Trigger foods - Foods which increase your desire to Eat

The trainer and fitness expert, Bob Harper from The Biggest Loser shares five "trigger foods" you should skip to beat those pesky food cravings once and for all.

1. Keep your sugar substitutes, such as Sweet'n Low and Splenda, to a minimum. These are great products for adding sweetness to a beverage or cereal. But too much might trigger your craving for something really sweet - like a slice of pie or ice cream!

2. Avoid foods high in sodium, including Chinese takeout, chips, canned soups, and some frozen dinners. Sodium not only makes you retain fluids but also acts as an appetite stimulant and contributes to heart disease.




3. Avoid foods high in fat, including ice cream, baked goods, and chips. Some of these foods may contain trans fat, but even if they don't, the fat means you're taking in too many calories, and this will no doubt upset your caloric goals for the day.

4. Avoid alcohol. An occasional glass of wine or light beer is a pleasure I don't want to deny you. But it's easy to forget that alcohol contains a lot of hidden calories - 80-90 calories per glass of wine and 120 calories per beer. If you have between three and five drinks per week, that's around 250-500 extra calories per week! Alcohol also lowers your inhibitions and may lead to less-than-good food choices.

5. Caffeine is a stimulant and one many of us rely on to wake us up in the morning or give us that extra oomph when our energy lags in the afternoon. But do keep in mind that too much caffeine can be bad for us, stressing our bodies, depleting our bones of calcium, and eventually making us more tired than wakeful.

Excerpted from Are You Ready! by Bob Harper Copyright © 2008 by Bob Harper. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House of Canada Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Check out our healthy meal plans to help you meet your fitness and weight loss goals.

Kirstie Alley and her successful weight loss regime

Getting rid of 75 pounds in in a matter of 365 days, Kirstie Alley's tale remains as one of the biggest weight loss successes stories of all time. Because Kirstie Alley is a well-known celebrity, her crossing from 200 pounds to 125 pounds is highly renowned.

In 2005, Kirstie Alley, the famous star of two Star Trek films and immortal humor flicks like Blind Date and Deconstructing Harry, as well as a prominent role in TV's most well-received series, Cheers, got bigger to as much as 200 pounds. She admitted to experiencing depression during this time, but her emotional turmoil was lessened by her decision to accept her problem and her dedication to do something about the same.




Instead of wallowing in self pity, Alley joined in a reality-based cable TV series entitled Fat Actress, chronicling her own ordeal as an overweight professional actress looking for projects in Hollywood.

Kirstie Alley was turned into an image model for Jenny Craig's weight loss course. Every 3 weeks or so, a new commercial starring Alley appeared on TV, detailing her progress under the said program.

The results were astonishing, and the whole country was surprised by how much weight she lost in a relative short period of time.

The Jenny Craig weight loss course aimed for a 3 to 5 pound weight reduction per week, which is quite a realistic goal. It has been said that Kirstie Alley is an ultimate proof to the success of Jenny Craig's weight loss course, making more people to register to the same following to Kristie Alley's appearance, scantily clad and revealing her newfound - or recently re-discovered -shape in one of the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Kirstie Alley's agreement as Jenny Craig's spokesperson has expired, and recently, Alley has announced her plan to release her very own weight loss program in 2009.

The world witnessed how much she lost weight. The world has accepted her as living proof that people can indeed lose a significant amount of weight if they'll make an effort. And everyone is in no doubt expecting for the subsequent weight loss-correlated news regarding Kirstie Alley.