Green Tea and Weight Loss: Drink it or Take in Pill Form?

green tea and weight lossYou may have wondered what the deal is with green tea and weight loss – does it really help you lose weight? Many people are discovering that green tea does indeed seem to help with their weight loss, not to mention all of the other great health benefits it has.

The question that remains is, which form of green tea is best? Drinking it by the cup, or taking supplements? Are they equally effective?

Green tea comes in two basic forms: tablets and tea bags (can be loose tea also).

For centuries green tea has been consumed in tea form, but in recent years supplement manufacturers have made it available in pill form too. These pills contain concentrated amounts of green tea extract.

Green tea extract can be purchased from many different suppliers online, and can also be found in most health and vitamin stores. Most of the pills contain anywhere from 200mg to 500mg of green tea extract, and directions say to take 1 to 3 tablets daily.

There are obvious benefits in using green tea for weight loss in pill form. First, if you don’t care for the taste of the tea, the pills allow you to bypass that. Secondly, some people believe that green tea extract taken in pill form may intensify the health benefits and fat burning effect, simply because you get a more concentrated dosage of EGCG (that’s epigallocatechin gallate – the antioxidant found in green tea).

Still, some people do prefer drinking tea rather than popping pills, and green tea has a mild, pleasant flavor.

The final decision may come down to volume. Most experts agree that you need to consume a minimum of 3 cups of green tea a day to gain optimal health benefits, but some say that as many as 10 cups per day is better. When you consider that each cup of green tea has 50 – 150mg of antioxidants, it may make more sense to take a supplement or two, especially if you’re using green tea for weight loss and want the maximum dosage.

Or, you could even do both – take a supplement that contains the minimum amount of antioxidants you want to have each day, and then any green tea you drink that day will just be a bonus.

Keep in mind that green tea does contain caffeine, so you may have to limit your consumption if you are sensitive to it. Many of the green tea supplements do not contain caffeine, however, read the labels carefully to be sure.

Drinking green tea for weight loss and general health is beneficial no matter how you choose to consume it; it all comes down to personal preference.

7 Easy Tips for Fast Weight Loss

Most of us have one thing in common when we decide to lose weight: we want to lose it FAST! Fast weight loss isn’t always the best way to go, simply because some of the methods used for fast weight loss are unhealthy or difficult to keep doing for a long enough period of time.

However, there are a few key things that are known to help speed up weight loss without harming your health:

1) Water is your best friend

Drinking plenty of water is an excellent way to help your body burn more fat, as well as release excess water you may have been retaining. Experts recommend a minimim of 64 ounces of water daily, but even more than that is safe to drink as long as you don’t overdo it.

2) Sugar is NOT your friend

Refined white cane sugar has a detrimental effect on the body, namely because of the way it sharply elevates blood glucose levels. This causes your pancreas to secrete insulin to bring blood glucose back to normal levels, and too much of this up-and-down fluctuation can wreak havoc on your body.

For losing weight quickly, there are few actions more powerful than eliminating white refined sugar (and its cousin, high fructose corn syrup) from your diet. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll find that fruit is a great alternative, and so is low-glycemic agave nectar.

You don’t necessarily have to give up sweets completely – just choose healthier options to satisfy your sweet tooth.

3) Sodium makes you retain water

Reducing your sodium intake is another way to help speed up weight loss, simply because eating high amounts of sodium makes most people retain excess water weight. Not to mention that a diet high in sodium can contribute to hypertension (high blood pressure).

4) Starvation is bad

People often think that reducing their caloric intake down to almost nothing is a great way to lose weight quickly, but all it does is kick their bodies into self-preservation mode and slow down their metabolism.

A much better approach is to eat lean, low-calorie foods frequently throughout the day. This keeps your metabolism running strong, burning fat and losing weight. Not to mention you’ll have more energy and feel more satisfied all day long. Also including a moderate amount of heart-healthy fats (like those found in olive oil and avacados) can keep you from feeling hungry.

5) Burning more calories

Cardio exercises are known for their calorie-burning power, and effective weight loss plans will focus on creating a “calorie deficit”. To lose one pound, you need to either reduce your calorie intake by 3500 calories, or burn off 3500 calories with cardio exercise. Doing a combination of both has been proven to be most effective; for example reducing your daily caloric intake, AND burning calories via cardio exercise. So, if you reduced your calories by 250 daily (1750 weekly), and burned off 250 calories daily (1750 weekly), you would lose 1 pound that week.

Keep in mind that other factors can come into play so some weeks you may lose more and other weeks you may lose less.

6) Fiber keeps you moving

Increasing your fiber intake is another good way to speed weight loss, for a few reasons. First, eating high-fiber foods helps you feel fuller longer so you aren’t tempted to overeat. Fiber is also helpful in slowing the absorption of sugar into your bloodstream, which reduces the impact of high-glycemic foods and minimizes fluctuations in blood glucose levels. Finally, a fiber rich diet helps “keep things moving” in your digestive tract so you clean your colon and eliminate waste more easily.

7) Reduce stress

Last but not least, managing your stress better can help you lose weight more quickly. The hormone cortisol is prevalent in the stressed-out body, and cortisol contributes to the accumulation of belly fat. It’s virtually impossible to lead a completely stress-free life, but there are endless ways to better manage your stress so it doesn’t wreak havoc on your body. Try meditating daily for 10-15 minutes, deep breathing exercises, or a soothing exercise like yoga.

All Natural Weight Loss: Isn’t it Just Common Sense?

All natural weight loss begins with a good dose of common sense – eat less, move more and you will lose weight. That premise could be argued in some cases, but for the most part we all know that is the most effective way to lose weight.

So, why do we still struggle to lose weight the natural way? For most of us, the answer is: it’s hard work!

It takes dedication and discipline to stick to a daily workout routine. It takes tremendous willpower to ignore cravings and eat healthy, nutritious foods.

Unfortunately, this constant struggle leads many of us to seek easier solutions to our weight problems, and more often than not that includes ingesting pills with dangerous side effects, or embarking on an endless stream of fad diets so we can ease the struggle and lose the weight faster and easier.

But are these “unnatural” weight loss methods really faster or easier than all natural weight loss?

In most cases, the answer is no.

Initially it might seem like we’re making quicker progress toward our weight loss goals, but one of three things usually happens:

1) The fad diet is so unpleasant or strict that we end up “cheating” and eventually give it up altogether.

2) We experience unpleasant or painful side effects from the pills or fad diets we thought were going to cure us for good, so we have to stop using them.

3) We lose a substantial amount of weight at the beginning, but then progress grinds to a halt and the magic methods stop working.

When these things happen, we get right back on the diet merry-go-round and start searching for the next magic cure.

All natural weight loss methods might seem to be more difficult or slower, but they are the only things that really work in the long run. Think about it this way: how much time have you wasted on ineffective, unpleasant diet plans in the past? How many pills have you swallowed that had no effect on your extra pounds?

These things don’t work long-term, and they usually do more harm than good.

Healthy, all natural weight loss will not include gimmicks, secret cures or magic beans. It’s a simple matter of eating foods that are better for you, exercising, and steadily transforming your bad habits into good ones. No great mystery there!

Yes, it will take discipline. It will require willpower. But the good news is that before you know it, those new healthier lifestyle habits don’t seem so hard anymore. You get used to eating healthy food instead of junk food. You get used to working out every day, and actually grow to love it. And as the numbers on the scale creep steadily downward, you start feeling really, really proud of yourself for all you have accomplished.

That’s all natural weight loss at its best!

Pilates and Weight Loss: Creating a Lean Physique With Pilates

Pilates and weight loss: are they a match made in heaven? As far as exercise routines go, pilates can be a beneficial addition to your weight loss plan, simply because it helps sculpt your muscles to be long and lean. Long, lean muscles means a slender, lithe figure.

Even better, when you have more lean muscle mass, you boost your metabolism and burn more calories, which means easier weight loss over the long run.

Pilates also has plenty of other great benefits, like improving your posture, breath control, muscle strength, physical endurance, and balance. Not to mention helping you get into great shape overall, which can’t help but boost your confidence and self-esteem!

There have been reports that pilates and weight loss are NOT a good match because pilates isn’t rigorous enough, so you’ll burn fewer calories than you would running, kickboxing, or other high-intensity exercises.

That may be true to a degree, but burning calories isn’t the only important aspect of a workout routine. You also have to take into account your main goals in weight loss.

- Do you JUST want to slim down, or do you also want to strengthen your body?

- Do you JUST want to burn calories, or do you also want to get fit?

- Do you JUST want to drop a few sizes, or do you also want to reshape your body?

One of the major reasons why people love pilates is that it creates a slimming effect – making you look like you’ve lost more weight than you actually have. That’s not too surprising because lean muscle takes up less “room” on your body than fat, so you just look slimmer, even if the numbers on the scale haven’t budged much.

Finally, keep in mind that you don’t have to just stick with one type of exercise! There’s nothing wrong with doing pilates and running, or pilates and weight training, high-intensity aerobics and pilates, and so on.

Create a workout routine that works best for you in reaching your ultimate weight loss goals. If your goals include dropping pounds, slimming down, getting strong, lean, and toned, pilates and weight loss are a perfect match.

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