For most women, the losing weight proces follows the same steps, at least at the beginning.
During a diet, the first two days hardly something happens on the scale. On the third day, the fat will lose 'density' and becomes softer. Now, depending on how much fat you have on and how 'dense' the fat is when you grab it (see difference between fat on belly and fat on legs and butt to understand what I mean), you will spend a few days on this 'dernsity'.
Next step is when you barely start losing something. You don't see it but you might feel it a little when you put on your pants. Your breasts will stop spilling out of your push-up bra and your tummy (especially that annoying little bit right under your navel) will seem only to decrease in size. Actually you don't understand how much you are losing now because the body tends to lose equally from the upper part so the proportion remains pretty much the same. However, this annoying little fatty part under your navel might look more proeminent because the rest of the fat is melting. Best way to evaluate this is to look in the mirror from the side.
Your waist gains contour.
Your legs and your butt have lost very little by now. They are the last ones to 'shrink'. The best way, and sometimes the only way, to keep them shrinking is through exercise. And you usually lose on your thighs and you start losing from your knees up. You can see the knees becoming bonier.
When there isn't much to lose your body will be able to focus better on your 'problem' areas.
Yeah, I'm on the roll, baby... By the end of the next week I have to lose another two or three. It takes longer at the beginning - about 2-3 days - until your body starts losing weight. No matter what diet you are on, it always happens like this.
What did I do to lose weight? Very little exercise (one hour daily walk though) but I gave up meat and chicken. I have started this about two weeks ago. I am not starving myself in any way. I am having enough food and I am still drinking plenty of water.
I never eat white bread - once a month maybe, when I cannot find rye bread in a place and I need bread, that is the only moment when I have white bread. I haven't had chocolate really, but I did have lots of cereal bars with chocolate from Nestle Fitness. One bar has about 95 calories and it's delicious.
I had lots of fruits - cherries and mango and apples. I have not calculated calories. I ate at 9pm but nothing heavy. I even had one hot chocolate a day.
But not eating meat or chicken helped my digestion.
So your diet has been giving great results. You've worked your ass out every single day. You have 1,000 calories a day. But all of a sudden your body refuses to lose weight anymore.
This is the tricky moment. Your body has built a defence wall around this weight and, no matter what, it will not let you lose those pounds. I kow it because a few years ago my weight was at 108-110 pounds and there was no way whatsoever in which I could get rid of that weight. I was slim but not skinny (between you and me my muscles would never allow me to be skinny, but that's something else).
For me 108 pounds is thr lowest and no matter how slim I get and even though I look slimmer than the previous week when I was still 108, I am still at 108! Obviously.
I had another blockage at 114 or something that I had managed to pass afew times. How do you deblock your system? Gracefully. Carefully. Reducing calories is not the solution. And if you are working out like I was, half the day or even more, then you cannot increase exercise either.
So then how to convince your body to let you get over that 'defence wall'? It's simple. You change the routine. You don't have a routine? You make one first then. Your body is already used to low calories and work-out.
Eat an extra something a day and work out every third day - intensive everyday work-out does NOT work. I swear it doesn't in the long run. I have myself and a few friends as witnesses.
About the eating habits, every third day - preferably the day you work out, skip a meal or replace it with something with less calories. The perfect way to shock your body is to change the routine - and that means that you should have one.
Ok, I have read this one also: coconut oil can help patients with thyroid problems solve them. I cannot say yes or not, obviously, and I cannot vouch for that.
But too much of anything can be bad in the end. Honestly, I might try this but not with coconut oil. I will simply buy a coconut and eat it like this. I mean the coconut oil comes from a coconut, right? And before you stuff yourself with coconut like a maniac, you should also know that coconuts are very rich in calories.
One cup of shredded coconut has about 280-300 calories.
Cortisol and Adrenaline: Hormones Causing Weight Gain
As long as you don't eat when you are stressed, you should be ok - from the weight gain point of view.
According to Dr Pamela Peeke, the bigger your tummy fat the more chances you have to get diabetes or a heart condition. Cortisol kicks in when you are stressed and you get a huge appetite for junk food, anything to calm you down instantly, like chocolate or bad-carbs. Adrenaline makes your body think that you worked out as a maniac, when all you had been doing was to sit down and bite your nails.
There are two ways that can help you here: one is eat only healthy food and follow a schedule and two, learn some relaxing techniques. If you can't control your stress level and you normally don't care, think about disease and weight gain. Probably that would calm you down instantly. You might as well drink less coffee... or Diet Coke or Pepsi Light. Or Dr Pepper. Or Mountain Dew. Should I continue or did you get the point?
Anyway, if your have some great collegues at work, make a few jokes and laugh. It wasn't said for nothing that laughter is great medication.
You wouldn't believe it and it's the scariest thing I have ever heard.
First, I saw this program on Discovery in which they were first presenting the obesity virus theory. They looked at two twins who ate the same things and acted the same, but when they ran some tests, they identified something different in their body: it was what they called the 'obesity virus'. It is actually an adenovirus, something like an antibody to a certain strain: Ad-36. After the Ad-36 they also found Ad-37. And there are some more, don't you worry... These are only two of the little suckers!
What's worse? That if this is true, then this little thing is highly contageous. And, if you are eating healthy stuff and moving and you are still fat, this might be one of the causes. It IS scary, isn't it? That would answer some people's question: why can't I lose weight?
We don't know where in the world you have the biggest 'contamination', but USA is in the top. So be careful to wash your hands. It might help more than you think. Stay way when people cough and sneeze.
And don't imagine you can't do anything about it: you can live a healthy life and lose the extra weight. It's harder, but you can.
What are adenoviruses? They are viruses that infect the tissue of the eyes, the urinary tract, the repisatory system, the intestines. Having problems with any of them in particular? Anyway, it seems like they can be treated, but not with antibiotics, and it also seems like they haven't found a cure yet for the adenoviruses responsible for obesity.
Do you measure how fat you are based on your pounds? Don't do that. Bones can be heavier or lighter, muscles are heavier than fat; your breasts can be large or small. And that can make a difference of a few good pounds.
Sounds weird, doesn't it? Well, it is true. Adrenaline can help you lose weight. But don't underestimate it, because too much of it can cause stomach problems. And not only.
The funny thing is that while my hubby is not an adrenaline junkie, he has no problem with weight. He never had and I doubt he will ever have. I am an adrenaline junkie - which means that 'stress' is my middle name. I wouldn't have realized it until I read the definition on Wikipedia:
"Adrenaline junkies enjoy engaging in activities that stimulate the adrenal glands, which are responsible for producing a broad spectrum of hormones which cause the stress response, also known as the fight-or-flight response. "
I always wondered why I am so appreciated at work and why I tend to quit so fast. Well, I am addited to adrenaline and I pump it into my blood until I waste myself. I love stress. I cannot live too long with it but I cannot live without it either. I love horror movies and books, and if my life is not spicy I spice it up.
While this can help you with your weight loss, the stress it causes can make you eat.
Do you know one of the enjoyable and not so dangerous ways to start this adrenaline rush? Shopping when you're out of time. Playing a game against the clock. Trust me, any of these are better than sitting on your butt all day long.
When you put on too much weight or you lose it, after you give birth, or since each time you have your period your breasts are dubling in size, you get those evil looking stretch marks.
Theoretically, once you get them, you cannot get rid of them anymore.
Well, certain things can improve their appearance and reduce them considerably. Such an example is this cream from The Body Shop. It's cool because it is not sticky - don't you hate sticky creams, especially in summer, when it gets extra hot?
In order to get good results, you should apply two times a day, in the morning and in the evening.
Nestle has this very active campaign - exercise and replace two of your meals with Nestle Fitness cereals and you will lose weight fast.
Well, I think it makes sense. Honestly, if you have one 'portion' (as portion is defined by Nestle) for one meal and then don't abuse your last meal, you should lose weight for a very solid reason: low calorie intake.
From the good point of view - cereals are very good for losing weight if you can eat as much as they suggest you should. Nothing more. They are high in fiber, high in B's; so yes, losing weight makes sense. If you have them with milk or yogurt - again, Calcium, which also helps lose weight.
So if you haven't considered this diet yet, you should. ;)
How are your muscles? Do you have flappy arms? Well, you can always change that. Losing weight on your upper arms and raising your breasts is a lot easier than losing fat off your bum or upper legs.
How doyou do it? Push-ups and crunches help. So does Winsor pilates or swimming. But if you want something very quick and painless, buy dumbbells. I prefer the neoprene dumbbells.
Here is an example found on FitnessGiant.com. I suggest 3 and 5 lb sets.
How to do it?
1. Standing up, let your arms rest near your body, normally, then lift them horizontally, to your side, until they are a continuation of your shoulders. Do as many as you can, until your muscle hurts a bit. Alternative: bend your torso forward while standing up, looking forward, until your chest is parallel with the ground. Your arms are hanging down holding the weight. Now lift your arms horizontally again, as if you were trying to hug someone.
2. Arms bent at your chest, holding the weights towards you, in front of you neck. Now simulate this: imagine you reach up for a branch and try pulling yourself up. With this image in mind, practice this move with the weights.
3. Punching an imaginary punchbag. Imagine you are a boxer and you are punching someone. Do the moves slowly, one hand at a time. Doing it fast is dangerous for your wrists and for the elbows.
4. Remember the classical move you see in movies when a guy is working out its biceps? Standing up, arm hanging down, the eight in your hand facing opposite of your body. Bend you arm from the elbow, so the weight reaches your shoulder. 15 for each arm is enough. This is good for your breasts as well.
5. Standing up, place your arms in front of you, straight, palms facing each other and holding the dumbbells. Now, imagine something is pushing your palms appart. Bring them slowly back until they become the continuation of your shoulders, horizontally.
5. Let's take care of the back of your arms, the flappy part. Standing up or bending forwards, arms next to your body, palsm with weights towards your body. Bend them completely and unbend them until straight. You should feel the back of you arms being worked out.
How often do I workout? Once every 2-3 days. It's enough.
If you want to keep your muscles and build any new ones, do some of the moves faster. But be extra careful about some of them.
Or try pushups. Fast ones. Or semi-pushups, where you push up only the upper part of your body, lower part remaining on the ground. 30 like this every 2 days should do the trick. However, these moves work out only a part of the muscles in your arms. They are good however for raising your breasts (if you lost the sustaing muscle there) and they are very good as well for your tummy, because it builds lean long mucle.
I wish I had lost more, honestly. The things is that I want to lose faster since summer is here and I want to go to the seaside. On the other hand, I dislike any kind of diets. I like losing weight in my own way.
So I lost around three pounds, maybe a bit more, but also helped by my period that came and passed. First level in losing weight is losing weight from the tummy, a bit from the whole body and from the breasts, and the least from the legs and butt. Which sux... But, given that I work in front of a computer all day long at work, I am not suprised.
Anyway, I've changed my diet completely since last week - I gave up meat and chicken entirely. I do have fish now and then though, for the proteins. So if at work I had previously ordered mashed potatoes with salad and some chicken, I did not touch the chicken. I had though every day a small glass of milk with chocolate, because my energy was low, but the entire day the number of calories was low enough to cause me to lose weight.
There are two kinds of exercises: the ones you do to build muscle, and the ones you do to strengthen muscles. The difference? The intensity of your work-out.
When you want to build muscle, you work out slowly and hard. If you want to lose weight and you don't have any muscle built, you should, in addition to the fast-paced one, consider slow exercising. Why? Because muscles burn fat faster and because a body looks better when it has a bit of muscle on.
If you have already built your muscles and you just want to tonify them, make them lean and strong, and also lose weight, then you need a very intense and fast-paced exercise. This also increases your cardio and according to studies, if you work fast, you continue to lose weight even after you have ceased your work-out.
However, any of the above is better and will help you lose weight faster than sitting in bed and being a couch-potato.
If you don't like working out, get yourself a bicycle for the inside and ride every 2-3 days, for 30mins. If you do it slowly, you also decrease the risk of breast cancer, studies show. Increse the pace now and then, paddle backwards, do funny stuff on a bike. Are you getting bored while paddling? Paddle at a slower rate for 30 mins and read a book or a magazine in the meantime. Or watch TV. It works.
My biggest problem with diets was (and is) vegetables and fruits.
Normally, if you experience stomach aches or you feel bloated or your burp after veggies or fruits, you will have a problem with most of the healthy diets.
I, personally, cannot have a salad without having stomach aches, unless I have something next to the salad.
The best thing to do - boil the veggies. You don't like them boiled? Bake them - they will taste even better.
When you have a salad - for vitamins, if not for other reasons - do not mix too many veggies together. Keep it simple, and use herbs for flavor. For example, I love tomato salads with white cheese and oregano, olive oil, and black olives. I like simple lettuce salads next to my dish, only with lime or lemon juice and olive oil. I like cucumber salads on their own. But be careful - problems can come not only from stomach but also from your gall bladder.
Some veggies with problems for gall bladder are:
cucumbers
green or red pepper
cabbage (cooked or raw)
Yes, there are others too, but these are the ones can cause me trouble.
Digesting in summer, when it's very hot, is harder. I think you have realized also that eating consistent food makes you feel more bloated. Your stomach can hurt, you can have problems when digesting food, and so on.
So if you can eliminate meat and chicken and replace it with easier versions (like fish or soya meat) then do it without thinking twice.
According to studies, meat, on its own, can take even more than four hours to digest. If it's hot and and you have already added some bread or sugar on top of it, then that food will sit in your stomach and fermentate for hours. Fermentation ultimately means sugar in your blood, which means that it is harder to lose weight. You don't want to keep food in your stomach, waiting in line for the stomach to finish its work with the meat.
Summer is a season to cleanse your body. So do it. It also means helping you lose weight - just don't rush to the candy store for sweets to replace the meat!
I am still using Dove for cellulite and it is working, and I like the fragrance, but I hate the texture: it leaves not a greasy feeling, but it is sticky in a way.
I have tried and am planning to buy as soon as I finish my Dove cream, Body Focus Cellulite Serum from The Body Shop. I love the way it feels on the skin, how fast it is absorbed and the fragrance. I am quite positive that it works because I have not had any TBS products that would not.
It is not really a cream but a gel, rich in caffeine and vitamins that decrease the orange peel appearance of the skin.
My second buy will be Body Focus Sculpting Body Mask.
I am sure that if I combine the two of them with hot and cold showers and some massage I will be able to go swimming this summer without problems. :)
I was a lacto-vegetarian before, and not for reasons that I don't like meat or I want to lose weight. I didn't become a vegetarian because I had embraced yoga or something. I was a vegetarian because I loved animals.
However, some time during my vegetarian days, I started having strong muscular cramps. I didn't see the connection back then; later on I found out that in order to build muscle (and keep your muscles working properly), you need proteins.
The richest sourse of proteins is meat. Eggs, cheese, milk are also rich animal sources for proteins and I was having a lot of all of them. However, I still had pains.
Now I have decided to eliminate any meat and chicken from my diet, but keep the seafood and the fish for obvious reasons. Will I be able to last? I don't know. The idea is not to think about favorite dishes when you try to do this. I am not thinking about Chinese food or about spaghetti and meatballs or about ham or spiced dried salami. Of course, there is always tofu and soya 'meat'... Not the same, but it's good that we have them.
My biggest concern is keeping a high protein intake. So, we can find proteins in:
eggs;
milk;
soya milk;
tofu;
yogurt;
cheese;
fish.
Basically, anything that comes from an animal conteins proteins.
The richest natural sources of proteins are:
dried beans;
lentils;
peas;
nuts of any kind.
The problem with nuts is that they are also very high in fat, so I would be careful if I were you. They are healthy in small quantities and can help you lose weight, but lose the balance and you will put on pounds like crazy. Been there, done that.
A few good good years ago I was reading this book about the benefits of plants and vegetables on your body.
I remember I got stuck to three things that were of interest to me: pineapples, cherries, and watermelons.
They were recommended for obesity- not really my case at 105lbs, but an obsession to lose weight is an obsession for life. Especially in Romania, where 80% of the girls are slim and caring about their appearance.
Cherries - according to this book you can lose weight if once a week you reserve a day only for cherries - about 1-2 kilos. You can't eat much anyway: your stomach gets full fast. Besides, cherries are very rich in vitamins. We are in June, right? It's still the season for cherries...
Watermelons - it's probably the fruit that swallows your tummy the fastest and has the least calories. It's mostly only water. Pick a sweet and fresh one and have watermelon for a day. It washes your toxins and your kidneys.
Pineapple - this is one of the fruits that was (maybe still is) considered best for losing weight, detoxing, and helping obese people or just people who want to lose weight. It is high in fiber. I am not crazy about the canned one and I would suggest, with all my heart, the fresh one. Two times a week only pineapple and I can assure you that you will lose weight. You can even try having pineapple instead of a meal, during the day. Anyway, I am a pineapple fan. Good that I remembered this tip, because I know what will be on my shopping list tomorrow. :)
Losing weight and staying healthy is easy, when you care. Forget famishing yourself: there are other ways.
Since I was 15 I've been obsessed with healthy diets, losing weight, sports, and everything included. I read books after books and I collected articles on staying fit and healthy. Even now, 12 years later, I am still reading everything I find on the subject.
I will share with you, step by step, everything I know. Free advice.
About Me
Name: Andreea Home: Bucharest, Romania About Me: Post graduate student, happily married, who has found the perfect job in a perfect company. :) See my complete profile
