Our ancestors were the equivalent to olympic athletes in their health.They lived in a world of survival of the fittest. If they did not fight to survive, they would be somebody else’s food.Genetically, our bodies have not changed much since those times. We’ve had to evolve mechanisms that would keep us alive during times of famine.

Hunter/gatherers during this time endured long periods of starvation.It was rare that they had enough food.To combat this,our bodies have more systems that allow us to gain weight than they do for us tolos e weight.

Through hormonal changes in our body,our ancestors survived by gaining and storing weight to survive periodic famines.In society today, this just sounds ridiculous because we have plenty of food.

On the contrary, our food supply is completely devoid of nutrients.

Nowadays, our food is calorie rich and nutrient poor. We are literally in a famine amidst plenty.

We are literally poisoning our bodies by not exercising, poor food choices and mental stress. Foods such as high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, table salt, boxed and canned goods all contribute to destroying your health and your bikini body.

Remember: Our ancestors were literally built like Olympic athletes. Not because they wanted to be, but because they had to survive and in the wild, survival of the fittest prevails.

As we have adapted, our bodies created systems to get us through hard times such as droughts and even bad eye sight!This is why it is important to have a holistic weight loss program. This type of program is designed to give you nutrient dense foods that have a very low calorie value.

During our hunter/gatherer times, our sweets were fruits and honey. They were all natural and not in a concentrated form like the sugar and “fake” honey that we have now.

Nowadays, our stress comes from money problems, relationship problems, and work stress. It isn’t for our survival. The problem lies in the fact that our bodies don’t differentiate between mental and physical stress.

All forms of stress overcome our innate drive to shed fat.Mentally, we get discouraged and this causes us to give into temptation.When you add these events together, many of our dietary choices are shifted from biological necessities to psychological reactions.

Dr Charles Livingston is a structure/function doctor who specializes in advanced nutrition, detoxification and weight loss. He is also the author and creator of http://www.greenlifeweightloss.com which teaches healthy “green” principles for shedding weight fast and naturally.

The math is pretty simple. One pound of fat equals 3500 calories. Want to lose a pound a week? Then you need to consume 3500 calories less per week than you use. That’s about 500 calories a day. You can lose one pound per week if you cut 500 calories from your normal daily diet and keep your activity level the same.

All right - that doesn’t sound like much, especially if you’re more than 25 pounds overweight. Study after study has shown, though, that those people who lose weight gradually - at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week -are far more likely to keep the weight off and maintain a normal weight for a lifetime.

So how much is 500 calories exactly? If you are going to reduce your intake of calories but 500 a day, you need to know what to cut out? Here is how you lose 500 calories a day

* Use milk instead of cream in your coffee. Savings? 50 calories in each cup.

* Skip the butter on your baked potato. Savings? 100 calories

* Drink fruit-flavored water instead of a 16 ounce soda. Savings? 200 calories

* Have a salad instead of that tempting Big Mac. The Big Mac equals 460 calories. A fresh salad with a light dressing? Less than 100! Savings? 360 calories

*You can walk right by that bag of potato chips. An average snack size bag of chips has over 300 calories. Savings? 300 calories

*Eat corn on the ear. There is 165 calories for every 1 cup serving of canned corn. An ear of corn has 85. Savings? 80 calories.

* Switch to low-fat cream cheese on your bagel. Savings? 90 calories per ounce.

* Love those fries and can’t give them up? Swap the skinny fries out for thick steak-cut ones. The thinner frech fries absorb a whole lot more oil than the thicker ones. Savings? 50 calories per 4 ounce serving

You cna also lose one pound a week if you up your activity level by 500 calories, if you want to look at it from a exercise perspective. How easy can that be? Have a look:

* Take a half-hour walk around the park. You need to aim for a pace that is little fater than a stroll, but not too fast, you don’t want to get breathless. Burn:160 calories.

*Go for a bicycle ride. Tackle a few moderate hills and aim for about five miles total. Burn: 250 calories

* Go dancing - and really DANCE. The longer you’re out on the floor instead of at the table drinking up high-calorie drinks, the more you’ll get out of it. The kind of dancing that makes you breathless and that warms up your body will give you a nice calorie savings. Burn: 400 calories for one hour

* Swimming is great for you, and a lot of fun, too. The resistance in the water means that you will be bale to burn more calories dancing or walking in it and you will avoid the stress impact on joints from aerobics. A few laps as a slow crawl is wonderufl-if you can get up to an hour you’ll be doing even better! Burn: 510 calories

* You should get out and do some gardening. An hour of working in your garden (i.e. bending over, and stretching) can burn up to as many calories as a brisk walk. Burn: 250 calories.

*Play a game of tennis. Hook up with a friend for a weekly tennis game and you’ll be amazed at the difference. An hour of vigorous tennis is one of the most effective calorie burners that are around. Burn: 800 calories

It’s important to keep in mind that all exercise/calorie numbers are based on a woman weighing 130 pounds. If you weigh more then you will definately burn more fat. Want an added bonus to burning calories through exercise? You turn fat into muscle whenever you exercise. Three guesses which kind of body tissue burns more calories - even when you’re not exercising. You got it - your body uses more energy to maintain and feed muscle than it does fat.

For best results, mix and match food savings with exercises that burn calories. Do keep in mind that eating less than 1000 calories a day for more than a few days will convince your body that it’s starving and slow your metabolism. Keep calorie ranges reasonable, and consult a doctor if you want a quicker, more drastic weight loss.

I know you have heard about the fat-decaying abilities of water – but there are also other facts advocating why everyone should start drinking 8 or more 8 to 10 oz glasses of water per day.

The most important reason is this much water consumption itself is a good weight loss program. Water is probably the weight loss rule that is most over-looked and not everyone realizes what it can really do for you – no matter what diet program you are on.

At least in developed countries it is cheap, safe and is easy to get.It’s taste is good and it has no bad effects.It also saves money on non efficient supplements.

Waer is not liked by some people due to it’s taste so they don’t drink enough water.But there are other reasons that someone doubtlessly comes up with a new reason every day.

I have seen the benefits though I am a skeptic.6 months before it was not easy for me to walk because of back spasms, knee pain and my weight which was about 40 lbs.I was also short of breath and just a walk from my apartment to my car was difficult for me.I live in a second story apartment and have a aversion to stairs that are not very long – but I had difficulty in going up the stairs and was completely out of breath before entering through my front door.  So – I was almost housebound.

I was prone to high blood pressure and my blood tests were indicating Impared glucose tolerance.And, I was only 58 which is not very old by present criteria.I had already been adviced by my doctor to work on my weight but as my back hurt I was too weary and I couldn’t breathe. Acid reflux disease was another problem associated with me.

Today, I have lost 30 lbs, and almost run up and down the stairs.My blood pressure is normal and walking to my car is also easy.Acid reflux is not bothering me. My back only hurts infrequently and when it disturbs me it is not the extreme back pain that kept me from walking.Now, I will confess that I am not running any races or walking miles in a day, but I am more energetic than I was before.

It really was easy to do. I really didn’t adjust my diet exept for cutting down my portions and I still have chocolate chip mint ice cream.My refrigerator contains low fat or no fat items in place of candy or snacks.  I have also cut my drinking of diet drinks with caffeine -  in half - so these changes are not that much of a big deal.

Instead I have added water to my daily routine – as much water as I can drink – and I can’t seem to get more of it.Dehydration for several years had put my whole body out of whack.  Water – just plain water from my water faucet – not ice cold with a lot of  ice cubes – just water, plain, and unflavored water.

So I am living proof – water is good for weight loss as well as a lot of other good health changes and benefits.