Thank You For Visiting Our Blog, FEEL BETTER AND LIVE LONGER!

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.)


Successful Weight Loss

Many factors are involved in weight loss. How much and what types of food you eat, the amount of exercise you engage in and biological factors such as metabolism. Do you think you must avoid good-tasting food when dieting? Have you ever lost weight and then regained the pounds? Are you still searching for a “miracle” weight-loss plan?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are in good company. You have probably been unsuccessful at long-term weight loss. Unfortunately, most people who try to lose weight don't understand that successful weight loss requires not just fewer calories but also regular exercise and healthy eating habits that can be maintained for life.

The tips below will help lead you to long-term successful weight loss:

YOU MUST SET REALISTIC GOALS. This seems obvious, doesn’t it? However, most people do not really know what realistic is. A loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week is a healthy weight loss goal. Initially, you will probably lose more weight especially if you make substantial changes to your diet. To lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn between 500 and 1000 calories more than you consume each day.

NEVER SKIP BREAKFAST. Most people assume if they skip meals, especially breakfast, they will more easily lose weight. The truth is the opposite. When you skip meals, your metabolism slows down because your body goes into “starvation” mode. Eating breakfast, in fact, increases your metabolism, helping you to burn more calories during the day. It also helps you avoid overeating later in the day.

AVOID WHITE FOODS. This is an easy way to remember what not to eat. If it is made from white sugar, white flour, potatoes, rice or corn – say no. This rule of thumb will make it much easier to recognize the unhealthy foods to avoid.

ENJOY HEALTHY FOODS. Always look for colorful fruits and veggies to substitute for the white ones. Buy broccoli, bell peppers, green beans and peas, leafy greens, apples, melons, oranges and grapes. These foods are not only colorful they are also high in fiber, nutrients and vital antioxidants. Eating colorful fruits and vegetables will give your diet variety as well as give you added health benefits. Eat four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruits daily. Cook with olive oil. Choose low-fat dairy products and keep meat consumption limited to a small portion once or twice a week.

DRINK 8 GLASSES OF WATER EACH DAY. To begin with, you should drink a glass of water first thing in the morning before you eat. This is the healthiest glass you will drink all day and it will help you remember to drink water all day long.  Drinking water 8 to 10 times each day gets easier the more you do it. Once you get started, you will begin to crave water. You can add a few drops of lemon or lime juice to your water or add ice. Water also moves the toxins and wastes through and out of your system, reducing your risk for constipation and many other diseases and conditions.

EAT MORE FIBER. Fiber, like water, moves toxins and waste through your body. If you aren’t eliminating wastes every day, you are storing it–and those pounds of stored waste add up quickly.  People can store as much as 20 pounds of waste in their bodies. Yuck! Increase your fiber intake, along with your water intake. You will be healthier and feel much better.



EAT AT LEAST 3 SMALL MEALS & 2 SNACKS EVERY DAY. Eating more meals to lose weight doesn’t sound right, does it. However, eating more often will increase your metabolism- just like eating breakfast. It also helps you curb your intake of “bad” carbohydrates by making sure that your snacks are planned and take place at regular intervals throughout the day.

CLOSE THE KITCHEN AFTER DINNER. Establish a time when you will stop eating so you won’t give in to the late-night munchies or mindless snacking while watching television. If you must have something, drink a cup of tea, eat a piece of fruit, or suck on a piece of hard candy.

BE ACTIVE. The key to weight loss is burning more calories than you consume. Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound (0.5 kilogram) of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. So if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you'd lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories).

While you can lose weight without exercise, exercise makes weight-loss a lot easier. Exercise helps burn off excess calories that you can't cut through diet alone. It also offers numerous health benefits, including boosting your mood, strengthening your cardiovascular system and reducing your blood pressure.

Exercise helps maintain weight loss. People who maintain their weight loss over the long term enjoy regular physical activity. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise — such as brisk walking, swimming, skating, dancing, or aerobics class — for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.

There are other ways, as well, that you can use to burn extra calories. Lifestyle activities may be easier to fit into your day. Think about ways you can increase your physical activity throughout the day if you can't fit in formal exercise on a given day. For example, make several trips up and down stairs instead of using the elevator, or park at the far end of the lot when shopping.

CONTROL YOUR ENVIRONMENT. If you don’t buy it, you can’t eat it! Stick to the outer edge of the grocery store. This is where you will find the fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish, and dairy products. Controlling your environment includes everything from stocking your kitchen with lots of healthy options to choosing the right restaurants. That means staying away from all-you-can-eat restaurants.

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE. If you want long-term, successful weight loss, these habits must become a way of life. Lifestyle changes start with taking an honest look at your current eating habits and daily routine. After making this personal assessment, try working out a strategy to gradually make changes to your habits that have sabotaged your efforts in the past.

If you have a setback, instead of giving up, start fresh the next day. Remember, this is about changing your life, not just about making some temporary diet changes. Stick to your healthy lifestyle and the results will come.

1 comments:

  1. Hey, great blog post. I really enjoyed reading through your posts because of the style and energy that goes into them. I actually have my own blog (lowercholesterolreview.com) where I like to post my musings about health and cholesterol levels. I was wondering if you would be interested in guest blogging. If you are, please send an email to bob.maurer65 (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete