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The other day a friend of mine told me I just HAD to watch the movie “Click” starring Adam Sandler. Seeing that I was, as he put it, “into all that personal development stuff” he said he thought I would like it. Well, since Adam Sandler has never struck me as a “personal development guru”, this was enough to intrigue me enough to watch the movie…

The show is actually quite good, and has a great moral to it (although let me be quick to point out that it’s delivered with plenty of Sandler’s usual vulgar bathroom humor…so don’t say I didn’t warn you). Long story short – it’s a modern-day “It’s a Wonderful Life” where the main character realizes that his career is not worth the price of his family…good feel-good kind of stuff.

However, this was not the part of the movie that stuck most in my mind.

It was actually just one little line in the script that came and went so fast that it wouldn’t register with most people. But it was profound…

It goes like this…

Sandler’s character, Michael, it seems, has a penchant for Twinkies and other junk food. His strange new friend named “Morty” (Christopher Walken – the one who gives him the magic remote control that can “fast forward” to the future), makes a simple, yet powerful observation about his eating habits…

He says, “Michael, THAT FOOD (speaking of the junk food) is contributing to your DEATH, not your LIFE”.

What’s especially poignant about this statement is that later in the movie, it’s revealed that Michael’s new friend “Morty” is a really an Angel…

…He’s the Angel of DEATH.

Don’t worry, this is not just another lecture on junk food. It goes deeper that that, I hope. The reason that this statement from Morty, the Angel of Death, hit me (other than the fact that I was eating popcorn and drinking a soda when I heard it…yes, I do have “free days to enjoy my favorites”) was that I realized there is NO neutral middle ground or “coasting”. Every small thing that we do either takes us closer to the life that we really want – or closer to destruction.

The fact is – all food that you take into your mouth has either a positive effect or a damaging effect. Fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods help the body, while junk food destroys it – slowly.

However, the reason so many people fall victim to “it’s just one twinkie” is that it takes so long to notice, that most of us think that nothing bad is happening. Since we can’t see the plaque lining up in our arteries, or since we don’t feel bad, we figure we’ve got “good genes” (or some other lie that we tell ourselves) and we’re somehow going to cheat the truth. But that’s not how it works. By the time we realize what we’ve done, it’s often too late. We can end up 50 lbs overweight with a heart condition, cancer, diabetes, etc.

And on a side note…this way of thinking can also work against us in ALL other key parts of our lives, if we let it happen:

- Like when we hang around “toxic” negative people. Little by little, we take on their attitudes and before we know it… we’re one of them.

- When we yell our kids for the 10,000th time, and withhold our praise for the good things they do. Slowly but surely, the walls go up and our behavior helps to turn them into the “nightmare” teenagers that we feared…yet created.

- When we simply TALK about achieving higher financial success, but never get around to DOING anything about it.

We spend our lives working to make someone else’s dreams happen, only to end up bitter and resentful and on a fixed retirement income.

The GOOD NEWS is that you can chose to change your behavior and attitude about food and exercise (and all parts of your life if you chose) which will lead to inevitable success.

How? By consciously making the small, seemingly insignificant right decisions day-in-and-day-out. This is what the successful minority DO and unsuccessful majority WON’T DO.

The truth is, there is enough “how-to” weight loss “gurus” and “plans” in the world RIGHT NOW for anyone to become incredibly confused. People don’t need more “How-To” weight loss programs. They need more “DO” solutions. Think about this for a moment…66.3% of Americans are overweight and that’s estimated to shoot up to 75% in 2015 if we don’t change our ways. Look, it’s EASY to do the things day in-day out that it takes be successful at weight loss. Problem is….it’s also EASY not to do them. Which do you choose?

So what’s it going to be? Put yourself in Adam Sandler’s characters’ shoes…are you going to continue to do the things that lead to your destruction? Or are you ready to make the necessary changes that will ensure you stick around, happy and healthy, for a very long time?

Weight loss is all about changing behavior, and that is most true when you’re fighting off those last 10 pounds.

“There is evidence that the individual has to have a great desire to get to their goal weight, and that desire has to be backed up with real changes in behavior to maintain a healthy weight over time,” says Catherine Fitzgerald, RD, a dietitian in the weight-loss program at the University of Michigan Health System.

Here are seven tips to help you through the home stretch of your diet. And get support year-round when you sign up for the Weight Control Newsletter.

Lift weights

You can’t beat muscle mass when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off, says Nancy Spaulding-Albright, RD, a nutritionist and dietitian at the Sunrise Outpatient Center of the HealthSouth hospital group. “Everyone knows muscle burns more calories, even at rest, than fat or other tissues,” she says. If weight lifting isn’t for you, try swimming, yoga, or Pilates. It’s true that muscle weighs a bit more than fat, but it also burns more calories. In the long run, you’ll stay trimmer with muscle than without it.

Focus on better health, not fewer pounds

Sure, dropping weight will, by itself, improve your health. But if you want to stay motivated while you’re losing weight and beyond, think long term. “Tell yourself, ‘I want to live to see my grandchildren,’ rather than ‘I want to look good at my class reunion,’” says Spaulding-Albright. The approaching class reunion may motivate you to lose weight today, but it may also set you up to fail later. “Patients who can stay focused on better health tend to reach their weight goals and keep weight off over time,” she says.

See a dietitian

When you sit down with a trained dietitian or nutritionist to look at your diet, “you may be amazed how many hidden calories you eat,” says Fitzgerald. “I see patients who forget to add those half dozen tablespoons of sugar they put into their coffee each morning or don’t realize how many calories their three-sodas-a-day habit adds up to. And those are the kinds of calories, the ones you don’t even think about, that make weight loss harder.” Contact your doctor or local hospital to get a list of dietitians or nutritionists in your area.

Know your metabolic rate

Do you know how many calories you need to eat each day for your body to function? The government-mandated food content labels you see in stores assume you have a need for 2,000 calories a day. But that’s an average, and it’s not specific enough for someone working to lose weight or keep weight off. “Your size and gender have a lot to do with your calorie needs,” says Spaulding-Albright. “Dieters don’t want to be eating 2,000 calories when they only need 1,800.” Your resting metabolic rate (RMR) is simply the minimum number of calories you need each day to support your body’s functions. If you get a lot of exercise, your calorie needs may be much higher than your RMR. So how do you estimate your RMR and your real-world calorie needs? The best way, says Spaulding-Albright, is to contact hospitals or clinics in your area; they have sophisticated equipment that can give a good assessment. You can also sit down with a dietitian or personal trainer, who know how to make reliable estimates by calculating your age, height, gender, and other measures. You’ll also find many free RMR calculators on the Internet. These are helpful, but not the most accurate. If you chose this route, try several RMR calculators to get a good approximation.

Eat a bigger breakfast

The idea here is to get your major calorie load in earlier in the day rather than later,” says Spaulding-Albright. “There’s that old saying, ‘Eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince, and eat dinner like a pauper,’” she says. “That’s actually a help for dieters.” When you eat more of your daily calories earlier, it gives your body a better chance of burning those calories over the course of a day. Eating a really heavy dinner is a bad idea, she says, because those calories have little chance of being used.

Eat five small meals a day

Eat small, eat often. You may have heard this bit of advice before, but it is one of the dieting maxims most easily brushed aside in the course of a busy day, says Spaulding-Albright. “When weight loss plateaus, which is not unusual when you’ve lost a significant amount of weight, this can sometimes help kick in some additional weight loss,” she says. “It makes you feel more satisfied and helps deal with cravings.”

Think positive thoughts

“Always go with the dieting positives, rather than the negatives,” says Fitzgerald. “You’re actively adding good things to your life. You’re eating more good foods, which improves your overall health. You’re getting daily exercise, which improves your mood, burns calories, and makes you stronger.”

Losing weight is an American tradition. We’re the most overweight country in the world, and we need to do something about it. It’s unhealthy, unsightly, and very expensive to be overweight. Not trying to be harsh; just speaking the truth. With all the hype and late-night infomercials trying to sell you the latest techno-gadgets for burning fat while you sleep, it’s no wonder people don’t know where to turn or who to trust. The truth is most programs can bring you success. If you’re unsure which weight-loss program to follow, simply choose the one that most suits your lifestyle. But before you invest any money, you will need to understand the three essential steps that must be taken for any weight-loss program to be successful. There is a universal, three-step process that must be followed to lose weight and keep it off for life. No weight loss program in the world will work for you if you do not follow and adhere to these three steps. No matter whom you talk to, where you spend your money, what gym you join, or what personal trainer you hire – they will all fail you unless you decide to apply these three steps to your own life. Do you really want to lose weight? Or do you just want to pretend? Keep reading if you’re serious.The first step is controlling your calorie intake in order to maintain your current weight. This can be accomplished two ways: reduce the number of calories you eat over the course of a day, or increase the number of calories you burn over the course of a day. Optimally, you should be consuming just as many calories as you are burning. This will halt the weight gain and allow you to move on to the second step.Adjusting your caloric intake or increasing your calorie-burn is essential if you want to lose weight. There’s no way you can avoid this step. Unfortunately, the American lifestyle is sedentary by nature. Luxury equates to less labor; at least in our eyes.You cannot gorge yourself every evening at the local buffet and then go home, plop onto the couch, and watch television the rest of the night. If you’re going to stuff yourself with food, you must then burn calories equal to that meal before you stuff yourself again. It’s as simple as that. If you don’t want to run or lift weights, then you shouldn’t be visiting the buffet to begin with. Make sense?The next article in this series discusses the second essential step for permanent weight loss.Copyright 2007, Christian Blake. This article may be freely republished as long as the author’s byline and hyperlinks are retained.

We all need motivation to make changes in our lives. But some motivations can have short-term effects whilst other motivations can have long-lasting, life changing effects. This article takes a very quick look at how we can cut to the core of making the long-lasting, life changing decisions easier.

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Why do you want to lose weight? Do you want to make someone else happy? Your kids, your husband? The only way to lose weight in the long-term is to lose weight for you.

While some or most of this article might sound like pointless new-age psycho-babble, at its core are valid, solid ways of changing your life. Do not give in, it may well be a life changing experience.

Whilst these are all valid reasons for losing weight they may actually be the reasons why so many people fail to lose weight or lose weight but then put it all back on with a little extra just for desert. In order to understand long term weight loss we need to look at the nitty-gritty at how the mind works and how we become, and remain motivated, to do something.

When we want to change something about ourselves we need to look deep. Not just “Because the doc said I need to lose a few pounds” deep or “I want to look nice when I lie by the pool” deep. We need to look at where we are now, where we want to be and the difference between the two. That is where the deepness lies.

Ok, let’s take any weight measurements out of the equation and look at body size and shape. We might imagine ourselves to look a long way from the way we want to look. But how does that make us feel? Pretty miserable right. But that’s where your change begins – connect with the feelings caused by the difference between the two you’s. The discrepancy between the you now and the person you want to be is the reality and sometimes the reality hurts! The difference between where we are and where we need to get to needs to be bridged.

You need to imagine what it would feel like to be the person you want to be. Stop for a second and think about it. Close your eyes. Really think about it. Think about the person you want to change for. Because this is only a short article I will give you the answer you need to come up with.

The only person you want to change for is you. There are just so many reasons you could have come up with for changing. Kids, husbands, wives, parents, friends, pets, teams – the list is endless.

The only person you need to change for is you. If this sounds too selfish and self-centred for you then I’m sorry. However, the chance of you changing long-term for anybody other than yourself are minimal. If you think about it another way, what would make the person you are changing for happy? Would they be happier to see YOU happy or would they be happier watching you trying to make THEM happy? So if we want to change we have to look at ourselves and see ourselves as we really are. We need to look to the person we want to be. From then on the person you want to be is going to be the person you are.

If you want to lose weight you need to do it for yourself, no-one else. Not only do you get to be the person you want to be but everybody else gets the benefit of basking in the glow of your happiness and success.

Are you interested in formulating an exercise plan that will assist you to remain trim and help you to get thin? Studies regularly show that there are two basic types of exercise that are both extremely efficient and successful. Of course, it stands to reason that you must be motivated in the first place, and that is why therapeutic hypnosis can help solve your problems.

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If you’re like most people, you are interested in creating an exercise system that will assist you to remain healthy and slim. It may shock you to find out that research studies usually demonstrate that only two core kinds of exercise are useful — which suggests that you can’t just choose any type of exercise to become trim.

Due to the fact that so many people have trouble with the motivation to exercise, performing the most efficient kinds of exercise is imperative, since the less time you spend exercising – and the less time you waste on low efficiency exercise – the more likely it is that you will persist in your exercise routine and therefore achieve your personal weight and strength target.

Our first type of exercise which has been regularly proven to aid people to lose weight and get trim is progressive resistance. In brief, progressive resistance is one type of strength training. It functions by progressively ramping up the pounds lifted, the number of sets, and number of repetitions performed. As a result, your muscles are never strained or subjected to damage – instead, they slowly and steadily strengthen without any setbacks.

Our second type of exercise that has been scientifically studied is cardiovascular training. This is any type of exercise that gets the heart rate up to 60 – 85 percent of its maximum rate. Some kinds of cardio training may involve jogging, jumping rope, aerobics, or treadmill, among other types of exercise, but it is your choice.

Although progressive resistance and cardio training by themselves have been found to be very efficient forms of exercise, scientists now know that performing both of these types of exercise is the best bet for success. If you combine both progressive resistance and cardio training, you will increase the strength of your muscle groups and increase overall endurance. According to a recent scientific study, exercisers who used both cardio and progressive resistance during a two month time period lost 45 percent more weight than exercisers who did cardio training or progressive resistance alone.

Just as important as the type of exercise you perform is, the way in which you exercise is also important. It probably will be unsurprising that being consistent is the name of the game. Exercising inconsistently may strain your muscles and will probably not aid you to build strength and endurance. In addition, it is unlikely to improve your whole-body health. According to most scientists, the best regime is to exercise for forty minutes to an hour three to five times per week.

Unfortunately, it turns out that for a significantly sized subset of the population, getting sufficient exercise is not as easy as attending the health club a few times every week or listening to what scientists claim. For this group of people, the motivation to exercise is the primary issue – this group of people simply doesn’t have the motivation to go to the gym. Actually, they might resist any and all exercise, to the point of severe anxiety.

Nobody knows what percentage of the population suffers from problems with the motivation to exercise, but scientists say that up to 20 to 40 percent of people claim that they “hate” or “dread” exercise. An even larger percentage of people might have more mild problems with the motivation to exercise, finding that even though it is simple enough to commit themselves to an exercise regime for a week or two, motivation eventually degrades, leaving them where they were initially – unhealthy and heavy.

If you are one of these people who struggles with the motivation to exercise, the good news is that there are some easy strategies to deal with the struggle. In a recent research study, volunteers who needed to start an exercise program were provided with a brief learning program that aided them to decide on the right kinds of exercise, were provided with a therapist who specialized in exercise motivation, and were given a brief course in hypnosis. After six months, they were asked to evaluate their progress. It turns out that over 85 percent of the participants had adhered to an exercise program throughout the whole six months. Even better, they generally lost an average of fifteen more pounds than the control group.

If you have an interest in this study, it might make sense to look into locating a motivational therapist, habit control therapist, or therapist who deals with hypnotherapy. These therapists are provided with special training in helping people to transcend anxieties, build the motivation to exercise, and reinforce the creation of good habits. One more choice for exercise motivation is self-hypnosis – which is a simple and inexpensive process that often helps people take control of their own inborn abilities to be motivated.

Hypnotherapy and self-hypnosis are risk-free ways of increasing motivation that have been proven to provide success in the case of exercise motivation. Hypnosis works by using hypnotic relaxation to enhance the powers of the unconscious mind to influence the modification of behavior and habit development. Hypnotherapy is a good choice for the exercise adverse because it can help increase the drive to get trim and lose weight easily and effectively.

Are you tired of the yo yo effect? These simple 5 steps can help you KEEP the weight off once you do lose it

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Why do some dieters suffer the endless frustration of losing and then gaining weight again and again, while others lose weight and keep it off forever?

And we know you don’t want to be the latter group?

Here are 5 very simple tips successful dieters implement – and you can easily adapt these good habits yourself.

1.) You know that old conventional wisdom that goes “The scale doesn’t matter when you’re dieting”? For a long time experts scorned the idea of frequent weigh ins, pointing out that the scale can be inaccurate because of fluctuations caused by water weight. Remember, muscle weighs more than fat. So if you’re exercising you may be gaining muscle and that will throw the scale off.

However, it turns out that weighing yourself every day is actually an excellent motivator for dieters. A study in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that dieters who weighed themselves every day lost the most weight, and kept it off more successfully, compared to a group of dieters who did not weigh themselves regularly.

2.) Keep a log of everything you eat. When you log everything you eat you will feel MUCH more guilty when you cheat because you have to see it and read it.

3.) Do at least 1 15 minute activity everyday. ANYTHING. Walk your dog, go jogging, do tae bo. Most of us work at desks and sit at home all day – then do it at least three times a week. You will lose weight quicker and this is one of the big contributors of keeping the weight off.

4.) Plan ahead. If you are going out to dinner with friends or to a holiday office party or even to the movies, what are you going to do when hunger pangs hit? Eat something before you go and decide BEFORE you get to the party or movies.

5.) Schedule the occasional indulgence. Most weight loss experts suggest and encourage a cheating day. When you get to eat some pizza, brownie or some ice cream at some time in the week your chances of ditching your plan is much less likely. This can also be a day when you throw in some more activity.

For those of you out there who believe that you can only lose weight through fasting, you cannot be more wrong! Facts have shown that it is not how much you eat but actually what you eat that results in weight gain in most people. If you decide to eat correctly, you will surely be eating your way to weight loss naturally.

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In the developed world today, a whole lot of people seem to be struggling with a particular challenge common to them all and that is the issue of how to lose weight so as to live a healthier life. In the same vein, a good number of the people concerned tend to believe that the only way to lose that excess fat is by starving themselves or fasting. Nothing can be further than the truth in this case. It has been proven by the experts that one can achieve weight loss naturally through correct dieting.

In order to lose weight naturally, the main thing one has to keep in mind and practice is to eat wisely, take enough water and do some regular exercise. This combination of actions will surely help you get rid of that unwanted fat as well as give you a fitter and sexier physique.

It is pertinent at this stage to note that when I talk of losing weight naturally through correct dieting, I am not talking about some very strict diet but simple ones that can be found in some cook books such as the Metabolic Cooking. I am also not talking about a particular diet for the whole day but an intelligent mix of recommended diets that will end up giving you a healthier body through weight loss.

I suppose that at this stage some of you out will want to know exactly how to eat wise and reap the benefits of losing weight naturally in the shortest possible time. It is not rocket science but simply doing what is right as already suggested. For an example, the diet experts claim that our ability to shed fats is eighty percent correct dieting and twenty percent how much exercise we give to our body. This also means that you need to steer clear of that attractive and sweet junk foodstuff you have been destroying your system with only to go back to the gym to try to burn the fat you got from wrong dieting practice.

Another important aspect of correct dieting is the issue of the water intake level. It is a fact that taking a good amount of water on a daily basis helps in ensuring a clean body system. As a matter of fact, the experts have made it abundantly clear that in order to keep our body system in a clean condition we need to take as much as sixty ounces of water daily. This is much better than the sugary drinks that many people use to replace water in their diet. It is recommended by medical experts that every adult should drink at least eight glasses of water in order to enjoy a healthier life devoid of obesity.

In summary therefore, anyone who wishes to enjoy the benefits weight loss simply needs to combine a correct diet with a good water intake and do some exercise. That also means such a person needs to as well avoid taking junk food and replace that with the consumption of lots of fruit and vegetables. When fruits are added to your meals, it is easier for you to ward off the cravings for sweet since you are ingesting natural sugar instead of the artificial one. You are advised to take fruits such as oranges and or apples in between your meals as a means of eating your way to weight loss and good health.

You can begin to lose weight by reducing your stress level. Here’s how!

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There may be many reasons why you engage in the behavior of overeating. Overeating helps some people gain a sense of control over their lives. Other people overeat when they are stressed or upset. Think about the times that you have had a binge eating session? What was the motivation behind it? Do you turn to food when you are upset or have a stressful day? Do you find a sense of comfort in the food that you eat? If stress is a major factor in your eating habits, finding ways to help reduce stress can help you lose weight.

1. Find a Support System

Having people that you can rely on is a great way to start reducing stress. Call on your friends or family when you are in a stressful situation. They can be a great source of advice or just a shoulder to cry on. Sometimes going out with work friends after a long stressful day can work wonders to melt the stress that you feel. We all need to rely on our friends and family at some point. Being able to talk about your stress is a health alternative to overeating.

2. Post Positive Mantras

Think about the negative comments you make about yourself when you are feeling stressed. Most people struggle with negative self-talk at sometime in their lives. Begin to challenge your old ways of thinking. Replace those old thoughts with positive thoughts that will help you push through stressful times. If a long stressful day at work leaves you thinking that you are “no good at my job”, change your thoughts. Think about how hard you worked today. You put in your all and achieved a goal you had set. Whatever your new thoughts are going to be, post them around your house. This will help you stay focused on them even when you are headed for a stress out moment. Thinking positively can help curb overeating.

3. Find Time to Relax

It is important that you take a few minutes everyday for relaxtion. There are many different things you can do in order to relax. If you had a busy day at work and spent the evening running errands, take a long soak in a tub. If you find yourself working late one night, close your office door and read a chapter in a book. On the weekends, go for a walk around a nature trail. The activity can last five minutes or five hours; the important thing is to take some time to relax.

4. Meditate or Journal

Another great way to reduce stress is to be alone with your thoughts. This can help you sort out what is going on in your life in a healthy way. One way to do this is to meditate. Another way is to write in a journal. Writing in a journal is a great way to begin organizing your thoughts about the stresses in your life. Dealing with your stress in this productive way makes it less likely that you will overeat.

5. Listen to Your Body

Stop beating yourself up for overeating. Move forward into a new way of thinking about eating and food. By listening to your body, you will learn when your body is telling you it is full or hungry. Know the signals that your body gives off in order to begin recognizing the difference between hunger and emotional eating. You can pull through this struggle and be on your way towards a natural weight loss.