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Why Tracking Is Key To Weight Loss Success


You may have tried various fad diets to try to lose weight, and all of them yielded the same results; you failed miserably. This is probably due to the fact that you went on a diet that you couldn’t maintain for the long-term. To lose weight, you need to undertake a lifestyle change, not a temporary diet. It’s more effective if you can just adjust your current lifestyle by making it healthier in several key areas.

One of the main ways you can start practicing this is by tracking the amount of calories you take in and burn on a daily basis to get a better understanding of why your old lifestyle caused you to put on weight.

Here are some reasons why tracking is one of the main keys to weight loss success:

Tracking can help you stay motivated on your weight loss journey as it is a systematic way for you to keep track of what you are eating. By tracking your calories, you will be less tempted to stray from your healthy eating plan, since if you want, you can always allocate calories for a special treat that you love, or if you overeat at a particular meal, you can compensate during another meal by eating fewer calories. This way, you will see results and stay motivated.

Tracking your calorie intake helps you change your eating habits, as you can learn portion control and learn to swap high-calorie options with lower calorie ones. Since you have a set amount of calories per day, you will be very careful with how much of the high-calorie foods you let enter your mouth.

Tracking the amount of calories you burn with your fitness endeavors will help you budget how much extra you can eat to stay on your goal, and at the same time give you a boost of encouragement every day when you see how many calories you have burned from your efforts. You will be more motivated to push yourself during workouts this way. More intense workouts mean more calories burned!

Tracking your weight loss or body measurements are a great motivation tool; when you can see the progress you’ve made in black and white, you will be very motivated to keep on going and achieve your goals. Sometimes subtle changes can be hard to see in the mirror. But when you see them on paper, you’ll know that you’re getting somewhere.

So as you can see, there are many benefits that you can get if you start tracking your calories and your progress in your weight loss. And don’t forget to make the most of the various websites and apps out there to help you keep track.


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Healthy Foods to Help You Gain Weight


Overweight and obesity problems plague two-thirds of the American population, but there are also people who have exactly the opposite problem – they are much too thin. Some people are underweight due to medical conditions or eating disorders, while others are just naturally thin. If you are someone who needs to put on some extra pounds, your goal would be to increase your calorie intake every day by eating healthy foods to gain weight and build a more muscled physique.

Being underweight can be a problem but it doesn’t mean that you want to become fat and flabby. You need healthy foods and exercise to help you build strong muscles and a bigger body. Avoid foods that are high in saturated fats; they may make you gain weight quickly but are bad for your health. The following foods will help you gain weight and increase muscle mass while providing the calories, vitamins and minerals your body needs.

Healthy Foods to Help You Gain Weight

Healthy Foods to Help You Gain Weight

Healthy Foods to Help You Gain Weight

Pasta and Other Carbohydrate Sources – Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy and should provide up to 65% of your total caloric intake. One cup of cooked pasta contains approximately 200 calories. Pasta topped with marinara sauce and shredded cheese is a great source of carbohydrates, protein, calcium and lycopene.

Other excellent sources of carbohydrates are bagels, potatoes, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, sweet potatoes and yams. If you are trying to gain weight, you need plenty of carbohydrate-rich foods to supply your body with energy. Provide your body with enough carbohydrates for energy, otherwise it will break down muscle tissue and use it for energy.

Dried Fruits – Raisins and dried berries, apricots, pineapple, cranberries and mango are packed with calories, vitamins and minerals. Dried fruits, without the water content, are more calorie-dense than fresh fruits. A half-cup of raisins has over 200 calories while a cup of fresh grapes has only about 60 calories. Snack on raisins and other dried fruits to help you gain weight more quickly.

Nuts and Seeds – Nuts and seeds are some of the healthiest foods to gain weight. Polyunsaturated fats in nuts and seeds provide healthy calories. Walnuts, almonds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and pecans offer a variety of flavors for a delicious, nutritious and calorie-dense snack.

Lean Meats and Other Protein Sources – Your body needs quality protein to build muscle mass. If you want to gain weight and maintain or add more muscles, you need high-protein foods such as lean meats, poultry, eggs, salmon, tuna, cottage cheese and tofu.

Avocado – Avocados are nutrient-dense and calorie-dense. A single avocado provides over 200 calories of nutrition. Avocados are rich in healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, potassium, B vitamins, and folic acid. Enjoy this wholesome fruit in sandwiches, salads and guacomole.

Healthy Fats and Oils – One of the quickest ways to boost your calorie intake is by adding extra fat to your food. Choose healthy fats and oils, and stay away from saturated fats. Olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil, and grape seed oil are rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on your pasta, salads, vegetables and other foods to gain weight in a healthy and natural way.

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How to lose 20 pounds in a month



For many people knowing how to lose 20 pounds in a month would be a dream. Put that dream right in front of you because I am saying that there are ways that you can lose 20 pounds in a month.

To get started on any weight loss goal is easy but you need a strategy and tactics in place to know how to lose 20 pounds in a month. Your strategy towards any goal is the broad strokes, the big concepts that are important. Here is your weight loss strategy

Increase your resting metabolism
Reduce your calorie intake
Quickly burn calories during cardio and weight workouts

Now that you have a strategy to lose 20 pounds in a month so now you need the tactics that will make it a reality. You need radical changes to lose 5 pounds a week.

How to lose 20 pounds in a month

How to lose 20 Pounds in a Month

Your tactics are the individual things that will make your dream work out for you.

How to lose 20 pounds – Eating Tactics

Plan your eating the day before – If you plan your eating the night before then you are not going to have to worry about getting into a struggle of eating these crappy foods and instead will know what you are going to eat when.

Eat 5 or 6 small meals a day – This is going to help you to raise your metabolism. When you eat often you are sending a message to your body that you are not going to starve and that you will always have enough to eat.

Have leftovers a lot to make it easier to eat good food – If you make giant helpings of meals then you will have lots of leftovers to choose from. One of the problems that I always hear from people is that they are worried that if they have to eat really often then they will spend their whole life preparing meals. this is just not at all the case.

Eat meals that are small – One thing that drives me crazy is how we allow our bodies to waste food. It is hard to find a steak smaller than 8 ounces in a restaurant but did you know that your body has almost no way for digesting and using more than 4 ounces of that steak?

Eat lots of fiber – Fiber will increase metabolism and make you healthier by cleaning out toxins.

Drink lots of water – Who cares what the so called experts say. Water makes your metabolsim faster and makes you feel great

How to lose 20 pounds – Exercise Tactics

Exercise twice a day – One 20 minutes workout in the morning and another one in the evening.

Do weights once every second day – Getting muscle will help your body burn more fat. The muscle takes a lot of calories to maintain while fat takes nearly none.

Split your cardio workouts between high and low intensity – High intensity to burn a lot of carbs off and low intensity to finish of the fat hanging around

Cardio is 20 minutes of hard cardio – Hard cardio is defined as keeping your heartrate up around 80% of your max. This will raise your metabolism for a long time 12 – 24 hours.

Walking or casual exercise can be an hour long – This is a great way to burn fat as you can exercise low impact by walking for an hour.

Weights should be basic exercises – Basic exercises are things like squats, bench presses, lunges, military presses. These exercises work a lot of muscle groups at once.

Healing between workouts is most important – Now that you are working out it is a good idea to get a lot of rest and sleep so that your body can recover. Your body only recovers when you are sleeping or at least resting.

There are no guarantees of course that you will lose 20 pounds in a month but just look at this plan of attack. Is this different than you are doing now? Are these new lifestyle changes possible for you? It is all up to you to see what radical changes that you can make in your life and what they will lead to. Good luck in your quest and at the very least you now know how to lose 20 pounds in a month.

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