The right way
to lose weight permanently and live a life of health and
energy Every year you
say you're gonna diet or eat healthier, or exercise more, but it lasts
maybe a couple of weeks before old habits kick in and you're right back
where you started. This year it stops
here! First, lets
take a look at some popular diets and why they don't work.
I've kept quiet
on the HCG diet, even though my common sense tells me its not good.
Afterall, it is recommended by Doctors, especially Dr. Oz. It is monitored
by doctors. Since more
educated than me specialists were so high on this new hormone treatment, I
decided to sit it out a while and see what happened. Let me tell you
to sit by and watch people be subjected to a starvation diet, and taking
hormones was really hard for me. I knew in my heart that it couldn't be
good for you. I wanted to scream. But, there were all those doctors, and
people were losing weight faster. Maybe its OK, I kept telling myself.
It so happens
that a friend of mine is doing this diet, and she's been thrilled with the
weight loss. Its been a real bummer since when she's on it, we can't do
anything related to food. But the real wake
up call was when she was over the last time. She was inbetween rounds and
just about to start up again. She said that she had gained 8 pounds last
week. 8 pounds? In a
week? How the h*ll do you gain 8 pounds in a week?!! She said, I've
been really bad. Now wait a dog
gone minute here. You would have to be stuffing yourself silly to the
point of making yourself sick to gain 8 pounds in a week under normal
circumstances. Something is really, really wrong here. It turns out that
this crazy diet is wrecking your metabolism. When people are off the diet
they gain weight faster. You've trained your body to operate on this
little bit of food. When you try to return to any sort of normal eating,
you put on weight faster than ever before. And no one knows the possible
long term effects of the hormones. This is
horrifying. Now I wish I had opened my mouth. She wouldn't have listened
anyway. Who are you going to listen to a friend, or your doctor?
What are you
going to do? Stay on this perpetual yo-yo diet forever? Or never eat
normally again? I shudder to think about what the long term ramifications
are going to be from this crazy diet. There has never
been a fast miracle weight loss program that has worked long term or been
safe in the the long run. The safer alternatives -
Then there are
the Jenny Craig and Nutrisystems. They solve a critical problem. You
don't have to plan or cook. However, they are
expensive and the food is mediocre. Most people sit
and try to enjoy their prepackaged meal while their family enjoys normal
food. Can you see
yourself on one of these programs forever? Then there is
Weight Watchers. Weight watchers
is one of the best programs out there. People do lose weight, and they
learn more about how to eat correctly. The additional support helps a lot
of people. However the
point counting and meetings are a pain in the neck. Plus, you have to pay
for the meetings in addition to your membership. Do you want to
spend the rest of your life counting calories or figuring out your points?
Again, once
people quit the program, they return to some of their old habits.
From my experience, people who cook and have used weight watchers do seem
to have better long term results because you learn to make and eat better
foods. Then there is the popular Diet Solution. I like this
program as a foundation. She actually teaches you how to begin enjoying
healthier foods choices. She teaches you what to eat for greater weight
loss and gives you some delicious recipes. Its a great starting point for
a lot of people. But eventually
you've got to figure out how to make it apply in your life for the long
haul. What really works
long-term What you really
have to do is make a lifestyle change. It doesn't matter what short term
solution you try if you go back to your old habits, you will go back to
your old body. Often worse than before. Are you ready to get off the
diet treadmill? Lets take a look
at what it takes to permanently lose the weight, and have a healthy energy
filled life - The first step in reaching any
goal is changing your mind. How important is
it to you to be thinner and healthier? Do you want to
look better in (and out) of your clothes? Do you want to
feel better every day? Do you want to
have more energy? Do you want to
avoid all the diseases that everyone around is suffering
with? Do you want to
keep more of your money for having fun instead of spending your life
savings on medical expenses? What are your
reasons? Why is this important to you? Stop and
really think about this for a few minutes. If your reason
why is not really big and important to you you won't stick with it. Its
unfortunate that most people aren't motivated to change until they have a
serious health threat that scares the sh*t out of them. Suddenly life
becomes the reason why. Then you start to
think about whether you'll see your daughter get married, or whether
you'll get to see your grandkids. I saw a bit about
this year's Half Their Size issue from People magazine.
One lady lost her
position as a volunteer fire fighter because of her weight. She could no
longer do what she loved to do. One gentleman was
rushed to the hospital. The Doctor asked him what he would like his
obituary to say. These people had
big whys. Can you come up
with a big reason why before it comes to that? Once you have
your why -you need to learn to plan. Afterall Failing to plan is
planning to fail. You want to have
healthier foods in the house You need to plan
dinner to avoid the last minute swerve into the fast food lanes.
And you'll have
to make your own food. That sounds
horrible, doesn't it? But you'll
quickly find that real food
tastes infinitely better than any packaged or fast food,
and you'll start
losing weight, and you'll feel
better and have more energy. Did you notice
that earlier I mentioned returning to your old eating
habits? How you eat is a
habit. It might have been instilled in you from the time you were a child.
While it may take some effort at first, habits can be changed.
The secret is to
make small changes one at a time. "Good habits, once established are just Some of the most successful
small changes you can make are - Stop
drinking pop of any kind- current research shows that even diet pop
packs on the pounds. Make eating
5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day a priority even if you
change nothing else right now. You'll be amazed at what a difference
this little change will make. Gradually
eliminate packaged, processed, and fast foods from your life. All
those chemicals, sugars and sodium do not do your body any good. Its no
coincidence that since these foods became popular obesity and disease
skyrocketed. Get some
exercise every day take a walk, walk the dog, go shopping, clean
the house, golf, bowl, swim
Exercise does not have to be torture. Just
get up and do something. Get enough
sleep. Seems counter-intuitive, but when you're tired, your body
craves more carbs for energy. And its usually the bad carbs.
Those are some
simple changes that you can start making today. Once you have those
mastered, then you can move on to more ambitious changes. Don't try to
change everything at once. That's usually a recipe for disaster.
Rebel With a Fork
Members go through what we call Small Bites training where you learn to
make consistent small changes. You learn things like how to trick your
mind into being satisfied while eating smaller portions, and some mind
pictures that will make you think twice about eating some of those bad
foods. There's tips for planning fast dinners and how to eat 5-9 servings
of vegetables a day. Its not as hard as you think. This year we'll be
focusing more on fitness. We're always improving. Learn how to live
with healthier habits and you won't have to worry about dieting, or
counting calories. You don't have to give up all kinds of foods, or eat
tofu and wheat grass. You just need to eat smarter. When you give your
body what it needs, it can ward off disease and maintain your weight by
itself. Always be a student
- You owe it to
yourself and your family to stay on top of current findings -
What foods
cause disease What foods
prevent disease What's in the
food you're eating and do you want to eat it? What
combination of foods give you the biggest nutritional
boost? What foods and
supplements help slow down aging? There is always
new research and new findings. Many times old beliefs are shattered like
lowering cholesterol to reduce heart attacks. New research finds that is a
myth. (If there's big money behind it, its usually not true)
Learn to enjoy creating great
tasting food Learning to cook
real food can be an intimidating thought especially if you are already
time crunched. The truth is that it really only takes just a few minutes
longer than it would take you to stop and get something. A few years ago
the Wall Street Journal did an article about this. They found that the
average time savings was 5 minutes. Really. 5 whole minutes.
Once you start to
appreciate better tasting foods, and feeling better and having more energy
after you eat, you'll be able to diffuse the fast food temptations.
The first time my
daughter chose going home and making dinner over fast food, I was floored.
It wasn't easy
for me at first. I was a single working mom. It took a little while to
come up with fast dinners. I didn't have anyone to guide me. And not many
people were into eating healthier at that time. I was a lone weirdo. I did
all the figuring it out for you. You are so lucky to have instant access
to my recipe collection. You'll never be at a loss for something great to
eat. Don't fall for
hype There is
information coming at you from all sides about what to eat and what not to
eat. There is the trendy diet of the year. There's raw foods, low carb,
high protein, restricted calories, and on, and on, and on.
Be leary of any
diet that restricts an entire food group, or requires an extremely low
calorie intake. Your body needs a
balanced diet of many types of foods for peak performance.
You need some
animal protein. You need some
fat. Vegetarians have
problems with their teeth, and over time develop other health concerns.
Remember the hub-bub over the Pope eating some meat for health reasons?
The raw food diet
trend is fading away....(though half your diet should be raw fruits
and vegetables) Your body needs a
minimum of 1200-1500 calories a day just to function. Below that and you
are asking for trouble. When you know in
your heart that something is not good pay attention. Use your common
sense and your training. Don't fall for marketing hype. All you need is a balanced diet
of real foods The only food
group you need to remove is fake foods. Cut out corn syrup, soy, and
chemicals. I mean, who in their right mind would think that a fake egg is
better than a real egg? It was all marketing. So is the fake butter, the
pop, the low carb, low calorie, low fat. It's all marketing hype designed
to sell products. The best foods don't have a label. If the food you
are buying has a label read it! Then decide if you really want to eat
that, or put it back on the shelf. The biggest hurdle is the
mental one You know, when
you tell yourself that its too hard, or you won't be able to find things
you like to eat, or that you don't have time, or any of the other
excuses. Make this a
priority in your life. Make up your mind that your health, and your
family's health are the most important things in your life. Without your
health, nothing else really matters. Every person who
has made the change to real food will tell you that once you've been away
from these fake foods for a while you will find that the next time you
have them they taste awful! As you saw
before, once you get sick the excuses seem lame. Its my hope that you'll
start making changes before you get sick. Document where you are
starting I've included one
of the exercises from the Small Bites e-training. It helps you document
where you started so you can track your results. If you are
already a member, its a good time to fill this out again to see how far
you've come. Snapshot
Exercise The first thing you want to do is
document where you are today. Print out a copy of this page.
Fill in as much information as you can Weight _____________ Target Weight
- _______________ Measurements - _____________
____________ ___________ Blood Pressure - _____________
(target - 120/80) Cholesterol - _____________
(target under 200 mg/dl - controversial) HDL (good cholesterol) -
_____________ (target Above 40 mg/dl) LDL (bad cholesterol) -
_____________ (target controversial) Triglycerides - _____________
(target under 150 mg/dl) Glucose - _____________ (target
under 110 mg/dl) Attach 2 pictures a full body
shot, and a close up face shot. Keep this someplace handy where
you can come back to it in 3 or 4 weeks and compare. -------------------------------------------------------------- Below you will find some exercises
designed to help strengthen your decision Please
describe in detail what your goal is. Be as descriptive as possible. The
following questions will help form your answer:
What is your
goal?
Why is
this goal important to you? How will
you know when you have achieved this goal? What will
it feel like, look like and sound like? How will
attaining this goal affect the other people in your
life? How will
not attaining this goal affect the other people in your
life? How long
have you had this goal? Ri How long
will it take you to achieve this goal? Who else
is involved in the achievement of this goal? Is this
goal the best you can do or are you settling for second
best? Its
important to find the real reason behind setting your goal and what has
prevented you from achieving it thus far. This section begins to help
you think why you have not achieved the goal so far, and also the real
reason for wanting to achieve the goal. Sometimes we set goals that we
dont really want or ones for which we have ulterior motive which even
we might not understand until we thing about it. When answering this
section please state facts as much as possible: What is
the real reason for you setting the goal above? What has
held you back from achieving this goal thus far? What steps
have you taken to try to achieve this goal? How
important is this goal to you and those close to
you? How far
away are you from achieving your goal? Have you
always tried your best to achieve the goal so far? What have
you learned about yourself from having tried to achieve this or any
other goal?h What
skills, experience and contacts do you have that can make the
achievement of this goal? Decisions, Actions and Choices Decide
this is the first step you must undertake.
You must decide that you wish to make a change in your life. No matter
what it is, a firm decision needs to be made, for example - Action -
However making a decision is not good
enough, you must then take Action. Action can be writing down an idea,
making that call, talking to people about your idea. Until you take
action nothing will happen. It is best to take action sooner rather than
later. As those who procrastinate will wait and wait and
wait.o Consequences - Every
time you do something there are consequences. Always consider the
consequences to see how they can affect your life, both in the positive
and negative sense. Is going out with the gang for a few beers a good
idea or will it cloud your judgment the next day? Will picking up fast
food today really be a good idea? Will I feel betterif I go home and
make dinner? Every choice
we make causes change. By the way remove the word failure from your
language set. There's now only missteps. Too many
people fear what we call failure, however if you reframe the word and
think of it as missteps and a way of learning from what has gone before
you will begin to learn and grow. No road to
any goal is smooth. We make mistakes along the way, and we learn from
them. Everything we do can help us grow, if you see it in the context of
missteps rather than failure. Ease up
on the guilt One day of
eating badly like a holiday isn't a failure. Its just a day.
Tomorrow you get back on track. No big deal. The problem
arises when you let too many of those days accumulate.
You don't
have to aim for sainthood. That's too much pressure for us mere mortals.
Try to eat healthier maybe 80 or 90% of the time. You'll be pleased with
how you look and feel, without becoming a sour faced martyr.
You can
change your life in 2012, but you must take action. Ensure you do the
exercises in this report and stick to your goals. Not a member? Find out more
>>>
Disclaimer: The content
herein has not been reviewed or approved by the FDA. It represents
personal views and experiences and should be treated as such.
Implementation of any ideas contained herein can only be done at own
risk. This information is designed to help adults make informed
decisions about their health and is intended to be used for general
nutritional information and educational purposes only. It is not
intended to prescribe, treat, cure, diagnose or prevent any particular
medical problem or disease. Women who are pregnant or nursing should
always consult with their doctors before taking any supplements. You
should always consult your health care professional for individual
guidance for specific health concerns. Persons with medical conditions
should seek professional medical care. Please use common sense.
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