Here are a few tips to help you succeed:

#1 Establish goals.
What are your weight loss goals? How much do you want to lose? How quickly do you want to lose it? It’s vital to set goals. That way you can customize a plan to achieve them.

#2 Track your calories.
You lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. Know how much you burn and how much you eat. That way your weight loss plan can be centered on making smart eating choices and exercise.

#3 Healthy Eating and Exercise
The only way to ensure sustainable weight loss is to make healthy lifestyle changes. That means eating vegetables, fruits, whole grains and lean protein. It also means exercising not just for weight loss but for better health.

#4 Stay Focused.
Staying focused on your goals is a surefire way to attain them. Create smaller goals that help you reach your larger goal. For example, strive to lose a pound or two a week rather than aiming to lose 50 pounds. It’s easier to stay motivated when you’re regularly achieving success.

#5 Embrace Your Community.
There are a number of resources available to you both online and off. These resources can help you build a community of exercisers. They can provide valuable fitness, diet and health information. They can also help you get and stay motivated.

Do you eat when you’re:

• Bored?
• Angry?
• Frustrated?
• Sad?
• Lonely?
• Stressed?
• Overwhelmed?
• Anxious?

It’s common. Most people, me included, sometimes eat foods to feel better. We eat without thinking. Maybe you’re like me and you eat when you’re trying to avoid doing something else. Heck, it’s a lot more fun to eat than work on a project that’s already overdue, right?

However all of this emotional eating can really add up. One stressful or sad month can add several pounds to your waistline. And if you’re trying to lose weight an emotional day can sabotage your efforts.

Not to worry! A few simple tips can help you curb emotional eating.

1. Always ask yourself if you’re hungry before you eat. If you’re not hungry, don’t eat.
2. Create a new habit. Instead of eating when you’re feeling emotional, do something that makes you feel good. Take a bath. Take a walk. Clean. Dance. Exercise. Read a book or call a friend. whatever makes you feel good.
3. Journal. When you’re feeling emotional, instead of feeding the emotions get them out of your mind and body. Write them down or express them somehow. You’ll feel better and you won’t gain weight.

Try to begin to understand when you eat and why. Food is pleasurable and it serves an important role in our lives. However, it doesn’t have to rule your life and your emotions don’t need to sabotage your diet.

The Best Exercise Rule of Thumb to Live By

Move your body every day.  Now, I’m not talking about “exercise” but rather about moving your body.

Climb stairs
Walk to the coffee shop
Take a walk during lunch
Take breaks from your desk and walk for a few minutes
Stand when you’re on the phone.
Stand when you work if possible

Simply changing your life from sedentary to active can make a huge difference with your fitness, health and your weight loss goals. You may find that the traditional definition of exercise isn’t required to lose weight. You’ll know you’re active when you walk 10,000 or more steps each day.

And when you do “exercise” it’ll be because you enjoy it, because it makes you feel good and because it’s good for you – not because you have to if you want to lose weight. Try fitness programs like yoga, dancing, swimming, cycling anything that you enjoy.

Start small with your exercise regimen and then build it up; do longer sessions, add more sessions,  or increase intensity levels. Do what’s right and comfortable for YOU and then take it a step further when you’re ready. Trust your instincts, listen to your body… it will let you know if you’re doing too much or too little.

And above all, don’t forget to talk to your health care provider and see what he/she recommends. If you are affected by any kind of medical condition, it’s imperative that you know whether or not any exercise will interfere with your condition or medications and jeopardize your health!

Maybe yours hit earlier in the day or maybe they’re not predictable. So what should do you do when the cravings hit

Do you give in? Do you hit the vending machine, drive through or secret snack stash and feed that craving? Or are you strong enough to ignore them?

I used to stand in front of the refrigerator willing something to jump out at me. (A few times I even got into my car and drove to the grocery store or yikes, the fast food restaurant, to feed my cravings.)

It took a while but I eventually learned a few simple tips to combat these powerful cravings. In fact, learning these strategies helped me lose weight much more quickly and I just felt better overall. I slept better and I looked a heck of a lot better.

So what did I do?

Avoided temptation – barring a desperate trip to the grocery store you can avoid temptation. Don’t buy ANY junk food or food you know is going to tempt you when the cravings hit. Avoid walking past that snack vending machine. Don’t drive past your favorite fast food restaurant and above all, stay out of the drive-thru!

Create substitutions – pay attention to what you crave and when. Once you know your weaknesses you can manage them with substitutions. For example, I craved sweets at night. Rather than deny myself anything I substituted yogurt and berries or apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon (try it, it’s really good.)

When I craved salt, I’d have a few rice crackers and cheese or some nuts to munch on. There really are healthy alternatives that satisfy your cravings.

Distract yourself – often cravings are based in habits and emotional needs. For example, if you always have a candy bar between lunch and dinner you’re going to crave it. Distract yourself from the craving by doing something positive and different. Go for a walk instead. Call a friend or work on a hobby or project you enjoy.

Cravings happen. They’re often caused by low blood sugar, habits and emotional eating. Spend some time assessing when and why you have cravings and use these strategies or create your own toovercomet them successfully

First, Change Your Workouts

The reason working out enables our bodies to lose weight is because we are forcing our bodies to make an abrupt change. Eventually, after we do an exercise for about 2-4 weeks our body starts to adapt, making the exercise easier for our body through adaption. This just means that we need to be changing our workout routines every two weeks to a month. If you come to the gym every day and do 3 sets of 10 on all of your exercises, start doing 3 sets of 15. This forces our body to once again change and produce results. If you have been doing the same exercises for too long it’s time to change your routine!

Next, How Long Do You Work Out?

Your work out duration is huge, every day people go to the gym at 9 and don’t leave til around 11. Your first inclination is that the longer you work out, the more calories you burn. But such is not the case. Working out over 60 minutes can actually be hurting your progress more than helping it. Once you go over the hour mark your body starts releasing a hormone called Cortisol which is considered a stress hormone. Once this happens, your body begins preserving fat cells and eating lean muscle tissue as its main energy source which defeats your weight loss and dieting goals.

Last, But Not Least, What are You Eating and When?

You may be busting your tail off in the gym, but the fact that you’re only eating 3 meals a day if that much, is certainly a huge hindrance on your results. It is optimal for our metabolism to be consuming a small meal every 2-3 hours throughout the day. Every time we consume food our body’s metabolism is forced to work harder to process that food. If we are able to eat smaller, healthy proportions more often, our metabolism will be able to burn more calories and process food much faster and easier.

By just making these few changes, you should start seeing improved results and a slimmer, healthier, you!

1. You Need to Destroy the Temptation

If you find yourself coming home from the store with that box of cookies you knew you should have left on the shelf but just could not resist, you can still win. Take the box of cookies, crush them up, and throw them straight in the trash! If you can do this without eating the cookies, you are proving to yourself that mentally you can crush that temptation to binge on those foods that you know you should not be eating. Not only that, but if you do this you won’t be eating any of those darn cookies.

2. Indulge Intelligently – Cheat Wisely

No one is perfect, and we should not have to completely cut out the foods that we really enjoy. It is OK to let yourself cheat every once in a while, using moderation. The best way to do this is to pick your cheat meals once or twice a week. If you’re a big chocolate lover, try half of that candy bar you love for desert with your lunch instead of eating the whole thing like you normally would several times a week. Cutting down on bad foods will drastically decrease your calorie intake on a weekly basis allowing you to lose those extra pounds much faster.

3. Protein and Fiber Magic

Foods rich in fiber absorb much more water and are able to expand in the stomach giving you a much fuller feeling, and foods high in protein take much longer to digest. The combination will leave you feeling much fuller for a much longer period of time without having to eat too much and/or anything bad. It is best to make sure you are eating lean protein sources such as, chicken breast, salmon, egg whites, and the like.

Just three simple tips to help you control your appetite and lose weight. And also healthy for you too!

Before we jump into our list, it must first be made clear that these five things must be done in combination with proper exercise and diet. What you’ll learn are ways you can get that extra edge for faster results than your typical program. Call it shortcuts if you want, but these are healthy and all natural short term techniques that anyone can benefit from safely.

#1 Add Those Veggies
Try adding some sort of vegetable to every meal that you eat throughout the day. As simple as it sounds, most of us are not getting nearly enough vegetables in our diets and your metabolism suffers because of it. Vegetables are known as zero calorie or negative calorie foods because they contain equal to or less calories than it takes for your body to digest them.

#2 Don’t Forget Fruit
Fruits are a tasty addition to a meal or snack that is a sure metabolism booster. However, unlike vegetables fruits should not be eaten with every meal. It is suggested that fruits are consumed earlier in the day to decrease insulin spikes later at night.

#3 The One Meal Allowed Before Bed
This tip only applies to those who are actively doing strength training at least three times a week. A low calorie protein shake with no fat is a great way to be sure your body does not go into a catabolic state overnight. Catabolic means your body does not have sufficient nutrients to feed itself so it metabolizes lean muscle tissue and preserves fat in an attempt to prepare for starvation.

#4 Do Intervals Instead
If you are doing your regular cardio exercise but spending over 35 minutes, than your missing out. Start doing intervals for 20 or 30 minutes. How do intervals work? Start with something that is high intensity for you like a jog on the treadmill. Do this for one minute, then slow down to a walk for a minute, then back to a jog. Repeat this for 10 or so intervals, one interval being duration of high intensity with a duration of low intensity.

#5 Start Decreasing Your Rest Time
When you’re doing strength training workouts start paying attention to the amount of time you spend resting in between sets. Start tracking this time and gradually see how much you can decrease it in a reasonable fashion. Your body must metabolically adapt to this change in activity and in turn increase fat metabolic consumption.

These five strategies can go a long way to helping you lose those few unwanted pounds before your wedding.  Be smart and do it in a healthy fashion, and then go enjoy your honeymoon!

The Daniel diet is based on a verse from the Bible. Daniel 1:18 says, “Daniel proposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.” At the time, the Hebrews were living in exile in Babylonia. Daniel was an adviser to the Babylonian king.

The Babylonian king ate all kinds of foods restricted to Jews. This included non kosher foods, wine, and foods and drinks that had been offered to idols.

The modern day Daniel diet popularized by author and pastor Rev. Elmer Townes does not require that you follow the same program that the Biblical Daniel did.

The Daniel fast is not a full fast. You are allowed to eat whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and water, fruit juices and vegetable juices.

You must specifically avoid all meat, white flour or white rice, fried foods, caffeine, carbonated beverages (including diet soda), alcohol, foods with any preservatives or additives, refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup, chemical sugar substitutes like equal, and margarine, shortening or any product with animal fats.

Before you begin the diet part of the Daniel fast, you need to prepare spiritually through prayer. Make a commitment to stay on the diet for a specified period and publicize it by writing it down and telling your family, friends and faith partners what you have promised God you will do.

You will also need to prepare yourself physically for the diet. If you are addicted to caffeine, it is a good idea to wean yourself off of coffee or soda for two weeks before starting the Daniel diet. Also, begin reducing meat consumption ahead of time so that this is not a shock to your system.

The length of time you stay on the Daniel Diet depends on you. Remember, this is not primarily a weight loss plan but a spiritual redemption. Some people make a commitment to stay on the fast for the rest of their lives. Many churches are doing a church-wide Daniel fast for 21 days encompassing 4 Sundays. This stems from a 21 day fast that Daniel recounted in Daniel chapter 10. Other people fast for the entire 40 days of Lent. However, you can do the Daniel fast for as little as 7 days and see results.

Some people report that they do a one day a week complete fast as a sacrifice to the Lord.

Here are some tips to help you be successful on the Daniel Diet.

1. Be specific about the amount of time you will spend on the diet.
2. Use the fasting as a spiritual commitment not a weight loss plan.
3. Use your external discipline to reflect your internal desire.
4. Pray and ask God to show you what sin’s role is in your physical problems.
5. Use your fast as a testimony to others.
6. Use your fast to learn the effects of the food you eat on your body.
7. Give praise to God for whatever successes you have on the Daniel Diet.

If you cut the carbs then you should improve your situation dramatically. Eliminate or at least cut down on your intake of alcohol. Alcohol can greatly affect the frequency of hypoglycemic instances.

Decrease the amount of sugar in your diet. Stop drinking pop. Pop has no place in a diet for hypoglycemia. Cut down your use of white sugar, also. But do not just blindly start drinking diet pop, either, diet pop is poison and the chemical used in diet pop will actually trick your body into staying fat.

Increase your fiber intake. Fiber can help regulate the absorption of sugars that you eat. Try increasing the amounts of whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes. All full of fiber and very good for you.

Now, if you have been doing some research, you have found that three meals a day is no longer the standard. What you should be doing, especially if you have diabetes or hypoglycemia, is eating several small meals a day. Small meals will help keep your blood sugar levels stabilized and under control.

Caffeine is another aspect of your diet that you should limit or even eliminate. Caffeine will actually help you feel full or at least less hungry and therefore you will not eat the way you should. Caffeine is never a substitute for a good meal.

These are the important changes that you should try to make and stick with when learning to deal with your diagnosis of hypoglycemia or even diabetes. Stay positive and don’t think of this as things you can no longer have. Think of this as an adventure in finding out all the new things you can have. When your blood sugars have stabilized then you can probably even reintroduce some of the old things you used to love, just in moderation from now on.

Having diabetes or hypoglycemia is not a death sentence, unless you choose to not do what is necessary to control it. Then you could find yourself in trouble. Big trouble. Symptoms for mild to moderate hypoglycemia are nausea, chills, cool, clammy skin, sweating, hunger, heart palpitations, irritability, anxiousness, confusion, blurry vision, and dizziness. Severe hypoglycemia can lead to loss of consciousness, seizures, coma, and death, if left untreated.

Following a good diet for hypoglycemia can help you lessen your risk for complications and even lessen your risk for becoming a full blown diabetic. If you are or do become a full blown diabetic then you will have other things you will need to concern yourself with. It is common for diabetics to have decreased blood flow to their extremities. When this happens it can lead to ulcers and other skin conditions. If serious enough the decreased blood flow could lead to tissue death and the need for amputation.

Bread, a natural source of fiber and complex carbohydrates, is okay for dieting. Norwegian scientist Dr. Bjarne Jacobsen found that people who eat less than two slices of bread daily weigh about 11 pounds more than those who eat a lot of bread.

Studies at Michigan State University show some breads actually reduce the appetite. Researchers compared white bread to dark, high-fiber bread and found that students who ate 12 slices a day of the dark, high-fiber bread felt less hunger on a daily basis and lost five pounds in two months. Others who ate white bread were hungrier, ate more fattening foods and lost no weight during this time.

So the key is eating dark, rich, high-fiber breads such as pumpernickel, whole wheat, mixed grain, oatmeal and others. The average slice of whole grain bread contains only 60 to 70 calories, is rich in complex carbohydrates – the best, steadiest fuel you can give your body – and delivers a surprising amount of protein.

Do the body good… eat whole grain bread!