How to lose weight for a special occasion

There are times when you want to look your best and really show off what you got. Maybe you just want to feel better about yourself and not have people look at you thinking what happened? or how did she put on so much weight?

source

These are the thoughts that come around when have a special occasion or event you need to get ready for.

These can be very stressful times. You have losing weight for a wedding whether you’re in it or not. Maybe losing weight for a hot date, a family reunion, graduation, a big night on the town, you name it.

There is a lot of pressure to look good and typically you probably waited until the last second to try and slim down. So what can you realistically do?

Did You Give Yourself Some Time?

If you waited until your event was two or one week away, you won’t be able to do anything. Just get over the fact that you’re stuck. If you crash diet, that will only work against you as you will cause more bloat when you do party, drink, or eat.

The optimal amount of time to make some changes are at the very least one month… and the more time you have the better and easier this gets.

The Healthy Way To Lose Weight Quickly

When it comes to losing weight fast, I like to only talk about doing it the healthy way. There is no point in trying to lose weight by crash dieting, fat burning pills, and things like that. All of those will only come back to bite you in the butt and make you feel horrible, irritable, and not yourself.

It’s not worth it.

To lose weight fast and healthy, you have to be very strict with yourself. This means strict with your workouts and strict with you nutrition especially. I mean really strict. That is the only way you’ll ever see any results in your shorter time frame.

So ask yourself now… am I prepared to make sacrifices to lose weight quickly, safely, and come out still healthy?

How Workouts Will Help You Lose Weight Fast

When it comes to working out, it’s used more for stress relief and building a good habit while you’re being very strict on yourself.

Exercising is required to burn fat and lose weight, but in a short amount of time, it’s 99% nutrition. However, wouldn’t it be great if by the time of your event, you were in the habit of working out and it was just part of your life?

You only need to workout three times a week from anywhere between 15 to 45 minutes. That is one reason why I created Fit Women’s Weekly. To give you these workouts and make this step extremely easy to handle. Plus you’ll know you’re doing the right workouts that produce real results.

How Nutrition Is The Key To Losing Weight Fast

For quick results that need to be had as fast as possible, everything will come down to what you’re eating.

If you want to change your body both in looks and in feel, all you need to do is this:

1. Count your calories at least every other day.
2. Accurately estimate the number of calories you are burning each day.
3. Run a small daily calorie deficit of 250 to 300 calories. (This is where exercise helps a lot).
4. Cut out the really bad foods immediately.

This is a lot to take on at first, but if you can do this, you will find that you slim down to your ideal weight very fast. In two months, you can lose well over 30 pounds if you really need to.

source

You have to run the calorie deficit to make sure you force your body to use fat for fuel. This is where exercise really helps. Exercise does two things that ensure success here:

1. It maintains lean muscle mass so you don’t lose it and lower your metabolism on a base level.
2. It helps to increase your calorie burn creating more of a deficit and a concentration on excess fat burning.

Finally, when you cut out the bad foods, you will really accelerate your results. Things to cut out are:

• Alcohol. If you drink, cutting this out will produce amazing results.
• Processed foods. These are poison for your body.
• Sugar. Get rid of this and things happen!

There is more and I am sure you know what they are in your own diet. However, when you track your calories, you are keeping a very detailed food diary and you’ll know pretty immediately what you should and should not be eating.

That Is How You Lose Weight For A Special Occasion

That’s how you do it. It’s tough but only because you are on a short time frame and you need to see results quickly.

source

If you are just trying to burn fat to get healthy, you can implement things slower and make sure that they really take hold. I’ll talk more in future articles about why you don’t want to lose weight fast, or at least why it can be dangerous.

Source

Why Your Friends Can Be Bad For Your Weight

Being overweight is often viewed as a failure of personal responsibility.

source

“She just hasn’t tried hard enough.”

“He eats too much sugar and he knows it’s bad, but he won’t give it up.”

“Gosh, she’s reeeeally let herself go.”

While personal habits are part of the weight-loss equation, the idea that they’re the only factor is misguided.

“The notion that we are somehow islands when it comes to our weight simply isn’t true,” write Walter Willett and Malissa Wood in Thinfluence: The Powerful and Surprising Effect Friends, Family, Work, and Environment Have on Weight.

As hormonal and other physiological changes in midlife make unwanted pounds easier to put on than take off, it is important to remember that many other factors come into play, including how much money you make, local and national politics, the ubiquity of fast (and often unhealthy) foods, even the design of many homes (think of how many contemporary dining areas are outfitted with, or adjacent to, a television — a distraction that can cause you to unwittingly eat more than you think you have).

“We encounter influences like these and more every day,” the authors write. “They are often so commonplace and subtle, they have become invisible — until they hit our waistlines, that is. These ‘blind spots’ affect our efforts to lose or maintain our weight. And their impact is considerable.”

One of the major factors — and the emphasis of Willett's and Wood’s book — is who you hang out with. Social networks, their research says, play a significant role in weight.

Wood is a clinical cardiologist, staff physician at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Harvard Medical School. I talked with her about the power of "thinfluence" and what everyone needs know about maintaining a healthy weight in midlife.

Next Avenue: What is Thinfluence?

Wood: It is very hard to be the one person making a healthy change in a group of heavy people who like to eat and don’t like to exercise. But losing weight is isolating if you don’t engage other people in the process.

If you want to lose weight, you need to find people who support that behavior. Most often, the friends you have who are overweight are not going to want to change. If you decide to break the norm, you will be isolated. You need to find even just one person in your circle who wants to do what you’re doing  — or find someone else outside that circle.

What hurdles do people face when they’re looking to surround themselves with more health-motivated friends?

Stigma deeply affects weight loss efforts because people are embarrassed to go out in public. I love when I see a really heavy person racing in an event; it takes a lot of strength to do that. I did a triathlon a few weeks ago and the last finisher was a 350-pound woman. To surround yourself with people so different is hard.

That is the basis of our book: We surround ourselves with people who are like us. So if people want to lose weight, they have to hang out with people different than themselves in order to get to a better place.

Some people say, “Sure, social networks might affect some people, but not me. Obesity just runs in my family.” What do you tell them?

Plenty of people have a family history of obesity and are not obese. The biggest thing is recognizing you have that risk and you have to work harder to avoid the downstream effect.

Epigenetics [the ability to influence gene expression through behavior and lifestyle modification] affects genes and weight. So it’s important to recognize that you’re at risk and change your behavior. You could consult an obesity specialist and say, ‘What are my options?’

What is unique about weight gain and weight loss in midlife?

I’m the perfect person to ask. I’m 51, and once you pass age 40, your body biology changes. And what worked in past — say, skipping a meal or two — doesn’t work. You have to eat regular meals and exercise.

Most people coast through their 40s; I recommend treating the 40s as a bootcamp for midlife. Start minimizing sugars and ramp up exercise because it will be easier when the 50s come. Eat a little less bread and fewer French fries. These small changes can have a huge impact, and a gradual change in your 40s is much easier than making a drastic change when you hit 50.

source

If you find you’ve put on pounds in midlife, you need to be more aggressive about exercise. Look at each day and say, ‘Where do I have fifteen or twenty minutes today to fit in exercise?’

What you do ninety percent of the time affects your health; what you do ten percent of the time doesn’t. If you have a business dinner, you may think, ‘All bets are off.' No. Those things matter. If you stick with it most of the time, you will see the benefits, and those small changes will have a long lasting effect.

How can people find new social networks that support weight loss?

Whatever poor choices you make, you will gravitate toward people who make those same bad choices. But all it takes to change is one person. You just have to find one person.

Look at your friends: If they support better health, stick with them. If they’re keeping you from achieving better health or encouraging you to make choices that don’t support your health, then find new groups. Go to a race, bump into someone from your past, go walk the track in the morning.

You don’t have to abandon friends and family; you just need to have more support during change so you can achieve success.

Here’s an example: I went to do a race, but I hadn’t been exercising a lot before then. I bumped into a friend I hadn’t seen in 30 years. She hadn’t been exercising regularly much either. So we were like, ‘Let’s eat healthier and exercise together.’ It’s important to realize that people who will support you are out there; you just need to find them.

What one thing would you want everyone to walk away from this interview knowing?

It is never too late to change. One little step at time makes a huge difference, and within a year you can make substantial changes.

Source

What’s So Healthy About Avocado Oil?

It doesn’t take much digging to figure out that most of the oils we eat in this country are fantastically poor choices. There’s the heavy processing to consider as well as the GMO sourcing, the rancidity, and dramatic omega fatty acid imbalance to name a few unsavory points. 

source

Sure, we make different choices in our own kitchens, but sometimes we find ourselves wishing we could recreate a certain taste in a Primal version of an old favorite recipe or just find a better flavor in one of our new favorite Primal meals. As a result, even the most Primally devout among us are on the lookout for the healthiest choices with the right practical adaptability. (And, oh yeah, good taste…) In the interest of relishing our food while respecting our bodies, we hunt down lesser appreciated alternatives. Plus, there’s just something fun about undermining the status quo to support worthy culinary underdogs. One of the great “finds” of my Primal journey has undoubtedly been avocado oil – a little recognized healthy fat with big versatility.

Health Benefits

Aside from the chip and guacamole spread, avocado just doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Consider the fact that an avocado is over 75% fat. For a plant, this is a small and glorious miracle. What this fruit lacks in sweetness, it overachieves in satiety. But let’s look at the fat breakdown.

From an omega standpoint, avocado oil gives you a nutritional profile similar to olive oil. Nearly 70% of avocado oil is oleic acid, a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid. Aside from the significant monounsaturated content, avocado oil is about 16% saturated fatty acids and 14% polyunsaturated. The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is about 13:1. While it’s not an outstanding ratio, the PUFA content itself is small enough (14%) that we’re only talking about a small portion of the total oil. In the grand scheme, it’s as solid as olive oil, with arguably a better taste profile. To boot, the other benefits of avocado oil definitely compensate.

The fats aren’t only healthy in and of themselves but make other nutrients, particularly carotenoids, in the avocado much more bioavailable. Research has shown that avocado or avocado oil increased the absorption of carotenoids in a meal anywhere from 2.6 times to 15.3 times depending on carotenoid.

Speaking of micronutrients, an avocado itself has an impressive nutritional breakdown. A mere half of your average Hass avocado offers goodies such as 345 mg of potassium (that’s more than a banana), 185 μg of lutein/zeaxanthin per one-half fruit, 19.5 mg magnesium, 60 μg folate, 10 mg choline, 19 mg of glutathione, and 57 mg phytosterols including the potent lipid influencer beta-sitosterol.

With their high levels of multiple antioxidants (e.g. polyphenols, proanthocyanidins, tocopherols, and carotenoids), avocados deserve accolades far beyond their usual attention, and research shows that avocado oil confer their nutritional health benefits. Several studies conclude that avocado consumption (again, which is mostly fat/oil) can support everything from good cardiovascular function to healthy aging, better eye health (likely because of enhanced lutein/carotenoid absorption) to easier weight loss (due to satiety), healthier lipid profiles (by lowering LDL and triglycerides) to lower risk for certain cancers (a potential result of glutathione and carotenoid benefits). Avocado oil has also shown benefit for the control of metabolic disorder and liver function.

And free radicals – they meet their match apparently when up against avocado oil. While antioxidants from plenty of other fruits and vegetables are known to neutralize free radicals, research suggests avocado oil’s power might have an extra potent benefit in (unlike most other antioxidant sources) being able to enter mitochondria, our seats of energy production and key factors in aging trajectory.

And while we’re on the subject of aging, avocado oil’s polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols, have been shown to reduce skin damage and inflammation that result from ultraviolet light exposure. These unique lipid molecules in addition to avocado oil’s effect on carotenoid absorption mean potent protection for the skin cell integrity and overall skin health.

source

Adaptability and Taste

Avocado oil is pressed from the pulp of the fruit rather than the seed. Because of its particular fat ratios, extra virgin avocado oil has a high smoke point of 400°F (204°C). This makes it extremely adaptable in the kitchen for anything from sautéing to stir-fry, baking to salads.

Unlike the sometimes bitter taste and pungent scent of olive oil, avocado oil has a mild smell, a creamy texture and rich, lingering taste that’s both naturally buttery and slightly nutty. (To my nose, the oil smells like a soft, ripe avocado with maybe a very faint hint of artichoke.) It’s become my favorite oil for fish, grilled vegetables and a lot of salad recipes.

Because of the higher smoke point, you can use avocado oil in cooking marinades as well as finishing sauces. I know people who avoid all dairy and use this oil in lieu of butter (or even ghee) for most of their cooking. Oh, and I’ve also heard the mild, neutral taste and high monounsaturated profile make it the perfect oil for Paleo mayo… (wink).

And while I don’t do much baking, I’ve heard from many who have come to appreciate avocado oil in recipes, particularly when they’re not looking for the strong aroma that unrefined coconut oil inevitably adds.

The only “con” you could say is the relative rarity of avocado oil. While you may not find it in every mainstream grocery store in the Crisco aisle, many if not most co-ops as well as specialty or higher-end grocers carry it. There are also many online markets that offer avocado oil at a reasonable price – and (of course) Primal Kitchen™ Mayo from my favorite, Thrive Market.

Hey guys, I cam across this avocado oil that I've been absolutely loving; adding it my salads as a dressing or using it in my dips, etc. Check it out this product!

Have you used avocado oil? Share your thoughts below in the comment section below.

Source

The Weight Loss Fridge

Forget diets. That’s right, we just said it. When it’s time to make a permanent change in your life—the kind you’ll see and feel—then you need to create change from the ground up. One of the best places to begin is in the fridge. But where should your refrigerator rehab start? This list for a Forever Weight Loss Fridge will help jumpstart your new lifestyle.

For many women, dieting involves adjusting eating habits until a certain amount of weight is lost, and then drifting back to the unhealthy habits that triggered the excess weight in the first place. Stop the diet yo-yo and start to make changes that keep you healthier and fitter for life. A smart step is to adopt a clean eating lifestyle that includes foods to support weight loss.

What is clean eating? It’s choosing to consume healthful portions of foods that are non- or minimally processed instead of those that are packaged and processed. The reality is that too many processed foods are loaded with stuff your body doesn’t need. Think sugar, fat, calories, and chemical additives. With clean eating, you’ll snack on a fresh apple rather than artificially-sweetened applesauce.  Learn more in 7 Simple Steps to Clean Eating.

DAIRY

Butter - Real butter is one of the clean eating foods that can be eaten in moderation.

Cheese - Low-fat cheese is also fine in moderation. Stock up on low-fat string cheese for a quick perfectly-portioned snack.

Milk - Choose unflavored, low-fat or fat-free varieties.

Dairy Alternative - If you’re dairy-sensitive, stock the fridge with unsweetened alternatives, such as almond, hazelnut, or rice milk.

Eggs

Greek Yogurt - Reach for fat-free Greek yogurt to benefit from a higher protein content than typical varieties. Choose plain to avoid refined sugars. For a boost of flavor and nutrition, add a handful of berries, nuts, or homemade granola.  Greek yogurt is also a healthier alternative to sour cream in many recipes.

PRODUCE

When buying foods to support weight loss, produce is a must-have, so load up on fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables. Frozen is an economical choice, too. If you’re choosing frozen, avoid options with added sugar or sauces.

Fresh Fruit

Fresh Veggies

Green, Leafy Veggies - We included these separately because green, leafy vegetables, like romaine lettuce or spinach, are a staple for living a healthier lifestyle. Use them to put together a green salad to enjoy with entrees or use them as a sandwich topping.

MEAT

Lean Poultry - Chicken breasts, ground chicken, and ground turkey are all smart clean eating foods for your fridge.

Healthy Fish - Get your omega-3s by choosing wild salmon, halibut, flounder, tilapia, trout, anchovies, or shrimp. Dig into this Wild Salmon Vegetable Salad with Lemon Miso Dressing.

CLEAN EATING CONDIMENTS/TOPPINGS

Dip - Clean eating dips are tasty with fruits and vegetables. Try Skinny Peanut Butter-Yogurt Dip or Skinny Ms. Ranch Dip.

Hummus - Enjoy fresh veggies with Zucchini Hummus.

Ketchup - Switch out processed brands, which often contain refined sugar, for this Homemade Healthy Ketchup.

Mustard

Salad Dressing - Forget store-bought brands with added refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup—make your own healthy dressing, like this Clean Eating Caesar Dressing.

Salsa (no sugar added)

Foods to support weight loss aren’t just for the fridge! Check out The Forever Weight Loss Pantry to learn how to reboot your pantry for clean eating.

Source
http://skinnyms.com/the-forever-weight-loss-fridge/

How to lose 3 pounds in a Day - Christina Carlyle

Give this video a watch guy, and let me know what you think? If you think it works or if it doesn't, just your thoughts?

9 Foods to Help You Lose Weight

By Shelley Levitt, Reviewed by Arefa Cassoobhoy, MD, MPH 

Delicious foods that help you diet? It sounds too good to be true.

No doubt: Weight loss comes down to simple math. You have to eat fewer calories than you burn.

"Certain foods can help you shed body weight," says Heather Mangieri, RD, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, "because they help you feel full longer and help curb cravings."

Some even kick up your metabolism. So take this list when you go to the supermarket:

Dark chocolate, sausage, nuts, and eggs? They're all on the list. It's about feeling full and satisfied.

1. Beans

Inexpensive, filling, and versatile, beans are a great source of protein. Beans are also high in fiber and slow to digest. That means you feel full longer, which may stop you from eating more.

2. Soup

Start a meal with a cup of soup, and you may end up eating less. It doesn’t matter if the soup is chunky or pureed, as long as it's broth-based. You want to keep the soup to 100 to 150 calories a serving. So skip the dollops of cream and butter.

3. Dark Chocolate

Want to enjoy chocolate between meals? Pick a square or two of dark over the milky version. In one study, chocolate lovers who were given dark chocolate ate 15% less pizza a few hours later than those who had eaten milk chocolate.

4. Pureed Vegetables

You can add more veggies to your diet, enjoy your "cheat" foods, and cut back on the calories you’re eating, all at the same time. When Penn State researchers added pureed cauliflower and zucchini to mac and cheese, people seemed to like the dish just as much. But they ate 200 to 350 fewer calories. Those healthy vegetables added low-cal bulk to the tasty dish.

5. Eggs and Sausage

A protein-rich breakfast may help you resist snack attacks throughout the day.

In a study of a group of obese young women, those who started the day with 35 grams of protein -- that’s probably way more than you’re eating -- felt fuller right away. The women ate a 350-calorie breakfast that included eggs and a beef sausage patty. The effect of the high-protein breakfast seemed to last into the evening, when the women munched less on fatty, sugary goods than the women who had cereal for breakfast.

6. Nuts

For a great snack on the run, take a small handful of almonds, peanuts, walnuts, or pecans. Research shows that when people munch on nuts, they automatically eat less at later meals.

7. Apples

Skip the apple juice and the applesauce and opt instead for a crunchy apple. Whole fruit blunts appetite in a way that fruit juices and sauces don’t.

One reason is that raw fruit has more fiber. Plus, chewing sends signals to your brain that you’ve eaten something substantial.

8. Yogurt

Whether you prefer Greek or traditional, yogurt can be good for your waistline.

A Harvard study followed more than 120,000 people for a decade or longer. Yogurt, of all the foods that were tracked, was most closely linked to weight loss.

That doesn't prove that yogurt caused weight loss, but it stood out among other foods.

9. Grapefruit

Yes, grapefruit really can help you shed pounds, especially if you are at risk for diabetes.

Researchers at Scripps Clinic in San Diego found that when obese people ate half a grapefruit before each meal, they dropped an average of 3 ½ pounds over 12 weeks. Drinking grapefruit juice had the same results.

But grapefruit juice doesn't have any proven "fat-burning" properties -- it may just have helped people feel full.

Be careful: You cannot have grapefruit or grapefruit juice if you are on certain medications, so check the label on all your prescriptions, or ask your pharmacist or doctor.

Shop Smart

Load your shopping cart with lots of lean protein, fresh veggies, fruit, and whole grains, says food scientist Joy Dubost, PhD, RD. The most important thing, when it comes to lasting weight loss, is the big picture of what you eat, not specific foods.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/9-foods-to-help-you-lose-weight?page=2

7 Diet Tips That Really Work

Try these creative weight loss tips to make dieting easier — and more successful

By Jenny Stamos Kovacs
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

WebMD Archive

Whether you're looking to lose a few pounds - or have 30, 40 or more pounds to shed - a few creative weight loss tips can make it easier. To help you stick with your diet and meet your weight loss goals, WebMD asked several nutrition and fitness experts to share their secrets of success. The 7 diet tips that follow can help you get on the fast track to safe weight loss, no matter what kind of diet you're on.

Weight Loss Tip #1: Count on more than willpower alone.

It's easy to blame diet failures on a lack of willpower, says Lisa Sanders, MD, a Yale University primary care clinician-educator. But willpower isn't meant to be the only tool you use. It's more like a safety net for when life spins out of control.

Basing your weight loss efforts only on willpower can actually work against your diet goals, says Martha Beck, PhD, life coach and author ofThe Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace. For instance, research shows that trying not to think about something - like that frosted chocolate brownie - can actually make you focus more intensely on it. When you're rested, relaxed, and enjoying life, Beck says, you can suppress unwanted thoughts and feelings fairly easily. But when you're stressed, annoyed, or pressed for time, resisting temptations is much harder. So rather than relying on willpower to get you through, set a goal to develop a conscious awareness of what you eat without obsessing about it.

Weight Loss Tip #2: Set yourself up for success.

Here are two ways you can set yourself up to succeed. First, says Andrea N. Giancoli, MPH, RD, eliminate any food that doesn't support your weight loss goals. Giancoli is a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association (ADA). She says it'll be much easier to resist temptation if unhealthy choices aren't around. Purge your pantry of any foods that list "partially hydrogenated oils" as an ingredient. Toss out sodas or other drinks made with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. And, especially if you prefer bottled water to tap, keep a supply on hand. It's easier to grab on the go.

Then give your diet some help by making it easy to exercise. Gregory Florez is founder and CEO of FitAdvisor.com, a top-rated fitness training service. He says two things you can do to avoid becoming a couch potato is to clear off the clutter hanging on your treadmill and then pull other fitness gear out into the open where you can see it.

Weight Loss Tip #3: Set up a support network.

Studies show that social support is crucial - especially for women, says health psychologist Bess Marcus, PhD, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island. You can help yourself by finding at least one person who believes in you and your ability to succeed at your weight loss goals. "Line up a friend to walk with you, watch your kids so you can work out, or even just call to check in on how you're doing," says Marcus.

If you want to be social and in good shape, make a date with a friend for twice-weekly workouts. If exercise includes social time, you're more likely to look forward to lacing up your sneakers. Sports medicine researchers at Indiana University found that working out with a partner is the best predictor of exercise satisfaction, and a partner can help you stick with your routine. For even more motivation, sign up for a team sport like soccer, volleyball, or Ultimate Frisbee. Then you'll have a crowd of people depending on you.

Weight Loss Tip #4: Set realistic goals.

If you've been inactive for months (or even years), don't immediately plan to work out every day. "Appraise your life," Marcus says, "and then make some strategic changes that you can realistically achieve." And don't be afraid to start small, especially with weight loss goals.

Beck recommends setting goals that are so easy they're almost laughable. Take your list of daily goals, she says, such as "Eat 5 servings of veggies a day" or "Snack only once between meals," and cut each one in half. Aim for 2.5 servings of vegetables. Cut down your snacks to 2 per day.

Still seem too hard? Then cut those goals in half again. Make your goals so incredibly easy that you're sure you can't fail to meet them, Beck says. Then you'll be motivated to continue. Next, set dates to increase your goals, adding that extra serving of veggies or 10 more minutes to your workout until you reach your maximum potential.

Weight Loss Tip #5: Police your portions.

If you're like most women, a "serving" is the portion size you're used to seeing on your plate. Clearly, bigger portions have more calories. And calories are what it all comes down to when it comes to losing or maintaining weight, says Lisa R. Young, PhD, RD, author of The Portion Teller Plan.

Some foods are more calorie-dense than others: 1 cup of raw broccoli contains 31 calories, so a double serving of 2 cups gives you only 62 calories. But 1 cup of premium ice cream can easily hit you with 300 calories or more. A larger, double serving can mean a whopping 600 calories. If you take in more calories than your body needs, the extra calories are stored as fat, Young tells WebMD. To tally portion size correctly, keep a measuring cup handy for a quick reality-check.

Weight Loss Tip #6: Picture your future self.

Have you thought of where your weight loss plan is taking you? Let your mind explore your future self, says Steven Gurgevich, PhD, director of the Mind-Body Clinic at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson and co-author of The Self-Hypnosis Diet.

Picture yourself the way you hope to be six months or a year from now - how you look, how you feel, and who you spend your time with. Imagine yourself creating your life the way you'd like it to be. Next, invent one or two affirmations that state your intention to be fit and healthy. For example, "I am whole, healthy and strong," or "I am satisfied with just one piece of chocolate." Creating a mindset that makes it easier to stick to your weight loss plan is just as important as how much time you spend on the treadmill.

Weight Loss Tip #7: Be ready to work.

"We're deeply conditioned to do what we've already done," says life coach M. J. Ryan, author of This Year I Will . . . How To Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True. If, for the past two years, you've come home from work, grabbed a soda, and crashed on the couch with take-out, you're strongly conditioned to do that again tonight and tomorrow night, too. Change isn't impossible, but it does take work.

"To develop new habits, you have to make new neural pathways," Ryan tells WebMD. So create weight loss reminders to help jolt your mind out of old habits and into new ones. Try posting a note on your fridge, reminding you to eat fruits and veggies or drink more water. Or post notes on your bathroom or bedroom mirror with upbeat messages like "Remember to breathe!" or "Hey, beautiful!"

Before you know it, you'll be smiling back at the face - and body - in the mirror.

5 Ways to Boost your Cross Trainer Workout

If you’re looking for a piece of exercise equipment that will give you a great cardio workout and improve your strength and muscle tone, the cross trainer is your go-to machine.

Creating a motion best described as ‘like cross-country skiing’, the cross trainer targets almost every major muscle group in your body, including the arms, shoulders, back, thighs, calves, abdominals, and of course, the butt. Unlike running, it doesn’t place anywhere near the same amount of stress on your joints. And when used at a high level of intensity, it can burn up to 38 kilojoules (9 calories) per minute – need we say more?

But that doesn’t mean you can just jump on a cross trainer and reap the rewards; more than any other machine, you really need to focus on the exercise you’re doing to get the benefits. Unlike the treadmill, where you can set the speed and incline and allow your mind to wander while your legs keep pace, the cross trainer requires constant effort on your behalf to maintain your speed and keep the momentum going.

One of the ways you can keep your focus is by adding variety to your workout. By doing so, you’ll also boost the intensity, burn more kilojoules, and tone and sculpt different muscles in your body. Here’s how to do it:

1. Add some intervals to boost your fitness

Interval training is the quickest way to boost your cardiovascular fitness, and it’s so easy to do on a cross trainer. The principle of interval training is to repeat a cycle of short, high intensity bursts of speed, with slow, recovery phases. Because your fitness is based on the rate at which you recover, continuing to practice this rotation of exercise and recovery trains your body to recover more efficiently, boosting your fitness levels.

To add intervals to your cross trainer workout, simply add periods of faster pedalling. Try this: after a five minute warm up, pedal for one minute as fast as you can. Use the next two to three minutes to recover at a normal pace, then repeat. As you get fitter, you can increase the amount of time you spend pedalling at top speed and decrease your rest periods.

Interval training has also been proven to boost your metabolism during the time after your workout, helping you burn more kilojoules than exercise performed at a steady pace.

2. Drop your arms to work your core

By strengthening your core muscles – the abdominals, lower back, thoracic and cervical region of the spine – you can improve your stability and posture, create a leaner looking waistline, and dramatically decrease the symptoms of lower back pain.

Although we often think of ab crunches and planks when we think of core strength, a cross trainer can provide an effective core-strengthening workout as well. By letting go of the handles, you force yourself to engage your abdominal and core muscles to maintain your balance – a leaner, stronger, you, is closer than you think.

3. Pedal backwards to boost your thigh tone

If you want to challenge your balance, improve your agility, and give your quads a workout they won’t soon forget, give backwards pedalling a go. By pedalling backwards, you’ll immediately feel the difference as your body changes the way it uses its muscles to work the backwards motion.

Tip: For a real thigh burner, let go of the handles and squat down into your legs as you continue to pedal backwards. It will burn, so keep it short and aim for around 30 seconds, before your legs start to tire and you lose your form. Throw a few of these into your cross trainer workout every few minutes and you’ll quickly notice the difference to your upper legs and butt!

4. Push and pull on the handlebars for upper body toning

To tone your arms, chest, shoulders and back, simply grab onto the handlebars, stop using your legs to pedal, and begin pushing and pulling with your arms to power the machine. Ensure you keep a straight back to avoid injury; you may have to drop the resistance to do so. The push motion will work your chest and triceps more, while the pull motion will give your biceps, shoulders and back more of a workout. Intersperse two to three intervals of upper body training throughout your workout for the best results.

5. Increase the resistance to improve your strength and burn more kilojoules

It’s really quite simple, if you want to strengthen your upper and lower body and burn more kilojoules, turn the resistance up! The higher the resistance, the more effort your body needs to exert to continue pedalling, the more strength you build and the more kilojoules you burn. So up that dial and keep going!

Source