What are some easy foods and exercises that will work ?

When changing to a healthy lifestyle and trying to lose weight, it is vital that you take safe approaches.

Healthy foods, drinks, and snacks:

- Fresh fruits and vegetables/salads (try to avoid dressing. instead, spice up a salad with some sunflower seeds, chicken breast, or grated cheese)

- Nuts, esp. almonds and walnuts (in moderation)

- Drink a LOT of water! Green tea (also a good substitute for coffee because it contains some caffeine)

- Fish

- Tofu (pretty easy to make. try frying some and dipping in soy sauce - it tastes amazing!)

- Whole grains (organic cereal, wheat bread, brown rice)

Foods to avoid:

- Fast food (fries, burgers), deep-fried foods in general

- soft drinks

- Sweets (chocolate, candy, cake, cookies)

- Juice (it contains a lot more sugar than you think)

- White flour (white bread, sugary cereal, white rice, noodles)

- Condiments (ketchup, salad dressing, and bbq sauce in moderation)

- Processed/Canned foods (they contain a lot of preservatives and sodium)

- Vending machine foods

I don't think there are any specific foods/meals that will necessarily make you skinnier. I think its more of making the right food choices, controlling portions, eating 4-5 smaller meals per day instead of 3 large meals (after a while of doing this, your stomach size will decrease, allowing you to feel full more quickly), and balancing your intake of calories with how many calories you burn. However, some healthy meals could include oatmeal, salad, pita bread and hummus, a home-made sandwich,

Other tips

- There are a lot of healthier alternatives to foods you might have to give up such as chips and cereal at grocery stores such as Whole Foods or Trader Joes.

- Avoid salty foods. they tend to withold a lot of water weight

- Get a good night's rest! Especially because its the holiday season, you probably won't be as busy with school or work, giving you more time to sleep. They don't call it "beauty rest" for nothing!

- Many times when you feel hungry, it could really be that you're thirsty. When you have a craving for something, I would recommend taking a few gulps of water first. If you still feel hungry and it's not meal time, chew gum (it helps me a lot) or

- DON'T skip meals! This will only cause you to be even hungrier for the next meal, resulting with a greater propensity to over eat. You don't accomplish anything by

- Dress warmly! Your body's natural response to cold weather is to store fat. If you dress warmly inside the house and when you go out, it will help prevent retaining unwanted fat.

- Cardiovascular exercise such as running or power walking also helps. Try to avoid walking on a huge incline; although that may build muscle, it could result in more bulkier muscle rather than slimmer ones.

- During weekends when you're less busy, prepare healthy snacks that are ready to go that you can take with you whenever you go out. This way, you'll always have something to munch on whenever you get the munchies and you'll be less likely to go out of your way and buy a snack from the vending machine. Also when you have free time, I would suggest prewashing apples and other fruits that are ready to eat so it'll be easier to grab one out of the fridge whenever you feel hungry.

- Easy on the butter and salt! You don't always have to put butter on that toast or salt on that popcorn. Try eating foods naturally and you'll learn to appreciate the more natural taste.

FINALLY, don't give up treats forever! Award yourself, perhaps every week or two weeks, with an icecream cone or a candy bar! I find that if I give up a sweet or something of that sort completely, I'm more tempted and frustrated and it gets harder to resist. I think a treat every once in a while is good, and awarding yourself encourages you to work harder on your diet :).

______________________________________________________

Exercise for Legs:

1. Leg lifts: Get a decent yoga mat and rest on your hands and knees (like a dog). Using your arms to support you, lift up your right leg and extend it far behind you and swing it back in. Do 2 sets of 15 reps each. Repeat with left leg.

2. Stairs: Walking up and down stairs at your house or using a stairmaster machine at the gym can really help build up muscle in your quads and calves.

3. Calves Target Exercise: On the stairs, stand on a single step with the balls of both feet on the step and the rest of your foot/heel hanging off (works best barefoot). Go on your tip-toes in an upward movement repeatedly. Do about 2 sets of 15 reps.

4. Side leg lifts: Lie on your left side with legs straight and arms positioned for support. Lift your right leg straight up into the air while keeping the rest of your body still. Do about 1 set of 20 reps. Repeat laying on your right side and lifting your left leg.

5. Inner thigh workout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Icu6oXYL00

Here's a good video for other leg exercises.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K-IvFiqcg4

Eat 6 small meals a day with some lean protein in each. Eat carbs earlier in the day. No exercise will make your legs skinnier by losing fat but you can tone your legs by squats, heel raises and lateral raises and any fat you lose will reveal the muscles underneat.

all exercises are good but it's best to move all day, building in small steps which become habit will help you keep it off. Any whole body exercise will burn fat and weight training will build lean muscle.

Good luck.

treadmill exercise is the best thing you can do to lose weight and tone up. I have 2 kids and I'm 33 now and my husband just told me 2 days ago that my body looks better now that it did when I was 23. I lost some weight also earlier this year by taking this natural weight loss supplement called hoodia. When I was taking hoodia somedays I would go the whole day and actually forget to eat and it was easy to do because I never got lightheaded or felt weak. It really works great. Also, up your protein intake. protein builds muscle which burns fat and that will help you to slim up as well. The best things though are the treadmill and hoodia. these will have you where you want to be fast. i hope this helps. good luck

I will try to keep it simple. Your metabolism is basically the rate at which your body burns calories to create energy. So the faster your metabolism, the faster you burn calories and the easier it is to lose unwanted weight. To boost your metabolism naturally you just need to eat the right foods.

You can sit down and literally eat a 1,000-calorie dinner and yet be absolutely starving just a few hours later and the reason is simple: Because your body didnt get what it needed in those 1,000 calories so it sends signals to your brain telling you to ingest more calories and thus, the late-night cravings. That means that the surest way to end those late-night cravings and keep your weight loss goals on track is to eat a more balanced, nutritious diet that actually gives your body what it needs.

It's VERY EASY to lose weight if you eat the right foods. Check out Dr. Charles Livingston's video here: http://www.sexyjese.com/ - it will blow your mind.

If you really want to lose a few pounds, just eat healthy foods and get in some cardio everyday, like running or jogging, anything that speeds up your heart rate. Bring along your iPod/mp3/whatever music device you have whenever you exercise, and it won't be as boring. Hope I helped.(:

Stop going to McDonald's and other junk food restaurants; eat a lot of rice, grain, vegetables, fruit, etc. I'm skinny myself and I eat rice everyday. However, no matter how much meat I eat... never get less skinnier. Hmmm... run a lot, touch your toes lol, and stretch a lot... stuff like that. Hope helped.

Running, Jogging on the spot, Taking your cat/dog (yes, the cat can go for walkies. Although, it mightent like you. Just buy a harness and muscle your cat down with all your mite) for a walk or go wiith a friend for a jog.

AS FOR FOOD... You want slow-releasing energy foods. Carbohydrates such as bread work, and eggs are good protein for exercising.

Goodluck, :)

just stick w/vegetables, fruits and lean protein and healthy fats like nuts, avocado and good oils (extra virgin olive oil).

avoid foods with additives and drink green tea.

nothing beats good speed walk or jogging/running for skinnier legs. lunges help to tone and slim.

Good ol' fruits and veggies. Guaranteed.

Running is great for burning calories and making legs look great.

celery has negative calories. I have been eating that lately, or if your mom has any workout videos or if you have a wii fit that helps and go running and try this for your legs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLIfN-31Bgs