Obese lose up to eight years of life

Being severely obese can knock up to eight years off your life and cause decades of ill health, a report says.

The analysis showed being obese at a young age was more damaging to health and life expectancy.

The team, at McGill University in Canada, said heart problems and type 2 diabetes were major sources of disability and death. 

Experts said people were frequently "ignorant" of the consequences of obesity.

The health problems caused by obesity are well known. 

The report, in the Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, used a computer model to take those risks and calculate the impact of weight on life expectancy throughout life.

In comparison with 20 to 39-year-olds with a healthy weight, severely obese men of the same age lost 8.4 years of life and women lost 6.1. Men also spent 18.8 more years living in poor health while women spent 19.1 in that state.

Moving up an age group to those in the forties and fifties, men lost 3.7 years and women 5.3 years to obesity. Men and women in their sixties and seventies lost just one year of life to obesity, but still faced seven years in ill health. 

 'Clear pattern'

Prof Steven Grover said: "Our computer modelling study shows that obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke, and diabetes that will, on average, dramatically reduce an individual's life expectancy.

"The pattern is clear. The more an individual weighs and the younger their age, the greater the effect on their health, as they have many years ahead of them during which the increased health risks associated with obesity can negatively impact their lives."

Responding to the findings, Barbara Dinsdale, lifestyle manager for the charity Heart Research UK, said: "How many more wake-up calls do we need? This research study yet again supports the clear message that by becoming obese you not only take years off your life, but also life off your years in terms of experiencing more years in poor health rather than enjoying a happy, active and productive life." 

"Whatever size you are, small, manageable but sustainable changes are the way forward for a happier, healthier and longer life, and reduced risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes." 

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: "People persist in thinking that fat is just fat and appear ignorant of the many diseases that a high body mass index triggers. If they were told that they could lose a leg or go blind from diabetes or develop life-threatening complications from other similar diseases, I am sure they would think hard and twice before piling on the pounds." 

By James Gallagher Health editor, BBC News website

Weight Loss 101 - How to Lose Weight

commons.wikimedia.org  / weight loss pyramid

Losing weight can be a challenge and keeping it off after you've lost it is often just as difficult. When it comes to weight loss, especially fat loss, there needs to be a combination of the right diet along with resistance training. There are many things that can help you and hurt you when it comes to weight loss, but here are 10 tips on how to lose weight fast that can help just about anyone.

 

1. Do NOT starve yourself - Many people think weight loss is strictly about creating a calorie deficit. This is true to some degree, but in order to lose weight and keep it off, you need to nourish your body with the right foods. When you put yourself through extreme, low calorie diets, your body goes into "starvation" mode and begins to store excess fat and slow your metabolism. It does this because it thinks you are going to STARVE if it continues to burn calories at a normal pace.

2. Limit your starchy carbs - Starchy carbs like white rice, white bread, tortillas, chips, etc make losing fat difficult. Help yourself by packing your diet with non-starchy carbs like vegetables! Brown rice and wheat bread are OK too, but don't overdo it.

3. Consume more protein, fiber and water - Protein provides your muscles with the nourishment it needs to grow and stay healthy. Weight loss doesn't do much good if you're just losing muscle! Fiber has numerous benefits, and ironically, most people don't eat enough fiber! Fiber helps you feel fuller, controls blood sugar, reduces the risk of stroke, improves skin, increases heart health, and more! Check out this article to learn more about the benefits of fiber.

4. Get a good night's sleep - Your body does most of it's growing and repairing during sleep, not while you're at the gym or exercising outside. Without a good 7-9 hours of sleep every night, you'll be stuck wondering how to lose weight. Allow your body the time it needs to get healthier. Go to bed!

5. Start a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) program - Countless studies have proven that HIIT is more effective in a shorter amount of time than steady state cardio. If you're trying to lose weight for a wedding, reunion or just because, High Intensity Interval Training is the fastest way.

6. Limit your sweets - Obviously if you're wondering how to lose weight, eating cookies, candy and cake isn't the way to do it. However, the real key is to watch out for hidden sugars in places like juice, high sugar fruits, and yogurt. Avoid anything with a high sugar content. Some classic sugar risks are pop, candy, dried fruit, fruit yogurt, granola bars and cereal. Be sure to check the nutrition facts before you mow down on a "healthy" snack.

7. Don't avoid weight lifting - People often avoid lifting weights because they're so worried about their weight going up. Building muscle is a good thing, and an essential thing when it comes to how to lose weight and keep it off. Muscle naturally burns more calories than fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn throughout the day. You will see a drastic difference in how you look (which is typically what people care about when it comes to exercise) if you start focusing on building muscle and lowering your body fat percentage, rather than just looking at your weight.

8. Try to keep your stress LOW - Stress raises Cortisol levels which can increase hunger and cravings for things you shouldn't be eating! Try some de-stressing activities like yoga or tai chi. Even things like a hot shower, reading, and meditation will help.

9. Consider working with a personal trainer - Personal trainers will ensure that you have an effective and efficient workout. They also work hard to provide the right motivation and encouragement while monitoring your form to keep you injury free. If you're new to weight lifting or exercising, this is a very important step towards getting healthier and losing weight.

10. Pick a time you can exercise at consistently - Exercising requires a habit. The easiest way to stick to your work out is to find a time that works for you almost every day. Don't try to just wing it whenever you're available. Block off 30-60 minutes on your work out days and stick to those times. Make it a routine.

If you're always wondering how to lose weight fast, this is a great place to start. There are many things that contribute to weight loss, and every person is different, however, if you stick to these guidelines, you will see results.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8488437

Enhance Your Weight Loss

Half knowledge is always more harmful than none at all. With a lot of information available all over for weight watchers and losers, it is important to make sure you are not victim of myths and negative information about weight loss. Many people who have lost weight (and gained it later) or others who have had successful weight loss stories post their experiences online. But it is necessary to ensure what you follow is healthy and will not adversely affect you.

Here are a few things you must consider seriously when wanting to lose weight:

1. Never skip breakfast: sure you may lose a few pounds, but this is unhealthy. When you skip breakfast, you unconsciously tend to supplement the lost calories by over eating during lunch, or choosing the wrong foods. You may also end up binging. This tends to increase in weight, rather than loss of it. When you start your day with a healthy hearty breakfast, you tend to stay fuller for longer. You blood sugar levels will be stable and you will resist unhealthy eating. Always keep in mind "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper".


2. Choose a low calorie diet: see a weight loss coach for an integrated low calorie diet. The juices, soups, steamed veggies, are pseudo low calorie foods. Juices have high glycemic index as they include fruits that have stripped off their fiber which in turn lowers the nutrition levels. Choose whole fruits over packaged fruit drinks. Steamed veggies can make you feel sick due to the blandness. Not only is this an unsustainable diet, it leads to unstable weight loss where, once you stop, you may end up gaining more than you lost. A diet plan should include low calorie foods from all nutrition types: carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and also fat. The body needs an adequate amount of each of these to function optimally, and hence a good balanced diet contains the right amounts of all of these.


3. Exercise: not eating too much through the day is no excuse for not exercising. Your body needs physical activity to lose weight and fat, and to tone up the muscles. It is important to exercise as it not only helps you burn calories, it will improve blood sugar and make you feel more energetic due to the aerobic reactions it will trigger in your body. While exercise is important, results will be more effective if exercise is teamed with a good balanced diet. The right combination of exercise and a healthy diet will increase metabolism, reduce acidity, bloating, lethargy, and anxiety.

Weighing yourself everyday: weight is subject to water retention and weighing in daily will give an accurate picture of the weight lost. What is more important is to monitor the fat percentage. Daily weigh in may only record the water loss and not the fat loss and may prove to be faulty. Hence, weigh in weekly to get accurate numbers and monitor weight loss.

Not only is this an unsustainable diet, it leads to unstable weight loss where, once you stop, you may end up gaining more than you lost. A diet plan should include low calorie foods from all nutrition types: carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, and also fat.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8586582

How To Survive the Summer Without Gaining Weight

http://www.deviantart.com
weight gain

 

What's there not to love about summer? There is nothing better than a sunny hot lazy day, spending time outdoors and indulging in delicious food and drinks while relaxing on a patio. Summer is the season of BBQs and social events that seem to evolve around tempting food and refreshing cocktails that are hard to resist. Even for the most disciplined health fanatics it can be challenging to maintain a healthy balance. It's no surprise to see after a summer full of indulgence can result in the numbers creeping up on the scale.

Fortunately we do not have to sacrifice our summer of socializing to keep healthy and fit. With a few clever tricks to incorporate into your lifestyle you can still enjoy all the summer celebrations without adding inches to your waistline.

1. Focus on Your Company Rather than the Food. Before you head out to the event be mentally prepared to BE social and to mingle with as many people as possible. Make it a priority to put your energy into your friends and family rather than the food that is laid out. Mid way through the event grab a small plate of healthy options available and only eat until you feel comfortably satisfied then continue chatting with guests.

2. Know What Your Weaknesses Are. Learn what your indulgences and trigger foods are and either limit or skip this food all together and choose a healthier version if possible.

3. Be The Healthy Host! Even though hosting a social gathering can create a lot of work, it is the best way to plan a healthy summer party for your friends and family. You can create your own menu with clean and mouth watering dishes by using fresh fruits and vegetables and lean healthy meats. Most traditional summer favorites can also be modified to reduce calories and extra fat. Your guests will love the new variety and will feel better for it!

4. Bring a Healthy Dish. If you are invited to a summer gathering, offer to bring a main or side dish rather than a dessert. This way you can choose to make something that is healthy and that you enjoy. As well, you may find that it is the only healthy option available so at least you can fill up your plate with your dish and take "tastes" of the other not so healthy options.

5. Be Mindful of Portion Control. Always be aware of the amount of food that you are loading onto your plate. Use your best "visual" judgment as a measuring guide. A good rule to follow is to fill half your plate with fresh fruits and vegetables, a quarter of your plate with lean protein, and the remaining quarter with grains (optional). In the summer months I tend to lean more towards fresh produce then grains, they fill me up and leave me feeling less sluggish.

6. Avoid Drinking Your Calories. Summer events always tend to lead to quenching your thirst with alcoholic drinks, high sugar sodas, juices and frozen drinks. One or two of these high calorie drinks can add up and before you know it you have reached your daily caloric intake! Try to reach for water as often as you can, it should be your main source of hydration. If you find that water tastes too bland then you can add fresh citrus fruits, berries, cucumber or crushed mint for a refreshing treat. If you do choose an alcoholic beverage try to choose vodka and soda with a splash of lime, wine and light beers. Avoid high sugary, juice-based cocktails as they can have as many as 500 calories!

7. Use the 80:20 Rule. All year round I encourage using the 80:20 rule, which is eating clean and healthy 80% of the time and indulging 20% of the time. It's okay to indulge once in a while and to not beat yourself up when you do. With an active lifestyle and a healthy eating plan in place, you shouldn't see any change in your body. Life is way to short to not enjoy the summer and to indulge a little. It is all about living a balanced lifestyle and feeling Healthy, Fit and Happy!

Karen Gallagher is a leading fitness professional with an elite athletic background combined with over 18 years of knowledge and experience. Along with fitness competitions, Karen's main focus these days are her businesses Fit 4 Her personal training, Butt Slayer Boot Camps and Performance Coaching. She supports her clients with motivation, goal setting and nutritional programs to best suit their needs and goals and has helped hundreds of people to experience profound life transformations.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8601027

5 Reasons Diets Fail

 

By Mark Hyman, MD


The average person gains 11 pounds for every diet they go on. Even worse, when they lose weight, they lose muscle and fat. When they regain weight, they gain back all fat. And since muscle burns seven times as many calories as fat, their metabolism is slower than when they started the diet. The cruel fact is that they then need even less calories to maintain their weight.


Haven’t you known someone who was very overweight and said they don’t eat that much? They may not be lying. They have just damaged their metabolism by yo-yo dieting.

The key to losing weight and keeping it off are two simple things. First, automatically reduce your appetite not by white knuckling it and starving yourself but fixing the out-of-whack hormones and brain chemistry that drive hunger and overeating.

The second is to automatically increase your metabolism so you burn more calories all day long. Unfortunately, most diets do the opposite – increase hunger and slow metabolism.

Here are the five reasons most diets fail and how to succeed.

1. You Use Willpower Instead Of Science To Control Your Appetite

There is a science of hunger. Unfortunately, most diets (eating less) will trigger hunger. You can only hold your breath for so long. You can only starve yourself for so long. Powerful ancient mechanisms compensate and protect us from starvation (even if it is self induced). Our hunger dramatically increases, our cravings ramp up and our metabolism slows way down to conserve energy. Eating certain foods (low fat, higher carb or sugary foods) actually increases hunger and slows metabolism.

Success Principle: Appetite

• Eat enough to satisfy your appetite (but only real whole fresh food).
• Eat protein for breakfast and avoid eating 3 hours before bed.
• Compose your meals to balance blood sugar and lower insulin. Combine protein, fat and low-glycemic, non-starchy carbs (vegetables, fruit, small amounts (less than half a cup of grains and beans) at each meal. Fat and protein and fiber slow insulin spikes.

2. You Focus On Calories (Eating Less And Exercising More)

The mantra of calories in/calories out, of energy balance as the key to weight loss, is quickly entering the scientific dustbin. Some calories make you fat, some calories make you thin. What we now know is that any foods that spike insulin (sugar, flour and even excess grains, fruit and beans) trigger a shift in your metabolism. What does insulin do? It drives all the fuel in your blood from the food you just ate into your hungry fat cells (visceral or belly fat).

Then, your body thinks you are starving even though you just ate a giant bagel or sucked down a Big Gulp. And remember, two things happen when your body thinks you are starving – you increase hunger and slow metabolism.

Have you ever eaten a big meal, then, an hour later, felt hungry again and needed to go raid the fridge or eat something sweet? That’s why.

Success Principles: Calories

•   Focus on very low-glycemic foods as the staples of your diet. Nuts, seeds, chicken, fish, grass fed meats, low-glycemic veggies (greens, salad fixings, etc.)
•   Use grains and beans sparingly (not more than a half cup once a day each).
•   Use sugar as a drug – in very small doses. And all sugar is the same. If you have to ask “is ______ OK?” It isn’t.
•   Don’t use artificial sweeteners – they trigger sweet receptors, hunger and slow metabolism leading to obesity and type 2 diabetes.

 3. You Eat A Low-Fat Diet

Most people still believe we should avoid egg yolks and that eating a low-fat diet will help them lose weight. The old idea that fat has 9 calories per gram and carbs 4 calories per gram led to the mistaken idea that if we cut out fat, we would lose weight.

Well, look what’s happened to America in the last 30 years, where low fat has been the rage and the method for weight loss. We are fatter than ever (70 percent of us are overweight), and now, 1 in 2 Americans has pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes or what I like to call “diabesity.”

Harvard scientist Walter Willet reviewed all the science on low fat and weight loss and found that it is not eating fat that makes you fat but sugar. A recent study by David Jenkins found that a low-carb (26%), high-fat (43%) vegan diet was more effective for weight loss and reducing cardiovascular risk factors than a vegan low-fat diet. The high-fat group lost 4 more pounds and dropped their cholesterol 10 more points by eating high fat. They called it Eco-Atkins!

Other studies show that by eating more fat and less carbs you can increase your metabolism by 300 calories a day (eating the same total calories a day). That’s like getting the benefit of running for an hour a day without getting off the couch. You could call it “The Butt Diet.” Sit on your butt and lose 1 pound every 11 days.

Success Principles: Fat

•   Don’t fear fat. It actually makes you feel full, speeds up your metabolism and helps you lose weight.
•   Eat good fats at every meal.
•   Eat vegetable fats, such as avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut butter or oil
•   Eat clean animal fats (organic eggs with the yolk, chicken, grass-fed meats) and fish with omega 3 fats (sardines, herring, wild salmon, black cod).

 4. You Have Hidden Reasons And Need Medical Help

There are reasons beyond your diet or amount of exercise that affect your weight and metabolism. Your body is a system and many things affect metabolism. The biggest hidden causes of weight gain or resistance to weight loss are the things that cause inflammation. And inflammation from anything that triggers weight gain by worsening insulin resistance.

What causes inflammation?

Hidden food allergies or sensitivities. Gluten and dairy are the most common culprits. But don’t switch to gluten-free or dairy-free options. Gluten-free cakes and cookies are still cake and cookies. They are still very high in sugar and refined carbs and flours. Just try soy yogurt with the sweeteners. You wouldn’t eat it!

Gut Problems. The microbiome – the 100 trillion bacteria in your gut – play an enormous role in metabolism and health. If you have bad bugs (from eating refined, high-sugar, carb, low-fiber diet or taking antibiotics, acid blockers) they can either trigger inflammation or alter how your food is broken down and absorbed. Fecal transplants from a thin to an obese person will change their metabolism. What’s next? Poop transplants for weight loss. Maybe!

Toxins. Science has discovered that common environmental chemicals (pesticides, household cleaners, make up, pollution and heavy metals) can be “obesogens.” Chemicals that make you fat. In animal studies, giving rats a toxin caused weight gain even if they ate the same amount of calories and exercised the same.

Success Principles: Find Hidden Causes of Weight Gain

• Try an elimination diet. Not eliminating calories but getting rid of inflammatory foods. Start with gluten and dairy. 100 percent for 3 weeks.
• Fix your gut. Avoid gut-busting drugs (acid blockers, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories). Starve the bad bugs by eating a low-glycemic, low-fermentation (starch) diet. Take probiotics. See a Functional  Medicine doctor to get help if you don’t succeed on your own.
• Detox your body and your life. Reduce exposure to environmental and common chemicals. See the resources at the Environmental Working Group to reduce exposures in skin-care products, household products and the food you eat (meat and veggies). And the NRDC resource for eating fish without mercury. Eat two cups of cruciferous veggies a day (broccoli family). You may need help from a Functional Medicine doctor to do a medically supervised detoxification program.

 5. You Don’t Have A Plan

Health is not something that happens to you. It is something you have to plan, like a vacation or your retirement! Most of us fail because we don’t “design our health.” We don’t set up the conditions for automatic success.

How do you design your life so that you don’t have to think about doing the right thing? You create conditions for making it easy – have all the right foods in the house, the right ingredients all ready for your morning protein shake, creating an emergency travel food pack, having your plan for exercise for the week in advance.

Also, we find that doing things together makes them easier. At Saddleback Church, we got 15,000 people to lose 250,000 pounds in a year by having them do it together. Everybody needs a buddy! Joining a group of people doing this in person or an online community or group makes it fun and makes it work. We have created online challenges where people have had profound success in redesigning their life for good.

Find what works for you but don’t expect health to happen. You have to plan for it!

Success Principles: Create a Plan

•   Commit to designing your health. Do it weekly on Sundays!
•   Create an emergency life pack of food.
•   Join a community or get a buddy or a friend.

The science of health and weight loss is not a mystery. But old ideas die hard. If you look out for these five ways that diets fail and focus on the principles of success then you will build habits and practices that work. Health and weight loss are not a struggle. It’s not rocket science, just science!

What Is Your Experience With Weight Loss? What Are Your Weight Loss Tips? 

Source: http://drhyman.com...

1 Weird Old Tip To Lose Fat

How to Stay on a Diet

Expert diet tips to keep you from being a diet dropout.

 

Will this be the year you lose weight for good, or will you end up a diet dropout? Most dieters start out with great intentions for diet success -- hitting the gym every day and cutting calories to a minimum. But before long, when the results are not fast enough, and maintaining the routine gets tough, they throw in the towel.

Typically, people last about six months on a diet -- even less if the plan is really strict, says Catherine Champagne, PhD, RD, a researcher with Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center.

"When diet plans differ immensely from previous eating patterns, restrict favorite foods or entire food groups, dieting usually lasts for a much shorter time," she says.

Reasons for Diet Failure

According to the experts, these are the four leading causes of diet dropout:

1.Choosing the Wrong Diet
Choosing a restrictive diet that doesn't fit your lifestyle is a major reason for giving up on weight loss efforts, says Holly Wyatt, MD, Colorado University's program director for obesity research and education. When the diet is too difficult in the first place, sustaining it long term will be almost impossible. Factor in boredom, and all it takes is one misstep to cause a dieter to give up.

"There is no one perfect diet that is the best," says Wyatt. "Instead, look for a sound diet plan that you can live with, day in and day out." It should also allow you to enjoy small portions of your favorite foods.

Diet Success Tip: Diets that work are diets that last. Don't think of your eating plan as a "diet" you can go on and off of. Choose a healthy plan that fits your lifestyle -- one that you can see following for the rest of your life.

Successful losers understand that whether they're trying to lose weight or maintain the lost weight, theirs is a lifestyle of constant vigilance.

"Losing weight and maintaining it is among the most difficult things people can do because it has no end," says Gary Foster, PhD, director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University in Philadelphia. "To succeed is to make the vigilance part of a regular lifestyle."

2.Unrealistic Expectations
Failing to lose weight quickly enough is the Achilles heel of most dieters, says Champagne. Weight loss may take longer than anticipated, or your diet may need adjustments along the way.
"Most dieters want to lose large amounts of weight and aren't happy unless they lose 30%-40%" of their body weight, says Wyatt.
When you set the bar unrealistically high, she says, it can feel like you failed when you don't meet your goals. And when you think of yourself as a failure, this can trigger a return to old eating habits.

Diet Success Tip: You might not fit into those skinny jeans, but keep in mind that losing even a little weight goes a long way toward improving your health. Research has shown that losing 10% of your body weight (for example, going from 200 to 180 pounds) can have big payoffs for your health.
"Medically, 10% weight loss can lower blood pressure, cholesterol [and] triglyceride levels, improve glucose sensitivity and sleep apnea," says Wyatt.
In addition, it can help you feel better about yourself.

3.Dieting Without Exercise
Some people just don't like to exercise, or have physical limitations that prevent them from doing it. But if you don't want to be a diet drop-out, you need to find some form of physical activity you can do most days of the week.
"If there is one behavior that predicts weight loss success, it is being physically active on a regular basis," says Foster.
Further, physical activity brings many health and psychological benefits aside from weight loss.

Diet Success Tip: Exercise does not have to happen in a gym - try gardening, dancing, walking, bike riding, or playing tennis, whatever you enjoy. Start slowly and gradually increase your intensity. Check with your doctor if you have physical limitations. Working out in the pool, for example, cushions joints and adds the extra benefit of water resistance. One of the simplest and easiest ways to exercise is to trap on a pedometer and count your steps throughout the day, aiming for 10,000 each day.

4.Not Changing Your Environment
Willpower alone won't cut it. To be a successful loser, you need to create a diet-friendly environment at home, work, and socially.

"It is hard to continually push away from the wings at happy hour, candy on your desk, or a house full of temptations. If you want to succeed, you need to make changes in your environment so you are not constantly dealing with or resisting temptations," says Wyatt.

When you can't eat the same things as your friends, or your family doesn't support your weight-loss efforts, this makes dieting more difficult, says Champagne.

Diet Success Tip: Seek support from your family, friends, and co-workers. And, Wyatt suggests, remove temptations wherever you can. Stock your kitchen with nutritious foods so you have ingredients on hand for healthy meals and snacks. Take nutritious snacks and meals with you when you're on the go so you'll be prepared when hunger strikes. Remove the candy dish from your desk, skip happy hour with your friends -- do whatever it takes to set yourself up for success, even if it means hanging around with different friends.

More Tips for Diet Success

Experts offer these additional weight loss tips:

• Keep track of your progress. Besides exercise, experts say, the second most important behavior is self-monitoring. "Tracking how much you eat and weighing in a minimum of once weekly is critical to weight loss success," says Foster. Experts suggest giving yourself a "safe" weight range. When your weight starts going beyond the range, scale back on calories and/or pump up the exercise. And don't delay. "Get back on track quickly before the lapse in behavior results in going off the diet plan," says Foster.
• Jump-start your weight loss by following a fairly strict plan for a short time. This can give you quick results to strengthen your motivation. After this short-term period, switch to a more sustainable plan, says Foster.
• Make small, gradual changes instead of totally revising your eating habits. Try a new change each week, and build upon your success.
• Reward yourself (but not with food) when you achieve small goals, such as losing 5 pounds or exercising five days a week.
• Forget about "dieting." Instead, think about strategies to satisfy your hunger for fewer calories. Eating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein can help manage your appetite.
• Identify what led to your weight gain and address it. For example, if you overeat because of stress, consider a stress management course. Develop a strategy to address areas in which you're vulnerable so you can set yourself up for success.
• Don't get discouraged if you regain a little weight after your initial loss. Some studies have shown that about 80% of dieters will have some regain, says Foster. "Nobody advocates yo-yo dieting because it is better to change behaviors, lose weight, and keep it off, but we do know that weight cycling does not lower metabolism or appear to cause adverse psychological effects," Foster says.

Source: WebMD

5 Benefits of Almonds for Weight Loss

Almonds

A

Although almonds contain a high amount of calories and fat and many people avoid them because of their high calorie count, they can actually be great for weight loss. They provide essential vitamins and nutrients as well as healthy fat that may stimulate weight loss. Here are 5 benefits of almonds for weight loss:

Healthier Than Carbohydrates
A study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that a low fat diet supplemented with almonds increased weight loss far better than one supplemented with complex carbohydrates. Individuals on the almond diet saw an 18% reduction in weight, versus only 11% of those on the carb diet.

Monounsaturated Fats
Almonds are a great source of monounsaturated fats, healthy fats necessary in maintaining good nutrition. They help to lower bad cholesterol, decrease the risk of heart disease, and may actually aid in weight loss. They stimulate the fat burning mechanisms in the body far better than other types of fats.

Nutrient Rich
Even though almonds contain about 11% the DV of calories per 1/4 cup serving, they have a great nutrient to calorie ratio. They are a fantastic source of protein, manganese, magnesium, potassium, vitamin E and Vitamin B2. The calories that almonds provide do not seem to increase weight like calories from other foods, perhaps disproving the theory that a calorie is a calorie.

Energy Booster
Almonds are a particularly great source of energy-producing nutrients like vitamin E, vitamin B2, protein, manganese and copper. These substances are important for weight loss because they can help to keep the body active for longer, with less need to consume fatty calories.

Weight Loss
A study spanning 28 months in Spain and involving nearly 9,000 adults found that eating nuts such as almonds at least twice per week resulted in a 31% less likely chance of gaining weight than those who never ate nuts. The monounsaturated fats in almonds are also believed to help stimulate the body's fat burning mechanisms.

Source: Health Diaries

4 Foods to Banish Sugar Cravings & Belly Fat

Springfield woman loses 100 lbs... by walking

Chew 32 times to lose weight

Sandeep Maheshwari at TEDxIIMRanchi

Story Of A 40lb Weight Loss

Wow! This is amazing!!!! Congratulations on finding the right diet for yourself and sticking to it!

Source: You Tube