Prasouda Diet: A Lifestyle Change

There are a lot of dieting choices out on the market today, and I am not sure about you, but I have always struggled with figuring out which one is best for me. About a month ago my wife introduced me to a new diet that she simply referred to as a lifestyle change. She told me the word diet has such a negative stigma to it and that if we thought of this as more of change in the way we live our lives, then we would more than likely stick to it. You know what? She was right. We are exactly one month in to the Prasouda Diet and I couldn't be happier.

The Basics

The basics of the Prasouda Diet are pretty simple and the resulting benefits (weight loss, more energy, and better looking skin) are stellar. The way the diet is broken out is as follows: 10% bread/cereals, 10% oils (olive), 20% meats (fish and chicken mostly but you can occasionally have red), and the rest, 60% is fruit, vegetables, and dairy.

First of all the Prasouda Diet really does not limit what you can and cannot eat. Of course you shouldn't eat excessive amounts of candy, fast food, fried food, or anything along those lines, but that goes for all diets. With the Prasouda, you are more focused on whole, natural food. If you have ever been to the Italy or Greece, think about the things you found on the restaurant menus: fresh pasta, fruit, salads, olive oil, fish, chicken, and wine (you read that right!).

What makes the Prasouda different from a lot of other diets is that you are not limiting yourself from eating anything. You can still have a moderate amount of carbs, red meat, and pork. Your meals become more of an experience then just another dinner. For example, here is what a typical Prasouda dinner would look like:

• Green salad with chicken stripes, croutons and dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, mustard, and a glass of red wine.

Does not sound too bad does it? If you take on the Prasouda diet from the mindset of changing your lifestyle, like my wife and I did, you really will find success with it.

The Results

The results have been astounding. I have more energy now than I can ever remember and that is saying a lot since I have a 4 year old son and 2 year old daughter. My wife has lost 10lbs in the first month alone and her acne has begun to clear up on her back. I have only dropped 3 pounds but my goal is not weight loss. Instead I am trying to firm and tone up through an exercise regime of strength training and running.

The great thing I have seen from the Prasouda Diet is the amount of energy that I now have prior to working out. Before, I would literally have to frag myself to the gym, during lunch, and force myself to run. This resulted in inconsistency and I never really accomplished anything that I set out to achieve. Now that has changed and I owe it all to this diet.

So if you were like me and looking to make a healthy lifestyle change, then look no further. The Prasouda diet is a proven diet that will help you achieve your goals of weight loss, fitness, and wellness.

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What To Do If You Are Struggling With Weight Loss

Many moons ago when man first appeared on the planet, life as we know it today was VERY different...

We had to hunt for our meat, brave the elements, and had to grow our own vegetables... There was certainly no grocery store down the block.

So our bodies were designed to protect us and let us adapt to the many harsh conditions... The problem with that is, it is a far cry from how we live today. We have diets of fast and processed foods, and virtually foods that are dead, and no longer holds any nutritional value.

Our bodies are very primal in nature and the reason we gain weight is for protection. Our bodies want to protect us from famine and starvation. Just about 100 years ago, famine was a real threat to most of the world. We needed to survive until a food source was again available. Survival was Job #1!

Our DNA is programmed for this, and has not adapted to the way that we live today. So your body is doing everything it can for your survival.

That is why dieting doesn't work. Calorie restriction along with grueling workouts put your body into fat storage mode... or as what I refer to as "Turning on the Fat Switch ". Once this has happened our body does everything it can to store fat, slow metabolism, and turns on the hunger signal in the brain.

Our body does not realize that there is no real threat of food shortage. Scientists are now studying animals ( in the wild, not domesticated pets ) as to how they stay the perfect weight for their species. Their weight stays in balance even if there is a food shortage, or they have to endure a brutally cold winter. They have discovered this "fat switch" mechanism in them and now they are studying how this also works with humans. You will see that domesticated pets have the same weight problems that humans have.

One major cause of our "fat switch" being turned on is processed food. Processed food affects the body by "turning on the fat switch" for numerous reasons. First of all this food is stripped of any of its natural components which made it healthy and nutritious to eat. This in turn tells the body it is starving, even if you have just eaten a huge meal. It also is laden with chemicals which the body perceives as a threat, so it goes into survival mode.

Your body will fight you when you try dieting, by doing everything it can to store fat, make you more sedentary, it even deadens your taste buds, so that you crave more sugary and salty foods and have to keep eating to feel satisfied.

If you want your body to start working with you instead of against you... you need to learn how to "Turn Off The Fat Switch". Eliminating processed foods is a great start! Try replacing at every chance you can with fresh, whole foods. Your body knows exactly what to do with that!! Your cells will be jumping up and down for joy at the addition of fresh fruit and vegetables, and it will reward you!

To Your Good Health!

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How To Lose Pounds Without Losing Your Mind

Losing weight the conventional way - getting exercise and staying away from your favorite high calorie desserts - can seem anything but painless. Fortunately, if you go about it the right way, the effort needed doesn't have to be superhuman. A few simple changes to your lifestyle can bring big results for your weight loss plan.

The following tips should help you lose those pounds without being driven crazy by too much self-deprivation.

Eat More, Not Less

Diets don't have to be about starving yourself. They don't have to be about bland food, either. There are plenty of healthy foods that can be as great as any dessert. Think juicy cherries and grapes. Throw a handful of these into your breakfast cereal. Not only will your breakfast look luxuriously colorful, the fruit will make it sweet, tasty and healthy. Keep shelled snow peas around at all times. You can add fistfuls to every soup or sauce. They're crunchy and sweet too.

These days diet experts write that losing weight shouldn't be about anything as depressing as self-denial. It should be about giving yourself more of other things. Whether you're thinking of exercise or food, more of everything is a good idea - just as long as what you bring in is helpful.

You don't even need to stick to salads. If you only like pizza, you can still eat it - only, you can get the low-fat version. You won't feel as bad if you allow yourself a low-fat pizza with less cheese as you would, getting no pizza at all. You could also try getting smaller portions when it's really rich food. If you hate diet soda, you don't have to drink diet soda exclusively. You can mix in half a glass of regular soda.

Fill The Void

Denying yourself extra-large portions of all your favorite rich foods can leave you feeling empty inside. Often, though, that's a void that can be filled with things other than food - like new interests. The more activities you have that you genuinely care about, the less need you will have for food.

Cut Out Exercise

In the movie, Back to the Future III, a 20th century Doc Brown regales bar drunks in the 19th century with tales of how, in the future, people will run for entertainment. Truth be told, running and lifting weights aimlessly - the way gyms encourage us to work out - is a depressing way to go about being active.

Instead, you just have to tell yourself to go play. Tell yourself instead that should get up and go splash about in the sea. Pull your dog's tail and run for your life as he chases you - be imaginative. Anything you do that gets you to move can help you lose weight. It is painless exercise. Why should anyone sign up for regular "exercise" when they can do this?

Find Every Excuse To Walk In A Fun Way

There are many ways to get a little more walking done. You should try whatever you seem to like best. Do you have a powered lawnmower? How about getting a manual push mower instead?

Do you enjoy doing charity work? Try volunteering for something that involves much walking - a charity drive, helping the housebound elderly in your neighborhood with chores, volunteering at an orphanage - whatever inspires you.

Being a mall rat is a great way to get some walking done. You don't need to consider it wasted time, walking up and down every level at the mall and drooling over the merchandise. You're actually getting exercise done for free.

Losing Weight Is A Way Of Life

It takes time to learn. It isn't something you can do in time for the party next week when you need to wear that new outfit. Stop setting yourself up with such impossible targets. Instead, give yourself all the time in the world.

It doesn't matter how slowly you move towards a healthier lifestyle. As long as you move in the right direction, it should be okay.

All you'll lose is weight.

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A Guide to Carbohydrates and Weight Loss

Carbohydrates are nutrients that your body breaks down to create sugar. Like other nutrients, carbohydrates also provide vitamins and minerals. But what does this have to do with losing weight?

Why Does The Body Need Sugar?

The cells in our body use sugar to make energy and your brain runs off of it exclusively for fuel. So, just like gas for your car, carbohydrates keeping the motor running. And while it is also true your body can run off fat and protein for a while, it will eventually need to switch back to carbohydrates, otherwise it will start eating its own muscle for fuel - not a good idea when dieting since it lowers your overall rate at which your body burns calories.

Two Kinds of Fuel

There are two types of carbohydrates: simple and complex. Simple carbohydrates are easily absorbed and provide quick energy to the body. Have you ever reached for a candy bar when you were feeling tired? That's you feeding your body simple carbohydrates to get the boost you needed. More examples of simple carbohydrates are honey, breakfast cereals, breads and biscuits made with white flour, fruit juice, and most crackers.

Complex carbohydrates aren't as quickly digested as your body since they usually contain fiber and as a result, don't cause the spikes in blood sugar. They also carry a lot more nutrients than simple sugars. Some examples of complex carbohydrates include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

There has been a lot of talk about carbohydrates and how they hinder weight loss. To a certain extent that is true - if you eat too many carbs, then your body will end up storing them as fat. In addition, when you continue to go overboard on carbs, you become sluggish, overweight and retain water. 

But here's the thing: you body needs carbohydrates to fuel your brain, to create red blood cells (a key component of blood) and to repair wounds. So how much is too much?

Recent scientific studies show that daily carbohydrate intake between 100 grams and 150 grams per day is right where you want to be; enough carbs to run your body in a healthy, efficient manner but not get in the way of weight loss. Of course, if you are exercising strenuously on a daily basis,

 are recovering from illness or surgery, or have other health issues like diabetes, your optimum carbohydrate intake level may be different - and in some case, dramatically different. It's best to check with your doctor to be sure.

Shane Stewart is a full time fitness instructor living in Maryland USA. He writes articles for many online publications on the subject of health, diet supplements, weight loss and fitness.

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Tips For Reaching Your Weight Loss Goals - At Long Last!

If you have been making an effort to shed some of those pesky pounds, one thing you have probably realized is that you are not alone in these goals; after all, plenty of people have a desire to lose weight - but the problem is, most of those who are actually achieving success in their quest to lose weight are, in fact, alone! When it comes down to it, many people

chase their goals in this area for years and are never quite able to figure out a solution that will work for them - eventually reaching a point where they even begin to feel that there is simply something wrong with their body, and that they are

unequipped for dropping pounds. If this is a tale that sounds all too familiar to you, it will be important for you to realize that there are weight loss solutions that work - and in fact, every person has the ability to lose weight, no matter how much they have struggled with weight and weight loss in the past!

When trying to find a weight loss plan, the first thing you are going to want to realize is that weight loss is an extremely lucrative industry - and as such, there are a lot of entrepreneurs and businesses that have started "weight loss programs" of their own without any actual knowledge to back up the claims they are making; instead, these people simply know how to market their products well, and are therefore able to make money selling weight loss plans and miracle diets that do not work at all!

In order to avoid running into this problem yourself, it will be important that you make sure the weight loss program with which you are teaming up is one that has come highly recommended; find a website that knows what it is talking about when it comes to weight loss, and then peruse the programs and products they suggest, as this will help you feel comfortable in the fact that you will be placing your feet on a path that will ultimately lead to success.

And then, as you begin to travel down the path on which this weight loss program has placed you, it will also be important that you have a bit of patience as you strive to achieve your weight loss goals; it is easy to get frustrated and to assume that whatever you are trying is "simply not working," but oftentimes - if you have the patience to keep at it just a little while longer - your body will begin to adjust to the things you are doing to help it, and you will begin to see that fat melting off your body!

In the end, weight is not the only indicator of whether or not an individual is healthy, and it is certainly important that you pay attention to general health principles, in addition to trying to lose weight - but at the same time, weight is certainly an indicator of health, and when you are able to keep your weight down, you will also find you are in a position to enjoy a happier, healthier life as a whole!

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Hunger Signals

What Do You Call Your Still Small Voice?

When opening the refrigerator door or the kitchen cupboard, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about what your body is saying to you? Are you thinking that your stomach is growling from hunger? Are you feeling light or empty? Or are you thinking about the leftover cream pie that is in the refrigerator or the bag of potato chips in the kitchen cupboard?

Chances are, it's the latter. Many of us do not let our bodies get to the point of hunger before we eat. We know that there is leftover cream pie in the refrigerator or a bag of potato chips in the kitchen cupboard and we go there for the food because we know it's there. We do not even stop to think about whether or not we are hungry.

Mindful Eating

Many people talk about mindful eating. That is, do not eat something just because it is there. Think about it first - for many reasons. One of those reasons is, "Am I hungry?" I am quite certain that many of us would have to answer, "NO". But we eat it anyway. Why is that?

For some of us, we eat because it is habit. For some, it is because the food is appetizing, appealing to our senses and causing us to give in to our greed. Sometimes we eat it because it brings us comfort - at least for the short term. Some of us are gluttons. And to the chagrin of us who are overweight or obese for one reason or another, some people don't eat it!!!! How can they do that? How can they look at something so appetizing and appear as though they are not interested?

Conditioning, Practice, Habit

We know that people like different things so that some foods that tantalize us may not appeal to others. There are those who have conditioned themselves or have made a habit through practice, of not eating things that they consider harmful to their bodies. Some people have made it a practice not to eat foods that will trigger their overindulgence in a group of foods. That is, eating ice cream may trigger an over indulgence in not only ice cream but sweets in general. You have probably heard the saying, "one just tastes like more".

People are "Wired Differently"

Some people are just "wired differently". For those of us who over-indulge, it is difficult to understand and it seems unfair that some people seem to be able to eat whatever they want and not be overweight. People have different metabolisms and it really does not seem fair. Often these people do not even want to eat the way those of us who LOVE TO EAT do.

What Do Us "Heavies" Do?

We all know there is not an easy way out for those of us who do not have over-the-top metabolisms. The bottom line is that if we want to be anywhere close to our "ideal" body weights, we have to work very hard to get there and stay there.

We have to rev up our metabolisms with exercise, we have to eat right (the right amount and the right foods) and we have to pay attention to that still small voice within us that tells us to close that refrigerator door or that kitchen door and walk away without the cream pie or the bag of chips. When we pay attention to that still small voice and do what it tells us, WE HAVE THE POWER! That's when we begin to realize that we are in control of our bodies. No longer are our bodies and our emotions in control of us.

It's very easy to hear the voice, but it's very hard to do what it says.

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Weight Loss, Motivation, and Boot Camp

Adventure boot camp is a blend of fitness, nutrition, and motivation. It is a program that is created to help those who are trying to lose weight to reach their fitness goals. However, when you are trying to lost weight at home, there are some motivational tips you can use to help reach your weight loss goals.

Listen To Music
Upbeat music can get you motivated like nothing else. When it comes to exercise, music with a beat can really move you. It can offer you mental stimulation and it can also put you in a better mood. Listening to music while exercising can assist you in working out longer and harder. Hampden-Sydney College in Farmville, VA did a study that showed that college students, who listened to music while they were working out, exercised 11% longer than those who did not have music playing during their workout.

Set Realistic Goals
You certainly can't set a goal that states you will absolutely lose 10 pounds in the next two weeks. This is not only unrealistic but it will also leave you feeling frustrated and discouraged. By setting goals that are unrealistic, it leaves many folks getting discouraged and dropping their goals within a few months. You need to set goals that you can achieve. Take baby steps and do not try to change too much too fast.

Clean Out Your Closet
If you are having a tough time sticking to your weight loss goals, you should clean out your wardrobe closet. Once you see the clothes that are in your closet and begin to make a real effort to change the way that you look can help motivate you to achieving and keeping your weight loss goals. For instance, if you lose say 10 or 15 pounds so that you are at a healthy goal weight, you will no doubt need a new set of clothes. So a new wardrobe could be something to look forward to and to work hard at.

Avoid Looking At Skinny Models
Many women will post pinups of super skinny models for motivation. This usually doesn't work and will only hurt your progress most likely. Scientists have stated that pictures of super thin models actually discourage women because they create unrealistic self-standards. By looking at pictures of these super thin women, women get frustrated that they will never be able to achieve that look so they just stop trying. Instead, post images of you at your healthy weight and use that as motivation.

Attend Weight Loss Boot Camp
Weight loss boot camp is more than just your average exercise class. Instead, it is a way for you to receive beneficial boot camp style workouts. You also receive tremendous support and motivation as well. The majority of experts who run these boot camps have extensive knowledge as well as experience in the field of nutrition and fitness.

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