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The purpose of our blog is to share what we have learned about nutrition, weight loss, fitness, and health, in order to help you find ways to feel better and live longer. It is amazing how much our diet and lifestyle affect our health and well-being.

Did you know that you can reduce your risk and even prevent many diseases and health conditions simply by making some changes to your diet? Check back often for valuable tips and information.

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF:

For the first time in my life I have found weight loss success. During my adult life I have tried dozens and dozens of so-called "diets" and none of them worked over the long-haul. Oh, I was able to lose weight with some of them, but once I went off of the "diet" I quickly gained back all of my weight (plus some).

I have finally learned that losing weight has to be a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. Crash diets and all the other crazy diets will not only cause you to fail, they are harmful to your health. To lose weight and keep it off you must NOT go on a "diet." What? Why? Because we all consider a "diet" a temporary thing. For example, how many times have you said, "Oh, I will go on this low-fat diet until I lose 20 pounds." Okay, what happens after you lose the 20 pounds? Or you simply give up? You go back to your old habits and gain that 20 pounds back.

The only way you will ever be successful at losing weight, with the added benefit of improving your health, is to make healthy changes that you can live with for the rest of your life. Period. Not for a week, a month or 3 months, but for life. For me, my initial goal was to lower my cholesterol level. I had to have a blood test for my insurance coverage and my cholesterol level had to be lower than the previous year's levels or I would have to pay a much higher premium. Well, that was a pretty good incentive for me make some positive changes.

I sat down and figured out what I needed to do. I knew I had to change the way I ate and I knew I had to exercise in some form or other every day. So, I made a list and I stuck to it. It was difficult at first. To make matters worse, I am a compulsive eater. However, as the days went by, it became much easier because my body stopped craving sweets and processed foods. For the first time in my life, I was never tempted to binge because I never felt deprived.

Use the list below and make whatever changes you need to make in order for it to work for you. FYI, my cholesterol level dropped 65 points after 7 weeks, and my triglycerides dropped 70 points! Another benefit that I hadn't planned on was that after being an insomniac since my teen-age years, I now sleep like a baby every night!

MY LIST FOR WEIGHT LOSS SUCESS:

1. Avoid "white" Foods & Processed Foods. These foods have no nutritional value and are "empty" calories. Sweets, anything made with white flour,and anything that comes in a package with a long list of ingredients. Always read the food labels. Stay away from those long lists of ingredients. The longer the list, the more chemicals and additives are present. These are extremely toxic to your body.

2. Drink Lots of Water. Water keeps your body's organs hydrated and flushes out unhealthy toxins. It helps to fill you up and reduces your urge to over-eat.

3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast. Instead of coffee and donuts, try fruit, yogurt, grains like oatmeal or whole grain toast, and lean protein. NEVER skip breakfast. By eating a large, healthy meal when you get up in the morning, your metabolism will "rev up" and you will not be hungry by mid-morning. If you skip breakfast, your body will go into starvation mode and store calories in your body as FAT, yes FAT! So do yourself a big favor and eat breakfast.

4. Reduce Your Stress Level. So many of us live with too much stress. Stress lowers your immune system, making it easier to get sick. It also makes us lethargic, tired, and depressed. There are a lot of simple things you can do and a lot of ways to feel better about yourself and your life. Take a long, hot bath, read a book, listen to music, get a massage. Do something nice for yourself. Giving yourself something to look forward to is a tremendous mental incentive.

5. Move! Oh my gosh! There are so many ways to incorporate movement into your day, even at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Get up every hour and walk around your floor, your hallway or your desk. Park your car in the farthest space from where you need to be. Walk or bike to work. Skate, dance, golf, jump rope, clean house, play tag. The best exercise you can do is to walk. Try to take a walk every day! The more you move, the more your metabolism will be your friend. (I walk 3 miles every day whether it is raining, snowing or freezing.)

Tips for Losing Weight

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There are a thousand and one ways to lose weight, maybe more. Yet, losing weight and keeping it off is very difficult for most people. You either can’t lose weight or you lose weight but gain it all back.

Going on fad diets, crash diets, low-carb diets, and/or any other very limiting eating plan does not work for the long haul. Most of these types of diets are unhealthy or even hazardous to your health.

There are some very basic, very easy steps you can take not just to lose weight but to feel better. Enjoying life is about feeling good and being healthy. When your body is healthy, you feel good. When you feel good, life is good.

TIPS FOR LOSING WEIGHT

*DRINK WATER. One of the easiest, cheapest and most effective weight loss tips is simply to increase your daily water intake. Drink lots of it, at least 8 glasses per day. Drink it hot or drink it cold. Sipping it throughout the day is more beneficial than guzzling 8 ounces at a time.

What makes water so beneficial to our bodies? Water flushes harmful toxins out of the body by moving fecal matter through quickly and thoroughly, speeds up the metabolism, and makes it easier for the body to burn fat, lose weight and fight off disease.

When you first start increasing your intake of water, you may feel bloated for the first couple of days but that will improve once your body moves the stored-up fecal matter and other toxins through and out of your system. Adding a couple of slices of lemon or a little lemon juice to your water not only gives it a little flavor but is an additional aid in cleaning out your system.

*EAT A BIG, HEALTHY BREAKFAST. Most people think that if they skip breakfast it will help them lose weight. Actually, the opposite occurs. If you deprive your body of food in the morning, your body will shift into starvation mode and burn fewer calories, resulting in a slower metabolism.

The secret to successful weight loss is to get your metabolism revved up first thing in the morning. The only way to do that is to eat a healthy breakfast. Not only does skipping breakfast lower metabolic rate, it lowers blood sugar levels. Low blood sugar levels lead to feeling very hungry, tired, and overeating during the rest of the day.

Make sure you eat a healthy breakfast within one hour of rising. This will jump-start your metabolism and put it in hyper-drive for the next three hours. The best breakfast contains lean protein and complex carbohydrates like oatmeal and/or other whole grains.

*EAT SMALL MEALS. Eat five small protein-rich meals every three hours throughout the day. This keeps your metabolism moving and helps your body maintain a stable insulin level. This consistency prevents the body from releasing excess insulin and storing fat. Your body, instead, uses the energy right away, helping you to lose weight.

Since eating actually increases your metabolism, eating regularly every few hours will keep your metabolism at its most efficient. Every time you eat, your body expends energy to digest, absorb and store the food. Therefore, the more you eat, the more your metabolism revs up and the more fat your body burns.

*MOVE YOUR BODY! To burn calories, any kind of movement, whether it's walking, climbing stairs, dancing, or mowing the lawn, will help enhance your body's ability to burn fat and increase your metabolism. Increasing your metabolism will, in turn, help you lose weight faster.

Power walking, jogging, running, elliptical training, bicycling and swimming are excellent aerobic exercises that force your body to burn a higher percentage of calories from fat. These types of exercises, consisting of smooth and continuous movements, contribute many outstanding benefits to the human body without risking injury or stressing it.

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