calorie shifting

Healthy eating is all about maintaining a balanced diet, which means eating a large variety of foods from all the five different groups and in the right amounts.

As you probably already know, there are five different food groups. Each food group contains nutrients that are vital for the growth and maintenance of the body, as well as to its energy regime. Why are Nutrients so important? Because the minerals and vitamins that you consume are responsible for the regulation of the chemical processes and functions of the body, and when these are working properly then you are happy and healthy.

When choosing a diet program, it is important to choose a diet that includes all food groups, like the calorie shifting diet.

Here is a short description of the food groups.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates include foods such as potatoes, rice, oats, maize, bread, pasta, noodles and cereals. They are the major source of energy for our body and as such should make up about one third of our diet.
There are two kinds of carbohydrates - refined and unrefined. Refined carbohydrates include foods that have had their fibres removed, for example, white bread and sugary cereals. Unrefined carbohydrates, which are healthier and should be preferred over the refined carbohydrates foods, include brown and whole meal bread.

Vegetables & fruits
Vegetables and fruits are very rich in minerals and vitamins which are important nutrients that our body needs in order to work properly. Those minerals and vitamins will keep you healthy and reduce the risk of getting cancer and heart-related diseases.
A balanced and healthy diet includes 4-5 portions of vegetables and fruits every day, preferably fresh or dried (not cooked). This includes a large piece of fruit, a few tablespoons of vegetables, or one glass of fruit juice.

Protein
Protein is an important ingredient of one's diet that helps to build and repair the body. A One fifth of a good diet is made up of Protein-rich foods. Those foods that are rich in protein usually also contain other vital ingredients, mainly minerals (iron, zinc, magnesium) and B vitamins.
Available sources of protein are animal related products like meat, fish and eggs, and non-animal products like nuts and beans.
When eating animal-related products try to reduce the amount of fat consumed with them. Also, it is best to grill or roast the food instead of fry it.
Vegetarians that avoid meet and fish can get protein from seeds, nuts, soy products (like tofu) and beans.

Dairy products
Dairy foods include many products, mainly milk, cheese, yoghurt and soy products. These products are rich in calcium, which is vital for healthy and strong bones and teeth. You should consume about a large glass of milk or two yoghurts a day. Of course, low fat or reduced fat products should be preferred.
Those of us, who avoid milk products due to allergy, should get calcium from soy products, as well as from sardines, broccoli and cabbage.

Sugar and fat
Sugars and fat contain a lot of energy but should make up the smallest part of the diet. This is because many foods like chocolate, cakes, butter, mayonnaise, soft drinks and ice cream, contain high amounts of fat but low amounts of any other healthy ingredients. It is well known that sugary foods are very bad for the teeth, and they are also full of calories.
Like carbohydrates, fats are also divided into two groups - saturated fat and unsaturated fat. Saturated fat is considered as a contributor of heart-related diseases, and should be avoided as much as possible. Margarine and fried foods are common foods that contain a lot of saturated fat. On the other hand, eating small amounts of unsaturated fat might help keeping the immune system healthy and even reduce the "bad" cholesterol level (LDL). Unsaturated fat is found in oily fish (salmon, tuna, herring) and vegetable oils.

Calorie shifting diet
A good thing about a calorie shifting diet is that it includes many types of food, from all food groups. This makes this diet method a healthy and balanced diet.

Here are a few tips that will boost your diet plan

1. Exercise on a regular basis, especially aerobics. A good start is 25 minutes, 3 times a week. Do whatever feel right for you, whether it is fast walking, jogging, swimming, biking or ball games.

2. Do some weight training. It is the best known way to boost up the metabolic rate. And why is that? Muscle tissue burns a lot more calories than fat tissue.
Read here more about aerobic exercises and weight loss

3. Eat protein-rich foods. It will boost your metabolism, and as a result you will burn more calories each day. Preferred low-fat sources of protein are chicken, fish, yogurt, cheese (low-fat, of course). The protein is the main building block of muscles, and the more muscle mass you have, the more calories your body will burn, even when you are not exercising.

4. Eat low-fat dairy products, and stay away from the fat ones. Those dairy products, such as milk, yogurt and cheese will increase your metabolism and help you to burn more fat.

5. Make sure you do not skip breakfast. The breakfast gives your body the energy needed for starting the day. It actually stops the slow-rate it was in while you were sleeping. How much to eat? A 250-350 calorie intake is enough.

6. Sleep well at night. Lack of sleep can hurt the metabolism. Don't forget not to workout at least 3 hours before you go to sleep, so your body can have enough time to relax before it's time to go to bed.

7. Drink a lot of green tea. It is a well known fact that the antioxidants in the green tea will boost up your metabolism.
Read here more about weight loss and green tea.

8. Eat more frequent meals, but smaller ones. 5 or even 6 small meals a day are a great way to keep the metabolism going on a high rate.
Check out the calorie shifting diet plan that suggests eating small meals of different food types for tricking the metabolism and keeping it on a high rate for long time.

For those of you who want to lose some weight, it is very important to know that increasing your body metabolism is one of the ways to do so. What is metabolism you ask? Well, basically it is the bio-chemical processes in which the body converts food into energy (and vise versa) in order to function.

Where are several ways to increase metabolism. Today I want to talk about muscle mass as a booster for metabolism. Your body will have a higher metabolism rate if you increase your muscle mass. This is true simply because muscle mass require more energy for its maintenance, thus muscle mass burns more calories than other tissue. So you should start developing some muscle that will burn the excess weight that you have, even when you are resting, or even sleeping! How to gain muscle mass? For that you need to work out on a regular basis and eat protein-rich foods that help build the muscle.

To be more specific, for building muscle mass a resistance or weight lifting exercises are essential. Don't forget to rest at least a day between resistance training because the muscle needs to recover and grow.

What else will help your metabolism rate? Cardio-vascular training (usually known as "aerobics") is also good, and you can try any of the following: running, cycling or swimming. Pick the one you feel must comfortable with, and stick to it. But when you feel (after a few weeks or months) that you no longer see results and your weight stays the same even tough you are doing exercises, its time to switch the training routine! Your body has become used to the exercise so now you need to change your workouts so your body metabolism rate gets high again. This is the same principle as the calorie shifting diet, where one changes the food types and amount of calories consumed, which "tricks" the body and keeps it on a high metabolic rate.

Last but not least, you need to take action!
Make the decision - start a training routine, follow a good diet plan and make a change in your life.
Good luck!

A quick look at some other page...

Check out this cool post about diets, it really made me laugh.