Rapid Weight Loss Hypnosis - Myths About Rapid Weight Loss and Fast Dieting

There are lots of things sabotaging people from proper, rapid weight loss. Not only do people have their own brains and anxiety to get in the way (which is why I use hypnosis, NLP, and EFT to assist) but there are myths out there that make people think incorrectly about rapid, safe dieting. How many times have you heard, "Losing more than 1 to 2 pounds a week is unsafe." Or "You should never skip breakfast! That messes up your metabolism!" or "Look how those French people eat! That plate is tiny! That' can't be enough!" "Medicines and supplements can enhance your weight loss!" These are some of the myths people say to me and my patients when they embark on the rapid weight loss plans I place them on for fast, healthy weight release.

Well, as a physician, I too have heard these things from nutritionists, dietitians, and other doctors and expert colleagues who still work under an old paradigm of what's right and wrong in dieting. I'm here to share a new paradigm to bust these myths so that you can lose weight safely and rapidly just as your body has been designed to do.

As a physician who has successfully helped 50 patients lose a total of 2000 pounds, or an average of 40 pounds each, in a 5 month period, I can tell you that these myths only get in the way of healthy and safe rapid weight loss. And NO! These patients did NOT have gastric bypasses or lap bands! They used their bodies' natural weight loss tactics to succeed.

Let's talk body basics. We eat to stay alive. When we eat extra it becomes fat. When we don't eat enough to sustain ourselves, the fat is burned off to use up what we've stored. It's that simple. All mammals have this ability. Fat allows our body to have sugar and nutrients to stay alive and disappears when we don't have enough going in our mouths.

However there are all these little nuances to that simplicity that are used to confuse you and help perpetuate these myths to losing weight.

1. "Losing more than 1-2 pounds a week is unsafe."

I have safely guided my patients through a 1-pound-a-day weight loss through low-calorie diets. It works and it is safe and was how we were genetically designed to use fat. I sometimes think the people who use this first myth are justifying people staying on their diets or regimens longer. It sells gym memberships and sells monthly weight-loss programs that cost 50-1000 dollars a month. If it's normal to just lose 1 pound a week, you can keep someone who needs to lose 80 pounds on that diet for 80 weeks! That's a good amount of cash! If you look to the Mayo Clinic website there are multiple articles explaining against losing more than 1-2 pounds per week, however you see that they discuss rapid, doctor-assisted weight loss for the most unhealthy patients. Why do we do that for them but not healthier patients? I have made no distinction and the results have been great. But yes, these patients lose weight with the guidance of a physician so that I can ensure there are no problems during the weight loss.

With my weight loss programs that I have given my patients, they can lose 30 pounds in 30 days, 80 pounds in 80 days, 150 pounds in 150 days, and so on. I just had a patient come in today who lost 50 pounds in 50 days, came off 3 medicines for blood pressure, who looks and feels great. Her blood pressure is 100/80 now when it was 150/90 when we started. Are you telling me a slower weight loss would be better for her so she could have high blood pressure even a day longer? I don't think so. She's healthier and safer in a rapid amount of time with my hypnosis and rapid weight loss techniques that I will explain later in an upcoming article.

2. "Don't skip breakfast. It's unhealthy in a diet and you won't lose as much weight!"

Eating breakfast keeps your metabolism in line so you burn more calories through the day. This is true when you are at a steady weight. However, when it comes to losing weight, eating breakfast is not an accelerator of weight loss. The calories going in still need to go somewhere. Yes, you definitely get more obese in the long term if you skip breakfast, then eat normal amounts of food for lunch and dinner afterward. A person who skips breakfast puts their body in starvation mode so that any excess food that you eat later in the day instantly becomes fat as the body scrambles to keep any sugar available in the body after being told it's starving when breakfast is skipped.

However, if you skip breakfast, and then take in small amounts of food for lunch and dinner, (lower amounts of calories than is needed for a full day), you WILL BURN FAT to make up for energy that you don't have coming in from food. So skipping breakfast, during a lower calorie intake period, allows you to burn excess fat. It's the way God designed us. When we were hunter-gatherers and we roamed the earth for the next food supply as nomads, there would be times where the winter would come in and the food supply would drop, or there would be times of famine where there just wasn't a food supply. God was smart enough to design us with a source of sugar during these times of need for food. All mammals have this food storage system called fat. When you see those commercials asking to aid children starving in other countries, those children are relying on these fat stores to survive their lack of adequate nutrients.

God and evolution also designed us to HEALTHILY use up this fat store when we don't have enough food. Fasting is how we were designed to use up our fat, so anyone who tells you weight loss through fasting is unhealthy has an argument with the Big Guy who designed this survival system. Through time the human body has adapted to using fat for food storage to allow survival through times of famine or starvation. If it was unhealthy, the system wouldn't exist as it came to be through evolution and nature. The fittest survive, and those with fat storage systems survived longer when there is no food.

Well here is how this system got bastardized. After we went through the ice age and became agrarian in our economy, an abundant food supply existed. We didn't starve anymore, and we don't starve anymore because right now we have plenty of farms and excess food stores to supply us with nourishment. The supermarkets have been bigger and supersized as has our readily available fast food. It's funny we call it fast food because although it is fast due to the rapid service, this is the very food that prevents us from fasting anymore since it is readily available. In fact we overindulge and never starve, and that leaves us with huge food stores in our body through obesity.

Add to that that we have, over the last 15 years, added huge amounts of sugars to our food as fillers and as fat replacements to add flavor. So not only do we not starve anymore in the middle-class western hemisphere, we also give ourselves more food than we need and thus we are more obese than ever. (Don't get me started on our first ever epidemic of obese 6-month-olds because of recent additions of fructose to formula).

So we don't starve anymore but we have a plentiful harvest every time we walk into a supermarket. Since people don't starve, we have no chance at using our natural human system for sugar storage and release: Fat burning through Calorie deprivation.

That's where Gastric bypass, mouth wiring, lap band procedures come in. Instead of having famines or food shortages or winter times to naturally allow us to lose weight as we were designed, we use artificial surgeries to force our unhealthiest members of the population, the severely obese, to lose weight the way Nature had intended. Forced calorie droughts through surgical means work but have high-level surgical risks for these unhealthy patients. Through my experience with my own patients and those of my colleagues, I've seen our patients die after these procedures from sepsis (Body infections), Heart conditions, complications of the surgery itself and anesthesia, malnourishment, iron deficiency anemia, vitamin deficiency, and depression-induced suicides. I even had one patient die from bulimia after the procedure. Not everyone gets the psychological support they need nor do they get the guidance of what to expect once they lose the weight.

Also there has been a phenomenon of displeasure and poor satisfaction with the results after they have lost weight. When I say satisfaction, I am talking about life satisfaction. Many people lose weight through surgery only to find that the tremendous changes they have been told would happen in their lives don't happen. Guys who lost weight aren't suddenly dating models, Women aren't suddenly happy to have smaller dress sizes. There isn't a sudden acceptance into social circles after this rapid weight loss change. This leads to a feeling of defeat.

4. "Medicines and supplements can enhance your weight loss!"

Some people use medications and miracle supplements to allow them to not notice hunger but eat less. I get asked at least 50 times a month by patients and friends to give them phentermine. Nobody I know who has used phentermine has had a sustained weight loss, they haven't lost large amounts of weight, and the risks of the medication are great for people who already have enlarged hearts or elevated blood pressures. You aren't supposed to take it with high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, glaucoma, or any heart conditions, conditions that many obese people already have. The medication can make you restless, nervous, dry of the mouth, and induce insomnia. But people are so desperate to lose weight they keep looking for artificial means of weight loss.

Worst of all, I've had a few patients in recent years come to me to find that their use of that medicine with Fenfluramine in the past has led to Heart valve problems and a lifelong cardiac condition. If you want to continue to believe in medicines and supplements as weight loss miracles, you should plan on giving up large amounts of money for minimal weight loss. There are some supplements and medicines that enhance your weight loss such as orlistat and phentermine itself. But to truly keep the results, you need to make changes that are sustainable. With the methods I use, the results are sustainable and ongoing and are real life methods... ones that the patient can understand without having to do point calculations and higher math nor do they have to buy foods processed and packaged by someone else. You can use whatever food you like. My next blog will explain how.

3. "French diets are tiny! This restaurant is gyping me!"

Now let's look at food amounts and how people joke about the small amounts of food the French serve in their restaurants. If you look at pictures of people from the USA before 1960, you will see we were a lean nation then. People's plates were smaller, we ate less food, and we were in trim shape for the most part. Look at your grandparents pictures and those of your great grandparents -- a picture is worth 1000 words. People ate leaner and survived at a thinner weight. Compare a restaurant plate then to one now that you can get from Atlantic City or Las Vegas Buffets. Those plates are HUGE.

In these days of supersizing, buffets, and large dinner plates, the mindset is quite different. We expect a full plate these days, and we expect second helpings of what we like. We like sugary drinks. And as a whole, the population back then wasn't as far off from what we do now in the realms of exercise and training. Sure, we have highly developed cross training and intense burning and core body exercises now, but isn't it funny how not many of these new regimens are different from the past (Kettle bells are back in vogue for training? Lifting tires?). The only difference is our perceived eating needs have changed to explain the lean bodies of our grandparents to our own. Do you see fat skeletons of cavemen and women in the museums?

France has not strayed very far from it's previous eating patterns. In fact in American Movies and commercials we are constantly making fun of the small portion sizes in the French diet. However what they are eating in portion is actually in line with what truly is needed. Just Google "world obesity rankings" and you'll see where US and France currently stand. You'll see USA at a 30% obesity rate (3 out of 10 Americans is obese) versus France at Number 23 on the list with a 9.4% obesity rate (Just less than 1 out of 10). The closest country to the USA, Mexico, is at 24%, so we are WAY over the rest ofic the world in the USA.

So these days, most of the population have a skewed view of proper food amounts in our diet, we have a food supply full of sugars and high fructose corn syrup, and we go back for seconds and clean our plates. Add to that the vast amounts of food we offer for celebrations. The last wedding I went to for 200 people there were 5 large tables of all-you-can-eat food and all-you-can-drink free alcohol. Way over the handfuls of food we should be eating. Christmas time is always a gutbuster, and Easter and Halloween are candy-based foods. Gluttony is en vogue these days. The USA has been battered by constant commercials about food and eating to make a normal portion size that of a super big burger and large sized fries and large sugary soda. We have learned to eat until full rather than to eat when satisfied. The handfuls of food in the french diet is normal and not wasteful! We no longer have to be brainwashed to eat until full. We haven't been listening to our bodies to stop eating when we are satisfied. (This is one of the subconscious commands I give my hypnosis clients to help them lose weight). Eat when hungry, stop when satisfied. Avoid being full as that is the signal from the body that you went too far.

All these myths I've mentioned above prevent appropriate weight maintenance and rapid weight loss. They are just a few of the myths that make naysayers say while the doers lose weight with me. In Neurolinguistic programming and Hypnosis we talk about "Frames": Those reference points people use to view the world. The most basic frame is optimist vs pessimist -- do you see the glass as half empty or half full? People who see the glass half full are the ones who see most things in their lives as positive, those who see it as half empty have a pessimistic tone to the things that happen in their lives. If you believe in these myths, you are already framed to not accept the paradigms and information I am about to present to you in the next blog. These beliefs have clouded doctors and their patients for years as to what is right and wrong about weight loss. When we reframe these thoughts from generally accepted truths to myths and barriers to our success in weight loss, we have freed ourselves to accept that it is safe to lose a pound a day using our natural mechanism for food intake reduction.

In my next blog I will discuss my friend Dr. Alwin Lewis's discovery on dieting and rapid weight loss, and how it has helped transform the lives of many of my patients into successful rapid weight loss and hypnosis clients without pills or surgery... see me at http://www.rapidweightlosshypnosis.com

Arthur E. Apolinario, M.D., M.P.H.
http://www.rapidweightlosshypnosis.com

Myths About Weight Loss

Do you really know what it takes to lose weight? Can you really believe

what those ads tell you? Are you confused by what all those experts are

telling you? Do you know that 95% of people who go on conventional diets,

gain back all the weight they have lost and often end up fatter than when

they began? Do you really know what is fact and what is hype?

Losing weight safely, healthily and permanently is not as complicated as it

may seem. Once you know what works and what doesn't and then apply this

knowledge properly, you can, finally, lose that ugly fat.

This article highlights 15 of the most common myths associated with weight

loss. Understanding them, will help clear up the confusion and help you to

decide how best to lose that weight forever.

#1 Fad diets work best for permanent weight loss.

Fad diets (South Beach Diet, Atkins Diet, Glycemic Load Diet etc.) are not

the best way to lose weight and keep it off. Fad diets often promise quick

weight loss or tell you to cut certain foods out of your diet. You may lose

weight at first on one of these diets. But diets that strictly limit

calories or food choices are hard to follow. Most people quickly get tired

of them and regain

any lost weight.

Fad diets may be unhealthy because they may not provide all of the nutrients

your body needs. Also, losing weight at a very rapid rate (more than 3

pounds a week after the first couple weeks) may increase your risk for

developing gallstones (clusters of solid material in the gallbladder that

can be painful). Diets that provide less than 800 calories per day also

could result in heart rhythm abnormalities, which can be fatal.

Research suggests that losing ½ to 2 pounds a week by making healthy food

choices, eating moderate portions, and building physical activity into your

daily life is the best way to lose weight and keep it off. By adopting

healthy eating and physical activity habits, you may also lower your risk

for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

#2 Certain types of people cannot lose weight.

We are all born with a genetically pre-determined number of fat cells. Some

people naturally have more fat cells than others and women have more than

men. The number of fat cells increase the older we get.

It was once believed that the number of fat cells could not increase after

adulthood, only the size of the fat cells could increase. We now know that

fat cells can indeed increase both in size and in number and that they are

more likely to increase in number at certain times and under certain

circumstances.

Existing fat cells increase in size when energy intake exceeds energy

expenditure and the excess is stored in the fat cell. An overweight person's

fat cells can be up to three times larger than a person with ideal body

composition.

Fat cells tend to increase in number most readily when excessive weight is

gained due to overeating and or inactivity during the following periods:

1. During late childhood and early puberty 2. During pregnancy 3. During

adulthood when extreme amounts of weight are gained

Normally during adulthood, the number of fat cells stay about the same,

except in the case of obesity. When the existing fat cells are filled to

capacity, new fat cells can continue to be formed in order to provide

additional storage - even in adults.

A typical overweight adult has around 75 billion fat cells. But in the case

of severe obesity, this number can be as high as 250 to 300 billion!

Because of these facts, many people believe, "Well, I have more fat cells

than other people, so what's the use, I'll never lose weight". Some

people argue that obesity is genetic and/or that once you're obese and your

fat cells have multiplied, it's an uphill battle you can't ever win.

It's easy to search for excuses to explain your failure. It's easy to

justify current circumstances and low future expectations by seeking out

seemingly logical and scientific facts and explanations.

Here's the reality.

People who say it can't be done are just pessimists or they are simply trying

to sell another pill, potion or miracle solution.

As much as some people desperately want to believe in a magic pill or

surgical procedure, getting a lean body always boils back down to nutrition

and exercise. You can't change the number of fat cells you have (without

surgery), but you can shrink every one of them by changing your lifestyle.

The number of fat cells you possess will certainly influence how difficult

it will be for you to lose body fat. It's one of the reasons why some people

have a more difficult time losing weight than others and why some people

seem to gain weight more easily than others if they're not very careful and

diligent with their nutrition and exercise programs.

However, it does not mean that it's impossible to get lean.

#3 High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets are a healthy way to lose weight.

The long-term health effects of a high-protein/low- carbohydrate diet are

not yet known. Additionally, getting most of your daily calories from high-

protein foods like meat, eggs, and cheese is not a balanced eating plan. You

may be eating too much fat and cholesterol, which can cause heart disease.

You may be eating too few fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, which may

lead to constipation due to lack of dietary fiber and cause a lack of

essential vitamins and minerals. Following a high-protein/low- carbohydrate

diet may also make you feel nauseous, tired, and weak.

Eating fewer than 130 grams (520 calories) of carbohydrate a day can cause

your body to produce high levels of uric acid, which is a risk factor for

gout (a painful swelling of the joints) and kidney stones. High-protein/low-

carbohydrate diets are often low in calories because food choices are

strictly limited, so they may cause short-term weight loss. But a reduced-

calorie eating plan that includes recommended amounts of carbohydrate,

protein, and fat will also allow you to lose weight. By following a balanced

eating plan, you will not have to stop eating whole classes of foods, such as

whole grains, fruits, and vegetables and miss the key nutrients they

contain. You may also find it easier to stick with a diet or eating plan

that includes a greater variety of foods.

#4 A Low Fat Diet is Best

Certain amount of fats are essential, as some fatty acids cannot be made by

the body and must come from the diet. ( Fatty acids are simply one of the

main constituent parts of fat along with cholesterol) Some essential

vitamins (A D E K ) are only soluble in fat and the fatty acids act as a

carrier for them.

Certain fatty acids are also essential in the formation of cell membranes,

particularly in nerve tissue. It has been shown that patients on a fat free

diet develop scaly skin, infertility and run a greater risk of infection.

A further source of confusion is the different types of fat. In particular,

we have heard of saturated fat, unsaturated fat, mono-unsaturated fat and

poly-unsaturated fat. Without getting into the chemical differences between

each of these fats, suffice it to say that there are good fats and bad fats.

Saturated fats are the bad fats. Generally speaking, they are the ones

which are solid at room temperature and tend to be derived from animal

sources. i.e. butter comes from milk. Too much saturated fat is believed to

cause heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancers.

Unsaturated fats (both mono and poly ) are the good fats and tend to be

liquid at room temperature and are derived from vegetable sources. So when

we are looking at fats, keep an eye on the types of fat in the foods we are

eating and stay away from those which are high in saturated fat.

Now that we know what fat is, how much should we be eating? It is generally

accepted that about 30% of our calories should come from fat and no more

than 11% of this should be from saturated fat So, if we take a typical male

who is on 2500 calories, his fat target is no more than 750 calories (or

84g) from fat. Remember these are the maximum amounts allowed. It is much

better to err on the low side of this figure but DO NOT go below 20% of

calories from fat. (500 calories for our male example). Remember, we need

fat in our diet.

#5 Weight gain is genetic. You inherit it from your parents

Certainly, there may be what we call tendencies, but there is no such thing

as a fat gene that is passed down from generation to generation. What is

inherited are attitudes towards food and living in general. If parents are

overweight, it is likely that their food choices are unhealthy and it is

likely that their lifestyle is unhealthy. So, from a very early age, their

children are being subjected to that same unhealthy lifestyle. They have

little chance of remaining at a"normal" weight. They have learned to be

unhealthy by following what their parents have done and will carry this

learned behaviour with them throughout their lives.

Being overweight is not genetic but is another convenient excuse not to try

to lose weight. Each of us has within us the power to achieve our weight

loss.

#6 The "set point" theory determines what we all should weigh.

The set-point theory holds that we all have an internal weight regulator,

like a thermostat, that adjusts our metabolic rate up or down whenever we

gain or shed pounds in order to return our body to its predetermined weight.

Undoubtedly, some controls do exist or we would all be obese,

or,alternately, wasting away. Studies show that when we lose weight, our

metabolism actually shifts to a normal rate for that new weight, independent

of individual differences. It is important ,however, that the weight loss is

gradual, 1/2 to 2lbs per week is ideal. The body does not like rapid change

as it tends to have emergency responses to something that it doesn't like.

For instance, by losing weight rapidly, through diet, our bodies will go

into "starvation mode" where it will slow our metabolism to preserve our fat

reserves and thus make it very difficult to lose weight. It will also tend

to make weight gain much more likely when the diet ends because our

metabolism has been slowed down so much.

People nevertheless embrace the theory to blame their bodies, rather than

their own behaviour, for their weight-loss failure. It offers comfort to

those who refuse to accept the fact that weight control requires a

commitment to a physically active and calorie-conscious lifestyle.

#7 Carbohydrates make you fat.

Carbohydrates do not make you fat. Calories make you fat. Often it's the

sugar and fat contained in carbohydrates that make you fat. Also a lot of

carbohydrates are processed, so you don't get the advantage of feeling full

from fiber found in unprocessed carbs. For example, whole grain pasta is

more filling and makes you feel satisfied longer than white pasta, the same

with white bread and brown bread though, both have the same amount of

calories. What will change the number of calories is the amount of sauce and

butter you put on your pasta. What you want to do is eat carbs in

moderation.

#8 Counting calories is not important.

You definitely need to count calories in one way or other in order to lose

weight. Most people tend to overestimate their physical activity and

underestimate their calories. Don't guess or try to estimate your caloric

intake. You cannot be accurate enough. There are many good computer

programs out there that do most of the work for you. If weight gain is

caused by your caloric intake (food) being greater than your caloric output

(living and exercise), how can you possibly know where you are and what

needs to be done?

#9 The best way to lose weight is to miss meals.

Studies show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the

day tend to be heavier than people who eat a healthy breakfast and eat five

or six times a day. This may be because people who skip meals tend to feel

hungrier later on and eat more than they normally would. Also, it is now

generally accepted that people who eat smaller meals, 5 or 6 times a day,

tend to be less likely to be overweight. The process of eating in itself

tends to raise your metabolic rate and by eating more often, tends to keep

your metabolism more active for longer. Remember, to keep within your

caloric allowance.

#10 The best way to lose weight is by starving yourself.

Losing weight by not eating is an absolute no, no. There are 3 main reasons

for this. Very low calorie dieting or any "quick weight loss" will

significantly decrease our metabolism. Eating increases metabolism due to

the energy required for digestion and absorption of the food. The calories

required to digest, absorb, transport and metabolise the food we eat, can

cause a 10% increase in our caloric expenditure each day. Every time we eat,

our body's metabolism gets a temporary boost. So one way to help increase

metabolic rate is to eat smaller, more frequent meals and snacks. Skipping

meals causes a decrease in our metabolic rate until we again eat something.

Significantly reducing calories lowers our metabolic rate. Our body treats

any sudden reduction in food intake as an impending starvation situation and

prepares itself by slowing our metabolism to conserve calories. The more

drastically we cut our calories, the more our metabolic rate drops.

Losing weight through dieting alone without exercise, depletes our muscle

tissue stores. Muscle requires many more calories each day to maintain itself.

The faster we lose weight through dieting alone, the more muscle tissue we

lose and the lower our metabolic rate becomes. Exercise prevents muscle

tissue loss and adds muscle bulk and therefore raises our metabolic rate.

#11 We shouldn't eat late at night as all that food will turn to fat.

The fact is, eating at night does not necessarily make you fat. There are

too many other variables involved to make such a big assumption. The primary

factor in whether you gain or lose fat is not when you eat but rather how

much. Providing we have not consumed too many calories for that day it

doesn't really matter when we eat.

However, that doesn't mean meal timing doesn't matter, it simply means that

it's entirely possible to eat one of your meals late at night right before

bed and still lose body fat, as long as you're in a caloric deficit.

It would be more accurate to say that eating large meals late at night

before bed, especially calorie dense high carbohydrate meals, increases the

probability that you will store some of those calories as fat.

It is probably more beneficial if you plan to eat your calories earlier in

the day and slightly fewer calories at night. Experience has shown that this

will accelerate fat loss or make it easier to lose fat and that's not the

same as saying "eating at night makes you fat."

#12 Weight loss pills are the best way to lose weight if you have failed in

the past.

Would you believe me if I said there was a pill which could make you

smarter, richer or more attractive. No you wouldn't. You'd probably would

laugh at the thought. It is no more ridiculous to believe that a pill could

make you lose weight. Many of the so called weight loss pills on the market

have not been properly tested and we are not yet sure of the long term

effects of taking them. You will read many reviews praising this pill or

that pill. Ask yourself this. "Is the writer of that review trying to then

sell me something?" There have been no pills yet which have been proven to

help weight loss safely and healthily.

#13 You can lose weight from a specific part of your body.

It is, absolutely, physically impossible to lose weight just from a specific

part of your body. You cannot control where fat is removed from your body.

Any machine or specific exercise which claims to specifically lose belly fat

or thigh fat is lying. Certainly, a specific exercise will improve muscle

tone in that group of muscles being trained, giving the illusion that fat is

being lost.

Fat will only disappear from your body in a predetermined order.

Unfortunately for men that tends to be the belly area and the thighs and hips

for women. Tom Venuto, author of the internet's best selling book on fat

loss gives us a very good analogy. "You cannot empty the shallow end of the

swimming pool before you empty the deep end first."

#14 You don't need to exercise to lose weight.

You certainly don't need to exercise to lose weight but it is very, very

difficult if you don't. Most diets fail because they are too difficult to

maintain. Severely cutting down on calories means we have to deprive

ourselves of too many things we enjoy. This leads to cravings which leads

to cheating which leads to failure. It is also unhealthy.

We can also burn off calories by exercising. By incorporating exercise into

our daily regime, we immediately make weight loss more attainable. Simply

by walking 30 minutes every day at a pace which raises our heart rate enough

can help our weight loss tremendously. However, the more we exercise the

more calories we burn. Additionally, exercise gives us many other health

benefits, like a healthier heart, lower blood pressure, a greater feeling of

well-being etc. The benefits are too many to mention.

#15 Don't weigh yourself

It's another misconception that you shouldn't step on a scale while

attempting to lose weight. It is a good motivational tool to check your

weight on a regular basis, say once a week.It is an obvious way to gauge

your progress and alter your diet accordingly. However, only using scales is

a bad idea. Use your eyes to see body changes. Use a tape measure to keep

track of tummy and thigh inches.

However, what you must keep in mind is that what you are, ultimately, trying

to do is lose fat and not just weight. Measuring fat loss is more difficult

to do but it is a far better indicator of your progress. Body fat analysis

is best done by a professional and can be done at most local gyms or health

clubs. There are also a wide range of devices freely available which can

give you a fairly accurate measurement.

http://amazing-weight-loss.blogspot.com

Iain Anthony lives in the UK with his wife and three children. He has a BA in Sports Studies and is the author of the Ultimate Weight Loss and Fat Loss Package. If you have enjoyed reading this article and are keen to discover much , much more, please visit http://amazing-weight-loss.blogspot.com

Top 15 Weight Loss Mythen

There are many common weight loss myths that people live by when it comes to their health. It is difficult at times to separate the weight loss myths and fact from what is true. Many sound true while others are just laughable. I once read somewhere that if you drink water at night that you are going to gain weight or that if you scratch your head too often you are going to lose your hair....

Weight Loss Myth # 1

The more weight that I have to lose the more intense my exercise routine should be

Weight Loss Truth: Although having an intense workout routine is great, there are a few things you should consider: the first being that everyone is at a different level when it comes to their fitness and how much intensity they can actually handle. If you have been physically inactive for a number of years, an intense work out for you might be, walking half a mile a day. After you walk that half mile you notice that you are sweating bullets and that you are tired. However, for someone who has been physically active for many years, walking half a mile can be done without a sweat. Everyone has a different definition of what "intense" is.

If intense for you is working out for an hour a day, but due to life's busy schedule you only have time for 20 minutes a day, then those 20 minutes will go an extremely long way. It might not necessarily be classified as "intense", according to your definition, but those little cardio moments will have positive health altering effects.

Fat Loss Myth # 2

Stress and weight gain do not go hand in hand

Weight Loss Fact: This is one of those "laughable" myths. To learn more how stress is adding lbs. to your life please download my free E-Book, "Psychology of Releasing Weight"

Weight Loss Myth # 3

I can lose weight while eating whatever I want

Weight Loss Truth: Sir Isaac Newton once said " What goes up must come down." There are natural principles that govern our lives. If you throw a ball up in the air, it is going to come back down. You can sit on your couch and imagine and visualize that the ball will staying afloat in the air, but natural principles teach us that it will come down. Same goes when it comes to our weight.

This is one of the most common weight loss myths out there. It is illogical to think that your health and weight are going to be in balance if your nutrition consists mainly of twinkies, chips, and donuts. Sure you can burn it off by exercising, but most people whose diet consists of mainly junk food are probably not disciplined enough to stick to a workout routine. I do know a few people who, from the outside, look like they are in good shape, because they are not "fat, but who have high cholesterol.

Just because I feel sorry for crushing the hearts of so many twinkie lovers out there, I would say this. You can eat junk food, cookies, chips, ice cream, pizza, burgers.... All of those "soul satisfying foods", but it should be in moderation. Anything in excess is never good.

Fat Loss Myth # 4

Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight

Weight Loss Fact: There are numerous studies that show that people who skip breakfast and eat fewer times during the day tend to be a lot heavier than who have a healthy nutritional breakfast and then eat 4-6 small meals during the day. The reason to this might be the fact that they get hungrier later on in the day, and might have a tendency to over eat during other meals of the day.

Weight Loss Myth # 5

I will not lose weight while eating at night

Weight Loss Truth: You can over indulge in food during the day and not eat a single thing at night and you WILL gain weight. As is the fact that you can starve yourself during the day and eat all night long and you still will gain weight. The key here is balance. If your body is telling you that it is hungry then perhaps you should listen to it. The truth is, that over eating, while not exercising, will cause you to gain weight; no matter what time of the day that you eat. Whenever I am hungry at night, as is my habit with other meals during the day, I try to select something that is natural in nature. Something like fruits, vegetables, or I might even make myself a fruit smoothie. During those moments that I am craving ice cream or something sweet, I allow myself to get some, and DO NOT feel guilty about it. Many people who are overweight live their life in guilt and shame. I allow myself to get some, however, WITH MODERATION.

Fat Loss Myth # 6

I'm not acceptable until I lose weight

Weight Loss Fact: The person who doesn't feel acceptable because they are fat is because they are not acceptable to themselves first. The way that you think others view you is based on your view of yourself. I honestly believe that one must become emotionally fit before becoming physically fit. I have gone through these self-limiting emotions before. Once I realized that I was ALREADY ENOUGH in the eyes of God and that I had no need to prove myself to anyone or to receive external validation for my self-worth, that made all the difference for me. Once you accept yourself as who you are RIGHT NOW and realize that you are already enough in the eyes of God, you will not feel like you are not acceptable because of your weight.

Weight Loss Myth # 7

I need to cut calories to lose weight faster

Weight Loss Truth: Cutting your calories down might be a great thing, if you are drastically overeating and stuffing your face. However, if you are eating proportionally then cutting calories might have an aversive affect. If you are cutting calories and are starving your body, then that will lower your metabolism, or in other words slow it down, which may result in you actually not losing any weight at all, even if you are "cutting calories"

Fat Loss Myth # 8

Skipping meals will help me lose weight

Weight Loss Fact: Skipping meals may actually cause you to gain weight! You will become too hungry and will eventually have to eat. This will knock your metabolism off track and will eventually slow it down. Think of a car running low on gas (food), if you do not fill it up, it will eventually stop working. Same goes for our body, we need to keep it fueled constantly.

Weight Loss Myth # 9

I think I have genetic weight gain, it runs in my family!

Weight Loss Truth: Can someone say E-X-C-U-S-E-S? I will not deny that there might be tendencies for heavy parents to raise heavy children who will remain heavy their whole lives, but I don't believe that there is actually a "fat" gene or DNA out there. What we do inherit from our family, primarily those who directly raised us, are our views and beliefs. Your views about food, money, religion, politics, education, etc. are based upon how you were raised. If you were raised in a home where the primary meals cooked where fried foods, then you might have a tendency to continue cooking and eating fried foods throughout your life. If that is the case then you might be a little heavy around the waist. The easy thing to do is to blame it on those who were in charge of your upbringing, however, you ALWAYS have a choice to change.

Fat Loss Myth # 10

Eating healthy is too hard

Weight Loss Fact: Eating healthy is the simplest thing in the world.....once you have trained yourself to do it. How many times have you placed a goal to lose weight or to "eat better"? The first few days you are doing great, eating all kinds of foods which you normally wouldn't eat. Then something funny started to happen, you went back to your old habits and behaviors. This has happened to you in other areas outside of your health. It could be with making money, looking for a new job, or in your relationships. Creating a new habit takes time because our brain's do not like change. Change to the brain is dangerous. Anyways, if you would like to learn more about how our brain attempts to sabotage us from creating new habits then please download my free E-book, "Psychology of Releasing Weight"

Weight Loss Myth # 11

You have to give up your favorite foods to lose weight

Weight Loss Truth: What would a world without chocolate and without pepperoni pizza be like??? I think it would be a torturous world to live in!! lol, now on a real note I completely disagree with this myth. You are definitely able to eat your favorite foods. Depriving yourself of this kind of pleasure is not fun, and quite frankly you probably WILL eat it anyways. As has been mentioned before, the real key is moderation. If you are a steak lover, then perhaps it might not be the best things to eat it every single day, but perhaps once or twice a week. Those who know me personally know that I LOOOOOOOOVE chicken wings with pizza. In a perfect world where I wouldn't gain any weight and my arteries were clog-less, I would love to eat it several times per week, well more like every day. However, I know that those aren't the healthiest of food choices so I have it about 2-3 times per month. I am not giving up my favorite foods, I am just eating it in moderation so that it doesn't catch up to me in the form of excess weight.

Fat Loss Myth # 12

Overeating is caused by hunger

Weight Loss Fact: Nice try there. If only we could blame "hunger" for it. In fact, this person we call hunger has nothing to do with you OVEREATING. It might have something to do your body telling you that it is time to "fuel up" and that it needs food, but that is not an indication that one should overeat. What causes many people to overeat are different reasons. One of the main ones is feeling of stress, depression, loneliness, anxiety, fear, and other down grading emotions of that nature. Many times food can be a means of satisfying your needs. You might be actually getting your needs met through your foods. For example, if you live a lonely life, and aren't very happy, then food could perhaps be a means of you feeling happy and comforted. There are other articles that I have written on this subject but suffice it to say that overeating is NOT cause by being hungry.

Weight Loss Myth # 13

Only drastic diets work

Weight Loss Truth: There goes that word again...DIEt....those "drastic diets" are only good for quick weight loss and rapid weight gain once you get of it. These drastic diets range from the "cookie diet", lol.... All that way to "the water only diet"..... I am sure you can lose weight while on these DIEts, however the weight will be gained right back and usually with some added weight as a bonus

Fat Loss Myth # 14

I am too fat and too far down the road to begin

Weight Loss Fact: A long journey begins one step at a time. It is natural to expect instantaneous results and to even fear the road ahead of you; especially if you are extremely overweight. The secret here is to make SMALL incremental changes. Don't expect perfection because that will lead you to disappointment. You are never too far down the road to where you cannot see the sun's light......

Weight Loss Myth # 15

I can't do it, I have tried many times and have failed

Weight Loss Truth: The great Henry Ford once said "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't- you're right.'"......It is 90% mindset, and 10% actually getting off your butt and doing something about it. You fall down, you get back up.... you fall down again, you get back up again. If you have tried to lose weight in the past then it is time to keep trying. Discouragment is to losing weight as is a piece of fried chicken to a vegetarian......they DO NOT go hand in hand.

Http://PsychologyOfReleasingWeight.com