Is It The Right Time For You To Lose Weight?
If you are overweight, you have probably heard these things countless times, either from friends or doctors: that weight loss is important, that if you don’t lose weight, your life span will be shortened by several years, that if you don’t lose weight, you will get afflicted with several killer diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol level, high blood pressure, heart diseases, sleep apnea, etc. However, when should you lose weight? When is the right time to say: ‘Enough is enough! I am sick and tired of my fat belly, so am going to lose weight’?
Well, nobody can tell that for you. You need to decide the correct timing for weight loss yourself. Also note that the timing you choose can make or break your weight loss plan. You should start your weight loss efforts when you feel you’re overweight, but if you are morbidly obese, then no other method except expensive weight loss surgeries can help you with weight loss. As you can see, when it comes to weight loss, timing is extremely important!
I have been a fitness coach for many years. I have a friend called Sean who, at one point of time, was excessively overweight (if you look at him now you won’t be able to tell that just a few years ago, he had a large belly and flabby arms). He was suffering from sleep apnea. He couldn’t get proper sleep, and no wonder felt dizzy and drowsy all the time. He felt he didn’t have the energy to perform his day-to-day activities, and soon people began to call him lazy. Believe it or not, his obesity was the root cause behind all his problems.
Sean and I are good friends, but for some reason, Sean never asked me for any sort of weight loss advice. It was as if he was not aware of his weight problem. Until one day…
He came to his senses when he was not invited by his friend at his birthday party!
First he found it rather strange, but then he realized that it was all because of his body weight. He also realized that lately several people had started ignoring him. As you can see, his weight problem had become a big hindrance in his life! That was the time when he finally decided that he needed to lose weight.
He asked me for advice, which I was more than happy to give. A year later, Sean has not only lost several pounds, but also felt better and more energetic. He is now not only able to sleep properly but also perform his regular activities without a problem. He is always full of energy and enthusiasm!
As you can see, Sean waited for the right time before he started his weight loss efforts. Before you start your weight loss journey, ask yourself if it is the correct time for you to lose weight! Why do you want to lose weight? Are you unable to bear the weight of your fat belly any longer? Do you feel that of late you’ve become lazy? Are you unable to get promotions in your job? Are you getting turned down for dates? Does your doctor advise you to lose weight? Whatever it is, when you decide that it is time to shed those extra pounds, take action! You WILL succeed!
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
3 Simple Techniques to Help You Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals
There are many factors that determine the success or failure of your weight loss goals. In this article I will tell you about some of the things you should do in order to lose weight successfully.
1. Set small goals: Most people are unable to achieve their weight loss goals because they always think big. There is nothing wring with thinking big, but don’t make your goals so big as though they become overwhelming and intimidating to you! Don’t stretch your weight loss goals so far that you feel tempted to quit your weight loss program altogether! Start slow and you will see how easy it is to shed those obstinate pounds!
You know that you need to make huge lifestyle in order to lose weight successfully. Now, keep in mind that you cannot make these changes overnight! For example, if today I ask you to avoid eating junk foods altogether, will you be able to follow my advice? You will probably try hard to avoid junk foods for a day or two, and by doing that, you will be all the more tempted to take a bite of your favorite fatty foods. As a result, you’ll end up gaining more pounds than what you started with! What a waste!
Here is an easier way to do it: instead of trying to cut down on your junk food intake entirely, try to replace one junk food with one good food. Do you eat butter? Well, replace that with peanut butter. Next day, replace burgers with raw carrots! If you eat white breads, replace that with wholegrain wheat breads.
You won’t be able to accomplish all of these changes overnight, but you will be able to archive your goals if you do it slowly, bit by bit. Eventually you will realize that you have completely replaced your bad foods with the healthy foods, but without going through any stress or temptation!
2. Replace bad habits with the good ones: Remember that you gained weight because of certain bad habits. Ideally you should break those old habits in order to lose weight, but I know that breaking an old habit is easier said than done. What you can do instead of modify your bad habit enough so that it becomes a good and healthy habit.
If you are like most people, you have a habit of snacking in the afternoon. Instead of trying to break your afternoon snacking habit, try to replace the snack itself!. If you eat chocolate soups and cookies as snacks, replace them with low-fat yogurt and raw fruits!
3. Get rid of temptations: Unless you learn to control your temptations, you won’t be able to lose weight successfully. One overwhelming temptation most people suffer from is that of food. Whenever you are tempted to eat, do something that would distract you from the thought of food. You can do anything such as dancing, driving, walking around your house, doing some sit-ups, or drinking a glass of water. All of these things will help keep yourself away from the continuous food cravings!
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
The Biggest Secret of Successful Weight Loss
When it comes to weight loss, the biggest hurdle that people face is that of getting started. They just don’t have any idea of where to start from! If you are one of these people then this article is for you! It doesn’t really matter whether you want to lose ten or hundred pounds, the tips I am going to share with you in this article are going to help you anyway!
The first step to successful weight loss is to set some goals. Goals should be used in the same way as milestones are used on highways. Just as without any milestone, you will have no idea of where you are going, without a goal, you will have no idea of how much work you need to do to shed all the extra pounds!
First you should ask yourself some questions:
1. How much weight you want to lose?
2. By when you expect to lose all the weight?
Then write answers to these questions on a sheet of paper. Oh yeah, before I forget, let me tell you that writing your goals is one of the surefire ways of making sure that you never forget them! Write your weight loss goals on a piece of paper, make copies of that paper, and stick each paper on every place you can.
Make sure you don’t forget to stick this paper on your refrigerator and kitchen, since it is in these places that the demon called temptation tries to ruin your weight loss efforts!
Setting goals is just not enough; in order to make the goals achievable, you must set REALISTIC goals. If you have a goal of losing sixty pounds within a couple of weeks or a month, that is not going to happen. Setting such unrealistic goals for yourself will nullify the very effect of goal setting.
When you set unrealistic goals and fail to achieve the same, you will be disappointed and frustrated with yourself and your weight loss efforts.
Ideally, no matter what you do, you would be able to lose no more than 1-2 pounds per week. So create your goals accordingly. If you want to lose sixty pounds, it will take you at least six-seven months to achieve the same!
Set small and achievable goals for yourself so that when you achieve them, you will feel more confident to move forward. This is the biggest secret of successful weight loss!
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
Hate Exercising? Some Workout Tips for You
If you’re anything like me, you wouldn’t consider exercising your favorite pastime. In fact, some people downright hate exercising. However, exercising is a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle, and without it you definitely will not be able to lose weight. There are certain tips, however, for learning to love exercising, even if you truly hate it.
First, try finding some exercises that you like to do. Of course, you should work out all of your body, but if you absolutely hate doing one kind of exercise, then look for another to take its place. You don’t have to do crunches to strengthen your core muscles. You don’t have to do lunges to work out your lower body. You don’t even have to run—you can replace it with cycling or swimming. Find the exercise you like to do and your workout will seem more enjoyable right away.
You can also find other activities you like to do and make them work for your body. For example, if you like working on your garden, try doing some exercising surrounding raking or mow your yard by hand. If you enjoy the winter weather, you can try ice skating or sledding with friends. No matter what you like to do, you can find ways to get some exercise. Thanks to the introduction of the Wii and game like Dance Dance Revolution, you can even combine video games and exercise.
Another great tip to liking exercise is to find a training partner. When you work out together, you can help one another stay motivated, even if you don’t absolutely love exercising. With a partner, you can have fun as well, trying things like tennis or challenging one another to meet certain goals. Trainers can also provide this for you, as well as show you new and fun exercises to help you avoid getting bored or feeling overwhelmed at the gym.
Lastly, try taking some classes. Exercising classes are a great way to meet new people, learn new exercises, stay motivated, and above all, have fun. Most gyms offer low-cost or free exercise classes with membership or you can check out options at your local community center.
Staying motivated if you hate exercising can be hard, but set goals and don’t quit. You need to exercise as well as diet if you really want to lose weight. Make exercise fun and it won’t seem like such a chore.
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
Caveman Diet and work out
Lose Fat – Keeping a Food Diary
Dear Diary
When you’re trying to lose weight, one of the smartest and easiest steps you can take is to keep a food diary. A food diary is just like what it sounds—a notebook in which you record your daily food intake. You can track of a number of things in your food diary or you can keep it simple, but in either case, this is a great way in which to help yourself stick to a weight loss plan.
There are a number of pieces of information you can record in your food diary. First, consider just listing your daily menu. This will help you actually see what you eat on any given day and notice patterns of unhealthy eating that you never considered before. Some like to also record calories, protein, fiber, fat, and other nutrients. Portion size may be recorded as well. If you truly want to use diary format, you can also list the reasons you’re eating other than hunger, the cravings you experience, and your feelings about your diet on any given day. It’s your diary, so do what is right for you.
When you start a food diary, keep in mind that you don’t have to keep a traditional journal by the bed with a lock and key. You can use whatever kind of recording and writing tools you like best. For some people, the traditional journal or just a plain notebook works fine. You can also keep a food diary on your computer. Simply open up a word processing program and keep the icon on your desktop. Others like to use Excel or other data entry programs, which help quiet a lot when it comes to adding totals at the end of the day. You can keep your food diary on a laptop or palm pilot, or slip a notebook into your bag during the day—whatever works best for your lifestyle.
Remember to update your food diary every day and review it at the end of each week in order to track your progress. You may wish to note in your diary when you hit certain weight loss goals or when you gain weight in order to look for causes. You can show your diary to professionals to make sure that you are staying healthy as well. Food diaries work great for many people, so you should consider starting one today in order to lose the most weight possible.
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
How To Lose Fat – Hitting a Goal
I like to start out, after a complete look at the main goal is done, with much smaller goals. These goals are used to build momentum. Which is needed in the beginning more so then in the end. You want to motivate your self to keep going. What a better way to do that then to have several mini-goals that a setup to help do just that.
If your goal is to lose 50 pounds in 6 months. Then maybe you should start off with real simple goals to build some speed. Personally I think 50 pounds us not realistic and this is why. Someone that drops 50 pounds of body weight in 6 months will gain some of that back. The drastic change that had to go through was not gently enough for them to maintain that life style. They will slip back to a comfort zone and do the things that go them in trouble in the first place. I would rather see some pick a goal of 20 pounds the first year. Hit that goal and keep the weight off. Then chose to lose another 20 pounds over the next year. This change happens over time and becomes more of a life style change instead of a boot camp approach. Some make drop the 50 and keep it off but the statistics say most will not
Now, if your goal was 20 pound in a 6 months to a year then I think you can do this and keep it off. Break the goal down into smaller parts. 6 into 20 is a 3 and 1/3. Do you think you could commit to dropping 4 pounds a month for the next six months. I think you could and these little goals will add up to the larger goal. For an even smaller or niche goal. Tell your self you will drop 1 pound a week. This is not very hard to do. This could be a simple as cutting back on some snacks that you have between meals. Or just adjusting your diet a little to drop the simple sugars, add some fiber, and complex carbs.
The overall goal is to lose body fat and weight. This is not a race. Slow and steady will win the race here. Keep your self motivated with small motivational goals that make you feel good. I know I feel good when I set a goal and I hit that goal.
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
How to Lose Fat – I Gained a Pound
It is time to get on the scale and check to see your progress. At that moment of truth you are surprised to see that you have gained a pound or two. Who cares? Just as long as your pound or two is not every week. Gaining some weight back is part of the process of losing weight, at least in a health way.
Weight gain can be a sign of a couple of things:
1. You have put on some muscle mass. Since muscle weighs more then fat you can gain a pound or two in your fat burning effort. If you are using a weight resistance work out and eating a healthy diet you could have added some lean muscle mass. This is a good thing. You have added the best fat burned, lean muscle mass. The net outcome is you body fat percentage has changed and hopefully for the better
2. You have retained a little extra water. Again this is not a bad thing. You may have had a really strong work out and needed some extra water and you body has not relieved its self of it yet or you have not be given you body enough water and you are holding on to your waste a little longer to pull more water out of it. Again no major here just keep your hydration level up.
3. You have actually gained a pound back. This is all part of the plan. Why not gain a pound back? It does not hurt. You have to ask your self a question. Does that pound make me feel any different? If not then you need to make note of it and maybe push to lose one additional pound this round. If you truly feel that extra pound then you should look back at you last week and determine what could have promote the weight addition. Did you not rest properly? Was there added stress in you life? Did you not stick to you diet plan? Maybe you just threw it a cheat day and had some pizza. If you can say way you gained a pound instead of losing a pound then it can be corrected and you can move one. BUT, do not make a habit of it. This is how you end up 5, 10, 15 pounds heavier. Not a good place.
A pound gained can be good or bad. You have to look at what you are doing and what you goals are. If you are swapping fat for muscle then this is a great thing. If you are putting additional fat weight on then you need to look back at what you did between you weigh ins and adjust you action.
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
How To Lose Fat – Does caffeine increase weight loss?
There are so many professionals and gurus that say it does and others that say it does not. There are no real clinical trials with this, but there are studies that indicate that caffeine can help in your weight loss efforts. This is how it can work and how you can use it.
First lets look at Caffeine. Caffeine is a stimulate found in plants and fruits around the world. The most common place for caffeine to be is in your coffee and teas. It moderation it is suppose to acts as a stimulate and diuretic. Wiki link to Definition
Now the top 3 things:
1. Water Loss. As mentioned above caffeine acts as a diruaetic. Draining the bottle of water. This can be good and this can be bad. If you carry exseive water weight then this can help you get rid of the water. If you are low in your water this can be harmful. The body needs water to maintain a healthy balance.
2. Acts as a stimulate. Caffeine will stimulate your system kind of like a kick start. It will raise your blood pressure and speed up your heart. In moderation this is OK. This is where you may see a little fat burning benefit.
3. Appetite suppression. Caffeine can suppression your appetite leading you to eat less and then maybe dropping a few pounds.
Again, the studies on caffeine are not vast. Some people use it and others do not and they both see the same results. I personally use if to wake up and get my self moving the the AM. The caution here is it is a stimulate and everyone reacts to them differently. If you are using caffeine increasing it will not make it more affective. You will just need more and in the long run put your body into a tail spin or restless sleep. Remember sleep is very important aspect of you weight loss goals.
Another point here is that a lot of drinks that have caffeine also have fats and sugars. If you are going to use caffeine as a diet supplement and you have not had caffeine before you should always check with your doctor first, and second, take it in small amounts at first. This is a stimulate and it can make you nevous and keep you up at night. The best time to use it is right before a work out to give you a little kick start.
Although I do not promote many supplements caffeine is one that if used properly can help. It is not a magic pill but if you have a hard time getting moving a black cup of coffee may help out.
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
How To Lose Fat – The low cost home gym
I get a bunch of emails from readers telling me that they would love to workout but they do not have the money to pay for a gym membership or they just do not feel comfortable with going. OK, this does not mean you can not get a really good resistance workout from home. I will outline the things you can do and where to do them.
First, find a place that you can workout. Living room, basement, sun room, even a larger section of a bedroom will work. Once you have this section of your house that you are going to call your gym, lets outfit it with some equipment.
What, equipment? I know, you just told me that you had no money for a gym membership, how can you afford equipment? These are going to be things that you have in your possession already. Lets start off with the movements that require no equipment
Push-ups, are a great way to build your chest, triceps, and shoulders. Change you grip to hit more specific muscle sections. Close grip for more tris. Further grip for more of outer chest and shoulders.
Squats, Yes you can do squats with our heavy barbell on your back. You can put a broom stick over your should if it helps you to balance.
Lunges, this will target you glut a little more and help to firm up the entire leg.
Jumping jacks for a little cardio
Rock climbers are a great way to get a full body movement that gets the heart pumping
Steps. Step up and down from a chair on your steps to the second floor or basement. Do one or even two steps at a time
Vertical leaps: crouch down and jump up trying to touch the ceiling. If you have the space. Hey you could be very tall! 
All of these movements use body weight and gravity as resistance. If you use you imagination a little you can come up with some combinations to challenge your muscles on a daily basis.
Now if you have a little money to spend your money is best spent on the following:
- A jump rope
- An exercise ball
- Some dumbbells
- Exercise bands
With the following pieces you can add the following movements
Dumbbell Chest Press on the ball. One hand at a time or both like a typical press
Dumbbell Chest fly on the ball. This is best done with both arms moving at the same time
Sitting should presses. Sitting on the ball do shoulder dumbbell presses.
Sitting side/front straight arm raises. Again sitting on the ball and with both arms at the same time
Arm curls
Triceps presses
You can hold you dumbbells when doing all you leg movements (squats, lunges, steps)
Now you can super set the Dumbbell movements with the bands if you have them for a great burn. If not the bands and dumbbell can be interchanged with these movements.
As you can see you are filling a great amount of time with resistance training with going to the gym or spending a great deal amount of money
To Your Health
Diet~Activity~Rest~Exercise(DARe) to live life
