EASY Yet Extremely Effective Ways To Lose Weight Part 2

1. Exercise

Exercise.

The word alone is enough to put most people off!

This is what discourages people who are trying to lose weight. They think that they have to do heavy workouts all the time until they reach the weight they are aiming for.

The truth is, exercising is a crucial part of losing weight. You can't lose much just by improving the way you eat and by drinking enough water. You really need to sweat to shed some pounds.

However, you don't have to schedule heavy workouts, hire a personal weight loss trainer or hit the gym 3 or 4 times a week.

Your exercising doesn't have to be heavy or time consuming to shed excess pounds.

Here are a few easy ways to get some exercise without much effort:

· Walk. Even a 5 minute walk will jumpstart your body's natural fat burners, so walk whenever you can. Perhaps you can start off from home earlier than usual so you can walk to the bus stop or all the way to work.

· Park your car at the very back of the parking lot, gives you the opportunity to walk.

· Take the stairs wherever you are; your office building, apartment, mall, etc.

· Are there exercise groups in your neighborhood? These groups usually exercise in parks in the early morning. Joining a group of people with the same interests or goals help make exercising more fun.

· Get a Tae Bo or exercise video and workout at home at your own time and pace.

· Learn to dance.

· Use a push mower to mow the lawn, sweep your drive, rake the leaves, do your chores manually instead of using machines.

· Sign up for charity runs or walks.

It's really easy to add some exercise into your daily routine. You just need to get out there and do it!

2. Keep Your Incentives In View

Come up with incentives to keep you driven, inspired and motivated and keep these incentives in view. Rewarding yourself after every accomplishment makes the work seem less hard.

Decide how much you want to lose, break it down to more achievable points and reward yourself for every achievement. For example, you want to lose 60 pounds. Break that down into 5 pound increments and for every 5 pounds you lose, give yourself a reward.

Your rewards will be up to you, and they should be reasonable rewards i.e. cash, new dress, movies, new book, new accessories, etc. These need not be expensive, just small things that you know you want and you deserve for staying on track with the weight loss program.

Aside from material rewards, there are also non-physical rewards you can tell yourself you could get if you persevere. These intangible rewards include feeling better about yourself, having more confidence and a better sense of self.

Healthwise, your rewards could include escape from chronic diseases like high blood pressure or high cholesterol, better sleep, better agility, among others.

Some Final Words: Keeping The Weight Away

Once you've reached your ideal weight, you should be careful not to regain the weight you lost. There are ways you can make sure that whatever weight is lost stays lost. Here are some helpful tips:

· Never skip your meals, especially breakfast. Your body goes into fasting mode when it's at rest at night, when you wake up in the morning, you need to break this fasting by eating. If you don't eat, you will feel the pangs of hunger and (a) eat more than necessary or (b) wait till it's lunchtime forcing your metabolism to slow down and store fat. So don't skip your meals.

· Keep a food journal. Write down what you eat everyday so that you know what foods make it easier for you to gain weight, and which foods help you maintain your weight.

· Monitor your weight every week. This lets you know if you've gained weight or lost weight or if there have been no changes at all. This goes hand in hand with monitoring your food.

· Stick to a realistic eating habit and exercise program. Your diet and exercise routine should be realistic enough for you to stick to even after you reach your ideal weight. This will help you maintain your healthy weight because eating well and exercising has become a habit.

So if you are struggling to lose weight, if you have tried various weight loss programs before to no avail, do not give up. Instead, change your attitude and perception. Look at losing weight as nothing you cannot accomplish. Once you have attained the right frame of mind, adopt the various methods discussed in this article to start a smoother journey towards a healthier and fitter you.

Sophie James is a blogger, an author, columnist and expert in the supplement, fitness, bodybuilding, and weight loss industry and has been extensively published.

Her often ground breaking articles can be found in publications such as Lets Live, and popular weight loss blogs

Find out More at her weight loss blog http://www.weightlossdiet121.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sophie_James/2279612

EASY Yet Extremely Effective Ways To Lose Weight Part 1

Losing Weight Does Not Have To Be Hard

Not everyone who tries to lose weight is successful. However, it is not because losing weight is too difficult that only very few people can be successful. People fail to lose weight because they view the process as too tedious, requiring extreme discipline or needing a lot of time. Because of these perceptions, people are discouraged at the beginning.

Those who were able to start the weight loss process get discouraged and give up if they do not see any improvement in the first days or weeks.

The main thing to remember when trying to lose weight and adopting a weight loss program is that losing weight is a journey. You start from point A going to point B. The road to your final destination will not always be smooth (just like anything in life!), there could be bumps and detours, but if you stick to a proven weight loss plan you will succeed.

You can do it!

The trick is to have the right attitude and frame of mind. Think: 'I can do this, I will push through with this, I WILL lose weight!'

Once you have conditioned yourself and adopted the right kind of thinking, consider these four really easy yet effective ways of losing weight.

1. Eat Right

Fad diets, they are all over - on the internet, in magazines, on TV.

But do they really work?

Fad diets are called fad diets because they enjoy only temporary popularity. Why is this? That's probably because people find out that they don't really work.

These diets can help an individual lose weight, but the problem is that the weight loss is only short-term, once a person loses weight and gets off the diet, the weight comes back - and often with a vengeance! People end up gaining more weight than they lost.

Side Note: Stopping eating junk food is not only good for your health, but it can save you hundreds of dollars too!

The best and really easy way to lose weight is to start eating right. You don't have to suddenly make a change from your current habit of eating fast food and junk foods to eating only healthy foods. You can do this slowly and gradually. Make small changes in your meals and in the way you eat like for example:

• If you always have a snack between meals, instead of snacking on potato chips, why don't you have some fresh fruits instead?

• Instead of 3 large meals a day, eat 5 smaller meals. This keeps your metabolism going thus the process of burning fat becomes faster.

• Eat only when you are hungry and know when you have had enough.

• Go for fresh - fresh fruits and vegetables whenever you can and minimize your consumption of canned or preserved veggies and fruits.

• Cook your own meals and brownbag your lunch instead of always eating out.

• Go natural and choose foods that are organically raised or grown as these contain far greater amounts of nutrients. Make organic eggs, products from organically grown livestock and poultry, fresh veggies and fruits, herbs and fresh fish regular staples in your daily meal plans.

• Reduce your consumption of sweets. Sugar contains empty calories that make gaining weight so easy. It also makes you prone to diseases like heart disease and osteoporosis.

Remember, do it gradually and don't shock your system. Suddenly deciding to go on a diet that cuts you off completely from the foods you're used to eating can backfire on you.

Your body will go through withdrawal-like symptoms which make the attempt to lose weight more difficult that it really is. Just go through the changes in a relaxed way and don't pressure yourself into adopting a whole new eating regimen all of a sudden.

2. Hydrate

Drink lots of water.

It really does help you lose weight and maintain a healthier weight.

It's almost like a secret weapon that so few people actually use.

Hydration is the key to a healthy body. The human body literally runs on water and minerals - it's made up of more than 70% of water! Our brain is more than 75% water, our blood is 80% water, and our liver is 96% water!

A drop of just 5% in our body's water level can already lead to a significant decrease in our energy level and our minds couldn't function well. Death can result from just 15% drop in our body's hydration!

So you see, water is really important to us in order to live and to function well. Water is very essential for maintaining proper health. It helps the body burn fat, metabolizes stored fat and flushes out excess fats and toxins.

Use water to help you lose weight easily, here are some tips:

• If you snack a lot, drink water instead of reaching for your favorite junk food or candy bar. You can also substitute no-calorie beverages with water if you want.

• *HOT TIP* Drink a glass of water before every meal. This will keep you from feeling too hungry thus you can easily watch what and how much you eat.

• Drinking lots of water before exercising can help you accomplish more because you feel more energized.

• Drink water whenever you feel hunger pangs. Sometimes, the body confuses hunger to thirst, so instead of just drinking, you end up eating when you're just really thirsty.

Aside from curbing your appetite, water is also a great way to prevent bloating and constipation. How much water should you drink daily for optimum health?

The ideal amount of water for you is half of your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, the ideal amount of water you should drink everyday is 75 ounces.

The Part two will be dropped very soon, I hope you enjoyed reading this article

Sophie James is a blogger, an author, columnist and expert in the supplement, fitness, bodybuilding, and weight loss industry and has been extensively published.

Her often ground breaking articles can be found in publications such as Lets Live, and popular weight loss blogs.

Find out More at her weight loss blog http://www.weightlossdiet121.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sophie_James/2279612