:BodyFitnessInfo.com BLOG

With the internet today, there are plenty of places where you can learn how to lose weight.  It seems like everywhere you go you’re getting the latest tip or trick that is bound to help you lose weight quickly and permanently.

For those of us that try to keep a realistic look on things, please understand that losing the weight that you’ve put on over the years is going to take time to come off.  I often get annoyed at our “I want it done yesterday” society, and weight loss is one of those areas.

If you want a good list of weight loss tips, here is a list to check out: 101 Weight Loss Tips.  If you went through this list and really applied most, if not all, of these ideas, you’d be well on your way to losing weight.  You have to realize that in order to lose weight and lose it permanently you have to make some lifestyle changes.

Does weight loss come in a pill?  Well, there are supplements that can help, but you still have to be willing to do the work.  The other benefit of doing the work is that you’ll learn how to change on the inside as well so that you don’t put the weight right back on again.  But if you use supplements to help you on your way, that’s fine with me!  There are plenty that have been proven to help.  One you might check out is Lipo-6.  Use this link for some Lipo-6 reviews.

In summary, there are a lot of things to do and learn to effectively and permanently lose weight.  If you’re willing to do the work and make some chances, your chances of success are so much higher!

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I think we all know that if you really want to make improvements in your physique, you’re going to have to do some weight training.  In fact, just the other day I was with my wife at her sister’s house and she shared something interesting but not surprising.

She has been training for a half marathon with some of the other ladies in the area, and if I remember right she will be running it in the next few weeks.  But the thing that she was surprised about was that with all this running she hasn’t lost a lot of weight, at least not as much as she would have expected.  Then she was the first to admit that she would lose more if she’d do more weight training with her running.

So true!

It’s important to understand that you’re more likely to lose weight with weights than without them.  Plan on developing a full training program rather than just one aspect of it.

It’s also important to use proper nutrition.  A great way to get the nutrition that you need is to use workout shakes, especially  when working out.  If you’d like some opinions on the best post workout shake, check out Real Weight Training Blog.  He has some really good tips on this subject.

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I just came across this ad for MRI’s 8-FX and it’s pretty darn funny. They’re making fun of some of the gym stereotypes, but the sad thing is that I know I’ve seen each one of these at my local gym. Here’s the video:

Can you relate? I got a pretty good laugh out of this!

As for 8-FX, looks to be a pretty good product. I really like it when companies try to take a more complete approach to a supplement, but especially when they do it in a way that makes sense. Granted, I’m not a scientist that would be able to break the ingredients down that way, but this one might be worth a shot!

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As we all know, nutrition is a key part of any fitness program. This especially applies to your workout nutrition. Here is a great tip from John Berardi on the topic:

Protein/Carbs Before Exercise To Burn Fat?
by Dr. John Berardi

While nearly everyone nowadays knows that pre, during, and post exercise nutritional intake is critical for improving protein status and glycogen synthesis, most people fear that the ingestion of protein and carbohydrates during these times will decrease fat oxidation (burning).

Well, put simply, they’re wrong (sticking out tongue).

Studies have demonstrated that even in the presence of a relatively high carbohydrate intake (and large insulin response), the addition of protein to a carbohydrate meal can increase fat burning during exercise.

So it looks like a well-designed pre, during, and post exercise intake will not only improve protein status and glycogen resynthesis but it may actually increase fat burning. Bigger and leaner? Say it ain’t so.

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I think we’ve all probably heard this idea before: if you don’t get enough sleep you’re going to gain a lot of weight. Well, as with most things that you hear out there, I think it’s a good idea to check it out before accepting is as a scientific fact!

Well, leave it to Tom Venuto to tackle this topic and clear up some of the confusion. What he mentions is that there does seem to be a correlation between poor sleep and weight gain. But the real question is why does it happen?

Here is one of the basic explanations from his blog post:

Almost all the research on this subject has been cross sectional and therefore does not prove causality. Research suggests that the likely explanation is a disruption in hormones which can affect appetite and food intake so you are more likely to eat more when you are sleep deprived.

So it’s not necessarily the sleep that makes you fat, it’s what your body does to compensate for the lack of sleep that can help you develop certain habits. It seems like there are so many things in life that can have similar effects, so what it really seems to come down to is setting yourself up in the best environment that you can for success.

Tom’s post is well worth reading. You can get it here: Sleep Deprivation and Fat Gain

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I read an interesting article in Newsweek the other day called Why Women Lose Weight—or Don’t. One thing that I found very interesting about this article was that when people normally hang out with overweight people, they tend to gain weight. When people hang out with healthy people, they tend to be more healthy as well. It’s amazing the effect that your circle of friends and acquaintances can have on you!

The article suggests that the reason this happens is because when you hang out with either group, you start to consider what you see to be normal. So if you consistently hang out with people that are overweight, you may start to see this as normal and accept it and become it.

So what does this mean to you? Well, it may explain some habits! We tend to have similar habits as those we spend the most time with. This is something to keep in mind if you’re trying to make changes. Part of you is going to be honestly sincere in the desire to change. But another part of you is going to be very resistant to this change. Does this mean you need to run out and change friends? Probably not. But you’ll have to be more aware of the habits that you have accepted and really be disciplined to make changes.

Recognize that habitual voice for what it is. Then make the conscious decision that you are making other choices now. This takes some work, but if you keep working at it you’ll get the hang of it.

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I think this is a really cool idea - not just to see but to do also! What happened is this guy named Adam Waters set a goal to lose a certain amount of weight in 84 days. So he started his plan, and took a picture of himself every day for those 84 days. Then, to make himself accountable to the world, he posted that picture on his blog every single day. You’ve got to see the results, it is quite impressive (I’ll provide a link below).

How dedicated are you to losing weight, gaining muscle, or whatever goal you’re trying to achieve? Adam showed some real dedication by doing this. Now, is doing this type of thing something that everyone should do…well, I don’t know. I think that a lot of people could really benefit from making their goals a little more public. That way you know that people are going to wonder what you’re up to. It sort of puts you in a position where you have to succeed, or face the humiliation of not doing it.

So should everyone do it? I think that’s a question that everyone should ask themselves on a personal level. So instead, the question would be should you do it? Would it help you to reach your goals?

Here’s a link to Adam’s blog: RTP-Blog

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This will come as no surprise to most of us, but a study was done that concluded that one in four obese men can lose more than 100 lbs if they engage in a 12 week intensive weight loss program. You mean to say that by actually sticking to a weight loss program for 12 weeks you can actually see some difference in your weight?

Ok, so I’m being a little sarcastic here. It’s good to see that they have scientific evidence to back it up, but unless you have the emotional motivation it doesn’t matter how many studies you read. Eventually you have to get up and do something.

If you have a hard time sticking to a 12 week program, try doing a 4 week program.  Or, even a 2 week!  Do whatever time frame works for you.  But the important thing is that if you want to change your weight you have to change your behavior.

Here’s a link to the news article about this study in case you’re interested: Behavior Change May Mean Big Weight Loss

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The following is an article that I received from a reader of this blog. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but if anyone has an article that they would like to have posted on this blog just send it to me and I’d be happy to consider it! Today’s article is about gaining weight:

Searching for Reliable Weight Gain Answers

And that brings us to the first component required for weight gain, and that is gaining weight tips. Without knowledge, all of the planning and routine you stick to won’t help you gain weight because you simply won’t have the necessary information to make effective decisions. The problem with knowledge is that it’s hard to come by definitive answers. All you have to do is watch television for a couple of days to see what I mean. One week a certain food is bad for you; another day it’s great for your health. It’s all very confusing to the average person, but to someone who needs facts in order to plan healthy, high-caloric meals it can be even worse.

Doctors and fitness trainers are also not always the best experts to ask for advice either. Doctors are sometimes just as confused by these conflicting medical reports as the rest of us. Fitness trainers will either tell you what worked for them which may not necessarily work for you, or they’ll try to sell you on the idea of muscle building supplements, and that’s no magic bullet either.

So where can you go for reliable information? That’s the real question. One solution would be to work with a dietitian. They could provide you with guidance about a weight gain diet, discussing which foods to eat and could ensure that you remain healthy throughout the process. However, unless you are severely underweight or have a medical condition that requires the care of a dietitian, your insurance provider won’t cover those costs and the costs of seeing a dietitian every week or even every month can add up quickly.

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After adding the weekly nutrition tip yesterday about emotional or mood eating, I felt that it would be good to provide a little bit more information about this topic since it’s one that I feel a lot of us don’t pay much attention to. Sadly, our moods sometimes control us when we let them. And it’s very very hard to not let them control us!

So what makes the difference between someone who can control their mood-influenced eating habits and someone who can’t? In a recent article on his blog BurnTheFatBlog.com, Tom Venuto talked about this same topic. He approaches it from the angle of the difference between someone that keeps their weight off long-term and someone that relapses. The main difference was that the people who maintained their weight loss were able to confront the problem that they had with emotional eating and through careful planning and tracking they were able to overcome this problem.

Here’s a direct quote from Tom’s article that summarizes the difference between the maintainers and the relapsers:

Maintainers, on the other hand, were vigilant and conscious of EVERYthing:

- They were conscious of the quantity and type of food they ate
- They were conscious about the amount of activity that they needed personally to maintain their weight
- They consciously worked to “keep in shape” after they reached their initial goal
- They were conscious that they felt uncomfortable in their clothes after they gained even a little weight such as a few pounds after a vacation
- They intentionally wore close-fitting clothes to keep themselves aware of their bodies, which prompted them to exercise more eat less if their clothes felt tighter.

So what can you learn from this? First of all, it’s possible to beat the emotional eating habits! You just have to be willing to make the lifestyle changes that have to be made for these changes to take effect. The question you have to ask yourself is: are you willing to make those necessary changes? If you are, then you’ve taken the first step to becoming a weight loss (or even muscle gain) maintainer rather than a relapser.

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