Green Tea is probably the most popular weight loss beverage other than pure water. Drinking Green Tea has shown to increase thermogenesis (metabolism) and promote fat oxidation in the body, as was found in a study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Because of Green Tea's fat-burning power it has become a common ingredient in herbal diet pills and as a diet enhancer in many weight loss programs.

Green Tea, the way it should be eaten


In addition to Green Tea, other teas are becoming popular for the supposed belly-shrinking abilities. Wu Long Tea (also known as Oolong Tea) even has its own diet - Wu Long Tea Diet. To follow this diet all you need to do is substitute all of your normal beverages for Oolong Tea. If you do this it is said that the tea will do the rest, including raising your metabolism, reducing carbohydrate absorption, suppress appetite, aid in digestion, and more. Sounds pretty good, but does it really work.

A friend of mine tried the Wu Long Tea diet and called me about a week after starting it, totally excited. "I've lost 5 pounds!" she exclaimed. I admit I was pretty impressed. The Wu Long Tea diet appeared to just make the pounds melt away for her. So, with a new hope of a newly found flab cure I rushed out to the grocery store and bought the best Oolong tea I could find. As soon as I got home I brewed myself a big pot and started guzzling that stuff non-stop. I replaced all of my beverages I would normally drink with Oolong tea and you know what....I gained three pounds in a week.

So why do tea diets work so well for some people and terrible for others? Well, there is one theory I have come up with - success of a tea diet will be greatly influenced by what you were drinking before you started. For example, my friend loved to drink butter milk before bed (yes, it is milk with butter melted in it), but when on...

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My co-worker brought in a box of donuts to the office yesterday and placed them on her desk, right behind mine. I sat there for two hours forcing myself not to look at the donut box, but even without the visual of those scruptious donuts, I could still smell them. I could smell their sweet flavour and I got so hungry that I had to ask my co-worker to move them to another part of the office. I felt a bit stupid. People must think I don't have any self control, but actually I had more self control than they realize. Despite my hunger, I refrained from even snacking that day and waited until dinner to eat. It was a proud moment for myself .

Donuts like this are one of my weaknesses


The evolution of the "sweet tooth" is quite fascinating, but even more interesting is how our bodies have evolved to respond to the mere suggestion of incoming calories. Even at the sight or smell of sweets, lets say donuts, our brains trigger a reaction in our bodies called the Cephalic Phase Insulin Response. This response causes body to start producing insulin, the “fat” hormone, which stores sugar in the blood stream, and programs the adipose tissue fat cells (belly fat) to store everything they can. And all of this before even one donut touches your lips.

What happens in your body following a release of insulin that is not met with a stomach full of donut is that your blood sugar drops. Because your brain thrives on the glucose in your blood, and because now there is less of it because your body thought it was going to have a donut but didn't, your brain tells your body it needs food. This brain hunger further triggers strong cravings for more sweet-tasting items, and high glycemic foods.

So, when I told my co-worker to move the donuts away from my smell range I had a valid point. Even though I hadn't eaten a donut my insulin was going up, my blood sugar was going down and my craving for...

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I have been told over and over again that drinking at least eight 8-ounce glasses a day of water is essential, not only for good health but to aid in weight loss as well. Despite being told this, I continue to struggle with drinking enough water to keep myself hydrated . So, to give myself some extra motivation I decided to find out the real facts about how drinking water can wash away a little extra fat.

Water and Fat Metabolism
Your liver is the organ that metabolizes fat. Here fat is metabolized into usable energy for the body. This is the process of burning fat and is the key process for losing weight. When you don't drink enough water it is actually your kidneys that suffer. Your kidneys are always busy filtering waste products from your blood and they require good hydration to work properly. When you are dehydrated the kidneys slow down and the liver has to pick up the slack. This means that the liver has to work to rid your body of toxins and is too busy to metabolize fat, thus fat metabolism slows down and you lose less weight.

Cycling Water in Your Body
When you first start drinking more water you will be running to the bathroom all the time. But just because you are peeing all the time does not mean that the water coming out is the same water you just put in. In fact what is happening is your body is ridding itself of water it has been storing for some time. This cycling of old water for new is a very important flushing process and will leave your body rejuvenated. And the good news is that eventually your body adjusts to the new amount of water being consumed and the frequency of bathroom visits goes back to normal.

Water Improves Skin Complexion
Drinking enough water also improves the condition of your skin. Water helps to flush impurities from your skin and keeps the skin cells "plump" so that wrinkles and sagging areas diminish. Who wouldn't want that ?
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Well things have really slowed down since my initial week. I have lost another 10 pounds but it has taken 3 more weeks!
I hit a plateau at the end of the second week, and my weight loss has really slowed down.
A weight loss plateau is when your body gets very subborn and refuses to le go of it's fat stores even when you are dieting hard. You can read about it here if you want. http://www.weight-loss-center.net/we...s_plateau.html

I think the weight loss plateau has to be the number 1 reason why so many diets fail. I mean as long as you are losing weight it's encouraging to keep going. But if you dieting and not losing - what is the point?

The key is keep motivated, once you get past the plateau, you lose weight a lot faster.

James

Oh, now is that not just the icing on the cake that you can't eat because you're on a bloody diet - dieting can cause hair loss .

I was so distraught when I read that if you are losing significant weight you may lose hair. I ran to the bathroom right away. All squinty-eyed in the mirror, I went over my hairline over and over again, looking for any sign of weakness, thinness, recession. OK, none found...yet.

The American Hair Loss Council states on its website

"Hair loss may also occur due to dieting. Franchised diet programs which are designed or administered under the direction of a physician with prescribed meals, dietary supplements and vitamin ingestion have become popular. Sometimes the client is told that vitamins are a necessary part of the program to prevent hair loss associated with dieting. From a dermatologists's standpoint, however, the vitamins cannot prevent hair loss associated with rapid, significant weight loss. Furthermore, many of these supplements are high in vitamin A which can magnify the hair loss."

I am assuming that losing hair while losing weight doesn't happen to everyone (every model would be bald ). Perhaps the key to keeping your locks is to eat a balanced diet. If you are worried about hair loss while dieting, maybe try to limit foods that are high in Vitamin A. These foods include cantaloupe, carrots, spinach, kale, apricots, papaya, mango, beef liver.

On the other side of the coin however, Vitamin A is really good for your body. Vitamin A plays an important role in vision, bone growth, reproduction, cell division, and cell differentiation (in which a cell becomes part of the brain, muscle, lungs, blood, or other specialized tissue.). Vitamin A also helps regulate the immune system, which helps prevent or fight off infections by making white blood cells that destroy harmful bacteria and viruses. Vitamin A also may help lymphocytes (a type of white...

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