Independent Articles & Videos About:

1. Permanent Weight Loss
2. Weight Loss Information

The Tales We Tell Ourselves and How to Overcome them to achieve permanent weight loss

The tales we tell ourselves A big part of an unhealthy lifestyle is unhealthy thinking. There are these little tales we like to tell ourselves that keep us blindly dependant on food.

Tale #1: “I’ll eat the last few cookies in this package today so I won’t be tempted to eat them tomorrow when I start my diet.” Do you ever find yourself ready to start a diet “tomorrow” but instead of throwing out all your junk food, you decide to eat some of that night so you won’t be tempted to eat it while you are “on the diet?”

Calories are calories and it doesn’t matter whether you eat them today or tomorrow…you are still eating them! By throwing out the secret stash of cookies behind the food processor you are carrying out a much better and more empowering act. Throwing out food signals to your brain that you are getting serious about your health and well being.

Don’t just limit your home to this cleansing process, remove access to all foods. What’s in your glove compartment? What about the desk drawers of your office? Replace these secret stashes with non-perishable healthy snacks such as protein bars.

Tale #2 “But if I pay for it, I have to eat it…” This tale is best told in restaurants where we are served three to four times the recommended serving size. Too many times we partake in the soup, salad, bread and appetizer and we are full before our dinner arrives; but we make a valiant attempt to eat as much of our dinner as we can hold. Why? Because we’ve paid for it!!

Do you feel as though you don’t get your money’s worth from a restaurant unless you’ve cleaned your plate? How many leftovers have you diligently packed up and brought home from a restaurant only to throw them out two weeks later? It is seemingly unacceptable to leave food on the table for the wait staff to throw out, but it IS acceptable to use a non-biodegradable Styrofoam container and store this food in our refrigerator until the “It’s Okay to Throw it Out” stamp can be placed on the food. Perhaps we feel that if the food rots in our own refrigerator, we don’t have to feel guilty because we’ve at least given ourselves the opportunity to eat the food and we’ve surrounded the food with loved ones during its final days.

If you apply this, “I have to eat it because I’ve paid for it,” logic to restaurants, you must also apply it to the many science experiments gone awry in your crisper. How many fruits and vegetables have you purchased with the best intentions only to throw them out weeks later after they’ve begun to take on a life of their own? You paid for those vegetables, but we have no problem letting them rot in our refrigerators. The logic doesn’t make much sense now, does it?

Tale #3: “Five minutes of exercise won’t do me any good, so why should I bother?” I’ve spent years reading books and magazine articles on fitness and nutrition. I’m fascinated by the various fads and trends that come and go. Every year there is a new diet or exercise trend; some hold value and some are simply ridiculous, but occasionally I hear something that perturbs me. There seem to be two different exercise camps, those who believe that 6-8 minutes a day can bridge the gap to health and those who tell you not to bother working out if you are only going to work out for five minutes.

I believe that five minutes can make all the difference in your exercise routine and I’m living proof. I can recall countless exercise sessions where I bartered with myself, “Just exercise for five minutes and then you can quit.” Time and time again I found that once I got off the couch, put on my workout clothes and climbed on the treadmill, I did not stop after five minutes, but continued for the full workout. Sometimes all the motivation we need to exercise can be found in simply beginning to exercise. There were also days that I quit after only five minutes, but I did so with no regret.

Our heart is the most important muscle in our entire body and it needs exercise just like the rest of us. Instead of complaining about how much you don’t want to exercise, try being grateful that your body will still move in the ways you need it to! When I weighed over 300 pounds I could not walk around the block… (and it was a small block!) I could only muster five minutes of energy at one time before I was completely out of breath and sweating. I did what I could and I built upon my successes. Five minutes can make all the difference in a workout!

Tale #4: “I should eat this because there are starving children…somewhere” By average, we are the most wasteful country in the free world. According to recent studies, the United States is the most wasteful country on the planet creating 210 million tons of municipal waste every year. I doubt a half eaten hamburger and two bites of cheesecake are going to change this. If you feel truly feel guilt over the starving children, adopt one. There are many, reputable organizations where you can send a few dollars a month and help someone less fortunate. Closer to home you can volunteer at a local food bank or donate canned goods to a local shelter. Turn this tale into a helping hand for someone whose problems are much larger than yours.

Tale #5: “Fried okra counts as a vegetable.” Okay…technically, okra is a vegetable. But according to All About Okra, if you heat okra, especially if you deep fried it, okra loses most of its nutrients and self-digesting enzymes. They recommend cooking okra as little as possible e.g. with low heat or lightly steamed. Too often we fool ourselves into believing that we are eating healthy, especially here in the South. We eat collard greens and green beans, but they are slow cooked with ham hocks. We eat corn on the cob slathered in salt and butter. We smile and tell ourselves, “I’m eating my vegetables.”

You can debunk the old adage, “How do you spell flavor? F-A-T.” by purchasing a steamer and experimenting with some of your old favorites. We’ve forgotten how wonderful foods taste when they are fresh and lightly cooked to let the natural flavors shine through. If foods were meant to be fried, they wouldn’t grow that way?

Tale #6: “You don’t have to be hungry to eat ice cream.” Theoretically, this is also true, but not just with ice cream. According to medical research, our stomach is about 12 inches long and 6 inches wide at its widest point. The stomach of an average adult has the capacity to hold approximately one quart. One quart equals four cups or 32 ounces of food and drink. Compare that to the fact to the fact that a “biggie” coke by itself at Wendy’s is 32 ounces.

So, when you get that full feeling, that “unbutton-your-pants-Thanksgiving-dinner-full feeling,” think about the sheer volume of food that is packed in your stomach. You’ve stuffed over a quart of food into yourself. Do you feel as gross as I do?

Our stomachs hold, on average four cups of food; but we do not need to fill our stomachs to capacity in order to feel full. There is a difference between being full and being satisfied. In addition to the hundreds of health benefits of water, the simple fact that it fills up part of the capacity of your stomach is reason alone to drink it.

Eating only when we are hungry, stopping when we are satisfied as opposed to waiting until we feel full and removing the emotional aspects associated with eating will help us move toward a healthier lifestyle.

Tale #7: “I’ll eliminate “x” from my diet and I’ll lose weight” The Susan Powter, “Fat-makes-you-fat, so-if-it’s-fat-free, eat-all-you-want” logic went out the window years ago, but many of us still hold on to that hope. We want to eliminate one part of our diet for a short period of time and watch the miracles happen!

Diets that restrict your intake of a particular food will work in the short-term, but hold no weight (no pun intended) in the long run. Restricting carbs, or sugar, or protein, or fat…all of these restrictions will enable you to lose weight, but when you reintroduce these elements into your diet, whether you go on maintenance or quit the diet, you will gain weight. You must permanently change the way you eat and your lifestyle in order to have permanent success with weight loss.

Concentrate on why you turn to food for comfort, or the reasons you overeat -- once you tackle the emotional battle, with a little bit of education on fitness and nutrition, you can make long lasting, positive and easy to live with changes that don’t exclude ANY foods.

Tale #8: “If it’s all natural, it’s good for me.” Even though products are labeled as “organic” that doesn’t mean they are low in fat or calories. Become a label reader. Know what you are eating. When I purchase fruits and vegetables, I use a fruit and vegetable wash on them when I return home to remove any pesticides used in growing and harvesting these items.

And with regard to supplements, remember that the FDA does not regulate these items and there is no guarantee that the label will keep its promises or the ingredients are tested and safe for you.

Myth #9: “Eating cures all.” Eating is designed to give our bodies the fuel it needs to carry us throughout the day. We’ve buried this logic under layers and layers of chocolate cake and cookie dough ice cream. Food has become our cure all for emotional problems; and occasionally physical ones as well. After a bicycle accident as a child, my mother eased my tears with chocolate chip cookies. After my tonsils removed, it was ice cream that soothed my aching throat.

And now? after a long hard day, most of us would rather sit in a nice restaurant and be served rather than fight traffic to make it home only to slave over the stove, or even put a frozen dinner in the microwave.

The only problem food cures is hunger. Period. Food can temporarily relieve symptoms of other problems, but it’s not a cure. Stop treating the symptoms and treat the problems. Uncover the unhealthy associations you’ve made with food and tackle those issues. If you fix your life, you won’t mind fixing healthy food.

Tale #10: “I have to lose weight before I can love my body.” This may be the single saddest tale we tell ourselves. It is only when you begin to love your body that you give it the attention it deserves. Give the only body you’ll ever have the most precious gift of all, self-care.

Our cars come with owners manuals that tell us when to change the oil, have the engine services and even when to rotate the tires. Develop an owner’s manual for your body. Prescribe how often it should be moved and stretched and what kind of food provides maximum performance.

Linda Lindsey is a compelling speaker and author of an e-book entitled, "Face the F.A.T." Linda focuses her time and energy on helping to make a difference in people's lives through public speaking and writing articles with a focus on nutrition, exercise and Food Association Theories©, an innovative weight loss approach that involves finding an individual's root cause of obesity and reversing its power in their lives. To contact Linda, send her an email at linda@facethefat.com.

Quick Weight Loss!

Perhaps you've heard the joke about the shocking news headlines from the year 2050: "New study reveals that exercise and proper nutrition is the key to successful weight loss!"

It seems that we're always looking for a quick and easy way to lose fat, but those darn studies and that reputable research just keeps getting in the way of our dream!

There's always someone out there telling us we can lose fat without watching our diet and without any exercise. As much as we'd like to believe that's true, deep down inside we know better. The ads promising that we can 'get slim quick' remind us of the 'get rich quick' infomercials we see on late-night television. Still, there's no shortage of 'get slim quick' products out there.

A YaHoo search of the term "Easy Weight Loss" yielded about 10,600,000 hits.

A Google search of the phrase "Quick Weight Loss" showed about 14,300,000 recommended sites to visit.

Looking up "Easy Fat Loss" on YaHoo revealed about 4,290,000 answers.

Finally, running a Google search for "I want to lose weight but I don't want to exercise because I don't have the time, money or will power" will bring up about 633,000 sites. We're not kidding!

Compare that to the Google results for "Weight Loss Truth": only about 2,760,000.

PERMANENT FAT LOSS REQUIRES EFFORT:

Let's face it, there really is no good way to lose fat without any effort. Successful and permanent weight (fat) loss takes some time, it takes some effort, and it certainly requires some exercise. Consider what Dr. Gabe Mirkin had to say on the subject: "There are many products on the market today that promise to help you lose weight. None will help you unless they get you to exercise more and eat fewer calories." (Source: The Sportsmedicine Institute, Inc. - DrMirkin.com)

DON'T BE TEMPTED BY SHORTCUTS:

So is it possible to lose weight quickly? Sure, but weight loss achieved quickly and/or by 'cheating' will never be permanent and is usually not healthy.

Remember the phen-fen pills that were popular just a few years ago? While they certainly helped you lose weight, they were withdrawn from the market in September of 1997 after being linked to the occurrence of serious cardiac valvular disease, and primary pulmonary hypertension.

Ephedra, another weight loss pill, was pulled from shelves on April 12, 2004. After a careful review of the available evidence about the risks and benefits of ephedra in supplements, the FDA found that these supplements present an unreasonable risk of illness or injury to consumers. The data showed little evidence of ephedra's effectiveness, except for short-term weight loss, while confirming that the substance raises blood pressure and stresses the heart (Source: nccam.nih.gov).

Please note that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that ephedra was effective for only short-term weight loss. Does that sound like a permanent solution?

There are lots of other 'shortcuts' out there, from laxatives to harsh stimulants. There are also some honestly good products that can help us lose fat if they are used in conjunction with regular exercise and healthy nutrition. Green tea is a good example. Clinical studies conducted by Dr. Abdul Dulloo, of the University of Geneva in Switzerland brought the conclusion that green tea weight raises metabolic rates and speeds up fat oxidation (Source: green-tea.dminternational.biz).

THE TAKE-HOME MESSAGE:

So what's the take-home message? The bottom line is that there is no 'get slim quick' miracle out there. The only way to achieve permanent fat loss is by following the same advice we've been hearing for years: exercise regularly and watch what we eat.

Let's watch out for products that claim we can achieve the body we've always wanted without diet or exercise. We know that's not true, so let's not be tempted by the empty promise.

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

Natural Weight Loss is the Only Path to Permanent Fitness

Natural Weight Loss is the Only Path to Permanent Fitness:

We as educated people need to start getting angry at all the junk aimed at us everyday. The average American sees thousands of ads each and every day for everything from diet pills to prescription drugs.

Most promise a quick cure for whatever ails us. The weight loss industry alone is estimated to be over $35 Billion dollars annually, so marketing and ads play a vital role in keeping us interested and buying.

Now we have come up with RLS, (restless leg syndrome). This will probably be a new "chronic condition" treated by an existing prescription drug, allowing it to continue generating profits longer

We need to start using our heads and understand what weight loss is and what it means. Losing weight alone is not the most important thing. We citizens of western countries are too fat. Losing fat and losing weight are two distinctly different things.

Also distinctly different is how we lose the weight / fat.

A pound of fat equals about 3500 calories. To burn 3500 calories you would need to reduce your daily caloric intake by 500 calories per day for one week, while remaining constant at your current activity level, or you could consume the same number of calories daily and exercise more to burn 500 calories per day. To burn 500 calories through exercise you would need to ride a stationary bike, as an example, for about 1 & ½ hours per day at a rate of about 25 MPH average. Or you could do a combination of decreasing by 250 and burning 250.

The claims that you can "lose 30 pounds in 30 days" are weight not fat. To lose 30 pounds of fat in 30 days you would need to burn 105,000 calories in excess of what you eat, which I'm sure we all agree isn't likely.

Claims aimed at fast weight loss are telling you, you'll lose weight not fat. Fat is harmful to the body not weight per se.

Rapid weight loss through severely restricted caloric intake causes the body to react as if it were sick. It is conditioned to say "Oh Oh"; I'm in trouble I'd better conserve energy. I may not get more food for awhile.

Fat is stored energy. What the body then conserves is fat. It does exactly what you don't need or want it to do, it slows your metabolism, burns lean muscle mass for energy and conserves the fat.

The rapid weight loss that happens the first 30 days is water. Muscle contains about 3 times as much water as fat. So if you lose a pound of muscle you're losing 3 pounds of water with it.

That's why diets alone slow down, there's only so much water to get rid of.

You can't blame the ad agencies, or the diet program companies, people are being sold what they want to buy. They want a quick fix to a problem without sacrifice or change.

The truth is once you learn what the body needs and how it works there is no great need for sacrifice. You can eat nearly anything you want, just less of it, and exercise more.

We are just so conditioned to instant gratification, that we're always awaiting the next miracle drug to make us all look like Hollywood celebrities. The $35 billion is just giving us what we demand.

Obesity has grown by over 20% in the last decade, in spite of the fact we are spending $35 Billion a year on weight management products. Does that suggest to anyone maybe they aren't working?

Well it did to me so I did two years of research on the subject and was shocked at what I learned. It might do all of us some good to do the same research.

To learn more visit our website "Living to be Younger." I have more articles and Ebooks to help you in your research.

Click here to learn more about Natural Weight Loss

Martin Harshberger is a sucessful business consultant, and fitness advocate. He has done extensive research and testing of nutrition, diet and exercise programs. His interest was initiated by a personal health issue, and he was sucessful in losing over 50 pounds, lowering his stress and blood pressure, as well as increasing muscle mass all at age 57. This was after he failed at the so called expert programs.

Weight Loss Information: Coping With People at Home

We've all been there before. We're going strong in our resolve to take care of ourselves, including eating what we want to prevent overeating out of feelings of deprivation. But then some 'well-meaning' friend or family member comments, "Are you sure you should eat that?" Immediately, all our feelings of self-doubt come rushing back to make us question whether we really can trust our bodies to guide us in what we need.

When we're at a supportive healthy weight program retreat like Green Mountain at Fox Run, feeling confident is much easier because everyone around us faces similar issues and understands the need to help each other believe in ourselves. But at home, such self confidence can be a foreign idea. In a society that's almost governed by diet books and the like, it seems easier to follow what someone else recommends as weight loss information rather than take the time to turn inwards and explore what we need to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Now is the time, however, to start educating those around us about a more effective type of weight loss information: personal support in reaching our health and healthy weight goals.

Get support by asking family and friends to:

-acknowledge our progress, instead of focusing on whether we've achieved, or when we'll achieve, our goals

-allow us to make our own choices, even if they go against what they think is best for us

-avoid discussion of our weight or health with others, especially at social gatherings; and

-help us be patient and realistic in making changes.

More than Weight Loss Information

But what about those who refuse to do any or all of the above? Because it's often fruitless to try to change someone who doesn't want to see another side of things, it can be helpful to consider how we can change our choices and reactions to make things work better for us. Following are ideas for changing the way we think about who we choose to spend time with, and how we choose to interact with them.

Gather around our families of choice. "We can't choose our families of birth, but we can choose to spend times that matter with people who matter," says Mimi Francis, MSN, behavioral health therapist at Green Mountain at Fox Run. Change traditions if need be. Rather than the usual holiday dinner with the extended family, take the kids on a long weekend to a dude ranch, or somewhere else we can have lots of fun without revisiting old hurts. Changing a tradition is hard the first time, but thereafter we've set the precedent, and we won't be expected to show up in the future.

Prepare to have a good time. Before social gatherings such as family holiday parties, we often revert to all-or-nothing thinking. We reason "It's either go and put up with the usual nonsense, or don't go at all." But what else could we do? How about setting ourselves up for better coping by spending valuable time nurturing ourselves -- a relaxing afternoon being pampered at a day spa before the big holiday bash, visualizing a successful event from our perspective? Can we choose a state of mind to help prevent us from being triggered by what someone says or does? For example, we might decide to truly believe "this is their stuff" and resolve not take their behaviors personally. We might also have a number of prepared responses for unsupportive comments we can almost predict we'll hear.

Put limits and boundaries around interactions with those we know are incapable of support. Many of us have family members who fit this description, but on special occasions like holidays, birthdays, etc., we can't not be there. So how can we manage what we know is a potential landmine for our self-esteem? "We could choose to visit but leave before mealtimes, thereby avoiding problematic attitudes about our eating," says Francis. "Or we might be even more effective in defusing the situation by refusing to respond to those attitudes if they do surface. Remember, fires go out when you don't feed them. There's a saying in Tai Chi that if you step out of the way of aggression, it goes past you and even throws the aggressor off balance."

Be mindful that substances we use to cope can backfire. In families with alcoholic tendencies, alcoholic beverages, often used to add 'life' to a party, can lead to incoherent conversations that can get ugly. Food works to calm us down, but then the angst about eating can begin, complicating things with feelings of doubt and worry. Put together a self-help toolbox of ways to cope without using such substances; try breathing, going outside for a break, picking your battles, even laughing!

Remember, attitude is everything. And who knows - you may become a role model for a new type of weight loss information - how to ensure special occasions don't set us up for emotional eating but stay happy like they're supposed to be!

For 35 years, Green Mountain at Fox Run has developed and refined a life-changing program exclusively for women seeking permanent strategies for healthy weight loss and health. Based on a combination of proven science and what works in the real world, our innovative non-diet lifestyle program offers an integrated curriculum of practical, liveable techniques that helps women take charge of their eating, their bodies and their health. Our approach is not focused on just losing weight but on how to keep it off for a lifetime. Our participants' long-term weight loss results are among the highest of any program, as documented in peer-reviewed scientific literature. Learn more about our Healthy Weight Loss Spa - Fitness and Weight Loss Retreat.

Alan H. Wayler, PhD is executive director of Green Mountain at Fox Run, a women's weight loss retreat and health spa since 1973. The program provides an integrative health lifestyle approach for achieving long-term weight and health management for women.