The Secret of How to Lose 5 Pounds in a Week

Are you losing at least one pound per week? If diet and exercise are made priorities then it should be completely feasible to lose at least a pound per week.

It needs to be understood that a pound of bodyfat contains roughly 3500 calories and if one removes 500 excess calories a day then at least one pound will be lost until a goal weight is achieved. This doesnt take regular exercise into consideration which means more weight can be lost.

As far as the diet is concerned, make sure you remove those 500 calories from superfluous food sources such as sodas which can be replaced with water or unsweetened tea. Thats easily 120-150 calories depending on the soda.

Instead of fries or chips, go with steamed vegetables instead. Vegetables and fruit are recommended for two reasons: Not only do they have fewer calories due to the water content but they contain considerably more vitamins and minerals than the unnecessary junk. The diet facet is certainly more challenging than exercise in terms of fighting off the calories.

While for most, exercise is the easier of the two, it is still a motivational challenge at times. Some days we are too busy, while other days simply leave us too tired. And while easier said than done, try not to fall into a rut like that.

One of the best aspects of exercise is that it can serve as one-stop shopping in terms of calorie reduction. For instance, an hour of jogging burns up to 900 calories! However, remember to use weights as well because building muscle is what boosts the metabolism in the long-term. Alone, an hours worth of weight training will burn 500 calories but the metabolic boost you get is unique only to resistance training.

Of course, one needs to remember to not only eat a nutritious protein and carbohydrate snack an hour after exercising but to eat enough calories throughout the day. Many, think starvation will lead to fat loss when exactly the opposite is true. The body must break down its own muscle tissue in an effort to maintain ones metabolism since not enough calories are being eaten. When calories are lacking, body fat is hoarded and metabolisms are slowed down in order to conserve energy due to the fight-or-flight response.

Once a solid diet and exercise program has been established, removing 500 calories a day will become the healthy sidenote to an overall healthy lifestyle.

Ian Robertson is an established personal trainer and nutrition advisor helping people lose weight at PhenForum.com, the online weight loss program. Learn how to lose 10-20lbs consistently every month when you join our free newsletter full of useful tips and expert advice on how to lose weight and keep it off forever. Just click here to create your free account and start receiving your daily newsletter with instant support and motivation!

Weight Loss And Diets - Is It More Difficult To Lose Weight During The Holidays?

Is it really more difficult to lose weight during the holidays? This depends on many things, including how much weight you need to lose and what your eating habits are. Here are some things to look at to see what might be affecting your ability to stay on a weight loss diet.

• Take a look at your social habits. If your lifestyle includes eating out many times each week or attending other types of social or community events, eating a healthy, low calorie diet may be extremely difficult for you. If this is the case, think about how you can best handle it to match your goals for losing weight. Perhaps eating something healthy before you leave your house, such as an apple or some whole grain crackers, will keep you from eating so much when you are out at a restaurant or other social venue.
• Keep a journal of what you eat over a three day period. See if you eat more at a specific time of day or during certain times of the year. Holiday times, whether they be during Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's or during the summer - Memorial Day, 4^th of July and Labor Day, may be times when you are more likely to overeat. Be sure to record your consumption of alcohol, as that can figure into the weight loss equation.

The most important thing is to be aware of what you eat and when you tend to eat more. You may want to find out more about weight loss programs that help you to lose weight quickly.

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Best Way to Lose Weight for Good

The best way to lose weight is something that simply eludes most people. The unfortunate thing is that usually its right in front of their face, literally. Yet most have no idea how to lose weight to begin with let alone how to find the best way to lose weight. Those that have found a way to drop the pounds have failed to keep it off as they give in and fall short of harnessing their own self control. Each and every year around the New Year people realize they've ballooned up and decide its time to shed the pounds fast. Indulge in the best way to lose weight, for good.

Its easy for me to sit back now and remember a time when I was overweight. I am a naturally slender person and never thought I'd look and the mirror shocked and realizing that I need to lose weight. In fact for me I couldn't even figure out why I gained weight in the first place. Later that afternoon I remember sitting down for lunch with 2 ham sandwiches, a side of mac and cheese, a baked potato with sour cream, and bacon and 2 glasses of pepsi. Then it hit me this is the problem, I am less active than I was in high school but I still eat in the same manner. 20 pounds heavier than I need be I decided I didn't have to find a way to lose weight I needed the best way to lose weight.

I put a lot of time into working out and running and doing all the things I knew were right after that. I was still lacking one thing, discipline. I could force myself to workout and get active but I still had trouble with eating and how much I ate at one time. Then it hit me that the best way to lose weight was to stop eating! I was used to eating a lot growing up, again I was constantly one of the skinniest guys in my high school. Approaching my mid twenties I discovered I simply could no longer afford to eat that way as my health began to deteriorate.

So in my quest for the best way to lose weight I found it to be portion control and food control. Controlling not only the portions of food I eat but the types of food as well helped greatly in my quest. I realized it was ok to eat a high fat snack every now and again but just not every single night. For me it came down to a combo of things such as moderate exercise, eating healthy, avoid salt and high fats and eating fatty foods in moderation as the means for the best way to lose weight. Now that i know the truth I will never go back to what I once was.

Michael S Brown

For more on the best way to lose weight visit the site below. Secret To Weight Loss

What's The Best Way To Lose Weight Fast?

Many of us who are somewhat overweight feel we'd be happy if we could just lose about 25 lbs (give or take!). But - we want to lose weight fast, and in the right places...Is this a realistic goal, or does it only happen in TV ads?

Well it is possible but not overnight, - if you want to keep healthy. Too rapid a weight loss can be very harmful to your body, so you have to pick a safe goal. This is normally a maximum of 3lbs per week. So losing 21 lbs is going to take you almost two months.

Not fast enough? Well check with your doctor before you embark on a more ambitious program to lose weight fast. Remember, you really have two goals:

- Lose the weight

- Avoid regaining it

Some diet plans are quite aggressive. The Atkins diet (in phase 1) can cause you to lose weight quite quickly. Meal replacement products like Ensure also help. Of course reducing portion sizes, and eating smaller amounts more often can help a lot in achieving your weight loss goal.One problem is, once you are on a restricted food type of diet you may well be missing out on important nutrients that you body needs. You should be taking vitamin supplements and choosing the foods you eat very carefully to get the maximum nutritional value.

Another key factor is water. Any weight loss program has a risk of dehydration. You need to drink the well-known '8 glasses of water per day' - at least.

Strength training exercises are a must if you are trying to burn off excess fat. This type of exercise will cause your body to get the energy it needs from stored fat reserves. Other exercise like aerobics, walking or cycling are good for burning calories, so you will not end up each day with an excess that can get converted to fat. Finally, stretching exercises like Yoga are excellent for toning your body and increasing the flexibility in your muscles and joints.

Now if this all sounds like a lot of work - it is! But if you want to lose quickly (and safely) then you don't have much choice. Ask yourself - "how motivated am I"? If you are really serious about getting in shape then this is a good way to start. However, losing weight is kind of like quitting smoking. You can't go back to your old habits. Like the famous coach Yogi Berra said 'baseball is 90% mental -- the other half is physical!'. In other words a lot of this stuff is in your head. If you can't get around this, then you are in trouble from day one.

The best way is to start off with a diet program that will cause you to lose weight fast. After you've lost some initial pounds you should be motivated to continue. Then it's time to ease off into a more gradual type of diet and exercise routine that will lead to long-term weight loss and a significant change in your lifestyle.

Remember, it is possible and lots of people do it - and you'll feel better not only physically, but mentally as well.

Author Bio:
Mike is a fitness enthusiast, runner and walker. He is a contributing editor for the Get In Shape web site. Learn more weight loss tips on their page Can You Really Lose Weight Fast?

Burn Fat Fast - The Proven And Fastest Way to A Slimmer Figure

Many people are frustrated with their weight related problems and seek remedies to get out of it. However, there are certain factors that lead to the increase in weight, more than what is needed for the proper body-mass index to stay normal.

A person's weight is always ideally in proportion to the height of the body. However, if the weight of the body increases or decreases suddenly then it is a thing of serious concern. A sudden increase in the body weight can be because of many reasons like bad eating habits, hormonal changes, inappropriate physical exercises, etc. This in many cases leads to certain diseases that result in the abnormal functioning of the body which in turn leads to unexpected obesity.

In case you are suffering from the problem of obesity, you must consider to burn the fat fast, because obesity may lead to various other problems like heart blockages, clogging of the arteries by trans-fats, problems of bones and spinal cord and in some cases, it may lead to sudden paralysis or even a fatal heart attack. Therefore, you should keep a check on your weight. Even a seemingly fit person can do fat burn exercises to keep away from the multitude of problems associated with accumulation of the excess fat in the body.

You can burn fat fast with the innumerable methods that are available these days. There are numerous types of gears available for fat burning exercises, medications that reduce the problems of fat in the body and the diet charts that are prescribed by the doctors that help in burning fat and calorie.

The reduction of fat from the stomach seems to be the toughest one to deal with. The accumulated fat in the stomach area causes a lot of problem including gastric diseases. You can burn stomach fat through certain exercises and yoga, which are specially designed for the reduction of fat from the stomach area.

Some people eat fast foods, colas and sweets etc that are high in fat content and cause the accumulation of fat in the body. Nevertheless, there are people who eat too much oily food and avoid exercises of any kind. For these type of people, dietitians suggest a balanced diet chart which helps them to follow a balanced diet without the over consumption of any element.

The obese persons are offered a restricted food chart containing food items that burn fat fast. It includes the suggestion to include green vegetables and fresh fruits in large amount and reduction in the intake of fried and aerated drinks. If you are suffering from the problems of obesity, remember that any type of alcoholic drink also enhances the accumulation of fat in the body.

Thus, to lead a fat free lifestyle and have confidence in yourself, you must take good care of your body and keep it fit and healthy.

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5 Myths About Weight Loss - Beware Of Getting Fatter Instead Of Slimmer

To lose weight, some people go by starving, some work overtime to increase the pressure added on to them, while some stop eating after 8pm, etc.

Do these methods work? Well, not really, and they could be harmful to your health and make you even fatter instead of slimmer.

Here are some good tips (myths vs truths) that you can learn from to avoid getting fatter and happily shed off fats yet maintaining your health.

1. Myth: Sleep less can help lose weight because staying up late can burn more fats?

Truth: Sleep more helps you lose weight instead. Studies and research have shown that by sleeping less, the fat cells in your body tend to produce about 18% less fat-burning hormones - leptin.

[Side note: Leptin is a substance that sends a signal to inform the brain that the body has had enough calories and does not need to consume any more food. Lack of this hormone will make the brain thinks that you need more food intake, which you may not really need it, thus resulting in you eating more than your body needs, and eventually leading to getting fatter.]

Imagine you sleep only for 4 hours, more likely you're going to take some snacks instead of doing workouts.

2. Myth: Milk makes you fat?

Truth: Milk contains essential nutrients that a body needs, such as proteins help build muscles and aid in organs functioning, and calcium helps to strengthen the bones.

You can choose to take low fat milk over full fat milk without compromising the nutritional values.

[Side note: Fat-free milk may not do you good since our body also need certain level of fats to stay in healthy condition.]

3. Myth: The pressure that you get in working long hours will help you lose more weight?

Truth: Most people tend to eat more (especially junk foods) when they feel stressed. Also, if you take your meals irregularly, not only you'll gain more weight but can easily suffer from indigestion. Beware!

4. Myth: You should stop eating after 8pm?

Truth: Our digestive system can't tell time, so what time you eat is not important and will not affect your body weight.

What more important is at which intervals of time you eat and what you eat.

[Side note: It's best to stop eating 2 hours before you turn in so as not to affect your sleeping quality.]

5. Myth: Taking low calories and low carbohydrate foods can lose weight?

Truth: Such diets are not being encouraged, as they are physically unhealthy and can lead to serious health problems.

Low calories diets, though may make you lose a few pounds for the first few days, is after all a diet that requires you to starve yourself, which our body highly rejects.

Low carbohydrate diets tend to rob too much energy off your body and make you feel awfully miserable everyday. It does help you lose some weight, but again, it can be detrimental to your health and strongly disapproved by doctors and dieticians.

What intervals of time are the best to eat in order to lose weight? How to burn your fats fast naturally without giving up your favorite foods? To learn about fast and healthy weight loss diets, visit http://www.superfastweightlossdiets.com now.

Lose Weight And Maintain It - 7 Tips To Healthy Weight Loss

1. Don't try to lose weight extremely fast. It always results in a weight gain "backlash". Trying to lose weight at a rapid pace sends a chemical message to your body that basically, it's being starved to death. If you use a fad-type diet (pills, herbs, etc...) you may experience some immediate weight loss. The problem arises when you stop using the medication/herbs/supplements. There's nothing wrong with helping yourself along the way, but don't rely solely on this for a long-term change in your weight. Maintaining a healthy weight is something that you want to do for the rest of your life by developing good habits.

2. Pick a diet plan/strategy that you can live with as a lifestyle. You know yourself better than anyone and how your body operates. It's important to find a diet plan that will work for you, which may not be what works for a lot of other people. For example, vegetarianism is a great way to lose weight, but it's not for everybody.

3. Set reasonable weight loss goals, based on how much weight you need to lose and your body type. Make sure your weight loss goals are not totally unreasonable for YOU. Trying to lose more than 10 pounds a month may lead to that "weight loss back-lash" I mentioned earlier. Remember, this is something you want to be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You are slowly reprogramming your brain to change how you think about and react to food.

4. Reward yourself when you reach your goals. I can't stress how important I believe this is. And I don't mean with food. Take yourself to a day spa for a massage and some other good things. Buy a new pair of shoes you've had your eye on for a while. Buy a beautiful new dress, even if it's just one size smaller than you were previously. I think we humans all react very well to incentives when we've done something good.

5. Avoid eating in restaurants as much as possible. Cook for yourself. If you must, keep it down to a minimum and order the best salad they have on the menu, one of those nice dinner salads that's like an entree, with maybe some grilled chicken or shrimp included. When you eat in restaurants, you have no idea of what ingredients are in a lot of the dishes. If you like grilled fish, like salmon or tuna steak, that's a big plus and it's good for you.

6. Decide on an exercise regimen that actually appeals to you. Walking is one of the absolute best exercises for weight loss. It doesn't build muscle mass, but definitely will take off the pounds. Start slowly if you need to. If you only have time or can manage just fifteen minutes every day, that's a start. You can build up to more time as you lose weight. If you want to add weight training later, you can. But the important thing is to make sure it's something you can enjoy, that doesn't feel like torture. If you like to swim, do that. If you like yoga, do that. But by all means, do some kind of exercise on a regular basis.

7. Learn to enjoy healthy foods and only keep healthy foods in your home. Oh, I can feel the cringing on this one. But it's not that hard. We are creatures of habit and you just have to change your habits. That's all. Yes, I am suggesting that you learn to enjoy raw vegetables, grilled meat instead of fried, stop eating dessert whatsoever and eat fruit instead. But guess what? When you only eat those types of foods, you will eventually learn to like those foods and the bad things you were eating before won't even appeal to you anymore. They won't even be tempting anymore. And if you must have dessert, make sure it's sugar-free.

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What If The Weight Loss Product You're Buying is Poison?

These days, obese people suffer less from obesity related problems and more from the side effects of weight loss products that they use. If you don't exercise caution when buying a weight loss product, it can be harmful for your health. Doing your due diligence and arming yourself with the correct knowledge is very much essential, especially when it comes to weight loss. Before buying any weight loss product, make sure that you have researched it thoroughly. During your search, you should try to get as much information as possible about the product, its good and bad effects, the ingredients that it is made up of, etc., as these things can seriously affect your health, either positively or negatively! In this article I will tell you how to know a good weight loss product from the bad ones.

To start with, you shouldn't accept everything at face value. The internet is littered with both good and bad information, and more often than not, the bad information overshadows the good one. There is a lot of misleading information regarding several weight loss products doing the rounds of the World Wide Web, and in case you don't know, the perpetrators of this misleading information are either the product manufacturers themselves or their partners who promote the products on their behalf. You may come across websites offering you what seems to be 'honest reviews' regarding your product, but is that really so? Most of these reviews are filled up with dishonest, misleading and fraudulent information, and if you rely on this information when purchasing a weight loss product, you are doomed!

I will give an example to clarify my point. You maybe aware of the fact that there are several websites out there claiming to offer natural weight loss products. Well, at one point of time, some experts of the Johns Hopkins University surveyed those sites in order to find out whether the outrageous claims made by these sites are true or not. Not surprisingly, many websites failed the test; some failed to give information regarding the correct dosage of the supplement, others failed to reveal about the harmful side effects of the products, and yet others failed to offer information regarding the ingredients of the products. Believe it or not, lack of such vital pieces of information can harm the consumer more than anyone else.

So, how to separate the wheat from the chaff? As a rule of thumb, you should avoid products whose claims seem to be outrageous or impossible. An old saying goes that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is! If you find a website that claims that their product can do miracles for you, chances are that reality is exactly the opposite - that is, it will harm your body in a 'miraculous' way.

Your best bet is to consult a doctor or a nutritionist before you even decide to buy any weight loss pill. Your doctor should be able to clarify what side effects the consumption of a particular medicine may have, and this piece of information alone will save you from a lot of troubles down the road!

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Do Saunas Help With Weight Loss?

Saunas have been a popular tool for relaxation for a very long time. When saunas were first introduced, they were used primarily for relaxation of muscles and relieving the stress and tension that build up throughout life. As saunas became more and more popular and widespread, the people who used them regularly began to notice some very desirable side effects. Specifically, people began noticing weight loss as a result of using saunas.

Weight Loss Myth or Fact

Many people are still incredulous about the reported weight loss through sauna use. However, the increased popularity of saunas all over the world cannot and does not lie. Studies have shown that frequent sauna use does indeed help in weight loss as the high temperature acts not only on the muscle tissue but also on the fatty tissues of the body.

Many people agree that saunas have indeed helped them with weight reduction. The question is how? It is not true that the heat of the sauna helps in melting fat. Saunas - natural or infrared - are unable to melt fat with the help of heat. What a sauna actually does is help the body get rid of its excess salt through sweating.

What does salt have to do with weight loss? Plenty there are many medical reports which explain the connection of salt and gain of weight. This gain is not fat gain but water retention gain. When a person consumes excess salt, this is deposited under the skin and in order for it to stay non-toxic it will demand water. The more salt you collect under the skin, the more water your body will demand and retain.

The sauna helps you get rid of this extra salt and thereby gets you rid of the water weight that you have gained. If you want to maintain the weight loss you enjoy from visiting the sauna, you need to keep salt consumption to a minimum in your diet.

Hence, the sauna does indeed help you loose weight though not in the regular way of melting fat. The heat usually forces the body sweat out the excess salt and toxins and thereby reduced a great deal of your water weight. Combined with a healthy and salt free (or reduced salt) diet, you could enjoy the new found way of staying trim and healthy.

Those who have studied the effectiveness of saunas for weight loss have observed that side by side with the relaxation benefits of saunas, they do help with detoxification of the body and with weight loss, when used frequently. What could be a better combination? One takes a sauna for relaxation and relief from stress and ends up with weight loss and body detoxification.

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Fat Loss 4 Idiots Diets

The market for weight loss programs is vast and there are many differing ideas out there. The sheer scale of choice can be a discouragement to many that are seeking a way to healthy weight loss. The plan which works for some may be doomed for failure when it is tried by others and this make the choice even more disheartening.

Some people think looking thin and attractive means giving up the food we love forever. Rather, you can lose weight now, just like you had in mind by following a few simple guidelines, not rigorous, ball-and-chain rules. The best first step you can take here to lose weight now, is no more strict diets. A nutritionist friend of mine put it best when he said he didn't believe in extremes in any area of life, including low-carb diets. These types of diets are often so rigid and uncomfortable that sustaining long-term results is nearly impossible. That's no way to lose weight now. If you make any kind of all-encompassing decisions about your diet and health, the best one to let you lose weight now, is to go all-natural. And there are a few ways to do this, and it's easier to stick to.

So remember if you are sick and tired of starving yourself or depriving yourself to lose a few pounds only to have them creep back when you can't resist the cheeseburgers and fries, pizza or meat, potatoes and gravy? Do yourself and your body a favor. Get the information you can use to get rid of those ugly, fatty bulges that are literally ruining your health. I did and could not be happier with myself today.

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Ten Good Tips to Lose Weight

Below you find a few tips that can help you in your quest to lose weight. They will not magically make you reach your goals but can help you on your way if you are determined and work hard to lose weight

1. Make small goals. It is easy to dream about a slender body and make that your goal. This goal does however often end in disappointment. It is better to make many small goals on the way. This way it is easier to reach your goals and you feel that you are making progress which makes it easier to stick to a diet.

2. Avoid junk food: Avoid eating fast food and other junk food. Its fattening and doesnt help you lose weight. If you absolutely must eat fast food, give yourself one meal a week when you are allowed to eat fast/junk food.

3. Avoid fried food: Dont eat fried food but rather grill or boil your food. Avoid using extra fat. .

4. Eat Breakfast: Eating breakfast helps getting the metabolism started. You are also less likely to snack if you eat a good breakfast. .

5. Eat fish and chicken: fish and chicken is low on fat and can make an excellent weight loss diet. Avoid fat fishes. A good cheap weight loss fish is Tilapia. .

6. Start drinking water: Soda and juice contains a lot of calories. Drink water and safe a lot calories. .

7. Start taking walks: Walking one or two times a day isnt to hard but can help you lose weight faster. All other forms of physical activities are also good. .

8. Eat often: eating many well planned low calorie meals a day helps you keep from snacking and make you feel less hungry. .

9. Dont expect dream results: There are many diets that promises fast results but permanent weight loss takes hard work and dedication. .

10. Eat fewer carbs: Eat less pasta and bread. Reducing your carb intake is often one of the best methods of loosing weight.

A bonus tip can be to get a dog. A dog need to be walked and will help to get you more active. Never get a dog if you dont have the time or will to care for it.

Tilapia is very good weight loss food. Visit our site to find more Tilapia recipe Article provided by William Berg

Stretchercise for Health and Weight Loss

I never used to stretch. Then I lost over 186 pounds. Now I stretch.

If you do not exercise, you probably are not going to, so do what you can easily do for your health. If you do exercise, and you are going to continue, you can easily add stretching for your health. Take a lesson from cats.

Cats don't exercise. They stretch a lot; cats stretch immediately in several directions when waking from sleep or a nap, and will most often stretch almost any time they go from lying or sitting to standing. They even stop to stretch just because as they're walking somewhere.

Stretch your way to better health. Stretching has previously been considered a program for seniors or those recuperating; however, if you are overweight stretching may be a life saver for you. Stretching promotes elasticity in our muscles and joints and keeps us limber. How limber you are determines how you react to a slip and fall; it makes the difference between being injured and being able to catch yourself to prevent or minimize injury.

Stretching is also an excellent aid to diet and weight loss for the overweight or obese, and particularly for the morbidly obese; it is even appropriate for childhood adolescent obesity. The more overweight we are, the harder it is for us to exercise even if we want to: stretching lets us keep our muscles working and is the perfect way to enter the exercise arena as you lose weight.

Overweight and out of shape, or fit trim and in shape, any stretching program should start with care and caution. Consult your doctor before beginning any exercise program. Stretchercise as a program is done in multiple small doses many times during the day. If you do not exercise and get little physical motion, you should stretch for 2-5 minutes every hour.

One of the great things I discovered about stretching is that you can do it at length, with or without music, as an exercise program. Or you can do it for 30 seconds to a minute once an hour. In fact, much of it you can do while you're working, as a stress reducing little multi-task. You can do it watching TV, you can do it when you cook: you can actually make any movement you make a stretch.

And it feels good. And it increases circulation. And it reduces stress, muscle tension and fatigue. And it gives the muscles in your back that have been supporting you a much needed periodic respite. And it gives you energy.

As we age, flexibility decreases: it's use it or lose it. Stretching is an important factor in keeping muscles and joints flexible. The more flexible we are as we age, the fewer number of things become too hard for us to do, and the fewer aches and pains we have. Irrespective of health, it certainly extends our ability to maintain a satisfying quality of life. Stretchercising also helps if you have any weight control issues.

When stretching, you can use the corner of a wall as a stabilizing factor, which allows you to lean and stretch without fear of losing your balance. Whether you are doing your stretching on the floor, bed, in a chair, or standing, stretching to your favorite music tape will make time fly if you're stretching to exercise. (Minimum time to call it stretchercise should be 3 minutes to start, and as you become accustomed to it gradually continue to increase the amount of time.)

Stretching at your computer, be it your arms or just easily leaning side to side is good for you. You can tighten and loosen muscles of the arms, legs, and derrire any place, most any time. You can roll your neck; this is a great tension buster and helps prevent headaches.

Be sure when you stretch that you only go as far as is comfortable. Stretching should never hurt. You will probably find that, over time, you will begin to be able to do each stretch a little further comfortably. You may want to do a little research at your local bookstore, library, or on the Internet about yoga; it will provide many ideas and much helpful information about healthy stretching.

One last great thing I discovered about stretching: there are so many ways, places, and times to do it and so many muscles that can, and should, be stretched, anybody can become a master stretcher by trial and stretchercise.

Francine Gail Hemway is a former school teacher and district superintendent. Her first book, Beauty and the Yeast Beast: from Fat to Fairy Tale, was a presentation of the theories that led her to lose over 186 pounds without surgery and a program to follow to obtain similar results. Her latest book, The Big, Bad, O: the Brutality of Obesity, offers an honest perspective of the state of obesity in America and warns that the ostrich mentality of the U.S. in regards to the broad social and economic implications of obesity must change. You can contact Francine by going to http://thebigbado.com or http://beautyandtheyeastbeast.com

Lose Weight Fast

When you think of losing weight or you ask someone who wants to lose weight, what is the common theme you always hear? I am pretty sure that the common answer is that they want to lose weight fast. There is no doubt that losing weight is a goal that takes time and effort, but what if there was a way that would help you shed those pounds quicker.

The most popular way to lose weight fast is to get help in the form of weight loss pills. Now the pills you can buy over the counter or with a prescription come with the risk of some pretty uncomfortable side effects. I recommend that you look at the all natural or herbal route. If you are still inclined on losing weight and want to try an all natural solution, Proactol is the current leader for natural weight loss.

Proactol is able to prevent uncomfortable side effects and in fact is recommended by doctors because there are no side effects. All natural products are made from herbs and nutrients found in such places as South America, China, and Africa and are actually the same herbs used by tribes in those areas. Utilizing the special features of these herbs, Proactol is able to bind to 28% of the fat entering your body as well as act as an appetite suppressant. What is even more impressive about Proactol is that of all the weight loss methods available, it was rated one of the "Top 5 Ways to Lose Weight" by The Telegraph, which is the most popular newspaper in England.

Losing weight shouldn't be as hard as it is made out to be. So if you need that extra help there is nothing wrong with trying to get it from an all natural weight loss pill. If you want to get the best natural weight loss pill, Proactol should be at the top of your list.

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Small Changes Equal Weight Loss

Small changes add up. In changing your diet and exercise plan in small steps, you build successes to achieve your weight loss goal. If you undertake too much too quickly, it rarely lasts. Don't give up. Change your strategy to small steps rather than one huge leap. When you successfully incorporate one small change, move on to another. You build momentum by incorporating small changes in your life.

1. Water as your first beverage of choice. After you've consumed your morning coffee or tea to get you going for the day, drink water. Water is critical in maximizing your weight loss. You can drink flavored water for a change of pace.

2. Fresh fruit instead of juice. If you enjoy orange juice or other juices, switch to eating the real deal of the fruit. Juice packs lots of calories in a small glass and doesn't provide you a sense of satisfaction the way eating the fruit does. You'll consume less calories, enjoy the sense of eating, feel fuller from the fruit rather than the liquid, plus you'll add important fiber from eating the fruit.

3. Write it down. Carry a small notepad with you and log in every meal, bite, taste and anything that you eat. By keeping track of what you consume, it will make you think twice before eating something. If you have to write something down in a log, many times you don't want to see it in your log so you won't see it on your waist either. Writing it down can also show you exactly what you are eating. A bite or taste sometimes doesn't register with us. In a log, you become very aware of what you're doing.

4. Check your steps. Buy a pedometer and wear it every day. Health experts recommend 10,000 steps each day for maximum health. Take your first day and use it as your base number. Set your goal to get in an additional 1,000 steps per day. Keep track how many steps you have each day. You can make it a game by logging the steps you make each day.

5. Lose your taste for soda. Soda scores a big zero in weight loss. Soft drinks contain astounding amounts of sugar and sodium. Plus, they are void of nutrition and do nothing to assist in filling you up. If you must drink soft drinks, go for the diet version. Just like many other things, you acquire a taste for something and you can lose it too. By cutting out soda from your day, you'll save hundreds of calories which result in weight loss.

6. Get a team of support. You don't have to lose weight alone. There are many resources available to you. First, turn to your family and friends and request their support. You can also hire your own weight loss coach. You can work with your coach to create a program that is best for you, what you like, what you prefer, and what works best for you. You can also join an online support group. There are many people waiting to partner with you to achieve your weight loss goals.

7. Make your coffee work for you. I used to love those flavored creamers. I would joke that I added coffee to my flavored creamer. Unfortunately, I was right. It wasn't until I kept a food journal that I noticed how much I was actually consuming. The flavored creamers, whether non-fat or in any form, are full of sugar. I was consuming enough carbs to count for one-half of my day. I strategy that I incorporated is to use nonfat powdered creamer and sugar-free flavored syrups in my coffee. I returned to losing immediately upon changing this one small habit.

In another article, we'll add more little changes for you to review and consider. As you can see, some small changes you can be simple and easy. Small changes can be painless too. As far as little changes count for you: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = Your own weight loss success!

Cathy Wilson is a weight loss life coach. Cathy lost 147 pounds six years ago. Her passion is helping clients achieve their weight loss and life goals. Cathy works with clients to create a weight loss life plan that is customized to each client. Cathy is a member of the International Coaching Federation, International Association of Coaches, and Obesity Action Coalition. Visit Cathy's website: http://www.LoseWeightFindLife.com