Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at
6:13 pm
Losing weight feels great and can help prevent serious health issues like diabetes and heart disease. But with so many weight loss diets to choose from, it’s hard to know which program is right for you.
To put this in perspective, let’s look at just some of the different diets that are on the market today.
Low Carb: This type of diet combines high protein (and high fat) with a minimal amount of carbohydrates and is very successful, at least in the short term, for many people.
Portion Control: This diet teaches moderation in meal sizes and often focuses on adding larger portions of fruits and vegetables with moderate amounts of protein and minimal intake of starchy carbs like potatoes and white bread.
Points System: Assigning different point values to foods helps these dieters meal plan by the numbers. No food is off limits here, but a piece of full-fat cheesecake might take most of your points for the whole day!
Calorie Counting: This could be thought of the old fashioned way to lose weight. A specific daily calorie intake is set and you count the calories consumed throughout the day in order to meet, but not exceed, this number.
High Fiber: This approach to weight management focuses on eating a high fiber diet filled with whole grains, beans/legumes and fruits and vegetables. The general theory here is that, if you focus on eating high fiber foods, you will naturally eat fewer empty calories that contribute to obesity.
Exercise / Muscle Building: Using aerobic exercise and muscle building techniques is yet another approach to weight loss that involves less focus on what you eat and more on what you do with your body.
Diet Pills / Supplements: Diet pills and weight loss supplements are available in many different formulas, with or without stimulants such as caffeine, and can be used alone (with healthy eating and exercise) or in conjunction with a structured weight loss program.
The truth is, ANY diet that combines healthy eating with exercise has the potential to promote successful weight loss. Yet many dieters fail time and time again – no matter what program they choose.
The Reason Why Diets Fail
Although most diets have solid nutritional elements that result in weight reduction, they are missing the secret ingredient to permanent weight loss success: personalized SUPPORT.
The best way to understand how support can help you succeed at losing weight is to look at the reality television show, “The Biggest Loser.” Why are the candidates on this show so successful at achieving life-changing weight loss? Because they aren’t just put on diets and exercise programs, they also have a personal coach working with them side-by-side, day-after-day to keep them motivated and on course!
The journey to lasting weight loss is filled with pitfalls, distractions and plateaus. In fact, many people give up before ever reaching their goal weight (and gain every pound back – and more!). That’s why it’s so important to have someone supporting you every step of the way. Someone that will keep you on track when the going gets rough, talk you through weak moments, provide encouragement and motivation when you’re ready to quit and to share your joy as you reach each milestone.
Finding the Best Support
Your best support system will be a friend, spouse, parent or other loved one who is willing to provide motivation and encouragement as you lose weight – and provide tough-love (or a kick in the butt) when needed!
However, many of us don’t have someone who can offer that kind of support. The good news is that there are online resources that allow you to connect with a personal mentor that will keep you on task and make you a success at weight loss.
Any diet can help you lose weight. When choosing a program, make your choice based on the foods you enjoy and the lifestyle you lead – and make sure you add personalized support to ensure your success.
Monday, March 8th, 2010 at
4:14 pm
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!
Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at
2:16 pm
Current info about weight loss Success is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest weight loss Success info available.
It seems like new information is discovered about something every day. And the topic of weight loss Success is no exception. Keep reading to get more fresh news about weight loss Success.
Katie, a 33-year-old mother of two, has been on her share of diets over the years. From Weight Watchers to the Zone to Sugar Busters, she feels as if she has tried them all. While she has had moderate success in losing weight from time to time, she has never found a long-term weight loss solution. Her weight is a point of contention in her marriage; her husband—who also happens to be obese—wishes she were thin, but says he loves her anyway. The two have been separated a number of times, and even filed for divorce once. The stress has caused Katie to begin binge eating again.
I hope that reading the above information was both enjoyable and educational for you. Your learning process should be ongoing–the more you understand about any subject, the more you will be able to share with others.
Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at
12:21 pm
The weight loss path can be bumpy but if you take on board advice from people who have been there then you can prepare yourself for what’s to come. Here are the top weight loss success tips.
1. Don’t completely cut out the bad foods you enjoy. It is much easier to keep going with your diet if you allow yourself little treats. Cutting out everything you like and only eating fruit and veg usually causes you to give up very quickly! You can also get the healthier version of foods you like such as low fat cheese for example.
2. Keep a food diary. It might sound inconvenient but it becomes habit after a while and when you see what you’ve eaten written down it can be easier to control. It’s especially effective when you’ve had a bad day, seeing the amount and all the unhealthy food you ate in the one day can make you wisen up fast. It’s easy to forget and not realise how badly you can eat so keep that food diary up to date.
3. Find your ‘why’. Knowing why you want to lose weight will provide the determination you need to stick with it on bad days. You can see this in action when a bride to be wants to lose weight for her wedding – there is no stopping her.
4. Treat yourself to new clothes when you drop a size to reward yourself for what you’ve achieved so far. That way you can see the difference and you’ll be motivated to keep going.
Just remember that you are not alone when you have down days and days where you completely revert back to your old eating habits. Everyone experiences this but you’ve got to push through and keep on track.
Friday, March 5th, 2010 at
10:18 am
You are ready to drop all the hype and get the weight off and these straight-shooting weight loss success tips will guide you path. These tips are for those who are ready and serious about losing the weight and they will only work with your participation but if you need to get the weight off they will show you how to do it.
1. Get your mindset set for success. There is no point to learning how to drop pounds if your mind is telling you that you won’t be able to do it. Focus your mind on the positive rewards these changes are bringing to you and commit to doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
2. You might need a diet primer. For many people years of being overweight, inactive and eating a poor diet have left their bodies weight loss resistant. To reset the body so it becomes more efficient at burning body fat again you will need to follow this method: Finish eating carbohydrates by lunchtime. By eliminated carbs later in the day you force your body to burn body fat for energy.
3. Keep your diet simple. The simpler your diet is to follow the more likely you will be to stick with it. Try the divide plate rule for keeping your portions right. Simply fill half of your plate with vegetables and on the other half of your plate put one serving of protein and one of carbohydrate.
4. Exercise with weights and aerobically. For best results perform both strength training exercises and aerobic exercise this will allow you to burn fat and preserve muscle which is needed for a good metabolism.
When you are ready to get serious about losing the weight, use these weight loss success tips and combine the benefits of the right diet, exercise and mindset.
Thursday, March 4th, 2010 at
8:18 am
Weight loss success will always be impossible if you always try to achieve it the easy way around. This is something that is obtained through a lot of discipline, sacrifice, perseverance and will. Although there are a lot of new programs and products that offer weight reduction in just a matter of a few days, the best method remains as the simplest ones that you do not even have to spend a single penny for.
Some of these simple methods which are the keys to weight loss success is to know your limits. Most people tend to overeat because they think that there is no immediate effect once they have went overboard with the food. Although this might be true enough, the long term effect will slowly sink in which is the building up of fats within the body. Also, some people tend not to pay attention to what they are eating when they are dining. It is very important to not only enjoy the taste of delicious food but to also let your body enjoy a guilt free cuisine.
Another simple method to achieve weight loss success is to vigilantly monitor your calorie intake per day. You can do this by always looking into the nutritional facts of the food you eat which are located at the back or side of its container or box. This is very important because an average person needs only around 2000-2500 calories daily so remember to take note and if possible, write it down for future reference. By doing this, you will be able to keep track and be able to obtain your goal in a systematic and orderly manner.