Blog on weight, How to Lose Fat on the Cheap

I was overweight and couldn't walk up a flight of stairs at work without stopping to catch my breath. I needed to lose weight. I couldn't keep up anymore. I was always tired. I didn't like my clothes or the way my clothes fit. How did this happen to me? O.K., I'll tell you the story of how I grew to be 220 pounds before I decided to lose it. I was working a very physical job when I was in my 20's and then I got hurt. While I was working I burned so many calories and my metabolism was working so fast I never had to worry about what I ate. In those days I weighed 170. I was 6 foot tall, I wasn't doing any exercise, except for work. After an injury I was in the hospital for about 5 weeks. In those days I was smoking and because I was in a ward in a private hospital with other patients with broken bones waiting for surgery, they allowed me to smoke. After a few weeks in traction and extreme pain the smoking increased to 4 packs a day. The smoking was totally out...

You want to get back to a healthy weight, but some people have been overweight for so long they don't know what their normal weight is. For the person who just doesn't know where to start, I recommend you set a small goal of 10 pounds. Lose the 10 and keep it off for 2 weeks and then work on 10 more. The second 10 will be harder and take longer, but by this time you should be feeling a little better and want to lose more. Now that you lost the first 10 and you want to lose more, you'll have to do some exercise. If your not use to exercise you have to start slow. I recommend walking. A goal of 5 miles a day is what you want to achieve. But you want to start out doing about 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. It's easy if you have a dog. Take the dog for a walk at night. An after dinner walk will help you digest your meal, help the dog exercise, and help you. If the dog can only walk 15 or 20 minutes at first, you can both build up to 30 minutes. Don't give up because ...

When you see someone smoking, you might question “Why would you do that to yourself when you know it could kill you?” Do you react the same way when you know someone doesn’t exercise? You should. When I was at a recent medical conference, one of the presenters reminded the audience that research has shown physical inactivity to be as deadly as smoking. I was shocked at this when I first heard it a couple of years ago, but I think I was just as shocked hearing it the second time. My guess is you are too. It’s hard to imagine being inactive could be comparable to smoking, but it is. You wouldn’t dream of smoking (and if you do smoke, you’re likely trying to quit), so why poison yourself with inactivity? But many of us do. Nearly 80% of us don’t get the recommended amount of exercise . Many experts agree the inactivity epidemic is more concerning than the obesity epidemic. The benefits of exercise are numerous and irrefutable. It helps prevent heart dis...

Losing weight isn't that hard, if you really want to. You stop eating the things you're eating and start walking faster and more often. You have to change your diet and start eating fresh, healthy food; stop eating big meals and eat more often. Sounds simple, right. Then why is it so hard to lose weight? What most of us don't know is that you can't cut back on your food and lose weight.  Most of us thing that losing weight is easy. I'll just cut back on food. I'll just have coffee for breakfast or I'll just grab a snack from the snack machine and skip lunch. You can't lose weight like that. When you cut back on food your body will go into a defensive mode, it thinks you are starving and starts to hoard calories. It does happen immediately, it might take a week or two, so at first you might lose a few pounds but then you stop losing and start adding more fat. What I mean, is your body will cut the amount of calories it normally burns and storages...

I don't have a simple answer for that question. A healthy weight for anyone is constantly changing. Being at a healthy weight is really about how much body fat you have. If your Body Mass Index is lower than 25 then you're at a healthy weight. Your Body Mass Index is an indicator of the percentage of body fat you have. Look up Body Mass Index on the web and there are several websites that will show you a formula to use to find your number. If your number is between 18 and 24 then you are at a healthy weight. If your number is more than 24, you're overweight. I'm not a fan of this way of measuring body fat. If you belong to a health club or know someone that can take you, they measure body fat with a caliper. You can even buy a "body fat caliper" on the web. I read somewhere that you can buy one on Ebay for about $8. A health club will measure you free of charge. So even if you and your friend are the same height your number can be different. Muscular peopl...

Weight cycling is the repeated loss and regain of body weight. When weight cycling is the result of dieting, it's called "yo-yo" dieting. A weight cycle can range from small weight losses and weight gains (5-10 lbs. per cycle) to large changes in weight (50 lbs. or more per cycle). This is something we all have done. If you have gotten past this, you've conquered the biggest problem a dieter has. Some experts believe that weight cycling may be harmful to your health and that staying at one weight is better than weight cycling, even for those people who are obese. However, there is no convincing evidence to support these claims, and most obesity researchers believe that obese individuals would continue trying to control their body weight despite some weight cycling. Yes, that's true, but having the cycling problem is a big cause for failure. Dieters want to avoid cycling if at all possible. Most of the time your not losing body fat when you lose, but you're...

I know all of us will usually find something else to do instead of exercise, but if you have a weight problem exercise even in moderation can be the answer to your problem. We don’t always realize that we’re inactive. We think that the work we do around the house or on the job is all the activity we need, but the amount of food you eat has a direct affect on the amount of exercise you need. You must burn all the calories you eat or you will add body fat. Seniors have the same problem. You can’t stop exercising because you have a few aches or pains. Actually, I do moderate exercise to reduce my pain. I have arthritis in my hands and knees and by doing a few stretching exercises, I don’t have to take any pain killers. Read this part of an article I found about exercise. It applies to anyone who’s inactive. Research found exercise increases the odds of healthy aging as much as sevenfold. And apparently it's never too late to start: Even adults who don't begin exercising until ...

Yes you can loss weight without dieting. Most of us gain weight because we over-indulge on the wrong foods. By simply changing the foods you eat and stop drinking anything with calories you can lose weight. By adopting sensible eating habits and practicing portion control, you can eat nutritious foods so that you take in as many calories as you need to maintain your health and well-being at your ideal weight. Often, weight loss occurs on its own simply when you start making better food choices, such as  avoiding: processed foods, sugar-laden foods, white bread and pasta (substitute whole-grain varieties instead), foods with a high percentage of calories from fat, alcoholic drinks. While nothing is absolutely forbidden, when you do succumb to temptation, keep the portion size small and add a bit more exercise to your daily workout. By replacing some unwise food choices with healthy ones, you'll be cutting back on calories. If you add some moderate physical activi...

Everyone looks for the easy way to do everything. We look for the App to change the stations on the TV, you look for the App to open the garage door, the App to do your Taxes, but for losing weight, there’s no easy way. Did You ever do a search: "lose weight” and see all the different websites that have the answer for quick or fast weight loss; just buy this or eat this and the weight will melt away. It won’t happen and if you lose weight it usually comes right back. I lost weight by changing my diet and I never went back. And if I’m on vacation or go to a family gathering and I do slip up and eat something that will add fat, if you go right back to your meal plan the next day, any extra fat you added will disappear fast. When I changed my diet and started to eat fresh, mostly vegetables and fruit for dessert or for a snack, eating more nuts and not eating that food I use to eat. Not eating that food that put the weight on in the first place. I’m not a vegetarian, I do eat me...

We talk about cutting back on food consumption but we haven’t said how. So today I have some ideas. I plan my meals the day before. Actually I started planning to save money. I was planning a week at a time so I knew what to buy. Then I found that planning not only saved me money, but I had less food in the house and I ate less. Not really by design, kinda by accident. It might sound like a crazy idea. If you try it you’ll get it. I wasn’t going out as much. I ate at home more because I knew what was for dinner. Before I started planning I’d stop and eat on the way home. It was easier and I didn’t have to clean up. But I’d just get home and turn on the TV and pull out the snacks. Now I go home, make dinner, I stick to the plan. Eat dinner and clean up. Take care of any phone calls I need to return, do my email and finish up any paper work I need to do. By that time it usually after 8 and I find a movie I want to watch. I know many of you work-out at night, but I’m a morning person ...

Concentrate on improving your health and the rest will work out. What do I mean? Worrying about the problems in your life will cause you to forget about you. Worrying about money is the main contributor to obesity. Worrying starts a spiral downward that you can’t stop. Worrying starts by causing depression. You have a big problem that you have no solution for. Maybe it’s about money or maybe something with your marriage, or maybe a problem with a child. Yes, these may seem like insurmountable problems. And these types of huge problems in your life will cause you to change your routine. You’re not thinking about your health, you’re not making time for exercise or relationships, instead you’re worrying. If you’re worried about money or your job, then your worrying about how you can cut your budget and that usually starts with the food budget. Now, I probably don’t need to tell you that eating low cost food, is simply eating food with bulk and very little nourishment.  Foods th...

It's true that your attitude is 90% of the battle to reach your goal. That's true for any goal your trying to reach. A student would never finish College unless they had the right attitude. You have to want to reach the goal and you're willing to do what it takes and you're not going to give up. Those are the people that win and that's the attitude you need if you want to lose weight. So, losing weight is a mind game per say, but you have to be willing to do the work. Read this post from MedicineNet; they have some good ideas. Can you really think your way thin? It’s obviously not that simple, but there are little mind tricks you can use to bolster your efforts to  lose weight . Try these smart ways to put your brain to work for you: 1. Imagine Yourself Fitter.  You’ve undoubtedly heard about the power of visualization. And when it comes to exercise, an important part of any weight loss program, your imagination can be an effective motivational tool. One sm...

Dieting is hard. But avoiding "empty" calories helps you reach a healthy weight without feeling like you're dieting. Empty calories are the ones that make us gain weight. Calories are suppose to give our body the energy it needs for your bodily functions. It should give us the energy we need to work, play and stay healthy. But instead we eat mostly empty calories that give us nothing in return. So how do we know if the food is just empty calories? This is were you have to do some homework. I'll save you some time, If you eat fresh foods: lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and some whole grain and only drink water, coffee, and tea. only buy these foods fresh and organic when possible, than the calories you eat will sustain your body. So where do you find a list of such foods? It's called the Mediterranean Diet plan and you can find it on the internet. Just do a search and you'll find several websites with info. Look for the "food pyramid...

Are you exercising and not really seeing the results you hoped for? Maybe you're actually GAINING WEIGHT (very common, actually). Fact is, numerous research studies have shown that individuals who start on exercise programs actually subconsciously eat MORE calories due to the fact that exercise also stimulates your appetite. This is why folks who begin exercising--without consciously getting their diet under control at the same time--often actually GAIN body fat. By eating the right foods your body will eat up the body fat  with just a minimal amount of extra activity, like an extra one hour of walking every day. Do you want to put in the time and the effort in the gym to GAIN weight? Some people do but not me. Actually that's what happens to more people then you might think. I had the same problem. I was getting too heavy and the first think I thought of was joining a gym. So I spent $40 a month for many years and got nowhere. I’d lose a little and then gain it back ...

Losing weight is a balancing act between the amount of calories you eat and the amount of calories you burn. For example, a women depending on height should stay in a range of 1500 to 2000 calories a day. A man depending on height can consume say 1800 to 2500 calories. Those estimates will depend on your age and activity levels ( how much you workout ). Weight loss comes down to burning more calories than you eat. This is important, you can’t exercise away a lot of calories or a bad diet. I bet you didn't remember that, and this is a common mistake, if you just cut back on the foods your eating, like skipping meals, but don't change those foods that cause you to gain weight, than you probably won't lose anything. A normal workout, say a combination of running and walking for an hour, will only burn about 300 calories and that’s based on someone who is experienced at this type of workout. Someone new at this type of routine, you might only burn 100 calories. That's a...

It’s easier to make a change in your life if you understand how overweight happens to us. If you feel guilty about your weight get over it. It’s not all your fault. What contributes to America’s overweight problem? The food industry creates foods that hijack our brains. They have fat, sugar and salt, which are highly stimulating. They condition us so that even the sights and smells associated with them activate your brain [in ways that make you want food]. In controlled individuals or controlled studies, the brain activity stops when they start ingesting the food, but in some people, it doesn’t shut off when the food is gone. Also, when your body craves food it is not just telling you to eat something, it’s telling you that you need something. Maybe it’s protein or maybe it’s carbs, whatever, somewhere through evolution we lost the ability to understand what are body’s telling us. How can we break this cycle? Changing how people look at food is essential. Look at the public-hea...

I revived this blog page to tell you about my new ebook on "losing weight".  I've wanted to write a book on weight loss for several years but never found enough time. My personal story with my weight has been my inspiration to write this book. I have been between chubby and thin since I was a child. It wasn't until I reached 50 years of age that I made a conscious decision to stop yo-yoing and keep the extra weight off. I've lost also 60 pounds from my highest point and it does take time and you can lose your way along your journey but it's a journey worth taking. I always believed in exercise all the way back to 8 th grade when I bought my first set of weights. I was active in school sports all through high school. I had some bad injuries in sports and there was years when I wasn't working out and I did gain some weight back, but after school when I started working I was a driver on a Coke truck. I had to unload the truck everyday by hand...

How often have you heard that eating breakfast boosts your metabolism? It might seem logical that eating a meal first thing in the morning gets your metabolism revved up, but the fact is that there's no evidence to prove it actually does. In fact, scientists are clear about the benefits of breakfast and a boost in metabolism isn't one of them. Breakfast and Metabolism: Researchers agree that the science is inconclusive: there's no research showing a direct link between breakfast and a better metabolism. In a recent conference, members of the American Society for Nutrition met to discuss how eating frequency affects our weight. They evaluated a wide range of studies that investigated meal frequency, weight and metabolism. Their conclusion? Since eating habits are very hard to study, research hasn't been able to establish a clear link to an increased metabolism. In fact, they found no data to suggest that eating frequency, in general, has an effect on the calories we b...