the air

Earlier, I had written about how I was able to lose 20 pounds. So now that I have lost all that weight, how can I make sure that I keep it off? It seems that most people who lose weight are unable to successfully keep that weight off. Furthermore, they have trouble resisting the very foods they stayed away from earlier because of the feeling, “one bite won’t hurt.” Contrary to popular belief, I will go ahead and challenge that thought and suggest that that one such bite will definitely hurt.

Stick To Your Diet

About five years ago, I set about losing weight because I felt unhealthy and too tired. At the time, I weighed about 210 pounds at the beginning of May and by the end of my summer vacation - end of August - I was already at 168 pounds. Now that was a remarkable feat but not something I care to repeat because of some harmful health effects. And as you may have already figured out, I regained most of the weight and had to lose it again. So there you have it, I was unable to keep the weight off. This was because I allowed myself to indulge in those very foods I had avoided (e.g chocolate, soda, etc.)

When you select an effective diet and you happen to lose the weight, you should continue sticking with that diet because it is what works. Changing your diet will undoubtedly bring about effects which could be undesirable. For some, it is perfectly acceptable to indulge in those unsavory cravings occasionally, but I must digress. Unless you have mastered the art of self-control, you should not allow yourself to succumb to temptation. Rather, take the time to stick with your diet and continue leading a healthy lifestyle. However, if you must indulge, be sure to compensate by altering your exercise schedule or your diet temporarily. Take whatever steps are necessary to avoid messing with your diet, but do realize that sometimes you will have to compensate to ensure you keep your diet off.

Educate Others and Discuss Your Story

Everyday we all hear about how leading a healthy lifestyle will promote a longer life and better emotions about ourselves. Companies themselves are releasing products that claim to work wonders, in junction with an exercise regiment. It seems to me that most Americans are overweight and are only becoming larger due to the fact that our lifestyle is far more comfortable than the world. There is nothing wrong with that picture, until we allow ourselves to realize that such a lifestyle is also promoting greasy foods. As such, most of us tend to make unhealthy choices for the sake of comfort and ease. That is why it is extremely crucial for all of us to sit down and discuss our stories of how we have accomplished our own healthy goals.

Teaching others how to lose weight and lead healthier lifestyles will help us all spread the word about why and how its important. Who would say no to having more energy, more choices, and more fun? Let’s face the facts, we all need a truth campaign for weight loss and healthy lifestyles. I know for a fact that I want to live a long and healthy life so that I may see my great-grandkids and know that my life is complete. Life is something very valuable and it is up to us to make sure we live it to the fullest. Here’s to a healthy you and healthy life.

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At the beginning of this year, I vowed to lose some weight and get back in shape. I had mentioned that I wanted to lose at least 20 pounds by the end of the year. I’m glad to say that I accomplished this goal half-way through the year and am working hard to ensure I can maintain my new weight level.

I started out the year weighing in around 205 pounds and by the start of May I was at 190 pounds. Although that sounds like a 15 pound drop, it was due to the fact that I had started working out consistently but I could not drop anything further. This is when I decided to change another aspect of my regime and drop weight faster. As of today, I weigh about 178 pounds and am still dropping weight and feeling healthier day by day.

Here’s What I Did

• Run about 1.5 miles for 4 - 5 days a week
• Play tennis for about 1.5 - 2 hours 2 times a week
• Eat healthier by watching the amount of calories being ingested per day

Watch What You Eat

The most important thing I realized while trying to lose weight is the need to watch what you eat. The problem with many people is that they work out daily but eat poorly throughout the day. Too many people drink soda or juices with high calorie count. Many of these people also eat “snacks” that are loaded with excessive calories and claim that they are healthy (e.g. cereal bars). The golden rule to remember is Burn more calories than you eat per day. For the most part, that’s all you need to remember.

Avoid Soda and Juice

You know that can of Coke or Pepsi is bad for you? Those drink have about 140 calories per can or serving. Did you know that the juice you drink also has a similar amount of calories per serving. So don’t drink soda or juice. If you want to drink soda, drink diet and if you don’t like the taste, get used to it. And be sure to buy “light” juice because it will have fewer calories. While the Atkins promotes low carbs, I promote low calories. In my opinion, carbs are very important and low carbs are best for couch potatoes. In my opinion, and from my experience, the best way to lose weight is to exercise and ingest fewer calories daily.

Always Exercise

No matter how effective your diet plan is, it will never be as good as it can be if you were to combine it with a good exercise regimen. So how do you develop a good program? If you’re like me and can’t afford a personal trainer, the solution is extremely easy. You just have to remember to choose exercises that require you to breathe greatly such as running/jogging or playing basketball. All I did, for the most part, was just run everyday and pretty soon (within a week or so) I was seeing results that were motivating me. Weight training should not be done until you feel comfortable with a current exercise plan. I suggest running for about two weeks before adding weight training to your agenda. This allows your body to adjust to the running environment and helps it transition to other tasks much easily. I’m no expert, so be sure to consult a professional before starting any new diet or exercise plan.

Never give up because every small step you take brings you that much closer to realizing the results you want/need. Most of the time, you don’t have to spend any money to lose any weight. In fact, you could actually end up saving tons of money because you’ll be eating less unhealthy foods and living a healthier life-style. What are some steps you are taking to lose weight or attain a healthier lifestyle? What has worked for you in the past and what has not worked?

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For the first time, the FDA has approved a drug that can actually help you lose weight. Unlike many other “weight-loss” pills that are loaded with caffeine, ginseng, and some other “natural” herbs, Alli actually prevents a certain amount of fat from being absorbed by your body. According to early reports, Alli is a great tool to help you lose weight but will not work if you fail to have a proper exercise and diet plan to supplement it.

Don’t Poop Your Pants

Here’s the catch with Alli:

the main side effect occurs when you eat a meal with too much fat while taking alli. If so much fat is blocked that your stool can’t absorb it, you might have side effects. Because they are not harmful, we call them “treatment effects”. They include loose or more frequent stools, an urgent need to go to the bathroom, or gas with an oily discharge. The excess fat that passes out of your body is in no way harmful. In fact, you may recognize it as something that looks like the oil on top of a pizza. Treatment effects can be lessened if you stick to reduced-calorie, low-fat meals that average 15 grams of fat per meal.

Many users of Alli encourage other would-be users to take an extra pair of clothes to work or even wear diapers so that embarrassing moments can be avoided. The main thing to remember with this drug is that you should not use it if you are not committed to weight loss. You can easily forget about eating pizza, fries, burgers, KFC, and much more. The effects of this pill will force you to do two things:

1. Stop using it
2. Change your eating habits

Do you really need it?

This really is a tough question to answer because this pill does require a serious amount of effort on your part. I’m about 179 pounds and at 5′10″, I’m not really overweight so it would not make sense for me to use it since I would probably lose too much weight or not much at all. This is a great pill for those who have tried dieting and exercising and they are not seeing realistic results that were to be expected. The most important thing to remember is an effective exercise/diet plan will undoubtedly help anyone out. Whether you take a pill or not is up to you, however, a pill isn’t necessary to lose weight unless you really need the extra help.

Source: MSNBC

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