How exciting! You have just lost a substantial amount of weight and now it is time to celebrate. Do not wait until you have lost all of the weight that you desire and have gotten down to your goal weight. This will only make it too easy not to be careful about regaining what you have lost. Many of us who are trying to lose quite a bit of weight have clothing in several sizes so this could take some time. Start weeding out your closet after you have come down a size. If your goal is to lose more … Continue reading →

“My husband and I started a diet at the same time. He’s lost 20 pounds already and I’ve only lost 10. Can you tell me why?” Many factors are involved in weight loss. Every human being is different and no two bodies will respond in exactly the same way even though they may follow the exact same diet. Factors such as height, weight, bodyfat, resting metabolic rate, foods eaten, portions eaten and activity levels all contribute how quickly or slowly a person will lose weight. How tall are you compared to your husband? Are you the same height or is … Continue reading →

“How can I lose the fat around my stomach? I don’t want to lose weight from any other part of my body because I am pretty skinny everywhere else. Is there a diet you could recommend that will just take off the belly fat?” There is no such thing as spot reduction in dieting or exercising. Contrary to popular belief, doing a zillion situps will not trim your waist. All it will do is provide a great base of muscle under your spare tires. The tires will stay. The only way to remove the fat from your waist is to … Continue reading →

A friend asked me a very important question that I’d like to address: “What are some ways I can keep myself motivated when I’m not seeing results?” I’ve mentioned this many times before but I think it bears repeating over and over again. We are way too wrapped up in the small bit of information provided by our bathroom scales! Too many of us depend solely upon the opinion of the bathroom scale for our self-esteem. It is high time we cut that cord. The bathroom scale only gives us our weight. That is just one tiny piece of the … Continue reading →

In order to lose a pound you have to burn 3500 calories. That’s right. . .one pound of fat equals 3500 calories. I find that knowing a little math behind my weight loss goals is helpful to ensure that I actually reach them. It is okay to start small–starting small is better than not starting at all. But keeping in mind that 3500 calorie goal for each week is a good way to think about weight loss. With that said, let’s look at some simple things you can do to burn those extra 3500 calories per week. Traditional Exercise You … Continue reading →

Now that I’ve been blogging for awhile in the weight loss category, I’ve read quite a few articles, studies and just plain opinion on losing weight. I qualify it into two categories: the ‘magic bullets’ of weight loss which are really not that magical. And then there’s the other category which makes weight loss slower, but leads to overall health and frankly makes a lot more sense. These four things seem to keep cropping up over and over again, so I thought I would summarize what seem to be the best things to keep in mind while losing weight. Key … Continue reading →

I imagine that if you are American, you likely have plans this weekend. I further suppose that your plans include food. . .lots of it. My mother-in-law, who I swear is somehow related to Martha Stewart via some type of home organizing gene, puts out quite the spread for the 4th of July. I haven’t spoken with her but I have visions of bratwurst, chicken, cheeseburgers, no less than 3 or 4 desserts, potato salad, and the list goes on. (She actually puts on quite the spread for any holiday. . .) However, a day of binging can set you … Continue reading →