Currently browsing all entries in the Motivation category

Half Year's Eve

Know what we are coming up on? The middle of the year.

On Sunday July 1st, we have 6 months till New Years Eve. Why wait till then the end of the year to get back on the fitness wagon? Declare tomorrow, June 30th, your ½ Year's Eve and start a new set of resolutions on the 1st. July 1st that is.

Did you stick to any of your resolutions from last January? No worries. This is the perfect time to dust them off. Why not cut them in ½? Better yet, pick one thing to do consistently for the rest of the year.

Hey, you may not have made your "have a beach body goal" by the summer, but you are well ahead of the Holiday Eating Season™ and can either be nice and svelte come Turkey Day or at the very least, drop enough weight so any holiday gains won't put you over what you already weigh today.

So come on…resolve to start anew on the 1st. Your waistline will thank you

Where are they now?

Do you ever wonder what happened to the Biggest Loser winners after the cameras stopped rolling and the trainers stopped barking?

Ryan Benson, 38, an actor who works for a DVD distributor in Los Angeles, lost 122 lbs. to win the first season in January 2005 but says he regained 32 lbs. within five days simply by drinking water.

Matt Hoover, 31, a motivational speaker based in Seattle, had a 15-lb. rebound within a day of winning Season 2.

Last season's runner-up, Kai Hibbard, 28, an aerobics instructor in Alaska who says she spent the night before her final weigh-in hopping in and out of a sauna for six hours, consumed only sugar-free Jell-O for several days and wolfed down asparagus, which is a natural diuretic. "It's amazing the things you learn in a weight-loss competition," she says.

This part of the article really gets me:

The show tries to prevent unhealthy behavior by making contestants keep food journals (to make sure they're not starving themselves) and threatening penalties if tests show they are too dehydrated (although an executive producer says no violations have been uncovered yet). But like the $55 billion U.S. diet industry, The Biggest Loser places the bulk of its emphasis on shedding pounds rather than maintaining the loss.

Too dehydrated? Why was Kai eating nothing but asparagus and sugar-free Jell-O then?

Two and a half years after Benson's final weigh-in at 208 lbs., the new dad has slipped out of the spotlight and into old habits. "No one sees me get an apple pie in the drive-through," says Benson, whose weight now hovers at around 300 lbs.

In spite of the shows' sleight of hand, I think the reality of losing weight and keeping it off comes down to what Kelly Miner did.

The first-season runner-up dropped from 242 lbs. to 163 lbs. by the finale and now weighs 140 lbs. A school administrator in Bethlehem, Pa., Minner, 31, says she works out from one to four hours a day, six days a week. She exercises while watching TV--and did so throughout our phone interview.

Do it for your heart

Ok, not only has your January resolutions fallen to the wayside, you now feel, "Why bother? Losing all this weight is too hard/impossible/boring/overwhelming".

Just for today, just for this week, just for this month...forget about the weight. Forget about the scale and do this for your health. Do this for your heart.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and partner organizations are sponsoring a national campaign called The Heart Truth. The campaign's goal is to give women a personal and urgent wakeup call about their risk of heart disease.

I know this isn't sexy talk for fat fighters. No let's lose 10lbs quick or what's the latest diet fad or how did celebrity X lose all that weight so quickly.

This isn't what the commercials tell you when they simultaneously urge you buy the latest fat burning pill while eating all you want for $9.95, dessert too!

Look, I am having my own personal battle of working out and the scale not budging and am fighting with all my might not to let it derail me. What I do know, is in the last few weeks, after each hour long walk, I really do feel great and while the scale may not show what's really going on, I've been able to walk a bit faster and am not getting as winded.

That is what fighting heart disease is all about. Print out The Healthy Heart Handbook for Woman (PDF 642K). It provides the most recent information on women's heart disease and practical suggestions for how to reduce the risk of developing it.

And if nothing else than the sake of your heart, just walk 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week this month. It doesn't have to be a run, you don't have to break a sweat, just move. That's it. When March comes around, you want to give up, fine. I'll be here next February harassing you to do the same thing.

The Heart Truth is that all women can take steps to lower their risk of developing heart disease. If you're a woman ages 40-60, it's especially important that you begin right away to lower your risk. That's the time when a woman's risk of heart disease starts to rise. Younger and older women also need to act now. Heart disease can begin early, even in the teen years. But it's also never too late to improve heart health—even for those who have already had a heart attack.

Whatever a woman's age, she needs to take action to protect her heart health. [more info]

Oh and wear something red tomorrow!

A Healthy Challenge

Okay gals and guys, over the weekend I came across this article

Study shows health risks of obese women

A 5-foot, 5-inch tall white woman who weighs more than 240 pounds is 86 percent more likely to die within seven years than her normal-weight peer, according to a new study.

Extremely obese white or black women are more likely to die of any cause, or to develop heart disease, diabetes or high blood pressure, said researcher Dr. Kathleen McTigue, of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

"The health risks of extreme obesity have really been poorly understood because the condition used to be so rare," she said. [source]

I know most of us visit here or blog or lurk because we hate being fat, but. I've always believed whatever you resist, persists. You resist being overweight, you stay being overweight. You approach a negative situation with more negativity, the negativity continues.

Maybe we should look at it another way.

How about we love being fit & healthy? We do things that are not solely to track how much lbs we lose in a given week. Why not do things that make the heart pump and muscles grow and body fat (not scale weight!) go down?

To support this new outlook, for the rest of summer, perfect for those going back to school or Moms getting kids ready for going back to school, I'm going to launch the Forget About The lbs challenge, aka the big F.A.T. challenge.

Each week I'll devote one day to defining health related terms the media tends to avoid. The next day, I'll post a calculator. Your homework will be to figure out your standing, I'll bite the bullet and post my own stats and numbers. If you are brave enough, you can post your too. In 4 weeks we'll do a mid challenge check in and in 8 weeks, mid September, we'll have a final check in to see how healthy we all got during the summer of '06.

Wednesdays will be a book giveaway day, Thursdays topic will vary, and Friday is guest blogging day. If there is no guest blogger, I'll post healthy menus, recipes, food plans to get you thru the weekend. Actually, even if there is, I'll still post those things.

I do this challenge in conjunction with all I already do to get fit. There is no plan to follow, if you do WW or SBD, continue on. By no means am I a doctor, so please get all the necessary check ups before you attempt this. The challenge is just a way to keep people on track while educating and hopefully changing lives for the healthier.

There is no group goal to lose xxlbs or walk xx miles. Instead, let's try to reduce our other bodily stats by a point or two in the next 2 months. It may not seem like much but dropping an inch or two in the waist can reduce the risk of developing heart disease…and how many of us whip out the tape measure on a weekly basis vs. getting on a scale getting pissed at a 1 or 2 lb fluctuation that could be nothing more than water weight?

Things will kick off next Monday. I hope you'll join in

How Cool

Yesterday I got an email from Andrea and this part really made my day:

I recently lost 75 pounds and I don’t think I could have been so successful without the help of your site. Being able to read the blog and the articles/advice that was posted was such a great help. This site gave me such motivation. So again, thank you.

This site is always in limbo for me. I know what I want to do, but always run out of time. I knew there'd be less posting during June as I moved. Then wondered if I should make it a once a week thing vs. daily thing.

I do have another direction I plan to take the site in and now that I'm settling in, I should have more time to make it happen. Over the weekend I'll flesh out what I want to do and hopefully on Monday, fatfighterblogs.com version 2.0 will be up and running, no new design, I'm way too busy for that, just an new format for providing you info and tips.

That the site was helpful to at least 1 person fighting the fat, motivates me.

Strength in Numbers

Overweight people who opt for a commercial diet plan may be more likely to stick with the program if they're part of a group.[source]

It makes sense to me why the group thing works, it's why I love group challenges so much and a big reason I wanted to start a community blog for losers. The study evaluated Weight Watchers, Atkins & Slim-Fast.

After six months, all groups -- except the one used for comparison -- had lost weight and fat.

How much did they lose? The average over six months was about 13 pounds. More than 9 pounds of that was fat, the study showed.

I'd like to start up another group challenge, but with my recent move it will be a while, most likely early Fall to keep peeps on track through Holiday Eating Season. You know as well as I do, we need all the support we can muster

Real Advice From Real Losers

Everyone has words of advice on how to shed pounds—best-selling authors, supplement manufacturers, trainers and, ahem, Web sites. But the most believable words of wisdom often come from friends and family who've been there and succeeded. So how about getting the best of both worlds? We gathered some tips from real women who've lost weight, and then we asked nutritionist Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N., C.N.S., to evaluate how effective their techniques might be for the rest of us.

Rochell lost 80 pounds in a year and a half:
"I always pad my meals with broccoli. And I never drink my calories [in soda or alcohol]."

Bowden says: "Filling up with high-volume, low-calorie vegetables is a win on so many levels. You get the nutrients and cancer-fighting properties, and it takes up a lot of room on the plate." It's also a good idea to avoid the empty calories in beverages, because "study after study shows that you drink way more calories than you realize."

Aimee lost 60 pounds in a year and a half:

"I use a lot of Parmesan cheese on my food. To satisfy my sweet tooth, I make a pudding-type dessert from pureed ricotta, flavored with lemon juice or vanilla. Also, fat-free Fudgesicles are the bomb."

Bowden calls Aimee's Parmesan plan "iffy." If you use the cheese to flavor low-calorie vegetables that you wouldn't normally eat, then it's a good strategy. On the other hand, adding a high-calorie food like cheese to another high-calorie food, like pasta, would work against you. As for her dessert substitution, he says, "I'm not a big fan of fat-free food as a way of life, but having desserts lower in sugar and fat saves you some calories."

Monica went from size 24 to 18 in six months:

"The first thing I did before I started my diet was clean out my cupboards and fridge. Don't torture yourself... Now on Sundays I cook a lot of stuff for the week. I make a big salad for lunch, cook chicken breasts and get veggies prepped. Then when I get home after a long day at work, I can just steam the veggies and reheat the chicken. I find that being tired equals being lazy and making bad food choices."

Bowden applauds what he calls "bullet-proofing" your kitchen: "It's not giving up to say that [you're susceptible to temptation]. You're saying, 'I'm going to set it up so I win.'" You can't eat a pint of ice cream in the middle of the night if there's none in the house! As for cooking ahead, not only do you have control of your food for the week—"you're actually putting some focus and attention on taking care of yourself. The enemy of weight loss is unconscious eating."

Alison lost 5 pounds:

"I have a steady yoga practice with lots of shoulder stands. The pose stimulates the thyroid gland, which controls metabolism."

There's no scientific way to prove this theory, says Bowden, because no one's ever done a study about the effects of specific yoga poses. Then again, yoga has helped people for thousands of years, so he's not about to dismiss it. "I don't know that shoulder stand is a tried-and-true method [of weight loss]. When she does it, maybe that's when she does the rest of her routine, and she feels thinner because her circulation is improved. And as part of a healthy yoga practice it is healthy."

Mercedes lost 23 pounds after having her second child:

"I wake up at 4:30 a.m. five or six days a week to exercise in my home gym. If I had to leave the house to work out, I'd never do it."

Bowden's initial reaction is positive: "If you're committed enough to do it, how can you fault that?" The only problem is if you're going to bed at midnight and waking up before dawn. Sleep deprivation causes an increase in levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), which then tells your body to store more fat. With enough exercise you can compensate, but in the long term this nonstop activity could backfire.

Obviously, what works for one person might fail for another, so it's a good idea to validate a friend's well-meaning advice by doing some research.

via msn.com

Onederland

Yay for Blissful Loser for arriving in onderland. Well done!

America Takes It Off

I'm sure International peeps are welcome to take it off with us yanks too

America Takes It Off is a promo by aol.com. On the site they provide a wealth of info for losing weight and getting in shape this summer. There is streaming video, podcasts and even a sweepstakes. The best part is that it's all free and you don't have to be an aol member to use any of the features.

Right on the home page they give you 30 ways to get in shape:

1. Retrain Your Brain
2. Walk It Off
3. Food & Fitness Combos
4. Just Breathe
5. Your Workout Personality
6. Metabolism Mistakes
7. Go Slow
8. Put On the Gloves
9. The Gym 101
10. Get a Coach
11. Blast the Belly Fat
12. Know Your Numbers
13. Recess!
14. Clean House
15. Be a Yogi
16. Beat Boredom
17. The AM Advantage
18. Dance It Off
19. Tone With Tai Chi
20. Food Court Survival
21. Forget Lattes, Try Pilates
22. The TV Workout
23. Be the Outdoorsy Type
24. Buddy Up
25. Take a Memo
26. Punch the Plateau
27. Get Tricky
28. Under 100
29. Get Your ZZZs
30. Reward Yourself

As much calories as I would burn linking to all 30, I'm too lazy

Reward Thyself

via msn.com

Dieting a total struggle for you? How about exercise? Yep, you and most of the planet. However, there is one simple way to turn it around—a reward system. We do it with our pets, our kids, even our employees, but almost never with ourselves. Commit those goals to paper, and combine each milestone with a (non-food) treat. Lose three pounds—buy that new CD you want. Exercise three times a week—you deserve a massage! Benefits abound.

I'm not good at doing the reward thing, but I've read other losers treating themselves to a mini treat here and there for each 5 or 10lbs lost milestone.

Change your mind to change your body

How’s your New Year’s fitness resolution coming along? If your exercise plan is still on track, congrats! But now into the third month of 2006, plenty of people who rang in the year with a commitment to shape up are probably sitting it out instead.

With statistics showing that more than half of people who embark on a new exercise plan drop it within three to six months, many who resolved to work out more this year will have fallen off the fitness wagon by swimsuit season.

“Motivation and commitment can rapidly evaporate,” says sport psychologist Jim Gavin, who reviewed the latest findings on exercise psychology in the February issue of the IDEA Fitness Journal, a publication targeted to exercise instructors and personal trainers.

In our overscheduled world, lack of time is often cited as a key reason for not exercising. But Gavin, a professor of applied human sciences at Concordia University in Montreal, says that changing the way you think about exercise can help you to work it into a busy lifestyle.

Some mental strategies can even train your brain to enjoy — or at least not totally loathe — physical activity.

“Your psyche can really help you and it can really hurt you,” says Jenny Susser, a sports psychologist at the Women’s Sports Medicine Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

Here’s how to change your mindset about fitness:

Realize it’s OK to hate gyms
To get fit, you don't necessarily have to get in your car, drives miles to a gym, change, work out, shower, get dressed and drive home. That’s our modern-day idea of fitness but the truth is that you don’t have to set foot in a gym if you don’t want to.

Many people are too intimidated by the club scene to ever do so, says Susser.

“Walking into a gym where you don’t know anybody can be just like walking into a bar or job where you don’t know anybody,” Susser says. Plus, gym newbies may not feel comfortable with their bodies, their clothes or the equipment. The end result: a wasted club membership.

You may be better off spending some of that money on a few sessions with an in-home trainer who can jumpstart your fitness plan, she notes.

It’s also OK if you don’t LOVE to work out
There are things we have to do that we don’t necessarily always like, but we do them anyway. Take work, for instance. “Just because you’re a CEO doesn’t mean you’re dying to go to work,” says Susser.

As an All-American college swimmer at UCLA, Susser trained 30 hours a week. “There were definitely days when I’d have rather stayed in bed,” she says.

But while you may not always look forward to working out, you should try to find activities that you enjoy participating in. That will help motivate you to keep moving.

Remember your childhood
You knew psychologists would ask you to search deep into your past, didn’t you? Well, here’s a good reason: Chances are you actually liked — maybe even loved — physical activity when you were a kid.

“Joy in movement is something you see in children when they move spontaneously,” says Gavin. “We don’t do that as adults.”

Instead, we tend to zone out on treadmills in front of a bank of TVs. And how fun is that? That image turns off a lot of couch potatoes.

“It doesn’t look like joy and fun,” says Gavin. “When people mentally think of being active, that’s where their mind goes. Modern-day fitness is uninteresting to a lot of people. It’s essentially repetitious, monotonous activity as it’s normally practiced.”

So try to put some spontaneity back into your fitness: frolic with the kids at the park; meander along the beach or a lake; or play some of your favorite childhood games such as badminton or hopscotch.

Liken exercise to brushing your teeth
You brush your teeth out of habit. Try to approach exercise with that same mindset, says Craig Wrisberg, president of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology and a professor of sport psychology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

“The main thing is to make it a regular routine,” Wrisberg says, “just like brushing your teeth.”

If you view physical activity as a key component of a healthy lifestyle, he says, you’ll be less likely to blow it off.

Change your vocabulary
Hate to exercise? Try to not think of it that way.

“Take the word ‘exercise’ and put it in the garbage can,” says Gavin. “It’s a word that has a lot of negative connotations.” He even goes so far as to call it “noxious.”

People often say they hate to exercise. But it’s harder to object to the terms “physical activity” or “movement.”

Exercise is a loaded word that’s often equated with going to the gym or jogging, activities that coach potatoes aren’t keen on, Gavin says. But you don’t have to hit the gym or jog miles to get benefit.

Instead, think about simply getting more movement in your daily life, he advises, such as by walking, biking, gardening or even house-cleaning. It all adds up.

Take the long view
Fitness programs often fail because people have a "one-shot wonder mentality" in which they want immediate results or else they quit, says Wrisberg.

But exercise does not produce dramatic results overnight — or even in just a couple of months. If you were banking on losing lots of weight from January till now, or getting a super-sculpted bod, you just haven't put in enough time. So stay the course.

In the meantime, notice how much better you feel after you exercise. The feel-good effect can be short-lived, but some regular exercisers thrive on it, says Susser.

“I think you get psychologically hooked," she says. "There’s such a sense of power from exercise and sport — not just the competition but the physicality of pushing yourself.”

Research shows that while beginning exercisers are generally motivated by physical goals, over time people are more motivated by how physical activity makes them feel.

"Once people get to the point where they find that activity or couple of activities that work for them, they get sort of a positive addiction,” Wrisberg says. "Getting people to that point is the challenge of exercise psychology. We’re not sure exactly when it happens but it can happen.” [source]

Fight Faulty Thinking

When it comes to dieting, what you put in your mouth is sometimes only half the battle. An article in Psychology Today pointed out that false beliefs and negative self-talk can be more detrimental to your diet plan than what appears on your dinner plate. “The pressure we put on ourselves to succeed can have dire emotional and dietary repercussions,” the magazine reported. The lesson? Be realistic in your goals, and accept and work past the occasional lapses. [source]

One Bite Does Not a Failure Make

There’s this weird, unhealthy thing that we dieters sometimes to do to ourselves—we “cheat” on our proscribed diet plan, then we beat ourselves up. Some of us even go hog wild and eat everything “not allowed” in sight, since we already “messed up.” Repeat now: “One indulgence is not the end of the world. Tomorrow, I start fresh.” Take a deep breath and go back to your diet plan. [source]

It’s up to you

Now that you’ve found out all about walking, it’s up to you to make waking a part of your life. Once you have selected one of the walking programs or have modified it for your use, it is a good idea to do the following set goals, make a time commitment keep track of your progress.

Set Goals
Goal setting is one of the most important aspects of any exercise program. While one of the walking programs is a start, it is still necessary to set your own personal short term intermediate and long-term goals.

These goals may be based on weight, distance, time, heart rate or any other measurable unit. Try to avoid having vague goals such as, “I want to feel better”. Once you have a set goal, make a plan to reach these goals. Part of this plan should include exercise programs, but may include non exercise actions such as going on a diet.

Make a Time Commitment
Find time for walking. It may not be necessary to walk the same time every day, but make sure your schedule your walks. Every time you miss a session it will be that much harder to reach your goals.

Keep Track
Measure your walk, record these measurements and write down your progress in meeting your goal. The weekly check list found on the left side is perfect for helping you keep track of your walking accomplishments over the next 10 weeks.

I hope you enjoyed this mini series and either read something you never knew before or used this information to get the most out of your workouts.

Franklin Covey

"Each January, most of us pick a few things we want to accomplish in the coming year. That's a good thing. When everything seems important, deciding on your highest priorities is the first step toward living the life you want. Here are some simple tips to start you off.

1. Set one to three goals that you define clearly in writing. Having too many goals makes it difficult to achieve the results you'd like.

2. Ask yourself why you want to achieve these goals. Do they relate to your mission? Asking yourself "why" helps clarify your goals.

3. Achieving new results requires new behavior. Write down three behaviors you will have to change to reach each of your new goals.

4. Determine how you will measure your progress, and set deadlines for yourself. Write your deadlines on your Planning Pages. We respond better when we have a deadline to meet.

5. Keep your commitments." - (c) 2005 Franklin Covey

The last 2 tie in perfectly with the challenge.

Just write it

Gentle reminder, the Fat Fighters Yearlong Fitness Challenge, FFYFC for short, starts on Sunday. Details will be posted Friday. Now onto today's motivation, writing yourself thin.

A food diary may help you stay on track, but logging every morsel can get tedious. Here's a simpler way to record your success.

Write this down: I will lose 1 lb this week. Whether you post this note within easy view or scribble it on a scrap of paper and toss it, chances are you'll be a pound lighter by week's end, says Henriette Anne Klauser, PhD, author of Write It Down, Make It Happen (Simon & Schuster, 2001).

Writing switches on the part of your brain (called the reticular activating system, or RAS) that keeps important messages in mind, ready for you to act on them when prompted. When you're aware, even subconsciously, of a weight loss intention, you're more likely to pass up the eclair and go for a bike ride, for example. Keep a small notebook handy, and jot down whatever comes to mind. Here are two ideas:

Your reasons to lose weight ("to gain energy and self-confidence"), which are good motivators and doable even if you don't trim down.

Your worries ("Will exercise take time away from my family?"), which force you to confront and resolve them before they sabotage your efforts. [source]

Writing it down is a fantastic idea. I think it'll also work well when it comes to physical things, like the FFYFC. How about we do a little group experiment? I usually take weekends off from blogging, but I'll make an exception for this project.

Every Sunday for the duration of the FFYFC, I'll post an entry writing these two things,

- I will lose 1lb and
- I will walk XX miles/minutes in the challenge.

Leave a reply in the comments stating that you too will lose 1lb and walk xx miles/minutes of the challenge (depending on the level you do) and well see how it goes.

The caveat? You can only commit to losing 1lb, no Biggest Loser type pledges like, “I’m gonna lose 10lbs this week!! [insert Howard Dean scream]”……cute but not here.

So those two things, every Sunday for 10 weeks. No need to reveal your current weight and if you lose more great! I’m more interested to see what the power of written word will have on us for that period of time.

Charlotte Cushman

Happy New Years Day to all of you. I don't know what 2005 was like, but here's to clean slates and starting anew and even if you ended the year far from you Jan 1 2005 goal, any step in the right direction is a step well taken.

"To try to be better is to be better." - Charlotte Cushman

Build the Foundation

Ready to embrace success? Then get to work! Regardless of your goal, you will achieve it... Bur first you have to work on building the right frame of mind

To Live Your Dreams All You Got To Do Is...

Visualize what you want.
See it, feel it, believe in it.
Your mind is a mental workshop.
You can build anything in it.
Make your mental blueprint,
And begin to build.

The beginning is in your imagination;
First think, then organize your thoughts into plans.
Then transform your thoughts into reality by taking some
positive action.

Use your imagination to perceive your reality,
Even when it is not fully materialized.

You must first see it clearly in your mind
Before you can do it.

First visualize and then actualize your way
To success.

You really can live your dreams.
All you need to do is try.

Use Your Imagination To Find Success
-- Author Unknown [source]

Morning after

I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable day yesterday and if by some chance you overate and then ate some more and later on ate more again, big whoop! It was one day, nothing to feel derailed or defeated by. Nutrisystem posted this nugget of post-holiday motivation. Enjoy!

Listen closely. Did you hear that sound? That was the sound of Thanksgiving whooshing right past us. Already. Does it feel like it—especially in your stomach?

First, it's time for a confession. How did you fare yesterday?

...take heart—today's a new day and it's officially time to kick off the holiday season! Of course, this will bring with it traffic, crowded malls, and eager, happy (and suddenly well-behaved) kids. But it also brings you an early gift—the chance to set a new goal for yourself between now and the end of the year. Now's the best time to get your head back up and your rear back in gear.

Are you ready for it? Some people will answer a resounding YES! These are the ones who are probably finished with their holiday shopping, have everything wrapped and neatly hidden away in a closet somewhere, and are thus good and ready for another challenge.

However, there are probably plenty of others of us who already feel our heads spinning. After all, we can barely find the time to get all of the holiday chores planned, so how can we possibly pay attention to our weight loss program, too—especially with all the cookies, eggnog, candy canes and other holiday-related goodies out there, and schedules being thrown into chaos with frequent mall visits? Right? Wrong!

If this is you, you really should also be enthusiastically looking forward to the next month—your new challenge. Why? Because it will add a welcomed sense of stability in an otherwise hectic time in your life; the holidays may push you to your limits with one crazy situation after another, but your program stays the same.

Biggest Losers Tell All

What's it like to diet while millions are watching? Here's the inside story...plus what really works. - by Michele Stanten

On November 29, all 14 competitors will return and America will find out who The Biggest Loser is. Recently, I went on the show to ask the three remaining women--Andrea, Suzy, and Shannon--about their various frustrations, setbacks, and victories. If losing weight takes courage, these women have it in spades. Here's what you can learn from them.

What's your best no-gimmicks advice to those who want to do what you've done?
Count calories. You hear and read about it all the time, but until you get a food scale and learn how many calories are in everything you put into your mouth, you have no idea how much you're eating. When I started calculating, I discovered that I'd been consuming nearly 5,000 calories a day. The two Krispy Kreme doughnuts I'd have every day were 400 to 700 calories alone.

What would you say to others who struggle to exercise? Find a partner. Bob made me run a few hundred feet, from this point to that, to keep my asthma in check. Eventually I got to a mile, but I was not a strong runner. Later, I'd run with Seth, a friend on the men's team. He would push me by saying, "Don't hold on to the treadmill," and I'd say back, "Okay, crank it up then." I still don't love running, but if I'm with somebody else at least we can have fun. How would you advise a friend who wants to lose weight? Don't avoid competition. It's a great incentive because it's natural to want to win. I don't mean Division I sports--I mean joining the neighborhood softball team. There's nothing wrong with a little weight loss competition with a girlfriend or an office mate. It should be something friendly and fun, not negative or derogatory.

These women look AMAZING and I'm so blown away by what they've accomplished and how their lives have changed. Read more...

Unblock the Blocks

Separate what you truly want from the blocks holding you back. Then act on what you truly want...

If you really really want to lose weight forever, it takes consistent, positive eating and movement patterns. But more often than not, old habits cause you to ignore your goals and then you eat too much again. Go off your food plan. Sit all day, and forget moving.

Pay attention to that positive desire today, all day, and every day, all the time. Repeat it over and over again, silently to yourself, to others, write it down, tell it on the phone to a friend, mention it to everyone you meet. Say "I want to be the best I can be today. That's my goal. I want to really be good to myself."

Then absolutely, positively do NOT let yourself slip back to old patterns of self-destruction. [via beliefnet]

Simplicity

Sometimes, all this weight loss drama boils down to a single sentence:

The food you eat today dictates the body you have tomorrow. - By unknown

Have a Healthy Attitude

Losing weight and being reasonably fit is 90% mental.

If you make up your mind and decide that you’re going to have a good, healthy attitude and a full life, no matter what, your body will shape up accordingly. It’s that simple.

Your body is a reflection of your emotional, mental, and spiritual shape. If you’re unhappy, depressed, deflated, and blue then your body will reflect it by being sickly, overweight, and tired. Likewise, if you decide that you’re going to do what it takes to feel good, enjoy your life, find peace and fulfillment, then your body will show it.

Let a healthy attitude reign. Decide and commit to the idea that nothing’s going to get you down, and you’re not giving up. Go out and live. Expend your great God-given energy and do something. Be the keeper of your mental outlook and take charge. [source unknown]