving, could be fruit, yogart, salad, cereal, etc. This should be your smallest meal. You have to force yourself to eat more often, smaller amounts of food. Starvation (no eating for 4 to 6 hours because you don't have time ) is a factor in gaining more weight.

When I tried to lose weight in the beginning I controled my calories intake (without starving myself). Now, because I exercise heavely, 7 days a week, I can eat bigger meals.

You want to get all the nutrients that your body needs. Your ideal weight has to do with what your body needs, the right weight that makes you feel good, which is not the same for another person, even with the same height and body frame. When you reach your target weight, then the difficult part is to mantain it.

Keep eating healthy. Continue with a balanced diet, and never stop your exercise rutine (it's even better to increase it). Challenge yourself trying different sports activities. Don't stick with the same exercise program forever. Your body gets too much used to it, and it would not change anymore.

Also you will get bored and lose motivation. Cardiovascular activites keep you in a great shape, no matter your age. I like Boxing and Martial Arts, but I also like running, cycling, and aerobics classes. I do a little bit of everything.

I love to vary my workout, it's very challeging, motivating, and in the long run it's also more benefitial. Even for professional athletes, "cross-training" is been proved to be a more effective way to prepare for competitions, like for a runner, alternating working on the track with some bike rides. For a boxer, running 2 to 3 days a week, along with working on the ring.

You have to find things that you like to do, and have fun with it. It will make you feel good, specially after experiencing the results: feeling strong, energetic, mentally more focused, and healthy.
That's what is really important. And of course looking good...

I invite all of you to visit my webpage. Feel free to e-mail me ( ) if you have any questions or comments, or if you like to share your own experiences.

Adriana Simon
Personal Trainer-Group Exercise
Instructor- Nutritional adviser

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