Over the last year, I’ve gotten into a regular 3-times/week minimum exercise routine that involves some resistance/weight training (only about 15-minutes 3X week on average) and at least 30-minutes of cardio with one session in the week at least 45-minutes. 

The cardio is not only to lose weight, but also promote heart health and keep my immune system humming along.

This did drop an initial 10-pounds the first month I started this routine, then about 5-more of that came back in the second month as the resistance training kicked in and my fat was replaced by muscle. 

One of the challenges though is that I did not change anything about my eating.  In fact it could be argued that over this winter I got into some bad habits of eating more before bed, reaching for carbs instead of alternative options and hitting the sweets a little too hard at times. 

So, what have I done over the last 12-days to knock off that stubporn 10-lbs – here are the simple weight loss tips I hope you can use to see similar results:

1. I increased the intensity of my normal exercise sessions.  Instead of doing 2-reps of the various resistance training machines, I did 3.  Instead of running 2Km – I ran 3.  Some weeks I even fit a fourth workout in which really does have a big impact on burning fat.

2. I ate less after dinner.  This is a big weakness for me…I’ve always hit the bread, toast, crackers and sweets pretty hard about 9 PM – even binging for an hour in front of the TV.  I didn’t completely eliminate the eating, instead I allowed myself to have 4 crackers with some Almond butter – ate them more consciously and slowly and felt more satisfied with far fewer calories.

3. I made sure to eat at least 50% of my total intake for the day made up of fruit and vegetables.  I thought this would be hard, but really it meant having a salad with every meal (fruit in the morning).  I still had sandwiches, pasta, meat and other foods for lunch and supper, I just made sure I had equal amounts of water-born foods to other foods…the funny thing was that I automatically ate less of the poor foods, but didn’t feel jipped. 

4. I made some other changes to re-focus on taking action in life…I find I eat more when I’m under stress, bored, or otherwise in bad humor.  By busying myself with my main goals, kids sports, working around the house, meditating and deep breathing – I found that food didn’t enter my head (or my mouth) nearly as often during the day.  After a few days the cravings got even less – I’m now at a place where they have all but gone at any time of day under any conditions. 

I have to say, the biggest benefit of applying these simple weight loss tips is not only the 10lbs I’ve lost, better muscle mass than I’ve ever had – but it is the ultimate feeling of control you get from knowing you can lead a healthy and happy life. 

We all know that the best way to accomplish weight loss is to combine eating healthy, cutting back on calories from fat and increasing our exercise as well as toning muscle to help improve our metabolism so we can burn even more fat.

Yet there are very few specific guidelines that help us understand how much activity we need to do in order to burn fat and really make a difference in the way we look and feel.

So, a good first target is to burn 400 calories at least 4-times a week – and here are some combinations that can get you there…

Assuming you are a 180-lb male, then you would have to…

• Bicycle at a leisurely pace for 1-hour, that will burn about 250 calories – pick up the pace or hit a course with some hills for half your ride and you will have easily burned your 400 calories
• Go and have a game of bowling for 1-hour and you will have reached half of your target – add to that another hour of moderate walking (30-minutes before work in the morning, and another 30-minutes at lunch or later at night) and you will have burned your extra 400 calories for the day
• Running is a great way to burn extra calories – a 5mph run for 30-minutes will burn about 280 calories, then you can add in a brisk walk, some Tai Chi, a quick game of tennis or 9-holes of golf to reach the 400 calories burned mark.

The point is that you can make weight loss fun – instaed of forcing yourself to run everday when you really don’t enjoy it (or you have gotten bored), then throw in other activities like walking, bowling, golf, tennis, or play some basketball. 

The more you vary your exercise routine, the simpler and more effective your quest to lose weight and keep it off will be.

Each time, the exercise of fast weight loss followed by an almost immediate rebound back to where I was before had me believing that I was destined to always be 20lbs heavier than where my ideal weight lay. 

It was like a pendulum – no matter what the weight loss method, I would end up back where I started. 

I don’t know about you, but feeling that you can’t lose weight – that you don’t have control over your own body is frustrating, demeaning, embarassing and more than a little hit on your own self confidence and self-esteem.

I remember late one night kicking myself over why, no matter what fat loss method I used  – whether it be dieting, exercise, diet pills or a combination of all 3 – there was no lasting ability to lose weight quick and keep it off.

That’s when it hit me…isn’t there a mental and emotional aspect to everything we do?

Just as you don’t work well at a job you hate, or no matter how hard you try, you can’t be great at a subject that you just don’t do well at school – weight management also includes a mental aspect – something that we don’t talk about very much.

That’s when I came across this Think Yourself Thin program, and within a few short weeks I had an amazing experience.

One of the biggest weaknesses I’ve had since as far back as I can remember is a tendancy to eat before I jump into bed at night – no matter what weight loss program I would try, I just couldn’t (and wouldn’t) break that bad habit. 

Within 2 weeks of following the Think Thin Program - I no longer craved foods before bed.

I was stunned!  For 35-years I have had to have toast, crackers, cookies, chips or some other “substantial” food before heading to bed – but now, suddenly I no longer craved that comfort food and within days began to lose weight quick. 

I’m happy to say I have lost 10 of the most stubborn pounds that I’ve been unable to shed in the last 6-years — and that’s only after 3 weeks of finding out about this program.

The best part of all this is that the Think Thin program is based on a very simple, yet powerful method of automatic suggestion based on the highly scientific, proven method of Binaural Frequency Harmonics. 

Without getting into the gory details, because it’s really not necessary to make this work for you too, by listening to specially constructed music and sounds your brain is automatically programmed to overcome major weight loss obstacles resulting in lifestyle changes that allow you to lose weight quick but also keep your weight off for a lifetime. 

It only makes sense that if we’ve tried everything else to lose weight fast, yet we keep returning to the bad habits that prevent us from achieving this goal, we need to change the thoughts that guide our behavior, only then can we experience effortless, lasting results in our quest to lose weight quick. 

This system is highly effective, very quick and very low cost – the best part is there is no pain, no long-term investment in diets, nutritionals or even exercise equipment – just a relaxing, satisfying, enjoyable experience that will improve your quality of life forever. 

You can find out more about this leading-edge Think Thin method here. 

It’s sometimes tough to stay focused on things like healthy weight loss when we hear each day about another natural disaster, food infection or other major challenge that threatens us in the short term.

A recent study that appeared over at The Sanctuary highlights a study first published in the Sept 17th edition of the British Medical Journal highlights the single biggest advantage is to those who lead an overall healthy lifestyle where they were 55% less likely to die as early as those who participated in all of the risk factors such as smoking and being overweight.

Another factor though that makes the advantages of healthy weight loss that much more real is the discovery that 14% of the improvement could be isolated to weight loss alone. Only smoking was higher at 28%, so obviously a healthy diet and learning how to lose weight are critical to overall longevity.

So, whether you choose to take on a rapid weight loss program where you commit to rigorous exercise and dieting or settle for a moderate approach to healthy weight loss such as ensuring that you get 30-minutes of moderate exercise each day (fast walking, swimming, cycling, jogging, tennis, or other exercise), the benefits can be very real in terms of avoiding common diseases such as cancer and especially heart disease.

Most recently, a weight loss study from Purdue University discovered that men who ingested more protein food such as eggs and lean bacon felt more full for longer and tended to eat less later in the day.

This does make sense, and it likely has more to do with the balancing act protein can have on your insulin production over the course of a day. Since a binging of carbohydrates at the expense of protein foods can cause insulin spikes and make you crave more food, it stands to reason that balancing your meals (especially early in the day) with protein either from food or from protein supplements like whey protein or nutritional bars, will go through less of a rollercoaster ride during the day and thus not crave as much food.

Not only will a higher protein diet make you feel fuller, it will also help to balance your cravings and balance your insulin production over the course of day – all of this is positive to your weight loss program.

I know I wasn’t – at least not regularly. Sure, one day I would pay particularly close attention to what I was eating, if I was lucky, I would count the calories, but that was far from a daily routine. In fact, some days I would deliberatlely avoid counting calories because I intuitively knew I was WAY over.

Then I came across this article on keeping a weight loss diary and wham, it hit me when they said that research has shown those who regularly keep a food diary tended to lose twice the weight over those that do not – and they kept it off longer.

Now, it does make sense since our ability to lose weight and overall weight loss goals have so much to do with our mental outlook – and if you are comitted to keeping a daily calorie count and food diary then you have made a stronger comittment to yourself to keep your weight loss goals.

I started this last week and let me tell you – I was blown away by some of my calorie counts. Certain days I was way over my count before 2PM in the afternoon while other days I was not eating enough — in other words, I was on a rollercoaster diet.

Niether case is optimal, especially when you are training and working out as part of your weight loss routine, you need calories to feed the muscle building efforts from the resistance training.

Try it for a week, you will find some surprises and you will find that by keeping a closer eye on your calorie intake you will keep your weight loss objectives more in mind and tend to be more conscious at every meal.

I’m not sure about you, but for me, Monday’s are always the toughest to get back into my weight loss routine…somehow I always stray just enough on the weekend to break the successful weight loss habits of the week before.

Getting Off Track

And…if I get off track on Monday, it’s usually Wednesday when I suddenly look at my week and figure out – “if I don’t quickly get my butt moving this week will be a total right-off” – ahhhh….my Wednesday then becomes my Monday!

Of course, the right answer is to maintain your weight loss and exercise routine right through 7-days a week so that you don’t have to worry about getting back into positive habits – but for many of us, that is not the way this whole weight loss exercise will go, especially if you are committed to long-term fitness and health.

It’s the summer, and over the weekend we had some friends over, had a few beers, some wine, a barbecue and ate some foods I typically don’t eat including an ice cream with the kids.

Ok, I had been incredibly good with my weight loss goals all week – so cheating ** a little ** would not have been such a bad thing – but it went a bit too far.

So, Monday morning comes around and every ounce of my being was screaming to delay my workout today. But I’m proud to say I fought that urge and convinced myself that even though I didn’t feel energetic, that my stomach didn’t feel great and I had the start of a headache – I would just start my 5Km jog anyway.

Quitting is NOT An Option

When I first turned on the radio in the morning I heard a Tiger Woods commercial for a watch I think, in there he uttered the words – “quitting is NOT an option”.

Coming off of an inspirational British Open run by 53-year old Greg Norman (easily my favorite player past and present) – I was ready to be inspired and all through the run I kept saying to myself “quitting is NOT an option”

Guess what happened!

I finished my run in a record time, burst through all of the bad feelings from the weekend and then came in and did 30-minutes of weights and felt AMAZING!!

I actually exceeded my weight loss objectives for the day by a great deal – quitting is NOT an option.

Try it yourself. If you have trouble getting motivated one day, repeat to yourself “quitting is not an option” and picture in your mind someone who has achieved something extraordinary that you really respect and admire.

You’ll be amazed at the extra weight loss motivation you get from using this simple, but powerful technique.

It happens without really knowing it until you get out into the parking lot with 4 bags of potatoe chips, a big bottle of your favorite soft-drink, a box of cookies (they were on sale after all) two loaves of homemade white bread (yummy…it was even hot!) and…oh yes, you just had to pick out that candy bar since you need something to tide you over until you get home right?

No doubt about it, the supermarket can be a very dangerous place when you have even the slightest hunger – so here are a few tips on how to avoid ruining your weight loss program by losing control at the grocery store:

1. Eat something healthy before you go – ideally with protein so that you curb your cravings through the 1-hour or so it may take you to get through your grocery buying pilgrimage

2. Head to the grocery store with a well thought out list (without the chips and chocoloate of course) and stick to your list.

3. If you need something to consume as soon as you are done at the grocery store, pick up a piece of fruit, a protein bar or a fruit smoothie drink that most grocery stores carry these days. 

4. Make your grocery shopping the first stop on your errand run instead of the last so that you don’t end up getting there on an empty stomach running low on fuel making you more susceptible to buying unhealthy food not in line with your weight loss goals.

5. Do you shopping at healthier grocery stores where you can.  I typically head to our local Farm Boy which specializes in produce, fresh fruite and vegetables, organic foods, whole grain breads, fresh salsa.  The ration of good food to bad is much higher than in typical grocery chains. 

Most of all…understand that a trip to your grocery store is not an excuse to avoid your weight loss goals, you must practice the same discipline you would planning your daily meals.  

Try this, think back to all of the exercise, effort and energy you have put into losing weight so far, put yourself in the place you were after your last exhausting run or exercise session – now, is it really worth blowing it all for a 5-minute breakdown in discipline on a Saturday morning at your grocery store?

We’re up here in Canada wher the winters are pretty snowy, quite dark and yes…pretty frosty!  So, we head down South to Florida, Arizona, Mexico and sometimes to the Caribbean when we can to make the winter seem a little shorter…BUT yikes…that means a bathing suit, swimming and suddenly loose fitting sweaters won’t hide the extra 10-pounds gained since the fall.

Things were pretty hectic in my business back in late February though – there were some major campaigns I was running for my own business so it wasn’t like I had loads of spare time.

But…each day I did one of 3 things:  Every second day I jogged for 35-minutes and then worked out with weights, the other days I either walked for 45-minutes or worked out in my basement at home.

In addition, I decided to eat at least 3 salads for lunch each week replacing what would have normally been a high carbohydrate lunch of pasta, breaded fish or some other high calorie, high fat food.  One other dietary change, cut back on desert and cut out late night snacks.

This was all possible even though I was busy leading up to the trip.  How did this persistant weight loss routine work out?

I had lost 5-pounds before leaving for the trip – that was 2-weeks after starting the program.  But here’s the really neat part…

Despite overeating and not exercising when on our 10-day vacation I didn’t gain ANY of the weight back and still was 5-pounds lighter when I got home.  That gave me the motivation to keep up this persistant action.  Even though I have missed the odd walk day, I’ve been able to stick with the workouts and have lost an additional 5-pounds.

So far, the energy and emotional lift from the way I look and feel is a big boost.  The lesson for me has been persistant weight loss action…not necessarily radical action…is what gets longer term results. 

If you are struggling with your weight today and have had numerous experiences of dieting and exercise only to gain the weight back again…try just one small change and keep it up for a few weeks.  Change your diet in one small way, begin walking 30-minutes 3-times each week or fill in an extra workout or two…but the key is to keep it up. 

Begin your persistant weight loss program today…and watch the weight melt off over the next few weeks.

Jeff

However, many people like (or need) the constant support and feedback of a class or personal trainer to help keep them going…but personal trainers can run anywhere from $50-$100+ per hour and you often have to go to see them at a gym requiring even more outlay.

Along comes the Wii Fit… the anticipated Wii fitness game/instruction video which looks like it is finally being released.  For many of us who take our exercise and relaxation rather seriously and who have kids at home playing Sonic or Mario on the Wii, the idea of a fitness Wii program just seems too far out there to be true…but according to this preliminary review, it’s the real deal and that has me excited.

Indeed, the Wii Fit program will be pricier than typical games, but it looks like we’ll get the full range of aerobic, fitness, yoga and balance training that makes it even better than a costly personal trainer…albeit without the true personal attention a trainer would pay to you, but after all, it IS the Wii, the coolest, most innovative gaming platform yet created.

So, I’ll be checking my local games store, or wait a minute, will I have to look at my fitness store…or perhaps Yoga shop. 

Now that’s confusing…anyway once I get my Wii Fit and Flex board to give it a kick at the can, rest assured, you’ll be among the first to find out if it really works.

Jeff