The main argument is that if those diet pills actually worked, then the companies that make them would lose all the customers they need to stay in business. The truth is that people often do lose weight on these products, but then gain it all back, and then some. A recent review of dozens of scientific studies on dieting (American Psychologist – April 2007) concludes that, “there is little support for the notion that diets lead to lasting weight loss or heath benefits.” It goes on to state that as many as 83% of dieters will actually weigh more than their pre-diet weight two years after they started their diet program. But who’s to blame for this massive failure – the customer or the companies?

While we as consumers theoretically have free choice, diet supplement advertisers prey on our ignorance, hopes and insecurities to get us to buy their pills. They often market their products using studies of questionable objectivity, and have resorted to setting up fake blogs devoted to hawking their products. Who hasn’t seen blogs or websites telling us about ‘Jessica’s (or Jane’s or Debbie’s or Jason’s) Real Story – How I lost 500 lbs using this simple weird trick!’ And the weird trick turns out to be some exotic berry growing on the underside of a jungle fungus harvested by pygmies. Yours for only $139.97 each month!

We want to be like Jessica. We identify with the images of her as an overweight person and we want desperately to achieve the same results as she did.  We want a slim healthy fit body.  But is it realistic? When a company promises us unbelievable results we do know better, but we can’t help ourselves because really, just taking a pill would be sooo much easier than actually having to make any lifestyle changes. As consumers, our lack of critical thinking is just as much to blame as the diet industry’s unscrupulous marketing tactics.

But enough blame: How can we make our weight loss plans truly successful, and keep the weight off for good? The fact of the matter is, people fail on diets because they take a pill or make a temporary, unsustainable change to their eating habits, and once they’ve lost a bit of weight, revert back to their old habits. Presto, the pounds fly back on and it’s back to square one. Unless you address the underlying cause(s) of your overeating and make true changes to your lifestyle, you are just setting yourself up for failure.

How do we identify the causes and find solutions? Emotional eating has gotten a lot of media attention as of late, frequently discussed on shows like the Biggest Loser and Joy Behar, but it’s only one factor that affects our overeating.

Here’s a simple exercise you can do to analyze why you eat, along with practical and unusual solutions to modify your eating habits for good.

References:

http://mann.bol.ucla.edu/files/Diets_don’t_work.pdf

Copyright 2010 Living-Well.net

The first step to diet success is to understand why you eat. Let’s face it, hunger is not the only answer to this question, or you wouldn’t be overweight. Boredom, depression, pleasure, stress and tiredness are all potential reasons. People also often associate activities like watching TV or going to the movies with eating. There’s something about those dark theaters and that glowing screen…

Why do you eat? Try this simple exercise (see photo for an example): take a blank sheet of paper and write down the word eating in the middle of the page, then make an individual branch for all the moods and situations that prompt you to eat. (I will make an example chart we can insert as a picture) Then, write down why you eat in those situations. For example, you may eat when you’re depressed because it’s comforting and it fills the emptiness you feel. You may eat when you’re watching television because it gives your hands something to do, or because it’s relaxing.

Okay, once you’ve accomplished that, start branching out onto solutions for each reason. Think of alternate ways to fulfill the role that eating plays in those situations. For example, if eating gives you something to do with your hands while you watch TV, you might consider keeping a pair of free weights under your couch to do bicep curls while you watch, taking up knitting, or keeping a supply of carrot sticks or grapes on hand for guilt-free noshing. If you eat when you’re tired, you may consider going to bed earlier, or exercising or drinking green tea instead for an energy boost.

Set up an alternate plan for when you’re feeling stressed. Instead of taking a trip to the vending machine, sit at your desk and do a few minutes of deep breathing, then drink a glass of water or a cup of tea. If you eat for pleasure, find non-food-related ways to spoil yourself. Get a massage or buy a few tabloids and sit in a bubble bath for an hour (this is my personal favorite). If you eat out of boredom, take some time to decide on a meaningful hobby or activity. Make yourself get outside for a walk around the neighborhood. If you eat junk food because it’s convenient, banish it from your cupboards. Have a husband and kids that like their munchies? Get them on board and make sure you’re well stocked with healthy snacks for them also.

Obviously, not all solutions will work for or appeal to all people. You have to choose or invent the solutions that will work for you. Remember, this is your life, and you’re the only one who can change it, so once you figure out what you want, you have to develop strategies to outsmart your old habits.

Now, take the paper and place it somewhere prominent, where you’ll see it daily. Once you’ve identified the situations in which you eat (other than hunger), it’s easier to prevent yourself from getting in those situations in the first place. Implement your solutions as necessary. You’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to control your weight when you understand your motivations for eating.

Click here for 13 simple rules for weight loss success (tip #3: eat enough fats)

Copyright 2010 Living-Well.net

1. Eat only real food: how much of what you eat comes from a box? If it’s processed, it’s probably no good for you. Real foods are the foods that you find in the fruit and vegetable aisle of your grocery store. Come in a box? Read the ingredients. If there are too many, or the names of the ingredients are unpronounceable, then don’t buy it. In doubt? Leave it. Fruits, vegetables, complex carbohydrates and lean proteins should be your diet. Don’t waste your money on processed foods that will only bog you down.

2. Eat whole grains: Whole grains are complex carbohydrates, which means they give you energy while keeping your blood sugar levels from spiking, so that you don’t crash and burn. They also provide fiber, and fiber fills you up and cleanses your insides out without adding extra calories. Fiber is your best friend if you’re trying to lose weight. But this doesn’t mean go out and buy a fiber supplement powder. Eating the actual food is the best way to go. Brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, teff, and spelt are all great sources of complex carbs and plenty of fiber, along with most fruits and veggies.

3. Make sure you’re eating enough good fats: in order for our bodies and cells to work properly, we need fats. The mistake so many dieters make is to try and cut out fat from their diets, which leads to junk food cravings – your body is trying to tell you something. In order to stop those cravings for unhealthy fats, you need to provide your body with the healthy kind. Without going into a long technical explanation, here’s what you should be incorporating into your diet: avocado, eggs, cold pressed flaxseed oil mixed into cottage cheese (this tastes so good, though you wouldn’t think so), salmon or other fish, pumpkin seeds, coconut milk, and cold-pressed olive oil over salads. The fats that you should avoid are basically anything that is deep-fried or in a processed food.

4. Cut out wheat, corn and soy: these foods are common allergens and can cause bloating, gas and/or indigestion and inflammation – sapping energy from your body, preventing you from absorbing vital nutrients and causing weight gain. Even if you’re not strictly allergic, these foods may still inflame the walls of your intestines, impede digestion and absorption of nutrients, and weaken your immune system. Food is supposed to give you energy and nourish you, not leave you feeling tired.

5. Get rid of all junk food in your house: out of sight, out of mind. This is perhaps the most important tip you will ever get. When you’re hungry, you will reach for the most convenient thing. If there’s no junk in your house, then you’ll be forced to reach for the healthy stuff. Picking up an apple when I’m hungry isn’t my first reaction either. When you’re shopping, have a list and stick to it. Don’t let junk food cross the threshold into your home. Stand firm on this one and weight loss will be thousands of times easier.

6. Eat at home or pack a lunch: After you’ve followed steps 1 through 5, eating at home or packing your own lunch becomes essential for weight loss. If you want to lose weight, the worst thing you can do is go to a restaurant on a regular basis: all those choices, all those desserts, the social eating atmosphere – it’s a dieter’s downfall for sure. If do you have to go on a regular basis, then inform yourself of the choices ahead of time and stick with the healthiest options. But packing a lunch only takes a bit of effort, and if there are no microwaves to heat things up where you work, then consider using a food thermos.

7. Don’t Starve Yourself: don’t stuff yourself till you feel sick, but starving yourself will accomplish nothing either. A healthy diet shouldn’t include going hungry – your body is trying to tell you it needs energy, once you look past its cries for chocolate and candy. Keep healthy snacks and meals on hand to keep you from feeling hungry. Brown rice and beans is a great option for a filling, non-fattening dish. Don’t deny your hunger, just make sure you’re filling up on healthy food. Aim for approximately 70% fullness each time you eat.

8. Get support from family and friends: the last thing you want is your husband digging into a bag of chips while you sit next to him munching on carrot sticks. If your spouse doesn’t want to get on board, then you need to have a serious (friendly) talk. Make sure your spouse knows how much you value his/her support and how important losing weight is to you. He/she needs to keep the junk food somewhere inaccessible to you, and you need to change your habits. Get out for a walk after dinner or read a book instead of watching TV, if that’s where and when the chips come out.

9. Go to sleep earlier: the later you stay up at night, the more potential time there is to snack. Also, for some reason, we have fewer inhibitions and less self-discipline at night, so if we snack, we choose items of less nutritional value. Getting to bed earlier, and keeping busy until bedtime, helps curb snacking. Also, an early bedtime means more sleep (you should be getting at least 8 hours a night in a dark room), which keeps you from feeling tired during your days – which prevents you from reaching for those high-sugar snacks. It also helps you deal with stress during the day because your body has had time to regenerate. And, who knows, if you get up a little earlier, maybe you’ll have time to squeeze in some morning yoga or other exercise before work.

10. Incorporate exercise into your day if possible: can you go for a walk during lunchtime? Can you bicycle to and from work? Even just walking the flight of stairs to the bathroom is a step in the right direction. While cardio exercise doesn’t induce weight loss directly, it does boost your mood, helps protect against many diseases and distracts you from eating.

11. Cleanse and revitalize your cells: cells are the building blocks of your body. Healthy cells functioning at their optimum levels means that your body and metabolism are running smoothly, which means you’ll have more energy to stay on your diet. If your cells aren’t running properly, it’s a lot harder to lose weight. Here’s a good article on cellular health.

12. Build muscle: the more muscle you have, the more fat you will burn – even when you’re not exercising! Numerous studies have been done (like this one http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/82/1/298) that show that increasing muscle mass will increase your average daily metabolic rate, which helps to burn more calories. You don’t have to bulk up like a bodybuilder, but pick up some free weights and get lifting.

13. Tap into the power of visualization: a friend once told me, the universe can’t give you what you want if you aren’t even clear on it. So clarify what it is that you want. Professional athletes use this technique all the time, as a sort of mental rehearsal for success. Close your eyes and visualize yourself as you would like to be. How will it feel to walk, to move at your ideal weight? How will you feel about yourself for having accomplished your goal? Now, visualize yourself working to achieve your goal. See yourself working hard, eating healthy, practicing the alternate solutions you’ve come up with for when you’re tempted to eat but aren’t hungry.

Weight Loss: Why Diet & Exercise Aren’t Enough

Visualize these things often, maybe just before you go to sleep at night.

Copyright 2010 Living-well.net

If you want to lose fat, then it’s important to know under what conditions fat cells multiply, grow ‘fatter’ or shrink. Yes, fat cells can get fatter also. They are the cells responsible for storing the unused calories you consume, so the more calories and less exercise, the larger they will get. What’s more, when a fat cell grows fat enough (3 to 6 times its original size), it multiplies. These new cells, in turn, can get fatter.

But it’s not only eating a high-calorie diet that affects fat cell size. Think about it. If this were the only factor, then there wouldn’t be any of those ‘I can eat as much as I want but I don’t gain weight’ people out there. Teenagers and their enormous appetites wouldn’t exist. So what else affects our fat cells? Cellular health. Our cells fatten up when their cellular receptor sites become congested with chemicals found in the foods we eat and the environment all around us. This prevents nutrients from coming into the cell and waste from going out. This in turn affects your cellular metabolism (also called cellular respiration) – your cells produce less and less energy. Both ATP production and the cellular charge are affected. As you can imagine, it just gets worse from here. Think of how you would feel if you couldn’t excrete your body wastes daily, but had to hold it all in. This is what goes on at a micro level, in your cells. They literally start to ferment in their own waste.

What’s worse is that if your cells are impaired enough, even a normal caloric intake can cause fat cells to grow – so you could be eating a sensible diet and still get fat. That’s just plain unfair.

How do we reverse this process? Basically, we need to get the energy production of the cell back up, get cellular respiration/metabolism back up, so that the cells can start burning excess stored energy, generating internal heat, and expelling waste efficiently again. To get cellular respiration up you need proper cell charge. To get cell charge up you need to supply and move electrons throughout your body.  The purpose of  Protein Extreme Energy is to supply and move electrons, get cellular charge back up to its optimum levels, and cleanse cellular receptor sites – this is the foundation of good cellular health. GSH-Ignite would be the next step, working to balance oxidative and reductive systems, and therefore increase cellular respiration, all the while protecting against premature aging caused by free radicals (for a more in-depth look at how at how your body produces energy). The end result? Healthy, high-functioning cells that can ‘breathe’ properly, setting the stage for sustainable weight loss.

Alix Thelemaque

Madeleine Thomas

Copyright 2009 LifeHealthSecrets

This summer the defibrillator fired off. In the hospital, I got bad news. The doctors told me I needed a heart transplant because my heart had only a 5% ejection fraction (a healthy adult ejection fraction ranges from 50-65%). They also diagnosed me with Hepatitis C, and edema, which had resulted in the severe bloating of my body. They put me on 9 different types of medication that left me feeling dizzy, incoherent, off-balance, dehydrated and depressed.

When I got released from the hospital, a friend who worked at a health food store told me about Protein Extreme Energy™. I’d tried to go natural before, taking all kinds of herbal supplements, but none of it worked, I still got the edema. From the moment I started taking Protein Extreme Energy, I felt a sense of energy and strength that I didn’t have before. I also felt more focused, and more balanced when I walked. I also didn’t feel depressed anymore, my mood was elevated. I started following an all-natural, mostly plant-based diet and began doing breathing exercises. The side effects from my medications – the spots, dizziness, headaches, palpitations – all that stuff went away.

After two months of taking Protein Extreme Energy™, along with following the clean eating habits and taking my medications, the doctor did a stress test on me. My ejection fraction had gone from a 5% to a 42% in two months – I didn’t need a heart transplant anymore. The doctor couldn’t believe it, he had to double check the results. Also, when they did a blood check, the Hepatitis C I had been diagnosed with before was cleared, I didn’t have it anymore.

I went from being on 9 medications to now being on no medication at all. I went from being 270 lbs this summer in the hospital to now being a lean 210 lbs. When I came out the hospital I was frail, I couldn’t work out. Now I’m able to do pull ups, 50 push ups straight, an hour on the treadmill inclined all the way to the last height. I’m able to work out 5 days a week from half an hour to an hour and still recuperate for the next day. I feel so much stronger, more toned, more defined. Now all my friends tell me, your grip is back.

I’m very grateful for Protein Extreme Energy™, I believe it’s been instrumental in allowing me to have a second life. I really felt dead prior to it. Now I have a new sense of hope, I feel stronger every day. I’ve got my second wind and I’m motivated to pursue a healthy lifestyle. I really feel inspired and I want to motivate others to do the same, and not to give up just because they have a condition. I realize there are so many possibilities to get well with the right eating habits and supplementation for their health. Protein Extreme Energy™ is the best product I’ve ever taken for energy. I don’t get crashes. I’m also taking Adrenal Reboot™ and GSH Ignite™, and I’ve noticed that I sleep more soundly and my breathing capacity is up.

Copyright LifeHealthSecrets 2009