Top 5 Tips for Losing Weight - Part 5

I have covered four of the five tips, and today will be the last tip: action. It is definitely important to set a plan of action. Think about what your goals are and how you would like to go about reaching them. You may need to just take it one meal or day at a time.

Set a list of priorities up for yourself and just start with one at a time. Sometimes it is easiest to take baby steps when a goal is lofty.

If your goal is to lose 40 pounds, then just focus on the first five pounds. As an example of setting priorities for the 40 pounds goal, a first priority would be to start keeping a food journal. That way you can see in black and white what you are actually putting into your body.

The next step would be to see how many servings of fruits and veggies you are actually consuming on a daily basis. (It is very common for most people to be low in fruits and veggies.)

Once you get the right amount of fruits and veggies into your diet and keeping a journal has become part of your lifestyle, then you can move onto your next priority.

One step at a time. This way you have made healthy living part of your life and will never DIE - T again!

Top 5 Tips for Losing Weight - Part 4

So far in these blogs I have posted three of the five tips for weight loss. Today I will write about the fourth tip: exercise.

Exercise is very important for several factors. Weight loss is just one of the factors. Moderate exercise also helps with decreasing our stress levels, raising our immune system, keeping us with a better sense of balance and building our metabolism.

The important thing with exercise is to do both cardio training as well as weight lifting. Cardio helps to burn fat and weight training (strength training) help to increase lean body mass (muscle) which helps to speed up our metabolism.

Our friend Steve writes a fabulous blog for NutritionData.com all about exercise. Click here to read his blog. I would highly recommend his blog for ideas on types of exercises to do and ways to keep your workouts interesting.

Hopefully this will motivate you to get up and go!

Top 5 Tips for Losing Weight - Part 3

In yesterday's blog I wrote about our food choices and the day before that I wrote about motivation. Today's top tip for weight loss is on water.

I know that there are numerous reports on how much water a person should or should not drink. My belief is that each person is an individual, and you may have to do some experimenting to see how much daily water consumption is right for you. Some people believe that it is best to take your weight and divide it in two. That is how many ounces of pure water a day to strive for. However, this does not take into consideration drinking caffeinated drinks such as sodas and coffee, or taking diuretic medications, sweating a lot or hot weather. In those conditions it might be best to drink more water.

Well, what kind of water am I talking about? There is bottled water, tap water, filtered water, designer waters, sports drinks, carbonated water, etc. I am speaking of pure plain water. Depending on where you live, your tap water may be okay. Bottled water is okay as long as it tastes okay. If it tastes like plastic, then do not drink it. Chemicals have leached into the plastic, and that can mess up your hormone balance. And now that warmer weather is upon us, it is definitely not recommended to leave your bottled water in the hot car.

And for those of you trying to lose weight, next time you feel hungry, drink some pure plain water first. Many times we are thirsty when we think that we are hungry.

Just writing this is making me thirsty....time to go get some water. :)

Top 5 Tips for Losing Weight - Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about motivation as the first tip for healthy weight loss. Today I am going to write about the second tip, food.

The main thing about the food we eat is to make sure that it is as "whole" as possible. What I mean by this is eat whole foods versus processed foods. Whole foods tend to come in their own wrappers, think fruits and veggies. Look for the term Whole Grain when purchasing your carbohydrates. Whole foods contain fiber, vitamins and minerals, and even water. These will keep you fuller and more satisfied all day long.

The next tip on our food is portion size. Portions are huge these days, especially when we eat out. A serving of fruit is about the size of a tennis ball, veggies are usually one cup raw or half a cup cooked, half of a cup of cooked brown rice is one starch serving, and a deck of cards is a portion of protein.

Finally, the last thing to do in regards to our foods is to read labels. Try to be able to pronounce the words on the ingredients list! Definitely try to avoid things like High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hydrogenated/Trans fats, Sucralose, aspartame and MSG.

Eating more natural foods will help you feel your best, and help you to achieve your weight loss goals.

Top 5 Tips for Losing Weight - Part 1

In order to lose weight there are five main areas that one needs to focus on. They are: motivation, food, water, exercise and action. Today I will discuss motivation in detail.

To stay motivated in the process of losing weight, it is important to have a positive attitude. You CAN do this! It is all about incorporating a healthy lifestyle and not being on a DIE-t.

Believe in balance and moderation. I like the 1 to 3 rule: if you have one indulgent item/meal/day, then balance it with 3 healthier items/meals/days.

Visualize how you want to look/feel. Have a favorite pair of jeans that you like to wear? Picture yourself in them and looking good! Affirm that you are in the process of living a healthy lifestyle.

And, finally, to stay motivated it is important to reward yourself. However, it is also important to not use food as a reward. Give yourself a spa gift, or a new outfit or something else that you feel you deserve.

How do you like to keep yourself motivated?