Weight Loss Program & Diet Plans

Iron and calcium play an important role in a balanced diet, particularly for women.

Do you drink enough water? You may think you are drinking enough, but many of us are unknowingly in a chronic state of dehydration. Adequate hydration will improve energy levels and concentration. If you are not drinking enough you may find that you are constantly tired and perhaps prone to headaches and generally feeling 'flat'. Even low levels of dehydration can have a significant impact on concentration, cognitive skills and general health.

The key is to drink regularly throughout the day, starting with breakfast. Keep a water bottle or jug nearby and aim to drink 1-2 glasses of water with every meal plus 1-2 glasses between meals. Water is ideal, but other great fluid choices include green tea, weak black tea (hold the sugar!), herbal teas and low-fat milk. If you love your daily coffee, don't despair. Caffeine in small amounts is unlikely to do too much harm, but if coffee and cola drinks make up the majority of your fluids for the day then you need to start visiting the water cooler in preference to the coffee machine.

One can of soft drink contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar, and some sweetened juices are not much less. Reducing intake of sweetened drinks will significantly reduce kilojoule intake and may help you avoid extra visits to the dentist.

Dieting can seem difficult, however thier are a few simple things you can do to make dieting and weight loss easier.

Use our guide to work out the weight you should be based on your height. This will give you a quick indication of your healthy weight range.

There is a great deal of hype around the Lemon Detox Diet. Celebrities such as Mariah Carey and Beyonce Knowles swear by it and there are many stories of significant short term weight loss on the diet. So lets find out what it is all about and if it could work for you.

A calorie counter is very useful for weight loss as it creates certainty in your meal and exercise program. By counting calories you know if you can just stick to your plan, you will lose weight. Find out some of the tools available on this site for counting calories.

  A calorie counter is so important in your weight loss journey as it creates a clear picture of where you are at, and what you need to do to lose weight. For instance, to lose 0.5kg a week you need to burn 500 calories a day more than you eat. However the only way to then make sure of this is to know how many calories you are burning, and how many calories you eat.

Firstly you need to know how many calories your body burns naturally, known as your basal metabolic rate (BMR).  This is the energy required for your basic body functions and includes beating of the heart, breathing, and the maintenance of body temperature. It is a function of your age, weight, height, gender and exercise habits.  Take our diet profile to work out your BMR.

You can then use our food  to work out the calories in the food you eat.  You simply need to search for the food and enter in the quantity and it will provide the calories and all nutritional information.  A good idea is to start with a standard day and work out how many calories you would normally eat.  The results also show how much exercise you would have to do to burn it off!

Calories and kilojoules are two commonly seen measurements for energy. However, often food is in kilojoules and exercise in calories. Find out the difference and how to convert one to the other.

There are many different reasons why people find it hard to lose weight, but interestingly most are intertwined. Find out the different obstacles and how you can get around them.

There is no doubt that losing weight and keeping it off can be very challenging, but what is the hardest part?  We put this question to our weight loss community to find out the areas that were most challenging. All the responses were categorised and you can see the results below:

Often unhealthy snacks are a leading cause of weight gain. Find out some simple, easy snacks you can eat during the day that won't add to your waist.

You often hear of the latest Hollywood actor losing weight on the latest fad diet. The fact remains that fad diets long term...

In theory, diet pills can offer a comfortable and timely alternative for weight loss without the restrictions of many traditional approaches. But how do they work and what are the side effects?...

There are many effects of alcohol consumption including increased body fat levels, dehydration, reduced co-ordination, decreased strength, power and endurance. Small amounts of alcohol consumed on a regular basis can have a positive effect on health.

There are many myths around weight loss. This article will reveal the 10 most common weight loss myths.

Are you getting enough vitamins to maintain optimum health? Read on and see