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

Weight Loss Newbies: The Beginner’s Guide to Losing Weight – free …

Weight Loss Newbies: The Beginner’s Guide to Losing Weight
 by: Lawrence Cole

So you’ve decided that you’re going to do it.

You’re sick and tired of being sick and tired and are once and for all hell bent on losing weight.

Well, let me be the first to warn you of a very grim fact:

 

Millions have tried before you and most of them have failed miserably at reaching their weight loss and diet goals.

Therefore, I’ve put together a little beginner’s guide to help make sure that you are one of the few that actually ends up being successful at this.

1) Get an accurate picture of where you are now

Many people just go and hop on a diet or weight loss program without knowing exactly where they are from the start. This is dangerous because along the way there WILL be numerous times where you will be tempted to simply quit altogether. Without knowing where you started, you won’t be able to accurately gauge your progress. Not being able too see that progress put you at an extremely high risk of quitting down the road when the going gets tough.

2) Set specific, realistic goals for your weight loss, and WRITE THEM DOWN.

This is one of the most ill-executed steps in the entire process of losing weight. Most people will passively quote some random amount of weight that they "hope" to lose.

- "I need to lose 30 lbs."
– "I’m trying to get back down to a size X"
– "If I can just fit back into Y, I’ll be fine"

That is the exact WRONG way to go about your weight loss. All above the above are hopes. Wishes. Desires. And none does a thinner body make.

What you need are detailed, definite goals that are written and time bound (e.g. "over the next 3 months") to hold yourself accountable to doing what you said you were going to do by the time you said you were going to do it.

3) Adopt a step-by-step course of action to get you there

In order for this to work there needs to be a concrete method to your weight loss madness. To this end, you need to chose a weight loss plan that will lead you step-by-step through what to eat (and what not to eat), how and when to exercise, and every other imaginable aspect of losing weight. The reason for this is that goals have a much better chance of becoming reality when they are being attained as a result of a plan or system of action.

4) Get started IMMEDIATELY

Most flunkies know how to study. Most broke people know how wealth is generated. Most overweight people how to lose weight. However, what separates all of these very knowledgeable, yet unsuccessful people from the results they desire is action. Don’t let that be your fate.

Once you have written specific goals and chosen a plan of action, don’t delay in getting right on track to weight loss. The cheesecake, burgers, chocolate, and pastries aren’t going anywhere. You can snack on them moderately once you’ve achieved your goals. Don’t get caught into the trap of holding off having Your Best Body any longer. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be done.

5) Be Prepared for the emotional roller coaster

Nearly everyone who has tried to lose weight has had some level of success at one time or another. For those who have not been able to sustain desirable results, being knocked out by the emotional roller coaster is most likely to blame.

Look, losing weight is very simple, but not easy. If it were, there wouldn’t be so many people trying to get it right. The #1 skill that you will need to develop in order to make it through is surviving the roller coaster of emotions. One day you’ll feel as if you’re getting great results. A week later, you may actually feel that you are moving backwards. Either way, just know that as long as you consistently follow the weight loss principles, you will ALWAYS move forward, even if it does not feel like it.

6) Don’t stop until your goal is reached, no matter WHAT

So many times people come to a screeching halt in their efforts to lose weight and diet because they get discouraged a portion of the way through OR after they reach a certain benchmark they allow themselves to be satisfied and quit the program even though their goal has not been reached.

DON’T DO IT.

There was a specific reason that you set your initial goal. Do not sell yourself short by settling for anything less. Stick it out until the very end, and your sense of accomplishment will be irreplaceable.

7) Once you’ve reached your goal, never, EVER let yourself blow up again

This is the last and final barrier to ultimate success in your efforts to lose weight.

Make sure not to allow yourself to relapse while you are in maintenance mode. I recommend sticking to the same general principles that helped you lose the weight and then occasionally indulging in some of the foods that you love. This balance is the best way to keep the body that you’ve worked for and not feel over-restricted.

Make this the first and last time that you ever have to go through a weight loss program. Remember that if you can just get it right one good time, you can literally maintain it forever with little effort.

To YourBestBody,

Lawrence Cole
Your Lifestyle and Fitness Coach

About The Author

Lawrence Cole is a Lifestyle and Fitness Consultant based out of Los Angeles, CA. He has over 10 years of health and fitness experience and designing simple, effective nutritional strategies to help individuals achieve their personal best internal health and physical conditioning.

Resolving Issues On Fast Weight Loss by Nathalie Fiset,M.D.

Resolving Issues On Fast Weight Loss by Nathalie Fiset,M.D. 

In a world where almost everything moves in a fast-paced environment, people no longer pay attention to ‘slowly-but-surely’ strategies. Everybody wants everything in express, fast, easy, hassle-free, and convenient manner. Even in losing weight, people who are suffering from obesity or those who are morbidly obese want fast weight loss solutions to their problem.

FAST WEIGHT LOSS AND EMOTIONAL EATING

Experts say that fad or fast diets are not recommended because these cannot pave the way for permanent weight loss and control. But there are studies that show that fast weight loss has some short-term benefits like being a powerful motivator in losing weight for good. Some physicians also say that is it okay to have a fast weight loss if the person’s health wouldn’t be undermined or affected.

Fast weight loss can be effective if it’s only used for initial weight loss because this can lead to having balanced diet and doing regular exercise or physical activities. Fast weight loss can even motivate a person to follow a reasonable eating plan and sensible eating pattern so he/she would not regain the weight lost. Although some fast weight loss strategies are allowed, it still doesn’t change the fact that engaging into it without preparation is hazardous to health.

One of the reasons why people become obese is emotional eating. Some of the key factors that trigger emotional eating include anger, depression, and anxiety that lead to eating more food that a regular diet allows.

Experts say that if a person can manage emotional eating, the possibility of losing weight fast and safe is greater.

Here are some tips in combating emotional eating:

– It pays to determine your own mood especially before eating. Doing this will give you a mindset that eating is just a part of solving whatever that is bothering you.

– Analyze and monitor your emotions daily. Checking your emotional levels daily can help you trace the reasons why you indulge to emotional eating and can help you solve these emotions before taking any meal. This can also help you fight the urge to overeat when you get emotionally upset.

– Try to develop new hobbies that will take your mind off food and eating. By keeping yourself busy in other things, you can avoid eating large amount of food on a regular basis.

– Work out a meal plan that you can stick with everyday. By having a concrete reminder of the foods you should and should not eat for the day, you can develop a healthy eating plan that can help you lose weight fast and safe.

– Do regular physical activities such as walk or jogging regularly. Physical exertions can help your body burn unnecessary and unwanted calories.

– Exert more effort to form closer friendships and emotional bonds. Having a company that can give you moral support in your endeavor will help you fight emotional complexities.

– Discover and rediscover a better spiritual health. Analyzing your emotions through spiritual health can be enough motivation to keep up with your weight loss agenda.

– Stick to water therapy. Drinking at least 8 glasses of water daily can keep your body refreshed and well hydrated so you won’t easily get irritated or upset.

– Choose you treats. Comfort foods such as junk foods should be replaced with healthier alternatives such as fruits or low fat products.

– Learn to forgive yourself. When you blow your diet, forgive yourself. Feeling guilty and depressed will only make matters worst. Instead of dwelling on your self-will, try to be positive by telling yourself you can do better tomorrow.

THE ROAD TO SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSS

Fast weight loss might be a good way to jumpstart a weight loss plan, but it’s significant to keep the long term weight loss goals. In reality, there’s really no such thing as a quick fix or fast when it comes to weight loss. You must bear in mind that if you want to be happy, healthy, and achieve your desired weight for good you better start changing you eating and lifestyle habits.

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

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

A Beginner’s Guide To Weight Loss- 5 Steps – free article courtesy …

A Beginner’s Guide To Weight Loss- 5 Steps
 by: David Speringo

‘I’ll start my diet today’ you say to yourself for what seems the 485th time. But as the day wears on, you fall back into your typical eating patterns. These are the eating patterns which do not contribute to any weight loss either. Instead, you keep the vicious cycle going of either maintaining your current weight, or increasing it even more which may lead to health problems.

My personal journey started at a time when I was young and had trouble breathing. I even had trouble fitting into a pair of size 44 pants, and had trouble socializing with people because I thought of myself as a ‘fat person’. There came a time however when I took that first step towards positive weight loss, and a positive step towards changing my life.

But where to start? Which diet? Do I need to stick to any one diet, or could I make my own up? I was confused, because there was so much information out there about the newest weight loss diet gimmicks, and nutritional supplements which ‘GUARANTEED I WILL LOSE WEIGHT!!!!’.

It was all baloney. I found that I could not trust any marketing claim associated with a company trying to make money.

How did I start? By cutting down on the number of meals/snacks I was eating. I grew up in an Italian household where we were encouraged to finish our plate. You can only take so much of that as your waist lines grows. Today, however, I encourage people to eat 4-6 times a day. But to eat in small amounts. If you are a person who likes to pick at food, eat snacks throughout the day, and eat well after 8pm. My advice is to stop doing all of that (I know, easier said than done, right?).

5 Steps to starting your weight loss plan

Step 1: Eat 4-6 times a day, in small amounts. Make each time you eat a small meal. Sounds tough, doesn’t it? It is, but as you start doing it, you will change the way you eat food. The way you prep food, and the way you enjoy food (I still love food!).

The goal here is to force your metabolism to burn up the calories at the proper time. The more you have your metabolism working throughout the day, the more you are forcing your body to expend energy to burn up food! It IS as simple as that.

You have to realize that at first, it may seem like you are eating a lot in the beginning, when you are trying to lose weight. But remember, it’s all in the size of the portions you are feeding yourself. Don’t overdo it. Have a fruit salad in the morning, at 10 or 11 am, have a turkey sandwich, at 1 pm make yourself some chicken salad, etc..by doing this, you are not starving your body, and at the same time you are not feeding your body garbage!

Step 2: Drink a lot of water. Drinking water cleans out your system, that’s been known for a long time. It also has been shown to help in fat loss. How? Well, if you are generally a juice or soda drinker, and are now switching over to just water- you are cutting out those simple carbohydrate calories from your diet. And for some, that is a lot of calories. If you have troubles switching over to plain water- try some crystal light, or flavored water. Personally, I’m up to drinking a gallon a day. For many, this may seem a lot. Try to shoot for 6-8 full glasses of water a day. The key here is to make a habit of it.

Step 3: Exercise. So where do you start? If you have time to join a gym, by all means, do so! Join a step class, and/or lift weights. If you are overweight, do NOT feel like you do not belong in a gym. Many people who are overweight often feel like people are staring at them, thus making them feel self-conscious. My advice to you- Don’t worry about it! The gym is for EVERYONE to get in shape, no matter what size they are. Talk to a personal trainer when you go in there also, they will be your best source of information of reaching your workout goals. That’s what they get paid to do!

If you can’t afford a gym, or spend the time at a gym, there are alternatives. Places like Target, Walmart, and even on Ebay, sell exercise balls which come with videos or instruction sets on doing exercises. I feel as though exercise balls give you a greater range of flexibility and mobility. These are two very necessary things to work on when you are trying to lose weight. These exercises can usually be done in 15-20 minutes worth of time a day. If you are truly dedicated to losing weight, then make time for these exercises.

Other ideas for exercise include power walking, home video step workouts, hiking, riding a bike, or staying active for long periods of time. Even if you need to get a friend or family member to go along with you, this is time well spent. These exercises will give you a greater focus on your goal of losing weight.

Step 4: Talk to people about your diet. From my experience, the more I talked about my diet with people, the more support I was getting for my efforts. Do not underestimate the value of community support. Consequently, I run a website that specializes in online diet support ( http://www.dietdiscussions.com ) and I feel as though when people are given encouragement to stay on track, they feel better about themselves. Why do it alone when others are walking the same steps you are?

Step 5: Change the way you think about food. This is one of the hardest things to do, in my opinion. So often food becomes an object of comfort. We feel bad, we eat. We feel good ,we eat. The problem with this is that when we do eat, we are not consciously thinking about what we are putting into our bodies, and then we gain weight.

This mindset has to change. You can still enjoy food, but just pause before you eat something and ask yourself- Is it time to eat? Does this fall into my portion size for this meal?

These 5 steps are ways that I know that have directly helped people, beside myself. Use these steps to focus on what you are trying to do. There is so much information in the diet community about what works and what does not. What it all boils down to, is that it is not rocket science. There is a means and method to making it work for you. If you need any support for your weight loss diet plan, do not hesitate to contact me and ask a question or give me a comment. I have been through what you are going through, so I understand what you are feeling. Stay focused and stay on track, and you will find that you will start feeling better as the pounds start coming off!

Weight Loss and How To Snack Cleverly by Eva Moffat

Weight Loss and Snacking – can they go together?
Copyright 2006 Eva Moffat

Snacking in itself is not bad for you, but it’s your choice of what food you eat to tide you over until your next meal that can be the baddie.

If you snack on junk food, that is usually full of unhealthy fat, you will be more likely to have a weight gain rather than a weight loss.

Here are 7 ways you can snack and not mess up your weight loss programme:

Healthy Snacks, give them a fair try
Keep away from Trans Fats
Read the small print on the labels
Energy Bars are not all they are cracked up to be
You don’t have to have a snack just because the clock says it’s time
High fat snacks ….. run a mile
Ignore the TV ads that tempt you to eat unwisely

Healthy Snacks, Give Them A Try

If you must snack, go for the healthy alternatives. In the fridge or your lunch box have some ready prepared fruit and vegetables. You could peel a carrot, slice it up into bite size pieces and chew on it slowly. You will be amazed at how quickly this will satisfy you. And as mother used to tell you, ‘Eating carrots will help you see in the dark.’

Or have a nice crispy apple. Wash it but don’t peel it. Most of the goodness is in the skin.

Low fat biscuits can also help to keep you on track.

Have foods that are baked or grilled rather than fried.

Keep Away From Trans Fats

Trans Fats (bad fats) are the fats that raise your Cholesterol.

Cholesterol is the fat that clogs up your arteries, and as the blood is unable to flow smoothly, it can have the effect of giving you high blood pressure. High blood pressure can cause heart problems or strokes.

Foods containing Trans Fats could be found in Microwave Snack foods. If you see ‘partially hydrogenated oils’ listed on the label, alarm bells should be ringing in your head.

Read The Small Print On The Labels

Get out your magnifying glass, be like Sherlock Holmes and play detective.

Study the labels on the food you buy. Forget about the adverts telling you how wonderful they are, rather check for yourself what’s in it.

What you are looking for is the Nutritional Value. The label should tell you:

How many calories are in each portion?
Grams of fat per portion
Saturated Fat
Trans Fat
How much calcium is in each portion
Protein
Sugar
Salt

Work out for yourself, how much salt you are eating each day. It has been found that we should not be eating more than 6 grams of salt each day. You may be shocked to find that you are having more than your daily recommended amount of salt in one meal, so you could be over your limit if you eat more than one meal a day.

Also if the label says it contains Trans Fat. Do yourself a big favour and put the packet/tin back on the shelf and your heart will thank you for it.

Be sure to check how the manufacturers work out what they consider a portion. Often their portions are for birds and I mean the feathered type.

Energy Bars Are Not All They Are Cracked Up To Be

Those bars that are said to be packed with energy and power, should be scrutinised for what’s in it.

It’s a common belief that sugar gives you energy. But too much sugar can mean you end up with higher blood sugar levels than your body can cope with.

Maybe the label tells you that the bar is low in Carbohydrates, that’s fine, but what it doesn’t tell you, is that it is also low in fibre and probably higher in fat.

Be afraid; be very afraid, if it tastes good … it’s likely to be loaded with sugar.

So ideally, the perfect energy bar for you should contain the following.

At least 3 grams of Fibre
At least 5 grams of Protein
Lower amounts of fat
No saturated fat
And fewer than 20 grams of sugar.
Low in salt

You Don’t Have To Have A Snack Just Because The Clock Says It Is Time

If you have got into the habit of having a snack at 11.00 in the morning and again at 3.00 pm, do you really need it?

Say you had a high protein breakfast or lunch you should manage to get through to your next meal without the need to snack.

Yet if you had a high carbohydrate meal (either breakfast or lunch) you probably will be peckish, so a snack will prevent you from going into starvation mode.

Why is a High Protein meal better than a High Carbohydrate one?

The High Protein meal will be digested more slowly, so filling you up gradually over several hours.

While the High Carbohydrate meal fills you up instantly, but you will be feeling hungry much sooner. As High Carbohydrates are normally full of Calories, then having a High Carbohydrate snack as well, thus taking in even more calories, that weight loss plan you have been following is now about to fly out the window.

So if the clock tells you it’s snack time, only have a snack if you are really hungry. Then have a High Protein snack, it’s much less Calories in it.

High Fat Snacks … Run A Mile

High Fat snacks can encourage you to overeat.

Pennsylvania State University Researchers did a test on some rats, they fed the rats a High Fat diet; this resulted in the rats overeating. The researchers compared these results with rats fed a Low Fat diet.

The conclusion the Researchers came to was that there is a Hormone that is secreted then sends a message to the brain saying, ‘Stop eating now, you’re full up’. But on a High Fat diet, this Hormone was suppressed, and so the rats just went on eating. .

Ignore The TV Ads That Tempt You To Eat Unwisely

While you are watching TV, especially during Prime Time, have you noticed the number of adverts for snack foods? And of course these snacks are made up of junk foods; high in fat and salt.

As we know, these advertisers are paying thousands of pounds to get their adverts put in these prime spots. So the TV viewer is suddenly convinced that they are in need of a snack. Sure enough, when next at the Supermarket, he/she will deliberately seek out that advertised product. The mentality is …… if it’s advertised on the TV it must be good.

The advertiser has won again. And you lose your weight loss goals.

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