Here are some resources to help you in your fat loss journey. This page will be updated frequently.

Free online resources.

USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference is enormously helpful. Get calorie content as well as a wide range of nutritional information on tens of thousands of foods.

The Calorie Counter also has an extensive database of foods.

Calorie Count is an extensive online resource, with dieting tools and a thriving online community numbering more than half a million. Visit the site and sign up for a free membership.

Calories Per Hour offers online tools to help you calculate how many calories you burn, by various activities. Additional tools include BMI, BMR and RMR calculators.

My Calorie Counter is another site offering many resources, for counting calories, and interacting with others via online forums and blogs.

Nutrition Data (ND) offers extensive information on food calories and content and is updated daily.

Avoid Using So-Called Diet Teas to Achieve Weight Loss

Teas of various kinds have become popular weight loss supplements. They have various names, variations of slimming tea and dieter’s tea. They may seem to be harmless, natural and possibly even effective, but they may, instead, be harmful.

These dieter’s teas tend to induce frequent bowel movement. This gives the invigorating sensation of body cleansing. While it is true that some toxins may be released, this does not come without a price. Dieter’s teas contain herbs which are natural laxatives. These may include aloe, senna, rhubarb root, cascara, buckthorn and castor oil. These are products which are derived from plants and are used since the ancient times because of their potency in treating constipation and to inducing bowel movement.

Cascara, castor oil and senna are all recognized as laxatives and as such, they are available in their natural form as over the counter remedies and they are also components of over the counter medications.

Despite what is commonly believed, diarrhea induced by laxatives does not remove significant amounts of calories taken in the body. This is because the laxatives do not act on the small intestines which is where the body absorbs most of the calories from food. Instead, these laxative herbs work on the large intestines. However, it is undeniable that if laxative herbs are taken in large quantities for long periods of time, weight loss can occur. People suffering from eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia sometimes abuse laxatives in this manner.

Yes, you can lose weight this way, but at what cost?

Adverse side effects of misusing herbal laxatives include nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, fainting, rectal bleeding, electrolyte disorder and dehydration. Excessive use of stimulant laxatives can cause severe constipation and pain for extended periods of time. Needless to say, it is unwise to risk such potentially serious and long lasting health complications for the sake of losing a few pounds.

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The “Quick Weight Loss Diet” Myth

If you wear a size 14 and you blow a bundle on designer size 8 dresses as motivation, you will probably end up feeling guilty, frustrated, and angry if you are not slinking around in it a month later.

In reality, you will do much better setting smaller, achievable targets for yourself. If you must try the new-clothes strategy, go down a size at a time, and do not buy anything you have to take out a second mortgage to pay for.

In reality, there is no such thing as quick weight loss, at least not that is lasting and permanent and beneficial to your health. Losing “weight” through dehydration is not the same thing as losing fat, also known as adipose tissue.

What Does Not Work

Today, there are plenty of weight-loss strategies that are guaranteed to fail. Any diet plan that does not allow you to begin to change lifelong habits is not going to succeed. There is nothing more frustrating than suffering the agony of starvation diets only to regain the weight.

Quick weight loss diet plans are known as fad diets because that is exactly what they are, a fad. After the hype and fanfare is over and, the dieters will realize that the diet they have depended on is not producing results. There is no magic combination of foods – cabbage diets, maple sugar diets, etc – that magically melt away pounds.

Does your diet plan require you to skip meals?

If it does, then, it is a fad diet.Abstaining from food completely is not healthy. It may even cause some serious complications or problems especially for diabetes or others who suffer from blood sugar abnormalities.

Skipping meals induces hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar and your will likely wind up eating too much at your next meal.

Does your diet plan tell you that you can lose weight with diet alone?

Exercise is essential for the human body. It is important in the proper blood circulation and other metabolic functions.

Diet plans that do not require you to exercise are misguided.

However, exercise alone is not sufficient. Diet and exercise must go hand-in-hand.

If you want a structured plan to get started, see our Weight Loss Reviews here for the top online weight loss guides.