Dining room is a room where all family members often meet and be the warmest place in the house. But it might also be the source of your unwanted weight. The size of your plate, the wattage of your lamp and the paint colors of room wall has a direct effect on what or how much you eat.

We make a habit of filling our plates and finishing what’s on it. So try to find a smaller plate, 2 inches is good (most of the existing plate sized 12 inches). And we will serve our self 22% fewer calories per meal, which can mean about 2 pound weight loss in a month.

Brighter is better in the dining room, while dim lights lower inhibitions of all kinds. Let plenty of light into our dining area by switching to higher-wattage light bulbs. Because we tend to eat more in darkened rooms and bright light can improves our mood.

Colors affect our minds and our physiologies. Studies show that being in a room that is predominantly red or orange stimulates appetite, while blue is a well known appetite suppressant. Very little blue food found in nature aside from blueberries and some plums. Also, humans are geared to avoid foods that are poisonous and blue coloring in food is often a sign of spoilage or poison. It simply causes a slight psychological change that makes people feel less hungry.

A lot of traditional BBQ and picnic fair can be unhealthy, but you can make it to become healthy. Traditional BBQ usually contains a lot of fat, sodium and sugar. Fried foods and fatty meats may good in taste, but can add too much saturated fat in your diet if you eat them in large amounts. This often happens in the backyard BBQ party and picnic

I think we can all agree that no is complete without throwing some burgers on the grill. Use tuna burger instead of the classic beef burger. Tuna is low in fat and packed with protein. I also want to include a chicken dish on my menu, which are lower in saturated fat.

Grilled Salmon and Red Pepper Horseradish Sauce with stuffed baked potato is a good idea that I wanted to try. Did you know that a 5-ounce potato has no fat, only 100 calories? One potato can provides 45 percent of your daily value of vitamin C. There are also many studies showing potatoes are one of the most filling foods out there, and that they’ll keep you fuller longer than other carbs.
But stay away from the mayo for toppings and use non-fat plain yogurt mixed with flavorful fresh herbs.

Combine them with seasonal fruits and veggies like tomatoes, pineapple, peppers, squash and onions.

And last, do not drink alcohol. A little red wine might be a good idea, because it is a particularly rich source of antioxidants. But NOT to start drinking if you do not already drink alcohol.

Enjoy some time outside in the fresh air with your family and friends.

Another success story that can give us lessons that obesity can be defeated. Consider the following story that I got from the June 2010 issue of Prevention magazine.

At age of 30, I became the principal of an elementary school and went back to graduate school -all while raising my three children. I was too busy to cook, so we ate out for every meal. When I was stressed, I grabbed any sweet I could find. Soon the scale edged upward. I enrolled in diet and exercise programs, but nothing stuck. Instead of slimming down, I gained 70 pounds in 6 ½ years.

Wow, I believe this to be a nightmare for her and it makes sense if then this change makes her think that she needs to act quickly to resolve this problem before it gets worse. We have to realize that the food is usually served by some restaurants, especially fast food restaurants, usually a high-calorie foods. So moderate exercise only will not help you lose weight.

On January 1, 2007, my mother, aunt, and I were sitting around talking about how fat and tired we all were, and I couldn't stand it anymore. I said: "We can beat this. Let's start ag roup. We'll meet one a week, weigh in, and talk about what we've done to be healthy."

We started convening every Sunday at my mother's house. It was like our own private Weight Watchers meeting. We'd each get on the scale, then discuss strategies to help us meet our goals: write in a journal to track food intake, increase our fiber by adding beans to our salads, or snack on fruit instead of chocolate to satisfy a sweet tooth. It was such great motivation. We screamed and gave each other high fives when we met our exercise or weight loss goals for the week.

She has done the right thing. She was successful in realizing the simple programs/tips that will be given by all nutritionists. Simple yet powerful, especially if done continually until it becomes a healthy new lifestyle.

Motivation is the most often thing that make the persons who are trying to lose weight to stop or give up. But she made it through by forming a group whose members have the same ultimate goal. By forming a group, each member can give and receive a spirit that will make them excited again. Forming a group is the best way to maintain motivation. Try it and I'm sure you'll make it too

I lost 40 pounds the first 6 month; by the time I returned to school in the fall, I'd shed 55 pounds-my students didn't even recognize me! I've maintained my weight for more than 2 years, and people stop me all the time to ask how I did it. My answer: I'm still doing it. Losing weight and staying healthy is a life long journey.

Finally, happy ending. As she said: “Losing weight and staying healthy is a life long journey.” All the benefits from this struggle can only be found if you can keep it. In other words make it your new lifestyle.

Scientists are reporting new evidence that capsaicin, the stuff that gives chili peppers their kick, may cause weight loss and fight fat buildup by triggering certain beneficial protein changes in the body. Their study, which could lead to new treatments for obesity, appears in ACS' monthly Journal of Proteome Research.

Jong Won Yun and colleagues point out that obesity is a major public health threat worldwide, linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other health problems. Laboratory studies have hinted that capsaicin may help fight obesity by decreasing calorie intake, shrinking fat tissue, and lowering fat levels in the blood. Nobody, however, knows exactly how capsaicin might trigger such beneficial effects.

In an effort to find out, the scientists fed high-fat diets with or without capsaicin to lab rats used to study obesity. The capsaicin-treated rats lost 8 percent of their body weight and showed changes in levels of at least 20 key proteins found in fat. The altered proteins work to break down fats. "These changes provide valuable new molecular insights into the mechanism of the antiobesity effects of capsaicin," the scientists say.

Source : ScienceDaily