Tiny meatballs are the hallmark of authentic Italian wedding soup, perhaps because the first ingredient of marriage is patience. A recipe with roots in ancient Rome, a robust blend of mini meatballs in a chicken stock with grated cheeses and chopped escarole or spinach leaves.

The name of the soup is derived from the marriage of the wonderful flavors, but I surmise the etymology comes from the heavy-duty protein load this soup packs, for fortification and sustainability for the wedding night.

You might also like:

Metabolic Rate is the rate at which the body burns up calories. A body that consumes 2000 calories a day, and burns 2000 calories a day will stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2000 calories daily but burning only 1500 will gain weight at the rate of about 1/2 kilo a week.

This explains why that ‘lucky’ person across the table from you doesn’t get fat from all that junk food.

You can do quite a lot to speed up your metabolism – the secret of burning calories lies in knowing what determines your metabolic rate and what you can do to influence it.

You burn calories to provide energy for three main functions:

1. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) – This is the amount of calories you burn just by being alive – even when you are lying down, doing nothing.  BMR accounts for approximately 60% of the calories burned for an average person.  Check your BMR with our BMR Calculator
2. Burning Calories for Activity – This is the energy used during movement – from lifting your arm to operate the remote control to cleaning the windows. This accounts for approximately 30% of the calories burned by an average person.
3. Dietary Thermogenesis – The ‘thermogenic effect’ described as meal-induced heat production – the calories burned in the process of eating, digesting, absorbing and using food.

Speed up your calorie burn rate with these tactics:

Build muscle

Increase the amount of muscle in your body. For every extra pound of muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. In a recent study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is ‘metabolically active’ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving.

Training with weights just 3 times a week for around 20 minutes is enough to build muscle. Not only will you be burning more calories, you’ll look better – whatever your weight.

Move more

Although the average person burns around 30% of calories through daily activity, many sedentary people only use around 15%. Simply being aware of this fact – and taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn.

The trick is to keep the ‘keep moving’ message in mind. Write the word ‘move’ on post-it notes and put them in places you’ll notice them when you’re sitting still. Then, take every opportunity to move – here’s some ideas for burning calories:

• Tap your feet
• Swing your legs
• Drum your fingers
• Stand up and stretch
• Move your head from side to side
• Change position
• Wriggle and fidget
• Pace up and down
• Don’t use the internal phone – go in person
• Use the upstairs loo
• Park in the furthest corner of the car park
• Stand up when you’re on the phone
• Clench and release your muscles

You’ll find lots of opportunities for burning more calories if you remember that you’re looking for them! Keep thinking ‘keep moving’.

Eat spicy food

There is evidence to show that spices, especially chili, can raise the metabolic rate by up to 50% for up to 3 hours after you’ve eaten a spicy meal.

Drinks containing caffeine also stimulate the metabolism, as does green tea.

Aerobic exercise

As well as the actual amount of calories burned during exercise – studies have shown that sustained, high-intensity exercise makes you burn more calories for several hours after wards.

Try 30 minute sessions of heart rate raising exercise, such as vigorous walking, step aerobics, jogging, cycling or swimming, 3-4 times a week.

Eat little and often

There is some evidence to suggest that eating small, regular meals will keep your metabolism going faster than larger, less frequent meals. There are two reasons why meal frequency may affect your metabolism. Firstly, levels of thyroid hormones begin to drop within hours of eating a meal, and metabolism slows. Secondly, it may be that the thermogenic effect of eating several small meals is slightly higher than eating the same amount of calories all at once.

Provided your small meals don’t degenerate into quick-fix, high fat, high sugar snacks, eating little and often can also help to control hunger and make you less likely to binge.

You might also like:

You can get all the information, both positive and negative, that you could want online, at the library or the bookstore. The Atkins diet attempts to get your body to burn fat instead of carbs as fuel. Atkins dieters sometimes experience physical reaction in the early weeks of the diet.

There are things that can be done to alleviate these symptoms. Dizziness and muscular cramps can be experienced by new Atkins dieters. You might have dizziness, cramps or other physical effects caused by the dietary changes you are making. You can take steps to prevent cramps and other symptoms.

Brain fog, dizziness and muscular cramps are common reactions to the dietary changes. Minerals like potassium wash out of your system rather quickly. A banana will not replace all the potassium loss, you need to take a supplement. Your symptoms should improve in about an hour.

Here are some hints to help you stay healthy while on Atkins. There are ways to help you combat the symptoms of the dietary changes. You need to eat at least 15 calories per kilo of body weight. You need to drink enough water to flush toxins from your system.

Some people recommend drinking water equal to half your body weight, that is a lot of water. Water helps the body to rid itself of acidic ketones and also helps in lipolysis , the burning of fat rather than carbs for energy.

Don’t weigh or measure yourself more than once a week, more often will have you obsessing over every gram. You will likely see a decrease in cms after the first week, if not you will surely see it in kilos. Eating the carbs that make you feel your best, still means you need to stay within the limits for the diet stage you are in. You will get more “bang for the buck” if you choose unprocessed, natural nutrient dense carbohydrates.

Sugar is an absolute no-no. Regular exercise is absolutely necessary. Do not even consider a program that promises you can lose weight without exercise. Exercise helps the body to better utilize the foods you consume. Not doing enough exercise is as bad as doing too much. Ask your doctor’s advice about how often, how much and what type of exercise is right for you. Don’t start off by trying to run a 10k, try a walk around the block and build up tolerance for more.

Be sure to take the nutrient supplements prescribed by your doctor. You should have a journal to record your weight loss and food consumption. If a major event or life change happens, record it and the emotions, since these can affect how you eat. What happens in your life affects what you eat, how much and even how often you eat.

Significant events should also be entered because even good stuff can affect you. Keep track of exactly what you eat in your food journal if you are diabetic you will be able to see how certain foods positively or negatively affect blood sugar levels. You should record your daily test results in this journal also.

Your journal will teach you to recognize patterns and to realize when your blood sugar levels are changing. Share your journal, or at least the trends you have noticed, with your doctor so that he can determine what needs to be done. Read the labels on every pre-packaged food item, look for white flour and hidden sugars.

You will lose weight faster if you limit your caffeine intake. The Atkins diet, or any other diet, is not going to take off 20kgs in a week. A weight loss of 1-2 kilos a week may be realistic for one person but not for another. Losing more than this could be dangerous.

If weight loss is very rapid your body will go into starvation mode and try to hold on to what it can, and weight loss will stop cold. Any large weight loss will be regained if you return to your “normal” eating habits. Your prior “normal” eating patterns are what made you overweight to begin with.

A diet that promises phenomenal weight loss in a very short period of time is likely a scam. A really workable diet is one that recommends a balanced diet, exercise and possibly supplements. Be sure that any supplement is safe in general and for you in particular.

Just because a supplement is all natural, doesn’t mean it is safe. Some supplements can interact with certain medication, so be cautious. No medications, vitamins or supplements should be taken without your doctor’s approval.

Source ~ Martin Smith

You might also like:

However, there are also thousands of individuals who have found success with the Atkins diet. They can speak from personal experience and know that the diet works and it is an effective means of keeping weight off. There are thousands of testimonials that tout the benefits of the low carb way of living.

There are many typical criticisms of the Atkins diet. One of the first is that the diet it too high in fat. The butter, oil and fatty meats that are used in the Atkins diet are a far cry from the low-fat diet fad that recently swept the nation. For many people, the low fat mindset has prevailed and they cannot fathom eating real butter or cream with their meals. It seems like too much fat at first glance. However, those that pay close attention to Dr. Atkins guidelines and follow the program closely know that the diet focuses on good fats. Extra virgin olive oil and other helpful fats are emphasized. The proper use of these oils is important to brain function and mood management.

Another popular Atkins diet criticism is that it focuses too much on food and not enough on exercise. This is an unfair claim because the Atkins books clearly spell out a need for exercise. There is a lot of attention paid to food choices because they are an integral part of the program, and they are different foods than what people are normally used to eating. However, this does not mean that exercise is not an integral part of the Atkins program. Aerobic and anaerobic exercise regimens are encouraged, and both will greatly increase your weight loss efforts.

Many Atkins diet critics feel that the diet is hard too keep up in the long term. Critics in this category will admit that Atkins diet is effective in short-term weight loss efforts, but point out that the lifestyle is hard to maintain over time. However, people who have had long term success with Atkins diet claim it is one of the easiest diets to follow for significant periods of time. The Atkins diet plan has rich food that is forbidden on other programs, and it has appetite-suppressing effects. When you combine this with the quick weight loss, a motivating factor for many people, the Atkins diet is easy to stick to long term.

The side effects of Atkins diet, like constipation and bad breath, have also been a topic that Atkins critics are quick to point out. However, these side effects are not as common as critics make them out to be. If they do occur, the side effects normal only last through the first phase of the diet. Additionally, drinking additional water will normally take care of both problems rather quickly.

There are pros and cons to many diets. If you don’t particularly enjoy preparing and eating meat, then the Atkins diet is probably not for you. But if you are considering the Atkins diet, make sure to look beyond the common criticisms for the truth about the diet.

Source ~ Albert Alexander

You might also like:

It seems Tony Ferguson  has got no idea what causes weight gain, and is simply out to make a few bucks.

My main complaint with the Tony Ferguson program is that it is ridiculously low in calories. The average Tony Ferguson diet contains approximately 800-1000 calories a day. (1200 for men.) This will result in fast weight loss, (great for his marketing plan) but will ultimately lead to faster weight gain in the future.

This is because low calorie diets lose more muscle and water weight, resulting in a slower metabolism. This leads to weight gain when you go back to your normal eating because you no longer burn off as many calories as you did before going on the diet.

Our body fat is stored on us for a reason. It is our energy source to survive when food is in shortage. Problem is, when we cut calories too far, our body panics.

It realises that there is a shortage of food coming in, so it is reluctant to use up its fat stores. This is because it doesn’t know how long this food shortage is going to last.

So what it does then is it breaks down our muscle tissue and uses it for energy. And since every pound of muscle helps us burn an extra 50 calories a day, losing it results in a slower metabolism.

Another way to look at it is by knowing that the body is always trying to adapt to survive. So if we cut calories, our body is going to find ways to survive on this limited supply of energy.

It does this by burning off less calories during the day. The easiest way to do this is to get rid of muscles, because muscle burns a lot of calories.

One last thing that the Tony Ferguson Weight Loss program doesn’t realise is that people are overweight because they love food! Cutting calories so far, and cutting out our favourite foods only cause our cravings to increase.

The longer we deprive ourselves of what we love, the more our cravings intensify, until sooner or later we give up, and usually binge.

So not only does low calorie diets destroy our metabolism, it increases our appetite. This extra intake of food coupled with our now slower metabolism will put fat back on us faster than we can imagine.

So forget the Tony Ferguson Weight Loss diet, it is unrealistic and too tough. The bottom line to weight loss is to simply eat less calories then you burn off.

Eat foods you enjoy, keep your calories around 20-25 calories per kilo of body weight, do regular exercise and the fat will come off much easier.

Source: Luke Johnstone

You might also like:

Developed by an Australian pharmacist, the Tony Ferguson weight loss program is a program that helps to pinpoint other diet plans weaknesses and build upon them.  The Tony Ferguson Weight loss Program couldn’t be easier: simply replace two meals a day with their delicious and nutritious shakes and soups and swap your third meal for a low carb, low GI meal. It really is that simple.

What many people do like about the Tony Ferguson diet program is that he does not require you to weigh your food or count your calories so if you hate doing so much tracking as you follow a diet, this program will definitely be one that you’d enjoy.

Tony Ferguson pros

• Provides fast weight loss
• Designed to ensure all your mineral and nutrient needs are met
• Offers advice on which supplements you should be using
• Offers one visit to one of his clinics for those who are looking for added support with the diet plan
• The meals are higher in protein content so your hunger level will be lower and you’ll prevent lean muscle mass loss

Tony Ferguson cons

• Doesn’t offer any advice to help with the psychological issues of overeating
• Some people may find the program hard to stick with having all those shakes each day
• Hunger could become an issue if you need whole foods to feel satisfied

Summary of the Tony Ferguson program

Like many other popular plans on the market, the Tony Ferguson weight loss program is going to work by significantly reducing your calorie intake due to the fact you are cutting out entire meals. As a long term approach that teaches you how to eat healthy and maintain the weight, the Tony Ferguson diet plan unfortunately fails on that account. Unless you plan to only consume diet shakes for two meals out of every day on an ongoing basis, you might struggle when you come off of it.

As a plan that offers fast weight loss however, Tony Ferguson is a good set-up. Since it does contain much more protein than many of the other plan options available, this really puts it ahead of the game and makes it much more superior in nutritional content.

So if you want a fast solution for weight loss and don’t mind skipping a few meals and having liquid shakes instead, definitely consider using the Tony Ferguson program.

You might also like:

Mangoes are delicious and are rich in vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. Mangoes are also high in fibre but are low in calories and sodium. Using a precooked rotisserie chicken makes this salad extra easy and fast, although a chicken breast will work just as well. Chicken breasts are a wonderful source of protein and with the skin off are low in fat.

This recipe is low in Saturated Fat and a good source of Protein.

You might also like:

Here are some suggestions that work for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight:

Set realistic goals

Many people pick weight goals they’ll have a hard time achieving, like fitting into a size 8 dress or a wedding tuxedo from 20 years ago. A better initial goal is 5 to 10 percent of your current weight. This may not put you in league with the “beautiful people” profiled in popular magazines, but it can lead to important improvements in weight-related conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.  You don’t have to stop there, of course. You can keep aiming for another 5 to 10 percent until you’re happy with your weight. By breaking weight loss into more manageable chunks, you’ll be more likely to reach your goal.

Slow and steady wins the race

Dieting implies deprivation and hunger. You don’t need either to lose weight if you’re willing to take the time to do it right. If you cut out just 100 calories a day, the equivalent of a single can of soda or a bedtime snack, you would weigh 5 kilos less after a year. If, at the same time, you added a brisk 30-minute walk five days a week, you could be at least 10 kilos.

Move more

Physical exercise helps eliminate unnecessary fats in our body. Aside from enhancing our physical appearance it also helps strengthen our cardiovascular system and boost our immune system.

The most efficient way to find the best exercise to lose weight is to find a physical activity that you enjoy.

Keep a food diary

It’s easy to eat more than you plan to. A daily food diary can make you more aware of exactly how much you are eating. Include everything, no matter how small or insignificant it seems. Small noshes and drinks of juice add up to real calories.

Tame your blood sugar

Eating foods that make your blood sugar and insulin levels shoot up and then crash may contribute to weight gain. Such foods include white bread, white rice, and other highly processed grain products. As an alternative, choose foods that have a gentler effect on blood sugar (what’s called a lower glycemic index). These include whole grains such as wheat berries, steel-cut oats, and whole-grain breads and pasta, as well as beans, nuts, fruits, and vegetables.

Don’t be afraid of good fats

Fat in a meal or in snacks such as nuts or corn chips helps you feel full. Good fats such as olive or canola oil can also help improve your cholesterol levels when you eat them in place of saturated or trans fats or highly processed carbohydrates.

Reach for slow foods

Fast food is cheap, filling, and satisfying. It also delivers way more calories, not to mention harmful saturated and trans fat, than you need. People who eat at fast-food restaurants more than twice a week are more likely to gain weight and show early signs of diabetes than those who only occasionally eat fast food.

Bring on the water and skip the soda

When you are thirsty, reach for water. Drinking juice or sugared soda drinks can give you several hundred calories a day without even realizing it. Several studies show that children and adults who drink soda or other sugar-sweetened beverages are more likely to gain weight than those who don’t, and that switching from these to water or unsweetened beverages can reduce weight.

You might also like:

Whether or not your weight changes depends on one simple rule:

Weight change = calories in – calories out

If you burn as many calories as you take in each day, there’s nothing left over for storage in fat cells and weight remains the same. Eat more than you burn, though, and you end up adding fat and pounds.

Many things influence what and when you eat and how many calories you burn. These turn what seems to be a straightforward pathway to excess weight into a complex journey that may start very early in life.

Do genes play a role in weight gain?

Some people are genetically predisposed to gain weight more easily than others or to store fat around the abdomen and chest. It’s also possible that humans have a genetic drive to eat more than they need for the present in order to store energy for future. This is called the thrifty gene hypothesis.  It suggests that eating extra food whenever possible helped early humans survive feast-or-famine conditions. If such thrifty genes still exist, they aren’t doing us much good in an environment in which food is constantly available.

Influence of diet on weight gain

At the risk of stating the obvious, the quantity of food in your diet has a strong impact on weight. The composition of your diet, though, seems to play little role in weight—a calorie is a calorie, regardless of its source.

Physical activity

The “calories burned” part of the weight-change equation is often given little attention. The more active you are, the more calories you burn, which means that less energy will be available for storage as fat. Exercising more also reduces the chances of developing heart disease, some types of cancer, and other chronic diseases. In other words, physical activity is a key element of weight control and health.

You might also like:

Rapid weight loss is something millions of people want to achieve, but few actually know how to do it the correct way. Maybe it’s because summer is coming up, we want to look great for a wedding, or some other reason. We want our body to look like it did when we were twenty years old and we think a weight loss pill will do the trick. We want to lose weight quickly and easily!

Other than dangerous pills, the easiest way to achieve rapid weight loss is the old fashioned way. Diet and exercise. I know that sounds harsh, but there are a few programs now that show you how to do it the easy way -really. Here are some tips to help you get started

Drink lots of water

Water helps flush waste from your body, and speeds your metabolism. It also helps decrease your appetite. Also, when you exercise vigorously your body will lose water, so keep plenty on hand and sip while you workout.

In addition, by increasing your intake of water your skin texture and tone will improve, you will get fewer headaches, have increased energy and help protect yourself from many diseases.

Eat nourishing food

As much as possible, eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Try to eliminate processed food that contain added salt. Salt increases blood pressure, and also causes water retention or bloating – not good for weight loss. Also try to use fresh foods when cooking. They have a better taste than canned foods, and are much healthier for you.

The funny thing is, when trying to lose weight many people skip meals and starve themselves. This does NOT work, and actually slows your metabolism, halting your weight loss efforts. You really need to eat a healthy breakfast to give your metabolism a boost in the mornings.

Eat more often, in smaller amounts. You will be surprised what a difference this will make! You will never feel hungry, and consequently will not overeat at a meal. This is a very important trick to losing weight. This is just one way you can use the foods you eat to achieve rapid weight loss.

Spice up the menu

Eating spicy foods is known to be good for your heart, as well as circulation and cholesterol. Did you know that eating foods containing capsaicin can help you lose weight? Peppers and foods such as salsa are really super-good for you, and also help boost metabolism.

Eating healthy, exercising and using common sense are very important to long term weight loss. However, when you are really in need of a rapid weight loss plan, there are a few effective ways to achieve your goal. These are some super fat-burning, metabolism boosting methods of choosing when and what kind of foods you eat. Take a look at some of these programs, and change your body as well as your life!

Rapid Weight Loss Ideas

The main treatment for obesity is to reduce body fat by eating fewer calories and exercising more.

Diet suggestions:

1. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in the morning to start your metabolism.
2. Vegetables have essential vitamins and nutrients for your healthy weight loss. Pair any vegetable with a protein to make a meal, or eat alone as a healthy snack
3. Maintenance of a good ratio between carbohydrates and lipids 4:1
4. Make sure that you eat five different types of fruit and vegetables every day. Every day also make sure that you eat at least one thing from each of the different food groups: Carbohydrates, Fruit and vegetables, Protein, Dairy, and Fats. Remember to eat the most fruit and vegetables, and the least fats.
5. Eat small, healthy meals frequently.
6. Keep in mind that you must still count your calories to be an effective weight loss plan. As a general rule, it is best to eat 5 smaller meals throughout the day.
7. You should be eating some healthy fats in your diet.
8. Protein is also essential for losing body fat. Protein is needed to repair your muscle tissue after working out.
9. Having fibre in your diet will help regulate your digestive system.
10. Too much salt gives you high blood pressure; a high fat diet will give you hard and narrow arteries that could lead to heart attacks and strokes, possibly even death.
11. Foods that are grilled are by definition, not cooked in oil or their own fat which means once cooked they retain little or no fat so are better for overall health.

Exercise suggestions:

1. Exercise requires energy (calories). Calories are stored in body fat. The body breaks down its fat stores in order to provide energy during prolonged aerobic exercise. The largest muscles in the body are the leg muscles, and naturally these burn the most calories, which make walking, running, and cycling among the most effective forms of exercise for reducing body fat.
2. You may find that you are more comfortable walking than any other form of exercise; however, try to improve the pace you walk at as your diet progresses, remembering that you will look better when your fat is converted into muscle.
3. You should be performing weight-bearing exercises twice a week to tone your muscles and cardio at least 3 days a week to burn off your body fat. Exercise is absolutely essential for having a flat stomach.

Rapid weight loss pills

Rapid weight loss pills are amongst the most sought after products nowadays. The quest for the ultimate slim and fit body fuels the demand on the rapid weight loss market. There is a wide variety of rapid weight loss pills to choose from which has been made commercially available for the public.

Research is being continuously done by manufacturers to come up with the best and most effective weight loss products in the industry. In fact, the largest pharmaceutical companies all over the globe have expressed their keen interest in the dietary market. Again, we can not stress enough the importance of being careful in getting involved with rapid weight loss and rapid weight loss pills. You can’t lose that much weight if you rely on taking just rapid weight loss pills.  You need considerable efforts to make it really work for you, meaning, cutting out on your calorie and sugar intake, cutting out on some of your vices, and lastly exercising more.

Some tips in buying rapid weight loss pills: money back guarantee, it’s a must that the rapid weight loss pills that you will be purchasing comes with this feature. Also ensure that it is made up of safe and all natural ingredients and will not cause any negative side effects once you started taking them. Some rapid weight loss pills double as beauty pills.

You might also like: