After Christmas Weight-Watchers

Christmas Is Over – Weight-Watchers Return To Watching.

It is always sad when a holiday comes to an end, especially a holiday like Christmas that means so much to so many people but stay positive, - it’s only 363 days until the next one. For now the priority must be to reclaim your body and take control of your life again and that starts with your weight.

Throughout our series of weight-watcher articles we always focus on the same basic theme: If you truly want to lose weight you only have to focus on two things - eat less and move more. It really is simple.

Over Christmas we have all gained between one and five pounds (450 to 2,250 grams) and that means that to get back to pre-Christmas weight will take us between one and five weeks. It is not possible to lose weight faster than one pound (450g) per week and expect it remain lost. Therefore this article is about going back to basics of how to lose one pound each week.

One pound (450g) is equivalent to 3,500 calories, or five hundred calories each day. An adult requires a minimum of 2,000 calories each day to remain fit and healthy in the developed world we consume an average of 3,500 calories each day. This intake gives us many options for losing weight. For instance we can reduce our daily intake by 500 calories providing we do not fall below 2,000 calories each day. This will help your weight and consequently your health but will not make you fitter and more able to enjoy life.

That is why we suggest that initially you set out to reduce your daily calorie intake by 300 calories and burn off a further 200 calories through light exercise.

See our calorie burn-off chart at: http://www.recipesmania.com/calorieexerciserate.html

This way you work on both your aerobic fitness and diet at the same time and then as you become fitter you will increase your burn off rate and therefore allow for a few extra rewards in your diet. Remember it is not good practice to lose weight at a rate greater than one-pound (450g) each week or you will soon be putting all that weight back on again rendering your program worthless. The whole point of losing weight is keeping it lost, not losing it this month and watching it come back next.

Start today and you will see results within a week.

This article is copyright © David McCarthy 2005. It may be reproduced in its entirety with no additions. Any changes require written approval from the author.

After A Diet, Why Does The Weight Come Back?

Before many Australians recently, a devastating story unfolded on a popular current affairs program. We watched with compassion as the fattest man in Australia told of his most recent, serious attempt to lose weight. Approximately 12 months earlier and weighing close to 300 kilos, he under went life threatening surgery to lose weight.

I doubt there would have been one person watching not moved by this man's depression and plight. Despite undergoing the surgery, today he could barely get through each day, both physically and mentally. He shared with us his sense of hopelessness and wanting to end it all.

It was not only his size that was causing his depression. He had to deal with a heart broken by disappointment.

You see, the surgery had been a success.

He soon lost well over 50 kilos post operation and he and his family rejoiced. But then the unthinkable happened.

The weight came back. Today he weighs well <i>over</i> 300 kilos - more than before the surgery.

This is an extreme case, but nonetheless raises a question that so many people continue to battle with.

After a diet, why does the weight come back so quickly?

To answer this we need to understand how much energy a body requires. For each pound you weigh, each day you need 12 calories to maintain your body weight. If you weigh 120 pounds you will need 120 x 12 calories, that is, 1440 calories per day to maintain that body weight. If you eat or drink more calories than your body requires, the excess energy is stored as fat. It takes 3,600 excess calories to make one pound of fat.

In this example, if your typical daily calorific intake is 2000 calories, in around 30 days you would put on between 4-5 pounds of fat!

Let's say, you then decide to go on a restrictive diet and halve your calorific consumption to 1,000 calories per day. You stay on this diet for around a month and lose 10 pounds and now weigh 110 pounds. You feel fantastic about losing the weight but can't keep up such a restrictive regime because you are irritable and have no energy.

So you go off your diet and go back to your usual routine of 2,000 calories a day. Remember you are lighter now and your body requires less energy to maintain its new weight. You would now require 110 x 12, that is, 1320 calories per day.

In this instance, by consuming 2000 calories daily, because you are lighter than before, you would put the weight back on in just 24-25 days!

If you want to keep the weight off you must develop a consistent change in eating habits to ensure you do not consume more than your body requires. You cannot continue to eat the same quantities and/or combinations of foods that caused you to be overweight in the first place. This will require developing an understanding of the nutritional content of food and raising your body's metabolism through increased muscle mass and exercise.

(c) 2003 Kim Beardsmore

3 Choices To Help You Lose Weight

1.  The  Weight Loss Patch

Perhaps the most appealing benefit of using a patch is that it is so easy to use.   No pills to remember to take, no special diets, no required exercise routine.   Naturally, sticking to a healthy diet and exercise program is best for your overall health, but if that is difficult for you to adhere to all of the time, the patch may be a solution that works for you.

A weight loss patch that you place on your body will deliver the active ingredients by transdermal delivery, meaning  through the skin.  The patch ingredients will go directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system and liver. Simply apply the patch to a smooth area of your skin and change it every 3 days.   That is all of the maintenance that is required. 

A patch can even be used occasionally when you are traveling and know you will be eating out a lot, or for those times you are too busy to cook the proper foods.  A patch that suppresses your appetite will help you develop good eating habits that will help you maintain your ideal weight in the future  ~ no more yo-yo figures.

2.  Appetite Suppressant Pills

Curbing your appetite to stop the influx of calories in the first place seems to be the logical way to lose and maintain your weight.  However, we are so bombarded by confusing claims everywhere for appetite suppressant pills ~ in print, on the radio, on television, even on billboards when driving, that it is difficult to know which diet pill will really help take off those pounds ~ and keep them off.. 

Some diet pills will cause your heart to race, your hands to shake, or an overall "wired" feeling.  To avoid these problem, stay away from products that contain  Ephedra, Ma Huang, and Ephedrine.

One herbal diet pill that has gotten a lot of publicity lately is Hoodia Gordonii  The authentic plant comes from the Kalahari desert in  South Aftrica.  Respectable television shows like 60 Minutes, the Today Show, BBC, and even Oprah's "O" magazine have given it rave reviews for its fast acting appetite suppressing qualities.  While it can take one to two weeks to work fully, many users report a decline in their appetite with the first pill.

 In fact, Hoodia has had so many positive reports that there are now a lot of knock-off products being marketed to the uninformed ~ especially on the Internet.   The real Hoodia is very rare because it takes up to 7 years for the Hoodia  plant to mature to a point where it provides appetite suppressant qualities.  In addition, the African government is now limiting the amount of Hoodia it exports, meaning only a few suppliers have the real thing.  Because Hoodia is so rare, you can expect it to be a little more expensive than other diet pills.  

Another diet pill that helps shed pounds is Herbal Phentermine.  This is a non-prescription appetite  suppressant that is scientifically designed to produce similar effects of a popular Rx version of phentermine. 

The good news is that the Herbal version contains only natural ingredients so you don't have to be worried about side effects.   Plus, you can avoid the time, expense, and embarrassment of a doctor's visit. 

Herbal Phentermine will not only suppress your appetite, but it will also increase your metabolism so you burn more calories and have more energy. 

3). Carbohydrate Blockers

Perhaps you prefer not to have your appetite suppressed, but instead would like to eat all of the pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes you want.  If this sounds more like your style, then you might want to try a carbohydrate  blocker.

Scientists have discovered, and thoroughly tested a method to allow us to eat the foods we love and not gain weight.    We can now stop the normal conversion of starchy foods to sugar before it can pass through our digestive system and store as fat on our hips, thighs, buttocks and stomach.  Derived from white kidney beans, the resulting carb blockers, (starch neutralizers), are a completely natural product.  They work by neutralizing the Alpha amylase enzyme that digests starch.  

By neutralizing this digestive enzyme, the starch from our food does not get digested.  Instead, it remains intact and does not convert to sugar.  It simply passes through the body undigested and acts as a fiber  ~ which is a very good thing.   We get more fiber going through our intestines while avoiding the conversion to sugar and the resulting fat storage ~  a definite win-win situation.

Over the past several years, there have been many positive studies to determine the effectiveness of carb blockers and their ability to help lose weight.   One study was performed at the Northridge Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA, over an eight week time period. 

It reported that participants saw an average weight loss of 200% more than those taking a placebo, and lost an average of 1.5 inches around their waists.  This was 43 % more than those taking  the placebo.  Plus they reported  having 13% more energy, even though it is not a stimulant. 

Whether you choose patches or pills, prefer to eat starchy foods, or use carb blockers, some things to look for when buying diet products are that they:

1) Contain all natural ingredients
2) Do not have harmful side effects
3) Offer a 100% money back guarantee