Real Portions for Real People

“The diet I’m following doesn’t set portions but I’m supposed to be able to eat as much as I want and still lose weight on it. How can this be?” It can’t. The problem with the “Eat all you want and still lose weight” promise is that it only accounts for hunger. It doesn’t account for emotional or stress eating. Unfortunately, many of us have problems judging appropriate portion sizes. For millions of Americans, this can skew the meal toward too much meat or starch and too few vegetables. If your mother was like mine and loaded you up on … Continue reading →

Free Day or Binge Day?

“I’m following Body-for-Life. On the binge day am I able to go out and drink and can I literally eat anything?” First of all, calling your “Free Day” a “Binge Day” is looking at this in a very unhealthy way. If you call it a “Binge Day”, you may very well be encouraging yourself to start some very unhealthy eating habits, eat when you aren’t hungry or eat when you really have no physical desire to do so. Words have meaning for us. The word “Free” has a much more positive connotation. It is more like giving yourself a free … Continue reading →

Weight Training Linked to Weight Loss

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine have conducted a study that proves what people like Joe Weider, Cory Everson, Bill Phillips and Monica Brant have been saying for decades. “Weight training may be as important to losing weight as aerobic exercise.” You don’t say? There are two kinds of muscle that we all have: slow twitch (type I) and fast twitch (type II). Aerobic training increases slow twitch while weight training increases fast twitch. Mice used in the study were overfed to become obese, insulin resistant (pre-diabetic) and develop fatty acid deposits in their liver. When a gene was … Continue reading →

You Are What You Think!

“If your mind can conceive it, you can achieve it!” Believe it or not, your mind is listening to everything you say and think about yourself. If you spend your time filling your mind with negative self-talk like “I’m so fat”, “I really need to lose weight”, “I look so fat in this outfit” then your mind will make it so. Even if you don’t look fat or need to lose weight, your mind is the control center for your body and will make sure that you eventually do. Tell yourself (or others) that you’re fat and even if you … Continue reading →

Body-for-Life Success Story: Jayne Cox

Jayne Cox was hesitant to start Body-for-Life when her husband suggested that they do it together. In fact, she was just plain against falling for another diet or exercise fad. The idea of doing aerobics of any sort was a complete turn-off and lifting weights was something she’d never done and had no interest in starting. Jayne was like many of us. She had a happy marriage, a great family and a comfortable life but something just wasn’t quite right. Jayne had very little self esteem and her personal confidence was non-existent. Although she wasn’t interested in trying Body-for-Life, she … Continue reading →

The Importance of Relaxation

Stress can kill a diet. If you’re a stress eater or a carboholic, you know exactly what I’m talking about. You may have the best of intentions but a bad day hits and, try as you might, there just are not enough Oreos in the world to eliminate the stress in your life. If you are serious about losing weight, you need to get serious about your relaxation. Some activities that may help you relax: Exercise You may be thinking that knocking yourself out like a hamster on a treadmill is the furthest thing from relaxation but, believe it or … Continue reading →

Day #3 on Body-for-Life, Supplement Review

Universal Animal Pak One of the keys to weight loss that most people miss is taking a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. When we’re trying to lose weight, we often follow unbalanced diets and expect our bodies to not only do their day-to-day on these unbalanced diets but also to do extra exercise as well. Expecting so much from a body that isn’t getting the amount or type of food that it is used to can be a recipe for disaster. If you aren’t eating right but exercising more, you’ll get run down very quickly and most likely get sick. … Continue reading →

Day #2 on Body-for-Life

Consider a Body-for-Life Cruise On July 3, 2008, Carnival Cruise Lines will be hosting the fourth annual Champions for Life cruise. The ship will launch from San Diego, California, and sail to Cabo San Lucas, returning to San Diego on July 8, 2008. What a great motivator for anyone following the Body-for-Life program! You still have time to start and finish the Body-for-Life Challenge in time to be in great bathing suit shape for a cruise to Cabo San Lucas! If you book your passage now, you’ll have a financial investment made and that is enough to keep most people … Continue reading →

Day #1 on Body-for-Life

So you’ve decided to give the Body-for-Life program a try. You’re going to dedicate the next twelve weeks to improving your body and your life. Congratulations! As the first official day on the program, today is the day that you’ll want to take care of a few important things: 1. Take some baseline measurements to measure your progress over the next twelve weeks. 2. Set some goals for what you hope to achieve on the program. 3. Get your kitchen stocked and ready to support you, not sabotage you. 4. Familiarize yourself with the Families.com blogs, read them and get … Continue reading →

Clean Out Your Fridge ASAP!

OK, friends, it is time to get serious about our New Year’s Resolutions. No, I’m not telling you to join a gym. I want you all to join me in doing something that many of us find even more difficult: Get rid of the holiday foods! It is time to clean out the holiday fare from the refrigerator, cookie jar and cupboards. You’ve got one week to tackle this daunting task before we all start the Body-for-Life Challenge. Now don’t go crazy and just start throwing things out. (Don’t waste food!) Remember that the Body-for-Life program allows for a “Free … Continue reading →