Margarine, butter, other spreading fats and low fat spreads, cooking oils, oil-based salad dressings, mayonnaise, cream, fried foods including fried chips, chocolate, crisps, biscuits, pastries, cake, puddings, ice-cream, rich sauces and gravies are all in this food group because they contain fat.

Like carbohydrates, fats contain the elements Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen. Fats are used as a source of energy they are also stored beneath the skin helping to insulate us against the cold. Do not think that by avoiding fat in your diet you will stay thin and elegant! If you eat too much carbohydrate and protein, you will convert some of it into fat, so you will put on weight. You must balance the amount of energy containing foods with the amount of energy that you use when you take exercise

Soft drinks not diet drinks, sweets, jam and sugar, as well as foods such as cakes, puddings, biscuits, pastries and ice-cream.

It is essential to have a small amount of fat in the diet, but eat foods containing fat sparingly as they are high in energy. Look out for reduced fat or low fat alternatives by law any food labelled as low fat must contain no more than 3g of fat per 100g. Fats can be divided into saturates, monounsaturates and polyunsaturates.

Limit consumption of saturates, associated with animal products, cakes, biscuits and pastries, to reduce risk of heart disease. To cut down on saturates, make use of the information on nutrition panels on food products, cut off visible fat from meat and poultry, choose lower fat meat and dairy products, and where fat is needed in cooking use it sparingly.

Choose fats and oils containing monounsaturates e.g. olive and rapeseed oils and polyunsaturates e.g. sunflower, corn and rapeseed oils instead of saturates. In moderation these are not associated with an increased risk of heart disease but still use them sparingly. There are two types of essential fats, which must be supplied by the diet in small amounts omega-3 fatty acids e.g. found in oily fish, walnuts, omega-3 enriched eggs, and rapeseed and soya oil and omega-6 fatty acids e.g. found in vegetable oils such as sunflower, corn and soya oil and spreads made from these.

We see a lot of people struggling with weight issues and their body image. With the available resources and materials for weight loss spilled all over the place, those, who are over weight, are a bit confused about which method to follow to shed those extra lbs. Although the basics of weight loss do not change, they depend on setting realistic goals, cutting the calorie intake and exercising a little bit. Many presume that a weight loss program is all about a restricted diet, or fad diets, or diet pills and involving strenuous physical exercises. But, actually the basics of weight loss program are rational, flexible and healthy to which any one can adhere to while they work well on the person aiming to lose weight.

The first basic step towards weight loss is to set a reachable goal. When setting a goal to reduce weight, it is good to know the reason for doing so, benefits you may get at the end of the weight reduction program and the changes you are willing to make in your diet. This kind of analysis of the self helps understand the problem the better way and helps in setting realistic goals for weight loss. The weight loss efforts should be a reasonable one and should be gradual.

Once the goal is set to reduce say two pounds a week, then comes the step of creating a food journal to analyze and monitor what you eat for the particular week. This food journal helps keep track of what you eat, or drink. Sometimes the feeling towards the food you eat is also jotted down. This is very important as it throws light on the food pattern and habits of the person. The weight loss is also recorded. By reviewing the food pattern, the foods that needed to be avoided can be seen clearly and can be substituted with healthy foods. The secret is to be very consistent with this surely you will see positive results. Water is a very good natural hunger suppressant and can be taken in good quantities, if you note that you are drinking less amounts of water. It too can contribute to the weight loss efforts.

When the diet is combined with good exercise say walking or swimming or aerobics, it too aids in burning calories. The exercise should be in such a way that when it is done, it should be enjoyable, choose the kind of activity which interests you a lot than slogging. Exercise too needs to be tracked in the journal to see its effects with your own eyes.

Have you wasted valuable time and money trying to lose weight? Then tried again and again? One thing Americans know how to do is market. The desire for quick and easy weight loss has created an ideal opportunity for modern-day snake oil salespeople to pick your pockets by selling magical diet products.

One minute youre innocently reading the newspaper and the next minute you find yourself ordering a sixty dollar, one month supply of diet pills. After all, those before and after photos look great and they say it works.

Or youre now the proud owner of the latest infomercial gadget that promises to wrap, buzz, sway, steam, lift, or glide you to slenderness. All too often you find its only useful for drying your clothes on.

In our desperate quest to be skinny, we buy the strangest things. Next time youre hypnotized by a diet commercial, remember these red flags

1 The product involved putting anything non-food into your body. Pills, potions, chemicals, herbs. None have been proven to cause substantial, permanent weight loss.

2 Promised results require the purchase of any special gadget at all. The only thing you really need for physical fitness is a good pair of walking shoes.

3 The program is based on unproven fads like food combining, forbidden foods, or magical effects of certain types of foods.

4 The advertising promotes use of a product but the small print explains that the plan requires drastic calorie restriction and exercise to get results – so why buy the product?

5 Outlandish or miraculous claims are made of rapid weight loss, changes in body shape, or weight loss from specific parts of the body.

The fact is that 95 of diets fail and the constant search for a quick fix is a sure path to disappointment. The human body is naturally healthy and strong. It doesnt need potions and gadgets and certainly doesnt need starvation.

Listen to your body. Give it the food it wants when its hungry and stop when its full. Move in ways that feel great. Play more. All of these are completely free and will create vibrant, natural, long-term health that expands and enriches life.

If you are trying to lose weight, aren’t getting the results you want and want to give up… stop! Take stock and see if you have fallen foul of these ‘diet traps’.

1. If no one sees you eat it, it has no calories

This might sound ridiculous, but you might be surprised to find that many people act as though this were true! It is easy to turn a blind eye to what we actually eat and drink during the day. Being true to yourself with a daily food diary can do wonders for breaking through a diet plateau. Keep a small notebook in you at all times and make a quick reminder of everything, and I mean everything you eat and drink during the day. It’s just too easy to forget what you eat, especially if you are used to eating on the run. Mothers with small children at home are especially at risk. There are hundreds of unwanted calories lurking in toddler leftovers. Corners of vegemite and toast, half chewed milk arrowroots and the last sips of chocolate milk can wreck havoc.

2. You aren’t diligent about planning your meals and healthy snacks

As a weight loss coach I’ve yet to meet the person who consciously decides it’s their lifetime goal to put on weight until they are obese and desperately unhappy about how they look. Usually it’s a result of one or two decades of no-so-good food choices and not finding time to exercise that leads to packing on the pounds. Once you have five or more kilos to lose, it is going to take a deliberate change in habits over several months to get rid of the weight. This is where many folk run aground in their weight loss journey. They fail to plan. It takes conscious planning to do something different for the length of time that is required to get the results you want.

If you are not the type of personality that plans, ask yourself this. How many times do find yourself looking for something to eat and resort to quick takeaways, vending machines or skipping meals instead? Start planning ahead by keeping a bowl of fresh fruit at home and at work at all times. Fruit is great for a healthy snack. Prepare your lunch to take to work so you won’t be a victim of vending machines. Get up early so that you have time to start the day with a healthy breakfast, instead of grabbing a skinny decaf on the way to work and a diet coke for morning tea.

3. You’ve fallen subject to fad diet ideas

Keeping a balanced view of all the food groups will help you have a big enough repertoire of healthy food choices to keep you motivated and interested longer.

“You can’t look at foods individually,” says Dayle Hayes, M.S., R.D., a nutrition consultant in Billings, Mont., and member of the Council for Women’s Nutrition Solutions. “Any time you eliminate whole food groups or foods that are a major part of your diet, you wipe out important nutrients.” For instance, if you dis dairy, you zap a great source of protein. If you turn your nose up at high-fat fish like salmon, sardines and herring, you eliminate a top source of omega-3 fatty acids.

“The ‘bad food list’ is one of the oldest gimmicks in the world of fad dieting,” adds Robyn Flipse, RD., a nutrition consultant in Ocean, N.J. “As long as people can blame certain foods or food combinations for their excess weight, they don’t have to tackle the bigger issues, like planning, shopping and preparing meals for themselves and doing some form of physical activity on a regular basis,” she says.

c Kim Beardsmore

Astounding as some dieters say the new Hoodia weight loss supplement is, other dieters say its a fake and doesnt work at all. If youre not familiar with Hoodia Gordonii, its the new fad in dieting products. It comes from a cactus type plant in South Africa and has been eaten there for thousands of years by the aboriginal natives. The San Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert eat the plant by picking off a piece before a hunting trip or period of time they know they wont have much food to eat. By ingesting the piece of Hoodia they know that they will not be hungry for the entire day. This of course is very helpful when you are living in the desert and the availability of food is very scarce. So what about if your living in middle America and are looking for something to help you curb your cravings and keep of the pounds, will Hoodia do the trick? It depends on who you ask, some dieters say it is the magic pill and will help you lose the weight with no side effects. Other people will say, I tried it and it did absolutely nothing for me. How can this be the case you might ask, one person swears to it and one swears at it. Its actually no mystery at all if you know what is happening in the industry. Hoodia has gained huge popularity due to increased media exposure; so far since last November , the BBC, CBS News, Oprah Winfreys O Magazine, ABC News and most recently it was featured on the NBC Today Show with Katie Couric. Because of this news coverage the demand for Hoodia has greatly increased and along with this, the amount of companies providing fake or impure Hoodia has also greatly increased. If I can stress only one thing in this Hoodia article, it would be to know what is in the Hoodia you are buying. When it comes to buying Hoodia, you have to be an informed buyer; you cant just buy the first Hoodia Pills you see. And unlike other supplements you buy at your nutritional store, in the case of Hoodia, you cant trust brick and mortar stores anymore than you can an online company. There is no regulation when it comes to Hoodia pills; there is no testing process or certification that a Hoodia brand has to go through. Because of this anybody can start a new Hoodia brand, put whatever they want in a pill and call it Hoodia and sell it. Many companies are doing just this, making lots of profit and leaving you the dieter with a bogus product, the dieter then tells others, hey, this Hoodia stuff is no good.Natural Health Report has published a study done by Truth Publishing and Alkemist Pharmaceuticals located at naturalhealthreport.comA-Hoodia-Gordonii-exposed.html, the study findings state that eleven out of seventeen brand-name Hoodia supplements tested failed a laboratory analysis of authenticity. Unfortunately in the study they don’t say which brands failed but they do say which brands passed. The following brands passed the independent testing Dr. Wheeler’s Afrigetics King Hoodia Ethno AfricaEleven out of seventeen brand names failed to be authentic, to me that is an amazing statistic and says a lot about the industry. Looking at those statistics we can now see why some dieters are saying Hoodia is wonderful and helps you lose weight and others are calling it a scam. The truth is there is both authentic pure Hoodia and bogus fake Hoodia available and what you get will determine how you feel about it.This information should not necessarily stop you from buying Hoodia, as there are many reports of Hoodia decreasing you appetite by up to 1,000 calories a day and many people trying to lose weight swear by its results. Like we have stated before you just need to be very cautious and be able to identify pure Hoodia from ineffective and impure Hoodia. So how can you identify ? Here are some things the consumer should look for Certification – the company should provide a visual documentation on their website that the Hoodia they are selling is authentic Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa. Independent Testing some of the top companies selling Hoodia are now submitting their product for independent testing to assure the customer their Hoodia is authentic and set them apart from the competition. If the brand has been tested you will again most likely be able to see visual documentation on their website. You should be know if the product is a . There is a lot of information on the internet as to which is better and you should be informed on which kind you want to buy. Know what all the ingredients in the pill are – many companies will increase the total milligrams of a Hoodia pill by adding other ingredients to it, so in a 750 mg. pill you might only get 50 mg. of Hoodia. Also know if those other ingredients are something you want to be taking. Brand Reputation the longer Hoodia is around the more people are talking about which brand is working for them. Do some internet searches on the brand you are thinking of trying and see if you find that lots of people are having problems with that brand. You have to take general public comments with a grain of salt though because many company owners have people spreading bad publicity about their competition. Common Sense overall use your common sense about your purchase. Does the company not disclose much information? Do they have easy way to contact them? Do they have any type of guarantee? Also, especially when it comes to , does the label of the product look like it was printed on a home inkjet printer? Also be wary of deep discounted Hoodia, there may be a reason its so cheap.In closing, when it comes to Hoodia the consumer will need to stay cautious for awhile, the situation may get worse before it gets better. Demand for Hoodia is growing, supply is decreasing and the wholesale cost is increasing. What does this formula equal? It equals bad news for the dieter who wants to get some authentic Hoodia; there will be a lot of fake Hoodia out there. Give Hoodia a try, just do your homework first, be an informed, educated buyer and you may find that you truly have found a product to help you shed those extra pounds with no side effects. For more information on Hoodia visit Totalink’s Hoodia Directory at

Experts tell us we are what we eat. A disturbing thought when we consider how much sugar, fat and white flour is consumed daily, hidden in ready meals and fast foods. Its time to change the bad habits we have developed over the last three decades and start eating to improve health, not destroy it!

A vital area of life that requires our attention is this.learning to answer hunger pains appropriately. If we neglect this, weight can increase and well-being may suffer.

Whether you need to lose weight, maintain weight or tone up your body; inappropriate eating habits can jeopardize your best efforts. This articles will help you start to understand how to manage hunger in a busy lifestyle.

If its sticky and sweet, made with sugar and saturated fat, then you must only eat it as a rare treat. Can the same be said for a delicious bowl of strawberries, or a juicy sweet orange? That is the problem here? Why do we choose cakes and chocolate over natures best offering?

If you do not have a genuine glucose imbalance, one cause perhaps is that sweet treats are deeply connected to our childhood, where frequently, sweeteners were given as a reward for good behaviour, or to placate or console the unhappy child. Our memory will automatically associate sweet foods as a reward or a comfort. That bar of chocolate or sticky bun you devour mid-way through a stressful afternoon could be you rewarding yourself for hard work!

If you think you may be using sweet treats as a reward or comfort and want to kick the habit, simply remember that putting on weight is NOT a reward. Then think of a reward that doesnt involve food!

Guard yourself from the sweet snack attacks by being prepared and planning your day’s food patterns.

1. Incorporate protein in to your breakfast AND lunch. Protein is key to controlling carbohydrate cravings. The RDA of protein for women is 60 grams a day. For women wanting to lose weight, health professionals recommend approximately 100 grams of protein daily. Why? One of the principle advantages of protein is that it creates a feeling of fullness and satisfaction in the body that makes overeating much less likely. Source your protein from ultra lean sources so you don’t pick up unwanted calories and saturated fats.

Even better, than providing a sense of sustained fullness, protein can block the triggering effect that carbohydrates can have on the brain. If you eat protein with a carbohydrate it will reduce the cravings caused by eating the carbohydrate.

2. Never skip meals. Research has shown that people who skip meals are more prone to obesity than those who regularly eat 3 meals a day. In fact, people who space their daily food requirements by making appropriate use of healthy snacks do even better. Why is this? When you skip meals you are more likely to get hungry and fill up on easily obtained fast foods which are often trigger foods.

3. Drink 6 to 8 glasses of water throughout the day. For some people sugar laden soft drinks are a trigger food. Make sure you don’t get thirsty in the first place. Water creates a sense of fullness and has a host of other health benefits.

4. Plan the timing of your meals so that you don’t get hungry. Despite having three healthy meals a day, sometimes your work schedule can mean the spacing of those meals still does not guard against the carbohydrate cravings. If you have a long gap between meals, make sure you carry healthy snacks to cover the distance, otherwise hunger will set in

5. Plan your snacks. Plan out your weekly snack schedule with some delicious, healthy snacks. Purchase these with your weekly shopping so that you are fully prepared. If you need to, get up a few minutes earlier in the morning so you have time to prepare and take your snacks to work. Remember, healthy snacks don’t live in a vending machine! You are less likely to get hungry when you have a ready supply of healthy snacks.

6. Carry emergency supplies of nutritional protein bars in your handbag or brief case. When you feel a carbohydrate craving, eat the protein bar instead and wait 30 minutes before acting on the craving. More often than not the craving will pass and you will be in control again. This truly works.

That’s the question many people ask when their weight loss plan isn’t working.

Asking yourself ‘Why can’t I lose weight?’ is actually one of the best things you can do for yourself. It says you know that what you’re currently doing isn’t working for you.

You’re at the place where you’re ready to look at alternatives – try something different to get a result you want.

So why can’t you lose weight? Here are 3 possible reasons you may not be losing weight – and some suggestions on what you can do about it.

1 Medical Reasons

Now this is not the same as saying you’re genetically programmed to be overweight. That is hogwash. In fact scientists estimate that even if you do have a genetic propensity to gain weight, your genes only account for 15 – 25 of your current weight. So forget the genetics excuse.

But there are medical reasons that some people can’t lose weight. Low thyroid, adrenal exhaustion, insulin resistance and other medical conditions can make losing weight near to impossible.

That’s why before starting any weight loss plan, you should talk to your doctor first. Have a full workup and make sure that you don’t have any health issues standing in the way of your weight loss.

There’s nothing more frustrating that trying to lose weight, doing all the right things and not losing an inch – all because of a medical condition. Get the medical condition cleared up first and then address the weight in fact, the weight may just go down on it’s own once you get the medical condition addressed.

2 Emotional Eating

I recently read an article where a nutritionist estimated that 75 of overeating was due to emotions. 75! Can you imagine what would happen if you learned to eliminate emotional eating and cut out all those calories? What a weight loss impact! The weight would be falling off.

Unfortunately, in today’s world, emotional eating is on the rise. Most people today are feeling the pressure of an increasingly hectic lifestyle. We hardly have time to tie our shoes, never mind deal with our emotions.

Because of this, our emotions get stuffed down and ignored until finally they explode and we’re face-down in a bowl of Rocky-Road ice cream with extra chocolate sauce.

Here’s the bottom line you are human and you have emotions. Your emotional needs are important and need to be addressed properly with love. You need emotional nurturing and proper emotional care.

If that means you take a 5 minute break every few hours at work to regain your emotional balance, do it. If that means you need to unwind by doing a mall walk and window shopping after work – don’t let anything stop you.

Learn to nurture your emotional health and you’ll nip emotional eating in the bud – and start losing weight FAST.

3 Mismatched Weight Loss Plan

There are many different ways to lose weight and dozens of weight loss programs to choose from. Some plans emphasize a change in diet, others emphasize a change in exercise, others focus on the inner reasons for overeating.

Every person is different and will lose weight in their own unique way. If what you’re doing now isn’t currently working, it may be a simple case of personality-plan mismatch.

Maybe instead of a diet-focused weight loss plan, you would feel better with a fitness-focused weight loss plan or a psychological weight loss plan. There are lots of plans to choose from and you deserve to take your time and find one that fits your personality and lifestyle best.

If you think this is the case, take some time to review different diet or weight loss plans. Find one that you can get excited about, one that makes sense to you and that fits your belief system and personality. That’s when you’ll make real weight loss progress!

So those are 3 possible reasons for your weight loss plateau. You don’t have to stay stuck in a weight loss rut. You don’t have to keep asking yourself the frustrating question Why Can’t I Lose Weight?’ Keep believing in yourself and in your dreams. Don’t give up and you will get there!

If only we could solve this question, the world for many would be a better place! Well, the reality is that there are real answers to this question that will apply to many people. It will take a good dose of reality and a brave heart to stop denying what really happens. Read on to discover some answers that may change your life forever and give you the impetus to lose weight and keep it off!

Justification?

Being overweight can be used as an excuse for being unhappy, especially when you do not do anything to help yourself. Subconsciously, over-eating is a comfort for many people and this then allows them to hide behind their weight problem and helps them to justify rejection and avoid being hurt. They can then shift the blame of rejection on their weight-problem, without addressing other aspects of their fears. Sometimes it seems easier to hide behind your weight problem, than address other matters where you may have a greater fear of failure.

Eating Without Thinking?

If you are concentrating on another activity while you are eating you are more likely to overeat because you are not fully aware of how full you are feeling. This factor can be difficult to change because it is not a conscious action. Try to only eat when you dont have a lot of other distractions. Sit down, eat slowly and enjoy the food you are eating, and remember that it is not always necessary to go back for seconds. It takes 20 minutes for food to reach your stomach and for your brain to register that you are full.

Cravings?

The famous Pavlovs dogs were conditioned to eat at the sound of a bell, and we human are much the same when it comes to habitual cravings. If you wonder why you always feel like a chocolate when you sit down to watch a movie, or you have to have a box of popcorn.think again. You are not necessarily craving these foods because you are hungry, but rather consider force of habit. During the time when you have a craving, try to ask yourself whether you are really hungry or not. If you are hungry, reach for a low fat snack rather than a chocolate bar or bag of crisps.

Indulging?

Eating or thinking about food can be a distraction from your troubles and you may therefore be unnecessarily over-eating. Emotions and hormones can trigger certain cravings, for example, if you are feeling low, chocolate and carbohydrates assist the production of serotonin in your brain. Serotonin helps you feel happier. This is why we might crave sweet or starchy foods during times of sadness or stress.

If you identify with any of the above factors, you could be on your way towards discovering what is triggering you to overeat.

Life has a way of fouling up our the best laid plans. First you decide to keep your car cleaner, “I’ll wash it every Saturday morning.” Great, you have a plan. Saturday comes along and someone calls inviting you to go golfing. You think, “I was going to wash the car, but I’ll do it when I get back,” and off you go. Maybe you do wash the car later that day, but maybe you tell yourself, “I’ll wash it next Saturday. It really wasn’t that dirty.”

Next week Saturday comes along and someone invited you camping so you’re in the woods thinking, “Oh, well, I can’t wash the car from here, can I?”

Another Saturday rolls around and you’ve forgotten all about your car washing plan, so even though you’re not doing anything else you’re thinking, “I don’t really FEEL like washing the car right now. I’ll do it later,” and so it goes.

“Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.” — John Lennon

It happens to all of us. You join the gym and immediately get the flu. Sign up for a adult education class and you’re car breaks down on the first night. When you need to water the grass there’s no rain in sight, but wash the car and what happens? These examples aren’t meant to give you a pessimistic outlook but instead point out why persistence in the face of obstacles is what separates the haves from the have nots.

It’s not what happens but what you DO with what happens that matters.

The best approach is one-day-at-a-time, or even lesser intervals depending on what you are attempting to do. If you’re trying to quit smoking, you might want to take things half-an-hour at a time. With food or eating it can be one meal at a time, one hunger pang or craving at a time, or whatever interval works for you.

Choose your Time Interval then Make it Happen

If you say you’ll never do something again smoke, overeat, over drink it never lasts you must build in the possibility of occasional lapse, but if you wake up in the morning and decide for that day, and only that day, that you will follow through with your plan, for just that one day, then it can and will happen. There’s a real rush of accomplishment when you wake up and realize that yesterday you did it; you accomplished what you set out to do. Each accomplishment make it just that much easier to decide again to follow-through and it gets easier and easier.

Let the successes build, and let the lapses pass. It takes practice to get proficient no matter what you are learning, so plan to persist. Small lapses aren’t failures, they are only lapses, and you then decided for the next time period. Doing this allows you to pre-plan when you know you’ll not stick to your eating plan, thereby making it okay on occasion to over indulge. Holidays, special occasions. People who maintain a healthy weight do this all the time without thinking. When you give yourself permission to indulge, it’s amazing how much less you’ll feel like indulging. Take away the forbidden fruit and it’s just an apple.

So youve been exercising regularly, and cutting back on your calories to meet your weight loss goals. Everything is going great with your new changes but you notice the number on the scale isnt moving much and your body isnt changing shape as quickly as youd hoped. There may be one more habit interfering with your weight loss efforts- -alcohol. Perhaps you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, have a couple of beers while watching the big game, or even cocktails on a Saturday night with friends. All common practices but they may be getting in the way of your weight loss efforts.

Alcoholic beverages have been enjoyed throughout recorded history. For some, a drink with dinner may be relaxing. Others may enjoy the inhibitions that alcohol can create to let loose with friends. Many people drink for the health benefits. After-all, evidence shows that moderate drinking, especially red wine, may lower the risk of heart disease. No matter what your reasons are for drinking, alcohol can interfere with your weight loss goals.

Alcohol is a product of fermenting carbohydrates- both sugars and starches. This means it does provide calories. Specifically it provides 7 calories for every gram compared to 4 calories per gram of carbohydrates and protein, and 9 calories per gram of fat. Drinking 4 12 ounce beers will supply 600 calories. To burn those calories, a person would need to walk non-stop for 3 hours. Skipping the cab ride and walking home may be a strategy but for most of us a 3 hour walk is a bit daunting even when we are in good shape.

Although wine contains fewer calories than beer, this can also lead to extra calories. Having a glass of wine provides 100 calories, but this is dependent on the glass size. A serving size of wine is 5-ounces. The larger wine glasses hold about 10 ounces turning your one glass of wine into two glasses. To put this into perspective, drinking two glasses of wine each night with dinner will add an extra 200 calories each day. If these calories are not burned through exercise and daily activity it can lead to a 20 pound weight gain in a year.

Adding juice, creams, and sodas to cocktails will increase the calorie level beyond what the alcohol is already providing. Be careful of what you are drinking. In some cases, one drink provides more calories than an entire meal! Here are the drinks that top the scales for most calories-

Long Island Iced Tea 780 calories
Margarita 740 calories
Pina Colada 644 calories
White Russian 425 calories
Sex on the Beach 356 calories
Mai Tai 350 calories
Lemon Drop 223 calories

Besides adding calories, alcohol may affect your weight for other reasons. Some evidence suggests drinking alcoholic beverages may stimulate your appetite and cause you to eat more than you normally would. It also decreases your inhibitions so you dont care how much more you are eating. How many times have you enjoyed chips and salsa with your margaritas while out with friends? How many chips did you eat? Who knows- all you remember is the waiter bringing three or four refills of the chip bowl.

Another factor to take into account is that your body processes alcohol first, before fat, protein, or carbohydrates which may slow down the burning of fat. There is also evidence that drinking too much seems to increase fat carried in the stomach area- otherwise known as the beer belly. Studies show that people with a higher amount of fat in the abdominal region are at a greater risk of heart disease.

Ok, this is looking dreary but it doesnt mean you can never enjoy alcohol again. It just means that it is time to take inventory to see how much you are drinking and pay attention to how many calories your favorite drinks supply. Learn how to enjoy alcohol in moderation so you dont end up sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

2005, Meri Raffetto