There was a time in this world when the need to lose weight was completely unheard of. People ate well, but they worked well too. They woke up early in the morning and then engaged in a whole day's work. This work was mostly physical labor; people worked on fields digging, sowing, and harvesting. They tilled their soil, rode horses, worked on farms and ranches. The result was that they could afford to eat almost anything they wanted in whatever quantities they wanted.
But that was ages ago. The world has changed so much since those days. Life styles have changed so much and the comforts and facilities have increased so much.
Since no single food group can nourish the body with all the vital ingredients it requires, it is important that we consume a variety of healthy foods to derive the nutrition our body needs.
There are five main food groups, they are:
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Cereals and Pulses
• Dairy
• Poultry, Fish and Meat products
A healthy balanced diet of these five food groups ensures essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. The food group serving size will depend upon various factors like age, activity level, body size and gender. It is also important that one eat a variety of foods from within and across the food groups. As some foods from within a food group provide more nutrients than others.
This will ensure that one gets the maximum recommended nutrition from the food group; besides the food variety will make for an interesting meal.
In conclusion, it must be noted that allopathic medicine treats the symptoms rather than the root cause of the disease, which is usually caused by wrong eating habits leading to an accumulation of toxins within the system. Whereas a nutritious diet can rectify underlying causes of diseases and restore one to wholeness of mind and body. Once we realize the connection between a wholesome balanced diet and good health, our food will be our medicine and maintaining good health will be a matter of making the right food choices and leading a healthy lifestyle.
During the period of thoughtless youth it is not such a major concern. The young practically eat nothing and so weight problems do not bother them so much. But as soon as you turn twenty, you start showing signs of weight gain and that too in all the wrong places.
It's not about the hour glass figure or the perfectly sculpted and toned body. It is more about staying fit and remaining healthy to ensure a long, disease free life. Every body knows that those extra pounds spell illness. All over the world people are switching to a healthier life style and the catch line is indeed weight loss.
This site is dedicated solely to the cause of losing weight and that too in the most surprising ways you ever heard of. There is only one thing that you have to bear in mind. Weight loss does not happen by itself. There are only two ways to accomplish it...
The first is by watching what you eat and the second is by seeing to it that your body gets the exercise that it needs.
1. Drink plenty of water.
Your body needs a lot of water so give in to water. Water is not just a way to flush out toxins; if you have more water in your body you will 
generally feel healthier and fitter. This itself will discourage any tendency to gorge. The best thing about water is that is has no calories at all!
2. Start your day with a glass of water.
As soon as you wake up, gulp down a glass of cool water. It's a wonderful way to start you day and you only need a lesser quantity of your breakfast drink after that. A glass of water lets out all your digestive juices and sort of lubricates the insides of your body. You may have your morning cup of tea but have it after a glass of water.
3. Drink a glass of water before you start a meal.
Water naturally needs some space so that you feel fuller without actually having to stuff yourself.
4. Have another glass of water while you are having the meal.
Again this is another way of making yourself full so that you can actually rise from the table eating less but feeling full just the same. Instead of drinking it in one gulp, take sips after each morsel. It will help the food to settle faster so that you get that feeling that you are full faster.
5. Stay away from sweetened drinks, especially sodas.
Hey - all those colas and fizzy drinks are sweetened with sugar and sugar means calories. The more you can cut out on these sweetened bottle drinks, the better for you. Plus, soda contains phosphoric acid which can drain calcium from your bones and contribute to bone loss.
6. Include in your diet things that contain more water like tomatoes and watermelons.
These things contain 90 to 95 % water so that there is nothing that you have to lose by feasting on them. They fill you up without adding to the pounds.
7. Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice.
Juice is often sweetened but fresh fruits have natural sugars. When you eat fruit, you are taking in a lot of fiber, which is needed by the body, and fruits of course are an excellent source of vitamins. (A glass of juice typically has 120 calories!)
8. Fresh fruit juice.
If you do have a craving for fruit juice then go for fresh fruit juice instead of those that contain artificial flavors and colors. Or even better, try making your own fruit juice taking care not to sweeten it with too many calories.
9. Choose fresh fruit over processed fruits.
Processed and canned fruits do not have as much fiber as fresh fruit and they are nearly always sweetened.
10. Increase your fiber intake.
Like I mentioned, the body needs a lot of fiber. So try to include in your diet as many fruits and vegetables as you can.
11. Go crazy on vegetables.
Vegetables are your best bet when it comes to losing pounds. Nature has a terrific spread when it comes to choosing vegetables. And the leafy green vegetables are your best bet. Try to include a daily salad in you diet always.
12. Eat intelligently.
The difference between man and beast is that we are driven by intelligence while beasts are driven by instinct. Don't just eat something because you feel like eating it. Ask yourself whether your body really needs it.
13. Watch what you eat.
Keep a watchful eye on every thing that goes in. Sometimes the garnishes can be richer than the food itself. Accompaniments too can be very rich. Remember that it is the easiest thing in the world to eat something without realizing that it was something that you should not have eaten. Selective memory you know...
14. Control that sweet tooth.
Remember that sweet things generally mean more calories. It is natural that we have cravings for sweet things especially chocolates and other confectionary. Go easy on these things and each time you consume something sweet understand that it is going to add on somewhere.
15. Fix times to have meals and stick to it.
Try to have food at fixed times of the day. You can stretch these times by half an hour, but anything more than that is going to affect your eating pattern, the result will either be a loss of appetite or that famished feeling which will make you stuff yourself with more than what is required the next time you eat.
16. Eat only when you are hungry.
Some of us have the tendency to eat whenever we see food. We use parties as an excuse to stuff ourselves. Understand that the effect of a whole week of dieting can be wasted by just one day's party food. Whenever you are offered something to eat do not decline it completely bit just break of a nibble so that you appear to mind your manners and at the same time can watch your diet.
17. Quit snacking between meals.
Do not fall for snacks in between meals. This is especially true for those who have to travel a lot. They feel that the only time they can get a bite to eat is snacks and junk food. The main problem with most snacks and junk food is that they are usually less filling and contain a lot of fat and calories. Just think about French Fries�tempting but terribly fattening.
18. Snack on vegetables if you must.
You might get the pangs of hunger in between meals, but it is something that you can very well control. Or even better, try munching on carrots. They are an excellent way to satisfy those cravings and are good for your eyes and teeth. True, you might end up being called Bugs Bunny, but its miles better to be called Bugs Bunny than fatso.
19. Go easy on tea and coffee.
Tea and coffee are harmless by themselves. It's when you add the cream and sugar that they become fattening. Did you know that having a cup of tea or coffee that has cream and at least two cubes of sugar is as bad as having a big piece of rich chocolate cake?
20. Try to stick to black tea/coffee.
Black tea or coffee (and green and white tea) can actually be good for you. But personally I would like to recommend tea rather than coffee. The caffeine in the coffee is not really good for you because it is an alkaloid and can affect other functions of your body like the metabolism.
21. Count the calories as you eat.
It's a good idea to have an idea of the calories that most food items have. If it is a packed thing then the label is sure to have the calories that the substance has. (You might want to keep a food log. Click the link for more info.)
22. Be sure to burn out those extra calories by the end of the week.
If you feel that you have consumed more calories than you should have during the week, (it happens you know) make sure that you work off those extra calories by the end of the week.
23. Stay away from fried food.
Fried foods are an absolute no-no. The more fried things that you avoid, the less weight you will gain. Fried things are called so because they are fried in oil or fat. And even if the external oil is drained away, there is still a lot of hidden oil in it so stay away from it.
24. Do not skip meals.
The worst thing you can do while watching you diet is skip a meal. It has just the opposite effect of what you want. You need to have at least four regular meals every day.
25. Fresh vegetables are better than cooked or canned vegetables.
Try to eat your vegetables raw. When you cook them, you are in fact taking away nearly half the vitamins in them. And canned vegetables too are processed and are not nearly half as good as fresh vegetables. When you buy your vegetables it would be a good thing to see if the label says that it is pesticide free.
26. Not more than an egg a day.
Eggs are not such a bright idea. It would be best to reduce your intake of eggs to maybe three in a week. But for those of you die hard egg fans, you may have up to one egg a day but nothing more than that. When you do eat eggs, just eat the white part. The yolk is full of cholesterol.
27. Make chocolates a luxury and not a routine.
Chocolates are not or at least they should not be a part of your diet. So do not indulge too much in them. Even the bitter chocolates are not good for you because there is still cream in them. (Dark chocolate has some antioxidants, though.)
28. Choose a variety of foods from all food groups every day.
This is a fine way of keeping deficiency diseases at bay. Change the items included in your diet every day. This is an excellent way of keeping deficiency diseases at bay and it helps you to experiment with a variety of dishes and there by you do not get bored of your diet.
29. Say no to alcoholic beverages.
Alcoholic beverages too are not good for you. Beer can be fattening and the rest of the alcoholic drinks (which are full of sugar) may not be too fattening by themselves, but after a couple of swigs, you will be in no position to watch your diet and your appetite will be something to battle with.
30. Try to have breakfast within one hour of waking.
It's always best to have breakfast within an hour of waking so that your body can charge itself with the energy it needs for the day. The idea is not to wait for your self to get really hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!
31. 50 to 60% of your diet should be carbohydrates.
It is a myth that you should try and avoid carbohydrates when you are on a diet. Rather the other way around I should say. Carbohydrates are a ready source of energy and so 50 to 60% of your diet should be carbohydrates. Just stay away from bad carbs like white bread and candy. (Have whole-grain bread instead.)
32. 15 to 20% of your diet should be proteins.
Various processes and activities are going on in our bodies. Things are broken down and being built up again. Resistance has to be built up, recovery from disease too is needed and for all this the body needs plenty of proteins so see to it that 15 to 20 % of your diet consists of proteins.
33. Fats should be about 20 to 25%.
You need only this much of fat in your diet so keep it at that. Stay away from trans-fats and saturated fats. Try to consume monounsaturated fats such as walnuts and olive oil, which can actually lower your cholesterol. (One switch I made is using natural peanut butter. I love it!)
34. Try to adopt a vegetarian diet.
A vegetarian diet is undoubtedly better for those of us watching our diet. There are a lot of advantages of keeping to a vegetarian diet but I don't want to sing an ode to vegetarianism now. What I would suggest is keep to a vegetarian diet as much as you can. Make a non-vegetarian diet a 
weekend event or something if you find it impossible to give up eating all those animals.
35. Go easy on salt.
Too much salt is one of the causes of obesity. Make it a point to really cut down on salt.
36. Use a non stick frying pan for your cooking.
This way you do not have to add oil. The golden rule is to try and avoid as much oil as possible and a non stick pan is the perfect solution to this problem.
37. Boil your vegetables instead of cooking them, or even better, eat them fresh.
However, if you do not like eating your vegetables as it is, try steaming them without adding anything at all. This is probably the healthiest way to eat cabbages, cauliflowers, and a host of other vegetables.
38. Working Out.
When you decide it's time to start working out, start slowly and don't get discouraged if you don't achieve your fitness goals after the first week. Many people make this mistake. They feel that if they really push their bodies they can lose more weight in a couple of work outs. This is a very serious thing in fact.
39. Don't stand, walk.
If you can walk about then do so. Do not stand in a fixed position. Pacing about is a good thing to do. If you are thinking deeply about something, try pacing about, it will aid in your thinking.
40. Do not be a couch potato.
It is the easiest thing in the world to become a couch potato. You know what we are talking about don't you? That shapeless thing that sits or reclines on a shapeless chair in front of the television and stupidly munches away at something fried!
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