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Weight Loss Question?
Luna Bars?
i like these nutrition bars called luna bars...they good for you and they satisfy my sweet tooth but how can i fit them into a healthy diet...there is 180 calories in one? how many calories should a 14 years old gorwing gril be getting when i exercise maybe 3 or 4 days out of the week?
Let's start by clarifying a couple of things:
1. weight is not the best indicator of your health (because muscle weighs more than fat, two people of the same height can weigh the same and be drastically different in terms of health).
2. Body fat percentage is a true indicator.
3. Fat is burned by reducing overall caloric value.
4. If you burn more than you consume, you will lose fat (lower body fat percentage)
5. If you exercise and strength train, you can burn more calories and replace fat with muscle which will allow you to burn calories even when you rest.
If you are trying to lower your body fat percentage there are literally hundreds of ideas out there. In my opinion, the best way, which has been proven time and time again, is a two part method: Eat right and exercise. First, exercise is a no-brainer. You have to burn more calories than you take in for exercise to be considered exercise. How you do it is worth another answer all to itself. So, that brings us to the Eating Right part. If you understand how your body works, you've got a head start on the world. Food is fuel for the body. Once you've accepted that concept as more important than the idea that food is entertainment, then the rest will be relatively easy. If you are American, and I assume you are, the Nutrition Facts label that you find on all foods bought in the U.S. are the next thing you need to understand. Go grab something from your kitchen (i.e. jar of peanut butter or a bag of chips...anything with a nutrition label). OK, yeah you need vitamins and minerals and all that. But focus on these three items: FAT, PROTEIN, and CARBOHYDRATES.
Let's take these one at a time:
FAT is basically divided into good fats and bad fats. The body needs good fats (mono- and poly-unsaturateds). You'll find these in stuff like olives and avocados where the bad fat is minimal if not nonexistent. The bad fats are your saturated and trans fats that you'll find in meats and oils. If you are trying to lose weight, keep these to an absolute minimum. My suggestion (based on a 1500-2000 calorie diet) is to limit yourself to no more than 15g of saturated fat per day. This is hard to do if you're used to eating fast food. It's also hard to do if you drink whole milk, eat cheese (even the 2% variety), and eat fried foods. All of these are high in bad fats. The good news is that you can substitute your diet to eat the very things you like to eat but with better ingredients. If you eat cheese, buy fat free. If you drink milk, buy skim. Slowly take yourself down from whole milk or 2% to 1% before going skim/fat free if the transition is too radical to do all at once. If you eat a lot of ground beef, use the extra lean variety (96% fat free/4% fat), or substitute lean ground turkey instead. Do whatever you have to do to get the bad fat grams down to less than 15 per day.
PROTEIN: The building block of nutrition (aside from your vitamins and minerals) is protein. You need it strengthen your muscles and it will be essential with your exercise routine. Without protein, you can't build muscle tone or lean body mass. And guess what? Just having lean body mass (muscles) allows your body to burn more calories even when you are sleeping. Therefore, you are able to lose weight (bad weight, that is) just by sleeping. But, you have to exercise!! Don't forget that. You can find foods that are high in protein but also high in saturated fat, so be careful. Stick to poultry (chicken, turkey), fish (tuna is a great source), and beans. Don't fry your meats because if you do, you just added a bunch of bad fat to your otherwise healthy protein filled meal. Instead, grill, broil, or bake. You can do this! Don't forget to exercise to exponentially reap the rewards of consuming protein.
CARBS. In my opinion, the no-carb diet is crap, because you need carbs for energy, especially because you are exercising! That's right, you can't forget you are supposed to be exercising. The trick is choosing the good carbs. You'll see on your nutrition label Total Carbohydrates and Sugars. Sugars should be kept to a minimum and should be avoided within hours of going to sleep. The calories associated with them get stored (for energy) but are not easily burned when it comes time to burn them. Therefore, it's harder to lose the weight associated with them. That's why it's not good to eat lots of candy, cookies, and ice cream that have a lot of sugar. The other kinds of carbs (complex carbohydrates) are essential. You can get these from grains and potatoes. Good stuff!!
Now that you have a brief understanding of these three nutrition components, time to get to it. Not as easy as it sounds? That's because, you're human. If you treat your body right (and I mean very right, by limiting your saturated and trans fats, limiting your sugar carbs, and eating plenty of protein), then you deserve a day when you can eat whatever you want. The body has cravings and you should be able to fulfill these cravings IF you can stand to wait until the end of the week. I call this one day of decadence your cheat day. After 12 weeks of exercising and eating right in this manner, you'll get to the point where you don't even crave the bad stuff anymore.
For more on this method, I encourage you to check out www.bodyforlife.com. The principals I wrote about are spelled out in greater detail there. Consult your doctor before drastically changing any diet or exercise routine. Good luck!
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EAS Myoplex Lite Nutrition Bar, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Crisp, 12-Count List Price: Sale Price: $22.40 You save: $1.55 (6%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours |
Vitafusion Fiber Gummies Weight Management, 90-Count Bottle List Price: Sale Price: $11.34 You save: $8.42 (43%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 3-4 business days |
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Zone Perfect Dark Chocolate Strawberry, 1.58-Ounce Bars (Pack of 12) List Price: Sale Price: $15.48 You save: $2.52 (14%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours |
Luna Bars, S'Mores, 1.69-Ounce Bars, 15 Count List Price: Sale Price: $16.99 You save: $3.91 (19%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours |
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7 Food Myths Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Program
It seems like nearly every day we hear news about the latest thing that we once thought was good for us, and how it's now detrimental to our health.
After a while, you kind of stop paying attention.
But when you're working on your weight loss goals, there are some foods that could be sabotaging your diet, and you might not even know.
1. Bran is a whole grain, and it's good for you. So it would stand to reason that bran cereal is good for you too. But guess what? Lurking in those cereals is often hidden sugar, hidden salt, and even some fat.
2. Another food that health enthusiast usually enjoy is granola or granola bars. If you actually look closer you'll see that granola bars contain high levels of high fructose corn syrup and other sugars, and some bars have as many as 10 grams of fat. Maybe it's not the best snack choice after all.
3. While lean meat is an excellent source of protein, one of my favorite go-to meats, ground turkey, can sometimes contain more fat a pound of ground beef contains.
4. Another place you can be sabotaged is in the bread aisle. When you see a brown bread wrapper with the words multi-grain, wheat, or some other healthy description you probably automatically think, "healthy." Yes and no. You'll score higher in the healthy column by purchasing bread that is whole grain.
5. If you enjoy hearty salads, be sure to watch out not just for the extras like croutons and other salad bar toppings, watch out for those flavorful and calorie laden dressings that make the salad taste so good.
6. Energy and protein bars are marketing primarily to women who want to shape up and lose weight. Beware, because often times energy bars have as much sugar and fat as a regular candy bar.
7. The biggest deception laid upon dieters is the term "low-fat." Remember, they may have taken out the fat, but that doesn't mean the sugar is gone. Low-fat foods can still pack substantial calories too, so read the labels carefully.
Take everyone's favorite snack for example ' potato chips. These can be labeled all natural and seem like less of a guilty pleasure, but even natural potatoes become fattening when they get fried and coated with salt. So don't be fooled by creative packaging. A marketing professional helped to design the package. Instead focus on the label that lists nutritional values.
One last tip you may not have considered... Also watch your portions or servings. Most labels that offer calorie content information, are based on a one half cup serving. Depending on what food you're talking about, one half cup just might not be enough to satisfy you. So then, the calories you thought you were consuming, based on what you read on the label, have just increased.
There are lots of traps out there for those on a weight loss program, but if you use your savvy, you will successfully navigate your diet choices!
About the Author
Debbie helps women wanting to lose weight quickly through her blog on natural weight loss tips and weight loss supplements.
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