5 Key Elements to Successful Weight Loss part 2

As i said yesterday - I have found that there must be 5 key elements in any weight loss plan, whether you use supplements, gyms, pills or diet:

1. Drink water
2. Activity
3. Food
4. Mind set
5. Support

I covered drinking water and moving more (or "exercise") yesterday in more detail.

3. Food - you need to be eating regularly, forget skipping breakfast or other meals to make up for eating too much.  What this does is actually slow down your metabolism and you don't lose weight...sometimes you even put more weight on.  
The body thinks that it will not be having any food soon- so converts as much of the previous meal into body fat to store as energy reserves to get you through this time- this is a primal response as much as you cannot control the "fight or flight" reaction of the body you cannot control this.  
So to make sure your body does not do this- feed it regularly- have breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, evening meal, supper.  The three main meals are normal size and the other meals are snack size.  
Try to reduce your fat, salt & alcohol intake where you can - I will cover this in later posts, it's best to eat to the healthy food guidelines which recommend 5 serves of vegetables and two serves of fruit a day. 
 
4. Mind Set-what I mean by this- is that you need to be in a positive frame of mind to help in your weight loss journey.  This may mean that you need to build up your own self esteem and confidence before you can even consider losing weight.  Unfortunately there are many different reasons why people, women in particular, have low self esteem- I will cover some strategies in later posts to help you feel better about yourself. 
So you need to believe that you can do it ( & let's face it...you can!).  You can see many people that have successfully lost weight and of course that means that you are able to do it too.

5. Support- you need to have a great support network, it helps if you can talk to other like minded people (email, facebook, telephone,sms) - but try not to listen to well meaning friends and relatives- they can often be bad for your weight loss progress.  They are not in the same mind set- it doesn't matter what others think- you can do it....but you have to believe in yourself.  
If you are able to connect with like minded people, great- if you cannot don't worry - the most important person to support you should be yourself.  You deserve it!

Set up some rewards for when you reach some weight loss milestones (eg: when you have lost your first 10 lbs) - but make sure it is not a food reward- make it something that means something to you- like a massage or a new book, or some new clothes or some new music, something for the garden...you get the idea!!

Have a great day, evening & see you tomorrow!!

5 Key Elements to Successful Weight Loss

This is the secret to successful weight loss.....You must eat less calories than your body uses!  It’s as simple as that….but this is not easy or instant!!



I have found that there must be 5 key elements in any weight loss plan, whether you use supplements, gyms, pills or diet:

1. Drink water
2. Activity
3. Food
4. Mind set
5. Support

1. Drink water


You must always drink water- now in the beginning of my weight loss journey I found this the most difficult thing to do as water is not my favorite drink.  Especially when you are advised to drink 8 glasses a day - I was struggling with that amount of water, however i have been drinking that now for 9 months and now i find it easy and in fact my body tells me i'm thirsty.  I now find water very refreshing and energy providing.  
The way i did this was to trick myself in the beginning and only drink 4 glasses of water a day (but the glasses i used where twice the size).  It is so much easier to drink 4 glasses a day- i mean you break it down to 2 in the morning and 2 at night.
2. Activity- or "move more" as i call it, this simply means move more than you did yesterday.  If you are a gym junkie- good on you.  
But if you are not, try it simple at first- don't worry you will eventually want to exercise - you will feel better about yourself and it will be easier.  But at the beginning this is difficult if you are not used to exercising.
(I was always a person that said that “I was allergic to exercise” – as a joke of course.  But at the end of tiring day at work, attending to the family, children, spouse- there really was little to no interest in exercising.) 
So to start why not try to just walk or take the dog for a walk, or maybe invest in the zumba fitness craze, or maybe check out your local gym to see if they have something that interests you.  
One of your new goals should be to move everyday,  get yourself a pedometer and make sure you know how many steps (or miles you are walking a day)



 * I will post about 
3. Food, 
4. Mind set &
5. Support tomorrow.

Until then, have a great time with your Family & Friends and enjoy yourself!

Need to have a positive mindset and believe in yourself!

Which Diet / Weight Loss Program Should you choose?

There are soooo many diet solutions and weight loss promises out there.  Some work, but sadly many do not.  To get the best results will involve you trialling a few different methods and plans before you are successful.  

One thing I know...if it says it is instant weight loss or big weight loss- you don't want to do these products.  Even if they work, do you really want to look like those people on the biggest loser?? Sure they lost a lot of weight and good on them- the only problem is that they now have heaps of excess skin that they will have to have surgically removed.

Most of the well known weight loss programs such as weight watchers, jenny craig and oprah say that losing about 
2 pounds a week is a healthy weight loss.  This sort of weight loss can also be permanent- whereas if you lose more weight than that you run the risk of excess skin, heart problems, other health problems and putting the weight back on.



The most simple diet secret….You must eat less calories than your body uses!  It’s as simple as that….


This does not mean that you have to eat less food- maybe it means you need to exercise more.  It really depends on you and what you are doing right now.


The weight loss plan you choose must be easy for you, you must be able to fit it into your everyday life, you must not give up, you need to look to the future.  Find a photo of yourself looking great and stick up on the fridge or somewhere where you will see it all the time - to help motivate you!

I don't think that anyone can recommend any one program as the best - i think it depends on your body and your mindset. 


I think that the best weight loss program for you is the one that works for you- for instance: alli weight loss pills worked really well for my friend Star, but not for me.  My friend Katrina was able to use acai berry & supplements to lose weight.  Again this did not work for me.  After many combinations I have been successful with a combination of products.  But have found that plenty of water and moving more than i did yesterday is working well, I think it will take me another 6 months to lose all the weight i want to but i am motivated now and am looking forward to looking and feeling great again.


Talk soon, until then:

• have a great day, 
• drink 4 x 16oz glasses of water,
• move more today than you did yesterday
• get a good night's sleep  

Welcome to my losing weight Blog!

It is a very difficult time of the year to lose weight- I know!  Up to a week ago I was actively losing weight.  I have been overweight for over 10 years now, and remember how good I used to look & want to again.  


I love christmas but after eating and drinking more than i should have I have gained some weight.  This is a shock to me as I have been steadily losing weight since May 2010 and have proudly lost 33 pounds.  I have tried many different diets, miracle pills and others over the last decade and nothing has worked.


The purpose of this blog is to help others with their weight loss journey and keep a record for myself.  Feel free to send me any comments or suggestions.


I am a mother of 2 and work full time- so I know how easy it is to lose track of yourself in day to day living and perhaps get take away dinners as you have no time to cook.  I will also post recipes that are quick & easy.

Have a great time over this holiday period and I look forward to your company in my future posts!