Here’s 3 ways you can do that:

1. Stay Active:  Stay committed to your exercise program. Walk every day. Stay committed to taking at least 10,000 steps each day. Enjoy the other benefits that exercise provides including good mental health, blood flow, and a balanced metabolism.
2.  Drink Water:  Continue to drink water. Aim to drink at least a glass of water before and with each meal. Water fills your stomach so you consume fewer calories. It also flushes the toxins from your body and helps you stay healthy and strong.
3. Continue to Count Calories:  Counting calories needn’t be a tiresome process. You can simply add the food you’ve eaten into your mobile device or onto your computer. The applications and programs do the rest. Counting calories will help you stay on top of what you eat and what you burn.

One of the surest ways to lose weight and keep it off is to change your lifestyle and daily habits. Adopt habits that support your longevity and health. You’ll not only live longer but feel better too.

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So as not to be confused;  a vegan is someone who does not eat any animal products, no meat, fish, eggs, or dairy products either. A vegetarian on the other hand, doesn’t eat meat. They can and do eat dairy products and most eat eggs.

Many people are trying the vegan lifestyle and are finding that they’re losing weight.  Why?

Because they’re eating so many fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These items are high in nutrients but they’re low in calories. You can eat bowls and bowls of fruits and vegetables and still not consume as many calories as you might with a simple chicken breast.

And you’ll find that because you’re eating so much healthy fiber, you’re also more regular. You’ll poop more which means less bloating, constipation which can add pounds to your weight.

A word of caution – many people who try a vegetarian or vegan diet turn to starchy carbs for meals and snacks. This isn’t healthy as starchy carbs like bread, baked goods and potatoes or white rice do fill you up but they also lack nutrients. Worse, they cause a spike in blood sugar which causes energy highs and lows and cravings.

If you’ve ever considered becoming a vegan or a vegetarian and you want to lose weight, but are used to a diet with meat, I suggest you start slowly and become vegetarian and eventually go vegan. Abruptly changing your eating habits can be very challenging both physically and emotionally.

And don’t forget to talk it over with your doctor or health provider, and see what they suggest.

Now, here are three basic tools that can help you stay on track and lose weight.

They are:

1. Journal
2. Pedometer
3. Calorie counting system

Why Journal?

Weight gain is rarely about one thing. Often it’s caused by lifestyle, beliefs and emotions. When you journal throughout your weight loss process you’ll likely have several “ah-ha” moments. These moments will provide clarity. They’ll help you overcome your weight loss challenges. They’ll help you live the better life you’ve been striving for.

What Do You Journal?

Journal the data, for example how much you’ve lost. How many calories you ate that day and what you ate. Journal if you’ve exercised, how it felt, how much effort you put into it and how many calories you burned during exercise.

Also journal how you felt that day. Any challenges you dealt with and whether you dealt with them successfully or if you had a few setbacks. You can use a good old fashioned notebook. You can journal online or you can use an application on your laptop or mobile device. There’s no right or wrong way to journal.

Why A Pedometer?

A pedometer is an inexpensive tool that will help you maintain an active lifestyle each and every day. Set the simple goal of walking 10000 steps each day. Track in your journal how many steps you took and what you did to achieve your goal.

Counting Calories

Counting calories can feel tedious to many people. However, it’s also the most basic source of weight loss information you have. If you consume 3500 fewer calories each week than you burn, you will lose a pound. It is simple math. Which means if you count your calories and know how much you burn and how much you eat you also know how much weight you’re on track to lose.

Use an online calorie counting tool like Fitday.com or a free application for your mobile device to track your calories each day.

Shakes and smoothies are great to make in the summer months due to the plentiful supply of fresh fruit. Adding low fat yogurt makes them even more tempting. But you can still partake in the winter. All you have to do is use frozen fruit which has just as few calories and tastes almost as good.

So what recipes would be recommended? I love mango as it is very refreshing when you are feeling hot and bothered. I whizz up some mango, mandarin oranges and some ice. I then add a low fat yogurt and if I am feeling hungry some protein powder. Yummy!

Occasionally I will use a banana instead of the yogurt although I have been known to use both. Cranberry juice is an excellent tonic for your kidneys. Blend some with apple juice, strawberries, blueberries and a banana to make a delicious healthy breakfast.

If I am craving chocolate, I will add some unsweetened high quality cocoa powder to my shake although obviously I cannot do this every day! Unfortunately you cannot survive purely on diet shakes. In order to lose pounds and keep that slimmer figure you need to eat healthily and exercise more. But you should have fun doing it. Any activity that gets you moving is good for you. Think about what you love doing and do more of it. He will love you for it!

Think about your diet as well and see what changes you can implement to cut your calorie intake. White breads, pasta and rice are all bad for us dieters as they contain hidden sources of sugar. So swop them over to the brown variety. You may have to do this gradually as your palate will have to get used to the new taste. Also be aware that you need to cook brown rice and pasta for longer than the other varieties otherwise you will end up eating them raw like I did. Yuck!

Experiment with your food. We all get stuck in a diet rut where we eat the same type of foods day in and day out. So now it is time to broaden your horizons. Try out a new fruit or vegetable every week. You could also try cooking in a different way. For example if you always fry steak why not try grilling instead. Or steam your fish? Simple changes are great as you will lose pounds with very little effort.

There are some foods that are high in soluble fiber meaning they fill you up but have few calories. These include Brussels sprouts, mangoes, peas, dried apricots, sprouts and spring greens. Adding a couple of these to your meals will help you eat less and so reduce your waistline.

At the end of the day, tasty diet shake recipes are easy to find but can only be part of the overall weight loss program.

The general promise is six pounds over the course of the diet. Since most people struggle to lose a pound a week, the promises of the three day diets are very appealing. But these diets do raise two big questions; do they work and are they safe?

Do they work? Yes and no. If you need to drop some pounds quickly to look your best for an event, then these three day diets can be extremely effective, because if followed as instructed, they will help you drop pounds and inches.

The problem is that they aren’t really designed for long term weight loss, which is why they are three day diets and not thirty year diets. They work mostly by causing a very rapid loss due to low carbohydrates and low salt content. Which is fine, because if you’re using them as a quick fix, that’s exactly what you want them to do.

But the weight will come back almost immediately when you resume normal eating habits, which is true of pretty much every diet. The three day diets are also, by their nature, very low in bulk, which means that your midsection will slim out quickly because there’s not much in your intestines.

The three day diets do lead to actual fat loss as well, since by their nature they are low in calories and they are short enough that there is no metabolic slowdown as you would get if you stayed on the program longer. Depending on your size and activity level, it’s unreasonable to expect to see from one to three pounds of actual fat loss.

Are they safe? Yes, usually. Frankly, a lot of people worry about the safety of diets a lot more than they really should. The human body is an immensely adaptable machine, and you can eat pretty much anything foodwise for short periods with no ill effects, or nothing at all.

Certainly, most of the three days diets are perfectly safe for a normal person who doesn’t have a preexisting illness. You can’t develop nutritional deficiencies over the course of three days. In addition, most of the three day diets actually have you eating healthier than the average person does normally.

Typically, the diets have you eating mostly meat, vegetables and fruit over the course of the three days, and elimination starches and sugar. This is actually a big improvement over the way the normal person eats, and the chance of you becoming deficient in vitamins or nutrients, even over the long term, is virtually non existent.

The problem with three day diets is that they are also extremely low in calories, typically below 1000 calories, and often much below. This is simply not enough calories even if you are trying to lose weight, and so you can’t say that the three day diets are safe for extended use.

What you can do is do a three on, four off version of the diet. In the three day period, do the diets exactly as planned, but for the next four days, eat the same foods without limiting portions. This will prevent metabolic slowdown and help make the three day diets work for you.

Berries are a great source of potassium that can also assist you in blood pressure control. Blackberries have 74 calories per cup, blueberries 81, raspberries 60 and strawberries 45. So use your imagination and enjoy the berry of your choice.

Bread, a natural source of fiber and complex carbohydrates, is okay for dieting. Norwegian scientist Dr. Bjarne Jacobsen found that people who eat less than two slices of bread daily weigh about 11 pounds more than those who eat a lot of bread.

Studies at Michigan State University show some breads actually reduce the appetite. Researchers compared white bread to dark, high-fiber bread and found that students who ate 12 slices a day of the dark, high-fiber bread felt less hunger on a daily basis and lost five pounds in two months. Others who ate white bread were hungrier, ate more fattening foods and lost no weight during this time.

So the key is eating dark, rich, high-fiber breads such as pumpernickel, whole wheat, mixed grain, oatmeal and others. The average slice of whole grain bread contains only 60 to 70 calories, is rich in complex carbohydrates – the best, steadiest fuel you can give your body – and delivers a surprising amount of protein.

Do the body good… eat whole grain bread!

Here is something you may not know, you don’t have to kill yourself on the treadmill, the elliptical trainer, stair climber or stationary bike any more. Out with the old and in with the new. New studies have proven better and faster weight loss can be achieved by working each muscle group to fatigue during your workout by doing only one set at your maximum weight setting.  What this means is you can greatly reduce the amount of cardio training you do on the treadmill, stairclimber, elliptical trainer or stationary bike or eliminate it all together especially if you really hate it, and be honest, who doesn’t hate cardio?

Next and probably most important is your diet. Eliminate all “white” foods such as white flour, white bread, white rice and, white sugar. All of these contain carbs that convert into simple sugars in your body and get stored immediately as fat. Instead stick with a diet rich in complex carbs found in whole grains and brown rice, lean protein like boneless, skinless chicken breasts or fish, eat several servings a day of fresh fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of water to flush out toxins and stay hydrated.

The general rule of thumb for taking in enough water everyday is to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day. So, if you weigh 200 lbs you need to drink 100 ounces of water each day. Now that may seem like a lot but when you figure the average person is awake for 16 hours a day that means you would only need to drink about 6 ounces every hour. Stay away from carbonated beverages especially the diet variety. The stuff they use to make diet pop is poison and will actually trick your body into staying fat.

Remember, when you learn how to lose weight in the thighs you are learning how to improve the rest of your body as well. If you are scale averse then don’t use one. Feel the weight loss in the fit of your clothes, see the changes in your body in the mirror. Losing weight and then maintaining to keep it off should be a lifelong endeavor. Making some simple daily lifestyle changes especially in diet and exercise can go a long way in helping you reach your weight loss goals. So start today and watch the new you emerge.

It’s not uncommon to lose a lot of weight very early in your weight loss and then to reach a plateau when it just seems like you can’t lose another pound to save your life.  This often happens because the weight you lose in the very beginning is just water weight and after a time that weight loss will start to slack off.  The good news is that you may still be losing unwanted fat, but this won’t come off as quickly so it may take longer to notice it, the nice thing about this is that losing fat is the only real way to get your body in the shape you want it to be in.  Losing water weight is only temporary but losing fat can be permanent.

If you’ve been trying to rely solely on a supplement for your weight loss up until now, you may need to reevaluate your weight loss strategy.  For example, it’s imperative that you focus on eating properly and getting enough exercise.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you shouldn’t be eating hardly anything if you want to lose weight.  If you don’t eat enough food to keep your body healthy and functioning properly your body will think it’s starving and will actually slow down your metabolism… which is the last thing that you want to happen when you’re trying to lose weight.

Also don’t get distracted with some extreme dieting method such as a restricted carb or extremely low fat diet plan.  You need to provide your body with all the nutrients it needs and that includes some carbs, fats, and proteins.

When it comes to your workout plan don’t spend all your time on a treadmill thinking that cardio will get you where you want to be.  Ideally you’ll want to keep your body ‘guessing’ when it comes to your workouts.  Your body will get used to whatever activity level you maintain over a period of time. To get the maximum benefit form your workouts, make sure that you change your workouts frequently so your body doesn’t settle into a set routine.

To keep your weight loss moving along nicely make sure that you concentrate more on what you eat and how much activity you get and don’t expect to maintain such a vigorous weight loss during the whole process.  Using these methods you can avoid having to ever ask the question: why did I stop losing weight?

Below is a list of other foods, which although they provide calories, the amount is less than we need to do nothing. We call this Basal Metabolic Rate..(BMR). That’s the amount of energy we need to breathe, circulate the blood, remove the toxins and filter it. That doesn’t count the energy we need to get out of bed, bathe, use the toilet and dress. We call these foods negative calorie foods, (N.C.Fs.).

These must be a tremendous boost for someone wanting to lose weight.  Yes, but only if used properly. Healthy diet plans use items from all the main food groups. From these, we get the nutrients to make the building blocks, which are necessary to maintain the body in a healthy state. A diet consisting of N.C.Fs., would result in us drawing our energy requirements from our muscles. This results in weakness and wasting of the body. Anorexics are a prime example.

So how can we use N.C.Fs. without harming ourselves?

The answer is quite simple. Use them as part of, and to bulk up a balanced calorie-wise diet. For example, ½ grapefruit(vitamin C, fiber) 1 egg-white (protein) 2 slices melba toast (carbohydrate) pat of margarine (non-saturated fat) 1 cup of 1% milk (protein, carbohydrate, low-fat, calcium, vitamins) makes an excellent low calorie but nutritious breakfast.

Here is the list.