Quick Weight Loss

Fitness Tips On How To Avoid Gaining Weight During The Holiday Season

by: Lynn Bode

This holiday season don’t be trendy – avoid the Seasonal Seven (the average weight most Americans gain between Thanksgiving and New Year’s). That’s one trend you don’t want to participate in!
I know what you are thinking – the holidays are a time for fun and indulgence. You don’t want to think about fitness during that time. You want to enjoy yourself. Okay, before you accuse me of being the Grinch, you should know that I completely agree. The festivities don’t have to be eliminated or avoided, because you can have a fabulous time while also maintaining your weight and your fitness regimen.
The secret to achieving a holiday season that is both full of fun and also includes fitness is found in moderation. There are two typical approaches to the seasonal festivities: 1) throw all healthy habits out the window and indulge in every guilty pleasure 2) starve and binge approach (for example, you eat nothing all day long to allow yourself to overindulge in party food). Of course, neither approach is successful at maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle throughout the holiday season.
As I mentioned above, the key is found in moderation. With a moderate approach both to what you eat (or don’t eat) and how much exercise you do (or don’t do), you can avoid packing on extra weight AND also partake in all the fun of the season. So this season, get a head start on the New Year instead of starting January with extra pounds to lose.
Here are some tips to help you:

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No Fuss Weight-Loss

by: Sheri Graber

To lose weight and keep it off you need an easy to follow no fuss plan. You need a plan that is simple and sensible. You need a plan that you can use everyday to get slim and healthy.
You need a plan that builds on your success day-by-day. A plan that keeps you inspired and motivated by seeing results—fast! If you don’t see and feel results fast it’s far to easy to be tempted by the next fast food drive through or the next vending machine. Far to easy.
You need a plan that works for you, a plan that blends in to your lifestyle. A plan that you can live with. Forever. That’s the real secret to permanent weight-loss.
Most people go on train wreck diets. They follow the latest fads. They start a diet, lose some weight, then go off of it and gain all the weight back. Sometimes even more. That’s why it’s called yo-yo-dieting–up and down and back up. You don’t want to do that, it’s bad for your health.
Permanent weight loss requires changes in your lifestyle. Changes in your behaviors. You can’t expect to lose weight by doing the same things like overeating and not exercising.
You can’t expect to lose weight and keep it off by ignoring good nutrition and eating foods that are bad for you. Junk food leads to a junked body. Diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, stroke and arthritis are just a few of the health problems associated with obesity.
When I say “junk food” I don’t mean just fast food, donuts, or candy, I mean all the foods that don’t seem so bad but are full of sugar, starches and fats. Foods like fruit juice are full of sugar. You’re better off to eat the fruit and drink some water. Foods like pasta, rice and french fries are full of empty calories and cause an insulin response that puts your body into fat storage mode.
Permanent weight loss requires you to be informed about what foods have good nutritional value and what ones don’t. You don’t need to take a college nutrition course but you do need to know about some basic “nutrition 101” principles.
To be successful with your weight loss and management you need to know the difference between proteins, fats and carbohydrates. You need to know how much protein you should be eating, how much carbohydrates and what kinds of fats are good for you.
You need to know the effects of sugar on your body. Most mothers think they’re doing a good thing by giving their children apple juice instead of soda.
Being confused and uniformed leads to weight problems. Weight problems not only for yourself but maybe even for your family. Young children have no control over the foods they eat. Food is either fed to them or placed before them until they’re old enough to feed themselves and prepare their own food. Sure they can refuse to eat, but it’s usually not the cookies and cakes but the carrots and broccoli.
Children can be taught early on to eat healthy or to eat unhealthy. If parents recognized this fact and were aware of the habits they were passing on through modeling lifestyle behaviors the obesity epidemic could probably be reversed in a few years. And I’m sure the rates of drinking and smoking in young people would go down as well.
I can hear some well meaning mothers or grandparents saying, “well they have to have some treats some of the times.” Maybe on an occasional birthday. But when the children are older and as people become more educated about the causes of obesity there’s going to be some serious finger pointing.
Remember when the Marlboro Man was cool? Remember when everyone smoked, even pregnant women? Things have changed haven’t they? The social stigma attached to smoking will be dwarfed by the stigma that is becoming attached to obesity. And there’s a difference between smoking and obesity. You can smoke in private but you can’t hide the fact that you’re fat.
What about portion control? We’ve become a super-sized nation because of super-sized portions. When it comes to restaurants we rate them good or bad according to how much food is on our plates.
At home, people are too busy these days to weigh, measure and count food units. You need simple ways to eyeball serving sizes for portion control.
A simple, easy to follow, no fuss plan is the answer to your weight problem. Why complicate things and cause yourself even more stress?
For more information about a no fuss plan you can live with visit

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How the Boy Scout Motto Can Help You Lose Weight

by: Bill Herren

Be Prepared. For the Boy Scouts it means you are always ready in body and mind to do your duty. How can you use this motto to help you in your weight loss efforts?
I am of the school of thought that starvation is not the way to lose weight and lead a healthy lifestyle. My thinking has always been to make the right choices in the foods we eat. For many people, it is not overeating that is their enemy-it is the wrong choices. This article is assuming you know the difference between good food choices and bad. There are many articles that can be found on making proper food choices.
For example; have you ever been trying to diet and found yourself out around town running errands and then suddenly so hungry you could not hardly stand it? Or have you ever been at work and your workmates want to go to the local Mexican restaurant and you did not pack your lunch that day? Normally what happens is you swing into the local fast food joint or go with your coworkers to the restaurant and end up making bad choices. How can this be prevented? Answer: Be prepared.
The above “bad choice” scenarios could have been avoided by being prepared. The first could have been prevented by carrying a meal replacement bar or shake in your vehicle with you. This could have curbed your hunger until you were home and in a position to prepare a nutritious snack or meal. The second could have been avoided by having a nutritious lunch packed and ready to eat at lunch time. You could have even carried it to the restaurant and enjoyed the company of your coworkers.
The number one enemy of being prepared is time. “I don’t have time to pack my lunch in the evening!” or “I don’t have time to cook in the evening!” I have good news and bad news. If you are going to be prepared – it is going to take time. The good news is that it does not have to be as time consuming as you may think.
One way to save time and be prepared is to use meal replacement shakes or meal replacement powders. These can be carried with you wherever you go and mixed and consumed in a matter of minutes. Another way is to do your cooking when you have time. I know of one person that prepares 7 chicken breasts on Sunday night and puts them in Tupperware serving dishes along with brown rice and steamed broccoli. They just simply take one per day to work and have a very nutritious, weight loss friendly lunch.
Some more ideas for being prepared in your weight loss journey:

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How to Avoid Weight Gain While Working at Home

by: Rachel Greenberg

We have all heard the many benefits of working at home – set your own hours, spend more time with your family, avoid the commute, etc. And many people (including myself!) have actually reaped these benefits. But one thing we aren’t told is that for some of us, one unfortunate side effect of being at home all day is weight gain.
Now I know that a lot of the work-at-home crowd is really only at home in an office part of the time. Salespeople are always out on sales calls, and well, if you run a day care center in your home, then you’re probably chasing little ones around all day. These work-at-home types are probably immune to the weight gain.
I’m talking about the rest of us. Those of us who are home alone, all day, with nothing but a computer and a bag of cookies to keep us company. How can we fight the urge to indulge? Let’s take a look at the top 5 options:

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How Do I Gain Weight?

by: JP Clifford

Try asking people how to gain weight and you’ll likely see some bewildered faces staring back at you. For the majority of people, hearing that question is akin to hearing the questions, “How do I stub my toe?” or “How do I run out of gas?”
Those confused faces not withstanding, the question is a legitimate one and one that frustrates those who find themselves on the light end of the scale. While those on the heavy end can’t get through a commercial break or flip through more than five pages of a magazine without someone offering up a solution to their weight problems, it can be a lonely struggle for those who want to put on weight.
If you are lucky enough to get a reasoned response to your question, it will probably involve the words “eat more.” That, despite being obvious, is great advice. Quite simply, to gain weight you will need to up your calorie consumption to the point where you consume more calories than you expend. Couple an increased caloric intake with a little weight training and you have the recipe for healthy weight gain.
You may think you eat a lot, even enough to keep pace with your more weight-furnished friends, but you are probably over-estimating your intake. After a trip to the doctor’s office to rule out medical causes for your inability to bulk up(thyroid disease and other medical problems can hamper weight gain), a first step to designing an effective weight gain program is to journal your eating habits. Counting calories for a week will give you an accurate view of your diet.
From there, increase your daily caloric intake by about 300-500 calories until you start putting on the pounds. Keep in mind though, while your caloric intake will directly influence your bodyweight, it will be other factors like the types of food you eat and your weight training regimen that decide the type of weight you are putting on. So if you are after an aesthetically pleasing weight gain, that of lean muscle weight as opposed to just some extra body fat to lug around, it will be important to pay attention to these factors.
To get the most muscle out of your weight gain, avoid the junk food and focus on eating whole foods. A good weight gain diet should be composed of 30-50% protein, 20-50% carbohydrates and 20-40% fat (the majority of which should be essential fatty acids). Different ratios within these ranges will work differently for different people. Keep up your food journal and experiment to find the ratios that work best for you.
Providing your body with the materials it needs to build muscle is only one piece of the puzzle. A weight training program designed to give the body a reason to add some muscle will be very important to achieving your goals. Your workout routines should concentrate on compound weight lifting exercises (those that involve multiple muscle groups like the squat or bench press) with weights that allow you to do 6 to 12 reps per set. Higher rep ranges will tone your muscles but may not sufficiently signal the body into muscle growth. Try to either increase the amount of weight lifted or the reps completed with each workout.
Don’t go overboard with your workouts. Two or three one-hour workouts per week done with intensity should do the trick. Too often those that have trouble gaining weight (hardgainers) spend too much time in the gym. This can be counterproductive in two ways. First, it means you are burning off a lot of the calories that could otherwise be used to build muscle and, second, you can over-train your muscles by working them too hard, basically making them unresponsive.
If you are looking for some company in your quest to gain weight, venture into the bodybuilding community. There you will find many people also seeking ways to put on lean muscle mass. You will also find many products marketed to help you gain weight. Be very cautious when looking at these products. Gaining weight may not be as in demand as losing weight but it is still big business and there are a lot of companies out there looking to take your money. While some of these products can help, others aren’t necessary.
With a little motivation, a weight gain diet and a solid weight training program in place you will have all you need to achieve your gain weight goals. Better yet, you will never again have to ask that question that gets all those funny looks aimed back at you.

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Weight Loss Hypnosis

by: Paul Gustafson RN BSN CH

Obesity is a national epidemic. 58 million Americans are overweight and 80% are more than 25 lbs overweight. 70% of heart disease and 80% of all type II diabetes is directly attributed to obesity. 15% of children are obese and 70% between the ages of 6-8 believe that fast food is healthier than home cooked meals. Today’s children could be the first generation whose life expectancy is less than that of their parents.
Much of the problems associated with obesity begin in childhood. We make concrete decisions about self-image, what food means to us and how active a life we will lead, very early in our lives. There are also cultural influences which can dictate the nutritional paths we take.
Another factor is the emotional and compulsive connections to food. Millions use food to feel good or to at least feel better. Food offers temporary relief from symptoms of depression, loneliness, anger and stress. Another factor is how productively our body’s function which can have a major influence in how we look. A hypoactive thyroid slows down the metabolism making it next to impossible to lose excess weight.
In addition to all of this there is the problem of social hypnosis or advertising which bombards us with a never ending stream of useless, unproductive and unhealthy information 24 hours a day, everyday. To make matters worse advertisers aren’t even consistent with their manipulative message. On one hand they say we need to be anorexic to be beautiful, and on the other they say that ‘happy meals’ qualify as healthy nutrition.
Long term problems begin when these unhealthy patterns are repeated over time. We are creatures of habit, we are what we think. Consistently repeating patterns of unhealthy nutrition and sedentary living ensures that they will continue. It’s the repetition that gets them deeply rooted in our long term memory, or subconscious mind, where they take on a life of their own.
When an individual attempts to alter the path of an established pattern conflict results. This is what a smoker goes through when trying to quit on a conscious level. They experience mood swings, cravings and palpitations. Conflict with dieting occurs when an individual eat things they really don’t want to eat and does things they don’t really want to do, like exercise.
When the subconscious doesn’t get what it expects individuals become uncomfortable and stressed. The only way to make things right is to give the subconscious mind what it wants. Intellectually they know the changes they should make and the type of body they want to have but when this inner conflict arises the individual feels powerless and more often than not they revert to their old ways.
Hypnosis melts away the conflict. It helps uninstall old patterns and rapidly download new applications supporting new positive thoughts, actions and results. By stepping into this peaceful inner daydream world individuals have the unique opportunity to take control in way they never thought possible.
Mental imagery is one of the most powerful benefits of hypnosis. The hypnotist taps into the client’s imagination which is in the subconscious. This enables clients to create powerful images of ultimate health and fitness. Then the hypnotist offers suggestions supporting how easy it would be to make a few changes if this is the reward. This establishes a linear subconscious connection between action and positive results, and by routinely reinforcing this peaceful message clients easily go from concept to reality.
Making changes on the subconscious level makes new thoughts seem automatic. It speeds up the learning curve. A good clinician will record your session so you can listen to it on your own. Repetition rules with the problems and solutions as well. It took years of repetition to create the problem but the good news is that hypnosis dramatically speeds up the process to success.
With hypnosis an individual can disconnect from patterns of compulsive or emotional eating. One method directs the client to regression back to where compulsive or emotional eating began. Usually there is a general idea of how and when such patterns began.
Then they imagine a past event is replayed and they can see and feel the stress, concern or compulsion with food begin. It’s important to recreate the anxiety because then they get to make it go away.
They picture a thick glass dome being lowered over the past event and the lower it gets the more freedom and relief they experience. In moments the doom locks down into the floor completely preventing this experience from ever affecting their adult life again. Once they are free from the past they move forward and freely begin to choose new paths supporting fitness and fulfillment.
Success with hypnosis depends on how open the client is to relaxing, whether they are truly committed to creating positive change and if they give themselves the opportunity to become proficient with the process. Serious minded individuals with a strong desire to learn and grow usually do very well.
In addition to weight loss clients become more relaxed, centered and focused. They are much less affected by the day-to-day stress of life. This type of routine relaxation produces more smiles, laughter and an easy natural progression to shaping the body they were meant to have.

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Focus: A Weight Loss Strategy

by: The Icon Reader

I just finished working my quads on a weight machine. My head races and my body hums all in an attempt to lose weight. Only moments ago, my legs worked so hard that they began to fail. They worked so hard that my muscle tissue cried out in pain and began to tear. Now having just finished, my body sweating with the effort, I can rest for a couple of minutes before doing it again.
Each day this week I will have targeted a different group of muscles. Each day I will work them, stretch them, and tear them. Each day, I will work so hard that my heart beats a new rhythm into my metabolism. Each day, my body will set to repair the damage I have done in such manner that it does not happen again. Each day doggedly break my body down and force it to improve itself. This is working out, this is getting fit, this is what it takes.
As I sit and stretch between sets, my quads still reeling, I scan around the gym. I take in those around me. At this hour, there are few people willing to brave the cold mornings to make the run to the gym. There are two people working with some free weights near by. They are within earshot and while I am resting I listen to them complain about, work, relationships, their bosses, clothes, their bodies and their friends. The conversation flows from one topic to the next seamlessly and it is clear by their candor that they know each other well; that they have been friends and work out buddies for a while. What grabs my attention however, is not the meandering topics of their conversation, but the fact that conversation is occurring at all.
I ponder this until I start on my second set. As my second set starts, all I can focus on is exercise; flexing my muscles against the weight. During the relatively short time it takes for me to run through my set and completely exhaust my quads, every action, every breath becomes an exercise in methodical control and economy. Every action I make is geared to the exercise at hand.
When I finish and I reengage with the world, I come back to the two people and their on-going conversation. As they chat, they work through a routine of exercises that look habitual and ritualized. When they work their muscles, they go through the motions; intent more on the conversation and company then their bodies.
There is a point to this. There is a myth, an urban legend if you will, that says going to the gym will make you lose weight. It is a logical extension of the same myth that says I need to go to the gym, I am out of shape. These two ideas have become synonymous with healthy lifestyles and fitness. For the two people I observed, simply being at the gym was enough to assuage their concerns for their physical health. The bottom line is that this is an illusion. To make yourself fit, you need to break your body down and force it to rebuild. The idea being that after the rebuild, you will be stronger and fit. This cannot occur by merely being in a gym, or as in the case with the talking pair, this cannot occur by going through the motions of working out.
Before I get accused of being a fanatical meat head just understand that I carry an extra few pounds around my waist. All I know is that to really make progress, to have physical and visible results, you must have an impact on your body. The kicker is that they almost have it made. These people are at they gym early on a cold morning. They are committed to their weight loss goals. They go through the motions of their exercises like a well rehearsed dance routine. Clearly they want to achieve something with their bodies. If they just focused, and worked their bodies just a little more; enough, say, to deny them the ease of conversation, then the results would be tremendous.
The whole point is that you have to be clear about what it is you want to accomplish. I know with every fiber in my being, that I will burn off the extra weight around my waist and that I will firm up my desk loving muscles. But I won’t do it by talking.

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Grunting: The Dreaded Free Weight Room

by: The Icon Reader

I am new to the world of the gym. Having resolved to make my health and fitness a priority, spending time at the gym is becoming a staple in my weekly routine. While I find that I am getting well acquainted with different exercises and exercise machines, there is one area of the gym that I fear to tread.
Behind a partial wall, tucked to the rear of the building, away from the cardio machines, spinning rooms and yoga mats, is the free weight room. When I work the weight machines I am a stones throw from the free weight room, not close enough to really see what goes on in there, but definitely close enough to hear what goes on in there.
They say if you sit long enough in one place, the whole world will pass you by. This may be true, but if you sit long enough near the free weight room, you see a whole other world of gym patron pass you by. Into this mysterious room disappear giant men, their poor t-shirts barely able to contain their burly mass, arms propped out by massive lats; Amazon women with bodies of iron and physique most men would sell their mothers for. They disappear behind the wall and for a good while they vanish. All that remains is their grunting.
From the free weight room issues forth a chorus of hissing and grunting that would put any tennis player to shame. Now being a novice in the gym, I can only assume the grunting issues forth under the Herculean effort needed to heft such tremendous weights. On my side of the wall, the weight machine side, we are a quiet lot. The only break in the peace is the occasional clang of a poorly executed rep. In fact, on my side of the gym we are so quite, that no one even notices when we come and go. We are like gym ninjas – stealthy and quite. I would like to think that we choose to leave the grunting to the giants on the other side of the wall. Of course, really this is totally untrue. I choose to leave the grunting to the giants on the other side of the wall because I am totally ignorant of free weights.
Talking to a friend of mine who swears that while he loves to use free weights, not all of his kind, are grunters. He does however, insist that free weights are an excellent way to expand your work out. If done correctly, free weights allow you to work a wide range of muscles through a full range of motion, unhampered by any physical limitation often present in a machine. Further, lifting free weights forces your body to develop its stabilizers. These muscles help with balance and support. Another key component of free weights is that there is no size restrictions. That is, you have to be able to ‘fit’ a weight machine. If not, you cannot use it. Free weights are, according to my friend, an essential aspect of any weight training regime.
I still sit near the free weight room to see the goings and comings of the gym giants, but I have made an appointment with a personal trainer to get introduced to the world of free weights. According to my trainer, good form while using free weights is vital for safety. Injury is possible if not used correctly. I look forward to my first foray into the unknown. I am excited to see what lies behind the wall. My trainer assures me that somewhere behind the wall, there are normal people like myself all taking advantage of free weights. More importantly, grunting is not a prerequisite. Apparently, there are free weight ninjas too.

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Why Do You Say You Want To Lose Weight?

by: Yvonne Finn

How many of your New Year’s resolution start out with “I want to lose x amount of pounds”as if just saying it were some kind of magic mantra.
As if the weight would just fall off, in response to the spoken words!
Why do we not want to pay the price for anything? Gaining weight is not an overnight effect and it will NOT be reversed overnight. The price for losing weight is choosing a proper diet plan and exercise routine.
And it takes discipline and, yes, WILLPOWER! No matter what you do eat, you will always have to say “NO!” to something, sometime. Choices, choices that’s life!
Our society is becoming one of “it’s not my fault” formerly known as “the devil made me do it”. Well, let me tell you this, unless you have a physical/medical condition that makes it impossible to lose weight, it is your fault and your responsiblilty to lose those unwanted, unhealthy, unsightly and inconvenient pounds.
The sooner you start to accept this fact the better you will feel, both physically and emotionally.
One of the greatest confidence building tool in our lives, is when we set a goal and reach it.
Some things in our lives are more under our control than others. Losing weight is one of those things.
And while, not every diet is suitable for everyone, with the increasing plethora to choose from, you should certainly be able to find one that fits your needs, lifestyle and personality. So, without further excuses, let’s get started taking the steps that will get “losing weight” crossed off next New Year’s resolution list!

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5 Steps to Start Your Weight Loss Program

by: Nicholas Webb

Remember there’s more to you than meets the eye. You’ve got personality, brains, feelings… in short, all those things that make you, YOU. So why diet? After all, you’re more than just a body, and things that really matter can’t be measured on a scale.
That said, there are some very good sound reasons for dieting. After all, dieting is not just for weight loss or weight gain. No, the true meaning of ‘diet’ is in choosing foods and setting eating habits that will keep you healthy, strong, and feeling your best. It takes planning and dedication. It means setting goals and following through. But it doesn’t have to be a chore. No, with the right tools it can even be fun … especially when you start to see the results that you’re looking for!
Before, choosing a diet, there are five extremely simple Steps, which if you really apply you will probably end up losing weight without even trying! Doesn’t that sound interesting. Really No kidding … try the following:
Step 1) Always sit down when you eat, preferable at a table. Don’t eat while standing, walking, driving or talking on the phone.
Step 2) Don’t read or watch television while you eat.
Step 3) Eat only when your stomach is empty. At least 3 to 4 hours from your last meal.
Step 4) Don’t take a bite until you’ve already swallowed the previous bite. Obvious? Try observing people and you’ll see them stuffing their mouths, which are still full. They probably talk at the same time! So, bite, chew, swallow, bite, chew, swallow.
Step 5) Don’t eat when you’re not hungry. No, I’m being serious and I know that this sounds stupid. For example when at home wait 5 minutes before taking second helpings. If you wait, you’ll probably find that you’re no longer hungry, whereas if you don’t wait you could probably eat thirds! Remember … Wait five minutes before taking more.
A good diet doesn’t end when you finally reach your target goal. Maintaining good nutrition, regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle is a continuing process. Only this will give you the energy to face the challenges of your busy day, boost your self-image, and make you look and feel better.
And there’s no feeling like the satisfaction when you achieve your goals by sticking to a sensible, healthy, diet plan.
Besides, where would we be without food? Changing your diet to prevent or reverse heart disease, reduce your blood pressure, or to get the better of your diabetes and, naturally to reach your desired weight, is not just a matter of cutting out butter and eggs and counting the amount of fat grams you eat each day. For instance, most Americans get close to 40% of their calories from fat! This is twice the recommended amount if you already suffer from heart disease.
There are many misconceptions and confusion concerning fat these days, some seem to make sense, others are just plain dumb! Remember, concerning fat, several things are now known for sure. It is known that most of us eat too much fat and that obesity is a major health concern, increasing the risk for heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, back pain and cancer. It is also known that saturated fat, more than anything else, is responsible for increasing our cholesterol levels.
I know it’s weird, but it’s been found, ironically, that when people focus exclusively on eliminating cholesterol from their daily diet they may unknowingly move on to a diet high in saturated fats! Some people decide to become vegetarian, leaving out meat and eggs, but the salad dressings, nuts and peanut butter, for instance, do more damage than a lean steak! Message: be careful what you eat, you may be surprised.

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