Blog on weight, How to Lose Fat on the Cheap

If you have never tried to lose weight and your friends tell you about the gym memberships and the cost of those diet pills or you should see a weight loss counselor, and all you can think of is the cost. Well, it’s true, you don’t have to spend money to lose weight. In fact, you might save some money by losing weight. We don’t realize it, but as you go through your work day, you can spend a lot of time snacking. You can consume a lot of junk food and it all costs money. Maybe you start your day at a coffee shop and you don’t just buy coffee. You get to work and there are pastries in the break room, so why not? I use to do it. I’d look for something to snack on every time I took a break. The average person adds 2 or 3 pounds a year, even if they're careful and don’t overeat. Between the ages of 30 and 40, I personally gained 40 pounds. I had changed jobs. I had a construction job, was outside all day, and was very active and left that for an office job, sitting all day and eating a

Although there is mounting evidence that muscle-strength training provides key health benefits, most middle-aged and older adults in the United States don’t engage in this type of exercise, according to new research. Less than one-quarter of adults over 45 meet the muscle-strengthening recommendations set by the Department of Health and Human Services, the study found. Researchers advised that strength is essential for promoting health and fitness and staying independent. Muscle-strengthening activities include yoga, sit-ups, push-ups, weights, elastic bands, and weight machines. In many cases, people use their own body weight for resistance during strength training. For the study, the researchers analyzed data from the 2011 U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone health survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Participants answered questions about the type of physical activities they engage in and how often. They were also asked if

First, I should tell you that I wasted a lot of money trying different programs that didn't work. So after 20 years of not losing much weight, I decided that I had to do this my way. I felt like I knew all the ways that don’t work so I thought I could surely do this on my own. After weeks of reading anything I found on weight loss, I knew that I had been concentrating on the wrong thing. I had to lose fat, forget the weight. When you lose inches you will weigh less. You don’t need a scale, you need a tape measure. At first, I thought this would take hours to measure all the different parts of my body, but I learned quickly that you only have to measure your waist. Measure your waist at the navel. You can’t spot reduce. When your waist gets smaller everything else will get smaller. As you probably gather by now, I’m not in favor of paying to lose fat. Of course, I realize some of us need professional help, you just don’t have a clue where to begin. I get in, and there is professiona

Is all the talk about weight loss just talk? Can a person really keep weight off? Is the Game rigged against you? Well, if you fall for all the advertising, maybe it is.  A recent feature article in the New York Times chronicles the unfortunate fate of participants in The Biggest Loser after the spotlights dim, the TV cameras stop speeding, and time goes by. They regain weight. Some of it, most of it, all of it, or even all of it plus some. What the New York Times tells us, no surprise to those of us who have worked directly with severely obese patients over the years, is that failure overtakes the show participants. Those of us in these trenches have known all along that though challenging, losing weight for these people is not the problem. Sustaining weight loss is where most efforts fall down. Preventing the Problem I think the Times neglects the principal implication. Severe obesity can almost always, and should almost always be prevented in the first place. If ever an ounce of pre

You decided to lose weight and your partner is helping you at home, but you just can’t stick to the food plan when you're at work. The temptations are too great. It’s one thing to stick to your diet in the comfort of your own home: You’ve stocked up on cut veggies and fat-free Greek yogurt, and the only person who sees you write in your food journal is your partner, who’s pretty nonjudgmental about the whole thing. But dieting at the office – with the endless supply of home-baked goods in the communal kitchen and the frequent fast-food lunch breaks – is another thing altogether. I wish I could tell you to keep up the excellent work at home and let your guard down when you’re at the office, but because you’re probably spending half of your waking hours at work, that’s not going to fly. Outsmart the whole scenario by doing the following: Eat Breakfast, Seriously Everyone from your kindergarten teacher to your know-it-all best friend has extolled the virtues of eating breakfast. Studi

If you’re someone who deals with stress fairly often (who doesn’t?), here’s something you may not know: your body produces a hormone called cortisol in response to chronic stress which is associated with causing excess belly flab. The more cortisol you have, the more belly fat you typically gain. Now get this: The New England Journal of Medicine published a study showing that individuals who consumed mini-meals spaced three hours apart each day actually decreased their cortisol levels by 17 percent compared to those who ate the same amount of food in only three meals per day. And here’s some even better news… This cortisol-blunting, fat-burning effect occurred in just 14 days. So if you want to take control of your body’s cortisol levels, one thing you can do is to simply start eating a small mini-meal every three hours to reduce cortisol up to 17 percent on your own. That’s just one of quite a few benefits to eating five mini-meals a day, spaced three hours apart. (Example: Eat a meal

The word “diet” has a bad reputation in the weight loss community. But the bottom line is that we are all on a diet of some sort. Your diet is simply your eating plan. Even if you eat whatever you want, you’re on a diet, your diet. But in order to lose weight, your eating plan – your diet –  must change . Most Americans today, have no plan unless their doctor puts them on a diet plan. We just eat whatever we feel like and that’s why most Americans are overweight. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight and half of those are extremely overweight.  Here’s why: You need to change your energy balance. The only way to lose weight without medical intervention (like surgery) is to adjust your energy balance. O.k., before I lose my readers I’ll explain. Energy Balance is burning the calories that you’re eating. An energy deficit would be if you burn more calories than you eat and an energy surplus would be if you’re not burning all the calories you eat. That’s how it is for most people, an ener