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So you want to lose weight? The issue is not can you, for you can. The issue is how, and how effectively and easily.

I agree there are probably countless quick fix programmes around that may work for a few, but how many can you trust? Bear in mind that amongst these quick fixes there are genuine weight loss programs that with the right attitude will keep you fit, trim and healthy.

My aim is a series of articles explaining reasons for weight gain and ways to lose weight naturally and keep it lost.

You may try, lose some, then, it comes back with a rage. There are reasons why weight loss programmes fail. Knowing a bit about the nature of our body can help understand these reasons.

A strong set of stomach muscles is good to have but is no use for making you look good if buried by unwanted belly fat. Often people can be in fairly good shape but have too much around the middle that they just can’t seem to be able to shift. Do not despair, help is around.

The first thing to do is to avoid the fad products like ab belts that promise to strengthen your core muscles by sending electrical impulses that make your stomach muscles tighten, without doing any exercise. What a great world if only you could just lounge about drinking beer and eating burgers whilst your ab belt pulsated the pounds off. This is false hope that marketing companies seem to play on.

One piece of equipment however that really will help you shed the pounds is called an exercise ball, larger and lighter than a medicine ball, known mostly as a Swiss ball but also fitness ball, balance ball, gym ball and others. It was first introduced for medical treatment but has since become one of the most popular fitness products for athletes. Why? Because it works.

The exercise ball will enable you to strengthen those core underlying muscles. One easy and convenient use of the exercise ball comes from just sitting on it. That’s right. You can sit down and build muscle. Easy. When doing this you use numerous muscles to stabilise yourself from falling off of it. By just sitting on your exercise ball for thirty minutes a day you will notice a change in your middle within a few weeks. Sit and watch TV, read a book, anything you want. You are not lounging because your muscles are working.

Stretching and relaxation techniques such as yoga are another good workout. These methods are often considered as fancy meditation. However, many people fail to understand just how good these are as a form of exercise for getting into overall shape. Remember, these techniques traditionally come from Asia where people are generally slim.

From a fat loss perspective these exercises have one major advantage. They help your body to increase its production of endorphins which counter the effects of stress hormones such as cortisol, the hormone that increases blood sugar for fight or flight, which turns to fat if not burned.

Many people think that to have a flat stomach you need to work hours in the gym. The muscle is already there, just covered in fat. Bear in mind that growing stomach muscle too much may even push the fat out further. The truth is that a simple healthy diet, coupled with a simple exercise program such as sitting on an exercise ball or actively getting involved in something like yoga can get you the results you want. Remember that these methods are tried and tested, whether recently for the sports arena or throughout the ages.

To make matters worse, human beings are designed for being able to move around, but because of our modern lifestyles very few of us actually manage to move around as much as what we should. In fact, for many people life consists out of getting up in the morning, having a shower, sitting down for breakfast, getting into the car, driving to work, and then the spending most of the day seated behind a desk. What a far cry this is from days gone by, when men and women still used to work the land.

Did you know that in days gone by the amount of work being done by the average male farmer was approximately the same as jogging fifteen miles each day? Even their wives did enough work to ensure that they got plenty of exercise.

Nowadays however, the vast majority of us simply have too many obligations which essentially prevent us from doing regular exercise.

It’s hardly surprising then that health officials are now arguing that obesity is rarely a result of bad eating habits only, but instead, lack of physical activity is just as much to blame.

Of course, if weight loss is an issue for you, then please don’t think that you can eat whatever you want providing you go for a jog for each day. Bear in mind that according to experts, exercise on its own is not really that efficient. Admittedly, you can continue with your current unhealthy diet, and you should still be able to prevent yourself from gaining more weight providing you do a sufficient amount of exercise, but you will only be able to avoid the inevitable for so long.

The bottom line is; in order to maintain your weight, or to achieve weight loss, you need to do exercise regularly. Here are 4 tips to help you get enough exercise every day:

1)Sleep – you can be rest assured that if you’re not getting a sufficient amount of sleep, it will be virtually impossible for you to do enough exercise. Let’s face it; if you feel tired and burnt out during the day, there’s not much chance that you’ll be in the mood for any physical activity. Another disadvantage in terms of weight loss and a lack of sleep, is that studies have shown people tend to eat more when they’re feeling tired.

2) Walk the walk rather than talk the talk – walking is probably the easiest exercise out there, and yet it is considered to be one of the best, particularly for those concerned about weight loss. In fact, walking is so effective; it’s often the only form of exercise some people need to do. Ideally, you should begin slowly and then build up gradually as you go along, aiming to reach a point where you’re able to do a brisk 30 minute walk five times each week.

3) Tread the treadmill – of course when it’s cold and miserable outdoors, there’s not much chance that you’ll be in the mood to go out and walk. In that case, you should consider using a treadmill, and of course, you could even set it up in such a way so that you’re still able to watch television or a movie while you’re walking.

4) Take advantage of the opportunity – apart from just making excuses, many people are severely restricted in terms of having sufficient time to partake in exercise. The secret to success is for you to try and fit in as much exercise as possible without allowing it to interfere with your regular activities. Essentially, you need to try and strike a balance, in that you need to do enough exercise so as to allow you to feel good, while at the same time you shouldn’t be doing that much exercise that it begins causing disruptions.

Wouldn’t it be nice to wake up and have your excess weight gone? Many people believe that weight loss surgery is similar to waking up thin. Some even consider that bariatric surgery is the “easy way out” to lose weight. Once the surgery is performed, the work begins to change your life by changing your unhealthy habits. Weight loss surgery success is yours by avoiding a few simple steps.

When having weight loss surgery, you commit yourself to certain nutrition and dietary requirements. You become committed to a healthy lifestyle with the habits that support your weight loss. Weight loss surgery is a tool to use but you must choose to use that tool.

After the early post-operative stage, you can regain weight or stall at a weight before your desired goal. Some of the reasons are familiar to many of us. To maximize your weight loss surgery success, here are some unhealthy behaviors to avoid:

* Testing old habits. After we’ve had surgery and lost excess weight, we feel great and look great. We think that maybe, just maybe, we can return to some of our old habits. We test once, twice, and before you know it, that old habit has crept into our lives again. The result can be weight regain or a weight loss stall. If you return to the old habits that made you heavy in the first place, you’ll run the risk of becoming heavy again. Creating new healthy habits that replace the old habits is a big step to ensure your weight loss success is permanent.

* Grazing. Grazing is quite possibly the main cause of weight regain from bariatric surgery. After you’ve had surgery, you can out eat the procedure. Grazing is the mindless, hand to mouth type of eating. It is nibbling a little bit for long periods of time. You aren’t full but continually eating. Grazing is for cows on a pasture, not successful bariatric post-ops.

* I’m cured syndrome. You’re not. Weight loss surgery does not provide protection for never gaining weight again. Weight loss surgery doesn’t give you a permanent state of goal weight and maintenance. To maintain your weight loss, along with the habits that allow you to lose weight, are reflective of the choices you make every day. Don’t get into a false sense of security that you can eat whatever you’d like and keep your weight off from surgery.

* Stop exercising. Once you’ve lost your weight, you’re done, right? No. The habit of exercising allowed you to lose weight and it continues to allow you to maintain your weight loss. The exercise that you did to become successful, will continue your success.

Bariatric surgery, or weight loss surgery, is a fabulous tool for losing weight, maintaining weight loss, and allows someone that is morbidly obese to achieve a second chance at regaining health. You can have a beautiful, expensive hammer that sits in your toolbox. Your impressive hammer doesn’t do much on its own without you using it. The same applies to weight loss surgery. It is a very effective tool when we choose to use it in our lifestyle changes and choices.

Success with weight loss surgery is very possible for the short-term and long-term. Weight loss surgery doesn’t guarantee success; you guarantee your success through your choices and healthy lifestyle. Enjoy your success, you deserve it.

We all need motivation to make changes in our lives. But some motivations can have short-term effects whilst other motivations can have long-lasting, life changing effects. This article takes a very quick look at how we can cut to the core of making the long-lasting, life changing decisions easier.

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Why do you want to lose weight? Do you want to make someone else happy? Your kids, your husband? The only way to lose weight in the long-term is to lose weight for you.

While some or most of this article might sound like pointless new-age psycho-babble, at its core are valid, solid ways of changing your life. Do not give in, it may well be a life changing experience.

Whilst these are all valid reasons for losing weight they may actually be the reasons why so many people fail to lose weight or lose weight but then put it all back on with a little extra just for desert. In order to understand long term weight loss we need to look at the nitty-gritty at how the mind works and how we become, and remain motivated, to do something.

When we want to change something about ourselves we need to look deep. Not just “Because the doc said I need to lose a few pounds” deep or “I want to look nice when I lie by the pool” deep. We need to look at where we are now, where we want to be and the difference between the two. That is where the deepness lies.

Ok, let’s take any weight measurements out of the equation and look at body size and shape. We might imagine ourselves to look a long way from the way we want to look. But how does that make us feel? Pretty miserable right. But that’s where your change begins – connect with the feelings caused by the difference between the two you’s. The discrepancy between the you now and the person you want to be is the reality and sometimes the reality hurts! The difference between where we are and where we need to get to needs to be bridged.

You need to imagine what it would feel like to be the person you want to be. Stop for a second and think about it. Close your eyes. Really think about it. Think about the person you want to change for. Because this is only a short article I will give you the answer you need to come up with.

The only person you want to change for is you. There are just so many reasons you could have come up with for changing. Kids, husbands, wives, parents, friends, pets, teams – the list is endless.

The only person you need to change for is you. If this sounds too selfish and self-centred for you then I’m sorry. However, the chance of you changing long-term for anybody other than yourself are minimal. If you think about it another way, what would make the person you are changing for happy? Would they be happier to see YOU happy or would they be happier watching you trying to make THEM happy? So if we want to change we have to look at ourselves and see ourselves as we really are. We need to look to the person we want to be. From then on the person you want to be is going to be the person you are.

If you want to lose weight you need to do it for yourself, no-one else. Not only do you get to be the person you want to be but everybody else gets the benefit of basking in the glow of your happiness and success.

Are you interested in formulating an exercise plan that will assist you to remain trim and help you to get thin? Studies regularly show that there are two basic types of exercise that are both extremely efficient and successful. Of course, it stands to reason that you must be motivated in the first place, and that is why therapeutic hypnosis can help solve your problems.

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If you’re like most people, you are interested in creating an exercise system that will assist you to remain healthy and slim. It may shock you to find out that research studies usually demonstrate that only two core kinds of exercise are useful — which suggests that you can’t just choose any type of exercise to become trim.

Due to the fact that so many people have trouble with the motivation to exercise, performing the most efficient kinds of exercise is imperative, since the less time you spend exercising – and the less time you waste on low efficiency exercise – the more likely it is that you will persist in your exercise routine and therefore achieve your personal weight and strength target.

Our first type of exercise which has been regularly proven to aid people to lose weight and get trim is progressive resistance. In brief, progressive resistance is one type of strength training. It functions by progressively ramping up the pounds lifted, the number of sets, and number of repetitions performed. As a result, your muscles are never strained or subjected to damage – instead, they slowly and steadily strengthen without any setbacks.

Our second type of exercise that has been scientifically studied is cardiovascular training. This is any type of exercise that gets the heart rate up to 60 – 85 percent of its maximum rate. Some kinds of cardio training may involve jogging, jumping rope, aerobics, or treadmill, among other types of exercise, but it is your choice.

Although progressive resistance and cardio training by themselves have been found to be very efficient forms of exercise, scientists now know that performing both of these types of exercise is the best bet for success. If you combine both progressive resistance and cardio training, you will increase the strength of your muscle groups and increase overall endurance. According to a recent scientific study, exercisers who used both cardio and progressive resistance during a two month time period lost 45 percent more weight than exercisers who did cardio training or progressive resistance alone.

Just as important as the type of exercise you perform is, the way in which you exercise is also important. It probably will be unsurprising that being consistent is the name of the game. Exercising inconsistently may strain your muscles and will probably not aid you to build strength and endurance. In addition, it is unlikely to improve your whole-body health. According to most scientists, the best regime is to exercise for forty minutes to an hour three to five times per week.

Unfortunately, it turns out that for a significantly sized subset of the population, getting sufficient exercise is not as easy as attending the health club a few times every week or listening to what scientists claim. For this group of people, the motivation to exercise is the primary issue – this group of people simply doesn’t have the motivation to go to the gym. Actually, they might resist any and all exercise, to the point of severe anxiety.

Nobody knows what percentage of the population suffers from problems with the motivation to exercise, but scientists say that up to 20 to 40 percent of people claim that they “hate” or “dread” exercise. An even larger percentage of people might have more mild problems with the motivation to exercise, finding that even though it is simple enough to commit themselves to an exercise regime for a week or two, motivation eventually degrades, leaving them where they were initially – unhealthy and heavy.

If you are one of these people who struggles with the motivation to exercise, the good news is that there are some easy strategies to deal with the struggle. In a recent research study, volunteers who needed to start an exercise program were provided with a brief learning program that aided them to decide on the right kinds of exercise, were provided with a therapist who specialized in exercise motivation, and were given a brief course in hypnosis. After six months, they were asked to evaluate their progress. It turns out that over 85 percent of the participants had adhered to an exercise program throughout the whole six months. Even better, they generally lost an average of fifteen more pounds than the control group.

If you have an interest in this study, it might make sense to look into locating a motivational therapist, habit control therapist, or therapist who deals with hypnotherapy. These therapists are provided with special training in helping people to transcend anxieties, build the motivation to exercise, and reinforce the creation of good habits. One more choice for exercise motivation is self-hypnosis – which is a simple and inexpensive process that often helps people take control of their own inborn abilities to be motivated.

Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are risk-free ways of increasing motivation that have been proven to provide success in the case of exercise motivation. Hypnosis works by using hypnotic relaxation to enhance the powers of the unconscious mind to influence the modification of behavior and habit development. Hypnotherapy is a good choice for the exercise adverse because it can help increase the drive to get trim and lose weight easily and effectively.

Are you tired of the yo yo effect? These simple 5 steps can help you KEEP the weight off once you do lose it

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Why do some dieters suffer the endless frustration of losing and then gaining weight again and again, while others lose weight and keep it off forever?

And we know you don’t want to be the latter group?

Here are 5 very simple tips successful dieters implement – and you can easily adapt these good habits yourself.

1.) You know that old conventional wisdom that goes “The scale doesn’t matter when you’re dieting”? For a long time experts scorned the idea of frequent weigh ins, pointing out that the scale can be inaccurate because of fluctuations caused by water weight. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat. So if you’re exercising you may be gaining muscle and that will throw the scale off.

However, it turns out that weighing yourself every day is actually an excellent motivator for dieters. A study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that dieters who weighed themselves every day lost the most weight, and kept it off more successfully, compared to a group of dieters who did not weigh themselves regularly.

2.) Keep a log of everything you eat. When you log everything you eat you will feel MUCH more guilty when you cheat because you have to see it and read it.

3.) Do at least 1 15 minute activity everyday. ANYTHING. Walk your dog, go jogging, do tae bo. Most of us work at desks and sit at home all day – then do it at least three times a week. You will lose weight quicker and this is one of the big contributors of keeping the weight off.

4.) Plan ahead. If you are going out to dinner with friends or to a holiday office party or even to the movies, what are you going to do when hunger pangs hit? Eat something before you go and decide BEFORE you get to the party or movies.

5.) Schedule the occasional indulgence. Most weight loss experts suggest and encourage a cheating day. When you get to eat some pizza, brownie or some ice cream at some time in the week your chances of ditching your plan is much less likely. This can also be a day when you throw in some more activity.

For those of you out there who believe that you can only lose weight through fasting, you cannot be more wrong! Facts have shown that it is not how much you eat but actually what you eat that results in weight gain in most people. If you decide to eat correctly, you will surely be eating your way to weight loss naturally.

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In the developed world today, a whole lot of people seem to be struggling with a particular challenge common to them all and that is the issue of how to lose weight so as to live a healthier life. In the same vein, a good number of the people concerned tend to believe that the only way to lose that excess fat is by starving themselves or fasting. Nothing can be further than the truth in this case. It has been proven by the experts that one can achieve weight loss naturally through correct dieting.

In order to lose weight naturally, the main thing one has to keep in mind and practice is to eat wisely, take enough water and do some regular exercise. This combination of actions will surely help you get rid of that unwanted fat as well as give you a fitter and sexier physique.

It is pertinent at this stage to note that when I talk of losing weight naturally through correct dieting, I am not talking about some very strict diet but simple ones that can be found in some cook books such as the Metabolic Cooking. I am also not talking about a particular diet for the whole day but an intelligent mix of recommended diets that will end up giving you a healthier body through weight loss.

I suppose that at this stage some of you out will want to know exactly how to eat wise and reap the benefits of losing weight naturally in the shortest possible time. It is not rocket science but simply doing what is right as already suggested. For an example, the diet experts claim that our ability to shed fats is eighty percent correct dieting and twenty percent how much exercise we give to our body. This also means that you need to steer clear of that attractive and sweet junk foodstuff you have been destroying your system with only to go back to the gym to try to burn the fat you got from wrong dieting practice.

Another important aspect of correct dieting is the issue of the water intake level. It is a fact that taking a good amount of water on a daily basis helps in ensuring a clean body system. As a matter of fact, the experts have made it abundantly clear that in order to keep our body system in a clean condition we need to take as much as sixty ounces of water daily. This is much better than the sugary drinks that many people use to replace water in their diet. It is recommended by medical experts that every adult should drink at least eight glasses of water in order to enjoy a healthier life devoid of obesity.

In summary therefore, anyone who wishes to enjoy the benefits weight loss simply needs to combine a correct diet with a good water intake and do some exercise. That also means such a person needs to as well avoid taking junk food and replace that with the consumption of lots of fruit and vegetables. When fruits are added to your meals, it is easier for you to ward off the cravings for sweet since you are ingesting natural sugar instead of the artificial one. You are advised to take fruits such as oranges and or apples in between your meals as a means of eating your way to weight loss and good health.

You can begin to lose weight by reducing your stress level. Here’s how!

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There may be many reasons why you engage in the behavior of overeating. Overeating helps some people gain a sense of control over their lives. Other people overeat when they are stressed or upset. Think about the times that you have had a binge eating session? What was the motivation behind it? Do you turn to food when you are upset or have a stressful day? Do you find a sense of comfort in the food that you eat? If stress is a major factor in your eating habits, finding ways to help reduce stress can help you lose weight.

1. Find a Support System

Having people that you can rely on is a great way to start reducing stress. Call on your friends or family when you are in a stressful situation. They can be a great source of advice or just a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes going out with work friends after a long stressful day can work wonders to melt the stress that you feel. We all need to rely on our friends and family at some point. Being able to talk about your stress is a health alternative to overeating.

2. Post Positive Mantras

Think about the negative comments you make about yourself when you are feeling stressed. Most people struggle with negative self-talk at sometime in their lives. Begin to challenge your old ways of thinking. Replace those old thoughts with positive thoughts that will help you push through stressful times. If a long stressful day at work leaves you thinking that you are “no good at my job”, change your thoughts. Think about how hard you worked today. You put in your all and achieved a goal you had set. Whatever your new thoughts are going to be, post them around your house. This will help you stay focused on them even when you are headed for a stress out moment. Thinking positively can help curb overeating.

3. Find Time to Relax

It is important that you take a few minutes everyday for relaxtion. There are many different things you can do in order to relax. If you had a busy day at work and spent the evening running errands, take a long soak in a tub. If you find yourself working late one night, close your office door and read a chapter in a book. On the weekends, go for a walk around a nature trail. The activity can last five minutes or five hours; the important thing is to take some time to relax.

4. Meditate or Journal

Another great way to reduce stress is to be alone with your thoughts. This can help you sort out what is going on in your life in a healthy way. One way to do this is to meditate. Another way is to write in a journal. Writing in a journal is a great way to begin organizing your thoughts about the stresses in your life. Dealing with your stress in this productive way makes it less likely that you will overeat.

5. Listen to Your Body

Stop beating yourself up for overeating. Move forward into a new way of thinking about eating and food. By listening to your body, you will learn when your body is telling you it is full or hungry. Know the signals that your body gives off in order to begin recognizing the difference between hunger and emotional eating. You can pull through this struggle and be on your way towards a natural weight loss.