Your Brain Can Help You Lose Weight… Or Make You Fat! – free …

Your Brain Can Help You Lose Weight… Or Make You Fat!
 by: Tracy Lee 

Have you done this before?

You have set your weight loss goals and mapped out your plan to lose all those excess pounds that you have been dying to get rid off.

In your mind, you have psyched yourself up — this time you are going all the way out to lose all those pounds! "Nothing can stop me," you tell yourself.

Then, you rationalize that…

1) In order for you to succeed in your weight loss goals, you must follow a super-strict diet and exercise routine.

and/or

2) If you happen to go off track in your diet or exercise routine by eating your favorite high-calorie junk food and skipping your exercise session, this means you have totally blown off your plan altogether.

Sound familiar?

I sure hope not!

This train of thought can be very detrimental to your weight loss efforts, but it’s all too easy to fall into this trap. And not only is it very harmful to your body, it actually lowers your self-esteem too.

Your brain can help you to lose weight, or it can make you fat.

If you want to lose weight successfully, you’ll need to have the right thoughts in your brain. Conversely, holding on tight to the wrong concepts can (and will!) jeopardize your plans!

Here’s what you should do instead…

1) Get rid of the word "DIET" from your thoughts

Firstly, you must shake off the idea that you absolutely have to follow an extremely restrictive diet in order to lose weight successfully.

In fact, most people who are able to lose their unwanted weight successfully DO NOT diet. What they do is simply change their lifestyle such as practicing portion control, moderation, cutting back on calories and curbing their emotional eating bouts.

It’s time to change your focus from weight loss to weight management. It is not just losing weight, it is about changing your lifestyle so that you can maintain your weight loss.

And do you notice how most women like to use the word "diet" every time they want to lose weight? We "go on" and "go off" diets after every holiday season; we say "I start on Monday" only to go off it by the weekend. Nobody says "I start my new way of life on Monday." But that’s exactly what we need to do. An effective diet isn’t just for Christmas or just a very special occasion, it’s for your whole life.

We need variety not only for our nutritional reasons. It is also to satisfy ourselves, and to take care of our "wants." So, you need to create your own healthy lifestyle… the lifestyle that you want, and one that’s sustainable for the long term.

Be wary of any plan that restricts entire food groups, or if it relies on just 1 type of food (e.g. soup or salad) as its mainstay.

Believe me, I’ve been there and done that. If you go on a diet that requires you to eat all the food that you hate or totally omits your favorites, you are going to dread your meals and are bound to fail. Even if you manage to lose the weight, all your pounds (and probably more!) will creep back once you are off the diet.

2) Do NOT give up your favorite foods

Another thing that most women would do initially is severely limiting their food intake. Or they completely cut off their favorite foods.

This is one thing that you should never do.

"Why?"

Well, by doing that, it sets you up for binges and your temptation for these foods would definitely increase.

Instead, you should reduce your consumption slowly. For example, you always have desserts after dinner. Instead of cutting off totally, you start by reducing your portion size to half. Thus, the temptation becomes much less powerful when you have just the taste of something "bad" now and again instead of telling yourself that it is off limits for good.

After a while, you will find yourself accustomed to the new portion sizes, and you’ll be able to satisfy your craving with just a small amount of your "super sinful" foods.

3) Forgive and move on…

So, you decide to keep your favorite foods in your weight loss plan. You allow yourself a chocolate cookie everyday. But, you could not resist the temptation and you finish half of the pack. Next day afternoon, you finish the remaining half of the chocolate cookies pack for your afternoon tea.

Gee, have you blown your weight loss plan again? Does that mean you should just give up the idea of losing those extra pounds and go back to my old eating habits?

Well, not allowing yourself to make mistakes is the worst mistake you can ever make. Seriously.

Having this all-or-nothing thinking is a way to let you off the hook. It is an escape route that you create for yourself. In your mind, you could be telling yourself, "Oh well. It is all gone. I guess I don’t have to bother anymore. Give me my cookies."

There’s an old saying that goes, "No matter how far along you are down the wrong path, it’s never too late to turn back." So don’t think just because you made bad choices today, you can’t start over tomorrow.

Everyday is truly a new beginning. You do not have to wait until a new year, a new month or a Monday to start all over again.

You can’t erase last night’s binge, but you can aim for a much healthier today!

4) Create a lifestyle you want

Many times, when you want to lose weight, you will plan up a very strict diet and exercise routine for yourself. Well… there is a high chance that you would not be able to execute it successfully. To make things worse, you hate it.

Why not aim to create a healthy lifestyle you want so that you do not give up your favorite foods?

You must create a realistic and achievable weight loss plan. After all, you want to plan to SUCCEED, not to fail, right?

If you find difficulty in creating a good plan for yourself, or if you can’t seem to discipline yourself to stay true to your plan, I suggest that you engage a personal trainer to help you.

5) Celebrate your small victories

Every time you achieve a small milestone, go ahead and reward yourself.

But do not over-indulge. For example, you can reward yourself a small ice-cream once you have managed to complete your first week of exercise routines. Or when you lose your first 3 pounds, you can treat yourself a slice of cheese cake.

Remember, it is alright to reward yourself for the small challenges you have overcome so that you won’t give up so easily. Let it be something you look forward to every time you surmount a challenge.

If you set up your rewards properly, they’ll motivate you on a daily basis and you’ll find it easier to follow your weight loss plans!

Bonus: And here’s one more extra tip… Don’t stress yourself. Take it easy on yourself as you’re learning how to be a new, improved and healthier you. After all, you’re only human… a soon-to-be-much-lighter human!

Copyright 2006 Tracy Lee

Diet Friend Or Foe

Diet Friend Or Foe

Women who have similar kind of thoughts about men, careers, cosmetics, shoes etc. support each other and maintain amity between them. But sometimes when you are practicing a diet you may not get the same level of support from your friend. Her attitude towards your diet, nutrition and fitness programs may de-motivate you and keep you away from weight loss goals. When it comes to choose your nutritional plans don’t just jump with your friend’s choice. Rather choose according to the requirement of your body’s and don’t compromise with your health and weight loss program.

Many people are crazy about diets and always keep on talking about weight loss, fitness programs and come up with long speeches about eating the right kind of food. In real, if you investigate you will find that she does nothing for weight loss. But still she talks a lot about her food, fitness and dieting. Its better not to feed their bogus passion by encouraging her for further talks but instead you can change the topic of discussion. You can talk about something like shoes rather than talking about diets and weight loss. This will help you to curtail the negative energy and will ensure you to focus on your weight loss goals.

Few people might have all the knowledge about weight loss regimes and techniques. She might know that how much calories are there are in twenty peanuts and the time you will have to spend on your treadmill to work out the extra calories. Although they have vast knowledge sometimes they forget what is good for them. You may find people practicing strict schedules and are obsessed with weight loss regimes. Try to help them from such life threatening fascinations. These kinds of strict practices can lead to life threatening disorders like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Instead of encouraging her with these practices advice her to seek immediate help and not to ever participate in these malpractices because it’s danger levels.

Suppose one of your friends is a real foodie who loves to have junk food items, nothing can really keep away from having junk stuffs; she is far from doing exercise, besides she smokes a lot. Now what to do with her? If you are a real friend and want her to be good and healthy then try to take the chance for occasional indulgence with her like sharing an ice cream or French fries with her. If she is your one of the best friend who meets you regularly then you must decide carefully about how to change her way of thinking instead of following her unhealthy methods. The process, which your friend is following, is not actually the way to be on a diet. Diets are for shedding the extra calories from body and help to maintain a body in a healthy state. Diets practiced in an obsessive way when becomes threatening to life must be stopped immediately and if possible proper medical attention to be provided to the person.

Numbers of diet plans are available now in the market. Many diets have become the latest trends and people follow them religiously in order to attain the perfect shape. These trendy and fashionable diets are known as fad diets, which are only a temporary solution for a lifelong long problem of obesity. Instead of going for a fad diet, plan your weight loss programs carefully according to the requirement of your body. The diet plan, which you will prepare, must tackle the energy balance equation and the calories of the body. Instead of choosing the fad diet recommended by your friend its better to consult a trained dietician who can tell you whether this particular diet plan is a friend or a foe to your body.

By: Alex Fyfe

Fat Loss 4 Idiots – A Unique Weight Loss Plan That Really Works!

Fat Loss 4 Idiots – A Unique Weight Loss Plan That Really Works!

A lot of weight loss programs are being offered online these days. But only a few of them are effective. They do not work most probably because of the myths related to weight loss. A weight loss plan should instruct a candidate on the correct food to be taken, the time interval of its consumption, and its most appropriate pattern of consumption. Manipulating fat burning hormones is the only effective method for losing weight in a safe and healthy way.

No! Do not lose heart! Don’t think that you can never achieve that enviable figure or body anymore. Here’s a ray of hope for you. A weight loss plan that really works, let’s say, in just eleven days!

You must have tried out a number of weight loss plans by now. If you still find yourself very fat and ugly, then there must be something wrong with all those weight loss plans. You must understand that till now many weight loss plans have been formulated, but sadly, not even a handful of them are effective. What can be the reason behind this? Is it impossible to conquer obesity? Certainly not! You simply need to identify facts about weight loss and segregate them from myths.

Many weight loss plans are based on myths and that is the reason they do not work. For example, did you know that lack of exercising is not actually a big reason for you to get obese? A lot of weight loss programs stress on your taking long and painful exercising sessions in the gymnasium. A lot of people who are quite obese find it difficult to exercise. As a result this method proves to be ineffective for losing weight.

Weight loss pills are another ineffective remedy for losing weight. These days a weight loss plan normally consists of the consumption of one or two herbal pills in a day during the treatment. The pills are claimed to effectively reduce the weight in a short span of time. But they hardly work and, moreover, they are harmful for the consumer. Many people have contracted dangerous diseases, such as, stomach cancer etc., after consuming those pills.

The food that you eat, the intervals in which you eat, and the pattern of consumption play a very significant role in weight loss. A weight loss plan should consists of a schedule that lets you know what to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat. Did you know that for losing weight eating the right food is not enough? You should know when to eat what. Otherwise the body will not burn the food efficiently and you will not lose much weight. On the contrary these unused calories will get deposited as fat in your body. An effective weight loss plan consists of the correct pattern of eating food.

There are some popular weight loss programs such as those of Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig Weight Loss Plans. But they offer to reduce weight at a slow pace. You can reduce only about two or three pounds per week. But these are hardly effective. An accelerated weight loss program from Fat Loss 4 Idiots, for example, is a more effective one. It is a highly efficient and fast fat-burning program that drives away all myths about weight loss and put you on the right track. Their plan scientifically manipulates fat burning hormones. You will definitely find yourself losing significant weight in a short time by following their diet plans and other weight loss instructions.

By: Paul Moore

Xenical A Weight Loss Medication For Obesity Treatment

Xenical A Weight Loss Medication For Obesity Treatment

Weight loss medication

If you want to know about Xenical weight loss medication, read through the following page. This page answers most of the basic queries related to this weight loss drug. However, this is not an all-inclusive information page and you must consult a doctor to know everything about this weight loss medication. This page aims to give you a basic guide of uses and side effects of Xenical weight loss medication and is not a comprehensive list of information, so always consult a doctor.

About weight loss

Weight loss may look like an easy task to some but for obese and overweight patients this is one of the most difficult tasks ever. Weight loss methods such as exercising and dieting help but after some point of time, our body develops a resistance to these conventional methods. Therefore, most people need some aid or weight loss medications to lose weight. Read on to know more about weight loss medications and treatments.

Availability of treatments for weight loss

There are many weight loss medications, both prescription and otherwise, that help in weight loss. Xenical is a prescription weight loss medication. It is available online and in brick and mortar pharmacies in most countries of the world.

Weight loss medication Xenical

Xenical is one of the prescription weight loss drugs. It is meant for obese and overweight patients with weight related risk factors such as diabetes and high cholesterol. You can find out your BMI with the help of a very simple calculation. Your BMI is the division of your weight in kilograms with the square of your height in meters. If your BMI is between 27 and 30, your doctor may prescribe Xenical weight loss medication to you. Remember, Xenical is a prescription drug and should not be used for cosmetic purposes. Xenical also helps stop the absorption of fat and controls fat intake.

Some of the other benefits of Xenical weight loss medication are:

Reduces cholesterol (improves the LDL/HDL ratio)
Reduces high blood pressure
Reduces the amount of anti-diabetic medication required
Reduces body fat

General information about Xenical weight loss medication

Dosage

One Xenical capsule (120mg) is to be conveniently taken with each main meal three times a day. Do not increase the dosage thinking it will yield fast results. Increasing the dosage has no benefits and in fact, it may lead to side effects. Always take the dosage of Xenical weight loss medication on time. The convenience of taking this weight loss medication with each main meal is to enable you to remember to take the correct dosage. Should your meal contain less fat, then Xenical will be of little benefit, but not harmful. If however, your meal contains no fat, do not take this weight loss medication. Under no circumstances take more than three Xenical capsules per day. If you forget to take a dose, simply continue as usual and take Xenical capsule with your next main meal.

Xenical treatment

Xenical treatment lasts for a year or more depending on your doctor’s advice. Xenical is a non-addictive weight loss medication and after just three days of stopping the treatment, all the traces of Xenical disappear. To maintain the weight lost with Xenical, continue with a sensible eating plan and exercise regularly. Unlike other weight loss medications, Xenical has safety record of two years and can be taken for this period continuously.

If you seriously want to shed those excess pounds and are tired of your ever-bulging waist line, Xenical can prove to be a good weight loss medication. Xenical can help you lose weight significantly and it has proven its safety and efficacy in clinical trials.

By: Katiee

A Weight Loss Plan For Success – free article courtesy of …

A Weight Loss Plan For Success
 by: Jude Wright 

The formula for losing weight is simple: eat less and exercise more. But, it’s not really all that simple, is it?

Long-term weight loss isn’t impossible, but you do have to be committed. Having a weight loss plan for your success is a good start. Here are ten items that should go into your weight loss plan.

1. Eat breakfast. This keeps you from getting too hungry later and then losing control over what you choose to eat later in the day.

2. Stock your refrigerator and pantry with healthy foods and snacks and limit high-fat, high-salt snacks such as potato chips and cookies.

3. Fill up on Fiber. Eat foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The fibers in these foods will fill you up leaving less room for unhealthy choices.

4. Don’t fall into bad habits on weekends. Many people will follow a strict diet on weekends only to fall back into eating more (unhealthy) on the weekends as a reward for "being good" all week. Unfortunately, this can cause you to regain tahe weight you may have lost during the week.

5. Watch portion sizes. Your perception of what a serving size should be and a "true" serving size can differ dramatically. Measuare your portions accurately, especially when you first start your healthy eating regime.

6. Set lifestyle goals – not weight loss goals. Commitment to eating healthy foods does lead to healthy weight loss — gradually. Looking at your weight daily can cause discouragement and will make many people give up and go back to unhealthy food choices.

7. Take healthy snacks with you when you take road trips. Grab healthy granola bars, bananas, apples and other fruit to prevent the tempation of stopping for a cancy bar or milk shake.

8. Don’t deny yourself the foods you love. If you absolutely love chocolate, go ahead and have a small pice – half of a candy bar insteaad of a whole one! And avoid eating your "splurges" every day. Save them for when you really need them!

9. Start moving. Exercise is the key to long term weight loss. You’ve heard the saying, "Move it or lose it." Too true!

10. Keep a journal. Writing down what you eat, when and how much you exercise and your moods will keep you on track and motivated to continue the course.

Weight loss is achieved by both diet and exercise. It is also achieved by persistence. If you "fall off the wagon" one day, pick yourself up and continue your healthy lifestyle the next. Don’t give up!

About The Author

Jude Wright is the webmistress of multiple websites. She is especially interested in nutrition and health issues.

Consistency Is Key To Natural Weight Loss by George Best

Consistency Is Key To Natural Weight Loss by George Best 

There are huge numbers of weight loss methods and products on the market. Weight loss continues to be a popular goal, yet one that is rarely achieved in our society. While there are certainly extreme measures like surgery and drugs that can promote weight loss, these methods come with significant risks and drawbacks, which is why many people continually seek out and try more natural weight loss approaches.

Ultimately, natural weight loss comes down to some combination of diet and exercise. Although many approaches favor one or the other, the reality is that both diet and exercise are equally important and weight loss occurs much more rapidly with a combined approach. Many weight loss aids, including some reasonably safe natural weight loss products, can improve the overall effects of diet and exercise, but they really cannot be considered a substitute for changing your eating habits and engaging in more physical activity.

There is much debate as to what works and what doesn’t. On the diet front, some will proclaim Atkin’s and other low or no carbohydrate approaches to be the only effective diet strategy. Others may insist that calorie restriction is the way to go. Still others may insist on the low-fat approach. The fact of the matter is that all of these diet systems work at least some of the time.

As with diet, there is considerable debate as to what exercise approach works best for weight loss. Some say you have to do high intensity "interval training". Some favor the long-time, low- intensity aerobic approach. Still others say any increase in any kind of physical activity works just fine. Again, all of these appoaches work at least for some people.

Various recent research studies into the vast array of weight loss approaches has come to a rather interesting conclusion: All weight loss approaches that are based on physiologically-sound principles seem to have about the same statistical success rate. Some recent studies have shown that the biggest determining factor in the success or failure of any weight loss program is… whether or not the person sticks to the program long-term.

It has been my experience in clinical practice that very few people stick to ANY weight loss plan (at least natural weight loss plans – not some type of weight loss drug) for more than about two weeks straight. Yes, some may stay on a weight loss plan for several months, but most are not consistent over that period of time. The majority of those trying to lose weight will start off well for the first few days, but then something will come up and they get off track for a few (or more) days, and then continue going through and on again, off again cycle. The times when they are off the program largely negate whatever progress they make while they are on the program.

Based on my experience with people trying to lose weight, the biggest factor in losing weight is not the diet or exercise the person is doing, it’s the person’s consistency with whatever he or she is doing. Consistency with a natural weight loss plan, including diet and exercise is highly dependent on one’s ability to stay motivated and focusd on achieving one’s weight loss goals. In other words, if you’re going to lose weight and keep it off, you MUST get control of your mind so that you can have sufficient motivation and will-power to stick to the weight loss plan.

Developing motivation and will-power requires more than just deciding to lose weight. It is necessary for you to be able to resist any temptations that would pull you off course and interfere with your follow-through on whatever weight loss program you choose to do. Sadly, the majority of people are lacking an innate capacity to effectively avoid temptation and it is far too easy for many people who try to lose weight to quickly lose momentum and stray from their weight loss plans. For this reason, I recommend using a variety of mental conditioning techniques BEFORE one begins a natural weight loss plan. By preparing the mind in advance, one is far more able to resist temptation and stay sufficiently motivated to stick to the plan.

Among the most useful techniques I have found for this purpose include Neuro-Linguistic Progamming, Neuro-Associative Conditioning (developed by Anthony Robbins), various forms of self-hypnosis, the Sedona Method, Emotional Freedom Technique, and simply taking the time to clearly identify one’s reasons for wanting to lose weight in the first place. By using any or all of these methods, temptation can be largely eliminated and one is able to stick with his or her diet and/or exercise program long-term, which allows for consistent weight loss and maintenance of one’s weight once the goal is achieved.

Avoid These Five Common Weight Loss Mistakes – free article …

Avoid These Five Common Weight Loss Mistakes
 by: Hristo Hristov

Mistake #1: Not changing your calorie plan as you lose weight. The fallacy of the "1200 calorie diet" plans and the like.

Most people fix their calorie intake to a given number and expect to lose weight at the same constant rate over a period of weeks. Hence, dieters look for 1000 calorie or 1800 calorie diet plans on the internet. The fixed calorie diet plans don’t work. If you burn 3000 calories a day at the start of a diet, after a week or two of losing some weight, you are no longer burning 3000 calories. Now you might be burning 2800 calories. If you fix your calorie intake in the face of a decreasing calorie expenditure, your weight loss will slow down more and more as you lose weight.

If you want to lose weight at a constant rate, you must repeatedly:

decrease your calorie intake to accommodate the calorie expenditure drop

increase your calorie output by exercising more

do both

I would like to note that you must set realistic slow weight loss goals. If you go for fast weight loss you would not be able to sustain it for a long period unless you go extreme in the calorie reduction and exercise a lot. For people who have to lose more than 20 pounds (10kgs), the goal should be a loss of no more than 2 pounds or 1 kg per week. People who need to lose just a bit of weight should go for weight loss of 1 pound or half a kilogram per week.

Why does my calorie expenditure drop as I lose weight? The most important factors are:

You weight less. A smaller body burns less calories both at rest and while active

You may involuntarily burn fewer calories. Dieters often lack energy and move less

Calorie restriction suppresses the metabolic rate

You have less body fat, which may further suppress your metabolic rate

These major factors contribute to an ever-decreasing energy expenditure as one loses weight. The more a dieter cuts calories, the bigger the calorie expenditure drop. The leaner the dieter, the greater the calorie expenditure drop.

Now you must understand that if you want to succeed in losing weight, you have to make changes in your nutrition plan. I recommend burning more calories, because being more active facilitates smaller calorie restriction and milder calorie expenditure drop.

It is very difficult to estimate the rate of the metabolic drop. Here is the general rule: the bigger you are, the smaller the rate of the metabolic drop. The more weight you lose, the more you have to cut calories or increase exercise. If you are overweight you might need to cut just 10 more calories for every lost pound, while if you are lean you might have to cut 60 calories for every pound lost. I picked these numbers just as an example.

Mistake #2: Overreporting the "extra" calorie expenditure of exercise

Most people count the calories they spend exercising as "extra" calories. There is a difference between calories burned while exercising and "extra" calories burned exercising. Here is an example: you burn 300 calories on the treadmill instead of your usual activity (watching TV at home); in reality, you have to subtract the calories you would have spent watching TV from these 300 calories to calculate how many additional calories you burned. Let’s say that watching TV, you would have burned 80 calories. In this specific case, you have expended 300 calories while exercising, and 220 "extra" calories.

Calorie counters mindlessly add the calories burned exercising as "extra" and in some cases, this practice can significantly influence the calorie calculations. Hence, calorie software counts the part of your usual activities that overlaps with the extra activities twice.

How to estimate the "extra" calories burned exercising?

In order to make the calculations more accurate, I shall first introduce the concept of MET values. MET values are a convenient way to calculate the calorie cost of activities. MET values are multiples of the resting energy expenditure per time. In plain English, a MET = 3 means burning 3 times more calories than resting. A MET = 1 signifies how many calories you burn at rest (your Resting Metabolic Rate or Basal Metabolic Rate). Whatever you do, you burn calories at a rate of at least MET = 1 with the only exception being sleeping which has MET = 0.9. During the day, most activities include sitting and walking which have MET values between 1.2 and 3. Your total daily energy expenditure is calculated by multiplying your Resting Metabolic Rate by the average MET of all your activities. Is your head spinning?

Let’s use a real world example. Consider a female person with a Resting Metabolic Rate of 1200 calories a day. One day has 1440 minutes. Our example lady is burning 1200/1440 = 0.84 calories per minute at rest, which signifies a MET = 1. Let’s say our example woman just returned from an aerobics class, where she exercised for 30 minutes. General aerobic class training has a MET = 6. Our example lady has just burned 30 (minutes) x 6 (MET) * 0.84 (calories per minute) = 151 calories while exercising. Suppose our lady would have chatted on the internet instead of exercising (MET = 1.5). In this example, the woman substituted chatting on the internet with aerobic exercising. Remember, that every time you do something you substitute one activity for another. In order to get the extra calories, we have to subtract 1.5 (chatting) from 6 (exercising). Now let’s calculate the extra calories: 30 (minutes) * (6 – 1.5) (MET value) * 0.84 = 113 calories.

Let’s consider what a standard calorie counter would have done. First, it will assume an average calorie burn rate of 1 calorie per minute. Then the counter will find that exercising for 30 minutes will yield 30 (minutes) * 6 (MET) * 1 (calories per minute) = 180 calories. The calorie counter will add these 180 calories to your daily expenditure without considering that a part of these 180 calories is already accounted by your usual activities.

Do you now see the difference between 113 calories and 180 calories? If that woman spends 5 hours a week in that aerobics class, the standard calorie counters will overreport her calorie output by: (180-113) * 10 = 670 calories a week. The woman will be fooled that her metabolic rate has dropped while she just overestimated her calorie expenditure. Enter weight loss plateau, wasted time and efforts. Do you have the time for trial and error calorie estimations?

Remember these two rules:

Report only extra activities to your calorie counter. If your walk to your office every day, do not log "walking to office for 30 minutes" as an extra activity. Consider only unusual activities that contribute to extra expended calories!

Always subtract the calories you would have burned instead of exercising. A general rule is to subtract from 1.2 to 1.5 from the MET values. In some cases, you need to subtract a greater MET. If you substitute 30 minutes of bodybuilding (MET = 6) for 30 minutes of slow jump rope (MET = then the additional MET would be 8 – 6 = 2.

How to find the MET values of activities based on standard tables?

In order to make the above calculations, you need to know the MET values of activities. Standard tables give: name of activity, duration and calories. Standard tables assume an average calorie expenditure of one calorie per minute. To find the MET you just need to divide the calories by the duration.

Example: "Bicycling, stationary, general", "20 minutes", "140 calories"

MET of "Bicycling, stationary, general" = 140 / 20 = 7

I know these calculations are somewhat tedious and in many cases the standard calorie calculations are close to correct. However, in some cases they can significantly over or under-calculate the calorie expenditure of activities and compromise your weight loss plan with daily miscalculations.

Mistake #3: Training with light weights and lots of reps

I have seen countless number of ladies come to the gym, get the lightest possible dumbbells, crank out some hundreds of reps and go home. Most often, these women do not get the results they want. The problem with this type of training is that it does not burn many "extra" calories unless you spend a considerable amount of time in the gym. Hefting Ken and Barbie weights in the gym has a MET value of 3, which means that it burns 3 times more calories than resting in bed. Almost anything you do during the day has a MET value of 1.2 to 2. Browsing the internet on your computer has a MET value of 1.5. Realize that almost anything you do during the day (average MET = 1.5) has about 50% overlap in calorie expenditure with training with very light weights (MET = 3). If you pump super light dumbbells in the gym, only about half of the calories burned are "additional".

Of course, you can burn a considerable amount of extra calories training with light weights but you have to really extend the duration of this type of training. Curling 5 pound dumbbells for 4 sets of 20 reps and chit-chatting for 20 minutes in the gym is not going to burn many extra calories.

Remember the rule: the less intensive the activity (smaller MET), the greater the calorie expenditure overlap with casual activities; the less intensive the activity, the more time you have to spend doing it to expend a good deal of extra calories. Always subtract a MET of 1 to 1.5 to arrive at the additional expended calories.

Mistake #4: Using "average person" calorie estimations

You can find all kinds of tables showing the calorie cost of different physical activities on the internet. These tables don’t show your calorie expenditure. They actually tell you the calorie expenditure of an "average person". These tables assume you are an average person that burns one calorie per minute at rest. Yes, we covered this in the first part of the article and it needs repeating. Most men burn more than one calorie per minute and most smaller women burn less than one calorie per minute at rest. In reality, these standard tables overestimate the calorie expenditure of smaller people and underestimate the calorie expenditure of bigger than average people. Combine this with the common mistake of counting all burned calories as "additional calories" and you have a wide range of possible miscalculations.

Mistake #5: Going on very low calorie diets (VLCD)

Research has shown little to no difference in the weight loss rate of 1200 calorie diets and 800 calorie diets. The 1200 calorie threshold is the point where further calorie restriction does not yield faster results. Diets in the range of 800 to 1200 calories a day suppress the resting metabolic rate from the very first day and after some weeks on these diets, the metabolic rate has dropped by up to 20%. This metabolic drop is just a consequence of the calorie restriction factor; other factors such as the level of leanness may further depress the calorie expenditure.

A big percentage of the quick initial weight loss on a VLCD is water. VLCDs create an illusion of fast fat loss, while in reality most of the weight loss is water. It is hard to continue a very low calorie diet for a prolonged time because the harsh calorie restriction makes you hungrier than ever. People on VLCDs often lack energy and move very little. When you stop the diet, you are prone to instant overeating. Eating a very low calorie diet is the ticket to yo-yo dieting.

Instead of using very low calorie diets, I recommend diets with a mild calorie restriction and an emphasis on exercise. Overweight people who know what they are doing can employ VLCDs for a limited time. It is important to get enough vitamins and minerals from supplements, because such low calorie diets are woefully inadequate in nutrients. Water intake should be high.

Bodybuilders, powerlifters and athletes must stay away from very low calorie diets because the large calorie restriction causes a greater proportion of the weight loss to be muscle loss.

If you want to automate these complicated calorie calculations, try our training and nutrition software Fitness Assistant FREE for 30 days. Get your trial copy at www.x3msoftware.com

About The Author

Hristo Hristov is the owner of X3MSoftware, a company specializing in developing training and nutrition software. Hristo has a degree in Computer Science and passion for powerlifting. In his spare time, Hristo gives training and nutrition consultations.
hristo@x3msoftware.com

This article was posted on December 10, 2003

Who Are The Best Weight Loss Drugs Really Meant For?

Who Are The Best Weight Loss Drugs Really Meant For?

The sad truth is that anyone who feels the need to lose weight all of a sudden, immediately turns to pills to get the job done. There is such thing as being too addicted to weight loss pills. As useful as they are, such things should be taken only when really necessary. Most people do not understand that the best weight loss drugs aren’t meant for anyone who is overweight. Doctors only prescribe them for people who actually have weight-related health problems, and need to lose weight because their lives are at risk.

It cannot be denied that today’s society is very appearance-centered, and many people do drastic things just for cosmetic reasons, such as taking weight loss drugs. The best weight loss drugs are designed mainly for people who have tried other methods of weight loss with no success, have a BMI of greater than 27 and have diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea or other complications, or have a BMI that is greater than 30.

Because of the strong effects of the best weight loss drugs, there are also side effects that cannot be avoided, such as increased blood pressure, dry mouth, constipation, insomnia, headaches, diarrhea and more. Because of this, weight loss drugs should only be prescribed under extreme circumstances. They end up helping people’s conditions and improving their health, but only after a difficult process. By combining the drugs with exercise and a good diet, a once sickly person will be able to lose weight and end up happier and healthier.

By: Joe Bantler

How to Choose the Right Foods

How to Choose the Right Foods 

The best way to lose weight involves eating good foods and a good exercise program. The best weight loss plans include both.

For thousands of years, our ancestors selected their daily meals from the bounty of the earth’s animal and vegetable harvests. The traditional diets of most human cultures consisted of an almost unlimited variety of ingredients and recipes.

Today, however, our food sources suffer from a lack of quality, diversity, and balance. Natural foods have been replaced with processed and synthetic foods, which have weakened our digestive systems resulting in poor nutrition to the cells, tissues, organs, and systems of our bodies.

To achieve peak performance in any activity requires your body to burn energy. Energy, then, is the byproduct of high performance fuel that will improve the quality of your life and make you healthier than you ever thought possible. In fact, the higher the energy level, the more efficient your body becomes. The more efficient your body becomes, the better you feel. And, the better you feel, the easier it is to achieve the results you are striving for.

So, what is this high performance fuel that will create this abundance of energy for our bodies to burn? The answer is simply the food we eat.

Good nutritional choices play a major role in a healthy weight loss plan. By making small, but effective changes in your daily food intake, you can begin feeling better and improving the quality of your life.

Nutritional science is so confusing and contradictory that to even begin to adapt a universal set of principles to your lifestyle would be nearly impossible. Nevertheless, there are specific key concepts of a well designed healthy weight loss program that include:

1. Making good food choices can be nutritious, enjoyable and energizing.
2. Dieting not only does not work, but can actually take years off your life.
3. Simple modifications in meal choices can reverse how we age.
4. The program is sensible and easy to maintain even when dining out.
5. Losing weight and body fat is achievable & sustainable without drastic alterations or limitations in your lifestyle.

The ideal weight loss program will take a balanced approach to nutrition. By incorporating medically sound and scientifically based research into a healthy plan, your program will not only be effective, but also easy to incorporate into your lifestyle. The two main components of the medically sound nutrition plan include:

* Macronutrient combination
* Stabile blood sugar

Macronutrient Combination

Through the prescribed combination of both macro- and micronutrients, the entire nutritional puzzle is solved. The macronutrients make up the vast bulk and balance of our diets and are found in whole foods. The micronutrients are found within the macronutrients and will be discussed in a supplemental article. The primary macronutrients found in our foods include:

* Proteins
* Carbohydrates
* Fats

Your understanding of each of these components and how you combine them in the foods you eat will determine how successful your overall outcome will be.

Protein:

Proteins contain amino acids, which are the building blocks of your body. Your body can utilize proteins to maintain immune strength as well as to build and repair muscle tissue. Simply put, the greater the muscle mass, the more calories your body will burn. Proteins also promote the release of glucagon, a powerful fat burning hormone.

How much protein should you eat and what are the best sources?

For each individual, the amount of protein may vary. In general, active individuals should consume at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight. A sustainable nutrition plan understands the importance of protein as it relates to muscle building and fat burning and will usually recommend meal plans that are 50% protein. We have found this combination to be the best at optimizing fat loss and losing weight.

When selecting protein sources, ideally, you want to opt for protein sources that are low in fat. Protein sources that are the most desirable include chicken, turkey, fish, whey protein and low fat soy and dairy products. Current studies have shown that incorporating these nourishing proteins in your daily nutritional regimen can help slow the ageing process and prolong your life. Because a greater protein intake is encouraged, proper hydration must also be maintained. For protein to be effectively broken down and utilized by our body, appropriate water intake is a must.

Carbohydrates:

Carbohydrates are an important source of energy for your body. Unfortunately, not all carbohydrates are created equal. Your body processes simple and complex carbohydrates differently. As a result, your energy level, mood, and metabolic processes are all influenced by your choice of carbohydrates.

Simple carbohydrates are the refined sugars. Common sweeteners such as honey, table sugar and brown sugar are considered simple sugars. What many people do not know is that alcohol, white bread, pasta, and fruit juice are also simple sugars. These foods when digested, are converted to glucose (sugar), and cause an immediate rise in your blood sugar level. With a spike in your sugar levels, insulin is released, which converts these excess sugars to fat.

Complex carbohydrates are eventually broken down into sugar, however, the process by which this occurs differs from simple carbohydrate break down. Complex carbohydrates assimilate into our system at a much slower rate. As a result, blood sugar stability is maintained and insulin levels remain at normal levels. Typically, complex carbohydrates are high in fiber, low in sugar and have a low glycemic index rating. Examples of high quality carbohydrates include broccoli, cauliflower, apples, oranges, whole grain breads, beans and sweet potatoes.

How much carbohydrate should you eat and what are the best sources?

The best sources of complex carbohydrates are raw, non-starchy vegetables and whole fruits. These foods are high in fiber, which is critical for elimination and stable blood sugar. In addition, complex carbohydrates are your best source of glucose, which is the only fuel your brain can burn. Complex carbohydrates are also involved in assisting the body in burning fat and antioxidants, necessary for disease prevention.

Recommendations on the amount of carbohydrates needed by the body will vary. For the most part, however, a healthy meal plan will usually recommend at least 1 cup of carbohydrates per meal. This should account for about 30% of your total food consumption

Essential Fats:

As Americans we consume almost 35% of our daily calories from fat. Most often this is saturated fat. Studies have shown that consuming a diet high in saturated fat can lead to heart disease and decreased immune function. In other words, consuming foods high in saturated fat will shorten your life.

An important point to remember is that consuming the right kind of fat can be beneficial in your attempt to manage your weight, and live an enhanced lifestyle. These fats and oils speed up metabolism, regulate your hormones, facilitate fat burning, and strengthen your immune system. Of particular importance is role essential fats and oils play in stabilizing blood sugar levels by slowing the emptying of the stomach. Essential fats provide you with:

* Concentrated energy
* Compounds needed for cellular metabolism
* Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, which aid in the burning of fat

How much essential fat should you eat and what are the best sources? Essential fats occur naturally and do not undergo any additional processing. Examples of foods that contain these valuable essential fats include fish such as salmon and tuna, raw nuts, avocados, flax seed oils and olive oil. The best sources of essential fats and oils come from plants. Most healthy weight loss plans recommend that no more than 20% of your diet come from fat. This translates to a minimum of 1 – 2 tablespoons of raw oil, or cup of raw seeds or nuts, or 1 – 2 tablespoons of raw nut butter per meal.

A solid healthy weight loss program will add years to your life and provide you with an abundance of energy.

Do you want to learn more about how to lose weight and keep it off? I’ve just finished a new ebook on how you can get lasting weight loss results, "The 10 Step Permanent Weight Loss Formula".

Download it free here: http://www.metamorphicweightloss.com/Reports/101062011859free.html.

 

 

 

Uncover The Best Way To Lose Weight

The best way to lose weight is not to go on a diet, but to get rid of the bad habits that make you fat. 

Best Way To Lose Weight

When one experiences weight gain and notices extra layer of fats on the body one really gets tense. This compels the person to.

Best Way To Lose Weight After Pregnancy

One of the first things a woman starts thinking about after the pleasure of having her child and seeing that her baby is healthy is how she is going to get her figure back and lose weight after pregnancy.

 

Set Realistic Weight Loss Goals

Set Realistic Weight Loss Goals
 by: Adam Waxler

How much weight do you want to lose? Are you being realistic about how long it will take to achieve your weight loss goal?

When someone has decided to lose weight, one of the first things that person should do is set a goal weight or an ideal weight.

Unfortunately, when most people decide to lose weight, they are not being realistic about how much weight to lose and how long it will take them to lose that weight. For many, their ‘ideal weight’ may be the wrong weight for them to be aiming for

The sad fact is, years of being overweight and jumping from one fad diet to another may have confused your mind and body about what is truly your ideal weight. One of the major problems comes from a lack of understanding about metabolism. If you’ve been overweight for a very long time, or if you’ve consistently ‘yo-yoed’, your body may respond to your initial weight loss by slowing down its metabolism because it believes that you are starving to death. This slowing down of your metabolism leads to discouraging plateaus that often knock people off their diets entirely, and lead to regaining all or part of the lost weight.

Many weight loss experts today recommend aiming for shorter-term, more attainable weight loss goals. Since the bulk of diet research shows that most dieters lose weight steadily for about 12 weeks, then hit a plateau, that’s the number of weeks that the weight loss experts suggest you should aim for. The weight loss strategy that many have found works best for them is one of alternating periods of weight loss and maintenance, each lasting 8-12 weeks.

The strategy calls for choosing a realistic weight loss goal for an 8-12 week period. Knowing that the most reasonable and healthiest weight loss rate is 1-2 pounds per week, losing 25 pounds in three months is not unrealistic. You should be on your weight loss diet until you reach that goal, or for 12 weeks, whichever comes first, and then switch to a maintenance diet.

Why switch to a maintenance diet at that point?

Simple, you’re giving yourself a break from more restrictive eating. More importantly though, you are re-educating your body and letting it establish a new starting point. Once you’ve maintained your new weight for 8-12 weeks, set another weight loss goal, and move back into weight loss mode. By giving your body a break from ‘starvation’, you’ll have overcome its resistance to weight loss.

You’ll also be giving yourself a chance to ‘practice’ maintaining your new, healthier weight. Researchers have found that more than half of the dieters who take off significant amounts of weight do not maintain that weight loss once they go ‘off’ their diet. By practicing weight maintenance in stages, you’ll be proving to yourself that you can lose weight and maintain that weight loss over a period of time.

This weight loss plan will work with any long-term weight loss diet. You’ll find dieting and reaching your weight loss goal much easier to do if you choose a diet that has concrete ‘phases’, such as the South Beach or the Atkins diet, since the weight loss and maintenance phases are clearly laid out for you to follow. Regardless of the diet you choose, though, by alternating between weight loss phases and maintenance phases, you’ll teach yourself and your body how to maintain a healthy weight.

Copyright 2006 Adam Waxler

About The Author

Adam Waxler publishes the Weight-Loss-Machine…a free weight loss newsletter. Sign up for your free subscription and receive a new weight loss tip each and every week guaranteed to help you lose weight. Grab your free subscription here: http://www.weight-loss-machine.com.

This article was posted on February 02, 2006

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