10 Tips for guaranteed weight loss

Sasha Gusain

Health Me Up

With fad diets and fitness routines round every corner, it is quite difficult to keep a tab on which weight loss tips really do work and which don't. Should you join that bhangra aerobics class, adopt that no-carb diet, or eat dinner at 6pm? 

Never mind all that loophole-ridden weight loss jargon, step over to the healthy side. Here are 10 tips for guaranteed weight loss that will set your weight straight, and help you adopt some really healthy, weight-friendly habits for life.

Weight loss tip 1: Decide how much weight you need to lose - Most people start their weight loss journey by claiming to be xyz kilos overweight. This isn't a healthy way to project or aim for weight loss. Calculate your desired weight against your height by using reliable methods like the BMI, and set a healthy weight loss target. This is often half the battle won.

Weight loss tip 2: Time management - This is quite often overlooked. Decide which part of your day will be dedicated to exercise, when in the week you will stock up on groceries, and when you will do the cooking - all within your current work and home life routine. If you don't do this now, your days will be rushed and unplanned, and you won't be able to sustain your weight loss efforts.

Weight loss tip 3: Stock your kitchen - Keep your house well-stocked with fruits, vegetables, healthy meats, grains, cereals, spices, and flavourers. Follow our tricks to healthy cooking, cooking vegetables for the week, and low-fat cooking posts to understand how best you can stock your kitchen with healthy and delicious ingredients. All of this will go into helping the next step - cooking healthy meals at home.

Weight loss tip 4: Eat healthy homecooked meals - Whether it's you who's cooking, a family member, or house help, ensure that every one practises healthy cooking methods, and ingredients. Ask any person who's lost weight the healthy way, and you will always hear about how healthy homecooked meals were a big reason behind it. Use less oil, low salt, fresh produce, and you'll start seeing results in no time.

Weight loss tip 5 : Start a cardio + weights workout - A healthy weight loss programme is incomplete without a good exercise routine, and weight training mixed with cardio is the best way to lose weight. Of course, variations and forms exist, but any workout that stresses on muscle tone and increased heart rate will always help you lose weight and keep it off. You can either start a home workout today, or rely on gyms for fitness training.

Weight loss tip 6: Alter your snacking habits - At Health Me Up, we have several healthy snacking ideas for you. Set those French fries aside, skip that aerated drink, and ban those unhealthy deep fried samosas. Explore the healthy snack world and you will find several appetisers, party snacks, movie snacks and meal accompaniments that'll satisfy every craving of yours.

Weight loss tip 7: Have at least one active hobby - It isn't sufficient to rely on just 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Moving from bed to office chair, and back to bed, isn't a healthy way to live. Buy a motion sensor gaming console that lets you enjoy social games with friends and family, plan weekend trips, clean your house once a week, dance, play sports, the list is endless. Get out of the coffee shop and dining table rut, and you'll have fun along with the healthy weight loss.

Weight loss tip 8: Find a solution to combat stress - As we pointed out in our post about stress and weight loss, stress is always detrimental to healthy weight loss in the long run. Find ways to combat stress and you'll soon realise that your diet and exercise aren't sabotaged anymore, and that you truly do see results. Look at yoga, meditation, deep breathing exercises, or simple hobbies like reading to fight stress.

Weight loss tip 9: Drink plenty of water - You've known that your body relies heavily on water for all important bodily functions, and yet you skimp on drinking adequate quantities of water every day. Well, it's time to stop that. Check out some exciting ways to make water interesting and you'll be packing it away in no time. Do not forget to carry a water bottle to your workout, and take a few sips after every 2-3 minutes of exercise.

Weight loss tip 10: Plan healthy vacations - Why go all the way with healthy weight loss, when one tiny vacation will just come along and topple it all? Healthy vacations aren't impossible. Take a look at how you can eat smart on a holiday, and then at bodyweight workouts that you can carry with you wherever you go, to understand how to holiday right. Above all, remember that these are lifelong habits that'll help you stay fit forever and not short term weight loss quickfixes.

Read more Personal Health, Diet & Fitness stories on www.healthmeup.com

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DIY: Natural Liver Detoxifying Drinks for Glowing Skin

These are some of the symptoms caused by uncleansed Liver: Dull skin, poor digestion, dark circles, aggression, mood swings and tiredness. This drink is for the people who have acne prone or dull skin, who are trying to reduce weight and suffer from tiredness. This will give you a boost in the morning and make your eyes brighter :)

All the ingredients mentioned will be from your fridge so not to worry :)


Drink this detox in the morning before you eat ANYTHING at all. So this will be your first treat in the morning. When you drink this on empty stomach, it will be much easier and effective to cleanse the liver.
All you Need:
1/2 Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
1 glass water

Just mix the ingredients in a blender or just with a spoon and drink it up :)
You can do this every other day when you start and after a week, continue this everyday.
You should wait AT LEAST half hour to eat your breakfast after drinking this.
I also want to link a video below of this really pretty Beauty Guru on YouTube who have tried this detox drink and her experience. So check it out below

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Ask Pam: Speed Up Weight Loss

Losing weight is hard, is there anything I can do to ensure I will be on the right track?

This is such a good question! Losing weight isn’t easy for anyone but with a positive and healthy approach, you will be right on your way to reaching all your weight goals. To have the best weight-loss outcome possible, you must provide your body an optimal environment.

What does an optimal environment mean? Well, making sure your body has what it needs and what it can do to make it better. There are four steps to keep in mind:

1.  Make sure you are eating enough calories daily. You might be thinking “Oh, that’s easy. If I need 1500 calories to lose weight, all I have to do is eat that much — just  eat two or three big meals.” That’s essentially true, but if you spread out your calories in 5-6 sittings, your weight loss might be more effective.

If you eat your daily calories through multiple evenly spaced meals, you’ll give your body just enough for energy purposes and won’t store the excess. And with the regular meal frequency, you will keep your metabolism working all day long and find yourself less hungry.

2. Get into exercise. For weight-loss purposes, view exercise as a tool to elevate your metabolism. Studies have shown you will benefit more from increasing your exercise intensity rather than exercise duration. Also don’t exercise on an empty stomach. When you exercise on an empty stomach you use up muscle energy, you start to break down your muscles and fat for that energy.

The more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be and the faster you will get rid of the excess fat. So make sure you have a small meal or snack with some carbs, a bit of protein and little bit of fat about an hour before you exercise.

3.  Drink lots and lots of water. A well-hydrated body will be an efficiently running body. You give your body what it needs to do its job.

4. Get rest (I need to focus on this one!) You need to rest and recover. Without enough sleep, your body will be under a ton of stress. Stress leads to an increase level of cortisol; regular elevated levels of cortisol can contribute to the accumulation of fat and will only make it harder to lose the weight and fat.

Think of your body as a temple and treat it that way. By following these steps you’ll be doing so and you’ll be right on track with reaching your overall weight loss goal!

Ediets

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13 Ancient Egyptian Beauty Secrets

I did a post before on Ancient Ayurvedic (Indian) Secrets. And this is the second on on Egyptian. I absolutely LOVE searching for Ancient Secrets and not just for Beauty purpose but also because I think Historic stuff is really reliable than nowadays. I can trust the historic beauty recipes rather than today's lotions and potions. And we all know the reason why :)

When we think of Egypt, Cleopatra comes in our mind first. The woman who is an iconic symbol of Beauty. She wrote books on Beauty Secrets she found throughout her life. Things like Exfoliants, Eye Creams, Hair Extensions are all coming from Ancient Egypt. But they were pure and natural in those times unlike now. So keep on reading to reveal those secrets...

Secrets Revealed:

• Many Egyptian women used Sea Salt from The Dead Sea. Cleopatra used this salt in her bath. This Sea Salt was a skin rejuvenator and it combats skin problems like eczema and psoriasis. I did a blog post on DIY: Pure Sea Salt Facial Toner and I absolutely love it :)

• The combination of Milk and Honey was really popular as a face mask or body wash. I use honey with cinnamon so I might give this a try too.

• A hair mask was made with Coconut Milk and warm Extra Virgin Olive Oil to strengthen and condition hair. It sounds so luxurious <3

• Aloe Vera played a HUGE part in Egyptian and Indian beauty routines. It was used for skin, hair, healing burns etc... This ingredient was like All in 1 ingredient. And I absolutely agree. They even ate it  sometimes to improve digestion and lose weight.

• Avocado was used to reduce the puffiness under eyes.

• A technique called Body Sugaring was used to remove Body Hair. It removed the hair from roots and when it grows back, there will be less of it and it will be softer. I will do a separate post on this technique because it will take VERY long to explain. 

• Rosemary Oil, Castor Oil and Almond Oil was used to stimulate hair growth. 

• Egyptian women used a lot of Aromatic Oils for a clean hygiene. The most popular were frankincense and myrrh essential oils. These were their treasured scents and the most adored <3

• The combination of Honey and Natron (or Baking Soda) was used as a facial scrub. 

• Coconut Oil, Shea Butter or Cocoa Butter was used as hair gels and to hold their hairstyles in place. 

• This was the most surprising secret I found. Cleopatra used crocodile's dung and Donkey's milk together as a Body Wash. Well no one is really going to adapt this tip nowadays but I just thought to put it down because I think its pretty strange. 

• Henna was popular to give their nails and hair a tinted colour of yellow-red tones. 

• They made eye liner out of galena and lead sulfide. The spice saffron was used as an eyeshadow. Burnt almonds were used to darken eyebrows. And Red Ochre was used to color lips.

Be Inspired.

Take Care.

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Green coffee beans show potential for losing weight

In a limited trial, 16 overweight young adults taking various doses of green coffee bean extract lost an average of 17.5 pounds and 16% in body fat in 22 weeks. But questions remain, experts say.

By Melissa Healy

Los Angeles Times

When roasted at 475 degrees, coffee beans are sometimes described as rich and full-bodied. But for the full-bodied person who is not so rich, unroasted coffee beans — green as the day they were picked — may hold the key to cheap and effective weight loss, new research suggests.

In a study presented Tuesday at the American Chemical Society's spring national meeting in San Diego, 16 overweight young adults took, by turns, a low dose of green coffee bean extract, a high dose of the supplement, and a placebo. Though the study was small, the results were striking: Subjects lost an average of 17.5 pounds in 22 weeks and reduced their overall body weight by 10.5%.

If green coffee extract were a medication seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration, these results would make it a viable candidate — more than 35% of subjects lost more than 5% of their body weight, and weight loss appeared to be greater while subjects were taking the pills than when they were on the placebo.

But as a dietary supplement, green coffee extract does not require the FDA's blessing. In fact, it is already available as a naturopathic medicine and antioxidant.

Joe Vinson, the University of Scranton chemist who conducted the pilot study, said the findings should pave the way for more rigorous research on coffee bean extract's effects. A larger trial involving 60 people is being planned.

Vinson, whose research focuses on plant polyphenols and their effects on human health, said it appears that green coffee bean extract may work by reducing the absorption of fat and glucose in the gut; it may also reduce insulin levels, which would improve metabolic function. There were no signs of ill effects on any subjects, Vinson reported Tuesday.

The study used a "cross-over" design, which allowed each subject to serve as his or her own comparison group. For six weeks, volunteers swallowed capsules three times a day, ingesting either 700 or 1,050 milligrams of green coffee extract a day or taking a placebo. After a two-week break, they moved, round-robin style, to another arm of the trial.

Subjects did not change their calorie intake over the course of the trial. But the more extract they consumed, the more weight and fat they lost. Altogether, they reduced their body fat by 16%, on average.

Of the 16 volunteers, six wound up with a body mass index in the healthful range.

One downside is that the extract is "extremely bitter." It would be difficult to take without a lot of water, Vinson reported.

At roughly $20 per month, however, green coffee extract is much less expensive than any of the weight-loss medications available over the counter or by prescription.

The trial was conducted in India and paid for by Applied Food Sciences Inc. of Austin, Tex., a manufacturer of green coffee bean extract.

The pilot study drew strong cautions from several scientists who weren't involved in the research.

"This is certainly a provocative study," said Dr. Gerald Weissmann, a physician and biochemist at New York University. But he said nutrition experts would want assurances that green coffee beans do not cause "malabsorption" within the human gut — a condition that would lead to weight loss as well as malnutrition, heart arrhythmias and other problems because vitamins and minerals are not passing through the intestine.

Dr. Arthur Grollman, a pharmacologist at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, said coffee beans contain about 250 different chemicals — some with positive and others with negative effects on human health. Though Vinson identified polyphenols and chlorogenic acid as the agents that appear to promote weight loss, Grollman said that claim needed further study. In the meantime, he said, consuming an extract that contains both good and bad chemicals in dense concentration seems an unwise thing to do.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

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Diet Mistakes: 7 Reasons You Are Not Losing Weight

Almost all the people I meet, I notice that they are on a diet especially my girl friends. And they always seem to complain about their body. (I don't think they are fat at all though lol). Any-ways, so I thought to help them out a little.

Common Dieting Mistakes:

1)     Eating only Healthy food DOES NOT mean you are going to lose weight. Weight loss is all about being portion conscious says Dawn Blatner, a diet counselor at Northwestern Memorial Wellness Institute in Chicago. So consider the amount of food that would fit in one palm. And that is the exact amount you should eat per meal. (I swear by this rule because I have tried it and it really does make a HUGE difference).

2)     Skipping meals to reduce the calories is NOT a good idea. And especially breakfasts which is the most common mistake. Breakfast meals instantly boosts up your metabolism and if you skip it, there are more chances you will not lose weight because your metabolic rate (or digestion power) is slow.  

3)     People tend to eat really fast because they haven't got time in their offices. You should really chew each    and every bite slowly. Doctors say at least Chew 32 times on each bite. This will break down the food in tiny bits and will be easily digested. (I have tried this rule too and it works as well as the first one).

4)     Common studies tell us that 20% of our calories comes from Liquids such as coffee, smoothies, energy drinks etc... Here are some calorie counts for common beverages:

12-ounce light beer: 110 calories
12-ounce regular beer: 160 calories
8-ounce coffee with cream and sugar: 30 calories
5 ounces of wine: 120-130 calories
6-ounce wine spritzer: 80 calories
16-ounce sweetened tea: 160 calories
12-ounce diet soda: 0 calories
12-ounce soda: 150 calories
20-ounce smoothie: 410 calories

Drink less of these and more water, fruit juices or any low calorie beverages.

5)     Eating salads is really healthy but have you thought of the toppings added in the salads like dressings, cheese, mayo etc... The salads you get in fast food restaurants are as bad (for health) as the burgers. At McDonald’s, the Caesar salad with crispy chicken and creamy dressing totals 520 calories.

6)     You are not losing weight even if you are eating low fat foods. Why? The reason is if you tell a person that this food is low-fat, she'll take a larger serving of that food than usual. And more food — even if it's nonfat — means more calories.

7)     Starving is the worse thing you can do to your health. It slows down your metabolism rate and it slowly removes lean muscle and tissue. So when you finish your "starving diet" you will gain weight more easily. I recommend losing weight easily by doing healthy diets.

I hope you girls learn from your mistakes :)
The quote below really motivated me when I was trying to lose weight.

"The only reason I'm fat is because a tiny body couldn't store all this personality" 

Take Care.

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Ancient Ayurvedic (Indian) Beauty Secrets

India has all types of people living in all kinds of places from a dusty dessert to tropical forests. And the secrets I am going to share with you all are coming from the era when princesses used to bathe in milk. So that is about 3000 years ago I am guessing.

Who doesn't wish to look beautiful. And so mothers have passed on their beauty secrets to their daughters to make them look like princesses.
Indian women mostly focus on their skin complexions, body shape and hair care.
We love to make our hair smell good, keep our skin fair and build curves in our body.
It is said that ancient Indian women were far more beautiful than they are today. It was because they didn't use any cosmetics.
Read more to find out those ancient secrets...

1)     If you are in a journey of losing weight, you might want to try adding spice in your diet e.g. chillies. But don't go overboard. Chillies speeds up your metabolism and believe it or not, even models add chillies in their diet to maintain their weight.



2)     To get rid of wrinkles, mash up a few slices of banana and apply it as a face mask. This is recommended for mature, dry skin.



3)     To tone and even out the skin complexion, make a paste of chick pea flour, turmeric and milk. Add the ingredients until it has consistency like any other face masks. Apply this paste all over your body and massage it in. Wash it out after 10-15 mins.


4)     Use cold water as a toner. It closes the pores, improves blood circulation and cell stimulation.


5)     For acne prone skin, mix some onion juice and honey in equal ratio. Apply it as a face mask and wash it after 10-15 mins. 


6)     Another face mask for acne prone skin uses sandalwood and turmeric powder mixed with yoghurt. This mask has anti-septic properties. It makes your skin smooth, soft, acne-free and even toned. Mix the ingredients until your desired consistency forms and apply it. Wash it after 10-15 mins.

7)     Ancient Indian women used Kajal (homemade natural eyeliner). It was made from castor oil, coconut oil, almond oil and black mustard seeds. This made your eyes brighter/whiter, it improved vision and stimulates the growth of eye lashes

8)    The main ingredients used for hair care were Amla, Shikakai, Coconut Oil and Henna. There are actually thousands of herbs that were used for hair care but these are the main ones. And I always use coconut oil. I can swear by it. It really does help my hair grow really fast.

9)     Ayurveda advises that do not put anything on your skin that you cannot eat. All their face masks are actually edible. Even if I use these natural stuff, I put make up on my skin like foundation. I wonder what it does to my skin :( I will try to use them less often now.

10)   Many people think that being beautiful will make us happy but it is really the other way around. You will be beautiful when you are happy from the inside. Try to walk past a crowd of people with a frown on your face or a beautiful smile and you will notice the difference.

The secret my Mum passed on to Me:

It is a face mask. My skin was really bad back then and so she advised me to apply this face mask which actually changed my skin A LOT. 
It was Honey and Cinnamon mask. For more details on this click HERE.

I truly want to stop using cosmetics and embrace these ancient secrets. And to be honest, the one that I have already embraced have worked WAY better than anything else. For example coconut oil for my hair, honey and cinnamon for skin and certain diets for body. I will try my best to adapt a Natural Healthy Lifestyle.

Are you willing to do that? Can you give up the cosmetics and embrace Natural ingredients that work like magic? I will certainly try my best :)

Take Care.

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DIY: Lose Weight Without Exercising

It is 100% possible. I lost weight like that as well. I didn't do much exercise. All I did was added something in my diet and thats all.
What food can possibly reduce weight without exercising? Read more to find out...
The secret is in Pineapples. I did so much research on this and found many stories of men and women telling about their weight loss stories. Most of them lost a lot of kilos in a short time. And I tried it too. But since I only needed to lose 3-4 kgs, I lost my weight in about 2 weeks time. That's really short time compared to what I tried before.

How do Pineapples help lose weight?

Pineapples are the only fruits which contain an enzyme called Bromelain. I mean they may exist in other fruits but not as enough as in Pineapples.
This enzyme helps in digestion of food, prevents inflammation and swelling.
They even make Bromelain Tablets for weight loss. So why take tablets when you can get it naturally.

They also contain Vitamin B1 which helps metabolize carbohydrates.

How much should you eat?

You can eat 2-3 slices of pineapple or make a juice/smoothie out of it.
If you are making a smoothie, mix an apple with it because apples also help in weight loss.

DO NOT eat canned pineapples because they add sugars, preservatives and many other things that are harmful. This will NOT help you in weight loss.
Not even the Pineapple Juice cartons work even if they say it is 100% natural.
So you will be better off drinking/eating it FRESH.

Check out my other posts on weight loss without exercising: DIY: Most Effective Weight Loss Tip and Lose weight from a glass of homemade drink.

Take Care. 

Love Krishna xxx

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