The Five Minute Diet

The Five Minute Diet. A weight loss plan that utilizes only five ingredients and only takes five minutes to prepare. It's pretty amazing and yet so simple you'll ask yourself why you didn't think of it first! Click the title of this post to see the details from the original article in Fitness Magazine (www.fitnessmagazine.com).

There's a lot of great information on the magazine's website. To view an index of all their weight loss articles follow this link: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/fitness/category.jhtml?categoryid=/templatedata/fitness/category/data/1130440496640.xml. There was a great article in their October 2006 issue about an easy way to burn 800 calories with a short workout routine. It may have been archived however. I'll find it again and link to it from a future blog post.

Weight Loss Without Exercise?

Weight loss without exercise is the holy grail for most people -- especially those who are handicapped or mobility impaired. Nutritionists claim that it can be done with a very specific diet tailored for a non-ambulatory person. Liquid supplements are also used by dieticians to aid in the process. I'm not aware however of a popular diet product currently on the market that promotes weight loss without exercise.

That "take a teaspoon at bedtime" stuff a few years ago was proven to be worthless, and Metabolife 356 no longer advertises weight loss without exercise. I'll be researching the current marketplace for such products and comment on them in a future post.

Thoughts On Food Addiction

Battling food addiction is a difficult, life-long process similar to battling any addiction. Unlike smoking though, there's no patch or Nicorette to help you "get off" of food. That's why recovery programs for food addiction concentrate on the psychological aspects of the behavior more than the physiological.

Getting to the root of a psychological behavior is likened to following an electrical extension cord back to the spot on the wall where it's plugged in. In order to deal with food addiction, you've got to first "follow the cord" back to where it's plugged-in. Professional counselors are trained to do just that. Once you've found out where the addiction is "plugged-in", you can work to unplug the source of the food addiction. Your recovery begins once it's unplugged.

I wish this was an easy process (or one that could be easily fixed), but unfortunately it's a day-by-day thing at first. Feel free to comment or share a thought.

Low Fat Salad Dressings

If you really need to gain weight, it's hard to beat bottled salad dressings for high calories and high fat. However since most of us aren't looking to pack on pounds, we need alternatives to fatty salad dressings. People kid themselves by eating a daily salad -- but not also reading the fat content on the dressing bottle. Typically the fat in the dressing offsets the benefits of the healthy greens.

The salad dressing makers fortunately now offer low-fat (or fat-free) dressings in squirt bottles. A simple spritz from the spray bottle applies salad dressing much more sensibly than a big glob from an old-fashioned bottle. This is a huge step in the right direction!

In the same way that spray-on butter substitutes have made it easy to reduce your butter intake, spray-on salad dressings are the latest wave. So let's be thankful for this wave and ride it!

A Pocket Weight Loss Planner

Came across a really neat "Weight Loss Planner" in the supermarket checkout line today. About 5" by 8" and sized to fit in a woman's purse and priced at $1.99.

The one I saw was created by (or for) "The Biggest Loser" television show and was very detailed and organized. You've got to have a plan if you're serious about weight loss -- and a weight loss planner is a great idea.

Fans of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" would especially enjoy this because the planner referred to past contestants on the program. Keep an eye out for this the next time you're at the market....I think you'll like it!

Clinical Weight Loss Programs

Weight loss programs can be broadly placed into two categories: Clinical programs and Non-clinical programs. Clinical programs are those conducted in a medical center, doctor's office or clinic. Non-clinical programs are "do it yourself" programs of various types that may or may not include regular group meetings.

A good explanation of the pros and cons of the two types of weight loss programs is provided at http://goldiesgirl.tripod.com/index.html. This blog also contains other useful information -- including the USDA food pyramid that most of us have committed to memory.

I'll Pass On The Gastric Bypass

Thought I'd clarify a point about this blog and our thoughts on surgical methods such as gastric bypass or lap-band surgery.

We intend to stick with non-surgical methods in this forum and leave discussions on gastric bypass to others with a medical background. Because any surgery contains risks, gastric bypass is really a "last resort" method of weight loss. As such, we'll stick to non-surgical methods that include (but aren't limited to) diet, fitness, and lifestyle.

If I come across a good gastric bypass blog, I'll link to it from a future post here on Weight Loss Forum.

Walking or Jogging -- Any Difference?

Many of us with bad knees who can't run are avid walkers (or power walkers) instead. The question always arises whether fast walking (with ankle weights) has the same calorie burning power as jogging or running.

The good news is that although there's a slight cardiovascular advantage to jogging, brisk walkers typically burn as many calories as the average jogger. The only real exception to this would be marathoner runners who "carb-load" for a couple of days ahead of a race.

As long as the typical healthy walker doesn't eat nothing but pasta for two straight days, we can burn as many calories as a jogger can! Now go take a brisk walk....and smile!

Don't Skip Breakfast

Not only from a nutritional standpoint, but having breakfast every day is a necessity from a weight loss standpoint. You can't lose weight unless you jump start your metabolism -- and having breakfast does just that!

Once your metabolism is engaged, it's also a good idea to eat 5-6 small meals per day rather than two large meals (lunch and dinner). It's like stoking an old-fashioned furnace. You feed it 6 times during a 24 hour period to get an even consistent burn. If not, the furnace overheats then underheats.

Weight Watchers Success Without Meetings

I've explained how I lost 55 pounds, but my wife also lost 55 pounds (coincidentally) using a totally different method than I. She joined Weight Watchers and bought their hand-held "Points Calculator".

She and a friend then committed themselves to getting good at using the calculator and knowing the points of everything they ate. Neither of them ever attended a single meeting! They kept each other motivated at first, which later developed into competition. The "competition" kept my wife focused and she lost 55 pounds in 6 months.

Her friend also lost 50-60 pounds in the process. Weight Watchers works folks -- even without going to meetings.....

Old Fashioned Weight Loss

When I first lost 55 pounds six years ago, I did it the old-fashioned way with diet and exercise because that's all I knew. My cardiologist simply told me:

1. Walk 30-45 minutes a day
2. Quit eating greasy, fried foods

Later, I fine-tuned my diet and exercise routine, but my weight-loss journey has been done all on my own. No meetings, no buddies, no forums, no websites or blogs. I'd describe my weight-loss method as the "Scared Straight" plan. My cardiologist showed me my angiogram and I freaked out! I've been a good boy ever since.

There has to be others out there whose weight loss journey started the same way. Feel free to post a comment or response.