Unexpected Benefits of Losing Weight

After I dropped 55 pounds, I experienced several unexpected benefits of the weight loss. For example, my spring-time allergies and sinus problems weren't as severe. I think my body was better able to fight colds as well because I didn't get sick nearly as much either. And of course there were fewer back-aches as well.

And one that I'm a little embarrassed to admit……regularity! Yep and not just regularity….but clockwork regularity! My exercise regimen also helped with blood circulation and I received several comments about my improved skin-color. Before that, I had become pasty-white. Yuck!

Thoughts On Low Carb Dieting

Of all the low-carb diets, the Atkins plan is the most famous. While most people don't want to swap pasta and bread for a diet of all-meat and green vegetables, there's a sensible median in this equation. You don't want to eat bacon every day and get clogged arteries, but it's wise to eat more greens and green vegetables and avoid high-sugar veggies like beets and carrots.

Two low-carb plans that have good track records are the Kimkins diet and the Atkins-like plan advocated on www.lowcarbfriends.com

Medically Supervised Liquid Diets

If you live in a large city, chances are good that one (or more) of your local hospitals has a "Weight Management Center" which offers medically supervised diet assistance. Adults that have been clinically diagnosed as "obese" can often enter such a program and begin a liquid protein diet that may last for 8 to 18 weeks.

The goal of such hospital-based diet programs is safe (but rapid) weight loss. Patients are then counseled to transition to a 1,500 to 1,800 calorie daily diet. Cardiovascular training (or resistance training) is almost always a part of such a program. If this might work for you, contact your local hospital or health-care professional for more information.

Early Signs of Diabetes

Obesity almost always leads to diabetes, but if you're not yet diabetic (and still in your thirties) there's still time to turn things around. Ask your doctor to screen you for the "early signs of diabetes". If you're significantly overweight, chances are good that you have the early signs.

I'm a big believer in being "scared straight" as a healthy motivation to lose weight. That's what got me to a drop 55 pounds -- a scary report from my doctor about my future. Diabetes is a terrible condition, but fortunately it's preventable. Schedule a screening today with your doctor if you've been unable to motivate yourself to lose weight any other way.

Diet Tips For Busy Moms

People Magazine did a special double issue in January with the cover story, "Half Their Size". It was very inspiring to see and read about average people who'd been successful in their weight loss efforts. The story of Janene Campbell (who lost 317 pounds) was especially inspiring. She shared her best diet tips for busy moms in the article. They were:

1. Buy healthy versions of junk-food (such as no-sugar-added fat free ice cream). Kids can't tell the difference.

2. Sneak in exercise whenever you can. Examples: play with the kids on the slide, chase the cat around the house, take the stairs, park far away from the front of stores and walk the distance.

3. Share meals. When dining out, share food with your kids -- especially when eating at a restaurant that serves large portions.

An Incredible Weight Loss Blog

Sometimes you come across something so amazing that words don't do it justice. So I'm not going to try.

Please click the title of this post to be redirected to the blog of a 36-year old married mother of two in Virginia named Carla. She's lost 115 pounds using Weight Watchers and The FIRM.

There are loads of photos....please page down all the way to see them all!

Burn The Fat -- Feed The Muscle

Lose body fat without wrecking your metabolism?

If you've ever started a diet, then smashed into the dreaded "plateau," it's probably because you cannibalized your own muscle and slowed down your metabolism. There's a system that can teach you the only way to prevent your metabolism from crashing. You will also learn more than a dozen ways to fire up your "metabolic engine" and accelerate your body's natural rate of calorie-burning.

Check out Burn The Fat -- Feed The Muscle by clicking on the title of this post. Feel free to leave your feedback here and comment on this post.

Losing The Baby Weight

Although I'm not a woman and can't personally relate, I know this is a struggle for many recent mothers. What makes it extra tricky is that there's a resulting change in metabolism that must also be factored-in to any post-partum weight loss plan.

In my wife's case, she managed to lose 55 pounds after having our last child because she and a buddy religiously worked at it using Weight Watchers. Even afterwards however, there was still the remaining weight from the extra skin around her tummy that could only be removed by surgery (abdominoplasty). She doesn't count that little extra weight loss however. She only counts the 55 pounds lost doing Weight Watchers.

I'm reading a couple of blogs right now that deal with losing your "baby" weight. I'll post links to them here in the near future.

Know Your Body Mass Index (BMI)

As a gauge of your overall health, the BMI is a great tool. It's calculated by taking your weight and dividing by the square of your height. This includes your body fat percentage -- which makes it a better calculation than just using your height and weight alone.

Once you've calculated your body mass index (BMI), you need to know how to read the number. There are BMI calculators available on the internet and they all work pretty much the same. Just do a Google search for "Body Mass Index Calculator" or click the title of this post for a link to a free BMI calculator courtesy of Fitness Magazine.

Nabisco's 100 Calorie Snack Packs

Smart snacking….or just a gimmick? You can make up your own mind, but here at my house, we've become big fans of those little individual "!00 Calorie Packs" that Nabisco has come out with. Especially the Lorna Doones!! A box contains eight individually wrapped packages of bite-size shortbread cookies and the entire package contains no more than 100 calories! What a cool idea!

If you're an avid calorie counter, you can now snarf a bag of these with the knowledge that a walk around the block will also be necessary to burn off the calories. For me, it works better to reverse the process and walk first so the snack pack is a reward after the fact. I'm putting the cart ahead of the horse, but hey….you do whatever works!

Junk Food Survey / Men versus Women

According to a Fitness Magazine poll, eighty-nine percent of all adults say they nibble at least once a day; nearly a third do it two or three times a day. Men snack more than women -- sixty percent of them claim king snack status; while a majority of women (54 percent) agree. The #1 trigger for a snack attack is boredom. Slightly more women (63 percent) than men (58 percent) placed it first.. In second and third place for both sexes -- tiredness and being mentally fried.

The survey also showed twice as many men as women snack four or more times a day. Nearly three-quarters of men and almost two-thirds of women, say the couch is the primo place for between-meal eating. Maybe the coffee table should be renamed.