Go Easy on Salad Dressings

A healthy green salad with carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and perhaps just a few slices of chicken sounds like a low fat lunch to help you lose weight.  And it is until you ladle on the salad dressings. Mayonnaise and oil-based dressings have up to 100 calories per teaspoon.  One teaspoon doesn't cover a lot of lettuce.

Order your salads with the dressing on the side so you're not temped to eat all of it.  Dip the tines of your fork in the salad dressing and then spear up some lettuce and cucumbers.  You'll taste the dressing but not go overboard.

Ask for oil and vinegar on the side.  Or for fresh lemon quarters.  Use the oil sparingly and the vinegar and lemon liberally.

The traditional ratio for salad dressing recipes is one part oil to one part acid.  Instead use one part oil to two parts acid.

Or eliminate the oil completely. whirl a tomato in the blender with fresh basil, or a cucumber with parsley and use that as the dressing.

Diet by Your Blood Diet

Do you know your blood type? Well, according to Dr. Peter D'Adamo, creator of the blood type diet, each blood type has a specific type of eating style that is right for them.

Want to know what to eat?

    * Type O people should eat a meat-rich diet.

    * Type A people should eat a diet free of red meat which emphasizes vegetables.

    * Type B people thrive on dairy products.

    * Type AB people should eat a balanced diet.

Dr. D'Adamo and other followers of the Blood Type Diet believe that when you eat in a way that is conducive to your blood type, you will feel healthier and more alive.

Does following this type of diet mean that Type O people should only eat meat products while type B people drink glass after glass of milk? No, that would be unreasonable. Of course you can eat sensibly from all of the food groups, but you should base your meals on the foods that work best for you. A full reading of the book Eat Right for Your Type can help you to determine what foods are recommended or to be avoided.

While it may be true that this diet works from some people, it is widely discredited by much of the medical community. Many doctors say that Dr. D'Adamo's theory is not based on any sound evidence and that the references that he provides do not really support what he says they support.

If someone following the diet achieves weight loss, it is more likely due to the fact that they've begun eating healthier foods or have reduced their overall caloric intake.

Additionally, this diet could be difficult to follow if you are unable to eat the foods recommended for your blood type--for example, a vegetarian who is Type O or someone who is Type B and lactose intolerant. Dr. D'Adamo has very little to say about this besides the fact that he presents one style of eating and if it doesn't work for you, you can easily find another plan.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle is an ebook written by bodybuilder, personal trainer, and nutritionist Tom Venuto. He claims that the proper way to lose weight is to burn the fat with exercise and feed the muscle with proper food choices.

Most other weight loss books consist of half scientific jargon and half recipes that are compliant with the particular diet. Most people find it a bit confusing to understand the science behind the diet they're following. And if the recipes included in the book don't suit your taste, half the book is useless.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle is different. It has over 300 pages of useful, easy to understand information, in downloadable ebook format.

Throughout the book, Venuto explains:

    * The importance of setting goals.

    * Why other diets really fail.

    * How to determine how much you should be eating.

    * Why you should exercise.

    * What to do if your diet or exercise program is not working.

    * How to find what your goal weight should be.

All of this is written in simple, layman's terms so that it is very easy to understand. There are a lot of great little gems in there that'll have you thinking "That's so simple. Why didn't I think of that?"

Plan for your snacks

Plan ahead so you won't be hitting the vending machines or the cookie jar. There are lots of prepackaged alternatives at the grocery store that offer low fat, low calorie, but tasty snacks. Prepackaged costs more than the big bags but you get portion control in return. You can also package up your own snacks. Keep the calorie count to about 100. Fresh fruit and veggies are a given, but you can also have popcorn without the butter, saltine crackers with low fat cheese, a cup of soup, a handful of nuts, or pretzel sticks. Put your selected snacks in a zip lock bag and place in the fridge, when you feel the urge, they'll be ready and waiting.

brown bag your lunch.

It's tempting to run out to the nearest fast food joint for a high fat, high carb lunch. If you pack your lunch you have control of what you eat and won't be tempted by a burger and fries. If you have a fridge and microwave at your office, and who doesn't these days, you can serve up a delicious salad and soup lunch. As an added benefit you will save money. The average fast food lunch these days costs around $7.00. And you can use the time you save to run errands, relax or take a walk around the block. Tips to Lose weight fast