These Questions and Answers are recommended as “need to know on dieting” by WebMD. Hope it help for your dieting and losing weight.

Q Will chewing low-cal foods like sugar-free gum and celery help me burn calories?

A It might, but hardly enough to trigger weight loss. Gum and certain veggies are often called “negative-calorie” foods because they supposedly take more energy for your body to chew or digest than they contain.

The negative-calorie myth was put to the test when researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, asked people to chew sugarless gum at a rate of 100 bites per minute. After calculating the energy expended (about 11 calories per hour), they concluded that a person who chomped on a piece every waking hour of the day for a month would lose less than a pound. As for celery? All that crunching does burn energy, but it amounts to less than the 6-calorie stalk contains. The bottom line: If you really want to shed pounds, give your jaw a rest and start moving your body.

Q Can coffee really rev up my metabolism?

A It’s true: Java can stoke your calorie-burning furnace—provided you drink it black. A study in the journal Metabolism found that the caffeine in two cups of coffee may cause a 145- pound woman to expend up to 50 extra calories over the next four hours. “Caffeine stimulates your nervous system, signaling the body to release a small amount of energy from its fat stores,” says lead researcher Paul Arciero, Ph.D., an associate professor of exercise science at Skidmore College. “But stirring in milk, cream, or sugar can cause your insulin levels to rise, which diminishes that metabolic effect.”

Don’t try to accelerate the weight-loss process by sipping black coffee all day, though. Arciero recommends not exceeding three cups in a day, as too much caffeine can cause anxiety, nausea, and headaches.

Q Will eating after 8 p.m. make me gain weight?

A That all depends. Contrary to popular belief, the snack you have before bedtime won’t automatically be stored as fat. “The most important factor affecting your weight is how many total calories you eat each day, not what the clock reads when you eat them,” says Suzanne Farrell, R.D., a Denver nutritionist and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

That said, skimping on meals during the day may set you up to overeat at night, which can pack on pounds. A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition found that the less food people ate for breakfast and lunch, the more they ate after sundown—and the higher their total calorie intake for the day.

“Our brain’s satiation mechanism—its way of telling us we’re ready to stop eating—tends to become weaker as the day progresses,” says John de Castro, Ph.D., lead study author and a professor of psychology at Sam Houston State University. “That means you may have to eat more in the evening in order to feel full.” His research suggests that having a larger breakfast, a moderate-size lunch, and a smaller dinner can help you consume fewer calories and reduce the temptation to nosh at night.

Q Would eating carbs, fat, and protein separately help me lose weight?

A No. While the concept of “food combining,” or eating certain nutrients at specific times (and excluding others), has fallen in and out of vogue for decades, there are no proven benefits. The theory is that different food types (proteins, fats, starches, sugars, and acidic foods) require their own digestive enzymes in order to be metabolized properly. Some claim that mixing these groups or eating them at the wrong times could cause digestive issues or weight gain. For advocates of this eating style, having orange juice and scrambled eggs at a sitting, or even a turkey sandwich, is forbidden.

To determine if a food-combining diet could confer any health or weightloss benefits, researchers at University Hospital Geneva in Switzerland put two sets of obese patients on low-calorie diets for six weeks. The first group followed a food-combining plan (eating carbohydrates at one meal and fats and protein at another), while the second ate meals that contained all three nutrients. While both groups took in the same amount of calories, those on the balanced diet actually lost about 3 pounds more than the food combining group—and lowered their blood pressure to boot.

Q Should I eat a doughnut at morning work meetings, or have nothing at all?

A Doughnuts are the better choice, but just marginally. “Not only are they excessively high in fat, but doughnuts are also made with sugar and white flour, carbohydrates that are quickly absorbed into your bloodstream,” says Farrell. “You may feel satisfied during your meeting, but you’ll probably start feeling hungry shortly thereafter.” Over time, these breakfasts may lead to weight gain: A Saint Louis University study found that women who chose carb-rich meals over higher-protein ones ate about 400 more calories and had stronger cravings over the next 36 hours.
(to be continued)

Are you ready to diet? Again? Diets entice us with promises of quick weight loss. But the people we know who eat well and look healthy aren’t dieting at all. They have simply adopted good eating habits.

Diets can be so restrictive that they set you up for failure. Some are so low in caloric intake that you literally don’t have the energy to continue with them. And while most diets produce quick weight loss at the outset, they often cause your metabolism to slow.

The result is that you have to eat less and less to keep losing weight. You quickly become discouraged, give up, and start eating like you used to. But now, with a slower metabolism, you regain all the weight you lost, and more.

Many Diet Plans Are Designed for Temporary Use and Lead to Temporary Weight Loss

You do not need to join a commercial diet program, purchase special foods or dietary supplements, or use diet pills to succeed at weight loss. In fact, the best thing that you could do would be to start eating healthy right now and continue to do so for the rest of your life.

Of course very few people could do such a thing, so think of a diet or the use of diet aids as tools to help you get started. A good diet plan can teach you how to eat well and give you a jump-start toward meeting your goals.

But whatever path you choose to follow now, your goal should be to make it on your own at some point down the road. Many diet plans are designed for temporary use during weight loss, but only sound knowledge put to practice will provide a permanent solution.

A good diet plan will be healthy from the start, and will be based on principles that you can follow for a lifetime. In fact, if you have found the right diet plan, it will be one that you will want to follow for a lifetime.

Most All Diet Plans Work

Follow almost any diet plan and you will lose weight. This is because whether you are counting calories, fat, or carbohydrates, or restricting certain types of food, you are ultimately restricting the number of calories you consume. The formula for losing weight is very simple: Consume fewer calories than you burn.

So, what should you eat? You would likely do well to eat mostly fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes (lentils, dry beans and peas), and limited amounts of lean animal protein (reduced-fat dairy, fish, chicken, and lean cuts of other meats). Also choose whole and natural foods over processed foods whenever possible. Foods with good nutritional value are not only healthy, they help you lose weight.

The above paragraph describes a commonly accepted, healthy way of eating that for most people will result in weight loss and improved health. But there are many diet plans to choose from.

Finding the Right Diet Plan

After learning the fundamentals of diet and weight loss you will be able to choose the diet plan, or simply a healthier way to eat, that is right for you. You will be able to steer clear of marketing gimmicks and promises of short term results, and find a solution based on sound, realistic and healthy principles.

While diet trends come and go, the most basic form of dieting, the low calorie diet, will always be popular. It is based on simply reducing the number of calories you consume. Recent diet trends include the low fat diet and, most recently, the low carb diet.

Fruits as Fat Burning Foods

Eating fruit can replace the need you feel for sugar. In fact, your body will respond positively to the infusion of natural sugars from fruits, and you will find yourself craving artificial sugars less over time. These fruits are among the best fat-burning and power foods.

Apples

With six grams of fiber in a medium-sized apple, you will help your digestive tract by eating one of these luscious fruits each day. The best part is that apples do not have any sodium or fat and are packed with vitamins and minerals. Filling up on one as a snack can take away your afternoon slump and help you burn fat.
Peaches

While these fruits aren’t always in season, you should try to pick one up when you can. These fruits are wonderfully delicious and low in calories. They also have more than a single serving of vitamins A and C.

Pineapple

Tropical fruits often have disease-fighting properties to them. Pineapple contains bromelain, which is an enzyme that breaks down protein. Many toxin-flushing fasts use pineapple as one of the ways to rid the body of toxins, which helps with weight loss.

Other fat-burning fruits should become a regular part of your weight loss diet. They include:
* Oranges * Lemons * Cherries * Papaya * Limes

Vegetables as Fat Burning Foods

Vegetables also work well as fat-burning additions to your diet. In general, vegetables are low in fat but high in nutrients. Many vegetables, such as broccoli and celery, are so low in calories that many dieters consider them “free foods,” meaning that they do not add to your daily caloric intake. You can munch on them all you want. They will satisfy hunger and help you lose weight.

Artichoke

One of the most under-used vegetables, the artichoke also is one of the most flavorful and nutritious. A medium artichoke gives you more than four grams of protein and six grams of fiber. The traditional way to eat artichoke is to peel the leaves and dip them in butter, but they also work well sautéed, grilled, and in salads and casseroles.
Mushrooms

Although they are used sparingly, mushrooms can be put in many dishes. Even if you don’t like the strong flavor of the portabella, putting small-cap mushrooms into your diet through tomato-based sauces, pizzas and other dishes really will ramp up the amount of B vitamins you receive. Mushrooms also contain large amounts of potassium, which help reduce the water-retention of your cells, a great tool in the weight loss battle.
Tomatoes

Forget bickering over whether they’re a fruit or vegetable. Either way, tomatoes are a power food! They have more vitamins than most vegetables and include large amounts of lycopene, believed to fight cancer. Tomatoes are very low in calories given their watery content, which makes them a great for helping burn fat.

Remember that with vegetables, a more porous interior means that it has more water content, which is what you need when you’re trying to burn fat. These veggies are all great fat burning foods.

* Celery * Carrots * Rhubarb * Asparagus * Beets * Turnips * Green beans
Seafood

Lovers of the ocean spoils should be excited to hear that seafood is one of the best sources of protein when you’re trying to burn more fat. Seafood is lower in fat and calorie content than land-roaming meats, and they often have higher water content as well.
Shrimp

One of the best sources of protein, shrimp is a great fat burner. An average portion of shrimp has more than 15 grams of protein and no carbs (as is true for most meats). Shrimp also can be cooked in such a variety of ways that it can become a dietary staple.
Tuna

Canned or fresh, tuna offers a good deal of protein and has little cholesterol. This low-calorie food can help you get the protein – energy – you need to sustain your body without the added fat.