Are you serious about weight loss? This article describes weight loss myths and explains the truth about dieting.
Weight Loss Myth #1: Fat loss will come naturally if you follow a low carbohydrate diet.
Truth: The truth is that low carbohydrate fad diets are not effective for long-term weight loss. Cutting back on all carbs helps you lose weight initially and will even help you reach your weight loss goal, but the chances that you maintain the weight loss are slim. Restrictive diets are mentally challenging. What happens is the first time you give in to carbohydrate cravings you want more and try to make up for the time you deprived yourself of them. Furthermore, studies show that the brain needs carbohydrates for proper functioning.
Weight Loss Myth #2: Diet pills are the easy way to lose weight.
Truth: Some diet pills are dangerous to your health. Over-the-counter weight loss products aren’t fully tested or FDA approved. Whether it’s a water pill, a fat blocker or a metabolism enhancer, diet pills pose a health risk and have been known to cause illness and even death. Even diet pills that are approved by the FDA are risky. Products are often pulled from shelves after research show unhealthy side effects. Diet pills may help you lose weight fast; they do not provide lasting weight loss.
Weight Loss Myth #3: The top 10 fad diets are based the latest technology and information for weight loss, making them ideal to lose weight fast.
Truth: Many top 10 fad diets are just worthless weight loss products. They are scams to fool people into making the purchase. They exist only to make money off of unsuspecting overweight individuals. A top 10 fad diet may be based on a portion of a recent study that makes sense from a dieter’s perspective, but they rarely offer the big picture. Just because a book has been published on a particular weight loss topic does not make it the best weight loss plan.
Weight Loss Myth #4: Low-fat diets expedite fat loss. Eating low-fat and fat free foods is a simple plan and healthy way to lose weight.
Truth: Low-fat diets actually slow your metabolism, making it more difficult to lose weight and maintain your weight loss. Low-fat diets also leave you feeling hungry and deprived. The body needs a certain amount of healthy fats for normal functioning. Fat also helps you feel full longer. Switching to fat-free and low-fat products alone will not help you reach your weight loss goals.
Weight Loss Myth #5: Supplements are a safe method for accelerating weight loss.
Truth: Supplements advertise their natural ingredients that aid weight loss. The truth is that 97% of weight loss supplements are completely worthless. Supplements are not regulated and while they may boast all natural ingredients, that doesn’t mean they are healthy for your body.
Avoid Fad diets and Lose Weight the Healthy Way
These myths bring up the questions of why people are encouraged to buy weight loss products that don’t work. Companies that sell top 10 fad diets and run weight loss scams are simply capitalizing on a billion-dollar industry. Obviously, these companies don’t want overweight people to know the truth about healthy, simple plans that work. That would cost them sales.
The healthy way to lose weight is to avoid top 10 fad diets and weight loss scams. The best kept diet plan secrets are simply this: knowing what healthy organic and whole foods to eat and when, regular exercise and having the right mindset. This simple plan is the key to obtaining and maintaining a healthy weight.

Tv`s the biggest loser, is an incredible insight into peoples struggles to lose weight. I could`nt believe how one guy, had lost over 140 pounds from his 300 plus frame.
It`s like a miracle unfolded before your eyes, as they show the contestants pictures from when they started and than update the pictures over the course of months as they began to lose weight.
These people went from barely being able to walk, because of their size, into completely fit individuals. It was almost too much to see the differences in their looks, as they progressively shredded pounds from their frames.
Alot of these people were extremely good looking, but had been hiding behind years of abuse to their bodies. Even family members could hardly believe their eyes, as they saw them for the first time, since they had left to join this diet show.
This show is an inspiration to overweight people the world over. I saw just how hard those contestants exercised and struggled with making better food choices and thought to myself “These people are really working hard and should be commended for their efforts.
As the contestants exercising continued, you could see their stamina improved and their spirits became brighter, as they realised, that they could achieve a signifiacnt weight loss, with consistant efforts.
That`s not to say, that there were not struggles along the way for them. As the contestants went back home, without their personal trainers looking after them. You started to see them, slipping back into the old negative eating habits and lifestyles that made them gain so much weight.
Each person had their own reasons for letting their weight gains spiral out of control originally. Some were substituting food for happiness. Others truly just loved food and were completely addicted to it.
Some were trying to heal emotional scars from when they were young. Each individual had to dig deep within themselves to come to terms with their issues and than the healing could begin.
I can personally relate. I too got married and gained a fair amount of weight years back. But, I never felt well being overweight. I felt rundown all the time and after alot of starting and stopping. I was able to stick with exercising and eating smaller meals, until I trimmed down in fighting shape again.
Though most of the contestants decided, that no matter how hard their weight loss process was, they needed a complete lifestyle change and they didn`t want to screw up all their previous hard work.
I thought that seeing these people at home, brought a very humane quality to overweight peoples struggles with weight loss. Put me in their shoes and I don`t know ,if I could have responded as well, as they all did.
Overweight people can feel disciminated against at times, but the biggest loser was the complete opposite. The personal trainers were, nothing but supportive and you could tell, that they truly cared about these people and their health.
Not only did contestants have to exercise rigorously, but completely change their eating habits, as well as be away from their loved ones, for long durations.
You could definately see, some of the people on the show were almost going through a type of withdrawal from food as some cried, others threw temper tantrums.
Years of sedentary living combined with terrible eating habits had clearly taken their tolls on these people. At first most of them could barely jog a block, let along a few miles. But as the show continued, these people started to gain confidence in themselves and their ability to stick with a diet and exercise regimen.
I felt that this show, was an incredible inspiration, for anyone that is feeling helpless. There were so many people that were truly cheering these people on and desperately wanting them to suceed.
The one fact, that I took away from the show was, overweight people should not just accept being overweight as who they are. They should watch this weight loss show and see that anything is possible, with some effort and hard work. And that loved ones truly wanted these people to be happy and healthy.
The one contestant said ” I want to be around to see my daughter get married”. I thought that his dieting efforts were an incredible gift to his wife and daughter.

The Secret is a movie about the Law of Attraction. Its popularity is growing daily, especially after Oprah dedicated two entire shows to talking about the movie and interviewing the stars. Oprah wanted to know if the Law of Attraction applies to weight loss and the answer is yes. According to The Secret, every thought, feeling and action sends an electrical impulse to the brain. For sake of simplicity, I’m going to call this electrical impulse a message unit.

In our society we have the opportunity to absorb thousands of message units daily that will prevent any chance of long-term success with weight loss. In fact, I’m bold enough to assert that some of these messages are creating the weight epidemic in modern society. We are bombarded daily with message units of slender, young and flawless images in the media. Since most of us do not meet the perfect image set by the media the underlying subconscious deduction is something like this: “I’m not good enough, I’m not thin enough, I’m too fat, I don’t measure up”. So, if the law of attraction works the same for everything, guess what? You are attracting your weight problem simply by living in this society and absorbing the perfect images crowding your environment. If you constantly reinforce “I’m not good enough” you are sending a command to the Universe. The command is: “Give me everything that is not good enough because that is what I am and that is what I deserve.”

In addition to the extreme level of bombardment from media sources, many of us also get the “not good enough” message at home from family, friends and our significant other. Sometimes well meaning or perhaps downright cruel family members will say things like, “You’re getting fat or You’re a blimp or You’re a Whale” or any one of a long string of verbal insults. Since these message units come from important figures in our life, they hold more power than daily media message units and they stay in our minds longer. Many times these harmful comments are repeated in our own minds thousands, even millions of times over the course of our lives. We repeat the words to ourselves so many times that they become our own self-talk.

Some of the women I see in my office have struggled with weight for 25 years or more and it all started after their brother called them “fatty” or their mom took them to a diet program because they “didn’t look like the other girls.” In most cases, these women look back on their teenage pictures with dismay and confusion as they ask themselves, “How could I have ever thought I was fat” or, “Why did people call me fat?” The truth is, many times the girl that is called “fatty” is not fat. She is simply full or voluptuous or even just “normal.” Over the years we have lost touch with “normal” because we’ve been bombarded our entire life with thinner-than-healthy and even thinner-than-possible images of young women thousands of times each day. We begin to think that ultra-thin is the standard or ideal and to think of “normal” as fat because of our conditioning. The truth is, there is a wide range of shapes and sizes and all of them are “right” in fact, diversity is our beauty. If you use the BMI (Body Mass Index) as a guide for healthy weight rather than the mass media’s impossible images, or your own inner negative self-talk, you’ll begin to see that health comes in various sizes and shapes.

Diets directly contribute to weight problems because of the Law of Attraction. The problem with diets is that all the focus is on deprivation. Imagine how many message units you send to yourself when dieting. It probably sounds something like this: “I can’t have that, I can’t have this, I can never have anything good, I have to suffer to be thin, it’s so easy to put on weight but so hard to take off.” Add all of these message units together and you have tens of thousands of messages that are completely contradictory and adversary to your potential success in becoming permanently thin and attaining a size and shape that’s right for you.

Another way we can sabotage our weight loss efforts is by sending inconsistent messages. For example, every time you say something to yourself like “I should eat more vegetables” and you DON’T, you send a message: “I don’t do what I say I’m going to do.” Every time you say, “I need to exercise” and you DON’T, you send another message: “I don’t make time for myself” (translation: I’m not important or I’m last on the list). So, guess what? You’re creating a body and a life that’s “not good enough” and not worth the time. If you put self-care last and everything else first then you will probably never see the results you desire because something else will always be more important.

The movie The Secret talks about how everything is energy. A person with a weight problem has a lot of blocked or stored energy in their body and that energy needs to be released. Some of the ways to do this include crying, yelling, journaling and talking with a friend, therapist or coach. I have referred many of my clients to Deep Emotional Release Body Work with James Hyman. This type of work can produce immediate and lasting freedom from the effects of the hurts and traumas of childhood. When you release emotional blocks you are free to create and maintain a healthy eating style that will lead to gradual and permanent weight loss.

Part of the way to break free from the constant barrage of “not good enough” message units is to be aware that they exist. Become consciously aware of what you see and what you don’t see on the cover of every magazine. Notice how often you see these images and in how many different places throughout the day or night. Notice the headlines. Notice your self-talk. Are you comparing yourself harshly to an impossible standard? Are you judging or berating thin people? How are you feeling? Do you feel fat, ugly, invisible or unimportant?

If you live in a metropolis like I do, you see and hear these message units all day, everyday. They are on busses, bus benches, billboards, shopping carts, magazines, radio talk shows, T.V. shows, newspapers, websites, direct mail, e-mail and more. Millions of message units are delivered to you daily and they all say the same thing: You are not good enough. If you are a passive recipient of these messages, you create a life and a body that fits the criteria of “not good enough.” You will constantly strive to improve your look but no matter what you do, it will not be good enough.

Luckily, you can use the same techniques the media uses to your own benefit and you’ll only have to spend a few dollars doing it. Also good to know: messages that you create personally are more powerful to your subconscious mind than messages from the mass media. In the Donate Your Weight program I provide several pages of positive affirmations you can use to focus on weight loss success and self-care. In my affirmation CD’s I use the power of repetition and help listeners to focus on desired outcomes. You can use the same technique by recording your affirmations in your own voice and listening to them continuously throughout the day. Many times we have a weight problem because we always focus on what we don’t want. We repeat and rehearse words like “I’m fat or I still need to lose more weight” and eventually we create that reality. If you use affirmations daily on flash cards or audio recordings, you will begin to create the life and the body you want.

You can also use a vision board to create weight loss results. Simply cut out or create words and pictures that symbolize what you want to look like and feel like and focus on it every day. Be sure to avoid unrealistic images. There are many things you can do with only a few dollars that will literally change your life but you have to be willing to take the time to become aware of the messages that are creating or nurturing your weight problem in the first place. Then, you’ll need to dedicate time in your daily life to create a new reality. Just as your body today is a product of past thoughts and actions, your body of the future will be transformed based on the new thoughts and actions you reinforce from this day forward.

3 Weeks to Successful Weight Loss

By TERRY SANDHU

There is an endless supply of diets and dietary supplements available on the market today, and that market continues to expand. The question is why are there so many products available?

The answer is quite simple, there is a huge demand for products that will enable people to lose weight and live healthier lives. People that have problems with their weight are desperate to lose weight and are driven to pay millions of dollars of their money each year in the vain hope of finding something that is going to help them do that.

Unfortunately there are a number of unscrupulous companies that are prepared to take advantage of the situation, by making outrageous claims about what their products can do.

In fact some of these claims border on the ridiculous, ranging from losing anything between 30-50 pounds a month. It is possible to lose 30 pounds a month, just stop eating. However this will only be a temporary answer and very soon all the weight will return.

Even with all the products available, statistics show that 91% of the people that try to lose weight through conventional methods fail to lose any significant weight for any length of time. The facts speak for themselves, dieting in its traditional form will simply not work for the large majority of the population.

The dilemma lies in not so much with the people that use dieting but with the information that is NOT provided to them. I know there is a ton of information out there, but that obviously isn’t working.

There is one key element that is essential if you want to lose weight, without this factor you will find it very difficult if not impossible to lose weight in the long term.

This key element is the ‘state of your MIND’ or more to the point the state of your ‘sub-conscious MIND’. It’s beyond belief that this vital ingredient is often missed or ignored by most weight loss programs.

You can compare your sub-conscious to a computer. It receives data from you, and the world around you. Using this information it creates a picture of who you are and what your role is in your world. This picture is called your self image, now your sub-conscious creates your self image purely from information. It doesn’t test to see if this information is true, it doesn’t judge this information, and it doesn’t care how this information affects you. All that it is interested in is creating your self image, protecting it, and make your behaviours fit it.

If you are overweight, your sub-conscious will have an image of you as a person who is overweight. This image has been created through the messages that have been sent to it over the years.

These messages could have come from:

The food that you eat

How little you exercise

The size of the clothes that you wear

What you see in the mirror

What you see when you step on the scales

What others say about you

What you think and say about yourself.

All these messages have been reinforced over the years and are strongly embedded into your self image and your behaviour will be reflected by that.

When you go on a diet all goes well for a few weeks, but then things get much harder. You find that thoughts and excuses enter your mind, which begin to stop you from doing what you know you should be doing and your motivation and willpower begins to erode, and soon you are back to where you started.

This happens because the changes that you are trying to make do not fit in with your self image, and your sub-conscious mind begins to move you away from what you are trying to do. Many of your behaviours are based on what is in your sub-conscious and it is very powerful. It basically tells you that you shouldn’t be doing these sorts of things because you are an overweight person and that is not the sort of behaviour that suits who you are. This is why many people fail to lose weight.

The question is how can you change your self image? Well the answer is that you must start feeding your sub-conscious new and different information. Now this is the important part. The information you feed your sub-conscious does not have to be true, it just needs to be supplied on a regular daily basis. Your sub-conscious doesn’t care if the information is true or not, if it continues to receive it, it will then have to produce a result based on the messages it gets, it’s that simple.

One of the best ways to send new information is through affirmations; these are short statements which are repeated on a regular basis. What you need to do is to write down a list of positive affirmations in the present tense and read or speak them to yourself on a daily basis. Write your own or use the ones below.

I am healthy

I easily lose weight

I am strong mentally and physically

I enjoy exercise

I eat food which I know is good for me

I am a very motivated person

I achieve anything that I want to

I am a winner

It’s more powerful if you can say these out aloud, and say them with determination, conviction, and really feel the meaning behind the words.

It’s important that you say these words first thing in the morning, last thing at night and a few times during the day. You need to do this for 3 weeks, as it takes roughly 21 days for a habit to form.

Don’t forget that it doesn’t matter if these statements are not true, it’s not important. What’s important is that your sub-conscious mind keeps getting these messages. You may even feel a little silly at first, ignore these thoughts and just do it.

You will begin to notice a difference in your thinking in 10-14 days. You may find that your motivation to lose weight is really high. However do not change your diet or begin an exercise program, just follow the steps for 21 days and then start your weight loss program. By this time you should be itching to start.

Continue with the affirmations once you begin your weight loss program, as this will continue to reinforce and strengthen your motivation. Don’t tell anyone what you are doing unless you know that you will be supported 100% Just make the decision to do it! I think you’ll be in for a big surprise.

For more information on how to lose weight successfully and how to keep it off visit www.easierwayz.com

It is quite common for people to begin a weight loss program at the start of the New Year. After days of merrymaking and partying during the holidays, people are often scrambling to lose the bulge that seemed to develop after several cups of eggnog and pieces of gingerbread cookies. However, after a few visits to the gym or several days of dieting, many people’s interest in going ahead with losing weight tend to wane.

If you are one of the people who are starting to lose interest in shedding off the pounds that your have gained during the holidays or even throughout all these years, you probably need to set concrete goals of what you want to happen. After knowing what you want to achieve, say lose 10 pounds in 3 months, you need a little bit of motivation to push you to continue with your diet plan and exercise regimen.

Here are some of the things that can encourage you to stick with the program and lose that excess weight:

Announce Your Target Weight Loss To Others

If you are a competitive person, you need to tell your family and friends about your weight loss plan so that you will feel a little motivated to stick to your exercise and diet regimen. Since you have already told other people of your specific goals, you will have to work hard to achieve them. You will have bragging rights, so to speak, if you actually show your friends that you have the discipline and the will to really realize your dreams.

Another reason why you need to tell your friends and family about your weight loss plan is for support. If you are overweight or obese for a long time, your family and close friends will be more than happy to help you with your goals. They are the people who want you to be healthy and have confidence about the way you look. So when you are out for a dinner, they will be there to remind you to skip the refillable sodas or sugar-rich mud pie.

Be Constantly Reminded Of Your Goal

In order for the idea of shedding pounds to sink in to your subconscious, you need to be constantly reminded about how you want to look and what you want to weigh. Thus, put pictures of people who have the ideal weight you are pining for on your refrigerator’s door, your kitchen counter and even on your bedside table. Some people even put such pictures in their wallets so that every time they get money to buy a chocolate bar, they are reminded that this bar puts them farther away from what they want to look like.

Find A Partner

The chance for success is higher if you have a partner in losing weight. You can find a partner in another friend who is also suffering from the bulge, a spouse who has a big belly, or even a brother, sister or parent who also needs to be fit. Sometimes you cannot count on discipline alone to push you to go to the gym or exercise. The buddy system will prevent procrastination and laziness. Furthermore, it is much more fun to workout while talking with friends.

Hang That Dress

Splurge on a to-die-for dress that is a few dress sizes smaller. Then, hang it in your bedroom so that you will be able to see it when you wake up and go to sleep. This dress will motivate you to keep on moving and to skip junk foods for a midnight snack.

Sometimes, you need to jumpstart your weight loss by drinking supplements that help burn fat quicker by increasing metabolism. Seeing that you are actually becoming a little slimmer can motivate you to exercise more and stick to your diet. One weight-loss product you can use is Zyroxin. Visit www.zyroxin.com to know more about this product.

When starting a new weight loss plan, you begin with lots of enthusiasm and expectations.

However, as you continue making changes in your lifestyle, you may hit the occasional road block:

Perhaps the pounds aren’t dropping fast enough…or you’ve had trouble fitting a regular exercise routine into your already hectic schedule…maybe you’ve had a hard time giving up some of your favorite foods or struggled with portion control techniques.

Don’t Despair… Celebrate!

Instead getting discouraged, take a moment to congratulate yourself for starting your weight loss program, because in doing so you’ve already worked through the excuses.

And as you probably know by now, weight loss programs begin by shifting your beliefs and making behavioral changes.

Granted, it’s a lot of work!

So, if you’ve begun your weight loss program and need a little motivation to stick with it, read on… Not Too Fast

Many dieters struggle because they want their results faster. The American Dietetic Association recommends dropping just 1 to 2 pounds each week, so real and lasting weight loss isn’t something that happens in a matter of days, healthy weight loss takes time.

In fact, losing weight too rapidly can mean you’re losing lean tissue or water, not the dreaded fat. This will actually slow down your metabolism, making your struggle with weight loss even more difficult.

“Seeing” Success

You’ve likely heard of “thinking yourself thin.” Well there’s validity to using visualization to reach your goals. Picture yourself six months from now, and think of how great you’ll feel and look as a thinner version of you. If you have old pictures of yourself, taken when you were closer to your target weight, put them up where you can see them. Use them to remind yourself what you are working for.

Think of the habits you adopted that got you to your current weight, and begin eliminating them.

Focused Goals

Making a lot of changes at once can be overwhelming, so set small and realistic goals.

Your goals should fit easily into your lifestyle, like:

A) double your daily intake of fruits and vegetables B) walk thirty minutes at lunch time C) order the side salad instead of the French fries

As these new habits become part of your routine you’ll see results and won’t feel like you’re giving your life and entire overhaul.

Partner Up

Finally, find support. You can recruit a friend, family member, or co-worker to exercise with, to dine with, to talk to. There are also a number of online weight loss support communities and forums that connect folks with similar issues and goals. Dieters who have support experience more success in making changes, and have an easier time staying motivated.

Celebrate the milestones, whether it’s dropping 5 pounds, jogging a 10 minute mile, or fitting into your skinny jeans! Toot your own horn and enjoy the benefits of your weight loss plan.

Remember: What you set in motion, stays in motion.