Retaining your muscle mass while on a weightloss program is one of the most important aspects that you need to concentrate on as this will help you to keep your fat percentage down long-term.
On the ultra low calorie diets the body begins to cannibalize its own muscle tissue as its defense mechanisms come into play.
An example of this is shown with some of these apparently slim fashion models who have quite high levels of body fat in proportion to their overall size.
The reason for this is the fact that they haven't done any form of exercise or resistance training to maintain any reasonable level of muscle mass and this is only made worse by the fact that they are often eating a very low quality diet and nutrition is lacking.
It is not uncommon to see skinny models with cellulite and that is a sure sign that they are retaining fat in a higher percentage than they should be.
They would find that if they added a little bit of resistance training or even some form of decent exercise to their daily routine they would be able to still retain a slim figure but the body fat percentage would be considerably lower and they would look a lot more toned and healthy.
And healthy is what you should be aiming for when you go on a weight-loss program and not simply loosing weight as actually improving your overall health and well-being will help you to live a better lifestyle for a lot longer.
Increasing your muscle mass also improves your metabolic rate whereas body fat has a very low level of metabolic activity. Nutritionists regard muscle as the furnace that burns in the body and this is what you should be aiming for.
If more weightloss programs focused on retaining muscle mass people would be unlikely to put the weight back on rapidly once they finished the program.
Showing posts with label diet pills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diet pills. Show all posts
Monday, 1 February 2010
Monday, 25 January 2010
Natural Weightloss Products
Many people assume that because a product is natural is a lot healthier for the body but this is not always the case as even natural ingredients, and particularly those that they put in weightloss supplements can cause other problems detrimental to your health.
Many natural weightloss products also have such a minimal amount of substances in them that are beneficial to weightloss that the chances of them benefiting your weight-loss program will be negligible.
That's not to say that some natural weightloss products aren't good but you need to be aware that many of them are just getting promoted as with any other weightloss and dietary supplement purely as a source of income for the people selling.
The FDA has in fact banned the use of many natural products that were used in weightloss supplements over the years because they are proven to cause anything from mild to severe reactions in some people.
A lot of these products only act as diuretics which cause a temporary loss of water giving people the false impression that they are loosing weight rapidly.
You will in fact have a lot more chance of loosing weight by an increasing the quantity of water that you drink and remaining hydrated all the time.
The best natural weightloss products are the good healthy foods that you should be eating every day in the form of fresh fruit and vegetables that will assure you have all the necessary vitamins and minerals that your body needs to function properly.
If you have any health problems such as high blood pressure or heart problems then you will need professional advice even when taking natural weightloss products to ensure your safety. Some natural ingredients can increase blood pressure and if you already have high blood pressure the results could be fatal.
Many natural weightloss products also have such a minimal amount of substances in them that are beneficial to weightloss that the chances of them benefiting your weight-loss program will be negligible.
That's not to say that some natural weightloss products aren't good but you need to be aware that many of them are just getting promoted as with any other weightloss and dietary supplement purely as a source of income for the people selling.
The FDA has in fact banned the use of many natural products that were used in weightloss supplements over the years because they are proven to cause anything from mild to severe reactions in some people.
A lot of these products only act as diuretics which cause a temporary loss of water giving people the false impression that they are loosing weight rapidly.
You will in fact have a lot more chance of loosing weight by an increasing the quantity of water that you drink and remaining hydrated all the time.
The best natural weightloss products are the good healthy foods that you should be eating every day in the form of fresh fruit and vegetables that will assure you have all the necessary vitamins and minerals that your body needs to function properly.
If you have any health problems such as high blood pressure or heart problems then you will need professional advice even when taking natural weightloss products to ensure your safety. Some natural ingredients can increase blood pressure and if you already have high blood pressure the results could be fatal.
Monday, 18 January 2010
What You Can Expect On Your Weightloss Journey
If you've been on any diets or weightloss programs in the past then consider the results that you got from them because that is what you can expect if you go on the same diet again.
You need to look not only at the diet itself, the time that you were on it and whether you lost weight or not, but also the period after you stopped dieting and consider how fast you put the weight back on because very often that weight gain after dieting was a result of the diet itself.
If you are considering another attempt at that diet where you lost a lot of weight quite rapidly, it will be worthwhile to look a little further and see what the final outcome was over the medium to long term as that might paint a different picture and change your opinion on the effectiveness of the diet.
It might be time for you to consider an alternative way of loosing weight or to be more precise loosing fat because that is the most important thing that you should be looking at.
Consider using a weight-loss program that reduces the fat gradually and is easy to maintain while you go about your normal day-to-day life. You might think that it will take longer to loose the weight but what you really should be focusing on is getting to an optimum body shape and staying there for the rest of your life.
It is not much use to you to loose weight for a few months and put it on for the next few months and then repeat the cycle over and over again.
This is all that you can expect to get if that's all that you got in the past and in fact it only becomes more difficult to loose weight and easier to put it back on so keep that thought in your mind before you embark on another weight-loss program.
You need to look not only at the diet itself, the time that you were on it and whether you lost weight or not, but also the period after you stopped dieting and consider how fast you put the weight back on because very often that weight gain after dieting was a result of the diet itself.
If you are considering another attempt at that diet where you lost a lot of weight quite rapidly, it will be worthwhile to look a little further and see what the final outcome was over the medium to long term as that might paint a different picture and change your opinion on the effectiveness of the diet.
It might be time for you to consider an alternative way of loosing weight or to be more precise loosing fat because that is the most important thing that you should be looking at.
Consider using a weight-loss program that reduces the fat gradually and is easy to maintain while you go about your normal day-to-day life. You might think that it will take longer to loose the weight but what you really should be focusing on is getting to an optimum body shape and staying there for the rest of your life.
It is not much use to you to loose weight for a few months and put it on for the next few months and then repeat the cycle over and over again.
This is all that you can expect to get if that's all that you got in the past and in fact it only becomes more difficult to loose weight and easier to put it back on so keep that thought in your mind before you embark on another weight-loss program.
Monday, 11 January 2010
Everything In Moderation will Help You Achieve Your Weightloss
How many times have you heard that statement? The best results are always when anything is done in moderation. You gain body fat because you weren't eating or drinking in moderation so in order to reverse that situation you also need to plan your weightloss programs so that eating or exercising that is involved with that program is also done in moderation.
Excessive exercising for somebody who hasn't done much in the past can result in injury and that injury can make you less mobile and increase the opportunity to gain body fat.
Sudden changes in diet will send the body into reactionary mode storing fat. Gradual changes to your diet on the other hand done in moderation will not send signals to the body that is a starving and in fact you won't feel as though you are starving either if you do it in moderation.
Making moderate changes to your food and exercise won't infringe on your lifestyle anywhere near as much and that will in effect make it a lot easier for you to maintain the changes for a lot longer until they become second nature.
This is when you will get to the stage where you can gradually keep reducing the body fat and become healthier and healthier and more energetic as time goes on.
Even your intake or water has to be in moderation because drinking excessive water can flush out important nutrients from your system doing more harm than good.
You are better drinking a glass of water here and there throughout the day rather than trying to drink gallons of water in the hope that it will help you to loose weight faster.
Even good foods need to be eaten in moderation as excessive quantities of these foods can still cause the body to store them as fat.
It's a simple rule to follow really; if you are eating drinking or exercising too much or too little you are unlikely to get optimum results.
Excessive exercising for somebody who hasn't done much in the past can result in injury and that injury can make you less mobile and increase the opportunity to gain body fat.
Sudden changes in diet will send the body into reactionary mode storing fat. Gradual changes to your diet on the other hand done in moderation will not send signals to the body that is a starving and in fact you won't feel as though you are starving either if you do it in moderation.
Making moderate changes to your food and exercise won't infringe on your lifestyle anywhere near as much and that will in effect make it a lot easier for you to maintain the changes for a lot longer until they become second nature.
This is when you will get to the stage where you can gradually keep reducing the body fat and become healthier and healthier and more energetic as time goes on.
Even your intake or water has to be in moderation because drinking excessive water can flush out important nutrients from your system doing more harm than good.
You are better drinking a glass of water here and there throughout the day rather than trying to drink gallons of water in the hope that it will help you to loose weight faster.
Even good foods need to be eaten in moderation as excessive quantities of these foods can still cause the body to store them as fat.
It's a simple rule to follow really; if you are eating drinking or exercising too much or too little you are unlikely to get optimum results.
Monday, 4 January 2010
Your Fat Point
Many people have long held the mistaken belief that everybody has a particular fat point where their body realizes that this is the level of fat that is normal to that particular person.
This is not true and we all develop our own fat point based on our lifestyles.
While there are various different body types that are determined by our genes the percentage of fat that we carry around in our body is not due to the genes that we have inherited. It is due to the food that we have been eating from the beginning of our life to the stage where we are at presently.
If you have been over eating for a long period of time and you have remained at a specific fat percentage for quite some time then that becomes your new fat point. And that can change up or down according to the lifestyle that you choose to lead.
If you have remained at a particular fat point for a year or two then your body will develop all the necessary requirements in the form of capillaries, connective tissues, hormonal levels and so on to support that point.
You have determined what that point is and your body will now try to maintain the new level.
Your body will constantly monitor that new fat point by all the messages that are sent to the brain. If you are to go on a crash diet your body will react to the fact that it sees an attack on that fat point and will do all it can to maintain what it believes is the correct balance. The maintenance can be in the form of a reduction in muscle tissue to save fat.
Unfortunately for many people they don't like to accept the fact that it is not their genes or anything else that has resulted in their fat point being too high.
This is not true and we all develop our own fat point based on our lifestyles.
While there are various different body types that are determined by our genes the percentage of fat that we carry around in our body is not due to the genes that we have inherited. It is due to the food that we have been eating from the beginning of our life to the stage where we are at presently.
If you have been over eating for a long period of time and you have remained at a specific fat percentage for quite some time then that becomes your new fat point. And that can change up or down according to the lifestyle that you choose to lead.
If you have remained at a particular fat point for a year or two then your body will develop all the necessary requirements in the form of capillaries, connective tissues, hormonal levels and so on to support that point.
You have determined what that point is and your body will now try to maintain the new level.
Your body will constantly monitor that new fat point by all the messages that are sent to the brain. If you are to go on a crash diet your body will react to the fact that it sees an attack on that fat point and will do all it can to maintain what it believes is the correct balance. The maintenance can be in the form of a reduction in muscle tissue to save fat.
Unfortunately for many people they don't like to accept the fact that it is not their genes or anything else that has resulted in their fat point being too high.
Monday, 28 December 2009
Exercise To Reduce Appetite
Many people believe that if they start exercising they will become hungrier and tend to eat more and fear that they will put on weight due to the fact that they will be consuming more food.
What they don't realize is the fact that your blood sugar levels determine when you feel hungry. When your blood sugar drops you will begin to feel hungry and seek food to increase the level again.
Exercising helps to normalize fluctuations in your blood sugar levels and in doing so you won't get that starving feeling as often.
Exercise activates your muscles which in turn burns fat rather than carbohydrates so this reduction in the burning of carbohydrates maintains your blood sugar levels in a more balanced manner.
By raising your metabolic rate from exercise the cells of your body will burn oxygen more efficiently and that in turn helps you to use the nutrients from your diet more effectively. It also helps to eliminate waste products and in doing so you are getting better nourishment from the foods that you eat.
By getting more nourishment you don't require the same quantities of food to feel fulfilled.
Another benefit of exercise is the fact that you are increasing your body temperature and this will help to mobilize the fat in your body that is used for energy rather than the food. Your resting basal metabolic rate will also be raised after exercise for a considerable amount of time effectively helping you to burn more fat and improving the ratio of body fat percentage in your body.
There are so many positive reasons why you should be including some form of exercise into any weight-loss program and even if you are reluctant to exercise you should understand that it is probably easier to increase the exercise than to reduce the amount of food that you feel like eating every hour of the day.
What they don't realize is the fact that your blood sugar levels determine when you feel hungry. When your blood sugar drops you will begin to feel hungry and seek food to increase the level again.
Exercising helps to normalize fluctuations in your blood sugar levels and in doing so you won't get that starving feeling as often.
Exercise activates your muscles which in turn burns fat rather than carbohydrates so this reduction in the burning of carbohydrates maintains your blood sugar levels in a more balanced manner.
By raising your metabolic rate from exercise the cells of your body will burn oxygen more efficiently and that in turn helps you to use the nutrients from your diet more effectively. It also helps to eliminate waste products and in doing so you are getting better nourishment from the foods that you eat.
By getting more nourishment you don't require the same quantities of food to feel fulfilled.
Another benefit of exercise is the fact that you are increasing your body temperature and this will help to mobilize the fat in your body that is used for energy rather than the food. Your resting basal metabolic rate will also be raised after exercise for a considerable amount of time effectively helping you to burn more fat and improving the ratio of body fat percentage in your body.
There are so many positive reasons why you should be including some form of exercise into any weight-loss program and even if you are reluctant to exercise you should understand that it is probably easier to increase the exercise than to reduce the amount of food that you feel like eating every hour of the day.
Monday, 21 December 2009
Changing Your Routine For weightloss
Quite often one of the best ways for most people to get started on a weight-loss program is to simply change the routine that they are accustomed to.
We get into the same habits of eating the same foods and doing the same things every day and the change alone can stimulate the body into action.
There is no better way to break a habit than to do something completely different and if you do it for long enough that will become the norm and changes in your lifestyle can be made within the course of a month if you habitually do the same thing every day - just make sure that that things that you do every day are making positive steps to achieving a better quality of health and lower body fat.
Most people who are overweight have some habit or habits that have resulted in their condition because it takes the constant over abuse of food and alcohol to get in such a state unless there are some other specific health-related problems.
If you make a concerted effort to change many of your normal routines you might find that these habits present themselves and you can begin to understand why you started putting on weight in the first place. If you know the reason for your condition that makes it a lot easier to reverse that state and get to where you want to be.
No matter how many weightloss programs you attempt to go on they will always be a struggle if you can't resolve the underlying issues and the habits that have caused you to neglect your health to such an extent that you don't feel happy about your body.
Quite often the foods that we believe we can't do without are only needed due to the habit of always having had them. If you were brought up in a different household where your diet was different then those would be the foods that you would want to eat even if the diet was completely different from the one you currently enjoy.
We get into the same habits of eating the same foods and doing the same things every day and the change alone can stimulate the body into action.
There is no better way to break a habit than to do something completely different and if you do it for long enough that will become the norm and changes in your lifestyle can be made within the course of a month if you habitually do the same thing every day - just make sure that that things that you do every day are making positive steps to achieving a better quality of health and lower body fat.
Most people who are overweight have some habit or habits that have resulted in their condition because it takes the constant over abuse of food and alcohol to get in such a state unless there are some other specific health-related problems.
If you make a concerted effort to change many of your normal routines you might find that these habits present themselves and you can begin to understand why you started putting on weight in the first place. If you know the reason for your condition that makes it a lot easier to reverse that state and get to where you want to be.
No matter how many weightloss programs you attempt to go on they will always be a struggle if you can't resolve the underlying issues and the habits that have caused you to neglect your health to such an extent that you don't feel happy about your body.
Quite often the foods that we believe we can't do without are only needed due to the habit of always having had them. If you were brought up in a different household where your diet was different then those would be the foods that you would want to eat even if the diet was completely different from the one you currently enjoy.
Monday, 14 December 2009
Reward Yourself On Your quest For weightloss
You should reward yourself as you achieve goals along the way when following a weightloss program. It will give you the incentive to carry on and make you feel good about your body.
I am not suggesting that you reward yourself with a whole lot of bad food but rather something more effective such as a new piece of clothing in the smaller size that marks a stage in your weight-loss program where you have made another positive achievement.
It is important that you reward yourself and feel good about what you have done because the better you feel about yourself the more likely you will be to continue with the program you have chosen.
For many people it is a lack of self worth that caused them to start gaining weight in the first place so a reversal of this mindset can be a very powerful stimulant for getting back into shape.
It is more important that you feel good about yourself rather than being concerned what others think. By rewarding yourself in one way or another you are taking your self worth to a higher level and that is extremely important to your success not only with your weight reduction but every other aspect of your life.
Each time you get clooser to your optimum body weight you are benefiting as a whole with improved health and well-being and these rewards that you give yourself along the way are significant reminders of what you have achieved and they are very powerful incentives for bigger and better things.
Never underestimate the impact that this can have on your ability to succeed with a whole new direction in life starting from the inside out.
It doesn't even need to be something that you have to spend money on even just taking time out for a while and considering what you have achieved and congratulating yourself with what you have done.
I am not suggesting that you reward yourself with a whole lot of bad food but rather something more effective such as a new piece of clothing in the smaller size that marks a stage in your weight-loss program where you have made another positive achievement.
It is important that you reward yourself and feel good about what you have done because the better you feel about yourself the more likely you will be to continue with the program you have chosen.
For many people it is a lack of self worth that caused them to start gaining weight in the first place so a reversal of this mindset can be a very powerful stimulant for getting back into shape.
It is more important that you feel good about yourself rather than being concerned what others think. By rewarding yourself in one way or another you are taking your self worth to a higher level and that is extremely important to your success not only with your weight reduction but every other aspect of your life.
Each time you get clooser to your optimum body weight you are benefiting as a whole with improved health and well-being and these rewards that you give yourself along the way are significant reminders of what you have achieved and they are very powerful incentives for bigger and better things.
Never underestimate the impact that this can have on your ability to succeed with a whole new direction in life starting from the inside out.
It doesn't even need to be something that you have to spend money on even just taking time out for a while and considering what you have achieved and congratulating yourself with what you have done.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Slow Down Your Eating
You might be surprised to learn that simply slowing down the rate that you eat your food at can have a profound affect on your body weight.
The longer it takes you to eat your food, the less food you will need to eat to feel satisfied.
There are some simple techniques that can get you out of a bad habit of eating too fast and consequently eating too much.
Try to chew your food a little longer before you swallow it as this will help with the digestion of the food and the extra time that it takes you to chew will also help you to feel more satisfied without having to have such a large quantity.
Don't load up your fork or spoon with more food until you have finished eating the food that is already in your mouth. One simple way of doing this is to actually put down your fork or spoon until you ready to pick up the next piece of food to eat.
It breaks the habit of over eating from eating too fast. If you look at the way that French people in particular eat as a whole, you should notice that not only do they have smaller portions of food but they take a lot longer to eat their food. They are doing two things that help them to stay slim. Eating smaller amounts and taking longer to eat those smaller amounts.
You will find that once you start eating a little slower you will actually get to enjoy the food a lot more. You will have more time to savor the tastes in the food.
It takes a little while after eating food for your body to register the fact that it has had enough and many people overeat when they eat too fast simply because they believe they are still hungry. You should never eat until you are full; rather eat until you feel comfortable that you have had enough.
The longer it takes you to eat your food, the less food you will need to eat to feel satisfied.
There are some simple techniques that can get you out of a bad habit of eating too fast and consequently eating too much.
Try to chew your food a little longer before you swallow it as this will help with the digestion of the food and the extra time that it takes you to chew will also help you to feel more satisfied without having to have such a large quantity.
Don't load up your fork or spoon with more food until you have finished eating the food that is already in your mouth. One simple way of doing this is to actually put down your fork or spoon until you ready to pick up the next piece of food to eat.
It breaks the habit of over eating from eating too fast. If you look at the way that French people in particular eat as a whole, you should notice that not only do they have smaller portions of food but they take a lot longer to eat their food. They are doing two things that help them to stay slim. Eating smaller amounts and taking longer to eat those smaller amounts.
You will find that once you start eating a little slower you will actually get to enjoy the food a lot more. You will have more time to savor the tastes in the food.
It takes a little while after eating food for your body to register the fact that it has had enough and many people overeat when they eat too fast simply because they believe they are still hungry. You should never eat until you are full; rather eat until you feel comfortable that you have had enough.
Monday, 30 November 2009
You Don't Have To Eat It All
Many of us are brought up from childhood where we have been told they we are not allowed to leave the table until we finished all the food on our plate. While this was done generally with the best intentions in mind it is not the way that we should look at eating. You don't need to eat everything that is on your plate.
If you've had enough to eat you should stop whether there is more food available or not. You shouldn't need to get rid of food as these days it is no longer necessary to be concerned with keeping the food fresh as it was in the past. Stop eating and put that excess food into the refrigerator where you can eat it tomorrow.
If you are constantly finding there is additional food left when you are satisfied then you need to reduce the quantities that you are cooking or making available for your meals each day.
It is better to have a little less than too much.
Don't feel obliged to eat all the food that is placed before you when you're eating out. Even then you should only eat to feel comfortable and not feel full.
For most people it is a habit to eat everything that is on their plate and this belief has been drummed into them from childhood. Now is a good time to reverse that train of thought.
Where possible put the food on your plate that you intend to eat at any particular meal and then take that plate with the food to the table. This will encourage you to put limits on the amount of food that you will eat. Having additional food available at the table only encourages you to eat more. If it is not in sight you are less likely to feel the need to eat it.
If you've had enough to eat you should stop whether there is more food available or not. You shouldn't need to get rid of food as these days it is no longer necessary to be concerned with keeping the food fresh as it was in the past. Stop eating and put that excess food into the refrigerator where you can eat it tomorrow.
If you are constantly finding there is additional food left when you are satisfied then you need to reduce the quantities that you are cooking or making available for your meals each day.
It is better to have a little less than too much.
Don't feel obliged to eat all the food that is placed before you when you're eating out. Even then you should only eat to feel comfortable and not feel full.
For most people it is a habit to eat everything that is on their plate and this belief has been drummed into them from childhood. Now is a good time to reverse that train of thought.
Where possible put the food on your plate that you intend to eat at any particular meal and then take that plate with the food to the table. This will encourage you to put limits on the amount of food that you will eat. Having additional food available at the table only encourages you to eat more. If it is not in sight you are less likely to feel the need to eat it.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Organize Your Life To Achieve Your Weightloss
A disorganized person is always rushing and a person who is always rushing will tend to eat too fast. A person who eats too fast will tend to eat too much and a person who eats too much will tend to get fat.
Mess causes distress and that in turn causes people to eat too much. Are you beginning to see the picture of how having a well organized life will help you to maintain a more balanced and healthy body?
Many people resort to eating in the effort to handle stress and being disorganized is a surefire way of increasing levels of stress in your life.
Being organized will also ensure that you have the right food in your house and you don't have to resort to low quality foods that you keep as a backup for those times when you run out of the nutritious food that you should be eating.
Being organized will also help you to eat at regular times throughout the day and by being regular with your eating it will help you to maintain more consistent blood sugar levels that will reduce the chance of you getting into low blood sugar and over eating to compensate.
By planning ahead with your meals you can plan to have better meals and you won't need to resort to fast foods because you haven't got any other food organized by the time you're ready to eat.
By being organized and having a shopping list where you have determined in advance the right foods for your diet you will be less likely to buy food that you shouldn't be buying when you go to the supermarket.
Organization is one of the keys to success in following any weightloss program. It also helps to reduce the amount of time that you have to think about food and think about loosing weight and when that doesn't become such a big focus in your life you are more likely to succeed.
Mess causes distress and that in turn causes people to eat too much. Are you beginning to see the picture of how having a well organized life will help you to maintain a more balanced and healthy body?
Many people resort to eating in the effort to handle stress and being disorganized is a surefire way of increasing levels of stress in your life.
Being organized will also ensure that you have the right food in your house and you don't have to resort to low quality foods that you keep as a backup for those times when you run out of the nutritious food that you should be eating.
Being organized will also help you to eat at regular times throughout the day and by being regular with your eating it will help you to maintain more consistent blood sugar levels that will reduce the chance of you getting into low blood sugar and over eating to compensate.
By planning ahead with your meals you can plan to have better meals and you won't need to resort to fast foods because you haven't got any other food organized by the time you're ready to eat.
By being organized and having a shopping list where you have determined in advance the right foods for your diet you will be less likely to buy food that you shouldn't be buying when you go to the supermarket.
Organization is one of the keys to success in following any weightloss program. It also helps to reduce the amount of time that you have to think about food and think about loosing weight and when that doesn't become such a big focus in your life you are more likely to succeed.
Monday, 16 November 2009
That Four Letter Word
That four letter word 'diet' brings about all sorts of different emotions in people and more often than not those emotions tend to be negative. To most people a diet is a struggle. It is something that they would rather not have to do. People only do on diets because they know that they have to do something about their weight and their health. It is a choice made out of necessity.
As soon as you believe you are on a diet you also become aware of the fact that you are going to get off it again and what do you expect will happen when you get off the diet that is helping you to get in shape?
For most people getting off a diet means reverting back to their former lifestyle and that is the lifestyle that got them overweight in the first place.
What you really should be doing is not dieting but making lifestyle changes because lifestyle changes are something that you can continue with forever. If you make lifestyle changes that result in healthy body weight then you will maintain that body weight for as long as you maintain that lifestyle. It is not something that you will get off at the end of achieving a result. A lifestyle is a way that you intend to live for the long-term and that is how you will remain in good shape for the long-term.
How often do you hear people saying that they are on a diet? And the next minute they are no longer on the diet.
What they should be saying is; I have made lifestyle changes and the result of those changes have been a reduction in body fat, an increase on my energy levels and an overall improvement in health.
That is what lifestyle changes can do for you and it is something that short-term diets rarely achieve.
As soon as you believe you are on a diet you also become aware of the fact that you are going to get off it again and what do you expect will happen when you get off the diet that is helping you to get in shape?
For most people getting off a diet means reverting back to their former lifestyle and that is the lifestyle that got them overweight in the first place.
What you really should be doing is not dieting but making lifestyle changes because lifestyle changes are something that you can continue with forever. If you make lifestyle changes that result in healthy body weight then you will maintain that body weight for as long as you maintain that lifestyle. It is not something that you will get off at the end of achieving a result. A lifestyle is a way that you intend to live for the long-term and that is how you will remain in good shape for the long-term.
How often do you hear people saying that they are on a diet? And the next minute they are no longer on the diet.
What they should be saying is; I have made lifestyle changes and the result of those changes have been a reduction in body fat, an increase on my energy levels and an overall improvement in health.
That is what lifestyle changes can do for you and it is something that short-term diets rarely achieve.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Don't Make Dieting Difficult
The more difficult you make your diet the less likely you are to stick to it and succeed.
If you are constantly having to think about your diet throughout the day and keeping account of all the foods that you eat and the calories that you are counting then it becomes very difficult to maintain for the long-term and eventually those types of diets result in failure for most people.
By keeping your weightloss program simple you are going to achieve a lot better results because it allow you to get on with enjoying everyday life without having to think about food and cutting back on your food for all of your waking hours.
Even mention of the word diet has negative effects for many people because it immediately places restrictions on their lifestyle.
There are enough things to contend with in modern day life without having to constantly keep a track of what you're eating although you do need to be aware of the types of food and the portions that you are consuming because this is what determines whether you gain or loose weight.
Healthy weightloss can be achieved quite simply by just reducing by small amounts the portions that you have at each meal even if you don't change the types of foods you are eating.
This is generally the best way for people to start dieting as it doesn't require anything that is too difficult and too hard to maintain for enough time to see results.
Once people see results from the weight-loss program then there is an incentive to carry on and do better and particularly if these results have come about by using simple techniques that haven't burdened the enjoyment of life.
Before you start on any diets consider the consequences and how it will impose on your life and whether you have the type of personality that will allow you to maintain what is required for that particular program.
If you are constantly having to think about your diet throughout the day and keeping account of all the foods that you eat and the calories that you are counting then it becomes very difficult to maintain for the long-term and eventually those types of diets result in failure for most people.
By keeping your weightloss program simple you are going to achieve a lot better results because it allow you to get on with enjoying everyday life without having to think about food and cutting back on your food for all of your waking hours.
Even mention of the word diet has negative effects for many people because it immediately places restrictions on their lifestyle.
There are enough things to contend with in modern day life without having to constantly keep a track of what you're eating although you do need to be aware of the types of food and the portions that you are consuming because this is what determines whether you gain or loose weight.
Healthy weightloss can be achieved quite simply by just reducing by small amounts the portions that you have at each meal even if you don't change the types of foods you are eating.
This is generally the best way for people to start dieting as it doesn't require anything that is too difficult and too hard to maintain for enough time to see results.
Once people see results from the weight-loss program then there is an incentive to carry on and do better and particularly if these results have come about by using simple techniques that haven't burdened the enjoyment of life.
Before you start on any diets consider the consequences and how it will impose on your life and whether you have the type of personality that will allow you to maintain what is required for that particular program.
Monday, 2 November 2009
The Problem With Yo-Yo Dieting
Is very common for people who yo-yo diet, where they are constantly taking off weight and putting it back on again, in an endless emotional roller coaster to end up weighing more than if they had never dieted in the first place.
The reason for this is the body begins to change in an effort to maintain energy levels and by doing so stores more fat.
This also causes the body to use less energy for all activities even when exercising and as a result it becomes more and more difficult to loose weight and even when you go on a similar diet to one you might have previously achieved some weightloss from it is likely that you won't be able to loose the same amount of weight the next time around.
People who are constantly on yo-yo diets cause their metabolism to change to an extent where they require a bigger reduction in their calories than a normal person would to maintain their new weight due to the body's new and reduced demand on energy.
This is linked to our evolution where food would often be scarce and the body adjusts accordingly to conserve and maintain its fat reserves when there is a shortage of food.
The downside of this happening is that after people go off these particular diets they tend to put on more weight than they were before they started and in doing so it becomes all the more difficult the next time to try and loose their additional weight so if you are the type of person who can't stick to a particular program for any length of time then you are better not starting at all and just making small steps by reducing portions of food will have better results long-term and will be a lot easier to maintain.
The reason for this is the body begins to change in an effort to maintain energy levels and by doing so stores more fat.
This also causes the body to use less energy for all activities even when exercising and as a result it becomes more and more difficult to loose weight and even when you go on a similar diet to one you might have previously achieved some weightloss from it is likely that you won't be able to loose the same amount of weight the next time around.
People who are constantly on yo-yo diets cause their metabolism to change to an extent where they require a bigger reduction in their calories than a normal person would to maintain their new weight due to the body's new and reduced demand on energy.
This is linked to our evolution where food would often be scarce and the body adjusts accordingly to conserve and maintain its fat reserves when there is a shortage of food.
The downside of this happening is that after people go off these particular diets they tend to put on more weight than they were before they started and in doing so it becomes all the more difficult the next time to try and loose their additional weight so if you are the type of person who can't stick to a particular program for any length of time then you are better not starting at all and just making small steps by reducing portions of food will have better results long-term and will be a lot easier to maintain.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Why Can't I Seem To loose weight
If your diet is supplying you have sufficient nutrients to meet your energy needs then you won't feel hungry all the time and any weight-loss program that keeps you in such a state of hunger is in fact destined to fail eventually no matter how much willpower you might have.
It is simply not the natural state of human life.
That is one of the most common reasons why people can't seem to loose weight. It's just too hard to maintain and it is detrimental to your health and your body will fight against that starvation message that it is getting.
Anybody can loose weight whether they have good willpower or not provided the body is getting sufficient nutritional requirements to eliminate hunger and to satisfy healthy functioning of the body.
It is simply not the natural state of human life.
That is one of the most common reasons why people can't seem to loose weight. It's just too hard to maintain and it is detrimental to your health and your body will fight against that starvation message that it is getting.
Anybody can loose weight whether they have good willpower or not provided the body is getting sufficient nutritional requirements to eliminate hunger and to satisfy healthy functioning of the body.
Monday, 19 October 2009
Emotional Triggers associated with Weighloss
There are many different reasons why people become overweight.
It is not as simple as saying that overweight people just eat too much because there can be any number of psychological reasons that make people want to eat more.
Emotional triggers such as stress, sadness, depression and so on can all make a person want to eat more food. This is due to the fact that there are certain chemicals in the brain that are linked to both mood and hunger.
Many people associate eating with various different emotions and for this reason they choose to eat more food to make themselves feel better, or happier, or more comforted.
If you feel that this is the reason for your weight problem then it is probably better to get those issues resolved first by seeing a specialist rather than trying to attack the food problem first.
For a lot of people it is habit to over eat and behavioral modification will be the key to weightloss success in these cases.
One of the easiest ways to change your eating behavior is to eliminate any temptations. This is best done at the supermarket by not actually buying foods that are going to cause you a problem.
By not having these low value foods in the house you won't be tempted to eat them because they won't be there and this will encourage you to eat better foods and in doing so change your behavior patterns.
This process is made considerably easier if all members of the household will help towards achieving the goal of better eating.
If you do the shopping then you will be able to determine what food is purchased and this will help to make your weightloss easier, and in doing so it will help the nutrition of all members of the household.
It is not as simple as saying that overweight people just eat too much because there can be any number of psychological reasons that make people want to eat more.
Emotional triggers such as stress, sadness, depression and so on can all make a person want to eat more food. This is due to the fact that there are certain chemicals in the brain that are linked to both mood and hunger.
Many people associate eating with various different emotions and for this reason they choose to eat more food to make themselves feel better, or happier, or more comforted.
If you feel that this is the reason for your weight problem then it is probably better to get those issues resolved first by seeing a specialist rather than trying to attack the food problem first.
For a lot of people it is habit to over eat and behavioral modification will be the key to weightloss success in these cases.
One of the easiest ways to change your eating behavior is to eliminate any temptations. This is best done at the supermarket by not actually buying foods that are going to cause you a problem.
By not having these low value foods in the house you won't be tempted to eat them because they won't be there and this will encourage you to eat better foods and in doing so change your behavior patterns.
This process is made considerably easier if all members of the household will help towards achieving the goal of better eating.
If you do the shopping then you will be able to determine what food is purchased and this will help to make your weightloss easier, and in doing so it will help the nutrition of all members of the household.
Monday, 12 October 2009
Regular Weight Management Patterns For Weightloss
By getting into a regular pattern it makes the task of loosing weight considerably easier.
If you know that you are going to exercise at the same time every day then your body will soon become adjusted to the fact that it will be exercising and this not only makes the exercise easier but it also ensures that you will stick to the plan and reach your goals a lot sooner than you would if you weren't consistent in your actions.
By keeping a record of your fitness training, you will be able to improve your performance in small steps that will result in big gains over the course of your program.
A regular checkup with your doctor is always recommended to ensure that all aspects of your health are improving and any concerns that you might have can be answered before they have the chance to escalate.
You might occasionally have a break from your weightloss program and this is not unexpected. It can actually do you a lot of good to have the occasional break from routine, provided of course that you get back to the program in a reasonable time and don't slip back to your old habits.
By adding variety to your food and your exercise it will ensure that you don't get bored as this is one of the main reasons that many people struggle to maintain their plan and achieve their goals.
If possible get others to join in with you when you are training as this can help to relieve any boredom and also inspire you to do more training and improve your performance.
Always try to associate with positive people and those who will help you to reach your goals and don't accept any negative energy from others as this will only hinder your chances of success.
If you know that you are going to exercise at the same time every day then your body will soon become adjusted to the fact that it will be exercising and this not only makes the exercise easier but it also ensures that you will stick to the plan and reach your goals a lot sooner than you would if you weren't consistent in your actions.
By keeping a record of your fitness training, you will be able to improve your performance in small steps that will result in big gains over the course of your program.
A regular checkup with your doctor is always recommended to ensure that all aspects of your health are improving and any concerns that you might have can be answered before they have the chance to escalate.
You might occasionally have a break from your weightloss program and this is not unexpected. It can actually do you a lot of good to have the occasional break from routine, provided of course that you get back to the program in a reasonable time and don't slip back to your old habits.
By adding variety to your food and your exercise it will ensure that you don't get bored as this is one of the main reasons that many people struggle to maintain their plan and achieve their goals.
If possible get others to join in with you when you are training as this can help to relieve any boredom and also inspire you to do more training and improve your performance.
Always try to associate with positive people and those who will help you to reach your goals and don't accept any negative energy from others as this will only hinder your chances of success.
Friday, 9 October 2009
Age Is Not An Excuse
There's no doubt about the fact that the body changes as we age and fat is stored in places that we didn't have to worry about when we were younger.
The metabolism slows and the digestive system doesn't work as well as it once did.
Hormonal changes in the body can also affect the shape that you are in but there is one thing that always remains the same at all ages - If you eat too much food and drink too much alcohol you will gain weight.
Many people use their age as an excuse for being over weight but this is not acceptable. Consider how many elderly people there are who are still slim, fit and healthy and you will see that age is not an excuse.
Lifestyles create the body we have to live with and the effects of poor lifestyle choices are multiplied as we age because the abuse that we have been giving our body through poor food choices throughout our life accumulates with fat and other health related problems due to poor nutrition.
You can and should expect to keep your fat percentage at an optimum level throughout your life. The health benefits from doing so will pay dividends with a better quality of life and reduced dependence on medication and other health related expenditure as you age.
At any stage in your life, no matter how old you are you can benefit from improved nutrition and exercise.
Anything that will reduce the excess levels in your body fat will assist in helping you to live longer and to enjoy that time more.
Starting on an exercise program and taking care to improve your nutrition is the best way to turn back the body clock and it is never too late to start winding back the years. Obviously the sooner you start the better but starting is the essential ingredient that you need right now.
The metabolism slows and the digestive system doesn't work as well as it once did.
Hormonal changes in the body can also affect the shape that you are in but there is one thing that always remains the same at all ages - If you eat too much food and drink too much alcohol you will gain weight.
Many people use their age as an excuse for being over weight but this is not acceptable. Consider how many elderly people there are who are still slim, fit and healthy and you will see that age is not an excuse.
Lifestyles create the body we have to live with and the effects of poor lifestyle choices are multiplied as we age because the abuse that we have been giving our body through poor food choices throughout our life accumulates with fat and other health related problems due to poor nutrition.
You can and should expect to keep your fat percentage at an optimum level throughout your life. The health benefits from doing so will pay dividends with a better quality of life and reduced dependence on medication and other health related expenditure as you age.
At any stage in your life, no matter how old you are you can benefit from improved nutrition and exercise.
Anything that will reduce the excess levels in your body fat will assist in helping you to live longer and to enjoy that time more.
Starting on an exercise program and taking care to improve your nutrition is the best way to turn back the body clock and it is never too late to start winding back the years. Obviously the sooner you start the better but starting is the essential ingredient that you need right now.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Spot Fat Reduction
Contrary to what many different weightloss programs suggest it is not possible to spot reduce fat from one particular part of the body.
Just because you might have fat thighs or flabby triceps you won't find a diet that will specifically reduce the fat in those areas.
When you loose fat you will loose it throughout your body and not in specific areas alone.
The same applies to areas such as the belly however there is something that you can do.
By adding targeted resistance training exercises to your daily routine you can assist the muscles in those areas to support and tone your body.
By doing abdominal exercises you can firm and tighten your abdominal muscles where they will assist in better posture. This alone can help to flatten your stomach and give the appearance of weightloss through the better posture you will achieve.
You can do tricep exercises to tone and strengthen the tricep muscles and this too will help that area to look better even without fat loss.
Once you begin to loose fat throughout the body those parts where you have been applying your resistance training will begin to show the benefits of your training.
You can have the best shape abdominal muscles in the world but no one is going to see them if they are covered in a layer of body fat.
You need to understand from reading this that you won't be able to get the look of rock hard abs by using the latest advertised abdominal machine each day if the muscles are hidden by a layer of fat. Sure you will be able to add support to the whole of your body by strengthening the muscles but you need to reduce fat to get in shape no matter what else you do.
Training will help to burn the fat as will diet and you will find that most of these solutions that are advertised in the infomercials that promise such startling results include dietary recommendations and it is by applying those changes to your eating habits that has the most influence on your body shape rather than the exercise equipment.
#BREAK#
#TITLE# Age Is Not An Excuse #/TITLE#
There's no doubt about the fact that the body changes as we age and fat is stored in places that we didn't have to worry about when we were younger.
The metabolism slows and the digestive system doesn't work as well as it once did.
Hormonal changes in the body can also affect the shape that you are in but there is one thing that always remains the same at all ages - If you eat too much food and drink too much alcohol you will gain weight.
Many people use their age as an excuse for being over weight but this is not acceptable. Consider how many elderly people there are who are still slim, fit and healthy and you will see that age is not an excuse.
Lifestyles create the body we have to live with and the effects of poor lifestyle choices are multiplied as we age because the abuse that we have been giving our body through poor food choices throughout our life accumulates with fat and other health related problems due to poor nutrition.
You can and should expect to keep your fat percentage at an optimum level throughout your life. The health benefits from doing so will pay dividends with a better quality of life and reduced dependence on medication and other health related expenditure as you age.
At any stage in your life, no matter how old you are you can benefit from improved nutrition and exercise.
Anything that will reduce the excess levels in your body fat will assist in helping you to live longer and to enjoy that time more.
Starting on an exercise program and taking care to improve your nutrition is the best way to turn back the body clock and it is never too late to start winding back the years. Obviously the sooner you start the better but starting is the essential ingredient that you need right now.
Just because you might have fat thighs or flabby triceps you won't find a diet that will specifically reduce the fat in those areas.
When you loose fat you will loose it throughout your body and not in specific areas alone.
The same applies to areas such as the belly however there is something that you can do.
By adding targeted resistance training exercises to your daily routine you can assist the muscles in those areas to support and tone your body.
By doing abdominal exercises you can firm and tighten your abdominal muscles where they will assist in better posture. This alone can help to flatten your stomach and give the appearance of weightloss through the better posture you will achieve.
You can do tricep exercises to tone and strengthen the tricep muscles and this too will help that area to look better even without fat loss.
Once you begin to loose fat throughout the body those parts where you have been applying your resistance training will begin to show the benefits of your training.
You can have the best shape abdominal muscles in the world but no one is going to see them if they are covered in a layer of body fat.
You need to understand from reading this that you won't be able to get the look of rock hard abs by using the latest advertised abdominal machine each day if the muscles are hidden by a layer of fat. Sure you will be able to add support to the whole of your body by strengthening the muscles but you need to reduce fat to get in shape no matter what else you do.
Training will help to burn the fat as will diet and you will find that most of these solutions that are advertised in the infomercials that promise such startling results include dietary recommendations and it is by applying those changes to your eating habits that has the most influence on your body shape rather than the exercise equipment.
#BREAK#
#TITLE# Age Is Not An Excuse #/TITLE#
There's no doubt about the fact that the body changes as we age and fat is stored in places that we didn't have to worry about when we were younger.
The metabolism slows and the digestive system doesn't work as well as it once did.
Hormonal changes in the body can also affect the shape that you are in but there is one thing that always remains the same at all ages - If you eat too much food and drink too much alcohol you will gain weight.
Many people use their age as an excuse for being over weight but this is not acceptable. Consider how many elderly people there are who are still slim, fit and healthy and you will see that age is not an excuse.
Lifestyles create the body we have to live with and the effects of poor lifestyle choices are multiplied as we age because the abuse that we have been giving our body through poor food choices throughout our life accumulates with fat and other health related problems due to poor nutrition.
You can and should expect to keep your fat percentage at an optimum level throughout your life. The health benefits from doing so will pay dividends with a better quality of life and reduced dependence on medication and other health related expenditure as you age.
At any stage in your life, no matter how old you are you can benefit from improved nutrition and exercise.
Anything that will reduce the excess levels in your body fat will assist in helping you to live longer and to enjoy that time more.
Starting on an exercise program and taking care to improve your nutrition is the best way to turn back the body clock and it is never too late to start winding back the years. Obviously the sooner you start the better but starting is the essential ingredient that you need right now.
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Your Beliefs Are Your Reality
What you believe is what you will get and this is particularly so with weightloss.
How many times do you say that you have finished lunch or dinner only to pick up another piece of food and eat it? Many people do this on a regular basis and they have programmed their mind to believe that there is always more to come simply by the actions that they are taking on a regular basis.
How many times do you cut the cake in half intending to only eat that portion and then go back and eat the other half immediately after?
When you are cutting that cake in your mind you already know that you will be getting the rest and you are falsely kidding yourself into believing that the process of cutting off half is doing you some form of good.
In fact it is better to decide on how much you will be eating and then eating that portion even if it is the whole amount because you will at least be true to yourself.
If you are constantly allowing yourself to fail by succumbing to additional food then you are training your belief system in a negative way and this begins to affect all aspects of your life.
It doesn't matter what you say to other people or what you try to have them believe. It is not helping you one bit to tell everyone that you won't be eating any more cake. What matters is what you do and whether you are doing what you say you will do.
Your beliefs are your reality and if you believe that there are many different reasons why you can't loose weight then the reality of your life will be that you won't loose weight.
If you believe that your genes or your metabolism are responsible for your over weight condition then that is what you will be even though a change in diet and exercise will make a difference.
Getting your mind to understand and accept the true reality is one of the biggest hurdles for most people who are trying to make changes in their life.
Believe you can do it and you will - there is no doubt about that.
How many times do you say that you have finished lunch or dinner only to pick up another piece of food and eat it? Many people do this on a regular basis and they have programmed their mind to believe that there is always more to come simply by the actions that they are taking on a regular basis.
How many times do you cut the cake in half intending to only eat that portion and then go back and eat the other half immediately after?
When you are cutting that cake in your mind you already know that you will be getting the rest and you are falsely kidding yourself into believing that the process of cutting off half is doing you some form of good.
In fact it is better to decide on how much you will be eating and then eating that portion even if it is the whole amount because you will at least be true to yourself.
If you are constantly allowing yourself to fail by succumbing to additional food then you are training your belief system in a negative way and this begins to affect all aspects of your life.
It doesn't matter what you say to other people or what you try to have them believe. It is not helping you one bit to tell everyone that you won't be eating any more cake. What matters is what you do and whether you are doing what you say you will do.
Your beliefs are your reality and if you believe that there are many different reasons why you can't loose weight then the reality of your life will be that you won't loose weight.
If you believe that your genes or your metabolism are responsible for your over weight condition then that is what you will be even though a change in diet and exercise will make a difference.
Getting your mind to understand and accept the true reality is one of the biggest hurdles for most people who are trying to make changes in their life.
Believe you can do it and you will - there is no doubt about that.
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