Why Can’t You Lose Weight?

Recently, I had a chance to read “I am so smart, why can’t I lose weight?” book by Brooke Castillo. It’s an excellent book about tips that you can incorporate into your everyday life to lose weight. After reading this book, it just hit me. Not losing weight is not always about not knowing what to eat or what to do, but rather having the determination to go ahead with a plan. I always compare eating food to being addicted to cigarettes. A lot of it comes down to shedding those bad habits. A lot of people who struggle to lose the weight find it difficult to change their lifestyle. Eating becomes a habit for them, and they can’t stick to their plans the way they should.

Another reason why people don’t lose weight is due to them having a “there is a tomorrow” attitude.  I remember when I was overweight and went to my doctor. I wasn’t overweight by much, but it was still significant enough for my doctor to tell me that I would die if I didn’t stop eating unhealthy food. That’s the attitude that’s going to help you lose the weight. If you approach weight loss as a life-saving measure, you are going to have more success with it. There will always be temptations. You want to eat more today and promise yourself to eat less tomorrow, but that never works. Having a balanced diet each and everyday is key here!

Just like those who are addicted to cigarettes, you should avoid giving into temptations. It’s easy to say, “I am going to have this piece of chocolate today and not have any chocolate for a month.” It would be great if you could stick to that plan. But in reality, that is a promise that is hard to keep. It’s always better to set a long-term goal and “celebrate” when you reach it. Never take breaks or give in before you have reached you weight milestone (e.g. dropped 5, 10, 15, … lbs). Eat well and exercise often, and you’ll be on your way to a healthier you.

The Truth About Diet Shakes

Losing weight is not that easy. A lot of us gain weight gradually and the next thing you know you are 20, 50, or even 100 pounds overweight. Once you realize that you are overweight, you have got two choices. You can either give up and add another 100 pounds. Or you can work methodically to lose your weight. A lot of folks are wasting their time looking for magic solutions that let them have the best food in the world and lose weight at the same time. Some even put their trust in these magical shakes that are supposed to somehow help you lose weight. Everyone knows that the best way to lose weight is by counting calories and burning calories through daily workouts.

I personally have tried SlimFast and other shakes on the market. After all, if you don’t try, you don’t know what you are missing (or not missing). I personally have no problem with Slim Fast products. They helped me change my diet plan and eat healthier. I was working long hours in front of a computer and had too much junk food that my body could handle. Slim Fast shakes did help me get over my addition to junk food and maintain my weight. But I can’t say I lost weight with them.

Slim Fast probably has some of the best diet shakes out there on the market. I have tried some other ones that have actually put me in a deeper hole. Diet shakes are not magical. You are not going to lose weight unless you start counting calories religously and exercise more often. Some of these shakes help you get more vitamins and nutritions in your system but don’t ever put your hope in these shakes. Just as you shouldn’t rely on diet pills to lose weight fast. At the end of the day, you can always try these diet shakes for yourself but the best way to lose weight is by eating healthy and controlling your calorie in-take on an everyday basis. There are no short-cuts in this game.

Your take: which diet shake has worked the best for you?

The Weight Loss Challenge for an Internet Entrepreneur – Part I

This decade has seen a lot of folks starting their own Internet empires and making lots of money in the process. As the job market gets more difficult, you can expect even more folks to start their small businesses around blogging and other Internet services. The opportunities are there, and you can expect folks to come and grab them. But a lot of folks don’t know how to balance their Internet life and their regular life. When you don’t have a boss of your own, it’s easy to get too focused on the job at hand and spend hours in front of a computer. And let’s not forget that a lot of folks like to eat a lot of junk food while working on a computer. These little things add up fast and the next thing you know you have gained a lot of weight and are less healthy as well. The Internet life may be fun, but that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice your health in the process.

There are simple practices that you can take to stay healthy while managing your Internet venture. You just have to watch what you eat and exercise regularly. Here are a few things I have incorporated in my own life:

• Eat well: I used to eat a lot of crackers in my past job. But after a while I realized that it was just not healthy. Now a piece of a carrot does the job for me.
• Exercise: sitting around on a chair for hours is not exactly a calorie burning activity. That’s why I take time to get outside every 30 minutes or so and walk for 5 minutes. I use my Wii to get even more exercise when I am bored. Finally, I go for a run at night and lift some weight. The last thing you want to do is cut corners when it comes to your health.
• Sit well: you have probably heard this before but sitting in front of a computer can hurt your body if you do it the wrong way. So make sure you sit straight.
• Get out: spending a lot of time at home can be a lot of fun, especially if you are your own boss. But just because you don’t have to get out often, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Incorporate social events in your life on a daily basis. That would make you get out of your house!
• Take your nutrition: don’t forget to take your vitamins on a regular basis. And you should drink often as well. It helps your body in more ways than one.
• Sleep well: make sure to get enough sleep. It keeps your brain sharp and helps you be more productive.

There are a lot of things you can do to live a more healthy Internet life. I like to keep things simple. Eat well, sleep well, and exercise often. It’s not rocket science!

How To Lose Weight With Twitter – Part I

Twitter is one of the hottest Web 2.0 communities around these days. Millions of tweets are posted to the site on a daily basis. It’s a great way to share information, learn from others, and expand your network. Twitter allows anyone to get in touch with the gurus and experts in any industries and connect with them. But Twitter is more than just about making conversations. Did you know that you can actually track what you eat and even lose weight using Twitter?

There are a lot of tools that you can use on Twitter to become more effective. It just happens that a few applications let you track what you eat and how much calorie you are taking in. That way you can stay on track and continue losing weight. Let’s not forget that Twitter allows you to connect with other folks who are in the same boat as you. By connecting with these folks, you can form a group and lose weight together. Here are a few Twitter tools that can help you stay on track and lose more weight:

• FoodFeed: foodfeed is a service that helps you share your eating habits with everyone, from anywhere. It’s also a great way to find people who are in the same boat as you. Maybe you can form a group and help each other out with weight loss.
• SugarStats: a great way to track what you are eating everyday.
• TweetPlot: Tweetplot is a charting tool for Twitter. If you plan to track your weight loss progress or how much calorie you have been taking in the past few days, you can use TweetPlot to create a graph based on your data.
• Tweet What You Eat: another great tool to note down what take during each day. Sometimes, we forget a lot of those small things that we have during the day. But the calories add up quickly. With this tool, you can track what you are eating.

As you can see, you can do much more than talking on Twitter. If you are on Twitter all day, why not use it to improve your health as well?

*for more information on Twitter apps, log on to Twitter Hacks.

Can You Lose Weight With Video Games?

Video games are evolving and becoming more realistic every year. Before Nintendo Wii was released, a lot of folks were playing games only for entertainment purposes. But Wii’s realistic games have allowed folks to lose weight and become more active while playing games. Wii’s success has made a lot of gaming companies think about new ways to get players more engaged and into the game. Games such as EA Sports Active intend to change people’s lifestyle while bringing an entertainment factor to their daily workouts.

But you don’t need a Wii to lose weight. High speed, intense games on Xbox 360 and PS3 can also help you lose more weight. Have you noticed that some games are so intense that make you sweat all the time? If you play games that get your heart pumping, that could also help you lose weight. While you may not lose as much with these games as you would with Nintendo Fit or EA Sports Active, it’s still a good way to drop some weight and get in a better shape.

Video games are essentially no substitute for the real workout. Nevertheless, if you haven’t worked out in a while and you are looking for a way to get started, video games are good place to start. Video games have helped a lot of folks lose weight, and they can help you too. Who says losing weight should be a hassle!

How I Lost 15 Pounds in 3 Weeks

As someone who struggled with my weight for years, I know a thing or two about failed diet plans and gaining weight while shooting for weight loss. One of the best diets that I ever tried was the simple “eat nothing after 5 PM” plan. I don’t know whether this is an Oprah diet or is known by some other name, but this was one of the best short-term diets that I tried. When I started the diet, I was 212 pounds. In a matter of 3 weeks, I lost 15 pounds and was on my way down to 160 (which is my ideal weight).

This diet is so simple, it’s a no brainer. You eat conservatively throughout the day and stop eating after 6 0′clock. I was skeptical about the whole thing, but the results kept coming in, and I was excited. As great as this diet was, it doesn’t really work for too long. Unfortunately, your body gets used to the diet, and you stop losing weight. That’s the reality with most diets. They work for a while and keep you exited, but it gets tougher after a few weeks or months.

Here is the moral story. You should always try to keep your body on its toes. Taking less calories is only a small part of the equation. You should also aim for exercising and changing your diet plan quite often to confuse your body and burn more fat. Your body is so good at adjusting that you should stop it from doing so. Diets become stagnant after a while. That’s why if you are planning to lose weight, you should change your lifestyle and not just your diet.

Weightloss 101: Patience Is a Virtue

I remember when I was trying so hard to lose weight. I was trying everything under the sun to drop my weight from 200 lbs to 150 lbs. If you think about it, going down from 350 lbs to 250 lbs is much easier than going from 200 lbs to 150 lbs. But weight loss is never easy. You are never going to hit it all in one night or one month. In fact the worst way to approach fat loss is by setting unreasonable goals for yourself. We all want to lose weight as fast as possible, but what would you do next? Let’s say you lost that 100 pounds. You can’t just go back and eat everything you shouldn’t. Losing weight is more about a change in lifestyle than a short-term change in what you eat.

Research has shown that those who lose weight slowly keep it off longer. Why? These folks realize that by going to the extremes, you are going to get only short-term results. You want to change your lifestyle. You want to take baby steps and let your body ease into your new lifestyle. If you starve yourself, you won’t be able to sustain it and before you know it you are back in the first place.

Many people assume, by mistake, that you can lose the weight that you have put on in 6 months in 20 days. That’s just not healthy, and you won’t be able to sustain it. A lot of us don’t have enough patience when it comes to losing those pounds, but in reality without patience you are not going to get any results. That’s what sets apart people who have lost weight and kept it off and those who keep losing and gaining weight.

Which group do you belong to?

Consistency Is Key with Weight Loss Programs

I don’t know about you but I personally struggled a lot with my weight during my teen years. I was not that overweight, but I always wanted to lose an extra 20 or 30 lbs. My problem wasn’t not knowing what works and what doesn’t. It was choosing the right plan and sticking with it. I was all over the place with my diet plans. I was trying to become a vegetarian and starve myself at the same time while following the latest plan I had read in a health magazine. If you want to lose weight, you’ve got to choose a eating program and stick with it.

Many folks want to lose weight for the sake of losing weight. In reality, your health should be your top priority. If you are 300 pounds and want to live longer to achieve more success and see your kids succeed, you’ll have no choice but to drop those extra pounds. But you want to do that in a healthy way. You don’t want to lose 20 pounds each week. You also want to keep your goal in front of your mind. When you are on a diet, it’s easy to get discouraged and abandon your program. But you should always remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing, and how taking a detour could set you back dramatically.

As resolved as you may be, you may slip up. Everybody does that. Don’t let that take away from months of hard work that you have done to lose weight. Don’t go berserk when you slip up. Hold yourself back and get back on the right track. If you crave chocolate and have got to have it, it’s OK to have a little piece. But do and eat a whole pie and then some cake just because you slipped up a little bit. That’s how you put those pounds back on fast. At the end of the day, losing weight is all about consistency over the long run. Don’t let small slip ups here or there take you completely off the track.

The Foolproof Way To Lose Weight

If you have been struggling to lose weight, the chances are you have tried many weight loss systems to no avail. Some ask you to eat exotic food. Others ask you to eat more meals each and every day. And a few others ask you to exercise your butt off. In reality, losing weight is not that complicated. The more you take in, the more you have to burn to lose weight. If you decide to have that pie cake with 1,500 calories, you are probably going to do something very special to get rid of all that calorie. The ONLY way you can lose weight is by burning more calories than you take everyday. That’s not to say diet systems don’t work. Some of them do, and they do very well. But don’t let anyone make you take your eyes off the ball.

Sites such as The Calorie Counter allow you to find out exactly how much you are taking in each day, and how much you need to burn to lose weight. So is it possible to lose weight without doing any exercise? In theory it is. But it’s not healthy and not a long-term approach. Exercising gets your engine going and helps you build muscles, and we all know muscles are calorie burning machines. But whichever way you decide to go, it’s all about calories.