Best Ways To Lose Weight - Avoid The Scams

Everyone is always looking for the best ways to lose weight which is fine, but do yourself a favor and don't buy into all the hypey garbage you see online and off. If you want to try a pill or a special diet that's fine, especially if you only want to use it for a short time just to jump start your weight loss, but do not believe that you can lose weight overnight with absolutely no lifestyle changes... you will only be setting yourself up for failure.

The best approach to weight loss is to look at it like a lifestyle change rather than a "diet". Diet makes it seem like it is something short term where lifestyle change makes it seem more like what it should be, a lifestyle change.

Approaching it from this point of view will make it easier for you since it will take off that pressure to have results immediately. Any weight you lose within days of starting is usually only water weight anyway, not fat lose. Do not set yourself up for failure by having unrealistic expectations.

Your first step should be to find a sensible and healthy eating plan. Make sure you have lots of lean protein and a reasonable balance of fat and carbs. Also, make sure you drink plenty of water every day. It's usually recommended that you drink half your body weight in ounces of water every day.

For example, if you weigh 126lbs that means you should drink about 63 ounces of water everyday to keep your body hydrated and to flush out toxins.

After that point you should set up a sensible exercise plan to workout and lose weight. Again, making a plan is a great start. You don't have to go to extremes, you need to start at what every fitness level you already have and start adding on as you are able to. Something as simple as taking your dog for a walk, using the stairs at work and parking a little further from your office can be simple, easy changes you can make.

If you feel like it, and your doctor says it's ok (you should always check with your doctor before you start a diet and exercise program, especially if you have underlying health issues) than you can step up your workouts.

The most important thing you can do is to find a workout that works for you. If you hate the treadmill with a passion, then don't use the treadmill. The best thing you can do to ensure your success is to find an activity that you like, that way you will stick with it.

There are many things you can do to lose weight and the best ways to lose weight are the ones that provide your body with the nutrients you need and finding a sensible exercise plan. Make it a permanent lifestyle change, take it one day at a time and keep realistic expectations and your chances of success are greatly improved.

Read More

Difficulty Losing Weight - Why Lie To Yourself

Many people have had difficulty losing weight, nothing is more frustrating to get your motivation up, find the perfect diet and exercise program for you and then... nothing. Some people actually do have a metabolic issue that makes it virtually impossible to lose weight, but not many. For most of us the harsh reality is that we're just not being as good as we think we are. The cool thing is that there are a few simple things you can do that will help keep you 'honest' in your weight loss journey.

For one thing, it's amazingly easy to 'lie' to ourselves about what we've eaten in any given day. There have been times when I would have sworn I was good, until a friend (I use that term loosely!) will remind me of that pastry I had at lunch or all the cream and sugar I put in my coffee. Ooops. I didn't mean to lie to myself, it just happened. Most of us are like that to one degree or another.

To keep yourself on track one very simple but effective thing you can do is to keep a food journal. For a week or two, write down every single thing that you eat or drink. You have to be honest and you have to include everything even that second glass of soda at lunch and the two pats of margarine you put on your toast... everything.

If you do that for few weeks, you'll quickly be able to spot the times of the day and the areas in your diet where you might have a bit of trouble. Once you pinpoint the reasons you have difficulty losing weight you can make changes that will help you achieve your goals much more quickly.

The same principle can apply to when you work out. Again, it's easy to think that you're working harder than you really think. If you keep a workout journal it's harder to convince yourself that you've done something you really haven't done. Not only can you track the number of times you go to the gym but you can also track how long you spent on the treadmill (or doing cardio in general), how many exercises you did for your upper body, how many you did for your lower body, etc.

You can also keep track of how much weight you lifted for each exercise. Ideally, you should be increasing your weights over a period of time. It's important to keep your body challenged and not let it get into a rut. By changing up the weights you lift as well as the exercises you do, you'll keep your body 'guessing' which will help you get better results in less time.

Most of the major muscle groups (chest, upper back, lower back, abs, butt, quadriceps, hamstrings) will have more than one exercise you can do. By mixing up the exercises you do for each group you are keeping your toning efforts in high gear. Another benefit is that the different exercises will target each muscle group in a slightly different way which can also lessen a lot of the repetitive types of injuries to your body.

I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news, but usually when someone has difficulty losing weight it's really more about the way they're doing things than about any metabolic issue with their body.

Read More

Better Sex After Weight Loss - Yes Its True

Many people think that there is better sex after weight loss, and for most people, that is true. Even though it is true, it may not be true for the reasons you think. A lot of people think that they will have better sex because their partner will find them more desirable and attractive. But, in many cases, there is another reason why your sex life might increase. You see sex really is about more than the physical, it's very much about the emotional and psychological as well. When you lose weight and get in better shape you will often just feel better about yourself and more confidant. It's that new found confidence that can make all the difference. You may actually find yourself wanting to have sex more often. You may feel more attractive and desirable. Another reason why you can have better sex after weight loss is that you will be in better physical shape which will, of course, make the actual physical act of having sex easier and less tiring. Of course, to get to this point you actually have to lose weight and that can present it's own challenges. The more overweight and out of shape you are when you start, the slower you will have to start, which is ok as long as you do start. Most people make the mistake of getting too hyped up and thinking they can do it all at once or do it quickly. Few people can live up to that and they don't make the goals they set for themselves, when they fail they get discouraged and give up altogether. Don't do that to yourself. Just start slowly and keep working at it. It's easy when you don't plan on making all the changes at once. Just one small change a week or a month can add up, and it is easier to do it that way. You can also try the same thing when it comes to making changes in your diet. Eating better with such simple changes as eating a few more vegetables or fruit can be a great start. Look, it's no big mystery how to lose weight, eat better types of foods in moderation and get more physical activity. Pretty simple, isn't it? The biggest thing that you can do to mess yourself up is to expect changes to happen quickly. You will be setting yourself up for disappointment that way. Don't do it to yourself. Start small and go from there. If you really want to strengthen the bond with your partner, suggest that the two of you work out together. When you both are physically fit it can actually be kind of hot to be sweating together wearing next to nothing! You can absolutely have better sex after weight loss, you will be stronger both physically and emotionally. Self confidence can go a long way to helping you feel more desirable and your new body may well help your partner find you more attractive.  

Read More

Body Contouring For Weight Loss

Well, you did it. You lost the weight but now you find you have all this excess skin hanging all over the place. So what do you do? You talk to a reputable plastic surgeon about body contouring. Your doctor will tell you that if you are at your target weight and still have sagging skin that you probably can go no further without help from them. And they are right, no matter what you do from here on out will do nothing to help reduce the sagging skin.

Body contouring surgery is major surgery so do not enter into the decision lightly. Do your due diligence and research what you need to have done so you have the knowledge and can, with the help of your doctor, make an informed decision regarding how you wish your body to look.

There are several different techniques used to accomplish the specific looks you want. One of these techniques is 'fat transfer'. What this technique consists of is removing fat from certain areas like your hips, thighs, and belly and injecting it into your buttocks. So basically you get the best of both worlds, nice slim hips, thighs or belly and lots of junk in your trunk to boot.

You could research using implants to improve how you look. Places can be implanted that you may not even think of. Did you know that you can get chin and cheek implants? Yup. Implants are not just for breasts anymore. Chin, cheeks, butt, calves, breasts for women or pecs for men. Yes I said men. Plastic surgery is not just for women either, guys, we know you want to look good, too.

So go ahead and call to make that appointment with a qualified, reputable plastic surgeon and with their help, figure out what you want to make yourself look and feel like you have never looked and felt before.

If cellulite is your biggest problem and you just can't seem to find a solution to the problem, then maybe talking to a plastic surgeon is the next step you should take. When talking to your surgeon, they may recommend a procedure called Thermage. Done on an outpatient basis and completed in about an hour, Thermage heats the collagen in the skin and when the collagen contracts the skin tightens and reduces the appearance of cellulite.

You could opt for the old standby, liposuction. Liposuction quickly and easily removes unwanted fat from beneath the skin and the skin is then stretched over the area to make things look tight and toned. This is a more involved technique and does require a significant recovery period but when all is said and done you will look younger and more fit than you did before.

The younger and more fit you look then the younger and more fit you feel. The biggest part of being healthy is to look and feel healthy. Body contouring is one great way to look and feel your best.

Read More

What Is BMI How Is BMI Calculated

I was really surprised to find out that BMI was created in the 1800's as it is only in the last couple of years that I have heard of it. All of a sudden everyone seems to be relying on BMI to tell them whether they are overweight or not and as a guide in their weight loss journey. BMI can't actually help you lose weight, it is simply a measure of your weight in relation to your height. Your BMI result will indicate whether you are in the right weight range for your height or whether you are under or over weight.

BMI is shortened for Body Mass Index. It is a tool that measures body mass and has been around for 200 years. BMI was created by Adolphe Quetelet and is sometimes referred to as the Quetelet index. Adolphe Quetelet developed the BMI formula while working on social physics and it is still used today, 200 years later, with very little variation from it's original form.

So we know that BMI measures body mass, but what does that actually mean? Well, it doesn't measure a person's body fat, but rather it compares a person's height to their weight to determine if they are in a healthy weight range for their height. It is a tool that is widely used by doctors, fitness trainers and even insurance companies to determine whether a person is overweight or obese. The BMI formula is not without it's flaws and in some cases is not 100% accurate, but it is still the preferred tool used in the medical community.

Let's take a look at the formula used to calculate a persons BMI. First you take your height in meters and square it - you times it by itself. Then you divide your weight in kilograms by the answer to your height squared. For example, if a person is 1.5 meters tall you would times 1.5 by 1.5 which will give you 2.25. If that person weights 54 kilograms you would then divide 54 by 2.25 which gives you an answer of 24 and this is your BMI.

What does that mean?

Your weight status is worked out by where it lies on the BMI chart. A normal weight range has a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9. If your BMI is below 18.5 then this indicates that you are underweight. Likewise if your BMI is in the range of 25 to 29.9 this indicates that you are overweight. A BMI of 30 or more indicates obesity. Using our example above of a person 1.5 meters tall and weighing 54 kilograms, they fall within the normal weight range at a BMI of 24.

I mentioned earlier that BMI figures are not accurate 100% of the time and this is mainly so with people that are extremely muscular. The BMI formula doesn't distinguish between muscle and fat and because muscle is much heavier than fat then the result is not accurate. A body builder for example would have a large muscle mass and so his weight would be quite high when compared to his height. This would give him a high BMI, although in actual fact he may not have an ounce of fat on his body. For the majority of people though, BMI will give an accurate indication of whether you have a good weight for your height or not.

Next time you hear someone talking about BMI you will know exactly what they are talking about and could even tell them how it is calculated. BMI is simply a comparison of a person's weight to their height to determine whether they are in a healthy weight range.

Read More

What To Look For In A Healthy Eating Program

Wanting to eat better is a goal that is shared by millions and millions of people around the globe. Their reasons range from "just wanting to" to trying to treat a deadly disease, from moral reasons to wanting to lose weight. Regardless of the reason, you should research health and nutrition before deciding on a healthy eating program that is best for you. Doing the proper research will not only point you in the right direction for foods you should eat, but it will also steer you away from the foods you should avoid.

One thing you need to watch out for is a lack of balance. For example, the market is filled with diet plans that eliminate whole categories of food. While it makes sense to reduce the level of saturated fat you consume, getting rid of carbohydrates is a questionable practice at best. It is okay to eat fat, carbohydrates and protein; in fact, you should be wary of any so-called healthy eating program that claims otherwise.

When it comes to fat, you will want to limit saturated fats, and try to eliminate man-made trans fats completely. (There are naturally occurring trans fats, and these aren't nearly as bad as their hydrogenated counterparts.) Your best bet is to have polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, though you don't want to go overboard on them, either.

Carbohydrates have received a lot of attention in recent years. This is due, largely, to some popular diets that avoided them. Yes, it is possible to lose weight on a low-carb diet, but there may be risks involved. Also, such a diet wouldn't really be considered a long-term healthy eating program because of the lack of balance. However, not all carbohydrates are created equally. You should limit the simple carbs found in white bread, white rice, and sugar; and replace them with the complex carbs found in whole grains, vegetables and some fruit.

Protein can be tricky because a lot of sources are high in saturated fat. Beef, for example, is high in protein, but a lot of cuts are high in saturated fat. Chicken, on the other hand, has some cuts that are higher in fat than others, so choose white meat to stay on the safe side. Perhaps the best of source of protein is beans (pinto, black, garbanzo, navy, and so on). The are high in protein and fiber, and are also very low in fat.

A healthy eating program doesn't mean you can never enjoy your favorite foods again, far from it. First, there are plenty of healthy alternatives for most foods. Second, the key is to enjoy such foods in moderation, as an occasional treat. If you eat less of the unhealthy foods, and more of the healthy foods, then you will be headed in the right direction. But if you can't have the foods you enjoy, then there is too great of a risk that you will simply go back to an unhealthy diet, and that wouldn't do you much good at all.

Read More