Best weight loss secrets

1. Mushrooms
2. Lean Meats (Beef, Chicken, Pork, Buffalo)
   
3. 70% cacao (unprocessed, unsweetened)
4. Eggs
5. Coffee (1 cup daily)
6. Spices (hot pepper, cinnamon, chili)
   
7. Pistachios, Almonds, Walnuts
   
8. Vegetables
   
9. Dairy - Low fat
   
10. Avocado
11. Red Potatoes (with skin on)
12. Fruits
13. Popcorn
14. Olives
15. Hummus
16. Endamame and soy
    
17. Peanuts and peanut butter
18. Vitatops (packaged food)
19. Frozen meals like Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers, Healthy Choice
20. Whole grains

This is your grocery list. You will notice that cakes, cookies, and candy bars are not on the list. Don't buy them or bring them into your house. If your family members want them, they will have to buy them on their own and hide them. Out of sight, out of mind.

To customize your diet all you have to do it plan every meal you eat.

If your dietitian has given you a calorie range to shoot for each day, then divide that by the number of times you like to eat every day.

Example: If your calorie goal for the day is 1500-1800 (a reasonable goal), then divide that number by 5 preferred meals a day, which gives you the number of calories you should eat at each meal! In this example it will be 300 to 360 calories per meal. This is also a reasonable goal.

But do customize this number. If you are unsure of your calorie goal for the day and don't want to see a dietitian, then use the diet calculator at http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

It will give you a range that you can easily live with. The secret to weight loss is to eat 500 calories a day less than your body requires to maintain your present weight. This will guarantee a weight loss of one pound a week or 52 pounds a year.

That's a lot of butter (fat)!

Yes, you can eat cake and weigh less too!

I know it sounds like a contradiction, and I said in secret one not to buy cake, cookies, and candy, but there is a way to enjoy what you love and lose weight too!

While planning your meals, just include one *snack* meal that is what you love! Each day remember to eat something that you truly enjoy and just count it as a meal.

You will quickly discover ways to lower the calorie count on your favorite meals so that you can include them in your daily diet. I love spaghetti and meat sauce. I could eat this every day. Lean Cuisine makes a wonderful version that is only 320 calories - well within my meal allowance!

Jenny Craig makes a delicious lemon cake that is 170 calories - I can have two of those for the price of a meal!

Weight Watchers makes all sorts of delicious desserts and snacks that are well within those meal points. If you are using points - just calculate how many points you can have per meal by taking your point allotment and dividing by the number of meals you eat per day and you will be able to eat that many points each meal.

The 100 calorie packs today make planning a *snack* meal easy! You can eat 2-3 packs for one *snack* meal.

So plan your day by eating what you love for each meal and you will stick to your diet.  This is secret number 3.

Water, water, everywhere, what to drink!

By now you should know that drinking colas, and high sugary drinks are very, very bad for you. Diet drinks are not much better, but will do in a pinch. Drink no more than one diet drink a day.

Energy drinks are popular, but they are also not so great nutritionally. Don't drink more than one of those every day and make sure it is the sugar free type.

Green tea is supposed to be a good choice. I don't know as I rarely drink it. But if it is calorie free then I say it is a good idea. Mix it up and have it hot some days and cold some days. I do not like lemon in my teas, but if you do, then enjoy! Lemon is good for you! Try some herbal teas once in a while to mix it up.

Water is convenient, usually very low cost, and keeps you hydrated which is a good thing when your body is trying to get rid of excess fat. So this secret means drinking as much water as you can drink daily!

The bottom line is that sometimes we are not really hungry and what we really need is fluid to fill us up. So don't skimp on the fluids!

Exercise is not supposed to be hard. It's not supposed to be a Work Out! It's supposed to be fun and energizing.

Find a game that you enjoy playing. This counts as exercise! The Wii Fit has become very popular because it doesn't sound like work, it sounds like fun! And it is! I personally prefer the Wii sports resort which includes a very stress relieving airplane that *kills* tons of balloons! Amazing the amount of stress I can get rid of with this!  I also do the power cruising (standing) and the bicycle (sitting). Make it a daily habit.

If you do not like to exercise, the good news is that it's not really necessary for weight loss! Yep, that's right, the new thinking is that diet plays a much larger role in getting rid of extra pounds! But you will feel better if you find an exercise that you like and it will tone up your muscles which burn more calories. So don't discard exercise as an aid to weight loss.

At least you don't have to join one of those gyms that they keep pushing! Just find a good game to play or a sport you love and get out there!