Most of the adult
population has been or
currently is on some
type of
diet. Diets are
everywhere! Every place
you turn, someone is
talking about a new
diet. A
diet that is unlike
any other that came
before. A
diet that
will change
your life forever
and you won't even have
to
exercise! The
truth is there
is no such
thing as an easy
diet. There is
no such thing
as a
life-changing diet. If I
was to be completely
honest with you, I would
even go so far as to
tell you that there is
no such thing as a
healthy diet! There is a
large variety of
diets out there, and
they all have many
different aspects of
how to lose weight.
However, they all have
one thing in
common; as soon
as you lose the
weight and step off of
the
diet, (poof!) the
weight comes
back, sometimes
leaving you
with even more weight
than you had before the
diet! This is called the
yo-yo effect, and it is
true with any
diet. The point I am
trying to make is simply
this: A
diet is not a healthy weight loss solution.
There
are many different
ways to
lose weight,
but there is only one
way to keep the weight
from coming back. Now
that we know a diet is
not a healthy weight loss
solution, we
can move on to what is a
healthy solution. The
only antidote to losing
weight and keeping it
off while staying
healthy is for you to
make a change in your
lifestyle. It's not as
hard as it
sounds, and
those who choose to make
a lifestyle change,
actually find it quite
easy after the first
couple of hurdles are
passed, and they don't
even look back.
There
are three
important keys to making
a lifestyle change, and
they are:
- You must have a balanced
and healthy dietary
plan.
- You must adhere to a
good, healthy physical
activity plan.
- You must have a change
in your behavior or
attitude.
All three of these
things are crucial to
living a
healthy and
long life. If you want
to lose
the weight and
keep it off, making a
lifestyle change is the
only way to do it
effectively. A lifestyle
change is a
healthy weight loss solutionLet
us start with number
one: having a balanced
and healthy diet. Take a
good, honest look at the
foods you eat on a
regular basis, and the
amount of it that you
eat. Most of us
would have to
answer that we
are eating a lot of the
wrong foods, and not in
moderation!
Fast foods,
salty foods and baked
goods are all okay - in
moderation. When we are
eating them everyday or
several times a week
however, they are
not okay.
Probably the most
important key to learn
in having
healthy weight loss
is moderation.
Most things
are okay and healthy in
moderation, but
everything, when turned
into an extremity, is
certainly not okay, and
not healthy to the body,
the mind or the spirit!
Moderation is a
must when it
comes to
healthy weight loss
.
When
your stomach starts
telling you that it is
time to eat, carefully
consider your choices.
Make sure you surround
yourself with good and
healthy foods that are
low in calories
and high in
vitamins and protein.
When it comes time for a
snack, have some veggies
and dip or an apple
instead of that bag of
chips. Or snack on some
cheese and crackers in
the place of
that chocolate
bar. Making
these kinds of choices
is the first step to
maintaining a healthy
lifestyle. Also, make
sure your meals aren't
left out when it comes
to making those good
choices. Instead of
ordering a pizza
or going out
for a burger
and fries, cook a
balanced meal. If you
find it hard to do this,
I suggest making a meal
plan at the beginning of
week. That way, half of
the work is already done
for you. Yes,
usually half of
the work in
preparing a meal is
deciding what to
prepare! Remember, cook
and eat in moderation,
and you are well on your
way to a
healthy weight loss solution.
For
those whose main
reason in making a
lifestyle change is to
lose weight, there are
some options open to you
that there never were a
few years ago. One of
these options is
Proactol.
This healthy
and
clinically proven
weight loss pill
is not a miracle worker,
but it is certainly one
of the most beneficial
tools for
healthy weight loss
in the world
today. Proactol not only
helps the body lose
weight, but it also
maintains other health
problems such as high
blood pressure,
diabetes, high
cholesterol and
cardiovascular disease.
This
doctor recommended
medication has
also been
proven to increase joint
flexibility, lessen
aches and pains and
improve concentration
and energy levels. Proactol helps with
healthy weight loss
by lowering
the body's food
cravings and
decreasing your
appetite, making it
easier to control your
food intake. This also
helps you in the
learning to eat with
moderation. Take Proactol after each
meal and you will
find that it
greatly helps
with achieving a healthy
lifestyle.
The next step to
changing your lifestyle
is making a good
physical activity plan
and sticking to it. This
goes hand in
hand with one
part of the third
step, which is setting
achievable goals. Too
many people want to
reach the stars right
away when it comes to
exercising and
losing
weight. However, like we
have already talked
about, everything must
be in moderation.
Exercise is good,
but when it is
turned into an
extreme, it is not
good. Pace yourself.
Start off slow, and work
your way up from there.
Rome wasn't built in a
day, and if the builders
had had the attitude
that most people
have towards
exercise, Rome
would never have been
finished! Achieving
healthy weight loss
is not done
too quickly
either, or it is not
beneficial to the body.
Make a reasonable
exercise plan for
yourself, and try to
include someone else as
well. Studies have shown
that when we exercise
with other people.
We are much
more likely to
stick with it, than if
we exercised by
ourselves. Encouragement
is the key to getting
into a good physical
activity habit. Surround
yourself with people
that will encourage you
and hold you
accountable to
your lifestyle
change. Try out a few
different fitness
programs and see which
one fits your life the
best.
The third and last step
to improving your
lifestyle and reaching
a
healthy weight loss
solution is a
behavior or
attitude change. We
have already talked
about setting achievable
goals, and the next part
of this step is
education. Instead of
eating all of the wrong
foods and then feeling
awful about what
you are doing
to your body,
educate yourself with
information such as the
energy value of the
foods you eat and what
kind of nutrients they
possess. Making a
lifestyle change is more
than just choosing the
right kinds of
foods. You
must also change
your mind. This simply
means that you have to
change the way you think
when it comes to food,
your health, and your
lifestyle. Sometimes
this also means that
you have to
figure out why
you eat, what you eat,
and when you eat.
Keeping a journal is a
great way to do this.
Write down everything
pertaining to eating.
Keep a track of what
foods you eat at what
times, but also
write about why
you ate those
foods at those times.
Sometimes it may be just
because you were hungry,
but many people eat when
they're
stressed or
emotional, and
discovering this about
yourself is the first
step to changing how you
deal with
stress and
other problems in your
life. Change your
mind. Change
how you eat, when
you eat, and what you
eat. Change how
stress
affects your life, and
learn how to deal with
it more effectively.
Eating doesn't make any
problem go away
permanently.
One more key to
changing your
lifestyle and
maintaining your goal of
healthy weight loss
is to conduct regular
self "check-ups." By
this I don't mean the
kind of check-up that
a doctor would
give, but a
check-up of lost weight,
periodical BMI checks,
and of how much you body
itself has shrunk since
making these changes.
Some people like to take
measurements of
themselves in the
areas like the
waist, hips and
thighs, on a continual
basis, such as weekly or
monthly. One of the best
encouragements is
progress. When you see
how far you've come
already, it is a
wonderful boost of
confidence and
motivation to keep
you going. It
won't all be a
bed of roses however,
but when you find
yourself feeling down,
remind yourself why you
are doing it, and how
much you have already
done. Remember, once
your lifestyle change is
complete, you
will be well on
your way to
reaching
healthy weight loss.