20 Ways to Lose Weight

1. Take it one step at a time

Start by paying attention to what you eat. Cut back on fat and sweets and add more fruit and vegetables. After you have that under control, add exercise. If you hate to exercise try it for only 15 minutes a day at first, then a 1/2-hour. Keep in mind that while you are exercising you are burning calories and not eating. Also, it will be easier if you chose an activity that you enjoy.

2. Find a friend

It is always good to have support when you are trying to lose weight. Find a friend who wants to lose weight and compare notes, weigh-in together and maybe even have a contest.

3. Use weights

Working out weights will build muscle and raise your metabolism so you will burn more calories. Also, muscle takes up less space than fat so you will be smaller ( but probably weigh more).

4. Eat fewer carbs

Don't eat as much bread and pasta and you will see a difference.

5. Set a goal

Set a deadline to lose the weight and write it down. For example, ' By Dec 14/04 I will weigh 150 lbs or less'. Put it somewhere you will see it daily.

6. Give up soda

If you drink a soda or 2 a day you are adding empty calories. If you find it hard to stop completely, cut back at first and drink water instead.

7. Grill or boil

Avoid fried meat, grill and use lots of spices. You will get used to it and probably enjoy it more.

8. Don't buy junk food

When you go shopping, don't go on an empty stomach and you will be less likely to buy junk food. Keep your home 'junk food free' so you won't be tempted to indulge.

9. Eat breakfast

Consume most of your calories early in the day and always eat breakfast. Don't eat after 8pm and not only will you avoid those added calories but you will sleep better.

10. Give yourself a treat

When you tell yourself that you can't have something you want it more. Give yourself a treat once a day ( ie. half a cookie) and you won't feel you are missing out.

11. Use smaller plates

Trick yourself into believing that you are eating more by using a smaller plate.

12. Drink lots of water

Drink water when you are feeling hungry and you will get that 'full' feeling.

13. Don't eat everything on your plate

Many times we eat just because it's there. Pay attention to when you have had enough.

14. Eat five or six meals a day

Eating more frequently will keep you from getting too hungry.

15. Plan your workout sessions

Write your workout sessions in your journal or planner.

16. Stay away from fad diets

Fad diets don't work. If you lose weight fast chances are that you will gain it back ( and more) just as fast. It takes time to put it on and time to take it off.

17. Do several workouts a day

While you are watching TV do crunches and leg lifts.

18. Measure your food

If you decide to have junk food for a snack - be sure to measure and control what you eat.

19. Keep pre-cut vegetables

...and ward off those cravings.

20. Create Good Habits

It is a known fact that when we do something twenty-one times it becomes a habit. Create good eating habits.

Sheila Dicks

If You Want to Lose Weight, Stop Dieting!If You Want to Lose Weight, Stop Dieting!

Lose weight without dieting...how is that possible? It seems like a contradiction, doesn't it?

If you have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight in the past, chances are you tried a special diet. And you probably lost weight. The important question of course being, did you keep it off permanently?

For many the answer is no.

In fact a recent study conducted at UCLA showed that short term dieting (up to about 6 months) can be achieved, but 2/3's of all dieters regain the weight within 4 - 5 years.

The reason that these diets ultimately fail is that the underlying causes of overeating aren't usually addressed. The focus is all on counting calories, restricting fats, cutting out carbs, not eating after 7pm, or other such tactics.

Take a look at the reasons why you overeat...is it what you turn to when under stress? do you refrain from expressing your feelings, stuffing them down with french fries and milkshakes instead?

Examine these questions, too...how do I eat? fast or slow? alone or with others? am I persuaded by advertisements to eat something? if someone offers me something to eat that I don't really want, do I eat it anyway to avoid hurting their feelings?

Dieting is expensive.

In fact, Forbes.com in 2005 reported the following:

"Last year Americans spent an estimated $46 billion on diet products and self-help books....a government review found that two-thirds of U.S. dieters regained all the weight they had lost within a year, and 97% had gained it all back within five years."

Pretty depressing. But there's more!

Ten of the most popular diets were examined to see how much a dieter spent on their weekly food to follow one of these diets. Here's how they compare:

Jenny Craig.............$137.65
NutriSystem..............113.52
Atkins.......................100.52
Weight Watchers........96.64
Zone...........................92.84
Ornish.........................78.74
South Beach................78.61
Slim Fast.....................77.73
Sugar Busters!............69.62
Subway.......................68.60

Pretty amazing, huh?

Granted, dealing with the root issues may take longer, but you'll be much farther ahead (and both your pocketbook and your body will be lighter, too) if you do.

Sue Roberts

Get A Slimmer Body - Weight Loss Program Advice

Do you get frustrated with your body, most especially your heavy weight? Do you wish that you have Jessica Alba's svelte frame or Katie Holmes' lithe body? Well, while some people are incredibly lucky to have been born with these kinds of physical attributes, or a hyperactive metabolism that prevents them from gaining weight despite whatever they eat, the majority of us have to constantly look out for our body. If we don't discipline ourselves enough, avoiding scrumptious glazed donuts for example, it is likely that you will soon be needing a weight loss program to shed off unwanted pounds.

1. Nutrition And Fitness

Aside from dieting, a person who is seeking to have a successful weight loss program should have some knowledge about nutrition and fitness. First, start with your overall attitude, not just towards food and maintaining a healtyhly lifestyle. Think about your everyday habits and your everyday routines. Is it something that constitutes as what fitness and diet experts might consider healthy?

2. Maintain Dicipline

Going through a weight loss program requires you to have enough discipline and patience because some people would like to shed off the pounds in as little as a month but that's just not a healthly weight loss program. Well, yes, you can eliminate a couple of excess pounds in a limited time, but it's not good for you in the long run. Your body will go into shock because it will think there isn't enough food in your environment, meaning it will end up storing more fat, and that will make losing fat even harder. So never deprive yourself food.

3. Avoid Eating Disorders

Never totally deny your body food and water. You need to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day as well as healthy meals. And while anorexia is denying the body food, bulimia is characterized by excessive eating then binging. Both are known to be deadly, and you should know that neither are proven methods. There is a huge difference between weighing less pounds and being healthy.

4. Weight Loss Regimens

People who are under a weight loss program, even while they're still at the start of their weight loss regimen, need not put themselves down further by insisting that they're ugly just because they are fat or even just a little bit overweight. Such poor self-esteem could lead to further damaging yourself. While having a weight loss routine, it is best that you keep a positive attitude and never set goals that are too unrealistic for you to achieve. Everyone has his or her own way of being able to gain or lose weight. Some have faster metabolisms than others while other's weight loss progress may actually take some time. Either way, it's best to stick to a weight loss program that would not only be able to make you look great but will also make you healthy. There's no point in having a great outer appearance if your stomach walls are bleeding due to ulcer or if you're suffering from fainting spells because of food deprivation.

5. Work Together!

- Ask around like friends, family members or colleagues what they did - Consult a registered dietician - Enroll in a nearby gym or fitness center - Quit smoking and don't drink on a regular basis

The Myth Of Liposuction For Weight Loss

In a culture that is very much focused on instant gratification, we hold our weight loss up to the same standards, expecting pounds to shed immediately and muscles to be defined with the lifting of one weight. It’s no wonder that more and more people turn to liposuction for weight loss – a procedure that rids the body of pockets of fat. But what people fail to realize is that liposuction for weight loss does not address the underlying weight issue and will not achieve desired results without the use of proper diet and exercise.

Liposuction is a surgical procedure that involves the making of several incisions around a particular area of the body that is storing excessive fat deposits. A surgeon then inserts an instrument into the incisions that allows them to vacuum out excess fat. The procedure, however, is far more invasive then it sounds; the surgeon must aggressively attack fat to remove it from the body and to maintain a consistent and smooth appearance. The liposuction patient – who is most often put under general anesthesia – faces recovery time like any other surgery - and some pain following the procedure.

What has been shown is that liposuction works for trouble spots that have not adequately responded to proper diet and exercise. An overall healthy person often responds well to liposuction if they are using the procedure as a supplement to good nutrition and healthy physical habits. However, liposuction for weight loss in a patient who is overweight, physically unfit, and in the habit of eating poorly will almost always fail. The reason is that liposuction for weight loss is not a magic bullet.

In such a case, the patient is required to adopt healthy eating habits and proper exercise in order to maintain the look of the liposuction. Liposuction for weight loss does not in any way mean that once the procedure is performed you can eat whatever you want and live a sedentary lifestyle.

If you are interested in liposuction for weight loss, it is imperative that you go about it in the right way. If you are not already doing so, you must immediately adopt a diet designed for weight loss and optimum health; one that includes the eating of whole foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Practice portion control, drink plenty of water, and stay away from foods high in fat and sugar. Additionally, it is important to implement a consistent exercise program that incorporates cardiovascular work, weight training, and core work such as Pilates, yoga, and a stretching program.

You may find that after several months on such a program you will see significant changes in your body’s appearance and that liposuction for weight loss is unnecessary. If however, you still want to have liposuction to address trouble spots, you will now be in a position to enter in to the surgery as a healthy person who can maintain a healthy lifestyle following surgery.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michelle_Bery

Weight Loss—A Roller Coaster Ride

I can describe Jean Finman in a word — gorgeous. Well, actually that doesn’t quite do it. She’s not just gorgeous — she’s drop-dead gorgeous.

The best part about Jean is that her outer beauty also exactly reflects her inner beauty, even in the middle of raising five small children.

Other than her movie-star looks, Jean is like so many of us. She grew up struggling with weight.

As a child, she was always surrounded by sweets — they were just a part of her everyday life. Special Tupperware containers filled with cookies and goodies sat in the cupboard. Jean helped herself anytime she wanted. And her weight showed it.

It wasn’t like Jean hadn’t tried to get her weight under control before. She had done the diet thing many times over in her lifetime but without permanent success.

Pounds disappeared; pounds reappeared. Sound like a familiar ride that all of us want to hop off?

When we first met, Jean told me that she felt “fat, ugly, and tired.” As I looked at that face, I sort of got the fat and tired part, but ugly? How could a face like that ever feel ugly? I wondered if she ever looked in the mirror – no kidding!

That was 9 months and 16 pounds ago. I would love to say it’s been easy for Jean. Quite the contrary, she lost 10 pounds the first month — yeah; gained back 10 pounds by the third month – ouch! Can you feel Jean’s pain when those pounds boomeranged back?

By the 5th month, she had gained another pound and the 7th month, she was down 2 pounds—a grand total of 2 pounds down from her original weight. Big sigh. Seven months, two pounds down.

Who wouldn’t just give up after all that effort without any results? Most anyone, but not Jean. She just kept putting one foot in front of the other, even when it felt like slogging through quick sand with no end in sight. Such a lonely and demoralizing haul this weight loss struggle.

Then something happened. Only Jean could describe it well. I guess you could say something clicked in Jean’s brain. What is it that makes that magical switch flip in our brains, the light go on, and somehow we get on track? Who knows.

At night, sometimes Jean would get this real sense that if she didn’t lose weight she was going to die of a heart attack. Her weight had crept back up, and she felt bloated, fat, and miserable. Her pattern was the same most of her life — she would slip back to eating sweets, especially when stressed, hating herself with every bite.

She asked herself, “Why am I doing this to myself? I don’t want to die. I want to be here for my kids.”

Something clicked for Jean.

Recharged and refocused, Jean lost 14 pounds in the last two months. She eats fruit for breakfast, salad or a veggie wrap for lunch with hummus, avocado, red pepper, lettuce, and tomato.

For dinner she starts with a salad first (fill-up on the best-for-you foods first) and eats cooked vegetables and sometimes beans. She makes sure she is full and satisfied. For snacks, she eats nuts and seeds.

Mochas, an almost daily treat and extra calories for Jean, are now pleasant memories. She no longer eats any animal products, dairy products, sugar, or salty snacks — another temptation for her.

Jean says she doesn’t feel hungry or deprived. In fact, she feels great. Amazingly enough, her cravings for sugar are gone, even though the sugar stuff is still in the house. She loves the feeling of sugar not having power over her.

Now when Jean is stressed, rather than over eating the bad stuff, she over eats the good stuff—like a veggie wrap! (Remember, eating vegetables is like eating air when it comes to calories.) Way better choice, don’t you think?

As well as Jean is doing right now, do you think that Jean thinks she is home-free from the trap of conditioned taste buds and lifelong habits? Not at all.

In fact, Jean just wrote me and “confessed” a slip-up. Big deal! So Jean “slipped-up.” If you are a human being, you slip-up—it’s just part of being human. Just expect that to happen and go on from there.

The only real slip-up is to give-up, and I know that is something that beautiful Jean would never do. Her body, her life, and her children mean too much to her.

I don’t know about you, but it is not the rich, famous, and powerful people in the world that I find inspiring. I draw inspiration from the Jean Finmans in the world—extraordinary, ordinary (yet not ordinary at all) individuals, who are perfectly themselves, with all their strengths, struggles, complexities and layers of being a human being.

Jean’s inner strength, courage, and commitment, as well as her willingness and openness to share her heart, her soul, her victories, and her frustrations, give you and me the inner strength and courage to be perfectly ourselves in our own journeys through life.

Aren’t we so blessed to have one another to give a helping hand along the way?

Thank you, Jean, for your helping hand. Your beauty, inside and out, graces our lives with light and hope.

Dr. Leslie Van Romer

Women's Issues: Causes Of Cellulite

Cellulite is that condition when the fat cells of our body become larger than the natural fiber sections which hold the skin. As a result, these fiber sections swell and forms bumpy layers of fat. Most of the doctors and medical professionals agree that cellulite is simply ordinary fatty tissues which are usually developed on the buttocks and thighs. But what causes cellulite?

Nobody really knows the exact cause of cellulite but there are various factors which give rise to the development of cellulite. For instance:

Aging
Cellulite is more common in female than men. It mainly attack women during or after the age of 30 but can also strike young girls in their teens. However the ratio of causing cellulite in men is there, too. As the skin gets thinner over time, it causes cellulite to become more noticeable with age.

Genetics
Genetics play an important role in determining the chances of causing cellulite. Genes are what we inherit from our biological parents and transmit them to our biological children. There is a definite indication from current research that those with a family history of the disease have more chances of developing it than those without a family history. Many members of a same family, however, may not always inherit the disease condition.

Everyday Lifestyle
Our lifestyle plays a vital role in deciding whether anyone of us will at all suffer from Cellulite or not. If we compare our lifestyle with our ancestor's lifestyle, we will find that their lifestyle was more active. For instance, the early people used to travel a lot. But, we prefer to travel via vehicles and hardly get the chance to walk. And even if any body walks, it is no more than 10 kilometers per day. Well, the fact is this inactivity is a major cause of cellulite. So, the more active we remain and the more exercise we do; the more calories will burnt and hence the less chances of gaining extra weight.

Miscellaneous Causes
Some researchers believe that main cause of cellulite is genes, while others says that it is developed by not taking proper diet, not exercising enough, inadequate water intake, smoking, tension, drugs, fatigue or having poor blood circulation. However, chances are that it is a combination of all of the above.

Jerome Sherman

10 Weight Loss Busters You Shouldn't Eat

1. Fried Foods That Are Frightening
2. Steakhouse Stories That Scare
3. Manufacturers Mislead Many
4. Burgers That Are Bigger and Biggest
5. Awful Appetisers
6. Cakes and Cookies That Are Calorie Clogged
7. Diet Drinks That Deceive
8. High Calorie Horrors
9. Diet Disasters When Dining Out
10. Super Sized Servings That Sabotage Your Diet

1. Fried Foods That Are Frightening

Deep fried foods are nutritionally bad for you. If you enjoy going to fairs and carnivals, you may well be tempted to eat the strangest of concoctions. It's amazing just what has been thrown into the deep fryer in the name of creativity.

But the only thing you are going to create is havoc with your weight loss diet.

2. Steakhouse Stories That Scare

Your local neighbourhood restaurant or steakhouse may be a Nutritional Nightmare.

Fried onions that are considered a Starter Dish are so full of Calories, Fat, Saturated Fat and with a high Salt content. And to go from bad to worse, the onions are usually served with a sauce that has even more Calories, Fat and Salt.

For the sake of your health, be sure you know your onions.

3. Manufacturers Mislead Many

Foods that are often labelled as healthy are just the opposite. Marion Nestle PhD, MPH a New York University Nutritional Professor in her book ‘What To Eat,' talks of ‘Fruit Snacks' that have absolutely no fruit in them but were just laden with sugar.

Don't believe the adverts, read the labels carefully then decide for yourself if it's right for you.

4. Burgers That Are Bigger and Biggest

Burgers are getting bigger and bigger. Burger King and others are taking a bun and piling on as many as four burgers, plus slices of cheese and strips of bacon. Just one of these burgers will give you more Calories than you should eat if having three meals a day.

If you really do want a burger, try ordering a plain burger. It could be served with a sauce, but it should be on the side not on top.

That will save you eating more Calories than you need.

5. Awful Appetisers

How about a Fundido as a snack before the main meal?

A Fundido is made up of a combination of cheese, pepperoni, bacon and sausage served with bread sticks.

If you are on a weight loss diet, a Fundido is a nutritional no-no.

6. Cakes and Cookies That Are Calorie Clogged

You are tempted to have a square of Starbucks Old Fashioned Crumb Cake to go with your coffee but that little square has 670 Calories in it.

And a piece of Cheesecake has enough Calories in it to make a mess of your weight loss diet, but the Cheesecake Factory adds Chocolate Candy, Mousse etc.

Nice for a treat once a year, but for the rest of the year … DON'T.

7. Diet Drinks That Deceive

High Calorie drinks are so deceptive. They don't need chewing and go down real easy and they don't fill you up. So how can this innocent looking cup of coffee be loaded with 490 – 580 Calories? It could be the chocolate or cream that is added.

To avoid piling on the Calories, order a small size cup of coffee with low fat milk and sweeteners.

8. High Calorie Horrors

When you are out shopping at the Mall you may be tempted by the delicious aromas of coffees, spicy pies and the mouth watering smell of freshly made doughnuts.

But giving in to temptation could mean you may consume a day's worth of Calories in one delicious but none essential piece of confectionery.

Ok I'm being a spoil sport but, for the sake of your health and weight loss diet, you would be better to take along a snack of crackers and nuts or raw veggies. Enjoy.

9. Diet Disasters When Dining Out

Two decades ago, dining out was already beginning to be a disaster for the person who was on a weight loss diet. The menu offered high Calorie foods.

Things haven't improved over the years; in fact they have become worse. On the menu in restaurants are such things as fried macaroni and cheese and cheese fries. Just oozing with fat and packed with Calories.

In order to keep to your diet change into a fluffy bunny rabbit and talk yourself into eating and enjoying salads.

10. Super Sized Servings That Sabotage Your Diet

Have you noticed how it's not just fast food meals that have got bigger? So have bagels, pasta servings, salads and sandwiches. If you go out to a restaurant for a meal, most of the meals on the menu are going to be around 1 000 Calories.

The question to ask yourself is, do I really need this food? As Michelle May MD, author of ‘Am I Hungry?' and ‘What To Do When Diets Don't Work' said, that ‘Once a person indulges in a decadent dessert or monster burger, it triggers the ‘I've already blown my diet, so why bother,' mentality.

Beyond that, May believes, the real horror may be the American mind set about food. We were raised to clean the plate, so we could be rewarded with a dessert, which further enhances our desire to eat sweets and meals without recognition of fullness,' she says.

If you want to keep to your weight loss diet, learn what foods are best for you and avoid the ones that sabotage it.

Eva Moffat