Why Do We Cheat On Our Diets?
If only we could solve this question, the world (for many) would be a better place! Well, the reality is that there are real answers to this question that will apply to many people. It will take a good dose of reality and a brave heart to stop denying what really happens. Read on to discover some answers that may change your life forever and give you the impetus to lose weight and keep it off!
Justification?
Being overweight can be used as an excuse for being unhappy, especially when you do not do anything to help yourself. Subconsciously, over-eating is a comfort for many people and this then allows them to hide behind their weight problem and helps them to justify rejection and avoid being hurt. They can then shift the blame of rejection on their weight-problem, without addressing other aspects of their fears. Sometimes it seems easier to hide behind your “weight problem”, than address other matters where you may have a greater fear of failure.
Eating Without Thinking?
If you are concentrating on another activity while you are eating you are more likely to overeat because you are not fully aware of how full you are feeling. This factor can be difficult to change because it is not a conscious action. Try to only eat when you don’t have a lot of other distractions. Sit down, eat slowly and enjoy the food you are eating, and remember that it is not always necessary to go back for seconds. It takes 20 minutes for food to reach your stomach and for your brain to register that you are full.
Cravings?
The famous “Pavlov’s dogs” were conditioned to eat at the sound of a bell, and we human are much the same when it comes to habitual cravings. If you wonder why you always feel like a chocolate when you sit down to watch a movie, or you have to have a box of popcorn….think again. You are not necessarily craving these foods because you are hungry, but rather consider force of habit. During the time when you have a craving, try to ask yourself whether you are really hungry or not. If you are hungry, reach for a low fat snack rather than a chocolate bar or bag of crisps.
Indulging?
Eating or thinking about food can be a distraction from your troubles and you may therefore be unnecessarily over-eating. Emotions and hormones can trigger certain cravings, for example, if you are feeling low, chocolate and carbohydrates assist the production of serotonin in your brain. Serotonin helps you feel happier. This is why we might crave sweet or starchy foods during times of sadness or stress.
If you identify with any of the above factors, you could be on your way towards discovering what is triggering you to overeat.
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Four Reasons Your Child is Overweight
June 4, 2009 by admin
Filed under Health and Fitness
The technical definition of obesity in children is having a body mass index (BMI) that is well above average for children at that given age and height. Early last year, it was estimated that over 15% of America’s youth were overweight and that percentage is expected to continue to grow.
In this article, I have noted four of the most common contributing factors to child weight gain to help kids and parents identify things in their lives they can change to work towards a heatheir existence. These are also four of the more common areas addressed at a quality weight loss summer camp:
Diet – Unsurprisingly, most overweight kids have poor eating habits. Take a look at lunches that kids eat at school these days – instead of being packed with a healthy, balanced meal, many are packed with junk food and snack items. Eating out on a regular basis also contributes to weight gain in children. Kids that live with a family that eats the majority of their meals at home (all sitting down to eat together) typically weigh less than children whose families eat out several times a week.
Exercise Level – Times have changed since parents with overweight children would often send them to a fat camp where they would be subjected to an immense amount of physical activity to help them lose weight. The way that camps operate today has changed significantly, but the bottom line is that most kids that are overweight do not get enough exercise. The amount of physical activity that a child gets is directly related to whether or not they develop weight problems. Children that spend their free time sitting around the house watching TV or playing video games instead of playing sports or other forms of exercise are much more likely to become obese. At a minimum, children should get 30 minutes of exercise every day, with 60 minutes or more being preferable.
Genes – Kids with overweight parents can be at risk to develop their own weight problems, although not as much as some people think. Kids with overweight parents are more likely to become obese partly due to biological factors such as metabolism. However, the shocking reality is that most of these kids develop weight problems due to the poor role modeling that their parents do. Having parents that do not eat well and/or exercise regularly teaches children that these are not important things to do in your daily life Thus, it should be no surprise that children of overweight parents grow up and develop bad eating and exercise habits, which lead to weight problems of their own.
Sleeping Habits – Not getting enough sleep can contribute to weight gain in children because it leads to an inactive lifestyle – kids that don’t get enough rest are often “too tired” to participate in activities that burn calories. Previously this was believed in adults but recent studies have shown that this is also true in children as well. Infants and toddlers that get fewer than 12 hours of sleep are more likely to gain weight.
These four factors are the things that parents of overweight children should be concerned with. Children that struggle with proper diet, exercise, and sleep and have poor parental role models often benefit from attending weight loss camps where they can separate themselves from their poor home environment and focus on learning new ways of living healthily.
Tips For Losing Weight
November 24, 2008 by admin
Filed under Health and Fitness
There is no doubt that weight loss is one of the biggest and most covered topics out there today. In fact, it seems like the problem has grown in the last few decades. How can that be, when we know so much more about the human body and how to deal with weight loss? The answer is that foods have gotten a lot worse. Back thousands of years ago, there was no mcdonald’s and fast food, and to eat, you would have to hunt. Nowadays you can just drive down to your local take away and get a burger, chips and coke all full of fat. Also, many people don’t know how to cook, and don’t really want to learn. The availability and convenience of fast food has definitely played a role in the obesity problem in America today.
If you have gotten slightly overweight and want to lose weight easily, then you really need to focus hard and dedicate yourself. Honestly, losing weight is not really easy – it will take you several months of dieting and exercise in many cases. However, there are several ways to motivate yourself, and you can definitely lose pounds every week. Losing weight is actually a lot like making money. There aren’t really many secrets, and you have to work for it to get what you want. However, dieting and exercise doesn’t need to be painful. Just walking around can help you lose weight, and going or 30 minutes of exercise each day can be pleasant and refreshing. Also, with dieting, you’ll find that many really healthy and low calorie foods don’t actually taste that bad. In many cases, low-calorie food tastes better than the kind of food you’ll find overloaded with fat at your local takeaway.
So far, I have not encountered any really fast weight loss or “shortcut” to losing weight. Even though dieting and exercise doesn’t have to be painful and can actually be enjoyable, it will still take some time. My recommendation is to keep yourself motivated and measure your weight when you get up everyday. You need to be constantly reminded of your goal. One way to reduce the temptation to eat fatty foods is to have a picture of a slim model on your fridge. That way, everytime you go there for a piece of cake, you will see the picture and be reminded that junk food is always going to add to your weight.
Learn “The Top 5 Essential Truths You Must Know Before You Go on Any Diet Ever Again” from Isabel De Los Rios at www.thedietsolutionprogram.com. Isabel is a nutrition, exercise and lifestyle coach who has helped hundreds of people lose their unwanted weight and take complete control of their health. She is the author of The Diet Solution Program, a complete and comprehensive nutrition program that is helping people all over the world finally reach their ideal weight. For more information on The Diet Solution Program and how it can help to change your life, visit www.thedietsolutionprogram.com.
Exercise To Start Before The Holidays
November 16, 2008 by admin
Filed under Health and Fitness
Weight Loss and Medical News November 11th, 2008
The Real Deal Behind Diet Pills
Now that the magical glow of Halloween is over, and in its wake you realize that you have decimated the entire tub of Halloween candy that failed to attract enough trick-or-treaters. You also realize that now that the winter months are approaching, bringing with them cold, rain, snow, wind, Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas feast and New Years debauchery.
So what does this all mean for you? Well for millions of Americans, it definitely means packing on some extra weight. Winter is the most common season for people to gain weight. It becomes colder outside, discouraging outside exercise; people become stressed during the holiday season, with more things to do than usual, leaving less time to exercise. Coupled with the celebrated notion of overeating during the holidays and a poor diet (deep fried turkey is not really that nutritious), numbers on the scale creep up over the last few months of the year.
A seemingly quick fix to this problem is to turn to the help of diet pills, weight loss supplements that have a notorious reputation. There are two commonly held opinions about diet pills. Either that they work and are a fine addition to any exercise and healthy eating plan or that diet pills are extremely dangerous for your health and should be avoided. Let’s take a closer look at diet pills, their composition and see what the truth is behind the intriguing infamy of diet pills.
“Functional” the New Frontier in Foods, Drinks
According to MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily, a new report finds a shift away from foods with reduced sugar or fat toward “functional” products that promise benefits such as appetite suppression and increased metabolism/calorie burning.
The Euromonitor International Trend Watch report, entitled “Opportunities Within Functional Weight Management Products,” reveals that “functional” is the new frontier for food and beverage companies looking to grab the attention and dollars of the growing number of overweight consumers at home and abroad.
Whereas “better-for-you” (BFY) or “lesser evil” ingredients and claims were once mainly the bailiwick of those diet supplements promoted on TV via startling before-and-after photos of women and men in bathing suits, mainstream companies are increasingly looking to get in on the action.
The reason: Worldwide BFY packaged foods sales reached $116 billion, and beverages reached $36 million last year, but together, their annual growth rate was only marginally higher than the 2 percent to 4 percent seen by the overall packaged F&B market, according to Euromonitor. Meanwhile, fortified/functional F&Bs continued to see growth of about 10 percent in 2007.
New Year’s Resolution Diet Program
The New Year is a time to reflect on the changes we want or need to make and many Americans seem to make the same New Year resolutions each year to start a Diet or weight loss program.
Setting reasonable goals, staying focused and great diet supplements are the most important factors in sticking with a weight loss program, and the key to success for those millions of Americans who made a New Year’s commitment to shed extra pounds.
First you will need a great sound diet program.
Lose Overweight
November 7, 2008 by admin
Filed under Health and Fitness
Want to get rid of those extra pounds? Well, then all you need to do is simply write down your daily food intake, for it can double your Diet Plan, according to a new study.
The study, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, followed 1,700 Fat people over six months, and revealed that those who wrote down everything they ate lost an average of 13lb.
“Recording what you eat can really help you with Diet Plan, because a lot of the time, you’re not conscious of your behavior,” Times Online quoted Azmina Govindji, a consultant nutritionist and author of The Hot Body Plan, as saying.
“Some eating habits are situational – for example, having tea and a chocolate biscuit while watching your favorite television program. We do it on autopilot. If you know that you actually have to record every item you eat, it gives a split-second pause for thought. You think, ‘Do I really want to write this down.’
“Through the use of a food journal, we often become aware of patterns that are self-destructive.
“We become more authentically honest with ourselves, and we start asking the question ‘What’s eating me?’ instead of ‘What can I eat?’ ” Govindji said.
Even people who believe that they are resolutely healthy can get a shock when they see everything written down in black and white.
“Once someone spots a pattern, then they can do something to change it,” Govindji said.
The most common patterns she uncovers are in those who eat naughty foods because they are bored, hormonal or depressed.
Over-restriction
Did it occur to you why a lot of weight loss programs record failures? The primary factor responsible for that is the characteristic over-restriction found with most of the weight loss programs. Anyone that chooses such would eventually have to limit the kind of foods eaten down to the amount of calories consumed.
Often times, the body refuses to adapt thus leaving it with no other option than bowing to the strings of needless weight gain. This makes the primary reason for finding the right weight loss program remain that it allows the eating of a good variety of foods and therefore not too restrictive. However, this does not send the signal of eating unnecessary foods like cupcakes, candy bars and milkshakes every day. If one does that, one would never lose weight.
Crash-dieting
The absence of crash dieting is another factor to be looked at when choosing a good weight loss program. Good weight loss programs allow one to shed excess weight safely and healthily over a long period of time. Most of the time, the urge to lose weight immediately is there, but one has to resist it. One might eventually have to quit the weight loss program if resistance to the urge was unsuccessful and then go back to the previous weight again.
Good weight loss programs would not allow one to feel hungry often, unlike the crash diets would do. Rather, one would be allowed to be filled comfortably. One would also be allowed to eat some of their favorites while still losing weight.
It can be concluded from the above discussion that not all weight loss plans are able to deliver what they claim. Two most important features of an effective and healthy weight loss program is the one that is not too restrictive and isn’t based on the idea of instant results. An effective diet plan uses flexible approach and it brings desirable results over a period of time in a healthy manner.
Learn “The Top 5 Essential Truths You Must Know Before You Go on Any Diet Ever Again” from Isabel De Los Rios at www.thedietsolutionprogram.com. Isabel is a nutrition, exercise and lifestyle coach who has helped hundreds of people lose their unwanted weight and take complete control of their health. She is the author of The Diet Solution Program, a complete and comprehensive nutrition program that is helping people all over the world finally reach their ideal weight. For more information on The Diet Solution Program and how it can help to change your life, visit www.thedietsolutionprogram.com.
