Are You On A Diet Again?
Don't Believe All Of The Quick Weight Loss Tips You Read

The new slogan for diet, weight loss management companies is “Diets Don’t Work”, this is true but they don’t really tell you why. The definition of diet is a temporary eating program. Temporary eating habits will give you temporary results. That’s simple right? The fact is most people who have a weight problem don’t follow a healthy eating habit long term, which results in weight gain. The only way to end the cycle of yo-yo dieting is to follow a healthy eating program, to exercise and to reduce your stress. The three work synergistically to boost energy, improve your immune system, and to maximize your metabolism. This simple formula doesn’t have to be challenging. Managing your weight is like anything else in life, to be successful you have to have a positive attitude (willingness to change), you have to take action and you have to be committed.
Are there Risks For Being A Little Overweight?
There is plenty of data about the risk factors for obesity, but what you don’t know are the risks for being a few pounds overweight. According to the Surgeon General:

• A weight gain of 11-18lbs increases the risk of Type 2 Diabetes twice that of a person with normal weight.
• Being overweight increases the risk for some types of cancers including endometrial, colon, gall bladder, prostate, and kidney.
• Women gaining more than 20 pounds from age 18 to midlife double their risk for post-menopausal breast cancer.
• For every 2 pounds of weight gain, the risk of developing arthritis increases 9-13%.
• Moderate weight gain of 10-20lbs can increase the risk of premature death.
• The incidence of heart disease is increased in people that are overweight.
• Overweight people spend more money on health care, prescriptions, loss of wages, and more likely to be discriminated against in hiring and promotions.

The Benefits Of A Healthy Weight Management Program
In order to enjoy the benefits of weight loss or weight management, you should focus on long-term weight loss and not a diet. When you ride the diet roller coaster, you do not maintain your weight loss long enough to reap the benefits, and in some cases you could be doing more harm than good. When you make the commitment to keep the weight off the benefits can include:
• Less risk factor for all of the above diseases.
• Healthy immune system
• Increased energy
• Improved body image
• A sense of accomplishment
• More disposable income to invest or use for enjoyment
• Better quality of life

Life Long Weight Management
A healthy weight loss plan should include healthy eating habits, exercise and stress reduction. These are the primary reasons people gain weight. This is universal, it is not a matter of age, sex, or nationality, and these 3 factors will determine your weight. There is no miracle pill, food or drink by itself that will keep the weight off for life. It takes an attitude change, action and perseverance. Some people are blessed with a high metabolic rate, if it isn’t you, then stop comparing and wishing for a metabolism that you once had or that someone else has. The sooner you accept this the sooner you will see results!

Lifestyle And Weight Management
There isn’t a magic bullet to weight loss, there are a series of techniques that have worked for other people and they can work for you too. The formula to permanent weight loss is lifestyle change. The definition of lifestyle pertains to the things we do on a routine basis that affect our health. Some statistics show that approximately 80% of what we do is out of habit. To make a point, change the location of your trash can at home or at work, how many times did you attempt to throw trash in the old location? Change is hard but it is not impossible! Everyone has heard that it takes 21 days to learn a new habit, as does lifestyle changes. Be patient, how many years did it take you to get into the condition you are in? The weight gain didn’t happen over night and it is not going to melt away over night.
Behavioral changes are essential to making lifestyle changes. The behavior that has the biggest impact is your attitude. This encompasses your determination to follow through on a promise to yourself, taking responsibility for your actions, be forgiving when you fall short, and reward yourself when you have reached preset achievement points. When you incorporate all of these into your lifestyle change you will see results.

Establish A Healthy Eating Program
This is essential for any weight management program. Healthy eating includes all of the food groups, and eating as close to nature as possible. Close to nature means no processed foods. Processed foods are blank calories, the nutrition label on these foods are strictly for decoration and to make the FDA happy. Processed foods are foods that are prepared and prepackaged foods, precooked in a factory. This also includes fast foods, and some low budget restaurants. These are the restaurants that buy prepackaged food at wholesale food companies. Most Fast food meals are unnecessarily high in fat, and sugar, both of which will prevent weight loss.
Eating your fruits raw and with the skin is essential to getting all of the nutrients and fiber from the fruit. Vegetables should be eaten raw or lightly steamed. When the vegetable is limp and dull in color, most of the nutrients went down the drain and is not absorbed by the body. If you have picky eaters or ones who don’t like vegetables, either use spices or keep trying vegetables until they find one they like. As an adult, there is no excuse for not eating vegetables; your health is worth the temporary bad taste in your mouth. In time the flavor will grow on you, just remember most people didn’t like beer on their first taste either.

Healthy Proteins are fish, poultry, eggs, tofu, almonds, and walnuts. The proteins that should be limited are red meat, due to high fat content, shellfish, due to possible high mercury content, and pork. There have been studies done on pork that show it is hard for our bodies to digest it.

Are you Regular? Fiber plays a big role in the gastro-intestinal tract. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommends 30 grams a day. If you are not at 30 a day, gradually add more until you reach it. If you add it to quickly, it will create gas and bloating. When it comes to fiber ignore, the gimmicky whole grain advertisement on the package and look at the label. Most products that say they are whole grain have been processed down to a minuscule amount. With grains, the rule of thumb is, if you can’t see the fiber, it has very little. Fiber in most cases is on the outer shell of the grain, and every time the fiber is crushed more of the fiber falls through the cracks of the sifter and it is used as feed for farm animals.

Your Body Was Built For Movement - The human body was designed to move in all types of ways, so when it is sedentary there are parts that become stiff an inflexible and your immune system becomes compromised. Exercise is a very important component to staying healthy and living a better quality of life. The lymphatic system relies on movement of muscles to circulate, its purpose is to eliminate waste and protect us against illnesses. When you are sedentary, the lymphatic system cannot circulate properly. Cardio is mandatory for a healthy heart and to circulate oxygen through the body, and resistance training is to provide strength and to maximize your metabolism. Before you start any exercise program check with your physician for any potential concerns.
Exercise can be fun. It is about being active. You don’t have to go to the gym, you don’t have to buy expensive equipment, just find things you like to do that elevate your heart rate and challenge your muscles. To maximize your efforts find 2 to 3 things that are considered cardio and make sure you find a resistance program that uses all of the major muscle groups. It is important to switch up your cardio, your body gets accustomed to the same routine week after week and then it becomes ineffective at losing weight. When you have worked your way up to 20 minutes of non-stop cardio, it is now time to add wind sprints. Wind sprints are 30-60 seconds of more intense cardio and can be faster or more resistant for intensity. This also helps to keep your routine from getting stagnant. If you are a person who likes a structured work out, investigate physical fitness to find facilities that cater to fitness enthusiast. For those people who hate to go to the gym or an exercise class, see Parks and recreation fun ways to add physical fitness into your weekly routine.

Are You Stressed Out? Stress is the number one reason people have heart attacks, and it is a major contributor to weight gain. Stress throws your hormones out of balance. This affects men, women and children alike. Hormonal imbalance is thought of as a female problem, it’s essential for every person to have healthy hormone function. Hormones keep our systems functioning normally and when they are out of balance illnesses are likely to arise. When we experience stress our body goes into fat storage mode, and our metabolism becomes less effective as we store more fat. Minor stress relief techniques are:
Visualize a tranquil place like the beach or the mountains. When you visualize, hear the sounds, feel the grass or sand, and smell the ocean or grass.
Music- have a song or songs that make you happy when you hear them. Put them on your MP3 player or burn to a CD and play them when you need a pick-me-up.
Deep breathing- this helps to get more oxygen circulating in the body, to help you calm down and think more clearly.
Exercise - when your body is stressed it goes into fight or flight mode, your adrenaline is pumping already so all you have to do is move! This is the most effective way to reduce the risks of stress against the body.
Massage- this will take the tension out of your muscles and tissues, and help you to feel better physically and mentally.
Yoga- this has to do with movements and stretching which is another effective way of removing tension from the body.