Weight Loss Journal

When it comes to the trio of protein, fat and carbs, most people tend to focus on the last two. They are demonized, championed, reviled – you name it. But in this mess, protein is usually forgotten, or lumped into a category where it doesn’t belong. Protein is vital, especially if it is the right kind of protein. In fact, the right kind of protein can actually aid you in your weight loss efforts.

Body builders are probably the ones that are best informed about protein. They eat it in large amounts, especially after exercising and they know the value that it brings to their efforts to build muscles. What the average dieter may not know is that protein not only builds up lean muscle mass, but by doing so, it can help increase your metabolism. When you couple that with a plan for exercise and healthy eating, you are setting yourself up for success.

The key is finding the right kind of protein. The majority of Americans get their protein from red meat sources – and these are the same foods that contain a high amount of cholesterol. However, there are many other sources of protein that are quite good for you, and in fact, some of these can even help you prevent disease. When you are looking for the right kind of protein to eat, it is important to focus on these sources, especially the ones that are rich in Omega 3 Fatty Acids.

These proteins are found in fish, lean chicken and even in soy. Consult with your doctor or a qualified nutritionist to see what types of protein you can safely eat and learn more about the different varieties that are available. You can easily start adding these foods in to your diet slowly. For example, you can eat salmon once a week, or try having tuna fish (canned in water only) for lunch instead of a hamburger.

The more you begin to replace bad foods with high quality protein, the more effective your weight loss efforts will be. Protein is especially helpful as a mid-day snack, and can provide the fuel you need to get through a tough day and make it until dinner. Low fat cottage cheese is a wonderful source of quality protein, and you can also find good proteins in soy nuts, and other fun snack food.

Try to stay away from pre-packaged protein bars, unless you carefully read the label. Many of these bars are laden with fat and carbohydrates and even though they may claim to be healthy, you may be stepping backwards instead of forwards in your weight loss efforts by eating them.

The right balance of protein will help you build up lean muscle mass, especially if you are exercising regularly. Try adding a few of these protein sources to your diet this week and see how much better you feel. Chances are, you’ll want to keep going and your body will definitely thank you.

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One of the best ways to ensure healthy weight loss is to find the right balance for your meals. Proteins, fats and carbs are all essential, but you need to have the right amount of each to make sure that your diet will work. It can be a little difficult at first, but once you get started it will become easier.

First, you'll need to discuss your options with your doctor or with a nutritionist. They can help you come up with a percentage of each type that will work for your own unique needs. Remember, we are not all the same when it comes to the type of fuel that we need for our bodies. Some people can get away with a diet consisting largely of protein, while others will not be able to do without carbs.

In order to avoid feeling deprived, you need to find this balance and the right percentage. Commonly, most dieters stick to the 40/30/30 percentage, but you may find that you need to tweak this a bit for your own needs. With the right balance you should not experience feelings of dissatisfaction or cravings.

One of the main reasons that we suffer from cravings and have a hard time handling a new diet is due to blood sugar. After years of indulging in sweets, our bodies become used to that influx of sugar. If you suddenly stop eating these foods, your blood sugar can get out of whack very quickly. The sudden lows can lead to dizziness or feeling light headed.

To avoid this, make sure that you are getting the right amount of good carbs in your diet to replace the bad ones. For example, instead of eating white bread, switch to whole wheat. Instead of a can of soda, have a piece of fruit. You'll be giving your body the sugar it needs with much less calories.

Protein is a very important part of building lean muscle mass which in turn serves to ramp up your metabolism. Once again, the key to finding the right balance is substituting high risk protein with foods that are good for you. Instead of having a fatty piece of red meat, eat a chicken breast or a serving of tuna. Your body won't feel deprived, because it is getting the right amount of protein, just in a lower calorie form.

Although you wouldn't think it made sense, our bodies actually do need fat to function properly. If you try to aggressively cut all fat out of your diet, your body is definitely going to suffer. However, you need to make sure that you are eating the right kind of fat. Stay away from saturated fats, like butter, and use the "healthy" fats such as olive oil.

It may not be as tasty at first, but you'll be providing your body with the fuel that it needs to survive and retraining your cravings with much healthier foods.

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By far, the most common reason that diets fail is due to the fact that people simply feel too deprived and they lose sight of their goals. While we all want to lose weight and feel better, the siren call of our favorite foods can be so powerful that we abandon these dreams and cave to our cravings. However, there are a few techniques that you can use to ensure that you'll be able to resist these calls and keep your diet on track.

The first key is to select a diet that contains the right balance of fats, proteins and carbs. Your body needs to have fuel to live and if you're depriving it of this necessary balance you're not only going to feel awful, but your body is going to start issuing some pretty strong demands. For example, if you attempt to completely cut sugar out of your life, your body, which has grown accustomed to this balance over the years is going to rebel.

This means that after a few days you may be so overwhelmed with cravings for sugar that you simply cannot help yourself. You can learn a very good lesson from a phenomenon that occurs when people adapt strict eating plans, such as fruitarianism. This is a type of vegetarianism where only fruit can be consumed. Over the first few weeks, most people who adopt this diet go through a period where they become so depleted and their bodies get so insistent that they binge without even realizing it.

The second key is to learn from these mistakes and adopt a natural regimen that will slowly train your body to accept your new food choices. Rome wasn't built in a day and you're not going to be able to suddenly start eating healthy and expect everything to go smoothly. You've got to take that time to retrain your body so that you can avoid falling off the wagon.

Let's use the example of giving up sugar soda entirely. This is a very easy way to instantly carve off ten pounds or more (or 300+ calories for 12oz if you dislike hyperbole), but it is very difficult to do. Instead of going cold turkey, start a gradual reduction. Cut back by one soda a day for the first week, then two sodas a day, until you get to the point where you are no longer drinking it. By slowing modifying your intake, your body has time to adjust and your cravings will not be so intense.

A commitment to weight loss requires more than just a week or too. It may take months or even years to achieve your goals. By taking it slow and listening to what your body needs, you can be assured that six months from now, you'll still be on track for your weight loss goals instead of being back where you started.

Losing weight is not easy, but you don't need to make it harder on yourself. Take the time that it takes and set realistic goals.

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Have you ever hit the wall when you're exercising? We're not talking about an actual wall here, we're talking about that point of no return when your body says "Enough" and refuses to do anything else. Most of us have hit it once or twice, but during the summer months, it is all too easy to overdo and we may not even realize it until it is too late. Here are some tips on how to avoid hitting that wall during exercise.

1. You've got to listen to your body.

If you feel strangely tired or weak, you need to stop immediately. Your body is telling you that it simply cannot keep up. This is not the time to drive yourself - this is the time to say ok body, I hear you, and I'm going to take a break. There is no shame in taking a break, or even calling it a day. It is better than harming yourself and trying to come back after extreme exhaustion.

2. You've got to stay hydrated.

One of the main reasons we hit the wall when we exercise is due to a lack of fluids. Your legs start to cramp up and you may start to feel a bit spacey. These are all signs that your fluids are too low. Again, take that break, drink some water and give your body time to bounce back.

3. You've got to eat if you're going to exercise.

It doesn't matter how strict your diet is, if you're going to exercise, you're going to need some fuel for your body. The key is finding the right kind of fuel. Look for foods that are rich in protein, such as low fat cheese, and add a few nuts and a piece of a fruit. This is the perfect balance of carbs/fats/proteins and it will help you exercise longer.

You also need to learn to recognize the signs of hypoglycemia if you are trying to exercise while on a diet. Low blood sugar is quite common in dieters and it's tough to beat. Symptoms include shaking, confusion, loss of vision, palpitations, and passing out. Your blood sugar is serious, and you don't want to mess with it. Eat a balanced diet and always remember to fuel your body before you exercise.

4. Start breaking up your exercise routine when it is hot out.

You may be on a 60 minute a day cardio exercise plan, but if it's sweltering inside the gym or outside, you won't be able to do that much exercise and stay healthy. Break up your cardio into 3 blocks and try to space them out so you don't get overheated. Try exercising at a different part of the day to beat the heat if you really want to get that full hour in.

These are just a few hints to help you stop hitting that wall. This is a serious problem and it is not something that you should overlook. To get fit, you've got to be healthy!

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If you want to jump start your weight loss efforts, you're going to need to focus on your metabolism. For most of us, our metabolisms have either been slowed by yo-yo dieting or even genetics and it can be hard to get them back again. However, it is not impossible to kick start your metabolism once again. You just need to make sure you are using the right techniques.

Many people fall on the theory that caffeine is the easiest method you can use to increase your metabolism. While this is true in the short term, the drawbacks are numerous and it's not good for your body or your heart to take too much caffeine. You can actually end up with caffeine intoxication if you have more than 500mg of caffeine in a day. That's the equivalent of two large cups of coffee from Starbucks to put that into perspective.

Instead of relying on external ways to increase your metabolism, it's time to look inward. First, let's talk about blood sugar. If your blood sugar is out of whack, your metabolism is too. Your body is spending too much time processing the wrong kind of foods and your metabolism suffers for it. If you're constantly throwing your body through feast and famine when it comes to sugar, chances are your levels are far out of whack.

To fix this, you need to make sure that you are getting the right balance of proteins, carbs and fats. This gives your body the chance to actually start burning fat instead of working on handling all the sugar that you've thrown at it. Keep in mind however, that you do need some sugar in your diet to keep functioning properly.

Next, you're going to want to build lean muscle mass. It simply is more effective at raising your metabolism than anything else. You can start doing this by adding in some mild weight lifting into your exercise routine. Even women can benefit from lifting small amounts. As you build muscle mass, don't panic if the numbers on the scale go up a bit. This is perfectly normal since muscle weighs more than fat. It is only temporary and if you keep burning fat, those numbers will come back down.

You can look at it as though you are restructuring your body. You are removing fat, which slows down your metabolism, which lean muscle mass that will raise it. Over the long term, you're retraining your metabolism and getting it to speed up.

By learning how to manage your blood sugar properly and by building more lean muscle mass, you have the perfect recipe for increasing your metabolism. It won't happen overnight, but if you stick with it, you'll be able to burn fat quickly and more efficiently. Don't rely on supplements that make crazy promises and endanger your health. They may work in the short term, but unless you address the issues that caused the slowdown of your metabolism in the first place, you're not fixing the problem.

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We all know that fad diets are a bad idea and rarely work, but it is so easy to get swept away by their claims that many forget this. Who doesn't want to lose ten pounds in a few days? The problem is, these diets not only are not effective over the long term, but they can actually end up harming your body. It's no good being thin if you've wrecked your health in the process. Instead of picking on individual name diets, we're going to cover the techniques that need to be avoided for weight loss. New and very similar diets pop up all the time, so it's best to focus on their methods.

1. Lose ten pounds in a weekend with special drinks.

This is an incredibly popular diet that many people swear by. Yes, it works, and most see a weight loss of around 5 to 8 pounds. However, the reason that it works is that it sucks all of the water out of your system and basically acts like an incredibly powerful laxative. This diet is one that should be avoided simply because its side effects are so dangerous. Thousands of people have managed to become severely dehydrated as a result of these diets. In addition, since it's only water weight that you're losing, those pounds are going to creep right back on the minute you start eating normally again.

2. Starvation diets.

Although these diets produce almost instant results, they are incredibly damaging to your metabolism and your brain. When your body goes into starvation mode your metabolism actually slows down - it does not speed up. This means that once you return to eating normally, you're going to gain even more weight than before. Your body needs food, plain and simple. Your brain cannot function properly without the right kind of fuel. Starving yourself is the worst way to lose weight.

3. Diets that focus on one type of food.

Soup, cabbage, you name it, eating one food only is not a smart idea. Your body is built with an internal balancing system that requires the right percentage of fats, proteins and carbs. By depriving yourself of this balance, your body will eventually rebel and demand, usually through insanely strong cravings, the food that it needs. Again, you may see quick results initially, but they won't last long.

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After 1 month on the Jumpstart Medicine medically assisted weightless program I have lost 34 pounds... This week I lost 3.5 pounds with was 70% of my weekly goal of 5 pounds per week. I attribute missing the goal to a later than normal and larger than normal (for a 1200 calorie diet) dinner last night and missing my regular movement this morning. I except that there are normal fluctuations in the weekly number as even on a daily basis I can fluctuate 5 pounds from morning through evening with the ups and downs of water loss and water consumption with the Ketosis and exercise. I highly recommed Jumpstart. I have a special offer for anyone in wanting to try Jumpstart in Redwood City or Mountain View: $25 off your first visit (just print it and bring it to your appointment).

Here is a graph of my weight loss (if you are reading this in the future this graph will have updated for future weigh ins as well)... Clicking the image will open to a larger image.

So if I am to believe my claim that 1.5 pounds is within a normal fluctuation and that I am still maintaining a 5 pound a week average weight loss. Then I need to set my weekly goal for 5 pounds plus the pound and a half that the scale failed to recognize lost in the weigh in. So my goal for next week is to end the week at 350 or to have lost 6.5 pounds for the week.

My plan to accomplish the goal is to stick to the diet, reduce my fat free cheese intake and replace those proteins with more lean meat. My plan to address the lack of a normal movement is to continue to consume a 2 regular servings of sugar free Metamucil.

I had a good week for an exercise perspective... I played almost 2 hours of basketball twice and almost 2 hours of volleyball twice. I went for a short swim and several walks. My plan is about the same for this week, only with more swimming.

In talking with the doctor about my long term goal, he was hesitant to talk about a final weight number. Instead he focused on Body Fat percentage. At this week's weigh in we did the electroanalysis again and my body fat percentage was 36% (down from 39% when I started). He thought he first goal is to get the BFP below 25% and ideally below 20%. At that point my actual weight is irrelevant. So, even though I have a number in mind for my final weight (230-260), I am now officially making it my goal to get to under a 20% body fat percentage. If I can continue to lose 5 pounds a week I should be able to reach my goal by the end of the year.

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