Dietary Madness or Do We Need More Supplements Added to Our Food?

22. Oct, 2009 Categories: Diet, science and facts by 0 Comments

Yesterday I heard on the BBC news and read on the web site that the
British government is going to put Folic Acid in to foods such as bread.
Folic acid fortification warning  Dietary Madness

Folic acid in bread could help
cut cases of spina bifida
 
 

 

 

Fortifying flour with folic acid to cut birth defects may lead
to a range of health problems, warn scientists.

The move was approved earlier this year by the Food Standards Agency
as a way to reduce defects such as spina bifida.

See their article about this here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7069077.stm

In the article scientists are warning of evidence that this could cause health problems for
some people as well as do some good for pregnant mothers and developing babies.

What is folic acid?

Folic acid is one of the B vitamins, it is also known as folate when found naturally in foods.
These are not special foods that are hard to get hold of. They are common foods that we
should be eating every day. Some of which are listed below.

Foods containing Folate

  • Vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, cabbage, asparagus and parsnips.
  • Oranges (including orange juice).
  • Brown Rice.
  • Lettuce, peas and cauliflower.
  • Tinned baked beans.
  • Nuts and Pulses.
  • Milk.
  • Egg yolks.
  • Fruits particularly kiwi fruit and papaya.
  • Cooked kidney and liver.
  • Marmite™
  • Bovril™.

Be careful not to overcook vegetables as this can destroy the folate, you should also
try to eat vegetables raw or steamed.

Why?

My question here is why? Why does food need to be fortified when good sources
are readily available?

Shouldn’t the recommendation be that we should all be eating a well balanced diet
containing plenty of the foods listed above?

Let me know what you think.

Is your weight loss a healthy loss

20. Oct, 2009 Categories: making changes to your lifestyle by 7 Comments

freeimages.co.uk home images

 

 Is your weight loss a healthy loss

Distinguishing between a diet or weight loss plan that will give a healthy loss and one that may be considered a not so healthy loss was one of the things I was getting at in yesterdays post. http://www.permanentweightsolutions.com/how-to-lose-love-handles

Healthy Loss

What do I mean by that? First the word health is usually taken to mean free from disease, if your free from disease you are considered to be healthy. I use the word health slightly differently, I don’t think of health as something you get by eating or doing certain things, because then how could we measure it.  We may feel we are free from disease, but we never really know, and after all ageing is it’s self, considered by many to be a disease, in that diseases usually associated with ageing are  often simply a result of us getting older. However I view health more as something you do not some thing you get.

I my view health is doing the things that to the best of your knowledge are proven to keep you free from disease. Things such as:

  1. Eating your 5 a day.
  2. Having an active lifestyle.
  3. Taking regular aerobic exercise.
  4. Limiting the amount of processed food in your diet.
  5. Not smoking.

So back to weight loss, a healthy loss would be weight loss while doing health, doing the things listed above and many more I’m sure you can think of.

Please comment and tell us what you do for health, how you define health and things you can add to the list above.

P.s. Most of the things on the list above are things that you would want to inplement to lose weight, so maybe if we just do health we will never need to go on a diet again. What do you think?

 

How To Lose Love Handles

19. Oct, 2009 Categories: stratergies to keep you on your plan by 6 Comments

How To Lose Love Handles

How To Lose Love HandlesYou have been successfully losing weight, every thing is going to plan, you may have even reached your goal weight. The problem is you have some stubborn areas of fat that just will not go. You need to know how to lose love handles.

Love handles,saddle bags and that bit of fat right on the front of your belly, we all have that one place where it is extremely hard to shift the fat.

After observing many people losing weight over the years I have noticed that we all seem to lose weight and put it on in a similar manner. Lets assume that we start with a person who has no excess body fat and they gradually begin to put on weight. First a layer of fat is deposited all around the body, the face will become slightly fuller and if you were to pinch any of the normal areas you would notice an increase in fat in the skin fold.

If the person continues to increase body fat things begin to change slightly now more of the fat seems to be deposited in certain areas. These are different for different people but the common sites are;

  1. The sides of the waist.
  2. The back of the upper arms.
  3. The hips.
  4. The front of the belly.

Now, how to lose love handles? lets go back to the beginning. You have been successfully losing weight, every thing is going to plan, you may have even reached your goal weight. The problem is you have some stubborn areas of fat that justwill not go. Assuming you have been following a sustainable weight loss plan with a healthy diet and regular aerobic exercise and activity. Your fat reduction will have been in the same order as the weight gain example above, rather than the reverse of the example. you have reached the point where the all over fat covering has reduced but you are left with the stubborn bits, the love handles.

At this point you need to stick to your weight loss plan even going slightly below your goal weight. It will only take a pound or two before people start to say you are looking gaunt and too thin. Don’t lose any more weight at this point but keep at the weight you are and very soon you will see those love handles disappear. At this point you can let your weight gradually go back to your goal, that little bit of fat will be distributed over your body, giving you that healthy glow but it will never go back on to those stubborn areas as long as you now keep control of your weight.

Free Diet, Exercise and Weight Loss Help

14. Oct, 2009 Categories: Geting outside help with weight loss by 0 Comments

Exercise and Weight Loss HelpI saw two teenagers on the BBC the other morning, they have both had serious weight problems and lost the weight at The Carnegi camp in Leeds. In the interview they were each asked how they had managed to continue their diet exercise and weight loss after the camp and how they kept motivated, they both mentioned the support they get from their families and friends and the continuing support of the camp.

During the camp they obviously had their diet, exercise and weight loss all planned out for them and had all the encouragement and support that they needed. The real key point is that they had to go home at some point and find a way to keep motivated.

It didn’t just happen by accident that they received plenty of support with their diet, exercise and weight loss, the coordinators of the course involved the families, kept them informed and told them what kind of support would be needed when the teenagers returned home. There was also a program in place for the course staff to follow up after the course and give support.

People like to help and give encouragement, but sometimes our friends and family don’t want to risk saying the wrong thing, especially when it comes to weight and body size/shape. We need to give them our permission to help. In fact ask for help.

If you want to keep the success of your diet, exercise and weight loss efforts going, seek out the right kind of people from within your family, friends and colleagues, to help you. A friend or group at work all working toward similar goals can encourage each other and share tips and experience. Tell someone who you really respect and care about what they think of you, what your goals are, ask for their encouragement and support, you won’t want to let this person down.

I know that if I tell my mother-in-law what my goals are, she will ask me every time she sees me how I am getting on, and shouldn’t I have reached this stage by now. It’s a little light hearted game we play, as if she is willing me to fail, but it really keeps me on my toes, and we both know that it really helps and keeps me focused.

I remember when I was a teenager and my mum told us she was trying to stop smoking because it was bad for her. She knew that she would never have any peace if she started smoking again once the three of us kids heard that. It worked she never has smoked again.

Look at the people around you are there people who could support you with your diet, exercise and weight loss? Are there people you could support with theirs? Could you form a group of friends and help each other?

Are there any other tips that you use to keep motivated? let us know.

Score a goal, reduce fat, lose weight and stay healthy

11. Oct, 2009 Categories: stratergies to keep you on your plan by 9 Comments

weightloss goalIt’s A Goal!  

How score when your goal is to reduce body fat, lose weight and stay healthy.

Setting a goal is the key if you want to successfully shed fat, lose weight and never put it back on, a well defined goal is what you will look towards for motivation, and it will help you make the right choices when times are tough.

By well defined I mean, having an exact weight that you will reach and a date that you will reach it by. Write these in your journal, post them on your fridge and at the side of your bathroom mirror, in fact anywhere you will see them regularly. Yesterday someone told me she puts hers on the inside of the kitchen wall cupboard door along with a photo of how she was when she started her weight loss plan, every time she goes to the cupboard she is reminded of her goal, to reduce her body fat, lose weight and why she set it………..This goal must never leave your mind.

Also write in your journal how you will feel when you reach this goal and have lost this exces body fat.

Lose the thought of being overweight. Imagine the moment you get on the scales and what life will feel like being the new you, what will be different? How will you look? What will you wear? What things might you do different to what you do now? What kinds of food do you think the new you will eat? What kind of exercise will you do? What will your friends think? Who will your friends be? How may your important relationships change? And what will you think of yourself? Write down in your journal the answers to all these questions and as many of your own as you can think of, read them daily and they will guide you to your goal.

Live life as though you have already reached your goal, as if you are the new you. Ask yourself this question am I an overweight person who would like to lose fat, lose weight and be healthier or a slim person carrying too much weight but who is committed to regaining a slim figure and healthy life? They are essentially the same person, but your approach to life and your ability to attain your goal may be different depending on how you describe yourself.

If you are the overweight person who would like to get slim, you will go about the life of an overweight person, doing what overweight people do, acting like overweight people act and all the time wanting to lose weight. You will go on diets eating the foods dieters eat, you may try many things but at the end of the day you are still the overweight person doing what overweight people do. Your subconscious mind will lead you down the path of your most dominant thought, that you are an overweight person.

On the other hand if you view yourself as the slim person carrying too much weight but committed to regaining a slim figure, you will live life as a slim person, eating what a slim person eats, doing what a slim person does.

What other preconceptions may you have about yourself that could be sabotaging your goals?
Ps. From the examples above which of the two emotions do you think is most likely going to help you reach a goal; would like to lose  or  is committed to regaining?

The weight loss diet that didn’t work

06. Oct, 2009 Categories: lifestyle mistakes by 8 Comments

Instant weight loss part 2 and why the weight loss diet didn’t work.

So here we go and this could end up long so I will try to keep it as simple as possible.

freeimages.co.uk inch tapeNote. I am using the term weight loss diet  to mean any eating plan, weight loss plan or keep fit campaign.

Chances are you are here reading this as someone who has been on at least one weight loss diet in the past, you probably lost weight on the weight loss diet and have now regained at least  some of the weight you lost. How much you have gained since being on the weight loss diet is probably proportional to how long ago you came off the diet.

Therein lies the problem and the answer to the questions, why haven’t the weight loss diets I have been on worked? And why do I always put weight back on?

Going on a weight loss diet, implies that someday you will be coming off a diet, and when you come off a weight loss diet you go back to living how you lived before the diet, which we have already established doesn’t work because that was when you put on the weight in the first place and the second place!

Today we’ll concentrate on why the weight loss diet didn’t work and next time on what to do about it.

The weight loss diet you have been on will probably fall in to one of these categories:

  • It lasted for a limited time period
  • It required you to cut out certain foods or food groups
  • You had to or were encouraged to consume branded foods
  • You had to have meal replacements, drinks or bars
  • You had to buy pills or supplements
  • You had to eat mainly certain foods or food groups
  • you had to change instantly from your normal life to the plan

The problem with all these is obvious, none of them are sustainable if you want to be healthy, or stay healthy.

So the fact that you regained weight after was not really your fault, it was inevitable.

I speak to people every week who have been on the same weight loss diet programme many times and would go on it again now or in the New Year if I couldn’t persuade them otherwise. Why if they already know it doesn’t work would they keep doing it? Probably because of aggressive advertising or they don’t know what else to do.

Please don’t fall in to that trap, as the truth is simple and quite liberating.

Keep reading the blog to find out what you can do about it. There are more articles on my site

www.permanentweightsolutions.com and sign up for your daily weight loss tip and free poster on the top right corner of the home page.

Here Are Two Formulas For Instant Weight loss

04. Oct, 2009 Categories: making changes to your lifestyle by 6 Comments

scales www.freeimages.co.uk No I’m not going to plug Photoshop, or maybe I just did.

What I really want to say is there actually are two formulas for instant weight loss.

Instant weight loss formula 1.

Use up more energy than you take in over a set period of time.

Instant weight loss formula 2.

Take in less energy than you use up over a set period of time.

 

Now I’m not trying to insult your inteligence here, but it really is as simple as that. This is the science behind every weight loss plan or diet that ever worked.

So now you know why all the diets you have lost weight on worked. In my next post I will be explaining why they also didn’t work, why you eventually ended up re-gaining at least some of the weight.

Weight Loss Training Plans

01. Oct, 2009 Categories: weight loss exercise by 0 Comments

andy ready to race triahlon

If you lack the enthusiasm and drive to commit to and stick with your weight loss training plans, here are some tips to keep you on track.

  1. If you are lacking enthusiasm to start your weight loss training plans try mixing with people who are doing the kind of activities you would like to be doing. Any good weight loss training plans are going to be centred around aerobic exercise, probably walking, swimming, cycling and/or jogging, so a good place to start may be a local Triathlon or Fun Run. I have recently been at two Triathlon events. One as a Marshall helping with putting on the event and one as a competitor.  At both of these events spectators have commented to me that they hadn’t realised that there would be people of all ages, shapes and sizes doing the events. Some who have never done a triathlon or any organised event before have decided to start training and getting in shape to do the event next year. Simply because seeing so many ordinary people taking part has inspired them, when their preconceptions had been that these kind of events were only for elite athletes.
  2. Set goals for your weight loss training plans as well as your ultimate weight loss goal which will be measured in pounds or kilograms, set training goals for your weight loss training plans. Base these more around frequency, volume and duration rather than pace and intensity. Stick to low perceived exertion or heart rate  for the intensity but set goals on how much you will be able to achieve by a certain date, and good motivation for this is to enter an event. If it’s a charity event even better, more commitment.
  3. Pick an event far enough in advance to allow you to build up your training in time. Write a simple plan with a starting point of where you are now, and an end as your event. Break the time up in to months the weeks. Set a progressive target for each month that will take you from where you are now to your event. Then break up each month in to small targets for each week. If you are planning a 10km fun run in six months time and at the moment you walk one mile in about twenty minutes before you are tired. You could start walking fifteen each day for five days, have a day off then walk twenty minutes the next day. In seven days time your target is to do twenty five minutes, following the same pattern you could do five days at seventeen minutes, day off the do twenty five, and so on. After two months you could introduce  aone minute jog after every nine minutes walking……….
  4. Tell your friends and family what you have commited to doing, and ask for their support, ask them to help you keep commite to your targets and your goal. Some of them may even decide to join you and start their own weight loss training plans, and then you will already have something to be proud of, helping someone you care about begin to get healthier lose weight and have a happier life.
  5. If you would like a free training plan e-mail at contact@www.permanentweightsolutions.com  send me your details, the event, time scale and what you do now and I will e-mail you back a simple plan. If you are looking for a more detailed plan for permanent weight loss including weight loss training plans and every thing you need to learn to be free from weight issues for life, then keep checking the website and sign up for the news letter so you dont miss the launch of my on-line programme.

Weight Los Targets

25. Sep, 2009 Categories: Helping yourself with weigh loss by 0 Comments

TARGETJust lately the whole world seems to revolve around targets. The talk in the news of the kyoto agreement and global co2 emissions.

Me setting targets to help achieve my personal goals and working with clients to set targets along the way to their weight los goals.

This is a fundemental point in your weight los stratergy, setting your ultimate weight los goal is one thing but you must have attainable targets along the way.

Your weight los goal may be so far away in time that it seems impossible to attain. wheras a target to lose 4 pounds by the end of the next four weeks will be challenging but attainable.

Set targets in all areas of your weight los stratergy, from eating to exercise and weight to inches.  Have targets running simultaneously or plan them one after the other, so you never have a time without something achievable to focus on.

This will give you motivation and keep you dedicated to achieveing your goal of permanent weight los.

For info on Goal setting go to http://www.permanent-weight-solutions.com/articles/its-a-goal 

Ps.        Look out for a full article about target setting coming soon at http://www.permanent-weight-solutions.com telling you when to set them, over what time scale and wich ones will work best for you.

Making Time for Weightloss

24. Sep, 2009 Categories: Helping yourself with weigh loss by 0 Comments

time to lose weight

time to lose weight

The other day when a weightloss coaching client was telling how they didn’t have enough time to do the exercise I was suggesting, it occurred to me that this is the most common reason we all have for not fulfilling our weightloss goals.

I often hear “I don’t have time to exercise” or “I’ll start my weightloss regimen when I have more time”, or “after Christmas it’ll be easier for weightloss” or “when the kids go back to school I’ll be able to concentrate on weightloss “.

Yet deep down we all know that time never comes, there will always be another more pressing matter to get through and then another and another.
The key is to start your weightloss plan today, regardless of other commitments. Make losing your excess weight a priority. Set a weightloss goal and Commit to achieving it starting now.

Look out for an article about weightloss goal setting coming soon, and a downloadable worksheet to get you started on setting your weightloss goals.
To read more on goal setting for weightloss go to;

 www.permanent-weight-solutions.com/Articles/Making-Time-for-weightloss

 

 

 

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