A Healthy Plan to Lose 40 Pounds

Losing 40 lbs. requires a commitment to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. Although fad diets and supplement manufacturers promise you fast results, these diets usually cause frustration and weight regain in the long run. Mapping out your plan for weight loss  needs to be organized for you to be committed to your new endevour. Weight loss is all about creating healthy habits. To be successful at losing weight, you need to change your lifestyle and your eating habits. Adopting healthy eating habits together with regular cardio exercise is the best way to lose weight effectively and keep the weight off.

Cardio exercise will also increase the amount of calories your body uses during and immediately after exercise. Choose some kind of mild cardio exercise that you can manange for  six days a week. Brisk walking is a good way to start. It is easy to do and can be done anywhere. This is extremely helpful for the convience of exercise. Walking for weight loss is very effective when done properly and it is sustainable long term. ‘Brisk’ means walking at a fast pace inorder to keep your heart rate up. Slowly work up to that pace and then slowly increase your distance. If you want to use that form of mild cardio to lose body fat, you will need to average walking from 3 to 6 miles daily at that pace.

Examine your diet and make responsible changes. No matter how comprehensive your exercise plan is, you will not meet your weight-loss goals if you do not address your diet. Stop eating fast foods and fried foods. Don’t give into temptation and eat junk foods that can be purchased at convenience stores. Plan your meals ahead buy grocery shopping each week to make sure your regfridgerator is always full. Having healthy ingriedients and snacks on hand allow you to make the best choices.Eat white meat chicken and fish as your main proteins. Don’t eat red meat more than once a week. Eat two portions of fresh vegetables every day, and do the same with fresh fruits.

Drink 64 oz. of water every day. Drinking water will help your body when you are exercising on a consistent basis. It will replenish your joints, muscles and tendons and allow you to be at your best when you work out. Drinking water will also help you wash toxins out of your system. it replaces the feeling of hunger as often time we mistake being thirsty for hunger. These steps should help you make a healthy plan to reach your

Becoming aware of proper portion sizes is paramount because too much of any food—even healthy ones—can impede your ability to lose weight. A kitchen scale, along with measuring cups and spoons, helps you get a better idea of what 4 oz. of protein or ½ cup of whole grains actually looks like. Relying on restaurants and frozen dinners, even if you try to make good choices, undermines your ability to lose weight.

Not only are the portion sizes distorted, you simply cannot be certain of how food was prepared and even seemingly healthy dishes may contain far more fat, sodium and calories than your meal plan allows. Along with portion size, calorie appropriate sized snacks will help you eat often adn eat well. Making sure you stay on track will consists of planning  ahead and making sure your alwasy preapred with the right choices.

30 Pounds Lost in 3 Weeks on Medifast


weightlossxyz-weightlossforum.blogspot.com My first 3 weeks on Medifast. On February 9, 2009 I weighed 388 pounds. On March 2, 2009 I weighed 358 pounds. I lost 30 pounds in 3 weeks! I write about my success with Medifast on my blog at http I have posted my weekly weigh-in results as well as a diet diary that contains everything I ate that first week, along with how I felt and all the challenges and temptations I went through. Come by and read the blog anytime. I posted some before” pictures of myself that were taken the day before I started Medifast. I will post some updated pictures as time goes on that will hopefully show a slimmer, healthier me. Thank you for reading about my weight loss journey. weightlossxyz-weightlossforum.blogspot.com

Student Loses 200 Pounds On NutriSystem


In the third installment of 11 News’ Fit At Five series, a college student who said he knew it was time to change his life when he couldn’t get a size 2X sweatshirt over his head found a way to lose more than 200 pounds.

‘Tried and true’ weight-loss method helps woman lose 98 pounds

When Ann Goss, a member of Weight Watchers in Fenton, weighed in on Friday, she was hoping that her 98-pound loss recorded the week before would turn into her 100-pound milestone this week.

She plans to celebrate the occasion by buying herself something special — the way she has rewarded herself along her weight-loss journey, which began in April 2009.

Having fought a weight problem her entire life, Goss finally decided to do something about it after her mom died of cancer. “I saw how my mom fought for life every day,” said Goss, 48, the mother of three children and grandmother of one. “When you’re overweight, you’re practically giving away those days.”

As an overweight teen, she was pushed by her father to try to lose weight with Weight Watchers, but she never tried it until last spring, when she signed up for Friday meetings. She has lost weight every week except for two, one staying the same and the other gaining a scant, but frustrating quarter pound.

Exercise has been her biggest weight-loss ally, but she had to learn how to love it on her own terms. Using her Nintendo Wii Fit, she has progressed from barely being able to move for 15 minutes at a time, to exercising between 1 to 1½ hours, six days a week. “Exercise was the hardest part for me,” admits Goss. “But now, I actually like the way it makes me feel. I have the energy to keep up with my 4-year-old granddaughter.”

She also keeps her “before” photo on the refrigerator as a daily reminder of the way she used to look and feel. She hardly recognizes the person she has become — a much more self-confident woman, who finds many more reasons to smile.

While Goss is proud to be winning the battle of the bulge, the most important goal is to win the war — keeping the weight off for the long-term.

Judith Awrylo, 70 of Linden, has lost 70 pounds at Weight Watchers in Fenton and has kept them off for 2½ years. However, she’s as vigilant today as she was during the time it took for her to lose the weight. “I go to meetings every single week,” said Awrylo, a lifetime member, which means she attends free, as long as she stays within 2 pounds of her goal at monthly weigh-ins. “It keeps me accountable and I’m always learning new things from other members.”

For Awrylo, the key to weight loss is good health and maintenance. “Any diet in which you take in fewer calories than you expend will allow you to lose weight,” she said. “I’ve been on every diet there is. But, maintenance is the big thing. For me, it’s one day at a time.”

Weight Watchers has been around since 1961, but has changed from a very restrictive diet with a number of foods that weren’t “on program” — to the very flexible eating plan of today, in which every food is given a points value, based on its calories, fat and fiber content. There’s an emphasis today on daily healthy food guidelines, as well as exercise. No food is off-limits, but members must eat within a certain point range every day, based upon their age, weight and activity level. Today’s Weight Watcher program is drastically different from the program with which Florine Mark originally lost her 50 pounds decades ago. Now, president and CEO of The WW Group, Inc., based in Farmington Hills, Mark is the leading franchise holder of Weight Watchers International. Overseeing franchises throughout Michigan and Ontario, Canada, Mark is also the “name and the face” of Weight Watchers on television, radio and at seminars and workshops around the world.

She’s also a faithful attendee of monthly meetings and weigh-ins at home in Oakland County. “I need Weight Watcher classes,” said Mark, in a phone interview with The Tri-County Times last Monday. “I get a wonderful feeling there, and the classes help keep me honest. When I’m in class, I’m just a member like everybody else.”

For people who are unable to attend meetings, Weight Watchers offers an on-line program as well as “e-Tools” with on-line resources available to aid in weight loss and weight management.

TOPS

Another tried-and-true, weight-loss program that has been around for decades is TOPS — Take Off Pounds Sensibly. Its emphasis is on group support and encouragement like Weight Watchers, but prides itself on its non-commercial status as a nonprofit organization, which keeps member fees low.

Several locations around the tri-county area host TOPS meetings, including Loose Senior Citizen Center in Linden, Trinity Lutheran Church and Lake Fenton United Methodist Church, both in Fenton.

Tackling a weight problem with the support of others — such as Weight Watchers and TOPS — is clearly a proven method of not only winning the battle of the bulge, but also winning the war of lifetime weight management.

Can YOU Lose 2 Pounds per Week Safely?

Success in weight loss eludes several people on a daily basis. Trying to reach a maintain a foal of two pounds a week can be impossible for some. It is possible to lose weight very quickly, through diet and exercise and have visible results. While is possible,  is there a point were excessive weight loss can become bad for the body? Certainly putting your body through such rapid changes can have it’s negative effect.

The acceptable weight loss per week is approximately two pounds. Remember in order to loose weight safely, the body has to be able to adapt to the weight you are losing which in turn means the body needs time to compensate. If this method is unachievable so many individuals choose to with hold meals, and avoid eating. These “starvation” diets work initially but when  food is reintroduced  the weight re gains and usually in excess of what was primarily the problem.  Cutting calories by that much and making a habit of it can also lead to certain eating disorders such as anorexia which can have very damaging end results, even death.

The best way to lose 2 pounds a week effectively and healthily is by trying to cut your caloric intake by 1000 calories per day, this seems to be the recommended average. Since 3500 calories equals 1 pound of fat, 7000 calories is 2 pounds that you would have no eaten throughout your week. This, combined with eating the right food and doing regular exercise should get you to the 2 pounds per week that is projected for success. If you have just started your workouts and dieting, take it slow. This type of adjustment to your routine can be very difficult to commit too. Rushing can only serve to complicate matters so take it one day at a time . Setting unrealistic goals for eating and exercising is counterproductive. Make the adjustments you need and stick to them, don’t try to over do it, or it will have a negative effect.

One of the biggest key elements is to stay positive. If you don’t give yourself the right encouragement you won’t continue. If the two pounds don’t happen to come off every week and you see perhaps one or half a pound don’t beat yourself up. Tomorrow is another day and not a reason to give up entirely. Don’t let one day ruin all your progress. Some times our bodies need a recharge, or there can be another issue why your week hasn’t gone according to plan. Not to worry, leave that day behind and begin again for your success to really happen. To many individuals fall off the tracks because  they have hit a bump. Slow and steady wins the race!