November 17th, 2008 — Book Review
Many of you that watch The Biggest Loser are already familiar with the author of this book, Bob Harper. He's one of the trainers on the show and has already provided millions of dieters with inspiration and advice on getting fit and losing weight. Let's see how well his book stacks up against the competition and whether it's really worth the cover price.
From the start, we were hooked with this book. Harper starts off with dealing with the emotional issues that affect so many of us that are overweight. For the vast majority of dieters, unless these issues are addressed, diets are an exercise in futility. The first major benchmark that Harper passed was also his emphasis on changing your lifestyle, changing the way you eat and changing your future. This is the standard by which we judge all diet books, and unlike so many out there, Harper included all of these points in his book.
This is certainly not a fad diet, and if you're going in hoping to lose ten pounds a week, chances are you're going to be disappointed. What it is - is a healthy alternative that will help you lose a lot of weight and keep it off for the rest of your life. When you read the book with the right mindset, it becomes so much more useful than the legions of other books, fad diets and miracle plans. Sure, the results are going to take a tiny bit longer, but you're going to be able to enjoy them a lot longer.
The book contains twenty different sample menus that will provide you with more than enough variety to keep losing weight without getting bored. Harper did a great job picking the right balance of foods for each menu so that dieters don't feel deprived. There are some really great suggestions and for this alone, the book is well worth its cost. However, there is a downside and one that probably should have been thought out before the book went to press.
There are no recipes, which for those of us that are lucky to boil water, this is a definite drawback. You can't provide someone with a plan for the future and then fall short when it comes with the blueprints they're going to need. Thankfully, most of the recipes can be found online or in most cookbooks, so this wasn't enough for the book to get a black mark against it.
If you're looking for a solid diet plan that really works and has documented proof of working, this is certainly a book that you need to read. For anyone that wants to make that commitment of losing weight and keeping it off, this is certainly one of the best on the market.
It's easy to see why the contestants on The Biggest Loser get such fabulous results. When they're working with a trainer like this, they can't help but succeed. We highly recommend this book to anyone looking to lose weight or just get healthier.
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November 17th, 2008 — Weight Loss Journal, diet, exercise, food, goals, gym, motivation, review
Most of look at dieting as a drudgery, as something that should be dreaded, and as such, many of us either fail at getting started, or can’t stick to it. What if you could change that mindset and look at dieting as being fun? How would that impact how you feel about losing weight? Chances are, it would make it a lot easier and you’d be surprised at how simple it can be to change your mindset and get some great results. Let’s look at just a few ways that you can make dieting fun.
1. Set up some great rewards.
When you’re working towards something that is really exciting, it’s just a whole lot easier to get there. Try setting up fun rewards for yourself for reaching specific milestones. Whether it’s losing ten pounds, or getting healthier, you need to find a way to reward yourself in a fun way. Just remember that this fun should not include food rewards, or you’ll be sabotaging all of your efforts. Try to stick with fun rewards that involve some sort of activity, or even relaxation. You’ll be much more likely to want to stick to your goals if you set yourself up for success.
2. Make it an adventure in learning new ways to prepare food.
This is a great way to make dieting a lot more fun and you’ll be bolstering your cooking skills while you’re at it. Get some new cook books and try out brand new recipes that you normally wouldn’t even touch. Make it an adventure to try out new food from different countries, and challenge yourself to find healthy ways to start preparing your regular food. Once again, by putting an element of fun into your daily food regime, you can easily start looking forward to eating healthier and that right there can mean big success.
3. Join a fun exercise class.
Exercise is hard for many people due to repletion, as well as the physical effort that goes into it. However, if you can find an exercise class that is also fun, you may find that you end up looking forward to going. Sweating to the Oldies is successful for a reason – the participants have fun, even though they are working out. Look into belly dancing classes, hoop dancing or other fun ways to get active and burn calories. You’ll undoubtedly find that getting to the gym is a whole lot easier when you do.
4. Have a friend join you for some competitive fun.
When you’re held to accountability by a challenge it’s a lot easier to have fun with what you’re doing and to stick to your goals. Try racing a friend to see who can lose weight faster, or reach certain fitness goals. You’ll be having fun while you stay competitive and for many, this is just the right motivation to help them lose weight and get healthier.
These are just a few ways that you can introduce an element of fun to losing weight. Get creative and see how many you can come up with!
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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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August 7th, 2008 — diet, goals, healthy eating
When we need to lose weight, it's really common to get swept up into the mindset that we need to make radical changes. While this may be true, it may not be healthy to make such a drastic change in the way you eat. In fact, you may be increasing your odds of failure by picking a diet that is simply too hard to maintain. While we all want to lose weight as fast as we can, it's best to stick with 2 pounds a week, and never more than 4. (Doctor supervision not withstanding.)
This is frustrating - and it will take a little longer to see results. However, by making easy diet changes and gradually pumping up the pressure, you're going to be more apt to lose that weight and keep it off. There is no point in starting a diet, if you're simply going to undo all of your hard work in a few months. You need to commit to making a lifestyle change that will last you for many years to come.
That is really the key towards getting healthy and hitting your target weight. By understanding what parts of your lifestyle are making you unhealthy, you can begin to diet the natural way. Let's start out with something that is really easy to cut out of your diet - soda. This is the worst, empty calorie, horrible food that is responsible for many of us being overweight and we really don't even know it. A simple serving of soda can have as much as 150 calories. A bottle or can will have a lot more.
Completely cut this one thing from your diet for two weeks but don't change anything else. Try not to substitute with sugary drinks. If you need caffeine, go with black coffee or sweeten it with Splenda. In two weeks, you should lose significant weight, depending on how much soda you normally drink. See how easy that was? One little easy change and you're already losing a lot of weight.
Now, you'll need to step it up. Find another food that is bad for you, the food that you simply love. Cut this out from your diet completely and you'll notice the same thing happening. Once again, you may need to find a healthier alternative to keep from feeling deprived, but the general premise is the same.
By making these really easy and simple changes, you can get on the road to healthy weight loss and still see real results. You're getting rid of the foods that are making you unhealthy and you're making those lifestyle changes that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Try it for two weeks and see the difference you feel. You may feel a bit cranky for the first few days, but ride it out and stick with it. You will get results.
By gradually getting rid of the items in your diet that are not good, you're making a it a lot easier on yourself and you're losing weight at the same time.
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