10 Men's Health Tips for Proper Nutrition and Weight Loss

Let's face it: every guy wishes that they looked like the model on the cover of the Men's Health Magazine that has his shirt off and has ripped muscles and a perfect body. None of us want to admit it; however it's the truth that men can be just as obsessive over their looks as women. Wanting to look good is nothing that we men should be ashamed of. Men want to look good so that we can attract the opposite sex. It is just part of our genealogy, passed down to us by our ancestors, that looking better than our fellow men is the key to attaining the best mate to further the species.

This guide to men's health will present several men's health tips for proper nutrition and weight loss that I have used myself to great success in getting into shape and attracting beautiful women.

Set a Goal
Men's weight loss isn't as easy as it seems. Although this may seem cheesy, making a goal is a vital step in the process of losing weight and getting into better shape. A goal may be to lose fifteen pounds or to gain weight appropriately if one are scrawny. It could also be to develop your muscles. No matter what the goal is, once one has set their goal it is imperative that they complete the rest of the steps in order to achieve it, especially when it comes to men's weight loss.

My first goal was simple - I wanted to lose a total fifteen pounds and gain a little muscle on my arms and shoulders.

Eat a Healthy Diet.
The most direct way to control one's nutrition is by eating a healthy diet. Men are love greasy food, and are more likely to eat out than women. A couple of men's nutrition tips are to be sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables in addition to whole grain wheat products. By making the right decisions and controlling one's caloric intake, one will be able to take full advantage of the time they spend working out.

When I started eating a healthy diet there were a couple things that I noticed. First, I had more energy throughout the day. I used to start my day with a bowl of sugar filled cereal and coffee. Now that I have a bagel and orange juice, there is no sugar rush, crash, and burn in the middle of the work day.

Take Daily Supplements
Be it vitamins or protein shakes, supplementing one's diet is a way to ensure that they are receiving everything that their body needs, especially if they are having trouble controlling their diet. Be careful to read the labels of the protein shakes because some have harmful substances that have been known to cause cancer, while there are plenty of alternatives that are not harmful to men's health.

Although I tried my best to eat a well balanced diet, there were just some days were I couldn't. By taking daily vitamins, I was confident in knowing that my body had all the necessary minerals it needed to operate efficiently, and one can too.

Choose Healthier Alternatives
Although one may try to eat a well balanced diet and cut out as much unneeded fat and calories from one's diet as possible, everyone needs to eat junk food once in a while. Another men's health tip is to pick food items that are better for one's diet than they would eat have if they weren't watching what they were consuming.

After every dinner, I cannot resist a bowl of ice cream. By changing the brand to a non-fat ice cream that has less than half the calories meant that I didn't have to run as long the next day at the gym in order to burn the calories from eating what I wanted. A simple choice in the grocery aisle saves me over a hundred calories a day, and it can do the same for one as well.

Stop Drinking Soda
Soda is high is not only calories but sugar as well. It also contains high amounts of caffeine. Although they make soda that has no calories or caffeine, it will generally contain a sugar replacement that can cause cancer. Therefore, a great men's weight loss tip is to stop drinking soda altogether.

I used to drink soda in college with every meal. When I stopped drinking soda in favor of juice or water with my meals, I managed to lose almost four pounds within the month - and that was without changing any of my other daily habits!

Exercise
Exercising will burn calories and help one lose weight. It does not matter if one are just trying to be slimmer, or put on muscles, neither will be effective if one do not actively exercise. There is no need to exercise at length every day, in fact that can lead to injury as one's body needs time to heal. Exercise goes hand in hand with a well balanced diet. A great men's weight loss tip is to work out for twenty minutes every day, or forty five minutes every other day in one's exercise regiment. Of course there are many things one can do to remain active other than going to the gym.

In my sophomore year of college, I decided to run one mile a day for two months. While certainly not the fastest runner, running just one mile a day was an activity that took less than ten minutes a day. Within the first week I had lost a couple of pounds, and by the second month I no longer had to stop when I ran the mile.

Keep Working Out
Even if one have reached one's target goal of losing a specific amount of pounds or gaining a certain muscle mass, it is important that they do not stop working out. Once a person has reached their goal and are happy with the way they look, all that is left is for them to maintain their current weight and muscle mass. They will not need to go for the gym as long or as often as one had to when one were trying to reach their goal.

Once I lost the fifteen pounds that I had set my goal at, there was no reason for me to continue running a mile a day. I instead ran a mile every other day, and that was enough to keep my body in shape and maintain my current weight. Who knew the men's weight loss could be so easy?

Be Patient
One cannot expect to lose ten pounds, or to miraculously get an incredible looking body over night. One must be willing to be patient and persistent with their diet and exercise routines. If one is significantly over weight, or have a large goal that is set, do not fret if the amount of weight that is lost starts high and then slows. As one becomes more fit, their muscle mass will be increasing, replacing some of the fat that one once had. Not all weight is bad.

It took me almost three months to lose fifteen pounds, and the first ten came off within three weeks. Getting the last five pounds off was a struggle because at the same time I was losing weight off of my stomach, I began to gain muscle on my arms where previously my arms were skinny as twigs. In the end it was well worth it.

Take a Picture
After one has kept to a steady diet and worked out for a couple months, they should have been able to reach their goal if it was realistic. They should take a picture and compare it to another picture of themselves from before they started to diet and exercise. The difference should be clear, and while one may not have noticed the change from day to day, there definitely was a change from start to finish.

When I saw a picture of myself three months after I started dieting and working out I was amazed. I felt like I was one of those people that one see on TV that lost 100lbs, even though I had only lost 15lbs.

Ask Her Out
After following these men's health tips, one should now have more confidence in themselves than they did before because they know that they look better. There should be less reason to hesitate the next time they see a women they like, and they should have an easier time asking her out due to their new self confidence in the way that they look.

A friend who I've had my eye on for quite a while recently leapt at the chance when I asked her out. Not only did she notice that I had been working out, she said that it changed my personality and the way that she thought of me not only because of my change in looks, but because I had determination to get what I wanted and not give up.