Just How Do You Choose The Right Diet
August 23rd, 2008 by Go Weblog
Chances are that eventually you will find yourself mulling around your closets and hampers seeking out a perfect fitting outfit that you looked good wearing last year. As you try it on, you realize right away it no longer fits; it appears that you have added a few extra pounds since the last time you have worn it. The first words out of your mouth are “I need to go on a diet!”
So you realize that now is the time to curb your appetite and start thinking about getting back into those clothes. Your mind is set on a new approach to dieting, but you want to make sure you start a routine that fits your lifestyle.
But where do you start? There are many different ways to choose a diet. Dieting should not be thought of as a means of starving yourself or a way to binge on bland foods and water. There is no magic little pill that will make these pounds go away no matter what advertisers may want you to believe. You have to adjust your lifestyle to make a physical change occur. Depending on your genetics this may not be as easy as you think.
In general, a diet has always had a stigma attached to it as a punishment for overeating. People often associate a diet as a “basic re-training” for your body. In order to regain control and shed the pounds, you will have to endure countless hours of exercise as well as eating healthy. Thus, making it tough to eat fast food and snacking whenever you feel like it.
How often do you find yourself at a fast-food chain ordering a “value meal” with an extra-large drink? If you break down the entire calories of your meal you will realize right away that you have consumed almost the entire allotted amount of calories in just one sitting. If, on the other hand, you had ordered a healthy salad and a diet soda you would be creating a healthier diet for yourself. All of these little changes add up in the daily calorie totals.
So which diet do I choose? There is Atkins, Weight Watchers, and of course The South Beach diet. All of these have a different level of success and can be used to help you lose the weight. In order to choose one you must first understand which diet works best for your lifestyle.
Atkins - The Atkins diet consists of a high-protein, no carbohydrate diet. Thus, you can eat all the red meat, chicken, fish or pork as much as you want. You cannot eat any carbohydrates. Carbohydrates consist of bread, rice, and pasta. Yes, this means no pizza too. Atkins has amassed a large following and has created a brand name for itself. You can purchase Atkins products as well as go to public restaurants that service Atkins friendly meals.
Weight Watchers - Weight Watchers uses a point system based counting method to follow how much food you are allowed daily. Weight Watchers are fast food friendly and there are many books and websites that will break down meals (at home or fast food) and desserts to a number of points per serving. Your total intake can be anywhere from 20 to 40 points daily depending on your target weight. The more weight you lose, the less points you get to eat. Thus, your diet may start out at 35 points but your target diet may be around 24 points. Somewhere in between, you will learn to eat less to achieve these point totals. Weight Watchers teaches you that you can eat what you like but with moderation and smaller portions. It also does not believe in saying no to food.
The South Beach Diet - The South Beach Diet is broken down into three stages. In stage one, the dieter is not allowed to have products that contain sugar, carbohydrates, and alcohol. But, the individual will have unlimited access to other non-carb foods like meat, chicken, seafood, as well as a wide variety of dairy products. In week three, you begin to implement carbs into your diet. You will notice how carbs and sugars affect your body as you readjust them into this new eating pattern. You will learn to moderate them accordingly so that you continue to lose weight and stay on target. The final stage is opening up the menu to you. But because you have a good understanding of what these foods do to you, you have learned how to reserve your food intake through portion control and moderation.
No diet is going to change your lifestyle completely without exercise. Thus, exercise will begin to play a major role in your success. The healthier you eat, coupled with a well-coordinated exercise routine will greatly improve your overall weight loss numbers. Your success will be determined by how much you have lost and how better you feel in as little as a month. Your exercise routine can vary depending on what type of aerobic exercise you choose.
The primary goal of exercise is to keep your heart rate elevated at a targeted rate so your body will burn fat efficiently over the duration of the exercise period. It also may be a good idea to work with a personal trainer in the beginning to help develop a good work out routine. You should first consult a physician before starting any physical activity.
© 2006 www.successful-weight-loss.com
Phil Rather, a noted researcher and writer, contributed this article for Successful Weight Loss.
Tags: calorie, diet, exercise, south beach, weight loss, weight watchersWhy You Do Not Want To Lose Weight
August 14th, 2008 by Go Weblog
Losing weight is one of the commonest resolutions that people
make every year. Yet obesity and overweight are on the increase.
Makes you wonder what is wrong with that picture.
What makes it such a difficult goal to accomplish or stick to?
Well there are several things, but for now let’s talk about the
most important reason.
It’s the way you state the goal.
In other words, it’s the command you’re giving to your subconscious mind. Your mind functions to attract and bring about the physical form of what you think about.
You say, ‘I want to lose weight’.
Your subconscious mind reads that statement as ‘I have excess
weight’, or ‘I don’t have weight loss’ because that’s what
you’re implying when you state your goal that way. That’s the
thought behind that statement.
There are 3 main problems with stating your desire this way.
- Since the predominant thought behind the statement is
‘abundant weight’ or ‘excess weight’, that is what you get.
Remember, you get what you think about most of the time.
You become what you think about - it’s the way your mind
works, whether you’re aware of it or not.
- Since there is also a thought on ‘losing weight’, there
is the danger of your subconscious finding creative ways to
help you lose weight, for example you could have an accident
and lose a limb or something. You’d weigh less then, for sure.
Not quite what you had in mind I’ll bet.
- Your mind is designed to bring about what’s best for you.
So it doesn’t want you to ‘lose’ anything. If you talk about
losing weight, your mind will do everything to help you find
it.
You can see how stating your goal the wrong way can set you
up to lose the battle right from the start.
Many ‘weight loss’ programs fail because they deal with
external activities without paying attention to what’s going
on in your mind. Yet your mind is what decides the results
you get. The programs that teach you the right way to think
are the ones that will help you maintain any weight level you
seek.
A program that focuses on ‘weight loss’ is inadvertently
focusing on attracting weight because that’s the predominant
thought throughout the program.
How should you state your goal then?
First of all you need to understand that ‘weight’ in itself
is not the issue. What the weighing scale reads, is not
the threat you face. Your threat is excess fat. Muscle weighs
more than fat, so if you’ve got a lot of lean muscle, you’d
probably weigh more than someone who has the same amount of
fat, yet they’re are the ones in greater danger, healthwise.
This is one of the flaws of the BMI measurements that are
so popular. Body Mass Index measurements measure your weight
against your height. They *are* useful indicators of weight-
related health risks, but because they do not take account
of the source of the weight (fat or muscle), the readings
can sometimes be misleading.
If you desire to ‘lose weight’, a better way is to speak
in terms of ‘releasing fat’. The best way to state a goal is
in the present tense.
So you could say ‘I am releasing at least 500grams of excess
fat every week’ or you could say ‘I weigh….(state your
desired weight) of lean muscle and 10% body fat (if that’s
your desired body fat percentage level)’.
Those are examples - try them on for size. Better yet, come
up with ones of your own.
Notice how you feel when you rephrase your weight goals that
way. Notice the shift in energy behind those words.
Now here’s a paradigm shift for you:
what if your goal statement had *nothing* to do with weight or fat. What if your goal statement focused on ‘health’. Do you think you could achieve your ideal weight with that sort of goal statement?
Absolutely! This is, in my opinion, the best way to state
a ‘weight’ goal.
Here’s the thing: a perfectly healthy body is not over-weight.
It’s not under-weight either. When you are in perfect, true
health, your body *naturally* releases excess fat and holds onto
just what it needs to function perfectly.
So here’s my challenge to you.
Don’t join the masses who obsess about their body weight. A wise
man once said that if you see the majority doing something, you’d
better go the other way.
Be one of the few people who are truly ‘health conscious’.
What you are conscious of is what you attract. So state your goal
as ‘I am perfectly healthy now’, and focus on that thought, for
that is what you’ll attract.
When you look in the mirror and what you see doesn’t reflect
your goal, remind yourself that your statement refers to the
‘real’ you, not the ‘case’ you move around in. The good thing
about this is that your subconscious will latch onto your
predominant thought which is ‘I am perfectly healthy now’, and
guide you to do things that make it your physical reality.
It’s amazing the way your mind works. Learn to make it work
for you though, not against you.
Upgrade your ‘weight’ goal today. Focus on perfect health, for
the ‘ideal weight’ is part of the ‘perfect health’ package.
Let me leave you with an excellent way to state your new and
improved ‘weight’ goal. I learnt this (the ‘I am so happy and
thankful’ bit) from Bob Proctor. Go ahead and say it out loud
with me now:
“I am so happy and thankful that I am perfectly healthy now”.
Make that your predominant thought and it will become your
physical reality in good time.
Dr Kem Thompson is a Health & Success Coach, Speaker and Author.
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Use It or Lose It!
August 5th, 2008 by Go Weblog
Who can forget that song from the 1980s about nobody walking in L.A? It turns out that far too many seemingly took it to heart. People just don’t walk that much these dayslet alone bicycle, swim or engage in other forms of movement that does a body good. America has become a car driving, desk riding, TV watching, video game playing, Internet surfing, elevator taking, fast food eating society. Is it any wonder that we are fighting a veritable epidemic of obesity, when pressing the buttons on the TV remote, clicking the mouse, and handing the fast food drive-thru clerk money is the extent of our “exercise.”
Researchers, again, have recently underscored the severity of the problem this lack of activity is posting to our nation’s collective health. According to an October 2005 press release issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health, a recent Framingham Heart Study shows that “we [Americans] could have an even more serious degree of overweight and obesity over the next few decades” and that “If the trend continues, our country will continue to face substantial health problems related to excess weight.” In response to these findings, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Director Elizabeth G. Nabel, M.D. boils it down to this: “taking simple steps to make sure that the overall the number of calories you consume do not exceed the amount you burn can play a major role in lowering your risk for many chronic conditions. How is this done? You guessed itexercise!
Even with the knowledge of study findings and other health news-making events, it seemingly goes in one ear and out the other. People continue on the same unhealthy track despite medical warnings about lack of activity. The study’s leading researcher and Boston University Medical Professor, Dr. Ramachandran Vasan, cited a litany of dramatic, life-altering conditions that can be experienced from lack of activity. Even with the threat of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and osteoarthritis, most of us still do not budge from the sofa unless we absolutely, positively have to.
For those who really do wish they were more active, it can, admittedly, be difficult to put that desire into action. In today’s fast paced society, many of us cannot find time to sit down as a family for dinner let alone get in the car and drive to and from the gym. Even with the best of intentions, many with home gym equipment end up using the devices as (very expensive) clothes racks. With enough stuff piled on it and shielding it from view, perhaps they don’t feel guilty when passing it by on the way from the couch to the refrigerator to bed.
Others who do have the time to get to the gym may feel intimidated by all of the strange equipment. Some feel uncomfortable next to the cute girl in spandex who looks like she doesn’t even belong at the gym, not to mention the beefy guy snarling in front of the mirror as his biceps appear poised to explode. And, while some can afford to hire a personal trainer, many must venture into this unfamiliar territory on their own. This can lead to ineffective workouts, a serial lack of motivation or, worse, injuries. Soon after any of these events, enthusiasm naturally drops and it’s just your credit or debit card that it’s getting a workout as the gym continues to charge - whether you show up or not.
On the upside (sort of), the spike in gasoline prices has got a few people moving a bit more. Recent news reports indicate more people riding their bicycles to work and, yes, even walking! So if medical advice is not enough motivation, maybe a dent in our collective pocketbooks is enough to get America on its feet.
At the end of the day, it’s all about making time for something you want - make that NEED - to do. Even a minimal amount of time and effort can make a real difference when compared to no body movement whatsoever. In this case, something is indeed better than nothing.
Child health advocate, weight-loss industry veteran and former bodybuilding champion Merilee A. Kern is co-founder and CEO of Healthy Kids’ Catalog
Tags: child, childhood, children, diet, exercise, fat, fitness, health, kids, nutrition, obesity, overweight, weight