Weight Loss

Motivation for Weight Loss

2006-07-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

Deciding that you need to lose a bit (or a lot) of weight is easy. Following through is the tough part!

So how to motivate yourself?

A good idea is to write down how you think you'll feel if you succeed in losing however many pounds you want to lose.
Will you feel more energetic?
More confidant?
Happier?
Healthier?
Will people be happier to spend time with you?
Will it be good for your love life?

Whatever it is that you yourself feel will be the results of losing weight, write it in a list and put the list on your fridge.
Then add a 'before' and 'after'picture of you when you were slim and you as you are right now.
Then every time you go to the fridge, look at the pictures and read one of the items on your list.

Now start another list (for the fridge of course) with what you are going to eat to transform yourself back to your slimmer self.
Maybe decide that for one month you will eat nothing but raw foods and that at the end of a month you are going to evaluate whether this has made you closer to the way you want to be.
If that is the route you are taking, then fill the fridge with cantalopes, celery, carrots, watermelon, lettuce, cucumbers, spring onions, tomatoes, all sorts of berries, apples, raw nuts and seed etc. Make sure that there is plenty of all your favourite fruits and veggies and nuts and seeds.
Make yourself fresh juice at least once a day, maybe fresh carrot and celery juice with a little garlic and basil once a day, and an apple juiced with nuts and blueberries at another time.

Whatever you do, don't go hungry. Eat until you are full! Depriving yourself that way is a sure route to failure.

Overcoming Compulsive Overeating

2006-07-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

Many people eat too much because it gives them a feeling of being comforted. Maybe this is from when we were a baby and maybe whenever we screamed we were cuddled and fed so we associate food with comfort. Most people know about comfort foods!

Our lives are and always have been full of a mix of good and bad things. Probably some very good things and some very bad things.

If we dwell on the bad things too much, if they are things that cannot be changed then clearly we will want to be comforted. If that means overeating and the overeating makes us way overweight, then we just have one more bad problem with lots of potential health problems.

And just maybe we'll be so upset because we don't look good or feel good that we'll need comforting, and what will we turn to for that but more starchy fatty foods to make us feel better for a short while.

Your body is a finely tuned instrument that knows when it is hungry. When you are hungry eat some healthy food in a reasonable portion. It may take the stomach a bit of time to send a message to the brain that you are full, so eat slowly and thoughtfully. Enjoy what you do eat, and listen to your body. When it tells you you are full, then stop eating. Be busy with something else that you like doing so that you don't obsess about food.

But most of all, look at all the bad things that have happened to you all your life. Write them all down. Be your own good parent - sympathise with yourself for all the bad things. Then tell yourself that that was in the past. The past can't be changed, but there is no need for it to ruin the rest of your life. Look the at all bad things straight on. Tell yourself that they were not your fault and that you are not going to continue to suffer because of them. That this is the beginning of a new happier you.

For a while you will feel different - your stomach is used to being filled up more. But if you don't overeat all the time your stomach will get used to not being filled up so much.

Don't go hungry and starve yourself. That is not going to work in the long run. After a while you'll feel deprived because you are trying to deprive yourself and then you'll quit, and because your body thinks that there was a famine it will have created a pile more fat cells so that when you start binging again you get fatter than ever so that you can survive the next famine.

Raw Diet Proving Successful

2006-07-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been on holidays for a couple of weeks. Just got back and I haven't had a chance to weigh myself on a reliable scale, but I did have to put a new notch into a belt I had been wearing just before I went away. My waist line was down 3".

Over the 2 weeks I think I had 5 cooked meals (mostly because of the social situation I was in at the time. The rest of my meals were 100% raw and I was eating as much as I wanted to.

Raw means different things to different people. For me it means that the food contains plenty of natural enzymes still - that they haven't been killed by heating etc.

So I have raw live yoghurt (both milk and soymilk yoghurts) in my diet and cheeses. The milk that they are made from has probably been boiled, but then some natural cultures have been grown using the milk or soymilk as a medium, so that these foods have plenty of enzymes alive and well.

I have to say that I feel way more energetic on this diet.

Drink Plenty of Water when you Want to Lose Weight

2006-06-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

It's important to make sure that you drink plenty of water when you are trying to lose weight. - up to 10 x 8 oz glasses of water a day!

The water helps to flush toxins out of your system, lubricates your joints, carries nutrients in your blood and is essential for many of the chemical reaction in your body.

It seems hard to drink that much water. Spread it out fairly evenly over the day, about one glass an hour or so.

Carry a water bottle with you when you go anywhere to make it easy.

Spring water is better than distilled water. Spring water contains essential minerals which are not present when water has been distilled. Tap water straight from the tap is not so good. It may contain chlorine which is something you don't want inside you! If you want to filter your tap water, a charcoal based filter may be best.

Exercise does More for you than just taking off the pounds

2006-06-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Exercise is something that you need every day. Try to build it into your life.

It doesn't just burn off the calories (though it does that too).

It makes your mind sharper.

It makes you feel less tired! Try it if you don't believe me - when you get home from work and just want to be a couch potato because you had a tough day, instead walk around the block and enjoy the gardens and trees and birds etc. When you get back home, don't you feel better?

Also it helps you to have better quality sleep. Which means that you feel better the next day and can achieve more with ease.

Cycling - A great exercise in the summer.

2006-06-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

Now that summer is here, it's time to put your car away and get out your bicycle.

Cycling to work, to the stores, to visit friends and family can give you all the exercise you need while doing the things that you would be doing in any case.

Start off slowly at the beginning of the summer. Short rides at a slow pace so that you get your cycling muscles in shape before going for long rides.

A bonus is how good your legs will look when you cycle a lot! Nicely toned muscles!

Dancing - A Great Way to Lose Weight

2006-06-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

If you are going to lose weight and keep it off, more exercise will certainly help.

But if exercise is boring and repetative after a while you'll start finding excuses for yourself as to why you just can't do it today. Or the next day. Or this week ......

The solution? Make the exercise fun.
For instance, you and your partner could take some dancing classes. Then when the classes are through, go dancing with your partner. Enjoy yourself and keep in shape. What more could you want?

Be Nice to Yourself

2006-06-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

When you are trying to lose weight, you will likely start with a lot of good intentions.

For a short while you'll be right into it and it will be easy to follow your plan.

But then something happens to cause you to not follow your plan. A friend gets married, and you drink a lot of calories in champaigne to celebrate the event. You have a business lunch with a client and eating just salad doesn't seem appropriate. You have a deadline to submit a report by, and sit at your computer all day to finish it, missing your daily exercise. Whatever.

It's not the end of the world. Just realize that there are going to be days that everything doesn't go as you intended with your diet. Whatever you do, don't be hard on yourself! Tell yourself that so far you have done very well. That it seemed necessary at the time to not follow your plan, but that now theat situation is over you are going to go back and continue on with what you had planned for yourself.

It didn't happen that you got overweight overnight. And realistically it's not going to happen that you get slim overnight either.
Do your best, and if you slip a little, well, it's just going to add an extra day or so on to the time until you reach the weight you wish to be at.

Starvation Diets not slimming in the long term

2006-06-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

If you try to slim by drastically cutting the amount of calories that you eat so that you are eating less calories than your body needs, several bad things happen.

First your body goes into 'starvation mode' and slows down your metabolism so that you have less energy and don't need as much food.

When you go back to a regular diet, your body decides that it should put on more fat than you had before in case another famine comes. It is cleverly trying to prevent you from starving to death by storing more fuel!

So after every starvation diet binge, you'll likely get a little bit fatter once it's over. Probably not what you want to achieve!

95% of diets are 'starvation diets' - And how many overweight people do you see?

So instead of trying to starve yourself, eat sensibly and exercise more. It doesn't matter what the exercise is. Just do it!

Goals and Support - an important part of Weight Loss

2006-06-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

First of all set a goal. Don't just vaguely hope for something. Be as specific as possible.

Make your goal exact numbers. how many inches, how many pounds, the date you will start and the date you will achieve your goal by.

Say something like 'I will lose4 inches from my waistline. I'm going to start tomorrow and I'm going to lose one pound a week for 12 weeks. I'm going to achieve this by exercising an extra 10 minutes a day and by not eating more than one slice of pizza at a time or drinking more than one glass of beer or wine a day.'

After 12 weeks I will be able to wear size ? again.

Write it down and have copies posted on your monitor, your fridge, at work and the place you keep your runners etc.

Tell all your friends and family just exactly what you are going to do and ask them for their support. Tell them you need their help with positive feedback to achieve this goal.

Now that you know exacltly where you are going and how you are going to get there, how can you not lose weight!

A problem with Fast Weight Loss

2006-06-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

When you lose a lot of weight quickly, where the weight used to be can look pretty saggy! Not a pretty sight!

The solution? Youprobably need to the gym every second day and work your way around all the machines and also do some free weights until the tone is back and everything looks good again. Ask the instructor for guidance - that's what they are there for.

And really, all the machines they have! Don't think that this or that muscle doesn't matter! It does if you want to be in good shape.

You don't need to do a punishing workout. Just say 10 very slow repetitions on each weight machine until you feel just the slightest bit of muscle burn.

Why go Raw?

2006-06-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

Because more than 30% of the nutrition in foods is destroyed by cooking.

Enzymes are almost all destroyed once food is heated past 110%

Fresh, raw foods contain huge quantities of enzymes.

Enzymes are needed for all the thousands of chemical reactions in your body. So for optimum health and longevity raw food is the best diet.

Only people and animals that are fed by people eat cooked food. Compare the health of any animal you know that eats cooked vood versus the ones that eat the fresh food nature intended for them. I think you will see that the animals that do not eat cooked food are slimmer, have glossier fur, are more alert and intelligent.

Where I live, there are signs in all the parks asking people not to feed the animals. Of course, everyone ignores them. There are lots of fat not very healthy raccoons in the parks here. They don't look like the healthy raccoons that live in the wilds. I personally think that if people were told to only feed the wild animals in the parks raw foods that a lot of people would be happy to comply with that and we'd have healthier coons.

Well, not much one can do about that, but you can control the food that goes into your body!

Quick and Easy Weight Loss Lunch

2006-06-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

This raw food lunch takes less than 5 minutes to prepare. It certainly tastes good!
1 Avocado - mashed with a fork
1/2 Tomato chopped
1tsp Soya Sauce
1 Carrot grated
1 segment of Garlic
Small piece of chopped fresh ginger root
2tsp of Hemp Seed Nuts

Just mix everything together and enjoy!

Two Weeks on Raw Food Only - 11 pounds lost!

2006-06-02T22:01:00.000-07:00

I wasn't expecting such a good result! I had decided to spend a month on a raw food diet before trying to turn it into a weight loss diet.

For now I am eating exactly as much as I want to, and I don't think my exercise has been at a different level from the usual.

Today I've eaten 2 avocadoes, some almond butter, a handful of cashews as well as a lot of fruits including bananas, and salad items.

When I feel like a desert, and I do most days! I'm taking some presoaked dates and mixing them with raw cocoa and a variety of other things. chopped nuts, nut butters, bananas. It tastes very good. I have no desire for the sugar heavy chocolate bars any more. I think my raw ones taste better!

I also feel a lot more energetic in a way that is hard to explain. More alive I think is the best way to describe it.

Be Realistic about Weight Loss

2006-06-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

If you are overweight it probably took you a while to get that way.
Probably at one time your weight was fine, then you made some little changes to your life here and there and the pounds began to come on.

Maybe you decided to drive to the stores instead of walking.

Maybe you decided to sit and watch telivision instead of tending your garden.

Maybe your job became more stationary as computers began to be more and more organised to run a business. Why get up to send a fax when an e-mail will be faster? Why go to a coleagues office when an email is so easy!

And maybe while you were sitting down for longer periods of time you also were snacking more because it was so easy to eat and work.

If something like this has happened to you, then try to figure out the changes that caused the extra fat and try to reverse them as much as possible.

When you were slim, did you play a sport? If so, what could you do now that you would enjoy doing just as much as that while getting a similar amount of exercise?

Can you walk to the shops most of the time?

Can your snacks be non fattening? How about celery, carrot and cucumber slices with a raw yoghurt based dip flavoured in your favourite way?

Think about things for a while. Think of one thing you can do to either get more exercise or to eat healthy but less fattening foods that you can still enjoy to replace the high starch and fat snacks that are so prevalent like potato or corn chips.

Then, most important of all! Just do it!

The Stairs or the Elevator?

2006-05-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

One easy way to get more exercise is to always use the stairs. Going up and down stairs is great exercise - It'll burn plenty of calories.

If you are in a department store and can't find any stairs, but there is a moving staircase, just climp up and down it as it's moving. But if you are offered a choice between stairs and an escalator, stairs are the choice for those who wish to lose weight or keep it off.

If you are lucky enough to live in a house with stairs, make sure that you go up and down them as often as possible. Try to set up your life so that exercise is built in.
Say you have your computer upstairs, but the coffee maker downstairs, every time you want a cup of coffee you'll get some exercise. Those little bits of exercise add up over the day.

Raw Food - Avocado and Cucumber Soup

2006-05-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

This is a soup to eat cold - as are most soups.
You need either 1 long English cucumber or 2 field cucumbers
1/2 avocado
lemon juice
A sprig of basil

Put everything in your blender except a few thin slices of cucumber and blend until it's smooth.
garnish with the slices of cucumber.

And there you have a great tasting snack with all the enzymes still alive.

Heating foods kills all the enzymes, and some of them you need. People on a raw food diet don't suffer so much from things like degenerative diseases either.

So do yourself a favour, go on a raw food diet to both lose weight and to feel great and be healthier!

Swimming - An Ideal Weight Loss Exercise

2006-05-27T21:17:00.000-07:00

When you go swimming, you are using more of the different muscles in your body than you are with any other sport.

Swimming is one of the exercises that is both aerobic and good for muscle tone.

It's good to have good muscle tone for weight loss since even when resting the muscle in your body burns fat for maintenance. So swim in the day and lose weight while you sleep! What could be better!

Getting More Exercise Without Trying Too Hard!

2006-05-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Probably more exercise is the best way to lose those extra inches that you don't want.

It doesn't have to be a trip to an aerobics class.

We probably all have some 'lost time' in our days.

Do you wait for the kettle to boil? Dont wait! Go up and downstairs until it's whistling for attention.

Just put the coffeee on to brew? Walk around the block while it does it!

Waiting for a bus? walk backwards and forwards at the bus stop until the bus arrives.

There's probably quite a few minutes in your day that you are waiting for something to happen. If you just convert those minutes to easy or brisk exercise the pounds should disappear!

Raw Food Diet for Weight Loss

2006-05-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

Many People are now trying a raw food diet and finding that it can help dramatically in the war against extra weight as well as helping cure other ills.

The idea of the diet is to only eat foods that have never been heated above about 110 degrees so that all the enzymes in the food are intact. Raw fruits and vegetables, unroasted nuts and seeds, naturally dried fruits.

I'm going to post a few 'Uncook Recipes' here, and please everyone, add yours too! The more variety the better!

When I started this, I thought that it might be boring, that I might feel deprived etc. That just isn't so. The raw food tastes so much better! And I feel so much better even after only 5 days eating raw. I decided to go 100% raw to start with, and then when I was used to that to cut down on fat.

Here's what I had for lunch today:
1/2 small avocado mashed with about a teaspoonful of soya sauce. Hal a tomato chopped up a bit and them mashed in with the avocado. Then I added a grated carrot, some chopped raw ginger, 2 mushrooms, a few chopped snap peas and green beans. Mixed everything together. Delicious!

And for desert I chopped up a few dates that I had set to soak last night, added some sliced almonds and half a teaspoonful of raw cocoa powder. Yum!

Exercises for Future Brides-Sweetheart Neckline Dresses

2006-05-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

For the future brides who choose the sweetheart neckline wedding dress, it’s important to know that this style of dress shows your chest muscles. Those muscles are: Anterior deltoid and Pectoralis major. To work those muscles the following exercises are the best. Try to complete each set of each exercises without breaks, than take a break of 30-60 seconds and continue. Please keep in mind that the exercises should be done exactly in the following order.

1. Close-Grip Bench Press

To do this exercise you’ll need a body bar and a bench (or aerobics step). In the start position, you should lie on the back on the bench with the feet flat on the floor. Hold the body bar with the arms straight up towards the ceiling. When you inhale, bend the elbows to 90 degrees and lower the body bar towards the chest, while when you exhale extend the arms back to the start position. Do 8-12 reps. The exercise works the chest.

2. Incline Dumbbell Flys

To do this exercise you need a set of dumbbells and an adjustable bench (or a Swiss ball). First, adjust the bench to an incline of about 30-45 degrees. Then site on the edge of the bench and grasp the dumbbells. As you lift the dumbbells to the shoulders level, lie on the bench and then lift your arms straight up above the chest. When you inhale, lower the weights towards the floor and stop when the arms form a T with the body, while when you exhale return to the start position. Do 8-12 reps. The exercise works the chest.

3. Pushup on Stability Ball

To do this exercise you need a stability ball (Swiss ball). Place your midsection on the ball and then roll forward so that your hands reach the floor. Walk on the hands until the ball is under your knees and then move the hands shoulder width apart. When you inhale, lower the body by bending the elbows at 90 degrees, while when you inhale return to the start position. Do 5-12 reps or as much as you can. The exercise works the triceps and chest.

Exercises for Future Brides -Open Back Dresses

2006-05-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

The future brides who chose an open back dress should know that they have to make sure their back looks lovely. The muscles located there are: Deltoideus, Latissimus dorsi, Rhomboideus, Trapezius and Teres. The following three exercises are recommended to work them:

1. Reverse Flys

To do this exercise you’ll need dumbbells and a stability ball. In the beginning, place your body balanced on the stability ball (Swiss ball) and make sure the legs are straight and the toes on the floor. When you exhale, raise your arms to the side and bring the dumbbells to the shoulder level. Keep the arms straight but don’t lock the elbows. When you inhale, lower the dumbbells back to the starting position. You won’t need heavy weights to perform the exercise; the smallest dumbbells available are great. Do 8-12 reps and 2-3 sets. If you don’t have a Swiss ball you can do the exercise standing up straight. Bend over until the back is parallel to the floor and repeat the motion described above. The exercise works the upper back.

2. Seated Rows

To do this exercise you’ll need a resistance band or a seated row machine (in this case follow your trainer’s instructions). In the beginning sit on the floor with the knees slightly bent and the feet hip-width apart. Place the band around the soles of the feet so that the right hand holds the left handle and vice-versa. When you exhale, pull the hands towards the chest, so that the elbows and fists are near shoulder level. When you inhale, return to the start position. Do 8-12 reps and 2-3 steps. The exercise works the upper back and the triceps.

3. One-Arm Dumbbell Row

To do this exercise you’ll need a dumbbell. In the beginning, grasp a dumbbell and rest the opposite elbow on the opposite leg, tying to create a flat back. When you inhale, pull the dumbbell up as high as possible while when you exhale lower the dumbbell to the start position. The exercise works the shoulders, biceps and upper back. Do 8-12 reps and 2-3 sets.

Exercises for Future Brides

2006-05-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

Most of us, when it’s time to prepare for the wedding, we want to loose weight and look our best. Depending on the type of gown we chose, there are special exercises that will make us look fabulous.

There are four dress styles to choose from: open back, sweetheart neckline, arm-baring (strapless, halter, and spaghetti straps) and form-fitting.

If you chose the open back dress the exercises that will help you look your best are: Reverse Flys, Seated Rows and One-Arm Dumbbell Row. For those who chose the sweetheart neckline dress, the recommended exercises are: Close-Grip Bench Press, Incline Dumbbell Flys and Pushup on Stability Bal. The future brides who want to wear an arm-baring dress should do: "21's" Biceps Curls, Front Raise to Overhead Press and Bench Dips. And finally, the brides who want a form-fitting dress should do the following exercises: 45-Degree Abduction with Resistance Band, Single Leg Hamstring Flexion with Ball and Runner's Lunge onto Step.

The next blogs will discuss every exercise.

Aerobic Exercises for Your Body

2006-05-15T03:10:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about exercising is that you can always combine exercises and you will never get bored. Of course you can run around the house for 20 minutes but that is totally boring, isn’t it? If you like swimming, riding a bike or playing tennis you can incorporate the exercises in your fitness routine. Also, remember that the body likes to be challenged. If in the beginning you’ll see results pretty quickly after running every other day, in a couple of weeks the body will get used to it and you won’t see any results.

The aerobic exercises should raise your hear rate. Expert recommend elevating your hear rate with 60-85% of the maximum heart rate. You can calculate the maximum heart rate by using this formula: 208 – (0.7 x Age). Hence for a 25 years old person the maximum heart rate is: 208 – (0.7 x 25) = 190 beats per minute. Then, 60% of it is 114 and 85% of it is 152, so the aerobic range for a 25 years old person is 114-152 beats per minute. If you don’t have a heart monitor, count your pulse for 15 seconds and multiply by 4.

Fibers to Boost Your Weight Loss

2006-05-12T04:30:00.000-07:00

The fiber is that part of a plant that the body cannot digest and hence passes through the digestive system acting like a broom and sweeping all unnecessary leftovers from the digestible food.

One of the most important nutrients to incorporate in your diet is fiber. For an adult, the recommended daily amount of fiber is 25 to 30 grams. If you don’t get enough fiber in your diet, the risk for many health problems increases. The health problems related to insufficient fiber intake is: high cholesterol, constipation, weight gain, cancer of the colon and irritable bowel syndrome.

Fibers can be found naturally in many foods. To get more fiber in your diet, firstly replace white bread with whole-wheat bread. Only ½ cup of whole-wheat flour has more than 7 grams of fiber. Also whole-wheat cereals are packed with fiber. If you like beans, they are a very good source of fiber and so are other legumes. Only ½ cup of cooked beans contains 6-6 grams of fiber. Fruits and veggies are known to have a lot of fiber and hence are recommended when “dieting”. Red raspberries are very good source of fiber (1 cup of fresh fruit contains 8 grams of fiber). Pears, apples and prunes also are a good choice (1 serving contains 4 grams of fiber). Broccoli, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, tomato and spinach all contain 2 grams of fiber per serving, while baked potato contains 4 grams per serving (with skin).