Are Diet Pills For Me?

Many people who want to lose weight often wonder if there really is a magic pill out there.  If so, which one is it? How does it work? and What can I expect from it? Are any of them safe? Will any of them keep the weight off?  Here’s the scoop on diet pills:  Several are available that do work. They work in different ways and each individual should sort through the facts with their personal physician.

   photo credit: effekt!.

Six Dieting and Exercise Tips for Rainy Days

I live in the UK, where, even by our standards, it’s been a long, cold and rainy winter! So I know how hard it is to stay motivated with dieting and exercise when the weather’s awful. Not only does it make going outside for exercise a hassle, it drags your mood down too – not a combination which any dieter wants.

However, a rainy day (or a rainy week) doesn’t need to be an excuse to quit your diet. Here are six ways to make the most of those rainy days:

ATD: Am I Losing Weight too Fast?

Hello – I have been on a calorie reduction diet for 8 weeks and some new developments have occurred. I am a 5’2 1/2″ tall female, almost 60 years old, and in good health. I began my diet at 129 pounds and the pounds came off very very slowly for the first 7 weeks. When I weighed 122, I lowered my caloric intake by an additional 100 calories (from 1,000 to around 900), started drinking 7-8 glasses of water a day, and walking 1/2 hour and doing a few floor exercises for abs.  This week I have lost 4 1/2 lbs! The weight is just falling off all of sudden. Can you explain this? It seems sudden. I am getting up several times a night to urinate. Should I be worried? Thanks for your help!  Susan P.
 

Diet 101: Congratulations! You’ve reached your goal … now what?

photo credit: michael_swan
If you’ve gotten to your goal weight, you deserve a huge pat on the back! This has obviously been a long time coming and taken lots of hard work and dedication. Now you want to be sure to reap the benefits and stay right where you are so you don’t have to go through all that again! Take some time to reflect on what got you here. Have you changed your eating schedule? Your portion sizes? Your activity routine?  Keep up those great habits to maintain your new healthy weight.

A few more ideas to consider:

Are Snacks Ruining Your Diet?

When I was a student, I was always on and off diets. Usually, my meals were very virtuous: lots of salads and vegetables, and small portions of carbohydrates and lean meats. Unfortunately, I often found that the calorie count crept up on the inbetweens … chips, chocolate, alcohol and other snacky foods.

Of course, we all know that healthy snacks– perhaps a piece of fruit or a small sandwich – can be a great way to fill the gap between meals and keep our energy levels. However, all too often our snacking involves the wrong sorts of foods. Just look at recent reports in the UK of movie theaters serving buckets of popcorn containing 1,800 calories – that’s enough for some small women for an entire day!

ATD: How do I Help my Overweight Child?

My son is 10yrs old 125pounds wears 18husky and has asthma.I have spoke to several physicians with limited help. Is there any advise you can give me? ‘Im lost and need help.   La’Chelle

Dear La’Chelle,

I’m so glad you are motivated to help your child change his weight and his eating habits at this young age. There is still plenty of time to get him to learn new ways of eating so when he’s on his own he’ll know the right choices to make and be in the routine of eating healthy to maintain a lifelong healthy lifestyle.

Diet 101: Dealing With Roadblocks (special occasions, travel, and the unexpected)

We all know how tough it is learning healthy new eating habits and making them stick. Even a long-term successful dieter who has things under control during normal circumstances can be thrown off when unexpected events are tossed into the mix! So how do you deal with things like holiday picnics, family parties, vacations, and the surprise business lunch meeting? The key is always having your “sensible eating” hat on, and being able to see things in shades of gray, rather than just black and white. In other words, if the only options for lunch that are being served to you are fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, and apple pie, what can you do?

ATD: How Can I Avoid Stress Eating and Overeating?

Perhaps this is two questions but . . . I am a nurse and find that I tend to stress eat—any quick tips on how to stop that?  And in this same vein, any quick tips on how to stop overeating a meal one orders out?  –Thanks!  Amy

Dear Amy,

This is two questions, but I think there is one answer that will help them both, and that is keeping a food diary.  One of my favorite quotes is, “Awareness is the precursor to change”. You have to be aware of what you are doing before you can change your behavior. Knowing you will be writing down what you eat has most people stop to reconsider what they’re eating, why they’re eating it, and how much they’re eating. This can help reduce the amount of calories taken in.

How to Beat Chocolate Cravings

What dieter hasn’t wished that calorie-free chocolate existed? Despite innovative research – like the Vulcano chocolate bar under development in Switzerland, and the chocolate bar which replaces fat with water that’s been created in the UK – we have yet to find our shelves and our cupboards full of guilt-free chocolate.

So what’s a dieter to do when cravings strike?

Don’t Ban Chocolate

First, don’t ban chocolate from your diet – there’s no faster way to make something seem irresistible! A healthy weight loss diet can include chocolate, so long as you don’t eat too much too often.

Diet 101: Dealing with Setbacks

It was bound to happen…. you were going along so well on your diet, sticking with it for more weeks than you knew possible, even exercising! The pounds were coming off, one by one, and you were so proud of yourself.  Then, something happened. Maybe you had a crisis at work or a close relative became ill. Maybe you started a new relationship or went on vacation.  Bad or good, life events can throw our diet off course. Now you’re discouraged, angry at yourself, and wondering if you should toss the whole deal out the window.

Jillian Michaels Sued – Is it Fair or Greedy People Trying to Make a Quick Buck?

Jillian Michaels is the famous trainer on the hit show “The Biggest Loser.” She is known for her tough, no-nonsense attitude and difficult, but effective, exercise programs. Michaels often stresses the importance of healthy diet and exercise as the best way to lose weight. She also endorses several weight loss products that are available at major retailers.

Michaels is being sued over a product called “Jillian Michaels Maximum Strength Calorie Control.” The packaging of these diet pills states, “Two Capsules Before Main Meals and You Lose Weight … That’s It!” However, a woman named Christie Christensen of Lake Elsinore, Calif., begs to differ.  She purchased these pills, but claims she didn’t lose any weight or have a decreased appetite after taking the diet pills for one month.

How to Make a Food Diary into a Habit

I firmly believe that a lot of success in dieting isn’t down to willpower or self-control: you don’t need to have iron self-discipline in order to lose weight. In order to succeed, you need to establish good habits which work for you.

There are plenty of habits you could try: perhaps eating a piece of fruit before each meal, or drinking a glass of water whenever you feel hungry. One of the best habits, though – shown to double your rate of weight loss – is to keep a food diary.

Diet 101: How To Stay On Your Diet

photo credit: frerieke

So, you’ve spent a lot of time deciding which diet is best to follow, determining that now is the time healthy eating and exercise are a priority, and choosing a start date. Your diet went along well for a few weeks, but now you find it difficult to keep going. How do you muster the will power to keep forging ahead?  What started you on this journey is the idea that you really want is to be a healthy and attractive weight. Here are a few methods to get you back into the frame of mind that a bit of suffering now will be worth it in the long run!

What Does Dieting Success Mean to You?

Most of us would agree that dieting involves losing weight. However, getting down to a set weight on the scale does not have to be the way we judge success.
Why are you on a diet? It’s probably not really to do with the number on your scales. Your reason for dieting might be:

• You want to fit back into those jeans
• You’d love to have the energy to run around with your kids or grandchildren
• You want to set yourself up for good health for years to come

ATD: How Many Calories Should I Start My Diet With?

Question:

I am a female, age 37, 5’4 feet tall and I weight 187 pounds.  I am trying to drop my weight to 145 pounds so I can maintain a healthy life style.  I entered my data in the “Calorie Needs” Tool and it comes up with Fat loss, Extreme Fat Loss and Maintance calories.  Where do I start?  Do I start with 1496 (extreme fat loss) to kick off my weight loss and change to the 7 day calorie cycle when I hit a plateau?
I just want to lose weight the healthy and safe way without diet pills and I need some guidance to help me through this.  Andrea

3 Smart Alternatives to Sugary Snacks

I would like to take a moment to introduce a very special and entertaining guest blogger today….. Welcome Josie Maurer!  Josie runs the hilarious, yet informative blog YumYucky.com

Sugary snacks will woo you, then lead to poundage on the scale. Dig into these three snack alternatives to achieve an energy boost or quiet a sweet craving without the crash and burn of a sugary snack fail.

ATD: I Need to Lose Weight, but Where do I Start?

Question:

Not sure of where to start!  I went to the doctor today and found out that my BMI is 33.55  at 227lbs and 5’9″.  I do lift weights and have always had a bigger build. I have done 1/2 marathons but have not done much cardio due to cold weather, ice and snow.  I don’t like the treadmill. However I want to lose the extra weight and know I need to increase exercise but I also know my eating habits need to change.  I have tried Atkins in the past but not sure I want to do that again.  I liked the results but it was a hard and possibly unhealthy diet.  What diets are recommended for a guy who has a bigger build – and wants to lose the extra weight and reduce bmi.  Thanks for your time! Steve

ATD: Help! My Family is Sabotaging My Diet Efforts.

Question:

Over the last year, I have lost close to 25 pounds following “You on a Diet” guidelines.  My question is this:  family and friends seem to want to reverse this positive trend by trying to trip me up at family parties.  I find my eating and dinner plates are closely monitored by a few family members (my in laws) and they comment on my selections in a nasty way–as in “what, only 1/2 a beef on roll sandwich?  That’s a lot of veggies–are you on a diet?”  But it draws angry and negative attention to me.  If I skip dessert, which I do, I get “Oh, someone doesn’t want to be as fat and round as the rest of us.”  They have even told me not to exercise as much–to not “over do it” when I was telling others that I had just run (to finish) my first 5 K.  I feel so angry back at them and hate to see them now and that will impact my marriage.  What do I say back to them?  How do I change this dynamic.  I feel so angry toward them all the time now and their angry comments circle around in my head.  Amy

Distinguishing Real Hunger from Emotional Hunger

When you have a sudden craving for a candy bar or a big bowl of fries smothered in ketchup, are you really hungry … or is it just emotional hunger?

It can be surprisingly hard sometimes to figure out exactly what we’re feeling! If you’re on a diet after quite a long period of being overweight, you may have to get back in touch with your body’s hunger signals – many of us fall into the trap of nibbling constantly, and not really having much appetite when it comes to meal-time.

ATD: How Many Calories and How Much Exercise to Lose Weight?

Question:

I am a 64 year old female, 4ft 11 in tall and weigh 176 pounds. How many calories a day should I eat to lose weight and how much walking would help?I have a bad back so walking is the only exercise I feel would be safe for me. thank you, cathy

Answer:

Dear Cathy,

For Diet Success: Plan Ahead Before Jumping In!

I strongly believe the main reason  for the high failure rate on diets is the failure to plan ahead. People often do not look before they leap.  They let themselves get carried by the intense desire to lose lots of weight fast, jump on the bandwagon for the latest diet craze, and find out within a short period of time that it’s just not realistic to eat this way. Taking a day or so to research a diet and to ask some important questions can save you time, money, misery, and weeks of trying to stay on a diet only to fail again. It’s tiring and emotionally draining to set yourself up over and over, only to feel like a failure and like something is wrong with you! Get this…it’s not you that is failing, it is your plan. So get a pencil, find the answers to these questions, and find a new plan that will get you the results you want once and for all!

Diet 101: Your Diet Is For Life

When we think about “going on a diet”, we tend to imagine some temporary time of deprivation and struggle, with an expected future reward of coming “off” the diet and being slim. We focus on the weight loss part of the diet, and we rarely consider how we’ll maintain that weight loss once we reach our goal.

No wonder so many dieters don’t succeed – and many are trapped in a yo-yo cycle of working hard to lose weight, only to gain it all again. Going on a diet is not a quick fix: it’s a way to change your eating habits for life.

Diet 101: What is a Diet?

Most people consider diet to be a four-letter word; one that conjures up feelings too horrible to be spoken! It implies deprivation, hunger, and being forced to eat foods you don’t like. But actually the word itself is not evil. It is used to describe the food eaten habitually by a particular person or group. It can describe the way we eat as a population as in ”the typical diet of Americans”,  or the benefits of eating a certain way such as “The Mediterranean Diet can lower incidence of heart disease”. Some people need to limit certain elements for health reasons and may be following a “low sodium diet” or a “low cholesterol diet“.  It merely describes how we eat.

How to Take Regular Exercise (And Love It)

One of the keys to health is taking regular exercise (and if you doubt that, just check out this story of a 100 year old British woman taking keep fit classes!) But many of us find it difficult to stick with an exercise routine. Perhaps we’re too busy or too tired, or maybe we just don’t enjoy exercise that much.

Being active doesn’t have to feel like a chore or a punishment – it’s a great way to boost your mood, to keep your heart and bones healthy, and to burn calories and build muscle. Here’s how you can fit regular exercise into your life – and enjoy it!

Give up Calories, Not Nutrition

photo credit: selena marie

In the haste to give up calories in order to lose weight, many dieters lose sight of what they should be eating for the nutritional value. All too often people are quick to skip breakfast or deny themselves a piece of fruit in order to save a few calories. Later on, however, they manage to justify a glass of wine or some diet ice cream “just this once” and “since I’ve been so good today”! Here are a few points to help you manage your calorie level and your nutrition at the same time.