What Tummy Tucks Are About

The tummy tuck is a form of cosmetic surgery also known as abdominoplasty. Its purpose is to change the appearance of the abdomen to a more desirable shape. Hence, the popular term, tummy tuck. It involves the removal of excess skin and fat from the mid and lower abdomen to create a smooth and flatter appearance. This normally includes/results in a tightening of the muscles of the abdominal wall. A tummy tuck procedure is usually taken because the individual has been unable to achieve desired results through normal diet and exercise. This may be common for those that have experienced sudden weight loss or are older, as in both cases a flat stomach cannot be acquired through exercise and diet alone. In particular, tummy tucks are popular amongst women who have had children but do not intend on bearing children in the future.

While there are various types of tummy tucks, they tend to fall into two categories: partial abdominoplasty and complete abdominoplasty.

The former category consists of a small incision made between the hips, just above the pubic area. This is followed by the removal of excess skin between the incision and the navel, and stitches.

The latter category consists of an incision made from hip to hip, just above the pubic area. Another incision is made around the navel to free it. Skin from the abdominal wall is then detached to reveal the muscles to be tightened. The muscles themselves are then tightened with sutures. Extra skin is then removed, while the remainder is reattached. Finally, all stitches are dressed, while any extra fluid from the area is drained.

An individual may experience bruising, some pain, and other discomforts within ten days after the procedure. Normally, a supportive abdominal binder is worn to contain the swelling and help support recovery of the muscles. The time needed for recovery from the procedure can take several weeks. As usual, smoking (before, as well), stringent dieting and any intense physical activity should be avoided.  All three factors can affect the ability of the body to recover.

Before considering undergoing the procedure, individuals should be in relatively good health. This applies to both their mental state as well as their physical. Patients should have realistic expectations of the procedure. Again, it is neither considered an alternative to diet and/or exercise, nor should be undergone by women planning on bearing children in the future. As well, past scarring from abdominal surgery may be sufficient cause against the procedure, since additional scarring can result.

What You Should Do To Cure Obesity

In the United States alone, obesity has become an unstoppable epidemic. Hundreds of thousands of Americans die every year because of obesity. Don’t become another statistic!

Warning: What you are about to read may offend some people, but it needs to be said.

Many people suffer from being overweight. It may result from a stocky build, slow metabolism, or some other physical reason, but it is a fact of life for many people. They will probably struggle with it their entire lives.

However, obesity is different. A very miniscule percentage of obese people have medical reasons for their condition. The rest of them just cannot stop shoveling the food in long enough to see the consequences of their actions.

Have you been in a restaurant or at a party and watched an obviously obese person shoveling in the food and drinking a soda? Do they think the diet soda will make all that fat and calories go away? It doesn't work that way.

The following are the beginning steps of a very long and bumpy road to recovery. However, if you want to rid yourself of obesity once and for all, you may want to immediately put the suggestions below into action before it is too late:

- Stop eating fatty foods! Potato chips, french fries, soda… you name it! Before you can recover from your problem, you have to admit that you have one. And those fatty foods are indeed a big problem. If you feel that you absolutely must eat something, get some fresh fruit or vegetables. They not only contain the essential nutrients that your body needs for good health, but some will actually burn more calories that they replace.

- Check up with your doctor. If you are more than 50 pounds overweight, only a fool would recommend any diet plan until you are medically cleared by your physician. Your doctor can also advise you on the best programs to help you get started. This cannot be emphasized enough. Once you have eliminated the fattening foods, see your doctor before going one step farther.

- In the worst case scenario, consider seeking a counselor. Is there a deep seated, subconscious reason for your eating disorder or are you just a pig? The answers may surprise you. Once you discover the reasons for your self destructive behavior, you will be better equipped to handle them. If you cannot afford counseling, talk to a trusted friend or, if you are a religious person, perhaps someone at your church. They may not be able to diagnose your problem, but they can be there for you when you encounter those bumps in the road to recovery.

In conclusion, fighting obesity is just a matter of effective prevention and discipline. It is about forming a new, healthier habit. Would you rather live the rest of your life tired, unhappy and fat? Or do you think it is time to get your act together and start eating healthy? You decide!

When Fasting for Weight loss, remember the following

Well, it’s been labeled as “the greatest remedy-the physician within” by Philippus Paracelsus and more and more people are discovering the use of fasting as a means of improving health and losing weight. However, as beneficial as this method can be, being radical in nature, the use of fasting should be approached with care.

Though fasting is by far a greater cure of our ills-both physical and mental-than all of the drugs of the medical fraternity combined, for weight loss or for anything it may be used for, one has to be aware of certain criteria to achieve success with its use.

These include the types of fasts one can use, how long to fast, when to fast and how to come off of a fast.

Friends, there are several types of fasts that can be beneficial for weight loss.

1. The complete water fast: This, admittedly, should be conducted with extreme caution or in a specialized sanitarium if undertaken more than 3 days.
2. The Juice Fast: This is much easier for the general populace and can be undergone as long as you feel like it.
3. The Fruit Fast: This, well, is really not a fast per se…but when one lives exclusively on SEASONAL ORGANIC fruits for days on end…meaning mono meals (2 at the most ) of only one kind of fruit say Apples in Fall, Melons in summer for a week plus, you will be bound to see the benefits.

The second and third choices are by far my personal recommendations for those seeking to lose weight through fasting.

How to Fast

Being far-reaching in nature, fasting must be undertaken with care, however from my experience with it, here are a few tips to hopefully get you started.


1. Prepare yourself for a fast by gradually tapering off of acid-forming aka “junk foods and commence to consuming raw and cooked fruits and veggies to begin a milder cleansing process as these items are the best intestinal brooms for the colon.
2. Every now and again, 3 hours after supper and say an hour or so before retiring to sleep, drink an herbal tea laxative such as “Smooth Move Herbal Tea” during this preparatory stage.
3. Drink 1-2 quarts of unflavored lemonade in the mornings to balance the chemical reactions within the body and to restore it to an alkaline state.
4. Be mentally prepared for the task ahead of fasting.
5. Take things a little easier while fasting or on a mono-diet of fruit.
6. Avoid using microwaves at all costs-can’t go into detail as that is another subject, however, TRUST me. You want to exclude the use of this so-called convenience device not only while fasting put permanently.
7. Taper off a water fast by using the second type (juice fasting) for a few days, then gradually going to the third (mono-fruit fasting), then afterwards you could (like I do most of the time) simply stick to tons of fruit as the core of your diet or include properly cooked roots, steamed or raw leafy vegetables.

Whatever you do, just please don’t go back to eating the old junk stuff. To explain why in a nutshell, here are two quotes: “You are what you eat” and “Let your foods be your medicine…”

I really think options 2 and especially 3 (in regards to the types of a fast) are quite easy for any and everyone to do. So why not give it a shot? I can confidently say fasting, when used properly, will not only make you lose the excess pounds, but you’d also be well on your way to a cleaner, better, healthier and happier you in no time.

 It may come across as a huge sacrifice however, when you see the results, you sure will be glad you did it.

Here’s to your health and happiness.

When It Comes To Fast Weight Loss – Just Remember That 2 + 2 Doesn’t Always Equal 4

Everybody knows that calories are the enemy, and that more calories equals more weight gained. Therefore, most people believe that losing weight is as simple as cutting way back on calories.

It's just simple mathematics, right?

After all, if you're eating 3,000 calories per day and you cut back to 1,000 calories per day, then those extra 2,000 calories have to be burned from your body, right?

It's as simple as 2 + 2 equals 4, right? Well, this is not exactly true.

First, let's talk about the average person who begins a diet. The scenario usually goes something like this...

One day you look in the mirror and you finally get fed up with the way your body looks (or the way that your clothes fit) - and on this day you get "angry" with yourself, and you begin cutting way back on calories in an attempt to starve yourself thinner.

So you officially begin your "starvation diet."

On the first day you skip breakfast altogether (after all, you're so filled with anger and motivation that it's easy to skip breakfast).

Then, a few hours later your motivation quickly gives way to severe hunger - since your body is not accustomed to being without calories for so long.

Finally, by lunchtime you're so hungry that you feel weak and miserable, but yet you tell yourself that you can make it through this tough hunger (after all, you don't want to look like a quitter to your friends and family who know that you're dieting).

So you have a small piece of fruit for lunch perhaps, bravely trying to stick to your plan of starving yourself thin.

Then, hours later when dinnertime arrives you're so hungry and weak that you have a big migraine headache - and you're beginning to realize that starving yourself might not be such a good idea after all.

However, you try to hold out for another day or two on this miserable diet - since nobody likes to feel like a quitter.

So you'll probably hold out for another day or two, making yourself miserable in the meantime.

There are even some brave dieters who may hold out for a week or so, possibly even 2 weeks for the bravest of dieters.

However, regardless of how long you hold out -- the result is still the same.

You see, even after 2 weeks of starving you won't have made any noticeable difference to your body when you look in the mirror.

Why?

Simple, because the weight lost during a starvation diet is largely water weight, not real weight loss. This water weight will be gained back immediately when you stop dieting and begin eating normally again.

Also, when you starve yourself your body begins burning fewer calories each day -- so even though you're eating fewer calories each day you must remember that your body is also burning fewer calories.

For example, let's say that you normally eat 2,500 calories per day (before you begin dieting). Then, you suddenly try to starve yourself by eating only 1,000 calories per day.

Guess what?

Even though you're eating 1,500 fewer calories per day your body will begin burning 1,500 fewer calories per day - so your weight will remain the same even though you're starving yourself.

When your body begins burning fewer calories it's called a weight loss "plateau." This is why virtually all starvation dieters cannot make the scale go down after about 2 weeks of dieting.

This is why even the most determined of "starvation dieters" always fail after just a couple of weeks.

The truth is that "noticeable" weight loss simply cannot be achieved by starvation, and it's pointless to even try that type of diet.

True weight loss can only be achieved by giving your body the right types of calories at the right times each day. Your body is like a big engine, and the truth is that it needs all 3 types of calories (protein, carbs, and fat) to some degree.

The best way to lose weight is to effectively manage these 3 types of calories, so that your body receives the proper amount of protein, the proper amount of carbs - and also the proper amount of fat each day.

Which Diet Plan Is Best? Study’s Surprising Results

As the old year comes to a close and everyone begins to look forward to the beginning of a New Year, many people are also anticipating the beginning of their New Year’s resolutions. For numerous individuals, New Year’s resolutions will involve vows to cut back on their food intake, get on a diet and exercise regimen and drop at least a few pounds. The question that hangs in the air for those who are anticipating the start of a new diet lies in exactly which diet might happen to be right for them and which diet holds the key to helping them lose the most weight.

Certainly, there are numerous diets available and it seems like every few months a new diet or eating plan has emerged to become the new successful diet rage. Is it possible that all the ‘popular’ diets can help you lose weight or are there certain diets that can help you lose more weight than others?

This is the question that a group of researchers set out to answer recently. Over a period of two months, 160 individuals were monitored closely as they followed a supervised program. The varying factor among all 160 program participants was that they were allowed to choose whichever diet suited their fancy. Researchers waited and watched in anticipation to learn which diet or diets would prove to be most successful.

What they learned at the conclusion of the study proved to be quite interesting. The data they collected not only helped them to learn more about which diet programs tend to be more successful in terms of total weight loss but also which diet programs more individuals were more likely to stick with for long term weight loss and maintenance.

While the study participants were allowed to choose their favorite diet plan, most participants opted for one of the following: Atkins, Weight Loss, Ornish and the Zone. Even though initial data was conducted after just two months, researchers continued to study the remaining participants. They discovered that after a period of time more than half of those participants who opted for diet plans that focused on low carbs and high fat, such as the Atkins plan, dropped out. Additionally, approximately the same percentage of individuals who chose the Ornish plan, which focuses on low fat and high carb vegetarian foods, also quit their diets. Weight Watchers participants fared moderately better, with about two-thirds of that group’s participants sticking with it. The Zone participants showed similar results.

So, which diet plans performed best overall in terms of total weight loss? Surprisingly, they all performed about the same. Those individuals participating in the Ornish plan who were able to stick with their diet for the entire year achieved a weight loss rate of about 6%; the highest of all groups. Atkins came in at about 4%, with Weight Watchers and the Zone performing at an average of 5% weight loss. Health risk factors related to obesity were an entirely different matter; however. In terms of heart disease risk, Weight Watchers participants decreased their risk by 15%, while other diet plans hovered in the 12% range. The Ornish diet plan participants, who showed a higher overall weight loss, showed a lower decrease in risk of heart disease, at just 7%.

Overall; however, researchers concluded that in the end, there is no one magic diet. If you’re planning to resolve to lose weight in the New Year, your best strategy is still the same regardless of which diet plan you ultimately choose. Eat sensibly, cut back on portions, drink plenty of water, participate in a moderate exercise routine and find a diet buddy to support you in your weight loss goals.

When People Quit Smoking, Is Weight Gain Unavoidable?

There are a lot of people who smoke out there who, among other reasons, are afraid to try to quit smoking cigarettes for the fear of what they think is inevitable weight gain. Almost everyone they know who has successfully quit smoking really packed on the pounds and they don’t want this to happen to them. So, does the connection between quitting cigarettes and weight gain have to do directly with the cigarettes themselves, or are there other, outside reasons why this happens so often to people who “kick the habit”?

Lets take a look at what all of the factors are that cause such weight gain in people who quit smoking and see if maybe this weight gain may be able to be controlled to where it does not have to be a factor when you decide to put the cigarettes down for good.

The fact is you do not have to gain weight when you quit smoking. There are a lot of people who quit smoking who don’t gain any weight at all. On average, people who quit smoking gain only up to 10 pounds. Studies have shown that people who have smoked for 10 to 20 years or more, or who smoked one or more packs of cigarettes a day have a higher tendency to gain weight than short time smokers and those who smoked less than one pack a day.

 Nicotine, which is a chemical found in cigarettes, does to a small degree keep your body weight down. When you quit and the nicotine begins to leave your body, you may see a marginal amount of short term weight gain, but usually it will be no more than 3 to 5 pounds, mostly due to water retention.

The major reason why so many people will gain a significant amount of weight however, has more to do with replacing the smoking habit with excessive eating habits. Many will substitute sucking on hard candies all day to replace the cigarettes. Others will begin to simply snack on various foods throughout the day as a replacement for the old habit. The cigarette break at work becomes a snack break. The after lunch cigarette becomes the after lunch snack. It is this new habit, which is done almost unconsciously, that is mostly responsible for excessive weight gain when people quit smoking.

When you quit smoking, keeping aware of what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat along with some physical activity will keep that weight gain to a minimum and may keep you from gaining any weight at all. You also must consider that even if you do gain 5 to 10 pounds from quitting smoking, the risks of smoking cigarettes are far greater than a 5 to 10 pound gain in weight.

Smoking is the cause of more than 400,000 deaths every year in the United States. It would take a weight gain of over 100 pounds to equal the health risks of smoking cigarettes. Smoking causes your heart rate to increase, and you have twice the likeliness to suffer a heart attack than that of a nonsmoker.
You inhale around 4000 chemicals from cigarette smoke and 40 of these chemicals are cancer causing. Men are 22 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers, and women are 12 times more likely.

With a little effort on your part to keep your eating habits in check and incorporate some exercise into your daily routine, weight gain can and will be at least kept down to a minimum when you quit smoking. You will be in better health, feel better, and have a more positive outlook on life when you make the decision to put those cigarettes down for once and for all.

Why Do We Gain Weight?

There are many factors that cause us to increase body weight, yet three stand out from the rest.
Our genetic make up:Every cell in our body has a central control panel, that is a nucleus that contains our genes and chromosomes. This is the instruction manual for your body and this is inherited from your parents. It is this instruction manual that is largely responsible for how your body, and even your mind, behaves.
The environment in which we live:Our personal environment may also contribute or cue you to adopt poor eating or exercise habits. This is especially true in today's society, which is dominated by speed and convenience. For example, escalators, elevators and remote-control appliances make us less physically active. Also, greater availability and the constant marketing of foods that are high in calories, fat and added sugars, and larger portion sizes promote unhealthy eating behaviors.

There may also be personal reasons why you are consuming too many kilojoules from food and drinks, or not being physically active enough. For example, when feeling down or bored you may eat more than you need, or if you are feeling depressed it is more difficult to get active.

Knowing the reason why you may be consuming excess kilojoules or not participating in physical activity, is an important first step in changing your lifestyle habits to help you reach a healthy weight.
Our lifestyle:What we eat and drink and how active we are. This is the gradual gain in weight as a result of eating food and not exercising enough.

The extent to which we can affect our genetic make up and our environment are limited. However, lifestyle is the area in which we can significantly manage and if need be, improve our body weight to ensure we maintain a healthy weight for our height, age and gender. This is why learning a healthy nutritious eating pattern and adopting it for life, that is, lifestyle changes has a significant impact on our ability to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Gaining and losing weight works according to some a simple biological principle. When you consume more energy in the form of food and drinks that your body uses each day you will gain weight. When you consume less energy in the form of food and drinks that your body requires each day you will lose weight.

Despite what some advertisers would have use believe, weight loss does not occur as a result of any of the following:

* Supplements that will melt the fat while you sleep or while you wash

* Exercises that don’t take any effort and cause no sweat

* Unique food combinations that will allow you to eat what you want and still lose weight

In order to lose weight you will need to know approximately your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). Your RMR is the number of calories your body burns at rest in a 24 hour period. When your body gets about 500 less calories than it needs each day as a result of eating less or exercising more, you will lose one pound of weight per week. To illustrate how efficient the human body is in motion, the average female would need to go for a brisk walk for 1.5 to 2.0 hours in order to burn 500 calories.

When you consume 500 calories a day more than your body’s requirements, you will gain approximately one pound a week! To illustrate how easy it is to gain weight, one 7oz bag of corn chips has approximately 1000 calories. If you ate a bag of corn chips every day in addition to three square meals its possible you could gain 2 pounds in a week!

Why dont diets work?

It is a widely reported FACT that 95% of diets don't work! That fact doesn't stop over 75% of people saying they had been on diet in the last year. So this being the case what’s the point in losing 20 Lbs, and gaining back 25Lbs and why do people do it? There is no doubt that there is great pressure over the last few years to look 'thin'.

So why do diets fail?  That's the million dollar question. The main reason diets fail is we are guilty of falling for the latest cleaver marketing campaign. Over the last 10 years there has been a stack of diets on the market many endorsed by Hollywood stars.

Many of these diets DO work, BUT only short term. They often do produce quick weight loss and fantastic results. The problem is maintaining the weight loss as it is very difficult to stick to these eating plans. They are simply too boring. Once you lose the weight it is all too easy to slip back into your old ways and go back to your normal calorie intake. This will result in weight being put back on probably as fast as you lost it  - often you will end up heavier that when you started the 'diet'.

Healthy eating plan
The best method to lose weight is through a healthy eating plan and exercise. It's about re-educating how you eat and what you eat. It's not rocket science. Don't fry food or take fast food takeaways. Cut out the chips and chocolate or least cut it back. Have fruit instead. Drink lots of water. If you are finding it difficult to stick to the healthy eating plan don't torture yourself, allow yourself a treat once a week, but don't over do it - always moderation.

Exercise is key
The bottom line is that exercise is good for you and helps with your entire wellbeing. It doesn't matter if you run, swim, play football or do 1-on-1 Pilates – exercise is what your body needs. Exercise will improve your muscle tone, help you control your weight, reduce your blood pressure, help prevent heart disease.

Let's face it: Not everyone can be thin. But you can reach and maintain your best weight! It's not easy. But it's possible. Your genes may affect your susceptibility to obesity, but some people simply eat too many calories.  So battle the bulge with a plan that includes developing - and maintaining -a healthy diet and an active lifestyle. So in conclusion eat sensibly and maintain some sort of exercise even if it just a 10 minute walk each day!

Why Is It So Difficult To Lose Weight After 30?

Have you tried to lose weight after 30? Wasn’t that more difficult than ever before? Guess what? It’s even more difficult after 40! Have you ever wondered why your body reacts differently to the same regimes you apply in different stages of your life?

People that have never had a weight problem get flabbier after 30 without clear explanation. They start exercising and they don’t see any improvement. They eat less, and they still don’t achieve any significant change. What they don’t take into consideration is the aging impact on their body.
  
Aging is a Reason for Gaining Weight and the Obstacle to Losing Weight
There are more than 20 theories about aging but the most researched one is the “Free Radicals” theory.  Free radicals are atoms or molecules in which at least one electron is unpaired causing an instability (a stable atom contains a balance of paired electrons which encircle the nucleus).

This instability causes the electrons to be very reactive – they bond easily with healthy molecules and damage them. According to the free radicals theory, this damage is what causes you to age and to become vulnerable to certain diseases.

The most common free radical is an oxygen radical, which occurs in the mitochondria when an unpaired electron interacts with oxygen. Mitochondria are your cellular power plants, the tiny structures in your cells that provide energy in the chemical form of ATP.  This is your “fuel” for all your life functions. It helps your heart to pump and your lungs to distribute oxygen when you breathe.

When free radicals are formed in the mitochondria, they reduce the power of your cellular power plants to produce energy efficiently. You are not running out of energy because you’re aging. You are aging because you are running out of energy. Free radicals gradually shut down your power as if you are slowly turning off a light dimmer.

Free Radicals and Energy Reduction are the Roots of Most Aging Problems
Without energy your metabolic rate drops causing you to accumulate more body fat. You are losing muscle mass, bone mass, facial collagen and you are tired even when you have over-slept.

Energy reduction at the cellular level also decreases the hormone secretion in your glands. The most abundant hormone in the body is DHEA. It is known as the “mother of all hormones” because it is involved in manufacturing of other hormones, especially the sexual hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.

DHEA peeks at the age of 20 but afterwards declines sharply so at age 45 you have 50% of your high peek DHEA, and at the age of 65 you have only 10-20% of what you had at age 20. As the mother of all hormones DHEA represents a decline in other hormones as Human Growth Hormone, (HGH), Testosterone (in men), estrogen and progesterone (in women).

Studies show that as lower your hormone level is, as higher your tendency to accumulate fat.

Weight gain after 30 is a result of a vicious cycle of aging. Aggressive free-radicals decrease energy production which decreases hormone level and your metabolic rate to levels that most diets cannot help.


Anti-Aging Can Support Weight Loss by Neutralizing Free-Radicals
The most common way to fight free radicals is by increasing significantly antioxidants in your body. Your body produces antioxidants naturally or it gets it from food like fruit and vegetables.

Antioxidants are form of enzymes that attack free radicals by attaching to the unpaired electron and neutralize it. There are 2 kinds of antioxidants:


The first type patrols the body, blocking the formation of free radicals.
The second type disarms the already existing free radical before they bind with healthy molecules.

Studies show that today’s fruit and vegetables are not rich in antioxidants as few decades ago. It is impossible to get the recommended level without supplements as multi-vitamin, vitamin C, and vitamin E in the right dosages. But this by itself doesn’t make the difference. No one lose weight just by taking antioxidants.

Anti-Aging Can Support Weight Loss by Boosting Energy in Your Cells
You can increase your cells energy if you exercise regularly and supplement your food with energizers. Energizers are vitamins and minerals that increase the energy production in your cells. Well studied energizers are Lipoic Acid, Chromium Picolinate, Coenzyme Q-10, and others. Cardio training is the best exercise to boost your cellular energy. Cardio training is what you may know as aerobic exercise like jogging, cycling, rowing or other activities that ramp your heart rate.


Anti-Aging Can Support Weight Loss by Increasing Hormone Level and Accelerating Metabolic Rate

An expensive and still questionable way to increase your hormones is Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Hormone replacement therapy must be recommended and supervised by a doctor. But criticizers recommend staying away and not messing with the side effect risks of hormones.

You can boost your hormone level significantly without a doctor and for free if you engage in resistance training like free weights, weight machines, bands, cables or even body weight. 

Studies show without a doubt that resistance training stimulates secretion of HGH and testosterone. But that’s not all. Resistance training has many other benefits. It helps to gain muscle and reverses the aging damage of losing muscle. The more muscles you have, the more fat you burn because mussel growth accelerate you metabolic rate.

Aging is Not an Obstacle Anymore to Weight Loss
You reverse your aging damages backward and slow your aging forward when you burn fat and gain muscle. You can accelerate this process by reducing free-radicals and increase energy production using supplements. But there is no way to achieve it without special exercises that boost hormone level and nutrition that decreases blood sugar.

Why Is Weight Loss So Hard?

Weight loss is a common problem millions of Americans today struggle with. Very few Americans have been successful at losing a desired amount of weight.

The main problem is that most cannot stick to the designated program. For instance, a general weight loss program includes both diet as well as exercise. Most of the time an individual trying to lose weight will at least attempt one of these. Often times what happens is that the exercise may be too strenuous for that person since they must have lacked exercise for so long going back to why they are in such shape.

Another perspective is the diet. Most people looking to lose weight are usually in this pandemic because of eating not only food with high amounts of sugars and fats, but also food in high quantities of these fats ans sugars. This becomes a significant problem because changing old habits for anyone is such a difficult process especially in America since you can’t walk two feet out your door without seeing a McDonald’s.

So in the end dieting or weight loss in general is such a difficult process because of the extreme new “way of life” you would have to adapt to. A recent statistic said that of those who fail to reach an ideal weight goal in a diet actually gain more weight trying the diet rather then losing.

 The reason for this is once you “give in,” you start “binge eating” meaning you eats almost everything in site with no restrictions. This is a one negative impact of dieting viewed by many. Of course most researchers/doctors say diet and exercise are essential for a healthy life, whether losing weight or not.

Why Most of Your Diets Always Fail

Over the years, there has been millions and millions of people who have tried countless numbers of different diets to try and lose weight. Equally so, there has been millions and millions of people who failed at these diets. If all of these diets are supposed to be designed to make you lose weight, then why do most of them fail to do that? Why is it that no matter what diet you try, it never seems to work? Perhaps the diet itself was no good. Maybe it was too expensive to stick with. It could be that there was no support. Possibly, it just seemed to take too long to lose weight.

The fact is, not one of those reasons is why most diets don’t work. Surprised? Don’t be. In reality, it all boils down to one simple yet complex reason. Yes, there is really only one thing that stands between you and your weight loss and that one thing is; your desire to eat was stronger than your desire to lose weight.

It may sound too simple and may be a little hard to swallow, the truth often is, but that, my friend, is the plain and simple truth.
The only real reason diets fail is because people decide to let themselves go back to their former eating habits rather than making the changes necessary to lose the weight and keep it off and maintaining those changes.

Dieting is a long and oftentimes difficult journey that must be done step by step, little by little. There can be and often are all kinds of setbacks and pitfalls that can trap you, particularly during an endeavor that takes so much time and effort. Just one slip, one temptation given in to, and your whole struggle for weight loss can be sabotaged.

In order for any diet to be successful, it must have a strong foundation. With a strong foundation, it will be a bit easier to hold your ground when those little pitfalls come along to tempt you. There also must be a solid plan. Without a good, solid plan, you will just be grasping at straws and going in all different directions. You need a plan to help guide you in the right direction at all times.
One thing that has helped many people who were successful with their diets was having the support of family members and friends. This can be a major asset that can help you stay with it.

Probably the most important thing to remember is, never starve yourself, make sure you make room to eat the foods you like from time to time and make a little time for some moderate exercise. Your diet does not have to fail, and with a little help from you, it can succeed and that means, you can succeed.

Why Should You Try A Weight Loss Program?

Well the short answer to this question is that a weight loss program and be a literal life saver. They actually help you to lose weight and keep it off, unlike the typical “go-it-alone” dieter who can lose weight no problem for relatively short periods of time but cannot keep it off. The sad fact about this, far too common, type of dieting is that it confers no health advantage to remaining fat. In some ways it is worse for you especially in the mental health realm. I want to spend the next several paragraphs in this article giving you some helpful advice that will not only leave you looking and feeling better but living longer.

That weight loss programs are important because fat is a killer is becoming more apparent everyday in the medical research fields. There are so many organ systems affected by the different processes that both contribute to obesity and are a direct result of obesity that it will take ages to sort out all the complexities. Obesity is both an associated comorbidity of a lot of things and also a direct cause of many things that are serious and life threatening diseases. Lets talk about a few of the major ones like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

If you aren’t convinced to start a weight loss program read on! Heart disease, caused by coronary atherosclerosis, has several risk factors that are directly related to being obese. High cholesterol and high fat diets contribute to atherosclerotic pathophysiology and are very associated with obesity. Hypertension is another major risk factor for heart disease and is much more common in an obese person. And lastly diabetes, namely type II or adult onset diabetes, is another huge risk factor for heart disease and affects mostly obese people whose bodies have lost the sensitivity to insulin. This combination of events in an obese pt. make obesity a very high-risk, but gladly a modifiable risk factor for early death secondary to heart disease.

Diabetes is already mentioned as being in large part caused by obesity. I just want to list some of the other morbidities that an obese person can look forward to other than heart disease. Diabetics who don’t control their sugars have renal failure and eventually are dialysis dependent. They go blind due to retinal vascular complications, they have painful neuropathies, or they simply can’t feel their legs which eventually ulcerate and require amputation. A weight loss program sounds nice now doesn’t it?

Why the HAPPY DIET works

Understanding why and how the happy diet works.

There is a simple explanation and that being is you get to choose what you want to eat. Most diets today prove to be very stressful for many men and women in their quest to lose weight. This is because they are following instructions from others on what they should and should not be eating. How do these people know?  What tickles your fancy?

Discover how the happy diet can work for you, what is the happy diet you ask. It is a diet carefully devised by youself with all the things that you like to eat. You get to choose your own meats fresh fruit and vegetables

Diets definitely work if you adhere to all the rules, break them then no results. Now let us get cracking on a diet that makes sense and guaranteed to put a smile on your face
Just imagine your own diet with all the juicy ingredients and succulent meats that suit your palette

Always consult a doctor if you are thinking about dieting or exercising as we individuals all differ in many ways.

 A little research on daily intake of carbohydrate protein and fat is an important factor when devising your own diet. I suggest you browse magazines or approach slimming informational centres to find out about your chosen foods.

Find a list of all the foods that you know you are going to enjoy using in your recipes and that are good for helping you to shed those excess pounds. Then narrow it down to the ones that you want to have on your menu.

This part of the happy diet can prove to be very educational and fun to say the least. People accept diets and all the ingredients. This way you get to delve more intimately into the choices you have made for your own personal plan.

After checking all the important factors as in i.e. consulting the doctor and daily intake of fats etc. we are now ready for the physical side of things. A few ideas to help speed up the process (exercise) try  dancing round the kitchen table with the kids they make think you are mad but who cares you are on a mission to find the new you.
Spring clean not once a week maybe twice. This will help hurry things along and into the bargain a cleaner house. Remember this is your plan so do it when it suits you. Results will only come if you stick to what you started out to do.
Walking a great form of exercise, why not consider salsa lessons it all helps. Do not expect results over night

For starters (Excuse the pun) throw out the frying pan.
Less grease on the plate to lose weight
Grilling with out a doubt is a far healthier and tastier option.

Cut down (YES) cut out (NO) you can still nibble on little goodies. Just cut down? Watch where others go wrong, most diets of course will not work if the rules are broken.  Now why would you want to break the rules on the happy diet when all that is on the menu was chosen by you?
(It makes sense)
Consulting a dietician is a good idea for information. Joining a book club may also prove to be priceless in your quest. Make your own recipes to suit your own taste buds.

Why Walking is the New Running

There is a word that most overweight people dislike, it is a word that turns people off and makes their mind switch to another channel to avoid thinking about it.
Unfortunately it is a key part to weight reduction and something that when done correctly can be the cause of your success.

The word is……………..

Exercise!

Now stay with me here, switch your mind back on to what I am saying stay, in this same frame.

The reason most overweight people do not like the ‘E’ word is because they have set up in their mind that in equals pain and like most people they will do anything to avoid pain. There is a better way and you can find the better way when you begin to understand that there are different ‘types’ of exercise (hey, don’t disappear – stay with me now)

At the lowest level there are 2 forms of exercise, these are;

·    Aerobic

and

·    Anaerobic

Aerobic exercise causes your heart and muscles to work very hard, pumping blood round your body at a high rate to get the oxygen to the muscles in order for them to keep working.
A side effect of this is that it produces acid in your muscles, lactic acid to be precise. It is this lactic acid that causes you muscles to stiffen up after you have finished, causing you pain. Lactic acid also stays in your system for a long time as your body finds it hard to break it down. If your body cannot break the acid down it wraps it up and stores it as fat!

The main type of aerobic exercise that people do on a regular basis is running, yes this helps build fitness but if you want to reduce your weight you can only concentrate on building fitness once you get down to a sufficient weight.
What you should concentrate on to start with is reducing your weight and nothing else, fitness comes later.

This is where anaerobic exercise comes in.

Anaerobic exercise causes the heart to work harder than normal which still pushes the blood and oxygen around the body but does not work the muscles as hard and therefore does not create lactic acid.
Further more anaerobic exercise helps in releasing stored fat and acid and helps it into the waste system so that the body can get rid of it. Remember you cannot ‘burn’ off your weight. The phrase ‘burning off calories’ is a myth!

The weight you get rid of has to leave your body somehow and it is through your waste system that this happens.

So, what is the best form of anaerobic exercise? I hear you ask

Well, as the title of this article suggests it is walking.

My suggestion to you is that you walk for 1 ½ hours at least 3 times per week and that should be broken down into the following;

·    15 minutes warm up walking at a pace slightly faster than your normal walking pace
·    60 minutes walking at a high pace that gets your heart pumping
·    15 minutes warm down walking at your normal walking pace.

If you cannot manage that to start with find your own level and start there and slowly build up to this level.

Remember the warm up and warm down though as this is vital.

Enjoy your walking.

Yours truly,

Graham Nicholls

Why Your Diet May Not Be Working

Jennifer, a middle-aged single mother with one six-year-old daughter, has been skipping sweets for a few weeks now.  She’s also become a stickler for portion control.  She feels as if she’s eating less than ever, and she’s been diligently exercising for an hour at a time at least four days a week.  Yet, she hasn’t lost a single pound.  The question is, “Why?”

       This is a dilemma which affects dieters the world over.  They think they are taking the steps necessary to lose weight, but nothing seems to be happening.  In essence, they are trapped in a dieting rut and they don’t know how to free themselves.  As a result, they become frustrated and depressed and may then engage in binge eating.

       One of the problems with diets is that they are often standardized.  As a result, they don’t take into consideration your individual physiology and metabolism.  They provide a cookie-cutter approach to weight loss—an approach which may not work in your individual case.  As a result, an increasing number of people are turning to dieticians to formulate a person weight loss strategy for them.  This process has been made easier through the Internet, where you can correspond with a dietician any time of the day or night via e-mail.  The dietician can also act as your personal coach, helping you through your dieting dilemmas.

        Another reason that you may be failing at your diet is because of a lack of support.  You may have family members who can eat whatever they want and seemingly not gain a pound.  As a result, they may fill your refrigerator with junk food, leading you into temptation.  Also, you may feel as if you have no one to turn to in order to discuss your weight problems.  In order to solve this problem, many individuals look to psychotherapists to help them with their food-related issues.  This can be particularly important if an individual has turned to purging in an effort to combat their weight problems.  Bulimia is a serious disease which must be treated in order to ensure the good health of the patient.  Thankfully, there are a number of treatment programs throughout the U.S. specifically focusing on bulimia.

         Yet another reason for diet failure is hidden calories.  You may literally be consuming calories and not even realize it.  For instance, the frappucinos that are so popular today are loaded with calories—as many as 600 in a single serving!  You may also be indulging in sugary sodas—another source of extra calories.  By taking a few simple steps, such as eliminating the exotic coffee drinks from your diet and substituting skim milk for whole milk, you may be able to eliminate the hidden calories that are denying you dieting success.

         Lack of consistency can also be a diet-killer.  You might go on a diet for a while, then quit before you’ve made any measurable progress.  It’s only natural to want to see quick results.  The problem is that healthy weight loss involves losing only a couple of pounds a week.  That means you’ll have to stay on your diet for months before you see appreciable weight loss.  Discouraging?  It can be, but if you keep a positive attitude you can achieve your ideal weight.

        You may also be more successful in your dieting if you consider it to be a lifestyle change.  Therefore, your diet becomes a meal plan for life.  This means that you must change the way you look at food.  It is designed to be fuel for your body, and nothing more.  As a result, you should not turn to food to make you feel better or to provide you with a sense of comfort.  A lifestyle change implies commitment; it means that you are prepared to follow the plan for the long haul.  If you feel as if you cannot be on your diet for any appreciable length of time, perhaps it’s time to consider a different diet.   Your aim ultimately should be not simply to lose weight, but to become healthier.  A fad diet will not allow you to reach that milestone.   Therefore, you must choose your diet carefully.

Winning The Losing Weight Game

Are you more or less constantly thinking about your weight, or whether you’re eating or not eating?
Do you find that at times when you start eating that you just can’t stop yourself? And then when your clothes don’t fit do you decide to resolve that by eating more?

Often as a consequence of this common behaviour is that you will feel bad about yourself and imagine that everyone is thinking how big you are, thus increasing your anxiety about your eating and image, so that you eat more to comfort yourself.

You might not believe it yet there are steps you can take to get you out this self-destructive cycle and turn around the negative feelings that you experience.

When we are in these ‘mind-traps’ we are habitually repeating thought patterns and acting on them without questioning where they come from and what they do for us.

A simple question such as: ‘What will that do for me?’ can often be the beginning of understanding ourselves better and our behaviour. Approaching the problem in this way can be the first step towards doing things differently.

It works like this: a bad experience gives you the urge to go to the biscuit tin and eat as many biscuits as you can. But this time, instead of binging on biscuits, as yourself: ‘What will that do for me?’

If the answer is something like ‘It gives me a treat,’ ask yourself: ‘And if I have this treat, what does that do for me?; Again, wait for your answer, it may be something like, ‘If I have this treat then I will feel appreciated.’ If this is your response carry on and ask yourself: ‘If I get to feel appreciated, what does that do for me?’ Listen for an answer and keep asking yourself the same question, until you can go no further with your responses. What you’re looking for is the higher motivation behind the behaviour ‘eating too many biscuits’. By doing this on a regular basis you will get in touch with what you really want and take your first step to controlling the food cravings.

I worked with a client who was unhappy with her weight and eating. Her name was Mary, a wife and working mother of two young boys. We did this exercise and she realised that she wanted to feel comforted.

When we looked at other aspects of her life it became clear that she never put herself first in terms of what she wanted and one way or another she now felt unappreciated and lacking.

Mary also realised that rarely gave her self permission to have ‘me time’ to do things like soak in a luxurious bath, or go out with friends, or watch what she wanted on TV, These all may seem like small trivial things, but added together they became the source of her feelings of being invisible, not appreciated and generally unloved.

Mary worked on creating ways that she could reward, comfort and appreciate herself that didn’t have to mean eating. Very soon she became very clear about her goals and how to achieve them. People around her noticed a change and responded by being more receptive and positive towards her. As a result, she easily shed weight, looked and was much happier, and forgot all about eating for comfort.

Winter Weight Gain . The Reasons And The Cure!

Winter weight gain of a few pounds over the winter, happens quite often. It seems that every winter we acquire a few pounds, and come summer we don't lose them all again either. A few of them always stick around, adding to our weight every year. They can be quite hard to lose, those extra pounds!

Why does this happen and what can we do?

There are quite a few things involved. First, it seems likely that we have an inherited trait to store more fat as winter approaches. Several animals do this and it was probably necessary to survival for our antecedents. More layers of fat on the body protect us against the winter temperatures and then can be used as fuel in the late winter and early spring when food stocks would historically be very low. We likely have a tendency to eat more in the fall, when food is abundant after harvest time, to help this process along. We may also probably choose foods that are higher in fat
content at this time.

Hormone levels can also affect our weight gain. The interaction of hormones and other chemicals in the brain can bring about changes in appetite and desires. Some neurotransmitters can also affect the way we eat. People who have difficulty losing weight often have low levels of these neurotransmitters and the consequences can include excessive appetite, depression and sleep disorders. At the same time, the lack of daylight caused by the shortening days during late fall and winter can bring on Seasonally Affected Disorder(S.A.D.) or winter depression.
(question-Does vitamin D play a roll?)
One of the fastest ways to give a lift to the energy levels and emotions is to eat foods, that have a high carbohydrate level, including sugar treats, chips and cereals that give us a rapid blood sugar 'fix'. So people who feel down in the winter will tend to overeat or eat the wrong foods, leading to weight gain, more depression and a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.
(note: S.A.D. shouldn't be confused with clinical depression or bipolar.)
   
So altogether there are plenty of reasons why we eat more high carbohydrate foods such as cookies, pies and chocolate in the winter, and to make matters worse, most of these foods also have high levels of fats. The best way to handle this is generally to substitute other foods that are also high in carbohydrate so that we get what our body craves, but which are fat free and have plenty of fiber. This means potatoes, wholegrain bread without butter, wholegrain rice, cereals, and fresh whole fruit.

It is also important to take more exercise. Often our physical activity levels reduce in the winter and we have a tendency to want to stay home and rest. This is common when it is cold outside. But we are not our ancestors! We have heating in our homes and can be sure that there will still be adequate food in the stores come February. We do not need to store fat the way that they did. Join a gym or get a stationary bicycle for the den. Transform those carbs into energy now instead of keeping them on the waistline until spring. Winter weight gain is easily avoidable this way.

Wipe Out Those Extra Pounds Through Weight Loss Tips

Do you feel embarrassed due to the extra pounds on your body? Are you not able to lose weight? Every person is working hard to lose that extra weight from body, but there is a need of proper guidance to achieve this goal. Gaining weight is very easy but once you have gained weight it’s even harder to lose the weight. Proper consultation is required to lose weight, as in the race of losing weight you may harm yourself. Controlling weight is as important as to lose weight. 

Here are few dieting tips with which you can control weight: -

• Consumption of more fruits, salads, and vegetables
• Avoid use of butter and other fat enriched food
• Fried food should be avoided

We all know that no two human bodies are same. Similarly, the fat burning process of every body is different and a planned methodology is required to earn the lost slim body. The metabolic rate of few people is higher than others. It’s now possible to change metabolic rate of the body to lose extra pounds.

Exercise is an efficient way to lose weight. Exercise burns fat of our body. Regularly exercising can significantly changes your metabolic rate. It increases your heart rate and allows more blood circulation in the body. It allows you to burn more fats then consumed fats. After few days you can experience a remarkable change in your body. Morning walk is best to make your extra weight disappear.

You can make use of the underlying weight loss tips to lose weight: -

Drink as much water as you can. Water is the best remedy to stay away from being overweight. Replace your soda with water. Say no to junk food. Junk food prevents proper digestion process to work and in turn increases weight. Add boiled food to your diet. Most of the fats can be removed by grilling the food. This makes the grilled food a healthy one to eat. A small portion of breakfast can prevent the temptation of eating more food between breakfast and lunch time. Eat less to prevent over weight. Try to have small portions of meal with some sort of gaps between them.

If still you are not getting any results then you can consume diet pills. Diet pills are short term treatment for obesity and it limits your hunger to an extent. A number of diet pills are available in the market as: -

• Phentermine
• Adipex
• Bontril
• Didrex
• Ionamin
• Diethylpropion
• Meridia
• Phendimetrazine
• Tenuate
• Xenical

Phentermine is the most popular diet pill among these pills. These diet pills can easily wipe out your excess weight and make you stay healthier. Before the start of the treatment you should consult your doctor regarding each and every aspect of these diet pills.

Women's Health and Fitness - Weight Training To Lose Weight

Weight gain is a lot easier as you grow older particularly as the motivation to exercise also wanes, but you can turn it around it does not matter how old you are.  You should start to weave some sort of exercise into your daily life. 

One type of exercise that you should consider to do is weight training, also known as strength training or resistance training.  Weight training will not only help with losing weight but will also trim and tone your body. Age does not matter it has been shown that women as old as 70 who have started to weight train and have improved their body strength within a very short while.

Weight training is an important element in fighting flab; maybe it is the most important.  If you do aerobic exercise you only burn fat during the exercise but with weight training you burn fat even when you have finished.  The body is still burning fat for up to as much as twelve hours after finishing the exercise whilst it is building the muscles worked, so you can still be burning fat while you are resting.  But that is not the end of the story.

A body full of muscle uses far more calories than a body full of fat, so you will find that you will need to eat more to maintain your weight and your muscle.   You do not need to worry that you will bulk up like a body builder, as you do not have the right makeup to do this, as a woman you will only elongate and define your muscles, and build lean muscles.

When you first start to weight train you might find that your weight will actually increase. This is because muscle is heavier than fat but as muscle is smaller so you should notice the body getting smaller even if the scales do not show an decrease in weight.

The additional benefits from weight training are:-

1. It helps to strengthen and increase the density of your bones because the act of the muscles pulling and flexing the bones helps to lay down more bone fibre.

2.  Stronger muscles helps your body to be more steady and so helps to prevent falls.

3.  It has also been found that it can fight the build up of abdominal fat by lifting weights at least twice a week.  

Finally when weight training make sure that you change your routine around so that the body can not get use to the routine.  It only takes the body about six weeks for it to learn how to work efficiently if keeping to the same routine and therefore you will stop seeing any weight or body changes.

So have fun and start weight training to lose weight and tone your body.

Women's Health and Weight Loss Tip #1: Lose Weight to Fight Osteoporosis

It is a well known fact that exercise and weight loss make you both look and feel better. Another bit of common knowledge is that to lose weight, control your diet, and exercise regularly gives you a healthier heart
In addition to the previously mentioned benefits of proper diet and exercise are several other very specific health benefits of having a regular exercise and weight loss program.

One additional health benefits of exercise and weight loss activities is guarding against osteoporosis, the disease that makes the bones weak and brittle with age.

Weight-bearing activities like walking, ellyptical machine, and jogging, have been shown to strengthen the skeletal system and lower the risk of the development of this very debilitating disease.

The primary reason for this is that exercises that force the body to bear weight make the bones more dense over time as opposed to a sedentary lifestyle, in which the bones get weaker and more brittle due to a lack of force placed against them.


In women in particular, the low estrogen levels that often accomopany menopause and/or very sporadic menstruation make the problem even worse as the bones lose a lot of their mineral content and weaken accordingly.

In addition, such activities that many take part in to either lose weight or maintain an already healthy body composition have also been shown to aid in preventing further development of the disease for those who have already been diagnosed and have received clearance from their doctor.

To YourBestBody

Write A Love Letter ON Your Body

Have you seen the movie "What the Bleep"? There is a great scene in that movie where the body-hating star breaks through to loving her body. She starts to draw hearts and love messages all over herself and relaxes into appreciation instead of loathing.

We're taught a lot of things to do to our bodies. Work it, sculpt it, starve it, push it, train it, discipline it. Most of them are not pleasant. What about loving it? What if we treated our bodies with love and tenderness?

Okay, it sounds a little sappy, I know. But really think about the idea for a moment. WHAT IF you made a decision to treat your body with the ultimate in kindness?

How would your body feel if you...
*Fed it the best, most delicious, most nutritious foods
*Gave it just the right amounts of food to feel light and full of energy
*Pampered it with fun movement
*Let it nap or rest when it was tired
*Treated it to healing massages and long soaks in warm water
*Noticed all the wonderful, beautiful things about it and overlooked its flaws

Writing love letters all over yourself is a great way to make friends with your body. It's much harder to assault your body with overeating when you know you have "I love you," hearts, spirals, "thank you," etc. written underneath your clothes.

Adopt self-nurturing as a way of life. Your body will LOVE YOU for LOVING IT. You will naturally live at your own perfect weight without effort or strain. Treat yourself well and love your body into the peak of health.

Writing For Your Weight Loss Success

Motivation is one of the key variables for the equation that yields long term weight loss success. The question is how do you maintain the motivation to attain the ultimate goal? Regardless if your weight loss goal is 20 pounds or 100 pounds you must change your thinking to change your behavior and writing makes that happen.

Weight loss really does begin in your head. Every successful athlete understands that his thinking process is either working for him or against him. The same holds true with weight loss. If your internal dialogue is negative, your results will eventually manifest the same result! You can’t degrade yourself to a healthy new you! You must change your thinking to work for you, to build your resolve, and to maintain that all important motivational factor.

Writing is an exercise that will help your mind change its thinking! It allows you to process the negative emotions and helps to instill the positive changes. Start with these simple exercises:

1. The Negative Emotions Daily Dump: Many success coaches advocate writing out your negative thinking on a daily basis. Simply spend approximately 15 minutes writing out all the frustrations, bad feelings, and discouragement. This helps you to process these bad feelings out of your system so that you can make room for positive affirmations. Do not reread the entries and do not keep them. Write it out, and then throw it out. We call this the Negative Emotions Daily Dump.

2. Affirm Your Goals: Prepare a list of affirmations that will help your subconscious work with your conscious brain to make those all important behavioral changes. Then write your affirmations at least twice a day. Write them once after you have written your Negative Emotions Daily Dump. Don’t do the Negative Dump without filling it with the positive affirmations. You should always end with this. Write the second set of affirmations either right before you go to bed or first thing in the morning. Read your affirmations several times a day.

3. Understand your Motivations: In order to stay motivated you must understand your real reasons for losing weight. In other words, understand why YOU want to lose weight. Not why your spouse or friends want you to lose weight but why losing the weight is important to you. Do you really want more energy? Do you just love skinny clothes? Do you want to participate in an activity that would be easier if you were slim and healthy? Write these motivations out in detail so that you can solidify them in your head and they can continue to motivate you through the entire weight loss journey.

4. Accountability: Keep a food diary. Keeping a food diary has been proven time and time again to increase your weight loss success by as much as 50%! A food log is your accountability factor. It keeps you honest with yourself.

5. Visualize: Visualize yourself enjoying the portions of your weight loss program that you are currently struggling to do. For instance if you hate the cardio portion of your day, start seeing yourself loving it. See it as “”your time”. It can be your time to read while you’re on the stationary bike. Or your time to watch all those movies you feel guilty watching any other time. Once you begin to visualize positive feelings about a certain activity the easier that activity will become.

6. The Pat-On-The-Back: Keep a written log of your weight loss success. By writing down your weight loss on a weekly basis you are validating your efforts and giving yourself a pat-on-the-back. This will go a long way to keeping you on track.

Keep in mind that if you are utilizing the assistance of a personal fitness trainer or weight loss professional that they may use techniques to help you face your self-defeating habits. This might feel harsh and negative, however it isn’t. Honesty is necessary to motivate change and this is different than running yourself down! Sometimes we have to hear the hard words to make the hard changes. Keep in mind that these professionals are seeking your ultimate success. Your success is their success. Let’s face it, the weight gain started with you and to change that behavior you may have to deal with some uncomfortable feelings. A good trainer will help you feel cared about while still insisting that you deal with your bad habits. It’s a good thing to be pushed past your comfort zone to becoming a better you!

Writing is the new “exercise” that can make all the rest of your weight loss efforts including good nutrition, exercise, and resistance training work for you because you will be working with these principles instead of against them. You will start seeing these weight loss techniques as a positive and permanent part of your life, instead of a temporary device. That will result in faster results that last forever!