THE CENTER FOR WEIGHT LOSS

The Center For Weight Loss and Healthy Living

Healthy Diet Plans
Weight Loss Programs
Weight Loss Programs 2

Diet Aids
Weight Loss Products

Weight Loss Books 
Diet Books

Exercise For Weight Loss

Nutrition For Weight Loss

Articles
Weight Loss Articles
Diet Articles
Healthy Living Articles
Nutrition Articles
Exercise Articles

Tips and Hints
Weight Loss Tips
Diet Tips
Healthy Living Tips

Did You Know

Weight Loss and Health Headlines

Related Links

The Center For Weight Loss and Healthy Living is dedicated to helping you lose weight. You will find everything for your dieting, weight loss and healthy living needs here.

Weight loss programs and healthy diet plans are reviewed on the weight loss programs page. Be sure to visit it.

Our center is proud to provide you with up-to-date information on:

• weight loss programs and healthy diet plans 
• weight loss supplements and weight loss products
• exercise and nutrition
• diet books and weight loss articles
• diet and weight loss
• supplements for healthy living
• living a healthy life

There are hundreds of products on the market today to help you achieve the goal of losing weight. It's overwhelming!

You wonder what works?  What doesn't work? 

We have investigated what really works and what doesn't work.
You'll find brief reviews of these weight loss products, weight loss programs, healthy diet plans and other valuable healthy weight loss and diet information. Click on the appropriate page to read more.

You can find some of the latest and most effective

• weight loss programs
• healthy diet plans
• weight loss pills and supplements
• appetite suppressants
• weight loss products

You can't replace sensible eating with pills. What diet pills and weight loss supplements can do is:

• tame the appetite a bit 
• boost the metabolism
• regulate blood sugar levels
• eliminate cravings

Weight loss pills aren't magic bullets. They can sometimes do the above just enough to help you kick start the weight loss process and help you lose pounds. The weight loss products page has many natural diet aids for you to investigate.

To make your quest to lose weight a bit easier

• There's a section on helpful weight loss tips and diet hints 

One of these tips might be just what you need to start you on your weight loss diet and to help you lose fat. Be sure to sign up on the top of this page for a diet tip or weight loss hint to emailed to you about once every 10 days. We also include a new diet tip on the home page every month.

Nothing works for everyone.  In order to lose weight you must keep trying until you find the method that works for you.  It might be the weight loss book  you happen to read. Something will give you the push you need to be successful. We believe you can find it here.

Some vitamins and herbs are especially helpful for weight loss. The nutrition for weight loss page describes some of the more popular dieting and weight loss vitamins, herbs and supplements. We will be adding more nutrition information on an ongoing basis check it out.  We include a new article on the nutrition for weight loss page every month.

You can choose from our extensive list of articles on:

• weight loss and dieting
• supplements
• exercise and fitness 
• nutrition and health
• weight loss programs
• healthy diet plans
• weight loss products
• healthy living

New articles are added frequently.  Stop back often. Every month we will put a featured article on our home page. We are adding articles to other pages as well.

If you have any questions or suggestions you may contact me at the address below. Please put The Center For Weight Loss in the subject line so I do not delete the email.

This web site can be the start of your journey. Book mark this site and make The Center For Weight Loss and Healthy Living your healthy weight loss and diet center.  And of course return often because we will have something new each time you visit.

Whether it's the last stubborn 10 pounds or 100 pounds, you'll find what you are looking for here. You can find some of the best natural and healthy diet aids and weight loss programs for you and your family. The staff at The Center For Weight Loss and Healthy Living is proud to aid you in your quest to take control of your health and life.

Click on a link and start on your weight loss journey now.
Back to The Top

       The Center For Weight Loss and Healthy Living

                      FEATURED ARTICLE
                             of the month

Summer Time Eating
by Linda Tremer

It's summer time and healthy eating is easier than ever. The abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables makes losing weight and dieting an enjoyable experience this time of year. At the cookout don't fill up on hamburgers,  hot dogs and white rolls. Instead, fill your plate with a colorful variety of fresh produce. Skip the macaroni salad covered in mayonnaise and go for the tossed salad without dressing and fruit salad.  Add corn on the cob without the butter and enjoy the wonderful flavor of the sweet corn.

If you're doing the cooking, use unsweetened baked beans-a good source of fiber.  Cook up some lean turkey burgers. If you must have a roll, use whole grain. Make a variety of vegetable salads with the various fresh beans. Four bean salad is a healthy fiber filled good tasting food.  If you are going to a cookout and know that the hosts won't have healthy food bring your own.

Make a tossed salad at home and carry it in a plastic container. Add some fresh fruit and you have a healthy meal that fits into any diet. The vegetables this time of year are so fresh and tasty that salads are a delight, even if you are not trying to lose weight.

Skip the sweetened drinks and alcoholic beverages.  Ask for unsweetened iced tea or sparkling water.  A glass of water with lemon or lime helps to fill you up and is good for you.

Exercise is also easier this time of year.  It stays light long enough for you to find time to go for an after dinner walk. Sticking to a weight loss program is much more enjoyable in the summer time.

The key to eating for weight loss at a cookout or summer barbeque is to enjoy the talking and playing and make food only a small part of the fun.

Visit Weight Loss Programs or Healthy Diet Plans to start your weight loss program today.

Back to The Top

Special This Month's Healthy Living Article

Fat Burners: The Unadulterated Truth
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Fat burner supplements are advertised everywhere these days - on the internet, in magazines and even on TV. The ads almost always feature a very lean fitness model or bodybuilder and claim that these products, usually pills, were the secret to their six pack abs and very low body fat levels. Some of these ads suggest that the only way to get as lean as the "hot bodies" you see in the ads is by taking their "miracle pills" and that proper nutrition and exercise alone is not enough.

While I won't dismiss the fact that there are ingredients in some fat "burner" products that might help a little bit, I take great displeasure in seeing misleading advertising claims as well as the misleading use of models who are often paid to endorse the product even though they may never have even used it (they're just models!)

Many “fat burner” companies have been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for false advertising, false claims and falsifying before and after photos.

The best you get is a slight thermogenic effect and possibly some slight appetite suppression. A few products might work through other mechanisms like improving thyroid, but if you forgive me the generalization, I consider the effects of all these “fat burner” products to be minutia.

In one of my previous newsletters, I said that in my opinion, 97% of your results come from nutrition and training and maybe you get an extra 3% advantage from supplements. Just so you know those numbers arent something I just pulled out of thin air, lets take an example:

I have reviewed scientific data that EGCG, the active ingredient in green tea extract, if consumed in enough quantity, could increase thermogenesis / metabolic rate by an average of about 75 calories in 24 hours. Since ephedrine was taken off the market, green tea extract appears in many ephedra-free formulas these days. What is a typical calorie expenditure for an active male in 24 hours? lets say 2700 calories per day. 75/2700 = 2.7%.

That little extra doesnt hurt, especially when it's delivered in a healthful package such as green tea (rather than central nervous system stimulants), but it's minutia in the bigger picture. Another way to put this into perspective is to make a list of what other things would burn 75 calories (for 150 lb person:)

·                walk your dog for 15 minutes

·                walk for 5 minutes at normal casual pace three times a day

·                30 minutes of ironing

·                bagging leaves and grass clippings for 14 minutes

·                re arrange your furniture for 10 minutes

·                wash your car, 15 minutes

·                vacuuming for 15 minutes

·                7.2 minutes of walking up stairs (could be spread throughout the day)

Ah yes, but why move your body when you can take the pill and metabolism increases while you sit and watch TV? How about for your health? A body that is not moved, rots away. Unlike a car which only has so many miles on it and wears out from over-use, people are the only “machines” on earth that fall apart from under-use.

Here’s what any good personal trainer will always tell you: No amount of calorie restriction or pill-popping will ever give you FITNESS. It willl never give you STRENGTH. it will never get you MUSCULARITY. It will never give you FUNCTIONALITY. At best it will help you reduce body mass slightly.

On one hand, I’m tempted to say that everything counts and that yes, 75 calories here and 75 calories there, it ALL adds up, because it does. After you’re exercising regularly and all your fundamentals are in place, details and little things do matter.

I’m simply asking you to put the benefits of any fat burners in proper perspective and realize that (1) there is no “need” for taking them and (2) the claims made in the ads are often erroneous or exagerrated.

My advice on fat burners:

1. NEVER buy a fat burner unless you get independent verification of the claims made for the product.

How do you KNOW they really work? Are you SERIOUSLY going to take the advertisers word for it? Are you SERIOUSLY going to take someone else’s testimonial as fact? Get verification for yourself by going to the pub med data base and looking for the primary research.

2. Put it in perspective

With those products that work, such as those providing a small thermogenic effect, put that in perspective as compared to how easily you could burn that many calories with even light exercise like walking or housework. Keep in mind the additional fitness and strength benefits you will obtain from exercise as opposed to doing nothing and popping a pill.

3. See if there are any side effects or health warnings.

With all supplements and especially with prohormones or stronger thermogenics like the ephedrine and caffeine stack, (if you still have access to them), understand the risk to benefit ratio, and be certain you know the dangers and contraindications.

4. Read the label and see if the product contains enough active ingredient to even work.

A classic scam is when a “fat burner” advertisement quotes research that a certain inredient boosts metabolism, which might be true. What they may not tell you is that all the research with positive results used a large dosage of the ingredient, which might not be cheap. So the supplement company includes a “pinch” or “light dusting” of that ingredient just so they can say it’s in the bottle, even though it's nothing more than “label decoration.” Then they have the audacity to invoke the research studies in their advertisements when the amount of the ingredient in their product is no where near what was used in the research!

5. Proprietary blend scam.

Some companies don't let you see how much ingredient is in the product formula, because it contains multiple ingredients and they say their formula is a “trade secret” aka “proprietary”, so they list what is in the product but not how much. Well, if you don’t know how much is in there then how are you supposed to know whether it contains the proper dosage? (answer: you don't!)

6. Make sure there is human research, not just rodent research.

In many cases, advertisements cite studies on rats and mice as “proof” under the assumption that the product will produce the same results in humans. Animal research is an important part of the scientific method, as it is often used to help find areas of research where human study should be pursued, or in the other direction, to trace back the mechanism that makes something work. However, for obesity research in particular, a positive finding in rats does not mean the same thing will happen in humans.

7. Look for more than one human study.

Consider trying a supplement after it has human research that has been replicated by different research groups which are not industry-sponsored. My policy is that I will usually only give a “buy” rating to a supplement when a product has an intitial well-designed human controlled trial published and then similar research has been replicated by another research group that is not supplement-industry funded.

Actually, I think it’s a good thing that nutrition and supplement companies fund and sponsor some of the research. They should. They should not only back up their claims with published clinical trials, they should share some of the cost of this expensive research.

However, a basic principle of the scientific method is replication. Other researchers should be able to duplicate the findings. Therefore, while the funding source does not necessarily prove bias, if there is only one study available on a supplement and it is company or industry sponsored, I usually take it with a grain of salt and put an asterisk next to it while I wait for confirmation from another study. (You might be surprised at how infrequently this type of confirmation occurs).

Do you really need “more” than nutrition and exercise?

Now, when you weigh the fact that even the products with research backing them only help a little, with the fact that many of the ads lie to you about research, exagerrate claims and hide vital information about ingredients, and with the fact that you can do a few more minutes of exercise per day and get the same results for free, how enthusiastic are you about fat burners? Yeah, that’s why I’m not real excited about them either and based on the fact that I use no drugs and no “fat burner” supplements and I compete in bodybuilding - very successfully - I’d say that the assertion, “it takes more than nutrition and exercise to get six pack abs” is patently false.

Train hard and expect success,

Tom Venuto
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using methods of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle

Back to the top of this month's article: Fat Burners: The Unadulterated Truth.

Spring is the time to start a weight loss program and a healthy diet plan!





   Back to The Top