Official Weight Loss Club Thread

[Muffie's Mom]

Increase Your Chances of Losing Weight

It is a fact that our message board users lost more weight and stayed with the program longer than non-posters.

Have you thought about using the message board (thread on Lifestyle Changes), but you’re just not sure how they might help you?

There are a number of benefits to participating on the message board, which serve as a great source of motivation and support as you work toward your goals.

You’ll meet people going through similar experiences who help one another remain accountable and stay on-track.

Just not sure whether you’re the “message board type”?

Take a look and see what they have to offer—you might be surprised!

The board is also a great place to get advice from other people.

Do you feel like you’re doing everything right but not seeing results?

Are you having trouble getting motivated?

Are you bored with your current workout routine?

Not sure how to use a feature on the site?

These are all issues the experts (and fellow members) can help with!

As effective as they are, the message board can be intimidating to a new user.

Here are some tips to help you get started and make the best of your experience:

Take your time looking through the thread.

Everyone here is welcoming and wants to help one another, so feel free to pop into the thread and say hello!

Personalize your experience.

Set up your member profile (including a picture) to help people get to know you.

Your picture could be of you or anything else that represents who you are.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help!

We’re glad you are here and hope to see you on the message board soon!

[Muffie's Mom]

Lessons for All Walks of Life - Basics for Success

If there were dreams for sale, what would you try to buy? No matter what you "purchase" – find a better job, run a marathon, lose ten pounds, learn a new skill – motivation usually makes the difference between success and failure, misery and fun.

These tips will help get you started:

Surround yourself with friends who think positive.

The beliefs and attitudes of your peers are contagious.

Learn from your mistakes.

All things of value are created from experience, including failure.

Mistakes can give you insight into yourself and others.

Don’t ever be afraid to go for it.

Have a plan B and C and D.

What will you do if things don’t work?

With an alternative plan, you can relax knowing even in the worst case you’ll be prepared.

Write down good ideas the moment you think of them.

Keep a notepad handy.

We all get good ideas, but only a few of us save them and more importantly, execute them.

Be realistic about your work habits and needs.

Are you a morning person?

Did you get that daily vegetable thing down yet?

Do you need quiet?

Do you prefer being a team member or going solo?

Do you have the time?

Can you make the time?

Bribe yourself.

So what are you going to do just for you as a reward when you have reached your goal?

Go a little crazy here.

Use your dreams.

Right before you go to sleep, think about your goals.

Get a strong mental image in your mind.

If you do this night after night, your dreams will offer insights and you will sleep better.

Wallow in your greatness.

Make a list of everything you’ve accomplished, big and small, in the past day.

Then do this for the past week.

You’ll realize you are a very motivated person who does hundreds of small things every day.

You simply forgot, or worse, took them for granted.

Realizing what a motivated person you are already will inspire you to take on bigger tasks.

Set priorities.

If you don’t make a plan, then you plan to fail.

Do you actually spend time working on reaching your goals?

Or do you let everything and everyone take precedence.

Balance all your demands as best you can.

Stop sabotaging yourself.

If you don’t feel motivated, maybe it’s because you have an internal conflict. What would you lose if you reached your goal?

For example, if you took a new job, would your friends be envious?

If you slimmed down, would you lose an excuse for being unhappy?

Be sure that you own your dream and you really want everything that comes with it.

Don’t do something to please someone else.

Make it fun to get started.

Do you like looking at the big picture first or the details?

Do you like seeking advice from "coaches" or friends?

Do you like to start with what’s familiar or do you prefer novelty?

Organize the tasks to fit your lifestyle .

Get rid of negative self-talk.

And those coffee mugs that say "Life’s a bitch."

Some of the things we say to ourselves we would never say to our best friend.

Why then is it part of our internal chatter?

Catch your children’s enthusiasm.

Children may not have all the skills but they have excitement and no fear of failure.

Approach your goals with a childlike spirit.

This kind of energy could make a difference.

Special note:

if you don’t have any children, borrow some for a day.

Tell a friend you’re starting the project.

This type of disclosure to a peer may help keep you accountable to yourself.

Make up some of your own motivation tips – and use them.

[Muffie's Mom]

How to lose weight naturally

Women form the majority of people dieting, joining a slimming club, trying the next 'quick-fix' solution to weight problems and they are the main purchasers of low-calorie and low-fat foods. It's also a fact that four times as many women as men will be diagnosed with an underactive thyroid which can affect your weight.

Your ideal weight

How do you know what your ideal weight should be?

According to the height and weight tables formulated for insurance companies, you'd think that everyone of the same height should weigh the same.

Obviously this isn't the case!

All of us are built differently, and our body shape can make a big difference to the amount of weight we can carry healthily.

Furthermore, fit women will always look slimmer and weigh more, largely because muscle weighs so much more than fat.

It's even possible to be a normal weight but with unacceptably high levels of body fat.

It became clear that another method of assessing weight needed to be developed, and this is where the body mass index comes in.

Body Mass Index

If you want a rough idea of your 'ideal' weight then the Body Mass Index (BMI) is the best indicator.

It tries to identify the percentage of body tissue that is actually fat.

It does have disadvantages in that it cannot allow for variations in fat, bone, organs and muscle, but it provides a broader range for what is considered to be normal.

Your BMI is the ratio of your height to your weight and is calculated as follows:

BMI = your weight in kg divided by the square of your height in metres.

For example if my weight is 63.5 kg (10 stone) and my height is 1.68m (5ft 6in), my BMI is 63.5 - 1.68 x 1.68 = 22.5


What does your BMI mean?

Under 20: underweight
20-25 normal
25-30 overweight
30-40 obese
Over 40: dangerously obese

One of the best and most convenient ways to measure body fat is to use an electronic machine that uses bioelectrical impedance. Sound confusing?

It's simple to understand.

An electric current is passed though the body and the machine measures how long it takes for the current to come out, providing you with a measurement of your total body fat.

Lean tissue is a much better conductor of electricity than fatty tissue, so that machine is able to measure the percentage of fat in the body.

These are available for use in the home, look just like ordinary scales and can also be used to weigh yourself normally.

The causes of weight gain

There are many reasons why you may gain weight and the cause may not be one factor but a combination of a number of different ones.

Dieting

Yes, one of the main causes of weight gain is dieting.

Dieting makes you fat.

As you reduce your food intake to lose weight, your body put itself on 'famine alert'.

It gets the impression that food is scarce and therefore it slows down your metabolism to get the best use of the small amount of food it is receiving.

When you say you want to lose weight, what you actually want to lose is fat.

If you lose weight rapidly, almost 25 percent of that weight loss can be made up of water, muscle and other lean tissue.

The reason for this is that your body is actually programmed to hold on to fat.

So in times of what your body considers to be a 'famine', it will actually go as far as breaking down muscle and losing water in order to hold on to its fat reserves.

Faddy diets suggest that you can lose up to 10 pounds in a week, but remember this: it is physically impossible to lose more than 900g (2lb) of body fat in a week.

Furthermore, if you lose weight quickly by restricting your intake and then go back to eating normally, a much higher percentage of the food you eat is laid down as fat.

Why? Because your body wants to build up extra fat stores, in case this type of famine occurs again.

There's also the question of metabolism.

When you crash diet, your metabolism slows down to conserve energy and make the most out of the small amounts you are eating.

What happens when you go back to eating normally? Well, everything you eat is being dealt with at a much slower rate and more fat is stored.

Too much food and not enough exercise

This is the obvious reason, because if you eat more than you burn off then you are going to gain weight.

The idea has been that if the number of calories going into your body is less than the calories being used up by bodily activity and exercise, then you will lose weight.

Nowadays, we know that the type of calories is also an important factor in this equation.

In other words, you need to consider what type of calories you are eating - whether they come in the form of fat, carbohydrates or protein.

The type of food you eat

Researchers have found that fat and thin people can eat roughly the same number of calories, but it seems that the type of food they are eating is different.

There is a very popular theory that goes something like: too much fat makes you fat.

This may be right in principle (large amounts of saturated fat in the diet are not healthy), but it's important to remember that some fats are absolutely essential, hence their name: essential fatty acids.

The result of this theory is that women go on low-fat and no-fat diets, which are dangerous.

Furthermore, no-fat and low-fat food tends to be high in sugar and salt, which is required to make it palatable.

This is the type of thing that makes you fat. In fact, it's sugar and other foods that are 'fast-releasing' that will encourage weight gain, and here's why:

The speed with which a food increases blood sugar (in other words, whether it is 'fast-releasing' or 'slow-releasing') determines whether or not it will cause you to gain weight.

If your blood sugar levels rise very quickly your body has to secrete more insulin in order to control it.

Every time you eat, your body has a choice: it can either burn that food as energy or store it as fat.

Researchers have found that high insulin levels cause you not only to change your food into fat, but they also prevent your body from breaking down previously stored fat.

These fast-releasing foods include anything that contains sugar and refined flour, such as cakes, biscuits, pastries, and other 'treats'.

If you crave sweet or starchy foods, feel tired during the afternoon, light-headed, dizzy or shaky if you miss a meal or wake up feeling tired after a full night's sleep, then your blood sugar levels are probably fluctuating too much.

[Muffie's Mom]

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT NATURALLY

Underactive thyroid

An underactive thyroid can be at the root of gradual weight gain, and it should be checked by your doctor.

Nutritional deficiencies

Food can be converted into fat or energy.

You can either store what you eat, which means you will probably put on weight, or you can use it for energy.

Whether food is burned or stored is determined by a number of chemical reactions that take place in your body.

These are activated by enzymes, which are, in turn, dependent upon vitamins and minerals.

Therefore, if you are deficient by even a small amount in certain vitamins and minerals, you will gain weight.

Fortunately there are now some very good tests that can check for these deficiencies.

Prescription drugs

Weight gain is often linked to certain medication, such as HRT, the contraceptive pill and steroids.

Some antidepressants can also cause increased appetite and weight gain.

If you have to take medication, discuss your weight problem with your doctor and ask if there are alternative drugs you could take. Never stop taking any drug without the advice and supervision of your doctor.

Food allergies

Could a food allergy be making it difficult for you to lose weight?

A good clue would be whether you crave a particular food that you eat frequently.

Once a food allergy exists the food becomes mildly addictive and you can feel compelled to eat it.

If you are allergic to a food, your body can react by storing it away instead of using it for energy.

If you eat a lot of foods to which you are allergic, there will undoubtedly be weight gain.

There are two types of allergic reactions.

Type A (classic allergy).

In this type of allergy, you will experience a reaction immediately after contact with an allergen (such as shellfish or peanuts, for example).

Type B (delayed allergy or intolerance).

Here the reaction can take place between one hour or three days after ingesting the food.

Symptoms such as weight gain, bloating, water retention, fatigue, aching joints and headaches can all be due to a Type B allergy.

It is now possible to have a blood test that analyses the effects of 217 different foods and food additives.

This test measures the release of certain chemicals that are responsible for the symptoms of food intolerance.

Once you find out what foods are causing problems, they can be avoided for a short period of time.

Unlike the foods implicated in Type A allergies, you do not have to avoid these foods indefinitely.

Giving your body a rest from them, and then ensuring that they don't make up too large a percentage of your diet will probably do the trick.


Yeast overgrowth

Do you suffer from any of these symptoms?

sugar cravings

cravings for foods such as wine, bread, cheese

migraines or headaches

chronic thrush

inability to lose weight

tired all the time

often feel spaced out

feel drunk on a small amount of alcohol

feel bloated and have flatulence

If these symptoms seem familiar, then you may have a yeast overgrowth such as candida albicans.

We all have the yeast' candida' in our gut, but is usually controlled by other bacteria.

When the immune system is compromised (because of illness, for example, or a poor diet), the proportion of 'healthy' bacteria can be altered, causing candida to grow out of control

This overgrowth can be also be caused by overuse of antibiotics, the contraceptive pill, HRT, steroids and stress.

If you would like to know more about this test click Stool Test
(If you are experiencing chronic thrush, then you should always see your doctor as this can be a symptom of diabetes and needs to be ruled out.)


What are your choices?

There is no 'quick fix' to losing weight even though drugs and surgery are often offered.

It is easy to try one diet after another but this will never be a long-term solution.

The only way to lose weight safely and to keep it off is to change your eating habits, and then ensure that those new, healthier eating habits become a way of life.

There's no point in adopting strict measure that prevent you from living life to the fullest.

After all, food is there to be enjoyed.

You need a way of eating where you can eat out with friends, socialize without having to forego the meal.

Real and permanent fat loss (not just weight loss) has to be gradual and it takes time.

The important thing, however, is that this approach works, and your weight will stay off.


Dietary changes

Follow the recommendations from the nutrition section.

In particular, reduce or eliminate foods made with white flour or white sugar, and avoid refined foods where the fibre and goodness has been stripped away.

These are 'fast-releasing', and can have detrimental effects on blood sugar and then your weight.

Cut out all sugar and artificial sweeteners.

You will have to become a label reader because sugar can be added to almost anything, including savoury foods such as baked beans, tomato ketchup, and even bread.

In order to make sugar content appear lower, manufacturers list all the different types of sugar separately (look for words ending in -ose, such as fructose, glucose and sucrose).

Don't be fooled. They all have relatively the same effects on our bodies.

A very simple tip to help with weight loss is to chew well and to take your time when eating.

It takes your brain 20 minutes to register that you are full, so if you eat more slowly, you will actually want to eat less.


When you eat matters

What is important to know is that skipping meals can slow down your metabolism because your body thinks there is a shortage of food.

It's better to eat little and often, to keep your blood sugar levels (and your metabolism) steady.

[Muffie's Mom]

Obesity. Is it an eating disorder?

Like most things, obesity is a complex phenomenon about which it is dangerous to generalize. What is true for one person is not necessarily true for the next. Nevertheless, we shall try to make sense out of conflicting theories and give answers to people who struggle to maintain self-esteem in a world that seems to be obsessed with youth, thinness, and the perfect body -- whatever that may be.

What is obesity?

A person with anorexia nervosa may define obesity as a weight gain of five pounds, from 89 to 94. A grandmother past menopause may call herself obese because she carries 165 pounds on her large-boned, muscular body. A modeling agency may talk about obesity when one of the women on the payroll puts 135 pounds on her 5'10" body.

None of these women is clinically obese. The anorexic and the model are underweight.

Men are split in their personal definitions of obesity. Many are just as concerned about overweight as women are, while others, frankly rotund, believe they are just fine, perfectly healthy, and universally attractive to potential romantic partners.

Clinically, obesity is described in terms of Body Mass Index, a more accurate measure than weight alone. A healthy BMI is 19-24. Simple overweight is a BMI of 25-29. Obesity begins at a BMI of 30. Morbid obesity begins at a BMI of 40. Super morbid obesity begins at a BMI of 50, and super-super morbid obesity begins at a BMI above 60.

(To learn your Body Mass Index, use the simple calculator provided by the Obesity Education Initiative.)

How many Americans are obese?

A 1999 study reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that sixty-one percent of adults in the U.S. are overweight. A breakdown of that figure shows that thirty-five percent are slightly or moderately overweight, and that twenty-six percent are obese or super obese. In addition, about thirteen percent of U.S. children are overweight or obese.

Another government study published in October, 2002 indicates that thirty-one percent of the American public is obese. It further suggested that fifteen percent of young people between 6 and 19 are seriously overweight. Even ten percent of toddlers between 2 and 5 are seriously overweight. The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association (10/9/02).

A more recent study indicates that about 31 percent of American teenage girls and 28 percent of boys are somewhat overweight. An additional 15 percent of American teen girls and nearly 14 percent of teen boys are obese. (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, January 2004) Causes include fast food, snacks with high sugar and fat content, use of automobiles, increased time spent in front of TV sets and computers, and a generally more sedentary lifestyles than slimmer peers.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is increasing in all major socioeconomic and ethnic groups, including children and younger adults between 25 and 44. (David Sacher, U.S. Surgeon General, December 2001)


What are the causes of obesity?

Too many calories.

Consumption of more calories than are burned through work, exercise, and other activities will lead to overweight and obesity.

In the late 1990s, Americans ate about 340 more calories per day than they did in the mid-1980s, and about 500 more calories per day than in the 1950s.

The extra food was often some kind of refined carbohydrate (white flour or sugar) combined with fat, saturated fat in the unhealthiest cases. (University of California Wellness Letter, January 2002)

Too much good food, too little activity.

A major factor leading to obesity is the ready availability in developed countries of inexpensive, tasty, food in combination with a sedentary lifestyle, including desk jobs and time spent watching TV, using a computer, and other "activities" that require little or no physical effort.

Restaurant food and fast food.

People who can afford to do so are eating out more often than ever before. Restaurants and fast food outlets offer much larger portions than they used to. The amount of home cooked food eaten with family around the dining room table has decreased, but portion size has increased. Food prepared at home offers the easiest way to make healthy choices about fat, sugar, salt, and so forth, but in today's world, convenience often wins out over a home cooked meal.

Food used as medicine.

Some people attempt to numb or escape emotional pain and distress by eating.

For various emotional reasons, including loneliness, boredom and depression, some people eat when their bodies do not need food, but the "fix" is only temporary so they continue to consume food.

Look elsewhere on our Web site for more information about compulsive eating or binge eating disorder.

Diets and prolonged caloric restriction.

When people try to make the body thinner than it is genetically programmed to be, it retaliates by becoming ravenous and vulnerable to binge eating.

Ninety-eight percent of dieters regain all the weight they manage to lose, plus about 10 extra pounds, within five years.

Yo-yo dieting repeats the cycle of weight loss followed by ever-increasing weight gain when hunger ultimately wins.

Medical problems.

Some individuals are obese because of biological problems such as malfunctioning thyroid or pituitary glands.

Others may have physical problems or disabilities that severely limit or prohibit exercise, strenuous work, and other physical activity.

Genes.

Studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine (March 2003) indicate that certain genetic factors are important and powerful underlying contributors to the development of obesity and binge eating.

Too much stress.

New research suggests that there is a biological link between stress and the drive to eat.

Comfort foods -- high in sugar, fat, and calories -- seem to calm the body's response to chronic stress.

In addition, hormones produced when one is under stress encourage the formation of fat cells.

In developed countries, life tends to be competitive, fast paced, demanding, and stressful.

There may be a link between so-called modern life and increasing rates of overeating, overweight, and obesity.

(Study to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Author is Mary Dallman, professor of physiology, University of California at San Francisco [2003].)

Too little sleep.

Recent studies suggest that sleep deprivation (anything less than 7-9 hours per night) can contribute to obesity.

Bodies that aren't rested produce less than optimal amounts of leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite, leading to increased cravings for candy, other sweets, and salty carbohydrates like chips and french fries.
(Source: David Rapoport, MD, director of the sleep program at New York University School of Medicine. Reported in Health on Parade; August 28, 2005)

Researchers believe that in most cases obesity represents a complex relationship between genetic, psychological, physiological, metabolic, socioeconomic, lifestyle, and cultural factors.



Miscellaneous factors associated with obesity
The children of overweight parents are more likely to be overweight than the children of thin parents.

If friends and family members offer comfort in the form of food, people will learn to deal with painful feelings by eating instead of using more effective coping strategies.

Poor folks tend to be fatter than the affluent.

People living in groups that frequently celebrate and socialize at get-togethers featuring tempting food tend to be fatter than those who do not.

Even artificial sweeteners are implicated in weight gain and obesity. In a recent study at Purdue University, rats that were given artificial sweeteners ate three times as many calories as rats given real sugar. Researchers hypothesize that the engineered sweeteners interfere with the body's natural ability to regulate food and caloric intake based on the sweetness of different foods. ("A Pavlovian Approach to the Problem of Obesity," International Journal of Obesity, July 2004)

Some individuals eat great quantities of food, exercise moderately or not at all, and never seem to gain weight. Others walk past a bakery and gain ten pounds. No two people are the same, and no two obesity profiles are identical.

[Muffie's Mom]

OBESITY. IS IT AN EATING DISORDER?

Health risks associated with obesity

Hypertension. (High blood pressure, a contributor to stroke and heart disease).

Overweight young people (20-45) have a six times higher incidence of hypertension than do peers who are normal weight. Older obese folks seem to be at even greater risk.

Diabetes.

Even moderate obesity, especially when the extra fat is carried in the stomach and abdomen (instead of hips and thighs), increases the risk of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) ten-fold.

Cardiovascular disease.

Both the degree of obesity and the location of fat deposits contribute to the potential for heart and blood vessel disease.

The fatter the person, the higher the risk.

People who carry extra weight in the trunk area (stomach and abdomen) are at higher risk than folks who store fat in hips and thighs.

Cancer.

Obese men are at elevated risk of developing cancer of the colon, rectum, and prostate.

Obese women are at elevated risk of developing cancer of the breast, cervix, uterus, and ovaries.

Endocrine problems.

Irregular menstrual cycles; other menstrual problems; and pregnancy complications, especially toxemia and hypertension.

Hormone imbalances of various kinds may contribute to, or be the result of, obesity.

Gall bladder disease.

Obese women 20-30 years old are at six times greater risk of gall bladder disease than their normal-weight peers.

By age 60 almost one-third of obese women will have developed gall bladder disease.

Lung and breathing problems.

Obesity can impede the muscles that inflate and ventilate the lungs.

Obese individuals may have to work hard to get enough air and over time may not be able to take in the oxygen needed by all body cells.

Arthritis.

Obese individuals are at increased risk of developing gouty arthritis, a distressingly painful disorder.

In addition, excess weight stresses vulnerable joints, in particular the back and knee, which may develop osteoarthritis, a mechanical rather than metabolic problem.

A recent (2005) survey published by the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society found that even if people escape arthritis, increased rates of foot and ankle pain are found in individuals who are overweight and obese.

Premature death.

Research indicates that obese people die sooner than their normal weight peers.


Other problems associated with obesity

Sleep disturbances.

Especially sleep apnea (breathing stops for several seconds; then the person rouses, gasps, and struggles to catch breath.

Episodes may continue through the night.)

Sleep apnea can lead to high blood pressure, other cardiovascular disease, memory loss, weight gain, impotency, and headaches.

It can also contribute to impaired job performance and automobile accidents.

Fewer opportunities to play.

Inability to fully participate in recreational activities

Fewer opportunities to play sports. Inability to compete effectively in sports and athletics; being picked last, or not at all, for team sports

Career limitations. Inability to perform some jobs; reduced job opportunities

Bias. Prejudice and discrimination in school and the workplace

Social limitations. Restricted social opportunities

Relationship problems. Restricted opportunities for romantic relationships.

Low self-esteem and body-image problems.

Some related to prejudice and discrimination encountered in school, at work, and in social settings.

Others stemming from one's perception of how far one is from the culturally accepted ideal body type.


One important piece of good news

Obese people do not seem to have any more psychological problems, or more serious psychological problems, than folks of normal weight.

Many of the problems they do have are a consequence of anti-fat prejudice and discrimination.

Some studies have suggested that many obese individuals are less anxious and depressed than normal-weight peers.


What can be done about obesity?

The simplistic answer: eat less and exercise more.

A more helpful answer:

Work with a physician to identify and correct any underlying medical, biological, or metabolic problems contributing to excess weight.

Check with a counselor to see if you are using food for a purpose that food cannot fulfill: love, comfort, escape, an antidote to boredom, and so forth.

If you are self-medicating with food, work with the therapist to come up with better ways of managing stress, painful emotions, and problems.

Don't ever diet or restrict calories when you are legitimately hungry.

If you do, you will set yourself up to binge later.

Eat normal, reasonable, moderate amounts of a wide range of healthy foods.

Portion control and exercise are probably the two most important factors in a successful weight management program.

Emphasize fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Don't cut out sweets and fats completely.

If you do, you will crave and sneak them.

Besides, your body needs the nutrients found in fats and carbohydrates.

Just don't overdo it.

Eat a nutritious breakfast every morning.

Ninety-six percent of everyone who loses weight and keeps it off eats breakfast every day, according to Ann Yelmokas McDermot, a nutrition scientist at Tufts University (USDA Nutrition Research Center).

If you skip breakfast, later in the day when your blood sugar drops and fatigue and cravings build, you will be vulnerable to binge eating or overeating.

Get enough sleep every night.

Scientists have found that sleep deprivation increases levels of a hunger hormone and decreases levels of another hormone that makes you feel full.

The combined effect may lead to overeating and weight gain. (Two studies are summarized in USA Today, December 7, 2004, page 1-D)

Very important:

Exercise consistently.

Get regular amounts of moderate, self-loving exercise.

Start with a few minutes of walking and slowly extend the time until you can do 30-60 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week.

If you haven't exercised in a while, be sure to check with your doctor first.

Find a support system.

Friends are great; so are support groups.

Be gentle and realistic with yourself.

If everyone in your family is round and sturdy, chances are you will never be a super model -- but you can be happy and healthy.

Also remember that healthy, realistic weight loss takes time.

Losing one-half to one pound a week isn't very glamorous, but if you go any faster, you will make yourself hungry, and hunger will inevitably make you overeat.

What about diet pills, other weight-loss products, and weight loss programs?

Surgery?

Over-the-counter products.

There are many items in drugstores and health food stores that claim to help people lose weight.

None seem to be both safe and effective.

The ones that are effective are only minimally so, and they have significant side effects and health risks.

The ones that are safe don't seem to be very effective in helping folks lose weight and keep it off.

Think about it: if there really were a safe and effective weight loss product available over the counter, everyone in the Western world would be slim.

Our best advice: save your money.

Prescription medications.

Surgery.

For some obese people, gastric bypass (and stomach stapling and related techniques) may be a lifesaving measure.

The procedure is major surgery and is associated with risk of significant side effects and complications.

For this reason it should be considered a treatment of last resort.

Also, to be successful, the patient must cooperate with an entirely new way of eating and managing food.

If nothing else has worked for you, and if your medical situation warrants such a drastic approach, talk to your physician to see if you might be a candidate for this procedure.

Above all else, nothing will beat switching to a healthy way of eating and exercising. If you haven't started doing this, get with the program and do it now!*!

[Muffie's Mom]

Originally Posted by yorkitails

Hi I would love to get involved here. I have lost about ten pounds since the first of the year and hope to lose about 25 more. This looks like good incentive.

This person was banned last week and now coming back with a new user name and has been banned again with what I understand from Admin.

[Muffie's Mom]

WATER

#1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
(Likely applies to half the world population.)


#2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.


#3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as 3%.


#4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.


#5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.


#6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.


#7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.


#8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%., and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water
you should drink every day?


COKE


#1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.


#2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.


#3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.


#4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.


#5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.


#6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Apply a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.


#7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a
sumptuous brown gravy.


#8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of Coke into the load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your
windshield.


FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

#1. the active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase of osteoporosis.


#2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial trucks must use a hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.


#3. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean engines of the trucks for about 20 years!


Now the question is, would you like a glass of water or Coke?

[teri88]

Well, Happy Sunday all! I reached my first 15 pounds, lost 1 pound this week! Now I'm 200. Forget i said that, it's depressing to think of that number. So....I'll think about it tomorrow!

[Muffie's Mom]

YEAAAAAAA TERI! Good for you! That's exactly what we want - slow and easy so it'll stay off!

Keep up the good work, girl!

We're all so proud of you.

[Jaspermom]

Hey, all!

Sorry I was incommunicado for the past four days! I was in Florida getting my open water scuba certification!! (will post details on my scub thread http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...ighlight=scuba in an hour or so, so check that out!)

Hope everyone is having a healthy eating week so far!! I understand I have a LOT to catch up on, so I will be back-tracking through the thread and getting myself back in order before flying to Vermont on Thursday for a week!! (yeah, I know, my head is SPINNING!! I have a wedding to go to at home). Hang in there with Pat, and PLEASE get me your Sunday weight ASAP so I can get the chart out this week before I go.

HUGS!

[Jaspermom]

Originally Posted by teri88

Well, Happy Sunday all! I reached my first 15 pounds, lost 1 pound this week! Now I'm 200. Forget i said that, it's depressing to think of that number. So....I'll think about it tomorrow!

Nicely DONE, my friend!! You are doing soooooo well!!! And just think, by this time next week you will probably be BELOW 200!!!!!!!! No more depression there, eh sweetie!!??

HUGS to you, girlie girl!! YOU ROCK!!

[Jaspermom]

Originally Posted by red98vett

Thanks Pat for all this good information !!

I'll share that last night I had Mexican food and FORCED myself to not feel guilty while I ate...but I sure do this morning !

We were celebrating - our big flooring job that is going on right now was on tv last night ! of course it was on the Spanish Station but hey...our Installers were tv stars yesterday and i just BET they did a wonderful job yesterday while they were on camera ...which helps ME in turn because happy people will go that extra mile.

Villette, that is SO COOL!!! Makes sense you ate Mexican after watching the Spanish station talk about your company!!! Congrats, girlfriend!! That is ever so cool!

[Jaspermom]

Pat for goodness sake, I was only gone four days and LOOK what you have DONE!! Wow!

Loads of research and posting ALL DONE ON YOUR BEHALF, Healthy Eating Club Members!!!

Are you reading? Are you DOING??? Are you LOSING????

I know some of you are, and I congratulate you!! If you are TRYING and not having much luck, PLEASE PM Pat or I for individual help! We are there for YOU!!

Pat, again my friend, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!!

[Muffie's Mom]

An Active Approach to Managing Menopause
Get Moving to Relieve Discomfort

You’ve heard the jokes and the horror stories. But often, faced with the onset of menopause, most of us don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Luckily, if you’re determined to stay fit—or get fit— there’s no time like perimenopause to begin a sensible physical regimen.

Physical activity, the most effective alternative therapy available for women suffering menopausal symptoms, allows women to manage both their bodies and emotions. When you exercise, your adrenal glands are stimulated to convert the male hormone androstenedione into estrogen. Just four 30-minute exercise sessions per week are enough to keep you "topped off" with estrogen.

Regular exercise can benefit you in a number of ways as you pass through menopause: strengthening your heart and bones, avoiding or minimizing weight gain, improving your mood and sense of overall well-being. It also reduces the duration and intensity of those infamous hot flashes. In a recent Swedish study, researchers found that postmenopausal women who exercised were able to handle menopause without Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT); in fact, some of them did not experience hot flashes at all. Other studies have found similar beneficial results, including mood elevation in pre-, peri-, and postmenopausal women. Indeed, studies have shown that regular physical activity benefits not only women going through natural menopause but also those on HRT.

On the other hand, being sedentary as you approach menopause opens you up to a host of potential problems. Sedentary women are far more prone to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity; they’re also more likely to suffer stiffness and chronic back pain, irregularity, poor circulation, shortness of breath, weak muscles, depression, and sleep disturbances. Walking, jogging, dancing, swimming, biking and other aerobic activities help circumvent these problems. What’s more, studies have shown that women engaging in aerobic activity or strength training have reduced mortality from cancer.

Being active will also help you keep osteoporosis at bay—thus lowering the risk of bone fractures in your later years—since bones diminish in size and strength if you’re inactive. Because exercise stimulates the cells that help generate new bone tissue, bone mass lost through disuse can be re-built with weight-bearing activity. In fact, even postmenopausal women can help preserve bone mass in their spine with regular exercise.

Physical activity also raises the level of endorphins in the blood, enhancing your mood and allowing you to respond positively in the face of stress. Partly the result of estrogen in a woman’s body, these "feel-good" biochemicals also help regulate body temperature—which in turn can diminish the frequency and intensity of hot flashes. In one study of postmenopausal women who were physically active, severe hot flashes and night sweats were only half as common.

Last, but certainly not least, regular exercise may allow you to maintain better mental agility by increasing the amount of oxygen delivered to the brain. A study comparing older women who were sedentary with older women who exercised regularly for four months, found that the active group processed information faster when tested. In addition, exercise may slow down the loss of dopamine, a neurotransmitter which helps prevent shaking and stiffness that come with old age.

What type of exercise routine should you plan if you’re gearing up for (or going through) menopause? Generally there are three components to a healthy routine: appropriate stretching exercises to improve and maintain flexibility, resistance training to delay loss of bone and muscle tissue, and aerobic activity that will strengthen your overall health and help you maintain a sensible weight.

The bottom line is that whether you crave solitude and independence on an early morning walk or an exercise class that’s always a social occasion, you’ll be much better prepared to soar through menopause if you’re taking care of the body you’re in. You may still have those flashes— but they may be warm rather than hot, and a lot easier to endure!