Keeping a Weight Loss Diary

Having run a slimming club for 2 years - I became very aware of the number of people who were constantly surprised that they had failed to lose weight. When I questioned them about what they had eaten over a 2/3 day period I began to realise that most people have very short memories and can easily and conveniently forget about the odd biscuit here and there and the mug of hot chocolate they had before they went to bed. It is these snacks and occasional drinks that make it very difficult to successfully lose weight.
When I eventually trained as a nutritionist and started to help people on an individual basis to lose weight I would always insist that part of the weight loss program should be to keep a diary of all the food and drink consumed each day. As a weight loss coach this was valuable information. If a client had failed to lose weight, I was able to see immediately what the problem was.
The reasons for lack of weight loss are not always about the odd biscuit or hot chocolate. Sometimes it can be due to insufficient protein at each of the meals or maybe even not eating often enough or not eating enough at each meal. All of this things are important for a healthy and successful weight loss.
If you are just thinking about starting a weight loss regime it is also a good idea to start your food diary now. Very often this can be the spur that is needed. Once you see how bad your diet is you will soon start to make the necessary changes to help you to lose weight

Overcoming Childhood Obesity

An article in the Washington Post on February 20th 2009, reports that a new initiative has been unveiled to help childhood obesity. The initiative, which is spearheaded by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, is designed to give children better access to health care to help fight obesity. The children concerned will have a 4 visits to a dietician and 4 visits to a doctor paid for by participating insurance companies. The hope is that these sessions will help by giving them advise on healthy eating enabling them to lose weight.

Health Ranger Mike Adams voices concerns that dieticians do not have the necessary training to help these children. He comments that many of them do not appreciate that there is a nutritional difference between raw and cooked foods and therefore is skeptical about the value of the help they may be able to give

Whilst it is clear that the parents of obese children need educating in the understanding of what constitutes a healthy diet, there is understandable concern about who, if anyone, is eligible to ensure that the parents get good, sound advice from somebody who really knows what they are talking about. Tho whole family needs to be prepared to make dietary changes if the child is to follow a successful weight loss regime

Very often the best person to advise on a health issue of any kind is somebody who has suffered that complaint themselves and has found a natural healthy way to solve it

I recently read a review of an ebook called "Overcoming Childhood Obesity" by Julia Pearce. Julia was herself an overweight child and experienced the humiliation of being taunted and teased about her weight. This book covers:-

• The causes and symptoms of childhood obesity
• The impact obesity can have on children
• What you can do specifically to help your child overcome their obesity and lose weight
  
• How to introduce better eating habits
• How to get your child interested in exercise
• Plus, how to help your child keep the weight off for good and much, much more!

Commenting on her book, Julia says

"This is the guide I wish my parents had access to when I was growing up - Things would have been so much easier for me."

If you have a child who is overweight why not help them to lose weight now and ensure that they don't become an obese adult with potentially life threatening health problems.

Type 2 Diabetes Linked to Obesity

According to an article printed today in Sky News the cases of Diabetes in the UK have "jumped 60% in a decade"

The article goes on to say that newly released figures found that obesity was fuelling the soaring rates and that the increases in the UK were currently higher than in the US. The research was led by experts from Spain and Sweden and has been published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

Douglas Smallwood the chief executive of Diabetes UK commented that the research was a "sad indictment" of the current state of the UK's health. He urged people to be more aware of the importance of eating a healthy well balanced diet and the the need for regular exercise.

Well, unfortunately, as with most things in this day and age, we have to reach crisis point before anybody is prepared to listen and make the necessary changes. This isn't just about diabetes, although clearly this is a massive area for concern, it is about our health in general and our inability to understand the finer points of how our bodies work and what they need in order to work optimally and to be fit and healthy. Too many people are living their lives thinking they have to "put up" with poor health, especially as they get older. This just isn't the case. However it is important to take control of your life and your health now so that you don't find yourself too far down the slippery slope before you decide to do anything about it. Prevention is much easier than cure by a long way!

If you are overweight then it is time to find a suitable weight loss diet now. Don't play Russian Roulette with your health. The same applies to those people who may think they are lucky because they don't put weight on no matter what they eat. They are no exception when it comes to a long and healthy life. A healthy well balanced diet is a must for all of us.

A healthy weight loss diet is not something to be feared. It is something to be embraced. Do your research and find out what constitutes a well balanced diet and start to make small but significant changes to your diet.

Some Weight Loss Programs Just Don't Work

The majority of highly promoted weight loss programs just don’t work. Many of these programs are at best disappointing and at worst making fraudulent claims. The side effects of some of these programs can cause untold damage to your health.

There are several “weight loss pills” available over the counter that promise miraculous results. However it is important to be wary of the side effects of these pills.

• Appetite Suppressants are intended to reduce your hunger and make you eat less. However it is important to be aware of the effects this might have on your body. Reducing your appetite means you will inevitably be cutting back on your calorific intake. This can actually slow down the fat burning process, as the body goes into starvation mode and slows the metabolism in response. When you start to eat normally again your body will forget to readjust the metabolism and you end up gaining more weight than you originally lost.

• Starch, fat or carbohydrate blockers. Taking these types of weight loss pills serves only to lie to your body, as they send the message that it is ok to eat all sorts of fattening foods like pastries and pizzas. The pills are intended to block the absorption of any fat, which does little to encourage the dieter to find a healthy diet for the future. These pills are also known to cause unpleasant side effects such as diarrhea and headaches. Weight loss is only likely to be sustained if good eating habits are established

• The metabolism booster sometimes called a thermogenic pill can be extremely dangerous. It is a very strong stimulant that can put undue pressure on the heart as well causing energy swings and possible insomnia.

At the end of the day it is important to remember that healthy weight loss is about finding a diet for life. If you have put on weight in the past then it is highly likely that you have been eating foods that are not providing you with a healthy well balanced diet that suits your body type. Once you find a diet that is right for you weight loss will be a thing of the past

5 Reasons to lose body fat NOW

Most of us are very good at putting things off until tomorrow. We are also prone to putting off the inevitable .."until Christmas is over".... "until we have been on holiday"..." until we have been to that celebration party" etc etc. What we are doing here is procrastinating. Putting something off that we really don't want to do. Is that ringing any bells. It certainly is for me.

I am sure it won't surprise you to know that weight loss fits perfectly into that category. What we need to remember is that "tomorrow never comes". So 2 0r 3 months or even years down the road, nothing has changed. We are still waiting for the perfect moment.

Of course, as with most things, fear is our biggest enemy. We are afraid that we won't be able to stick to our new weight loss regime, or that losing body fat will be too difficult, or maybe we are concerned that our friends will make fun of us etc etc.

At the end of the day, as with all things in life, we have to take control of our own lives and take responsibility for the way we behave and the subsequent consequences.

Here are 5 reasons why you should not put off your weight loss program until tomorrow if you can do it today.

1. We are living longer than ever before, which is a wonderful fact of life, IF and only IF we have good health in our 3rd age. If you are overweight your chances of good health when you are older are virtually nil
2. Being overweight means you are not eating the right foods for your body type. If you were you wouldn't be overweight. Don't allow yourself to succumb to food related illnesses because of an inappropriate diet
3. There is a strong link between obesity and depression. This can be due to the fact that your body is deficient in health promoting foods. These same foods will help you to lose weight
4. Most of us lead very stressful lives. Being overweight is an unbelievable physical stress on our bodies. Stress can lead to many illnesses due to the way in which the body responds. A good weight loss diet and exercise regime will go a long way to improve this situation
5. Being overweight will often result in tiredness and lethargy. If you lose weight you will notice a real improvement in your energy levels. The right fuel (food) in the correct proportions can do wonders for our energy levels

Health is not something to be taken for granted. Strip that body fat now and feel the benefits immediately

Find a weight loss diet plan that appeals to you

Losing weight is notoriously difficult, but it is worth persevering because it can have a profound effect o health. Losing weight can help to lower blood pressure and get cholesterol under control, as well as alleviating the strain on arthritic joints.

For weight loss to be successful it is probably best to approach it as a long term change in lifestyle rather than a short term goal. One of the most important aspects of any weight loss regime is to find a diet plan that suits you and that appeals to you. It is vital that you choose a program that you can stick with long term.

Keep a dietary diary. Write down everything you put in your mouth and more importantly how you felt after that meal or snack. Did it sustain you? Did you have any sugar cravings within 2 hours after the meal? This sort of information will help you to find out which foods are best for you and which foods you can successfully include in your weight loss diet plan.

Remember to eat a high protein breakfast that will sustain you until lunchtime.

If you need to eat snacks between meals try to stick to almonds, peanut butter or a ripe avocado. All of these foods contain mono unsaturated fats (MUFA's) that will actually help you to lose weight.

Weight Loss Secrets Revealed

So many people struggle to lose weight that there is no wonder that so much is written about weight loss secrets. The problem is that suggesting in the first place that there is a weight loss secret implies that it is a secret ingredient that holds true for everybody. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is what makes the whole business of weight loss so difficult. There is not one secret that will answer everybody's problem.

It is possible however that many people have the same problem that is preventing them from losing weight, but this is where personal responsibility kicks in. It is up to each and everyone of us to get to know our own bodies.

We need to know:-

• Which foods suit us and which don't.
  
• Do we have an underlying blood sugar problem?
• Is depression affecting our ability to lose weight?
• Do we have a parasite infestation that is causing us to put weight on?
• Are we so stressed out that our adrenal glands are no longer functioning correctly?
• Do we have sufficient Hydrochloric Acid to digest the protein we are eating?

These are just a few of the issues that may be causing us to put weight on in the first place and then find it difficult to lose weight. But it is up to each and every one of us to find out the hidden weight loss secrets for our own bodies. All the experts can do is suggest the possible problems and the rest is up to us.

If you want to read more information about these underlying weight loss secrets then please visit my squidoo lens

How to Strip that Body Fat

Did you know that Losing Weight Can be Fun!

Too many people make weight loss a chore when it could be an adventure to be enjoyed. Mind set is a very important component of any weight loss regime. If you attack you weight loss with a positive attitude and a desire to enjoy the process as well as the end results you won't go far wrong


Would you like to learn about a revolutionary new diet system and eating program that can help you to lose weight WITHOUT restricting your diet to “low fat” or “low carb” foods, rather eating the right calories.

You actually get to eat more and lose more !

You need to exercise, to lose weight, but this can be as little as half an hours purposeful exercise 3 times a week. Quality v quantity!! Some of the exercise you can do to actually increase your metabolism, and increase the calories you burn while you are resting!

If you follow the diet and don't cheat you can see results in a very short space of time. Within 14 days from now, you will look and feel different. In fact you may even start seeing results in mere days.

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How to Lose Weight by Resolving Emotional Issues

I wonder if you have ever come across the saying "If you do what you've always done you'll get what you always got"?

This saying can be particularly true for anyone who wants to lose weight. It is vital to change your whole outlook on food and your way of eating if you are to successfully lose weight and maintain that weight loss. You need to be able to accept that what you are currently doing doesn't work. It is also important to realise that if it isn't working for your weight it won't be working for your overall health either. The two are intrinsically linked.

However many people choose to live under the misapprehension that you can be fat and healthy. This is a myth readily accepted by those people who don't want to face up to their weight problem. They are just kidding themselves so that they don't have to make the necessary changes to lose weight and improve their overall health for the present and for the future.

The reasons for being overweight are many and varied, but my experience as health professional and weight loss advisor I have encountered many overweight people who have long standing emotional issues that need to be addressed before the the person can begin to emabark on a fruitful weight loss campaign.

One of the best ways to address these emotional eissues is through something called the Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT. To find out more about EFT you can visit the EFT site belonging to Gary Craig, the doctor who started EFT

Weight Loss for the over 40's

Did you know that your calorie burning efficiency slows down once you reach the age of 40? Apparently it is not unusual for the average woman over 40 making no dietary changes, to gain about a pound a year. By the time she is 60 she can easily be 20lb overweight. The main reason for your calorie burning ability to slow down is the decline in your activity levels as you get older. However that is not all. Your metabolism slows down also.

Before you know where you are you have gained fat around your belly - just where you didn't want it. Unfortunately this belly fat is not only unsightly it is also a huge health risk too.

However there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you include plenty of Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFAs) in your diet they can help to seek out and erase the belly fat. Foods such as peanut butter (no additives) olive oil and avacados are just 3 of the foods you can eat to get rid of belly fat. By eating these foods high in fat you will feel more satisfied and less likely to reach for the chocolate bar or the ice cream after your meal. They can be a great benefit to your weight loss diet.

There are other methods that will help you lose body fat. Sometimes there is't just one right way . It may be necessary to combine a few regimes to help you to slove your weight loss problem

Eat and Lose Weight

There seems to be a common misconception amongst people on weight loss diets , that they need to starve themselves to lose weight. On the contrary starving yourself can actually have the opposite effect, as your body readjusts its metabolic rate to cope with the sudden change in eating habits and you may even gain weight or at best stay the same weight.

It is now widely accepted that you must eat to lose weight and by that I mean there is no need to go hungry. A purposeful and informed way of eating is essential for both your weight loss and your overall health.

By chance, a Frenchman called Michel Montignac, came across some statistical investigations into diabetes, which revealed that 80% of all diabetics are obese. He decided to investigate further to see if both ailments had the same origin.

What he discovered was that weight loss occurs when you eat food with a low glycemic index. The people with type 2 diabetes are suffering from something called hyperinsulinism. When they started to eat a diet made up of low glycemic foods not only did their symptoms improve but they also lost weight.

Montignac makes it quite clear that he believes that we don't put weight on because we eat too much, we put weight on because we eat the wrong type of foods. It is vital therefore to eat healthily and to be aware of the food we are eating and its value to our health and well being

The Montignac method is a way of eating that is now scientifically supported. There also now many other versions of the GI diet available through Amazon. Unfortunately the original book by Michel Montignac is not currently available I can recommend another book that has taken the GI diet one step further and instead looks at the Glycemic Load (GL) of food. The author Patrick Holford, is an eminent nutritionist in the UK and has authored many books on the subject of natural health and weight loss

Your Fat Loss Resolution

With the New Year just a couple of weeks ago it is very likely that many of you will already have given up on your New Years Resolutions. Perhaps you resolution was to lose weight, but the recent cold weather just wasn’t conducive to going on a diet and walking to work just wasn’t an option!

New Year's Resolutions can be viewed in the same light as goal setting, where the achievement or otherwise is generally measured in success or failure. Personally I don’t consider this to be very helpful and would therefore be more inclined to avoid any resolutions or goals rather than risk the feeling of failure if I don’t manage to stick to them.

However, recently I read an article on goal setting that had more of an appeal for me, the reason being it made it seems more achievable.

This is the message I took from that article:-

“YOU MUST DO SOMETHING EVERY SINGLE DAY TOWARDS ACCOMPLISHING YOUR GOAL.”

It doesn’t matter how big or how small this effort has to be. It just has to be SOMETHING. So every day that passes in your life you will incrementally be closer to getting everything you want. It’s a simple, yet powerful concept.

What I particularly like about this concept is that you can take one day at a time. I am a firm believer in “living in the present moment” and this concept allows me to do just that.

If, for example, your goal is to lose weight, then each day you can do something towards that weight loss goal. It maybe something as simple as walking instead of taking the car or maybe increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables in your diet.

For some people who need to lose weight, the prospect of having to lose “2 stone before Easter” can be a real stumbling block. When we are faced with such a difficult time limited goal it often seems so overwhelming that it’s much easier to just put off starting it until another day. And of course, only too often, that day never comes.

So it is worth remembering that if you want to improve your health or lose weight you must be taking an action every single day that contributes towards your ultimate goal. But the important thing to remember is that you goal for that day is just to do one or two things towards your ultimate goal. So each day you manage to achieve that smaller goal you will experience success. If, for what ever reason, you don’t manage to achieve that smaller goal, don’t despair, you can try again tomorrow

Try not to let a single day go by when you aren’t making at least SOME incremental progress towards your fat loss goal or resolution and you will discover over time that it will undoubtedly change your life for the better.

Achieve your goal now the easy way, taking one step at a time using my tips for losing weight .

Lose Weight by Eating Right for Your Body Type

It is now more widely accepted that there are certainly body types that find losing body fat more difficult than other body types. So what exactly are these body types and which type finds losing body fat so difficlut and why?

Back in the 1940's, an American psychologist called Dr. William H Sheldon, became interested in the study of human body types. He devoted his life to observing how body types were related to temperaments. As a result of his research, Sheldon developed a system to classify the body types. He called it SOMATOTYPING.

Sheldon identified three distinct body types:

1. Mesomorphs - are the genetically gifted types who are lean, muscular and naturally athletic.
2. Endomorphs - are the fat retainers. They have a round body shape and large joints (they are "big boned") and they often have great difficulty losing body fat.
3. Ectomorphs - these types are the lean, skinny types. They are usually very thin and bony, with fast metabolisms and extremely low body fat.

The endomorph body type is the slimmer's nightmare. However it is not impossible for endomorphs to lose weight if they are prepared to follow the guidelines.

Luckily there are many techniques an endomorph can use to increase their ability lose weight, including adjustments to their training program. Training is similar to nutrition, if you train the wrong way for your body type, you will not get the results you were hoping for.

Endomorphs will only fall short of their weight loss goals if they fail to adjust their program according to their genetics. They can lose weight provided they stick to the rules of their diet plan and adhere to the correct exercise regime

Endomorphs tend to be carbohydrate intolerant and so they need to remove processed and refined carbs from their diet. This is particularly true of white sugar and white flour products, as they rapidly converts them into body fat. The endomorph would be advised to follow a diet which provided between no more than 30-40% carbohydrates and 20-30 % fats and 40% protein.

Once they have started on this dietary regime it is important to fine tune the ratios to ensure that they are achieving their desired goals and losing body fat.

De-stress to Lose Weight

The issues surrounding obesity and weight loss are many faceted. There is no single reason why somebody is overweight or obese any more than there is a single reason why they find it almost impossible to lose weight successfully.

One of the least recognised reasons for the above is that of stress. Most people would deny that they are stressed, mainly because they don't really understand what stress is. Stress can creep up on you unannounced and suddenly you find yourself in its grips.

Being stressed is not a matter of having panic attacks or feeling out of control. Stress can be a simple as trying to keep lots of balls in the air. Perhaps you have a family, a job and a sick parent to look after. For some people this can be very difficult to manage. You may think you are coping really well but there will also be times when you realise that it is taking its toll.

Constant chronic stress triggers a hormone called cortisol in your body. Cortisol is often referred to as the stress hormone because your adrenal glands start pumping it out when you're under stress. On a good day cortisol helps to regulate blood pressure, cardiovascular function and metabolism. But when stress levels rise and then stay there, your body is flooded with cortisol constantly. As a result your immune system suffers, your blood pressure rises and your belly gets fatter and fatter.

One of the main reason why this happens is that cortisol stimulates your appetite and your body starts to store fat. This fat is stored in your belly as your belly loves cortisol. So it makes sense that no weight loss regime is likely to work if you don't reduce your stress and cortisol levels first.

So what are the signs of a stressful life? Well a good example is chronic back pain or neck pain. Another symptom is often digestive problems, which can also make fat loss more difficult

However there is no need to despair. The good news is that stress induced belly fat is not that difficult to lose. Just reduce your stress a little bit and weight loss will start to happen very quickly. Relaxation exercises can be very helpful in reducing stress as can simple meditation. It is about allowing yourself to be a "human being" not a "human doing"

Fat Loss is All in The Mind

There is nothing more annoying than somebody telling you your problems are all in the mind. It can make you feel like some kind of freak who is imagining their problems. However when it comes to weight loss there is probably more truth in this statement than you might realise.

One of the main problems with being overweight is that you are blatantly aware that you are overweight. Your clothes don't fit, you don't look your best and you start to think and act like a fat person. Consequently you eat like a fat person and you exercise like a fat person.

Please understand that doesn't mean that it is all in your imagination, but it does mean that your mind is ruling your body. Have you ever heard of the Law of Attraction? The Law of Attraction says that you attract to yourself what you think about. So if you are constantly thinking about being fat and being unable to lose weight then that is exactly what you get.

There is also a saying "if you do what you've always done you'll get what you've always got". So if you want to Law of Attraction to work for you you have to change the way you think about yourself. Think yourself thin. It may sound far fetched, but if you think thin you will be more likely to eat and exercise like a thin person and in doing so you will attract the weight loss you so desire

So when I say Fat loss is all in the mind, perhaps you can now see how the power of thought can work against you. It is up to you to change the way you think about yourself and hopefully this fat loss secret will give you the kick start you need.

The Obesity Epidemic

It's true. We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic, which, despite the information and help available, is growing at an alarming rate. The mountain of information available on weight loss and healthy eating doesn't seem to be having any impact on this escalating trend

Dr Jaap Seidell of the International Obesity Task force, has confirmed that the incidence of obesity is on the rise throughout the world making it one of the fastest developing public health concerns. The World Health organization has described it as a "world wide" epidemic. It's estimated that around 250 million people worldwide are obese. This is particularly prevalent in the US where over one third of the adult population are obese and one in seven children and adolescents are obese.

Many people have become yo yo dieters. They lose weight only to put it back on again time after time, they can even put more weight on than before. Their weight is gradually creeping up higher and higher and they don't know what to do about it.

Sadly weight loss yoyo-ers are on the increase. Basically your body has become confused. Originally your body had a set point, a weight that was the norm for you. With repeated weight loss followed by weight gain your body is constantly changing that set point until it is at a higher rate than you would like it to be. It can then be very difficult to attain the weight loss you so desire. Your body plateaus and any further weight loss seems like an impossibility. This is often the time when the dieter becomes frustrated and gives up

If you want to re regulate your set point it is important to realize that you are going to have to be far more persistent in your approach to weight loss. Sustaining your weight loss, can become increasingly difficult mainly because your adrenal glands have become exhausted. Very often when you have been on a weight loss diet month after month, perhaps not following the most sensible diet, maybe cutting calories or missing meals your body is constantly in a fight or flight state. This will inevitably leave you tired. People will often turn to stimulants such as tea, coffee, and diet drinks as a pick me up to compensate for their energy deficient diet. Unfortunately this just activates the sympathetic nervous system to release more stress hormones which in turn requires more stimulants and so the cycle goes on and weight loss becomes less and less likely. It becomes a self defeating prophecy and more often than not the dieter is completely unaware of the effect their eating/drinking habits are having on their weight loss regime

Anyone who has been on a poorly regulated weight loss diet will inevitably have lost some muscle as well as fat. As muscle burns energy this can be detrimental to your weight loss regime. Decreased muscle mass means a lower metabolic rate. This in turn means less fat burning will take place. As you can see it can so easily turn into a vicious circle and the yo yo dieter strikes again!

For more information on healthy weight loss - you can head over to my Squidoo Lenses