If You are sick of losing the same weight over and over, tired of counting “carbs” and worrying about what you “can’t eat” or feeling like a failure because your last “diet” didn’t work, try these “stress free” tips. You will not only lose weight but LOSE IT FOR LIFE!!…
Be Responsible for What You Eat
Studies show that people who are 20 or more pounds overweight underestimate their caloric intake by up to 1000 calories per day, while people of a normal weight underestimate by only several hundred, There are 2 main culprits for this. First, many people are unaccustomed to the “true” serving sized of most foods. For a start, begin paying attention to the Serving size information on the foods that you eat. Also, it helps to use a measuring cup and food scale to acclimate yourself to what 1/2 c or 1 tbs. of something actually looks like. Second – Start paying attention to your unconscious eating habits — at the television or the computer, in the car, while you’re cooking or cleaning up — and focus on consciously enjoying the foods you eat, while being aware of the calories you consume.
Don’t Try To Change everything at once
Focus on making small. moderate changes in your lifestyle each week. Click here to learn more about lifestyle coaching & weight management programs. Each time you make a positive choice it will add up and bring you closer to your goals. If you eat just 100 fewer calories per day you can lose 10 pounds in a year!! 100 calories is equal to 1/2 cup less of pasta, 1 less tablespoon of butter, or 1/2 cup less of ice cream.
Just say “NO” to excuses
The difference between fit and unfit people is their habits. There are the same amount of hours and stress in each week for every one of us – those who fit exercise and healthy eating into their lifestyles don’t have more time or less stress, they just have healthier habits. The next time that you are unable to follow through on one of your weight management goals – Identify the challenge and prepare a plan for the next time. Don’t dwell on it or make excuses for why you can’t do it. Be prepared.
Close Your eyes and visualize
To keep you going even when you don’t feel like it or when the going gets rough. You know the drill, the schedule is hectic, the french fries or candy is calling your name and it’s just easier to slip back into your old unhealthy habits. Take a moment and visualize the slimmer, healthy more energetic person that you want to be. Remember the reason why you started your fitness or nutrition program in the first place!! Create a clear mental picture and use it next time you feel like you are losing sight of your fitness goals.
Don’t let weight loss dominate your life
Recognize and design a plan for your trigger times – those times that you eat from habit, not hunger. Be it stress, anger boredom, or family events create a plan for those times that you have a challenge following your food plan. Also, planning in advance what you will eat for the day will allow you to fit snacks and treats into your day without exceeding your daily caloric allotment. Having both a food plan and a “food trigger” plan will allow you to focus on other things throughout the day aside from food. click here to learn more about lifestyle coaching & weight management programs.
Article by Dianne Villano
Dianne is a personal fitness instructor certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine with over 17 years of experience. Dianne specializes in weight loss programs and programs for beginners.
Can you give me an exercise that will get rid of the fat on my stomach?
What exercises can I do to tone my thighs?
Can you recommend some exercises to make my arms, thighs, and stomach smaller and also speed up my weight loss??…
I hear questions such as this on a daily basis, both from our clients and from people standing in the grocery line with me who want to know what exercises I do for such “toned” arms. Spot reduction works only in the laundry room, ladies and gentlemen – there is simply no such thing as localized fat loss. The reality is – muscles that are stimulated with exercise will increase in size, regardless of what type of exercise gadget is used to “tone” an area. While resistance training is vital to overall fat loss and sculpting the body that you want, “overtraining” an area with the hopes of “toning” will lead to muscle being added disproportionately and the area getting larger. If you build muscle more quickly that you strip fat in any area , it will get bigger.
Many people focus on exercising a particular body part that is hidden by fatty tissue in an effort to “burn away” the localized fat and expose toned muscles. No amount of dips, lunges or abdominal work will “burn” the fat off in a particular area –. Unfortunately, most people cannot see their beautiful toned muscles because they are covered by a layer of body fat.
That having been said here are the facts regarding “spot reducing, toning and “firming”
1. Body areas that are not “toned” simply contain excess body fat.
2. Physiologically, muscle is always firm.
3. our bodies are genetically preprogrammed to carry a certain amount in a particular body area.
4. the area of the body that first notices a decrease in body fat will vary from person to person – it is genetically predetermined.
5. In order to lose fat from your body an energy “deficit” must occur (ie” you must burn more calories than you consume.
6. it is impossible to “firm” fat, nor can you “tone” muscle.
7. No one can predict which area of their body will lose fat first.
8. Eventually you WILL experience fat loss in the more difficult areas.
Tips for a “toned”, firm you
1. Perform a well-rounded resistance program at least 2 days a week to add lean body mass (muscle) to your frame, sculpt and shape your body. This will increase your ability to burn fat and food calories as well as your ability to sculpt your body just as you would like it. (each pound of muscle burns approximately 40 calories metabolically, and each pound of fat about 3)
2. Perform a minimum of 3 30-minute sessions of cardiovascular training each week to stimulate fat loss
3. Watch your serving sizes and portions, and eat a balanced diet of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins (The American Heart Association recommends a general guideline of 60% of your calories from carbohydrates, 20% from fats & 20 % from protein). Calories DO count, if you eat more than you burn you will add fat regardless of the source.
4. Use common sense and keep refined sugars, sodas, and processed foods to a minimum
5. Drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water each day
Article written by Dianne Villano, President of Custom Bodies Personal Training and Weight Loss Programs. Dianne is a personal fitness instructor certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine with over 16 years of experience who specializes in weight loss programs and programs for beginners.
Low carb stupidity – Believing that carrots, bananas, or tomatoes are fattening because they’re high on the glycemic index and because a popular fad diet book says so.
Low carb intelligence- Have Americans lost any remaining grip with common sense? With an average banana coming in at 120 calories do you really think that this yellow, nutrient-dense, low-calorie, all-natural, straight-out-of-the-ground fruit is going to make you fat? Compare that to the average serving of salad dressing, which clocks in at over 160 calories with absolutely no redeeming nutritional value whatsoever…
Perhaps carrots, bananas, and tomatoes have 5-10 more calories per serving than broccoli or cucumbers but try them against a “low carb bar” which clocks in at typically over 200 calories.
Low Carb Stupidity Believing calories don’t count if you just count carb grams. Didn’t we go through this years ago when we were a nation of “fat gram” counters ??
Low carb Intelligence
1. Knowing that fat loss or gain always did and always will boil down to the fact that if you eat more than you burn you will gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you burn you will lose weight.
2. Taking the time to understand the caloric value of the foods that you are eating.
3. Learning to eat appropriate SINGLE servings instead of “supersizing” everything.
4. Keeping a food journal and taking some time to preplan and avoiding mindless “boredom” or “stress” eating.
5. Knowing that the June issue of consumer reports shows that Low-carb versions of comfort foods — bread, pasta, and ice cream — often contain more fat and calories than regular versions
Low carb Stupidity – Carbohydrates Make you fat, Protein makes you lose weight – We all know who started this one! People have somehow gotten it into their heads that weight gain is all about the carb grams, not the calories. People who quote this myth won’t touch a potato (100 calories, 0g fat), but then proceed to eat a 16oz steak for dinner (915 calories, 57g fat). They’ll refuse the hamburger bun (120 calories, 2g fat) but take an extra meat patty to make up for it (500 calories, 32g fat)
Low Carb Intelligence –
1. Realizing that If you eat more than you burn you will get fat, regardless of the source –
2. Realizing that if you eat less and you will lose weight –
3. Knowing that Some people on low-carb diets do lose weight initially, but this is due to primarily to the fact that they have cut overall calories or have lost an abundance of water and lean muscle.
4. Understanding that overdosing on protein and cutting out carbohydrates does not equal successful weight loss. It does, however, mean missing out on vital nutrients from healthy carbohydrate foods which should be part of any well-balance diet. If you’re considering a low-carb diet, remember to count your calories and nutrients first. You should also consult your doctor or health professional before making this life-style change.
Low Carb Stupidity Eating lots of manufactured, over processed, chemical laden low carb foods and thinking you’re “being good” and “following your diet.”
Low Carb Intelligence Realizing that natural, unrefined foods are one of the keys to lifelong weight control and that anything man-made and refined is neither healthy or an ideal “diet” food This bandwagon remind me of the “no fat” craze, when all those “fat free” foods were being passed off as healthy diet food, but were really highly processed and full of pure sugar and sodium –
Low carb stupidity – Selecting your beer or liquor carefully to make sure you have the brand with the fewest grams of carbs.
Low carb intelligence –
1. Realizing that a few grams of carbs don’t make all that much of a difference and that most “lo carb” beers have the same caloric content as “lite” beers Avoiding alcohol if you’re trying to lose body fat.
2. Drinking only in moderation if you’re trying to lose weight and be healthy
Low carb stupidity Thinking that very low carb (ketogenic) dieting is a maintainable “lifestyle.”
Low carb intelligence –
1. Understanding that reasonable (moderate) restriction of carbs can be a helpful short term strategy for fat loss, a legitimate method to control appetite, and an effective way for some people to control insulin.
2. Understanding that there are no bad foods only inappropriate amounts –
3. Understanding that the fact that most Americans eat when they are not hunger and don’t stop when they are full NOT carbs are the reason that 66% of Americans are overweight.
4. Understanding that a balanced diet of natural foods is probably the most suitable of all the diets for health, lifelong maintenance and weight control.
Low carb stupidity Believing that if you cut your carbs you do not need to exercise to lose weight and maintain that loss long term
Low carb intelligence Knowing that dieting is the worst way to lose fat and that exercise in combination with a healthy, balanced diet is the best way to lose fat permanently
Low carb stupidity Using the argument; “There’s no such thing as an essential carbohydrate” as justification for low carb dieting.
Low carb intelligence Realizing that textbook definitions of “essential” can be taken out of context to promote a fad diet and that just because there’s technically no “essential” carbohydrates (as there are essential amino acids and fatty acids) doesn’t mean carbohydrates aren’t “essential” in other respects.
Low carb stupidity Using the argument, “You have to eat fat to lose fat” as justification for a high fat, low carb diet, without explaining it or putting it in context (exactly how much fat and what kind of fat?)
Low carb intelligence Understanding the importance of essential and omega three fats (the good fats), but not taking any single nutritional principle to an extreme (such as, “If a little fat is good for you then a lot is even better.”)
Low carb stupidity Not clarifying your definition of low carbs.
Low carb intelligence
1. Realizing that there are “very low” carb diets, “low” carb diets, and “moderate” carb diets and that you cannot classify them all together. (Some people consider The Zone Diet, at 40% of calories from carbs, a low carb diet, others consider 40% carbs quite high).
2. Understanding the importance of “carbs” as a portion of your total caloric intake
Low Carb Stupidity – Thinking that all carbs are bad
Low carb intelligence – Understanding that there is quite a difference between an over processed, refined donut and a wholesome, nutrient laden potato.
Low carb stupidity Going on the Atkins diet (or any other very low carb/ketogenic diet) with absolutely no idea why you’re doing it or how it works (going on it because “everybody” is doing it and because you see it advertised everywhere.)
Low carb intelligence
Understanding that most of the weight loss is due to fluid loss .
Realizing that Americans eat an average of 200 calories a day more than they did 10 years ago and move far less
Understanding that if you eat 10 calories a day more than your body needs you will gain 10 pounds a year and blaming “Carbs” for the weight gain
Understanding that unless you make changes towards an overall healthful lifestyle most people will gain all their weight back the minute they “go off” the diet
Low Carb Stupidity – Believing that if you eat zero net-carbs, you will lose weight won’t gain weight . Buying into the carb-counting craze, food manufacturers have come out with a new term to sell their products. “Net carbs” is a deceptive way to count only the negligible carbohydrates that come from artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols, and ignore the others from starch and regular sugars.
Low Carb Intelligence –
Realizing that sugar alcohol and fiber are not “nothing”, they still have calories Understanding that “Low-carb” labels are meaningless. In manufacturing low-carb products, sugars are replaced with “unnaturally high concentrations” of sugar alcohols, refined grains, and starches — all of which are carbohydrates and contribute to caloric intake.
3. Understanding that because these “replacement carbs” move through the small intestine without getting absorbed, manufacturers subtract them from the carb content. That’s the “net carbs” number listed on the product label
4. Realizing that the recent focus on low carbs will continue to draw people away from healthy eating and just provide them with another excuse to live off junk food
5. Remember, any “low net-carb” claim is diverting your attention away from the fat and calorie content of a food.
Article written by Dianne Villano, President of Custom Bodies Personal Training and Weight Loss Programs. Dianne is a personal fitness instructor certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine with over 16 years of experience who specializes in weight loss programs and programs beginners.
Perhaps like you, I’ve become more aware of the IMAGES I see in publications.
I publish ezines and websites for myself and others and choose graphics and photographs for these. Marketing fundamentals tell us that “like attracts like” and since as far as I know none of my readers are supermodels, I’ve been looking for more realistic images of people to use for the illustrations….
But what do I see in the stock photos? Supermodels. Perfection. People I’m not like and people I don’t see around me in real life.
The US media may not be particularly at fault, but it’s at fault. On my last cruise out of Miami on the Costa line, the cruise originated in Europe. As I was sitting in the hot tub, an Italian couple joined me, and as the conversation progressed, they looked around the swimming pool deck and said, “We had no idea Americans were fat.”
Fitness Model
Let me stop here and comment on that comment! These super-model images continue to appear while the US is adding more overweight people every day. At the same time, young girls are endangering their health with anorexia and bulimia, depression is epidemic, and teen suicide is rising because they can’t live up to an unrealistic ideal.
The debate continues about what’s “healthy” and what isn’t, while obesity continues to be one of the worst prejudices in the US.
Laura Fraser is a journalist who’s written about obesity for many magazines and is the author of “Losing It,” about the diet industry. She confirms how deep the bias is against fat people in her right-on article entitled, “Fear of Fat.”
IMAGES DICTATE WHAT’S ACCEPTABLE
She points out that the media is more willing to write about weight these days, but they still won’t publish photographs of anyone over size 6. This, she says, “represents society’s deeply held moral and aesthetic prejudice against being heavier than a thin ideal.”
The problem is this not only represents this prejudice, it probably created it, and it definitely fuels it.
The medical debate continues about how much an individual should weigh in order to be healthy, and what factors make a healthy individual, but unless we’re in the field, we hear about it through the media.
The media is willing to produce a well-researched article pointing out that “gaunt” is not healthy and that you can be overweight and still be healthy if, for instance, you exercise, don’t smoke, have some good genes, and don’t drink excessively, but then what’s the cover photo? You guessed it.
I know people myself who are as much as 30-40 lbs. overweight who observe good health rules, are active and exercise, whose blood pressure and vital signs are well within healthy limits, have good mental and physical energy, and appear to be suffering ill health only emotionally because of the prejudice toward “fat people.” But that’s a big “only.”
More realistic model
Health, anyway, is not the focus of this article. Of course, you want to be healthy, and your personal healthcare professional is there to guide you. This is about IMAGE.
WHAT I WANT IS A PHOTO OF THE AVERAGE AMERICAN.
And what is that?
GET THIS: According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the average US woman is 5’3.7” tall and weighs 152 lbs.
The average American male stands 5’9.1” tall and weighs 180 lbs.
Where are the images of these people??
Fraser says in her article, “One senior-level editor at a national women’s magazine told me that no matter how often she tries to raise the issue, it’s absolutely taboo to run photos of women who aren’t slender and attractive—even if they’re the subject of a profile.”
Back to the cruise. I would say it contained a typical cross-section of people worldwide. They come in all ages, shapes, and sizes.
I laughed and said, “What made you think Americans were thin?”
“Television,” they said, and named some shows.
I continued my quest to find realistic images of people among the models. By the way, it’s said that 15 years ago, the ideal model was 7% lower than the average normal weight of a woman, and now she’s 23% lower. And is this the ideal we are holding up to the young women of the nation? A body a woman has little chance of attaining in reality, particularly not without risking her health?
I went to the stock websites and started entering words. I tried obese, fat, overweight, chubby, zaftig. I found 4 images under “fat” and they were all insulting caricatures of women such as a crazy-looking woman with rollers in her hair, in a house dress, waving a rolling pin, and looking like an idiot. This is intolerable to me. If it is to you, I challenge you to start voicing your opinion. I have written the stock photoshop about this.
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Until the images we are bombarded with change, the Image won’t change. And where does it start? With you and me! Rant on.
If all we see in our media representations is perfect bodies, million-dollar homes, Norman Rockwell family Thanksgivings, and brand-new Subarus, is it any wonder depression is an epidemic?
If we can’t accept the “average” person, what on earth are we doing to ourselves?
The emotionally intelligent thing to do is to focus on what’s possible. Yes, set progressively higher goals for yourself that are attainable and enjoy working toward them, and watch your health. But get rid of the media images of perfection that aren’t attainable and – most importantly – aren’t healthy, and aren’t necessary for happiness.
P.S. Every time you see a website, ezine, magazine, or television show that shows realistic people, write too!
About the Author Susan Dunn, San Antonio, TX, USA Susan Dunn, MA, Clinical Psychology, certified Emotional Intelligence Coach, The EQ Coach™ . Coaching around EQ for relationships, career, resilience, transitions, personal and professional development. I train and certify EQ Coaches, therapists and managers.
Why is it that as we age fat begins to overwhelm our bodies like a garden with weeds out of control?
Interestingly enough, our keen awareness of the problem does not make the answer to this question any less startling.
This cruel anomaly has been in the making from the very start of our existence…
Long before the abundance of food was taken for granted, when our ancestors were living with shortages and an unpredictable food supply, the human body was conditioned to go through extended periods during which fat storage was a prerequisite for sustenance and energy in times of scarcity.
Now that we are living in an era of plenty and no way of switching it off, the genetic code that was once our guardian and defender has become our nemesis.
This “good” gene that embedded itself within us over the ages now stands between us and our quality of life, and in some cases, our very survival. It is directly responsible for the sudden explosion in obesity and obesity-related casualties. Projections indicate that it will continue to wreak havoc upon the lives of millions far into the foreseeable future, costing billions upon billions in health care and other expenses.
Why does its impact worsen as we get older and move further into time?
Historically, the older we grew the better we were protected by this gene. Because it has no way of knowing the times have changed, it continues to work in the same old fashion.
Granted, no matter how far back in time we go, we’ll find there were always overweight people. However, never before in the history of mankind has an obesity disaster of this magnitude occurred. The numbers have been rising steadily for the past 60 years, with the steepest climb taking place within the last 30 years. During this short period of time, the number of overweight Americans has gone from 1 in 8 to almost 1 in 2. This dramatic 4 fold increase accounts for the more than 100 million Americans who are now overweight.
The fat gene and aging
How exactly does the fat gene work?
It works by causing a greater efficiency of our metabolism. Much like an automobile that gets good gas mileage. In other words, it helps us to make more out of less as we age. The problem is, we are not automobiles, we have no separate fuel compartment or “fat tanks” for safe storage. Instead, the burden is placed directly upon the operating systems of our body causing undue stress, illnesses, diseases, and a rapid acceleration toward an inevitable breakdown.
What can we do about it?
All our lives we’ve been taught to believe efficiency is good, only to discover that in some rare instances it can actually be bad. This is one such instance. Of course, the best solution would be to find a way to expel all vestiges of this unwanted genetic relic from within our bodies. Unfortunately, however, this is something modern science has not yet mastered.
This leaves us with only one choice.
We must remain ever vigilant and proactive by taking those steps necessary to ward off the dreaded manifestations caused by obesity. such as type II diabetes, coronary heart disease, and cancer. Especially, as we age we must intensify our efforts to keep our bodies… the most important garden we’ll ever own, as weed-free as possible.
It is truly heart-wrenching to know that the gene that once spared the lives of our ancestors and paved the way to our own existence could come back to haunt us in such an insidious manner.
It is clear that obesity and excess weight permeate every aspect of a person’s life, from increasing the risk of life-threatening diseases and higher mortality rates, to unfairly altering their quality of life. There is only one solution to losing weight. You have tried everything, you say. Nothing works. Moreover, what worked was only temporary.
Whenever you begin to hear these negative voices, remember that even moderate weight loss has been shown to advance health as well as extend and improve quality of life.
Most of us who are overweight have struggled with this for much of our lives. This is not something new. It is not because we are lazy or weak of character. It is merely because you have not yet used the right tools.
Perhaps, someday soon, the long-awaited scientific breakthrough will come for the millions of sufferers whose lives this one gene continues to alter and destroy. After all, it was our ability to make huge technological strides and create such unprecedented abundance that brought us here. We can only hope that, eventually, the same display of ingenuity will also enable us to dismantle this perilous genetic time bomb.
Meanwhile, we must make do with the tools we have to avert the aggressive stranglehold we face. Fortunately, we happen to possess a few that are exceptionally effective at doing the job. If you are still missing out on the life-changing benefits these tools provide, it’s time to put them to work for you too!
About the Author Just Jeni, USA
I am a certified fitness and nutrition consultant; however, I am also just an average woman who faces the same anxieties about diet and health as most people do – men and women alike. My overall goal is to aid people in improving their quality of life by improving their health/weight. I love to share what I’ve learned!
The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.
