Daily Weight Watchers No Nos

1. Having a negative defeatist attitude. If you think there is no way that you are going to succeed this time, lose the weight and keep it off, then you will be right!

2. Going on any diet that is NOT a manner of eating that you can adhere to for the rest of your life. Be careful when deciding what nutritional plan you want to follow, as it should be a manner of eating that matches your tastes, budget and lifestyle. And of course practical ones.

3. Believing that you will eat cabbage soup -- or any other low-cal, monotonous fare everyday for the rest of your life. It isn't realistic to think you will eat that way for the entire time it takes to lose all the weight. It certainly won't teach you much about how to live healthfully for the long-term.

4. Weighing in too frequently, letting the scale rule your mood and actions. Pack the scale up, put a big red bow around it, and unwrap it after six months of consistent healthful living. It might actually show you something you want to see! That is exactly what I say to my boyfriend almost everyday.

5. Not drinking enough water. Water is all that you need to drink, and you MUST drink at least 64 ounces of it a day! Or 8 glasses the minimum.

6. Drinking sugar-laden drinks -- including "fruit" drinks. Fruitopia is neither a fruit nor a Utopia! Try putting your favourite non-water beverage in your pet's bowl, and see if they will drink it. And going out for tea or coffee too frequently do increase your calories intake! So, entertain only as and when necessary and pick your drinks or food wisely.

7. Consuming processed foods more often than fresh foods. Eating as close to natural is the best way to ensure that your body is as healthy as possible.

8. Not having a plan. "We never plan to fail, we fail to plan." Get a plan and stick with it, but make sure each step is realistic and change is gradual!

9. Not being aware of the nutritional benefits or detriments of what you consume. Lettuce is a great choice to eat, but spinach and other darker leaves have more nutritional benefit than the iceberg variety.

10. Finishing every last bite of a meal, even after you are full. Mother was wrong! Don't clean your plate, let the dishwasher do that! Especially if you are someone like me, hate to see wastage. Then pack the unfinished food and leave it to the dogs.

 

11. Going back for seconds at meals. If you like it that much, have it as a leftover the next day! Too much of even a good thing is no longer a good thing!

12. Skipping breakfast. Mother was right on this one. It is the most important meal of the day!

 

13. Starving all day. When you finally get around to eating, it is usually something unhealthy, and it gets stored as energy later, rather than burned as energy now! You totally mess up your metabolism if you do this!

14. Bingeing after "falling off the wagon," and waiting until tomorrow to get back on track. Admit now that you will stumble on this journey. Make it your goal to lengthen the amount of time between stumbles, and shorten the time it takes to get back on track.

 

15. Thinking you are genetically destined to be fat. The only fat gene is the one left hanging in your closet after you lose your weight! You may be predisposed to a condition, but HOW you live determines how great its effect on your life will be!

16. Treating "fat" as a personality trait. Fat is NOT a personality trait; it is a physical condition. Blond isn't a trait, either; it is a hair color! Do not allow yourself to be branded by ANY physical attribute or determent!

17. Not living each day to the fullest… thinking that it will come when you are thinner. BE, DO and then you will HAVE! BE a healthier person, DO the things a healthier person DOES and soon, you will HAVE a healthier life!

18. Thinking pills, powders or potions are more powerful than they really are for achieving weight loss. If those things really worked, no one would be overweight!

19. Thinking of exercise as a chore instead of a way to improve your health and life. If today, you were in an accident, paralyzed and could never walk again, do you think you would long to be able to go for a walk? Exercise is a "GET TO", not a "HAVE TO." Push yourself; you will be amazed at how it feels!

20. Indulging excessively in alcohol. Bottom line: When you drink, you suck down excess calories, alter your mind and let down your guard.

21. Watching sports rather than participating in sports. Would it be more fun to watch the Super Bowl or be the MVP of the game? Sunday football is a tradition, but playing a game of it in your own front yard will provide memories that will last long after the season is over!

22. Watching too much television. New rule: NO TV viewing unless you have walked for 30 minutes! True. And I always reserve TV time after working out.

23. Thinking that "dieting" sprees -- and not a total lifestyle change -- will garner lasting weight loss results. If you aren't changing your life, you aren't making lasting changes!

24. Consuming fast foods on a regular basis. The fried, greasy and high-calorie fast food that dominates our society's eating habits today is the leading cause of the obesity epidemic that we now face. Fast food should be taken sparingly or quantity be controlled.

25. Waiting for tomorrow to "get started," rather than RIGHT NOW! Do it right now. There is always tomorrow and to me, tomorrow will never come.

 

 

Extracted from Article By Julia Havey
eDiets Contributor

Don’t forget to stretch

Stretch to match your activities. If you walk, run, play tennis or golf, functional flexibility can improve your stability and mobility. Activities such as Yoga and Pilates will complement your current cardio and strength trainings exercises. Regular and proper stretching will help you maintain ideal body alignment during all activities and improve your ability to use full, normal range of motion. Stretching is often a forgotten, yet very important, component of your fitness plan. Stretching exercises will be very beneficial for women who wants to maintain a lean body. As for men, stretching will improve their flexibility. Men might have strength but they are always lacking in flexibility.

 

 

Couples Dieting

Losing weight is difficult. It takes healthy eating, exercise, commitment and support. Couples support each other through all sorts of lifestyle changes, such as marriage, a career switch and childbirth, but what about dieting?

 

When both members are equally motivated to shed pounds, they can support each other and achieve greater weight loss than when they go it alone.

Couples should undertake lifestyle changes together. When both resolve to change their lifestyle and their attitude about eating, then it can be a very positive experience -- one that will lead to permanent weight loss. Like to share food at each meals will be very encouraging as by doing this, not only can they add variety to the food they eat, but they do eat a smaller portion.

However, if you're committed to losing weight and living healthy -- and your partner isn't -- it can create conflict in the home. If your partner isn't willing to get on board your boat to better health, don't give up -- try leading by example.

While you can do it alone, teaming up is the best way to change both your lives. Change isn't easy, and having someone who's going through the same transformation and working toward the same goals will bring a sense of solidarity to the process.

I am a great advocate of couples doing a lot of things together -- and losing weight together is high on the list of course. Walking uphill together, doing yoga in a class can be motivating and romantic at the same time.

Change is inevitable, but it's nice to have someone there during those uncertain, trying times when you're struggling for a serious life change.

 

Changing lifelong habits of poor eating and overindulgence are changes that will dramatically affect the way you live, as well as how long you live, but it's a difficult transition. Just like any major change, you'll need support.

 

 

Dieting together can be a great way to bring you closer to your partner while achieving a healthier body, but if you don't keep the lines of communication open and support each other, it can also break apart a shaky relationship. Working together as a couple can create even greater results than going it alone, if you're both ready.

 

Extracted from article by:

Shawn McKee
eDiets Staff Writer

Eggs to look after your weight

Eating eggs for breakfast instead of a bagel can reduce hunger and caloric intake both at lunchtime and over the next 24 hours.

The study compared the effects on hunger of two calorically-identical breakfasts, one consisting of two scrambled eggs and two slices of toast with low-calorie jelly, and the other a 3 1/2-inch bagel with cream cheese plus a 3-ounce nonfat yogurt. The study was carried out in 28 overweight individuals, because previous research that found greater satiety from a high-protein breakfast had only tested normal weight individuals.

"Obesity is a serious problem in the United States and throughout the world," said Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the study's lead investigator. "Our hypothesis was that eggs could be useful in helping overweight people reduce their energy intakes, a prerequisite of losing weight. We needed to test it specifically in overweight and obese subjects instead of extrapolating the effects from their non-obese counterparts."

Subjects were randomly assigned to eat one of the two different breakfasts two weeks apart. Meals were prepared and eaten at the research facility to ensure complete control of the amounts consumed. Satiety and hunger after breakfast were evaluated by questionnaire and by measuring calories eaten at lunch, and from study subject diet diaries kept the following 24-hour period.

The researchers found that when participants had eaten the egg breakfast they consumed significantly less energy not only at lunch on that day, but also throughout the day and the next morning as compared to the bagel breakfast. On average they ate about 163 fewer calories for lunch, 263 fewer calories that day, and 418 fewer calories over a 24-hour period.

"Eggs are a convenient, affordable and nutritious food," said Dr. Dhurandhar. "They are an integral and established part of breakfast in many cultures and may be eaten safely on a regular basis. Recent data from the Nurses' Health Study showed that egg consumption did not contribute to the risk of coronary heart disease or stroke. Furthermore, eggs have a 50% higher satiety index than other common breakfast foods. These attributes suggest that eggs may be an important part of diets that promote weight management."

The findings from this study build upon earlier studies showing that protein-based breakfasts improved weight loss better than carbohydrate-focused breakfasts. One recent study from the University of Illinois, Urbana, found that a high protein breakfast increased loss of body fat and preserved lean muscle mass better than a high carbohydrate breakfast. The effects were increased when the dietary regime was combined with exercise.

In the current study, the researchers note that the sensation of satiety is multi-faceted, and eggs seem to have an impact on the psychological desire for food as well as the biochemical responses of the body to different types of nutrients. Dr. Dhurandhar and colleagues are currently carrying out longer-term studies to see the increased satiety and decreased energy intake translates into significant weight loss.

As a person fighting to remain in good shape, I do find eggs for breakfast very satisfying and will make me feeling full for a longer period of time. 2 soft boiled eggs will sure make and start my day with a cup of java of course.

Extracted from: e-diets

Healthy Body Image

Only 2 out of 10 women in Malaysia are active in sports.

Women should take exercise seriously to lead a healthy lifestyle. From The Star Newspaper dated 5^th February 2008.

As a woman myself, I always feel that leaders especially youth leaders should show a good example by having a healthy body image. Not for the sake of vanity but for HEALTH.

Carbo Blocker

Businesses have cottoned on to the demands for a slim, trim figure by churning out fat-busting products from the frontiers of alternative medicine. Products such as carbohydrate blockers work by inhibiting the metabolism of carbohydrates into stored fat.

This ingredient is called phaseolus vulgaris, an extract from the northern white kidney bean. The extract interferes with an enzyme in the body called alphaamylase that breaks down carbohydrates into glucose. Instead, carbohydrates are excreted from the body before entering the blood stream. Brand names such as Carb Blocker, Carb Away etc are available and are sold in stores.

However, the effectiveness of these products are still dubious and no concrete evidence is shown.

Vaser as an alternative to liposuction

VASER LipoSelection®

What if you could ...

...	remove your unwanted fat and experience only low to minimal pain?
...	enjoy a new body contour that is smooth as well as shapely?
...	reshape those trouble spots that just won't respond to diet and exercise?

VASER LipoSelection® combines new patented technology with advanced surgical techniques to break up and remove fatty tissue. Unwanted fat can be efficiently removed from abs, arms, back, hips, knees, love handles, neck and chin, saddlebags, thighs - any place you've developed a little "extra cushioning."

The VASER System uses ultrasound energy to break up and emulsify fat, leaving surrounding tissue - such as nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue - relatively intact. Only the VASER LipoSelection® procedure can offer you an experience that is UltraSelective, UltraSmooth, UltraSound!

The VASER LipoSelection® procedure uses the VASER System's patented innovative ultrasound technology for fatty tissue emulsion and proprietary cannulae designed to minimize tissue trauma during aspiration. Because nerves and blood vessels are largely undisturbed, patients and physicians report low to minimal pain and bruising. Moreover, the VASER LipoSelection® procedure allows physicians to work with such precision that they can shape delicate areas like the inner thighs, arms, chin and neck.

How VASER LipoSelection® Works

The VASER Technology used for the VASER LipoSelection® procedure is efficient and precise because the sound waves it emits break up fatty tissue while leaving surrounding tissues largely undisturbed. Treatment with the VASER System has been reported to produce low to minimal pain, low to minimal bruising and swelling, and few complications.

Fatty tissue consists primarily of adipose (fat) cells, but it also contains other important tissues, including nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue (see graphic illustration below).

The VASER System utilizes proprietary ultrasound technology to break up fatty tissue before removal.

Sound energy, similar to that used to remove a cataract from the eye, fragments fatty tissue. Fat cells, which are large and soft, break apart (think of how easily a full water balloon will burst) while leaving nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue largely undisturbed.

During procedure

The procedure usually performed under General Anaesthesia(GA), however Local Anaesthesia may be used for suitable candidates. With GA, more risks will be associated with the procedure. Depending on the area being treated, one to three hours may be required.

The procedure usually begins with the area to be sculpted being filled with a medicated saline solution which helps to numb the site and shrink blood vessels. A small incision will be made about 2 to 3 millimetres. The Vaser probe is introduced to emulsify the fat using the ultrasound technology before removal through a gentle suction.

After the procedure, fine silicone drains are inserted into the incision sites as an adjunct for speedy recovery. The patient can be discharged and be advised to wear a compressions garment to speed up recovery. 1 few days to a few weeks for complete recovery will be required. Bruising and swelling will suicide within 2 weeks. Patients are advised to perform regular exercises in the long run.

 

Costs: Price ranges from RM5,000 to RM18,000 per area.