Don’t deprive yourself of that fresh whole-grain bread and olive oil the next time a waiter brings it to your table. It may be your diet’s best friend. Eating a small amount of healthy unsaturated fat — think olive oil, nuts, avocado, and fish before a meal triggers a chain reaction in your digestive system that slows the rate at which your stomach empties, which means you feel fuller faster. It also helps keep your blood sugar levels from spiking after your meal and makes it easier for your body to absorb fat-soluble nutrients, such as vitamins A, D, E, and K, as well as lycopene and lutein.

Leptin is the “hunger hormone” that signals satiety and the breakdown of stored fat. Thin people to have robust levels of leptin. Surprisingly, levels in obese people are often very high. That’s because overweight individuals also have elevations in CRP. In addition to being a marker of inflammation, CRP binds to leptin and blocks its effects on satiety and weight reduction. By lowering CRP, irvingia frees up leptin so it can do what it’s supposed to do in putting the brakes on appetite and promote fat breakdown.

Another hormone that plays a role in weight management, adiponectin, is primarily a modulator of the cells’ sensitivity to insulin. The more body fat you have, the lower your adiponectin level and the more insulin resistant you are. Irvingia has the unique ability to raise levels of adiponectin and thus improves insulin sensitivity and promotes weight loss.

The combined actions of this botanical extract are profound. In a 2008 trial, overweight participants were divided into two groups and placed on daily supplements of irvingia or a placebo for 10 weeks. At the study’s conclusion, those who had taken irvingia lost an average of 28 pounds, 16.2 percent of waist circumference, and 18.4 percent of body fat. They also had stunning reductions in average blood sugar (22 percent), total cholesterol (26 percent), LDL cholesterol (27 percent), and CRP (52 percent). There were no significant changes in the placebo group.

Irvingia gabonensis is also an effective therapy for anyone with diabetes or cardiovascular disease. A good brand is Life Extension’s Integra-Lean Irvingia, available by calling (800) 810-6655. If you’re taking drugs for diabetes or cholesterol, monitor your blood sugar and cholesterol levels to make sure they don’t fall too low.

Oolong tea is created using the same oxidation process that turns green tea into black, but the process isn’t allowed to continue as long. The resulting drink has some of the characteristics of both green and black teas with moderately high levels of polyphenol antioxidants, but a more full-bodied taste.

Over 70 percent of men in this country were obese or overweight. Men from 40–59 fared the worst; their number jumped from 70.0 percent to 78.2 percent during past 2 years.

Losing weight and maintaining proper weight requires more than a magic pill. While plenty of drugs (and even some fad diets) will promote rapid weight loss, the positive results will be short-lived without permanent dietary changes and exercise. Worst of all, most of these quick weight-loss techniques have been shown to adversely change your metabolic set point. In simple terms, constant dieting lowers your metabolic rate—causing your body to store excess fat and making it harder and harder to lose weight in the future. When combined with exercise and a proper diet, however, there are certain supplements—such as conjugated linoleic acid better known as CLA which is great for weight reduction. In addition to that it has been used in animal research indicating that CLA can help stop the metastasis, or spread, of human prostate cancer cells.

CLA/Tonalin helps promote fat reduction within just three months without any detrimental effects. A new report presented at the American Physiological Society of Experimental Biology showed that the location of fat loss when using CLA was different in men compared to women. This location-specific loss of fat was a new finding. Women taking CLA lost fat in the legs and abdomen while men only lost fat in the abdomen.

After six months of Tonalin/CLA use, there was an average loss of 4.4 pounds of fat—which was about six percent of total body fat. It’s interesting to note that the overall body weight loss was only 3.3 pounds, because CLA caused a subsequent gain of lean muscle mass. In additon to the weight loss the body is adding additional muscle as you lose the fat— and muscle is far more dense than fat.

2) Snack on a tablespoon of peanut butter instead of candy or cookies.
Research shows that men who eat a diet high in monounsaturated fats are more likely to lose weight.

3) Keep a food journal.
Recording what, when, and how much you eat can help reveal unhealthy eating patterns. But you have to write everything down-even those olives in your martini. Why? A USDA study found that men typically eat twice the amount of grains, fats, and sweets and half of the fruit they estimated.

4) Soy is not for sissies.
Soy foods. Soybeans are rich in antioxidants. These compounds neutralize free radicals, substances that accelerate aging by causing cellular damage. One antioxidant in soy, genistein, has been shown to prevent cancer.

5) Drop pounds without ever going hungry.
Stop when you’ve eaten 80 percent of your normal amount, and wait for 20 minutes. You'll feel satisfied afterward because it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you're full.

6) Garlic’s Good.
In addition to boosting immune function and lowering levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol, garlic helps prevent cancer and acts as an antibiotic. It’s even a mild anticoagulant, so it helps reduce the risk for stroke and heart attack.

7) Know how big a portion should be.
A serving of cooked pasta (1 cup) is the size of your closed fist; a serving of uncooked spaghetti is about the diameter of a quarter. Three ounces of steak, chicken, or fish is as big as a deck of cards. One teaspoon of butter is roughly the size of the top part of the thumb (from tip to joint). A muffin is the size of an apple, not a grapefruit. An ounce of cubed Swiss cheese equals four dice in size. 1 ounce of shredded mozzarella is the size of a Ping-Pong ball. A serving of mashed potatoes is about the size of half an apple, A scoop of ice cream, the size of a tennis ball.

Run away from sit-ups.
Working your abs won't help you lose pounds or your belly. Do sit-up for the back but not the belly. It takes 250,000 crunches to burn 1 pound of fat, according to researchers at the University of Virginia. That's 100 crunches a day for 7 years. You can lose a pound of fat much more easily in just 2 weeks by each day eliminating 100 calories from your diet and riding the stationary bike for 20 minutes.

9) Onions Rule.
Red and yellow varieties contain quercetin, an antioxidant that deactivates carcinogens and prevents blood clots. It also boosts levels of HDL (good) cholesterol while lowering levels of both LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides.

10) Cut 100 calories a day.
This s roughly the amount of calories in a handful of chips or a light beer. Eliminating one of these a day would be the equivalent of 700 calories a week and could lead to nearly a 10-pound weight loss in a year.

11) Eat your largest meal at lunch.
Lighten up on dinner and late night snacks. This gives you hours of activity to burn off the calories, If you consume a lot of calories late in the day, you're more likely to store these calories as fat. Avoid snacking and drinking alcohol after 7 P.M.

12) The Good Fats In Nuts And Seeds.
Almonds and walnuts These nuts are a great source of omega-6 fatty acids, as well as phytosterols (plant sterols) and vitamin F (tocopherols). Men who regularly consume nuts tend to have a lowered risk of Parkinson's disease and lower cholesterol. A quarter cup of nuts a day is recommended and don't be concerned about the fat you hear about in nuts from only ¼ cups a day. The fat you get is "good" fat. Flaxseed contains fiber and omega-3 fatty acids that help to clear plaque and bad fats from the cardiovascular system.