1. The most important thing to keep in mind is your health. Carrying a little excess weight is not necessarily unhealthy. Losing weight too rapidly and by the wrong means can have a negative impact on health.

Although it is understandable to want to lose all that extra weight quickly, it is wise to lose a set amount per week. It doesn’t have to be exact. You may be exercising and/or eating more or less that week. Your metabolism may even be operating at a higher or lower rate, depending on hormonal levels, stress, climate, etc. The key point to keep in mind is moderation: In losing weight and eating.

2. Eat early in the day. Our metabolism is at its peak from morning through the early evening. During the late evening and through the night, our metabolism decreases. Metabolism is what controls how fast we burn fuels such as fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Our metabolism is controlled by hormones we produce (thyroid hormone, serotonin, growth hormone, and others). The effects of some of these hormones “tailors off” by the evening, preparing the body for the temporary “hibernation state” we know as sleep.

Because the metabolism decreases in the evening and night, we can put on extra weight by eating later in the day. Eating a moderate recovery meal after a vigorous physical workout does not compromise the body in terms of weight gain, because you are replacing much of what you burned during your physical training. However, late night snacks and late eating in general, cause increases in body fat. Keep in mind, that when the body has nothing to do with extra unneeded food, it will convert it to fat.

3. Eat the right type of foods for you. Balanced diets do not work for everyone. If you live an average lifestyle, an average balanced diet is beneficial to you. A balanced diet means eating a diet with a moderately low percentage of fat, and containing adequate portions of the main food groups.

Consuming the wrong foods can cause weight gain. High calorie foods, where most of the calories are in carbohydrates (sugars), can result in the extra or unused sugars to be converted into fat. Only so much sugar can be stored in the body. Carbohydrates are stored primarily in the liver and muscle tissue. After those tissues have been “saturated,” excess carbohydrates are changed into fat, and stored in the hypodermis of the skin, and other areas in the body. When it accumulates in the skin, this is when you notice and other people notice.

Foods high in fat also contribute to the “fat pool.” Eating some fat is good, and actually is required. Excluding fat from the diet can be very unhealthy, if not fatal. The muscular portion of our heart (the myocardium, or muscle portion) uses fat to contract and hence, beat or pump blood. Although the myocardium can utilize carbohydrates as an energy source, fats are very important. Other tissues use fats as well, and not just for energy. Fats are used to make other important substances, such as hormones, cell walls, etc. Therefore, don’t try to do too much of a good thing. Lower the fat, but don’t remove it from the diet. You will be doing yourself more harm than good.

4. When it comes to weight loss, the effects of your diet far “outweigh” the effects of ANY weight loss pill.

You can take appetite suppressants, stimulants, etc., and one thing is for sure. You will pay a price in one shape or form. Suppressants are nice because they “suppress” the appetite. However, one of the most important aspects of dieting is the “psychological motivation” and strength we develop as we overcome obstacles in life. One of these obstacles is the urge to eat, “comfort eating,” etc.

Pills should never be used as a substitute for will power. When we become accustomed to letting pills and other technologies replace psychological “focus,” we begin to let this complacency spread to other facets of our lives. And because we fail to develop psychologically while letting a pill or drink do the work, once we stop taking whatever it is to help us lose the weight, we put the weight back on most of the time.

5. Smaller meals help you burn calories and are more beneficial to the digestive system than one or two larger meals.

Larger meals take longer to digest. This puts a strain on the stomach lining and the intestinal lining, because acids, enzymes and bile needs to be present longer to help digest the food. Although these substances are produced in the body, they are normally kept “compartmentalized” until needed. This is because they are “destructive” to tissues in certain ways, and are liberated or secreted only when food is present. When we eat larger meals, we cause more of these chemicals to be liberated and hence, slowly damage our own tissues over time. Over the years, this contributes to digestive problems and weight gain.

Smaller meals digest more quickly, require less digestive enzymes, bile and acid, and keep the metabolic rate higher. Therefore, you will burn fat at a faster pace during your normal activities by consuming smaller and more frequent meals.

6. Starving doesn’t work: Many people think that starving or fasting causes massive weight loss. This is false in many respects and actually dangerous. When fasting for a day, much of the weight we lose is water weight. We can readily see this in a clinical setting, by examining the tongue, lips, and other areas of skin that easily exhibit the effects of dehydration.

When eating less or fasting, it is a good idea to still drink water. This is simply because water is required to burn fat. The water molecule is required to chemically split the fat molecule.

When you fast, your metabolism adjusts accordingly. When you eat less, your metabolism decreases or slows down, so that you burn less. The metabolism slows down to conserve energy. Let’s say the average 70kg male requires 3000 cal per day. If he decreases caloric intake to 2000, the metabolism will decrease in order to accommodate that amount. Don’t be fooled. The body can still burn more than the 2000 Kcal per day that this 70kg man provided for the body. The body can still “burn itself up.” In other words, the body can start burning some fat, and ultimately essential blood proteins, and muscle. This is where be begin to damage our bodies. Therefore, moderate decreases in calories can be helpful in losing weight. However, large decreases can be dangerous. And you can see why you can consume 1500 calories per day, not losing any weight, while your friends can eat consume 3000 kcal and more per day and STILL not gain any weight. It’s all in adjusting the metabolism !.

7. “Low and no” carbohydrate diets can cause depression, and kill brain cells. Our neurons (brain cells) require glucose as their primary fuel for survival. When we think more, we use more glucose. Diets calling for very low or no amounts of glucose can be very dangerous. Diets low in carbs cause depression. This is because the brain’s activity is depressed by lack of energy. This can contribute to overall mood. Carbohydrates are needed in the diet, and denying the body what it requires is both unwise and unhealthy. Of course, you can train your body to burn more fat. However, you still will always need carbohydrates. Moderation is the key.