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If you have tried continuously to lose weight and have failed, you must know that there are several simple but powerful factors that could have been holding you back.

To start off I will mention a little basic knowledge here. Each pound of fat on our body has 3500 calories in it, so for each pound of fat you want to lose you must burn 3500 calories. That is burning an extra 500 calories a day for a week just to lose one pound of fat.

It is recommend that losing 1-2 pounds of fat a week for weight loss but that mean you would have to burn an extra 1000 calories a day.

This may sound like a lot but it can easily be achieved if you educated yourself, learn some weight loss tips, and stay away from these dead ends.

One thing I notice a lot is when people seek no guide ness and usually decreasing their calorie intake dramatically in their diet. To them it makes sense that the more calories they limit the more fat they will lose. Wrong!

If you decrease your calories too much it will cause your body in a starvation mode and force your body to store fat and burn muscle for energy. Not only that, your metabolism will plummet and one of your biggest sources in burning fat will be gone.

Another mistake I see is people eliminating a food source like low-carb, low-protein or low-fat diets. Each one of these food sources are needed by the body and continuous weight loss with any of these diets is impossible. Diets are not the problem as a diet is any thing a person eat, but a conventional diet like the Atkins diet made to trick the body into losing weight may be successful at first but most likely people end up heavier and doing harm to their body.

Weight loss without exercise. If you really want to lose 1-2 pounds a week without exercise good luck and prepare you for failure. Exercise not only burns fat, it also can act like a food depressant eliminating any disturbing food urges. Exercise speeds up your metabolism, increases your energy levels, adds muscle tone, decreases stress and strengthens your heart. Even though nutrition is 70 percent of weight loss, exercise is the factor that will make you or break you in losing weight.

Straddling the fence. Not being fully committed to your plan and cheating, bending the rules or only giving 50 percent dedication on your goals. If you’re not willing to give up a couple things or losing weight is just not that important to you and not a priority. First, I would ask yourself why you want to lose weight and if you’re not serious about it be happy with yourself as you are because losing weight at half speed always ends up disappointing.

Now I’d like to begin my talk about the first factor, exercise, with a little hand raising exercise. Most of you already know that a reasonable amount of exercise, on a regular basis, is a healthy thing for us to do.

This information should come as no surprise because the fact that exercise is good for us is commonly understood by most adults living in the United States today. However, not all of us are able to perform regular exercise. Our time and energies are constrained by the responsibilities in our lives. For example, have the responsibilities in your life ever STOPPED YOU from practicing exercise on a regular basis?

This failure to exercise is completely understandable because many of us have perfectly good reasons why can’t exercise. Two of the most common reasons that I have heard and experienced are:

- I simply don’t have enough time in the day to exercise, or

- I have health challenges that prevent me from exercising.

If you, or any of your friends, are using these reasons not to exercise, I am going to share with you, a piece of information that has allowed me and an exceptional few other people to exercise EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Now I’ve been running, biking, and lifting weights 2-6 times almost every week consistently for about 17 years, and I only discovered this strange technique just a few months ago, while listening to a lecture by the world class gymnast and author of ‘Way of the Peaceful Warrior”, Dan Millman.

Dan said, “the way all of us can exercise every single day is to wake up every morning, get out of bed, and do ONE jumping jack!” Now, of course, it doesn’t have to be a jumping jack. It can be anything! For example, I was just looking at Bank of America’s new health website, and they had an exercise on there that I believe about 95% of the people on this planet can do…

It was close your eyes really hard, and flex your lip and jaw muscles by pursing them together, like this… (close eyes, purse lips and jaw) At first I thought, what good can such a small amount of exercise do anyone? But then I realized, that the most important GOOD it does, is that is creates a certain mind set, a certain habit, a time dedicated every single day to bettering ourselves with exercise. And as our time, and energy, and ability allow, we can increase that one jumping jack, to 2 jumping jacks, or 10, or 20. Again, it doesn’t matter WHAT exercise you choose, just be sure to do it every single day, then INCREASE it when you can. Now because of this information, the next time someone asks you if you perform regular exercise, you can say, “As a matter of fact! I exercise every single day!”

Now I would like to talk about the 2nd fitness factor… Eating healthy foods and supplementing if necessary in diets. Now materialistically speaking… You and I have been given the greatest gift in the world! We have been given a body with which our souls can use to consciously experience life! And if we are lucky enough to have a fully functioning brain. And if we lucky enough to be able to decide HOW we want to treat our brain and our body… Why would we want to tarnish this incredible gift by feeding it full of foods that accelerate our body’s degradation? Foods that accelerate our mental decline.

Well that’s exactly what we do, when we eat foods with little or no nutritional value, and foods composed primarily of refined sugars. Our body is a very complex biological mechanism, and if we want to give it the nutrition it needs to function with absolute optimal performance, we need to seek the advice of experts. We need to talk to or read books written by appropriately trained physicians or nutritionists. Then we need to get a second option, and talk to another expert or read another book. Then get a 3rd opinion and continue to learn how feed our body, and how to care for it properly.

Now, you don’t have to wait until you talk to a physician or read a book to start eating healthy. You can simply use your COMMON SENSE to start eating healthy today!! Eat more vegetables, eat more nuts and whole grains, eat more fresh fruit, and if mixed with exercise, eat more meat, fish, and real cheese. Not processed cheese foods, like cheese-wiz, or American cheese in those little plastic wrappers, those are actually quite bad for you. Now if you decide to eat healthy, and exercise regularly, keep in mind that fitness can only be achieved if you add the final ingredient, the 3rd factor, persistence over time.

And, if you persist, I promise you that, in time:

You will be able to look in mirror and feel proud.

You will be able look back at your accomplishment and dedication and feel proud.

And with the additional clarity and focus you have gained from the additional oxygen and circulation that you have given to your brain, you will be able to strategically share this information to help your children, and to help your family, and to help your friends to feel just as proud as you will.

This in one of the things that annoys me the most is hearing people say they have tried everything and they want to lose weight so bad but they do nothing or fail because they did it wrong. If you are serious about losing weight, make the commitment and do something.

Quick weight loss is not difficult, if you educate yourself and stay away from all the fad diets that are advertised, you will too be able to experience a whole new world to nutrition, exercise and healthy living.

Have women in the UK become so entrenched in a quick-fix culture focused upon vanity that they have completely lost their common sense? It would appear that for many the answer to this question is unfortunately “yes”. No wonder the NHS is groaning under the unnecessary weight which this attitude places upon its pockets.

The UKs largest cosmetic review website, GoodSurgeonGuide.co.uk, reported the results of a recent survey which attempted to ascertain the willingness of women in the UK to undertake surgery for reasons of either weight loss or pure cosmetic self-image. Out of the 1,200 odd ladies who completed the survey there were only a very slender percentage who said that they were happy as they were – a ridiculously slim six percent.

What struck me most out of all of their findings was that almost one third of the ladies in question admitted that they would intentionally pile on yet more pounds so as to become so overweight that they would qualify for weight loss surgery, be it gastric banding or liposuction. I just find this so horrific; this should be unthinkable!

What, you would prefer to have a surgical procedure which has inherent and known dangers, not to mention the as yet not so well known knock-on side effects (bacterial overgrowth, etc), instead of getting your mind around eating a bit less? I just hope that this survey, for whatever reason, did not gather their information from a “true” cross-section of women living in the UK. Sadly, I suspect that it does provide a fairly accurate picture of the quick-fix, image driven culture that we have become.

What’s happened to the understanding that real beauty comes from within? What’s happened to our principles and values and self-esteem? Do we as a nation have such a low level of self-esteem and self-worth that we would risk our health to look a different shape or size?

Surely we should put our health first, and lose weight for reasons of good health, and not for superficial image? We won’t make an effort ourselves to lose weight, but we will risk our health and well-being to do so; that’s ridiculous!

I even read an article the other day saying that an incentive of being paid a few pounds for losing pounds in weight has a more successful effect upon weight loss than some traditional diet plans. Again, how come money is more important to us than our health? Have so many people really lost their values and lost their way?

Low self-esteem and low self-worth lie at the heart of the growing issue of obesity in the UK (and America). If you really valued yourself, and had a balanced view of what is most important to you and the world in general, you would be able to get your mind around weight loss; you would be able to approach weight loss in a healthy and positive manner and lose weight naturally, without risking your health or expecting the NHS to pay for it.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3s for weight loss and building self-esteem.

P.S. Would you like to know how hypnosis empowers your mind? Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.

Introduction to Exercise Motivation
Motivation is a crucial element in the realm of fitness and overall well-being. It acts as the driving force that initiates and maintains our journey towards health and fitness goals. However, sustaining motivation can be challenging due to various life demands and psychological factors. Understanding and harnessing this motivation can significantly impact one’s ability to consistently engage in exercise, leading to long-term health benefits.

Understanding Motivation
The Psychology Behind Motivation
Motivation is often defined as the internal process that propels us towards a goal. According to the American Psychological Association, motivation involves biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior. In the context of exercise, motivation can be influenced by a variety of factors including personal goals, social support, and physical or mental health conditions.

Statistics on Exercise Drop-off Rates
A startling statistic from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reveals that less than 5% of adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Additionally, only one in three adults receive the recommended amount of physical activity each week. This data underscores the importance of finding effective ways to stay motivated.

Practical Tips to Enhance Exercise Motivation
Set Clear and Achievable Goals
Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals can significantly increase your likelihood of success. For example, rather than a vague goal like “get fit,” set a specific goal such as “jog for 30 minutes three times a week.”

Find Your Fitness Inspiration
Inspiration can come from various sources, whether it’s a motivational quote, an inspiring athlete, or personal success stories. Websites like Runner’s World and Bodybuilding.com offer countless motivational stories and tips.

Keep a Fitness Journal
Documenting your progress can be incredibly motivating. A study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that those who kept a daily food diary lost twice as much weight as those who did not. Apply this strategy to your exercise routine by recording workouts, progress, and how you feel.

Establish a Support Network

Engaging with a community or having a workout partner can greatly enhance motivation. According to a study by the Department of Kinesiology at Indiana University, couples who worked out separately had a 43% dropout rate, whereas those who went to the gym together had only a 6.3% dropout rate.

Reward Yourself
Set up a reward system to celebrate your milestones. This could be as simple as treating yourself to a movie after a week of completed workouts or buying new workout gear after a month of consistent activity.

Overcoming Common Barriers
Lack of Time
Many people cite time constraints as a major barrier to regular exercise. Consider integrating physical activity into your daily routine in simple ways, such as biking to work or taking brisk walks during breaks.

Loss of Interest
To keep your routine interesting, vary your activities. Mixing different types of exercises can prevent boredom and provide a comprehensive workout that addresses multiple aspects of fitness.

Physical Limitations
For those with physical limitations, consulting with a healthcare provider or a fitness professional who can tailor a program specific to your needs is crucial. Adaptive exercises and equipment can also help overcome these challenges.

Conclusion: The Path to Sustained Motivation
Motivation to exercise is a dynamic and personal experience that requires ongoing nurturing. By setting realistic goals, seeking inspiration, maintaining a support network, and being adaptable to life’s changes, you can sustain your motivation and enjoy the lifelong benefits of regular exercise. Remember, the journey to fitness is a marathon, not a sprint. Start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can. Your future self will thank you for the health and vitality you cultivate today.

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.