Weight Loss Program

Friday, 12 October 2007

Fast Weight Loss

A typical weight loss program aims for fat loss in the region of 1-2 pounds per week (1/2 to 1 kg). The reason for this is to prevent subsequent weight gain due to the body suffering a rapid lowering in metabolism and to prevent loss of muscle.
However, there is a place for faster weight loss in certain circumstances. Fast weight loss is only really appropriate for those who are very overweight. Any rapid weight loss regime is not appropriate for those only looking to lose 2-25 pounds.
Do Any Fast Weight Loss Plans Work?
There are a number of quick weight loss programs that attempt to provide a nutritional balance whilst still providing low calories. One such program is Medifast - this is a successful program used by a number of doctors for many years. Weight loss is in the region of 2-5 pounds per week (see Medifast Review).
There are a number of other diets that fall into the category of a VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) - this is where daily calorie intake is 800 calories or less. These diets - such as the Cambridge Diet or OptiFast really do need to be medically supervised due to the possible side effects.
These diets typically consist of meal replacement products and can only be sustained in the short term.
What Are The Risks Of Quick Weight Loss?
Most diets that claim fast weight loss are very low in calories. Unless properly balanced and supervised, there can be nutritional deficiencies that can cause potential health problems.
Along with extremely restrictive calories often comes fatigue and irritability, and even other issues such as constipation due to a lack of fiber.
The other issue is a lowered metabolism that can begin a pattern of yoyo dieting. Depending on your goals, fast weight loss can also include loss of muscle mass (catabolism) as well as fat - this is not desirable.
Who Can Use a Fast Weight Loss Program?
Weight loss programs that offer rapid weight loss are generally only suitable for people who are obese (a BMI of 30 and above). A person who is only mildly overweight will only really cause themselves problems in the long run.
Some VLCD's need a doctors authorization, but other fast weight loss diets (such as Medifast) may be done without this.
What About Claims By Popular Diets?
Many popular diets, such as the South Beach Diet, Atkins, the Hampton's Diet offer a 2 week "induction" phase during which weight loss is substantial. However this is only really due to a severe restriction of carbohydrates where most that is lost is typically fluid or water weight.

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Eating Habit

The basics of weight loss is all about diet and exercise. However, it's no good getting a diet plan if you can't stop putting food in your mouth.

There are more than enough good diet plans and programs out there (see our reviews). The issue for many people is motivation, dedication, and consistency. For without these factors we often end up disappointed.
Eating is very habitual and our eating patterns become a ritual. Every day we are faced with food choices, and it can become daunting. This is why many of our poor food choices aren't so much choices, but have become a daily ritual.
The Good News About Habits
Even though our eating has become a habit (such as snacking all day, eating junk food when we sit down in front of the TV) - it is possible to change our habits and create new ones
If food is meeting an emotional need in your life, perhaps it's time to examine this, and determine exactly what the need is. For some it can be boredom, others it can be loneliness, the stresses of life, or perhaps it is a ritual that comes from childhood.
Managing Hunger
Many of us have forgotten how to manage our hunger. We leave it until we are hungry before we choose our food. Inevitably we make poor choices, or can even start binging. This can be prevented by fueling our bodies every 3 hours with healthy food. Beware of diet plans that only prescribe 3 meals a day.
We also have to learn what it is to be full. If we can learn to listen to our bodies we can stop eating. It's okay to leave food on your plate!
The Power Of Junk Food
There is something about junk food that has a special pull. It's almost addictive. Be aware of the role junk foods play in your life, and try to get rid of them.
Learning to Focus On Goals
If you set a specific goal for yourself you will find it is far easier to keep motivated. Everytime you reach for some comfort food, you can train yourself to respond with your goal. "Will this help me reach my goal?" It can take real dedication to keep with the plan. Focus on the goal every day.
Freedom to Fail
If you overindulge, don't fall off the wagon. Don't tell yourself you're a failure. It's okay - eat better the next meal, or maybe exercise more. Feeling like you are constantly deprived can lead to binging, and can play real mind games.

Women Body Shape

Most women generally fall into a single body shape classification - the Apple shape, or the Pear shape. These body shapes have significant implications for both health and weight loss.
However recent research has shown that a woman's figure can be classified in a number of different ways.
Hourglass
Bust and hips are basically the same circumference - though the bust can be up to 1" larger than the hips. The waist is then 9" or more smaller than the bust.
Spoon
Where the hips are 2" or more larger than the bust. The waist is less than 9.25" smaller than the bust.
Rectangle
Where the bust and hips are basically the same circumference. The waist is less than 9" smaller than the bust.
Triangle
The bust is 3.6" larger than the hips and the waist is less than 9" smaller than the bust.
What about Apples or Pears?
Apple and pear classifications are useful in determining body fat distribution. It is generally thought that there are more health risks for the apple shape. This can be determined by measuring your waist to hip ratio. A ratio of 0.8 or above indicates that you are an apple shape. A ratio of under 0.8 means you are a pear shape.
Apples
The apple shaped woman carries most her body fat in the abdominal region. She will generally have narrow hips, larger breasts, and a relatively large waist. Apple-shaped women have more fat surrounding their internal organs (visceral fat).
This kind of fat presents many more risks than subcutaneous fat; it decreases insulin sensitivity, raises blood pressure, and decreases levels of 'good' (HDL) cholesterol. These are all key indicators of heart disease risk and diabetes risk.
The higher the waist to hip ratio, the higher the risk.
Pears
The pear-shaped woman carries most of her body fat around the hips, thighs, and buttocks. She will generally have a smaller upper body (smaller breasts) and a heavier lower body.
The risks for the overweight pear-shaped woman are quite different to the apple shape. A pear-shaped woman will typically be more susceptible to cellulite and varicose veins - and to eating disorders. However the pear-shaped woman does not carry the same kind of health problems that the apple shape does.
Due to popular culture's obsession with rail-thin women, there is considerable pressure on women to be a certain shape. However even when a pear-shaped woman loses weight - she is still a pear shape. This unrealistic pressure can lead many (often young women) down the path to disordered eating and body image problems.
Weight Loss for Apples and Pears
There are some who believe that a specific dietary regimen will help each body shape.:
ApplesLower carbohydrate diet (avoiding processed and 'white' carbs).PearsLower fat diet (avoiding full fat foods; cheeses, butter).

Some Questions Before You Diet

Many popular weight loss programs include substantial information about nutrition, food, and meal plans - but fail to address aspects of lifestyle.

Without addressing these issues before changing your diet - even the very best program can fail.

1. What are your current eating habits ?
Do you eat at desk? Maybe in the car or on the bus? What do you eat during these times? How will it be compatible with your new food choices?

2. Are you prepared to eat differently than your friends at social functions?
Eating often accompanies many social gatherings. How do your friends eat? Do they consume foods that you know will not be compatible with your lifestyle? How will you address this?

3. Are you prepared to changed you home environment?
Does your home environment work with your new plans? You my have chosen to eat mindfully and leisurely. The trouble is, your home is utterly chaotic, noisy, and messy - with barely a place to sit down - let alone have a large pleasant space to indulge in your new gourmet meals. What will you do to change this?

4. How do your current habits fit?
What if your leisure activities always involve eating junk food. What happens if you start a diet that completely rules out junk food? What will you do? Change your habits? Find a different comfort food? Divide up your packets of chips or other snack foods? Think about it.

5. What about eating out?
Do you eat at restaurants a lot? Which restaurants do you go to? Will they fit with your new style of eating? Are you prepared to leave food on your plate if their portions are too big?

6. Is your kitchen set-up properly?
Take a look around your kitchen. You've decided to try the Sonoma Diet and you need to actually cook and prepare food. Trouble is, all you have are 3 forks and a corkscrew... Or maybe you're going to start making a smoothie every day. Now where do you fit a blender? After all, will you actually use it if it's stored in a cupboard 10 feet up? Or maybe you plan to portion up your meals. Do you actually have enough fridge/freezer space? Enough containers? Enough time?

7. Are you being totally honest with yourself?
You read about a new diet in a magazine, and it requires eating a lot more vegetables. On the surface you are busting to lose "10 pounds in 2 weeks", but deep down you know you cannot stand vegetables. Which part of you will win out in the end? Probably the voice that says you hate vegetables. This must be addressed. Why do you hate veggies? Are you prepared to cook more, or learn different ways of cooking veggies? Is it the taste? The texture? The time taken to prepare them?

8. Can you accept the things you cannot change?
You cannot change the way other people act and the way they speak - "oh, so you're on another health kick again are you?"... But you can choose how you will respond inwardly and outwardly - ahead of time.

9. Will you continue monitoring yourself objectively?
Many people reach their ideal weight, and then let old habits creep back in. However there are a few warning systems in place - one is the waistband in your pants. Will you choose to conveniently ignore it if it gets tighter? Or will you be objective?

10. How the lifestyle of family and friends affect your weight loss efforts?
If your whole world is filled with people who are couch potatoes - how do you plan to work against this culture? Will they influence you to be more active or more sedentary.

Weight Loss Guide

Weight loss or Fat loss?
When we talk about losing weight, we really mean losing fat. Weight loss can be muscle, water (fluid), or fat. Standing on the scales gives you no clue as to your body composition - so don't weigh yourself too much - it can really play mind games. Our weight is always fluctuating (often due to hydration levels). The mirror, clothes-fitting, old photos, etc -- can all provide feedback on our fat loss -- not just the scales.
How do you lose fat?
In a nutshell, it's a simple law of energy intake and expenditure. Eating more than you are using means you gain weight. Burning more than your eating means you lose weight... Unfortunately the real outworking of this is not so simple. Losing fat (for most people) is hard -- get used to the idea then you won't struggle so much with disappointment.
There are 5 principles to keep in mind - Diet (Nutrition), Cardio (Exercise), Dedication (Consistency), Goals, Weight training. It is possible to lose fat with correct diet alone (for some people) - but the best chance of success will be to apply all these principles. Even the perfect diet plan can fail if you cannot stick to it.

What's weight training got to do with fat loss?
Weight (or strength) training is not essential to lose fat - but it sure helps. A weight training workout boosts metabolism for the whole day and helps build lean muscle. Muscle is metabolically active - it needs fuel - and therefore helps you burn more calories all the time. If you are thinking about weight training - think on this:

Do I want my body to be strong and useful, or is my body only for people to look at?

Lifting weights makes your body strong and useful.

Can't I just eat less and skip meals?
It's naturally what we want to do - but it's not quite right. "I must lose weight so I'm gonna starve myself". This is where things get a bit confusing. Starve the body too much, and it gets the hint and slows down - you'll feel irritable, fatigued, and begin to lose muscle as well as fat. After clawing your way through hunger pangs and dreams of food, the chances are you will binge, or start eating back how you used to. Guess what happens? The weight piles on because your body is still in "slow" mode. Fat loss is all about calorie reduction, but a calorie intake that is too low will cause problems.

Why bother with exercise?
There are few people that have lost fat (and maintained it), without making exercise a part of their life. Cardiovascular fitness has many health benefits - primarily keeping your heart strong. Including some form of exercise as a natural part of your life will give you an even bigger chance of success. Just remember consistency! Cardio exercise could be something like; brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, treadmill, elliptical trainer.

There's so much to learn - Help !?
There are hundreds of diet books and weight loss programs out there. Many of them have terrific claims, but remember:
There is no one-size-fits-all weight loss program.
There are no magic bullets or miracle instant cures.
There is absolutely EVERY chance that you can transform yourself.
It is completely possible for you to lose the fat and get healthier.
Believe in yourself.
Do I have to buy something (book, subscription, etc)?
No. If you have enough nutritional knowledge and a whole lot of motivation you can sort out your own lifestyle change. However most of us don't have the time or know-how to go-it-alone -- so we pay someone else to design, explain, or customize a fat loss program.

Do Online Weight Loss Programs Work?
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) decided structured on-line weight loss programs worked better than "just browsing around". (Vol. 285 No. 9, March 7, 2001). "Participants who were given a structured behavioral treatment program with weekly contact and individualized feedback had better weight loss compared with those given links to educational Web sites."

What's with all the different diets?
There are hundreds of diets. Some diets work for some - others don't. There are other diets that are clearly faulty. Here's some simple guidelines. Avoid extremes (e.g. very-low-carb or very-low-fat). Learn about carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Learn about whole foods and learn how to reduce your intake of processed foods. These factors seem to be common across the board.
We have a number of reviews of many popular weight loss programs. We do our best to try and have some objectivity, but the reality is - two different people can get two different results from the same program!

Where do I start?
It's possible to get started just by taking some of the higher-calorie items (soft drinks etc) out of your diet, and trying to get out for some exercise. However you will find that without some serious commitment and identified goals - you will soon lose interest. There's nothing like results to keep you motivated.

The chances are you will need some serious help, and this is where some of the commercial weight loss programs can help. Have a look at our picks for the best weight loss program, or the diet reviews, or Fitness Program reviews to help get you started. Most of these programs have journals, goal-setting tools, and discussion forums with others to help keep you motivated.

Can it work for me?
Here's the trick - we are all unique. Different physical characteristics, different genetics. This is why each of us will have to do slightly different things to get the fat loss going. Be prepared for a long-term commitment, a belief in change, and a new lifestyle.
You can do it. Say goodbye to being a victim. Small step by small step, you can achieve your goals. You may trip up, you may have setbacks - but remember - failure isn't fatal !