With so much conflicting “information” circulating out there, it’s no wonder people don’t know where to turn to lose weight properly and in a healthy way. The fact is many people assume they are eating healthy although it’s closer to the truth that many of them don’t even come close to eating a balanced, nutritious diet.

The reason for this is mostly due to the fact that they are guiding themselves with false information propagated by fad diets put out there by weight loss companies. Most of these diets are leading people to believe that cutting out certain nutrients is what it takes to properly loose weight. Nothing can be further from the truth. Here are five common diet myths which lead many dieters to take the wrong road to try to find their weight loss salvation.

Diet Myth #1 – You have to starve yourself to lose weight

• Fact: This is probably the most commonly heard and longest running myth about weight loss out there. The fact is, if you don’t eat enough, your metabolism will slow down greatly making your body want to store fat thus making most of your initial weight loss come from water and muscle. This makes your body-fat percentage go up, meaning you are losing weight, but you are actually getting fatter!

The average woman should not eat less than 1000 calories per day and the average man should not eat less than 1200 calories per day unless under the direction of a physician. If you eat 5-6 smaller meals a day verses 3 bigger ones within a proper calorie range, you will never feel hungry and you will lose weight while staying healthy.

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Understanding the glycemic index (GI) is important for those who wants to lose weight or lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. This article explains how the glycemic index works, and what you should know about GI.

The glycemic index (GI) is a way of rating carbohydrate foods according to how quickly the carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, and thus how quickly that glucose enters the bloodstream. The reasoning behind this is that carbohydrates that enter the bloodstream quickly raise blood sugar levels rapidly, causing a spike in energy, that is followed by a drop after the effects of insulin are triggered.

Insulin is one of the hormones that help regulate blood sugar levels, and tries to keep them stable. When too much glucose enters the bloodstream at a time, the body reacts by releasing insulin to remove some of that glucose back out of the blood and into our cells. Its simply a way of keeping the balance. However the effect is that when all the glucose we just ate, in the form of carbohydrates, is removed from the bloodstream, we feel tired and hungry, often craving more carbohydrates. Thus a cycle is created, where we eat more than really necessary.

Not all carbohydrate containing foods are created equal, they are rated from a scale of 1 to 100 according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. A score of 100 is the highest, and this is akin to eating glucose in its pure form. A score of 55 or lower means a food is classified as having a low glycemic index. Thus, it theoretically breaks down in the body more slowly.

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Editor’s note : To burn fat faster, you must know the secrets which includes the three most important elements you must know. Rob Poulos, Fat Loss & Fitness Expert & Creator of “Fat Burning Furnace“, shares his secrets in this article.

By now, most people realize that adding lean muscle mass to your body does wonders for your metabolism and fat loss, as well as a host of other benefits that allow you to live out your life as healthy as possible.

Unfortunately, most people I see performing weight training or resistance training at the gym are spending too much time with the exercise and not working hard enough. They’re not going to burn very much fat this way.

The secret I’ve found is that training for lean muscle and strength requires the proper application of three vital elements that are often ignored by those who attempt it. Those three elements are:

• Intensity
• Volume & Frequency
• Progression

The intensity is how hard it is to perform for you, given your current condition. The volume and frequency are how much and how often you perform the exercise. The progression is related to how much the demands increase from workout to workout.

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When the summer time comes and the heat is on, one favorite thing that most people want to beat the heat is to get a smoothie. You may try to lose weight, but you should not miss out because there are any healthy options to have your home-made smoothies. Yes, you can make your own weight loss smoothies at home.

From a health point of view, blended smoothies are great for a concentrated meal that’s ready in a minute. You can combine a variety of fruit with some water, possibly add some dates or genuine maple syrup and make a delicious smoothie that can be enjoyed anytime as a healthy meal while on your weight loss program.

Actually, this may be a better choice than juicing as you will also get the fibre, which is an essential nutrient present in our fruits and vegetables for several reasons and in regards to losing weight, the fibre will serve as intestinal brooms to push all unwanted debris out.

I listed some weight loss smoothies recipes below for you to try at home. I think they are creative ways to enjoy the proper diet and not entirely miss out on pleasuring ourselves occasionally. You can always experiment to find tasty recipes as well, but here are some to get you started.

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