7/3/13

Which Weight Loss Program Is Right For You?

Your body weight is really controlled by the number of calories you eat and the number of calories you use each day through things like exercise and physical activity. This means that to lose weight, you actually need to take in fewer calories each day than you use so that there is deficit in calories consumed. There are two ways to do this - by becoming more physically active or by eating less each day. Following a weight loss program that helps you to become more physically active and also decrease the amount of calories that you eat, is the best way to achieve successful weight loss.

To lose weight and keep it off, you should be aware of the different types of programs that are available. You should also look at what makes up a good program. Knowing this information can help you select a weight loss program that will really work. The four types ofweight loss programs include:

Do-It-Yourself Programs

1. Any effort to lose weight by yourself or with a support group either on or offline, fits in the "do-it-yourself" category. People using a do-it-yourself program rely on group support, and products such as diet books, for advice.

Non-Clinical Programs

2. These programs tend to be commercially operated, such as privately-owned, weight loss chains. They often use books and pamphlets that are prepared by healthcare providers but use counselors who are not usually trained healthcare providers. Some of these programs require participants to use the program's food or supplements.

Clinical Programs

3. This type of program is usually provided in a healthcare setting, such as a hospital, by licensed health professionals, including physicians, nurses, dietitians, and/or psychologists. In some clinical programs, a health professional works alone; in others, a group of health professionals works together to provide services to patients. These clinical programs offer services such as nutrition education, medical care, behavior change therapy, and physical activity. Clinical programs may also use other weight loss methods, such as very low calorie diets, weight loss drugs, and surgery, to treat severely overweight patients. All of these programs would be carefully supervised during implementation.

Surgery

4. Gastric bypass surgeries are combination procedures that use both restriction and malabsorption to achieve weight loss. Because it is a combination approach, it tends to be more successful for weight loss than purely restrictive surgeries. Gastric bypass surgerymay be an option if you are significantly obese and have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight on diet and exercise programs and are unlikely to lose weight successfully with non-surgical methods.

If you are considering a weight-loss program and you have medical problems, or if you are severely overweight, then programs or surgery run or conducted by trained health professionals are probably your best option. These professionals are more likely to monitor you for possible side effects of weight loss and will help you to lose weight successfully and safely.

Whether you decide to use the do-it-yourself, non-clinical, or clinical approach, the program you opt for should help you lose weight and help you to keep it off by teaching you healthy eating and exercise habits that you will be able to use for years to come.

Super Simple Weight Loss Tips

Weight loss is one of those subjects that everyone is always talking about. It seems you can't go anywhere without seeing or hearing some type of weight loss message. Stories of the dangers of not losing weight appear regularly on the nightly news. Retail outlets and the Internet both are full of weight loss books and products. Weight loss is discussed in medical centers and at schools and even in the work place. If you're trying to lose weight, here are a few tips to get you going. 

Tip #1 - Stop Talking About Weight Loss!

All that talk about how much you want to lose weight isn't going to make the weight come off. You've got to take action, starting right now. So take this simple advice: Stop moving your mouth and start moving your body! It won't take long to begin seeing the results.

Tip #2 - Slow and Steady is Best

Slow and steady weight loss is better (and safer) than riding the dieting roller coaster. If you're looking for long-lasting weight loss results, aim to lose an average of about two pounds each week. In order to lose weight you've got to consume fewer calories than you burn. As a bonus, when you combine dieting with exercise, you'll be reducing your caloric intake and increasing your caloric burn rate at the same time. 

Tip #3 - Save Your Money

Don't spend your hard-earned money on the latest weight loss gimmicks. Pills, fad diets, hypnosis, and extreme surgical procedures are not the answer! These gimmicks won't slim you down, but they will fatten the bank accounts of those who promote them! Eating a nutritionally-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, good fats and lean proteins will encourage weight loss faster than any miracle cure you can buy.

Tip #4 - Weight Loss is a Way of Life

Unfortunately, the issue of weight is something that most people will struggle with throughout life. Excess processed foods and a sedentary lifestyle are the two biggest contributors to this constant struggle. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you've got to change the way you think about food. It should be thought of as a source of fuel, not a passion. Successful weight loss really is about making lifestyle changes, including making the right food choices, and then sticking with those choices throughout life. 

Tip #5 - Weight Loss is More Than a Number

When you're dieting, don't become a victim of the dreaded scale. When the numbers go down, happiness goes up. But when the numbers stay the same or go up, it is easy to give up and give in. Remember that even if your weight isn't changing as you would like, your body is. You'll be taking better care of your heart. You'll be lowering your cholesterol levels. You'll be sporting a leaner body and your clothes will begin fitting more comfortably. When you learn to find joy in these other benefits, you'll want to keep on being a loser!

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss: Discover Why Your Scale May Be Your Worst Enemy

In your pursuit of a leaner body, you know doubt utilized a bathroom scale to chronicle your progress. However, you may have been doing yourself a grave disservice. As you know, a scale measures how much weight you have lost, but it will never tell you where this weight was lost from. This is where the problem lies. When dieting, your combined weight loss could potentially come from fat loss, water loss, or muscle loss. Obviously, the former is what we all want to achieve, and the latter two are what we need to try and avoid whenever dieting. Unfortunately, many of the fad diets claiming rapid weight loss are often achieving this at the expense of water loss and/or muscle loss. Generally speaking, if you are losing greater than two pounds per week you are likely losing muscle as well.

The best way to monitor your progress when embarking on a new diet is to measure your body fat percentage and your lean body mass. Lean body mass is your weight excluding fat. Lean body mass includes bone, muscle, and other fat free tissues with the majority of this being muscle. By measuring these two items, you will be able to determine how much fat you are losing and whether or not you are losing any muscle. The simplest way to measure your body fat percentage is through skinfold testing. If you know a personal trainer or other fitness professional in your area, they will likely be able to take these measurements for you. However, self skinfold testing is available with the use of the "Accu-Mesure", which can by found easily online.

Once you have determined your body fat percentage, you are ready to calculate your fat weight and lean body mass. To calculate your fat weight, multiply your total weight by your body fat percentage. Remember to convert your body fat percentage to decimal form before multiplying. I.e. 11% body fat would be converted to .11 Once you have calculated your pounds of fat, subtract your pounds of fat from your total weight in pounds, which will give you your lean body mass.

Armed with these simple equations, you will be able to track your weight loss much more accurately than by simply using a scale alone. You will know exactly where your weight loss is coming from, so you can quickly make adjustments to your caloric intake to maximize your results. For example, if your lean body mass decreases and your body fat decreases, this should tell you there is to much of a calorie deficit and you should increase your daily calorie intake slightly to prevent the loss in lean body mass. Whenever you're on a calorie restricted diet, some loss in lean body mass and therefore muscle is hard to avoid. However, this loss in lean body mass should be limited to a few tenths of a pound per week. Initially, when first starting a diet program, you will likely notice a larger drop in lean body mass due to water loss. Don't get alarmed by this. An obvious downward trend in your lean body mass over time is definitely a concern.

It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss proper nutrition and how to calculate daily caloric needs for weight loss; however, I will mention a simple formula that can be utilized to get you in the ballpark if you have average or better body fat percentages. To calculate your total daily calories needed for fat loss, multiply your total weight by 12-13. This will give you a good starting point. I will also mention that spreading your calories out over 5-6 meals per day with each meal consisting of approximately 55% complex carbohydrate, 30% lean protein, and 15% fat will give you the best chance of permanent fat loss. Obviously, these percentages may not work for everyone, but they are a great place to start. If you want to maintain your hard earned muscle, it is also imperative you maintain a weight lifting routine, while dieting.

I hope this information will help you achieve all your weight loss goals and help you understand exactly how your nutrition and diet program is affecting your body. There is certainly still a place for the bathroom scale, but unless you're also measuring the items above, you will never fully realize the affect of your diet program and reaching your full potential may be difficult. I wish you the best of luck.

The Truth About Weight Loss Success Stories

Are weight loss success stories really true? Many of them are and then there are the ones which you know are outright lies. These stand out on the fly by night diet plans and pills. They show a picture of a gorgeous bikini clad blonde standing by a before picture of 350 pounds and tell you they did this in 10 days. Yeah, right!

However, a real weight loss story can save someone's life. Frankly, that's not an exaggeration; it is a statement of fact. Your on personal story about shedding all that extra weight and how you did it; can inspire someone to lose the weight that is killing them. 

Weight loss success stories are everywhere. If you go on any weight loss forum, blog or web site you are bound to find stories of people who have successfully lost weight. Many of these people have made huge sacrifices and life changes to achieve their goal. Most also post progress photos of themselves which is extremely inspiring to you if you are just starting your weight loss journey.

When reading weight loss success stories it is simple to become inspired. The next step then is to take action! By starting your new diet plan today you are taking a step toward your ultimate goal of achieving your desired weight. It is vital to keep in mind that you won't achieve your target weight tomorrow, next week or next month but everyday that you stick to your plan, you are one day closer to your target!

You'll find many weight loss success stories if you join a program like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. These companies love to tell the world about their successful clients, no doubt to make themselves look great but also to inspire everyday people to reach their goals. 

Even celebrities have weight loss success stories to tell. Just look at Oprah Winfrey, Dan Marino and Kirstie Alley. All of these people have lost considerable weight and (generally) kept it off. And they did it the healthy way, not with unsustainable crash diets. Kirstie Alley now even stars in commercials for Jenny Craig!

You might not think it is possible to become a weight loss success story yourself, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Absolutely anyone can achieve their weight loss goals, regardless of how much you weigh now. People have regained control of their life from all sorts of difficult circumstances, including weighing several hundred pounds! So there is no reason why you can't follow on their footsteps.

Although every person achieves weight loss differently, they all have one thing in common; they had the will and motivation to continue their diet and exercise plan day after day. Sure there may have been a few days here and there that they let it lapse but overall they stuck to their guns and knew that it would be well worth the minor compromises.

Reading about weight loss success stories is fun and inspiring. Just remember that you'll have to take action just like these people if you are to achieve your target weight. Now is the time for you to help save a life. Your own and others.

Getting to Know Weight Loss Surgery

Shedding extra pounds and losing unwanted fat have been, for many years now, the dilemma of many people. And this is not just a problem in the United States but all over the world as well. This is not surprising as many of us mostly indulge in unhealthy diet; eating fake carbs, fast foods, and caffeinated beverages. 

With this kind of problem at hand, we try to seek for answers that will satisfy our needs. Hence, many people try different weight loss programs, weight loss medications and have visited many weight loss clinics. However, not all of these losing weight methods can be effective and give better results to us. It is still a case to case basis.

Now, because some are not satisfied with the mentioned weight loss procedures, weight loss experts have strived to give people the best answer. Hence, weight loss surgery has been introduced. And did you know that this weight loss method has become a booming industry. With all those people who are tired of trying different weight loss pills and diet systems, many have resorted to surgery. But, before you even try consulting a surgeon about weight loss using surgical procedures, it is better to get to know weight loss surgery first.

The Benefits of Surgery for Weight Loss 

Although there have been some reports of the bad sides of weight loss surgery, it also has several benefits. 

Here they are; 

- Promote better health 

- yes, this weight loss procedure can give you a healthier body with continued weight loss. Diseases like diabetes, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, and high blood pressures can also be prevented.

- Psychological 

- aside from health-related benefits, undergoing surgery can also bring good results in relation to a person's psychological nature. You see, if you are slim and sexy, you will have high self-esteem and you can be confident all the time. 

- Keeping Yourself Fit 

- with surgery, you'll be thought on how to control weight gain all by yourself. You will learn how to be contented and be satisfied even with just a small amount of food.

Risks Posed by Weight Loss Surgery 

If there are benefits to this weight loss procedure, there are also risks. Well, all kinds of surgery have one or more risks, right? And this is not an exemption. Among the most serious threat brought by surgery are blood clot, failure of a body organ, infection, hemorrhage or even death. Now, the technique used in weight loss surgery known as laparoscopic technique rarely cause death to patients so no need to worry that much. 

The following are among the problems that you can expect during and after the surgery: 

- Problems with the adjustable gastric band such as prolapsed and erosion - Complications after a gastric bypass operation such as hemorrhage, obstructions in the intestines, internal hernias, marginal ulcers, etc.

- Complications after a biliopancreatic diversion surgery.

- Risks of failing to get the expected weight loss results as well as weight regain after the surgery.

You have to keep in mind that weight loss surgery has potential risks. It is up to you to brave these risks and go on with the procedures. The important thing is that you look for a reputable clinic. You can ask out some known clients that the clinic have regarding the kind of services that it has. Try to find out about the success rate of the clinic when it comes to surgical procedures. It is also a must that you check for the background of the surgeon who will perform your weight loss surgery. Better yet, gather as many information as you can on their surgeons and choose who you think is the best among them.

Weight Loss With Hypnosis?

Now that the New Year has come in like a lion, it is time to finally, take charge of the excess weight, getting your body in the best shape ever. While eating right and hitting the gym are two options for losing weight and keeping in shape, you can also turn to the power of hypnosis. Many people have good intentions when it comes to weight loss but getting started is the hardest part. With hypnosis, you get that push in the right direction needed to reach and maintain your goal.

The interesting thing about hypnosis and weight loss is that losing the extra pounds is actually much easier than expected. You have probably heard about the failures and dangers of crash diets. Sure, people will lose weight initially but then within a few months, put it right back on. Therefore, the top doctors in the country tell people to lose weight slowly for the ultimate and longest lasting results. With hypnosis, you can lose weight healthy and slowly, learning how to eat properly so you get the weight off permanently but in a good way.

The interesting thing about weight loss with hypnosis is that you are retraining the subconscious mind. That means you are learning and changing past behaviors; accepting new behaviors that will help you eat healthier and have an interest in working out in the gym. In other words, through repetitive and positive suggestions given by a professional hypnotist or hypnotherapist or even through self-hypnosis, you begin to learn new habits. Therefore, the formula for success with weight loss is actually easy. In addition, the formula you use that proves success never changes.

If you are tired of going round and round with your weight problem and want to make this New Year different, really want to change, permanently, you can. Hypnosis is a powerful tool that works exceptionally well for people just like you, people interested in losing weight while having the opportunity to build healthy habits. This natural weight loss plan is something you can use any time and best of all, hypnosis is 100% safe.

Through positive suggestions, exercise can become a part of your weight loss plan. If you dread spending time in the gym before, you will now find yourself eager to work out. The change you see with hypnosis is gradual, which ensures the weight loss is natural and more importantly, lasting. As mentioned earlier, the most common problem with weight loss is that weight comes back because the loss is so fast. However, by using hypnosis to change behaviors or habits, the changes come over time and the results stay.

Keep in mind that hypnotherapy can help you lose weight and then keep it off in a number of different ways:

- You will develop a new self image, seeing yourself as a thinner, more healthier person that makes you want to achieve the goal of weight loss

- You will learn how to relax about weight loss and weight management, stressing less, which can have better results. Often when a person becomes stressed, they use food as a crutch.

- You will become positive about the process of weight loss and weight management whereas before, you might have seen the process as something negative. Hypnosis will retrain the mind to view the entire process much differently.

- You will be creating your future as a new person. You will feel better about yourself, and that confidence lets you work toward other goals pertaining to family, friends, work, hobbies, and so on.

Typically, when a person uses hypnosis to lose weight, they find themselves moving in a positive circle, being happier, stronger, and healthier individuals. The things that can do to the mind are incredible. Suddenly, the weight loss and exercise all makes sense and as the weight begins to drop off, life takes on an entirely different look, all for the better!

How to Find a Local Weight Loss Center

Are you looking to lose weight? If you are, have you ever though about joining a weight loss center? A weight loss center membership is a nice way to help you achieve your goal of losing weight. If you have never been a member of a weight loss center before, you may be wondering how you can go about finding a weight loss center to join. 

Before examining how you can go about finding a weight loss center to join, it is first important to know what weight loss centers are. When examining weight loss centers, you will find that weight loss centers come in a number of different formats. Most commonly, weight loss centers are used to describe local weight loss programs, where you attend group meetings at the "center." There are some weight loss centers that have weekly or biweekly meetings, like for weigh-ins. There are also weight loss centers where your membership fees give you access to onsite exercise equipment or the ability to attend an aerobics class.

Now that you know exactly what weight loss centers are, you are better prepared to go about finding one to join. One of the many ways that you can go about finding a weight loss center to become a member at is by using your local phone book. When using your local phone book, you will want to checkout the business directory section, which is also commonly referred to as the yellow pages. You may be able to find the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of local weight loss centers by looking under the headings of "weight loss," or "health and fitness."

In addition to using your local phone book, you can also use the internet to help you find a local weight loss center to join. When using the internet, you can use online business directories or online phone books. These online resources are nice, but they are similar to what you would find in your local phone book. Often times, you only get the name, address, and telephone number of a weight loss center. If you were to use an online business directory, you may also get the address to an online website, if the weight loss center in question has one.

In keeping with using the internet to help you find a local weight loss center, you can also use standard internet searches to your advantage. When performing a standard internet search, you may want to search with phrases like "weight loss centers," or "weight loss programs." This generalized search may return results for nationally operated weight loss centers. If you are looking for a local center, you may want to incorporate your city or your state into your standard internet search as well.

Another great way that you can go about finding a local weight loss center to join is by asking those that you know for recommendations. This includes your friends, family members, coworkers, neighbors, or your doctors. Whether the individual in question was or still is a member of the weight loss center in question or they know someone who was, you may be able to get a lot information by speaking to those that you know. It is also nice, as you often don't just get the name, address, or telephone number of a local weight loss center; you also should get personal recommendations and constructive criticism as well.

The above mentioned approaches are just a few of the many ways that you can go about finding local weight loss centers to join. Although it is nice to hear recommendations from those that you know or use the internet to help you familiarize yourself with all of your options, it is important that you take the time to find the perfect weight loss center for you and needs. This should involve examining the membership features that you have access to, the cost of becoming a member, and so forth.