3x Method

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One of the hardest parts of any weight loss program is staying motivated throughout it. Recent studies have shown that being able to maintain your motivation whilst trying to lose weight is is absolutely critical to success in losing weight. In fact some studies have suggested that it is the essential success factor. If you are like me it is a lot easier to say that you will stay motivated than to actually do it. There are always setbacks and bad days during the course of any diet. Learning how to deal with those will help you tackle the tough times, when you can feel your motivation slipping away, head on. So what are the best ways to stay motivated during your weight loss program?

One of the first good ways to maintain your level of motivation throughout the long months of a weight loss program is to create a strong plan before you ever begin your weight loss program. A goal setting session as you get started will help you to understand where you are headed when you’re in the middle of your program. Your goals should not only be the basic things like “I plan to lose five pounds,” they should also be far more specific. For example, make sure you plan includes the number of minutes you intend to exercise each week as well as what you will do to achieve each goal. If your biggest goal is a number of pounds, outline the things you will do to reach that goal, look at the problems that might crop up as you attempt to meet that goal, and think about how you will face those problems as they come up.

The second good way to help bolster your motivation during your weight loss program is to change your method of thinking. Staying motivated means becoming an optimist, even if it is not in your normal nature. Studies show that what you think truly changes the way you do things. For example, if you are depressed, all of your actions will reflect that. You will not be as productive at any of your tasks as a direct result of your depressive thoughts. If you want to stay with your weight loss program, think positive thoughts. Think about how much good you are doing for your body as you exercise each day. When you eat healthier foods, imagine your heart thanking you. You will derive some great motivation just by thinking happy thoughts.

The third way to stay motivated as you fight to meet your weight loss goals is to vary your routines. Your mind is quite likely to get bored if your weight loss program never varies. If you have to eat the same foods all of the time, or if you are required to stick with the same exercise program on a regular basis, you may find yourself completely uninterested in what you are doing. As a result, you are far more likely to leave the program for something that keeps you interested in whether that means going back to your fast food habits or finding a new favorite television show while you should be exercising. The best way to prevent this is to start a different exercise program that you might enjoy every few months. Moreover, to keep from being bored with your diet, buy some new healthy living cookbooks or search internet recipe sites for dishes to make that fit in with your weight loss program. This can help to keep you within your calorie limits without boring you.

Making a list of the positive aspects of your life from lost weight will also help you to stay motivated during your diet. What about your life will change when you’ve lost the weight? Will you be able to drop a prescription because you’ve become healthier? Will you have a better self-image because you can finally fit into that dress you’ve been admiring? Whatever will change about your life, list it. Post the list where you can see it on a regular basis. Remind yourself of the great benefits related to your weight loss, and you will feel better about your program.

The final way to stay motivated while you are trying to lose weight is to offer yourself a rewards program. People need rewards in all aspects of life. For example, we go to work so we can get a reward – a paycheck. If we get that reward, we get other rewards – homes, cars, clothes, and entertainment. This rewards style motivational program should carry over to your diet. If you meet your exercise goal all week, buy that new album you’ve been reading reviews of. If you stay within your calorie limits, go see a movie on Saturday afternoon (just be sure to take some dried fruit or some other healthy snack). Little rewards along the way will help keep you motivated.

Keeping your level of motivation high during your next diet will help you to lose the weight.

Want to add some significant health benefits to your diet? Try a handful of walnuts each day. Yes, nuts are making a comeback as a powerful category of health foods and walnuts are leading the pack. Even the FDA allows specific health claims for walnuts as part of a heart healthy diet. Research shows that eating 1 ounce of walnuts (about 14 nuts) may reduce the risk of heart disease. This is because walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to help protect people from heart disease.

In September of 2002, the Food Nutrition Board of the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine released dietary recommendations that people must include omega-3 fatty acids daily since it is not produced in the body. The recommendation is for 1.6 and 1.1 grams per day for men and women and one ounce of walnuts is all that is needed to meet these needs.

California’s Loma Linda University in 1993 was the first to discover the heart healthy benefits of walnuts. They found that consuming walnuts in a controlled diet reduced LDL (bad) cholesterol and overall heart disease risk more than the Step One Diet recommended by the American Heart Association. Several studies since that time have confirmed similar findings. Research has also shown that foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids can reduce blood pressure, arterial inflammation, and the stickiness of platelets. Omega-3 fatty acids are also found to be helpful as a mood supporter for people with anxiety and depression. According to Universities of Minnesota and Oslo, walnuts are cited as the largest single source of antioxidants, next to rose hips.

Ok, so we can see how they are good for us but what about all of those calories and fat? Will they make us gain weight? The answer is no. Although walnuts do have a lot of fat it is a good source of fat that is protective for the heart. As for weight gain, they do pack some calories but researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard School of Public Health found three times as many people trying to lose weight were able to stick to a plan that contained nuts, and peanut butter versus the traditional low fat diet. As long as you watch your portion sizes and overall calories, a handful of nuts each day may actually promote weight loss. The fat, protein, and fiber in nuts help you to feel full longer so you eat less during the day.

You don’t have to break out the cookbooks to add walnuts to your diet, just eat them straight from the bag. You can add them to cereal, yogurt, and salads or just snack on them solo. If you want to get really creative you can find recipes that include walnuts as well. To keep your walnuts fresh, store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months or for a year in your freezer.

How many of us want to lose weight fast? Your stomach is about the size of a balled up fist, but it can stretch. This is a good thing, a preventative measure, but we ought not take advantage of our “stretchable” stomach and eat more than we should. This, of course, keeps us from losing weight fast. Taking a few steps to properly notice and read food labels will prove to be a priceless investment in the health and happiness of you and your family, and is a key in fast and permanent weight loss.

Food labels are provided so you may clearly understand the various amounts and differing types of nutrients provided in each item. Usually, food labels contain the information on saturated fat, sodium, total fat, fiber, and cholesterol “per serving.”

The problem is that reading these labels can be like reading a foreign language. What do those numbers mean? How do they affect your diet? Perhaps this article can help make sense of reading and understanding food labels.

1. What is Your Serving Size? The “serving size” is the primary item you will see on a food label, and one worth paying close attention to. It’s quite simple: The amount of servings stated on the food label refers to the recommend quantity of this item you should consume in a given setting. Just because you only scoop out one heap of mashed potatoes on your plate, doesn’t mean you’ve only had one serving. After all, you could have a really big spoon, and a really big spoon could equal 2 or 3 servings!

Serving size determines a number of factors. For one, it determines the amount of nutrients that enters the body. This means that if you will follow the recommended serving size strictly as written on the label, you will obtain the same amount of nutrients according to the serving size listed.

However, if you eat everything (whether it be the whole pack, the whole can, or just two extra large scoops), and the food label says that each pack, can, or “scoop” is equivalent to 4 servings, then you have to multiply everything else on the label by 4, as the figures on the food label are only referring to one individual serving.

In other words, if one serving contains 250 calories, and you technically eat 4 servings, then you’ve actually eaten 1,000 calories.

2. So Very Nutritious One of the more common parts of a food label is the list of nutrients. This list outlines the nutritional claims of a particular product, which are most commonly based on the 2,500 calorie diets and the 2,000 recommended dietary allowances.

The “% daily value” is based on how large or small a percentage any one serving size of this item fulfills of the recommended daily allowance. This may sound complicated, but once you get the hang of it, it is a breeze!

3. What Did You Say I Was Eating Again? Have you ever wondered what exactly was in the food you eat? Sometimes this can be a scary exercise. There is a section of the food label dedicated to ingredients. This refers to the list of ingredients used to manufacture the product. The listing is usually arranged from the main ingredients, that have the greater amount by weight, up to the smallest quantity. This simply means that the actual item consists mainly of the fist ingredient listed and the least of the last ingredient listed.

4. Flexing Of The Labels Lastly, there is the label claim. This refers to the kinds of nutritional claims of a particular food item. For instance, if an item says it is sodium-free, it has less than 5 milligrams per serving. Not exactly “sodium- free”, but as close as you can get. Also, a low fat item actually contains 3 grams of fat or less.

Although we tried out best, we can make no guarantees about the “not boring you to tears” part. Let’s face it, reading food labels can be very tedious, confusing, and boring. It just takes a little practice. But once you understand the importance, along with a little trial and error, you’ll be a label reading pro, and you and those you love will all the better for it!

Thanks for reading my article. I hope it helped you in some small way! See you on Facebook!

Not seeing anymore weight loss results? Could it be that the exercises are getting boring and your body is not having any reaction to it. How about separating these exercises in different categories. It will be a good idea to pick from a different group for each workout session. This way, it will be less boring and your different muscle groups and cardiovascular system can be used.

Aerobic exercises cause oxygen to be delivered to the tissues of your body. When done over an extended period of time, it helps to remove waste. This is why people who do aerobics have skin that glows. Aerobic exercise include brisk walking, aerobic classes, running, jogging, dancing.

Cardio exercises help you to burn fat from your body. Remember fat burning only occurs after the 20-minute mark in a workout. Cardio exercises include using equipments like rowing machines, step machines, stationary bikes, treadmills, elliptical trainers, etc.

There are other forms of exercises. Yoga is a relaxing and good way of strengthening your muscles. It calms the mind, removes toxics from your body, and increases flexibility. Endurance exercises like weights will help you gain muscles. Be sure to take in sufficient protein in order to build up muscles.

Make Exercise Part of Your Life

Consider investing in equipment. Getting one doesn’t mean you have to burn a hole in your pocket. Check out online auction sites, classifieds, sales, and second-hand fitness stores. Some equipment doesn’t cost much, like resistance bands, skipping ropes, small weights, or an exercise ball. You can start off small first. Stick to tried-and-tested types of equipment, like stationary bikes and treadmills. It may be tempted to purchase a new type of equipment shown on commercials, but it might not be a good bet.

Join a Fitness Center

Gyms are popping up everywhere. Nowadays, fitness centers offer a trial period and let its members bring in guests to try out the facilities. They offer many classes, like combat exercises, aerobics, yoga, body conditioning, and even belly dancing! Some offer steam baths, on top of a big gym with various equipments for weight-lifting and toning your body. If you can, find a friend who is already a member and join her for one of the classes first.

Exercises for a rainy day

You can choose to work out at home. Don’t let the weather be an excuse to skip a session. Rent videos for yoga, aerobics, or for a bit of fun, try exotic dancing. Push-ups and sit-ups are good too.

Hope you enjoyed these 3 tips to and may your love handles be replaced with a six pack abs soon.