Holiday_By_Mistake added an entry about lose weight : Heya, i thought id write up my top tips for weight loss, if any of you guys needed any advice or anything. Also dont hesistate to email me if you need any help or anything (melbooth@msn.com). I know a lot about weight loss and nutrition and stuff,(A in GCSE Food and Nutrition) and i realise how tough it can be some times with losing weight. Anyway, here are my tips: 1. Drink plenty of water (4-8 glasses a day) 2. Dont restrict foods, restrict calories. When you restrict certain foods, the mind realises you have restricted it, and goes about telling your mind that your body needs it. Hence cravings. Calorie counting is better, because it allows you to eat whatever you want, but if you treat yourself, you will have to eat less later, or if you’ve been doing very well throughout the day, you will have enough calories spare to treat yourself. 3. Excercize- A good 3 hours excercize a week is a good goal to reach for. Excercize will increase your metabolism, allowing you to burn calories faster in your daily life, it also removes fat/ gains muscle. 4.Get plenty of sleep- at least 7 hours a night. Whilsr you are asleep, the body functions to sort out your body, your metabolism, and your digestive system, which aids weight loss. Also, if your asleep, it means that you cant be eating! 5. Dont eat late! Eating late means that you will store most of the fat you get from the foods that you consume. 6. Reduce/control your portion size. You may lose weight from your thighs/ass/legs etc., but if you dont reduce your portion size, your stomach cannot shrink, and will continue to be stretched after over-consumption every time it happens. 7. Dont skip meals!- If you skip meals, basically your body slows down, and goes into starvation mode, which means that the next meal that you eat, the body will store as much of the fat as it can of what your eating, because the body is unsure when it will next get food. Call it a body version of being stuck on a desert island. 8. Get a good breakfast! A good breakfast, using low Gi (slow release sugars, rather than fast release sugars) foods and wholegrains, will set you up for the day and stop you from snacking on ‘bad foods’ before lunch. Good options are wholegrains such as brown bread, high fibre cereals such as all bran and muesli and porridge and granola. 9. In general, reduce your consumption of: Meat, Dairy, ready-made foods (microwaveable/ pre prepared food), processed carbohydrates (white bread, white pasta etc.), foods high in sugar, foods high in salt, ‘junk’ food (chocolate, donuts etc.), alchohol, coffee, cigarettes. 10. In general, increase your consumption of: Fruit and vegetables, wholegrains (brown bread, brown rice, cereals), freshly prepared food (stuff you cook yourself), and pulses (lentils and beans, etc.). 11. And finally, stay motivated! If you dont lose any weight for a week or something, console yourself with the fact that: A) Muscle weighs more than fat, so perhaps you may have lost fat weight, but gained muscle weight. B) The body reaches certain plateues, and soon the body will reach the end of it and the weight will drop off soon enough as long as you continue with your healthy eating/excercizing. C) If you know why you have gained weight, dont worry about it, you can fix it! Theres no day like the present! So you can just get on with your diet and be confident that any weight you may have gained/ not lost, you can lose it with a bit of will power and determination in the days to come.