Weight Loss and Obseity in Children

July 23rd, 2009 . Posted in Weight Loss and Children | No Comments »

If you’ve got a television, then there’s a good chance that you’ve got at least one of your kids planted right in front of it. Most parents may not realize it until it’s too late, but one reason kids in America are overweight is because of the way they live their lives. But you can’t go off and blame them, simply because you as the parents are a part of the issue as well. But have no worries, there are simple ways to change all of that, and help get your children back on track of eating and living well.

It starts with what they eat, as it always does. Do your kids pack their own lunches, or do they buy the calorie packed lunches from their school’s cafeteria? (Let’s face it, you know they’re out buying plates of French fries and cheeseburgers and pretty often.) Though you might chalk it up to their laziness, you might want to take a peek in your cupboards just to make sure you’ve got the essential materials for them to make a decent lunch. If you’re not stocking fresh bread, veggies, deli meats, and healthy snack like pretzels and mixed nuts, how do you expect them to make a good lunch. One way to ramify this error is to make sure the materials are there, then simply let them know that you’re limiting the amount of money you’re going to give them for lunch, and that way they’ll need to pack their own lunches.

The other thing you need to think about is that box of flashing lights in your living room, or worse, in their rooms. America’s teens are wasting far too much time playing videogames and watching regular programs in lieu of going outside and running amok out there, with their friends out taking walks or any number of activities. Not only will it help them physically, but it’ll boost them socially as well, (and we all know one of the end game goals is getting them out of the house.)

Now, here’s the part you might not expect, but if you want to see change in your kids, then you’ve gotta start by working it in your life. Think about it, when was the last time your kids actually listened to what you told them or said to them? It’s the same with most kids, in one ear and out the other. But if you start the change, it’ll rub off on them. Think, if you’re cooking dinners instead of eating out, what do you expect them to do? Kids are cheap, they won’t be willing to run out and spend what little cash they do have. You’ll fin more often than not that if you set the table, place a delicious bowl of spaghetti, with nice garlic bread, steamed veggies, and a nice tall glass of water, you’ll find them quickly joining you at the table for a meal that will pave the way for the positive change you want in their lives.

Fasting and Weight Loss

July 21st, 2009 . Posted in Weight Loss Tips | No Comments »

If you’re someone who’s trying to shed some extra pounds, then you’ve most likely tried a handful of diets and returned to your familiar lifestyle, possibly even a bit depressed about the outcome of your previous attempt. But there’s one method most individuals overlook, and it’s quite simple. It allows you to eat what you want, (though increasing your intake defeats the purpose of this method), so long as you control what you eat. Control is the key in almost every aspect of our daily lives, so shouldn’t it be a part of your daily diet?

Fasting is a great way to gain that control. Though the idea may seem daunting at the start, it’s truly not too difficult for one to master. All you need to do is eat your regular meals throughout your week and be sure to drink a great deal of water, as you always want to be certain that you’re hydrated.

Then, you choose a day of the week and you make the commitment to refrain from food and drink for at least two meals on that day. This idea might sound impossible, but you’d be surprised at how easy it is to accomplish. And though you’ll probably think to yourself that you’ll eat it all back at your next meal, you most likely won’t eat more than you regularly do.

The purpose of fasting is to train your body to accept the decrease in overall consumption, as you’ll be able to limit what you pump into your body. It teaches control over cravings, and could even give you the discipline you need to find and stick with another diet later.

One common reason we as humans find ourselves in unfavorable situations is because we lack the self control to withstand tempting things, such as that scrumptious pastry, or the pair of shoes we just can’t pass up. Truthfully, we as people are consumers, though we don’t need to over consume, which is key. If we can find the will to stop and ask whether we truly need something, we’d be able to vanquish most if not all situations we face in our lives.

Fasting works, and if you need any more proof, look at most of the major religions across the planet. Most, if not all of them encourage fasting, as it’s a great self disciplinary and self-mastery system which not only strengthens the body, but the mind as well.

Portion Control and Weight Loss Part 2

July 19th, 2009 . Posted in Portion Control Tips | No Comments »

In the previous article about portion control, I talked about why portion control is important, I talked about visualizing portions to help you to know how much to eat without having to measure, and I talked about not eating everything you get when at a restaurant because the portions they give you are large.  Instead, you should save some of it for later.

There are some other tips to help you with exhibiting portion control to help you with your weight loss goals.

One of those tips is to determine exactly what the right portion size is for your body type.  If you are an athletic man weighing around 210 pounds, then your portion size will be greatly different than a petite woman.  If you are overweight, your portion size will be different than someone who is just trying to maintain their previous weight loss.

Seconds are bad for you when trying to lose weight.  When a meal is good, I love to eat more and more and more of it, but if you are trying to lose weight, you need to have self control and not do that.  Save it for later and have that fantastic meal, in a proper portion, for lunch the next day at work.  It will be hard at first to not reach for seconds, but you need to stay strong.  having self control in this area will help you to lose weight.  Eventually, you won’t even crave seconds anymore, because you will feel full.

Another fantastic tip is to divide up anything you buy into proper servings.  Snack foods are easy to continue to eat eat and eat, without realizing how much you have eaten.  Cookies, chips, and other things are easy to munch on.  When you buy them, divide them up into smaller, proper portions, and then you can know exactly how much you are eating at one time.

If you follow these easy to remember (yet harder to execute) portion control tips, and exercise some self-control, you will begin to see some great results.  You will lose weight, look better, and feel better too!

Portion Control and Weight Loss Part 1

July 17th, 2009 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

When trying to lose weight, there are 2 things that are important to do.  One is to exercise and the other is to eat properly.  One of the keys to eating properly is eating proper portions.  If you are overweight, it’s usually because you tend to eat more larger portions of unhealthy food.  Here are some tips to help you to control your portions to help you to lose weight.

Know what a serving size looks like. When factoring in how many calories a meal is, be sure to measure something you are unsure of.  For meat, a portion should be about as large as a desk of cards is.  For your fruit servings, they should be able the size of a tennis ball.  using these visualizations will help you to know just how much you can eat.

When you go out to eat, the portions are often larger than what you should be eating if you are wanting to lose weight.  When ordering, and when eating, remind yourself not to eat it all and that you can save some of it for later.  This will require self-control, but the benefits of having that self-control will be that you will be able to lose weight.

These are just a few pointers to help you to eat the right portions in order to help you to lose weight.  Like I said in the beginning, you need to eat the right kinds of food.  Having portion control with Burger King or McDonalds doesn’t help you to realize your weight lsos goals.

I’ve talked about self-control, and eating the right types of foods is just as important as eating the right amount of food (not too much and not too little.)  If you eat too little amounts of food in order to try to lose weight, your body will actually begin storing the food you eat since it doesn’t know when it’s going to get enough again, which will actually make you not lose weight, or worse, gain weight.

Stay tuned for part 2 of the portion control and weight loss series.

Prepare your Meals to Lose Weight Fast

July 16th, 2009 . Posted in Weight Loss Videos | No Comments »

If you want to have success with any weight loss program then you need to follow this one little step:

Prepare your meals ahead of time!!!

Listen to Rocco Castellano, a celebrity trainer who has won an Emmy for helping someone lose 30 pounds in 30 days on MTV’s “Made”.  He stresses the importance of preparing your food ahead of time.

4 Great Weight Loss Tips

July 15th, 2009 . Posted in Weight Loss Tips | No Comments »

If you are trying to lose weight and are struggling, or if you are just starting right now, I am happy for you.  There is a tons of bogus weight loss information out there, and so I want you to be informed, and to have solid information to help you with your weight loss.

Here are some great tips to help you to lose weight:

1) Drink plenty of water.  It is important to keep your body properly hydrated so that it can function at it’s best.  Drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day will help all of your body functions to perform better, allowing you to lose weight faster.

2) Eat more meals a day, but smaller meals.  Most people eat 3 meals a day, breakfast lunch and dinner.  If you are wanting to lose weight, you should be eating 5-6 meals a day.  These meals should be smaller and they should contain protein and vegetables.  More meals (but smaller meals) will help your body to metabolize the food better.

3) Physical exercise is extremely important.  There are many different things that you can do to be and stay active.  People who think that eating only one certain kind of food, or just not eating another kind, will not see permanent or healthy weight loss.  They might lose weight but not the proper way.  By exercising properly, you will lose fat and keep your body healthy.

4) Do Strength Training.  Many people think they can just run and run on a treadmill and lose weight.  This may be true, but they will be losing pounds.  Most of the pounds that they lose will be lean muscle mass.  If you are wanting to lose weight, you want to lose fat, not muscle.  By doing strength training (with free weights, resistance bands, or body weight resistance) you will build muscle, which will allow you to burn fat faster.

If you follow these 4 tips, you will notice that you’ll be able to lose weight a lot quicker.