When you are on a weight loss program you may find it a little boring. These diet shake recipes will help spice things up with the added benefit of helping you lose pounds.

Shakes and smoothies are great to make in the summer months due to the plentiful supply of fresh fruit. Adding low fat yogurt makes them even more tempting. But you can still partake in the winter. All you have to do is use frozen fruit which has just as few calories and tastes almost as good.

So what recipes would be recommended? I love mango as it is very refreshing when you are feeling hot and bothered. I whizz up some mango, mandarin oranges and some ice. I then add a low fat yogurt and if I am feeling hungry some protein powder. Yummy!

Occasionally I will use a banana instead of the yogurt although I have been known to use both. Cranberry juice is an excellent tonic for your kidneys. Blend some with apple juice, strawberries, blueberries and a banana to make a delicious healthy breakfast.

If I am craving chocolate, I will add some unsweetened high quality cocoa powder to my shake although obviously I cannot do this every day! Unfortunately you cannot survive purely on diet shakes. In order to lose pounds and keep that slimmer figure you need to eat healthily and exercise more. But you should have fun doing it. Any activity that gets you moving is good for you. Think about what you love doing and do more of it. He will love you for it!

Think about your diet as well and see what changes you can implement to cut your calorie intake. White breads, pasta and rice are all bad for us dieters as they contain hidden sources of sugar. So swop them over to the brown variety. You may have to do this gradually as your palate will have to get used to the new taste. Also be aware that you need to cook brown rice and pasta for longer than the other varieties otherwise you will end up eating them raw like I did. Yuck!

Experiment with your food. We all get stuck in a diet rut where we eat the same type of foods day in and day out. So now it is time to broaden your horizons. Try out a new fruit or vegetable every week. You could also try cooking in a different way. For example if you always fry steak why not try grilling instead. Or steam your fish? Simple changes are great as you will lose pounds with very little effort.

There are some foods that are high in soluble fiber meaning they fill you up but have few calories. These include Brussels sprouts, mangoes, peas, dried apricots, sprouts and spring greens. Adding a couple of these to your meals will help you eat less and so reduce your waistline.

At the end of the day, tasty diet shake recipes are easy to find but can only be part of the overall weight loss program.

How can I lose weight in a day or two was the question I asked my diet guru last week. While he explained that it is not really possible to lose many pounds in 48 hours, you can fool other people into thinking you have lost excess weight.

We can become bloated either due to fluid retention or gas. Fluid retention may be as a result of your period being due or you have overindulged in salty foods. Gas can be caused by a number of factors but almost always causes your stomach to become distended thus making you appear fatter than you actually are.

To beat bloating try drinking two glasses of hot water the night before your special day. Combine this with a gentle laxative to help deal with any constipation. It would be better for you to have tried taking laxatives prior to this event as some people can overdose really easily and spend all of their time in the loo. Not the ideal scenario when the result you were aiming for was thin and sophisticated.

On the morning of the day you need to look really thin, have some more hot water and another gentle laxative. Laxatives are not a long term answer to weight loss and you need to be careful as they can become addictive. But if you are suffering from constipation and bloating, an odd one now and again will not cause any harm. If you suffer a lot from constipation or other bowel problems you should see your doctor to rule out any illnesses.

Be realistic when asking how can I lose weight in a day or two. Cutting out alcohol and fizzy drinks will help as will reducing your wheat intake but nothing is going to make you drop 10 pounds. Instead try fooling your friends into thinking you have lost weight.

Go to your local store and invest in some Spanx. Celebrities are known to wear this fantastic underwear at red carpet events as they can hold in virtually any tummy or other offending body part. The best thing is that you do not need a celebrity’s bank account to fund the purchase.

Make sure you pick an outfit that flatters the figure you have and not the one you wish you had. Ask a trusted friend for their honest opinion. We often end up looking fatter than we are as we wear the wrong clothes.

Stand up straight and pull in your stomach. Practice doing this and you will look slimmer. When you go out on the special occasion skip the pre-dinner nibbles and the bread. Eat something that is easy to digest and skip dessert unless it is a sorbet. Finish your meal with mint tea to aid the digestion process and you should be able to avoid any bloating.

How can I lose weight in a day or two is not an easy question to answer but you may have some new ideas now!

People struggle to lose weight and keep weight off once it is lost. Dieting is by far the most common method people use to lose pounds, but sometimes it is not enough, or the weight mounts back up once the diet is finished.

A good way to lose weight and keep it from being regained is with a plan of exercise; regular exercise helps the body to burn calories that would otherwise be converted to fat. There are so many options for exercise that there is something to suit everyone; however it can be difficult to find the best form of weight loss for the individual.

It is important when choosing an exercise program to consider the age and physical fitness of the exerciser; those with significant weight problems, or those who have a sedentary lifestyle, may be better off with a non-weight bearing exercise such as swimming or using an exercise bike.

Walking is an excellent way to begin losing weight and improving physical fitness. Walking helps those who are too unfit to be able to exercise strenuously, and has tremendous health benefits: a brisk walk of 30 minutes a day can help to lessen the risk of heart attacks by around 50%.

Swimming is perhaps the best form of exercise for weight loss, and like walking helps to improve fitness; it also builds muscle, which helps the body to burn more calories, even when resting. Swimming is also an excellent slimming aid for people who may have trouble walking or performing aerobic exercise. A regular routine of swimming can help improve the general health and fitness of the exerciser.

Exercise machines are a popular method of improving fitness, and for the person with access to them are superb methods of losing weight through exercise. The treadmill, stationary bike or cross-trainer are all good at burning calories – studies have suggested that the treadmill is the most effective, with the exercise bike much lower than might be expected – the latter, however, can support the weight of a heavier person, reducing the impact of exercise.

Running is probably the single best form of exercise for weight loss; by itself it can increase general physical health and reduce stress and the risk of heart attacks and diabetes. Running should be combined with a strength or resistance training program to get the greatest benefits of both calorie burning and stamina and muscle building. Running a few days a week will help weight loss and encourage fitness.

Exercising is perhaps the single best thing that anyone can do to improve their health. Even people with long-term chronic illnesses, such as diabetes or arthritis, can benefit from regular exercise. On a regular basis it improves the mental condition, helps the body to recover faster, and boosts the health. For people with diabetes, for example, the best form of exercise for weight loss can also help reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke, and ease problems such as joint pain; it will also help with better control of the condition, boosting health.

If you're carrying around some pounds you want to get rid of, then you need to do some cardio exercise for weight loss. If that sounds horrifying, don't worry. There are many forms of cardio exercise that you're sure to enjoy.

If you've not been exercising or doing any form of cardio exercise for a long time, you might feel really intimidated by the idea of starting. But you shouldn't be. Cardio exercise can be something as simple as taking a brisk walk.

You don't have to buy tights and leg warmers. There is no requirement as far as fashion or equipment to start out doing some good weight loss cardio. You don't even need an exercise DVD. Step out your door and walk briskly for about 20 to 30 minutes, or as long as you're comfortable at first.

If you'd like to try something besides walking, aerobic dancing is a good choice. You can just dance around your living room, but an exercise DVD is a good way to do it. You can find DVDs that will let you do basic dancing moves. Or you can choose a weight loss DVD of salsa dancing or belly dancing, and almost any kind of dancing you think you'd enjoy.

Cycling, swimming, hiking, and any type of activity that gets your heart rate and your breathing up are aerobic activities. That means it's a cardio workout. Doing any of these things for at least 30 minutes four times a week is a great way to use cardio to lose weight. It

Specifically for weight loss though, the best thing to do is to change up your exercise routine. If you start taking brisk walks for five times a week, that's wonderful. It will help you lose weight and it's good for your body. But you can lose weight even more efficiently and build your endurance more efficiently if you vary your routine.

Instead of just walking, try to also incorporate jogging or running. Walk for a few minutes, and then run for a little while to get some cardio work in. You can time the sessions or you can just do it as you feel it. This is called circuit training.

If you're cycling for cardio exercise, cycle at a leisurely pace for a few minutes and then go very quickly. If you're on an exercise bike, cycle at a normal pace for a while and then spin like mad. The same goes for any exercise that you do. If you're walking or cycling, using hills for this type of thing is wonderful.

You can also circuit training in another sense. Choose brisk walking one day, and then the next go for cycling or aerobic dancing. You can easily get into a rut doing the same thing every time.

Doing the same type of exercise is better than nothing, and it's wonderful. But if you can change it up a little bit, the cardio exercise for weight loss that you do will be more effective.

If you are looking to lose excess weight, you may be tempted to try the hospital three day diet. It has become popular as it can result in the loss of ten pounds in three days. It allegedly got its name from a hospital using it on cardiac patients who needed to lose weight before they had surgery.

With this eating plan, you have to follow very specific rules and cannot swop different foods. You should also drink plenty of water. Some people have said that you can replace the water with diet soda but personally I think this defeats the object of the exercise. Diet drinks contain hidden calories and ingredients that are not good for a healthy body so are best avoided. Not only that but carbonated liquids have been linked to cellulite.

You have a set menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The idea is that you follow the plan for three days, and then eat normally and if you wish to slim down further, you start the regime again. Most of the weight you lose happens as the daily calorie intake is capped at circa 1000.

This is the first problem as the World Health Organization recommends that you eat at least 1200 but preferably between 1400 and 1500 a day unless you are under medical supervision. Ideally you shouldn't diet below your own basal metabolic rate. This is the rate at which your body burns energy when you aren't doing anything. For most people this is around the 1500 calorie level. Your body may decide that you are being starved and thus reduce your metabolism rate making it harder to shift those pounds.

The WHO also suggest that you shouldn't lose more than 1-2lbs per week. Obviously the hospital three day diet is aimed at losing 10 pounds or more so you can see why people in the medical profession are concerned about the popularity of this plan.

There are other drawbacks with this regime. For a start, you should like tuna as it is one of the main foods. You can also eat grapefruit, some cheese, crackers and eggs. Unusually bread is not forbidden as it is on similar plans.

You are very likely to feel hungry and miserable so I wouldn't start until you are away from work. Your family may want you to be away from them too if the starvation makes you miserable! To be honest, there are better ways to achieve a slimmer toned you.

Eating less food is a great start but do it gradually and your body and mind are less likely to notice. Eat regular small meals to increase your metabolism rate. Drink some green tea and grapefruit juice as both contain fat busting enzymes to help speed up the process. Taking more exercise will increase the amount of energy you consume helping the pounds to fall off.

Fad diets like the hospital three day diet are best avoided. Most of the weight you lose will be regained as you haven't retrained your body into accepting a new healthy eating regime.