Will Diet Soda Make me Fat? Or Will it make me Skinny?

Soda or Pop, as it is called in some areas, is high in chemicals, sodium, and artificial sugars that are harmful to the body...these dirty chemicals, the belly-fattening high fructose corn syrup, and the ton of health issues caused by this carbonated concoction that is idolized by those who could could care less about their health or body.

Since you are here at my blog reading this article it proves that you actually do care about your well being and the way you look.

Interestingly enough, many individuals mistakenly accept that “diet” soda is some how a good thing for burning fat.  In fact, I hear individuals all the time gloat about how they “eat very healthy and they only drink diet soda.”

3 Veggies that FIGHT Abdominal Fat 

So let’s get to the bottom of this once and for all…

There is ZERO reasons why drinking diet soda is healthy.  In fact, I’ve read multiple studies that determined that diet soda drinkers became even FATTER than individuals who drank regular soda.

Here’s some data from an eight year University of Texas study that I analyzed…

An excerpt from the study’s author:

"What didn't surprise us was that total soft drink use was linked to overweight and obesity," Fowler tells WebMD. "What was surprising was when we looked at people only drinking diet soft drinks, their risk of obesity was even higher."  

"There was a 41 percent increase in risk of being overweight for every can or bottle of diet soft drink a person consumes each day," Fowler says.

This gives a surprising look at why there are so many fat diet soda drinkers and now there are studies showing why that is.

There’s a lot of perplexing aspects as to why this occurs…

One idea is that the artificial sweeteners in diet sodas generate a negative hormonal response in the body that builds fat storing hormone production and boosts cravings for refined carbohydrates and more sweets in the time span after ingesting diet soda.

I've been researching more studies lately on the consequences of artificial sweeteners and one detail that appears evident is that it’s not a great idea to “trick” your body. Basically by “tricking” your body by drinking something that is artificially sweetened you don’t actually absorb sugar calories your body demands.  The end result is that your body doesn't know how to handle this kind of situation.

With artificial sweeteners, your taste buds “feel” that you consumed something very sweet, and even if you didn't eat sugar, your body will follow with an insulin response.  If you didn't know, higher insulin levels can boost cravings as well as generate increased body fat.  I am not saying that drinking regular soda is any better than diet soda, which has it’s own complications.

Another basis for weight gain from consuming diet soda is that individuals may subconsciously believe that because they are drinking diet soda, that gives them permission to eat even more food.  Of course this leads to higher calorie consumption and weight gain.

The origin for weight gain from diet soda might be a combination of both of the statements above.

Ultimately if you care about your health and body then it would be best to stay away from soda altogether, except for situations when it might be the only thing available to drink.

So now you are thinking, what is the best substitute for diet soda?

The best substitutes is drinking water with some lemon and unsweetened iced teas. There are many different kinds of iced tea out there, like green tea for example. Plus there are host of other health benefits that come with tea like antioxidants. Look for natural non-caloric sweeteners like stevia if you need to sweeten up your teas. Please share this page with your family and friends to assist them with beating their diet soda addiction.

3 Veggies that FIGHT Abdominal Fat 

A Cutting Diet That Gets Results!

Thinking of going on cut?  Don't have a clue what cutting is?  Well you came to the right place.  Cutting is dropping your calorie intake to lose weight.  Typically most individuals like to cut to burn fat off their bellies or you can use this same diet to lose excessive weight.  It works for those already fit to those that just need to shed some pounds.  In this article you will find example foods to eat, how to calculate your calories, and how to create macro-nutrient needs.

7 "fatty" foods for a flat stomach

Daily Calorie Needs

First, we need to find out what our daily calorie needs are.  We can do this by using this calorie calculator and plugging in the required information.  Once you calculate your numbers it will show you what calories you should shoot for to lose weight.  Typically a healthy weight loss target is a 500 calorie deficit per day.  You are probably wondering, how many calories is one pound of fat?  One pound of fat is around 3500 calories, so you could expect to lose a pound per week just off of dieting.  Add in cardio and strength training and you can easily lose 2-3 pounds a week.  Losing weight too quickly can be unhealthy and lead to muscle loss and loose skin.  On a cut you want to keep your weight loss around 10 pounds a month but those with a lot of weight to lose can lose a bit more and still be considered healthy.

Macro-Nutrient Needs

Protein - Protein is essential for maintaining the muscle you have while on a cutting diet.  You will want to keep your protein intake at 1g per body weight and possibly more if you are doing high intensity training.  For example, a individual that weighs 150lbs will want to take in between 150g to 160g of protein to maintain  muscle during a cut.

Fats - We are talking about healthy fats here.  Fats help keep your body healthy and maintain your sanity.  You will want to keep this at 1g to 2g per body weight or 1g is you are leaner.

Carbs - This is the one that is the hardest to calculate because it really relates to your level of activity.  If you are moderately active you should maintain 2 to 3g per pound of body weight.  If you are very active then you will need to increase this to 4g per pound.

How do I track these?

The best tool to track your calories and macros is MyFitnessPal.  You can also download it as an app for iPhone, iPad, and Android markets!  If you have a smartphone you can use the barcode scanner feature to scan everything that you eat.

This method of cutting flat out works.  It's really cut and dry; you eat at a deficit and lose weight because of it.  Throw in some cardio or strength training and boost that deficit even further to lose even more weight.  If you do this for 30 days and do no lose weight then there is something majorly wrong.  You need to make sure your calculations are correct and that you are correctly tracking everything that you eat to make sure that you are at a deficit.

Meal Planning
Breakfast:
Protein Shake or 2 Eggs
Granola Bar or Oatmeal

Lunch:
Chicken Breast
Brown Rice
Low Fat Yogurt
String Cheese
Apple or Bannana

Post Workout:
Protein Shake

Dinner:
Pasta or Rice
Lean Meat (Chicken, Fish, Turkey)
Vegetables (Broccoli, Peas, Asparagus, etc - I recommend steamer bags for quick meals)

Evening Snack:
Protein Shake or Protein Bar

Supplements:
Multi-Vitamin
Fish Oil

7 "fatty" foods for a flat stomach

How to Lose Fat for Beginners

Fat loss isn't some big mystery that's a difficult thing to pull off.  The biggest thing is people are misinformed on how to lose weight.  They hear so much bullshit that doesn't work that they give up hope and never turn a corner.  Let's take a look at how effective weight loss can be easily obtainable.

• Record Everything You Eat - This is the most difficult part because it can be easy to forget to record some of your meals.  I recommend using MyFitnessPal.com or their free app for all major smart phone markets.  In this day and age just about everyone has a smart phone and usually they have it on them all the time.  This free app allows you to easily record all your meals and even bar code scan the packaging.

7 "fatty" foods for a flat stomach

• Increase Protein Intake - By increasing your protein intake while you work out you will help build lean muscle.  You will want to consume at least .75 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass daily. This will make you look more attractive and not just skinny once you obtain your goal weight.  Use this equation, lean body mass = total weight - (total weight*body fat %)
• Create Your Calorie Goal - Set your calorie intake 500 calories less than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).  Calculations are below, you can also use the MyFitnessPal app which can also calculate this for you and the rate of weight loss you are seeking.
• Sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
• Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
• Moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
• Very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
• Extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
• Typical Weight Loss - Typically you should begin losing 1 to 2 lbs per week, you will fluctuate each day so don't flip out.  It's best to weigh yourself once a week or you will easily make yourself discouraged.  If in the first couple weeks you do not start losing weight, don't freak.  You may have just built some muscle so it will cancel out your weight loss but don't worry, you're still burning fat.  If after two weeks you are still not dropping in weight you may need to lower your calorie intake further.
• Exercise - Start working out at least three times a week, preferably by doing weight training.  Weight training burns more calories than cardio and will help you build lean muscle.  Just by working out you will not bulk up but will look toned.  Especially for females, weight training will help any female have a toned body.  Get a steady 45 minute workout with only breaking when you absolutely need to.
• Eliminate Processed Sugars - Processed sugars are your enemy and you should eliminate them as much as possible.

Stick with this plan for two weeks and see if you lose any weight.  I would bet that you will lose a solid 4 to 6 lbs.  That could easily be 10 to 12 lbs a month!  It's a rinse and repeat method, stick with it and you will reach your goal weight.

7 "fatty" foods for a flat stomach

My Personal Weight Loss Story

Hello all, I'm Jay and I run The Smart Fitness Blog.  I wanted to share my story of how I was once overweight and was able to drop the pounds.

A few years ago I gradually became overweight as I had become complacent to a desk job and didn't realize how inactive my life had become.  I spent way too much time playing video games and hanging out at bars with my buddies boozing it up.  I'm 6 ft tall and through high school and college I was able to maintain a weight of 170 to 180 lbs.  That all changed rapidly over the course of a year after becoming very inactive in my life.  Within a years time I reached 220 lbs by horrible eating habits, sitting on my butt, and drinking a lot of beer.

What was even more sad is that I didn't even realize it.  I never realized that I had gained over 40 lbs of fat and it wasn't until I saw a photo of myself that I started thinking, damn...what happened?  I had just been in my brother's wedding and about a month later I got to see the wedding photos and I thought who the hell is that guy?

What happened as a result?  For a few weeks I was really depressed and I hardly left the house.  Which made things worse but it wasn't until I talked about my issues with a co-worker who also felt out of shape that things changed.  We both decided that we would work out together to help motivate each other.  We managed to work out three times during the work week and we would separately do cardio on the weekend.

I also stuck to a strict low calorie diet where I only cheated once a week.  I went from drinking beer every other night to once every two weeks.  I ate high protein meals, lean meats, whole grain breads, and a lot of low fat yogurt.  If I was stuck in a position where I had to go out to eat dinner I would usually order some sort of chicken breast with a salad.

After 9 months of keeping up this regimen I had dropped my weight to 175 lbs.  Through hard work and motivation I was able to obtain the goals I desired.  For the first time in my life I was able to see my abs!  I had never been more excited about my body in my life.  I have since been able to maintain my weight and overall become more active in life.  I play sports, go hiking, and do other activities that I lacked in my slouch days.

You too can lose weight and get the body you want.  You need motivation and hard work to accomplish it.  There is no magic pill or mystery diet some greedy salesman wants to sell you.  Stick to the basics and you will lose weight!

Why Diets Don't Work

We all have seen the diet fads come and go but do they really work?  In a sense they usually do what they intend to do, make you lose weight, but will the weight stay off? Or is the diet even healthy?  Typically most diets are low carb this, low calorie this, low fat this, or even the look at how 'X' celebrity lost their weight.

Let's look at some of the top reasons why you should avoid these fad diets,

7 "fatty" foods for a flat stomach

1. Too Few Calories - These diets pull back your daily calorie intake way too much and in doing so you will end up in near starvation mode.  What happens when you are starving?  Your hunger gets out of control and you are more likely to gorge yourself with a large unhealthy meal.  Then you fail over and over with your diet till you are fed up with it and ditch it like the rest of them.
2. Poor Food Selection - The allowed foods on these diets are very restricted and in turn can make you very depressed after a while.  What's the point of a diet if you can't enjoy good tasting food?  You go from solving your weight problem to gaining a new problem called depression.
3. Doesn't Fit Your Schedule - Some of these fad diets are high maintenance and extremely time consuming.  We all don't have hours to commit to cooking and preparing meals.
4. Low Carb Diets - Restricts your diet where you will be deficient of many vitamins and nutrients that your body needs.  Most foods required for these diets are high in saturated fat which only leads to clogging of arteries.
5. Weight Watchers - Just a flat out pain in the ass.  Who has time to deal with the math involved and keep track of all the points.  Plus depending on what you eat during the day to keep within a points total you may be lacking nutrients your body needs.

The biggest issue with any diet is that they all are temporary solutions.  So what, you lost 20 pounds, is it really going to matter in two to three months when you gain it all back?  You know what's going to happen, you will end the diet because you reached your goal and go right back to your old habits.  You will put that weight right back on because NOTHING has changed.

The only way you can control your weight is by changing your lifestyle, eating healthy foods and staying active.  Whether you work out a few times a week or stay active with sports, these are the important factors that will help you control your weight.  Plus you will feel better; more energized, and have a better mood when you are able to balance your diet and body.  Stay away from the Hollywood fads and change your lifestyle for the better.

7 "fatty" foods for a flat stomach

Effective Weight Loss

Are you looking for effective weight loss? Soon enough it will be time for new year's resolutions and the number one resolution is getting in shape and shedding some fat. It can be depressing looking in the mirror every morning only to be disgusted with yourself. Now is the time to do something about it!

The easiest method to lose weight is taking in less calories and it's easier to do than you would think. If you have a smart phone there is a great free app available that will count your calories, keep track of all the food you eat, and the calories you burn from exercise. Look for MyFitnessPal, it's available for all major smart phone market places.

Your Excess Abdominal Fat is DANGEROUS to Your Health 

When you first setup this application it will ask how much weight you want to lose and it will create a daily calorie intake goal. Plus it has a bar code function so you can just scan in most of the food products you eat. It will pull up the product and calculate the calories and fat automatically!

By eating healthy foods you can easily lose weight. Stick to yogurts for snacks, whole grain breads, and lean meats. Dinner can consist of a steak, chicken, or fish with a side of veggies of your choice. For breakfast you can pick up granola bars or whole grain cereal with skim milk. Complex carbohydrates are key for building energy in the morning that can last all day. Try to stick to wraps, salads, lean meats, and nuts for lunch time.

Too many people think a diet has to happen everyday but that's silly, you can get really bored eating the same food everyday. Throw in a cheat day once a week where you can eat what ever you want, in moderation of course. Don't pig out just because it's the cheat day, stay under your calorie intake goal but do it by eating what you want to eat, pizza, beer, etc.

By following these easy methods you can lose weight without even working out, though I advise some cardio just to speed up the weight lose whenever possible. These methods are a great way to for effective weight loss.

Your Excess Abdominal Fat is DANGEROUS to Your Health