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6 Proven Ways to Get Rid of Belly Fat

June 21st, 2016 ernie Posted in Weight Loss No Comments »

6 Proven Ways to Get Rid of Belly FatBelly fat is a common problem for most men and many women as they get older. It is part of the obesity problem across North America. The writer is one of the millions looking for information that will help him lose weight. In particular lose that belly. There are proven ways to get rid of belly fat. As a blogger I like to write about things that I do some research on that will also help me personally. There are lots of theories about what causes belly fat. Of course how to get rid of it. For example, drinking too much beer, eating too many carbs. Also too much food with lots of sugar, not enough exercise and so on. We will do a couple posts on this subject, so stay tuned, but in the mean this is what we found.

6 Proven Ways to Get Rid of  Belly Fat

Eat Less Sugar – Sugar is added to almost everything to make things taste better. Foods, soft drinks and snacks all have lots of sugar in them and this adds to your overall weight and in particular your belly. Even beer has lots of sugar, but many people drink far more soft drinks which are loaded with sugar. Drink diet drinks or water to cut down. Avoid deserts and foods with lots of sugar. Real labels to check the amount of sugar that has been added.

Eat Less Carbs – such as rice, potatoes, breads etc all contribute sugar to the body. cut down on the amount you eat. If you have two slices of bread for breakfast reduce it to one and do the same for other meals.

Eat More Protein – eating more meat, eggs and dairy will also help increase your metabolism and burn more calories as well as sugar that you eat. Keep everything in balance. If you over do anything it will not be good for you. Focus on eating less carbs and eat more protein.

Eat More Fiber – fiber is hard to process in the stomach, lease you feeling full longer and as a result there is less temptation to eat more snacks etc. Fibre also helps bowel movements and keeps you regular.

Do More Aerobic Exercise – to burn calories and improve your cardio vascular system. Aerobic exercise also tends to burn more calories and fat around the stomach.

Keep Track of What you Eat – there are lots of apps on our smart phones that can help track your food intake and in particular the sugars, carbs, proteins and fiber that you eat. Look for trends and aim to improve your numbers over time.

Watch for our next post on this subject. For more posts about weight loss and belly fat, click here.

 

 

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Unusual Signs of Dehydration

September 21st, 2015 ernie Posted in Weight Loss 1 Comment »

Unusual Signs of DehydrationConsumers who exercise in hot weather need to manage their hydration levels carefully. They risk facing some of the following unusual signs of dehydration. Initially, you may experience irritability, headaches, and dizziness. This is the time to react, drink fluids that help your body to recover. Drinking fluids rich in electrolytes such as potassium may also be needed. Management of your hydration levels will also help you reach the weight loss objectives. The first few pounds you lose are usually water.

Unusual Signs of Dehydration

Bad Breath – when your mouth becomes dry, you have already lost a great deal of fluid. The disappearance of saliva means that the bacteria in your mouth have a chance to grow to create a bad breath.

Dry Skin – as shown in the picture is an example of more severe dehydration. Your body is moving blood to the organs leaving your skin dry and dehydrated.

Muscle Cramps – muscles overheat due to working out and the general heat conditions surrounding you. Some people will experience cramps in the legs and arms in this situation. Time to cool down.

Fever and Chills – is the result of severe dehydration. You need to get help immediately or risk being sick to your stomach, possibly fainting and worse.

Food Cravings – on particular lots of carbs. This is your body telling you that it is dehydrated and thinks that it is hungry. The net result is you are ravenous and you need to eat immediately.

If you experience any of these symptoms, seek help immediately. Drink plenty of fluids, get to an area where you can cool down and use cold compresses. Severe dehydration may require a visit to the hospital to receive treatment. For more weight loss ideas,click here.

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Dehydration Symptoms – What to do?

September 7th, 2015 ernie Posted in Weight Loss No Comments »

Dehydration SymptomsMany people try to lose weight by cutting down on fluid consumption. As it turns out this can be one of the worst things you can do. Fluid loss can cause damage which will harm your body and organs. In fact, dehydration can actually cause you to gain weight due to some of the symptoms and our reaction to them. We felt that readers who are trying to lose weight should understand these issues. You can drink lots of water and cut down on salt to make sure your organs are well hydrated. It is one more thing to manage during your weight loss program. It is also a very important one as well as you will see.

Dehydration Symptoms

The typical warning signs are headaches, dizziness and irritability for most people as well as a dry mouth. This can occur after workouts, very hot weather, and just forgetting to drink fluids on a regular basis. Before you realize it the above symptoms may be bothering you. If this happens quickly drink some water to help recover from the fluid loss. More on that in a moment.

Many consumers don’t realize that being dehydrated can also give you bad breath, the chills and make you crave carbs! Suddenly your body is very hungry, or you feel cold when it is really hot. Your mouth dries out giving bad breath.

Dehydration Symptoms – What to Do?

If you experience any of these symptoms, get inside to cool off, drink lots of water, and rest until the symptoms have passed. If you have severe dehydration, you may need to go to the hospital as well. At the very least you need to drink fluids that contain electrolytes since dehydration can cause you can lose sodium, potassium. Dizziness, disorientation, and even fainting can be symptoms of severe dehydration as well.

If you are trying to lose weight, exercise, eat less, and manage your fluid intake to avoid these kinds of issues and health threats. For more weight-loss details and information, click here.

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Nine Weight Loss Tips

January 21st, 2012 ernie Posted in Weight Loss No Comments »

Weight Loss TipsThere are nine weight loss tips that are a combination of common sense and also supported by various diet professionals. Some involve different ways to eat, or adding certain foods to your diet. Others involve learning new behaviors or strategies to help you stay on track. Either way it involves changes to your daily routine and perseverance in sticking to your diet plan, but they are relatively easier to follow. Bottom line is that you need to make up your mind that you will achieve this goal and lose weight for it to work.  Don’t wait, get started now and follow these Weight Loss Tips.

  • Variety Is Overrated
  • Have Barley for Breakfast
  • Beef Up Your Lunch Salad
  • Stock Up on Frozen Vegetables
  • Make Yourself a Party Tray
  • Turn Down the Thermostat
  • Downsize Your Dinnerware
  • Go Out for Treats
  • Try on Your Skinny Jeans Every Friday

Nine Weight Loss Tips

Variety Is Overrated

Who hasn’t heard the advice to “just take a bite of everything” if you’re at a buffet?

I have done this myself. The problem is when there are over 100 items on a buffet, by the time you take one spoonful of everything, your plate will be overflowing! Also if your favorite foods are on the buffet, you probably will take more and increase your intake.

Be selective and focus on low-calorie food just as if you were at home. Don’t let a buffet boot you off your diet plan!

Have Barley for Breakfast

Barley got its hunger-fighting reputation after Swedish researchers found that eating barley or rye kernels for breakfast kept blood sugar on an even keel. That’s because the carbs in barley and rye kernels are “low glycemic index,” meaning they raise blood sugar more slowly than some other carbohydrate foods. This helps you avoid a spike, and then a drop, in blood sugar, which can leave you feeling famished.

Buy hulled barley, not pearl barley. The Swedish researchers used minimally processed hull barley, and they can’t vouch for the same effects for more processed forms, such as pearl barley.

Beef Up Your Lunch Salad

One of the most common mistakes dieters make is to eat a vegetable salad with little or no dressing for lunch and then they are starving by mid-afternoon. A salad is a great choice if you add some protein and a little fat to help keep you feeling full longer.

Add 3 oz piece of chicken breast, and you’ve added about 26 grams of protein but just 140 calories. Add about two tablespoons of light salad dressing, and your salad may be filling enough to get you through the 3 p.m. hunger slump without hitting the vending machine.

Stock Up on Frozen Vegetables

Sure, fresh vegetables are delicious and nutritious. Preparation of the vegetables is a pain and most consider not worth the time, so they reach for chips instead. Why not buy frozen vegetables that are already chopped and ready to be served. Just heat in the microwave and they are ready!

Make Yourself a Party Tray

A big vegetable platter, maybe with some low-fat dip on the side! Now that is good for you, good to eat and will help you lose weight at the same time. If you have it in the fridge and it is the first thing you see when you open the door, there is a good chance you and your family are going to reach for this party tray first before reaching for anything else.

Turn Down the Thermostat

Spending time in a chilly house — about 61 degrees Fahrenheit — may boost the fat-burning power of the “brown fat” in your body. Brown fat is considered “good” fat, as opposed to regular or white fat, which stores calories and tends to accumulate.  Scandinavian researchers found that exposure to these chilly temperatures boosted the metabolic rate of brown fat 15-fold, helping burn more calories.

Downsize Your Dinnerware

The larger your plate, the more you’re likely to put on it. So serving your meals on smaller plates can help you eat less. Even if you still go back for seconds, there is a strong likelihood that you will eat less overall. You can still use the dinner plates for salads instead.

Go Out for Treats

If you must have a sweet, try not to keep them in the house. Go out instead. Just the mere energy needed to go out is going to dissuade you from heading out to the doughnut shop or the grocery store to buy that special treat. The trip to the fridge or the pantry is much shorter and too hard to resist.

Try on Your Skinny Jeans Every Friday or before you go out for Dinner

Weekends are always a tougher time to stay on diet and Friday mornings try-on will motivate you to watch your eating during the weekend. If you wear them out to dinner, you will be even more motivated, since they are snug and not many people can eat a lot when they are wearing tight clothes. For more information about weight loss, click here.

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Exercise, Diet and Weight Loss

April 21st, 2011 ernie Posted in Weight Loss 3 Comments »

Exercise Diet and Weight LossMany people, including this blog writer have preached that you must reduce your calorie intake and if you want to lose weight. You need to burn more calories than what you eat or drink on any given day.  While this is a true statement, as with all things the devil is in the detail and it is no different with weight loss. Exercise Diet and Weight Loss are linked and must be managed together to lose weight.

Now that Christmas and New Years are over it is time to pay attention to managing your weight over the year and to meet those goals you set for your self. The following points may be of interest to readers who are trying to lose weight and not having a lot of success for a variety of reasons. Exercise Diet and Weight Loss are something we all need to deal with.

Exercise Diet and Weight Loss

We will discuss each of them in more detail.

  • Exercise is only part of the weight loss story.
  • Exercise is a must for weight maintenance
  • Food splurges may undo your efforts.
  • Exercise machines may not tell the whole calorie story.
  • One daily workout may not be enough.

Don’t get discouraged if you are not losing weight as fast as you would like. Like any problem, you have to dig into the detail before a solution will present itself.

Exercise is only part of the weight loss story.

If you are not seeing the results you are expecting, it is time to examine what is really happening in your life. Calories in vs. calories out is the principal mantra. If you are exercising but not reducing your intake or perhaps even increasing your intake because you are exercising, chances are you are not going to lose any weight. Embarking on an exercise program is an excellent thing to do, but you need to examine the intensity of the program as well as the amount of calories you are taking in. Cutting your intake by a 1000 calories, combined with exercise that burns a 1000 calories every week will have an impact. Exercise Diet and Weight Loss are linked and have to be managed together.

A healthy diet is important as well. Healthy foods, vegetables and fruit will also contribute to reduced calories. If you are starting in an over weight condition, you probably already know that it is difficult to exercise with all of the that extra weight that you are carrying around. Just watch the biggest loser to find out.

It is actually easier at this stage to start exercising slowly and cutting a 1000 calories out of your diet at the same time. Exercise at least 3 days a week. As you reduce weight, you will find it much easier to lose weight and to exercise as well to build muscle.

Exercise is a must for weight maintenance.

No matter how you lose those  extra pounds, most people will find that they are going to need to be active to keep the pounds off. While you may be successful at losing weight through diet alone, over time you are going to fall off the wagon sometime and if you do, the binge eating is going to be absorbed by your body. With a combination of exercise and diet you have a much better chance of maintaining your weight as well as being much more fit as well.

Food splurges may undo your efforts.

Let’s say you have adopted the program and are managing your weight through diet and exercise. We all have temptations and it may be in the form of parties we go to , special events, or a special food we just cannot stay away from. Chances are that if you succumb to these temptations, often enough you will start to gain that weight all over again.

In addition, many restaurants serve huge portions of food. We have been all trained to finish our meals and this alone can contribute to weight gain. Split portions, share them, use take home. Whatever you do try to get the portion size under control and avoid splurging on more food than what you can handle or are losing through exercise.

Keep track of all of the calories, not just at the table. Fancy coffees, soft drinks etc contribute a huge number of calories to our overall weight gain. If you have a desk job, you are not burning many calories during the day when you are consuming these calories. Try to drink water instead!

Exercise machines may not tell the whole calorie story.

Treadmills and other exercise gear often have monitors that estimate how many calories you’re burning. This is an estimate only and an indicator of the number of calories you are burning. They are not accurate enough to plan your food intake with.

Consider that you probably will burn 70 calories in an hour just sitting at your desk  or even watching TV. If you burn 300 calories on a treadmill or some other device in an hour, you are only actually burning 230 calories in this example incrementally. This is a much lower number than what you might have thought or planned with respect to food intake.

If you are looking for net calories burned as a result of exercise, subtract 70 calories per hour to obtain a better number for use in food planning.

One daily workout may not be enough.

Whether you exercise or not the real culprit is the sedentary lifestyle that many of us lead. For example, taking the car to work, riding the elevator, sitting at your desk all day, elevator can car on the way home, watching TV at night is a typical day for many people.

Leading a more active lifestyle will help you control weight gain and exercise sessions will also help. Consider walking to work, walking up the stairs, walking at lunch time, walking after work and doing physical activities around the home in addition to 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week will make a huge difference in your weight control battle.

The message is to “get active during the day” to control and lose weight. This activity will also assist in better sleeping habits and less stress as well all of which contribute to weight gain. Manage your Exercise Diet and Weight Loss as an overall package.

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Biggest Loser – Portion Control

November 7th, 2010 ernie Posted in Weight Loss 1 Comment »

Portion ControlWe really enjoy watching the biggest loser. It is an inspirational show, we actually learn a few things about diet and about how to manage our food intake. This past week we also learned that we already do some of the things that they discussed on the biggest loser which helps us control our weight and also save money ! We also learned that there are a few more things we should be doing to further manage our weight loss. One of the big items is portion control at all meals including buffets and when eating out. Control the size of your meal and you will control the number of calories you are taking in.

Portion control!

Portion control is really the biggest thing to help you control your weight, lose weight and manage your diet.  It is the old adage, energy in must be less than the energy you burn if you are going to lose weight. So one way to manage this is to control the size of the portions you are eating.

If you are at home, use a small plate. I know for myself if I use a large plate, I have a tendency to fill it up, while I do the same thing with a small plate, there is only so much food I can put on the plate. BY the time you have finished the food on the small plate you are starting to feel full and if you can wait 5 minutes, you will definitely feel full. Sure you might go back for a second helping, but again you are using a small plate and it will only hold a small amount of food. Sure you are tricking your mind and your stomach, but if it works why not use every trick you can to lose weight.

When you are out of the home dining in a restaurant, it is a bit more difficult, so we have another suggestion that will also help to save some money as well.

Share meals when dining out!

As we travel around the country, one thing we notices is that the size of the meals served at restaurants are huge. Portion sizes at restaurants have gotten out of hand. Many restaurants and I guess their patrons as well feel that they must serve large portions to attract their guests.

We have found that for many meals if we split the meal it is more than enough for each of us and we save money at the same time. The restaurants for the most part are ok with this, and sometimes will even split the meal for us, serving it on two separate plates. Sometimes they will bring us a second plate and let us split the meal our selves. Either way we eat less and we save money. What a deal!

There are some places that want to charge a fee for splitting the meal. We just do not go back to them and we tell people as well. They end up losing business as a result. So when you go out to eat split your meals.

Portion Control and Buffets

Buffets are really difficult. If you have a problem controlling how much you eat, it is probably best if you avoid going to a buffet. With all of the excellent food it is usually best to just not go, because it is human nature to overeat when all of that food is just sitting there. Use the small plate approach and eat slowly, but we are pretty confident that you will still over eat in this situation.

Eat slow, Weight 20 Minutes So your  Stomach Feels Full!

This is one of the best ways to manage the portion size and how much you eat. Apparently it takes a little time for your stomach to register that it is full and let your brain know that you have eaten enough. Some people say wait 10 to 20 minutes and then decide if you are going back for second helpings.

Fast eaters tend to over eat, so if you wait even 5 minutes before getting that second helping you may find that you have eaten enough. We find that discussing topics over the dinner table is a great way to slow down your eating and also get that full feeling. Let’s face it you cannot eat when you are talking, at least you should not, just for good manners. Talking slows you down and forces you to enjoy the food more and provides time for your stomach to register the fact that you are full. maybe you will realize that you are full and will avoid going for that second helping!

Use Every Trick in the Book

Aside from just deciding to not eat as much, we are suggesting that you use every trick you can to control how much you eat. If you use a couple of little tricks to manage your eating, so what. At least you are losing weight, or controlling your weight.

Bottom line, you need to deal with the long term reason regarding why you have over eaten. Using these tricks will help you get going, but to maintain your weight or lose weight you do have to deal with the reasons why you over eat.

There are probably a lot more tha can be used as well. If you know some of these tricks to control the portion size, why not leave us a comment and let our readers know about it. Spam comments will be auto deleted!

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Biggest Loser Season 10-Their Coming Back

October 21st, 2010 ernie Posted in Weight Loss No Comments »

Biggest Loser Season - Excess Weight Increases Risk of DeathWell the third place finishers are not back yet, but they keep showing hints that they may be joining the show. They probably will need to compete for a place in the biggest loser house, so not all of them will be able to rejoin. But it will be interesting to see how they have progressed in the weeks since they tried out for the show. Have they lost weight? Will they qualify to be on the show and replace someone on the ranch? This is the best biggest loser season so far.

Biggest Loser Season 10-Their Coming Back

Watch for our next update to see what happens. Meanwhile they grunt and grown, sweat and puke their way to losing weight. Not a pretty site, but they get pushed pretty hard so I guess we have to allow them some down time. Bob and Jillian frequently talk about some of the things we can do to control weight and to avoid putting on more pounds. We decided to include a few of these ideas on this post.

Cupcakes- 100 calorie, whole wheat flour, honey- no sugar

Can you believe that a cupcake made with whole wheat and honey instead of white flour and sugar is only 100 calories! Most cupcakes can have up to 700 calories and I do not know about you, but I can easily put away a couple of them. Far better to partake of 100 calorie cupcakes vs. those 700 babies!
Need to experience success, push through

Broccoli  loaded with nutrients

I love broccoli and apparently it is loaded with nutrients as long as you do not boil it and leach out all of the good stuff. I also like to smother it in cheese soup, which is not so good. Combined with the salt and the calories, this is not such a good idea. Try broccoli on its own or with a little butter!
Sophia, red line, 2 pounds

Subway breakfast 300 calories, egg white, vegetables

I have tried subway for breakfast and they really do make an excellent breakfast sub. Just try not to add the mayonnaise or some of the other sauces. That is were the calories are. If you can avoid the sauces, you will have a great low calorie breakfast. And don’t forget you can have a complete breakfast for less than $5, now that is a good deal.

Create failures to be comfortable, have to get outside of this, need to have some wins.

This seems odd, but according to the trainers, some people will create failures so they can avoid the limelight and attention that they might gather if they won something.  They have to get used to being the center of attention and to enjoy it. No more, poor as me.

Eat cheap get fat 5$ pizza, 5$ pasta, eat well instead

Many families in a rush when they get home from work , have to feed the lids, and then get them out to an activity. A $5 dollar pizza or some other kind of pasta is easy, but there is lots of calories and loads of salt, neither of which is very good for you. With a little extra effort and planning, you can eat healthy and avoid the salt and calories.

Rolling 900pounds of carpet , is it fair

They had to compete by rolling a 900 pound carpet down a field. Now the guys had a tough time with it, yet they managed to do it. The women on the other hand found it very difficult and could barely get the thing going. Could it be that this season is geared towards the men?

Make your life what you want it to be, you just need to decide to do it

Sounds easy doesn’t it. Deciding to do something and actually carrying it out are two different things altogether. But it really comes down to making choices for yourself that will help you lose weight. Also be the type of person you want to me. Stay focused and transform yourself into the person you want to be.

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Biggest Loser weight loss

October 10th, 2010 ernie Posted in Weight Loss 1 Comment »

biggest loser Excess Weight Increases Risk of DeathThe biggest loser weight loss show was on again this week and they still have not brought back the contestants that did not make the show. I think they are going to introduce these people at some point. Maybe they are a shadow team that is working out with Bob and Jillian at another ranch somewhere. I hope so because those people really need the help. They were in worse shape than the people who made it onto the show. They really need to lose weight under a doctors care as well to make sure that they lose weight in a healthy manner and eat the right foods..

The show itself is sticking to the same old formula with one exception. People are still working out, puking their guts out, yelling and crying as they get into shape and try to lose weight. Can you imagine the pain they must be in. Every muscle in their bodies must hurt! There have been a couple times during my life when I have started to exercise after a prolonged period of no exercise. I was in pain for several days. Almost every muscle in my body ached for a week until I got over this period.

These are people on the biggest loser weight loss show who are overweight, have not exercised in a long time and suddenly they are doing aggressive exercise in an effort to burn calories. They have to be in extreme pain for at least a week. I cannot imagine how much. Anytime you use muscles that have not been stretched in awhile, they are going to hurt for several days after. This is going to be almost continuous pain for these people.

The Biggest Loser weight loss Weigh In

The variant so far this season seems to be focused around the weigh-in. Instead of the two bottom people being considered for removal from the show, there are 8 people that fall below the yellow line. In effect they are getting a second chance if they have a bad week and do not lose many pounds. If they do fall below the yellow line, the person who lost the most gets to pick one person to save from the group below the yellow line.

The remaining contestants then participate in some sort of competition and the two people who are the last to complete the competition are then voted on to see who is the person to go home. They are not the biggest loser.

I like this change since it gives everyone a second chance. Let’s face it you could have a bad week for some reason and not lose the amount that you need to stay safe. Getting a second chance can be a life saver for some and it focuses on who is the best shape and the person who has exercised the most.

When do the Extra Contestants Come Back?

I still think that the people eliminated in the first show are going to come into the biggest loser house. They obviously need to lose weight and this could be a huge twist in the game of biggest loser.

Let’s face it. while the show is focused on helping people lose weight, it is also a game of strategy. You need to work out and lose weight. But you can form alliances, you can win immunity and you can game the show. There is always a faction within the biggest loser house that is trying to control the game. They protect each other when it comes to the elimination phase.

The show does try to avoid portraying this, for obvious reasons, however you can rest assured that these people are playing the game, while trying to lose as much weight as they can.

We will keep blogging about this show. The biggest loser show tries to balance diet, exercise, health management and create a support network to help people lose weight and keep it off. If you would like to add your comments, please do so. We would love to hear your opinions as well. Spam comments will be deleted.

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Biggest Loser – Season 9

September 25th, 2010 ernie Posted in Weight Loss 1 Comment »

biggest loser Excess Weight Increases Risk of DeathWe are watching the reality show “Biggest Loser” tonight. This is the first show in the season and they are taking a different approach this year, showing us how they are selecting contestants from cities all over the US. We really love this show and watch it every chance we get. In fact, we also record the show if we happened to be out for the evening. This can be a hard show to watch. No one wants to see somebody suffering because of their weight.  You have to remember that the end result is really the objective.

We have watched the biggest loser show over the past 8 seasons and really admire the many contestants, their work ethic and the difficulties that they overcome. I certainly do not want to take anything away from them. However this years show is starting out on a less than positive note in our opinion.

The biggest loser show selects three contestants from among thousands of applicants in each city and then they run a contest involving some sort of physical fitness activity. In some cities, the contestants had to do 500 steps on a step machine. In other towns and cities they had to run a mile. The first two contestants to finish the physical fitness test are the ones to get on the show.

Biggest Loser – Outcome

Well you can guess the outcome. The person who is the least physical fit is the last to finish and as a result does not get on the show. One guy even fainted within 20 yards of the finish line! And they are the ones that need the most help! One guy weighed 468 pounds and guess what, he was the last to finish. Don’t you think that he should be on the show!

He had the guts to get on the this part of the biggest loser show, take his shirt off to show how over weight he is and weigh in publicly.  This has to count for something.

We have to remember that this is a show after all and while they are trying to help people on the show, they are also trying to motivate people in general to get out there and get moving. Even if means walking around the block to get started, everyone needs to move more and exercise more while improving their eating habits.

The show is still running and maybe there is hope for the show yet. Maybe they will provide the 3rd place finishers a place as well at the ranch. We can hope that these people get the help they need. Let’s see what the end of the biggest loser show brings!

Well it ended but not without controversy. People had to be taken to the hospital. One of these days someone is going to die on the show or qualifying for the show and if this is not a turn off for many over weight people, then I do not know what is. I like the idea of motivating people but this is absolutely the wrong way to go about it.

They Always have a Hook

At the end of the show, they alluded to the fact that some people who came in third may come back later in the show. At least there is hope for these people and maybe they will still be able to take advantage of the program that the Biggest loser offers.

It really takes a lot of hard work and determination to lose weight. This show really demonstrates how difficult it is to combine exercise, eating habit changes, and personal self worth changes to make the change to lose weight. Unless you have a partner or a trainer, someone to push you and motivate you there is a good chance that you cannot do it by yourself. Everyone needs help and encouragement. Perhaps this is what the show is trying to achieve through getting out into the community to motivate people.

We will blog about this next week as well, so stay tuned. Comments are welcome also and we appreciate any and all opinions as long as they are in good taste. Spam comments will be deleted.

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Weight Loss and Breathing

April 21st, 2010 ernie Posted in Weight Loss No Comments »

Weight Loss and BreathingWhat is the effect of weight loss on your breathing? Many posts talk about various diets and the amount of weight that you can lose if you go on one diet or another. Some diet plans will discuss the benefits of losing weight on other related illnesses. These include diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Most people find that when they lose weight, that these various problems will become less of an issue or disappear all together. In fact on the show the “Biggest loser”, many of the contestants who lose significant amounts of weight will talk about how much better they feel. They mention how they have stopped taking medicine for various health issues that they may have had. What they do not talk about is Weight Loss and Breathing issues.

Another major benefit is the ability to take a deep breath without wheezing and to walk without becoming short of breath. There is a major difference between exercising and being short of breath vs. taking a short walk up and down your driveway and being short of breath.  Add to this the complications of bronchitis or asthma and you have the conditions for a major illness and possibly death due to lack of oxygen. If you have ever been short of breath and know the fear of not being able to breathe then you will know what I mean! That is why there is such a connection between weight loss and breathing capabilities.

Weight Loss and Breathing

I am slightly over weight and in relatively good shape having exercised regularly, doing many miles on my bicycle and going to the gym about 4 times a week. Recently I had a case of severe bronchitis, needed treatments at the hospital and was very short of breath. Even though I was in good shape, nothing prepared me for the shortness of breath and gasping for air. This is a frightfully scary thing to have happen. I have discovered the connection between weight loss and breathing.

What If You are Also Over Weight

I am slightly over weight, however what if you are significantly over weight? If you are, chances are that your lungs are already compressed. You may also have bronchitis or asthma and you have a truly scary situation. Your lungs are already compressed and now your air ways are swollen due to a virus, a cold or environmental contaminants in the air such as smoke, deodorizer or other things that are naturally occurring. This is why weight loss and breathing issues can be so important.

You are in big trouble and need to see a doctor quickly because your body will shut down on you if you do not get enough oxygen to it!  Some symptoms besides being shortness of breath are:

  • Fever
  • High blood pressure
  • Chest pains
  • Swelling in the ankles

If you have any of these symptoms do not wait, get checked out immediately.

Basically the extra weight you are carrying around compresses your lungs and makes it more difficult for your diaphragm to push air out of your lungs and to also draw deep breaths of air into your lungs. All of this extra weight is hard on your heart and of course your joints as well, but we will stay focused on just taking a breath. If you cannot get air into your lungs then you are not getting enough oxygen into your blood stream and now you are in serious trouble because your heart cannot do it’s job. This is bad news.

Fix the Initial Problem , then Lose Weight

Obviously you need to get over the asthma or bronchitis or whatever is causing you to be short of breath. This is the most important near term issue. However as soon as your bronchitis attack etc is under control, start the process of losing weight and getting into shape. You just have to look at the people on the “Biggest Loser” to see the dramatic effects it has on their overall well being. As well as their ability to get a full breath of air and not be short of breath or gasping for air all of the time.

Most of us need that one big scare to get our acts together. For some people it is a heart attack, for others it is getting sick from too much alcohol, still for others it is gasping for breath because we are too heavy and our bodies just cannot deal with the extra weight. We cannot get enough air into our lungs and cannot move around the way we used to. Make the commitment now to get into shape and lose weight.

Weight Loss and Breathing – Environmental Triggers

With the exception of environmental triggers, your bronchitis and asthma will occur less often and you will be stronger and more able to deal with these sudden onsets of bronchitis.

If your bronchitis is triggered by environmental issues, find out what they are and avoid them like the plague. There is no sense in exposing yourself to these triggers. Just stay away from them. Avoid people with colds and fevers, avoid people that smoke, avoid dusty situations or places with lots of contaminants in the air. In my personal situation, in addition to all of the above, I am also going to avoid hotels that do not have smoke free environments and also hotels that use deodorizer to hide the smells of cigarette smoke or other odors in the rooms. These are the worst for me and will set me off with  bronchitis attack for sure.

We would be happy to hear your comments and any other suggestions for dealing with shortness of breath. Please post a comment to our blog.

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Weight Loss and Life Style

March 7th, 2010 ernie Posted in Weight Loss No Comments »

Weight Loss TipsWeight loss and life style are tied very closely together when it comes to managing your weight. If you do not manage your life style, and perhaps change it for the long term , you may not lose the weight you want to lose.  Worse you may continue to gain weight which of course only makes the situation a lot worse. As this picture shows we all consume a lot of foods that are just simple calories and add to our waste lines. From donuts to chocolate bars, chips and peanuts they all add to our weight gain.

So what do we mean by life style and it’s effect on our weight?

Many people are extremely busy with their lives. They have to get to work, they have to look after the kids and they have to look after the house. Then there are the school activities, the after school activities and if there is time  , a social life. Exactly were is there time to exercise or eat properly? Rushing home from work, grabbing some fast food something and then heading out the door again to one of the kids activities is just not conducive to managing your weight. The jobs we have today are leaning more and more towards low activity jobs. Whether we sit behind a desk or push a button to control a robot on an assembly line, we are not buring many calories on the job either.

This is the lifestyle that many of us face today. Without changing this lifestyle we cannot possibly lose weight and we are lucky to not gain weight.

Weight Loss and Life Style – The Fundamentals

Energy into your body less energy burned during the day equals positive or negative results. If it is positive you are going to gain weight. If it is negative, you are going to lose weight. It is just that simple. There is a lot you can do on both sides of the equation to influence it in the right direction and a lot of it is life style changes that you need to make.

Let’s look at the fast food area to start with. Whether you grab something at the fast food restaurant or you heat up a prepacked frozen meal, they are all high in calories and high in salt content. A high salt content helps the body retain fluids and contributes to high blood pressure. One of the first steps is to get away from the prepared fast food syndrome and it is relatively easy to do and watch your salt intake.

Prepare Your Own Fast Food

Pick a day, perhaps on the weekend and prepare a large meal. Does not matter what it is, but make sure that it is far more than what your family can eat. Prepare a healthy meal and capture all of the vitamins by cooking  properly with a balance of vegetables, meat and a carbohydrate. Once you are finished dinner, prepare casseroles which you can freeze to be taken out for dinner sometime during the week.  Every time you cook a meal always cook more than you need. Before you know it, there will be a freezer full of meals that you can select for your family to have an excellent meal.

Book Your Schedule

Just in the way you book meetings and the kids activities, book some time into your schedule so that you have time to exercise even if it is going for a walk around the block for 15 minutes. Remember what we are trying to do is alter your lifestyle. Scheduling time for your self even if it is a few minutes at a time is a good start. Walk to meetings. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Whenever there is an opportunity to exercise in some small way, take it. This will burn calories and also increase your metabolism at the same time which burns even more calories.

Weight Loss and Life Style – Involve Your Family and Friends

It is really hard to lose weight if you are the only one trying to watch what you eat and to exercise while others enjoy themselves over eating and not worrying about what they eat.

With a partner to help you when you are down and support you in sticking to your goals the job can get to be much easier. Having your friends involved, as well as your family has other benefits as well. They will participate with you as well and gain some of the benefits of losing weight. Your kids and spouse will be able to work with you and help you to prepare meals, go for walks and generally increase your families overall activity rate. This is a bonus to your weight loss and life style changes.

Weight Loss and Life Style – Long Term Benefits

Whether you know it or not, by involving your family in your weight loss program, there are multiple benefits that you will see for a long time. The obvious benefit is that you receive the support you need to stick with the program when you find it difficult. Your family will also benefit since they will also lose weight at the same time if they stick to the life style changes you are mapping out. But the real benefit is the long term results and influence you have on your kids.

By being more active, by eating better and staying away from fast food, your kids will develop the habits needed over a lifetime to help them sustain their weight at acceptable levels. If you are overweight as a kid you will be overweight as an adult. If you learn to eat properly , to manage your portions, to exercise when you can, they will do the same. They will follow your lead and this is one of the most important gifts you can give to your family. Long term healthy habits is so important to living a higher quality life and to living a healthy life.

Try it and work at it and you will see the results over time. The fast weight loss programs that you pay for just will not work unless you can also change your lifestyle.

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Weight Loss Tips

January 30th, 2010 ernie Posted in Weight Loss No Comments »

Weight Loss TipsThere are a number of weight loss tips that will benefit many people. However the major tip for consideration everyone needs to think about is whether you are ready or not. Each person regardless of their weight, have to first realize that they need to lose weight to gain a healthier life style and then they need to decide that they actually are going to lose weight. It cannot be a half hearted attempt. You need to be serious about this and really be ready to make the effort. If you are not serious, then you may as well save yourself the time and the money with regards to losing weight.

Weight Loss Tips – Make a Decision and Stick With It

This statement may seem trivial, however unless you have the conviction to lose weight along with the perseverance, most people will go on a diet for a short period, lose a few pounds and then go off the diet. So the first major tip is recognize that you need to lose weight and the second is to decide with commitment that you are going to do what is needed to lose weight.

Weight Loss Tips – Change Your Life Style

Once you have decided to lose weight and are committed to losing weight the next step is to decide what attributes of your lifestyle that you need to change. Perhaps it is fast food, perhaps it is snacking in front of the TV at night, perhaps it is eating very large meals.  What ever it is you need to set up your environment so that you are not tempted to continue bad habits such as snacking.

Weight Loss Tips – Exercise Routine

Part of changing your lifestyle is to begin exercising. Even if it is a walk around the block, it is better than sitting in front of the television and snacking. If you have been a couch potato and this is the first time you decide to exercise start slowly and build up. If you are seriously unhealthy, talk to your doctor first. Even if you start by walking a short distance and build up over time this is a huge improvement.

Exercise will improve your circulation, help you lose weight when combined with a diet program, build your muscles including that of your heart, and increase your lung capacity. Exercise will also increase your metabolism which will burn more calories and help to burn off those pounds.

Fit Your Exercise into a Busy Life

Sometimes we are just so busy that we do not have time to go to the gym and exercise. There are various ways to get your daily exercise. For starters consider taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If it is only  a few floors, chances are you will save time since you can cover several floors before the elevator even arrives. Go for a walk at lunch. Park your car further away from the entrance to your office or shopping and walk the extra distance.

If you are waiting for the kids at an activity, don’t sit and wait, go for a little walk even if it is around the parking lot. There are numerous ways to get in that extra few steps every day while you are building up your endurance.

Walk 10,000 Steps a Day

You have probably seen or read about walking a minimum of 10,000 steps per day. I have personally tried this. It is quite hard to get all of the steps in. I bought a step counter and away I went walking around the mall to get my 10,000 steps in. It really gets a bit boring, so try to vary the routine, go for walks in your neighborhood or around your work place. Drive the car to a different location and walk. Before you know it you will be walking your 10,ooo steps every day.

Eating Habits

This is probably the most difficult thing to do and why we left this weight loss tip until the end. We are all used to fast food prepared quickly with lots of sauces and salt. The salt is bad for high blood pressure or hypertension and all of the fried food and sauces have thousands of calories in them.

Start cooking natural foods and make your own casseroles to be frozen. That way you manage the salt and the fat that goes into the meal and it is ready when you need it. Just a quick dethaw, heat it up and supper is ready. These are excellent meals when you are in a hurray and pressed for time.

Stay away from fast food restaurants or any restaurant were the food is cooked in oil of some kind. Try doing without all of the sauces such as ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and special sauces. Not only are they high in fat content, they are also high in calories and salt as well.

Snacking

Snacking is like a silent villain that sneaks up on you. We all love to snack, however the problem with snacking is that we lose track of how many calories we are actually eating. It is relatively easy to sit in front of the television and snack on a bowl of peanuts while watching our favorite program. Before we know it the bowl of peanuts is gone and we have consumed a thousand calories or more. While nuts are an excellent food type, we really do not need these extra calories unless you can burn them off in some way. Let’s face it most of us cannot burn them off easily.

If you must snack, have sticks of sugar free gum around to chew on. They have few calories and provide that chewing sensation that we need. Far better to chew several sticks of gum than to eat many different snacks.

In summary, make a conscience attempt to change your life style, exercise, change your eating habits and avoid snacking. You will find that the pounds will come off. The rate of losing pounds will depend on how well you do in sticking to your plan. Let us know if there are other ideas and tips that have helped you to lose weight and keep it off.

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