Herbs

Where To Start To Lose Weight

Can you believe it?

Another year has come and gone. We have made it through the Holiday season and now it’s time to bare down and work on making those improvements that we promised ourselves we would just before the end of 2012. It seems like the promises are the same every year. At least the health related ones are. A few of the promises that I have made are, I'm going to:

take this extra weight off.
start a new diet this year.
going to stick to my old diet better this year!
start an exercise program this year.
be more active this year.

Have you made these promises or similar ones? If you have you are not alone. More and more Americans are considered obese every year. Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Think about that for a moment while I give you a few facts about obesity. According to the C.D.C. (Centers for Disease Control) “During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. In 2009, only Colorado and the District of Columbia had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-three states had a prevalence equal to or greater than 25%; nine of these states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of obesity equal to or greater than 30%.” This means that you are really not alone! In the very best of living conditions one of every five people are obese and need to pay attention to their weight.

“Why should it matter what my weight is?” you might ask. There are some really disturbing facts that surround obesity. Obesity definitely has physical drawbacks, like the extra stress on knees, hips and ankles, but the physical weight isn’t the only issue. There are other issues that come with the extra physical pounds of obesity. It is common sense that obesity is an extra burden on the musculoskeletal system, but is it really understood that, that is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg? Being overweight has negative effects in almost every system of the human body. The effects of being overweight spill over into the cardio vascular system increasing the chances of congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, deep vein thrombosis and debilitating or fatal heart attacks. Obesity also affects the reproductive system, the nervous system, the organs associated with digestion and filtering toxins from the body. An article on Wikipedia lists ten different medical fields and nearly sixty major disease categories that obesity has an amplifying effect on, ranging from urological issues to respiratory issues and from issues with the skin to inflamed issues resulting in cancer. The point is… IT REALLY MATTERS! Stay motivated and focused. The changes in health, mobility and avoiding or lessening the possibility of life threatening disease should be a reward worth making sacrifices for.

“Where should I start?” Many people know that gaining weight has been plaguing them for years and years. Sometimes the hesitation is as simple as not knowing where to start. Really it’s pretty simple. Start at the beginning. The beginning should be picking a diet AND EXERCISE plan that fits your lifestyle. It doesn’t have to be grandiose or expensive. It just needs to be a plan that you can live with. Here are a couple of things to consider when picking a diet plan.

There are NO MIRICLE diet plans that make you lose weight without any effort on your part.
Even the HCG diet (which claims to place you on auto pilot) has a plan that has to be carefully followed for any results.
I do not personally believe that this is a healthy diet as it limits you to just four hundred calories per day.
Certainly effective but at what long term cost.
Too often this promotes binges after the initial phase of the diet in my opinion.
It took months – years – even decades to put the weight on. Don’t expect to lose it overnight.
Nobody wakes up in the morning like Tim Allen on “The Santa Clause” a hundred pounds heavier than you were when you went to bed last night. It takes time to gain significant amounts of weight and it takes time to lose it as well. That being said, keep in mind that there are no miracle pills. Healthy weight loss will take a little time.
The real point here is that over expectation can be one of the biggest deterrents to sticking with a diet and exercise plan. Be patient, the results will come if you stick to your plan.
Keep a record of EVERYTHING!
I know that it’s a royal pain to keep records but it’s worth it. It is said that one can not improve what one does not measure and record. This statement is not entirely true but a record of the weight loss improvements and the sacrifices that it took to get there is a great tool to overcome the discouragement that would keep you from meeting your goal.
Records should contain:
What was eaten along with what time it was eaten (even if it wasn’t on your diet).
Estimated calories, fat grams, or carbohydrates (depending on the specific diet’s measurement system).
Exercises and activities to supplement your diet plan.
Your weight at least once per week.
This should be done at the same time of day each time you weigh.

Once you have started the program I think that you’ll find that it’s not as hard as it seems. The biggest hurdle is always getting a serious start. Most people love a routine and just like getting up for work or anything else that is a daily activity once the routine is established it can become much easier to stay on task.

One of the questions that is asked the very most is; “What’s the best way to cut calories?” There are several ways to cut calories from a diet. My preference has two very simple but effective answers. I use both and have had great experiences. First I use a meal replacement protein drink. There are a lot of those to choose from and I will tell you which one I use and why a little later. Most people think of a meal replacement protein drink as a chalky, lumpy, hard to swallow because it tastes so bad drink. I am here to tell you that if you choose the right one that is simply not true. There are some good tasting drinks out there. The trick is to choose one with the right content (vitamin, mineral and protein), the right sweeteners and the right ingredients. Sweeteners should be from natural sources like honey crystals. This is especially important for diabetics. Flavors should also be natural. The other things that I feel are important in a meal replacement protein shake are the vitamin and mineral content. If the intent is to replace a meal then the protein drink should be healthy, not just a cheap bag of powder that fills the hollow spot in our stomach. There should be probiotics, digestive enzymes, omega three fatty acids and good or great vitamin and mineral content. Lastly the meal replacement drink should taste good. There is nothing worse than having to choke down a nasty drink. My advice is to carefully read the label and make sure that the meal replacement drink meets all of your standards. If the company offers a sample then try it before you buy it. The second way to cut calories is to count them… That’s right I’m right back on the write it down and track it subject again. It will surprise you to know how many calories are in some meals. It will also surprise you to figure out that counting calories is not really that hard. There are numerous resources on the web that have calorie counters to use.

I know that you are all asking, “What do you think is the best meal replacement drink and why?” That is the question of the hour!!! I looked and looked for a meal replacement protein drink that met all of my standards. The ones that tasted okay had too many calories in them and the ones that had decent content tasted horrible. I had a collection of containers in my pantry that took up too much space and just gathered dust. I just couldn’t bring myself to drink any of the ones that I bought. I came across a manufacturer that had many of the same concerns. We consulted with a Nutritionalist and a Doctor to create our own. While we were developing this drink it had to meet the strictest of standards. The list is really longer than I should share in this article but suffice it to say our meal replacement drink SlimSmart™ meets all of the criteria. There are roughly one hundred sixty five calories in a serving. There is twenty five grams of protein, it has digestive enzymes and probiotics. We made sure to include a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals as well as both the essential and non essential amino acids. To finish the drink we used natural flavor like organic cocoa, vanilla bean, and strawberry pulp. Sweeteners in this drink are honey crystals, stevia and lohan All in all SlimSmart™ is a wonderful meal replacement drink. It tastes good, it provides you with most if not all of the nutrients that you should have with a meal and it mixes into a drink that even kids love. We chose kids as our taste testing group because they never lie about how something tastes. They either want more because they like it or they won’t finish the glass full because it was nasty.

I know that all of you that want to lose weight this year are looking for that “little something” to get you through the tough spots. I believe that SlimSmart™ is just that. I believe that if you record and track the sacrifices that you make and the progress that you experience you will be able to meet your goals. Be patient with yourself, stay on track and by the end of two thousand eleven you will be able to be pleased with your accomplishment.
Have a happy, healthy day!
K Parr

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