5 Tips For Weight Loss

Are you ready to lose some weight? Perhaps you're surfing for the magic pill that will vanish your weight away. Maybe you're simply searching for the right information to help you lose and keep the weight off. Whatever the case, here's some surefire tips to help you with your weight loss.

1. Do your homework. As you start your weight loss plan, take the time to carefully evaluate your situation. What caused the weight gain? Pregnancy? Inactivity? Overeating and binging? Emotions? There are many triggers in our lives that will cause us to gain weight. Some can be prevented or eliminated, some can't. It's important as you begin your weight loss to understand and come to grips with the cause of your weight. Be honest with yourself. Don't cheat on this one. Obviously, you want to have your weight loss become permanent.

In order to keep off the weight in the future, you may have to make some lifestyle changes to stay slim. Don't give up before you start. There's usually more than one solution to any weight gain reason. Just remain open-minded, and be willing to change to get the results you desire. Don't hesitate to read and learn as much as you can about weight gain. It's really easy to understand, and you may be surprised at what you learn.

2. Avoid Hidden Calories. Here's an over simplified version of weight loss and weight maintenance... if you eat more than your body needs, you gain weight. If you eat less (reduce calories) than your body needs, you lose weight! While it sounds simple enough, just eat less ....Right? Basically that's true. Yet, there are other things that come into play as one is trying to lose weight. One common mistake many people make as they diet is the fact they don't really understand how much is provided by the food they are eating. This is especially true with eating out and eating snack foods and beverages.

A serving as defined by the scientific communities on weight loss and a serving that your local restaurant provides is most often very different. For example, one serving of bread is typically one slice. Yet, the average bun in a fast food restaurant is actually almost three servings. A single serving of French fries is 15 fries. Just take a guess at how many servings are in a "Biggie" French fry container.

Also, don't be fooled into thinking just because a bag of popcorn is small, that it's a single serving. The same thing goes for beverages. The bottle may contain16 oz. Yet, the serving size may be 4 ounces. Pay attention to actually how many servings of food and beverages you are actually consuming. The amount may surprise you.

I'll give you an example, my son-in-law who's 28 was had put on several pounds. His favorite cola is Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew has higher sugar content than most other cola's. He didn't have a clue as to how may calories he was consuming by drinking 3 or 4 24 oz bottles a day. When my daughter told him, he was amazed. He replaced the cola with water and went from a 38" waist to a 34" waist in about two months. Be careful, you may be consuming more than you think.

3. Consider Diet Pills Carefully. Maybe one of your diet buddies has decided to buy diet pills, or maybe you've seen or heard a commercial for diet supplements promising easy fast weight loss. If so, please evaluate CAREFULLY! Even the most natural-sounding diet pills or weight loss supplements can be useless for weight loss, or dangerous, or both. Diet pills are very tempting things if you want to lose weight, especially if you have tried several conventional weight loss plans without success. The side effects and dangers of some diet and weight loss pills can vary enormously because many of these pills contain a cocktail of ingredients and because dosage instructions may be inadequate.
 Possible side effects include: nervousness, tremor, diarrhea, bulging eyes, racing heartbeat, elevated blood pressure even heart failure.

There are some instances when diet pills can be helpful. Usually these are indicated in the truly obese person. For the person wanting to lose 5 or 10 pounds, they usually aren't necessary. So you may ask, how does the diet pills work to cause weight loss, while I continue to eat the same amount? In recent years, it seems everyone has the PERFECT answer to help with your weight loss. There are almost as many weight loss methods and diet pills available as there are people who want to lose weight.

There are diet pills that stop your hunger so you eat less and burn more fat. There are diet pills that cause the body not to metabolize all the food you eat, so it's passed out of your system and not stored as fat. There's combination of these two. As you begin your search for the perfect diet pill, be careful as some can have harmful effects on your body.

Diet Pills work by shifting levels of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) that control satiety (fullness) and desire for food. Some also slightly increase your metabolic rate - the rate at which your body burns calories.
Examples of weight loss diet pills include:
Diethylpropion hydrochloride (eg. Tenuate)
Mazindol (eg. Mazanor, Sanorex)
Phendimetrazine tartrate (eg. Bontril)
Phentermine hydrochloride (eg. Adipex-P, Ionamin)

4. Monitor/Increase Your Activity - Regardless whether you're taking diet pills or not to help with your weight loss, it's still important to maintain a regular exercise program. This is beneficial not only for your weight loss, but also for your overall health. In many ways we in the developed country have a much more sedentary lifestyle than our bodies need. Obviously it's easier for us than in the era when people had to be very active simply to survive, yet it's not necessarily healthy for us not to be active.

Start and maintain some sort of exercise plan no matter what your age. Especially for the middle-aged and older people exercise play a very, very important role in the quality of health and staying within normal weight ranges.

5. Develop a Plan for Maintenance. Even if you're taking diet pills to help with your weight loss it's important to keep in mind, that once you stop the pills, unless you maintain a balance between your activity level and the food you eat the weight will come back. While it may take some time to become accustomed to a change in diet and activity, the rewards are well worth the time and effort spent to reach and maintain a healthy weight.

Fast Weight Loss -- The Healthiest Fast Weight Loss Plan

In general, fast weight loss is not healthy. The faster you lose weight, the faster you'll gain it back. Here are the top 5 reasons fast weight loss plans are not healthy...

1. Diet fast and lose muscle not fat.
2. Diet fast and lose water not fat.
3. Diet fast and cause diet shock. What is diet shock?
4. Diet fast and make no lifestyle changes.
5. Diet fast and fail at long term weight loss.

Fast weight loss impacts your dieting efforts in so many negative ways, it's hard to imagine how any fast dieting attempts could produce healthy results.
The only thing I can think of is to use a lower goal for your weight loss. At a 5% weight reduction, your health improves, diet shock is minimized, and it's fast.
So, if planned properly, you can lose weight fast, in shorter time periods focusing on 5% reductions in total body weight.

At first, you will lose mostly muscle and water. But as you progress through each period, more and more fat will burn and less muscle. The way I see it, no matter how many fast weight loss warnings we write about, many of you will try the next one that hits the market. Instead of fighting, I want to work with you and provide you the healthiest yet fastest way to lose weight.

The Healthiest Fast Weight Loss Plan

Slow and consistent, a healthy weight loss plan delivers small successes everyday, building momentum along the way, peaking at the point in time when you reach you're goal. This is key to dieting success.
Most dieters do the opposite...they experience fast weight loss early, their momentum peaks mid-way, and by the end of the diet, they are completely deflated. With no energy left to carry them into the next stage of weight loss -- weight gain prevention -- most dieters give up at this point.

My fast weight loss plan avoids the deflation and lack of motivation at the end of the diet because it evenly spreads the weight loss over 6 weeks. When do most dieters lose the most weight? Weeks 1-3. On my plan? Weeks 2-5.

No, these results are not from a good rigorous clinical study. Instead, they are my own observation of several patients I follow in Dallas.

Healthy Fast Weight Loss Steps

1. Week One, Part One -- drink a protein shake supplement everyday. Do not change anything else. Drink a protein shake that's a 50:50 mix of whey to casein proteins. The best time to drink the shake depends on your physical activities. Since most bodybuilders know what to do, I suggest for the rest of us, a protein shake between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner. The time you choose depends on when you have the longest period of fasting. For me, it's between lunch and dinner, so my shake comes around 3pm. Week One, Part Two -- Start an exercise program, with the first week involving nothing but stretching major muscle groups. Stretching increases the tonal stimulation to muscles (tone) causing them to burn more calories at rest. Plus it protects against injuries. The second week start some form of low impact aerobics...walking! Walk for 40 minutes everyday.
2. Week Two -- Start dieting by replacing 1/2 of a meal with the same protein shake from last week. Do this for 1 week.
3. Week Three -- Replace one whole meal with a protein shake. Change the mixture of the shake to 60% whey and 40% casein proteins. For most people, this comes out to about a 500 calorie reduction.
4. Week Four -- Reduce caloric intake by another 250 calories. I suggest adding a second protein shake, made up of the same 60:40 mix and use it to replace 1/2 of a another meal. Record the amount of weight you're losing. Never let it reach a rate of more than 4 pounds per week (that's double what I normally recommend).
5. Week Five -- Repeat week four.
6. Week Six -- Add back the last 250 calories you dropped and stop drinking the second shake.

End Result -- 12 to 18 pounds of average weight loss. The exact amount depends on many factors including exercise.

Fast Weight Loss Summary
Don't do it. Fast weight loss inevitably will lead to future weight gain. Just don't do it. But, if you do, at least follow my steps, the healthiest steps to fast weight loss.
To Healthy Living!

Michael A. Smith, MD
Chief Medical Consultant
Diet Basics

Dr. Smith is the Chief Medical Consultant for the Diet Basics Website. His medical experience includes Radiology, Internal Medicine, and Preventative Medicine. He trained at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School for all post-graduate years, 7 in total. His most memorable experience was training under Drs. Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein, the Nobel Laureates in Medicine for their pioneering work in fat and cholesterol metabolism. Please visit Dr Smith's website at, Diet Basics.

Weight Loss Product Warnings -- How to Spot Bad Pills

There are numerous ways to make a bad weight loss product look good. How to Spot Bad Pills is the first article in a series on evaluating weight loss products. My hope is to provide you with reliable, easy to understand, and useful tips for spotting bad weight loss products.

For the purpose of this article, the phrase, weight loss pill, refers to over-the-counter, non-prescription weight loss supplements. The following six tips will help you identify weight loss pills that don't back up claims with evidence, cite poorly designed research studies, don't work, and possibly cause serious harm.

The tips, arranged in no particular order, are effective in spotting glaring omissions of evidence, misrepresentations, and outright lies. However, many marketers have become quite skilled in the art of statistical illusion, fooling even those of us with extensive experience in statistical analysis.

What does this mean for you? Use the six tips from How to Spot a Bad Pill as part of your own overall assessment and not as a definitive evaluation. A "good" weight loss pill based upon my six tips, does not necessarily translate to a well studied, safe, and effective product. However, a bad pill here is a bad pill everywhere.
With that quick disclaimer, let's get started...

Bad Pill Tip #1 -- References

Match each claim cited with a reference. The reference should be clear and include the author's name, the location of the study, primary sponsor, title of study, publication source, year, volume, and pages.
A solid claim made for a weight loss pill should not be sales oriented. I fully understand that there is a time to sell. However, I am assuming you are beyond that, and need real information about this weight loss product in question. As you investigate the pill, and the sales copy never seems to go way, that's a red flag.

Lets look at two different claims. The first one is NOT a solid science claim..."Amazing New Weight Loss Pill Maximizes Weight Loss...". This belongs back in the sales copy.
Instead, here is a claim well grounded in science...
"The percentage of weight loss was significantly higher in the test group at the end of the 5 week study...(6)"

Notice the reference is clearly cited and displayed by the number 6. This is identifying the 6th listing on the reference page as the source. This brings up a related topic about the reference page. All ads and websites should have a reference page.

As a matter of fact, the reference page is more valuable than the testimonials. It is a list of the actual studies used to make a case in favor of a weight loss product.

To see an example of a reference page, use this link, Weight Loss Pill Reference Page [http://www.weight-loss-professional.com/references.html].

Bad Pill Tip #2 -- Mechanism of Action

Verify how the weight loss pill works, also called the mechanism of action. Every pill, prescription drugs included, should have the mechanism of action clearly stated with references. Do not label a weight loss pill as "good" without a description on how it works.

Bad Pill Tip #3 -- Author

Verify the primary author referenced to make the best claim or the author referenced for making most of the claims. Verify, in this case, means to check the reference as "real" and also test the "marketer" for how accessible the information is to get and review.

Bad Pill Tip #4 -- Subjects

Investigate the number of subjects that have been tested using the weight loss pill in question. This is difficult to judge, but understand that the smaller the study, the less reliable the results. One study with 10 subjects is not enough to make any significant claims.

When isolating one study, the number of subjects needed to produce reliable results depends on several factors. I suggest looking through the information provided to you for references to choosing the right number of subjects. If they take the time to write about it in their official study report, then, most likely, they had the best possible number of subjects.

In general, if you're reviewing one study measuring one variable, you would like to see at least 50 subjects (n=50). However, we often lower this standard given the difficulty in recruiting for studies.

Bad Pill Tip #5 -- Side Effects

A well designed, unbiased study does not hide reported side effects (also called adverse events). This should be as easy to find as the headline of the sale copy or the order form. If it's hidden, stay away from that weight loss pill.

Bad Pill Tip #6 -- Help

If all else fails and you just can't call it a good or bad pill, call your health care provider. Let the person answering the phone know exactly what it is you need. Say something like, "I need feedback on a new weight loss pill, called Pill ABC. Is this a bad pill for me to take or is it a good one?"

Personalize the reason for needing the information and the response time will triple. Since you made it clear you're considering taking the pill, they will get back to you fast to avoid any adverse event. If they don't, consider finding a new health care provider.

Obviously, there are several other areas to critique a weight loss pill. But these are 6 excellent tips that will help you decide if the pill is good or bad. It simply comes down to checking for very basic information that any credible scientist or physician would display or provide immediately.
Not passing just one of the tips is enough to label it as a bad weight loss pill.
To Healthy Living!

Michael A. Smith, MD
Diet Basics Website and Resource

Dr. Smith is the primary physician and consultant for the Diet Basics Website of the Weight Loss Professional. Stay tuned for the second article of the series called Weight Loss Product Warning.
Please visit the Diet Basics website and take advantage of all the free offers...original e-books and articles, a top rated newsletter, and much more.

The Ultimate Weight Loss Product Guide

Are you one of the many who may be tempted by advertisements for diet pills and other weight loss products promising easy, quick ways to lose weight? Were you aware that a simple 30 minute infomercial can cost anywhere from $80,000 to 120,000 dollars to make. Pretty crazy don't you think?
 Yet time and time again you see countless weight loss infomercials selling product after product.
Fad Diets and many diet pills are pitched by persistent advertising and many people, possibly even you will join the parade of followers. Yet 95% of the time, these weight loss products will prove to fail you once again -- leaving you with nothing but charges to your credit card and set-up to regain all those pounds. So why are people constantly and willingly paying their hard earned money for these weight loss products?

"Stop Throwing Your Hopes Into Every Weight Loss Product That Comes By"
We want you to stop being their guinea pigs and understand and realize just how many of these diet pills and other weight loss companies are cashing in at your expense. To help you avoid getting "trapped or suckered" into believing or choosing a weight loss product or service that does nothing but contribute and add to the problems.

Stop Getting Taken! The following factors are exactly what many weight loss products and services use and exploit in order to get you to buy into their utterly false claims...

Factor 1 -- HOPE

Hope is a good thing, you need hope. But the problem is that many times you have such high hopes that you put those hopes into anything, regardless if its legit or not. By putting your hopes of weight loss into products and services that are not providing the necessary means you need, your ultimately setting yourself up for failure and your hopes will get crushed. Have hope, just make sure you put your hope into the right service and don't let your strong sense of hope blind you into not seeing the red-flags and other lies.
Bottom Line -- Don't let your strong sense of hope make you believe things that are not true!

Factor 2 -- Emotion

Lets face it, your weight and appearance can be a touchy, emotional subject. And it should be, its your life! But how many times have you seen a weight loss infomercial where someone breaks down into tears while talking about how miserable they were when overweight and how deeply happy and relieved they are now ... and how they owe it all to that particular weight loss product or "revolutionary system." The product is doing this intentionally!

Weight loss products know you're emotional about how you look ... they also know that when your emotional, it causes you to act on impulse. They have a better chance to "hook- you" when you're emotional and "touched." Products try to stir up your emotion in an effort to get you to act impulsively and buy into their claims. You should be emotional about your health and the way you look, but don't let them use your emotion against you. Don't let your emotion blind you into not seeing the red-flags and real reason that they're really there -- to get the "2 easy payments of $39.99" out of you!

Factor 3 -- Marketing Savvy & Media

Just because you're constantly seeing weight loss ads and commercials for diet pills and the new "xxx diet" does not mean it works and is credible. Just because you see a celebrity hosting the weight loss infomercial or program (who has been generously paid off ... do you really think a movie star is going to do an infomercial for free?) does not mean it's effective. What it does mean is that they have thousands, if not millions of dollars to pay for advertising and marketing so they can get their product in front of you, be it radio, television, internet etc. so they can constantly "pitch you."

How affective is marketing? Recently, a diet pill company was making the bogus claim "take our weight loss pill and you can eat what you want and burn fat as you sleep" and made $152 million in profit over 3 short years by doing radio commercials at over 600 stations across the country! That is until the Government stepped in and cracked down! And all the restaurants that are adding the "new xxx diet approved" menus, all they're doing is trying to make money too! Restaurants know that people are willingly paying, so why wouldn't they add low carb diet dishes (even though the number of calories in these dishes are alarmingly high and will cause you to pack on pounds!)

Realize, that just because you see a weight loss product time and time again on the television or radio does not mean it will be effective in losing permanent weight. All these weight loss companies are trying to do is get their product in front of you over and over so it will be there when you're ready to buy. Many people make the mistake of assuming a product is credible simply because it's constantly on television.

Factor 4 - Repetition

Diet pills and other weight loss products figure they more they can get in front of you, the more likely you're going to buy it when that time comes. Lets face it, if you were interested in building a deck, when that time comes don't you think your going to choose the "smith deck company" that you saw time and time again on TV. Most people will simply use the one that's most convenient and right there. Many times people just pick the first product or service that comes to their head and have high hopes that everything will just work out. Unfortunately, many times it's no different with weight loss products.

This is exactly why you see the same infomercial every day, every hour of the day for like 1 month straight ... and then all of a sudden it's gone. They get in, make their money on desperate people looking to lose weight, and then they get out! And if you see it again in like 3-4 months down the road, this means they made a lot of money on it previously and are back to make more. They wouldn't be there if they weren't making money - period!

The product is trying to pound it into you head and keep coming at you because they know, the more you see it, the more likely you will be to buy it. Don't get suckered! Just because they are always there, does not mean it will help you.

Factor 5 - Pressure

This is a big one. The bottom line -- when people are pressured they act impulsively. Often times you put way to much pressure on yourself. In today's society so much emphasis is placed on health and appearance. People feel pressured to look a certain way and this is certainly the case with being overweight as people will do anything to lose weight. Weight loss products go out of their way to put additional pressure on you, knowing that it will cause you to act and buy. Many of the weight loss infomercials are very good at the art of getting you to believe that ... "finally this is it, the only product that's going to change your life!" The truth is that all they're doing is adding additional pressure.

Bottom Line -- Don't let the pressure you feel to lose weight allow you to buy into and believe false claims. A sense of urgency to lose weight is good, but don't feel so pressured that it causes you to act impulsively and spend your hard - earned money on the first thing you come across that sounds good. When you feel pressured, it will allow you to start believing and putting your hopes into things that are not true because you feel like "I need to do something about my weight and I need to do it now!"

Weight loss products know this and that is what they are wanting you to do. Don't allow it and don't allow yourself to be one of their guinea pigs! It will just cost you in the end!
General Rules To Keep In Mind When
Dealing With Weight Loss Products

Be Realistic -- If there was a way to "lose 30 pounds in 30 days and keep it off" or "eat what you want and still lose weight" don't you think that we would all look like supermodels?

Use Common Sense -- If there were magic diet pills or easy way to lose weight and keep it off, don't you think the top movie stars and celebrities who make millions and millions of dollars would have it.
Allow Yourself To Believe Both Sides -- If you're going to make the mistake of believing the lies and fabrications many weight loss products are telling you, at least allow yourself to believe that they may indeed be "lying and deceiving you" as well. It's only fair that you allow yourself to look at both sides as this will help you to form a better judgment.

"If It Was That Easy..." Lets face it, if it was as easy as all these health and weight loss infomercials and ab contraptions make it, the statistic of 95% failing would not exist! There would be no problems. Don't believe their lies and fabrications

Kenny Leonard is the President Of Excel Media and the creator of The Ultimate Weight Loss And Fitness Bible. The much talked about Weight Loss Bible is authored by Mari Kudla, who is the 4th ranked IFBB Fitness Professional And Figure Model in the world. She has been featured and contributed in numerous world wide media weight loss giants such as Muscle & Fitness Hers, Oxygen, and Flex magazines -- just to name a few. Her new book, "The Ultimate Weight Loss And Fitness Bible," has said to make weight loss ..."amazingly simple to understand and easy" More info at http://www.ultimate-weight-loss-bible.com

How Effective Is Weight Loss Surgery?

For severely overweight individuals that have failed to see results from diet and exercise alone, weight-loss surgery has become the safest and most effective means of achieving significant weight loss. In fact, studies have shown that with diet and exercise alone, nearly 95% of obese patients will gain all the lost weight back within 5 years. On the other hand, long-term success rates for weight-loss surgery - including the LAP-BAND procedure - are remarkably high, allowing patients to maintain a loss of between 50-70% of their excess body weight. Though there are many factors that can impact an individual patient's weight-loss success, weight-loss surgery is simply the most effective long-term weight loss and healthy lifestyle solution for severely obese patients.

Studies show that most patients that undergo weight-loss surgery will lose between 50-70% of their excess body weight within the first three years following their procedure. Those that undergo gastric bypass surgery will lose excess body weight more rapidly in the first 12 months than those that choose LAP-BAND surgery. However, gastric bypass patients typically experience a greater number of complications and side effects than LAP-BAND patients, as the LAP-BAND procedure allows for more gradual and natural long-term weight loss.

From a clinical perspective, a weight-loss surgery is considered successful when the patient loses at least 50% of their excess body weight and keeps the weight off for at least five years. While important lifestyle changes need to be made to ensure that the weight loss is maintained in the long term, studies have shown that most weight loss surgery patients are able to maintain a 50-60% loss of excess body weight 10 years after the surgical procedure. However, it is important to note that a weight loss of just 10% of total body weight can begin to have positive health effects in resolution of obesity-related condition like asthma, gastric reflux (GERD), and diabetes. As weight-loss surgery is usually performed on patients that are at least 75-100 pounds overweight or have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 35 with a health condition, overall weight loss can range anywhere from 40 pounds to over 100 pounds. But the patient is really the leader behind achieving these results.

While patients will certainly look and feel better after weight-loss surgery, there are also numerous health benefits associated with successful weight loss. In most cases, health conditions that develop as a result of excessive body weight or are worsened by obesity can be improved upon or, in some cases, remedied by weight-loss surgery.

But there are other ways to measuring success with weight-loss surgery, like the LAP-BAND System. For instance, many weight loss surgery patients take great pride in being able to perform certain activities that may not have been possible for a number of years, like crossing their legs, bending over to tie a show, walking up stairs without being easily winded or sitting comfortably in an airplane seat.
While most patients that undergo weight-loss surgery experience incredibly positive results, there are many factors that can impact the overall success of an individual patient's procedure and follow-up treatment. Here are some important factors to consider as you try to determine whether weight loss surgery is right for you.

Pre-surgery Weight

Generally speaking, the higher a patient's pre-surgery weight or BMI, the more excess weight the patient can lose after surgery. However, recipients of weight-loss surgery with less excess body weight will eventually come closer to their ideal weight when committed to long-term diet and exercise. Also, resolution or improvement in obesity-related diseases can occur with even moderate amounts of weight. Often many diseases can become closer to cured than improved with earlier intervention at a lower weight.

Overall Health

While pre-existing health conditions can impact the overall success of weight-loss surgery (for instance, patients with type 2 Diabetes typically lose less excess body weight after surgery), studies have shown that many ailments linked to obesity are either improved upon or fall into remission after a successful procedure. For instance, a 2000 study performed on 500 weight loss surgery patients showed that nearly 96% of health conditions associated with obesity - such as high blood pressure, depression, sleep apnea, back pain and diabetes - improved greatly following loss of excess weight and long-term commitment to diet and exercise.

Surgical Procedure

As there are potential risks and complications associated with any surgical procedure, potential patients should always seek to have their weight-loss surgery performed by a trusted medical staff. Prospective patients should inquire about their surgeon's success rates with weight-loss surgery and listen to the experiences of former patients. Additionally, a patient's weight-loss success may also be impacted by the quality of post-surgery care and counseling provided by their bariatric outpatient facility.

Diet and Exercise

As diet and exercise are two of the most important factors in any weight loss plan, patients with the physical ability to exercise after weight-loss surgery have increased chances of meeting their goals. To maintain the weight loss achieved by surgery, both exercise and healthy eating habits must become integral parts of a patient's lifestyle.

Commitment

The ability to remain committed to suggested dietary guidelines, exercise regimens and any follow-up care recommended by the bariatric outpatient facility is important for both short-term weight loss and long-term weight management.

Motivation

Patients that are motivated to lose weight and willing to follow through with diet and exercise prior to receiving weight loss surgery may experience greater levels of success immediately following the procedure and in the long term. Most people did not find themselves severely obese overnight. It took years to reach that weight and therefore patients should be patient with the weight-loss process, which will also not occur overnight. Successful patients find small victories along the way to celebrate and stay motivated.

Support

As weight-loss surgery will require some time away from everyday activities, it is important to have the support of family, friends and coworkers before undergoing any surgical procedure. Furthermore, as the ongoing weight-loss process following bariatric surgery may require a certain level of emotional support, prospective patients may want to establish a support network - including friends and family members that can join in on exercise and healthy eating.

Considering that significant weight loss can not only remedy many health concerns, but also improve an individual's quality of life, the potential benefits of weight-loss surgery are plentiful. For severely overweight individuals that are unable to lose weight via diet and exercise alone, weight-loss surgery is the most effective method of losing weight - and keeping the weight off.

Weight Loss: Customize, Personalize, Spice up!

You know you have weighted, err, waited more than enough. So you decide to get yourself started on some weight loss programs and regimens. In all likelihood you would draft yourself with the ones that promise you sure-hit quick weight loss tips.

So you sweat and strain with your chosen weight loss program, perhaps ecstatically so at the start. Sure your body gets all aching with all your joints and knuckles cracking in epic proportions like ungreased door hinges of horror movies.

Looking at yourself in the mirror, you cringe at the sight of this blob staring back miserably at you still with the extra flabs flapping around somewhere there. You sigh in exasperation. Whatever happened to the weight loss program that promised to sculpt your body to whistle-bait shape? You scream in desperation. You know you have just been weigh-laid, err again, way-laid by some pseudo weight loss masters.

Truth is, we tend to pattern our weight loss mindset after the mentality of that of some backyard gym instructors. We torture ourselves with the age-old dictum "No pain, no gain." Let's face it, while it did miracles for Rocky, it sure did get him crippled (or, killed) in the final picture.

We are no Rocky. We are ordinary human beings with not-so-ordinary day-to-day affairs. Some are multi-tasked like the housewife who has to master doing diapers in one hand, pitching copies in the other, while applying tantric massage on her hubby with her feet. All throughout she is troubled between going for weight loss surgery and taking weight loss pills.

"No pain, no gain" is foolishly macho and downright false. Of course, there's bound to be some discomfort when you're just getting started with your own weight loss program, and later when you start to reach out for new weight loss goals.

But there's an important difference between discomfort and pain. Learn it. Listen to your body say, "Moderation in all things." Pain means injury. Pain makes you quit the weight loss program.

If you don't like your chosen program of weight loss exercises, you won't stick with it. It will become a chore, you'll slack off and finally give up the entire weight loss program. Tailor your weight loss exercise to yourself, not to what others do or to some false image generated from within or without. Of course when you're just getting started, weight loss may seem like a chore. But appearances are not always reality. Realize that your body and mind would always prefer being a couch potato, and will rebel at the thought of exertion in the weight loss program, so you've got to give any form of exercise a chance to grow on you before you start analyzing whether it's for you or not! The key is to turn weight loss exercise into play, then you'll succeed and persist. Lack of joy makes you quit.

So spice up your own program of weight loss exercises by customizing it according to your our own weight loss needs. Variety is still the spice of weight loss. You should'nt be satisfied just with pounding the pavement or sweating in a gym. Variety makes you learn how much you're capable of. Play around, pick and choose, experiment with your own customized personal weight loss program.

Whatever weight loss exercises you choose from the following, try to get your heart rate up to about 70 percent of your safe maximum. You can do that by using this formula: 220 minus your age equals your Maximum Safe Heart Rate. Keep it at this rate for a solid half-hour. Don't go over the 85 percent rate for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Of course, heart rate doesn't figure into strength builders such as weigh lifting.

Note : The calories-burned figures that follow are for a 110-pounder. A 154-pounder should add on
another 28 percent to that number, while a 198-pounder should add 55 percent.

Walking : Calories burned at 2 mph is 145 per hour; 3 mph is 235 per hour; at 5 mph is 435 per hour.

Jogging : Calories burned at 5mph is 530 per hour which is roughly about a 12-minute mile.

Jumping Rope : Calories burned is 600 calories per hour.

Swimming : At 30 yards per minute (about one lap of an Olympic-size pool), calories burned is 330 per hour.

Water-walking : Calories burned is 360 per hour in a fast game.

Bicycling : Calories burned at 10 mph is 390 per hour.

Aerobic Dancing : For low impact, calories burned is 240 per hour and for moderate impact, 350 per hour.

Square Dancing : Calories burned is 350 and up - way up! - per hour.

Table Tennis : Calories burned is 450 hour.

Rowing : Calories burned is 600 per hour.

Cross-country skiing : Calories burned at 10 mph is 600 per hour.

Weight Lifting : Calories burned is 250 per hour.

Martial Arts : Calories burned is 620 per hour.

You really won't know what you like unless you try it. And if you haven't tried it don't knock it. Try mixing gardening with walking, housework with rowing, bicycling with weight lifting, dancing with martial arts, table-tennis with cross-country skiing, outdoors with indoors, team sports with solitary sports. Without variety, humans get bored and stale. They stop reaching. Boredom makes human beings quit.

Weight Loss Pills: Miracle Drugs or Money Wasters?

Losing weight is a lifelong commitment. It takes patience and self-discipline to stick with a weight loss program and wait for the end results. Many people want to find the magic shortcut that will make the process just a little shorter and less difficult. Many over-the-counter and prescription pills are purchased for just this purpose. They are available from pharmacies, natural health food stores, and even online. But are these weight loss pills the miracle drugs they claim to be? Or are they just a waste of money?

How Does A Weight Loss Pill Work?

Prescription weight loss pills work in one of three ways. Most of the pills on the market simply suppress the appetite and help you eat less. Others aim to increase your feeling of fullness after eating. Some of the newest weight loss pills on the market work by inhibiting the absorption of fat. Over the counter weight loss pills usually contain a stimulant that helps to decrease your appetite. The only complete weight management system which I approve of is the "Slimirex(TM)" system.

Who Should Take Weight Loss Pills?

Weight loss pills are most often recommended for people who are medically obese...people whose weight is causing serious health concerns. Even with weight loss pills, the treatment of obesity involves exercise, counseling, dietary changes, and behavioral modifications. But weight loss pills are not only used by obese people. They are also sought after by people who want a quicker way to achieve the weight goals they have set for themselves. As long as men and women continue to compare themselves to the select few beautiful, skinny models on TV screens and magazine pages, there will be a strong market for weight loss pills.

Could Weight Loss Pills Be Dangerous?

Weight loss pills are a medication just like any other type of drug. You need to be very careful about the ingredients of any medication that you place in your body.
ALWAYS Consult Your Doctor

Work in consultation with your natural health care provider if you decide to try a over the counter weight loss pill to help you lose weight. Your doctor can assess your overall weight management goals and he or she can help you monitor the success or side effects of the medication. Be very cautious about the weight loss pill you decide to try. Try visiting http://www.weightlossobesity.com for general information and recommendations.

Know Your Source

Weight loss pills purchased over the internet may be coming from the garage of a t-shirt salesman (this actually happened!) If you decide to buy your weight loss pills online, make sure you research the company you are buying from so that you can be sure they send you the appropriate supplementation.
Read the Ingredients

Some weight loss pills contain the ingredient ephedra (also known as ephedrine and ma huang.) This stimulant has recently come under a lot of scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration for its links to illness and side effects. Ephedra has been shown to cause heart attacks, seizures and strokes. It is a powerful and dangerous stimulant that can damage the central nervous system and the heart. The most complete system available is the Slimirex system scheduled for release in April 2005.
Watch Out For Dependency

Weight loss pills that contain amphetamine or other stimulants may cause withdrawal symptoms when you decide to discontinue the medication. You may become addicted to these types of pills and be unable to stop taking them. The long term use of weight loss pills may increase your chances of developing serious side effects. Stimulant based weight loss pills can cause Adrenal Burnout Syndrome, which can take years to fix.

The Bottom Line On Weight Loss Pills

1. ALWAYS check with your health care provider. Make sure he or she knows which pill you are going to try and arrange for your progress to be monitored.

2. If your doctor prescribes a weight loss pill for you, make sure you follow the instructions he or she gives you. If you decide to purchase an over the counter weight loss pill, be sure to use Slimirex. DO NOT OVERDOSE to try and gain faster results.

3. Use weight loss pills (Slimirex) in combination with behavioral modifications, dietary changes, and an exercise program to ensure that if you do achieve weight loss results with the pill, you will be able to discontinue their use without hampering your progress.

4. Monitor yourself carefully while you take the weight loss pill. Record your progress as well as any side effects you may be feeling. And be sure to report both to your health care provider.

5. Unless your doctor advises you differently, plan to take the weight loss pill for a maximum of six to eight weeks. These products are not meant for long term usage and side effects can occur.

6. If you are not losing weight, stop taking the weight loss pills. Consult with your health care provider on any lifestyle or medication changes you can incorporate to achieve results.

Using Weight Loss Supplements To Reach Your Weight Loss Goals

Supplement is a word defined by Webster as such: Something added to complete a thing or to make up for a deficiency. Even so; some weight loss supplement companies market their products as magic pills and some consumers think of them as such.

I believe weight loss supplements can be beneficial if we learn to look past the hype and use them in addition to improved eating habits as well as increased physical activity.

Know what you want out of your weight loss supplement:
Are you looking for decreased appetite, carb blocking ability or increased metabolism? What is the manufacturer promising? What are the active ingredients and what studies and dosages were done on them?

Look for reviews and testimonials:
This is something I almost did not want to mention because reviews and testimonials can be very conflicting. Reading weight loss supplement reviews and testimonials is going to require you to think for yourself and determine if the review or testimonial makes a valid point or not. I recently read a review for a weight loss product that said something to this effect: "I did not like this product; I continued to eat the way I always do and actually gained weight on this product." My interpretation of this is that the person probably did not carefully monitor what they were eating. They were gaining weight before "eating what they normally eat" and were expecting this pill to magically cause them to lose weight. On the other hand, a weight loss testimonial that says "I eat anything I want and am still losing weight!" is equally suspicious to me. Weight loss product testimonials and reviews can be helpful in your decision if you weed through the hype and incomplete information. Look for clues such as: Did this product decrease the customers' appetite? Did the customer experience more energy? Was the reviewer jittery?
Is it too good to be true?

We have a tendency to believe what we want to believe. But when it comes to weight loss supplements we have to be honest with our self. Are the claims exaggerated? Is the company telling us we do not need to change our lifestyle? Does it appear the company wants us to lead a healthy lifestyle or does the company want to sell millions of pills? Remember weight loss supplements are going to help you reach your goals, not carry you to the completion of your weight loss goals.
Best seller does not always mean the best product.

I was a distributor for a branch of a very reputable supplement company and attended a convention they sponsored. The speaker was talking about making claims when trying to sell product and how they did not want us making any claims that have not been backed by science. Someone asked the question about other companies and why they could make outlandish weight loss claims and experience such great sales while we could only state scientific fact. The speaker acknowledge the fact that these companies would sell millions of dollars worth of product but they would not earn repeat customers and more than likely would not even exist in the long run. Ask yourself if the product you are interested in is a best seller because of hype or because the company is reputable and has a quality weight loss product.

Has the company been around for a while?
While the fact that a company is new does not mean it is low quality, a company that has been around for years usually has happy customers.
Read the directions and warnings very carefully.
I knew a lady that was taking a Chitosan product and getting sick. She asked me about it and I quickly asked her if she was allergic to shellfish-She was. Fortunately for her it was only a mild allergen and she did not suffer seriously. It was clearly stated on the label; "Do not take if you are allergic to shellfish." Also don't have the mentality that if one pill is good then two must be better. Natural weight loss products can be very powerful and should be treated with respect.
Take a break from time to time.

Occasionally take a break from your weight loss supplement regimen especially if you are using a weight loss product that contains a stimulant such as caffeine or other powerful herbs. I even do this with my multi-vitamin. I just believe it is a good idea to give your body a break from time to time.

Conclusion:

I believe weight loss supplements can help you reach your weight loss goals, I also believe you can reach your weight loss goals without weight loss supplements, however I have always been the type of person that wanted every edge I can get. So if you are like me, and you decide to use weight loss supplements, think of your weight loss goal as a three legged table. One leg represents healthy eating, one leg represents activity, and the other leg represents your weight loss supplementation. Remove any one leg and the table will fall. Rely on only one leg and you will not reach your weight loss goal. Shop carefully, have realistic expectations, follow safety guidelines and reach your weight loss goal!
I wish for you the best of health!

Top 15 Weight Loss Myths

There are many common weight loss myths that people live by when it comes to their health. It is difficult at times to separate the weight loss myths and fact from what is true. Many sound true while others are just laughable. I once read somewhere that if you drink water at night that you are going to gain weight or that if you scratch your head too often you are going to lose your hair....

Weight Loss Myth # 1

The more weight that I have to lose the more intense my exercise routine should be.
Weight Loss Truth: Although having an intense workout routine is great, there are a few things you should consider: the first being that everyone is at a different level when it comes to their fitness and how much intensity they can actually handle. If you have been physically inactive for a number of years, an intense work out for you might be, walking half a mile a day. After you walk that half mile you notice that you are sweating bullets and that you are tired. However, for someone who has been physically active for many years, walking half a mile can be done without a sweat. Everyone has a different definition of what "intense" is.

If intense for you is working out for an hour a day, but due to life's busy schedule you only have time for 20 minutes a day, then those 20 minutes will go an extremely long way. It might not necessarily be classified as "intense", according to your definition, but those little cardio moments will have positive health altering effects.

Fat Loss Myth # 2

Stress and weight gain do not go hand in hand
Weight Loss Fact: This is one of those "laughable" myths. To learn more how stress is adding lbs. to your life please download my free E-Book, "Psychology of Releasing Weight"

Weight Loss Myth # 3

I can lose weight while eating whatever I want Weight Loss Truth: Sir Isaac Newton once said " What goes up must come down." There are natural principles that govern our lives. If you throw a ball up in the air, it is going to come back down. You can sit on your couch and imagine and visualize that the ball will staying afloat in the air, but natural principles teach us that it will come down. Same goes when it comes to our weight.

This is one of the most common weight loss myths out there. It is illogical to think that your health and weight are going to be in balance if your nutrition consists mainly of twinkies, chips, and donuts. Sure you can burn it off by exercising, but most people whose diet consists of mainly junk food are probably not disciplined enough to stick to a workout routine. I do know a few people who, from the outside, look like they are in good shape, because they are not "fat, but who have high cholesterol.

Just because I feel sorry for crushing the hearts of so many twinkie lovers out there, I would say this. You can eat junk food, cookies, chips, ice cream, pizza, burgers.... All of those "soul satisfying foods", but it should be in moderation. Anything in excess is never good.

Fat Loss Myth # 4

Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight.
Weight Loss Fact: There are numerous studies that show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the day tend to be a lot heavier than who have a healthy nutritional breakfast and then eat 4-6 small meals during the day. The reason to this might be the fact that they get hungrier later on in the day, and might have a tendency to over eat during other meals of the day.

Weight Loss Myth # 5

I will not lose weight while eating at night.
Weight Loss Truth: You can over indulge in food during the day and not eat a single thing at night and you WILL gain weight. As is the fact that you can starve yourself during the day and eat all night long and you still will gain weight. The key here is balance. If your body is telling you that it is hungry then perhaps you should listen to it. The truth is, that over eating, while not exercising, will cause you to gain weight; no matter what time of the day that you eat. Whenever I am hungry at night, as is my habit with other meals during the day, I try to select something that is natural in nature. Something like fruits, vegetables, or I might even make myself a fruit smoothie. During those moments that I am craving ice cream or something sweet, I allow myself to get some, and DO NOT feel guilty about it. Many people who are overweight live their life in guilt and shame. I allow myself to get some, however, WITH MODERATION.

Fat Loss Myth # 6

I'm not acceptable until I lose weight
Weight Loss Fact: The person who doesn't feel acceptable because they are fat is because they are not acceptable to themselves first. The way that you think others view you is based on your view of yourself. I honestly believe that one must become emotionally fit before becoming physically fit. I have gone through these self-limiting emotions before. Once I realized that I was ALREADY ENOUGH in the eyes of God and that I had no need to prove myself to anyone or to receive external validation for my self-worth, that made all the difference for me. Once you accept yourself as who you are RIGHT NOW and realize that you are already enough in the eyes of God, you will not feel like you are not acceptable because of your weight.

Weight Loss Myth # 7

I need to cut calories to lose weight faster
Weight Loss Truth: Cutting your calories down might be a great thing, if you are drastically overeating and stuffing your face. However, if you are eating proportionally then cutting calories might have an aversive affect. If you are cutting calories and are starving your body, then that will lower your metabolism, or in other words slow it down, which may result in you actually not losing any weight at all, even if you are "cutting calories"

Fat Loss Myth # 8

Skipping meals will help me lose weight
Weight Loss Fact: Skipping meals may actually cause you to gain weight! You will become too hungry and will eventually have to eat. This will knock your metabolism off track and will eventually slow it down. Think of a car running low on gas (food), if you do not fill it up, it will eventually stop working. Same goes for our body, we need to keep it fueled constantly.

Weight Loss Myth # 9

I think I have genetic weight gain, it runs in my family!
Weight Loss Truth: Can someone say E-X-C-U-S-E-S? I will not deny that there might be tendencies for heavy parents to raise heavy children who will remain heavy their whole lives, but I don't believe that there is actually a "fat" gene or DNA out there. What we do inherit from our family, primarily those who directly raised us, are our views and beliefs. Your views about food, money, religion, politics, education, etc. are based upon how you were raised. If you were raised in a home where the primary meals cooked where fried foods, then you might have a tendency to continue cooking and eating fried foods throughout your life. If that is the case then you might be a little heavy around the waist. The easy thing to do is to blame it on those who were in charge of your upbringing, however, you ALWAYS have a choice to change.

Fat Loss Myth # 10

Eating healthy is too hard
Weight Loss Fact: Eating healthy is the simplest thing in the world.....once you have trained yourself to do it. How many times have you placed a goal to lose weight or to "eat better"? The first few days you are doing great, eating all kinds of foods which you normally wouldn't eat. Then something funny started to happen, you went back to your old habits and behaviors. This has happened to you in other areas outside of your health. It could be with making money, looking for a new job, or in your relationships. Creating a new habit takes time because our brain's do not like change. Change to the brain is dangerous. Anyways, if you would like to learn more about how our brain attempts to sabotage us from creating new habits then please download my free E-book, "Psychology of Releasing Weight"

Weight Loss Myth # 11

You have to give up your favorite foods to lose weight
Weight Loss Truth: What would a world without chocolate and without pepperoni pizza be like??? I think it would be a torturous world to live in!! lol, now on a real note I completely disagree with this myth. You are definitely able to eat your favorite foods. Depriving yourself of this kind of pleasure is not fun, and quite frankly you probably WILL eat it anyways.
 As has been mentioned before, the real key is moderation. If you are a steak lover, then perhaps it might not be the best things to eat it every single day, but perhaps once or twice a week. Those who know me personally know that I LOOOOOOOOVE chicken wings with pizza. In a perfect world where I wouldn't gain any weight and my arteries were clog-less, I would love to eat it several times per week, well more like every day. However, I know that those aren't the healthiest of food choices so I have it about 2-3 times per month. I am not giving up my favorite foods, I am just eating it in moderation so that it doesn't catch up to me in the form of excess weight.

Fat Loss Myth # 12

Overeating is caused by hunger
Weight Loss Fact: Nice try there. If only we could blame "hunger" for it. In fact, this person we call hunger has nothing to do with you OVEREATING. It might have something to do your body telling you that it is time to "fuel up" and that it needs food, but that is not an indication that one should overeat. What causes many people to overeat are different reasons. One of the main ones is feeling of stress, depression, loneliness, anxiety, fear, and other down grading emotions of that nature. Many times food can be a means of satisfying your needs. You might be actually getting your needs met through your foods. For example, if you live a lonely life, and aren't very happy, then food could perhaps be a means of you feeling happy and comforted. There are other articles that I have written on this subject but suffice it to say that overeating is NOT cause by being hungry.

Weight Loss Myth # 13

Only drastic diets work
Weight Loss Truth: There goes that word again...DIEt....those "drastic diets" are only good for quick weight loss and rapid weight gain once you get of it. These drastic diets range from the "cookie diet", lol.... All that way to "the water only diet"..... I am sure you can lose weight while on these DIEts, however the weight will be gained right back and usually with some added weight as a bonus

Fat Loss Myth # 14

I am too fat and too far down the road to begin
Weight Loss Fact: A long journey begins one step at a time. It is natural to expect instantaneous results and to even fear the road ahead of you; especially if you are extremely overweight. The secret here is to make SMALL incremental changes. Don't expect perfection because that will lead you to disappointment. You are never too far down the road to where you cannot see the sun's light......

Weight Loss Myth # 15

I can't do it, I have tried many times and have failed
Weight Loss Truth: The great Henry Ford once said "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't- you're right.'"......It is 90% mindset, and 10% actually getting off your butt and doing something about it. You fall down, you get back up.... you fall down again, you get back up again. If you have tried to lose weight in the past then it is time to keep trying. Discouragment is to losing weight as is a piece of fried chicken to a vegetarian......they DO NOT go hand in hand.

Lose Body Fat With Weight Loss Psychology

Almost anybody can lose weight. Yet, the fact is, winners remain the minority and failure resides with the majority. In fact, weight loss success rates remain so extremely rare that many individuals hardly ever even bother to attempt losing weight at all.

Of those who do try to lose unwanted body fat, the number of successful candidates remains low. Yet, almost anybody can lose weight IF and only WHEN she or he remains armed with the proper
help.

For example, you can get much assistance even from the fact that weight loss entails a myriad of factors. And, for your success, such weight loss factors must indeed include:
Weight loss awareness;

The basic understanding of physical body fat adaptation (that is, how your body reacts and responds to diet, exercise, and your very own thought patterns); plus Ongoing accumulation of accredited weight knowledge.

This weight loss reading helps you accomplish three things:
Discerning the weight loss definition.
Handling the physical body fat attack.
Realizing the gigantic impact of weight loss psychology.
Textbook Weight Loss Definition
The textbook definition of losing Weight entails using up calories BEYOND what you normally expend. Thousands of people hold misrepresented or misshapen ideas about what weight loss comprises. For example, an all too common weight loss mistake that's easy for you to make is failing to move outside of your comfort zone.

The greatest difference between mere physical activation and exercise itself is this:
Physical activity includes virtually ANYTHING you might do... watching TV, cooking dinner, sewing, going to the movies, talking on the phone, taking a shower, etc. However, basically none of the
above burn the significant calorie amounts needed to lose body fat.

The definition of overall FITNESS carries with it the concept of change. Consider burning body fat as a way of making your body change. When you burn body fat successfully, you also achieve a much higher fitness level.

Would you like to briefly explore why the above weight loss fitness fact is true? Okay, here's the quick explanation...

Intensive Movement Willpower - Your Body Fat Removal Key
Almost any physical activity practiced thirty to forty-five minutes per day is beneficial to health but provides little or no contribution to fitness progress. The reason is that the activity level itself remains too low. Although low-intensity exercises are beneficial enough to merely avoid sickness, they fail to reach the metabolic goal necessary to remove unwanted fat.

You need an energy output of about 500 calories each day to lose approximately one pound of fat per week. That's because one pound of fat, in one sense, "weighs" 3,500 calories.
So, look at this weight loss body fat fact again... if you desire to lose one pound of fat, you merely need to expend 500 calories per day for one week. That's it.

Sounds so simple, direct, and straightforward, right? And, the method truly is a clear one. Yet, why do so many find this difficult to do? The answer to that lies in the realm of psychological versus physiological weight loss development.

Body Fat PHYSIOLOGY
How Weight Loss Calorie Management Occurs
Your weight loss APPROACH may be almost the total opposite of your body's fat management ADAPTATION. There is a great distinction between these two. In order to affect fat loss changes, be sure you know the difference.

The reason why your body requires intense PHYSICAL action follows.
About Adipose Tissue (the scientific name that includes the place where excess body fat gets stored)...
Adipose tissue has to move through about 7 channels before you can transform it to "in-use," non-fat-structured energy. In stages one and two, you simply have to move slightly more quickly to stimulate
chemical body fat changes.

Then, stages three through seven require lots of oxygen uptake - deeper and more consistent breathing. Such breathing pattens most easily come to you as a result of aerobic actions like rowing, running, brisk or fast walking, swimming, bicycling, skating, dancing, etc.
In the presence of oxygen, certain acids in your body combine with glucose and move finally enable themselves (with your physical activity helping) to move them into your "fat-burning chamber,"
a/k/a the mitochondria.

After burning in your mitochondria, you literally see the by-products of weight loss, which are sweating, exhaled air, and heat. Rest assured that after each and effectively every such experience, you lose enough calories to affect weight loss achievement.
Therefore, the bottom line on the physical side of weight loss is this - move hard enough to cause constant and deep breathing without fatigue... and simply keep moving for as long as possible.
FYI: The average adult heart rate associated with such body fat achievement is around 119 beats per minute. (It can be lower or higher, depending on your conditioning.)
Yet, you can still fail at losing weight unless you COUPLE your physical attack with a meaningful, personalized understanding of weight loss PSYCHOLOGY.
Body Fat PSYCHOLOGY

(Thought Patterns, Processing, And Awareness)
The Impact of Body Fat Knowledge and Attitude On Weight Loss Outcome
Ever stop to consider your human psychology weight loss perspectives?
For example, what does weight loss represent for you? Is it a matter of eating foods you love or hate? Is losing body fat motivated by a need for social change? Do you want to lose weight in order to feel better, look better, or perform better?
All of the above, or none of the above - it's up to you. Every person has his or her own personalized drive or rationale for achieving weight loss rewards.

Yet, regardless of your motivation in the above, there are primary body fat percentage challenges you are likely to face. These include:
Tiredness
Lack of Know-How
Fear of Being Seen
Lack of Motivation
Lack of Patience
Know this for yourself - People who lose weight and keep it off with self-sufficiency, confident, and control - these individuals practice consistently. Conscious repetition is key in primary sport
activities.

Practice and upgrade your ability to REPEAT a beneficial, intellectual, weight loss action.
This is, in short, mind control... training yourself and acquiring specific, outstandingly helpful skill in:

a) creating a weight loss target; b) aiming at your specified body fat target; and c) hitting that fat-loss target almost each and every time.
These are powers of the mind, and the physical weight loss rewards merely follow your mental directive.

No one can say enough to stress the importance of weight loss psychology awareness and utilization. Without it you stand half-clothed in the inclement weather of weight loss endeavor.
Weight loss psychology principles can go as deep as cognitive method, stimulus control, or behavior substitution. Yet, keeping it on the surface is enough for you to lose weight. Go with small increments; establish very short-term goals that are within easy reach. For example, do you know that losing just 10% of your present body weight is an accredited, acceptable, easily measurable and achievable fat loss goal?

When you look at this weight loss number, you can see that it equals about 1 or two pounds of fat loss per week. One to two ponds per week of weight loss from body fat sources only is the amount sanctioned by the American Council On Exercise, the American Heart Association, and The American College of Sports Medicine.

This simplified and easily reachable weight loss prescription exists for your benefit. Use it. Also, be sure, from this point forward, not to negate the power of weight loss psychology. Couple it with your body fat performance approaches.

In conclusion, this entire reading serves merely as an example of how you can set your mind to lose weight with more effectiveness, enjoyment, and success.
Avoid underestimating weight loss psychology.
The primary missing ingredients to your body's fat loss success lie here. Uncover them, use them, benefit from them, and achieve continued enjoyment, less stress, improved performance, a nicer looking physique, and a much better body.

Kenneth G. Dockins, http://www.Better-Body.Biz/sitemap.htm [http://www.Better-Body.Biz/Articles/article-lose-body-fat-with-weight-loss-psychology.htm], is an American Council On Exercise Certified Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant with 17-year diet, exercise, fitness, health, nutrition, and weight management expertise.

Discover How a Quick Weight Loss Can Be a Healthy Weight Loss - Phase III

We left off with my last article of "Discover How a Quick Weight Loss Can Be a Healthy Weight Loss - Phase II". In review, you learned how to exercise regularly in order to ensure that your healthy weight loss is also a quick weight loss. Now, we are on to Phase III of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. What is the third and final fitness tuning path that I must pursue after you have adopted a complete and healthy diet and a regular workout routine? What is the last and final path towards your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss?

Phase III of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey is your intake of fluids. Ok, stop the presses! You mean that what I drink actually matters when it comes to a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss? The answer is yes, big time! Everyone knows that you must hydrate yourself in order to survive. In fact, everyone knows that you can die of dehydration sooner than you can die of hunger. So, the fluids that you put into you body are extremely important when it comes to the success of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. In fact, fluid intake is critical upon the success or failure of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss endeavor.

Water is the first key liquid in your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey's success. Water is extremely important when it comes to your body. First of all, you body is 80% water. Without a constant intake of water, your body would eventually start shutting down until you died. So, we take water pretty seriously when it comes to a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss. Water hydrates your body, is used to flush toxins from your system, and keeps your lungs moist during cardiovascular activity. It is recommended to take in 8 - 10 8oz. glasses of water per day, and I recommend that you start doing so. Your body must have plenty of water to do its part in achieving a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss. Take a large water bottle and a cup with you to work. When the water bottle is empty, then refill it. Having the water present will encourage you to drink it more often. Your body will thank you for it by flushing out the toxins from your system that can actually impede upon the success of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey.

Coffee and soda must be eliminated from your diet to succeed in your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. Soda should only be had occasionally as a reward for your hard work. For me, I have a soda when I have pizza, and that is about it. Your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss is dependent upon a minimum amount of caffeine intake, and increased water intake when drinking caffeine. Caffeine is a diuretic, and will actually pull the water from your body. This is extremely bad when it comes to your body operating at top efficiency while you're exercising. Believe me, you will feel the difference! I will treat myself to the occasional energy drink in replacement of my afternoon snack mentioned in Phase I. However, your journey towards a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss will be an unpleasant one with too much caffeine intake.

Green tea is the best and highest recommended caffeinated beverage that you can have for your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. Most of them are even decaffeinated! I would recommend that you have 3 - 4 cups of hot green tea per day. Studies have shown an increase in energy levels and metabolisms for subjects who took in certain quantities of green tea on a daily basis, which also resulted in reduction of body fat content. The study showed that for positive results, 3 cups per day were necessary for a 156 lb. subject. (More information on the health benefits of green tea will be made available to members of my website listed below.) However, in relation to your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey, you have just found your replacement for coffee!

For those of you that want something more to drink during your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey... When it comes to fitness tuning, you want to choose wisely about what you put into your body, and not base your decision upon taste alone. Unfortunately, the majority of people base their beverage choices on taste and usually upon it being a sweet taste, which means too much sugar. However, there are a few key beverages that can give you some flavor variety, as well as give you a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss boost as well!
POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice - Packed with cancer fighting anti-oxidants, and was rated as the top source of anti-oxidants of all beverages on the market.

Vitamin A & D Organic Milk & Organic Soymilk with Calcium - Fatty acids, calcium, Vitamin A & D, as well as isoflavones and protein with the soymilk, give you more health benefits than you can shake a stick at.

Tropicana Essentials Fiber, Heart, & Antioxidant Advantage - Packed with Vitamin C, the Essentials line of Tropicana orange juice offers a wide variety of health benefits tailored for your specific needs.

Sobe No Fear (Sugar Free) - I have found this to be the best of the energy drinks on the market for me. I don't drink them every day, but they serve well on a jam-packed day of 10+ hours of work followed by time at the gym. (Remember: drink extra water when drinking caffeine!)

Gatorade Performance Series & Propel Fitness Water - Jam packed with electrolytes, I try to drink the Performance Series an hour before my workout, and follow my workout with a Propel Fitness Water.

Changing the quality of fluids taken into your body each day is the final path toward your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. You now have at your disposal the three phases to your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss success. Ensure that you adhere to the promise that you have made to yourself, and ensure that you follow all three paths. Your success in your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey is dependent upon you and you alone. Further information will be distributed to members of my free membership site listed below. You will gain access to fitness tuning nutrition, dieting, and fitness information, including information relating to all three phases of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey. So, embark on your journey and lead the way to your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss success!

Discover How a Quick Weight Loss Can Be a Healthy Weight Loss-Phase I

How can a quick weight loss also be a healthy weight loss? Truthfully, if this is the thought on your mind, you are miles ahead of the majority of people interested in weight loss today. In fact, the true thought that the majority of weight loss seeker are having is, "How can I have a quick weight loss?" There is no mention of a healthy weight loss at all! The problem is that everyone wants the results, but doesn't care about what they have to do to get there. More importantly, they don't care about the long term negative affects that will follow their quick weight loss. In order to achieve your healthy weight loss and for it to also be a quick weight loss, you must make some fitness tuning changes to your body.

Now that we've identified that your mind should be on how a quick weight loss must also be a healthy weight loss, let's get you there! We are going to address several things regarding your life and how you live it. I will give you the paths that you need to take in order for you to get to a healthy weight loss. Then you will need to go down those paths, one at a time. How well and how dedicated you are to accomplishing the completion of those paths will determine whether or not you have a quick weight loss. I will give you the tools to make a healthy weight loss also be a quick weight loss, but you must use them, and use them properly, for your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss to occur.

Step one, to achieve your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss, will be to make some changes to your diet. You must, and must want to, start with your diet. If you are a person that has a minimal or non-existent amount of exercise done each week, then trying to tackle that step first can be disastrous. If you run into the gym, before you correct your dieting deficiencies, you will feel a great deal of fatigue during exercise, and possibly faintness, dizziness, and extended muscle soreness and fatigue afterwards. To begin your stepping into a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss, you must first begin with giving your body the nutrients that it needs. Otherwise, your quest towards a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss will be that much more difficult, not to mention less enjoyable!

The dieting change to begin your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey is your daily food intake. You should have three meals a day, each containing a carbohydrate, a fruit or vegetable, and a protein. These items must also be evenly proportioned for each meal. You should get plenty of whole grains in your diet, so make sure that your carbohydrate sources are whole grain as often as possible. Ensure that you also get plenty of good cholesterol in order to keep your cholesterol level under control. This means that you should be eating a variety of nuts, eggs, and fish and including olive oil in your diet. In fact, I would recommend at least one meal a day which contains some kind of fish. Not only is it a good source of protein, but the Omega-3 oils that are contained in fattier fishes such as salmon and mackerel are essential for a healthy weight loss and quick weight loss, as well as healthy living.

Some fitness tuning suggestions for your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss diet.In the morning, I start my day with a fruit, a bowl of oatmeal and some bacon or sausage, followed by a multivitamin. For lunch you should also plan your lunch to contain a protein source, a carbohydrate, and a vegetable. I only have fruit with my meal in the morning, due to the fact that the sugar will help you to start your day by giving you the energy that you need. Vegetables contain more vitamins and minerals than fruit and therefore must be of higher concentration in your diet. My dinner always contains a meat, pasta or potatoes, and a steamed vegetable or salad. The fiber from the fruits and vegetables will slow down the absorption of the carbohydrates into your body, and will allow you to burn off absorbed carbohydrates before they can be stored as fat. By following these diet guidelines, your healthy weight loss will become a quick weight loss as well. Plus, you will have the energy to begin the next path towards your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey that will be found in Phase II.

Believe it or not, your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss plan involves snacks! In order to ensure that you are supporting your body's needs for Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey, you must have two between-meal snacks. I continually use protein bars and protein shakes as my between-meal snack. However, I have also been known to use trail-mix that contains more nuts than fruits. Your goal is to ensure that your body is getting all of the proteins that it needs to support Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss plan. If you should ever feel a craving for something sweet, then have a piece of fruit. Some fruits have more sugars than others, such as bananas, grapes, pineapples, raisins, and mangos, and should be eaten sparingly. These are the desserts that will help to lead to your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss, not to mention a healthier you.

You have now completed Phase I of your journey towards your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss. You have started your fitness tuning process by ensuring that the foods that you take into your body are healthy and contain all of the elements needed for your body's healthy lifestyle. I will be following this article with Phase II of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey, but you will be able to get more information regarding proper dieting and the benefits from doing so by clicking on my fitness tuning website's link below. You will be able to join my free membership website, and gain access to all of the nutrition, dieting, and fitness information that I share with all of my members from week to week. Begin Phase I of your healthy weight loss and quick weight loss journey today, and you will soon lead yourself to the results that you desire.

The Danger Of Rapid Weight Loss

Most people who want to lose weight, want it to happen quickly and as easy as possible. After all the very thing that makes us gain weight does so because of the pleasure of eating. And weight loss is seen as painful.

So the faster you can lose that extra weight the better, right?
Wrong! Fast weight loss is simply a recipe for long term failure. When you do a radical low calorie diet, or extensive fasting your body believes it's in danger. In the early days of hunter gatherers, people lived a life of feast or famine.

In the famine times traditionally the body would go into a protective phase, to hold on to fat until another food source could be found.

A radical diet will cause weight loss, because once your food reserves are burnt up then your body will start to use up fat reserves. But it will slow this process quickly.
Fast weight loss is not just fat loss. A lot of fluid loss occurs. You become under hydrated and your metabolism slows down even more. Dehydration causes major health problems. Another big problem is muscle loss.

Muscle loss is is hard to recover from. It takes a lot of exercise to build just one kilo of muscle. But you can lose it quickly if you do a radical weight loss programme.
An example would be if you start a very low calorie diet. You lose four kilos in a week. It could be two kilos of fat, one kilo of muscle and a kilo of fluid. You find you can't sustain this diet so you stop. Within i few weeks you have put the four kilos back on.

But it would most likely be one kilo of fluid and three kilos of fat. Because its easy to put on fat and hard to put on muscle. Now you are back to your old weight. But you have more fat and less muscle. Which means that you will have less fat burning ability.

With each subsequent weight loss attempt you will lose more muscle.
The key to successful weight loss is to lose weight at a slow sustainable way. Just a half a kilo per week is easy for your body to cope with. Plus if you do regular exercise you will maintain your muscle mass. In addition ensure you are properly hydrated. This gives you the best chance of achieving and maintaining your ideal weight.

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Whole Grains And Reduced Risk Of Cancer

Cancer as reported is the second leading cause of illness and death in the United States claiming an estimated 550,000 lives each year, translated as more than 1,500 lives lost each day. The sad news, one third of these deaths are diet related.

As with CHD (cardiovascular Heart Disease), there is strong epidemiologic (epidemic diseases) evidence that the consumption of whole grains reduces risk of many types of cancer. The Diet & Health publication in 1989 showed a strong relationship between whole grains and certain cancers. Two of the cancers being discussed are:

• Gastrointestinal and
• Hormone dependent cancers

Examination of Whole Grains & Gastrointestinal cancers

The first meta-analysis of the relationship between whole grain intake and cancer was a preliminary review of studies. From these studies, five of them focused on colorectal cancer and seven focused on gastric cancer. In 16 of the 18 mentions of whole grain reduced cancer risk was found as high, compared to low intakes of whole grains.

Another meta-analysis of 40 studies followed and 20 different types of cancer examined, 46 of the 51 mentions of whole grain intake were associated with a decreased risk of cancer. This analysis showed the strongest association for gastrointestinal cancers. When they compared high versus low intakes of whole grain, the analysis showed a 21% lower risk for cancers of the colon and rectum, 30% lower for pancreatic cancer, and 43% lower risk for gastric cancer.

The third meta-analysis of whole-grain intake and cancer focused on 19 northern Italian studies, all used the same protocol. The researchers found a reduced risk of 18 different cancers in those who regularly ate whole grains. This association was graded by the amount of intake. For gastrointestinal cancers, the decrease in risk ranged from 20% to 50% for the highest versus the lowest level of whole grain food intake. The specific results for individual cancers were as follows:

• 50% lower risk for cancer of the stomach, colon and gallbladder
• 40%lower risk for cancer of the liver
• 30% lower risk for cancer of the rectum
• 20% lower risk for cancer of the pancreas

Experimental studies of dietary fiber/whole grain and colon cancer are less favorable, though not definitive.One recent long-term experimental study found no association between increased consumption of bran and whole grains and recurrence of colon polyps. Another recent study investigating the effects of a high fiber and low-fat diet, found no effect on the recurrence of colon polyps. The relevance of these studies may not be essential because only 5% of colon polyps eventually become cancerous. The use of colon polyps as a marker for colon cancer continues the debate.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF WHOLE GRAIN

It is unclear which component(s) of whole grains is responsible for reducing cancer risk. Preliminary research suggests many mechanisms are responsible for the protective action of whole grains that includes carbohydrate fermentation, decreased transit time, increased fecal bulk, and antioxidant properties.

Review of Whole Grain Properties
Carbohydrate Fermentation

Whole grains are rich sources of fermentable carbohydrates. These undigested carbohydrates are fermented in the colon and produce short-chain fatty acids (such as acetate, butyrate and propionate). These short-chain fatty acids lower colonic pH, reducing the ability of bile acids to act as carcinogens.

Decreased Transit Time & Increased Fecal Bulk

Dietary fiber increases transit time and increases fecal bulk. It allows less time for fecal mutagens to interact with the intestinal epithelium (tissues that covers cavity). A study of 20 populations in 12 countries found that fecal weight was inversely related to colon cancer risks. Wheat bran and oat bran are components of whole grains that increase fecal weight most effectively. Dietary fiber may have the effect of binding or diluting bile acids. Bile acids are thought to promote cell proliferation, therefore allowing increased opportunity for mutations to occur and abnormal cells to multiply.

Antioxidant Effects

The components of whole grains function as antioxidants. These are phenolic acids, vitamin E, selenium, lignans and phytic acids. Recent research indicates that whole grain foods are a rich source of antioxidants, comparable to most fruits and vegetables. The reason given, in addition to preventing LDL (harmful) oxidation, these antioxidants may also counter oxidative stress that causes acute and chronic cell injury including cancer formation.

Example

Colonic bacteria produce significant amounts of oxygen radical which can override the antioxidant capability of intestinal epithelial cells. How this works, the dietary phytic acid may suppress this potential problem by chelating various minerals in the colon thereby suppressing the oxidative reaction. The same response is true of Vitamin E that has similar antioxidant properties in respect to cell membrane. It helps to conserve selenium by keeping it in its reduced state. In this process, selenium functions as a cofactor for glutathione peroxidase, an enzyme that protects against, oxidative tissue damage. At high levels selenium can also suppress cell proliferation.

Hope Anderson owner of Hope Nutritional Services is a seasoned holistic coach. Her professional background is Food and Nutrition with accreditation in dietetics. Her mission and philosophy centers on providing scientific, evidence based information, products and tools to empower people who seek her counsel on how to live healthy, vibrant lifestyle in preventing at risks diseases. To learn more about Hope Anderson, visit her website: www.hopenutriservices.com

The Fast Way To Burn Fat in These Modern Times

There are a lot of opinions on the matter of good health and wellness. You might see it advertised all the time online and through television programs, but the truth of the matter is simple, you'll need to do more than just sit around the house or going to work and then sleeping. This is not to say that you need to be the next big marathon runner, but you'll need to be active and add a little bit of lifestyle change to your routine. If you change your routine today, you'll see a better tomorrow, and that includes learning how to burn fat faster than ever before. There are very simple methods that you can employ today that will help you out in the future, and it's all a matter of commitment and dedication, alongside a little help from green coffee bean extract.

We'll take a look at the supplement first, before we get into the additional tips. When you take this coffee extract, you're going to get a boost of energy and antioxidants. These great overall nutrients found naturally in the bean helps with energy creation, and cell manipulation. When taken on a regular basis, you'll feel great, and inside you'll have a better overall metabolic rate. If that wasn't enough, you'll also have the added benefit of antioxidants that fight the formation of free radicals. Free radicals are the basis of cancerous cells, so you'll get additional benefits aside from getting fit and in shape.

Aside from taking supplements, it's imperative that you start any sort of workout routine. If you have already been doing a routine and have been doing so for months, than it's time to change things up and choose a new path. The goal here is to get the heart rate up, cardiovascular system working to full capacity, and once again spiking metabolic rate. Exercise should not be cumbersome, but rather enjoyable. Pick something that you like, even if it sounds childish and do it for 30 minutes to an hour. One option that you may enjoy is jumping rope, which is a bit on the childish side to some, but can help with balance, dexterity, and calorie burning all in the same.

The above tips and tricks are definitely positive ones and can help you progress to meet your goals. However, there is one more thing that you will need to do in order to highlight the benefits of taking supplements and learning to burn fat faster. The last thing you want to do is change your diet for the better. Do not take this as a call to become vegan or live some sort of extreme, instead, start with baby steps. Cut out fats, processed foods, fast food, and restaurant consumption. If you must go out, opt for healthier menu options and stick to drinking water as your beverage of choice. Stay away from refined sugars, and slowly add more whole foods, vegetables and fruit. If you can adhere to this and the aforementioned guidelines, you will see your weight drop dramatically and your muscle start to get more and more defined, guaranteed.