Weight Loss Programs 2

2005-12-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

Weight loss is a hot topic among people today, especially considering the fact that more than half of us are overweight. As we get older we often get busier, and before we know it, find ourselves in the prime of our lives and packing a few extra pounds. With so little extra time in our lives it is impractical to join the latest diet fad or commit to sweating in the gym for hours at a time. Are we all destined to grow outward with each passing year, or is there a simple way for us to reclaim our healthy figures? If you struggle with your own battle of the bulge read on for five sure-fire ways to drop a few of those unwanted pounds, and more importantly learn how you can prevent packing them in the first place!

TIP #1: Burn it in the AM.

What is the first thing you do when you wake each morning? Hit the snooze button for an extra ten minutes of sleep? What if I told you that taking those ten minutes to strap on your sneakers and walk briskly around the block would result in weight loss? It has been proven that aerobic activity done on an empty stomach forces your body to recruit energy from storage. This energy is stored in the form of fat on various parts of your body. Starting tomorrow take ten minutes out of your morning to walk briskly around the block before breakfast. Do not sprint or try to walk as quickly as possible, simply walk at a pace that you could comfortably hold a conversation. This seemingly small activity, when done consistently, will produce surprising weight loss results!

TIP #2 Forget Your Late Night Snack.

I know I am not the only one who enjoys eating a snack after dinner! Although comfort food seems to taste better right before bed, it is also more prone to stick with us when eaten late at night. It has been proven that not eating three hours before bed reduces fat storage throughout the night. If you go to bed at 10pm, finish eating for the day no later than 7pm. Once you have made this a habit you will be ecstatic over the long term weight loss!

TIP #3 Kiss that Frappuccino Goodbye.

What tastes better than a frothy, venti frappuccino smothered in whip cream and chocolate syrup? While blended coffee beverages have rapidly gained popularity with the masses, their caloric tallies have been all but ignored. Whether you are an avid Starbucker, or only wander in for an occasional treat, it is important to know the truth about what you are drinking. The average Venti sized frappuccino weighs in at 530 calories. This staggering number equals 2.5 bagels, or one third of the recommended daily calories for an average woman. Not only is this an extreme amount of calories to be consumed in a beverage but the calories come purely from sugar, which is easily stored as fat. Next time you are in line at the coffee shop and find yourself eyeing a sugary beverage, redirect your attention to the tea selection, or stick with an old fashioned cup of coffee.

TIP #4 Fuel Your Fire.

Have you ever tended a campfire? You probably remember continuously adding sticks and branches to keep the fire from running out of fuel. Your body�s metabolism is similar in its need for constant fuel. Eating a small meal every three hours is a great way to keep your metabolism high all day long. When your metabolism is high you burn more calories throughout the day and are less likely to store fat. Rather than eating 2 or 3 large meals a day, and allowing your �fire� to go out, giving way to hunger pains, try eating a small meal every three hours and be amazed at your weight loss results.

TIP #5 Curb Your Carbs

I�m sure sometime in the past year you have found yourself subjected to the testimony of a converted �low-carb� enthusiast. While these people may look great it is definitely not the right diet for everyone. Extreme fatigue, crankiness and downright impracticality are what make this diet a tough cookie to swallow. Cutting one or two carb-filled items out of your daily diet can make a huge difference in meeting weight loss goals. While I wouldn�t recommend throwing out your bread basket entirely, consciously cutting carb-filled items out of your daily food intake is a great idea. If you normally have a sandwich for lunch make it open-faced, thus cutting out half of the bread. If you enjoy eating pasta for dinner reduce your pasta portion and add extra vegetables. These minor changes to your daily diet will prove themselves priceless when you step onto the scale!

It is you against the bulge, and now that you are armed with these 5 tips for easy weight loss, I am confident that you are going to win! Keep in mind that consistency is the key. The more effort that you put into implementing these 5 tips into your daily lifestyle, the quicker the unwanted pounds will disappear!

Diana Keuilian, author, ACE certified Personal Trainer, and co-founder of HitechTrainer.com offers online personal training and nutrition programs that fit your budget and schedule. Whether your goal is to lose weight, firm and tone, or to build muscle, HitechTrainer.com will build a custom designed program just for you.

Visit: http://www.hitechtrainer.com/ and begin meeting your fitness goals today!

2005-12-26T15:38:00.000-08:00

If you�re trying lose weight, maintain your weight, or sculpt your body, than you�re probably trying to discover how to burn pure fat. You want to know what you can do to make your body burn fat faster and more efficiently.

Well, take heart, there is a way to turn your body into an efficient fat burning, weight eliminating machine, but it involves work. The question is �Are you willing to work once you learn how to burn pure fat from your body?� because it will take some effort on your part.

Effort, you say, what kind of effort? Well, there is no miracle pill or supplement to make your body burn fat without any work on your part. But there are supplements to help you body burn fat more efficiently. However, for the purpose of this article, we�ll stick to the basics.

In order to rid your body of its fat stores, you must find a balance of diet and exercise that works. Ahh, exercise � yes, there is it is � there�s your magic secret to burning pure fat from your body.

Let�s start with some scientific facts here. During the first 15-20 minutes of exercising, your body uses its stores of carbohydrates to fuel your body. After this time, it taps into its fat stores. This means that you need to exercise for at least 20 minutes or more to be sure you�re burning excess fat.

Now, if your goal is to lose weight, then there are a few things to consider in your endeavor. First of all, you want to be sure that you�re losing fat and not muscle. Well, you might think, �Hey, weight is weight, right?� You couldn�t be more wrong.

First of all, you definitely do not want to lose muscle weight. Although it�s true that muscle weighs more than fat, it�s also true that muscle needs more energy to operate. This revs up your metabolism and helps you to burn calories a lot faster, thereby making your body burn its fat stores for energy.

So, if you want to learn how to burn pure fat, then you need to learn how to build muscle. Okay, ladies, you may be thinking, I don�t want to look like some muscle bound body builder. But I assure you, this will not happen. Women are just not genetically built to bulk up, unless they have more testosterone than normal in their systems.

What will happen is that you�ll notice that you�re slimming down and your clothes fit better, even if the needle on the scale does not budge. Your body will become much more efficient at burning fat helping you to lose weight.

So if you�ve been killing yourself with aerobic activity and still are unable to lose those last few pounds, then building a little muscle very well may be the answer.

You can also find a treasure trove of weight loss and fitness information on our site at SeeweightLossResults.com. So be sure to visit us, look around and sign up for fitness article updates before you leave.

About the Author

For positive weight loss tips and reviews, visit our site at SeeWeightLossResults.com. You'll discover what it takes to lose the weight and keep it off for good with access to a treasure trove of weight loss tips, articles, ebooks and more. Be sure to sign up for our fitness updates while you're there.

2005-12-24T13:30:00.000-08:00

In our quest to get that "perfect" body, we actually tend to lose our focus on the real things that should matter to us, such as our health and well-being. Thus, we end up not only neglecting our insides but possibly our relationships with others as well. Cutting down on our daily calorie intake does not necessarily assure us of a slimmer waistline and smaller thighs. However, having our calorie-levels set way down low what dieticians actually prescribe is not only sheer shallowness but a cause a lot of ill effects on your health. From mood swings to fainting spells, our bodies tend to give out whatever "distress signals" it can think of just to tell you to stop that mindless way of dieting.

When it comes to dieting, do bear in mind that food is not the enemy - it never was. It�s actually the way we abuse our bodies that can turn everything into a downward spiral. Stop obsessing about what you�ve eaten in a day (or the lack of it) in order to keep yourself fit and healthy you�ll actually need food (with all its vitamin and mineral content) to help you achieve this. Remember, do everything in moderation (especially in dieting).

Unknown to the "anorexic community" who would rather die than actually eat, there are certain vitamins and minerals - that we can get from the right type of food which are actually essential how we�ll be able to convert these nutrients into energy rather than just store them into our thighs and bellies as fat. As much as we try to deny ourselves of the proper amount of food that our bodies need in order for it to run much more efficiently, we actually need a big lifestyle change and make sure to always keep in mind recommended daily levels of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need in order to be healthy and fit.

When it comes to dieting, we must always keep in mind the importance of the Vitamin B complex. This kind of vitamin actually plays an important role in how fast our body can digest the food that we put in and eventually turning it into physical energy. When food is properly digested, our bodies greatly benefit from this because aside from not storing excess fat, being healthy actually makes as more alert and less prone to illnesses. Vitamin B2, B3 and B6 however, are all associated with the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can actually affect the way this gland works in a big, big way. A clear sign of a disruption in how the thyroid gland functions is when our metabolism goes haywire and prevents us from determining the amount and rate of the calories that we burn off.

Another important mineral that we can acquire from actual eating is Zinc, just one of the many minerals that can actually help people with dieting safely. This mineral can actually have an effect on the way our food taste as well as on how we�ll be able to control our appetites. Along with Vitamin A and Vitamin E, Zinc is a mineral that helps people in regulating their thyroid hormones.

It�s also important to note that when it comes to dieting and nutrition concerns, it is really not just the reflection of ourselves that we see on the mirror which should serve as our gauge on whether or not we�re healthy. Dieting can actually be very emotionally stressful and when we lack certain vitamins and minerals it can actually be a small step towards depression. For many people who have weight problems, food actually helps us feel better, even acts as our "security blankets" whenever we�re down on the dumps. Which is why skipping meals or just basically not eating at all is not the way to diet, it�ll not just give you an ulcer but mental illness (depression) as well.

It is also important to keep in mind the big impact that the Vitamin B complex has on our mental health. Deficiencies in the vitamins that make up the B complex can actually result in a series of complications which might lead to a mental illness such as confusion, anxiety, depression, dementia, paranoia and even psychosis. Furthermore, deficiencies in the Vitamin B complex can bring about insomnia which can make any one of those symptoms much worse.

Vitamin C is another vitamin that is important to one�s overall feeling of well-being. Arm yourself with the proper knowledge with regards to how we can greatly benefit from the various vitamins and minerals that we can find in our daily food intake. The production of serotonin and dopamine as well as the maintaining of chemical balance within the brain is a something that can be well regulated with the proper intake of the available nutrients.

Nutrition is especially important to the success of any weight loss diet. Dietary supplements, taken accordingly to the prescribed amount, can be an excellent way to maintain nutrient levels while reducing caloric intake.

About the Author

Charlene J. Nuble 2005. For up to date links and information about Vitamins, please go to: http://vitamins.besthealthlink.net/ or for updated links and information on all health related topics, go to: http://www.besthealthlink.net/

2005-12-23T12:17:00.000-08:00

Nine out of every 10 individuals who lose weight gain it back. Given this fact, it would seem that engaging in a weight loss program is a gamble in which the odds of winning are very slim to none. Before you become frustrated and give up, you should realize that one out of those very ten people did succeed. What that means is that it can be done. The trick is knowing how they did it.

Years ago I embarked on a journey to study how individuals who succeeded in losing weight for the long term did it. I then researched the science behind how the body regulated weight. I came to understand that most weight loss programs fail because the programs are designed to disrupt the body�s natural mechanisms. It is this disruption that creates the battle where the individual eventually gives up.

To lose weight safely and permanently, you have to understand a concept in body functioning called homeostasis. In simple words, homeostasis means balance. The body always tries to maintain a constant environment. Your weight, just like your blood pressure or body temperature, is kept at a constant level. This level is called your set point. If you changed your external environment, your body will adjust to keep the internal environment stable. That is why a person in Alaska in the middle of the winter has the same body temperature as when they go to Arizona in the middle of the summer.

How then can you change your weight? First by understanding that there are certain food elements that your body needs, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins and water. If you deprive your body of any of these, it will start fighting you. Second, that your weight is kept in balance mostly by the effects of two opposing hormones, glucagon, that causes fat breakdown and insulin that causes fat buildup. You lose weight safely and permanently by giving your body all the essential food nutrients (not by dieting) and by shifting the balance in favor of glucagon over insulin. You achieve this by adjusting the foods that affect the production of these hormones. This eliminates cravings and constant hunger.

Also when you decrease the amount of food you eat, as in dieting, your body also decreases the amount of calories it burns to try and maintain the balance. This is why you must increase your activity level to maintain your body�s rate of burning calories.

Most weight loss plans fail because they do not take the powerful effect of homeostasis into account when the program was designed. When you are told, for example to avoid carbohydrates or fats, your body, through homeostasis, will create cravings for those foods and that�s what causes that uneasiness that lead the individual to eventually give up on the program.

The good news, again is that by shifting the balance in a gradual fashion without trying to completely disrupt it, you can obtain safe and permanent weight loss.

About the Author

Dr. David Nganele is a noted medical education expert and his book "The New Set Point" explains why most weight loss plans fail and how you can fix yours. You can learn more from his web site at http://www.thenewsetpoint.com

2005-12-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

6 QUICK STEPS TO REDUCING CHOLESTEROL

The number of Americans diagnosed with high cholesterol has reached alarming numbers. Over 105 million American adults have total cholesterol levels of 200 (new standard) milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) and higher. Of these, 42 million have levels of 240 (old standard) mg/dL or higher, which doubles the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Cholesterol is a fat like substance produced in the body and plays many important roles. A few of its many functions include: an essential structural component of the cellular membrane and as a precursor to the hormones testosterone and estrogen. Total blood cholesterol levels are dictated by the amount produced by the body and the amount consumed in our diets. Problems arise when cholesterol levels are high and the excess is deposited, leading to narrowing of arteries and increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Unfortunately we can�t control the amount of cholesterol produced by the body. However, there are a few factors under your control that can help reduce your risk.

1. Reduce the amount of cholesterol in your diet
The first thing do is familiarize yourself with foods high in cholesterol. Cholesterol is found in animal products only, such as egg yolk, meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products. Below is a list of commonly eaten sources of cholesterol.

FoodCholesterol (mg)
Whole egg213
Chicken, white meat (1oz) 25
Cheese :american,blue,brie,cheddar,colby
monterey,parmesean,swiss (1oz) 30
Ground beef, extra lean (1oz) 30
Turkey, light meat (1oz) 25
Pork, center loin (1oz) 30
Shrimp (1oz) 55
Most other fish (1oz) 15 � 25

The American Heart Association recommends a three-step approach to lowering cholesterol.

Cholesterol � Step One � less than 300 mg/day
Step Two � between 200 � 250 mg/day
Step Three � less than 150 mg/day ***

To realize the most dramatic reduction, step three is recommended.

2. Reduce saturated fat intake
Saturated fat should be around 5 - 7% of caloric intake. On a 1200 kcal/day diet you would be allowed 5-9 grams of saturated fat / day. The reduction of saturated fat in the diet has been one of the most successful strategies for lowering cholesterol. Saturated fats are most abundant in animal products, but can be found in large amounts in certain plant oils, such as palm & coconut oils.

Don�t be fooled by products claiming to be �cholesterol free�, they may contain coconut or palm oil, which are still high in saturated fats.

Foods high in saturated fat are as follows and should be consumed sparingly:
Animal sources
ButterCheeseWhole Milk
CreamIce CreamFat in BEEF, PORK & LAMB

Plant sources
Cocoa ButterCoconutCoconut Oil
Palm OilPalm Kernel Oil

3. Reduce sodium intake
Americans average from 4,000 to 5,800 per day. The American Heart Association recommends 2000 milligrams of sodium or less per day. To put this into perspective for you, one teaspoon of salt has 2,196 mg of sodium. Therefore practices such as salting your food contribute to about 18 percent of the average American diet. The other major source of sodium (67 percent) is in processed foods.

You were not born with the taste for salt � you acquired it. It will take about a month of eating less salt and high sodium foods to reduce your desire for it.

4. Increase fiber intake
Eating fiber can help lower cholesterol levels. Fiber binds to lipids such as cholesterol and carries them out of the body, therefore lowering blood concentrations and possibly the risk of artery and heart disease. Oat bran, oatmeal, rice bran, beans, and fiber from fruits, vegetables, seeds and legumes are the most beneficial. You should eat between 30-40 grams of fiber per day.

5. Exercise
Aerobic exercise can increase high-density lipoprotein HDL (good cholesterol) and decrease triglycerides (circulating fat in bloodstream). There is a dose related response between the amount of calories expended an increase in HDL. The threshold value to effect HDL levels is a weekly caloric expenditure is between 1000-1200 calories. Where expending between 2000-3500 calories / week has an optimal effect.

How much aerobic exercise is that? Put in terms of just walking, that means 10 � 12 miles / week to attain the threshold level or 20 miles to reach optimal value of exercise. If you are exercising 5 days / week, this means 2 miles per workout. This may seem like a lot, however if one were to walk at 3.5 miles / hr, 2 miles could be completed in approximately 34 minutes. Plus, walking is not the only form of aerobic activity one can perform to achieve a benefit. Activities such as cycling, swimming, elliptical training and stair climbing are also appropriate. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends this activity take place at 50-80% of VO2 max. Exercising at this intensity will burn approximately 250-300 calories / half hour.

Additionally, studies have shown whether aerobic exercise is done in a single bout or broken up benefits are similar. In other words, it does not matter is you do three 10 minutes bouts or one 30 minute bout of aerobic exercise.

Be careful; remember these are general recommendations for apparently healthy individuals. Before starting any sort of exercise program on should always consult their physician and be under the supervision and guidance of a qualified exercise professional.

6. Weight Loss
Numerous studies show weight loss combined with exercise is key to reducing total cholesterol and improving overall blood lipid profile. The formula for weight loss is simple, however a small percentage of dieters are successful at losing the weight and keeping it off. That is why losing weight needs to be approached as a lifestyle change, not a diet. Dieting does not work. Consume fewer calories than the body needs and weight loss will occur. If lowering cholesterol is your goal, a caloric deficit can be achieved be reducing sources of cholesterol and saturated fat, while increasing the fiber in diet.

REFERENCES
1.ACSM�s Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. Fourth Edition, 277-284, 2001.
2.ACSM�s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins. Sixth Edition, 137-164, 2000.
3.www.cdc.gov : Centers For Disease Control website; 2005.
4.Dietary Treatment of High Blood Pressure and High Blood Cholesterol, A manual for patients. American Heart Association, 1990.

About the Author

Paul DiLauro, MS is an Exercise Physiologist at Peak Performance Fitness (www.peakptfit.com) and an ACSM certified Health Fitness Instructor.

2005-12-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

Dieters dread the plateau. You're on a roll, losing weight steadily and happily for weeks. Your confidence is high and your goal is in sight. Then suddenly your scale freezes. No matter how hard you try, those extra pounds just refuse to budge. You've hit a wall and you know the frustration of seeing no progress could easily lead you to gain back what you've lost. So how do you break through the plateau?

It's perfectly normal for a dieter to reach a plateau. The trick is to use it as an opportunity to double up your efforts and get really clear on your strategy to carry you through to the finish line. Below you'll find suggestions that can help you recommit to your program and re-ignite the weight-loss process when you feel challenged.

1. Get clear on your ultimate weight-loss goal.

Be sure that your weight-loss goal is realistic and that your expected rate of weight loss is reasonable. If you are on a heath enhancing, nutritionally rich weight loss program you can expect to loss one to two pounds a week. Each body has its own ideal weight and size. Don't compare yourself to anyone else, but listen to your body and notice what feels best for you. A simple way to approximate your ideal weight is by referring to a Body Mass Index chart.

2. Go high-protein, low carbs.

Unless you are eating enough protein to maintain your lean muscle mass, you are likely to have lost weight already from both your fat stores and muscle. Women need to eat approximately 100grams of protein a day and men 150 grams in order to preserve their muscle tissue during a weight loss program. If you have lost some muscle during your weight loss program so far you will need to focus on protein so your body can build muscle, which requires more calories to sustain, which will in turn, kick start your weight loss again. Needless to say, any weight loss program you choose should be one that preserves your body's muscle and this does not happen!

3. Add resistance training to your program.

A wonderful way to boost your metabolism and break through to the next level of weight loss is by incorporating aerobic exercise into your program, such as 30 minutes of walking three to four times a week. (If you are 35 years or older, or haven't exercised regularly, begin with 10 to 15 minutes two to three times a week.) In addition, weight training with free weights or machines several times a week can help increase muscle mass, which in turn allows you to burn more calories faster. Studies show that weight training can increase your metabolism overnight by five to 10 percent. Working out can increase your metabolism for up to 21 hours after an intense workout.

4. Look out for hidden carbohydrates.

If your weight loss progress seems slow, look out for carbohydrates that might be sneaking their way unnoticed into your diet. Sugar can lurk in the most unexpected places such as ketchup, salad dressings, teriyaki and barbecue sauces. Watch out too for cornstarch, sugar or milk solids in many processed foods such as gravies, or sauces on frozen vegetables. Be especially careful about "low-fat" foods where flavor is enhanced by sugar and other carbohydrates. Try keeping a diet journal for a couple of days of EVERYTHING you eat and drink. You may quickly discover the hidden carbs that are keeping your weight-loss progress stuck and be able to eliminate them and move past your plateau.

5. Take the "refinement" out of your diet.

Try eliminating all refined sugar and refined grains from your diet. This includes white bread, pastries, pasta, white rice, white flour crackers, sugar-coated breakfast cereals, cookies and cake. This simple step can encourage a huge weight-loss breakthrough and leave you feeling more healthy and energized in the process.

6. Don't go hungry.

Cutting back on how often you eat can have a negative impact on your diet plateau. Many studies show that small, frequent meals are more satisfying and produce better weight-loss results than the same number of calories consumed in three large meals. Take advantage of healthy snacking and crunch on fresh slices of raw vegetables like celery, peppers, cucumber and jicama when you're hungry.

7. Drink to burn up.

It's vitally important to replenish your fluids by drinking plenty of water on your weight loss program. An inadequate supply of water in itself can slow down your weight-loss. Carry water with you wherever you go throughout the day. For additional weight-management benefits, add a high quality aloe concentrate to your water to help keep your digestion in top shape. Also, a probiotic supplement can help us maintain a healthy intestinal flora. Keeping well hydrated not only helps you burn fat efficiently, it also helps control hunger.

8. Keep your incentive strong.

Remember the determination you felt when you first began your weight-loss program? Remember the excitement of watching the pounds drop one by one? Go back to whatever your initial motivation was and see whether it still works for you. It may have been the desire to lose weight for a particular event or to regain your figure after pregnancy. You may have been motivated by poor health or by the shock of just how much weight you had gained. See whether the same motivation still has juice for you. If not, choose a new one. Keep a picture of yourself looking great (or bad!) on your refrigerator as a daily reminder of where you are heading.

Kim is a successful weight loss coach who will cut through the diet-hype and help you reach your goal weight. No public 'weigh-ins', meetings that cost you money or fads...simply results you will love! You can receive a free consultation. Visit today: http://tinyurl.com/6fajk Are you interested in earning money from home? We can help you grow a profitable home business: http://tinyurl.com/48cdy

2005-12-19T10:36:00.000-08:00

Cardio & Weight Loss

Q: I've heard you mention that you don't need tons of cardio to burn stubborn abdominal fat. Okay, I can live with that, but you've also said that it isn't absolutely necessary to perform direct ab work either. What gives?

A: If you want to build a serious set of abdominals, routinely perform the following exercises and their variations: squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, and standing military presses. These multi-joint movements require a strong contribution from the abdominals to stabilize the core, particularly when heavy loads are used. It is not uncommon to hear clients complain of abdominal soreness a day or two after performing multiple sets with a decent weight of the chin-up or standing military press exercise - the ab prestretch will tap into fibers you never thought existed! And remember, your abdominals act as a natural girdle, or weight belt if you will, when performing all exercises, particularly squats and deadlifts. These muscles act as a bridge between your upper and lower body and are heavily recruited as stabilizers.

Sure, isolation exercises like pullovers, curls, and even triceps pressdowns also require a good degree of core stability; however, the loads used are relatively low compared to the big 4 mentioned above. In fact, according to Siff & Verkhoshansky, isolation becomes virtually impossible if large loads are used, and in many cases, the tension developed in the stabilizers will equal or even exceed that of the prime movers!* So, you see, the abdominals can be trained quite effectively as stabilizers - the physiques of top Olympic weightlifters will attest to that.

*Siff, MC, Verkhoshansky, YV. "Supertraining (4th Edition)." Denver, CO: Supertraining International, 1999. (pg. 241)

Q: I am still very much confused regarding cardio intensity. One book says keep it low intensity (i.e. 60% of MHR) and go for distance; another keep it high intensity (80% or more) and go for as long and hard as you can. The goal is to burn fat. Each book has great arguments for their approach. Which is accurate?

A: The second approach is far more effective for burning fat. Without getting into a huge discussion about this, here's how things work in a nutshell.

At a lower intensity, your body prefers fat for fuel. Yes, this is true, but two things generally happen:

1. After awhile of doing this type of activity, your body adapts by actually laying down fat (you heard me right) to become more efficient at the given task and this usually occurs in the lower body, and

2. A higher relative amount of fat is burned during low intensity cardio but a greater absolute amount is burned with higher intensity cardio and in less time.

Other things to consider are: a) the EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) is greater for a longer duration following higher intensity work; in other words, you're metabolism is much higher for a longer period of time post-workout with high intensity cardio, and b) higher lactate levels exist with high intensity cardio. So what you may ask? Well there is a direct correlation with lactate and GH (Growth Hormone) and GH is a potent fat-burner.

Bottom line: with regards to burning fat, do higher intensity work in the form of interval training and you'll get great results.

John Paul Catanzaro is a certified kinesiologist and professional fitness and lifestyle consultant with a specialized honours Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology and Health Science. He owns and operates a private gym in Toronto, Ontario providing training and nutritional consulting services. For additional information, visit his website at www.BodyEssence.ca or call 416-292-4356.

2005-12-18T10:35:00.000-08:00

Add extra oxygen to the body fat, and in theory it should break down into two well known substances:

The chemistry sounds very straightforward. Human body fat is a combination of three elements - hydrogen, carbon and oxygen molecules (plus other substances that are stored within the fat cells).

Add extra oxygen to the body fat, and in theory it should break down into two well known substances:

Hydrogen & oxygen molecules (H2O - water, which enters the blood stream, goes through the kidneys and is then excreted via urination); &
Carbon & oxygen molecules (CO2 - carbon dioxide, which is excreted via respiration).

Oxygen or Ozone Therapies are used by a number of alternative medicine practitioners around the world. It is more popular in Europe than in the USA. Practitioners are also found in Canada and Mexico.

Despite being banned in some countries and certainly debunked by large sections of the "conventional" medical profession, there is plenty of evidence that oxygen therapy produces health benefits for many conditions far cheaper, much faster and without the side effects of patent drugs.

Oxygen therapy is usually administered in one of two ways:

A facial mask attached to an oxygen tank, so that the patient breaths in oxygen for many hours of the day; or
Daily sessions of diluted hydrogen peroxide administered via an intravenous drip.

Given the straightforward chemical composition of body fat discussed above, does Oxygen Therapy actually work for weight loss? I decided to contact a number of practitioners in various parts of the world and ask them if, when treating patients for other ailments using oxygen therapies, weight loss was ever seen as a side-effect of their treatment.

All the doctors who replied responded that no such weight loss factor has ever been observed that they could credit to the oxygen therapy itself, and not the condition they were treating.

It seems that empirical evidence to support the theory that oxygen therapy could reduce body fat into the easily excreted H2O and CO2 is lacking.

Still, not everyone is convinced. The chemistry appears fine on paper, so something is missing in the implementation. Finding that missing factor could be crucial in the battle of the bulge, the quest for weight loss, and conquering obesity.

Books have been written promoting special breathing techniques for weight loss. Although there are sceptics, there are also many people around the world who swear by the success they have achieved in losing weight via these breathing techniques.

The theory behind these breathing techniques is not merely due to the intake of the oxygen, but that the human body's metabolic process expels waste matter, including carbon dioxide, when we breath out. Our air intake is higher in oxygen than what we expire, and we breath out more carbon dioxide than we breath in.

The breathing technique therefore seeks to encourage and maximize the expulsion of carbon dioxide from our bodies - carbon dioxide that is the waste matter created when the oxygen dissolves body fat.

Personally, I must admit to being impressed though not thoroughly convinced. It is quite reasonable to assume that the people who are disciplined enough to follow this breathing technique diligently for several weeks or months are probably motivated enough to also be doing other things (dietary, psychologically, etc.) that will be causing the weight loss.

Still, it fits the basic (unproven) theory that adding oxygen to body fat should result in weight loss. Furthermore, it is harmless, so long as adequate dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins and minerals are being consumed. Whether the actual results are from the technique itself or of a more psychosomatic nature is immaterial if it works, is free and available to all, and has no adverse side effects.

By all means, add these deep breathing exercises to your overall toolbox of synergistic weight loss treatments.

Still, there is one more form of oxygen therapy (not usually recognized as such) that even the sceptics would have trouble disputing.

It is more commonly called exercise. More accurately, aerobic exercise. (Aerobic simply means "air breathing".) It is exercise that makes you huff and puff, deepening your breathing. It is and always has been one of the most fundamental parts of any successful weight loss program.

Trevor Johnson is a Masters qualified researcher cum electronic publisher with over twenty years personal experience in the battle against obesity. Objective information and the pros and cons of many types of weight loss therapies is found athis "Weight Loss, Dieting & Obesity" site:http://www.DietWords.com

2005-12-17T07:57:00.000-08:00

online weight loss programs

Over the past 5 years, online weight loss programs have become increasingly popular. One such Internet-only weight loss program claims to have over 1.2 million members in it's database. We are seeing more and more companies creating an Internet presence to assist with weight loss.

Is it a money grab, or can an Internet-based program genuinely help you? How can sitting at the computer help you to lose weight? How can we trust the information being provided to us? Let's try and answer some of those questions.

Money-making or Real Help?

A study conducted by the Brown Medical School provides some interesting results. They compared the results of 2 groups of overweight people over a period of 6 months. Both groups were trying to lose weight. One group was subscribed into a structured Web and email based program - whilst the other group was simply given a number of Internet links to weight loss information.

Participants who were given a structured behavioral treatment program with weekly contact and individualized feedback had better weight loss compared with those given links to educational Web sites. The study concluded that "the Internet and e-mail appear to be viable methods for delivery of structured behavioral weight loss programs."

However a smaller study conducted later compared only a single online weight loss program with a group given only a weight loss manual. The results here were quite different, with the non-Internet group getting better results.

Losing Weight By sitting in Front of the Computer?

Our modern sedentary lifestyle is having a huge impact on health in the Western world. However, never before have we had so much information available at our fingertips. The on-line weight loss programs, are allowing people to have counseling, and weekly personalized support at a fraction of the normal cost.

There is no doubt that "bricks-and-mortar" weight loss centers, such as Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and LA Weight Loss, are significantly more expensive than their on-line competitors.

The support available from on-line forums, message boards, email, and chat, is contributing to peoples weight loss efforts.

Weight Loss Information - Quackery or Quality?

There is one thing about the Internet - it allows anyone to take up a pen (or a keyboard) and start writing. Like most modern mediums, this is both good and bad. There is considerable ms-information out there, but it can allow you to make more informed decisions.

Previously our only source of information was from advertising, magazine articles, or from our local physicians. This information typically came from a single school of thought, or establishment. The Internet allows us to sift for real-world information, written by the very people that have suffered the conditions, and found an answer.

Without wishing to deride the medical establishment, it seems that many doctors are too quick to prescribe medication. We can't help but feel cynical when we see the names of pharmaceutical companies written on pens and notepads in the doctors office!

We need to be more informed and weigh up our own decisions for what is best for our bodies.

Online Weight Loss - What To Expect

The two studies published in the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), tell us that, yes, on-line weight loss can and does work. It also tells us to be realistic about what to expect. The best person to help you succeed is you.

It's also worth bearing in mind that the cost for these programs is very good compared with the amount of information that you receive.

If you are considering altering your diet, and beginning an exercise regime, it's well worth having a look at some of the programs on-line to see if they will suit.

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Free Dieting - The Weight Loss Guide is a resource for everything concerning losing weight. Independent reviews of popular diets, and articles taking a serious look at the causes and solution of weight problems.

2005-12-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

You gain weight when your calorie intake is more than your calorie expenditure.

You gain weight when your calorie intake is more than your calorie expenditure. But if this calorie equation is reversed, then it results in "negative calorie" balance in your body. In this negative calorie case, you expand more calories than you take in, resulting in a decrease in the stored calories in the form of body fat, and you experience a weight loss. About 10% of daily caloric intake is used to process foods in the body. You can expand more by doing physical activities.

There are certain foods that show negative calorie effect because the body has to expand more energy to extract calories from these foods. The negative calorie foods need more calories to break down the foods and digest than the calories the foods actually contain. The extra calories are taken up from the stored fat in the body. Thus the negative calorie foods (may also be called as minus calorie foods or fat burning foods) are ideal for reducing the body fat and for losing weight.

Let us take an example. A piece of dessert consisting of 300 calories may require only 150 calories to be digested by our body, resulting in a net gain of 150 calories which is added to our body fat! So if you eat 100 calories of a food that requires 150 calories to digest, then you have burnt an additional 50 calories simply by eating that food. These 50 calories are used up from the stored fat in your body!

These foods are widely available in nature. Some of the foods from the list of negative calorie foods (about 100 in number) are: asparagus, broccoli, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, carrot, garlic, papaya, spinach, turnip, zucchini, apples, oranges, lettuce, grapefruit, pineapples, strawberries, and raspberries.

It is a great idea to eat these negative calorie food items to your full satisfaction without counting calories. Include these foods in your daily diet and plan your diet according to food pyramid. You will be amazed to see the fast weight loss results. You can follow a negative calorie diet plan for safe and permanent weight loss.

You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (HTML clickable) and references and copyright info.

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This article has been written by http://www.fatfreekitchen.com.
For more information on negative calorie foods visit the web site
http://www.fatfreekitchen.com/negative-calorie-foods.html

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2005-12-15T05:25:00.000-08:00

Gastric bypass surgery

Gastric bypass surgery comes in many forms but the most popular are combination-techniques that shrink the stomach by stapling off a small section and shortening the small intestine by reattaching it at a lower point where fewer calories will be absorbed.

Gastric bypass surgery and other bariatric procedures were traditionally performed with large incisions but laparoscopes have changed that resulting in lowered risks of many potential complications. Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is a less-invasive technique involving several small incisions in the abdomen through which surgical instruments are inserted. The laparoscope (camera) is also inserted inside the abdomen so the surgeon can see.

The benefits of Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery are smaller scars, lower risk of hernias, and faster recovery compared to traditional large incision gastric bypass surgery. Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery cannot be used, however, if the patient weighs over 500 pounds. A doctor may recommend a short-term weight loss procedure like mouth-wiring to lower the weight of the patient to 400 or less so laparoscopic bypass surgery can be performed.

As in any surgery for weight loss, potential candidates should remember that Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is not a miracle cure and will involve a 90-minute to 2-hour surgical procedure, a 3-6 week recovery time, and a lifelong commitment to a healthier lifestyle. The risks of the surgery include infections, bleeding, and respiratory problems. It may be difficult to eat anything for the first few weeks after surgery without feeling uncomfortable and it will take 6-8 weeks before you are able to digest proteins or complex carbohydrates.

Patients who follow guidelines can reasonably expect to lose at least 50% of their excess weight over a 12-18 month period and have retained that weight-loss by at least 70% by ten years after the surgery.

About the Author

Gastric Bypass Surgery Info provides comprehensive information on procedure, recovery, cost and complications relating to standard, laparoscopic and mini surgeries. Gastric Bypass Surgery Info is the sister site of Bariatric Surgery Web.

2005-12-14T05:23:00.000-08:00

how to really, permanently, lose weight!!

I am a reformed alcoholic. I am a reformed chain smoker.
I am an ex-fat person. I am also not selling anything.
My only wish now is to help people by passing on my
knowledge; I guess this sounds too good to be true.
When you have really nearly died a few times, money
takes on a sort of reduced role in your thinking.
Make no mistake about it, we are all going to die,
even you will die one day. When you are young this
seems a long long way away, I'm fifty now, and it
sure seems a little closer to hand than it did.

You may think I have superhuman will-power to
quit drinking and smoking (and gambling and all
other excesses). To a certain extent that is true;
I have a great deal of will power, but I also have
a method, a way of thinking, which helps.

For some reason, and it may have been a good
one at the time, you have what is pretty well an
addiction. You love something more than you
love yourself at the present time.

Think "myself or my health."

In this "New Labour" "Tony Blair" type world,
certainly in Britain, everything is explainable in terms
of something else more convenient. It doesn't detract
from the plain fact that the Emporer really hasn't got
any clothes on at all. In short, it's not stretching the
truth, it's really a very big lie(s).

This is what you are currently doing to yourself,
you are living out a lie in order to placate yourself,
in order to make what you are doing palatable.
What you are really doing is killing yourself a
lot quicker, and a lot more painfully than is
really necessary; and by and large no-one gives
a damn whether you do or you don't;
they are too busy with themselves to really and
truly bother about you. By and large this is correct.
The few people that possibly do care either havn't
a clue how to help, or are simply hampered by the
realisation that it is only YOU who can cure it.

There are really no excuses:
If you are drinking too much you are a pain of a drunk.
If you are smoking too much you are a pain of a smoker.
If you are gambling too much you are a liability,
just as you are if you are on drugs.
You probably nodded to all these, and felt agreement,
so why don't you realise that in the current Western
society, being fat is not in vogue, and in many cases
actually anti-social and a nuisance to other people.
You are putting a strain on your heart, a strain on your lungs, a strain on your joints, and a strain on the people around
you,; to say nothing of the strain on the Health Professionals.
Why?
Because you are too self-indulgant to stop for a minute
enjoying yourselves to see if you are bothering other people.
There is no magic formula to weight loss.
You take in less than you burn up in daily life.

To break that down further, you take in less than your daily ROUTINE. For in order to do this you will need to change
your whole way of life, permanently. Make no mistake,
if you are really and truly HAPPY when you are fat, then
fine, go ahead and be fat, but acknowledge that most
things you really enjoy kill you quickly, and painfully,
and most things done to excess bring attendant guilt.
Stop reading now if you don't want to lose weight
or else you are wasting someone else's bandwidth who
has what it takes when you have not got the moral fibre.

What it takes is a modicum of will-power combined with
a hell of a lot of common sense. I have had a lot of addictions,
I am an excessive natured person. I find the first step in
losing any of them is to look at them as a phase I have
grown out of. I have matured to such an extent I no
longer need their crutch to carry me onwards.

Much as we look at kids and feel, "that's wrong, but
they'll grow out of it in time". And they usually do,
don't they, because they see that long-term they are
better off without doing what they are doing.
Why don't we tell them at the time?
Because we know they'll tend to do the opposite!

Thus it is with ourselves.

We have established that we can expect NO HELP
FROM OTHERS. Why should anyone else help us
anyway, it's our problem. If someone came to you with
"Ive got a terrible problem with my lawyer, and my cat isn't eating, my mother-in-law is being funny and I've got
the results of my x-rays tomorrow" you might well be
a little concerned, but I bet your first thought would
really and truly be "how can I get away quickly?".
So why the hell should others be expected to listen to you
bleating on about helping you to lose weight.
IT'S YOUR PROBLEM.
Also you will never stop doing anything you really LIKE
DOING. You have to really want to stop for good and ever,
not just when you attain a certain weight, because you will
put it all back on.

If you hear an alcoholic say after a year off the booze
"i'm ok for a pint now" what do you REALLY think
will happen if he/she has a pint/short??
You know as well as I do.

So really you have to :

a) Realise it is just you that matters and does anything
b) realise you have to really WANT to lose weight
c) Realise no-one else is going to do it for you magically.
d) realise that it was a phase you had to live through
e) realise that it is going to kill you, very very painfully
f) realise that slim people often have more people around

There are many diets/methods to lose weight.
If you are reading this they have probably all failed.

Wrong.

YOU HAVE FAILED.

Most of the methods work if you WANT them to work.
I suggest that you treat it as a phase of your life, and
you have learned from this phase and wish to move on
and prove to everyone that you aren't stupid. Because
anyone who knows that something is killing them
and alienating people, and still does it, is stupid;
has not learned one iota from what they have done
have not progressed one jot in their mindset.

I find that just cutting down to low-fat foods,
not only settled down my gall-bladder, but
gradually lost me a lot of weight, over a long period
which now has stabilised.
Any supermarket lists the low-fat products.
Also water, pure little tap water, fills you up and
is needed more than you think. Eighty per cent of
the human body is water, so it makes sense to drink it.

I now stick to this eating regime.

I am now not fat.

Remember, I make zero money out of this article,
but it is probably the best common sense you'll ever
read; not only for obeisity, (which is what you are at
present, obese) but for most addictions.

Most articles you will read have a hidden agenda,
TO MAKE MONEY OUT OF FAT PEOPLE.
If you lost weight forever, they'd lose your
money in the future, wouldn't they?
They plan on you losing weight EVERY YEAR.
Why not just do it ONCE; I sure as hell would not
want to quit smoking and drinking on a yearly basis!!

I just get to have a few more people visiting my website,
if you stop for a second or two to read this article,
as i get a kick out of getting visitors from all over the world,
and seeing my site visitor numbers rise.
I guess you could think of it as an obsession,
or a phase I'll probably grow out of in time!

But it is also very nice if you can help people, and I've
been places you really do not want to go, and had things
done to me you really and truly WOULD NOT LIKE.

Take it from me, the only way to lose weight is to eat less
than you are burning up on a daily basis, for ever.
We all KNOW what we should and shouldn't be doing
by and large, and no-one can make a difference but ourselves.

It is a sad fact of modern life that everyone expects to be
able to do what the hell they like and then someone will
bail them out at the last minute.

Fact is, if you don't lose weight, you'll die young and fat.
YOUR CHOICE, YOUR LIFE.

http://www.stiffsteiffs.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

Now I know why people PAY for domain names!!

Isitebuild - professional site building info

This man's site will teach you how to set up
your website whilst slimming!!

About the Author

I was a civil engineer after i left school, until I became a systems programmer(for 25 years). Now I write the odd thing and try to help people.

2005-12-13T04:45:00.000-08:00

About the Author

2005-12-11T04:36:00.000-08:00

Discover secrets to overcome food addictions by releasing negative thoughts and reframing with powerful affirmations, and manifest all that is yours by Divine right.

My name is Tami Close and my intention is to empower women to realize they are responsible for their own health and well-being.

Why am I doing this? Years ago I became very ill and wrote down the foregoing statement while reading a book by Mark Victor Hanson entitled Dare to Win. I knew that I went through the illness for reason and now am manifesting my purpose. Through this illness I was led on a journey to discover Me!�the Me! who was hidden beneath all the childhood trauma of not feeling loved. With the help of an energy practitioner, I finally released the childhood stuff and it was life-changing.

You, too, can release your childhood issues and have a miraculous discovery of self. Many women suffer needlessly with unwanted pounds and I was told I am to work with women to help them love themselves unconditionally. As an integrative body therapist using Rapid Eye Therapy and Emotional Freedom techniques, I help women release their stuff so they make new, healthy choices in their weight loss goals. These healing modalities are quick and easy to use and get results. Once you�re able to see yourself as pure love, the results will be astounding! You�ll attract those things that keep you focused on a positive lifestyle and the pounds will begin to shed. Watch the miracles that show up for you as a result! No more thong envy here!

Many women showed up for me to help me and I, in turn, will show up for you to hold your hand and guide you through your transformation. It�s no accident you�re reading this. Know that my intentions are to help you take control of your health.

Look what has manifested in my life as a result of peeling back my own layers. I became a co-author in a book with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer and several others. The book, Wake Up�.Life the Life You Love Finding Personal Freedom, was just published in March and can be purchased at Barnes and Noble. On April 1, 2005 (No April Fools joke) I met Mark Victor Hansen and he signed my Dare to Win book. I would not have manifested these amazing things if I didn�t release my pain which was keeping me stuck. I am on purpose!! I am living my dream of helping women and loving every minute of it.

Check out www.tamiclose.com.

Tami Close is certified in Rapid Eye Therapy (RET) and has her own successful practice. She is a Reiki Master and also has completed the Basic and Advanced courses in Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT). She received a grant from the Sumasil Foundation for her work with RET and EFT. She has a B.S. in Training CUM LAUDE from Southern Illinois University. She has done extensive training and coaching in health, sales and management areas. She was asked to speak at a national convention on the FISH! Philosophy, choosing your attitude and having fun in the work place. She is a co-author in a book with Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer and many others. The book, Wake Up...Live the Life You Love Finding Personal Freedom, just hit the #1 bestseller list in several categories.

2005-12-10T04:34:00.000-08:00

Close Kept Secrets to Weight Loss
Lesson #12

Are you just exploding with the presence of light all around you? Isn�t it awesome when you take time out for yourself, how amazing you feel? Just keep believing in yourself and the miracles will keep happening. The right people will show up and the right opportunities will show up�.GUARANTEED!

I am basking in my own light and let me tell you why. I just became a co-author in a book with a few famous people like Mark Victor Hansen, Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer and others. The name of the book is Wake Up Live the Life You Love�Finding Personal Freedom. It�s a compilation of short stories designed to motivate and inspire similar to Chicken Soup for the Soul. The book will come out in March and we anticipate taking it to number #1 on the best seller list. Pretty awesome, right?

Last weekend I attended a conference in Southern California as part of the Wake Up Live family. The keynote speaker was Stedman Graham, Oprah�s boyfriend. During his presentation he came over to me and asked me my name and used me to illustrate some key points for his speech. I also got to attend a VIP dinner with Stedman in attendance. Pretty wonderful, right? I met some other amazing people at the conference who I attracted to help me build my business.

Why am I telling you this? Before I could manifest miracles, I first needed to BELIEVE in myself and TRUST that GOD, my angels, my guides are right here with me all the time lifting me higher and higher. I have spent too many years living in worry and fear and only manifesting heartache as a result. I am not going to waste any more time living off track in lower vibrational energy. God has created me to live my purpose and I want to please Him. Now that I am believing in ME, I am soaring beyond the clouds!

Want to fly with me? Then keep focusing on you and each and every minute of the day thinking thoughts that will bring in more light. You have the tools to do this: RET, EFT, affirmations, meditation, visualization, journaling, forgiveness, exercise, surrounding yourself with positive people. When you have a fearful thought that comes in, take a minute out and go tap. Guess what? You can do this for a screaming child as well. Tap for them on their face, collarbone, under the arm and their head. You�ll get results for them as well.

It will be great to see where you started and where you are now as a result of making you a priority. Remember, we are made to manifest miracles. Listen, trust and take Divine action. Your dreams are right here!

Right now, what are you going to do to bring in more light?

Love and hugs,

Tami
http://www.tamiclose.com
http://closekeptsecrets.com

About the Author

Tami Close is an Integrative Body Therapist and uses an integrative method, including cleansing and nutritional products from Isagenix, in her weight loss management practice. She is a #1 best selling co-author, Wake Up...Live the Life You Love Finding Personal Freedom. http://www.tamiclose.com
http://www.closekeptsecrets.com

2005-12-09T04:30:00.000-08:00

Getting Started on The Clean Diet

If you want to lose some weight then following a healthy eating plan is a good start, but allowing someone else to dictate exactly what, when and how much you can eat is crazy making. Guidance is good but ultimately you must learn to make better choices in your eating which leads to your gaining the ability to maintain your new shape after the weight has been lost. The Clean Diet is the answer.

What is the Clean Diet?

The Clean Diet means different things to different people. My version is less strict than some because frankly I'm not a competitive body builder and I don't have a modeling contract. Unless you must maintain a specific body weight (as actors sometimes do for instance), you probably are of the same mind as I; that being, I want to lead a basically normal life. Eating out sometimes, enjoying parties sometimes, and generally not feeling like I have to "watch what I eat" or suffer the consequences. The way I eat is sometimes called the non-dieting approach because I don't diet, but I do pay attention. That's what the Clean Diet means: paying attention to what you're eating.

What Can I Eat on The Clean Diet?

Vegetables: Enjoy unlimited raw, steam, baked. Go for it. I don't know anyone who got fat because they ate too many vegetables and that includes carrots, beans, corn and potatoes. Unless you are allergic, there is no reason to shun fresh vegetables. Yes they contain carbohydrates. Get over it. Wean yourself from sauces, and learn to like them without added butter or salt. Vegetables like carrots and beets for instance are very high in natural sugars (that's the point -- nature intended to give you sweet things whereby you'd WANT to eat them and would consequently get adequate Vitamin C among other things).

Fruit: Try to eat at least one or two pieces a day. More is fine. There is no reason to restrict yourself to one-quarter of a cantaloupe or 1 small apple. Who comes up with these rules anyway? An apple contains less than 100 calories. That's not exactly going to break the diet bank, is it? Eat all the fresh fruit you like, especially late at night if you're working on learning to give up your chips or cookies habit. Apples are great for snacking, as are grapes, bananas, kiwi or anything else you like. Try to eat mostly fresh fruit, and saved canned fruits for once in awhile.

Dried fruits such as raisins are a super concentrated food source and should be treated with respect. A few thrown on your morning cereal or in your trail mix is fine, but remember super concentrated food is also high calorie food. You don't need a lot to get the nutrients. Learn the difference between densely packed nutrients and loosely packed nutrients. Fresh fruit is loosely packed, high in water content, and dried fruit is dense with little or no water. Corn-on-the-cob is loose, corn syrup is dense (and processed too).

An ounce of raisins contains 85 calories and 201 mg of Potassium, while an ounce of fresh grapes is a mere 20 calories. You'd need four times the fresh grapes to equal the dried.

Clean foods are as close to their natural state as possible without being fanatical about it. There is a world of difference between a baked potato and a bowlful of potato chips. One is a good source of nutrients and one is a highly refined, richly saturated fat, greasy, salty, modified source of nothing but smears on your napkin. One is satisfying and one leaves you wanting more. Betcha can't eat just one was more than a catch phrase for Lay's Potato Chips. It's a truism.

Grains & Beans: Whole grains like whole wheat, rice, millet, barley, and others. Drop the habit to eat chips and crackers out of a box. Once in awhile is okay, but if you eat them regularly, then you need to make a modification. Cakes, crackers and the like are simply not good for everyday fare, if you want to reach a healthy bodyweight. Once in awhile, or special occasions is fine, just not every day. Not even every other day. Once a week is plenty, and if you can't commit to weaning yourself off those foods, then you need to adjust to living with a higher body weight. It's not a character flaw, but it is a fact you must face. What you eat, dictates how healthy you will be, both mind and body.

Whole grain means whole grain. Bread that lists whole wheat is not 100% whole grain. Watch out. Seeing Whole Wheat on the package means nothing. You want to see either 100% Whole Wheat or 100% Whole Grain. Brown bread is not always whole grain, but it may be brown because some molasses was added to color it brown. Whole grain breads are heavier, more dense, chewier. I think they are better. You might not share that belief, especially if you're used to the light and fluffy white bread. When I was a teenager I could easily eat 10 slices of white bread french toast and still not feel satisfied. How ridiculous is that? I could, on the other hand, eat about three pieces of whole grain bread french toast and that was enough.

Isn't Brown Bread Better for You?

Many people think if it is brown it is healthier, but it is not true. If it is whole grain it is better than refined, but that isn't licence to eat lots of bread. A sandwich now and then is just fine, thank you. The best breads are heavy. Think of being a peasant sitting around a fire cooking a thick soup. What kind of bread would be best to sop it up? Some lame white bread that would disintegrate if liquid touched it, or a thick, hearty brown bread that could serve as a staple if need be? I'll take the second.

My favorite thing to eat is brown rice with stuff. "Stuff" means any vegetable concoction, or sauce, or just something to sort of mix in there. Use a little oil, preferably olive or sesame for flavor. My favorite quick vegetable is steamed sliced carrots and onions. Both onions and carrots are naturally sweet and ultra delicious all by themselves. Once you learn to simply eat foods the way nature presents them, you'll find your appetite stays more in line with better health.

I didn't intend to create a food rule book. My intention is to point out that you need not live on a skimpy portion of grains like 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1/4 cup skimmed milk and a half a slice of dry toast for breakfast. Eat hearty. I'm an example of how hearty eating will enhance your health, and bring your weight into line, not the opposite. I'll have one or two cups of oatmeal with raisins and a sprinkle of brown sugar (it won't kill you) or if you've grown used to it, no sweetener at all. Use milk if you like, or soy milk.

Lean Meats, Chicken, Fish: Support your local butcher and farmer. When you buy your meat from a local butcher you can be assured you are getting the best available. Okay, it costs more than the grocery store brand. If you want the best, buy the best. Avoid farm bred fish at all costs. Simply ask your meat counter to stock fresh fish.

Desserts, Treats & Snacks: It's okay to eat these things, but practice moderation. If you can't do that, and think you'll eat the whole bag, then don't get them when you're alone. Share some with someone else. Buy the smaller size package. Do whatever it takes, but don't tell yourself you can never eat any certain food again, because that just makes it all the more difficult to handle it when the time comes.

The Clean Diet is More a Way of Life than a Strict Set of Eating Rules

Most people will allow themselves one or more "cheat days" every week. The best plan is simply to choose eating clean as your primary eating style, and when you don't you don't but every meal stands alone. If you over ate at breakfast, you just eat your usual lunch. You don't try to "make up for it" by skimping on lunch. That's an equation that will never work. Just eat normally, and when you occasionally overeat, so be it. That way, rather than always thinking in terms of, "I'll start my diet again next Monday," you just get right back on your plan. While no foods are forbidden on a clean eating plan, common sense rules the day.

See if eating a Clean Diet might work for you. Start by adding more fresh fruit, and a few vegetables. Buy frozen vegetables and add them to your other foods, such as when you eat a frozen meal for instance. If you want chips with your sandwich, take a handful (and a half, if you want) and put it on your plate, rather than bringing the whole bag of chips to the table. Decide in advance how many cookies you'll have. Will four be enough, how about five? It's still better than half a bag. Take it one day at a time, one meal at a time, and you'll find things happening in no time.

By Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

2005-12-08T04:23:00.000-08:00

I would like to introduce you to an incredible new weight loss product: Your brain�

I discovered this technique for weight loss many, many years ago from a great New Thought teacher. When I posted it on a business forum last year, a member publicly thanked me for her weight loss a short time later.

I hope some of you will accept this and give it a try also.

To lose weight, here is a technique to use. As you drop off to sleep, repeat over and over again to your subconscious mind, your ideal weight (or your goal weight). For example, just repeat as you fall asleep, when your mind is most receptive to suggestion: 140 pounds�140 pounds�140 pounds. In the waking state, an affirmation might be: "I weigh 140 pounds in divine order" or something similar. You will be conditioning your subconscious mind to accept your goal weight and it will compulsively guide you to do everything necessary to accomplish that result.

Am I qualified to make such a claim about this technique? I will let you decide. The photos you see of me that appear on my website were taken within the past couple of years and with some fluctuation, I have maintained this body for most of my life. I am healthy, trim, fit and look 20 years younger than my years. However, I come from a "fat" family. My mother wasn't overweight...she was obese, and when she died in the 80s, she was just a few years older than I am now. I won't give details about my younger sister - she's gone, too. And don't think I can't gain weight easily. Oh, yes I can, but my mind won't let me. It has been conditioned too well to keep me fit and healthy. I don't think about what I have to do to maintain that, it does it for me - I lift weights, I eat healthy foods and can indulge in fattening foods sporadically without repercussion. Automatic pilot. Will this technique work for you? I say�what have you got to LOSE? Body back guarantee.

The whole point of the subconscious conditioning is to bring our consciousness to the point of acceptance that we already are where we want to be. Then the subconscious is compulsive and will intuitively guide us to the right foods, exercise, whatever it takes to fulfill that vision. But we must give the mind the right message.

The subconscious mind technique does not "replace" your healthy eating habits. It creates them! That's the whole idea. The subconscious is the seat of habit. And of intuition. With the right mindset, your healthy eating habits will become just that - healthy "habits" - instead of the compulsively unhealthy ones.

"When the imagination and the will are in conflict, the imagination always wins." - Emile Coue

This is not a diet. This is the natural way we are created to use our minds - constructively and in alignment with Universal laws.

So again, we use our minds to accept the idea, thought and picture of a fit, healthy person at his/her ideal weight. Once that idea is instilled in the mind, you will automatically be guided and directed to all that is necessary for you to fulfill that idea. You will just intuitively want the right foods and pass on the wrong ones. You will adopt the proper exercise habits. You will be guided to the right coach or nutritional information to manifest your subconscious idea. It must happen because that is the law - the nature of mind. Mind will always create according to the seed thought.

Speaking of exercise�in my opinion, one of the greatest exercises in the world for getting the metabolism in gear is putting on good cushiony running shoes, going outside and just walking fast -- a couple of miles of fast walking. Weight lifting is fantastic for replacing fat with muscle, and for heart and bones, especially for women. But I understand not everyone is into or ready to lift weights. And we still need that aerobic workout. So get outside and start walking. That's an addiction you will love to have. When you start releasing those endorphins, the whole world looks better.

Important Footnote:

If you have a lot of weight to lose, your subconscious mind may not be able to accept that you can be your ideal weight all at once. The important thing here is to not set up resistance or an argument in the subconscious. So the following is a good method to use to prevent this.

Pick a weight that you feel that you can accept at this time, one that feels believable. For example, if you now weight 180 pounds and your ideal weight is120, that's a very big leap of faith to accept. So you might use 150 pounds as the target number that you suggest to your subconscious mind as you fall asleep. That is more believable at this point in time and will be more readily accepted by the mind. When you do reach your goal of 150 pounds, you can then change your input to 120 pounds. You may also do this if you have to lose a lesser amount of weight.

The important thing to remember is that the information that is most believable will produce the fastest and greatest results. This same idea also applies to financial prosperity, but I will save that for another time. By the way, I have learned many of these things through brilliant new thought teachers, far ahead of their time. It is time for valuable esoteric knowledge to become mainstream. You can become your own case study in the meantime.

How's this for a marketing idea: Mental weight loss clinics called "Brain Watchers International." :)

Marilyn Jenett, an accomplished business owner in the corporate arena, founded the Feel Free to Prosper program to mentor and teach others to become aligned with Universal laws and accept their right to prosper. Her students, from around the globe and from all walks of life, are enjoying remarkable success using her lessons and participating in her telephone group sessions. For more information, check out her website at www.FeelFreetoProsper.com.

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print as long as the bylines, URL and copyright are included. Please print the article in its entirety, unchanged and send a copy of the publication to marilyn@feelfreetoprosper.com.

2005-12-07T04:19:00.000-08:00

Do you sometimes get bored with your aerobic exercise? Do You sometimes feel like you're not getting the results you should from your aerobic exercise? If so, then aerobic cross-training is for you.

Aerobic cross-training refers to using two to three different types of aerobic exercise during an exercise session. For example, if you plan to exercise for 60 minutes, you might start with 20 minutes of walking or jogging, followed by 20 minutes of biking, and finish with 20 minutes of rowing.

Now, please don't get the impression that you have to be in great shape to do this or that it has to be 60 minutes long. You can start with something as simple as a ten minute walk followed by ten minutes with an exercise video. This is cross-training too. You can gradually build up from there.

Here are some of the exercises you can use in your cross-training program; walking, jogging, biking, rowing, stair climbing, swimming, exercise videos, etc. Any combination of aerobic exercises will do. You simply go from one to the next with very little time between them.

Aerobic cross-training is beneficial to you in several ways:

1. It provides variety which eliminates the monotony often associated with doing the same exercise for a long period of time.

2. If your exercise sessions are less monotonous and more enjoyable, you are much more likely to exercise more often and for longer periods of time.

3. You are less prone to over-use injuries that sometimes occur from doing the same exercise movements over and over again.

4. You tone more muscles because you are using more muscles. For example, walking tones mostly the lower body muscles and rowing tones upper body muscles also. Even exercises like walking and biking that both tone lower body muscles, tone them at different angles and each tones some small muscles that the other doesn't.

5. Aerobic conditioning is very specific to the muscles being worked. For example, you can walk ten miles a day and still be somewhat breathless after climbing stairs because you haven't trained the muscles for that specific movement. Aerobic cross-training allows you to develop more comprehensive aerobic training.

6. Aerobic cross-training is effective for weight loss because your are toning and training the fat-burning systems of more of your muscles. It turns more of your muscles into 24-hour fat-burning machines! You are also more likely to exercise on a regular basis and for longer periods of time. this also promotes weight loss and fitness.

Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry, offers free weight loss and fitness success stories and targeted, highly affective weight loss programs for women, men, type 2 diabetics, and people with slow metabolisms and hypothyroidism. http://www.Landry.com

2005-12-06T03:05:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of �crash� diets out there that promise that you�ll drop a considerable amount of weight in days or a week.

I have tried a few of these, and in my experience the weight always comes back on, just as quickly since the weight loss tips given are not something that will work with your body.

One thing you don�t want to do if you are actually serious about losing weight is to follow these fad diets and their ridiculous weight loss tips.

After their ineffectiveness has been proven time and again, people will start to wise up to that particular diet, and will head off in search of a new craze.

Lets be honest, people are always searching for new weight loss tips because they want to lose pounds and they want immediate results, but this is just wishful thinking.

To lose weight permanently and effectively it will be a rather slow progress, all depending on your metabolic rate and how much you need to lose.

There are however some proven tried and true weight loss tips for aiding in the weight loss process, and I can make you familiar with them.

Weight Loss Tip 1
Don�t skip breakfast. Whatever you do follow this advice, because otherwise you are much more likely in fact prone to binge later in the day.

Weight Loss Tip 2
Don�t eat anything for at least an hour before going to bed.

Weight Loss Tip 3
Don�t snack while watching TV. It�s acceptable to eat a meal while watching television, but never is snacking at this time acceptable.

Weight Loss Tip 4
Substitute fruits like; bananas, watermelon, plums, peaches, and oranges for sugary treats like; cookies and candy.

Weight Loss Tip 5
Substitute honey for sugar, and carob powder for chocolate in all recipes. These taste just as good if not better when used properly.

Weight Loss Tip 6
Eat more vegetables. This can even be enjoyable if you have a good cookbook like Good housekeeping's latest edition.

Weight Loss Tip 7
Avoid unnecessary high calorie foods. Instead of a high calorie salad dressing for instance try cottage cheese or yogurt to improve the salads taste and peel of the pounds.

Weight Loss Tip 8
Exercise at least a half hour each day for five days out of the week. Biking on a stationery bike while reading is a great form of exercise to slim legs.

In conclusion there is nothing stopping you from losing weight except yourself. Get off the "I can't do anything about my weight problem" bandwagon and start dropping pounds today!

For more of Beth's expert advice visit her Website now.

2005-12-05T03:02:00.000-08:00

There are lots of dieters, trying every sort of plan to lose weight and get healthier. But, rather than examine diet plans or the details of how and why low-carb diets work, here are some useful tips that can be used in any diet plan -- and, really, in any sensible approach to eating.

Tip 1: Drink 8 to 10 Glasses of Water Every Day

You've heard this one over and over. But, it isn't easy and too few people actually do it. Your body needs water to keep your system clean, to process food, to keep your skin in good shape and more. Sure, it'll use any liquid, but pure water works best. But - there's no taste, at least with pure water. This can be difficult since we're conditioned to want sweetness and flavors. But, it gets easier the more you do it. It's a matter of re-conditioning your taste buds, and yourself. Once started, you'll begin to crave water.

Drink a glass, or even two, as soon as you wake up. Especially in the beginning, those are the easy two. And they'll help you remember.

If you can't stand the taste of water, try a purifying pitcher or filter, or add a few drops of lemon or lime to your water - but no sugar or sweetener. Check out the flavored waters, too. Just keep an eye out for additives.

Tip 2: Eat Breakfast

Don't skip breakfast. If you need to go to bed earlier so that you can get up 20 minutes earlier each morning - do it! Breakfast is vitally important to good health and weight control. According to Dr. Barbara Rolls a professor of nutrition at Penn State University, "Your metabolism slows while you sleep, and it doesn't rev back up until you eat again."

Eating breakfast is good for overall weight loss and it helps you stay on track with your diet the rest of the day. Skip breakfast and you're more likely to binge.

Short on time? Keep hard-boiled eggs and high-fiber, low starch fruit in the fridge. If you plan to eat fruit during the day, breakfast is a perfect time to do it.

Tip 3: Eat 3 Meals and 2 Snacks Every Day

This could be a hard adjustment to make. Hey, you're busy! You already have a "full-plate". When are you going to eat more?

But, exactly like eating breakfast will increase your metabolism, so will eating more often. This also helps you curb bad-carb intake by making sure that your snacks are planned and occur regularly throughout the day.

Tips 4: Avoid White Foods

This is an easy way to remember what not to eat. If it's made from sugar, flour, potatoes, rice or corn - just say no. Yes, those rice cakes are actually an unhealthy high-carb snack.

Look for color. Buy broccoli, lettuce, bell peppers, green beans and peas, brown rice (in moderation), leafy greens like kale and spinach, apples, melons, oranges and grapes.

Not only colorful, they're also high in fiber, nutrients and important antioxidants. Eating colorful fruits and vegetables will give your diet variety as well as give you added health benefits. Eat your veggies.

Tip 5: Prepare Your Own Food

While more restaurants offer so-called low-carb menu items, many of them are not ideal low-carb fare. There are many recipes for quick and easy meals that you can prepare yourself at home. Do this as often as possible.

Cooking your own foods, you know exactly what the contents are and you'll be able to better control hidden sugar and other processed junk.

This tip saves you money too. Even if you end up going to the grocery store more often, you'll save versus eating out.

Tip 6: Eat Some Protein At Every Meal And With The Snacks

In addition to everything that's been discussed before, eating protein helps you burn more calories. Jeff Hample, Ph.D., R.D., a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association says that, "Protein is made up mainly of amino acids, which are harder for your body to breakdown, so you burn more calories getting rid of them."

Beautiful - eat a protein rich snack and lose weight. How about a few slices of turkey or ham or some string cheese?

Eating protein also helps you feel full so you're less likely to crave unhealthy snacks.

Tip 7: Invest In Good Cookbooks

Can�t figure out what to eat? Need variety? Get a cookbook. Granted, not all recipes in a cookbook are low-carb, but you'll be surprised at the number of low-carb and low-carb friendly recipes you can find in your standard Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Cookbooks are great reference tools that contain handy tips on purchasing cuts of meat and preparing meats, fruits and vegetables in new and exciting ways.

Plus, new low-carb cookbooks are hitting the shelves all the time. So be sure to take advantage of these resources to try something new, different and delicious.

So that's the seven tips, but here's an extra. Stay out of the center of the supermarket. It'll be easier to stick with your low-carb lifestyle if you learn this common thread in most grocery store designs: the healthy foods are on the perimeter aisles.

Think about it, when you go into the grocery all the healthy stuff, fruits, vegetables, meats, and dairy products, tend to be around the stores walls. You only rarely need to enter the center aisle areas if it's a store that keeps butter and cheese in the center near the frozen foods. Usually all of the foods that you need for your low carb diet can be found on the perimeter of the grocery store.

Train yourself to start on one end of the outer aisle and work your way around. It will be much easier to avoid carb cravings and fill your basket with healthy items if you do so.

Just these few tips can make a significant difference in how successful you can be with your diet. Use them as part of your approach to dieting and a healthier lifestyle. You'll love your new self.

Keywords: diet, dieter, diet plan, low carb diet, low carb, low-carb, low carbohydrate, cookbooks, recipes

About the Author
Richard G. Keir,
Learn more about diet
A PhD psychologist infected by the computer bug, Richard first worked online in the early 80's (yes, pre-WWW). Currently writing on eCommerce, RSS and internet marketing in general, he has never been cured of that early fascination.

2005-12-04T03:00:00.000-08:00

Hope you had a good rest and are all fired up for the year ahead.

Whilst you were sitting on the beach or lazing around during your time off, which of the following changes to your life did you decide to make this year?

To have the body of Elle McPherson or Nathan Buckley
Find a stimulating job
Take up a sport or hobby
Buy your dream home
Travel to an exotic destination
Have more time with your family
Establish your own business
Double your income
Become involved in the community
Develop your creativity
Improve your skills
Create a plan for your financial future
Have more fun
Enhance your current relationship or find a new partner
All of the above
To help you channel your energy into achieving this year's goals, here are some practical ways to get started. After all, there is no reason why you shouldn't start immediately, is there?

How to Get Started

1. Write a list of what you want to achieve this year.
2. Make sure what you've written down is specific, measurable and attainable. e.g. Lose 5 kgs
. ..by 30/2/05.
3. Write no.1 against the most important goal. Write no.2 against the next most important goal.

Continue numbering the rest of the goals.

4. Look at the goal with no.1 next to it. i.e. lose 5 kilos. Start a separate list with the heading . .. Lose 5 kilos. by 28/2/05
5. Write down the action steps you need to take to achieve this goal:

a. Join gym
b. Decide which specific days and times you will attend
c. Purchase gym gear
d. See nutritionist

6. Enter the action steps into your diary/electronic organiser on the day(s) you will do these:

Jan 15th - join gym
Jan 16th - book nutritionist
Attend gym Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 6.00 a.m.
Ensure when you book time for yourself in your diary you treat it as a top priority. Unless there is an earthquake or equally devastating disaster occurring, keep that time sacred.

To ensure your goals are achieved it is imperative to write them down and then plan the appropriate steps to take in your diary. Otherwise your goals could end up being wishful thinking!

Goal/Dream Chart
Having visual reminders is a great way to prompt and keep you motivated to follow through. Cut out a picture of the body you'd like to have from a magazine and stick a photo of your head on top of it. Alternatively if you want to recapture the way you were some time ago, find an old photo of yourself. You can place these on your desktop, car dashboard and the fridge at home.

Do this for your other goals (minus the head). In fact having a dream chart with pictures or words of the things you want to achieve is a great stimulus for your sub-conscious mind. Sticking these reminders onto green paper is even more effective. I have one of these in my office and guess what? It actually works!

Action Is The Key
Once you've identified what you want, written it down, planned when you will take action and done your goal/dream chart, nothing will happen unless you get off your butt and take action towards those goals.

Avoid the 'Too Much Too Soon' Syndrome
Often people try making many changes at once then get disillusioned because there are too many things to do and just give up. If you've done this in the past, tackle one goal at a time. If you really have difficulty going it alone, you may benefit from using the services of a coach like myself who will keep you on track. The right person will help you accelerate your success.

Jenny's Story
One of my clients was extremely overweight by at least 30 kilos. Apart from her business goals, losing the weight was her highest priority �or so she said. We looked at her diet and exercise and worked out a plan, according to what she was committed to do. Notice here I've said committed. Over the three months I worked with Jenny she was like most people in this area�inconsistent. She'd exercise regularly and eat healthily for a couple of weeks and then make excuses as to why she couldn't or wouldn't stick to the plan.

There was no reason why she couldn't achieve her weight loss goal, after all the program we worked out together was easy to do. A few changes to her eating habits, regular exercise and planning would do the trick. The only challenge was Jenny. She wouldn't consistently do it. It all boiled down to that she wasn't serious enough about losing the weight and was not prepared to make the changes�yet. I did suggest seeing a nutritionist or making contact with a specific weight loss organisation to provide her with continuing support. However, Jenny was adamant that she could manage herself.

After three months of coaching, Jenny lost 5 kilos. It was certainly better than nothing, however she could have lost much more if only she took the necessary action, consistently.

A few weeks later I rang Jenny to see how she was progressing with the various changes she had made through coaching. She excitedly told me she had finally got her act together as a result of the progress she had made with me, joined Weightwatchers and lost another 20kgs! She got committed.

Dare to Fail
In Billi Lim's bestselling book "Dare to Fail" he shares the following story:

A woman once walked up to a little old man rocking in a chair on his porch.

"I couldn't help noticing how happy you look", she said. "What's the secret for a long happy life?'

"I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day', he said. "I also drink a case of whisky a week, eat fatty foods and never exercise."

"That's amazing, the woman said. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-six", he said.

The Final Word
You too can achieve your 2005 goals if you really want to. The goals you set must fit in with your values. For instance if you really value your health and well-being (and you should�you're no good to anyone if you're sick or even worse�dead,) then it will be easier for you to take action around this area.

Plan and get off your butt now because it won't be long until you hear that familiar cry "I'm too busy, I don't have the time!"

About the Author

Lorraine Pirihi is Australia's Personal Productivity Specialist and Leading Life Coach. Her business The Office Organiser specialises in showing small business owners and managers, how to get organised at work so they can have a life! Lorraine is also a dynamic speaker and has produced many products including "How to Survive and Thrive at Work!"

To subscribe to her free ezine visit www.office-organiser.com.au

2005-12-03T02:51:00.000-08:00

Every Journey Worth Taking Begins with a Single Step

Here are five easy steps to gain control of your weight loss efforts. Start at the beginning, then take small steps, each and every day and you'll climb that mountain.

STEP 1: State What You Want Now

"I want to lose 50 pounds."

Is that achievable in the next month? If not, break it down into smaller mini-goals. "I want to lose 5 pounds this month."

What other ways can you say what you want, besides wanting to lose some weight?

"I want to step on the scale and see (state a number) pounds (remember, keep it something you can achieve in one month).

"I want to feel my pants getting looser."

"I want to see myself in the mirror wearing last year's bathing suit and it fits."

"I want to notice my clothes are getting too big for me."

"I want to easily bend over and touch my toes."

"I want to get up from a seated position, easily and gracefully."

Those are positive goals. Focus on what you want. How you want to feel, what you want to experience.

STEP 2: Make A Plan

Get out your weekly calendar and start with eating less (portion control), eating more (healthier foods), or eating differently in some way.

STEP 3: Consider Exercise

Adding regular exercise helps more than anything else because the more active you become the more calories you burn, and if you build muscle, the more calories you'll burn at rest. What, when, how often? Do you need equipment, books, tapes or can you just get started and gather the other ingredients as you go?

Write it all out. Your plan should include which days of the week and at what time. Don't make the mistake of trying to decide you'll exercise every day. You're not likely to stick to a plan that doesn't have build-in off days. Make it easy at first. You can always add more later.

STEP 4: Decide Whether Your Plan Is Workable For You

Take a look at your plan and decide whether it's possible. If not, make changes until it is.

Start by listing each item, and then asking yourself how will you achieve this?

1. I want to eat less quantity. I'll achieve this by having half or three-quarters of the amount I usually have. See if that is sufficient. Keep a food diary for one week, religiously writing down everything that goes in your mouth.

2. I want to eat more healthier foods. I'll achieve this by adding more fruits and vegetables for snacks, so when I'm hungry, or think I'm hungry an apple or some carrots might be my snack of choice. This has the added benefit of more nutrition.

3. I want to eat differently. I'll achieve this by paying more attention while eating. Turn off distractions. Think of each bite as a separate event. Write down what I'm tasting and see what I notice now that I never noticed before? Different smells, sights, textures, and subtle tastes. I'll make an effort to really chew each bite at least 10 times.

4. I want to add some exercise. I'll achieve this by getting a book either at the library or a store, get a free pass to my closest gym, talk to friends, borrow exercise tapes. Find exercises I can do in front of the TV at first, or on the floor in my bedroom when I first get up or whatever works. No matter if others see me, I don't care. Start slowly, after the first few weeks, add more if I'm ready.

Close your eyes and imagine your plan.

If you chose getting up an hour earlier, can you see yourself doing it? Does it fit? Are you a night person? If so, an early morning workout probably won't pan out - stick to midday or evening workouts. Find what fits for you.

STEP 5: Set Up Plan A And Determine What You Need To Get Started

Plan A: I need a small notebook I can carry with me for keeping track of daily foods (this is only needed for a week or two to get an idea of what I'm eating).

Need monthly calendar to track my exercise minutes, even if it's only 10 minutes this month and 20 next, that's progress. You are after progress, not perfection. There is no such thing as perfection.

Visit library or order book online for using bodyweight for exercises. Pushups, crunches, etc., can be done without any extra equipment.

Buy healthy foods to have on hand such as fruits, cut up vegetables. Make dinner at least twice a week and freeze leftovers into ready-to-eat frozen meals.

Purchase or order supplements, protein powders, etc., if I want them.

Putting It All Together

Start working your plan. Don't wait for the next full-moon or some other arbitrary starting date. Just get started. The sooner you start, the sooner you begin to see results.

If you use EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), do it at least three times a day. It only takes a couple of minutes and you can do it while you do other things, so get it done. Check in with your list of behaviors you'd like to change, and then work on one issue each week or until it becomes a non-issue, then move to the next.

You might start with frustration that things aren't happening fast enough:

Example EFT statements:

"Even though I'm frustrated by all these instructions, I deeply and completely accept myself."

"Even though I don't want it to take so much effort, I deeply and completely accept myself"

"Even though I hate all this and just want to wake up skinny, I deeply and completely accept myself."

No matter what, if you are putting attention on this process, then you are making progress. It doesn't matter if you keep to your plan exactly. What does matter is that you make a plan at all.

If you make a small effort every day you'll find that some days will be better than others, and that's okay. It's easy to forget, and fall back into our usual patterns which is why keeping a notebook handy helps keep you on track. So does scheduling your workout time just like you would any appointment, and then keeping it.

The point is not to be perfect--the point is to take action.

You can use a grading system, such as one point for achieving each item on your list, and tallying the points at the end of the week. You could also color in the squares on the calendar, so when you achieve what you planned, you color it in, but if you didn't achieve what you planned, you don't color it in. That way you can see at a glance how often the calendar is colored, how many squares are missing, etc. You can also see as months go by how you are improving. Having a visual display of your progress can help keep you on track. Remember, expect to be less than perfect in the beginning.

If the idea that you won't be perfect is all it takes to keep you on a really strict path at first, that's fine, but be aware you'll likely slip a time or two in the following weeks. Think of it as nothing more than a learning experience, and go ahead to see if you can prove me wrong. That would be great. Just no matter what, no matter if it's been a week since you did anything on your list, it does not matter; just pick up where you left off and start again.

Small Changes Equal Big Results

There are 365 days in a year. If you achieved your goals on 200 of them this year, wouldn't that be an improvement over last year? As you improve, your weight will fall. That's how it works. That's why people who achieve their best weight and maintain it have learned how to stay "on plan" than "off plan." Eventually you don't really think of it as a plan at all but just how you are. It becomes your new way of life.

I don't diet, and I never have yet I maintain my weight. I don't restrict myself but my choices are what makes the difference. I can eat candy, cookies and cake any time I want, but usually I don't want to. That's the difference. When someone says they can eat what they want, they mean they usually want to eat foods they know will support their health goals.

Use these five steps to get started on a plan, right now. Start by getting a small notebook, then starting writing down th days of the week, thinking about your schedule and how you'll make some changes to your routine. After all, it's your present routine that isn't working, so you must make some changes. Make them fit, and then you'll fit into those smaller jeans in no time and this time it will be a permanent weight loss.

By Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

2005-12-02T02:38:00.000-08:00

Tip 1) DRINK A GLASS OF WATER AFTER EACH SNACK

This will help you get in your 8 to 10 glasses of water each day but it can also have other benefits. Ever feel hungry after eating a handful or standard serving of nuts? Try drinking water afterwards. The water will help you feel full and prevent overindulgence.

Drinking water after a snack will also help remove the aftertaste from your mouth and can help curb your desire for more.

Tip 2) EAT SLOWLY & ENJOY YOUR FOOD

You will feel full and more satisfied if you take the time to savor your food and chew it slower. Don�t get in the habit of eating while standing or eating quickly. Sit down and chew.

Eating slower will help you enjoy your food more, pay attention to what it is you are actually eating and get a better sense of when you are actually full.

Tip 3) EAT YOUR LARGER MEALS EARLY, AND SMALLER MEALS LATER

You will feel better and lose weight quicker if you eat a large breakfast and eat a smaller dinner. You may also want to eat the majority of your carbs earlier in the day, saving a salad and lean meat protein for dinner.

Eating larger meals during the part of the day when you are most active will help you to feel satisfied throughout the day and curb cravings for unhealthy snacks.

To Your Health,
Brent Hollins

Discover Amazing Secrets, Tips and Resources to Lose Weight.. In Only 30 Seconds - Free! http://www.e-healthdirectory.com/ezine.html

2005-12-01T02:33:00.000-08:00

Many people begin a fitness program to lose weight. Sure, they may add that they want to be healthier by lowering their blood pressure or dropping their cholesterol number, but the real incentive is to loose pounds and inches in order to look better. Nothing wrong with that at all!

So now that we've identified what our goal is from a fitness program the next question is: "what's the best exercise for losing weight"?

The selection of exercises to choose from is staggering. Quite frankly, you can lose weight with any exercise that gets your heart rate into your fat-burning zone. You certainly don't need to run Marathons to lose weight!

Walking at a steady pace for 30-40 minutes four or more times a week can do the trick. The most important thing about any exercise program is to stick with it. You're not going to get to your weight loss goal if you give up after just 2 weeks!

May I make a suggestion? If you don't already have your mind set on an exercise that you're excited about performing 4 or more times a week, then why not give an elliptical trainer a try?

Even if you�ve never tried an elliptical trainer, you�ve probably seen them in use at health clubs or even advertised on TV or in print ads. They look so smooth and effortless that you may ask: �can I lose weight using an elliptical trainer?� The answer is a resounding �Yes!�

Don�t let the smooth motion of elliptical trainers fool you � it�s definitely a great exercise to quickly get your heart rate up into your fat-burning zone and to keep it there throughout your training session.

The low impact nature of elliptical trainers is great for reducing stress on your knees, ankles, hips, and lower back. At the same time, since it is a weight-bearing exercise � you are supporting your body with your legs � it can help build bone density thus staving off the debilitating effects of osteoporosis.

The benefits of elliptical machines give them an edge over most other training equipment including stationary bikes, rowing machines, steppers, and even treadmills.

The great secret about elliptical training is that the perceived exertion of the exercise is actually less than the calories burned on an elliptical trainer! You can burn the same number of calories in less time on an elliptical trainer than for example, a stationary bike. So instead of 30 minutes on the bike, how about 20 minutes on an elliptical trainer? Think about that for a minute and after it sinks in, the prospect of starting a weight loss program doesn�t seem so daunting!

So congratulations on making the decision to start a fitness program to lose weight. Oops, sorry! I mean to get healthier!

About the Author

Rich Rojas writes elliptical trainer reviews as well as articles related to exercise, diet, weight training, and how to be a wise consumer of fitness products and information.

Elliptical Trainer Reviews at EllipticalHome.com

2005-11-30T02:32:00.000-08:00

About the Author

2005-11-29T02:28:00.000-08:00

Are you dieting your way to bone loss?

Are you aware that the diet you follow may be depleting your bones of essential nutrients and increasing your chances of developing osteoporosis? Popular diets may promise quick weight loss, but calcium and other important nutrients are often missing from the menu, which can lead to bone loss.

And women who consistently limit what they eat to avoid gaining weight may undermine the health of their bones, according to a study by ARS researchers in California. (1)

The study looked at the eating behavior of women between the ages of 18 and 50 and found that those classified as "restrained eaters" had significantly lower bone mineral density and bone mineral content (key indicators of overall bone strength and health) than women who said they weren't concerned about what they ate.

"Exercise and eating a well-balanced diet with adequate calcium, are two of the best ways to keep your bones strong and healthy." advise the researchers.

Calcium is not only good for your bones but can help you maintain a healthy, low fat diet too. There has been increasing media coverage about numerous studies showing that a diet rich in calcium helps reduce body fat.

Why is calcium important in weight loss?

Calcium is a fat burner. High-calcium diets seem to favor burning rather than storing fat. Researchers say this is because calcium stored in fat cells plays an important role in fat storage and breakdown.

Calcium changes the efficiency of weight loss . In fact, study after study has shown that the people with the highest calcium intake overall weighed the least, and the people with the lowest calcium intake had the highest percentage of body fat. (2,3,4)

When overall calorie consumption is accounted for, calcium not only helps keep weight in check, but can be associated specifically with decreases in body fat. A low daily calcium intake is associated with greater tendency to gain weight, particularly in women. (5)

Researchers found that adolescent girls who consumed more calcium weighed less and had less body fat than girls who consumed the same amount of calories from other sources. (6)

Previous studies have shown that a higher calcium intake can block body fat production in adults and preschool children (7), but this was one of the first studies to show that it might have the same effect in body-conscious preteen and teenage girls.

But aren't dairy products fattening?

Some dieters consider dairy products to be fattening, but the evidence suggests the opposite is true.

Consumption of calcium-rich dairy foods can actually help to reduce and prevent obesity. Over 20 recent studies show that milk products actually contribute to weight loss.

A new study in obese adults, presented at the First Annual Nutrition Week Conference, showed that increasing calcium intake by the equivalent of two dairy servings per day could reduce the risk of obesity by as much as 70 percent. (8)

The study provided clinching evidence that calcium in low-fat dairy products can help adjust your body's fat-burning machinery and help keep your weight under control.

In another study, obese subjects placed on a high-calcium diet, with yogurt as the calcium source, showed markedly greater fat loss than those on a low-calcium diet. (9)

Numerous studies have shown that dairy calcium is more effective in reducing body fat than other forms of calcium. (10)

Why does diary calcium work so well?

Researchers believe that other nutrients found in milk products act in synergy with calcium to reduce fat more efficiently.

Glycomacropeptides (found in whey proteins derived from milk) in particular, are known to create feelings of satiety and fullness and decrease food intake. (11,12,13)

Foods that are a good source of calcium include cheese, milk, ice cream, baked beans and other dried legumes, dried figs, broccoli, most dark-green leafy vegetables, and soft fish bones like those in canned salmon.

Disclaimer: If you are under 18, pregnant, nursing or have health problems, consult your physician before starting any weight loss plan. The information here is not provided by medical professionals and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Please consult your physician before beginning any course of treatment.

References:

1. April 1999; Agricultural Research magazine
2. Zemel MB et al. [2000. FASEB J 14:1132-1138.]
3. Zemel MB. 2002. [J Am Coll Nutr 21: 146S-151S.]
4. Shi H et al. [2001. FASEB J 5:291-293.]
5. Jacqmain M et al. [2003. Am J Clin Nutr 77:1448-1452.]
6. Novotny R et al. [2003. Poster Presentation, Experimental Biology Meeting, April, San Diego, CA.]
7. Carruth BR and Skinner JD. [2001. T Int J Obesity Relat Metab Disord 25:559-566.]
8. Zemel MB et al. [Obes Res. 2004 Apr;12(4):582-90.]
9. Zemel MB et al. [2003. FASEB J A1088:679.3]
10. Heaney, R.P., Davies, K.M., Barger-Lux, M.J. [Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 21(2), 2002, pages 152S-155S.]
11. Gibbs J, Young RC, Smith GP.J Comp [Physiol Psychol 1973 Sep;84(3):488-95]
12. Della-Fera MA, Baile CA, Schneider BS, Grinker JA. [Science 1981 May 8;212(4495):687-9]
13. Della-Fera MA, Baile CA. [Physiol Behav 1981 Jun;26(6):979-83]

________________________________________________

Priya Shah is the Editor of The Glutathione Report and the webmaster of http://www.1whey2health.com
Visit Natural Weight Loss Tips for more articles, tips and resources on weight loss.
________________________________________________

2005-11-28T02:25:00.000-08:00

Are you dieting your way to bone loss?

And women who consistently limit what they eat to avoid gaining weight may undermine the health of their bones, according to a study by ARS researchers in California. (1)

"Exercise and eating a well-balanced diet with adequate calcium, are two of the best ways to keep your bones strong and healthy." advise the researchers.

Why is calcium important in weight loss?

Researchers found that adolescent girls who consumed more calcium weighed less and had less body fat than girls who consumed the same amount of calories from other sources. (6)

But aren't dairy products fattening?

Some dieters consider dairy products to be fattening, but the evidence suggests the opposite is true.

Consumption of calcium-rich dairy foods can actually help to reduce and prevent obesity. Over 20 recent studies show that milk products actually contribute to weight loss.

The study provided clinching evidence that calcium in low-fat dairy products can help adjust your body's fat-burning machinery and help keep your weight under control.

In another study, obese subjects placed on a high-calcium diet, with yogurt as the calcium source, showed markedly greater fat loss than those on a low-calcium diet. (9)

Numerous studies have shown that dairy calcium is more effective in reducing body fat than other forms of calcium. (10)

Why does diary calcium work so well?

Researchers believe that other nutrients found in milk products act in synergy with calcium to reduce fat more efficiently.

Glycomacropeptides (found in whey proteins derived from milk) in particular, are known to create feelings of satiety and fullness and decrease food intake. (11,12,13)

References:

________________________________________________

2005-11-27T01:50:00.000-08:00

Have You Given Up on Weight Loss?

by Greg Landry, M.S

I receive several email messages every day

from people who have given up on weight loss.

They are at wits end and they don't know

what to do. They've "tried it all" and they

believe it's impossible for them to lose

weight.

Many of them have lost weight and gained it

all back, and more. Some of them have struggled

with losing weight all their lives and have

never been successful with it. One lady from

Alabama wrote to me last spring, "I have been

trying to lose about sixty pounds for over 23

years. I quit! I'm resolved to the fact that

I will be fat for the rest of my life"

How saddening that comment is. but I'm happy

to tell you this lady, with a little

guidance, is now 65 pounds lighter than she

was one year ago.. and she has some muscle

tone. Needless to say, she no longer believes

that she'll be fat for the rest of her life.

I tell you this simply to illustrate the fact

that you don't have to give up on weight loss.

YOU can lose weight, but you have to be

willing to do what it takes.. and here's what

it takes!

If we look at people who have been successful

at weight loss *and* maintaining that loss,

a couple of things are very apparent. These two

factors are present in the lives of most of

them..

1. They do some form of aerobic exercise 5 to

7 days per week. These people aren't

exercise wimps! They know how critically

important this is to their weight loss/

maintenance and they get out and do it!

They average 45 minutes per day with the

range being 30 to 90 minutes per day.

This not only burns lots of calories,

but, perhaps more importantly, it elevates

their basal metabolic rate.

2. They do some type of weight training 2 to

3 days per week. This has a tremendous

affect on basal metabolic rate and

muscle tone. Success at maintaining a

weight loss is much higher in people

who have weight trained while they were

losing weight versus those who haven't.

Now, obviously, healthy eating habits are also

very important. However, most of these people

say that their exercise habits seem to dictate

their eating habits.. meaning that if they

can be consistent with exercise, their eating

habits seem to fall into place.

I've had many clients tell me that their daily

exercise puts them in a "healthy" frame of

mind and helps them to make better food choices.

Bottom line; when they are exercising

consistently, their eating habits are better.

I firmly believe that a major factor in most

peoples frustration with weight loss is that

they haven't been told the truth about

exercise. You see, twenty minutes, three days

per week isn't going to cut it for weight

loss. If you're serious about weight loss,

then you have to get serious about exercise.

-It's all about changing your basal metabolism

through exercise.

-It's about looking at exercise as a part of your

daily routine, just like brushing your teeth.

-It's about viewing exercise as something you're

doing to get healthy and feel great!

"If you *vigorously* pursue fitness and health,

weight loss will happen"(tm)

Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry,

offers free weight loss and fitness success stories

and targeted, highly affective weight loss programs

for women, men, type 2 diabetics, and people with

slow metabolisms and hypothyroidism..

http://www.Landry.com

2005-11-26T01:47:00.000-08:00

When we hear all the success stories of the gastric bypass, it sounds so easy. One pricey operation and the pounds just fly off! Right? Not quite. Gastric bypass surgery is only advised to those who are morbidly obese � this is someone with a body mass index greater then 40 and men and women between 80-100 pounds their ideal body weight.

The gastric bypass is also sometimes recommended to patients suffering obesity along with other conditions such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes. If the surgeon is happy the health benefits outweigh the possible side effects of gastric bypass surgery then it maybe recommended.

If you're currently obese and suffering no other conditions, I would personally think about big lifestyle changes, both in diet and exercise. I know it's a tough, long haul but with the right support it's possible to lose over 1lb/week safely and effectively. That's over 60 pounds of weight loss in 6 months. You must considering the risks involved in the gastric bypass surgery, because even with the surgery you will still be required to follow a rigid diet that you certainly aren't going to like at first.

Try to be objective about all forms of weight loss and weight up your options. There are many success stories out there on the gastric bypass and its beneficial to many people but please always remain open to the basics of weight loss.

About the Author

Article by Beverley Brooke, visit the section on the gastric bypass for more on the gastric bypass

2005-11-25T01:40:00.000-08:00

Fruits have very little if any protein and fat. Instead, they have carbohydrates, generally fruit sugar or fructose and glucose. As Florida commercials tend to announce, fruits offer us vitamins, C and B to be exact, as well as potassium, fiber and other nutrients. While the sugar helps with maintaining blood sugar levels, vitamins and other nutrients help ward off sickness and disease, and fiber is important for waste disposal from the body.

Apples � These help cleanse the system and aid lungs, and have been used as laxatives, for fainting, melancholy and palpitations. Apples have been known to help people with diabetes, heart disease, cancer and high cholesterol trouble.

Apricots � These offer beta carotene and potassium. They aid in adding moisture to the body, especially the breathing and throat areas. Apricots have been known to help fight cancer and high blood pressure, prevent night blindness, aid those with stomach and lung cancers, low energy and elderly with mental depression.

Bananas � These have been noted to help with intestinal and lung problems, ulcers and constipation, mental alertness, and increasing energy. They also help people with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease risk, blood sugar level maintenance, and the elderly with confusion.

Berries � A variety of berries has been noted to help with varicose veins, menstrual problems, premature graying, joint ailments, insomnia, liver, spleen and pancreas problems. They also help reduce cancer risk and aid with rheumatoid arthritic solutions, weight loss issues, stomach and colon cancers.

Citrus Fruits � Oranges, tangerines, kumquats, lemons, limes - -help with stomach and colon trouble and with anemia and infections (like scurvy) and colds. They are also help people with cataracts and the prevention of colon and stomach cancers.

Figs � These work as laxatives and have been known to help with the treatment of boils and anemia reduction, and the prevention of osteoporosis.

Grapes � Grapes are associated with cleansing the body and to help with water retention, urinary issues, jaundice and hepatitis. They are also associated with the healing of rheumatoid arthritis and aid with mental confusion / depression, especially among the elderly.

Mangos � Mangos are noted to aid in the prevention of anemia and the strengthening of the immune system. They also have been used to help with fighting off infections and tumors and the prevention of cervical cancer. And they help with overcoming diarrhea, sweating and mental alertness.

Papayas � This is a great source for vitamin C and is also noted for helping with male fertility, with aiding white blood cells among the elderly, with intestinal treatments and with cancer prevention.

Pears � Pears have similar characteristics as apples. They provide moisture for the body, are slow to digest and have fairly little allergic responses reported. They have also been used to help with coughing, diabetes, cholesterol levels, dryness in the chest cavity, skin injuries, introducing babies to food, staving off hunger and boosting brain power.

Pineapples � Their juice helps with digestion, dissolving blood clots (related to thrombosis) and healing wounds. They have been known to help with cancer prevention.

Prunes � Help with iron deficiency and constipation. Prune puree can act as a substitute in dietary cooking to lighten the fat low, working in place of butter and margarine.

About the Author

Ronnie is a content writer for http://www.1st-In-WeightLoss-Tips.com
Your Free Source for Weight Loss, Dieting, Health and Fitness Tips!
Promoting Health Living In Today's Fast Paced Society.

2005-11-24T01:40:00.000-08:00

I've worked with hundreds of people who
were interested in losing weight. Over
the years I've noticed four areas that
I believe are particular hindrances
to weight loss. If your goal is to be
successful at losing weight and keeping
it off, avoid the "big 4" no-nos.

#1 Big No-No: Not exercising on a daily
basis. Daily exercise sends your metabolism
through the roof! I have seen VERY FEW people
who are not very regular exercisers, lose
weight AND keep it off.

Losing weight and maintaining that loss
can be very difficult. However, both can
be made considerably easier with regular
exercise, preferably in the morning.

If you're interested in losing fat, you're
objective is to create a daily caloric
deficit. For example, If you're consuming
1700 calories per day, and expending 2000
calories per day, your caloric deficit is
300 calories. Losing a pound of fat requires
a deficit of 3500 calories. So, to lose
two pounds per week would require a daily
deficit of 1000 calories.

So, if you'd like to increase your daily
caloric deficit, you have two options;
1. To decrease your caloric intake by eating
fewer calories, or..
2. To increase your caloric expenditure via
more activity / exercise.
However, you cannot decrease your daily
caloric intake much lower than 1200 to
1500 or so without potentially creating
health and metabolism problems.

In fact, many people's metabolism (basal
metabolic rate) is so slow from years of
inactivity and dieting, that they are only
burning fewer than 1500 calories per day.
Without exercise, they would have to
decrease their daily caloric intake to
unhealthy levels to lose weight. And, a
caloric intake that's too low only creates
more metabolism problems and a vicious
cycle of more weight gain.

So, the only remaining factor in the deficit
equation is caloric expenditure through
increased activity / exercise.

The good news is that you can substantially
increase your caloric expenditure. For
example, if you're currently walking for
30 minutes two days per week, over a period of
several weeks you can increase your walking
to 60 minutes per day, six to seven days
per week and begin weight training for 30
minutes three days per week.

So, in this example, you would increase your
monthly exercise minutes from about 240 to
1530. Plus, in addition to the calories that
you're expending during exercise, you would
also substantially increase the number of
calories you're burning 24 hours-a-day, yes,
you'll even burn more calories while you're
sleeping because you've fired-up your basal
metabolic rate. You can't beat that, can you?

Here's another VERY important reason
to exercise while you're restricting
calories and trying to lose weight. you tend
to lose muscle tissue from any muscle that
you're not using while you're restricting
calories. You've heard it - use it or lose it.
And, there are three main consequences to
losing muscle;
1. Your metabolism (basal metabolic rate)
decreases causing you to burn *fewer* calories
24 hours-a-day and causing the maintenance
of your weight loss to be very difficult.
2. Your muscles get flabby and mushy.
3. Your are weaker and become fatigued
more easily.

#2 Big No-No: Not deciding to make a drastic
change. I've seen this over and over again
with hundreds of people. Unless someone
decides that they are ready to get really
serious about losing weight and ready to
make drastic changes, their chances of losing
weight and keeping it off are not good.

Research continues to indicate that
Americans are becoming more sedentary..
and fatter every year. This move toward
inactivity and an increase in body fat
is even more pronounced in children, who
don't get out and play anymore. Instead,
they sit in front of a TV or computer
(perhaps like their parents) for many of
their waking hours.

We know that there is a very direct,
inverse relationship between a person's
level of activity and the percentage of
their weight that is fat. less activity
equals more fat, and more activity equals
lees fat.

I received an email message recently
that I'd like to share with you. It's a
weight loss and fitness success story
that makes you want to start exercising
while you're reading it.

It's from a 48 year-old lady, Elizabeth,
who lives in Lexington, Kentucky. She
is living proof that less activity
equals more fat, and more activity
equals less fat. Here's her letter:

"Greg, I'm writing to thank you for your
inspiring articles and to tell you about
my journey (a rough one) to fitness. I
was at a healthy weight in my early
twenties and had my first child at age
26. I remained about 30 pounds overweight
after she was born."

"I managed to gain 15 more pounds during
the next four years, mostly because of
several diets I tried. After the birth
of my second child at age 31, I was 60
pounds overweight and very frustrated.
Over the next 15 years I tried numerous
diets (even eating just rice) that
ultimate led to me being 120 pounds
overweight."

"I started reading your articles two years
ago and it finally began to sink in. I
finally realized that exercise wasn't
just about the calories I was burning
during exercise. I finally realized
that I would never lose the weight and
keep it off without some real exercise
in my life."

"I reached a point in my life where my
weight was ruining my life. I got to the
point where everything was a struggle,
none of my fat clothes fit, I didn't
want to see anyone because of the way I
looked, and even walking made me
breathless. I decided that I would either
make a drastic change at that point or
I would give up. I chose to make a drastic
change."

"I knew that exercise needed to be a
priority and so I changed several things
in my daily schedule to make that happen.
I started with very little but I was very
consistent. I worked up to 45 minutes of
aerobic exercise in the morning and 30 to
45 minutes in the evening. On Saturdays,
I take a less intense, but longer walk
throughout my area of town enjoying all
the sights. I'm up to 8 to 10 miles on
my Saturday walk. I also weight train
three days a week. Please don't get the
impression that this was easy. I went
through MANY difficult struggles but
it definitely got easier as I progressed."

"I'm now 12 pounds from my goal weight. Greg,
I can't begin to explain how my life has
changed. Everything is different. Even
the way people talk to me. It's almost
like people didn't even see the person
under all that fat. Probably best of all
is that I have energy to function now.
I'm not constantly tired like I used to
be."

"Obviously, my perception of exercise has
changed now. I enjoy it and look forward
to it. I'm planning on doing a half
marathon (13.1 miles) walk in the fall.
Thanks again for your words of
encouragement."

Elizabeth
Lexington, Kentucky

Wow! This lady is unstoppable. Notice that
she first realized the true benefits of
exercise and then decided to do *whatever*
she had to for exercise to become a
consistent part of her life.

Exercise radically changes how your body
handles fat! when you're sedentary, all
the physiological signals tell your body
to hang on to the fat and dump the
metabolism boosting muscle. When you're
exercising on a daily basis, all the
physiological signals tell your body to
dump the fat and increase the metabolism
boosting muscle. Which signals do you want?

#3 Big No-No: Not taking the time to plan
and prepare your eating. Healthy eating for
weight loss won't just happen, you have to
spend time on it.

Not being prepared is a major factor that
leads to overeating and unhealthy eating.
Take time to plan your shopping and eating
for the week. Take time to prepare your
lunch to take to work, and your meal for
the evening, etc. Plan for healthy snacks
to have at home, in your car, at work, etc.
Our weight loss programs specifically
discuss how to set up an effective snacking
system.

4. Not including intervals in your aerobic
exercise. Intervals are brief periods (about one
minute) of more intense exercise mixed into your
regular aerobic exercise sessions. For
example, if you're walking, you would do a
one minute interval of faster walking once
every five minutes throughout your exercise
session.

Here's how it will look.. you'll start with
your normal three to five minute warm-up and
then five minutes into your workout you do
your first interval, one minute of faster
walking (or perhaps jogging). At the end of
that minute you should be "winded" and ready
to slow down. You'll slow down to your normal
exercising speed for the next four minutes
and then your fifth minute is another one
minute interval. This pattern continues
throughout your exercise session.

You'll derive several benefits from intervals..

1. Intervals can help you to get past a
weight loss plateau.

2. Intervals increase your aerobic fitness
level by "pushing the envelope". While doing
your interval you cross the anaerobic
threshold into anaerobic metabolism, forcing
your body to become conditioned to more
intense exercise.

3. Your increased level of fitness means that
a given level of exercise will feel easier
and that you will be able to exercise at a
higher intensity which "burns" more calories.

4. Your increased level of fitness also means
that you will be less fatigued from daily
activities and you'll have more "energy"
throughout the day.

5. Intervals increase your basal metabolic
rate (BMR), causing you to burn more calories
24 hours-a-day.

6. Intervals cause you to "burn" more calories
during your exercise session and for several
hours afterwards.

7. Intervals will tone the involved muscles
to a greater degree than your regular aerobic
exercise would.

8. Intervals can make your exercise less
monotonous and help the time pass more
quickly.

9. Intervals will energize you!

If you'd like to put a little excitement into
your exercise, and you're looking for better
results, give intervals a try.

Avoid these four "no-nos" and your weight loss
efforts are much more likely to be successful.

2005-11-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

TIP #1: Burn it in the AM.

TIP #2 Forget Your Late Night Snack.

TIP #3 Kiss that Frappuccino Goodbye.

TIP #4 Fuel Your Fire.

TIP #5 Curb Your Carbs

Visit: http://www.hitechtrainer.com/ and begin meeting your fitness goals today!

2005-11-22T01:17:00.001-08:00

About the Author

2005-11-22T01:17:00.000-08:00

About the Author

2005-11-20T00:58:00.000-08:00

About the Author

2005-11-18T20:31:00.000-08:00

About the Author

2005-11-17T20:26:00.000-08:00

About the Author

Paul DiLauro, MS is an Exercise Physiologist at Peak Performance Fitness (www.peakptfit.com) and an ACSM certified Health Fitness Instructor.

2005-11-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

1. Get clear on your ultimate weight-loss goal.

2. Go high-protein, low carbs.

3. Add resistance training to your program.

4. Look out for hidden carbohydrates.

5. Take the "refinement" out of your diet.

6. Don't go hungry.

7. Drink to burn up.

8. Keep your incentive strong.

2005-11-14T20:23:00.000-08:00

Cardio & Weight Loss

*Siff, MC, Verkhoshansky, YV. "Supertraining (4th Edition)." Denver, CO: Supertraining International, 1999. (pg. 241)

A: The second approach is far more effective for burning fat. Without getting into a huge discussion about this, here's how things work in a nutshell.

At a lower intensity, your body prefers fat for fuel. Yes, this is true, but two things generally happen:

2. A higher relative amount of fat is burned during low intensity cardio but a greater absolute amount is burned with higher intensity cardio and in less time.

Bottom line: with regards to burning fat, do higher intensity work in the form of interval training and you'll get great results.

2005-11-13T20:16:00.000-08:00

Add extra oxygen to the body fat, and in theory it should break down into two well known substances:

The chemistry sounds very straightforward. Human body fat is a combination of three elements - hydrogen, carbon and oxygen molecules (plus other substances that are stored within the fat cells).

Add extra oxygen to the body fat, and in theory it should break down into two well known substances:

Hydrogen & oxygen molecules (H2O - water, which enters the blood stream, goes through the kidneys and is then excreted via urination); &
Carbon & oxygen molecules (CO2 - carbon dioxide, which is excreted via respiration).

Oxygen or Ozone Therapies are used by a number of alternative medicine practitioners around the world. It is more popular in Europe than in the USA. Practitioners are also found in Canada and Mexico.

Oxygen therapy is usually administered in one of two ways:

A facial mask attached to an oxygen tank, so that the patient breaths in oxygen for many hours of the day; or
Daily sessions of diluted hydrogen peroxide administered via an intravenous drip.

All the doctors who replied responded that no such weight loss factor has ever been observed that they could credit to the oxygen therapy itself, and not the condition they were treating.

It seems that empirical evidence to support the theory that oxygen therapy could reduce body fat into the easily excreted H2O and CO2 is lacking.

The breathing technique therefore seeks to encourage and maximize the expulsion of carbon dioxide from our bodies - carbon dioxide that is the waste matter created when the oxygen dissolves body fat.

By all means, add these deep breathing exercises to your overall toolbox of synergistic weight loss treatments.

Still, there is one more form of oxygen therapy (not usually recognized as such) that even the sceptics would have trouble disputing.

2005-11-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

online weight loss programs

Money-making or Real Help?

Losing Weight By sitting in Front of the Computer?

There is no doubt that "bricks-and-mortar" weight loss centers, such as Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and LA Weight Loss, are significantly more expensive than their on-line competitors.

The support available from on-line forums, message boards, email, and chat, is contributing to peoples weight loss efforts.

Weight Loss Information - Quackery or Quality?

We need to be more informed and weigh up our own decisions for what is best for our bodies.

Online Weight Loss - What To Expect

It's also worth bearing in mind that the cost for these programs is very good compared with the amount of information that you receive.

If you are considering altering your diet, and beginning an exercise regime, it's well worth having a look at some of the programs on-line to see if they will suit.

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2005-11-11T20:09:00.001-08:00

You gain weight when your calorie intake is more than your calorie expenditure.

2005-11-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

You gain weight when your calorie intake is more than your calorie expenditure.

2005-11-10T20:06:00.000-08:00

Gastric bypass surgery

About the Author

2005-11-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

About the Author

I was a civil engineer after i left school, until I became a systems programmer(for 25 years). Now I write the odd thing and try to help people.

2005-11-08T19:21:00.000-08:00

About the Author

2005-11-06T18:24:00.000-08:00

Discover secrets to overcome food addictions by releasing negative thoughts and reframing with powerful affirmations, and manifest all that is yours by Divine right.

My name is Tami Close and my intention is to empower women to realize they are responsible for their own health and well-being.

Check out www.tamiclose.com.

2005-11-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

About the Author

2005-11-04T17:36:00.000-08:00

Getting Started on The Clean Diet

What is the Clean Diet?

What Can I Eat on The Clean Diet?

An ounce of raisins contains 85 calories and 201 mg of Potassium, while an ounce of fresh grapes is a mere 20 calories. You'd need four times the fresh grapes to equal the dried.

Isn't Brown Bread Better for You?

The Clean Diet is More a Way of Life than a Strict Set of Eating Rules

By Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

2005-11-03T17:20:00.000-08:00

Getting Started on The Clean Diet

What is the Clean Diet?

What Can I Eat on The Clean Diet?

An ounce of raisins contains 85 calories and 201 mg of Potassium, while an ounce of fresh grapes is a mere 20 calories. You'd need four times the fresh grapes to equal the dried.

Isn't Brown Bread Better for You?

The Clean Diet is More a Way of Life than a Strict Set of Eating Rules

By Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com

2005-11-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

I would like to introduce you to an incredible new weight loss product: Your brain�

I hope some of you will accept this and give it a try also.

"When the imagination and the will are in conflict, the imagination always wins." - Emile Coue

This is not a diet. This is the natural way we are created to use our minds - constructively and in alignment with Universal laws.

Important Footnote:

How's this for a marketing idea: Mental weight loss clinics called "Brain Watchers International." :)

2005-11-01T17:18:00.000-08:00

Do you sometimes get bored with your aerobic exercise? Do You sometimes feel like you're not getting the results you should from your aerobic exercise? If so, then aerobic cross-training is for you.

Aerobic cross-training is beneficial to you in several ways:

1. It provides variety which eliminates the monotony often associated with doing the same exercise for a long period of time.

2. If your exercise sessions are less monotonous and more enjoyable, you are much more likely to exercise more often and for longer periods of time.

3. You are less prone to over-use injuries that sometimes occur from doing the same exercise movements over and over again.

2005-10-31T16:49:00.001-08:00