We all know that fad diets don’t last long, don’t help us keep the weight off and don’t do us any good, but that doesn’t stop us trying out every new one that comes along, in the vain hope that maybe this time we can lose 10lb  in two weeks, look toned and sexy, and keep it off forever while continuing to eat all our favourite foods.  Every year we do the same thing; eat like hogs over the entire Christmas period and then feel shockingly guilty come January and try and live on two crispbread a day.  What happens?  We are miserable, starving, grumpy and still fat!

According to a best-selling Canadian author, there are several ways to lose weight without fad dieting and these consist of  common sense solutions called “eating clean”.  Tips include not depriving yourself of food that you enjoy because this leads to binges, which leads to putting more weight on and feeling guilty, which leads to further deprivation.  This is not good for your body and definitely not good for your mind, temper, and loved ones.

It is pointless setting yourself a goal of losing 10 lb in a week.  If you eat clean you should drop around two pounds a week; this does not sound much but equates to between 16 and 18lb in two months, which will have you at least one dress size smaller and feeling a lot better.  If you have a friend who is also trying to lose weight, this can be a great motivator as you can find ways to exercise together and exchange ideas regarding sensible recipes.  Forums online can be a great place to find a like-minded weight-loss buddy.

Most importantly of all, be gentle with yourself.  That does not mean pat yourself on the head and eat a chocolate bar everyday, it just means that if you make a mistake or have a bad day or get caught out with no healthy food in the house, don’t give up and don’t beat yourself up.  Put it behind you and get back on track the next day.

Don’t forget at home exercise equipment like the ViPR and Kettle Worx can help you with your fat loss goals.

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

Lose Weight For Good By Not Dieting

The British Society of Gastroenterology indicated recently that fad and extreme diets may work in the short term by showing dramatic weight loss, but will ultimately only make you fatter and may actually be harmful to your health.  The most extreme diets seem to include attempting to live on citrus fruits and seeds as mentioned in the Bible (!), or by binge eating one day and eating nothing the next (the Caveman Diet).

Overweight people looking for a quick-fix solution are always ready to jump on these diet bandwagons; it is an established fact that least 9% of all Americans at one stage were on the Atkins Diet, which involves eating as much protein (meat or cheese, eggs and so on) as you wish but no carbohydrates (bread, rice, pasta).

Atkins believed that this stimulated the body to burn more calories in the form of fat, as protein is not the body’s preferred energy source.  Side-effects included appallingly smelly breath as the body went into ketosis and some people actually ended up in hospital with organ failure.  The Atkins diet lost its appeal when Dr Atkins, himself obese, died suddenly.

Fad diets will always come and go, as the diet industry is worth billions of dollars, but the best way to lose weight is to do it gradually, not by dieting but by cutting down on unnecessary junk foods such as fast food, pies and cakes, moderating alcohol consumption and most importantly of all, exercising regularly.  There is a large selection of Home Exercise Equipment available, all of which will help you in your quest for weight loss provided that you use it.

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

Fad Diets Make You Fat

I could write a book about this one! But to cut a long story short, if your body thinks it’s being starved it will hang on to as much fat as possible. In fact it will actually start to burn muscle for fuel in preference to fat. And seeing that muscle is your body’s fat-burning furnace, the less muscle you have, the fewer calories you will burn!

You are killing the very thing that will help you lose fat.

Some diets claim that this won’t happen. You have to make sure that you eat enough so that it doesn’t. Everyone is different; you have to tailor your eating and exercise to suit YOU.

Tricky one, this! Most overweight people would say they are motivated to lose weight because they want to improve their health, feel better and be able to fit into their clothes.

The problem is, every time you fail to reach your target weight, or worse – reach target and then pile the weight back on – you are reinforcing in your mind that it’s just not possible. The next time you TRY to lose weight, you are defeated before you even start. After all, your brain now knows with some certainty (because you’ve trained it to expect failure), that putting in the effort required just isn’t worth it. It convinces you that failure is inevitable.

Sticking to a strict diet is hard, makes you miserable and as bad-tempered as a weasel, and is 90% likely to fail! You starve your body which tries to hang on to every ounce of fat it can. You deprive yourself of all the things that make life enjoyable,and you feel like there’s nothing to look forward to. It is hard – for you and everyone around you. Crash dieting has even been cited as reason for a divorce!
(I’d be a bit suspicious of that last..)

If you want to learn more about how permanent fat loss is possible take a look at some of these fantastic pieces of at home exercise equipment like Ultraflex Fitness and Kettleworx.

Posted by: At Home Workout Reviews

How Not To Lose Weight – Dieting The Ugly Truth