CALORIE COUNTING

The basic formula for weight loss goes a little something like this:  Eat more calories than you burn in a 24 hour period and you gain weight.  Eat less calories than you burn in a 24 hour period and you lose weight.  This is because calories are actually a measurement of energy.  If you consume energy and burn it you are essentially putting it to use, however; when you don't burn the energy it is stored within the body as fat to be used at a later time.  This is what causes us to gain weight.

I recently read an article about a man who went on a Twinkie diet.  He ate nothing but junk food for several weeks but watched the amount of calories he was eating.  In the end he lost weight.  So it would seem that it doesn't matter what the food you eat is as long as you don't consume more calories than you burn each day.

This is the popular view most people take when it comes to weight loss.  Unfortunately this view is a little misleading.  You see, you can lose weight with this method but your HEALTH will be deteriorated in doing so.  When you eat junk food you are consuming empty calories.  This means that there is literally no nutritious value in the food you are eating.  It is simply calories that are stored as fat because the food is very hard for your body to digest (which means it is hard to burn these calories). 

If you want to lose weight and actually BE HEALTHY you need to put highly efficient fuel into the vehicle that is your body.  Humans were made to eat fruits and vegetables which is the reason we don't have sharp teeth, so you should definitely incorporate more of these foods into your diet!  If you are going to eat meats, they should be heart healthy meats such as fish or chicken (and not of the fried sort).  Red meats raise cholesterol levels and further your chances at heart disease; sugary junk foods will help you down the path to diabetes, and  preservatives / high fructose corn syrup / sugar and refined white flour all lead to one thing... EARLY DEATH.  These ARE NOT good things people...

When you change your diet to include healthy foods the pounds will literally fall off without exercising at all.  Exercise will help you reach your goals faster and will also help tone your body, but EXERCISING IS NOT THE IMPORTANT CONCEPT IN WEIGHT LOSS!  The important concept is putting the right fuel in your body so that when you exercise you can get the most out of it.  It is a cycle in which diet and exercise build on one another to create a highly effective living machine.  If you are taking in 4000 calories a day in junk food, you can bicycle or run all night and you won't burn enough to lose weight.  On the other hand, if you are putting good foods into your body you will see the results almost immediately.

Keep these facts in mind as you begin any diet program as they are the basics...  Increase fruits and veggies and eat a variety of colors especially dark green veggies which are high in phytonutrients, decrease junk food / red meat / dairy / drink way more water than you currently do and begin exercising even if it is just walking a little each day.

Do this and you WILL SEE RESULTS!  Do this and your weight will drop, your energy will increase, and YOU WILL FEEL BETTER than you ever have before.  Do this and you will be on the right track for a perfect LIFE HEALTH MACHINE!