The Diet Secrets

When asked about the secret to their fit physique, some people will jokingly attribute it to their regular sexual activity.  In truth, sex can add some assistance to your weight loss efforts although it might not prove as straightforward as you think.

Burning Calories During The Deed

Sex burns off an average of seven calories per minute, which isn’t that significant for most people’s weight loss goals, considering they probably keep a furious pace for only a few minutes at a time.  If you have sex at the same frantic rate for an entire hour (unlikely, considering most people I know last less than 10 minutes), you’ll be throwing out 360 calories in a 60-minute span.  Contrast this to the amount of weight you can lose in a gym or through a sensible eating plan.  To put it simply, having sex regularly is not that considerable a source for caloric burn, so don’t even entertain the idea.

Emotional Eating

Some research, however, have concluded that sexual satisfaction can help curb emotionally-based eating habits.  Food, after all, is often used as a substitute for unmet needs while sex is as potent a mood enhancer as you can find.  Intimate sex can provide you with an immeasurable level of satisfaction, as well as trigger all sorts of feel-good chemicals to your brain.

Stress

Stress is another factor that both sex and food usually share in common.  For many individuals, food-binging can often be traced to periods of stress, while sex is a great way of relieving that same anxiety.

If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite Hollywood stars do to keep themselves in shape then look no further than this 208-page tome of every known eating techniques famous celebrities have used throughout the years.  The Black Book Of Hollywood Diet Secrets spills the beans on how the people that get ogled and photographed for a living keeps their bodies looking good for the camera.

A word of warning: the book is anecdotal, at best, and doesn’t delve much deeper than the surface of what celebrities do to keep in shape.  In fact, you can probably find the same information tucked away in separate corners of the internet and collect them all yourself.  Of course, it will likely take you more than a few days to slap it all together so the book is a good collection of celebrity fitness tips and diet snippets, if nothing else.

Personally, I found this book a great source of ideas for small adjustments I can make to my own diet.  For instance, did you know that both Heidi Klum and Cindy Crawford take a few sips of vinegar before meals to avoid overeating?  I tried it a couple of times during my own meals and it actually worked.

Do peruse the book with caution, though.  A lot of these have been culled from tabloid sources and, as such, are likely laced with as rumors as it is with facts.  Quite a fun read, though, with a few good trivia items on your favorite Hollywood stars.

Girls Aloud is a British girl group formed from contestants of the talent show Popstars: The Rivals back in 2002.   The group, consisting of Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh, have managed four number one singles and two number one albums during their relatively short careers, and are considered among the most successful British pop acts of the decade.  What many aren’t aware of is the group’s collective effort to lose weight during early 2006, when they found themselves a bit too unhealthy for their own comfort with too much junk food in their systems.

The whole group collectively lost 36 lbs during that time, by creating changes both in their diets and fitness regimes.  The group hired a personal trainer to help design and supervise individual workouts for each of them.  The exercises consisted of cardio workouts (on treadmills and rowing machines) as well as resistance work with weights.

For the diet, each girl adjusted according to their own needs and personal preferences.  Cheryl Cole, who lost 14 lbs during the effort, started her day eating protein and minimizing her carb intake for the entire day.  To keep a balance, she pigs out with any food she likes during Sundays and resumes with her diet for the rest of the week.

Sarah Harding, who lost 7 lbs and toned up considerably during the period, steers clear of fad diet but does watch out for her carbohydrate intake.  While she used to eat a majority of carbs throughout the day, she has changed it up to facilitate equal parts of other food groups as well.

Kimberley Walsh tried both the Atkins and cereal diets, but saw the weight creep back on as soon as she got fed up with the food choices those systems provided.  Instead, the 26-year old just decided to always choose the healthiest option on the menu, wherever they eat.  She eventually lost 8 lbs doing that and has been able to maintain it to this day.

As a rule, the girls try to pick up healthy options for lunch and dinner, with salads and grilled chicken being a popular option.  If you ever see this girls on stage, you know the moderate but sensible diet they’re doing works - they’re as fit as can be.

Spicy food has long been reputed to be a great weight loss aid.  According to research, more than making our food more appetizing (for those of us into hot and spicy fares, at least), they also boost metabolism and suppress appetite.

In fact, actresses like Anne Hathaway and Liv Tyler regularly infuse their diets with chopped jalapenos, red pepper flakes and hot sauce for exactly that reason.  Popular supermodel trainer David Kirsch has been using it over many years to help his clients keep the pounds away.

According to the basic theory, anything that spices up your food to make it more interesting - from paprika to pepper - can make you feel more satisfied, leading to less bouts of hunger.  In a recent study out of Laval University in Quebec, researchers examined the calorie intake of men who consumed hot sauce along with every meal.  It was found that they consumed an average of 200 calories less every time they laced food with the sizzling spice.

While that has been shown time and again, studies have demonstrated even more notable gains out of spicy food consumption.  Peppers that contain high amounts of capsaicin, the hot component of chillies, have been observed to increase metabolic rates significantly.  The higher the capsaicin level, the more pronounced the metabolic effects appeared to get.  Habanera peppers contain the highest amount of capsaicin and are considered the hottest chili produce in the world, containing between 100,000 to 300,000 units of the substance.

Adding spice should be an easy way to aid your weight loss efforts.  Do start moderately, though, if you aren’t used to spice - you don’t want to spend the next thirty minutes downing gallons of water to try and soothe your tongue.