November 18th, 2008 — Weight Loss Journal, healthy eating, motivation, weight loss
It is common knowledge that making lifestyle changes can have a big impact on how much weight you lose and your chances of keeping it off over the long term. What isn’t as clear is how to effect those changes, especially if you are trying to lose weight on your own. Lifestyle changes are vital, but if you don’t know where to start, they can be a little difficult to accomplish. However, by learning how to make small lifestyle changes now, you can get that foundation you need to start working towards permanent weight loss. Let’s look at just a few ways that you can make lifestyle changes, starting today.
First, you’ll need to figure out where you want to start. Whether it’s eating healthy, getting more exercise, or quitting bad habits, pick one area to focus on first. This will help you avoid getting overwhelmed and you can always add new lifestyle changes in once you master the first one. For many of us, it’s that first step that is the hardest, so pick a lifestyle change that you can easily stick to.
Once you have this decided, figure out how you are going to implement it. It sounds a bit analytical, but if you break everything down into easy to follow steps, those changes will not be as difficult to make. For example, let’s say that your first lifestyle change is to cut processed foods from your diet. You can start small, so that you don’t find yourself missing these meals, and gradually increase the amount of foods that you are cutting from your diet.
Stop eating out once a week, or put away that can of green beans and make some that are fresh. Each day, try to find new ways to cut that processed food out of your life and before you know it, you’ll be completely free. It doesn’t take very long to get to this point, once you get past that first step. Other examples would include walking around the block once a night, then gradually increasing that to twice, and before you know it, you’ll be doing ten laps in no time at all.
Lifestyle changes sound hard and they sound complicated. But, if you can change that mindset and find a way to make little changes, they will add up to big changes later on. Don’t let the specter of changing your entire way of life weigh you down and keep you from taking that first step. Find a way to start small and build up your efforts. This is probably the easiest way that you can start making changes right now – and keep making changes as you progress.
The key to lifestyle changes is knowing what you need to do, finding a way to implement that and sticking to it. By starting small, you’ll be much more likely to be able to stick to your plans and implementing them will be much less stressful.
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November 14th, 2008 — Book Review, Weight Loss Journal
Even though carbs get a bad rap, it’s commonly accepted that if you do have to eat them, whole grains are the way to go. There are many benefits to having a diet rich in whole grains, and this book from Drs. Lisa Hark and Darwin Deen offers a plan that is based almost entirely around adding these nutrient rich foods. Let’s take a look at the book and see whether or not it’s based on sound science, or it’s just another fad.
This diet calls for removing all processed grains from your diet, and for many, that certainly won’t be easy. The first part of the diet is absolutely the most difficult. During this stage, you are not allowed to drink alcohol, you must eat at the same time every day and meals cannot be skipped. Fruit and vegetables are also a very important component during this time period and the diet calls for four servings of these foods to be added to your diet.
The main premise of the book is that whole grains are not only good for helping you lose weight, but they are also important towards getting healthier. The authors state research and studies to show that whole grains can help prevent certain diseases and may be able to aid digestion. That is most likely due to the fact that you’ll be eating more than 48 grams of fiber a day, which is a big increase for most people.
The book includes some helpful recipes to get you started and the whole diet is mapped out in a very easy to understand way. Overall, while it may be difficult to follow, there are some good lifestyle changes that can be achieved from following the diet. We would have liked to have seen exercise focused on a bit more, but the do touch on it briefly. Since this is a book about changing the way you eat, more than a true “diet” book we can cut them a little slack on that area.
For those that like whole grains, making the switch will be pretty easy, but for those that have relied on white bread and processed flour, it will undoubtedly be difficult. However, the authors state that it is well worth the effort, if you can stick to it.
Overall, this is a very interesting book that offers up a lot of facts as well as some great recipes. While the diet may be too hard for most to stick to, you can still learn quite a lot from the book and use some of the recipes to enrich your current diet. We recommend the book to those looking for a healthier way to eat and for those that need to start eating foods that will do their bodies good. We can’t really recommend the diet plan per se, but you can still get a lot out of just reading the book and implementing a few changes in your normal diet.
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November 10th, 2008 — Weight Loss Journal, diet, food, goals, motivation
The diet industry is a multi-billion dollar machine that keeps churning out new diets, new hope and new hype every single year. If diets were so effective, there would be no need to keep coming up with new methods and new diet plans, but the sad truth is, the vast majority of diets fail. Why is this and what can you do to change this truth? Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why diets fail.
Lifestyle changes are not addressed. This is possibly the biggest issue for dieters. If you are not eating the right foods all the time, and making that commitment to change, chances are, as soon as you do see results from your diet, you’re going to fall back on old habits. It is not easy to completely overhaul your life, but in many cases, if you want to lose weight, and keep it off, that is exactly what you’re going to have to do.
The diet does not offer enough variety. Whether it’s the soup diet, the juice diet, or even some of the more popular diet plans, a lack of variety can be a major reason for failure. It’s simply too difficult for many people to eat the same things, day in and day out. Even if you go into a diet plan like this enjoying a certain kind of food, after two weeks of eating nothing but, chances are you won’t feel the same way. Variety is the spice of life, and that is very true with food.
The diet plan does not include any exercise. Plain and simple, if you want to burn fat more efficiently, you’re going to have to get up and move around. Thousands of books come out every year promoting new ways of eating, but many of them fail to add the important component of exercise.
The diet plan focuses solely on water weight. This is a very common issue that affects dieters. When you first start on these plans it seems like weight just magically falls off of you. Then, you go back to eating normally and whoosh – it comes right back. These diets are disheartening at best, and dangerous at worst.
The diet is unsafe. There are many fad diets out there that are simply too extreme to stick to. Whether you’re fasting, or drastically cutting back calories, this results in a lack of energy, and you may simply just feel awful. We all need a certain amount of calories every day for our bodies to function properly. If you’re not getting enough, you will end up feeling lousy and you may even throw off your metabolism.
If you don’t want your diet to fail, remember that lifestyle changes are necessary and exercise should not be avoided. Simply eating better food and moving around more will help you lose weight – and keep it off – and you’ll find that it is much easier to keep going, even though the results may be a little slower.
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October 27th, 2008 — Meals, Weight Loss Journal, diet, food, healthy eating
It is a common practice, and many of us are guilty of it. We forgo eating all day long, because we know we’ll be eating out that night, or that there is a special event coming later in the day and we want to be able to eat whatever we want. However, is this type of planning actually derailing your diet? Let’s take a look at just a few reasons why this mindset is not healthy, and may actually be counterproductive.
1. You’ll end up eating more.
If you don’t eat all day, and are suddenly faced with plenty of food, it is all too easy to eat way more than your recommended amount of calories, and worse, you may never even realize how many calories you’ve had. Remember, 3500 extra calories equals one pound of fat. At some special events or dinners, it is all too easy to get more than 3500 calories on a single night.
Because you went hungry all day, your body’s blood sugar levels are off. This can also cause you to eat more, simply to get regulated. There is no point in starving yourself for a day, and then try to make up for it at night, it’s just too rough on your body.
2. It puts you in the wrong mindset.
Right off the bat, you’re preparing to cheat, and in a big way. Many people feel that it is all right to have that big dinner, especially if they didn’t have any calories all day. But once again, we go back to the point that you do end up eating more, usually much more than you intended.
By sticking with that “it’s ok to cheat” mindset, you may be hampering your future progress on your diet. If you’re not making those lifestyle changes that will stick with you, the chances of future success and being able to keep your weight off do decline dramatically.
3. You can end up in a bad cycle.
Once your body gets used to fasting during the day, and eating whatever you want at night, it’s all too easy to get into a bad cycle. You may find that you’re tempted to do this more than once, and before you know it, you’re back to making excuses and falling into the wrong mindset. A diet is much more than food control, it’s also about being able to control your mind, and your food cravings.
By allowing yourself this much wiggle room, and setting yourself up for behaviors that are hard to change, you’re making your diet needlessly complicated, and chances are, over time, you’ll be disappointed with your results.
Instead of fasting all day, even when you have a special event coming up, eat as you normally would. You may even want to have a healthy snack before you go. Your blood sugar won’t be sending off signals that will make you want to eat everything in sight and you’ll end up being able to successfully avoid even the dessert tray. A way to fight eating too little during the day is eating many small meals during the day.
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October 23rd, 2008 — Weight Loss Journal, food, food labels, goals, healthy eating
If you are focusing on losing weight and making lifestyle changes, the first two weeks are undoubtedly the hardest. Your body and your mind need time to adjust to your diet, and this initial period requires a lot of motivation and a desire to stick to your new plan. Anytime you make lifestyle changes, it is difficult to know which foods you should be eating, and what foods you may never be able to eat again. Here are some tips to get you started.
1. Remove all the food you can’t eat from your house.
This is the first step in picking the right foods. When you don’t have the temptation sitting within easy grasp, it is a lot easier to keep on the right track. If your family eats those foods, they will need to learn to adjust, at least for a few weeks, until you are safely on the road to your changes. It is so much easier to make that healthy choice when you don’t have the chocolate cake in the fridge whispering at you.
2. Learn about the harmful effects of the chemicals in processed foods.
This is one easy way to guarantee that those tasty processed foods will never appeal to you again. Start learning about the chemicals and additives in your food and chances are, you will want to avoid them at all costs. Thanks to the Internet, anyone can learn more about the food we eat, and the additives that are included.
3. Find ways to make good foods taste better.
It’s a sad fact that until your palate gets adjusted, healthy food can actually nasty pretty nasty. However, by learning more about how to prepare that food you can make it taste better. Avoid adding dressings and sauces, but learn about different seasonings and different preparation techniques that can make any food taste better.
4. Reward yourself for the good choices.
Since it can take a week or two to start seeing real results on the scale, it is important to set up small rewards that will keep you going until you do reach that point. Avoid food rewards, but set up a system where you either do something you enjoy, or indulge in a little pampering, as a way of telling yourself “good job.” It is a lot easier to keep motivated when you make it an enjoyable experience to pick the right foods.
5. Take every day at a time.
Looking at a week’s worth of healthy food choices can be intimidating for everyone. Focus on the food choices you are going to make today, not tomorrow and not next week. Break it down so that you are only focusing on the choices that have to be made right now, and let everything else fall into place.
It will get easier to make the right food choices, and you can look at this initial phase as a training period that will make everything that is to come easier to accomplish.
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October 10th, 2008 — Book Review, Weight Loss Journal, fad diets, fats, food, proteins, sodium
This is one of the oldest diets that is still followed today, and thousands of people swear by it. There is a clinic in North Carolina for those that really want to take this diet to the next level, but the rest of it can get almost the same benefit from reading the book at home. To preface this review, it is important to note that although this diet can be very effective, it is certainly not for everyone. If you are thinking of trying the Rice Diet Solution, it is vital to discuss this with your doctor first.
Essentially, this book calls for eating a lot of rice, as the title would suggest, and not a whole lot of anything else. Our main concerns are the lack of protein and fats which are essential, at least in moderation. The first phase of this diet is very strict and calls for fruit only once a week, little to no protein and you guessed it, lots and lots of rice. Most people may be able to follow it for a few days, but after that point, you may never want to eat rice again.
That said, there are a few good principles in the book, such as reducing your intake of sodium. Since this is such a big problem with processed foods, we could all do with a little less sodium in our life, but once again, this book goes to the extreme on cutting it out of your life. Not enough salt can also be a big problem, especially for those with certain diseases that do require more salt in their diets.
The lifestyle changes that are recommended, as well as the focus on healthy exercise and meditation are very sound and this is probably the one area where the book does not go overboard. Basics like Tai Chi and swimming are encouraged, which are both ideal for those seeking a low to no impact workout. We found the exercise advice to be very sound, and wished they had carried a little more of that into the other areas of the book.
One of the biggest flaws with the diet is that it requires eating right around 1000 calories a day, or a little last. For most of us, that puts us into starvation mode. While you will see results pretty quickly, over time, that little amount of calories is going to slow your metabolism way down. We didn’t see any mention of Basal metabolism, which is the minimum amount of calories your body needs to function. Your heart needs calories to pump, your brain needs calories to think. Eating this amount of calories could be harmful over time, and is the biggest reason that we can’t give this book a recommendation.
For those that have tried everything under the sun and been unable to lose weight, some of the advice in this book would be helpful, but certainly not all. It offers an interesting viewpoint, but at the end of the day, it’s hard to get past its flaws.
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August 1st, 2008 — Book Review, diet, fad diets, healthy eating, motivation
This is an incredible book by Judith Beck, the daughter of a famed researcher that revolutionized the mental health industry. Like father, like daughter, Beck is poised to make some big changes in the diet industry, using the same techniques. Beck's philosophy focuses on Cognitive Behavior Therapy or CBT. This is a term that means literally, changing the way you think and training your brain to produce certain results.
This method is incredibly powerful when applied to mental concerns, and has the potential to really change the way that most people think about dieting. If you're sick of trying fad diets, or you think that you will never be thin - this book needs to be read and put in a place of honor on your shelves. Our big thing is really lifestyle changes, and how powerful they can be. This book takes it to the next level and goes further into how to get your brain to work with you instead of against you.
The main premise of the book is that people who need to lose weight, or even those that have already lost weight and are trying to keep it off, do not think like thin people. Thin people don't beat themselves up over their food choices, they know when they're full, and they don't create vicious cycles that doom their diets to failure. In fact, they don't diet, because their brains are trained to control their appetites and their cravings.
This book will show you how to start thinking like a thin person and literally retrain your brain. Since hunger is only partially associated with your stomach, the brain is what you really need to be targeting, before you lose a pound. This book will put you on the path towards becoming thin, even if your body hasn't caught up yet. However, once you put the advice into action, it won't take long to get there.
By focusing on behavior that leads dieters into a vicious circle, Beck shows them how to break free. Willpower is rarely enough and it is all too easy to slide, especially when your body is so insistent. But, according to Beck, it's not really your body making those demands, it's your brain. Teach your brain to shut up, and you've got it made. That's really oversimplifying it, but that is the basic reason why so many diets fail. Our brains force them to fail by over thinking, triggering bad behaviors and sabotaging our best efforts.
We highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking to lose weight the healthy way. If you're stuck on fad diets, this will literally change your life and show you that there is a better way. Even if you're already thin but worried you might slip, this book will show you how to stay thin for the rest of your life and still get a lot of enjoyment out of your life.
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July 31st, 2008 — exercise, healthy eating, motivation, trigger food, wellness
When you first start a diet, it's easy to get all excited about the amount of weight you're losing and how great you look. Unfortunately, most of us reach our goals and then go off of our diets. Within a few months, we may be back where we started, or in many cases, worse off. If you want to lose weight over the long term, you're going to have to make some total lifestyle changes that will ensure that you not only lose weight, but manage to keep it off for years to come. Here are some helpful tips to help you lose that weight and keep it off.
1. Identify your danger foods.
These are the foods that will consistently cause you to go off your diet. The foods that you simply cannot eat one of. In essence, these foods hold a sort of control over you and their siren call is simply too much to resist once you take that first bite. You're going to need to figure out what your danger foods are and then you're going to have to completely remove them from your life. This isn't easy and there may be times when you slip. However, if you can successfully stop eating these target foods, you're going to see a huge difference in your weight loss. You may never be able to eat them again, but then again, what is really more important? A few minutes of food bliss or a lifetime of looking great?
2. Start making healthy substitutions.
You don't have to eat like a rabbit for the rest of your life to lose weight, but you do need to start making healthy substitutions to keep your weight off over the long term. This may take some time since your palate is probably used to the food's you like. However, food substitution doesn't have to be painful. For example, if you can't live without pizza, try it without cheese or use a cheese substitute. It will take a little getting used to, but over time, you'll develop a taste for that food and you'll find that those old favorites are pretty disgusting if you try to go back to them.
3. Make an exercise plan that you can stick with.
The key to healthy weight loss and a healthy lifestyle is getting plenty of exercise. Don't pick something that you can't stand, it will be all too easy to give up. Even if it is something as simple as walking a few miles every day, you need to get out there and get active. The longer you do, the easier it will be to keep going. You won't need to exercise at the same level for the rest of your life, but you will need to get active if you want to stay slim and healthy.
Lifestyle changes do take time and it won't happen overnight. However, these tips will help get you on the road to health and you'll be able to enjoy the process once you get there.
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July 29th, 2008 — calories, detox, diet, exercise, fad diets, goals, healthy eating
When it comes to losing weight, chances are if you're trying fad diets and special detox programs, you're pretty fed up that the results never seem to last. Why is this? Well, most of us can only keep up with an extreme diet for so long. Once we've reached our goal weight, we can't wait to start eating "normally" again. The problem is, that "normal" eating is what caused all that weight gain in the first place. As soon as you go back to eating the same way you used to, those pounds come marching back on.
In order to successfully lose weight and keep it off, you're going to have to address your entire lifestyle. This means looking at what you eat, why you eat it and how much you exercise. Let's look at what you eat first. While there is nothing wrong with the occasional treat or cheat, most of us get into the habit of overindulging in the food we like, and making bad choices when it comes to picking foods.
We're naturally wired towards wanting foods that taste good and too often this means fast food, pizza and things that can be really bad for our health and our waist lines. In order to start making lifestyle changes, you've got to identity what you're eating and how you could be eating differently. The best way to do this is to keep a food diary for an entire week. Add up all of your calories when you're done and you'll probably be amazed at just how bad your diet really is.
Next, you'll need to address why you eat these things. Is it simply because they taste good? Healthy food can taste good too, but you'll need to find the recipes that appeal to you. Is it because you need comfort? It's best to find comfort in things that don't cause your weight to go up. For example, instead of indulging in an entire pizza because you've had a bad day, go do an activity that you get a lot of enjoyment out of, go shopping or go get a massage. By targeting the reasons behind your eating problem, you can start to make changes that will redirect all of that energy into a more healthy direction.
Lastly, you need to address how much exercise you actually get. Most of us really don't get enough and let's face it, few find exercise to be truly enjoyable. You need to rewire your thinking process and find exercises that you actually do enjoy. If you hate aerobics, don't torture yourself! Find exercises like walking or swimming that actually appeal to you. Set aside time every day and really apply yourself.
The results that you get will get you hooked and once you get past that initial stage of the agony and the inconvenience, chances are you're going to find that exercise really isn't that bad. With these kinds of changes, you can make a new life for yourself that you can enjoy for years to come.
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July 25th, 2008 — Book Review
The author of this diet is already quite well known thanks to the ABC series, Extreme Makeover. David Hirsch has quite a reputation as being the go-to guy when you want to lose weight and celebrities swear by his plans. This online book/site received its fare share of hype and However, is it worth the cost to try it on on your own? Let's find out.
Right off the bat, this is a diet that will help people see results in just about two weeks, and unlike many other diet plans, it focuses on lifestyle changes as well as losing weight. This is the first sign that you're dealing with a diet that's going to work, not just now, not just in two weeks, but for the rest of your life. For those of us that want to lose weight and keep it off, this resource is packed with incredible advice amidst all of the inspirational talk.
The main concern we had with this plan was that in order to take advantage of it, you've got to join an online program for $16 and you'll also need to buy some shakes, which can be pretty expensive. For those dieters that do not have a lot of money, this really isn't a plan that they could get much use out of. Unfortunately, the whole idea of having to pay a monthly membership fee for a diet is a little too much to take, and cheapens what is otherwise a very good plan.
However, you can still walk away with enough advice to make these changes on your own, and stick with a new diet plan, without having to shell out money for shakes or memberships. Possibly the best part of the plan is that it contains a fitness test to help you gauge your progress as you start the diet. This is a terrific addition that not many diet books or plans have and it compensated for the points that we didn't like. You can easily use this test to make sure that you're not only losing weight but getting healthier too.
Exercise plans are given that can help you get on the path to total wellness and that was greatly appreciated. The bad thing is that you do have to pay to access them. We would have liked to see a few more free resources available for those who simply cannot afford to take advantage of this program. There is so much good advice here that it needs a wider audience and while this may not be economically smart, it would have been nice.
Overall, we recommend the Ultimate New York Diet simply because it contains so much useful advice, plans and information. It is a recommendation with reservations however, given that there is a monthly fee and the shakes are pretty costly. With a few modifications, we could really get behind this one, and that's not praise that is handed out lightly.
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