LoseWeightForLife

The best diet for vibrant health and permanent weight loss is a whole foods, plant-based diet. No meat, dairy, or eggs. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, organic as much as possible. Plenty of whole grains, beans, and nuts.

This diet is high fiber and packed with anti-oxidants. A plant-based diet is super high in nutrients and fiber and naturally low in calories and fat. You will not be hungry on this diet since the food fills you up and satisfies your body's cravings. Living on this diet can prevent disease such as cancer, diabetes, heart attacks, and auto-immune disorders.

After a couple of weeks on this diet you will find your digestion improves, you will have more energy, and your skin will be radiant. Best of all, you'll drop to a healthy weight without counting calories or obsessing about portion sizes.

Toxins from our environment and years of processed foods, sugar, and white flower build up in every cell of our bodies. These toxins make it difficult to shed fat and drop to a healthy weight. Permanent, sustained weight loss requires taking steps to purify your body of these toxins to allow the fat to leave your system.

Purify your body easily in two ways:

One, by avoiding processed foods and drinks loaded with chemicals and preservatives. Give up Diet Coke. Switch to tea. Don't buy any more frozen dinners, even the Lean Cuisine kind. They are loaded with chemicals. Your mantra should be to stick as close to nature as possible, and buy organic as much as possible.

Second, help your body detox with natural, gentle remedies. Drink lots of water to flush the toxins from your system and allow all of your major organs to work better. Get regular massages to purge the muscles of toxins. Take saunas and Jacuzzis to relieve stress and encourage toxins to exit your skin. And get 7 to 8 hours of restful sleep every night to encourage your body's natural healing process.

Purge the clutter and the fat will melt away. Purging your kitchen and pantry of processed foods and foods high in sugar and white flour will encourage the purifying of your body. But it's more than that. Clear the clutter from your physical space to allow room for the healthy changes to enter your consciousness.

Clean, open space allows you to focus on what is important and be more productive. Hanging on to possessions and/or accumulating "things" is a sign that you are not open to change, and you can't let go of your destructive eating habits. For example, clean out your closet of all the clothes that don't fit or you never wear. Find other, more productive ways to reward yourself than endless shopping. Volunteer, spend more time with family and friends, and make exercise a priority.

If that's walking, great. If you love to go to the gym, that's fine too. If your goal is to lose weight fast, then it's important to include some weight training to build muscle. We lose muscle as we age, and muscle burns more calories, so increasing your lean muscle mass will allow you to stay leaner and still eat more food.

When it comes to cardio for weight loss, more is not necessarily better. Instead of adding minutes to your run or elliptical routine, mix in short bursts at a higher intensity level. Add some hills to your walking routine, or pick up the pace. The same effect can be achieved with weight training by alternating a set of lower body exercise with upper body to keep your heart rate up the entire session.

Stopping emotional eating requires a 3 step process: first identify your triggers like boredom, anxiety, loneliness, whatever. Next, develop substitute behaviors to deal with these emotions. Call a friend, take a walk, clean your house, answer emails, watch a movie. Making a list of substitute behaviors will help your redirect your actions to something other than eating.

Last, visualize yourself successfully adopting one or more of these new behaviors when challenging emotions strike. For example, if you are used to pigging out on junk food when you get home from a stressful day at work, picture yourself going for a walk with your dog or your spouse instead. Stopping emotional eating takes practice and commitment. You are breaking habits that have been built up for a long time. But you can do it, and the more you successfully redirect your behavior, the easier it gets. You build confidence over time with each repetition.