So how do you stop sugar cravings?  The only way that you can stop sugar cravings completely is to stop eating sugar.   Now don’t start to panic.  It is not as hard as you might think.  The key to success is to replace the sugar with other foods that will satisfy your sweet tooth.

The most obvious replacement and the one that works the best is fruit.  Fruit gives you the satisfaction of eating something sweet without contributing to the sugar addiction cycle.  When you stop eating sugar and replace it with fruit, you will find that your energy levels will be steadier rather than the ups and downs of a sugar high.  It will be much easier to lose weight, you will be healthier and you will look and feel so much better.

The easiest way to stop eating sweets, is to clear out all sugar laden foods from your house and office.  You know that if it is there, you will eat it.  So get rid of it.  Stock up on a wide variety of fruits.

A few other foods that will satisfy your craving for sugar are peanut butter and dates.  They provide just enough sweetness to curb your sugar cravings.  Peanut butter is excellent on apples and bananas and is also really good in smoothies.

If you are really craving chocolate, you can make a healthy smoothie with 100 percent cocoa powder, milk and frozen fruit.  My favorite sugar free smoothie is made with frozen dark sweet cherries, milk, cocoa powder and peanut butter.  Combine all the ingredients in a blender – add enough frozen cherries so that it comes out thick like ice cream.  It is a delicious sugar free dessert that contains lots of vitamins and antioxidants.

It is not realistic to think that you will never eat sugar again.  Holidays or special occasions are times when you may not be able to resist the temptation of eating sugary desserts.  Just be aware that once you do eat sugar, you will start craving it again.  So indulge once in a while, but don’t get back on the sugar addiction cycle again.   Know that the only effective way to stop sugar craving is to stop eating sugar completely.  Realizing that sugar is addictive is the first step to overcoming sugar cravings.

If you need additional help to stop your sugar craving, I highly recommend reading  Controlling Sugar Addiction.

What are the best fruit to eat when dieting is what many of us trying to lose weight are asking.

It turns out the grapefruit diet may have been on the right track.  There has been quite a bit of research to show that grapefruit actually does contain fat burning enzymes. It has been shown that eating a half a grapefruit before each meal helps people to lose weight.

It seems that grapefruit juice or pills did not work as well  as eating the whole fruit. Although drinking the juice or taking the grapefruit pill did help somewhat, eating the real grapefruit was much more effective.

Not only do grapefruit  help you lose weight, but they are also very healthy for you. They contain lots of vitamin C, potassium and known cancer fighters such as flavonoids, lycopene and liminoids.

The red and pink grapefruit contain high levels of beta carotene which can lower your triglycerides. Another great thing about grapefruit is that is very low in calories – a half of one only contains 39 calories.

The best way to eat a grapefruit is to peel it just like you would an orange. That way you are eating the membrane which is rich in fiber.

So peel and eat a half of a grapefruit before each meal to help with your weight loss and to improve your total health.  This is by far the best fruit to eat when dieting and should be a part of your healthy weight loss diet.

There are other fruits that are also good to eat when trying to lose weight.   These include apples, blueberries, cantaloupes, cranberries, lemons, limes, mangoes, oranges, papayas, peaches, pineapples, raspberries and strawberries.

These fruits have been called “negative calorie foods” which means that your body uses more calories to digest them than are actual calories in the fruit. Your system has to work harder to break down and process these fruits.

Incorporating these fruits into your daily diet will keep you full and will not increase your weight.   Just like the grapefruit, they are packed with essential vitamins which will also help you lose weight and get healthy.

So now that you know what are the best fruit to eat when dieting, clear out all of your junk food and replace it with these healthy, fat fighting fruits.

For FREE healthy meal plans to help you lose weight, visit FREE Healthy Meal Plans.

A healthy diet consists of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, the proper fat and fiber which are needed to maintain a healthy body.  Your body requires a balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat to optimally function.

For three simple and healthy meal plans you can get started with right away, visit FREE HEALTHY MEAL PLANS.

It is important to eat a wide variety of foods to ensure that your body receives all of the necessary nutrients that it needs.   A healthy diet consists of eating foods that will increase your energy, make you feel good and will keep you healthy.

Making the right food choices to improve your total health and avoiding the foods which contribute to health risks including diabetes, heart problems, obesity and cancer is the center of a healthy eating plan.

Whole, natural foods should be the mainstay of a healthy eating plan, but we all know that it is not possible to exclude other prepared foods.  Before purchasing any prepared food, read the label very carefully.  Look for the serving size, the amount of sugar, sodium, preservatives and other chemicals which may be harmful.  If any of the ingredients are questionable, you are better off not buying it.  As a rule,  any food in a box or a can is not that good for you.

Another consideration is buying organic foods.   Purchasing organic fruits and vegetables will keep you from ingesting toxins from pesticides and other chemicals.  This also includes buying eggs with no hormones and meats that are grass fed without antibiotics and hormones.  You should be careful to limit your exposure to pesticides, hormones and other toxins that are present in our food supply.

Try to get 20 to 30 grams of fiber every day from fruits, vegetables, beans and other whole grains.   Eating the correct fiber will cleanse your gastrointestinal tract, help your digestive system, stop stomach bloating and give you a feeling of fullness which helps you to eat less.

Include a wide variety of different colored fruits and vegetables which provide antioxidant and nutritional values to protect your body against disease.  They are also low in calories and should be included in every meal during the day.  Try to purchase local produce when it is available.  To locate local farmers and markets in your area, visit Local Harvest Produce.   Consume a minimum of five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day.

Protein is essential for maintaining our cells, organs and tissues and providing us with energy.  Along with lean meats and fish, be sure to include beans and nuts as part of your daily protein consumption.

Eat more foods that provide essential fatty acids (EFAs).  These foods include fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring, and other cold water fish), nuts and flaxseed.  These fats are needed to nourish your cells, reduce heart disease, and improve your hair and skin.

Drink lots of clean pure water which helps to flush toxins and keep our bodies hydrated.   Drink a minimum of eight full glasses each day.  Try to drink one glass when you get up and then every hour that you are awake.

Now that you have answered the question – What does a healthy diet consist of? - make a commitment to change the way you eat, not just for one or two weeks, but forever.  You have to make a lifestyle change.  This lifestyle change will make you healthier, feel better, have more energy and look younger.

Visit Healthy Urban Kitchen to learn the basics of healthy cooking and for terrific healthy recipes.

These problems can easily be resolved.  When you have stomach bloating caused by constipation, you need to increase the amount of fiber in your diet by eating more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  It is also helpful to add psyllium husk and ground flaxseed to your diet.  Both are all natural and are an excellent source of fiber which will cleanse your gastrointestinal tract to alleviate a bloated stomach.

Drink lots of filtered water to help flush your body out.  Your goal should be to drink one full glass of water every hour.  This will help to rid your system of excess sodium which causes stomach bloating.

Exercise is essential to ward off constipation.  Walk or perform some type of physical activity for at least a half hour each day. Exercising on a mini trampoline is an excellent and healthy way to exercise and stop stomach bloating.

Eat slowly and make sure you chew your food thoroughly.  When you eat fast it causes you to swallow air which causes stomach bloating.

Eat six small meals during the day instead of three large ones.  Eating this way is easier on your digestive system and it stops you from getting a bloated stomach.

Be aware of how much sodium you are eating.  Sodium is another cause of a bloated stomach.  Canned foods contain excessive amount of sodium.  Read food labels and avoid those with large amounts of sodium.

Certain vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower and also beans can also cause gas and give you a bloated stomach.   When you eat them on a regular basis, your system gets used to them and they won’t cause gas.  These are very nutritious foods and should not be eliminated.    The trick is to add them slowly and eat them often so your system adjusts to them.

Stay away from all artificial sweeteners, including artificially sweetened soft drinks.  Avoid foods which contain high fructose corn syrup because it can also cause your stomach to bloat.

Including probiotics into your diet helps in digestion.   Pineapple is also good for aiding digestion.

Follow these tips on the causes and cures for a bloated stomach and you soon have your flat stomach back again.

To learn more about healthy eating and weight loss, visit Healthy Urban Kitchen.

Many people are wondering if it is worth spending the extra money for organic food and what are the benefits. Although the benefits of eating organic food are numerous, the biggest benefit is that you are not putting dangerous toxins in your body.

The harmful toxins in our food supply have increased over the years and are blamed for many serious health problems, diseases and even weight gain. Our bodies can not process these toxins and our liver is being overloaded with dangerous chemicals which build up in our systems and slow down our metabolism.

The average person who consumes non organic fruits and vegetables will eat over one gallon of chemicals every year. The worst offender is strawberries. They sometimes have more toxins than the FDA yearly limit for adults.

They scary part is that many of the chemicals which are in our foods are new and we don’t yet know the side effects they can cause. Extreme damage is being done to our liver by hormones, preservatives and pesticides. These chemicals are being blamed for the tremendous obesity problem we have seen in the last decade. They cause our bodies to store fat and make our metabolism sluggish.

Some fruits and vegetables have an extreme amount of pesticides and chemicals in them and should always be purchased as organic. There are many that don’t have as many toxins and are okay to buy as non organic. For a list of which fruits and vegetables are safe to buy as non organic and which ones you should always purchase as organic, visit Organic Foods.

The benefits of eating organic food are that your system can efficiently digest them because it doesn’t have the burden of processing toxins and you will have more energy. Your metabolism will increase and you will begin to lose weight and feel better. Although organic foods are a little bit more expensive, the benefits they bring are worth it.

When you begin eating organic foods your system will slowly rid itself of the chemicals and you will detoxify your system and begin to lose weight. Another benefit of eating organic foods is that they are more nutritious than the toxin filled regular foods. Incorporating organic foods in your diet can have a drastic impact on your health and the benefits far outnumber the cost.

I highly recommend a cookbook and guide for eating organic foods called the Healthy Urban Kitchen. It is a total guide to healthy eating. You will be amazed by all the information – it covers the safest cookware, what foods are really healthy for you (some of them will surprise you), also some foods you thought were healthy but are really not, and lots of great recipes. For more information visit Healthy Urban Kitchen.