I often hear of the thousands of new diets and weight loss programs that are created each year, and disregard them as useless junk. To be honest, I have never tried a dieting method unless someone I personally know has achieved healthy weight loss through the program. One of my fellow bloggers, JP Richards at www.DoesIsagenixWork.com, was skeptical about this a new Isagenix Weight Loss program. According to the Isagenix Company Website, “The Isagenix weight loss program utilizes cleansing and cellular nutrition to facilitate weight loss and improved health.” In order to see if Isagenix would yield any valuable results, JP decided to create a blog and has written about his daily progress over the past 30-days. Well, today is the last day of his unique experiment, and the results are in!
Here are some pictures of JP’s before and after progress:
Before:
After:
I have to say that I am pretty impressed by the amount of weight he has lost! Though 14lbs. may not seem like a lot, the Isagenix program that JP has gone through is designed for PERMANENT weight loss rather than TEMPORARY weight loss. It is a well known fact that the majority of diet programs today focus on quickly losing weight — a goal that usually causes the dietier to regain lost weight within a couple of months. Look at JP’s body profiles over the past 30 days, I am really convinced that Isagenix is a product worth looking into. I’ve been talking to him over the past month, and he really is much more energetic and lively — plus, he is getting compliments from everyone about his new appearance and personality.
Overall, I think the results of JP’s Isagenix diet experiment are very promising. Don’t forget to check out his blog!
April 27th, 2007
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CARLITA Collins has the perfect outfit to wear to a Christmas party and she wants to lose 10 more pounds for an even better fit. She’s not interested in using a fad diet that could take the weight off quickly, but might not keep it off. So she’s planning to cut back on the number of calories she eats and hopes to find an exercise routine that she likes to help her complete her move from size 14 to size 12.
“I’m not somebody who works out,” says Collins, a 31-year-old CPA and accounting manager at BlueCross BlueShield in Chicago. “It’s easier to get me to cut back on food than to get me into a gym. Exercising and walking bore me.”
Dr. Ian Smith, an NBC News medical correspondent, and Rod Johnson, a medical news producer for CNN in Atlanta, say Collins’ way of thinking is on the right track. They agree that the best and fastest way to lose weight is to reduce calories and increase physical activity.
“If you’re doing cardiovascular exercises for 30 minutes, increase the time to 45 minutes,” says Johnson, who is also a certified fitness consultant. “If you’re only doing cardiovascular exercises once or twice a week, increase them to four or five times a week for at least 45 minutes.”
Weight-train the entire body, including all the major muscle groups, at least two times a week. Or do the upper body one day and the lower body the next day. Remember, weight-training burns calories for 48 hours after a workout, and a cardiovascular workout burns calories for 45 minutes.
Johnson, who has helped clients get in shape as a kickboxing instructor and as a personal trainer, says it’s important to develop a regular exercise schedule and then stick to it. Don’t skip days in your routine. Exercise more days a week than you have been to lose weight faster. Avoid excuses and work out with a friend or relative who has similar goals.
But with your zeal to lose the pounds, be cautious. Medical experts say don’t try to lose too much weight too fast. Don’t try to lose 50 pounds in three months. Give yourself time in advance of an event to get the weight off. Without using a fad diet, try to develop good habits in a short amount of time by being consistent, and motivate yourself by thinking about your goals. Think about that dress you want to wear.
Dr. Smith, author of The Take Control Diet: A Life Plan for Thinking People, also recommends sticking to a realistic goal. Don’t try to lose more than 2 pounds per week, he says. When people begin to diet, if they’re not chronic dieters, a lot of weight will come off initially. As their bodies adjust to the diet, the weight will start to plateau. Combining exercising and dieting is the one-two punch that takes the weight off quickly.
But hidden calories found in gravies, dressings and butter can sabotage weight-loss efforts, experts say. Salads should be ordered with no-fat or reduced-fat dressing on the side. Use very small portions, if any at all. Don’t order gravy on mashed potatoes. Another place calories can hide is in alcohol. Smith suggests having no more than one alcoholic beverage a day because alcohol is full of empty calories. Sweets and chips should be avoided and substituted with raw fruits and vegetables.
Fruit and preferably raw or steamed vegetables should be what you eat mostly when you’re trying to lose weight in a short amount of time, experts say. Nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day is best. Each serving should be about the size of a fist. But be careful not to overcook vegetables because it eliminates the nutrients. Also, the serving size of carbohydrates and meats should be reduced. But Smith doesn’t advocate a low-carbohydrate diet or eliminating carbohydrates altogether.
Eating three meals and two snacks at the same time every day is important. Don’t eat heavy dinners. Don’t eat anything two hours before going to sleep, including fruits and vegetables. Everyone’s metabolism slows down when sleeping, so the body burns fewer calories, Dr. Smith says. Calories eaten less than two hours before bedtime turn into added fat.
The heaviest meal of the day could be lunch or an early dinner. (Even after dinner, it’s suggested that you do some type of physical activity.) Scheduling meals helps your body anticipate when it will be supplied with nutrition. Metabolism and hunger get synchronized when you don’t trick your body by changing mealtimes. Eating breakfast at 8 a.m. one day then 10 a.m. the next throws the rest of the day off.
Fried food is another element that should be avoided. Try to eliminate all fried foods for two weeks, eating only foods that are grilled, seared, steamed or baked.
All of these tips sound good to Collins, who plans to continue eating less and exercising more with aerobics videos at home. She also wants to stick to some guidelines she came up with when she lost 22 pounds, which she has kept off for a year and a half. She plans to drink eight glasses of water a day. She says she’ll eat more vegetables before eating anything else at mealtimes and eat desserts less often.
Despite this success, Collins realizes the hard part is still ahead of her. She knows holiday parties and dinners will make it tough. “It’s hard to resist drinking extra eggnog,” she says. “Sitting around with the family, you eat more because it’s there, not because you’re hungry. Last year, my family brought fruit instead of sweets to be healthier.”
This year, she hopes there will be fruit and healthy snacks at the parties she attends as well.
LOSING WEIGHT QUICKLY
Whether you want to lose weight to wear a new dress or if you just want to shed a few pounds, here are five ways to lose weight quickly.
1. Eliminate hidden calories in gravies, dressings and butter. Have no more than one alcoholic beverage a day. Avoid snacks. Substitute sweets and chips with raw fruits and vegetables.
2. Try to consume mostly fruits and vegetables, preferably raw or steamed. Have nine servings a day. Reduce the serving sizes of carbohydrates and meats. But don’t eat a low-carbohydrate or no-carbohydrate diet.
3. Burn calories. Include some type of physical activity in your daily routine. Increase your amount of physical activity by 30 percent to lose weight faster. For example, if you only walk five blocks to a bus and don’t exercise, you should increase your routine to seven or eight blocks.
4. Schedule your meals. Try to eat at the same time every day. Have three meals and two snacks a day.
5. Eliminate all fried foods for two weeks. Eat only foods that are grilled, seared, steamed or baked.
* Recommendations by Dr. Ian. Smith, NBC News medical correspondent
5 WEIGHT-LOSS TIPS
1. If you know you are going to a party, eat fewer calories during the day. Don’t starve yourself beforehand so that you are not tempted to eat too much at the party. Avoid eating too many starchy foods and solids. Instead, drink more water and eat fruit, yogurt, salad, grains and vegetables. This will help you eat fewer calories at an evening event.
2. Weight-train the entire body. Include all the major muscle groups at least two times a week.
3. Avoid negative talk. Motivate yourself by thinking about your goals.
4. Be consistent. Develop a regular exercise schedule and stick to it.
5. Be realistic. Don’t try to lose 50 pounds in three months. Give yourself time in advance to get the weight off.
* Recommendations by Rod Johnson, CNN medical news producer and personal trainer
COPYRIGHT 2002 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group
December 1st, 2006
The most effective method for weight loss is reducing the number of calories you consume - through eating, while increasing the number of calories you burn - through physical activity. As an example, to lose one pound, you will need to undertake physical expenditure of approximately 3,500 calories. You can achieve this either by cutting back on what you eat, changing what you eat, or by increasing physical activity, or ideally, by doing a combination of all three.
Take this situation as an example. If you consume 500 extra calories per day for one week without changing your activity level, you will gain one pound in weight (7 days multiplied by 500 calories equals 3500 calories, or the number of calories resulting in a one-pound weight gain). Conversely, if you eat 500 fewer calories each day for a week or burn 500 calories per day through exercise for one week, then you will lose one pound over the course of that week. Which would you choose?
Perhaps before you start thinking about losing weight you should take a moment to examine what you eat. Sometimes it is not just about reducing your calorie intake, but it is also about changing what you eat – decrease fatty foods and increase your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Examples of some high calorie popular foods and beverages include:
1 slice original-style crust pepperoni pizza – 230 calories
1 glass of dry white wine – 160 calories
1 can of cola – 150 calories
1 quarter-pound hamburger with cheese – 500 calories
1 jumbo banana nut muffin – 580 calories
Are any of these in your regular diet? If so, maybe it’s time to make some changes!
When it comes to weight loss, crash diets are never a good idea. Most health and well being experts will agree that a safe, healthy rate of losing weight is usually around one to 1 ½ pounds per week. Anything more than this means that you are more likely to put your weight back on, down the track. By modifying your eating habits and adding in a little regular exercise, you will be embarking upon the most effective way to lose weight in the long term. It is also the ideal way to ensure that the weight stays off.
Starvation diets may result in rapid weight loss and give you immediate results, but this loss of weight is really hard to maintain over a long period of time. When food intake is severely restricted to something below 1200 calories per day, the body begins to think that it is poor nutrition, so it begins to shut down its metabolic rate. This can make it even more difficult to lose weight in the long run. Candidates who crash diet can also experience hunger pangs, bouts of hypoglycemia, headaches, and mood changes from overly stringent dieting which can all result in binge eating and weight gain.
Since a highly restrictive diet is almost impossible to maintain for a long time, people who attempt to starve themselves thin often start to gain weight again when they stop dieting. Hence, the reason for embarking on a gradual, long term program that increases physical fitness and well being, at the same time.
By Lana Hampton
June 23rd, 2006
