There are literally tons of information and articles about losing weight. Believe it or not, people still make the same dieting mistakes over and over again. I am not referring to little slip ups. What I am talking about are big mistakes that become real problems in your weight loss attempts. If we can define these mistakes it may make it possible for healthy, permanent weight loss.
The first mistake is the all or nothing attitude. People who approach their dieting in this manner will often select a diet that practically impossible for them to maintain. When they first begin, they remove anything from the kitchen that does not fit in with their new diet. What they are thinking is that they wish to be perfect. They probably will be. Maybe for a day or two, or perhaps ever a couple of weeks. But something always happens. For some reason they are not able to continue with their diet. When this happens the entire process is ruined and the diet is over. So what they do is go to the store and replace all the things that they threw out in the first place.
If this is your approach to dieting then it is necessary to ask yourself some difficult questions. What exactly is the purpose of your diet? Do you want to lose this weight permanently? Perhaps you just wish to lose a few pounds. The secret here is to make lifestyle changes in your diet. This way you create a slow and regular means of losing weight.
The second mistake is the attitude of sacrifice. Many people see their diet as some sort of sacrifice. It is easy to see why. You are not allowing yourself to eat the foods that you enjoy the most while attempting to achieve your target weight. This is what happens. You have done your research. You have come up with well thought out diet that you can do. You can successfully lose that weight and achieve your target weight. Okay! Now what? You have reached your goal. Have you really changed your eating habits? Did you learn to eat those so called bad foods in moderation? Are you likely to end up out of control? Can you broaden your diet in moderation and maintain your target weight?
The third mistake is goal failure. Defining your goals is essential with your weight loss program. Your goals should be crystal clear. They must be realistic. You should write them down. You probably have an ideal weight in mind when you begin. If you are more than a few pounds overweight, this goal is probably too far away to be helpful. A more practical goal is to lose 2 pounds per week for the first several weeks. After that, 1 pound per week. Of course, this will vary from week to week. However, when you track your progress you will observe that you are consistently moving toward your goal.
Do not worry if you have been making any of these mistakes. Just like everything else in life, it important to learn your lesson and to move on. The truth is that we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. Do not let your mistakes to be an excuse for giving up. Success comes from making a commitment and by being persistent.
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Kathryn Soloff is the mother of 8 children and a natural foods cook for over 30 years. She is co-publisher of http://www.natural-remedy-dot-com.com/losing_weight/ where she provides additional advice, tips and hard to find information on Herbal Fat Burners
Friday, November 16, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Is Walking an Effective Weight Loss Strategy?
Everyone knows that exercise promotes better health. Doctors say to get more exercise. Even the government puts out official exercise recommendations. Over 60% of Americans need to implement healthy weight loss strategies.
So you go on a walk and then pat yourself on the back. Exercise accomplished-right?
The big question is: Can you get fit by walking?
A research team at the University of Alberta took this question on in a detailed study. They compared a group that took part in a walking program with a group that did a traditional fitness routine at moderate intensity.
The results? The fitness level of the walkers was significantly lower than those who did traditional exercise at moderate intensity. Here is what the lead researcher, Dr. Vicki Harber, had to say:
"Generally, low-intensity activity such as walking alone is not likely to give anybody marked health benefits compared to programs that occasionally elevate the intensity."
Harber went on to say that, "You've go to do more than light exercise and move towards the inclusion of regular moderate activity, and don't be shy to interject an occasional period of time at the vigorous level."
Walking for exercise won't give you the health benefits that more challenging exercise delivers. So is walking good for health? Can walking be utilized as a fitness tool?
So What Can Walking Do For you?
There definitely is a place for walking in fitness. For anyone who has not been active for a long time, it is best to approach an exercise regimen with caution and respect your body’s limitations. Walking is a great introductory activity to master. Walking is especially great if your body is overweight, under-conditioned and simply unaccustomed to physical activity.
walking, then can be considered as a stepping stone to fitness. It transitions you from the motionless to in motion. Walking is just a notch above not moving-you'll burn a few calories and warm up unused muscles.
The problem is that walking cannot be the entire extent of your exercise regimen.
Like the study above revealed, walking just won't deliver the desired outcome. Your body is so efficient in its ability to adapt that you have to increase your exercise intensity in order to see results. This applies to more than just walking. Any time you are in an exercise rut, your body will adjust and you will stop seeing results. To progressively continue, you’ve got to progressively challenge yourself.
What’s the Next step?
Once you have mastered brisk walking, you are ready for a new challenge, namely, resistance training. If you haven't tried resistance training then it may sound a little scary. Or you conjure up pictures of bulging, veiny, muscle-bound, steroid users. Most people are not looking for those kinds of results!
Isn't resistance training just a fancy word for 'lifting weights'? And don't you have to be an athlete to lift weights?
I understand your reservations about beginning a resistance training program. However, to achieve substantial health and fitness results, you must use resistance training. Indeed, you may quickly realize that your body is becoming stronger and you are feeling better.
What are the benefits of Resistance Training?
• Increase in muscle strength and tone (and no, women do not need to worry about becoming bulky and bulgy)
• Increase in metabolism (this means extra fat burning)
• Increase in bone density
• Injury prevention
• Improved posture
• Improved health (lowered blood pressure and cholesterol; lowers your risk for adult-onset diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers)
• Improved mood and self esteem
Resistance training is simply the way to go when you want to get fit. By utilizing a resistance training program with a cardiovascular routine, you will be well on your way to achieving all of your fitness goals. Don't forget resistance training does not have to be weights, but can be body weight resistance like in yoga and Pilates.
The absolute most important issue for any exercise regimen to succeed is consistency. You just can't enroll in a program that you dread going to. You'll never get the results you seek that way. Get help if you need it, most people do need it. The ones who are wise enough to hire or otherwise recruit assistance are the ones who will succeed. Recruit a workout buddy. Hire a trainer. Set those appointments and stick to them. Even if you don’t hire a trainer, you can still set appointments with yourself. Physically set aside the time and do it.
So you go on a walk and then pat yourself on the back. Exercise accomplished-right?
The big question is: Can you get fit by walking?
A research team at the University of Alberta took this question on in a detailed study. They compared a group that took part in a walking program with a group that did a traditional fitness routine at moderate intensity.
The results? The fitness level of the walkers was significantly lower than those who did traditional exercise at moderate intensity. Here is what the lead researcher, Dr. Vicki Harber, had to say:
"Generally, low-intensity activity such as walking alone is not likely to give anybody marked health benefits compared to programs that occasionally elevate the intensity."
Harber went on to say that, "You've go to do more than light exercise and move towards the inclusion of regular moderate activity, and don't be shy to interject an occasional period of time at the vigorous level."
Walking for exercise won't give you the health benefits that more challenging exercise delivers. So is walking good for health? Can walking be utilized as a fitness tool?
So What Can Walking Do For you?
There definitely is a place for walking in fitness. For anyone who has not been active for a long time, it is best to approach an exercise regimen with caution and respect your body’s limitations. Walking is a great introductory activity to master. Walking is especially great if your body is overweight, under-conditioned and simply unaccustomed to physical activity.
walking, then can be considered as a stepping stone to fitness. It transitions you from the motionless to in motion. Walking is just a notch above not moving-you'll burn a few calories and warm up unused muscles.
The problem is that walking cannot be the entire extent of your exercise regimen.
Like the study above revealed, walking just won't deliver the desired outcome. Your body is so efficient in its ability to adapt that you have to increase your exercise intensity in order to see results. This applies to more than just walking. Any time you are in an exercise rut, your body will adjust and you will stop seeing results. To progressively continue, you’ve got to progressively challenge yourself.
What’s the Next step?
Once you have mastered brisk walking, you are ready for a new challenge, namely, resistance training. If you haven't tried resistance training then it may sound a little scary. Or you conjure up pictures of bulging, veiny, muscle-bound, steroid users. Most people are not looking for those kinds of results!
Isn't resistance training just a fancy word for 'lifting weights'? And don't you have to be an athlete to lift weights?
I understand your reservations about beginning a resistance training program. However, to achieve substantial health and fitness results, you must use resistance training. Indeed, you may quickly realize that your body is becoming stronger and you are feeling better.
What are the benefits of Resistance Training?
• Increase in muscle strength and tone (and no, women do not need to worry about becoming bulky and bulgy)
• Increase in metabolism (this means extra fat burning)
• Increase in bone density
• Injury prevention
• Improved posture
• Improved health (lowered blood pressure and cholesterol; lowers your risk for adult-onset diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers)
• Improved mood and self esteem
Resistance training is simply the way to go when you want to get fit. By utilizing a resistance training program with a cardiovascular routine, you will be well on your way to achieving all of your fitness goals. Don't forget resistance training does not have to be weights, but can be body weight resistance like in yoga and Pilates.
The absolute most important issue for any exercise regimen to succeed is consistency. You just can't enroll in a program that you dread going to. You'll never get the results you seek that way. Get help if you need it, most people do need it. The ones who are wise enough to hire or otherwise recruit assistance are the ones who will succeed. Recruit a workout buddy. Hire a trainer. Set those appointments and stick to them. Even if you don’t hire a trainer, you can still set appointments with yourself. Physically set aside the time and do it.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Walking for Weightloss
Regular exercise always helps There is no substitute for a healthy diet and a good exercise regime. If you can find the time to do so, draw up a schedule so that you can fit in a regular course of exercise into your normally busy routine, like taking the stairs and not the elevator.
It doesn't even matter if this is the very first, or only, thing that you do to begin with to lose weight. Since we all need to start from somewhere, beginning with a regular exercise routine is as good a place to start as any.
Being ambitious in your goals is an admirable trait, but to start you should remember to keep things small, simple and manageable. Don't go off the deep end and think up a really good exercise schedule which eats into all of your spare time and then some, you will end up not completing it and getting frustrated and quitting altogether..
Start slowly, take things one at a time, and build up to that really good exercise routine. You need to have the time to make it a regular thing, and not a just one-off thing that you do for a few days and then ditch.
In this way, by taking things slowly, you will be able to incorporate regular exercise into your busy schedule over time. This in turn will ensure that you do actually stick to your schedule rather than not.
There are a number of things that you can do to begin an exercise routine, and I have to say that plain old walking is the best and easiest thing to begin with.
Or if you don't like that idea, you can always try other simple exercises such as ab-crunches, wall-push-ups, or you might even want to consider joining a yoga class.
You have a number of options open to you when looking at doing exercises, and you should choose the one that is best suited for you and or your lifestyle.
Walking is good
If you don't like the thought of regular exercise, you always have the option of going for a walk. Although this does get you moving and out and about, for some reason walking doesn't seem like exercise, which can make it easier for you to stick with it.
Find a time of day in which you would like to go for a walk, or simply take a walk around the block when you're feeling stressed or tired and clear your mind.
Visit my Site now at http://www.womensweightloss.org to read anything you ever wanted to know about Weight loss.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adds_S_Barton
It doesn't even matter if this is the very first, or only, thing that you do to begin with to lose weight. Since we all need to start from somewhere, beginning with a regular exercise routine is as good a place to start as any.
Being ambitious in your goals is an admirable trait, but to start you should remember to keep things small, simple and manageable. Don't go off the deep end and think up a really good exercise schedule which eats into all of your spare time and then some, you will end up not completing it and getting frustrated and quitting altogether..
Start slowly, take things one at a time, and build up to that really good exercise routine. You need to have the time to make it a regular thing, and not a just one-off thing that you do for a few days and then ditch.
In this way, by taking things slowly, you will be able to incorporate regular exercise into your busy schedule over time. This in turn will ensure that you do actually stick to your schedule rather than not.
There are a number of things that you can do to begin an exercise routine, and I have to say that plain old walking is the best and easiest thing to begin with.
Or if you don't like that idea, you can always try other simple exercises such as ab-crunches, wall-push-ups, or you might even want to consider joining a yoga class.
You have a number of options open to you when looking at doing exercises, and you should choose the one that is best suited for you and or your lifestyle.
Walking is good
If you don't like the thought of regular exercise, you always have the option of going for a walk. Although this does get you moving and out and about, for some reason walking doesn't seem like exercise, which can make it easier for you to stick with it.
Find a time of day in which you would like to go for a walk, or simply take a walk around the block when you're feeling stressed or tired and clear your mind.
Visit my Site now at http://www.womensweightloss.org to read anything you ever wanted to know about Weight loss.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adds_S_Barton
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