The Dirty Dozen Weight Loss Tips

1) Drink diluted fruit juice to trim calories.
Natural fruit juices contain lots of calories. Cut the calories in half by adding water to the juices.

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.