“Easy, Effortless and Miraculous Weight Loss - Guaranteed!” - Yeah Right!45 lbs LOSTso farMay 20, 2009 by Mandy Rosado | 12 comments
According the FDA, approximately 50 billion Americans will go on a diet this year, spending an estimated $30 billion dollars on weight loss programs and products. I don’t need to break out my trusty, dusty calculator to know that I have contributed significantly to that staggering figure. Diet centers, gym memberships, pills, teas, workout DVD’s, exercise equipment….my monthly budget for “100 Calorie Packs” alone could rival the gross national product of a small island nation.
If you’re reading this, I think it is safe to say that at some point on your weight loss journey, you too have gone out in search of a “magic bullet”. Heck, I’ve gone as far as to consider buying a pair of “appetite suppressing eyeglasses” and a “pair of magic-weight loss earrings”. I’m sure the two combined would have made quite the stunning ensemble. Lose weight while looking stylishly fabulous….I’m in!
So what works, and what doesn’t? Well, unfortunately for all of us, there really isn’t a universal answer to that question. One person’s success story could be another person’s disaster. One thing I do know is that when it comes to weight loss, slow and steady always wins the race, and if you aren’t safe and rational about trying to shed the pounds, they will ALWAYS come back. And they will bring friends.
Come on, just admit it already. You have fallen for these supposed miracle products also. How many times, while reading this article, did you glance over at the AB ROLLER gathering dust in the corner or your living room? You can deny it, but I know all about the stash of Hydroxycut in your medicine cabinet. Right now, in my kitchen cabinet I have a 3 month supply of some diet tea product promising “Magical weight loss results from ancient, secret and exotic ingredients from the Orient.” Why did I buy it? Why did I give this bogus company ANY of my hard earned income on something I knew was not going to do what it promised? I’ll tell you why. It’s because trying to lose weight is a long, painfully slow, and at times demoralizing process that takes the utmost patience, positivity and self-control. And I’m sorry folks, but I don’t always have the utmost patience and positivity when it comes to dieting. Self-control? If I had any of that, I wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with.
Like an athlete who starts using steroids to gain that extra edge in competition, dieters resort to these miracle products to shed the fat. Anything that will give us a boost, some extra energy, a slight advantage over the scale. Anything that will make it just a little bit easier to stay focused and on track. There is no worse feeling in the world than knowing you ate right and worked out vigorously all week long, only to see little, or no change at all on the scale. Those plateau moments, those roadblocks have derailed many diets….and I definitely speak from experience.
So how do we avoid the temptation and lure of these fake, and sometimes dangerous, weight loss products? All I can say is that being realistic and logical is the only thing that is going to keep this items out of your home, and your money in your wallet. First, the pounds didn’t appear overnight, and they aren’t going to disappear that way either. Second, those “before” and “after” pictures on the box were probably done with Photoshop (except for mine…those are real, I swear!). Third, if there was a REAL miracle cure for weight loss out there, you probably wouldn’t be hearing about on a late-night infomercial, or reading it in a pop-up ad on the Internet.
For those of you still living in fear that you will be drawn in by the hype surrounding the next “hot” weight loss product, the FDA website has posted a list of words that consumers should be wary of when purchasing such items:
easy
effortless
guaranteed
miraculous
magical
breakthrough
new discovery
mysterious
exotic
secret
exclusive
ancient
Seems like common sense, but for that struggling dieter who just wants to see some difference at their next weigh-in, it’s easy to fall for the quick-fix option. In these times of economic crisis, however, we all need to be more savvy consumers. So put your money back in your pocket and go for a walk instead. Trust me…if you really want those Tae Bo DVD’s, you can have mine.
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Diet Food Delivery Review45 lbs LOSTso farOctober 19, 2008 by Body Builder | 11 comments
DietFoodDelivery.org is a comprehensive guide informing you of the latest available diet food delivery services as well as an in depth look of each service they have listed. Each service has its own section with detailed information such as sample menus, special offers, testimonials, and a summary. You can compare diet programs and decide which service would be the best fit for you. Each service offers breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks to eat in between meals. Every diet food delivery service that is listed has a special offer or coupon code that you can use to save. Some are a percentage off your order, free shipping plus a free meal on your first purchase, or 1-2 weeks of free meals. Therefore, be sure to check out their latest special offers listed on the comparison table as well as each section as mentioned earlier.
After you’ve done your research and decided which service you would like to order from; you have the convenience to order via website, phone, or fax on some services. You choose which program you want, for example, low carb, men’s, women’s, senior, vegetarian, etc. as well as the menu and depending on the service you can pick out certain meals you want to have. After order takes place there is a confirmation given by email or phone to give you notice of the delivery date. Food is stored in a special container that preserves the freshness of your food; so when you are not available to pickup the deliver it’ll be there waiting for you when you get back and still fresh. Take note that deliveries are weekly and provides a week worth of food so be sure to have a freezer with enough space to store everything. Depending on where you are located some services can offer a daily delivery.
Be aware that if you decide to use a diet food delivery service you will have to stay focused and be careful. You have to eat ONLY your daily portion of meals as well as snacks. I highly recommend that you do not buy anymore food, no snacks, or ingredients for meals. This would only tempt you even more to eat outside of the daily meals and snacks provided by the service you have chosen.
Another issue to be concerned about is the cost. Now some of them cost on average around $12 depending on the type of program you chose. It can easily become higher than that. When you go buy your next week’s worth of food record how much money you’ve spent. If you do not shop weekly or just a couple of days out of the week then just save the receipts that equal to a week’s worth of food. Then compare the daily cost from your week’s worth of food to the daily cost of the service. Depending on how much you usually spend you could actually be saving some money.
These services are designed to give you less daily carbs based on your ideal weight so you can lose weight. There is a handy weight calculator on their website which calculates your ideal weight based on the information you’ve provided. Once you’ve reached your ideal weight you should either change to another kind of service or start back preparing your own meals. There is a page that helps you with how long you should stay on a program. Therefore continuing to use the service can lead to medical problems from becoming underweight. On a final note. With any diet there is work involved. You have to resist the temptations. This service is just a big helper but you have to still put in the effort to reach your goals.
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3 Commercial Diet Plans for Successful Weight Loss45 lbs LOSTso farJuly 25, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 18 comments
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Brandi Koskie, senior editor at DietsInReview.com, a diet review and healthy living resource online, with 400 reviews, daily diet blog and recipe library.
We’ve made it our responsibility at DietsInReview.com to research the hundreds of diet and weight loss plans, pills, books and more. Our constructive, unbiased reviews have taken out the leg work for you, and can aid your decision making process. Three of the more popular reviews at our site are Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet and NutriSystem. They are some of the most successful plans around, as I show in these mini-reviews.
Weight Watchers
This highly acclaimed weight loss plan started nearly half a century ago. The small support-style meetings they had in the beginning, are the same people attend today. They now offer a top-notch online membership site, as well as specialized programs like Weight Watchers for Men. The program supports regular exercise and the flexibility to eat what you like- in moderation. The vast wealth of information provided on site, coupled with that of your counselor, give you the tools for success. It’s most famous for the Points system, which assigns a point value to foods/meals based on the fat, calorie and fiber value. You’re assigned a daily point target, and when you stay within that, you’re likely to meet your weight loss goal and keep it off.
South Beach Diet
The low-carb diet phenomenon dissipated a while back, but the South Beach Diet still stands strong with a loyal following. Cardiologist, Dr. Arthur Agatston, created the plan, giving special attention to keeping the heart in healthy, working condition. This is accomplished by removing saturated fats and reducing intake of carbs. The common result is a silenced sugar addiction and healthy weight loss. In 2008, an updated version called South Beach Diet Supercharged was released- updating the science behind the diet, as well as finally incorporating exercise recommendations. There are some food restrictions on this diet, but other benefits like balancing blood sugar, reduced cholesterol and heart health, make it worthwhile to pass on your former food vices.
NutriSystem
If you can’t keep up with preparing healthy meals to manage your weight loss- then you might try a meal delivery program. NutriSystem was a trailblazer for this concept, and stands out as a leader today. For a monthly fee of about $10/day, they’ll ship pre-packaged meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each is portion controlled, meets the glycemic index and has a balanced ratio of carbs, protein and fat. All of this promotes weight loss and helps you manage blood sugar. The meals do come in shelf-stable packaging, so the downside is that they can have high sodium and preservatives. Preference for the foods lie on both sides of the fence- but the people who do like the meals, also rave about the success they’ve enjoyed.
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Dr. Wayne Andersen on Habit Changing Support45 lbs LOSTso farJuly 15, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 5 comments
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Dr. Wayne Andersen, Medical Director of Medifast, Inc. Learn more about his new book, Habits of Health at DrWayneAndersen.com.
What are the benefits of having some type of support when trying to change a habit?
Building a support system is the single most important thing you can do to incorporate and maintain the “Habits of Health” program, or any program for that matter. Without a support system, your chances of changing your lifestyle go down dramatically. Once you’ve learned how to take control of
the most important health-related areas of your life, which are: eating, motion, and sleep, the thing that will hold all of those together is support.
There are different kinds of support systems, and depending on your personality, you should choose which type works for you. There are three methods that will help you master the program in my upcoming book “Habits of Health.”
1) Studying: which includes attending trainings and using other resources so you can gain knowledge.
2) Doing: or actually making a change in your life that will lead you toward optimal health.
3) Modeling: the people that we hold up as role models can have a great affect on our lives. The people we are close to and emulate are what we become, particularly if they are the same sex.
In my book, I discuss the importance of what I call a bionetwork. This is a type of comprehensive support system. It takes all different kinds of supports and utilizes all of them so that you can get the most out of your new healthy lifestyle. This bionetwork can include a large number of people like a health coach, an Internet-based support, peers, virtual clinic, etc. The bionetwork can also include support systems made up of friends, family, informal group settings, formal settings and online programs.
Have you tried using a support system like this? If so, how did it work for you? What was your best option?
A new book due out this summer, by well-respected physician Dr. Wayne Andersen, seeks to take a revolutionary approach to creating optimal health and weight management by offering common sense advice and direction, supported by proven, medical data. In his book, Habits of Health, Dr. Andersen, a board certified critical care physician, does not advocate fad dieting or a miracle wonder cure; rather, it provides the knowledge and support to help people achieve optimal health. The book seeks to offer an easy guide to establish long-lasting, improved health.
Dr. Andersen graduated from the University for the Health Sciences medical school in Kansas City, where he was valedictorian of his graduating class. Dr. Andersen became the tenth physician Board Certified in Critical Care. For 18 years, Dr. Andersen directed the Surgical Critical Care Program at
Grandview Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, and was Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology. Dr. Andersen is currently Medical Director of Medifast, Inc., an innovative leader in the production, distribution and sale of weight management and health management products. As the chief architect of Take Shape for Life, Dr. Andersen has built an integrated support system that helps people make the necessary changes in their lifestyles to create optimal health. Dr. Andersen provides leading nutritional solutions, medical support and the support of caring individuals, to provide the necessary one-on-one interaction so vital in changing peoples lives. Dr. Andersen resides in Annapolis, Md.
Habits of Health seeks to help people to be the healthiest they can be with what they have. Through his book and the accompanying workbook, Dr. Andersen provides a roadmap and an opportunity for people to choose a better life.
“This book stresses the fact that achieving optimal health is an active process, and it is reminds people that the small things we do every day make all the difference,” Andersen said. “Everyone has the fundamental choice and opportunity to choose a better life for themselves, and in this book I show them how to do that. I want to show people they have the power to create optimal health within themselves.”
The book is available for preorder at the beginning of July and will go on sale in bookstores nationwide end of July.
Visit Dr. Wayne Andersen to learn more and purchase “Habits of Health.”
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Nutrisystem Weight Loss Program45 lbs LOSTso farJanuary 30, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 13 comments
Many of you have seen Nutrisystem commercials. Weight loss while eating has become popular. On their web site you can read about dozens of success stories of people losing 20 to 100+ pounds!
Nutrisystem Weight Loss Program
Nutrisystem is a weight loss diet program where you eat to lose weight! Sounds too good to be true, but it works. To get you started sign-up for their auto-delivery program for two months and get an extra week of food for both months. Two extra weeks of food for free. Everything is delivered to your door.
What’s a huge plus for these programs is that Nutrisystem offers both a Men’s program and a Women’s program. For the men you get “man food” like burgers, pizza, pasta, and chips. You get to chose your own meals. For women they also offer “crave-busting and filling entrees.” The Nutrisystem Program includes low Glycemic index carbs and the right amount of protein and fiber. It gives you the nutrients you need and will help you lose weight without feeling hungry.
Check The Menu
For those curious of your options with Nutrisystem, they provide a complete menu of what they offer.
The menu starts with breakfast, lunch, dinner, then a dessert. The meals are all portioned for you, so there is no weighing, counting, or measuring what you are eating. Just grab the packaged meal and add in some fresh fruit or salad and you’re ready to eat!
Diabetics and Vegetarians
Nutrisystem caters to everyone, even people with different needs.
One of the best things you can do for your diabetes is control your weight. This is for both men and women. The Diabetic Program is a complete diabetic meal plan for women with Type 2 diabetes that lets you easily control your calorie and carbohydrate intake to promote weight loss.
The Vegetarian Program gives you a simple approach to losing weight while maintaining a vegetarian lifestyle. This is the only prepackaged vegetarian diet program available right now.
Try Nutrisystem and get two weeks of food for free.
Where To Get It: Nutrisystem Diet Weight Loss Program
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Diet Bug, the Weight Loss Site for Women45 lbs LOSTso farJanuary 15, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 10 comments
Some of my articles involve lifting and certain workouts that aren’t really specified for women. Ladies, I haven’t forgotten about you. Everyone wants to lose weight and feel good. I found another great website that focuses just on weight loss for women.
Diet Bug
DietBug is a weightloss program designed just for women. The website has over 50,000 members, impressive by anyones standards.
DietBug has some great weight loss tools that can help you out with your diet. The tools have to be what set Dietbug apart from other weight loss website sites. Their tools include:
* 24-7 access to create, personalize and print your own menus.
* Step-by-step instructions for planning each day’s food.
* Access to hundreds of healthy recipes to use in menu planning.
* Search over 40,000 items in our food database, including fast food.
* An online journal to track your eating habits.
* BMI Calculator & Weight Tracker tools.
* A FREE Newsletter & Weekly Tips.
The Food Search
Dietbug offers possibly the most helpful tool for your diet. With their food search, you can find out how many calories are in the food you are eating. With this amazing database of over 40,000 items, it helps you add your favorite foods to your weightloss diet meal plan.
Free Weight Loss Program for Women
They are also offering a free weight loss program for women. All you have to do is fill in the form on this page with your weight, height, age, name, and email. Then you are all set. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Tips and Tricks
As a teaser dietbug offers just a few of their weight loss tips and tricks for free.
Tip #1 is to eat more pizza. Instead of ordering out, go shopping and get a few healthier frozen pizzas.
Tip #2 drink more water. Instead of drinking soda or alcohol with lunch or dinner, try water and lose weight.
Tip #3 snack more for fewer calories.
These tips are given out for free, however for more tips just have to sign-up for their free newsletter. I might even give it a try, might pick up a helpful tip that even I didn’t know.
Where To Get It: DietBug.com
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Medifast Diet: A Quick and Easy Diet Plan45 lbs LOSTso farJanuary 6, 2008 by Israel Lagares | 5 comments
Medifast Diet is a diet plan that emphasizes portion control. Using a mixture of portion control and low calorie food, it makes weight loss quick and easy. This may seem confusing but there is no need to count calories, nor is there a point system that you need to follow. With such an easy diet plan to follow, Medifast can easily become a new longterm diet, not just a short term fix. This will help you maintain your body weight and overall good health.
When starting the Medifast diet, they help you slowly enter their diet with a smooth transition. Their clinically tested 5 & 1 plan will fill your body with the essential nutrients and minerals it has been missing from a healthier diet. Medifast is composed of their famous 5 & 1 plan: 5 meals compiled by Medifast and 1 Green & Lean meal a day. That’s 6 total meals a day. Medifast has several meal options available to chose from. Medifast has over 60 meals that you can choose from for your 5 Medifast meals so it adds variety to your diet. Variety is an essential part of diets because it helps people stay on their diets since it makes it easier to enjoy the meals.
Another way that Medifast helps people stay on track with their diet is that the diet is planned to keep people full and satisfied. They do this by allowing you to eat every 2 - 3 hours. Once you are reaching your diet goal, Medifast will help you maintain your diet. Since you need to adjust your calorie intake from the meals once you have reached your ideal goal, Medifast offers a maintenance guide to help you with it.
Maintenance is crucial if you want to maintain your ideal weight. The problem that most people have with diets is that they are short term, once they reach their goal with their diet, they return back to their old routine and end up gaining back the weight they lost. If you are serious about keeping a healthy weight for the rest of your life, Medifast Diet is the diet for you.
Where to Get It: Medifast Diet
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Renowned Duke Diet Program All Online45 lbs LOSTso farDecember 29, 2007 by Israel Lagares | 4 comments
Duke University’s Diet & Fitness Center is a world-class diet program that is located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. Their popularity and reputation have led them into bringing their diet program onto the internet for people all over the world to join.
The Duke Diet & Fitness Online Weight Loss Program places importance on nutrition, fitness, behavioral health, and medical issues when it comes to a healthy life style. The program will help you perfect all four of these aspects. The program offers hundreds of recipes for nutritious, flavorful recipes for you to apply to your daily meals. The program is easy to follow since they organize your meal plans with everything from covering your daily nutrition to the recipe options you can choose from amongst their database. They can also help you to create your own healthy meal plan.
When it comes to weight loss, fitness is also very important. The Duke Diet program can act as your personal fitness adviser. Exercises such as stretching and cardio are implemented into their fitness program. All of the exercises are taught in the program, making it easy for beginners that have no idea what to do to start off their daily exercise routine.
Behavioral health is very important when sticking to your diet. Many people have different reasons for their weight gain. The program will help you comprehend what steps you need to take in order to persevere in your weight loss goals, including tips on how you can reduce stress and maintain your positive thinking. There are several medical issues that are outlined in the program. When starting the program, you will already be on the road towards a healthier life style and minimizing your risk of certain diseases at the same time.
Where to Get It: The Duke Diet: Duke Diet & Fitness Online Weight Loss Program
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Weight Loss with Flavorful Foods45 lbs LOSTso farDecember 23, 2007 by Israel Lagares | 2 comments
One of the major problems these days with weight loss diets is that the foods that need to be eaten on a daily basis are usually bland. This is very important because some people fall out of their diet regime due to the fact that they crave tastier foods (which are usually high in calories and fat). When you eat tasty and flavorful food, you get satisfied without needing other foods to satisfy your cravings.
Low calorie and fat content does not always equal bland food. Which diet gives you this? The Sonoma Diet does just that. This diet puts emphasis on flavorful foods, flavorful foods that will help you stick to your diet because they taste great. The diet was written by the Connie Guttersen, PhD. The Sonoma Diet consists of several recipes that will teach you how to create flavor filled meals using fresh, healthy foods. The ingredients were inspired by the Mediterranean diet, which are foods that are healthy for your body, flavorful with few calories, helping you loose weight.
These foods are also filled with nutrients, helping you maintain a healthy body. The Sonoma Diet is mainly based on the Top Ten Power Foods. These power foods include tomatoes, spinach, broccoli, whole grain foods, almonds, blueberries, bell peppers, grapes, olive oil, and strawberries. These ingredients are incorporated into the diet’s meals. The Sonoma Diet is organized into five meals per day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack, and dessert. By the end of the day, all of your meals will cover the nutrients and vitamins your body needs for that day.
The diet is also quite lenient because it allows you to have tasty, healthy snacks and desserts such as apple blueberry tarts. There are organized meal plans when you join that will help you loose weight starting on day one. There are also useful tools on the site such as a meal planner and shopping list that you can use. You can also take advantage of their online community for support and other success stories. Signing up is simple, all you need to do is submit your specifications (weight, target weight, gender, height and age), providing them specific details will help them find what will work best for you.
Where to Get It: The Sonoma Diet Plan Online
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5 Factor Diet Plan Review - Not Just for Celebrities45 lbs LOSTso farDecember 16, 2007 by Israel Lagares | 6 comments
The 5 Factor Diet is an effective diet plan. It was created by Harley, a celebrity trainer who has worked with different celebrities such as Alicia Keys, Jessica Simpson, Kanye West, and Eva Mendes. Harley has brought his diet into an online program. His diet programs are highly beneficial to users who sign up because it is customized to the user which helps them lose weight more efficiently because we all are different.
The weight loss plan is not difficult, 5 Factor Diet is a five-week plan that allows you to see results in just five weeks. Within your diet period, you will be having five meals a day that is customized when you join the site. This helps you feel full throughout the day since you will be eating healthy meals every few hours. Each meal consists of five ingredients. There are literally hundreds of different recipes that you can find on the site (as a member) that only have five ingredients that take five minutes to create. With the meal plans sorted out by Harley’s 5 factor diet site, there are also workouts that are implemented into this diet. The 25 minute work outs have been planned and organized by Harley’s training experiences. Based on results, shorter work outs are beneficial in terms of weight loss than spending several hours working out.
To join and test the site today, click here: Join 5 Factor Diet.
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Jillian Michaels: Ultimate Cyborg Babe45 lbs LOSTso farNovember 26, 2007 by Dennis Rosato | 13 comments
Jillian Michaels, the raven haired tough gal who can kick my butt any day has a great site! The site is the perfect complimentary tool to aid you in your weight loss journey. If you need motivation, Jillian delivers. She is big on the mental strength aspect of physical change.
Jillian has put together a three prong attack and a slew of handy tools. The tools to your progress include an interactive weight tracker, a fitness diary, calorie calculator, meal plans/ menus, 120 printable exercises that can break up the monotony, you can even meet buddies in the battle or even ask Jillian herself a question.
If that is not enough to give you the fire to kick into gear Jillian has a new book that creates an ultimatum for change. It is based on a thirty day “no-nonsense program.” The book is titled Making the Cut and Jillian Michaels looks bodacious on the cover. Her conditioning is outstanding! She not only looks “in shape” but down right strong.
Jillian Michael’s site is a solid site with enough tools and inspiration to lead you to the proverbial water. So check out JillianMichaels.com. Get tough people!
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