I’m on a mission! To not only loose weight but to change my lifestyle into a healthy-active one.

So my co-worker today was telling me how she was thinking of signing up for one of those weight-wise programs for like $200-bucks, and I’m like- What for? Can’t you just do the same thing on your own?

Listen…you know you should be exercising like almost everyday and you know you should be eating a balance meal everyday (like don’t be eating meat all the time, veggies are good for you!).

So why do we go thru all this trouble of going to one of these programs instead of doing it on our own – lack of motivation.

Why am I so determine to stay on course (even tho it has only been 3 weeks it’s a start), because (1) I feel disgusted of myself, and (2) I don’t want to die soon.

Don’t get me wrong I love myself, but when it gets to a point when nothing fits and everything just rolls out…it just doesn’t look good.

Reblogged handmadecards <http://handmadecards.tumblr.com/post/4408776643/healthy-active-lifestyle>, author: Jacqueline Di Falco

It’s a chart that displays all the different food groups and the amount of portions you should eat in a day.  I have been doing this for the past month, trying to maintain a healthy balance diet while exercising and I feel great.  A lot of people might thing you would need to go see a dietitian or join a diet program, but you don’t.

All of this information is free online: <http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/food-guide-aliment/index-eng.php>

You might be surprised in how much you should be eating each day!

Stress Symptoms

• One of the most common physical stress symptoms is severe head ache and tension in the muscle.
• There is also pain in the back, shoulders and neck. Chest pain is another symptom of stress and anxiety.
• There is an inability to concentrate on anything and the person is always confused.
• Irritability and frustration are also symptoms that are often seen in the persons who are extremely stressed out.
• Marked mood swings and frequent emotional outbursts are also other causes of stress.
• There is also a suicidal behavior and memory problems.
• Negative self talk, difficulty in making decisions and a lack of humor are also other symptoms that are often seen.
• Too much of eating or very less consumption of food also feature under the stress and depression symptoms.
• Some other physical symptoms of stress are abdominal pain, pounding heart, sweaty palms and diarrhea.
• Lack of sleep is another important symptom that is found. Sometimes it is the other way round. A stressed out person may also sleep excessively.
• The digestive system is also greatly affected by the stress as there is nausea and loss of appetite.
• Sometimes a high blood pressure is also caused as a result of extreme stress.

Effects of stress

The effects of stress are many and there can be many a health problem that can arise as a result of chronic stress. Here are a few negative effects of stress.

• Stress is known to bring about various heart diseases and sometimes in stroke. The whole circulatory system is affected when stress and depression is left uncared for.
• Stress also results in a weight loss or in some cases excessive weight gain.
• Some other harmful effects that stress can bring about in the digestive system are the irritable bowel syndrome and chronic constipation. This is because of the irregular eating habits of the person.
• When there is no proper stress management, there is also possibility for a high blood pressure which may lead to further complications that are hazardous to the health.

How much of protein-foods do you need?

We need protein during all stages of life for various bodily functions. Protein is a major element in all body cells and this includes bone and muscle. Considering protein diet plan for a wide range of protein intake for normal, healthy adults; anywhere from ten to thirty-five percent of total calories is recommended. People should avoid junk food and try to get 120 g of protein everyday with a high protein diet to achieve good weight loss results.

Controlling your want for food

Hypothetically, it is very easy to lose weight with a protein diet plan. All you have to do is eat less of junk food and spend more time on work outs. However, putting all this into everyday practice is not that easy. For controlling appetite the better way, break up your daily calories into smaller snacks or meals and enjoy as many of them as possible in the early hours of the day, with dinner being your last meal. Research has shown that people can control junk food appetite and thereby reduce weight by eating four to five small snacks or meals per day. And provided that you stay within the suggested limits, you can try bringing in some more protein into your diet as well.

Popular Protein Foodstuffs

Try various protein sources for protein diets in order to get a complete range of amino acids. The following are some of the most popular and best protein sources:

• Red Meat – Top round, sirloin, steaks.
• Dairy – Milk, plain low fat yogurt, cottage cheese, whey, quark cheeses.
• Eggs – Scrambled eggs, whole eggs. Don’t bother about cholesterol.
• Poultry – Whole chicken, chicken breast, ground turkey.
• Fish – Salmon, canned tuna, mackerel.
• Nuts – Almonds, Walnuts, pistachio cashew.

Remember that not all the protein sources are made equal; some are actually as bad as junk food. See that you go for sources of protein that are rich in nutrients and low in calories and fats, like low-fat dairy, soy, beans and lean meats.

Yoga moves for beginners

The first step anyone must adhere to is to fix a goal on why you need to get into yoga practice? And check if the pose will help you in reaching your target in short time, check if the results are more effective observing your body condition for a week of time. It is said that choosing the right yoga moves for beginners are to be choosy and focused on the purpose to practice them.

Yoga benefits for weight loss

There are different types of yoga that focuses on the weight loss is vinyasa yoga (flow yoga). The series of poses of sun salutation is best known for its resulting weight loss. Surya Namaskara, Cat pose, Tree pose, Triangle pose, Cobra pose, Warrior pose, Child pose and Wind releasing pose are a few of the poses that are more concerned about the quick weight reduction process.

• Ashtanga yoga is a forceful style with advantage of losing weight gradually and successfully. Beginners are advised to take up classes at the initial stage that helps them feel the motivation and perform the pose and gestures correctly. This yoga is more suitable for home practitioners.

• Power Yoga is tremendously accepted for it energetic workout on the cardiovascular movements. This helps the body to get well tuned and makes the body focused towards getting trim look.

• Hot Yoga is performed in a hot room with high temperature the stake makes you sweat a lot there by losing weight. Sweat removes the excess of water and the glut bad fat content in the body leaving the correct posture of body shape.

Following a video or audio voice recording will help you in practicing the right type of yoga for weight loss if beginner’s class is difficult to take up.  There are different types of yoga namely Bikram yoga, Vinyasa yoga, Hatha Yoga, kundalini yoga, ashtanga yoga, Iyengar yoga, Anusara Yoga, Kripalu yoga, Strala yoga, Jivamukti yoga, Restorative yoga and Prenatal yoga that are available with more effective features.

Eating habits are to be regularized so that it meets the right caloric value for the day with respect to the amount of work done to burn the calories. A healthy lifestyle with more activities, sufficient nutrient and energy supported with yoga practice helps you in keeping up hale and hearty.

Don’t shop on an empty stomach.
The cardinal sin of grocery shopping, hitting the store when you’re hungry, will put you over budget faster than you can say “junk food.” If you have no choice but to go to the store without a meal, buy an apple and some nuts (or another snack rich in protein and/or fiber) to munch on while you’re shopping.

Plan!
At the very least, make a list before you shop. At the very best, plan your weekly menu or list a few main dishes that you can eat throughout the week. This will save you not only money on your grocery bill by preventing you from buy (and possibly pitching) food you don’t need, but also time and fuel savings, from fewer trips to the store for essential ingredients.

Buy generic.
Held to the same standards as name-brand versions, store-brand products are usually just as good, and less expensive. Generic products are available for nearly every product you can think of, so be on the lookout for them (and watch your savings add up).

Shop alone.
Sometimes this just isn’t possible, but if you can shop solo, you’ll be able to focus on finding the best deals and taking as much time as you need to make it through the store. In addition, no one else will be begging for items that aren’t on your list.

Bring your calculator.
Sometimes the largest container of, say, tomato sauce, isn’t actually the best deal. Unless you like to do long division in your head, consider toting a pocket calculator when you head to the supermarket. It’ll make figuring out the real prices for items a lot easier. As long as you can afford it at the time, buy the brand and size of a product that has the lowest per-unit (per pound, ounce, etc) price to get more for your money.

Make smart substitutions.
This one may be hard for some of us, but it has the potential to save you a great deal. Think about what you eat, and then think about what may be a cheaper—at equally healthy—substitute. Like breakfast cereal? Oatmeal is usually cheaper. Love soda? Try sparkling water with a little fruit juice mixed in. Snack on chips? Pop some popcorn kernels on your stovetop instead. Be willing to make substitutions on brands and specific ingredients based on sales, too. You may find that a different brand or flavor of yogurt, for example, is a better deal one week. Snag it!

Buy whole foods.
Sometimes, the less processed a food is, the cheaper it is per serving. Apples may cost less than applesauce or apple juice. Canned black beans will be cheaper than refried beans. A block of cheese costs less than shredded cheese. Whole grains like brown rice and oats will be cheaper than processed cereals. Think about the original, whole food that a product is made from and decide if you can eat that whole food as-is or use it to make your own sauce, cereal or juice—instead of paying food manufacturers to do it for you.

Buy in bulk.
Long a staple of natural food stores, bulk or “bag and weigh” sections are now appearing in traditional supermarkets. Items like flour, beans, rice, nuts, and dried fruits are available for less than prepackaged versions of the same foods.

Don’t get stuck in the middle (of the grocery store).
Packaged foods have been condensed, salted, refined, sweetened, or otherwise processed. They may seem like a good deal, providing more calories for less money, but those calories usually aren’t very nutritious. Resist the lure of the middle aisles and stick to the perimeter of the grocery store; you’ll save money and wind up with bags full of whole foods. When you do find yourself in the middle aisles, aim your gaze toward the top or bottom of the shelves, where the prices are usually lower. Grocers strategically place higher-priced products at eye level.

Eat your protein without the meat.
Try substituting one meat meal per week with a vegetarian meal to save money and benefit your health. Beans, eggs, and tofu all provide high-quality protein for a fraction of the cost of meat. Find more meat-free protein ideas and inexpensive meatless meal ideas.

Read ads and clip coupons.
A “loss leader” is a sale item that a store is actually selling at a loss in order to get you in the door. Take advantage of these deals when you see them, but remember, a good deal is only good if it’s on something you’d normally buy, not just something you’re buying because it’s on sale. Many sales and coupons are on less-than-healthy processed foods, so look for special deals on healthy items like yogurt, canned or frozen fruits and vegetables, and similar staples that have a longer shelf life.

DIY

If you’re really craving a special treat, make it from scratch. You can make it from healthier ingredients and spend less. Tell those muffins in the bakery case that are calling your name to hush and whip up a batch of some with whole grains, blueberries and honey at home that would put the store-bought ones to shame.

Eat seasonally.
In-season produce costs less, thanks to the law of supply and demand. You might miss having tomatoes in the heart of winter, but the fresh, perfect tomatoes of summer taste better, cost less and are more nutritious anyway. Check out sales flyers and base your menu off fresh foods that are available right now (instead of foods that have to travel across the country or an ocean to make it to your store). Make a trip to your local farmers market to get some great prices on local produce.

Carry out—from your kitchen.
Packing your lunch, snacks, drinks, and other meals are usually less expensive and healthier than eating out. It will require more planning, but the dollars you save will be worth your time in the end. If necessary, invest in some reusable lunch bags and containers instead of buying disposable sacks and baggies for your food week after week.

Grow your own food.
Plants are cheap, and seeds are even cheaper. You can grow your own fruits and vegetables—tomatoes, peppers, squash, garlic, onions, broccoli, herbs, and many more delicious crops—right in your very own backyard (or in containers on your balcony) with a minimal amount of effort. They’ll save you money and taste far better than store-bought. If you’d like some instant gratification, consider sprouting, which you can do in a few days right on your kitchen countertop. Alfalfa, sunflower, broccoli or bean sprouts add a nutritious crunch to sandwiches, wraps, and salads.

When it comes to saving money on food, you often have to sacrifice more of your own time—planning, cooking, growing and clipping coupons—but most people agree that it’s worth the time they put into it. All of these tasks will become easier and more efficient after a while. You may find that shopping, cooking and eating will become that much more rewarding, and not just for your wallet!

By Liza Barnes, Health Educator

In the New York Times a study was conducted in regards to a seniors sense of balance.  And as a result, those seniors who took dance lessons were less likely to fall and had a more sense in balance.

The more you practice something = the better you get at it.

The more active you are = the healthier you are.

But so many people are unwilling to exercise because of the busyness of their lives or it’s just too much work.

How do we find the time and/or make it fun to exercise?

That answer is simple: Stick with your plan. You’ve overcome temptations and slip-ups before. Every day poses challenges, yet you remain strong and continue to make progress toward your goals. Why should the holidays be any different? If you want to lose weight this month, you can. You just have to choose to stay in control, one day at a time. Here are 20 tips that will help you keep holiday weight gain at bay and lose a few pounds by new year.

1. Track Your Food – That means all of it, from the spoonful of cookie batter you ate while baking to the free sample of ham at the grocery store. These “hidden” calories are easy to gloss over but can really add up. Plus you know from experience how it helps you to lose wight and eat better. If you do nothing else during the holidays, track your food diligently every day.

2. Plan your holiday meals – Plan your meals and snacks in advance so you can enjoy your favorites and still stay on track. Before you head to another party or sit down for a holiday dinner, pre-track your food for the day. Find places to cut back on calories in order to splurge a little more on your holiday meal, for example.

3. Look up calories before you bite.

4. Make fitness a priority – Food is only one part of the equation that determines whether you’ll lose or gain weight. Fitness is just as important. Don’t let your workouts go by the wayside. If anything, you should be trying to work out more than before to curb weight gain and extra eating. Just remember this: Burn it (exercise) to earn it (extra holiday calories).

5. Schedule your workout like an appointment – You wouldn’t miss work, a doctor’s appointment or an important meeting to bake cookies or do some holiday shopping, would you? Add your workouts to your calendar so that other obligations don’t get in the way of your gym time. Tell your friend that you’d love to bring some cookies to her party but that you won’t arrive until after Pilates class lets out.

6. Bring your own food – This is a great tip if you’re heading to a party and don’t know what’s in the food (or how it was prepared). Pick a healthy, low-cal recipe that you can bring. And no matter what kind of food is there, you’ll have at least one dish you can eat with confidence.

7. Limit alcohol – It lowers inhibitions, making it more likely that you’ll forget about your nutrition plan and overindulge. Plus, alcohol alone is pretty high in calories. If you can party hop without drinking at all, you’ll be better off. If you must drink, nurse your glass slowly, choose diet-friendly drinks, and limit the number of servings.

8. Re-gift treats and food – Of course, your loved ones mean well when they give you delicious food and candy gifts. But just because they give them does not mean you have to eat them! There are plenty of opportunities to re-gift food gifts over the holidays: bring them to parties, potlucks, and other get-togethers. Or, donate store-bought foods to a local food pantry or hospital to spread the holiday spirit to others. Take home-baked goods to a homeless shelter.

9. Bring your food to work – This time of year, our kitchen fills with all sorts of candy, sweets and other food gifts that people simply don’t want or would rather not eat. Share it in a communal space like the office café for others to partake of as they choose.

10. Don’t make mountains out of molehills – It’s easy to go over your calories one day and feel like a failure. But remember that it takes much more than one day of overeating to thwart your progress. Accept your slip-ups, learn from them and move on.

11. Add 10 extra minutes of cardio to your days – Some experts say that adding just 10 minutes of vigorous exercise to your usual workout routine can counter the effects of a little extra holiday eating. You can spare an extra 10 minutes, right? Even if you can’t fit it in all at once, try to do small amounts throughout the day. High-intensity moves like jumping jacks, high-knee running in place, or jumping rope all work.

12. Maintain your active lifestyle – Remember that “running” errands isn’t the same as running—or exercising. But the more activity you can add to your days (in addition to planned fitness) the better off you’ll be. Try the best activities of the season, like sledding, snowboarding, ice skating, hiking, snowshoeing, and more.

13. Keep an emergency snack on hand – Stashing some healthy and portable foods in your car, purse, and desk drawer can help satisfy your cravings and prevent you from going overboard on all the wrong foods. This is a good idea when you’re hungry at work and cookies sound tempting, or when you’re shopping late at the mall and hear the food court calling.

14. Watch your portions – There’s nothing wrong with enjoying some once-a-year favorites if you keep your portions in check. Sometimes just a little taste is all you need.

15. Focus on people – Isn’t that what the holidays are all about? At parties and gatherings, enjoy the good conversation and activities instead of hovering around the food table. Create lasting memories that don’t revolve around eating, and you won’t feel like you’re missing out.

16. Drink your water – Recent studies found that when people drink more water throughout the day, they end up eating fewer total calories. Water and water-rich foods can help fill you up longer. Keep a cup of water in hand at parties, sip water between bites, and meet your daily quota to help prevent overeating.

17. Wake up with exercise – People who exercise first thing in the morning are more likely to exercise regularly than those who exercise later in the day. Even if you’re not a morning exerciser now, a.m. workouts might be the best way to squeeze fitness into your days before other things come up. Plus, when you exercise first, you’re less likely to overindulge with food later.

18. Don’t act as if it’s your only chance to eat – With every food that crosses your path, remind yourself that you’ll have plenty of chances later to eat. Forgo the “last supper” mentality. Honor your true feelings of hunger and fullness, and if you’re not hungry or in the mood for a certain food, don’t feel obligated to eat it. Be a (polite) food snob. Don’t waste calories on a treat you don’t really like or that isn’t very delicious. If you accept a co-worker’s cookie or Aunt Mary’s bacon salad, but it’s not very tasty, stop eating it. No one will fault you for saying you want to just have a taste.

19. Slow down – Savor your food and the experience of eating. You’ll eat less, feel more satisfied, and recognize feelings of hunger before it’s too late.

20. Keep your eye on the prize – Before you take a bite or hit snooze instead of hitting the gym, remember your goals. It’s going to take work to get there and survive the holiday season. Before you act, ask yourself, “Will this help me get where I want to go?” If not, make another decision. And remember that YOU are in control during the holidays, not the other way around.

Here’s to staying fit, looking great, and reaching your goals all month long!

– By Nicole Nichols, Fitness Instructor & Health Educator

I know we are all busy. Between getting to and from work, balancing responsibilities and having time for yourself, there’s little time left over for workouts.

Escape the lack of time reasoning with three easy steps:

Step One: Schedule Your Workouts: If you treat your exercise time with the same importance as a work meeting then you’d never skip a workout. So mark 3 to 4 dates in your calendar right now and commit to these as if they are important business meetings. But, DON’T start something you know you won’t or can’t commit to in the long term. This applies to the dates and times, but also to the activity itself. If you don’t like step aerobics, then DON’T sign up for it! Do an activity you enjoy, this will help you to commit to the plan.

Step Two: Get the Most from Each Minute: You don’t need to spend 2 hours at the Gym for an effective workout. A great workout can take place in under an hour, when done correctly. The idea is to burn more calories each minute. This is done through short, intense bursts of activity.

To help make every minute count, use the following three tips:
1. Be Unstable: Use your entire body, and target your core, by performing exercises that engage your muscles to stabilize. You can do this with an exercise ball or a balance disk.
2. Add Resistance: The more resistance that you incorporate with your routine translates into higher intensity and more calories burned. Some ideas for adding resistance include: carrying dumbbells while doing lunges or putting a weight between your feet while doing leg raises.
3. Use Intervals: Interval training is a tool for creating short and effective workouts. All this means is alternating between different short activities.

For example, if you’d like to focus on your legs and abdominal muscles, you can do the following:
• Lunge while curling dumbbells, 15-20 repetitions
• 30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks
• Squat while pressing dumbbells overhead, 15-20 repetitions
• 30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks
• Crunches on an exercise ball, 15-20 repetitions
• 30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks
• Leg raises off the end of an exercise bench, 15-20 repetitions

Step Three: Get Better Results in Less Time: What if I told you that I have a proven way to deliver twice the fitness results in half the time? It’s simple really…

When you attempt to get to your ideal healthy weight on your own, the odds are against you. Sure, you could do it over time – but it’s a long and lonely road if done without support. You will come across temptations and insecurities that threaten to undermine your progress.

When you start a program with me, you suddenly have the upper hand on weight loss. You have me in your corner, coaching you every step of the way, keeping you accountable and giving you the daily encouragement you need. And I’ll be the one congratulating you when your goal is met.

Call or email today to get started. If you start on our weight loss program before the end of November, you’ll have the tools needed to make it through the holidays without packing on the pounds.

I’d like to end my blog post with a quote which I hope this inspire you to go for it:

“Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once, whether you’re ready or not, to put it into action.” Napoleon Hill, 1883-1970, Author

To your health,
Nadia Garabedian

“Eat what you want and lose weight!”
“Lose 30 pounds in 30 days!”
“Finally, a diet that really works!”
“Lose one jean size every 7 days!”
“Top 3 fat burners revealed”
“10 minutes to a tighter tummy!”

But these claims are readily rebuked by anyone who’s tried to lose five, 10, or 100 pounds. Losing weight ain’t that easy. It’s not in a pill, it doesn’t (usually) happen in 30 days, and judging from the myriad plans out there, there is no one diet that works for everyone.

Looking past the outrageous claims, there are a few hard truths the diet industry isn’t going to tell you, but that just might help you take a more realistic approach to sustained weight loss.

1. You have to exercise more than you think.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends getting at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week; this includes things like shoveling snow and gardening. And while this is great for improving heart health and staying active, research indicates that those looking to lose weight or maintain weight loss have to do more—about twice as much.

For instance, members of the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR)—a group of over 5,000 individuals who have lost an average of 66 pounds and kept it off for five and a half years—exercise for about an hour, every day.

A study published in the July 28, 2008 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine supports this observational finding. The researchers enrolled 200 overweight and obese women on a diet and exercise regimen and followed them for two years. Compared with those that gained some of their weight back, the women who were able to sustain a weight loss of 10 percent of their initial weight for two years exercised consistently and regularly—about 275 minutes a week, or 55 minutes of exercise at least five days a week.

In other words, things like taking the stairs, walking to the store, and gardening are great ways to boost activity level, but losing serious weight means exercising regularly for an hour or so. However, this doesn’t mean you have to start running or kickboxing—the most frequently reported form of activity in the NWCR group is walking.

2. A half-hour walk doesn’t equal a brownie.
I remember going out to eat with some friends after a bike ride. Someone commented on how we deserved dessert because we had just spent the day exercising; in fact, we had taken a leisurely 20-minute ride through the park. This probably burned the calories in a slice of our French bread, but definitely not those in the caramel fudge brownie dessert. Bummer.

And while it’s easy to underestimate how many calories some foods contain, it’s also easy to overestimate how many calories we burn while exercising. Double bummer.

Even if you exercise a fair amount, it’s not carte blanche to eat whatever you want. (Unless you exercise a ton, have the metabolism of a 16-year-old boy, and really can eat whatever you want). A report investigating the commonly-held beliefs about exercising, published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, concludes that although exercise does burn calories during and after exercise, for overweight persons, “excessive caloric expenditure has limited implications for substantially reducing body weight independent of nutritional modifications.” In other words, to lose weight, you have to cut calories and increase exercise.

3. You do have time to exercise.
If you have time to check email, watch a sitcom or two, surf the Internet, have drinks, coffee and dinner with friends, go clothes shopping, and on and on, then you have time to exercise. Yes, sometimes you have to sacrifice social, TV, or leisure time to fit it in. Yes, sometimes you have to prioritize your exercise time over other things. But your health and the feeling you get after working out is well worth it.

4. Eating more of something won’t help you lose weight.
The food industry is keen to latch onto weight loss research and spin it for their sales purposes. A prime example is the widespread claim that eating more dairy products will help you lose weight. However, a recent review of 49 clinical trials from 1966 to 2007 showed that “neither dairy nor calcium supplements helped people lose weight.”

This idea—that eating more of a certain type of product will help you lose weight—is constantly regurgitated on supermarket shelves (think low-fat cake, low-carb crackers, whole grain cookies, and fat-free chips), but is in direct opposition to the basic idea behind weight loss—that we have to eat less, not more.

5. Calories in = calories out?
There is a fair amount of controversy over the basic question of how people gain weight. Is it simply a matter of energy intake being greater than energy expenditure? Or is there more too it; do the type of calories we eat matter and can avoiding certain types help to lose or prevent weight? The various low-fat, low-carb, and glycemic index advocates can’t seem to agree on which it is.

However, most can agree, and logical sense would tell us, that drinking 500 calories of soda is not equal to eating 500 calories of fruits and vegetables. One is simply “empty calories” – those that provide no real nutritional benefit and don’t do much to combat hunger. Whether you ascribe to the simple idea of trying to burn more calories than you take in or focus on avoiding certain types of calories, you want to minimize intake of empty calories, and maximize nutrient-dense calories.

6. Your body is working against you.
Most people have noticed that it’s hard to lose weight, but easy to gain it. This is a relic of harder times, when food was not as abundant as it is today. Our genetic taste buds made energy-dense food desirable because it was necessary to pack away calories so we could make it through the thin times. We feasted when we could, in preparation for the famine.

But now that we live in a time of abundance, that system predisposes many of us for weight gain and retention. And for obese dieters, this system is even harder to overcome; after weight loss, they become better at storing fat, making it harder to keep weight off. However, this isn’t to say that many haven’t lost weight and kept it off successfully. It just means you have to be diligent.

7. Our cultural environment is also working against you.
Let’s face it, modern society does not make it easy on those trying to eat healthfully and exercise. According to Linda Bacon, associate professor of nutrition at University of California at Davis, “We get a tremendous amount of pressure to eat for reasons other than nurturing ourselves, and over time, people lose sensitivity to hunger/fullness/appetite signals meant to keep them healthy and well nourished. It’s hard for people to come to a healthy sense of themselves given the cultural climate, and nutritious and pleasurable options for healthy food are not as easily accessible as less nutritious (ones).”

That doesn’t mean this can’t be overcome, but it does require maybe putting other parts of your life on a “diet.” TV would be the biggest culprit, since many food advertisements, especially for children’s junk food, come during this time. Other areas to put on a “diet” are chain and fast food restaurants (where portion sizes are distorted), a bad-influence friend, or driving, which may help increase walking and biking.

8. Maybe you don’t need to lose weight.
Some feel that the medical problems associated with excess weight are exaggerated. Gina Kolata, a New York Times science writer questions the notion that thin is a realistic or necessary objective for most. In her book, Rethinking Thin, she asserts that weight loss is an unachievable goal for many, and that losing weight isn’t so much about health as it is about money, trends, and impossible ideals. Recent research also challenges the idea that being overweight is bad. A study in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that being 25 pounds overweight did not increase the risk of heart disease and cancer, and may even help stave off infections.

It’s true that people can be fit and healthy and not necessarily be thin, just as it’s true that thin people may not necessarily be healthy. Good health, rather than weight, should be our focus; too often, it’s not. Striving for an unhealthy level of thinness may be detrimental to our health, but understanding the health repercussions of obesity is also critical.

9. This is not a diet; this is your life.
The diet industry would have us all think that we can lose weight fast, and that’s that. But most people who maintain their weight understand that eating and exercising are not temporary conditions, to be dumped once a pair of jeans fit. Instead, they are lifestyle choices, and ones to be made for the long haul.

- By Brie Cadman of DivineCaroline.com