Make Healthy Choices Make For Better Weight Management

If you want to eat healthy, it is best to rely on good ole common sense. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that a diet that consists of a lot of junk food is not only fattening but is also damaging to your health. It is also unreasonable to expect that a diet that is devoid of carbohydrates would give you the energy to engage in strenuous workouts to further your weight loss.

The point here is that if you want to get rid of excess weight, you need to learn how to make smart food choices and stick to a sensible eating plan. Keeping a food journal will help you keep track of what you consume, not only the kinds of food you eat but their caloric content.

It has been clinically proven that it is only by reducing the amount of calories you consume daily that you would be able to lose weight. Get hold of a book or find an online resource that can serve as your guide in computing the calories of the foods you eat and the beverages you drink.

Use the information in your food journal to make positive changes. For example, you can have unsweetened tea with lemon instead of a can of pop with lunch. Or you can just go for low fat/low calorie instead of regular when it comes to salad dressing. Also, it is better to drizzle rather than drench your greens. Before you head for the grocery, plan your meals for the week. Make a shopping list and stick to it, this will keep you from buying unhealthy foodstuff on impulse.

Include low fat and low calorie foods such as lean meats and chicken, fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, healthy nuts for snacks, low-fat-fat dairy products and a lot of whole grains (whole wheat pasta, legumes, brown rice). It is very important to have plenty of high-fiber foods in your daily diet. Fiber is very filling thus it allows you to less and at the same time it absorbs the calories from the foods you consume and flushes these out of your body. Be mindful about portion sizes.

Lastly, exercise is essential to weight loss and good health. Aerobic exercise raises your metabolic rate which means that it helps you burn calories. Thus, if you do 30 minutes of it, three times a week, you would easily boost your weight loss efforts and get a great cardiovascular workout at the same time. Your exercise routine should not only be limited to aerobics however. You should also build up lean muscle because the more muscles you have, the faster your metabolic rate.

Gently remove your bound fabric from the dye bath. Avoid splashing or dripping into the vat, as this introduces oxygen back into the dye. Put the lid back on the bucket to keep it as oxygen-free as possible. As you can see, the fabric looks green when you first take it out of the bucket.

This is when the magic happens (or to be more precise, chemistry). Indigo develops its color when it is exposed to oxygen. Once the fabric is in contact with the air, it starts changing color and turns from green to blue. Place the fabric into the empty shallow pan and leave it there to completely oxidize and turn dark blue. This will take about 20 minutes.

If necessary, turn the piece over and open up any areas that need to be in contact with the air to be colored. If you wish to achieve darker shades of blue, you can repeat the dyeing process and re-submerge the fabric into the vat. If you're happy with the color, rinse your piece of bound fabric in warm water.

Then untie the fabric and hand wash it with mild detergent in warm water. Just be aware that your fabric will look darker at this stage, and the final color will only emerge once the fabric is dry. Leave the fabric to dry in the shade. Remove the stick from the vat and carefully place the lid on the bucket to close. Allow the dye to settle for at least an hour before starting another dyeing session. The vat can keep for several days and you can dye several times.