Copyright (c) 2008 Karen Sessions

The number of fast food restaurants is on the rise, and so is our waistline. You would think with the number of health clubs and carb-friendly foods available, there shouldn’t be a weight issue at all.

Obesity is growing faster than a weed. There are millions of diet programs and diet pills to choose from. Turn on the television at any given time and you are bombarded with infomercial’s marketing the latest exercise machine, guaranteeing you overnight success.

Sure, the idea of all those ads focus on weight loss, but they fail to mention how to go about attaining true and permanent weight loss. True weight loss is a combination of health and wellness, and it is created in a balance of nutrition and exercise, not a pill or a piece of aluminum that gives you ‘washboard abs’. True weight loss is the reduction of body fat and the maintenance and even building lean muscle tissue.

The majority of the population is completely confused about how to actually rid their body of fat. Magazine ads and commercials keep you in the dark. The more confused you are, the more likely you will buy into their latest product. Doesn’t that make you angry? Aren’t you tired of being lied to?

Successful, true, and permanent weight loss is not that difficult, once you understand a few basics and implement them correctly. The basics are nutrition and exercise. Yes, it’s that simple.

Nutrition is what nourishes our bodies to function, to build muscle, and to lose fat. If your nutrition is not in order, then you will never be successful at true or permanent weight loss.

Nutrition for Permanent Weight Loss

Nutrition is not the new low-carb wrap or carb-friendly sandwich at the corner drive-thru. As mouth watering, eye pleasing, and tasty as these low-carb goodies may seem, it’s merely a fallacy of real nutrition. I can personally guarantee that you will not rid a substantial amount of body fat by consuming carb-friendly items on a continual basis. Such goodies are fine once in a while, but don’t make them the staple of your nutrition program. Choose real food. Eat what Mother Nature intended for you to eat.

Exercise for Permanent Weight Loss

Exercise is the second aspect of true and permanent weight loss. This is not merely sporadic exercise, but a precise plan of what you will do on a continual basis. This does not have to be long, drawn out, or hours of extreme intensity. The key to exercise is consistency, variety, and progression.

Exercise comes in two forms, aerobic and anaerobic, and both should be incorporated for true and permanent weight loss. By including both forms, you will be able to increase your metabolism, build lean muscle, burn body fat, and drop inches, hence fitting into those sexy summer shorts.

Conclusion to Permanent Weight Loss

In conclusion, don’t neglect the basics and rely on short cuts to meet your goals. You get out what you put into it. Make a decision, write down some goals, and set a deadline. Focus on progression and keep pushing through and you will come out a winner!

Eating too much of any one food is not the best way to achieve a healthy weight loss, we all know that. But some foods eaten on a regular basis can provide you with enough health benefits that they will begin to actually accelerate your healthy weight loss! No, I’m not talking about eating as much bacon as you can stuff into your mouth like some of these fad diets convince people to do. I’m talking about bananas!

Here are six benefits the trusty banana can provide you to achieve a healthy weight loss:

Healthy Weight Loss Benefit #1: Bananas Give You Energy
Even though it does not come with a fancy packaging promising you anything, a banana will give an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy because it contains three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose. Just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. The banana is not the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes for nothing!

Healthy Weight Loss Benefit #2: Bananas Provide Vitamins & Minerals
Vitamins are the cornerstone to good health, and the banana is packed with mostly everything the body needs. The vitamin B6 that a banana contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood. Its extremely high levels of iron and potassium reduces the risk of blood pressure and lowers the desire to snack on high carbohydrate foods. Since potassium is a vital mineral that sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance, you can see how important it is for healthy weight loss.

Healthy Weight Loss Benefit #3: Bananas Promote Optimism
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system control our blood sugar. Since they also contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, bananas will improve your mood and generally make you feel happier. The happier you are, the more likely you will stick with your healthy weight loss program with positive thoughts about reaching your goals.

Healthy Weight Loss Benefit #4: Bananas Are Rich With Fiber
Including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives. Fiber is important for healthy weight loss because it helps absorb fat and helps the body so it functions at the optimal level. Bananas have the ability to neutralize over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach!

Healthy Weight Loss Benefit #5: Bananas Are A Healthy Alternative
When you compare it to an apple, a banana has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. That makes it one of the best value foods around. Don’t ever fall victim to the many fad diets out there that tell you an all-natural banana is bad for you. You’ll be hard pressed to find a healthier alternative.

Healthy Weight Loss Benefit #6: Bananas Are Easily Accessible
Most people think about just the health benefits of a food, but never stop to think that the reason America is obese is because they just don’t make the time to stop and think. A banana is the ultimate fast food. It’s even faster to eat than pulling up to a drive through window and waiting for that greasy cheeseburger that you think is your only choice when you’re in a hurry. Being active is an important part of a healthy weight loss program. Bananas are quick and easy to eat at any given moment.

Even with its over-abundance of benefits, you obviously can not go around eating bananas all day long as your healthy weight loss plan of action and expect successful results. No one food has it all, that is why it is important to incorporate a variety of healthy foods into your lifestyle. Most people fail to achieve their healthy weight loss goals because they grab a fat free processed snack loaded with preservatives instead of an all-natural fruit from the earth.

I lost 70 pounds in 4 months and have kept it off for over 15 years, and the almighty banana has been by my side the entire time. Understanding the importance of soy-based protein, I start every day off with a meal replacement shake and a banana is always thrown into the mix for good measure. It is all part of making healthy choices when you are serious about losing weight safely and keeping it off for good.

Let’s cut right to the chase-most people’s diet today is pathetic. The reason that so many people end their lives in poor health and disease infested is due to a lifetime of poor eating habits.

So why do so many people spend their whole life eating garbage, even when they know there is a better way? Simply, they believe that eating according to healthy diet plans is too difficult a process, and as a result they never get started.

Actually, once you’ve begun eating the right foods and feeling the health benefits it provides, you will be very encouraged and you will simply want to eat more and more healthy foods, and less and less of the junk food you used to eat. In fact, the foods you used to consume will begin to look very unappealing to you.

The best healthy diet plans include raw foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and legumes. The reason these are so good for you is that they contain enzymes which your body needs to help itself digest the food. Whenever food is cooked at temperatures over 118 degrees Fahrenheit, the enzymes cannot survive.

Therefore, whenever you eat a cooked meal, your body spends a lot of time manufacturing its’ own enzymes to aid in the digestion process; that is why you feel so tired after eating a cooked meal. Some cooked food will not hurt you, but keep in mind that at least 75% of the foods you consume should be raw.

If you already have that feeling of dread that comes with changing something you love, here is a way to ease the burden and actually make it fun and enjoyable. First of all, establish your goals; where do you want to be at the end of this process?

Do you want to lose 35 pounds within a year’s time? Be able to run 5 miles? Have 8% body fast? Try to make the goals measurable. Simply saying, “I want to feel better,” won’t give you much of an incentive.

Now that this is established, break the goals down into small chunks that are very achievable. Instead of attempting to change your diet overnight, instead maybe try to eat just one healthy meal a week, consisting primarily of raw foods. The next week, try 2 meals, then 3, and so on.

Absolutely nobody accomplishes a goal that they try to establish overnight. You will not change a lifetime of poor eating habits with the flick of a button. Ask anybody who’s ever set a goal and achieved it; they did so by breaking it down into small, manageable chunks that they could focus.

After a very short time of eating these raw foods and healthy diet plans, you will quickly notice your energy picking up, you will need far less sleep, and you will be healthy and alert all day long. Quite simply, without good health you can never achieve all the things you were meant to; let raw foods help you reach your goals in life. Changing to the raw food diet will likely be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made.