Women's Health Made Simple

My sister-in-law, Valerie Martinez,

 brought her webpage to my attention with a sample of her work below, drop by and pay her a visit at Women's Health Made Simple.

 

Weight Loss Support

 

Herbal Weight Loss Supplements, Boosting Metabolism,
Healthy Choices, Thyroid, Fucoxanthin

Whether you have 5 pounds to lose or 75 pounds that need to go, your weight loss efforts should never feel like punishment. Quite the opposite. Not only does controlling your weight make you feel and look better, but there is overwhelming evidence that shows keeping your weight within healthy limits lowers your risk of developing a variety of serious medical conditions.

In our eat-and-run, super-sized portion culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be tough… Losing weight? Even tougher. If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight before, you may believe that diets don’t work for you. You’re probably right: most traditional diets don’t work—at least not in the long term. However by adding the right weight loss supplement to your nutrition and exercise plans, you can achieve lasting weight loss success and develop a healthier relationship with food.

One Size Does Not Fit All

While there is no “one size fits all” solution to permanent healthy weight loss, the following guidelines are a great place to start:

• Think lifestyle change, not short-term diet. Permanent weight loss is not something that a “quick-fix” diet can achieve. Instead, think about weight loss as a permanent lifestyle shift: a commitment to your health for life. Various popular diets can help to jumpstart your weight loss, but permanent changes in your lifestyle and food choices are what will work in the long run.
• Find a cheering section. Social support means a lot. Programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers use group support to impact weight loss and lifelong healthy eating. Seek out support—whether in the form of family, friends, or a support group—so that you can get the encouragement you need.
• Slow and steady wins the race. Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week to ensure healthy weight loss. Know ahead of time that you will experience weight loss “plateaus” where your weight seemingly stalls for awhile. This is normal. If you hit a holding pattern, keep your new good habits in place and be persistent… the weight loss will likely start up again within 7-10 days. In addition, losing weight too fast can take a toll on your mind and body, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick. When you drop a lot of weight quickly, you’re actually losing mostly water and muscle, rather than fat. So be diligent and stay your course.
• Set goals to keep yourself motivated. In order to affect life-long changes to your habits, you must have a big enough reason “why.” Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, rarely work well as a life-changing reason. But goals like wanting to play with your kids without pain, or live long enough to see your daughter walk down the aisle, do work. When frustration and temptation strike, concentrate on the many benefits you will reap from being healthier and leaner.
• Use tools that help you track your progress. Keep a food journal and note each pound or inch you lose. Know that it will fluctuate with your period or other medical condition sometimes, but that it is ultimately headed downward. Keeping track of your weight loss achievements in writing is a form of gratitude to yourself, which will help you stay motivated.
• Measure your success. The numbers on a scale or tape measure don’t always tell the whole story. Women have monthly cycles that affect water retention, and even the dinner we ate the night before can greatly affect what you weigh in the morning. We recommend weighing weekly, not daily. Always under the same circumstances too: if it’s 8am, pre-breakfast, and you’re naked the first time you weigh yourself, then do it the same way next time. It’s too easy to be come either obsessed or depressed by the numbers on the scale, and you are worth far more than your weight. Try to make your diet more about long-term health than just fitting into a smaller size for your vanity. A larger purpose will give you more oomph to reach your goals. It is true though that many of us do have to lose weight for our health. One third of Americans are overweight, and another 1/3rd are obese. Combined, that’s 68.8% of Americans who need to lose weight. It’s a big problem. Once again, just be diligent, and do it as a life-changer, not a yo yo dieter.

Your Weight Loss Efforts Will Succeed Or Fail Based Largely On Your Food Environment.

Set yourself up for success by taking charge of your food environment: when you eat, how much you eat, and what foods are available.

• Start the day with breakfast. People who eat breakfast tend to be thinner than those who don’t. Starting your day with a healthy high protein breakfast will jumpstart your metabolism, plus, it will help keep you from binge eating later in the day.
• Serve yourself smaller portions. One easy way to control portion size is by using small plates, bowls, and cups. This will make your portions appear larger. Don’t eat out of large bowls or directly from the food container or package, which makes it difficult to assess how much you’ve eaten.
• Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time. You will be more inclined to eat in moderation if you have thought out healthy meals and snacks in advance. You can buy or create your own small portion snacks in plastic bags or containers. Eating on a schedule will also help you avoid eating when you aren’t truly hungry.
• Cook your own meals. Cooking meals at home allows you to control both portion size and what goes in to the food. Restaurant and packaged foods generally contain a lot more sodium, fat, and calories than food cooked at home—plus the portions sizes tend to be larger.
• Don’t shop for groceries when you’re hungry. Create a shopping list and stick to it. Be especially careful to avoid foods at the ends of the aisles and along the perimeter, where grocers tend to sell high-calorie snack and convenience foods.
• Out of sight, out of mind. Limit the amount of tempting foods you have at home. If you share a kitchen with non-dieters, store snack foods and other high-calorie indulgences in cabinets or drawers out of your sight.
• Fast for 14-16 hours a day. Try to eat your last meal earlier in the day and then fast until breakfast the next morning. Early studies suggest that this simple dietary adjustment—eating only when you’re most active and giving your digestive system a long break each day—may help you to lose weight. After-dinner snacks tend to be high in fat and calories so are best avoided, anyway.

Keep in mind it may take some experimenting to find the right nutrition plan and weight management supplement for your individual body. It’s important that you feel satisfied so that you can stick with it on a long-term basis. If one supplement doesn’t work, then try another one. There are many ways to lose weight. The key is to find what works for you.

Allow yourself some wiggle room on occasion, and make conscious decisions about staying away from foods that cause you more grief than pleasure, you will never feel deprived. Make your own rules in this game, and you increase your chances of winning. Remember the old saying, “Nothin tastes as good as lookin good feels”!

• If you turn to food at the end of a long day, find other soothing ways to reward yourself and de-stress. Relax with a book and a steaming cup of herbal tea, soak in a hot bath, or savor a beautiful view.
• If you eat when you’re feeling low on energy, find other mid-afternoon pick-me-ups. Try walking around the block, listening to energizing music, or doing some quick stretches or jumping jacks. Another alternative is taking a short nap—just keep it to 30 minutes or less.
• If you eat when you’re lonely or bored, reach out to others instead of reaching for the refrigerator. Call a friend who makes you laugh, take your dog for a walk, find a fun activity to do, or go out in public (to the library, the mall, the movie theatre—anywhere there’s people).
• If you eat when you’re stressed, find healthier ways to calm yourself. Try exercise, yoga, meditation, or breathing exercises. Better manage stressful situations by either changing the situation or changing your reaction. See related articles below to learn more about stress management.

The No-No's!

Avoid diet sabotage! Calories obtained from fructose (found in sugary beverages such as soda, energy and sports drinks, coffee drinks, and processed foods like doughnuts, muffins, cereal, candy, and granola bars) are more likely to add to this dangerous fat around your belly. Cutting back on sugary foods can mean a slimmer waistline and lower risk of disease. Switching to diet soda isn’t the answer either, as studies suggest that it triggers sugar cravings and the chemicals may contribute to weight gain. Instead, try switching to water with lemon, kombucha, unsweetened iced tea, or carbonated water with a splash of juice.