Stare at lovely Laura and you'll eat less! (Click the image to enhance it.)

Feast your eyes with something blue every time you feel hungry and you should end up eating less and losing weight. A research conducted by behavioral optometrists from Colorado reached the conclusion that, eating while looking at something from the blue color spectrum, triggers a subconscious association with that food being less appetizing. This way you will suppress your appetite and eat up to 33% less calories during lunch!

This means that starring at lovely Laura will significantly reduce your risk of getting overweight and event help you out to lose those extra pounds. Click the image at the top of the post to enhance it and you will be flooded with blue shades and and image of loveliness to keep your hunger at bay!

Parsley Juice for Weight Loss

Parsley is one of the top weight loss spices available. First let’s take a look at parsley health benefits and, in particular, parsley juice health benefits as we think this is the best way to get more parsley into your diet. However, you can also use fresh parsley to garnish loads of dishes, including sandwiches or salads. Parsley juice can be drunk fresh, right after squeezing, or warm, combined with tea, under the form of an infusion.

Parsley has many, many health benefits, including reducing effects of diarrhoea, improve digestion, reduces fatigue, helps with the menstrual cycle, and even provides some properties that reduce the chance of cancers, especially in the lungs. But, as the herb is a diuretic, it also has important weight loss benefits. A diuretic increases the rate of urination, which means that more matter is expelled from the body, including more calories and thus reducing weight loss. The diuretic aspect of parsley juice also means that it detoxifies the body faster than other drinks, and acts as an appetite suppressant making you feel fuller than you are.

Drinking parsley juice will also aid your digestive system, resulting in a more efficient processing system and faster metabolism. You will get more nutrients from the food you are eating, and therefore won’t have to eat as much food, resulting in weight loss. One more great health benefit provided by parsley which is especially welcomed by overweight people is that, this vegetable dissolves cholesterol within the veins. As you know a high bad cholesterol level is the negative side-effect of poor eating habits!

The parsley weight loss tip that we recommend to you is having a cup of warm parsley juice 15 minutes before you eat a main meal. You should be warned however that the effects of concentrated parsley juice are very strong, and you should therefore never have any more than one ounce of parsley in eight ounces of tea. Drinking more than the recommended amount can have a toxic result on your body.

There are loads of recipes available for parsley juice, but the most popular seem to include diluting the flavour of the parsley down with lemon or carrot. You can even include parsley in your regular main meal dishes, especially where fish is involved as you can have parsley sauce on it. You must be careful not to consume too much parsley however as it can result in some quite serious side-effects; it is a powerful herb! You should particularly not use it during pregnancy.

Easy Parsley Juice Recipe
Ingredients: a handful of parsley, some carrots, cucumbers, some celery and a lemon.
Method: Peel the lemon and add all ingredients in a mixer. Blend and serve one glass of the beverage together with a few cups of ice.

Gastric Banding vs Gastric Bypass

If you’re trying to lose weight and a fitness routine and strict diet aren’t working then you might be considering weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, for the good of your health. If you’re morbidly obese (BMI of 40 or higher) and your weight is seriously starting to put you at risk of strokes, heart disease or some cancers then you may have been recommended a gastric bypass or gastric banding. Here we’ll look at the differences between the two procedures to give you a more informed choice about these surgeries. However, you must always consider any advice with a properly trained physician before considering procedures.

Having gastric banding, or lap band, surgery works by placing a band around your stomach and tightening it, thus reducing the overall volume of food your stomach can take and reducing your need for food, helping you lose weight. The band is adjustable so can be put on loose initially and then adjusted (by inflating the band) as you lose weight. Gastric bypass surgery on the other hand splits your stomach into 2 pouches, both connected to your intestines, and you fill up your upper, smaller pouch so it feels like you’ve got less of a stomach and thus need less food.

The main similarities are that both operations are carried out by laparoscopy, which means that small incisions are made around the abdomen and the surgery is performed from there, meaning reduced pain and a faster recovery for the patient. It also means that both lap band surgery and gastric bypass surgery can be performed on morbidly obese patients.

Generally, lap band surgery is preferred to gastric bypass surgery because the procedure is less time-consuming (and results in a shorter stay in hospital), it is reversible (the band can be removed), less risk of complications in the surgery, and the band can be adjusted over time. However, gastric bypass is much more long term and effective than gastric banding – you should see a more extreme effect on your weight and you won’t be required to visit the hospital as much as with gastric banding surgery. However, you should also take gastric bypass and lap band surgery costs into consideration because they might not always be covered by the NHS.

To conclude, you have to weigh up whether you want a shorter and less risky procedure that might be less effective in the long run, or take more of a risk for a higher return. Your doctor will be able to help talk this through with you and find the best option for you.

Other Weight Loss Surgery: Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

Vitamin C for Weight Loss

The discovery of the effects of vitamin C on our immune system was a major discovery – a sailor noticed that people who ate the oranges, limes and lemons on voyages didn’t appear to get scurvy. At the time this was a remarkable discovery about the healing properties of vitamin C, but today we now know more about vitamin c, including its weight loss effects. The best bit about vitamin C weight loss is that it doesn’t only help in one way, but it actually has numerous effects. It also naturally occurs in a variety of products that taste good so is easier to get into your system than you think.

Weight loss involves you burning more calories than you ingest, either by consuming less than your GDA (Guideline Daily Amounts) or by exercising. However if you consume the right calories, you can get more nutrients into your body for each one of those precious kcals. Vitamin C, when found in fruit and vegetables especially, is a good example of a way to get the right calories into your body.

Another effect of vitamin C for weight loss is that your body is more efficient at burning fat when you consume it. This means it’s crucial to any diet, but luckily it can be found in lots of foods that we’ll detail below.

Vitamin C can also help stimulated Noradrenaline which, like its name suggests, is similar in some ways to adrenaline. Noradrenaline hormone supplements may be prescribed to depressed patients as they can improve a person’s mood. However it can also be used as a ‘slimming hormone’. This works by tricking your brain into suppressing your appetite so you don’t feel like you need to eat as much, but it also stimulates your mood so you don’t care as much that you haven’t eaten – think of when you’re busy and in a good mood, this makes your forget about your hunger in a similar way noradrenaline does.

Finally, vitamin C has almost unlimited benefits to your whole body that aren’t all about vitamin c weight loss. These include things like reducing wrinkles, helping the immune system, and helping the eyes and heart stay healthy. It’s been shown that vitamin C can also play a part in the prevention of cancers, strokes, eye healthy and even helping you live longer – there’s no reason not to include it in your diet!

The recommended daily dose of vitamin C varies, but is around 100mg. However, some studies have suggested that 500-1000mg per day, or in some cases even 2000mg per day are optimal. If you want to stick with about 100mg a day then a cup of orange juice will get you this (97mg). Most other vegetables provide you with lots of vitamin C too, for example a cup of cooked broccoli will give you 74mg. Even one medium kiwi fruit will give you 70mg. Another great source of Vitamin C which also aids weight loss is the grapefruit juice.

If you don’t like to eat fruits and vegetables whole, then there are plenty of other ways you can use vitamin C for weight loss. For example, you can add pureed fruits to recipes for soup, eat frozen fruit slices in the summer months, or put a bit of salad in your sandwiches. If you have cereal every morning then throwing a handful of fruit on top will help you on your way to getting your RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance).

Bananas and Weight Loss

Resistant starch is a type of starch that doesn’t generally get digested by the small intestine and thus passes through into the large intestine where it can deliver similar benefits to fibre. These resistant starches act as appetite suppressants as it behaves very similar to fibre – it has the added advantage however of being able to be added to foods without affecting its flavour and is therefore found in lots of ‘off the shelf’ weight loss foods.

Aside from resistant starch being an appetite suppressant, it has also been found to affect metabolism rates. The resistant starch increases fat oxidisation after a meal, thus reducing fat accumulation and possible even burning fat. For those of you following the GI diet, resistance starch has a low GI and so is perfectly good to eat for this diet. Finally, it is also gluten free and can be used to replace flour and similar products for coeliacs.

So how can you get more resistant starch into your diet? One of the best ways that you can choose is adding bananas in your weight loss diet. When you get hungry and feel like eating a healthy snack, instead of heading for junk food, you should pick up a banana and aid weight loss. Slightly unripe bananas as the best to eat as they contain a respectable 12.5 grams of resistant starch, but a ripe banana is still pretty good at 4.7 grams. These will keep you going for quite a long period of time.

If you are thinking of serving bananas for weight loss, you’ll want some tips on how to eat them! First up, you can very easily replace your morning bowl of cereal with a banana, if you wish. The resistant starch in it will keep you full for a long period of time, probably better than your regular bowl of cereal would. However, it would be ideal if you could eat bananas during the 2nd part of the day, as they will maintain your fullness and help you avoid a rich dinner.

If you like smoothies then bananas are always great in them – you can throw lots of stuff into a blender, low fat yogurt being a good option, and chop up a bit of banana in there too and you’ll have the ultimate banana weight loss smoothie! Other good options for eating banana for appetite suppression are within a fruit salad or ice cream.

Friends eating out

Good weight loss tips to use when you’re in a restaurant are hard to find, however they are vital if you want to have a normal social life and continue to lose weight. Eating out in a restaurant every so often is an important social event in most people’s calendars in the UK, yet they can affect your diet plans or weight loss goals. Here we share a few good weight loss tips with you on how to reduce your calorie intake at restaurants.

7 Good Weight Loss Tips to use in a Restaurant
Share your starter – You can share your starter with a person you’re at the restaurant with. This means you only get half the intake. This is an especially good time if you’re eating out with someone else who is following a weight loss regime. You can simply ask the waiter for the starter and an extra plate. If you don’t like to share food you can even ask for the other half in a doggy bag to take home and eat another day.

Ask for dressings in pots – If you’re having a salad with a fatty dressing on for example, a good weight loss tip to use in a restaurant is to ask the waiter if the dressing can be delivered in a pot on the side instead of being put on your food. This way you can control how much of the topping you eat. Alternatively you can ask for it to be swapped for a healthier one.

Order salad instead of chips – Lots of dishes come with chips in restaurants, but many restaurants are obliging in giving you salad instead of these unhealthier options if you ask for it. The same applies to similar sides, such as onion rings.

Ask the waiter for help – Waiters see the meals they serve many times a day, and will know which dishes have lots of foods on them, and have some idea about which would be lighter than others. You could ask your waiter for a recommendation on some of the lighter options available on the menu. If they don’t know they can even ask the chef for you.

Order a starter as a main – If you’re really looking for ways to consume less, then a good tip for weight loss in restaurants is to order a starter as a main course. This reduces your calorie intake at the meal, whilst still being able to enjoy the social surroundings.

Never order soda – If you’re on a weight loss mission, you should forget about soda. A single can of soda provides the equivalent of 15 packs of sugar! Go for natural juices, lemonade or still water. Alcohol is allowed, depending on how drastic your diet is. As a general rule it’s permitted to drink 1 glass of wine.

Chat with your partner – Yes, you read it right. It’s recommended to chat with your meal partner. This way you will eat your meal slowly and aid your digestion. Your brain will have time to receive the signals of fullness and you’ll avoid overeating.

If you follow these good weight loss tips when you’re out at restaurants they should aid your dieting. Remember, being on a diet doesn’t mean you can’t go out for meals! Everyone can have a social life and diet at the same time.

Stop Drinking Soda

Dr. Richard Besser has recently shared, during one of his ABCNews appearances, 3 simple tips for weight loss for us all to follow, for a better way of life. Following these 3 easy tips will add up and make a significant difference to your health and weight. They are recommended to everyone, no matter of age, sex or location. If needed use this tips to start your weight loss, else adopt them in order to maintain a normal body weight.

Reduce soda intake – if you can cut one can of soda out of your diet every day, then over the course of a whole year you will spare yourself of 15lbs! This is a really simple tip for weight loss. If you look on the back of your can you’ll see how much sugar it contains, and sugar is a serious contributor to weight gain. Avoiding it will not only help you lose weight, but also make you feel better – you should find you have more energy. Drinking water is a great alternative.

Do short bursts of exercise wherever you can – it is usually recommended to do exercise in blocks of at least 30 minutes, but for most people and their busy lives it is difficult. Dr. Besser recommends doing it in 10 minute blocks for an easy tip for weight loss, because you can perform it almost anywhere – if you’re shopping always take the stairs, not the lift or escalator. You can also have a quick stroll around the block when you get in from work. A good way to approach this is to park up your car (if you’re driving) and before you get into your house, just walk around the block. Once you’re home after a hard day’s work you won’t want to get out and have a walk again so it’s best to do this before you get in the house.

Turn the TV into exercise – you usually sit around on the sofa when you’re watching TV, but you could always do sit ups on the floor as you watch. This is a really simple weight loss tip that will barely affect your daily routine. If you wanted to make it more fun, you could agree to do a set of exercises when a trigger word was said, so if you’re watching the news and every time the UK was mentioned you could do 10 sit-ups or 10 push-ups for example.

You can see that these 3 easy weight loss tips are very simple to work into your daily routine. They won’t impact your way of life, but over the course of time they will impact your health. Use them and you will be a few steps closer of living a healthy life. Start small and lose weight over the long run!

Reflexology Massage for Weight Loss

Weight loss through reflexology is becoming a more popular way to lose weight, but many people don’t even know what reflexology is. Different pressure points on your feet can be used to control lots of responses within your body, so there are plenty of ways to invoke a weight loss reflexology response when using a trained practitioner. There are also different pressure points on your body where you can receive a reflexology massage session. However foot reflexology is the most popular form compared with hand or facial reflexology.

First up, you might wonder who can perform reflexology for weight loss – the best bit is that anyone can do it since there is a very slim risk of you doing any sort of damage to your body. However, someone certified by the British Reflexology Association will instantly know which pressure points to use to achieve the desired and goals so you might find paying for it more effective. It can costs upwards of £30 an hour however.

If you’ve chosen to lose weight through reflexology by doing it yourself then you will need to acquire a reflexology chart. We’ve provided a foot reflexology chart at the bottom of this article so you can easily print one once you are prepared to start. The chart will show you which pressure points correspond to different organs or parts of the body. For reflexology weight loss, you need to find the pressure points that correspond to your spleen (somewhere near the middle of the sole of your foot). Massaging this pressure point will stimulate your spleen and reduce your hunger, thus helping you lose weight.

Other pressure points to try for reflexology weight loss are digestive organs, such as the pancreas and kidneys; again, refer to the chart for the pressure points attached to these. Stimulating these will allow you to absorb more nutrients from the foods you consumer, thus meaning you need less intake and resulting in weight loss.

If you’ve chosen to use a professional reflexologist to lose weight with reflexology then you can still supplement your sessions with them with your own reflexology, once or twice a week. Your reflexologist can help you come up with a plan to help you between sessions. This will vary depending on your weight loss goals, the condition of your body, your stress levels, and the length of time you’ve been above your desired weight.

One important point about foot reflexology weight loss is that it shouldn’t be used to replace other weight loss initiatives; it should be used as a complement to them. Therefore, it is still important to follow a thorough diet and exercise programme too to get the maximum weight loss through reflexology.

Foot Reflexology Chart

Lymphatic Drainage Massage

The lymphatic system in your body is a series of connected nodes, ducts and organs that play a vital part in your immune system. They serve the particular purpose of releasing all sorts of nasty substances from your body and thus keeping you properly healthy. Lymphatic drainage for weight loss involves a series of massage and exercise techniques in order to get the nodes to release their contents thus stimulating weight loss and getting ready of some of these unwanted substances from the body.

The massages for lymphatic drainage weight loss can be performed by you, or you can treat yourself and have it done in a spa. The actual massages free up the fluids in your lymph nodes, allowing it to leave the body, and thus releasing weight in the form of dead cells and fluids. Not only will this make you weight slightly less, it also increases the circulation in your body, which in turn increases your metabolism which aids weight loss again. Furthermore, it helps clean out your immune system which will increase its efficiency – those colds will go away faster!

Another benefit to lymphatic drainage is that it has been known to treat and prevent cellulite and can help you take control of skin disorders.

Whilst lymphatic drainage aids weight loss, it must be done along with other weight loss plans such as a proper diet and exercise programme. In fact, lymphatic drainage and weight loss work better together when you are doing other weight loss programmes; it should be seen as a supplement action that aids your weight loss progress.

You should massage your lymph nodes for lymphatic drainage depending on how active you are. If you are very active then you might only need to do it once a month, or less. If you are fairly sedentary then one or two sessions a week is more appropriate.

When you are engaging in lymphatic drainage for weight loss, be really careful with your lymph nodes as they are an important part of your body – massaging them too hard can lead to them collapsing; not what you want to achieve! Also keep a check if they are starting to become swollen or inflamed at all. Whilst swollen lymph nodes occur when you have certain common cold infections, they should be examined by your physician if they stick around for a long period of time.

Arm Fat Loss

It’s winter now so you can hide your arms and any arm fat you have, good stuff. But, come summer, you’ll want to get those arms on display so now is the best time to get rid of arm fat for good. Here we’ll look at how to lose arm fat using various exercises so we can get your arms in good shape for summer.
Firstly, men and women are affected differently by arm fat problems. Hormones in women’s bodies make them more prone to build up fatty reserves on their arms, whilst the hormones in men deposit the fat elsewhere (bellys). As with all specific fat loss, any general weight loss you can do will help as fat can move around your body. Try and improve your cardio by doing exercises that improve your heart rate, such as running or spending time on the rowing machine. General dieting will also help, so any diet that aims to lose weight on your body generally will also help you with your arm fat weight loss.

If you just want to stick to arms only exercises then a good free exercise to do is push-ups to get rid of arm fat. Most people know how to do the standard push-up; simply lie on the floor with your hands pressed down by your shoulders and push upwards. Some women do find this difficult so it is also acceptable to cross your legs and do the push-ups on your knees to make them easier whilst retaining the arm fat weight loss.

Buying a pair of dumbbells will also help you get rid of arm fat. These can be picked up from high street stores and at varying weights; you should choose a weight that’s appropriate to your strength. If you don’t know what your strength is you can try picking up items around your house and using them as dumbbells and seeing how much you can handle – weigh the items to work out which dumbbells you should be buying. Once you have your weight set, the best way to lose arm fat is by doing lots of repetitions with them on a low weight. You should be able to lots of sets of 15-25 each time without tiring too much. This will tone your fat into muscle. Doing just a few repetitions on huge weights that you struggle to lift will mainly give you big muscles rather than focus on reducing arm fat – a look that most women won’t want to achieve.

As a conclusion, in order to shape your flabby arms you need to have two different approaches. First you need the above mentioned cardio training for general body weight loss. Secondly, in order to boost your results, you need to tone your arms with targeted fitness exercises. By performing cardio and specific arm workouts, you will encourage your body to burn a higher percentage of fat from your arms. Arm workouts for fat loss and muscle toning include: triceps, biceps and forearm exercises. As mentioned above, always use lower weights and a high number of repetitions, in order to encourage fat loss and muscle toning. Good luck!