Weightloss-Resolutions.com

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When you’re trying to lose weight, you need to arm yourself with strategies that can stop cravings for food. However, there are different kinds of cravings, and not all of them can be easily soothed. Below are a few common causes for cravings, and tips for how to make them go away.

Thirst

When you experience a craving for food, you may in fact be thirsty. Remember that a craving is just your body’s way of getting your attention to communicate a desire for something. Unfortunately, since your body doesn’t speak to you with words, you may misinterpret the signals. Whenever you experience a strong craving for something, your first thought should be, “Am I thirsty?” Drink a glass of water and wait 10-15 minutes. If the food craving persists, move on to the next possibility.

Vitamin Deficiency

Being deficient in certain vitamins and minerals can trigger food cravings. For example, being low on iron can cause you to start craving red meat, and magnesium deficiency can trigger cravings for chocolate. You can stop cravings for food related to vitamin deficiencies by making sure you are getting the full recommended daily servings of all four food groups. Be sure to eat enough vegetables, fruit, protein, grains, dairy and healthy fats. Avoid refined sugars because they will trigger even more sweet cravings. If you think you may not be getting enough nutrients from food, you’ll want to find a high-quality vitamin supplement and take it every day.

Emotional Cravings

Finally, cravings can be triggered by emotional issues. These kinds of cravings are far more common than the two described above, but luckily they are easier to identify and stop in their tracks. When you notice that you are craving something, take stock of your emotional state at that moment. Do you feel depressed, anxious, angry, bored, or lonely? You may be trying to calm unsettled emotions or fill an emotional void with food. If you suspect that may be the case, you can stop cravings for food by finding a way to make yourself feel better without eating. Watch a funny television show that boosts your mood. Call a friend and chat until you feel better. Go for a walk. Write in a journal. Do anything you can to work through uncomfortable emotions, and the food cravings will fade away easily.

To stop cravings for food, you simply need to identify what the trigger is and take steps to neutralize it. Yes, it’s really that simple!

Most people know that obesity is the leading cause of type 2 diabetes. They may also know that it causes many types of cancer. It causes heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and death. All in all, obesity causes a lot of health problems. However, you might be surprised to know that obesity causes some other day to day effects.

1. Depression

Depression and obesity have a very tight connection. It?s theorized that many times obesity is caused by depression. However, it?s also known that obesity causes depression in many individuals. The reason is complicated. Often, people lose their self esteem and confidence when they?re obese. This can lead to depression. This is especially the case in teenagers and young children who may be facing teasing at school.

However, obesity also affects a person?s ability to get good sleep. It can actually cause many sleep disorders. Sleep apnea, for example, is often caused by obesity. When a person isn?t able to get quality sleep their brain chemistry can change. Poor sleep often leads to depression.

Additionally, obesity is often contributed to by inactivity. Activity and exercise release feel good hormones. These hormones just aren?t released in inactive people. The result can be a depression or a chronic bad mood.

2. Poor sleep and sleep disorders

Obesity also causes a number of sleep disorders. Sleep is crucial for normal physical and mental functioning. Poor sleep causes irritability and depression. It causes poor functioning. It also causes a weakened immune system. And poor sleep causes a person to gain weight. The good news is that simply getting seven hours of sleep each night can make a world of difference.

3. Poor complexion.

Obesity affects metabolism. It also affects hormone levels and organ functioning. Specifically, it can cause poor liver function or fatty liver disease. When your liver isn?t functioning well your complexion can pay the price. It can become yellowed. You can break out with acne. You can even suffer skin infections due to a weakened immune system.

4. Hair and nails.

An obese body is struggling to function optimally. This means that several functions are ignored to take care of the major functions like your heart and lungs. Quite quickly you may notice that your hair changes. It may start to fall out. It may change in texture and become course and brittle. Your nails may also become brittle and yellow. This is due to a weakened immune system and poor liver function.

5. Decreased sexual interest and function.

Libido and sexual function can be drastically impaired in obese people. In fact, many obese people find it extremely difficult to get pregnant. This is because the hormone levels are imbalanced. Fat cells produce hormones. They also inhibit balanced hormone production. Your desire to have sex will decrease. If you?re trying to have children you may also struggle with fertility problems. Finally, many obese women suffer from gynecological problems like ovarian cysts and endometriosis.

Obesity causes a number of health problems. They range from acne and low libido to depression and death. If you?re struggling with obesity, there?s help. You can regain your health and vitality.

Health food and weight loss often go hand-in-hand, but not all “health food” is low-calorie or appropriate for all diet plans. Part of the problem is that “health food” can be a subjective term; what makes a food healthy? Most people would agree that fresh, natural food that is free of chemicals is healthy. When it comes to diets and weight loss, however, you also want to eat foods that are low in calories, sugar and fat (at least the unhealthy varieties of fat).

With these distinctions in mind, below are some of the best health foods for weight loss:

Weight Loss Health Food #1 – Water

Technically not a “food,” but fresh, clean water is vital for good health AND weight loss. Aim for a minimum of 64 oz. per day.

Weight Loss Health Food #2 – Vegetables

The official recommendation for optimal health and well-being is 3 – 5 servings of vegetables per day. Vegetables also play a powerful role in healthy weight loss. If you find most vegetables boring, you may want to consider trying a few that you don’t typically eat, like bean sprouts (great source of protein and antioxidants), sea vegetables (many great health benefits), and sweet potatoes (great source of fiber and Vitamins A and C).

Weight Loss Health Food #3 – Lean Protein

Especially when you are cutting calories and working out, protein is essential for preventing muscle loss, as well as for building and repairing lean muscle tissue. Protein also plays a large role in keeping appetite under control and reducing the tendency to overeat. The best sources for lean protein are egg whites, lean poultry, fish, pork and beef.

Other important health foods include fruit, whole grains, and dairy products (low-fat). Remember, when it comes to weight loss, it’s not just the quality of the food that matters – keep a close eye on your overall calories in, calories out to keep those numbers on the scale moving in a downward direction.

One word of warning: some pre-packaged “health foods” are anything but. A good example is protein bars; some of these bars are loaded with fat, sugar, sodium, and chemicals and may not be as healthy as is suggested by the name. The same thing goes for any prepared food, including crackers, cereal, soup, and frozen dinners. There are many healthy options, but read labels carefully to be sure of what you are buying.

For most of us, the term, “fast food” probably brings to mind the unhealthy options that can be found at thousands of restaurant chains around the world – burgers, french fries, fried chicken, and the like. Most of this food is high-calorie, high-fat, and very unhealthy. However, health food can be fast too, and your weight loss goals will be easier to achieve if you arm yourself with plenty of healthy, fast options for snacks and meals.

Below are several healthy “fast foods” you can keep ready in the fridge and cupboards at all times.

#1 – Sliced Vegetables

Keep peeled, chopped or sliced vegetables front and center in your refrigerator. Carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and celery make great snacks. Dip them in salsa, low-calorie salad dressing, or low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt.

#2 – Fruit

A large selection of fruit can be kept within easy reach in a bowl on your kitchen counter or table. Aim for 2-4 servings of fruit each day. A serving is one medium piece (apple, orange, plum, banana) or 1/2 cup of chopped or canned fruit.

#3 – Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are a good source of protein – but they do contain significant amounts of fat and calories, so eat them in moderation. For most people, one to two servings of nuts or seeds per day can easily fit within their calorie requirements. To be sure you don’t eat too many, separate 1 oz. servings into snack size plastic bags ahead of time.

#4 – Hard-boiled Eggs

Other excellent sources of protein are hard-boiled eggs. Keep half a dozen boiled eggs in their shells in your refrigerator so you can quickly peel and eat one for a snack, or make egg salad sandwiches. You can even slice them and add to salads for added protein.

#5 – Cooked Lean Meat

Lean chicken, turkey, beef and fish can also be cooked and kept in the refrigerator for quick snacks and meals. You can also buy lean, low-calorie deli meats and low-fat cheese, as well as canned tuna packed in water.

All of these foods are simple to prepare, and most of them will keep in the refrigerator for 3-7 days, some of them even longer (like cheese). No more excuses about not having time to prepare healthy meals and snacks – most of these can be prepared once or twice a week, and feed you and your family for days.

In the Beachbody community, it pays to get fit—up to $25,000! In January 2011, the game is back . . . and it’s better than ever.

A sedentary lifestyle involves more than a tendency to avoid workouts; it affects every action you take (or don’t take) all day, every day. Many of us have developed very “lazy” habits, avoiding virtually all forms of exercise except what we must do to meet our daily obligations regarding work, shopping, and errands.

When you decide to lose weight, one obvious component of your goal will probably be working out for a certain amount of time each day. But if that’s the ONLY physical activity you do, you may be limiting your results.

Instead, you may want to set a goal to include more physical activity throughout the day to complement your official workouts. Below are a few simple ideas for doing so:

#1 – Add Steps

Buy a cheap pedometer for $5 and put it on each morning when you get dressed. Then pay attention to how many steps you take during your normal routine. Make it your mission to keep adding steps daily, until eventually you are taking close to 10,000 steps daily. Ten thousand steps is roughly 5 miles in distance, depending on the size of the steps.

How can you add more steps? Take the longer way around when working, shopping, and running errands. Park farther away from your destinations and walk the rest of the way. Make more trips when loading and unloading the car, even carrying one object at a time instead of several.

#2 – DIY (Do it Yourself)

Rather than having your kids or spouse fetch things for you at home, keep getting up several times per hour and get them yourself – even offer to get things for your family members. Go up and down stairs to fetch things as often as possible, rather than avoiding stairs like many out-of-shape people do.

#3 – Add Weight

While you are doing all this extra walking around, wear ankle weights (or wrist weights and pump your arms) to increase the intensity of your movements. Carry heavy bags of groceries and pet food yourself instead of asking your spouse to do it.

These little actions may not seem overly difficult, and they aren’t – but if you do enough of them all day, every day, you’ll burn substantially more calories and strengthen your muscles faster than just by working out for 30 minutes a day.

Even if these small actions seem to be too much for you at the beginning, do what you can and as you get stronger you can increase the amount and intensity later.

Sometimes it’s not the food you eat that pushes you over your calorie count for the day, but rather the beverages you consume throughout the course of the day. In fact, it’s very possible to stay 100% on track with your healthy eating plan and still consume a few hundred extra calories just from the beverages you drink. Take a look at some of the worst offenders below:

Fancy Coffee Drinks

Coffee by itself has very few calories (about 5 calories for an 8 oz. cup) – but the other stuff you add to it can pack a wallop. A 10 oz. coffee with cream and sugar from a coffee shop contains approximately 120 calories. A small, sweetened latte contains 230 calories, and a small cappuccino has 130 calories. How many of these fancy coffee drinks do you consume in a typical day? Even if you only had one per day, that’s 840 – 1,610 added calories per week!

When it comes to coffee drinks, keep in mind that any added cream, sugar, or sweetened syrup will add calories. Some coffee shops do offer “skinny” versions with skim milk, nonfat creamer, and artificial sweeteners.

Soda Pop

Some of us love our soda, but drinking too much of it can boost your calorie count by a lot. A 12 oz. can of soda can contain anywhere from 150 – 200 calories, and more than 52 grams of sugar (13+ teaspoons). Now imagine drinking a can of soda with lunch, a can in the afternoon, and a can with dinner. Yikes! That’s a lot of calories and sugar.

Sweetened Tea

Sweetened iced tea is almost as bad, containing 120 calories and 36 grams of sugar (almost 9 teaspoons) per 12 ounce serving. Some flavored varieties may also contained sweetened syrup, adding to the sugar and calorie content.

Energy Drinks

Energy drinks have gotten very popular over the past several years, but when you consider that most of the “energy” in these drinks comes from sugar and caffeine, you may decide to get your energy elsewhere. A typical can of carbonated, sweetened energy drink can contain anywhere from 110 – 300 calories, and 27 – 55 grams of sugar (6 – 13 teaspoons).

Obviously, water is a better choice if you want to keep your calorie intake down. However, you can create some healthier, low-calorie versions of these drinks. For example, use stevia and low-fat creamer in coffee; or add a couple tablespoons of sugar-free flavored syrup to seltzer water to make your own low-calorie soda.

Childhood obesity is an epidemic. Today more than ever before in history, children are struggling with weight gain and the subsequent health effects. Why is obesity on the rise? The answers are both simple and complicated.

#1 Too much sugar. Take a look at the foods in your cupboard and refrigerator. Chances are sugar is an ingredient in most of them. And it?s just not necessary. Sugar doesn?t need to be in beverages. It doesn?t need to be in sauces and condiments. It doesn?t need to be in processed meats. Many children consume several glasses of juice and soda daily. That can add up to thousands of calories just from drinking. An extra thousand calories a day results in a gained pound in less than four days.

#2 Not enough fruits, vegetables and lean protein. The truth is that many children just don?t eat at home any more. They?re eating fast food meals. Meals are prepared from a box or a bag if they are prepared at home. These foods are shockingly short on vegetables and nutrients. They?re also super high in fat, sodium and sugar. A child can eat three meals a day and gain weight if they?re not eating healthy, homemade meals.

#3 Overeating. Snacking is something that most adults enjoy. Children love it too. If the snacks on hand are fatty, like potato chips, or sugary, like cookies, then the child isn?t getting any nutrients. This means they?ll be hungry again in short time. The cycle repeats and children end up consuming way too many calories yet never getting the nutrients they need.

#4 Couch potato syndrome. Computers, video games, television and a complete lack of exercise mean calories just don?t get burned. It also means metabolism slows down. It?s the perfect one two punch for weight gain. A little physical activity each day does wonders for a child?s weight and attitude.

#5 Depression. Childhood is tough. Many children struggle with stress and depression from time to time. Depression is a common cause of overeating. It also causes poor sleep which has been connected to weight gain.

Other potential causes for childhood obesity include:
* Medical issues/hormone imbalance
* Medications (antihistamines taken for allergies can cause weight gain)
* Stress or anxiety
* Peer pressure
* Family history of obesity

Childhood obesity is a growing problem. Parents and caregivers can make a huge difference. Children are adaptable. They lose weight and change their habits much more easily than adults. They?re strong, capable and with support and help they can lose weight. If you know someone struggling with obesity or on the path toward obesity, help them make healthier choices. Help them live a healthier life.

Fruit is an important part of a healthy diet, but only if it’s in its natural form. When fruit is modified in certain ways, it can have a negative impact on your healthy eating plan. Below are four kinds of fruit that you should avoid or strictly limit while you are dieting.

Dried Fruit

Dried fruit is fruit that has been dehydrated to remove the moisture, and it tastes sweeter than fresh fruit, almost like candy. Unfortunately, the calorie count is often much higher than that of fresh fruit. For example, a small banana has 90 calories, while 1/2 cup of dried banana chips has 220 calories. One ounce of fresh grapes has approximately 20 calories, while 1 ounce of raisins contains 85 calories.

Canned Fruit

When you purchase canned fruit, read the label carefully. Some varieties are canned in heavy, sweet syrup that can add a lot more calories. For example, peaches canned in fruit juice contain 55 calories, while peaches in heavy syrup contain 100 calories (for 1/2 cup serving). When reading labels on canned fruit, always opt for those that say “no sugar added” or “light”. Take a look at the serving size and number of calories, and read the ingredients. If you see that sugar has been added, choose another brand.

Candied Fruit

Candied fruit also has added sugar, which obviously adds calories. For example, 8 fresh cherries contain 30 calories, while 8 maraschino cherries contain more than double the calories at 64. A medium apple contains 70 calories, while a candy or caramel coated apple can contain more than 200 calories.

Fruit Juice

Fruit juice is also higher in calories than the fruit it came from, and most often manufacturers add sugar to make it sweeter. For example, one small orange contains 45 calories, while 8 ounces of orange juice has 110 calories. A few manufacturers are beginning to offer low-sugar varieties of fruit juice; you can usually find them with the regular juices.

You can still enjoy these sweeter varieties of fruits in moderation; just be aware that the calorie count will always be higher than fresh fruit contains.

Weight loss is on the top ten list for New Year’s resolutions every year. In fact most top resolutions are there every year.

Ever wonder why that is?

How do you take your “resolution” and turn it in to lasting change in your life? I found these videos very helpful. Grab a healthy beverage and pen and paper. Then let me know what you think in the comments area.

I’ve put together a special gift for you in honor of your taking action to set some goals to change your health.  It’s a set set of three Personal Reflections worksheets with affirmations.  it’s totally free and you can download them here.  No opt-in required.

Weight Loss Resolutions