Lose Weight by Savoring Delicious Food without Feeling Guilty
.01 | by Roseanna Leaton

You want to lose weight. You need to eat and you should enjoy eating, so why feel guilty? What does guilt achieve anyway? It's not as if the guilty feelings have prevented you from eating; guilt is only experienced whilst actually eating food or after eating. Guilt achieves nothing other than making you feel bad about eating.

And surely eating something gorgeously delicious should make you feel good, not bad? After all, you eat for nourishment and when you are feeling well nourished you feel good. Enjoying good food is part of enjoying life. It should satisfy your taste buds as well as your need for nutrition.

I have heard many people comment upon how unfair it is that so many thin people seem to be able to eat food which is laden in fatty calories and yet still stay thin, whilst they themselves manage to put on weight simply by looking at a plate of lettuce leaves! But is this really the case? Can you really eat any diet which you choose without thinking about calories and still stay slim?

Yes, individuals are subject to their own metabolic differences, which are also related to the amount and types of exercise which they partake in. But metabolism is not the only reason why some people put on weight whilst others do not. Let's examine for a moment the habits and thought processes of those people who seem to eat whatever they want without gaining weight. You will usually find that they eat relatively slowly, and savor the taste of the food which they are eating. You will also notice that they do not tend to overeat; once satisfied they stop eating. They do not suffer pangs of guilt and neither do they think that they should not eat particular types or amounts of food. Their minds are not tied up or restricted by a diet mentality.

If you consider the people who complain of putting on weight at the mere sight of food, you will usually notice that they are preoccupied with thoughts about food and ideas about what they should or should not have. They constantly feel guilty and so cannot fully enjoy the food which they should be enjoying. And herein lies one of the key issues; if you do not allow yourself to enjoy the food which you are eating, you will not feel satisfied, because satisfaction is not merely based on nutritional value alone.

To feel fully satisfied with your meals you need to savor the taste, smell and texture of the food which you are eating. You need to enjoy it and there is also evidence to support the requirement of a range of tastes within your meals. Thus if you limit yourself to a boring diet you will not feel satisfied, and if you do not allow yourself to enjoy your food, you will not feel satisfied.

And we all know what happens when you do not feel satisfied; you reach for more and more and more. Ironically, even whilst you reach for more food, because you are feeling guilty and not fully enjoying it, you do not fully appreciate what you are eating and it is easy to kid yourself into thinking that you are not actually eating very much. Your vision becomes distorted. And needless to say, until you fully recognize what is happening you are not in a position to do anything about it.

To lose weight successfully you have to get back to enjoying your food without feeling guilty, and to do this requires you to learn to think in a different way. This is why hypnosis presents us with such a successful approach to effective weight loss.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3s to lose weight easily.

P.S. You too can think about food differently and lose weight easily; Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.

http://www.RoseannaLeaton.com

7 Vegetarian Weight Loss Foods
.02 | by Laura Ng

What weight loss foods should you include in your vegetarian weight loss diet for maximum fat loss? Of all vegetarian weight loss foods, vegetables help you lose weight most effectively, particularly these 7 super vegetables:

Vegetarian Weight Loss Food #1 - Kelp

How does kelp help you lose weight? Besides being low in cholesterol, kelp provides your body with good amount of dietary fiber, vitamin C, pantothenic acid, calcium and minerals such as iodine.

Iodine in kelp keeps your thyroid function properly. It stimulates a hormone produced by the thyroid gland that's responsible for boosting metabolism, so you'll burn more fat. If your weight gain is related to thyroid disorder, kelp can help you lose weight. It has also been shown to lower the blood cholesterol levels.

However, seek your doctor's advice before loading on kelp as too much iodine can have a negative effect on your thyroid. Adding kelp moderately in your vegetarian weight loss diet is the key to lose weight optimally with kelp.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Food #2 - Celery

An 8-inch stalk of celery contains approximately 6 calories. But the mere act of digesting this stalk burns more than 6 calories, resulting in a negative calorie count. In other words, you'll use up more calories from your energy reserve (fat storage) to break down celery, achieving fat loss.

Not only that, celery provides a good source of vitamin C and fiber (as in kelp), and fiber is one key ingredient to help you detox and lose weight more effectively. It contains unique oil that helps to relax your muscles, which improves blood flow and regulates blood pressure. It's especially good for you if you're having hypertension.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Food #3 - Spinach

Spinach carries lots of fiber which helps you stay full longer and reduce the overall number of calories that you consume each day. You can also benefit from its rich content of vitamin K and calcium which help to prevent or treat osteoporosis and the loss of bone density.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Food #4 - Cucumber

Cucumber contains sterols which can help to lower cholesterol and prevent carbohydrates from converting to body fat. Filling yet low in calories, it's a great choice in salads. It also helps you digest better and bears a cleansing effect on your bowel. With normal bowel function, you'll lose weight efficiently with less effort.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Food #5 - Radish

As radish is rich in vitamin C but low in calories, fat and stimulates metabolism, it's popular as a weight loss snack. However, eating too much radishes is very cooling for your body, especially if you already bear a "cool" body constitution, defined in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) terms.

This means that your immunity to cold and cough could be affected, especially during winter. Thus, eat them in moderation.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Food #6 - Bean Sprouts

These refer to sprouting from mung beans, alfalfa, lentils, chickpeas and soya beans. Sprouting actually helps to turn the starches, oils and other nutrients in beans to vitamins, enzymes and other forms of proteins, minerals and sugars.

A single helping of fresh sprouted mung beans contains about three quarter of the daily requirement of vitamin C. Sprouting increases the presence of vitamin B in beans, including thiamin, folate, B6 and biotin and produces less intestinal wind when consumed.

How do these vitamins in bean sprouts help you lose weight? They'll nourish your body and keep your body metabolically active. When your metabolism runs at full tank, you'll burn fat and lose weight. Simple logic. Oh, you can buy them at cheap prices too. A cheap weight loss food to add into your vegetarian weight loss diet indeed.

Vegetarian Weight Loss Food #7 - Broccoli

Most vegetables carry lots of fiber that helps you feel full and satisfied easily and sustain your activity over longer period of time, but I highly recommend broccoli here due to its high nutritional value - rich in vitamin C and carotenoids, and also contains protein, all-important B vitamins, phosphorus, potassium, chromium and calcium etc.

You'll lose weight with broccoli when it stops you from eating more food, but you'll also gain health with its antioxidant properties and anti-carcinogenic (cancer-fighting) power. Hence, broccoli is a must-add ingredient in your vegetarian weight loss diet.

No doubt these 7 vegetables can help you lose weight effectively as a vegetarian, you should also include other varieties of plant-based foods to achieve both effective weight loss and excellent health.

Unhealthy Cooking Oils

.03 | by Robert D. Franklin

There's a confusing subject to most people out there as to why some oils and fats you use in cooking or baking are actually harmful to your body, and why some are healthful.

Many people seem to think that anything labeled as "vegetable oil" is good for you. NO! Most labeled "vegetable oil" are simply heavily refined soybean oil (processed under high heat, pressure, and industrial solvents). It might also be heavily refined cottonseed, safflower, corn, grapeseed, and other oils too.

In most cases, these processed oils are NOT good for your health.

If you buy processed food or deep fried food, you can usually be certain that these unhealthy oils are used to prepare your foods (or worse, in some cases it may be trans fats!).

You might have even bought these oils for cooking or baking at home.

The problem with soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, or other similar oils is that they contain polyunsaturated fats, which leaves them prone to oxidation and free radical production when exposed to heat and light.

Processed polyunsaturated oils become inflammatory inside our bodies due to reactivity to heat and light. That would be one of the causes of many internal problems or degenerative diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

All of the vegetable oils listed above are heavily refined during processing, which makes them already inflammatory before cooking with them (more damage).

Even mainstream health professionals will never tell you this: The healthiest oils to cook with are saturated fats. They are much more stable and less inflammatory than polyunsaturated oils.

This is why tropical oils such as palm and coconut oils are best for cooking. They have very little polyunsaturates and are mostly composed of natural saturated fats.

In fact, one of the key acids (lauric) found in tropical oils is known to strengthen the immune system. It is even being studied currently for controlling contagious diseases.

To close, butter or tropical oils are your best cooking or baking fats. Olive oil (extra virgin preferably) is ok for lower cooking temps as it's mostly monounsaturated, so moderately stable. The mostly polyunsaturated oils such as soybean, grapeseed, cottonseed, safflower, etc, are the least healthy for cooking or baking.

Eat Like The French

.04 | by Kathryn Steed

French cuisine has long been touted as some of the finest food in the world. France is known for its rich foods; nowhere else can you find such delicious pastries and creamy cheeses. So what exactly do the French eat, and how can we eat like them? Read more to learn about the their cuisine and to get some great recipes that you can try at home.

Every culture eats strange things, but the French have some delicacies that might make your stomach churn. If you?ve got the guts, give these a try!

Escargot: Snails! They?re often cooked in garlic butter, and you?ll need a special pair of tongs to hold the shell while you scoop these slimy creatures out.

Frog legs: Frog legs are often fried or breaded, and are usually served in garlic butter.

Foie gras: This is actually fattened duck or goose liver. It can be served hot or cold, and is often paired with sweet fruit as an accompaniment. Do you ever go to a restaurant and get confused by the French words on the menu? Here are some basics that you should know:

Au jus: This literally translates to ?with juice.? It is usually describes when meat is served in its own juices.

Confit: Confit is a food that has been preserved in a specific way. The food, usually meat, is salted, seasoned, cooked in its own fat, and then preserved. Confit can stay good for several months.

Consommé: Consomme is a type of rich, clarified soup broth.

Paté: This is a spread or paste that is made from minced ground meat and fat.

Roulade: This word roughly translated to ?roll,? as a roulade is made from rolled meat. The meat is sliced, then rolled around some sort of filling (i.e. cheese or vegetables), then cooked or baked in wine or stock.

Terrine: A terrine is almost the same as a paté, but it usually uses chunkier or more coarsely chopped ingredients.