Correct Weight Loss Blog » Hot Tips

Have You Ever Won a Battle Without Fighting

Paramjit — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:00:34 +0000

Life is a battle field. We face all types of battles everyday. Some are minor battles such as going through traffic and getting to work. Others are major battles such as regaining health or losing wealth.

None of life’s battles are won without fighting. The same goes for weight loss. When trying to lose weight, you have got to change the mind-set with which you enter the battle. Weight loss is a battle. For most people, it could be one of the hardest battles of life. One should come to the realization early on that losing weight is going to take perseverance. Losing weight is simple. Simple because weight loss can be achieved by creating a calorie deficit.

But make no mistake. Weight loss may be simple, but it is not easy. Its is most likely going to take all you have got. Most of the time, people need a strong enough “why”, when going into a major battle such as losing weight. “Why” do you want to lose weight? What will happen if you do not lose weight? Will it affect your self-esteem? Is it affecting your health? Is it affecting your quality of life? Until this “why” is identified, you will find your body to be a very formidable foe. It will wear you down eventually.

With a strong enough “why” any battle can be won. Knowing clearly “why” you must lose weight will keep you going when the going gets tough.

Before you attempt to lose weight, find your “why”. Next learn how you could lose weight correctly. Proceed to fight the weight battle and persevere until you emerge victorious.

Watch this timeless video from Jack Lalanne that elaborates this point further.

Click here to view the embedded video.

8 Cheat Meal Rules for People Trying to Lose Weight

Paramjit — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:00:59 +0000

A cheat meal is a meal where someone trying to lose weight, can eat and drink what ever he or she wants. It is a meal without any dietary restrictions. The cheat meal is a psychological escape that most people may need when they start a weight loss program.

It has no physical benefits. People have to realize that the excess calories from cheat meals will be stored as fat. The excess calories from a cheat meal will set you back somewhat and negate some of the effects of your weight loss efforts in the preceding week.

You should avoid cheat meals if you do not need them. Do not take a cheat meal just for the sake of taking it.

If you ever do need a temporary reprieve from the intense discipline of diet and exercise and need a psychological outlet, here are a set of cheat meal rules. These rules should allow you to relief the built-up pressure with minimum negative effect on your weight loss efforts. The intent of these rules is to satisfy your cravings while minimizing the impact of the excess calories.

1. You Only Deserve a Cheat Meal if You Have Been Diligent the Entire Week

The cheat meal is a reward for sticking to your weight loss program. You should have adhered to your diet plan and done all the necessary exercises. Make a plan or follow a program. You are only entitled to the cheat meal if you have followed your plan or program.

2. You Must be Exercising

Cheat meals are not allowed for those who are not exercising. People who are meagerly dieting are not entitled to cheat meals. If you want a cheat meal, get on an exercise program.

3. Cheat Meal is Limited to 1 Meal per Week

Limit your cheat meal to a single meal and not an entire cheat day. Do not make the mistake of going on a prolonged binge. There is a high tendency for a prolonged binge so you have to be weary.

4. Eat All You Can With One Fill of a 9 inch Plate

Fill all the food that you can eat on a 9 inch plate. Limit your cheat meal to this. A lot of food can go on a 9 inch plate. Most of the time, the cravings reduce dramatically when a few bites of a particular food is taken. In order to minimize damage, have a variety of the food you most craved during the week.

5. Limit to 1 Serving of Sweetened Beverage

You can take any type of sweetened beverage so long as it is limited to one serving. 1 serving is limited to a regular 8 ounce glass. Skip dessert if you take a smoothie, milk shake or yogurt based drink. These drinks have high calories and should not be taken with dessert.

6. Take 1 Serving of Dessert

Take only 1 serving of dessert. As mentioned above, forfeit dessert if you take a smoothie, milk shake or yogurt based drink.

7. Have Your Cheat Meal for Lunch instead of Dinner

It is not advisable to have your cheat meal for dinner. The overload of calories will cause more damage at night as your metabolism slows down when you go to sleep. A heavy meal taken earlier in the day has the potential to cause lesser damage.

8. Avoid Alcohol

Alcohol is prohibited with a cheat meal. Alcohol halts fat burning and this is the last thing that you want to do after consuming all the excess calories. It was found that even a single drink of alcohol had the potential to cause massive disruption to the metabolism.

Image courtesy of stock.xchng

Jack Lalanne Tips – Just Learn To Be Happy

Paramjit — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:30:21 +0000

We live in an age of convenience. We have more convenience now than our forefathers could possibly dream off. Yet more people are unhappy and miserable today than perhaps a hundred years ago.

People get so caught up with chasing after wealth and comfort that they forget the true essence of living. What is the purpose of living if we cannot be happy? Everyone has his or her fair share of problems but storms come and go.

When was the last time you were truly happy?

When was the last time you were truly excited to be alive?

When was the last time you were truly thankful to be alive?

Happiness is a state of mind. You can choose to be happy or choose to be miserable. Because happiness is a state of mind, it is fully under your control. While you cannot become happy at the flip of a switch, you can become happier. You can be happier now than you were a minute ago. You can be happier today than you were yesterday. Alternatively, being miserable is also a downward spiral. You could get more and more depressed as the days go by.

While happiness is a state of mind, eating healthy food and exercising can help tremendously. Exercise for one, is fantastic for releasing hormones that make you feel good about yourself.

Here is another gem of a video from Jack Lalanne that addresses happiness. Choose to be happy. Talk to everyone with zest and with passion. Live today as though it was your last day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Minimize Liquid Calories When Losing Weight

Paramjit — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:30:57 +0000

Be Aware of Liquid Calories

A lot of people who want to lose weight do not realize the sabotaging effect of liquid calories. Liquid calories are calorie filled drinks that we may unknowingly be taking that quickly lead to excess daily calorie consumption. Examples of these drinks include your lattes, colas, fruit juices and alcoholic beverages.

Liquid Calories

Any drink that has carbohydrates, fat, protein or alcohol are liquid calories. Most people do not typically take a lot of liquid protein unless it comes in the form of protein shakes.

Most of the beverages that we drink on a daily basis contain some amount of calories. Even your daily coffee would have some amount of milk and sugar which adds up to calories.

Calories in Your Everyday Beverages

Here are the calories of typical beverages that you may be used to drinking;

Tall Starbucks Caffe Latte with whole milk : 181 calories
Tall Starbucks Caffe Latte with Non-fat milk : 126 calories
Tall Starbucks Caffe Mocha without whipped cream : 240 calories
1 Glass of Pepsi Natural : 100 calories
1 Glass of Typical Apple Juice : 117 calories
1 Glass of Typical Orange Juice : 112 calories
1 can of regular beer : 153 calories
1 glass of wine : 85 calories

The challenge with liquid calories is that these drinks can be digested very quickly. Because these are digested rapidly, they do not fill you up. You can still consume your regular solid meals. That is why liquid calories are added calories that you could do without.

Healthy Beverages

Perhaps the most damaging are those beverages that are considered healthy. People avoid colas and go for an apple juice instead. As you can see from the list above, an apple juice has slightly more calories that a Pepsi Natural. While the apple juice may contain much more nutrients than a Pepsi, the quick digesting juice does not help much with weight loss. You would be better off eating the fruit instead. Fruits should be eaten whole. The fiber contained in fruit has a host of health enhancing benefits.

Milk Containing Beverages Cause Weight Gain

Anyone who is serious about losing weight should cut milk consumption to a minimum. Someone trying to lose weight should avoid fresh milk all together since it has high levels of saturated fat.

Most people do not realize that even low-fat milk has lots of calories. These calories come from the lactose contained in milk. Lactose is a form of carbohydrate that will cause an insulin spike.

Insulin is a hormone that is released by the body to drive simple sugars into your cells. An insulin spike causes excess insulin to linger around even after all the sugars have been absorbed by the cells. Insulin is a hormone that promotes fat storage. In the presence of insulin, the body is inclined to store fat instead of burning it. As such, circulating insulin in the body makes weight loss more difficult. High insulin levels are also damaging to health.

Alcoholic Beverages

Alcoholic beverages are the most damaging. These not only contain lots of calories but also halt fat burning and disrupt the body’s hormonal system. Alcohol has been shown to suppress testosterone in men. In both sexes, it causes the elevation of cortisol. All these conditions sabotage one’s weight loss efforts.

Chew Your Calories

If you are serious about losing weight, increase your awareness of liquid calories. Look at the beverages that you are already consuming. Limit the amount of calorie filled beverages that you are consuming. If you cannot chew your calories, avoid it all together.

Be aware of the milk and milk filled beverages that you consume. Reduce these to a minimum until you achieve your desired body. Do not be too concerned about not getting enough calcium. Take a calcium supplement instead. These are cheap and can be a temporary solution. Those who fear that not drinking milk will make their bones weaker, should look at Jack Lalanne. He does not consume dairy and at 95 is one of the fittest seniors alive.

Weight Loss is all about having an increased awareness about your eating habits. Everyone enjoys a caffe latte or an orange juice now and then. Just be aware of the calories it contain. Try to decrease the consumption of liquid calories until you have achieved your body goals.

Avoid Weight Gain by Placing Sweet Food Out of Reach

Paramjit — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:55:12 +0000

A lot of us have access to all sorts of cakes, sweets, candies, cookies and countless other “snack food” at the workplace. Believe it or not, where you place these snacks will ultimately decide how much of weight you put on in a year.

We go back to Brian Wansink’s Cornell University Food and Brand Lab to see what effect the location of a candy bowl has on an office worker’s weight gain.

Apparently, when the candy jar lies visible within reach, it was found that the average office worker ate almost 9 candies a day.

When the jar was moved out of visibility but still within convenient reach into the drawer, the average office worker ate something like 6 candies a day.

On the other hand when the jar was moved only 6 feet away, the average worker ate approximately 4 candies a day. The jar was just within the line of sight but out of convenient reach.

This does not apply only to candies but all other calorie dense food and sweets that you may find within the vicinity of the office or your kitchen. Keeping a cookie jar on your office table is a big mistake! Why not keep 2 apples instead such that you could take 1 between breakfast and lunch and take another between lunch and dinner. And limit it to this.

Another big mistake is to keep cookies or cakes in glass jars in a very convenient position in your kitchen. Every time you go to the kitchen and pass this jar, you have to make a decision of whether to eat or not to eat that cookie. It has got nothing to do with willpower. If you see the jar, you have to decide one way on another. Why do this in the first place? Why not be smart and not be forced to make these choices at all?

Why not just place all cookies, cakes, sweets, desserts out of visible sight and in an inconvenient place? Watch this interesting video by Brian Wansink that drives home this point.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tips from Jack Lalanne – Sugarholics

Paramjit — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 04:00:57 +0000

Are you a sugarholic? A sugarholic is one who must have his or her fix of sugar. This could be in the form of sugar or in the form of simple carbohydrates. Sugar spikes your insulin. An elevated level of insulin causes all sorts of problems in the body. Insulin is a fat storage hormone and people will find it very difficult to lose weight if they have an elevated insulin level.

Sugar consumption is the highest it has ever been in developed and developing countries. According to the American Heart Association, adult Americans consume up to 22 teaspoons of sugar a day. Teens on the other hand, consume an astonishing 34 teaspoons of sugar a day.

People consume sugar filled cereals. A considerable amount of most people’s fluid intake has sugar. This could be from colas, sodas or even milky drinks like lattes. You would be surprised to find out that milk also contains a form of simple sugar called lactose which has the ability to spike your insulin.

Jack Lalanne does an excellent job to describe the ill effects of sugar in the video below. Jack Lalanne is a living legend and is still extremely active presently at the age of 95. Any advise coming from Jack Lalanne is precious since he is living testimony of what he preaches.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Losing Weight and Keeping it Off

Paramjit — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:00:55 +0000

Lose the Weight Correctly

Most people are so caught up with losing weight that they forget the real prize at stake. The real prize is to keep the weight off. Losing weight is the easiest part of any weight loss initiative. Keeping it off is the real challenge.

Just starve yourself and you will eventually have weight loss. It could be water loss or muscle loss but there will be weight loss. Most people do not think as far as weight loss maintenance. When asked, most people just brush it aside and insist that they will be able to maintain it once the weight is lost. In losing weight, you may have activated your body’s starvation response or compromised your metabolism. This makes it that much harder to maintain the weight that has been lost.

Unfortunately or fortunately, in order to maintain weight loss, the weight must be lost correctly. To achieve correct weight loss, all of the weight loss or a large portion of it must be attributed to fat loss. While muscle loss is unavoidable, it must be minimized to an absolute minimum. Only when most of the weight loss is fat loss, can the weight loss be sustainable.

Fat loss cannot be achieved quickly. It requires patience. Most experts agree that the most fat you could lose in a week is 2 pounds. Fat loss cannot be achieved via dieting alone. It requires exercise. It also requires the cultivation of the correct habits that help sustain the weight loss.

The cultivation of the correct habits is what ensures the weight stays off.

Here are a list of recommended articles to understand what it takes to achieve long term and sustainable weight loss;

Picture courtesy of stock.xchng.

Cheat Meals for Weight Loss

Paramjit — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:57:20 +0000

Cheat Meal for Weight Loss

One of the most difficult parts about losing weight is eating healthy and sensibly. This can be a major challenge in current times when food is available in abundance. The prospect of not being able to eat the food that you love could be a major put-off to start losing weight. That is where the cheat meal comes in.

The Challenges With Eating Healthy if You Have Not Been Doing So

Eating healthy and clean all of a sudden can be too much of a deterrent for most people. They cannot imagine themselves having to give up all the food that they love. As a result, they postpone wanting to lose weight. Being forced to be disciplined maybe too much for most people to handle.

The Cheat Meal

The cheat meal is a meal where you can eat and drink what ever you want without any restrictions or guilt. Some people call it the reward meal. They treat it as a reward for being diligent and disciplined for the week.

Opinions on the Cheat Meal

There is a lot of mixed responses about the concept of the cheat meal. Some experts say that it sets you back as all the added calories will be converted to fat.

Some say that the periodic over-consumption of calories ensures that the body does not activate its starvation response.

Others say that people who are on a strict regiment need an outlet so that they can continue with their weight loss efforts.

People who are fit and in shape are probably of the opinion that cheat meals are unnecessary. The more fitter and leaner one gets, the lesser his or her body craves for junk food. Their taste buds hunger for healthier foods. Most people stop craving cheat meals when they cross the exercise threshold.

Most people judge a cheat meal from their own perspective. If they are not taking it, others should not either.

Are Cheat Meals Beneficial

Cheat meals definitely do not physically help your weight loss efforts. All the excess calories will be stored as fat. Anyone who thinks that their high metabolic rate or exercising can compensate this, is kidding himself. Adding alcohol to a cheat meal can be even more detrimental as this will cause more calories to be stored as fat.

But there may be a psychological benefit. A cheat meal is like a relief valve for a lot of dieters. It helps relief built-up pressure from being extremely disciplined the entire week. More people stop their weight loss efforts for psychological reasons than anything else. They cannot handle the deprivation or the discipline.

Taking a cheat meal is a compromise that some people may be willing to take to keep themselves on their weight loss regiment. While they are taking 3 steps forward and 1 step back, it is certainly better than stopping all together. Cheat meals are a compromise. You could theoretically do much better if you avoided cheat meals all together.

Only Take Cheat Meals if You Exercise

Exercise is an important element in reducing the amount of damage caused by cheat meals. People who starve themselves and go on all sorts of starvation diets should be cautious about cheat meals. The results could be very unpredictable. The body could react in unexpected ways.

Exercise keeps the metabolic rate revving. It keeps the hormones balanced. It allows for disturbances and helps your body cope better with the sudden intake of junk food and excess calories.

When Do You Deserve a Cheat Meal

You should only indulge in a cheat meal if you have been strict and disciplined with your diet and exercise for the entire week. This is a reward that you could give yourself. Even then, the cheat meal should be limited to one sitting. Going for an all out 3 hour buffet could set you back quite a bit.

Conversely, if you have missed exercises or have not been able to follow your planned diet, skip the cheat meal for that week.

The Conclusion on Cheat Meals

If the cheat meal is what it takes to keep you on a weight loss or fitness program, by all means take it. Do be aware that the added calories will be stored as fat. A such, only take it when you have been strict and disciplined the entire week.

Make sure its only a single meal. This is not an excuse to binge the entire day. The best rule to follow is to eat whatever you could fit on your plate at a single fill. Second helpings should be avoided. You could add one non-alcoholic drink and one dessert.

There will be times when you do not crave a cheat meal. Do not take it for the sake of taking it. What is important is that you are making progress and losing fat. If you are not losing fat, take a step back and re-look at your cheat meal.

Would the cheat meal motivate you to stay on your weight loss or fitness regime? Vote below.

Are You Failing in Your Weight Loss Efforts

Paramjit — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:36:11 +0000

A lot of people get frustrated and impatient with their weight loss efforts. These people almost always want quick weight loss. They forget that it took them a long time to gain the weight in the first place.

Weight loss is a process that takes time. If you have not been unsuccessful with your weight loss efforts thus far, its time to take stock of the situation. Find out why you are not getting the results you deserve. Is it a result of some bad habits that you have not changed. Have you tried to go for quick and fast weight loss?

Why do you keep falling off the weight loss band wagon?

Here are a list of articles that may shed some light on why some people do not get the results that they expect;

11 Reasons Why You Are Not Losing Weight

Paramjit — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:19:11 +0000

A lot of people are faced with the frustration of not being able to lose weight even when they think they are doing what they think is necessary. Weight loss is simple but it’s not easy. As long as the calories consumed are less than the calories burnt, you should get continuous fat loss. Make sure that it is correct weight loss. Here are 11 reasons why you may not be getting weight loss.

1. Overeating

A lot of people do not realize how much they are eating until they actually carry a food log. Most people cannot remember beyond 1 or 2 days. Some have even shorter memories. The easiest way to get your weight loss going again is by logging in your daily food consumption and analysing it on the weekend. Research has shown the benefit of doing so.

2. Overestimating Exercise Calories Burnt

A lot of people overeat thinking that they have had a good workout. They overestimate the calories burnt in an exercise session. Most often, people equate the amount they sweat to the amount of calories they burn.

3. Not Eating Enough

Reducing food too much, puts one at risk of activating one’s starvation response. Once the starvation response has been activated, it becomes almost impossible to lose weight. It’s best to reduce your food consumption by not more that 10%.

4. Losing Fat but Gaining Muscles

A lot of men and women who take up weight resistance training experience this. They lose inches off their waist but the weight does not seem to be moving. This is because fat loss is being compensated by the muscles built. Muscles are more dense and as a result, weigh more.

5. Too Much of Steady State Cardio Exercises

The more cardio exercises you do, the more efficient your muscles become. Your muscles will need lesser energy to do the same amount of work. This is partly due to your body adapting to the exercise. You would benefit more by reducing the amount of steady state cardio and instead doing more sprints or interval training.

6. Not Varying Exercises

The body adapts to your exercise routine very quickly. It becomes efficient at doing the exercises as these exercises become familiar. Adaptation leads to slowing down of fat burning.

7. Consuming Too Much Alcohol

Alcohol halts fat burning. Fat burning is disrupted for more than 48 hours after consuming alcohol. A lot of people do lots of exercise during the week and completely blow it by bingeing on alcohol on Friday night. You must be aware of the effects of alcohol on fat loss.

8. Missing Breakfast

Breakfast is the most essential meal of the day for sustainable weight loss. Your body could activate your starvation response if you skip your breakfast. This is akin to the diet of a Sumo Wrestler. Research has shown that people who skip breakfast have a higher propensity of storing abdominal fat.

9. Lack of Sleep

Weight loss is almost impossible for someone who is sleep deprived. Lack of sleep produces and excess of cortisol and this does not help with weight loss.

10. Weekend Binges

A lot of people stick to a very disciplined routine of diet and exercise until Friday night. After that, the diet goes out of the window. Weekend alcohol and unrestricted food consumption has been shown to hamper weight loss efforts.

11. Weight Loss Plateau

You may have reached a weight loss plateau. You could hit this plateau even if you are doing everything right. One of the reason could be fatigue or over exercising. A good solution would be to take a week off from exercise. This helps the body to become sensitized to exercise once you resume it. Do not use this an an excuse to binge. Eat healthy all the while.