Good Diet, Enough Sleep, & Moderate Exercise - The Secrets to a Healthy Life

It's a sad fact that 99% of people know they should be taking more exercise but most continually put it off until the next day. The thing is tomorrow never comes. If you actually forced your self to take some positive action you would notice a feel good factor almost straight away. This would spur you on to continuing your regime.You don't need to train like a professional athlete to enjoy the benefits of leading a healthier lifestyle.

Three or four 30 minute sessions a week will male a real difference to your health and your outlook. If you don't like jogging then there is always cycling or a gym class.There is no need to feel self conscious as before long your confidence will sky rocket and you will wonder why you didn't take some action years ago.

The one meal I would never forget is breakfast. When you wake up in the morning it is the longest that your body has been without food and to not eat then is like getting in the car in the morning and driving to work with the petrol warning light on. Just eat a balanced and try not to eat too much of one type of food. Try to ensure you eat 5 pieces of fruit and veg a day. Nature was very kind to us and actually color coded these for us. Try and eat a selection of colors, greens, reds, oranges etc to ensure you eat a good selection.

There is no need to cut out all the foods you enjoy. Feel free to treat yourself every once in a while otherwise you may find that a healthy lifestyle is no fun at all and give up. In simple terms to be more healthy you need to ensure you have enough sleep, eat a balances diet (including breakfast) and work out three of four times a week.

Zone diet plan

The Zone diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate, fat-controlled eating plan.

This is unlike most high-protein diets as it allows you to have a broader range of foods to be taken.

This diet believes that a human body reaches its efficiency when the body is consuming all meals with carbohydrates, proteins and fats. As such, the body will work within the zone full of energy causing weight loss.

Protein tends to make you feel full and thus helping you to avoid eating in between meals.

The South Beach Diet

One of the top 5 weight loss diet plans in the country today.

It never allows starvation and deprivation of foods.

It is divided into 'three phases'.

- Phase 1

It lasts for about 14 days. This is the strictest phase as there's a strict regulation on what to consume. Carbohydrates are avoided and poultry products, fish, turkey, shellfish that usually eaten with vegetables, nuts, eggs and cheese are to be eaten but in moderation. Coffee and tea is allowed but taken in moderation.

- Phase 2

This phase is much easier than the first. It will last until the desired weight is achieved. The carbohydrates rich foods that were removed from the diet are reintroduced. You can eat brown rice and whole wheat bread but not a white bread.

- Phase 3

This is the phase where your body is already adjusted to start of a way of life that you will have to adopt for a lifetime.

The Cabbage Soup diet

• It is one of the seven days that weight loss diet plans is aiming at weight loss in a short span of time.
• The diet requires consuming cabbage soup for seven days with every meal of the day.

Day 1: Cabbage soup and fruits (unlimited quantity and any fruit except for bananas)

Day 2: Cabbage soup and vegetables. A baked potato with butter for dinner is allowed.

Day 3: Cabbage soup and a combination of fruits and vegetables (except for bananas and potatoes)

Day 4: Cabbage soup, bananas and skimmed milk (maximum of 8 bananas to be consumed through the day)

Day 5: Cabbage soup and 350-500 grams beef with 6 slices of tomatoes.

Day 6: Cabbage soup, beef and vegetables (except potatoes)

Day 7: Cabbage soup, brown rice, vegetables (except potatoes) and fresh fruit juice.

1000 calorie diet Plan

Trying the 1000 calorie diet is only advisable for one week, due to your body entering starvation mode and conserving fat. Overdoing the 1000 calorie diet is counterproductive to your body so try to stay on it for only 1 week. After 1 week you will lose between 3-5 pounds. The 1000 calorie diet can be used as a starter diet for a long term weight loss program. Try to aim for 2-3 pounds of weight loss and a good exercise program to begin with. After 1 week on the 1000 calorie diet, try upping your calorie intake or reverting back to a not so severe diet, this will prevent your body's metabolism from slowing down. Here is a simple 1000 calorie daily menu.

Breakfast

o Banana sandwich made with 2 slices of wholemeal bread and a small banana

o Small glass of orange juice

Snack

o 1 pot of low fat yoghurt (preferably fruit)

Lunch

o 1 wholemeal roll filled with tuna and low fat mayonnaise (use tin tuna in spring water)

o Mixed lettuce salad, red or yellow sweet peppers, spring onions

Snack

o 1 bag of lower fat crisps

Dinner

o Roast chicken breast (without skin)

o Potatoes, mashed with 30ml semi-skimmed milk

o Broccoli (all vegetables steamed or boiled)

o Carrots

o Gravy (made from granules)

Evening

o 1 low calorie hot chocolate drink made with powder and water

Drinks throughout the day

o Diet coke, water, black coffee or tea without sugar

The 1000 calorie diet can be used as a starter diet for a long term weight loss program. Try to aim for 2-3 pounds of weight loss and a good exercise program to begin with. Remember after 1 week on the 1000 calorie diet, try upping your calorie intake or reverting back to a not so severe diet, this will prevent your body's metabolism from slowing down.

Abs Diet

The Abs Diet works on the theory that every 1lb of muscle gained, your body intern burns an extra 50 calories per day. So if you can build an extra 10lb of muscle your body will then burn an extra 500 calories per day. Using the Abs Diet your body will burn more energy by eating the correct foods and exercising the correct way. Losing 500 calories per day will loose you 1lb of weight per week. Expect to loose up to 12lb in the first two weeks followed by 5-8lb in the forth coming two.

The Abs Diet allows you to eat 6 meals per day which consist of 12 power foods, such as: chicken, turkey and other lean meat, olive oil, beans and pulses, almonds, low fat dairy products, green vegetables, oats, eggs, wholegrain bread, whole grain cereals, berries, and protein powder. All other food is a not allowed.

For 6 weeks you will eat a series of 12 power foods, which provide the body with all the fibre and minerals you need to stay healthy and build muscle. Along with the diet you will do a 20 min workout three times per week, which will aid in the fat burning.

The Abs diet is mainly aimed at men, however women are encouraged to participate. The range of foods you can eat is still good and you do get an exercise program out of it. Also some very good looking Abs, health and sex life. The full diet book is: The Abs Diet by David Zinczenko from all good on-line book stores.

The Golden Gate Diet

The Golden Gate Diet is a medically sound way to lose weight. It is based on the experiences of my patients and on the scientific literature.

I am a physician with expertise in nutrition, and my patients want to know two things from me. First, they want to know what foods will cause them to lose weight. Second, they want to know what foods are healthy to eat. By healthy foods, I mean foods that prevent disease or at least do not cause disease. That is, foods that prevent heart disease and foods that prevent cancer.

These are separate problems. Certainly many foods that will cause you to lose weight are healthy. But there are also foods that will cause you to lose weight but will cause heart disease. And there are even some foods—for example, nuts—that will cause you to gain weight but are so effective at preventing heart disease that you should eat them anyway. And, of course, there are many foods that cause you to gain weight and are very unhealthy.

So this book answers two questions:

How do I lose weight?

What foods do I eat to stay healthy?

How do you lose weight? The key to losing weight is eating foods with a low “caloric density.”

Now this book is not hard to understand. You don’t need to know any math to follow this diet. I have done all the math for you.

As you will see, if you eat foods with a low caloric density, you will lose weight. If you eat foods with a high caloric density, you will gain weight. The caloric density of any food is a number—and that number is listed in the charts in chapter 9.

If the caloric density is less than 2, eat the food, it will help you lose weight. The lower the number, the better.

If the caloric density is between 2 and 3, go easy.

If the caloric density is greater than 3, in general you should eat very little of that food—it will cause you to gain weight.

Popular Diet Plan Number 2

2. Low fat diet

Fat has always been the number reason why obesity is increasing significantly these days. As such, there are many available options to choose on a low-fat diet.

Use low-fat oils (olive oil, canola oil) for cooking.

Use non-sticky pan that has been cleansed thoroughly after a deep frying session to prevent too much oil on food.

Make sure you have fresh vegetables in your diet and avoid canned goods, which are usually preserved in salt.

Eat a lot of legumes like kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, black-eyes beans and others.

Make sure that the pasta that you are buying is made from whole wheat.

Avoid salad dressings like mayonnaise and thousand island sauce, instead, opt for Worchester sauce or soya sauce for garnishing and flavor.

Eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Popular Diet Plan Number 1

1. Balanced vegetarian diet

It consists of fruits, vegetables and foods that originate from plants.Recent studies show that a vegetarian diet has a 30% lower risk of heart related diseases.There are different vegetarian diets ranging from strictest to the lenient.

- Vegan diet foods

Vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, grains

- Lacto-vegetarian diet foods

Milk and milk products such as cheese and yogurt

- Lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet foods

Eggs only

- Flexitarian diet foods

Occasional consumption of fish, poultry and meat.

Since there are allegations about vegetarian diet that it has nutritional deficiency, here are the nutritional guidelines so that you will know what vegetables are good to eat.

- Iron (important in the transport of oxygen to the lungs and to the different parts of the body)

Spinach, beans, wheat, tofu, lentils, broccoli, black eye beans, potatoes.

- Calcium (responsible for bone strength)

Alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, bamboo shoots, soy milk, soy nuts, soya beans, pickled, broccoli, mustard greens, and fortified juices.

- Vitamin B12 (it also boosts up energy aids in the production of red blood cells)

Beetroot, cabbage, brussel sprouts.

Creating a Healthy Digestive System

Most people have a general idea that a vegetarian diet is more healthy for them in many ways, but few realize how important it is to create a healthy environment in the bowels and stomach.

Our digestive system is designed to process vegetable matter, more than foods containing animal products. Our system needs the kind of dietary fiber contained in vegetables, legumes, nuts and fruits to function properly.

When the digestive system does not function effectively as it should do, we incur a host of digestion problems such as constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis (inflammation of the colon, the usual symptoms are diarrhea). These diseases are less evident in people following vegetarian eating habits than in others who persist with a meat-eating lifestyle.

A vegetarian diet is naturally low in saturated fat, high in fiber, vitamins and antioxidants, that help to prevent cancer. Recent studies that included tens of thousands of men and women have shown that regular meat consumption increases colon cancer risk by roughly 300 percent. Meat-based diets have also been linked to other forms of cancer including breast, ovarian and prostate. When you consider the risks that come from a diet that includes meat and animal products, then compare the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle, there is no doubt that the health benefits derived from vegetarian meals are life prolonging.

If you find it difficult to cut meat from your diet altogether, try making it the smallest part of the meal with greater portions of vegetables. In this way you will gradually reduce the amount of meat you crave and eventually will be able to totally eliminate it from your diet.