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Is the scale the way you determine your day? Do you wake up and allow the scale to tell you if you are going to have a good or bad day? Break your connection to the scale. Don’t give your power to the scale. Your success isn’t determined by the scale.

For people that diet and are on a quest for weight loss, we just can’t stay away from the scale. It is as though we can’t start our day without hopping on this device that sits on the floor that we stand on. There we are, giving our power to the scale standing on the scale staring down at the display waiting for the verdict. For some it is a compulsion for others it is mere curiosity. The problem occurs when the results begin to dictate our mood, our self-worth, and our self-esteem.

What is our compulsion with the scale? For some it’s a measurement of success. It is a form of validation when we have been eating healthy on our diet program and regularly working out. Why do we need a little box that sits on the floor to give us the validation we want? You know what you’ve done, how you’ve stuck to your diet, exercised, and resisted temptations throughout your day. The scale doesn’t give you the compliments or “way to go” for those aspects of your daily successes. The scale is just that – a scale that measures your body weight including temporary body fluctuations.

Scales don’t tell you how much fat you are losing. A regular scale doesn’t reflect your muscle or water weight either. Our weight can fluctuate from day to day. Water retention from sodium, retention of bodily waste, hormonal changes, bloating, and other temporary bodily adjustments all register on the scale either up or down. Don’t jump on and off the scale so many times during the day that it can count as aerobic activity for the day. Weigh yourself once a week (or even once per month) at the same time of day on the same scale.

If you weigh yourself every day, you can be frustrated because weight can swing two to three pounds up or down due to temporary body functions and changes. You’ll get a more realistic picture of your weight loss if you weigh once a week.

There are excellent reasons for this. Your weight fluctuates many times throughout the day depending on what you’ve eaten, if you’re hydrated, etc. This can be misleading and cause much frustration. When you weigh yourself, if you have lost weight, also give yourself credit for what you have gained in losing weight. Gains include feeling better about yourself, being in control over food rather than food controlling you, and being closer to your weight loss goal. If you haven’t lost weight, or have put a small amount on, use this as motivation to keep going. Increase your exercise and activity, check what you’re eating and the portions.

It is interesting how those little numbers representing your weight can dictate your entire day. The scale can make you feel skinny and strong or big and awful. Do not weigh yourself several times a day. It makes no sense and can lead to scale neurosis.

For true validation of your weight loss and healthy lifestyle changes, take body measurements. Seeing proof of decreasing measurements is a more accurate way of acknowledging your success. Another great way to validate yourself is by your clothes. Are you clothes fitting better, getting baggier or wearing a different size? Both of these are true gauges and great pats on the back that you deserve.

Take your focus from looking down to the scale on the floor and look up. Look at all of the tremendous changes you’ve made in your life, how great you feel physically and emotionally. Put it in perspective and don’t think about weight as the only issue. Reflect on how great you feel, how you look, do you have more energy, and all of the many things that have changed for the better in your life since you started making healthy changes. Those are the ultimate measures of your success!

It’s a well known fact that the weight loss industry is a profitable one. There are thousands of books, gyms and health spas, nutrition and exercise services available to the overweight consumer and the net is riddled with them.If the consumer is not receiving advise from a dietition or doctor, it is up to them to verify for themselves what is fact and what is fiction. For many years, the low carb establishment has maintained that you can lose weight by changing the amount and in some cases the types of carbs, protein and fats consumed. And for many years the mainstream medical establishment has scoffed at the Atkins weight loss theory of losing weight through ketosis not through maintaining a negative calorie balance and labelled it irresponsible and unhealthy. There are cries of cardiovascular and cholesterol risks not just because of the red meat, but because of the lower carbohydrate and therefore lower fiber intake recommended. Many authorities will not recommend it as a viable weight loss solution, and indeed is censored by relevant government authorities in many countries. Despite the bad press, there have been thousands of reported cases of individuals losing weight by eating more protein and fewer carbohydrates.During the last couple of years, findings of research have been filtering through that there may be some merit to the low carb diets, that have been promoted in weight loss books and websites. Atkins press releases seize the opportunity to validate what they’ve been saying for years.Some would say (particularly dietitions and nutritionists) that the people who joined the low-carb band wagon were naive, unkowledgeable and ready to try anything. There are those who have taken aspects of the low carb diets out of context and have done silly things like eating nothing but pork rinds and Atkins bars and wandered why they weren’t losing weight. This is the danger of popular diet books where no individual professional support can be given.However, to be fair, many low carb-ers today are forward thinking, health conscious (not just weight conscious) and intelligent and logical thinkers and do receive some support as I believe there is an Atkins telephone helpline available to U.S. residents, which if you’re interested is 1-800-2-ATKINS. As to whether this is purely a promotional tool or truely a helpline, I am not sure.For many low carb-ers eating a low carb diet is similar to eating the way we did years ago before we had access to soda and bagels in mass proportions. Now, I am not an advocate of low carb diets, in fact I don’t recommend “cookie cutter” diets, but I do see that for many, it is providing welcome relief to stubborn weight and health problems that previously have been difficult to treat, and that independent research is starting to support the results that have been seen in thousands of low carb success testimonials.As a side note, I feel I must add, if you’re new to the diet scene and assessing whether or not low carb eating is for you, I do have one word of warning, please be aware that research findings can be manipulated and that findings of research that have been funded by commercial interests such as those within the low carb community may not be as impartial as it appears. I am not saying that their research isn’t impartial or accurate, but to be really sure, a truly independent study should not have links to interested commercial parties.References:Due A, Toubro S, Skov AR, Astrup A. Effect of normal-fat diets, either medium or high in protein, on body weight in overweight subjects: a randomised 1-year trial. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004 Oct;28(10):1283-90. Atkins Press Release July 2004: Controlled-carbohydrate research from around the world.USA Today: E.J. Mundell, HealthDay 10/29/2004 Low-carb diets may hurt heart healthCopyright © 2004 Jenny Mathers All Rights Reserved.

So summer is almost here, yet your summer weight loss program has barely even started. You were planning to go to the pool or beach to get a great tan. At the moment though, it seems unlikely that you will be removing your shirt in the near future. Your body has hung onto those extra winter pounds for a little too long now. You might have planned a long fitness routine to drop the weight in weeks, but no one has the time for this. This will provide tips that will give you an easy summer program to drop the weight quick.

Quick Weight Loss Summer Program

Let’s take a look at five ways you can melt that extra fat so you can spend that time in the sun this summer and not turning down all those invitations for pool parties. These won’t be easy but with a bit of discipline you will get you the results you want. Think of it this way, its only a couple of weeks.

As your diet is the most important element of weight loss, the first four tips deal with what you will be eating. When you add in the fifth its works synergistically to lose your weight fast. Its been scientifically proven to be the fastest way to lose fat. Following these tips people have lost from 3 to 5 kilograms in 3 weeks. So lets get started:

1. Cut out your starchesOk, the most important part of weight loss is diet, rice and potato’s are full of energy, something you don’t need a lot of right now. Cutting them out will bring mean that your body is going to have to look elsewhere to find energy if it needs extra, and you will be needing extra when you start tip number 5.

2. Cut out all sugar from your diet.Sugar is the main reason you have extra fat and balancing your blood sugar should be your number one priority. Your aim is give your body a slow stable supply of energy over the course of the day and to avoid any spikes with sugary sweets. Give your body food releases its energy slowly into the bloodstream.

3) Include protein in every meal. Protein slows down digestion and, with it, the release of sugar into your blood stream. It also causes your body burn more energy during the digestion process since it requires so much energy to digest.

4) Have six meals a day.The act of eating burns calories, and the extra meals balance your blood sugar out over the day.

5) Participate in High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Exercise is a significant factor when you want to lose excess weight. One big advantage to using Interval Training is that it allows you to burn fat long after the exercise is over – up to 40 hours longer, in fact. In addition it works well with the weight loss tips that have been mentioned above to truly speed up your weight loss. You will need to develop habits that are specific for your weight loss plan.

We all need motivation to make changes in our lives. But some motivations can have short-term effects whilst other motivations can have long-lasting, life changing effects. This article takes a very quick look at how we can cut to the core of making the long-lasting, life changing decisions easier.

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Why do you want to lose weight? Do you want to make someone else happy? Your kids, your husband? The only way to lose weight in the long-term is to lose weight for you.

While some or most of this article might sound like pointless new-age psycho-babble, at its core are valid, solid ways of changing your life. Do not give in, it may well be a life changing experience.

Whilst these are all valid reasons for losing weight they may actually be the reasons why so many people fail to lose weight or lose weight but then put it all back on with a little extra just for desert. In order to understand long term weight loss we need to look at the nitty-gritty at how the mind works and how we become, and remain motivated, to do something.

When we want to change something about ourselves we need to look deep. Not just “Because the doc said I need to lose a few pounds” deep or “I want to look nice when I lie by the pool” deep. We need to look at where we are now, where we want to be and the difference between the two. That is where the deepness lies.

Ok, let’s take any weight measurements out of the equation and look at body size and shape. We might imagine ourselves to look a long way from the way we want to look. But how does that make us feel? Pretty miserable right. But that’s where your change begins – connect with the feelings caused by the difference between the two you’s. The discrepancy between the you now and the person you want to be is the reality and sometimes the reality hurts! The difference between where we are and where we need to get to needs to be bridged.

You need to imagine what it would feel like to be the person you want to be. Stop for a second and think about it. Close your eyes. Really think about it. Think about the person you want to change for. Because this is only a short article I will give you the answer you need to come up with.

The only person you want to change for is you. There are just so many reasons you could have come up with for changing. Kids, husbands, wives, parents, friends, pets, teams – the list is endless.

The only person you need to change for is you. If this sounds too selfish and self-centred for you then I’m sorry. However, the chance of you changing long-term for anybody other than yourself are minimal. If you think about it another way, what would make the person you are changing for happy? Would they be happier to see YOU happy or would they be happier watching you trying to make THEM happy? So if we want to change we have to look at ourselves and see ourselves as we really are. We need to look to the person we want to be. From then on the person you want to be is going to be the person you are.

If you want to lose weight you need to do it for yourself, no-one else. Not only do you get to be the person you want to be but everybody else gets the benefit of basking in the glow of your happiness and success.

Are you interested in formulating an exercise plan that will assist you to remain trim and help you to get thin? Studies regularly show that there are two basic types of exercise that are both extremely efficient and successful. Of course, it stands to reason that you must be motivated in the first place, and that is why therapeutic hypnosis can help solve your problems.

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If you’re like most people, you are interested in creating an exercise system that will assist you to remain healthy and slim. It may shock you to find out that research studies usually demonstrate that only two core kinds of exercise are useful — which suggests that you can’t just choose any type of exercise to become trim.

Due to the fact that so many people have trouble with the motivation to exercise, performing the most efficient kinds of exercise is imperative, since the less time you spend exercising – and the less time you waste on low efficiency exercise – the more likely it is that you will persist in your exercise routine and therefore achieve your personal weight and strength target.

Our first type of exercise which has been regularly proven to aid people to lose weight and get trim is progressive resistance. In brief, progressive resistance is one type of strength training. It functions by progressively ramping up the pounds lifted, the number of sets, and number of repetitions performed. As a result, your muscles are never strained or subjected to damage – instead, they slowly and steadily strengthen without any setbacks.

Our second type of exercise that has been scientifically studied is cardiovascular training. This is any type of exercise that gets the heart rate up to 60 – 85 percent of its maximum rate. Some kinds of cardio training may involve jogging, jumping rope, aerobics, or treadmill, among other types of exercise, but it is your choice.

Although progressive resistance and cardio training by themselves have been found to be very efficient forms of exercise, scientists now know that performing both of these types of exercise is the best bet for success. If you combine both progressive resistance and cardio training, you will increase the strength of your muscle groups and increase overall endurance. According to a recent scientific study, exercisers who used both cardio and progressive resistance during a two month time period lost 45 percent more weight than exercisers who did cardio training or progressive resistance alone.

Just as important as the type of exercise you perform is, the way in which you exercise is also important. It probably will be unsurprising that being consistent is the name of the game. Exercising inconsistently may strain your muscles and will probably not aid you to build strength and endurance. In addition, it is unlikely to improve your whole-body health. According to most scientists, the best regime is to exercise for forty minutes to an hour three to five times per week.

Unfortunately, it turns out that for a significantly sized subset of the population, getting sufficient exercise is not as easy as attending the health club a few times every week or listening to what scientists claim. For this group of people, the motivation to exercise is the primary issue – this group of people simply doesn’t have the motivation to go to the gym. Actually, they might resist any and all exercise, to the point of severe anxiety.

Nobody knows what percentage of the population suffers from problems with the motivation to exercise, but scientists say that up to 20 to 40 percent of people claim that they “hate” or “dread” exercise. An even larger percentage of people might have more mild problems with the motivation to exercise, finding that even though it is simple enough to commit themselves to an exercise regime for a week or two, motivation eventually degrades, leaving them where they were initially – unhealthy and heavy.

If you are one of these people who struggles with the motivation to exercise, the good news is that there are some easy strategies to deal with the struggle. In a recent research study, volunteers who needed to start an exercise program were provided with a brief learning program that aided them to decide on the right kinds of exercise, were provided with a therapist who specialized in exercise motivation, and were given a brief course in hypnosis. After six months, they were asked to evaluate their progress. It turns out that over 85 percent of the participants had adhered to an exercise program throughout the whole six months. Even better, they generally lost an average of fifteen more pounds than the control group.

If you have an interest in this study, it might make sense to look into locating a motivational therapist, habit control therapist, or therapist who deals with hypnotherapy. These therapists are provided with special training in helping people to transcend anxieties, build the motivation to exercise, and reinforce the creation of good habits. One more choice for exercise motivation is self-hypnosis – which is a simple and inexpensive process that often helps people take control of their own inborn abilities to be motivated.

Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are risk-free ways of increasing motivation that have been proven to provide success in the case of exercise motivation. Hypnosis works by using hypnotic relaxation to enhance the powers of the unconscious mind to influence the modification of behavior and habit development. Hypnotherapy is a good choice for the exercise adverse because it can help increase the drive to get trim and lose weight easily and effectively.

Are you tired of the yo yo effect? These simple 5 steps can help you KEEP the weight off once you do lose it

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Why do some dieters suffer the endless frustration of losing and then gaining weight again and again, while others lose weight and keep it off forever?

And we know you don’t want to be the latter group?

Here are 5 very simple tips successful dieters implement – and you can easily adapt these good habits yourself.

1.) You know that old conventional wisdom that goes “The scale doesn’t matter when you’re dieting”? For a long time experts scorned the idea of frequent weigh ins, pointing out that the scale can be inaccurate because of fluctuations caused by water weight. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat. So if you’re exercising you may be gaining muscle and that will throw the scale off.

However, it turns out that weighing yourself every day is actually an excellent motivator for dieters. A study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that dieters who weighed themselves every day lost the most weight, and kept it off more successfully, compared to a group of dieters who did not weigh themselves regularly.

2.) Keep a log of everything you eat. When you log everything you eat you will feel MUCH more guilty when you cheat because you have to see it and read it.

3.) Do at least 1 15 minute activity everyday. ANYTHING. Walk your dog, go jogging, do tae bo. Most of us work at desks and sit at home all day – then do it at least three times a week. You will lose weight quicker and this is one of the big contributors of keeping the weight off.

4.) Plan ahead. If you are going out to dinner with friends or to a holiday office party or even to the movies, what are you going to do when hunger pangs hit? Eat something before you go and decide BEFORE you get to the party or movies.

5.) Schedule the occasional indulgence. Most weight loss experts suggest and encourage a cheating day. When you get to eat some pizza, brownie or some ice cream at some time in the week your chances of ditching your plan is much less likely. This can also be a day when you throw in some more activity.

For those of you out there who believe that you can only lose weight through fasting, you cannot be more wrong! Facts have shown that it is not how much you eat but actually what you eat that results in weight gain in most people. If you decide to eat correctly, you will surely be eating your way to weight loss naturally.

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In the developed world today, a whole lot of people seem to be struggling with a particular challenge common to them all and that is the issue of how to lose weight so as to live a healthier life. In the same vein, a good number of the people concerned tend to believe that the only way to lose that excess fat is by starving themselves or fasting. Nothing can be further than the truth in this case. It has been proven by the experts that one can achieve weight loss naturally through correct dieting.

In order to lose weight naturally, the main thing one has to keep in mind and practice is to eat wisely, take enough water and do some regular exercise. This combination of actions will surely help you get rid of that unwanted fat as well as give you a fitter and sexier physique.

It is pertinent at this stage to note that when I talk of losing weight naturally through correct dieting, I am not talking about some very strict diet but simple ones that can be found in some cook books such as the Metabolic Cooking. I am also not talking about a particular diet for the whole day but an intelligent mix of recommended diets that will end up giving you a healthier body through weight loss.

I suppose that at this stage some of you out will want to know exactly how to eat wise and reap the benefits of losing weight naturally in the shortest possible time. It is not rocket science but simply doing what is right as already suggested. For an example, the diet experts claim that our ability to shed fats is eighty percent correct dieting and twenty percent how much exercise we give to our body. This also means that you need to steer clear of that attractive and sweet junk foodstuff you have been destroying your system with only to go back to the gym to try to burn the fat you got from wrong dieting practice.

Another important aspect of correct dieting is the issue of the water intake level. It is a fact that taking a good amount of water on a daily basis helps in ensuring a clean body system. As a matter of fact, the experts have made it abundantly clear that in order to keep our body system in a clean condition we need to take as much as sixty ounces of water daily. This is much better than the sugary drinks that many people use to replace water in their diet. It is recommended by medical experts that every adult should drink at least eight glasses of water in order to enjoy a healthier life devoid of obesity.

In summary therefore, anyone who wishes to enjoy the benefits weight loss simply needs to combine a correct diet with a good water intake and do some exercise. That also means such a person needs to as well avoid taking junk food and replace that with the consumption of lots of fruit and vegetables. When fruits are added to your meals, it is easier for you to ward off the cravings for sweet since you are ingesting natural sugar instead of the artificial one. You are advised to take fruits such as oranges and or apples in between your meals as a means of eating your way to weight loss and good health.

You can begin to lose weight by reducing your stress level. Here’s how!

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There may be many reasons why you engage in the behavior of overeating. Overeating helps some people gain a sense of control over their lives. Other people overeat when they are stressed or upset. Think about the times that you have had a binge eating session? What was the motivation behind it? Do you turn to food when you are upset or have a stressful day? Do you find a sense of comfort in the food that you eat? If stress is a major factor in your eating habits, finding ways to help reduce stress can help you lose weight.

1. Find a Support System

Having people that you can rely on is a great way to start reducing stress. Call on your friends or family when you are in a stressful situation. They can be a great source of advice or just a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes going out with work friends after a long stressful day can work wonders to melt the stress that you feel. We all need to rely on our friends and family at some point. Being able to talk about your stress is a health alternative to overeating.

2. Post Positive Mantras

Think about the negative comments you make about yourself when you are feeling stressed. Most people struggle with negative self-talk at sometime in their lives. Begin to challenge your old ways of thinking. Replace those old thoughts with positive thoughts that will help you push through stressful times. If a long stressful day at work leaves you thinking that you are “no good at my job”, change your thoughts. Think about how hard you worked today. You put in your all and achieved a goal you had set. Whatever your new thoughts are going to be, post them around your house. This will help you stay focused on them even when you are headed for a stress out moment. Thinking positively can help curb overeating.

3. Find Time to Relax

It is important that you take a few minutes everyday for relaxtion. There are many different things you can do in order to relax. If you had a busy day at work and spent the evening running errands, take a long soak in a tub. If you find yourself working late one night, close your office door and read a chapter in a book. On the weekends, go for a walk around a nature trail. The activity can last five minutes or five hours; the important thing is to take some time to relax.

4. Meditate or Journal

Another great way to reduce stress is to be alone with your thoughts. This can help you sort out what is going on in your life in a healthy way. One way to do this is to meditate. Another way is to write in a journal. Writing in a journal is a great way to begin organizing your thoughts about the stresses in your life. Dealing with your stress in this productive way makes it less likely that you will overeat.

5. Listen to Your Body

Stop beating yourself up for overeating. Move forward into a new way of thinking about eating and food. By listening to your body, you will learn when your body is telling you it is full or hungry. Know the signals that your body gives off in order to begin recognizing the difference between hunger and emotional eating. You can pull through this struggle and be on your way towards a natural weight loss.