Eat These Carbs to Lose Belly Fat

Complete Real Age Article
Is your problem spot that area right around your belt buckle? Well then, here are two kinds of healthy carbs you should be eating: beans and whole grains.

In a study, obese men and women who were put on a heart-healthy diet lost more belly fat when their daily meals emphasized these two foods rather than refined grains.

Bellies and Beans
In the 18-month study, all participants ended up losing about the same amount of weight. But the people eating diets rich in beans and whole grains enjoyed especially good results around their middles. And all that was required for extra middle melting was eating whole grains instead of refined and replacing two daily grain servings with a couple of servings of beans -- like lentils, chickpeas, or kidney beans. These changes created a low-glycemic-index diet that was satisfying, blood-sugar-balancing, and belly-fat blasting. (Find out how a low-glycemic-index diet helps your eyes, too.)

4 Keys to a Smart Nutrition Plan

Read the Sparkpeople article.
* Control your food portions. Who really needs "Biggie" anything? Use our easy guide to portion control.
* Make smart substitutions. Why not try mustard (11 calories) instead of mayonnaise (99 calories) on that deli sandwich? Who knows, you might even like it better. Compare calories in your favorite foods using this handy chart, and learn more ways to cut calories without deprivation.
* Focus on "power foods." High protein, high fiber, healthy fats and good carbs give you the most punch for your lunch. Here are over 100 foods that fit the bill.
* Watch your eating habits. Mindless munching, emotional binging, and twice-a-day trough feedings are sneaky habits that steal momentum and leave pounds. Overcome emotional eating with our 10-step action plan.

11 Foods for Faster, Easier Weight Loss

Read this Real age article to see the slideshow!

Is Weight Loss Stressing You Out?

Take the Weight Loss Expectations Quiz
-- By Dean Anderson, Fitness & Behavior Expert
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There’s no doubt about it: trying to lose weight can be a stressful thing! There’s nothing like trying to stick to a “simple” weight loss plan for bringing you face-to-face with the frustrating complexities of human nature and the limits of our rationality and will power. And even when we do manage to do what we know we should, often our bodies seem to operate according to a different kind of math—where a 3,500-calorie deficit doesn’t always equal one pound of weight lost.

The unfortunate part is that this constant stress can make losing weight more difficult than it needs to be. Research shows that chronic stress can affect your metabolism, promoting fat storage, and increasing cravings for sugary, high-fat “comfort foods.

There are lots of things you can do to manage this stress, ranging from yoga and meditation to a hot bath or a pleasant walk in the park. In this article, however, we’ll focus on how certain (very common) expectations about weight loss can cause stress, and how you can adjust your expectations so that you’re not stressing out about your own weight loss (or lack thereof).

To find out whether your expectations about weight loss may be increasing your stress levels, take the following brief quiz. Indicate whether you think the following statements are true or false. To benefit from this exercise, your answer should reflect how you honestly feel most of the time, NOT what you think the “correct” response might be.

1. I have taken a careful look at my eating and exercise habits, and I have a good idea of what I need to change and how I want to do it.
2. I have accepted the idea that I need to make permanent changes in my lifestyle to lose weight and keep it off permanently.
3. I will feel successful only if reach my weight loss goal.
4. I know that it took time to gain weight, and I believe it is best to try to lose the weight slowly.
5. I am working on weight loss now because I really want to, not because someone else thinks I should.
6. If I can manage to lose the weight, I think many other problems in my life will be solved.
7. I am willing and able to do a significant amount of physical activity on a daily basis, including planned exercise.
8. I can lose weight successfully with no slip-ups.
9. I am ready, willing, and able to spend enough time each day planning and tracking my food intake and exercise activities.
10. If my weight loss slows down or stalls out, I usually lose my motivation and stop my program.<
11. When I am having problems sticking to my plan, I usually get on the message boards or the phone and talk about it with other people.
12. I have many stressful situations in my life right now, but I'm determined to be successful at weight loss.

Scoring the Quiz
Look at your answers to questions 1,2,4,5,7, 9 and 11, and give yourself 1 point for every True answer, and 0 for every False. For questions 3,6,8,10 and 12, give yourself 1 point for every False answer, and 0 for every True. Add your total points up to get your score.

A high score (7-12 points) shows that your expectations about weight loss are more realistic, and you are more likely to reach your goal.

Each question you scored a zero for represents a misconception or unrealistic expectation that might be adding unnecessary stress to your weight loss efforts.

For example, a zero on Question 11 (you don’t talk to others when you have trouble sticking to your plan) may indicate that you tend to keep problems to yourself, which can add even more stress to the difficulties you are already having.

Scoring zero on Question 8 (believing you can lose weight successfully without slipping up) may mean that you are unrealistically expecting perfection. Slip-ups are inevitable, but they also help you learn from your experience. Expecting to be perfect creates more stress when things don’t turn out as desired. Plus, you will learn less about what does and does not work for you in different circumstances.

Likewise, a zero on Question 12 (determination for weight loss despite high stress in other areas of your life) may indicate that you don’t fully appreciate the difficulties of trying to lose weight, or the importance of modifying your weight loss expectations when other aspects of life become difficult. Sometimes, just holding your own and not gaining (or regaining) weight is a very significant accomplishment!

Finally, the most important concept—if you scored a 0 on Question 6 (believing that weight loss will solve many other problems in your life), you may be expecting more than weight loss can deliver, setting yourself up for problems both now and after you reach your goal.

At least two negative things can happen when you start looking at weight loss as the “magic” solution to everything. First, this puts an awful lot of pressure on the daily ups and downs of your weight loss journey. Every slip-up or bad day, every weight plateau, becomes magnified in importance because, in your head, it is linked to so many other important things. You can imagine how much extra stress you generate if going over your calorie budget or skipping an exercise session has come to mean that the career or the relationship you want is that much further away.

Second, the belief that you have to lose weight before you can start living the life you want only keeps you from creating that life right now.

When healthy eating and exercise are just a small part of what you do to care for yourself, you'll likely decrease stress and progress towards your weight loss goal. A big part of making a successful lifestyle change is putting your weight in meaningful perspective—and you can start doing that right now!

Directing your thoughts for you good

Another inspiring thought from Marianne Williamson

What You Think Is What You Get

It's so easy to believe that external things hold the power in life. We think money, or lack of it, determines our abundance; we think other people's behavior determines our happiness; we think success or failure, as the world defines it, determines our self-worth.

But it is ultimately our thinking, more than our outer circumstances, that determines whether we live lives of harmony and peace or of pain and despair.

Our Deepest Fear

While this is not a weightloss article per se, it has real relevance to it.

by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Being Supplement Savvy

Do not fall into the dangerous trap of thinking that, if a little is good, more is better. Excessive intake of vitamins and minerals can do no good. It is a waste of money. And in some cases, excessive intake can damage the body, have a toxic effect, interfere with medications, and may even result in death. To choose a safe, effective vitamin-mineral supplement, follow these tips:

* Choose a balanced multivitamin-mineral supplement rather than one or two specific nutrients, unless it has been medically prescribed.
* Choose a supplement that provides close to 100-150% of the Daily Value (DV) for recognized nutrients. The exception to this is calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. If the supplement did contain 100% DV of these nutrients, it would be too large to swallow. Due to the cost, biotin is also often less than 100% of the DV. However, the need for supplemental biotin is rare.
* Look for the "USP" insignia on the label. This ensures that the supplement meets the standards for strength, purity, disintegration and dissolution established by the testing organization, U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP).
* Read the supplement label carefully. Follow serving size recommendations.
* Avoid supplements that contain unrecognized nutrients and substances. A number of substances like PABA, inositol, bee pollen, lecithin, have never been shown to be essential to humans. They do nothing but boost the price.
* Beware of gimmicks. Synthetic supplements that are made in a laboratory are usually the same as so-called "natural" supplements. The body knows no difference, but your wallet does. "Natural" supplements cost more.
* Do not give in to the temptation of added herbs, enzymes, or amino acids. This only adds to the cost.
* Avoid supplements that claim to be therapeutic, high-potency, or for stress. This adds cost with no additional benefits.
* Choose a supplement with an expiration date on the container. Vitamins can lose potency over time, especially in hot and humid climates. Follow storage advice. Supplements should be kept in a cool, dry place, with a tight fitting lid.
* Keep supplements in a locked cabinet away from children. Don’t leave them on the counter or rely on child-resistant packaging. Be especially careful with any supplements that contain iron. Iron overdose is a leading cause of poisoning deaths among children.

Bottom Line: A poor diet plus supplements is still a poor diet. Food remains your best source of vitamins and minerals. So spend a little more time and money on delicious, tasty meals and snacks to meet your nutritional needs. And remember, a supplement is just that…a little extra in addition to wise food choices. This little extra poses no danger and may be helpful at times– if chosen wisely.

7 Ways to Eat Mindfully

For the Oprah article, go HERE.
Professor Brian Wansink, PhD, is the author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think and director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University. He has conducted more than 250 experiments proving that people have no idea how much they're putting in their mouths or for what reason.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 32.2 percent of American adults are obese. Wansink wants to help. "If we knew why we ate the way we do, we could eat a little less, eat a little healthier, and enjoy it a lot more," he says.


Here are seven essential tidbits from Wansink:

1. People who stock up at discount stores eat up to 48 percent more. If you buy in bulk, put pretzels and other snacks in portion-size Baggies. Never, never, ever eat out of the box.

2. The longer you sit at the table, the more you'll eat. Dine with one friend, you'll eat about 35 percent more. With a group of seven, you'll eat 96 percent more. if you're trying to lose weight, eat alone or with the smallest group possible, and pace yourself with the lightest eater.

3. If you pre-plate your food in the kitchen, you'll eat 14 percent less than if you serve yourself a smaller portion at the table and then take seconds.

4. Brian's rule of two: When eating at a buffet, put only two items at a time on your plate. Even if you make repeated trips, you'll eat a lot less.

5. Always eat in the same room of your house (but not in front of a TV or computer). You won't snack as much.

6. Don't leave serving dieshes on the table unless they're filled with vegetables.

7. A Butterfinger or a hug? What do you really want? Physical hunger builds gradually. Emotional hunger develops suddenly.