Weight Loss - How Do I Achieve It?

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Lose Your Weight: Simple & Practical Ways

Eat right & on-time

Weight loss is a critical issue in today's society with obesity on the rise and people finally realizing what being overweight is doing to their bodies, their health and eventually their lifestyles.

Weight loss is good for many conditions. It is of real benefit in diabetes, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, joint problems and raised cholesterol.

Weight loss is possible with exercise and healthy meals alone, but including good-quality protein and building lean muscle mass will help you lose more quickly, helping you to keep the weight off and stay healthy.

Weight loss is virtually guaranteed if one sticks to the regulations of the diet.

Weight Loss basics: eat more calories than you use & you'll put on weight; use more than you eat and you'll lose it. Weight Loss is now a goal which can be reached really easily if we stick to a training regime, diet plan. But for some, surgery may be the only hope.

Surgical techniques have evolved over the past few decades, and most are effective, in the sense that they do typically lead to substantial weight loss.

However, all experts do agree that the best way to maintain weight loss is to follow a healthy lifestyle. Whichever approach you prefer, the key to long-term success is a slow steady weight loss. It is proven that it is important to prepare yourself mentally for your weight loss journey and the lifestyle changes you are about to undergo.

For individuals who are morbidly obese, surgery to bypass portions of the stomach and small intestine may at times be the only effective means of producing sustained and significant weight loss.
The primary factor in achieving and maintaining weight loss is a lifelong commitment to regular exercise and sensible eating habits. You will find that all levels of your life are improved with weight loss which brings you so much personal satisfaction.

If eating habits are not completely and permanently changed, the weight loss provided by a diet is not going to last long. If you suffer from, or think you may suffer from, a medical condition you should consult your doctor before starting a weight loss and / or exercise regime.

Drinking water is one of the most rapid weight loss tips that dieticians suggest to people and leads to 100+ calories extra burned a day. Every twenty soft drinks you skip from your normal intake equates to about one pound of weight loss.

Fasting: While fasting plays a major part in some diets, it is generally not recommended for safe weight loss.

 

Diet

Dietitians are nutritionists who work directly with clients or patients regarding their nutritional needs. Dieting reduces your caloric intake but exercising helps you burn more calories. DIET Weight loss is vital if obesity is present. Dieting is easier than you ever imagined. On a vegetarian diet, weight loss is not supposed to be a problem.

A well balanced reduced calorie diet containing moderate fat is recommended. The inclusion of different kinds of fruits into weight-loss diets is a healthy way of dealing with starvation, as well as providing the body those nutrients and vitamins it needs to function properly.

Exercise While You Diet: Weight loss is all about reducing your caloric intake while you increase the calories you burn. First of all decide how much weight you want to lose, and set yourself a realistic target, ideally with the help of your dietitian or doctor.

A diet that works for some people does not work for others. A healthy breakfast is one of the key elements of a healthy diet and consequential weight loss. Most fad diets, if followed closely, will result in weight loss-as a result of caloric restriction.

Moreover, dieters who fail to adopt better exercise and eating habits will regain the lost weight-and possibly more. As it begins, large amounts of water will be shed, leading the dieter to think that significant weight reduction is taking place.

Consult your doctor, for any health problem and before using any supplements, making dietary changes, or before making any changes in prescribed medications.
Much of the early weight loss on a very low calorie diet represents loss of muscle tissue rather than loss of fat.

As many as 85% of dieters who do not exercise on a regular basis regain their lost weight within two years. Repeatedly losing and regaining weight (yo-yo dieting) encourages the body to store fat and may increase a patient's risk of developing heart disease.

Eating three balanced, moderate-portion meals a day-with the main meal at mid-day-is a more effective way to prevent obesity than fasting or crash diets, which convince the body that there is an ongoing famine. Modern medicine has found ways to extend our lifespan through dietary restriction.
For the sake of your health, always consult your doctor before making any significant dietary, nutritional or lifestyle changes. The American Heart Association (AHA) generally recommends a diet with less than 30% fat.

Individual's lifestyle, food preferences, preparation abilities, snack habits, cravings, etc, should all be considered when developing a dietary plan. It is important that the nutrition counselor tailor the diet to the individual as opposed to adopting a "one-size-fits-all" approach. After weight loss, lower-fat diets may be the best. For most people, being overweight is a result of an insufficient amount of exercise, an inadequate lifestyle routine and a poorly balanced diet.

Most high-fiber foods are also high in water and low in calories, making them must-have diet foods. Soluble fiber can help to lower cholesterol; insoluble contains indigestible fibers that add bulk to our diets.

Some experts believe dieters have better control if they eat several mini-meals throughout the day. Exercise and a balanced diet are the key factors in fat loss and weight reduction.
Drinking water is one of the most rapid weight loss tips that dieticians suggest to people and leads to 100+ calories extra burned a day.

The ultimate tip to eventual success: regular exercise and a balanced diet. Add one cheat day to your diet to rid yourself of cravings.

Eat a healthy diet filled with lots of vegetables, fruits, and whole grain products.

Fasting: While fasting plays a major part in some diets, it is generally not recommended for safe weight loss.

Surgery

But for many in this situation, weight loss surgery is the only hope. One of the earliest forms was gastric bypass surgery. There are many forms of surgery these days and all have pros and cons.
There are still substantial risks, however, as with any major surgery. For those who believe surgery is the best option, consulting with an experienced physician is essential.

For individuals who are morbidly obese, surgery to bypass portions of the stomach and small intestine may at times be the only effective means of producing sustained and significant weight loss.
Such obesity surgery, however, can be risky, and it is performed only on patients for whom other strategies have failed and whose obesity seriously threatens health. If hiatus hernia symptoms are chronic and do not respond to diet and medication, surgery may become necessary.
Today, most surgeons elect to perform laparoscopic surgery, because it is minimally invasive and recovery time is reduced.

Burn

If you imagine yourself losing weight and burning up calories during normal daily activity, you will lose weight and body fat. It has a cellular effect on the body, causing fat cells to release their stored fat to be burned as energy. The food you eat during the day should be burned off through activity.
Exercise While You Diet: Weight loss is all about reducing your caloric intake while you increase the calories you burn. Dieting reduces your caloric intake but exercising helps you burn more calories.

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We all know that to achieve a healthy weight loss we need to burn more calories than what we take in. Exercise increases the metabolic rate by creating muscle, which burns more calories than fat.
When regular exercise is combined with consistent, healthful meals, calories continue to burn at an accelerated rate for several hours. Calories burned depending on your activity level.

Not only does fat provide a sense of fullness, eating enough of a healthy fat called omega-3 fatty acids may cause your metabolism to burn fat more efficiently. If your weight remains constant, you are probably taking in the same amount of calories you burn each day.

If you're slowly gaining weight over time, it is likely that your caloric intake is greater than the number of calories you burn through your daily activities.

The number of calories we burn each day is dependent upon our basal metabolic rate (BMR), the number of calories we burn per hour simply by being alive and maintaining body functions and our level of physical activity.

Our weight also plays a role in determining how many calories we burn at rest -- more calories are required to maintain your body in its present state, the greater your body weight. Someone whose job involves heavy physical labor will naturally burn more calories in a day than someone who sits at a desk most of the day (a sedentary job).

For people who do not have jobs that require intense physical activity, exercise or increased physical activity can increase the number of calories burned.

To lose one pound, you must burn approximately 3500 calories over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. Use a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you burn while sitting, standing, exercising, lifting weights, etc. If you're eating fewer calories than you're burning, you'll lose weight.

As it is well known when the body does not get enough calories it starts to burn the fat that was deposited in the fat tissue.

Exercise will help you burn excess calories and fat, and will also help to tone and build muscle. Retaining muscle is the key to optimal fat burning metabolism.

Disclaimer: Consult your doctor before starting any diet / weight loss program. Information in this article is for educational purpose only.

Do you want to learn more about the current topic & other related articles? Visit http://www.health-fitness-wellness.com for practically useful information on health & healthy lifestyles.
Pradeep Mahajan is a health enthusiast. He researches, studies & writes on health & fitness topics.
You can reprint this article provided it is not changed and you include the author's web-site address.

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The 411 on Calories

Find out how many calories you need to keep your body fueled and fit.

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If you're interested in nutrition or weight loss, you no doubt pay a lot of attention to calories. But do you know what exactly calories are, and how many you really need?

Calories: The Good, the Bad, and the Empty
 
There is really no such thing as "good" or "bad" calories. "Your body processes each calorie the same," says Kimberly Lummus, MS, RD, Texas Dietetic Association media representative and public relations coordinator for the Austin Dietetic Association in Austin, Texas. But Lummus adds that some foods are far more nutritious than others. "We strive to make our calories the most nutrient-dense that we can, meaning that we are packing in a lot of nutrition for a very small amount of calories. You are optimizing your calorie budget, so to speak."
While calories get a negative rap when it comes to weight control, calories are actually an important source of fuel you cannot live without. "Your body needs calories for energy," says Lummus. Calories are the force behind everything we do, including eating, sleeping, and breathing.

"Calories are how much energy your body gets from the food and beverages that it consumes," says Lummus. Most food sources are composed of some combination of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, and each of these nutrients contains calories. Yet it's important to stay away from "empty" calories in foods like sweets and soda, warns Lummus.

Calories: Finding Your Magic Number

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You must find the right balance of calories every day, depending on your overall goals. "Eating too many calories and not burning enough through physical activities would yield a weight gain, while not eating enough calories [to keep up with your calorie burn] would yield a weight loss," says Lummus.

The number of calories a person needs depends on many individual factors, including age, weight, height, and activity level. When dieticians counsel clients on calorie needs, they take all of these facts into consideration and come up with a suggestion for how many calories are needed to maintain, lose, or gain weight.

In general, men need between 2,000 to 2,400 calories and woman between 1,200 and 1,500 calories per day. Consuming less than 1,200 calories per day can be harmful to your health, notes Lummus, since it may trigger your body to go into starvation mode, causing your body to actually hold onto calories.

Teenagers' caloric needs can vary considerably. For example, teenage boys may require up to 3,000 calories per day, while teenage girls usually need around 2,200 calories each day. "For children, calorie needs are going to change a lot more because they are growing so rapidly," Lummus continues. She says that infants 5 to 12 months of age need around 850 calories daily, 1- to 3-year-olds need roughly 1,300 calories daily, 4- to 6-year-olds need about 1,800 calories daily, and 7- to 10-year-olds require 2,000 calories daily.

"Counting calories is usually not necessary for children," says Lummus. "You just want to make sure that your child is getting all of the requirements from all of the food groups."
Both children and adults should get the bulk of their calories from a variety of healthful foods, including low-fat or fat-free dairy products, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein sources — the building blocks of a nutritious diet.
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Burning Calories at the Gym

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"Calories burned" readings on gym equipment are only estimates, but they provide a pretty good measure, depending on how honest you are with your information.

You finish your workout on the treadmill and the machine reads 300 calories. But how do you know if that number is truly accurate? Experts say there's a good chance it's not.

Burning Calories at the Gym: Crunching the Numbers
 
At the end of your workout, most cardio machines provide you with the number of calories you burned. Keep in mind though that this reading is an estimate — and often an overestimate — and should not be taken as gospel. "If you see that you expended 300 calories for a workout, there is probably about a 10 percent margin of error," says Pete McCall, MS, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise. "The number you see on the treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical machine, stair climber, etc., is just an estimate, but it is a relatively accurate estimate. It is based on what is called metabolic equivalents, or METs, which refers to how much oxygen your body uses."
McCall says that one MET is equal to 3.5 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of your body weight per minute. This is the amount of oxygen your body requires at rest. When you work harder (e.g., when you exercise), your body burns more METs. "Your body has to expend energy to use oxygen. If you're running, your body needs more oxygen and your body spends more energy," McCall says.
The cardio equipment at the gym uses information on the number of METs it takes to perform a given exercise, as well as your weight if you enter it, to give you an estimate of how many calories you burned. "It is more accurate if you enter your weight and your age than if you don't," McCall notes.

If you are trying to lose weight, you may be particularly interested in finding out the exact number of calories you burned during your workout.

"If people are really concerned about monitoring weight loss, the gym equipment is a good estimate, but the best estimates are going to come from heart rate monitors," says McCall.
Newer heart rate monitors allow you to program in your resting heart rate and your age, and they use this information to give you a more precise estimate of the calories you expend.

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Burning Calories at the Gym: Maximizing Your Burn
  
When deciding which piece of gym equipment will give you the best burn, don't count on the calories-burned estimates from the machine. In order to burn more calories, you simply have to work harder. So the best way to determine which piece of equipment will help you burn the most calories is by gauging how hard you are able to work on it — if you're not able to sustain a workout on the elliptical machine, for instance, use the treadmill instead.
While you can use the calorie counters on gym equipment as rough guidelines, the most important way to maximize the number of calories you are burning is to find a piece of equipment you enjoy using and to use it often.

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Boost Your Metabolism With Mini-Meals

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Spreading your calories throughout the day may help you stick to your diet and keep off the weight.

                 

"This time I am going to stick to my diet," you tell yourself. You make every effort to follow a healthful eating plan, but in a moment of weakness, hunger strikes and you find yourself indulging in a feeding frenzy.

Is there any way to break this vicious cycle and lose weight for good? It might be time to consider not only looking at what you eat, but also when you eat.

Skip Meals Now, Overeat Later

If you are trying to lose weight, you probably know the importance of keeping an eye on the number of calories you're consuming. But you may not know that how many calories you eat at each sitting can make a difference in your weight-loss efforts, too.
There is evidence that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer, larger meals during the day tend to weigh more than people who eat a healthy breakfast and four or five smaller meals. This may be because they end up feeling hungrier, which makes it easy to give into temptation. "When you skip meals you will [eventually] overeat," says Pete McCall, MS, an exercise physiologist with the American Council on Exercise.
    
When you go for hours without eating, your blood sugar levels dip, which can leave you feeling hungry and shaky. A drop in blood sugar can also trigger people to lose their willpower and reach for a calorie-laden treat.

    

Smaller Meals, More Often

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If you eat smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day, your appetite may be better controlled, helping you adhere to your weight-loss plan. By consistently fueling your body with calories — even limited calories — you avoid the feeling of starvation that derails so many diets.
"The idea is that if you have three meals and a couple of snacks throughout the day, you are regulating your blood sugar and maintaining your body chemistry," notes McCall.
When you are consuming fewer calories every day as part of a weight-loss plan, it's even more important to eat consistently throughout the day to reassure your body that you are not starving. According to Kimberly Lummus, MS, RD, when you eat too few calories, your body goes into starvation mode and actually holds onto calories, which can sabotage weight loss.

Managing Your Calorie Intake

Switching from two or three large meals to five or six "mini-meals" may help keep both your blood sugar and metabolism steady. McCall recommends restructuring the day's intake into smaller meals plus more substantial snacks. For someone who plans to eat about 2,000 calories per day, for example, he suggests eating three meals of 500 to 600 calories each and two 100- to 200-calorie snacks.

If eating larger meals is working for you and you're meeting your weight-loss goals, there is no reason to switch to smaller meals. Spreading your calories out may simply help you better control your appetite and perhaps increase your diet success, especially if you reach a weight-loss plateau.

Remember that the bottom line for weight loss remains the same: "Monitor your caloric consumption," advises McCall. "Do not over-consume."

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The Benefits of a Brown-Bag Lunch

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Packing your own lunch gives you more control over calories than hitting the local deli. Get tips on how to pack a tasty and satisfying brown bag lunch.

If you think brown-bag lunches are just a memory from school days, along with your backpack and Mom’s cookies, think again — a new twist on the old brown bag lunch could be your ticket to diet success during the work day.

Brown Bag Lunch: Calorie-Counting Control
 
“Making a brown bag lunch is helpful because you can control what you put in it,” says Donna L. Weihofen, RD, MS, a nutritionist at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison.
Not only do you control the calories in your brown bag, but you also are able to control the portion sizes. Portion distortion — a general inability to judge correct portions of food that you don’t prepare yourself — is a significant contributor to diet failure and weight gain.

Researchers in Minnesota created an interesting study to test this idea. They recruited 19 women who agreed to eat a prepackaged boxed lunch each day at work for two months. The women were given either a small lunch of 767 calories or a large lunch of 1,528 calories (double the size) and were told to eat as much or as little as they wanted. Data analysis at the end of the study showed that the women who had the larger lunch ate 278 calories more each day. The results indicate that ongoing exposure to larger portion sizes causes people to unknowingly eat more, an effect that has been demonstrated in other studies as well. As expected, the women who ate the large lunches also gained weight, about two pounds over the course of those two months.

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Brown Bag Lunch: What to Pack

If you are used to eating out, you may face a learning curve as you experiment with brown bag options. As a general rule, you want to follow your calorie-counting guidelines and create a meal that will be filling. This requires the right mix of fiber, protein, fruits, and vegetables. For example, pack a chicken sandwich on multigrain bread with a small salad (with light or no dressing) and a piece of fruit or low-calorie yogurt.

Here are some ideas for healthy and filling brown bag lunches that will also save you money:

• Wrap up your leftovers. Try a slight modification to make last night’s dinner a fresh experience. For example, stuff leftover chili in a pita with some veggies and avocado slices for a new taste.
• Microwave a frozen meal. There’s a frozen lunch entrée to meet every diet and every budget. “A lot of these new microwave dinners are really, really nice and they are very controlled in calories. I think the industry has done a lot of good things in producing those products,” says Weihofen, adding that you can find some very tasty bargains in the frozen food section.
• Pack a soup. Soup is filling and generally low in calories. In fact, if you eat soup before digging into your main lunch course, studies show you’re likely to eat 20 percent fewer calories.
• Focus on cost-saving foods. In general, packing a brown-bag lunch will save you money compared to eating out every day. If you are stretching your pennies, Weihofen recommends using beans, eggs, potatoes, and leftovers from whole chicken meals (rotisserie or baked at home) for truly low-calorie and budget-friendly meals.
• Brown-bag snacks as well. Create your own 100-calorie snacks to get you through the day. Making these yourself might require a food scale for careful measuring, but you’ll save a small fortune over prepackaged 100-calorie snacks and be more eco-friendly.

There are times when brown-bagging it won’t be possible because of your schedule or your worksite. In those instances, Weihofen recommends doing a little advance research to find healthy eating options nearby. By making smart choices when eating out, and with some creativity at home, you can enjoy tasty low-calorie lunch creations that suit your waist and your wallet.
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Can Eating Too Few Calories Stall Your Metabolism?

Learn why cutting out too many calories can keep you from losing weight.

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If you're like most people who want to lose weight, you want to lose it fast. So you may be tempted to make drastic changes in your diet to dramatically reduce the number of calories you consume. But what you may not know is that eating too few calories can actually backfire and sabotage your weight-loss efforts.

"It would make sense to stop eating [when you are trying to lose weight], but it actually works in the opposite way," says Kimberly Lummus, MS, RD, Texas Dietetic Association media representative and public relations coordinator at the Austin Dietetic Association in Austin, Texas.

Calories and Your Health
  
The most effective way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you expend, creating a calorie deficit. But if your calorie intake dips too low, says Lummus, your body could go into starvation mode. "Your body will start to store fat because it thinks it is not going to get anything," says Lummus. "You will be at a point where your body is kind of at a standstill."

Lummus says that when your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows to a crawl, burning calories as slowly as possible to conserve its energy stores. This is why people who cut their calories too much may reach a plateau and stop losing weight.

Eating too few calories can be the start of a vicious cycle that causes diet distress. When you cut your calories so low that your metabolism slows and you stop losing weight, you probably will become frustrated that your efforts are not paying off. This can lead you to overeat and ultimately gain weight.

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"It is so hard to sustain cutting calories and eating too little. What typically happens is that the person will go in the opposite direction; they will just become too hungry and go into a binging mode," says Lummus. "Because you are getting frustrated by not seeing any weight loss, you just sort of throw in the towel."

 

In addition to sabotaging your weight-loss efforts, eating too few calories can also harm your health. When your body goes into starvation mode, you are at increased risk for the following:

• Abnormally low blood pressure and slow heart rate
• Heart rhythm abnormalities
• Electrolyte imbalances, especially potassium deficiency
• Gallstones
• Hair loss
• Brittle fingernails
• Loss of menstrual periods in women
• Soft hair growth over entire body
• Dizziness
• Trouble concentrating
• Anemia
• Swelling in your joints
• Brittle bones
• Depression

Coming to Terms With Calories
  
Remember that calories are not your enemy. They are a vital part of a healthy and energetic life. "Your body needs a certain amount of calories just to sustain proper function," says Lummus. This is why fad diets that force you to cut out too many calories leave you feeling lethargic, shaky, and ready to give up.

Instead of opting for a fad diet, find a reasonable eating and exercise plan that allows you to lose one-half to two pounds per week. There is evidence that people who lose weight at this rate — by making better nutrition choices, eating smaller portion sizes, and exercising — also have the best chance of keeping it off. Make a plan to adopt new healthful habits that you will be able to stick to indefinitely, and always allow yourself a little wiggle room for special occasions.
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Fast Food: Counting Calories on the Road

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So you're counting calories away from home and have no choices other than fast food. Thanks to healthier menus items, you can stay on your weight loss plan even at the roadside drive-through.

Fast food is tempting if you are traveling long distances — it’s easy to pick up and you don’t have to invest as much time as you would in a sit-down eatery. Yet, if you are counting calories and looking to lose weight, you may have concerns about how to make healthy choices in fast-food restaurants.
Your wariness is justified. Data shows that people who say they eat often at fast-food restaurants are more likely to eat a high-fat diet and have excess body weight. But when you are on the road, you may have few options. Here’s how to make the best choices.

Fast Food: Ask Questions Before You Order
 
Curious to find out what types of healthy options are available on the road in rural areas, a team from Texas A&M University surveyed 261 fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, and supermarket/grocery stores in rural Texas. They found varying healthy choices in each location, but determined that supermarkets/grocery stores offered the most healthy prepared meals and side dishes, and convenience stores offered the least healthy options. Fast-food restaurants varied in their offerings and were not consistent, even among those of the same national brand.
The results of this survey indicate that as a road-savvy traveler, you will have to adapt how you approach counting calories depending on what is available.

“All fast-food restaurants have come up with some healthy choices. You just have to get the nutritional analysis and sit there and look at it,” says Donna L. Weihofen, RD, MS, nutritionist at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison. You are looking for calorie count per serving and for other key elements of the nutritional analysis, such as sodium (salt), carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and protein.

Fast Food: Clues to Healthy Choices

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Navigating a sometimes massive menu board is the secret to ordering well. Stand to the side as you review it so you won’t be tempted to order in a rush.
Better choices to order:

• Grilled chicken sandwiches (hold the bun if watching carbs, hold the mayo and cheese if watching fat)
• Salads with protein like broiled chicken (choose light or no salad dressing, hold the cheese)
• Fresh fruit (without added sugar or syrup)
• Steamed, roasted, or fresh vegetables
• Baked potatoes with low-fat toppings (skip the cheese sauce and bacon bits)
• Low-fat and low-sodium soups
• Chili made with lean meat or turkey
• Whole-grain bread, buns, wraps, or pizza crust
• Baked chicken or fish
• Low-fat or non-fat milk

What to skip:

• Anything fried
• Full-fat dressings and toppings (bacon, cheese)
• Mayonnaise-heavy salads (potato, coleslaw) and toppings
• Upgrading to larger portions and adding French fries to your order
• Sugary drinks
• Dessert items other than fruit or fat-free frozen yogurt

It’s true that the healthy choices look smaller and plainer than more traditional fast-food fare. “It might not be your favorite thing,” acknowledges Weihofen, but you will feel better making the healthy choice.
What may surprise you about some fast food is that a seemingly healthy salad, if loaded with toppings like cheese, heavy dressings, and fried croutons, can exceed a plain hamburger in calorie count. Similarly, a stuffed deli-style sandwich with meat, cheese, and condiments may have twice the calories of a plain bun and patty.
Most fast-food restaurants have nutritional information available online, and some have it posted on-site, so you could include a menu review as part of your trip planning. That way you will know what your meal options are at various fast food outlets.

Fast Food: Calorie-Counting Bargains
  
Another option to consider is stopping in at a grocery store or supermarket. While the food items you might find there are not consistent across the country, the Texas A&M study demonstrated that even in rural areas, supermarkets and grocery stores offer a wide variety of healthy food options, especially fresh fruits and vegetables.
With a little research and advance planning, you should be able to stick to counting calories and eat well, even when dining choices are limited.

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Healthy Eating on a Budget

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You don't have to abandon your diet in a tough economy. Find out how to make healthy, low-calorie choices on a budget.

If only your waist could be as skinny as your wallet! If your belt-tightening is not just a necessity but a weight-loss goal, these may be challenging days for you.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), food costs increased 5.5 percent in 2008 and are likely to increase another 3 to 4 percent in 2009. The cost of eating out also increased about 4 percent in the past year. But, despite these statistics, it is still possible to stick to a healthy diet without busting the bank.

Calorie Counting on a Budget: Shopping Guidelines
 
Fortunately, there are smart ways to overcome the current costs for food. Here are some general guidelines for healthy food shopping when counting calories and pennies:

• Buy whole foods. The more preparation that has gone into a food, the more it will cost. For example, a head of lettuce, whether it’s romaine or iceberg, costs less than bagged salad. The same applies to meats — buying and roasting your own turkey breast is usually a fraction of the per-pound cost of sliced turkey at the deli counter.
• Cook more of your own meals. Cooking at home is easier on your budget than eating out or buying meals precooked and gives you total calorie counting control.
• Buy in bulk. Put your freezer to good use; large bags of frozen vegetables and fruits can save you money over fresh produce. Apply the same strategy to bulk meats, especially when they are on sale.
• Buy in season. Buying fruits and veggies in season is always easier on your budget.
• Try dishes with beans and rice. Both beans and rice are budget-friendly, especially when bought in bulk, and can add fiber, nutrients, and texture to any meal. They can be a healthy, low-fat meal on their own, as well.
• Watch the sales. If you’re wondering where to shop, keep an eye on sales announcements. You can find deals at almost any store.

Calorie-Counting on a Budget: Stretching Your Dollar

 

Donna Weihofen, RD, MS, a nutritionist at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in Madison, recently did some comparison shopping in her local area stores to find out which foods offered the best calorie counting and cost bargains. Her results reflect the budget diet recommendations created by national groups such as the USDA.

 

“Of course the lowest-cost proteins are dried beans and eggs,” says Weihofen. “Then the next step up is canned beans, milk, and whole chicken. And the next step up was chicken thigh, then chicken breast, then deli chicken. Chicken is really a bargain, but the deli chicken was out of sight compared to the rotisserie chicken.”

Weihofen recommends taking advantage of the opportunities a whole chicken (rotisserie or baked at home) presents. Use the leftover meat in a chili, stew, or soup later in the week. And of course, the bones can be used to make stock for another soup later as well.

Weihofen also found that whole baking potatoes present a cost-saving opportunity, as does buying frozen vegetables. “Frozen red peppers are cheaper than buying the fresh peppers, for example. If you just weigh that stuff out, you’ll see what the difference is,” she says. Another trick for cost saving is to think in terms of versatility and multiple meals, especially if using bulk ingredients: A bean chili today might become the filling for a taco or wrap tomorrow.


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Calorie Counting on a Budget: Putting Together Low-Cost Meals
 
If you are sticking to a specific diet plan, you may wonder how to make all this work — calorie counting, tracking carbs and fat grams while stretching every dollar. Just apply what you know about portion sizes and calorie counts to low-cost foods. Here are some ideas for specific diet plans:

• Low-carb diet. For a low-carb meal, serve baked chicken (from your whole chicken) and mixed frozen vegetables, or a crustless quiche made with budget-friendly eggs.
• Low-fat diet. Chicken and bean chili with a baked potato and lots of frozen veggies followed with a seasonal fruit for dessert makes a tasty low-fat meal.
• Low-calorie diet. One cup of mixed bean chili with a cup of cooked frozen veggies served over one-half cup of rice provides a filling 450-calorie meal.

Dieting on a budget takes creativity, especially when some of the best low-calorie foods, like fresh fish and berries, are expensive. But, with smart shopping and a willingness to experiment with new foods and flavors, calorie counting on a budget is not only doable, but can be fun, too.

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The Right Snacks When Calorie Counting

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Snacking itself is not bad — it can actually help with calorie counting as long as you make smart choices. Pick a tasty blend of protein, fat, and carbs for the best snacks.

Believe it or not, snacks can actually strengthen your calorie-counting efforts. Simply making a healthy snack choice could keep you happier and more successful with your diet.
“If you go too long without eating, you are hungrier than you would be without a snack,” says Catherine Bethea Dempsey, RD, LD, dietitian and research coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Starve yourself and you are likely to overcompensate at your next meal, warns Dempsey, adding, “A 150-calorie snack will save you more than that at dinner.”

Calorie Counting and Snacks
 
There are a few rules to follow if you want this snack strategy to work:

• Count the calories in those snacks. You have to include the calorie count of each snack in your total calorie count. Seems like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to forget about a handful of pretzels or nuts here and there.
• Be picky. You shouldn’t snack on just anything — you still want to find healthy, diet-friendly options.
• Plan ahead. "Know thyself" is a motto to follow. Expecting that you’ll be hungry and figuring out what to eat ahead of time will make you more successful when hunger strikes. If you tend to get ravenously hungry in the mid-afternoon, be ready for a snack attack.

Best Snacks for Your Diet

Dempsey suggests snacks that offer “a bit of fat, carbohydrates, and protein.” This combination is likely to help ward off hunger longer, making it a smart use of calories. Her specific recommendations include:

• Yogurt and fruit
• A very small handful of nuts — it’s easy to get carried away with nuts, which are healthy but pack a calorie wallop
• Low-fat cottage cheese and fruit
• Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, cottage cheese, and low-fat salad dressing — Dempsey’s personal favorite
• Fruit slices or chunks topped with a tablespoon of peanut butter

  

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Best Vending Machine Snacks
 
It’s almost inevitable that one day you will find yourself with no option but to faint from hunger or put your dollar in a vending machine. Have no fear — you can still make a choice that will not ruin your calorie counting.
“The best thing is to get a bottle of water and a granola bar,” says Dempsey. Almost every vending machine offers granola bars, but if you are faced with one that doesn’t, choose pretzels over chips,

Dempsey advises.
Tempting as chocolate might be, avoid it. High-sugar snacks will simply put you back in the cycle of sugar highs and lows, which means that kind of snack won’t help you hold off hunger for long. The peanuts or almonds in some candies may be good for you, but they don’t make up for the total damage.

Though it doesn’t offer any nutrition, that old standard, sugarless gum, may be a good choice. A recent study of 115 adults showed that those who chewed sugarless gum about once an hour for three hours between lunch and a mid-afternoon snack ate 40 fewer calories in snacks than those who did not chew gum.
The bottom line on snacks: Making the right choices can keep your calorie counting and weight-loss goals on track.

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Calorie Counting on a Budget

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Trying to lose weight is never easy, and the stress of making diet foods fit into a tight budget doesn't make that goal any easier. Find out ways to count calories without it costing you a fortune.

There’s a lot of belt-tightening going on, and not all of it is due to weight-loss success. In fact, dieting can increase your food budget — fish, chicken, and fresh produce are more expensive than pasta, rice, and other cheap, high-carb staples. Your calorie counting doesn’t have to go the way of subprime mortgages, however. It is possible to diet on a tight budget.

Calorie Counting on a Budget

There’s no doubt that the economy has people stressed. According to results of a survey by the American Psychological Association, four out of five Americans are worried about the economy and half say they overeat or eat less healthfully as a result. That stress doesn’t help when you’re counting calories and trying to make better food choices that may cost you more.
What’s the answer? You know how to do the math to find a calorie advantage — start applying the same skills to saving money.

Here are ways to cut calories and your budget:

• Limit pre-packaged diet foods. If you have been relying on foods like frozen diet meals that do the calorie counting for you, you may save money by cooking at home and calculating the calories in your dishes yourself. All you have to do is add up the calories in each ingredient and divide the total by the number of portions the recipe makes.
• Buy fresh fruits and vegetables in season. Whether you shop at the supermarket or the farmer’s market, seasonal, local produce is often the better deal. If you’re craving a dish that calls for out-of-season produce, use frozen — it’s cheaper and whatever you don’t use will keep for a later date.
• Make beans and rice a protein substitute. Beans and rice are affordable, especially if you buy them dry and prepare them yourself. “The one thing with beans is that you really have to watch your portion sizes,” says Catherine Bethea Dempsey, RD, LD, a dietitian and research coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “You want to stick with half a cup serving. It goes from being a high-fiber, nutritious food to being high-calorie very quickly.” You can stretch your dish by adding veggies, such as onions, peppers, celery, and tomatoes.
• Do the prep work yourself. The more preparation that has gone into your food before you buy it, the more it will cost. You can save a lot by buying fresh greens instead of bagged salad and whole chicken instead of boneless breasts (always remove the skin).
• Maximize the value of your meals. When you cook a dish, make enough to freeze servings for other meals. Apply the same approach when you treat yourself to a meal out: Veteran calorie-counters know restaurant portions are too big, so consider your splurge to be dinner plus lunch tomorrow and take home half in a doggy bag.
• Plan ahead with healthy snacks. If you know snacking is a weak spot for you midday at work, plan ahead. Packing a snack you make at home will save money and calories. Also keep in mind that a container of raw veggies or melon chunks is more budget-friendly than the box of cookies or bag of chips you used to buy.

Two Tasty Meal Ideas on a Budget

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To satisfy a tight budget and the need for convenience, Dempsey recommends two basic meals that lend themselves to many variations:

• Grill, baby, grill. “Try to do as much grilling as possible,” says Dempsey. Grilled vegetables, chicken, fish, and lean meats are healthy, tasty, and low in fat, and you won’t need to spend money on sauces or other recipe ingredients. This approach works for low-fat, low-carb, and low-calorie diets. If you’re not counting carbs, add a small potato or ear of corn, which can be tossed on the grill, too.
• Shrimp and salad. Buy one pound of shrimp (frozen or in season) and ask the store to steam it for you, or steam or boil at home yourself. Add steamed fresh veggies, or a frozen veggie blend, and a salad. This works for all diets, too. If you’re not counting carbs, add a serving of rice, like a half-cup of a wild rice blend.

It may take some discipline, but following these budget-saving tips will help you cut calories and costs.

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