It always feels great to be physically fit and be able to do things without thinking of getting over-fatigued or too tired. Being overweight limits a person form doing what he wants to do, such as outdoor activities and sports. The good news is that you can become physically fit with the help of a few great additions to your diet. You don’t have to overhaul your lifestyle to achieve a better body.

So what are the foods you need to add to your meals so that you will gradually reduce weight? Here are some:

• High-fiber foods such as wheat bread will aid digestion and burning of calories. The amount of excess fat in your belly, thigh and arms will be digested gradually.
• Olive oil is one of the healthiest oils present. You can use this as alternative to other oils in cooking, as alternative to salad dressings and can also be used in place of butter. It contains essential fatty acids. What’s more, it aids in giving a person a clearer and better looking-skin because of its oleic acid content.
• The power of garlic. Not only is garlic good for the heart, it is good for the entire body as well. It aids in blood circulation, allowing nutrients and oxygen to be properly distributed and helps you think clearly. It also aids in digestion and burning of calories. It is considered as a wonder-herb around the world. Be careful though, as garlic is a blood thinner, those who have blood-related health problems must inquire with a doctor or a nutritionist first before putting it in your regular diet.
• Use honey instead of processed sugars. Processed sugars have more carbohydrates and also induce diabetes – a sickness common among overweight people. Honey is a natural sweetener that does not have the same amount of “bad carbohydrates”.
• Yogurt helps protect the lining your digestive system (intestines and stomach) while reducing cholesterol since it contains ingredients that actively break-down bad cholesterol. It also helps thwart bacterial infections.

These are actually smart additions to your weight loss diet as these foods have multiple functions and purposes. Another great thing about these foods is that they seldom go against other food functions. Seek the help of your doctor for further information.

How healthy is a raw food diet ? Are you being wise to to take more raw food vs cooked food?

Most raw food diets and raw vegan diets are based on uncooked or unprocessed plant foods, and often organic food represents a large portion of it. While this is believed to encourage weight loss, whether it is truly a healthier option is still a question.

See what Wikipedia says about taking raw food, and why it advises caution:

As the consumption of raw foods gains popularity, some unsafe foods have re-entered the diets of humans. The following should be consumed with caution:

* Buckwheat greens are toxic when raw, particularly if juiced or eaten in large quantities by fair skinned individuals. The chemical component fagopyrin is known to cause severe photosensitivity and other dermatological complaints.
* Kidney beans, including sprouts, are toxic when raw, due to the chemical phytohaemagglutinin.
* Alfalfa sprouts contain the toxin canavanine.
* Some types of raw cassava or cassava flour can be toxic.
* Raw eggs contain avidin, a vitamin B7 or biotin inhibitor, which can cause “egg white injury”. As many as 24 egg whites would have to be eaten to inactivate biotin. Avidin is denatured by heat .
* Raw seeds of the genus lathyrus (peas), can cause lathyrism.
* Raw brassica species can contain glucosinolate.
* Apricot kernels contain amygdalin, which contains the toxin cyanide.
* Raw parsnips contain furanocoumarin.
* Raw foods, particularly raw meat, may contain harmful bacteria and their associated bacterial toxins. Other parasites and viruses may also be present, such as toxoplasma, trichinella, or rotavirus, which may cause serious foodborne illnesses.
* Raw milk may contain Mycobacteria bovis (which can cause non-pulmonary tuberculosis).

Related information:
Dr Gina Shaw shares with us her views on Raw Food Diet at HealthTalk.info: When A Raw Food Diet Is Not A Healthier Option

You will find a free list of negative calorie foods below, but first let’s consider what this means. There is no such thing as a negative calorie – a calorie is a unit of heat and it cannot be negative. So when people talk about negative calorie foods, this just means a food whose calorie level is low enough that it takes more energy to eat and digest it than the food contains.

For example, if you consider water to be a food, then cold water is certainly a negative calorie food. It contains no calories at all and the body has to expend energy to bring it up to blood temperature. So every time we drink a glass of cold water we burn up a couple of calories and lose a little weight. But there are very few foods like this. Most foods that are on the list do not really use more calories than they add, or if they do the effect is negligible … until you remember that at the same time the body expends energy just to keep alive and breathing. Celery for example does not give us enough calories to cover both the energy that it takes to digest it, plus the energy that we expend even when we are doing nothing. So that is why people call it a negative calorie food.

Negative calorie foods are most attractive to anorexics. A negative calorie diet would obviously result in starvation in the long term and nutritional deficiencies can occur surprisingly quickly. The calories burnt usually come from muscle mass, and the result is debility and wasting.

A more healthy way to use a negative calorie diet is as a form of fasting or detox. It is something you can do for one to three days right after the Christmas season or another time when you have been eating a over-rich diet. Provided you are otherwise healthy it can be a great way to clean out the system. However it is still best to take medical advice before attempting this.

If you decide to use a negative calorie detox, keep the following points in mind:

1. It is never a good idea to eat huge quantities of one type of food, especially fruits. A lot of foods contain substances that can be damaging if consumed to excess. For example, the acid in grapefruit and pineapple can damage your stomach lining. Other foods put an excessive burden on the liver or may cause diarrhea. So try to use all the different foods in small quantities.

2. Do not spend all day eating. You will just become bloated and feel sick. If you are only doing this for a couple days, you should not feel too hungry. Plan four or five salad meals each day, and let your digestion rest at other times.

3. You will feel more satisfied if you eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly. You will also use more calories that way. So if the foods can be eaten raw, that will be more effective than cooking them. Foods like carrots and beets will also be more satisfying if you eat them grated.

4. Schedule time when you do not have any important commitments. As with fasting or any kind of detox, you may suffer some uncomfortable symptoms including headaches, tiredness, depression and irritability. If these become severe, stop the diet and see a doctor.

5. When you end the detox, plan a gradual return to normal eating.

If all the above points are checked and passed, then let’s move on to the list of foods. Here’s my free list of negative calorie foods:

* Apples
* Asparagus
* Beets
* Blueberries
* Broccoli
* Cantaloupes
* Carrot
* Cauliflower
* Celery stalk
* Celery root
* Cranberries
* Cucumbers
* Eggplant
* Endives
* Garden cress
* Garlic
* Grapefruit
* Green beans
* Green cabbage
* Lamb’s lettuce
* Lemons
* Lettuce
* Onions
* Papayas
* Pineapples
* Prunes
* Radishes
* Raspberries
* Spinach
* Strawberries
* Tangerines
* Tomatoes
* Turnips
* Zucchini

Low carb dieting has become fashionable in recent years especially with the publication of the Atkins diet. Losing weight is a goal for so many people and everybody is looking for the quick and easy way to lose weight. Some people do not need to lose weight at all but still get stressed over a couple of pounds. Others need to lose for medical reasons and may have one hundred pounds or more that they want to shed.

There are many different diets out there including low carbohydrate diets and the truth is that most of them will achieve weight loss if they are followed correctly. This does not mean always doing what the diet says every moment of every day. What is more important is how you deal with the inevitable occasion when you eat too much or feast on foods that are not on the plan. If you can write this off and return to the plan without giving yourself a hard time, you are likely to succeed. Everybody has those days – the important thing is to let them go and accept them as just another step on the road to permanent weight loss.

It is also important to find a diet that you can easily follow. Low carb diets suit many people because the rules are quite simple. As the name suggests, the diet consists of avoiding or limiting foods that are high in carbohydrates. These include bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and other grains. Sugar is also a carbohydrate. Once you understand what these foods are, it is a simple matter to choose dishes that avoid them.

Most criticism of low carbohydrate dieting is based on the fact that the dieters will get most of their daily calories from meat, dairy and other high fat products. This can lead to high cholesterol and other problems related to a high intake of saturated fats. Medical advice is advised before starting this type of diet. Sometimes weight loss is good in the early stages but people cannot handle the restrictions in the longer term and start to deviate from the diet.

One of the problems that many people have with low carb dieting is the elimination of bread and pasta. No more toast, spaghetti or pizza! Many of the foods that are quickest to prepare are based around carbohydrates – burgers in their buns, fries, sandwiches, pasta and sauce. Beer and other alcoholic drinks are high in carbs too. It is true that alcohol is generally restricted on any diet, because it is high in calories and very low in nutritional value, but low carb diets put particular emphasis on this.

Still there are many foods that can be enjoyed on a low carb diet. If you are fond of meat you will relish the opportunity to consume beef, chicken and other animal products. The popularity of these diets is clear from the length of time that they stay on the bestseller lists. It is just a matter of what suits you. Low carb dieting works for many people.