Here Are the 5 Ultimate Weight Loss Tips That You Can Use to Create Permanent Fat Loss

Choose the end result that you want to create by the end of your program
This is the first, and is definitely the most important weight loss tips that I can give you. The reason for this is simple: Without knowing where you are going you will have a problem getting there. So, in the beginning of your weight loss journey make a decision about exactly what you want to accomplish when your reach the end of your weight loss program.

The end result that I wanted to produce at the end of my weight loss program was this: A lean, healthy body with 10% body fat and visible six-pack abs.
Taking into account that in 1994 my total body weight was 285 pounds and my body fat was over 44%, to be honest, I did not think I would ever reach this major health goal that I set for myself.
But, this is what I truly wanted, so I wrote this goal in my notebook, and took my second step.

Track your current circumstances by looking at exactly what you have in the present
Once you have chosen your end result, your next step toward creating permanent fat loss is to look where you are in the present moment in relation to your primary objective. From the 5 weight loss tips, this one is important because it can help you to understand your starting point in your program.

In my case, I weighed myself, and had an experienced tester measure my body fat percentage. My body fat percentage when I started was 44%. This means that I had 125 pounds of body fat. Obviously this was really shocking to me, and my confidence went way down after hearing this number.

But my desire to create my major health goal was really strong, so I simply wrote how much I weighed, my total body fat weight, and my lean body mass weight at the bottom of my notebook.

I also wrote the most important lessons that I learned from eight years of using low calorie diets, fad diets, and many other weight loss approaches that could not help me to create permanent fat loss.

Create a list of steps that you will take to create permanent fat loss
Once you have decided where you are going and have observed where you are in the current moment, your next step should be to make a list of the steps that you will take to go from where you are today to where you want to be in the near future when you create your final outcome.
 
From the 5 weight loss tips, this third one will help you to stay focused on the next step that you must take in the direction of your major health goal. Mine was permanent fat loss. This was the primary objective that kept me motivated the whole weight loss phase of my program.

Taking into account that I weighed 285 pounds and I wanted to reach 10% body fat, I calculated that I would have to lose 110 pounds of unwanted body fat while maintaining my lean body mass.

My first step was to consume my daily maintenance calorie intake. This means that the calories that came from my food and beverages would equal the amount that my body could realistically burn during the day.
My second step included using cardio-training four times per week. This was very important because I knew that to lose 110 pounds of unwanted body fat I will have to burn this fat off. Dieting without exercise did not produce results in the past, so I chose to take another path toward creating permanent fat loss.

My third step was to use weight training to maintain my lean muscle mass during the weight loss phase of my program. Since muscle is a metabolically active tissue, our bodies must expand energy (calories) to maintain it, meaning that during the weight loss phase of my program, weight training would help me to keep my metabolism elevated, and it would be easier for me to lose the unwanted body fat.

This was a secret that I learned from my friends in the gym, that used weight training to create their muscular physiques. They told me that while I am losing weight the best approach is to focus on maintaining my current muscle, and when I reach my ideal weight I can adjust my calorie intake and start building new muscle.

Use an effective nutrition strategy to create a small calorie deficit
From the 5 weight loss tips, this one can help you to create the necessary calorie deficit without you having to use low calorie or fad diets. This is very important because these ineffective nutrition strategies lead to an increase of your appetite and massive food cravings.

Since I already knew that a low calorie approach will not work in the long term and will not help me to create permanent fat loss, I chose to consume four average sized meals every four hours.
The size of each meal was calculated by taking my daily maintenance calorie intake, and dividing this number by four. Then using the 50-30-20 nutrient ratio I calculated how many calories I will consume from carbohydrates, protein, and dietary fat.

All my meals were created using only natural food sources, and the only processed food that I allowed myself to eat were during the three weekly cheat meals.
These cheat meals were always eaten in the morning, and this helped me to avoid cravings for my favorite foods.

Another important element of an effective nutrition strategy is to drink plenty of water during the day. I calculated the amount of water to drink using a formula based on my daily calorie intake.

Use an effective exercise strategy to burn unwanted body fat and maintain your muscle
Once I started to consume the optimum amount of daily calories and started to provide my body with all the macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients it needed to function properly, the energy level that was produced is something that was simply amazing.

Doing cardio-training four times per week was always a breeze, and I used walking and a rowing machine to create the necessary calorie deficit to burn the most total calories during my workouts.
Weight training was also easy, and mostly because I used a very simple approach. I lifted heavier weights with fewer repetitions. My workouts were always 20-25 minutes, and afterwards I felt really energized.
The combination of cardio-training and weight training produced magic. In twelve months I reached my ideal weight of 175 pounds and had 10% body fat.

And, for the last 15 years I have maintained this ideal body weight by using these same 5 Ultimate Weight Loss Tips that I have written about!

If you have a true desire to create permanent fat loss, you can accomplish this health goal by taking the same steps that I took, and can produce a similar outcome.
But, I have to warn you, if you want to maintain your ideal weight for life, you will have to keep using these weight loss tips for the rest of your life. If you stop, most likely the weight will creep back on.

"Alex Platups is the editor of weight-loss-tips-and-secrets.com the site about creating irreversible, long term weight loss success. If you want to discover the most effective Weight Loss Tips for reaching your ideal weight, then make sure that you visit his site.

You can also read about a 210 page eBook that Alex Platups has written called The Secret To Permanent Fat Loss by clicking on this link http://www.weight-loss-tips-and-secrets.com/secret-to-permanent-fat-loss.html This eBook has the ultimate motivation, nutrition, and exercise strategies that can truly help you to create irreversible, long term weight loss success. These are the exact same strategies that have helped him to lose over 110 pounds in twelve months and have helped him to maintain his ideal weight for almost 15 years.

Weight Loss - How Do I Achieve It?

Lose Your Weight: Simple & Practical Ways
Eat right & on-time
Weight loss is a critical issue in today's society with obesity on the rise and people finally realizing what being overweight is doing to their bodies, their health and eventually their lifestyles.
Weight loss is good for many conditions. It is of real benefit in diabetes, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, joint problems and raised cholesterol.
Weight loss is possible with exercise and healthy meals alone, but including good-quality protein and building lean muscle mass will help you lose more quickly, helping you to keep the weight off and stay healthy.
Weight loss is virtually guaranteed if one sticks to the regulations of the diet.
Weight Loss basics: eat more calories than you use & you'll put on weight; use more than you eat and you'll lose it. Weight Loss is now a goal which can be reached really easily if we stick to a training regime, diet plan. But for some, surgery may be the only hope.
Surgical techniques have evolved over the past few decades, and most are effective, in the sense that they do typically lead to substantial weight loss.
However, all experts do agree that the best way to maintain weight loss is to follow a healthy lifestyle. Whichever approach you prefer, the key to long-term success is a slow steady weight loss. It is proven that it is important to prepare yourself mentally for your weight loss journey and the lifestyle changes you are about to undergo.
For individuals who are morbidly obese, surgery to bypass portions of the stomach and small intestine may at times be the only effective means of producing sustained and significant weight loss.
The primary factor in achieving and maintaining weight loss is a lifelong commitment to regular exercise and sensible eating habits. You will find that all levels of your life are improved with weight loss which brings you so much personal satisfaction.
If eating habits are not completely and permanently changed, the weight loss provided by a diet is not going to last long. If you suffer from, or think you may suffer from, a medical condition you should consult your doctor before starting a weight loss and / or exercise regime.
Drinking water is one of the most rapid weight loss tips that dieticians suggest to people and leads to 100+ calories extra burned a day. Every twenty soft drinks you skip from your normal intake equates to about one pound of weight loss.
Fasting: While fasting plays a major part in some diets, it is generally not recommended for safe weight loss.
Diet
Dietitians are nutritionists who work directly with clients or patients regarding their nutritional needs. Dieting reduces your caloric intake but exercising helps you burn more calories. DIET Weight loss is vital if obesity is present. Dieting is easier than you ever imagined. On a vegetarian diet, weight loss is not supposed to be a problem.
A well balanced reduced calorie diet containing moderate fat is recommended. The inclusion of different kinds of fruits into weight-loss diets is a healthy way of dealing with starvation, as well as providing the body those nutrients and vitamins it needs to function properly.
Exercise While You Diet: Weight loss is all about reducing your caloric intake while you increase the calories you burn. First of all decide how much weight you want to lose, and set yourself a realistic target, ideally with the help of your dietitian or doctor.
A diet that works for some people does not work for others. A healthy breakfast is one of the key elements of a healthy diet and consequential weight loss. Most fad diets, if followed closely, will result in weight loss-as a result of caloric restriction.
Moreover, dieters who fail to adopt better exercise and eating habits will regain the lost weight-and possibly more. As it begins, large amounts of water will be shed, leading the dieter to think that significant weight reduction is taking place.
Consult your doctor, for any health problem and before using any supplements, making dietary changes, or before making any changes in prescribed medications.
Much of the early weight loss on a very low calorie diet represents loss of muscle tissue rather than loss of fat.
As many as 85% of dieters who do not exercise on a regular basis regain their lost weight within two years. Repeatedly losing and regaining weight (yo-yo dieting) encourages the body to store fat and may increase a patient's risk of developing heart disease.
Eating three balanced, moderate-portion meals a day-with the main meal at mid-day-is a more effective way to prevent obesity than fasting or crash diets, which convince the body that there is an ongoing famine. Modern medicine has found ways to extend our lifespan through dietary restriction.
For the sake of your health, always consult your doctor before making any significant dietary, nutritional or lifestyle changes. The American Heart Association (AHA) generally recommends a diet with less than 30% fat.
Individual's lifestyle, food preferences, preparation abilities, snack habits, cravings, etc, should all be considered when developing a dietary plan. It is important that the nutrition counselor tailor the diet to the individual as opposed to adopting a "one-size-fits-all" approach. After weight loss, lower-fat diets may be the best. For most people, being overweight is a result of an insufficient amount of exercise, an inadequate lifestyle routine and a poorly balanced diet.
Most high-fiber foods are also high in water and low in calories, making them must-have diet foods. Soluble fiber can help to lower cholesterol; insoluble contains indigestible fibers that add bulk to our diets.
Some experts believe dieters have better control if they eat several mini-meals throughout the day. Exercise and a balanced diet are the key factors in fat loss and weight reduction.
Drinking water is one of the most rapid weight loss tips that dieticians suggest to people and leads to 100+ calories extra burned a day.
The ultimate tip to eventual success: regular exercise and a balanced diet. Add one cheat day to your diet to rid yourself of cravings.
Eat a healthy diet filled with lots of vegetables, fruits, and whole grain products.
Fasting: While fasting plays a major part in some diets, it is generally not recommended for safe weight loss.
Surgery
But for many in this situation, weight loss surgery is the only hope. One of the earliest forms was gastric bypass surgery. There are many forms of surgery these days and all have pros and cons.
There are still substantial risks, however, as with any major surgery. For those who believe surgery is the best option, consulting with an experienced physician is essential.
For individuals who are morbidly obese, surgery to bypass portions of the stomach and small intestine may at times be the only effective means of producing sustained and significant weight loss.
Such obesity surgery, however, can be risky, and it is performed only on patients for whom other strategies have failed and whose obesity seriously threatens health. If hiatus hernia symptoms are chronic and do not respond to diet and medication, surgery may become necessary.
Today, most surgeons elect to perform laparoscopic surgery, because it is minimally invasive and recovery time is reduced.
Burn
If you imagine yourself losing weight and burning up calories during normal daily activity, you will lose weight and body fat. It has a cellular effect on the body, causing fat cells to release their stored fat to be burned as energy. The food you eat during the day should be burned off through activity.
Exercise While You Diet: Weight loss is all about reducing your caloric intake while you increase the calories you burn. Dieting reduces your caloric intake but exercising helps you burn more calories.
We all know that to achieve a healthy weight loss we need to burn more calories than what we take in. Exercise increases the metabolic rate by creating muscle, which burns more calories than fat.
When regular exercise is combined with consistent, healthful meals, calories continue to burn at an accelerated rate for several hours. Calories burned depending on your activity level.
Not only does fat provide a sense of fullness, eating enough of a healthy fat called omega-3 fatty acids may cause your metabolism to burn fat more efficiently. If your weight remains constant, you are probably taking in the same amount of calories you burn each day.
If you're slowly gaining weight over time, it is likely that your caloric intake is greater than the number of calories you burn through your daily activities.
The number of calories we burn each day is dependent upon our basal metabolic rate (BMR), the number of calories we burn per hour simply by being alive and maintaining body functions and our level of physical activity.
Our weight also plays a role in determining how many calories we burn at rest -- more calories are required to maintain your body in its present state, the greater your body weight. Someone whose job involves heavy physical labor will naturally burn more calories in a day than someone who sits at a desk most of the day (a sedentary job).
For people who do not have jobs that require intense physical activity, exercise or increased physical activity can increase the number of calories burned.
To lose one pound, you must burn approximately 3500 calories over and above what you already burn doing daily activities. Use a calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you burn while sitting, standing, exercising, lifting weights, etc. If you're eating fewer calories than you're burning, you'll lose weight.
As it is well known when the body does not get enough calories it starts to burn the fat that was deposited in the fat tissue.
Exercise will help you burn excess calories and fat, and will also help to tone and build muscle. Retaining muscle is the key to optimal fat burning metabolism.
Disclaimer: Consult your doctor before starting any diet / weight loss program. Information in this article is for educational purpose only.

Do you want to learn more about the current topic & other related articles? Visit http://www.health-fitness-wellness.com for practically useful information on health & healthy lifestyles.
Pradeep Mahajan is a health enthusiast. He researches, studies & writes on health & fitness topics.
You can reprint this article provided it is not changed and you include the author's web-site address.

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Weight Loss Prevented by Three Common Mistakes

Now the popular media are flooded with daily news available to the public on how to lose weight, but still the same old weight loss diet mistakes are being made each day robbing us of so many possible weight loss success-stories. It's not about the little "dieting sins" where you enjoyed a sweet chocolate that was not on your diet plan; we're talking here about the big dieting mistakes that generate failure so that you won't lose the weight that you want to lose. Understanding and eliminating these errors can help you develop the right attitude that will help you achieving natural, healthy and sustainable fat loss and lose weight until you reach the body you deserve.

1. Weight Loss Diet Mistake: Choosing A Wrong Principle
Dieters who go for the whole incorporate an all-or-nothing attitude as their guiding principle to lose weight and feel great. After having made the decision to lose weight, they are going to decide on what diet they want to use in order to achieve their goal and lose weight. They believe they just have discovered the top secret fat loss secret and go about implementing their weight loss diet plan. Generally, this type of people chose a diet that is too demanding for them to follow up until the finish line. Before starting the new diet to burn the fat and thus lose weight, they will clear out their kitchen and remove whatsoever is not included in their rigorous weight loss diet plan and dispose all the "good food stuff" which they enjoyed before as were it a useless waste. Such would-be diet-success story writers fancy themselves to be super smart and successful weight watchers, and so they may be, for 3-, 5- or 7 days, yeah sometimes even for a view weeks.

But suddenly, something unpredictable appears in their lives that they were not able to anticipate, and this odd thing just throws over board their whole weight loss plan. All their good motives and intentions to lose weight and live healthier are just forgotten and they're crossed with this "cruel" weight loss diet plan. At once they find themselves lost in the old bad habits which made them too fat and uncomfortable in the first place. Out of frustration these unfortunate weight watchers are running to their favorite grocery store as fast as they can and go buying all the food stuff they want and re-stock their favorite supplies at home, foods they previously had thrown away for the sake of undergoing a successful weight loss plan through their rigorous diet. Finally, for a season they'll forget all their good purposes and plans to burn fat from their body to lose weight and live healthy. What's the outcome of their backward thrift? They reverse all the fat loss and rebuild the weight they just had reduced through their unfinished weight loss diet on their bodies, and this happens more quickly than they could imagine!

What is the conclusion you can draw out of this first mistake? If you're thinking about losing weight you should first of all ask yourself "Do I really want to lose weight permanently? Or do I just want to burn the fat a view pounds in order to eat more afterward and burden the body of mine again with these unwanted pounds"? If you really want to lose weight in a natural and healthy manner then you have to go on making some adjustments in what you are going to eat and when you're eating your meals. To eat healthy is the most successful principle to be followed when it comes to achieving permanent results, to burn the excess fat once and lose weight permanently.

2. Weight Loss Diet Mistake: Choosing A Wrong Method
Don't see your commitment to a fat loss diet plan as a sacrifice. Instead you should take it as an opportunity and your investment in your own well-being where you will be building a better and healthier body, benefitting not only yourself but also your loved ones. When viewing your weight loss diet plan as a sacrifice, you fasten from all the delicious food stuff you actually enjoy most until you reach the ideal weight you aim at. Your diet plan may be amazing and you may even lose significant weight, but what happens after you've reached your goal? If you haven't disciplined yourself to eat the "banned foods" moderately, you are exposed to the temptation to lose control. The better and more successful method is to adapt an attitude that allows you to eat a little of everything that you love even during your weight loss diet program. The truth is that you can eat and drink everything as long as it is with temperance and gratitude, even hot chocolate and fresh pie!

3. Weight Loss Diet Mistake: Setting Wrong Goals
How to decide what your ideal weight and body fat percentage should be and how to formulate a goal that is realistic to achieve with any weight loss diet plan? If you set a goal that isn't clear, not realistic and not written down on paper, you will fail. You may have the ideal weight and body shape for you in mind, but unless you are only very slightly overweight it is probably too distant to be set as a reasonable goal. Take your ideal weight and body shape as a distant goal and use intermediate steps on your way to reach that ideal body you deserve. It is possible to lose 11 pounds every 10 days through a fat loss 4 idiots program without starving but to make you more comfortable with your weight loss plan you could set a first small goal by targeting a weight loss of 2 pounds each week. Thus you would actually lose 6 pounds in 3 weeks and having reached your goal. That's good for your confidence and self-estimate. In reality, if you keep a weight loss diet plan with joy, you can even lose up to 21 pounds in 3 weeks and feel great all the way.

But the most important point of all is what happens after you have reached your weight loss goal. How are you going to maintain your weight? Or do you still have to go another stage towards reaching your ideal body weight? Choosing the right diet for healthy weight loss and sustaining that ideal weight after you have gained it, is key to your long term success and satisfaction. You want to live with joy and happiness and eating the right food with giving thanks and in the right measure can help you to keep everything in balance so that you will certainly reach the point where you don't live to lose weight and don't lose weight to live but you'll just be fine with how it will be by then.

Of course, there are countless other mistakes that involve failure of any weight loss program and which will be dealt with accordingly in other publications on how to lose weight naturally and live healthy.

At [http://www.LoseWeightNatural.net] you can find the latest news, information and tips related to weight loss products, weight loss guides and weight loss plans. Visit the site today and find new ways, diets and top food supplements that can help you burn the fat, lose weight natural [http://www.LoseWeightNatural.net] and getting the body you deserve.

Weight Loss - Bath Backwards? Answer 4 Questions Now

Have you ever thought about things you did when you were growing up? Yes we all have reminisced over the years in one way or another. These returning thoughts and reminiscing usually reminds us of a lesson we learned or perhaps a discovery we made. We still look back from time to time.

I remember my experience about taking a bath. It was quite the every day thing for mom to say before bed time "Go take your bath, Sonny." "Ok mom". So I filled the tub with water [ no showers in those days] and climbed in like always. On this particular occasion after being in the tub for 20 minutes mom came in. "Well are you not finished with your bath yet?" "Almost mom, I just need to wash my hair and my face". Mom looked amazed "Do you mean you haven't got that far yet?" "Oh yes mom, I always start with the feet, then I work my way up and finally finish with my face."

Mom said "O Yuk Sonny, you need to think about how to take a bath" I said "Why?" "What do you mean? " "I am taking the bath and I am getting cleaned up". Mom said "Well Sonny you're taking your BATH BACKWARDS".

"The right way to take a bath is to start with your face ears neck and hair first while the bath water is clean". "Then you move down cleaning your self". "Then you get to the middle part [ smelly part ] and then further down the legs and finally the feet another [ smelly part ] and you're done." "So you need to stop taking your BATH BACKWARDS as it is much more desirable to take your bath forward for better results". I learned a lot that night from mom. I never took my BATH BACKWARDS again.
That's the way people do things sometimes. BATH BACKWARDS!

What do we mean?
Usually when a person decides to start some weight loss program or diet program they start BATH BACKWARDS so to speak.

How so?
They usually think they will procure some diet pills or exercise program and their off and running toward their weight loss success. They think it will be a snap. Then they do not get the results expected. Also it is taking a lot more time then they expected. They become discouraged and readily fall back into their original condition or worse. They attempt again and again. They fall back again and again.
What keeps going wrong?

It could be compared to a painter. The painter will prepare the surface by sanding and scraping. Then he will apply the paint coating. The same is true of a successful weight loss candidate. You need to prepare your mind and your heart first. How? By asking yourself these pertinent questions.
Ask Yourself Now - Do I Really Want to Lose Weight?
Ask Yourself Now - Do I Believe That it is Possible for Me?
Ask Yourself Now - Am I Really Ready to Make the Needed Changes for My HEALTH's Sake?
Ask Yourself Now - Am I Really Really Going to Stick With it?
If the above questions cannot be answered with an affirmative resounding YES, you will fail your weight loss plan. So to be successful with your weight loss decision you will need to cooperate and do your part. Another way to think of it is - the plan will not work by itself. It takes two to Tango for weight loss success. In all weight loss coaching efforts the key lies with the participant not the plan.
In one weight loss coaching meeting the weight loss coach was brutally frank. He said "Most of you in this program will not succeed!" " Yes you will fail!" How is that for starters? However he was totally right and only wanted to work with those who were committed to succeed.

There is a bumper crop of weight loss remedies available today. Why? Because most people fail at their weight loss attempts. Their approach is wrong! So as a result the manufacturers come up with more and more weight loss methods and plans and products. Easy weight off! Effortless weight off! Burn Weight off! Etc. Etc.

If you believe you can lose weight without changing any thing in your life then you are taking you weight loss efforts - BATH BACKWARDS. You will be doomed to failure before you start.
So let's get up! Take the bull by the horns! Commit yourself to success! You can do it! You can BLITZKRIEG your excess weight! [excess fat] You can win the war on excess fat! Decide to do it! Then do it! You will be doing your body a great favor and you will live longer!

To your health and happiness,
John Schmidt - Weight Loss Nutritionist

John Schmidt is regarded as a leading weight loss and nutritionist expert. John has written many informative books and articles on the subject of weight loss. John takes the subject deeper into the inner person. The emotions, fears and past histories need to be addressed for successful and permanent weight loss. The field of weight loss is becoming more important each year. The world is experiencing an epidemic with overweight and obese individuals on the rise. John recognizes the problem occurring from modern day processed foods.

Each article is devoted to aid persons in their efforts to win the battle of weight loss. Many factors are taken into consideration and there are many more yet to consider. Weight loss becomes for the individual a mental and emotional game that must be played and win. Articles from John Schmidt are designed to address the many intricate factors involved in weight loss. Overweight patterns are usually well rooted over years but can be broken.

10 Effective Weight Loss Tips For a Permanent Weight Loss

For most people, weight loss is just a temporary event of losing weight and these individuals will pile on the weight immediately after a brief success. They are considered unsuccessful because they lack the information and the knowledge of a permanent weight loss. The good news is, studies have revealed many valuable tips which can help you lose weight permanently. This article will present to you the 10 best tips that you can use to achieve the body that you have been dreaming about.

1: Exercise
Exercise is the most important element for a successful permanent weight loss and for you to maintain your weight. For exercise to be effective, one must exercise for duration of a minimum of 30 minute per session, 5 times a week. In a recent study, if you exercise for 10 minute, 3 times a day is as good as one 30 minute session. With this in mind, there is no reason to give yourself the "no time for exercise" excuse. Try walking around the neighborhood with your spouse everyday or join an aerobics class at your local gym. Once you start exercising, you will feel more energetic and less stressful and ultimately, you will become "addicted" to exercise

2: Weight training
Weight training is beneficial to weight loss in a slightly different manner to exercise. When you do more weight training, you will gain more muscle tissue and you will burn more calories. Fat is not an active tissue compared to muscle. For muscle self maintenance, it will "burn" a significant amount of calories everyday. While jogging can help shed a significant amount of calories, muscles will help you increase your metabolism even when you are resting.

3: Keep a food diary
Keeping a food diary is extremely useful in weight loss. Record down what you have eaten everyday and how much, how hungry you are prior to eating, and how do you feel emotionally at the time. A food diary can help you identify emotions and behaviors that will make you over-eat and it will help you be aware of your food portion sizes. Read through your food diary frequently and try to make your meals healthier. A food diary will help you be more focused and committed to your weight loss goals.

4: Be healthy
A successful long term weight loss is when you are motivated to be healthier and not just wanting to be thin. Select the foods that will help become healthier. Use The Food Pyramid and select the amount and type of food that you should eat everyday to give your body the necessary nutrients for you to be healthy

5: Find out why you overeat
When you are stressed at work, bored, lonely, angry or even depressed, you tend to overeat. For a successful long tern weight loss, you have to learn to deal with emotions without eating. Studies showed that individuals who can control their emotions without eating is more successful in long term weight loss than those who simply diet and exercise but could not control their emotions. "Emotional eaters" and Chronic over-eaters can seek help from a psychologist or licensed counselor in your area

6: Join a Weight loss support group
Receiving support and encouragement from other dieters out there is a bug key to a successful long term weight loss. Keep a lookout for weight loss programs and resources in your areas or you can also check with your local hospital to see if they have dieting programs or groups that you can join

7: Weight loss and portion control
Restaurants nowadays offer "super-size" meals and huge meal portions. Be careful of how much you eat in one meal. You can just ask for a smaller portion of your favorite meal or you can eat half of your food in the restaurant and bring home the rest. When you feel full, stop eating and don't try to finish your big sized portion meal and keep eating until you are stuffed.

8: Lose weight slowly
Don't start to celebrate yet if you lose 15 pounds in two weeks because when you lose weight quickly, chances are, you tend to lose muscle and water instead of fat. Muscle tissues are important in keeping our metabolism high. When you lose muscle, the amount of calories that you will lose everyday will also decrease. A successful weight loss is when you lose your weight slowly. Go for a weight loss of no more than 2-3 pounds per week. One pound of weight equals to 3500 calories. Shedding 250 calories a day through exercise and eliminating 250 calories a day from your daily meals, you can lose at least one pound of mostly fat per week.

9: Eating slowly
Thin people usually take a very long time to finish their food or they don't even finish their meals at all. You can shed off those extra pounds by eating slowly because it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to receive the signal from your stomach that you are full. Those who eat quickly will tend to overeat and the number of calories that you consume can vary significantly depending on how fast you eat. So eat slowly and take your time to enjoy every bit of your food.

10: Weight loss through eating less fat - but do it wisely
Decreasing the intake of high fat foods in your meals can assist you in your weight loss goals. It's because there are 9 calories per gram in fats and carbohydrates or proteins contain only 4 calories per gram.Do take note that limiting fats is not just about eating more fat-free foods. Please take note that there are calories in fat-free foods too and sometime fat-free foods have the same number of calories as the "fatty" foods. In conclusion, you will gain weight if you consume more calories than your body uses. You will definitely lose weight if you eat less fat but you will not lose weight if you replace those fats with large amounts of fat-free foods.

Natural Weight Loss - 4 Diet Myths Revealed

When summer or that class reunion comes around, everyone wants to lose those extra pounds in order to look good in that strappy outfit or bikini. Unfortunately, natural weight loss is not an easy task. There are so many myths around losing weight that lead to diet fads that don't actually help you lose weight at all.
Let's take a look at four very popular diet fads and myths that really don't help in the cause of natural weight loss and which can actually make you gain weight. Let's also take a look at what really works in the weight loss process.

Weight Loss Myth #1: In order to lose the weight, you have to seriously cut out all calories in your diet plan. The real truth is that this just leaves you with terrible cravings and lowers your metabolic rate so that it is actually hard to lose the weight. You can't maintain a diet like this and will end up cheating on the diet, resulting in gains in weight that make up for whatever you lost.

Weight Loss Myth #2: You will be able to raise your metabolism if you choose to eat several small meals in a given day. It will raise your metabolism and you will lose weight faster. The truth is that natural weight loss comes from lowering somewhat the caloric content of every day but if you eat 2500 calories in a single meal in one day or spread it out throughout the day, you are still eating too many calories and you will not lose weight. The way you really burn fat is through changing your body composition. If you have a body that has a lot of lean muscle, you will sustain natural weight loss faster than if you have a lot of fat on your body. In other words, you need to work out every day in order to raise your metabolism and change the composition of your body to include excess muscle mass, which burns fat faster.

Weight Loss Myth #3: Fat is bad for you so that you should stick to a fat-free diet. This is a gross overstatement. While fat free foods are still popular at the grocery store, you need to realize that there is such a thing as good fat and your body cannot survive without healthy fat. You need to have a diet high in naturally fat free foods like fruits or vegetables but also consider including in your diet a balance of the fats found in fish and nuts. Avoid trans fats, which are solid at room temperature and make your food-eating focus more on eating healthy rather than on cutting out fat.

Weight Loss Myth #4: Milk and dairy products help a person lose weight. This is a marketing ploy set up by the dairy industry and is completely untrue. Milk has many impurities and is full of unhealthy fats. The calcium in the dairy products might help with natural weight loss, it can also be found in soy milk or in leafy green vegetables.

In order to get a handle on healthy ways to lose weight and get started with your own Natural Weight Loss Program, download your very own free copy of "An Experts Guide to Weight Loss - 7 Red Hot Secrets to Turbo Charge Your Metabolism and Boost Your Weight Loss" by clicking the link below.

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Weight Loss and Maintenance - Lessons For Us All

We live in a society where being thin is ideal. Images of rail-thin supermodels and waif-like movie stars adorn every billboard and television screen. We idolize people who are the thinnest of the thin-the thinnest five to ten percent of our population. It's ironic that we're also a nation of "super-sized" portions. The average portion size at a U.S. restaurant is more than 25% larger than our European counterparts.

Unfortunately, 64% of the American public is overweight and 33% of Americans are obese. Weight loss and maintenance are cornerstones of good health and happy living. Obesity is associated with type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, obstructive sleep apnea, depressed mood, and more. For most, weight loss and weight management should be realities of life.

But for many a desire to lose weight or maintain weight loss doesn't necessarily dictate success. Weight loss and weight maintenance are tough work and successful strategies vary based on how much weight a person needs to lose. Some people can succeed with diet and exercise alone, others need more invasive interventions like surgery. And even for those who are lucky enough to realize their desired weight, maintenance, although more straight-forward, can be even more difficult than the initial weight loss.

Weight loss: diet and exercise
The status of a person's weight is best determined by their Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is a calculation derived from dividing a person's weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared. For the calculation-averse, a BMI calculator is available on the National Institutes of Health website.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, people with BMI's between 18.5 and 24.9 are considered normal weight. People with BMI's between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight. Those with BMI's between 30 and 39.9 are classified as obese. Finally, people with BMI's greater than 40 are categorized as morbidly obese.

For Americans who are simply overweight, self-control measures are a good place to start. Medical intervention is best reserved for obese individuals or overweight people who have medical problems or have failed self-managed diets on numerous occasions. Although exercise is important in any weight loss or weight maintenance regimen, research shows that diet is the most effective means of weight loss. A successful diet is a diet which is both balanced and calorically-restricted.

What does "calorically-restricted" mean? Everybody has a distinctive Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). BMR is defined as the minimum number of calories needed to maintain life activity at rest. It varies based on age, activity level, genetics and sex (men have higher BMR's than women). For example, a Mr. Universe body builder has a BMR that may be several times that of a bed-ridden senior citizen. In order to lose weight, a person must consume fewer calories than their BMR or maintain a diet equal to their minimum caloric requirements and burn off enough calories exercising to undercut their BMR.

According to the USDA, a balanced, calorically adequate diet that best approximates the BMR of an average American includes: 6-7 ounces of breads, cereal, rice and grain; 2 cups of fruit, 3 cups from the milk category, and about 6 ounces of meat, fish, nuts, poultry and beans. The USDA has developed resources that help people determine a diet which best approximates their own individual BMR based on their height and weight. These resources can be found at http://www.mypyramid.gov.

All diets must be balanced because despite equivalent calorie counts not all types of food are equal. For example, a calorically-balanced diet high in trans-fats can damage the heart and facilitate the conversion of dietary fat to body fat. A balanced diet is a diet high in fiber (fresh fruits and vegetable) and low in saturated or animal fat. Trans-fats, often found in fast and junk foods, should be avoided altogether.

So what about diets like the Atkins or South Beach? Fad diets like the Atkins or South Beach normally serve as quick-fix panaceas. Few if any dieters can sustain the weight lost from such drastic dietary change. For many, eating only meats and proteins can only last so long before it's back to the cookies and cakes. Health researchers have found that people can only restrict their eating patterns for a short period of time before they crave the variety of a more balanced diet.

For overweight people intent on losing weight, exercise is also important. Exercise is the "yin" to diet's "yang." Exercise increases a person's BMR, maintains lean muscle, improves mood, burns off calories, and prevents disease such as diabetes and high cholesterol. Any exercise program should take into account the health and physical conditions of the person planning to work out. A good place for most people to start is walking between 150 and 200 minutes a week (30 minutes a day).

There's a certain psychology of weight loss. Taking advantage of how we perceive our world can facilitate our desire to lose weight. Health psychologists and weight loss experts have devoted lifetimes to studying what works and what doesn't. The following are just a few pointers from a long list of useful "mind tricks:"
* Logs and contracts: All people intent on losing weight should keep logs of how much they eat and how much they exercise. Logs help put everything in perspective and help dieters plan out what they need to do. Diet and exercise contracts also help people lose weight. By writing a contract in concise and specific language, people make an obligation to themselves or others (for example another like-minded dieter) to devote themselves to losing weight.

* Stimulus control: Certain environments serve as keys or triggers to eat mindlessly. Good examples of mindless eating environments include sitting in front of the television watching "American Idol" or playing video games. Dieters should limit eating to one area of the house like the kitchen or dining room.
* Altering the act of eating: Most people eat too fast. By consuming food quickly, people end up not realizing that they're already full. It's important for dieters to slow down and enjoy their food.

* Social support: No dieter is an island. It's best to enlist the help of friends and family when losing weight.
But inevitably most diets fail. People often underestimate their caloric intake and strive for unattainable weight loss goals. Worst of all, dieters oftentimes end up gaining back weight in excess of what they lost. Many people develop an unhealthy history of failed diets and chronic weight loss and weight gain ("yo-yo dieting"). For some failed dieters, more intensive methods of diet and weight loss are beneficial, like Weight Watchers or medical supervision by a physician or health care professional. Others may need to pursue more invasive interventions.

Weight loss: pills and "going under the knife"
Many people never achieve desired health and cosmetic effects from diet and exercise alone. There are other options.
Certain obese people with BMI's between 30 and 40 are eligible for drug (medication) therapy. "Pills" include antidepressants, stimulants and medications like Orlistat which decreases the absorption of dietary fat. At best, medication only results in moderate weight loss ranging from 10 to 15 percent and ceases once a patient stops taking the drugs. Furthermore, all medications have side effects and weight loss pills are no different. For example, because of their high addiction-potential, stimulants are only recommended for short-term use.

Bariatric surgery is the best option for people who are morbidly obese (BMI's greater than 40) or people who are obese with BMI's greater than 35 and have medical problems such as diabetes, sleep apnea or coronary artery disease. Bariatric surgery has proven to curb medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and sleep apnea and drastically improve quality of life. There are two types of bariatric surgery: restrictive and malabsorptive.

Restrictive bariatric surgical procedures such as the gastric laparoscopic band (LAP-BAND) are becoming the most popular option for most morbidly obese patients. Restrictive bariatric procedures reduce the volume of the stomach and cause people to feel fuller faster. The LAP-BAND surgery involves placement of an adjustable band around the top of the stomach by a highly-qualified surgeon. Procedures such as the LAP-BAND have few medical repercussions and less than one percent of all people undergoing such procedures die afterwards. Qualification for the LAP-BAND isn't easy and varies by insurance carrier, but most insurance carriers require a history of failed attempts at diet and exercise and a battery of health visits with nutritionists, psychiatrists and other health professionals.

Furthermore, anybody desiring to undergo the LAP-BAND should be ready for a long commitment. The band must be rigorously maintained after surgery. Nevertheless, the LAP-BAND is an excellent option for those interested in losing a large amount of weight gradually and maintaining this weight loss.

Malabsorptive baratric surgical procedures such as the "Roux-en-Y" are more effective, resulting in more weight loss, but are also more dangerous. Patients receiving such surgical intervention have a surgeon remove part of their gut to interfere with absorption of foods. Following surgery, patients must be careful to eat certain types of foods and take proper nutritional substitutes. Furthermore, unlike the LAP-BAND, malabsorptive bariatric procedures are irreversible and carry a higher risk of medical problems stemming from nutrient deficiency, small bowel obstruction and infection.

Weight maintenance: a most difficult path
So you've lost the weight or you're happy with the weight you are at, now all you need to do is to maintain. But in this land of plenty, weight maintenance is difficult. Seemingly, candy bars grow from convenience store counters and McDonald's line every major throughway. What's the health-conscious John Q. Public to do?
Now more than ever maintaining a healthy well-balanced diet and exercise regiment is integral. Lifelong diligence is key. Additionally, cosmetic medical procedures like liposuction can help remove and contour subcutaneous fat.

As with weight loss, there's a psychology to weight maintenance:
* Visual cues: Health researchers, most notably Dr. Brian Wansink author of "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think," find that people eat with their eyes not their stomachs. For example, Dr. Wansink found that people presented with a "bottomless" self-refilling bowl of soup ended up consuming 73% more soup than they would have otherwise. Furthermore, they didn't feel any more sated after doing so. Without a point of reference like an empty bowl, people just keep on eating. Anybody who's interested in maintaining their weight can take advantage of this simple psychology by buying small plates, smaller bowls, 100-calorie "snack" packs, and avoiding all-you-can-eat buffets altogether.

* Taking a day off: Health researchers also discovered that once physically fit people lose restraint they are more likely to keep on eating. In a quaint experiment, researchers fed obese and physically fit subjects a milkshake and then offered them as much ice cream as they wanted. The thinner subjects, who are normally restrained in their eating patterns, threw caution to the wind and ate more ice cream than their obese counterparts. This line of thinking influenced the common recommendation that everybody take off one day a week from strict diet maintenance. People intent on maintaining their weight should eat a bowl of ice cream and a couple cookies every Sunday night after "The Simpsons" instead of eating a candy bar every other day.
With respect to weight loss and maintenance, everybody controls their own destiny. It's important for all of us to realize that healthy living is within our control. Determination is the key to proper weight loss and maintenance. We all hold the keys to our own slimmer and healthier selves.

Dr. Amir Rassoli, a long-practicing internist and emergency room physician, heads the Center for Beautiful Bodies (http://centerforbeautifulbodies.com), a premier cosmetic surgery clinic in Houston, TX.