Discover Why You Can't Lose Weight

Most people begin an exercise program designed for weight loss with the intention of sticking with it. Unfortunately, the majority give up after six months, deciding they simply do not have the time to exercise regularly. There are usually two reasons behind any decision; the real reason, and the one that sounds good.

Individuals claiming, "they do not have the time" are often hiding the fact that their expectations for weight loss were not met. Simply put, they were not making the
progress they were promised. On an intellectual level, most people know they "should exercise more." However, any good salesperson will tell you that we do not make decisions based on intellectual reasoning. We base them on emotion.

Most of us exercise because, at a very basic level, we want to look and feel better. We exercise because it appeals to our sense of vanity and pride. We want to look and feel good. Now if you are not used to exercising we suggest you find a way to get used to it if you plan on losing those extra pounds that just do not seem to go away. We are not saying you have to run fifteen miles a day, pound out 300 push ups in twenty minutes or even jump rope for an hour, what we are saying is do something!

If all you do every day is get in your car, drive to work, sit at a desk, eat fast food for all your meals, drive home, eat dinner and watch television until you fall asleep, we have a News Flash for you, wake up and smell the coffee! How does anyone expect weight to just start "falling off" if they are not even moving? It blows me away when I hear people complain that they "tried" this diet or that diet and it "did not work." I usually ask them "did you work?"

Listen, the truth is this, nothing good in life comes easy. If you are not willing to give up that 1 hour of television you know you watch every single night, if you are not willing to get off your butt and walk around your neighborhood a few times or go hiking for 45 minutes or even just run around with your kids for a half an hour a day, then how do you expect your body to burn enough calories to lose any weight?

There is no magic pill for you to take, there is no magic potion to drink, it is called dedication to your health and wanting it bad enough. Did you know that there are
approximately 3,555 calories in just one pound of fat? Do you think you can sit on your couch every night while still doing what you are doing and these calories are going to burn themselves away? Now here is the deal, when you lose weight from dieting alone, some of the weight lost comes from lean muscle tissue. In an effort to retain lean muscle while still losing weight from fat you must include leucine in your diet.

Leucine is an amino acid that helps build muscle. Research shows that leucine heads straight to muscles where it can initiate protein synthesis for muscle building. That is why a lot of Olympic and world class athletes use it. As you diet, you consume less calories. There is one problem with this, as you lose fat you are also losing muscle mass. Even if you lose your desired amount of weight you will become flabby because your muscle has been broken down along with the fat. Leucine helps control muscle breakdown that occurs while dieting.

Leucine is one of the twenty most common essential amino acids your body needs when maintaining lean muscle mass. Leucine is the most common amino acid found in proteins and is essential for optimal growth throughout infancy, childhood and adulthood. Leucine plays a part in maintaining muscles by equalizing synthesis and breakdown of proteins while also regulating your appetite, assisting in the growth and repair of muscle tissues and helping you regulate your blood sugar as well. You can enjoy the benefits of leucine as a natural supplement or you can find it in some foods, such as, brown rice, beans, nuts and whole wheat.

Healthy Weight Loss

During this golden age of fitness and health products, weight loss products have become a major focus of many media outlets. It seems that most anytime of the day, you can turn on your TV and see some infomercial boasting the benefits of the latest lose weight gadget or plan. You can go to the newsstand and open page after page of the most current magazines and find a multitude of the latest tips for rapid fast weight loss. As a result, more people are becoming motivated to seek assistance in losing those few extra pounds.

Slimming down and getting fit can be accomplished in many different ways, but everyone seems to be seeking that one secret that produces rapid results. We actually become a victim of this world of instant gratification, we are actively searching those methods that will get us slim and fit overnight. Actually weight loss is not that complicated, it is just difficult and requires willpower and a willingness to deny ourselves pleasure. Eating less and exercising more is much easier said then done. Just ask anyone who has attempted numerous slim down programs. For some of us, this goal has been a lifelong battle.

To achieve effective and healthy weight loss, you must take very simple and persistent steps. For instance, you should immediately eliminate fatty, high caloric foods from your diet. Substitute this with whole foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Stay away from carbohydrates which are derived from white flour as they are more easily be stored as fat. What you eat complex carbohydrates from whole grains; you will find yourself having much more energy to achieve your exercise goals.

Keep in mind that fast weight loss does not necessarily mean it is unhealthy. But you should not achieve rapid weight reduction by simply not eating as many people try to do. This method will backfire, because it will only result in temporary results. And when you begin eating normally again, you will see those unwanted pounds quickly return.

Remember that exercise plays a huge role in getting rid of those unwanted pounds. You should look at cutting calories as only half of the plan. The remaining half consists of daily activities that increase your metabolic rate and burn calories. A good exercise program also helps your cardiovascular system.

Weight loss that is attempted with the blessing of your doctor, and consists of nutritious eating, can be very achievable. Just remember that you must be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to lose weight and to establish a healthy, active lifestyle.

Fasting For Weight Loss - Is It Healthy?

Aren't you punishing yourself? At one point of time you didn't even bothered to find out what you are having. All sorts of spicy fast food were your favorites. You had yuck tendency towards fruits and low calorie fibers. High content of animal protein and cuisines with extra layer of cream made you feel exotic.

Now when the size of your waistline is about to touch 38, you have become over-conscious about your diet. Poor fellow; nothing can really help you out. Finally you have started skipping your meals and being choice less you have picked up the measure of fasting to put down your weight. Is fasting healthy? Will it really help you to shed off your accumulated fat? Will it not damage your health in any form?

Rearrange your diet

Fasting has often been misinterpreted and used in a wrong way. Fasting never means giving up eating. It is actually a control measure on your diet and very much a part of your diet.

When you are on fast you are actually trying to give a balanced shape to your diet. Fasting keeps a control over your appetite and tries to put off your hunger cravings. Over these years you have already build up overeating habits. You cannot bring a pause to them all of a sudden. What you can do is give a break to your eating habit and eating schedule.

* Don't eat a lot a time. Break up your one time meal into two parts and have it twice.

* Chuck off the fatty substances and take care of the preparation part. Most often over frying of an item reduces its food value and consuming those also helps you to gather more flab around your abs. You can prefer stews and soups instead of spicy curries and fries.

* Help yourself with salads and fruit juice. Try to avoid raw sugar and prefer to use sugar-free.

* Frame a healthy schedule to consume food at regular interval of time. Don't either over eat and also don't starve yourself. Try having your breakfast, lunch and supper timely. This helps in easy digestion and keeps you away from gas and constipation troubles.

* With a healthy diet associate the fasting mode coupled with exercises. You will observe fast results if you can carry them out simultaneously.

* Last but not the least, never adopt fasting as an easy means to get out of obesity. It might be a boomerang. Under compulsion you fast rigorously and loose 5 pounds in 15 days and the next month you grow another 6 pounds unable to resist your eating spree. So fasting becomes useless.

Why Weight Watchers Did Not Work For You

Are you in the Weight Watchers program? Are you still struggling to lose weight? There are many stories surrounding Weight Watchers, some people seeing great results and some people not only did not lose any weight, they might have gained more weight instead. Well, the fact is that Weight Watchers is not a miracle pill. Same as with any other dieting programs, the success of the diet or program boils down to YOU. Let me tell you again : There is no magic formula or any pills which will help us shed the pounds instantly in a healthy way.

Thus you must learn and understand the far deeper reason behind the failure of Weight Watchers program or any other program for that matter : Why do so many of us fail when it comes to dieting and following a program such as Weight Watchers?

3 major reasons are as follows :

Reason 1: Not following through all the way with the plan

The biggest mistake that many of us make is not sticking to the plan. If you join a program such as Weight Watchers, you have to pay a membership fee so it is essential that you have the commitment needed to go into the plan and follow it through by sticking to it. The whole gist of Weight Watchers is to rely on the person to keep track of what they eat. Further more, there is an added advantage of the support that Weight Watchers gives to members. Weight Watchers relies on a points system whereby a point value is assigned to each food based on the amount of calories and fat content within that particular food. So a person is then allowed a certain number of points throughout the day which is calculated based on their sex and weight.

You must understand that this system will work if you keep strictly to the number of points allowed per day. However, if you continually goes over the recommended daily allotted amount of points, then of course you are not going to lose weight and in fact, could in fact gain more weight instead!

Reason 2 : Failing to keep a journal

It is essential for a plan such as Weight Watchers to be successful that you keep a journal and write down all the foods that you consume each day. Indeed, simply relying on your memory to keep count is not good enough. No one is perfect, more so with memory. If you keep forgetting what you ate, no matter how small it is, you could also conveniently forget all about that nibble you had with your coffee or tea each day. All the little nibbles can add up easily and quickly! If you are going to be successful with the Weight Watchers program then you have to keep a written journal and include every single point that you put through your lips strictly.

Reason 3 : Guessing

Do you know that by guessing the number of points in a plateful of food, you are on the track to failure? Simply by being lazy and by repeatedly underestimating the number of points you are eating, you can never expect to lose weight. Thus do not guess the number of points in your plate of food!

Plus there are many who misunderstand the system because certain foods such as vegetables have no points so long as you measure that amount in one cup. Many are also misled to think that you are allowed as many vegetables as you wish and it's still classed as no points. Well then, by assuming that those food carries no points, you can easily overeat and the points do add up! Always be sure you totally understand the points system of a program like Weight Watchers and if in doubt ask a representative or an experienced user for advice on calculating using the points system.

Bottom line is that any type of diet requires a change in your lifestyle and that requires your willpower and determination. Weight Watchers is no exception, only by following the guidelines set out will you be successful in your weight loss program. Do proper calculation of points, keeping a written account if everything you eat is essential to making the program work. You must also stick with it over time until you reach your weight goal. To maintain the weight, you need to keep to a healthy lifestyle which includes eating healthily and going for regular.

Can Walking Help Control Weight

Being couch potatoes is the latest trend of the day. You will find little children instead of playing baseball take more interest in watching Cartoon channels. The recent survey also shows that the number of heart attacks have intensely increased for the past. What is really shocking is that the age group to be beaten by strokes is between 25 and 35. Why?

The very simple answer is their lifestyle. Fast food, sleepless nights, workloads, overtimes and desktop job patterns. In a nutshell it is your physical inactivity and lots of mental stress that brings you down to this dangerous situation.

Walking: the simple solution

Hey everything is fine with your tight schedule. It is also true that at the end of the day you are bound to bother about your pennies. But that cannot be at the risk of your life. Can't you at least go for a half an hour walk daily? Believe me, it works. How?

* Doctors suggest that walking is more than a warm-up exercise. It allows sufficient amount of oxygen to your body and directly leads to the burning of calories without ant external means.

* Most important of all walking bears no tangential expenses. You can carry it out at a particular time of the day. The best hour is the morning but there is no hard and fast rule. Many prefer the evening schedule.

* Walking is the fitness booster. Thus when you pick up gym sessions after walking, you can easily carry out those higher degree calorie burners.

* Walking gives stability to the body and dieticians often suggest that instead of starving walk for an hour that helps more to put down permanent weight.

Walking and fitness

Where lays the close relation between walking and fitness of an obese person? The calculation is very simple. An overweight person easily loses energy and requires excess amount of fuel to get recharged. In this regard it is oxygen the person is in a crisis of. The same man cannot perform rigorous exercises and aerobics to shed off the weight he has gained over the years. Walking thus can help him to come to that position of fitness level where he has that amount of oxygen within to burn up the excess calories.

Precisely apart from these healing aids, walking is a pleasant experience to meet with different types of people and make friends in and around the jogger's park. Start walking from today itself and experience the best moments of life

Finding a Metabolism Remedy to Lose Weight

The secret to any weight loss regimen is to burn more calories then you take in. This is basic Weight Loss 101. There are several ways you can remedy a slow metabolism and turn it into a fat burning machine.

First though let's take a quick look at metabolism and how calories are used by the body. Calories are the fuel source for the body's cells and systems. Without consuming a certain amount of calories everyday we would not only starve but all our bodily functions would start to shut down, much like a car running out of gas. This is what makes dieting such a hard way to keep any weight off that you may lose. As you reduce your caloric intake your body reacts by going into its "I'm starving" mode. Your metabolism will actually begin to slow down as your body begins conserving it energy which is of course your fat stores.

The human body requires a certain amount of calories each day to sun at optimum efficiency. Once you go below this threshold your results will begin to diminish and your body will actually begin to turn on itself, using lean muscle tissue to get the energy it needs to survive.

But there is a way to remedy your metabolism situation. By simply making some lifestyle changes you can rev up your metabolism to not only lose weight but keep it off and live a much healthier life. There are two areas that you will need to focus on, but with a little work and patience you will see the results you want.

The first area that needs to be looked at is diet. The food you eat will dictate how much you can increase your metabolism and start losing weight. As stated above food is the fuel that powers the body. The higher the grade of fuel the better the engine will run. What happens if you pour sugar in the gas tank of a car? It clogs up the injectors and the car will eventually not run. The same thing happens to your body when you eat processed and refined foods; it plugs up the body's systems and turns easily into fat.

The best slow metabolism remedy when it comes to diet is to eat foods that have a high nutrient value. That is they are full of vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. Some of these foods, particularly the fruits and vegetables, are considered negative calorie foods and actually require more calories to digest then they contain.

The second area that will promote a metabolism boost is exercise. Both cardiovascular and weight training are proven to increase the amount of calories burned not only during the exercise session but also after while the body rests and recovers. This is especially true of weight or resistance training. The more lean muscle mass you have the more calories you will burn just maintaining it and maintenance of muscle occurs during times of rest, not during the actual workout.

The remedy for a slow metabolism is simply making a few lifestyle changes. Start eating right and get some exercise to start the process. Keep adding to what you know and what you do and before long the weight will have come off and it will stay off allowing you to enjoy life the way you always wanted too.

Eating Foods That Speed Up Metabolism

Burning more calories then you eat has always been the way to lose weight. For many years the idea was to eat less which reduced caloric intake and allowed the body to burn excess fat. While this worked for short periods of time the problem that arose was trying to keep the weight off. Eating a low calorie diet for any extended period of time can be difficult and most people put the weight right back on once they are done with their diet. With new evidence that there are foods that speed up metabolism it doesn't have to be that way anymore.

First let's take a look at how our bodies use calories. Without calories the body would be unable to function as they are the fuel that gives us energy to live our daily lives. What many people don't understand is that without adequate caloric intake everyday the body will actually slow down its metabolism as it goes into starvation mode, hoarding every last bit of energy and storing it as fat. In fact if there is enough of a calorie deficit the body will begin to break down muscle tissue in order to provide the energy it needs.

The key to any weight loss program is increasing metabolism while keeping the intake of calories in the normal range. But how can you do this? The answer may well be negative calorie foods that speed up metabolism.

What is a negative calorie food? On the surface it sounds like foods that have negative calories. Unfortunately all foods have at least some calories but it is the way they are digested and used by the body that denotes whether they are negative calorie or not. The thinking behind how these types of foods create a calorie deficit is actually quite simple. Some foods actually require more energy during their breakdown and digestion for cellular energy then they contain.

Here's a quick example of what we are talking about. One night for desert you eat three chocolate brownies. Sounds good doesn't it? Total calories for those three brownies equal 275 calories, mostly from the sugar they contain. You body uses 75 calories digesting those three delicious brownies leaving you with 200 extra calories that have to go somewhere, which in most cases is directly to fat storage for future use.

Now let's say you eat a grapefruit, a known negative calorie food (remember all the grapefruit diets over the years). Said grapefruit has 35 calories and it takes 90 calories for your body to digest and metabolize that grapefruit. It has actually taken 55 extra calories to eat that grapefruit. This is rather simplified but you get the picture.

The question now is why do these foods work this way and speed up your metabolism? Fruits and vegetables make up a majority of the negative calorie foods. These types of food have a nigh nutrient value made up of vitamins, minerals, complex carbohydrates and fiber. It takes a lot more energy to extract these components from a healthy food then it does to digest the processed foods full of refined sugars we find on the grocery shelves today. In particular digesting high fiber foods is one of the most calorie intensive processes when it comes to metabolizing the food we eat.

By simply changing your eating habits and increasing the amount of healthy foods you eat while cutting back on the processed and refined foods so predominate today you can speed up metabolism, lose weight, and live a more healthy life.

Weight Loss Diets: Do They Really Work

Are you aware of the concept of calories in and calories out? And in this game of calories the whole world is ready to spend billions just to shape their abs and lose weight in whatever way it is possible. One of the easiest avenues to pick up a weight control measure is go fore a weight loss diet program.

Credibility matters

Already you might have come across a whole range of advertisements over television and websites making tall claims of losing pounds by following the weight loss diet program. But who will judge their credibility? You more often come across a mixed reaction where a few will agree that weight loss diets work superb and the a few will completely defy to the proposal. In between you will come across the group suggesting that the impact varies from man to man and take a safer side.

Which way should you go? The final decision is ultimately yours.

Calorie calculation

There is a very interesting calculation regarding the calorie control. It is never that the calorie intake has to be completely nullified for burning calories. If you have a tendency to put on weight you will have to wipe out more calories than you consume.

The simplest equation fits into the calorie-pound relation. One pound is equivalent to 3500 calories and if your consumption is 1000 calories and you burn up 1500 calories, you will surely put off pounds. But if you consume 1000 calories and give up 1000 calories the chances of weight gain can be blocked. Thirdly if you take in 1000 calories and give out only 700 calories, you can't resist the process of weight gain.

Diet with exercise

Typical plans and programs on weight loss diet always come in combination with a set of exercises and physical labor. Without this physical part of the organic food, you can never reach to the point of a desired shape you want for your abs. Dietitians recommend a low fat diet with several breaks and dividing your food habit into parts. If the consumption at a time is low then the boiling up the energy will also be easier.

Aerobics and free hand exercises are must. You can pick up morning and evening walks and a little jogging session whenever you feel convenient. Move out in the fresh air and give an edge to your health by shaking and bending it. The weight loss diet will take care of the rest of your weight control agenda.

The Top Ten Myths About Fat Burning

Ah, you chefs! You tempt us with your delicacies, engross us with your artistic mastery, and seduce our senses into submission. That's what you hear a lot of, isn't it? The subject of weight gain and loss seems to come up a lot whenever there's a chef in the room. But if you really want a response or two, here's some myths about weight loss that the general public just keeps hanging on to. Put them to rest, and maybe your diners will start a fitness program that works - and quit blaming it all on your raspberry truffles.

1. It is possible to lose fat in one location on your body, often called "spot reduction".

Spot reducing simply and plainly does not work. When the body burns fat, it is lost throughout every area of the body at the same time. Focusing on one area of the body for exercise may develop better muscle tone in that area, which will make that part of the body appear tighter and more fit, but it will not remove fat from that area. It is important to exercise the whole body, in a well-balanced fashion; this is the best method of reducing weight.

This myth is popularized by those late-night commercials for cream that you rub on that area - which is simply ridiculous. Turn it around logically - have you ever seen someone gain weight by suddenly getting fat arms, while their legs stayed skinny?

2. Doing aerobic exercise is the best way to burn fat.

Of course doing aerobics, like doing any exercise, is a good way to stay fit and burn fat. But, there is no particular benefit of aerobics that is substantially better at fat-reducing than any other type of exercise. In fact, weight-training and resistance-training builds more muscle, which may help the body to burn fat more quickly, because it is more work.

3. Weight training will make my muscles bulk up.

Women don't want to go around looking like a muscled freak! Well, actually, normal resistance exercise tones the body and improves overall fitness. Normal weight training does not build huge, bulky muscles. The weight trainers who look like a pile of boulders are actually doing that more with steroids, anaboloids, and protein powders, plus heavy strenuous lifting which can actually damage muscles with scar tissue in the long run.

4. There is a pill that will make you lose fat, no matter how much you exercise or what you eat.

This is such complete and utter fraud, that the FDA is constantly shutting down these companies as soon as they pop up. There is no pill that will do anything to make you loose weight at all. The "best" weight loss pills will only be effective when combined with sensible eating and healthy exercise. And, surprise! Sensible eating and healthy exercise is effective without any kind of pills at all!

And most diet pills are made with ephedrine. Ephedrine is a naturally occurring stimulant very similar to the illegal street drug methamphetamine, whose effects are not as strong and are spread out over a longer time. Ephedrine is in fact the chief ingredient used to make methamphetamine! In other words, it's like being hopped up on speed, with about the same short-term effects - temporary decreased appetite and increased activity - and the same long-term consequences: risk of heart attack, run-down immune system, relapse to former state as soon as the drug is no longer taken, etc.

5. After 20 minutes of exercise, your body is burning mostly fat.

The body uses both carbohydrates and fat for energy all the time; walking, jogging, sitting, sleeping. Over the course of exercise, the body will use more fat. Burning reserved fat exercises the whole purpose of why nature has mammals build up fat in the first place. But there is no specific time, whether twenty minutes or two hours, when the body starts burning only fat.

6. Eating late at night causes you to gain more fat than eating at different times of the day.

A calorie is a calorie, regardless of the time of day. However, the sense behind this one is that eating the biggest meal of the day just before bedtime, as most Westerners do, is almost guaranteed to turn more calories into fat than the same meal eaten at the start of the day just before beginning your activities. Add to this that the average dinner for a Westerner involves huge slabs of meat and piles of starch, with perhaps some high-fat dessert and snacks. Trying to sleep with a freshly full stomach is never good for the digestive system anyway. So this one isn't as much of a myth as the others - but then, a huge breakfast followed by eight hours of virtual inactivity at a desk isn't exactly the cure either.

7. Cellulite is the hardest fat to burn.

Cellulite is simply a combination of fatty tissue and fluid, closer to the upper layers of the skin. Its dimply appearance may be unsightly, but the fat in cellulite is no different from any other body fat. Reducing calories and exercising is the best method to get rid of cellulite, just like it's the best way to get rid of any other fat.

8. If you eat no fat, you cannot get fat.

Any fuel that the body takes in which does not get burned as energy gets stored as fat. Absolutely, positively, regardless of whether that came from a chocolate cake, a slice of ham, a bowl of rice, or a stalk of celery. That's right: there are no "negative calorie" foods; if you consumed enough lettuce and did nothing but eat all day, you'd get fat off of lettuce! However, we're talking about more lettuce than the average person could wolf down... but if we have the same serving of calories from two kinds of foods, the weight-gain potential from each one is the same.

9. Genes and hormones control your fat burning ability rather than diet and exercise.

While it is true that genes have some role in determining who is fat and who is thin, there is no reason that diet and exercise cannot control your weight. To this day, there has not been a single laboratory test confirming that a person had genes such that they would continue to have a weight issue in the face of a perfect balance of diet and exercise.

10. Liposuction is one way of permanently removing excess fat cells.

Well, yes, liposuction will remove fat cells. But fat cells can just as easily be made by the body, whenever it wants to! Which is to say, there is no fixed number of fat cells that you were born with.

Three Top Dieting Tips

Okay, for many people this is a big problem. Water does not taste all that great generally because water does not really taste like anything. Drinking water 8 to 10 times each day gets easier the more you actually do it. It is simply a matter of conditioning your taste buds, and yourself, so that it becomes easier to do. Once you get started, you will begin to crave water. To begin with, you should drink a glass of water in the morning first thing, before you eat. This is probably the easiest glass you will drink all day and it will help you remember to drink water all day long. Better yet, why not drink two glasses?

If you really cannot bear the taste of water, try using a water purifying pitcher or filter. You can also add a few drops of lemon or lime to your water but no sugar or
sweetener! Ice also helps. Check out flavored waters on the market, too. Just keep an eye out for additives.

Second Tip Eat breakfast Do not skip breakfast. If you need to go to bed a little earlier so that you can get up 20 minutes earlier each morning do it! Breakfast is so important to your good health and to weight control. According to Dr. Barbara Rolls a professor of nutrition at Penn State University, "Your metabolism slows while you sleep, and it doesn't rev back up until you eat again."

Eating breakfast is not only good for overall weight loss, it will help you stay on track with your diet the rest of the day. You are more likely to binge on something sweet and in the bad group if you skip breakfast.,You can always keep a couple of hard-boiled eggs in the fridge or some high-fiber, low starch fruit around. If you plan to eat fruit at all during the day, breakfast is the perfect time to do it.

Third Tip Eat at least 3 meals and snacks each day This can be one of the hardest adjustments to make. After all, you are busy! You already have a full-plate. When do you have time to worry about filling your plate with more frequent meals? Just like eating breakfast will increase your metabolism, so will eating more often. This will also help you curb your bad-carb intake by making sure that your snacks are planned and occur regularly throughout the day.

Really, it will just take a minimal investment of planning time at the grocery store and at home each morning before you head out for the day to make some healthy food choices and prepare a few healthy snacks and meals.