177 WAYS TO
REDUCE AND
BURN CALORIES
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Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
ATTITUDE
TAKE ACTION
DIET
EXERCISE
YOUR DESTINATION
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com INTRODUCTION
If you struggle with weight gain it’s a good bet that you have
tried at least one of the “fad” diets that crop up on a regular basis.
The truth is that some of these diets may grant you temporary
weight loss. In the usual case, however, the weight returns as soon as
you stray from the diet.
The bottom line is that you gain weight because you consume
more calories than your body is able to use and no diet is a substitute
for good eating habits.
Your body requires a certain amount of calories in order to
function properly. If you truly wish to lose weight you must burn off
more calories than your body requires.
In this guide you will learn ways to reduce the amount of
calories you ingest as well as tips and techniques to help you burn off
unnecessary calories.
Before we begin, however, it’s important that you fill your
arsenal with every possible tool available to insure your success. The
most important tool in your weight loss program does not include diet
or exercise.
There is no special equipment you need to purchase. You don’t
need to join a gym or health club. And, you already have every
component you need to put this tool to work for you and begin a
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com successful weight loss program. What is it? It’s your mind. Having
said that, let’s get started, shall we?
ATTITUDE
If you have tried every diet on the planet, every exercise
program from the latest fitness guru and repeatedly failed to achieve
your weight loss goals you probably need a “check up from the neck
up.”
Successful weight loss doesn’t just happen. It took more than a
few days to reach the point where you are at right now. Give yourself
a break and expect it to take awhile before you see measurable
results. Take a leap of faith and follow some basic principles.
Begin with your “self-talk.” This is the conversation that runs
through your brain continuously. What kind of conversation do you
have with your self-talk? What type of negative self-talk has kept you
from reaching your goals in the past?
If you had a chance to do it over again, would you change the
dialogue? That’s a no-brainer isn’t it? Well, the good news is that you
can turn the tide of negative self-talk beginning right now. It’s never
too late to begin and you start by reprogramming your self-talk.
A good starting point is to begin with positive affirmations.
Positive affirmations spoken aloud with authority and belief, positively
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com affect your attitude, focuses your thinking and lead to a course of
action that will help you become the person you want to be and have
the things that you want to have.
Begin by writing your affirmations on paper. You need to take
some time for this exercise. You can begin with something like, “I
want to lose 25 pounds before Christmas.” That’s a worthy goal and
attainable, but we need to put some work into structuring the
affirmation.
First of all, “I want” gives the impression that what you desire is
always in the future. In order to re-program your self-talk, you need
to trick your mind into believing that you have already achieved
success. This is how your subconscious functions.
Your subconscious has no capacity for understanding the concept
of time. Everything is in the moment. . .here and now. When you tell
your subconscious that you “want” that is exactly what you will get. .
.want. . .without ever achieving fulfillment. Unless you change your
mental tape recorder, you will achieve exactly what you are telling
your subconscious, that you “want to lose 25 pounds.” You will “want
to lose 25 pounds” for the rest of your days unless you change your
self-talk.
If your weight is 150 pounds and you desire is to weight 125
pounds, then you need to “be” 125 pounds from the moment you
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com make the decision to change your self-talk.
What if you write your affirmation to read something like this: “I
am healthy and fit weighing 125 pounds.”
What are you telling your subconscious now? It’s extremely
important that you phrase your affirmation as if you have already
accomplished what you desire. Work on writing it out until you have it
precisely as you wish to become.
It is extremely important that your affirmation is crystal clear
because what you affirm is exactly what your subconscious mind will
bring you.
You needn’t limit yourself to one affirmation either. Write
another one that reflects your new exercise program. “I enjoy my
healthy new exercise program,” or, “I love the healthy foods I eat.”
Write and rewrite until you are absolutely certain that you have
written your goals “in the here and now” AND represent precisely what
you desire. Only then do you begin to speak it aloud and do so
several times a day.
Remember to use the present tense. “I acknowledge
achievement in all my weight loss goals.” “I have the skill and talent
to exercise every day.” “I am a winner.” “I am grateful for all of my
accomplishments no matter how small.”
At first you will feel awkward and uncomfortable and you may
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com not feel or believe what you are saying. It doesn’t matter, continue to
speak them aloud with as much conviction as you can muster. It’s
taken a long time to train your subconscious to use negative self-talk.
If you will persevere with speaking your affirmations aloud, firmly and
confidently, you will be amazed at how quickly you can turn your
thoughts around.
You didn’t hop on a bicycle the first time and just take off down
the street. It took practice to train your body to balance on those two
wheels. This will take some practice as well. Continue to repeat your
affirmations aloud, several times a day for the next 30 days and you
will be amazed at how much you change your thinking and attitude.
Let’s investigate how words affect you in your everyday life.
Take a trip down memory lane and recall some real life experiences
that made you happy, proud, successful or any combination of the
three.
Spend some time recalling how you felt. Maybe you won a
spelling bee as a child, or hit a home run. Who was there? This will
help you remember that you had those feelings once and you can
achieve them again. What words did others use while you were
experiencing those feelings of joy and happiness.
Recall those words and put them to work in your daily
conversations. They are words that are already proven to have a
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com positive affect on your well-being. Recalling and including them in
your day will trigger those feelings again because your subconscious
already has an association with those words and their results.
Above all, take action. If you have become a slave of
procrastination decide to rid your life of it once and for all. Yes, you
can create affirmations to help you there as well. “I have the attitude
and skills to take action today.” “I am winning in my life by turning
my attitude into action.”
Do nothing and nothing gets done. Do something and many
things are placed in motion. Regardless of what you are doing in life,
you need to take action. Do something every day to put your plan in
motion.
How is your attitude? What are your first thoughts when you
awake in the morning? You’ve got quite a lot to choose from. Do you
begin the day by dragging out of bed bemoaning the fact that you
have to get to work? Or, do you embrace the morning as another
great opportunity to do great things?
Put the universal law of reciprocity to work in your life every
single day. Did you know that as much as ninety nine percent of our
conversation is negative? There are some folks who can hardly wait to
get their mouths open so they can “one up” another persons current
negative situation.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com Hmmm, think back to that self-talk. If what you hear every day
is negative, it’s no wonder your self-talk brings you down and prevents
you from being, doing and having everything you desire. Try this
exercise. Make a decision today, right now, from this moment to
spend the rest of the day contributing to conversation in a positive
way.
Impossible, you say? Not so. Say that somebody complains
about another rainy day. Your response might be, “yes, isn’t it great,
see that beautiful rainbow!” Try and create the habit of saying
something positive to everyone.
If you are learning to say something positive to everybody about
everything every time, you are disciplining your subconscious for
positive results in everything that happens to you.
TAKE ACTION
Before we can begin, we need to grasp an understanding of the
problem.
Two out of three Americans are overweight. The primary cause
is that we eat more and exercise less. There is no doubt that the more
advances we make that enhance our lifestyle the heavier we become.
Wait a minute! What about all those low-fat foods that we eat
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com now? How come I reduced fat in my diet but I’m still gaining weight?
It’s a simple answer. A few years ago we all became aware of
the detrimental effects of fat in our diet. What did we do? We began
to concentrate on lowering cholesterol and taking fat out of our diets.
This is a good thing. However, The National Center for Health
Statistics studied eating habits of 8,260 adult American between 1988
and 1991. Their research showed that Americans had significantly
reduced their fat intake but still packed on the pounds.
How did this happen? There is no mystery. In the process of
counting fat grams, we stopped counting calories! Many of us bought
in to the theory that if it’s “low-fat” it won’t make us fat.
WRONG!
You can’t forget about counting calories. If you eat more
calories than you need the body will store them as fat, it is a simple
fact of nature. It doesn’t matter whether the calories are from fat or
carbohydrates.
One school of thought believes that eating small amounts of fat
can actually keep you from over indulging on total calories. The
theory is that dietary fat causes our bodies to produce a hormone that
tells the intestines to slow down the emptying process. You feel full
and therefore are less likely to overeat.
Adding a little peanut butter to your rice cake may satisfy your
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com hunger for a longer period of time, thus preventing you from eating
more than you need.
Here’s more surprising news. Tufts University scientists put 11
middle-aged men and women volunteers on a variety of average,
reduced and low-fat diets.
The results? Extremely low-fat diets, which provided only 15
percent fat from calories, (this is a diet near impossible in real life) did
have a positive effect on blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
However, a reduced-fat diet (much more realistic) only affected
those levels if accompanied by weight loss.
In fact, they concluded, cutting fat without losing weight actually
increased triglyceride levels and decreased high-density lipoproteins
(HDLs), the “good” cholesterol that helps protect again heart disease.
We can deduce, therefore, while excess fat isn’t healthy, fat is
also not necessarily a bad thing. Without some fat in our diet, the
body won’t make nerve cells and hormones or absorb some of the fat-
soluble vitamins such as Vitamin E.
Okay, so how can you determine your ideal weight? Just how
much fat and how many calories should you consume to reach and
maintain a healthy weight?
One answer won’t work for everybody. So you need to do some
figuring to determine how much fat and how many calories you can
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com have. First, you need to determine your ideal weight. Here is a
simple method to determine what that weight should be:
For Women
The ideal weight for a woman who is exactly 5 feet tall is
100 pounds. For every additional inch above 5 feet, add five
pounds. If you are shorter than 5 feet tall, subtract five pounds
for every inch you measure below 5 feet.
Next, determine whether you have a small, medium or
large frame. Using a measuring tape, measure your wrist. If
your wrist measures exactly 6 inches, you have a medium frame
and the weight number you calculated above, does not need to
be adjusted. If your wrist measures less than 6 inches, subtract
10 percent from your ideal weight. If your wrist measures more
than 6 inches, add 10 percent to your ideal weight.
For Men
The ideal weight for a man who is exactly 5 feet tall is 106
pounds. For every additional inch above 5 feet, add 6 pounds.
To determine whether you have a small, medium or large frame,
measure your wrist. If your wrist measures exactly 7 inches,
you have a medium frame and you do not need to adjust your
ideal weight. If your wrist is smaller than 7 inches, you have a
small frame and should subtract 10 percent from your ideal
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com weight. If your wrist is larger than 7 inches, you have a small
frame and should add 10 percent to your ideal weight.
Okay, now that you know what your ideal body weight should
be, let’s take a look at how many calories your body needs each day.
Before we do this however, you need to take into account your level of
activity.
If you are totally inactive and usually get no exercise, multiply
your adjusted ideal weight by 11. If you get regular exercise two or
three times a week, multiply your adjusted ideal weight by 13. If you
get regular exercise four to five times a week, multiple your adjusted
ideal weight by 15. And finally, if you get regular exercise six to seven
times a week, multiply your adjusted ideal weight by 18.
Now that you know your ideal weight and how many calories you
need each day you can easily figure out how much fat you can eat.
Most nutritionists recommend that you limit daily intake of fat to 30
percent of your total calories. However, if you want to lose weight or
have a history of heart disease or cancer, limit your daily fat intake to
20 percent of your total calories.
Let’s take a look at a real life example. If Jane is a 5 foot 4 inch
woman with a medium frame her ideal weight is 120 pounds. Jane is
trying to lose weight so she needs to keep her fat calories down to
about 20 percent.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com Jane is exercising two to three times a week so we can multiply
her ideal weight by the number that matches her activity level, which
is 13. Now we know that Jane needs 1,560 calories each day.
If we take 20 percent of 1,560 (1,560 multiplied by .20) we get
312. Next, translate fat calories into fat grams (this will make it easier
for you to read food labels). One gram of fat equals 9 calories. So if
we divide 312 by 9 we know that Jane can eat about 35 grams of fat
per day.
Because Jane is overweight and trying to lose, her ideal weight
and current weight do not match up. Jane needs to adjust her total
calorie consumption. In order for her to lose one pound, she needs to
eliminate 3,500 calories.
One simple solution is to lose a pound a week. That’s a worthy,
healthy goal and we’ll explore methods that will help you achieve that
goal in the upcoming segments.
Diet
Avoid “fad” diets. If you don’t believe me, ask your doctor
about these: negative calorie diets, extremely low calorie diets, low
carb diets, and any other type of “fad” diet that is unbalanced.
Changing diet should be a matter of a healthier lifestyle. Learn
all you can about different foods and nutrition. The more you know
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com the easier it is to implement healthy nutrition in your diet.
1. Substitute fruit purees for butter or margarine. They are easy to
prepare in a food processor and will significantly reduce calories and
fat.
2. Cheese is good for you, but the fat is not. Try this: Zap cheese in
the microwave and drain off grease or choose lower fat options.
3. Exercising before you eat just makes you hungrier. Exercise AFTER
eating when the body has to work harder to digest food.
4. Don’t eat while watching television. You can become so engrossed
in your program, that don’t even realize how much you are eating.
5. Too many people skip breakfast. Eat in the morning when the body
burns more calories.
6. Water mixed with fructose suppresses appetite better than glucose
with water or diet drinks. Drink a glass of orange juice one half to
one hour before a meal.
7. Avoid trans fatty acids as much as possible. Use olive or canola oil
when cooking. Avoid products that list partially hydrogenated oils,
since these are trans fatty acids.
8. Switch from whole to skim milk. All the nutrients are there without
the fat. Okay, at least cut back to low fat (1%)!
9. Limit yourself to just four egg yolks a week.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 10. Trim all fat from meats before cooking. You’ll be amazed at how
much you reduce your fat intake if you take this one small step.
11. Eliminate fried foods. Do we need to say why?
12. Cream sauces like alfredo and hollandaise are loaded with fat.
Use tomato-based sauces instead of cream.
13. Use lemon juice or low sodium soy sauce for flavor.
14. Don’t skip meals. When you do, you eat more at your next meal
and usually eat the wrong foods.
15. Read labels – check fat, sugar and salt content.
16. Stop buying on impulse. Never shop for groceries without a list.
17. Avoid shopping when you are hungry – eat first!
18. Shop for groceries once a week and only buy from your prepared
list.
19. Head directly to the fruit and vegetable aisles when you enter
the grocery store. Fill up your basket in these aisles and you’ll be
less likely to buy binge food.
20. If you have a local “farmers market” where you can buy your
fruits and veggies off the truck, by all means do so. They’ll be
fresher, healthier, and tastier.
21. Make sure you buy everything you need for your weekly meal
planning. Returning to the grocery store numerous times increases
the risk of buying what you shouldn’t. The grocery stores know
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com their business very well and present items that are hard to resist.
22. Vary your foods – introduce something new each week. Menu
planning can become boring when you eat the same things. That
boredom translates into over eating. Try new healthy recipes each
week.
23. Stay away from processed foods as much as possible. Yes, they
are very convenient. They are also loaded with fat and/or sugar,
not to mention the chemicals.
24. The ads are soooo compelling. Cut fast food from your diet!
25. Eat more fish but avoid breading or batters. Fish oil is good for
you.
26. Eat more vegetables. Try mixing and matching fresh vegetables
for variety.
27. Steam your veggies instead of boiling them. They’ll taste better
and you’ll retain more of their nutritional value.
28. Use fat free or low fat salad dressings or make your own using
lemon juice, spices and a tiny amount of olive oil.
29. Exchange water for soft drinks – yes, even diet drinks!
30. Slim down with casseroles – just use lean meat and veggies.
31. Go ahead and snack, just snack on good stuff, like raisins, nuts
veggies and dried fruit.
32. Never eat while you are standing.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 33. Don’t sample when you are cooking. A taste here, a little bite
there and before you know it you’ve eaten an entire portions
without sitting down at the table!
34. Don’t give up potatoes. A baked potato has 0 grams of fat and
only 160 calories. Just don’t eat fries that weigh in at 13 fat grams
and 480 calories!
35. Stay away from pastries. They are loaded with fat and sugar.
36. Eat more salads but don’t let salad become boring. Add different
ingredients. Throw in a few raisins, nuts, canned beans like
garbanzos and vary your dressings. Leave out the mayo!
37. Limit your intake of meat to just two or three meat choices per
week and select more “white” meats than red.
38. You don’t have to give up dessert, just rearrange it. Try mixing
fresh fruits with low fat yogurt. Strawberries with banana yogurt
are delicious!
39. Add nuts to your yogurt and salads. Chopped nuts such as
almonds, pistachios, walnuts, or peanuts make a great alternative
to “breaded” style garnishes like croutons and they are much
healthier.
40. Replace white bread with whole grain bread. If you can find
bread that still contains the “wheat germ,” buy it!
41. When baking, applesauce makes a great substitute for
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com shortening.
42. Prepare foods in different ways. Instead of traditional frying, try
stir-fry and use a low fat spray or non-stick pan.
43. Reduce portions at mealtimes. We live in a “jumbo size” world.
There’s no reason why the portions we consumer need to be super
sized as well.
44. Measure portions one time to get an idea of what a portion of
any given food should be. Do it once for each food that you
commonly eat. Eventually, you will be able to “eyeball” a proper
serving.
45. Keep a food diary of everything you eat. This is the first step to
acquiring a new, healthier life style.
46. Wait no more than five hours between meals or snacks. This will
help to stabilize your metabolism.
47. Specific food combinations can help to burn calories by
enhancing your metabolism. Eat carbohydrates that are rich in
fiber such as fruits and vegetables. They take longer to digest and
you will feel “fuller” for longer periods of time.
48. Use fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables. Canned veggies are
okay in a pinch, but generally include more salt than you need. By
the time they are canned and processed, they have lost much of
their nutritive value.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 49. Eat more yogurt. Yogurt is a protein as well as a carbohydrate
therefore giving you the small amount of energy needed to burn the
protein.
50. Add more tuna to your diet. You can grill it, broil it, steam it and
poach it, all without any added fat. Just be aware that tuna may
contain trace amounts of mercury, so limit the amount you eat each
week, especially if you are pregnant.
51. Try different varieties of beans rather than sticking to the same
old type you are accustomed to. Beans are a fantastic great source
of energy, protein, minerals, and fiber.
52. Beware of misleading claims. Reduced fat merely means that
the item has 25% less fat. Use common sense. If something
“normally” contains 300 fat grams, then reduced fat means it still
has over 200 grams of fat!
53. Salads to avoid are tuna, chicken and egg. It isn’t the meat or
egg that’s the problem. It’s the mayonnaise. Try making them
with plain yogurt and spices to dress it up and you’ll have a healthy
combination.
54. If you absolutely must have your fatty salad dressing, try this.
Have the dressing on the side and dip your fork into the dressing
before you spear the salad ingredient. You’ll have your taste but
without dredging your salad in fat.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 55. Love avocado? Go ahead and indulge a quarter cup but don’t
mix it with sour cream!
56. Roasted, flavored almonds make a great snack.
57. Make your own potato chips. It’s simple. Thinly slice a large
baking potato and place in a single layer on a cookie sheet sprayed
with low fat aerosol spray. Spray the slices lightly as well. Sprinkle
with paprika and any other spice of your choosing. Bake in a 400
degree oven for thirty minutes making sure to turn once. ‘Voila!
Your own home baked potato chips and a great snack.
58. Switch from cream of wheat cereal to oatmeal. The whole grain
in oatmeal is much better for you and won’t leave you hungry an
hour later like the cream of wheat.
59. If you plan on eating out at a buffet, eat something before you
go. Don’t skip a meal and plan on chowing down at the buffet.
60. Grab a table as far from the buffet as possible. You’ll lessen the
temptation to graze or go back for seconds.
61. Go through the buffet line one time only.
62. Load up at the salad bar. Gelatin or plan green salads should be
abundant.
63. Pile on the grilled food looking for baked roasted or grilled
entrees like fish or lean roast beef.
64. Avoid the breaded fish or fried chicken.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 65. Select soups that you can see through. If you can see through
them, they are broths with less fat and calories.
66. Eat slowly. Savor each bite. Take your time and enjoy eating.
If you eat too fast, your stomach will be full long before the
message to stop chowing down reaches your brain.
67. Ask yourself if you really tasted and enjoyed that last bite of
food. If your answer is no, it’s time to slow down.
68. To help downsize your portions, use a smaller plate. Instead of
a dinner plate, use a salad plate for your entire meal.
69. When eating in a restaurant ask for a child’s portion or ask to
have the entrée split and have the second half packaged as
takeout.
70. As an assist to making certain you are getting the right nutrition
from your vegetables, alternate the colors from day to day. One
day eat fresh yellow and orange vegetables like squash, pumpkin,
and carrots then switch to green the next day, like spinach, or dark
leafy lettuces.
71. Pass up peanuts for snacking. Two ounces of salted peanuts has
328 calories. Nibble on pretzels instead. 20 of the small ones have
as little as 80 calories and most are fat free.
72. Skip fried shrimp. A three ounce serving has 206 calories while
the same size boiled are only 84 calories.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 73. If you love pie, stick with the fruit pies. Pumpkin and other fruit
pies are lower in calories. Pecan pie has about 430 calories while
the same slice of pumpkin pie is only 240. You can drop another
100 calories if you don’t eat the crust!
74. Try Canadian bacon instead of regular bacon. One ounce of
regular bacon is about four medium cooked slices and carries 163
calories. A one ounce slice of Canadian bacon is much leaner and
only has about 57 calories.
75. Avoid the high fat temptations when dining out. Call ahead.
Many high quality restaurants will accommodate your needs if you
give them sufficient time beforehand. Explain that you are on a low
fat diet and ask if they can prepare your food without frying.
76. If you frequent a specific restaurant, ask to take a menu home
so you can study what they offer and learn how to plan your meals
out.
77. Steer Clear of fast food restaurants. Most of their food is 40 to
50 percent fat. Many are finally wising up, however, and you can
get salads, plain hamburgers or grilled chicken. You can also ask
for the restaurant’s nutritional information. Many now offer that.
78. Stay away from the appetizers unless you request crackers,
pretzels or fresh vegetables like carrots or celery with a honey-
mustard dressing (not ranch).
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 79. Put your waiter through his or her paces. Ask lots of questions
and don’t stop until you are satisfied. How is the fish grilled? If it
is in butter, ask for it dry. If a fried entrée is offered on the menu,
ask if the chef can bake it, broil it, grill it or steam it to cut down on
the fat. Make sure they follow up. It’s your meal and your money
paying for it and within reason you should be able to get it the way
you want it.
80. If a restaurant won’t split a portion in half for you, preparing half
of it “to go,” request a doggie bag or box be delivered with your
meal and split it yourself immediately before you begin to eat.
81. You can also carry a “survival kit.” Use a small plastic sandwich
bag and carry packets of low fat dressings, herbal teas, spices or
other essentials that may not be readily available at a restaurant.
82. Split a meal with a friend. Order soup or salad a’ la carte with
one entrée and ask the waiter for an extra plate. It will save you
money AND reduce the fat in each meal.
83. Visit pizzerias that offer salads and pizza by the slice. Don’t
order pizza with meat. Stick with vegetable toppings and, if
possible, a wheat crust. Some pizza places do offer that option.
84. Eliminate tartar sauce. If you order a fish fillet sandwich ask
that the tartar sauce be left off the bun.
85. Bake with cocoa instead of chocolate. For each ounce of
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com unsweetened chocolate called for in a recipe, substitute 3
tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder.
86. Use evaporated skim milk for sauces and soups. It has the
texture and the flavor of cream but without the fat. Each cup
contains 80 grams less of fat and 600 few calories than heavy
cream.
87. Plain nonfat or low fat yogurt is a great replacement for sour
cream. Use it to make salad dressings. It’s also good as an add on
to breakfast cereals and desserts.
88. Low fat foods may seem less flavorful when you first try them
because fat adds flavor to some foods and you are used to that.
Add zip with lots of herbs and spices like basil, garlic, ginger, onion
powder tarragon and oregano. Vary the spices and come up with
your own combinations.
89. Yogurt can help you lose weight while protecting muscle. A
recent study of overweight people who at three servings of yogurt
daily for 12 weeks lost 22% more weight, 61% more body fat and
81%more abdominal fat than people who ate a similar number of
calories but no dairy products.
90. Spicy foods can curb your appetite as evidenced in a recent
study. People who ate a sauce containing capsaicin (the compound
that makes hot pepper spicy) consumed an average of 200 fewer
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com calories over the next three hours than those who didn’t eat the
sauce. Consider eating more spicy foods.
91. A 12 ounce cola has 150 calories, two tablespoons of full fat
salad dressing 150, a glazed doughnut 250 and a 4 ounce bagel,
300. Just eliminating these items will help you to lose weight.
92. Another recent study shows that calcium from diary foods is
more effective for weight loss than supplements. Why? Food is a
complex mixture of known and unknown components that can’t be
reproduced in a nutritional supplement. Dairy contains calcium and
a host of other biologically active components including the amino
acid leucine. Recent research reveals that leucine may increase the
ability of muscle to use fat. Drink low-fat or skim milk before a
meal.
Studies show that getting a liquid form of dairy before eating helps
you feel fuller sooner at that meal and eat less at the next meal. If
you are lactose intolerant, try yogurt with live culture (it has very
little lactose) or take a lactose supplement when consuming dairy.
93. Eat fish at least twice a week. The omega 3 fatty acids in fish
have been shown to reduce heart attack and stroke risk in addition
to helping you maintain a nutritional diet.
94. Sometimes you can go with fast food. Burger Kings BI Veggie
Burger with reduced fat mayonnaise contains 340 calories and 2
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com grams of saturated fat. It’s better than just about any burger at
any other food chain.
95. McDonald’s Fruit and Yogurt Parfait is low fat vanilla yogurt
layered with berries and topped with granola. It’s a nutrient rich
bargain at only 380 calories.
96. Subway’s 7 subs with 6 grams of fat or less include ham, roast
beef, chicken and turkey and range from 200 to 300 calories for a
six inch sub.
97. Wendy’s Mandarin Chicken Garden Sensation Salad is a creative
salad alternative of mixed greens, chicken and mandarin orange
sections, roasted almonds and a half packet of Oriental sesame
dressing is a great alternative at just 470 calories.
98. A veggie sandwich may not always be the ideal choice. The two
ounces of cheese added to these popular lunchtime meals contain
three quarters of a full day’s allowance for saturated fat. Tuna
salad (because of the mayonnaise), has 720 calories and chicken
salad is 550 calories. Stick with turkey, roast beef, chick breast or
veggie sandwich without the cheese.
99. All salads are not created equal. A taco salad is served in a fried
taco shell filled with ground beef, cheese, sour cream and
guacamole. It contains 1,100 calories a full day’s quota of
saturated fat!
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 100. Not only is a single order of Fettucine Alfredo an artery clogger,
it also weighs in at a whopping 1,500 calories! When eating Italian
food, opt for pasta topped with marinara or meat sauce (skip the
meatballs), red or white clam sauce or chicken Marsala.
EXERCISE
Well, you knew it was coming, didn’t you? We’ve discussed at
least 100 ways to adjust your eating habits. Some of the tips we
covered will help your metabolism burn extra calories, but the bottom
line is that you still need to burn more calories than you consume if
you wish to lose those extra pounds.
The dawn of the Information Age has given us more labor saving
devices than any other period in history. Along with this knowledge
we have settled into a more sedentary lifestyle.
Taking a little trip back in time can really open our eyes. A
typical day for your great grandmother began long before the sunrise.
She was usually the first to awaken so she could have a hearty
breakfast on the table for the rest of the family.
She would probably stoke her range with wood brought in the
previous evening. Unless one of the children were old enough to be
charged with the task, she would put on her coat, scarf and gloves and
trek out to the barn to milk the cow, stopping on her way back to
gather eggs from the chicken coop, home-cured ham and sausage
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com from the smoke house, cheese (that she had made herself) butter
(that she churned) and potatoes from the cold storage cellar.
Returning to her kitchen with her collection in tow, she would
prepare a breakfast that most likely consisted of ham, sausage and
eggs fried in lard she had rendered, biscuits, gravy made from the
leavings in the frying pan, flapjacks, whole milk and strong coffee.
That picture can pretty much turn your veins to instant concrete!
Bear in mind that after her pre-dawn preparations she would
spend the remainder of her day, sweeping, dusting, polishing,
scrubbing clothing using hot water that she boils herself, hanging the
laundry out to dry, tending her vegetable garden and often toiling in
the fields with the men.
The comparison between your great grandparents is not so much
what they ate, as how they used the calories they consumed. Life was
hard. Normal physical activity usually burned off the calories they
consumed. They worked hard and ate hearty and, yes they did have a
shorter life expectancy.
Today we eat foods that are processed and contain more fat and
chemicals than nutrition. To top it off, we also live sedentary lives.
Unlike grandma’s hearty breakfast we are more likely to grab a cup of
coffee on the run. We rush to an office, only to spend the next 8
hours sitting in front of a computer screen, just as you are doing now.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com Getting a handle on your diet is just the first step toward losing
weight and living a healthier lifestyle. In order to tame the weight loss
beast, you MUST change your physical habits as well as your eating
habits.
You don’t necessarily have to exert yourself as if you were
training for the Olympics, but you definitely need to learn how to burn
off more calories than you consume. Once you have accomplished
that, you can step in to a regimen to maintain your ideal weight.
Before you begin a fitness/exercise program, you need to know
what you want to accomplish. Use the information in the chapter on
“Where To Begin” to determine your ideal weight. Once you have your
plan firmly in place (we will discuss this further in the next chapter)
you can begin to incorporate the following tips.
101. Always warm up before beginning your exercise activity
using smooth and fluid movement. The purpose of the warm up is to
minimize discomfort and prevent injury and loosen up your muscles for
the exercise to come.
102. Begin with a couple of deep breaths, inhaling through the
nose and exhaling from your mouth.
103. When you plan to walk or run, do just a few hundred yards
at a slower walk or a gentler jog.
104. Use the cool down routine in the reverse of the warm-up,
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com gently slowing down. This will enable your breathing and heart rate to
return to normal.
105. Learn to listen to your body and differentiate between
good pain and bad pain.
106. Never exercise on a full or empty stomach.
107. Drink plenty of water to reduce the chance of dehydration.
Experts usually recommend 16 ounces either one or two hours before
exercising.
108. Always use stretching routines. These are not just for
jocks and fitness gurus but should be used by everyone. The older
you are, the more important this becomes as you can help retain
flexibility and good range of movement for all your daily activities.
109. When warming up and stretching, use the movements for
five to ten minutes. This will help to loosen your muscles.
110. Do not bounce when warming up with stretching as you
can cause tears in your muscle fibers.
111. To increase your flexibility, hold each stretch for fifteen to
twenty seconds or longer.
112. Be sure you stretch lightly during warm up to prevent
stretch reflex. This is caused by over using a cold muscle.
113. Breathe slowly and evenly throughout your warm up.
114. If you have a tendency to become stiff, take a hot shower
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com or bath before beginning your warm up.
115. Breathing is extremely important when exercising as your
body need to process oxygen that will transfer from your lungs
through the bloodstream to the muscles that are being worked.
Normal breathing is shallow meaning that the air is not reaching deep
into the lungs. This can tighten neck muscles which can cause
stiffness and pain in the neck, shoulder upper back and chest.
116. Always inhale before you lift, exhale as you lift and inhale
as you lower the weight for maximum benefit.
117. Turn every day activity into exercise. Try balancing on one
foot without support while putting on your shoes and socks.
118. Forget about the elevator and use the stairs.
119. Take the stairs two at a time.
120. Instead of shoving your chair, lift it bending your knees
and keeping your back straight.
121. Hide your remote control and get up and down to change
the channels.
122. Walk your dog and keep pace.
123. Take a Frisbee along and play in the park with your dog.
124. Park in the furthest parking space.
125. Instead of sitting in the stands while watching your kids
play at a ballgame, try pacing the field instead.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 126. Clean your house (changing bedding is great exercise!).
127. Take a brisk ten minute walk each morning, afternoon and
evening.
128. Plant a vegetable garden. You’ll have all that terrific food
to eat and exercise in the process!
129. Learn how to snorkel.
130. Learn a new dance.
131. Join a gym.
132. Join a lunch hour aerobic class.
133. When exercising, use a multi-purpose squat to improve
strength in the lower body. This will strengthen all of the major
muscles of the lower body including hamstrings, quadriceps, calves
and gluteals.
134. Use balance training exercises to help in performing daily
living and activities. Try a one-legged balance exercise by standing on
one leg for 10 to 15 seconds, switching legs and repeating the process
for three to five sets.
135. Jump in place with feet together. Alternate between
touching the left and right heel in between jumps with both feet.
136. Target the triceps with a bench dip. Seated on a bench,
grasp the front edge with your hands shoulder-width apart. With your
heels on the floor, extend your legs straight out from your body. Move
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com forward until your hips are off the bench. Lower the hips slowly
toward the floor then press up to a full extension of your arm without
locking your elbows.
137. Try a bent over row to target the latissimus dorsi, teres
major, posterior deltoid, trapezius, rhomboids and biceps. While
standing, begin with your feet should width apart. Bend the knee and
flex forward at the hips. Tilting the pelvis slightly forward, engage the
abdominals and extend the upper spine to add additional support.
Hold a weight or bar beneath the shoulders with your hands
approximately should width apart. Flex your elbows and lift your
hands toward the sides of your body. Pause and slowly lower your
hand back to the starting position. Be sure to keep your shoulders
stationary.
138. A simple shoulder shrug can help to strengthen your back.
Stand erect with dumbbells or other weight in each hand. Lift your
shoulders toward your head by elevating your shoulders and slightly
retract and roll them back. Pause for a moment then return to the
starting position. Make certain that you do not rock or use your legs
and keep your knees slightly bent. A variation on this exercise is to do
one shoulder at a time.
139. Another exercise to strengthen the back is a scapular
retraction. Begin with your feet shoulder width apart and your pelvis
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com tilted and slightly forward. Engage your abdominals so you can
maintain neutral spine. Flex forward and hold dumbbells extended
down and away from the body. Flex the shoulder blades together,
pausing then slowly returning to the start position. Avoid bending
your elbows and vary the exercise by using a single arm at a time.
140. Remember to keep it slow. Perform all exercises slowly.
Spend two to five seconds in the lifting phase of an exercise and four
to six seconds in the lowering part. If you move too quickly, you won’t
get the muscle strengthening benefit of the exercise and you could
hurt yourself.
141. Work up to the point where you can do three sets of each
exercise, with five to 15 repetitions of the exercise in each set. Don’t
rest within the sets, you can rest briefly between each set. As the
work becomes easier ad weights or increase the number of repetitions
you do.
142. Bicycling gives a great whole body exercise. Begin with
short jaunts around your neighborhood. Each day widen your travels
until you are able to bicycle for at least a mile.
143. Exercise should give you additional energy. If you are
excessively exhausted after exercising you have overdone it.
144. Again, listen to your body. If you experience a feeling of
nausea or faintness, your efforts may be too intense for your body or
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com you aren’t spending enough time on your cool down process.
145. Your rate of breathing will increase while exercising but
you should still be able to carry on a conversation. If you can’t talk
and walk or talk and lift at the same time, your pace is probably too
intense. Cut back and lighten your weight load.
146. While you may experience some next day soreness when
you begin, exercise isn’t supposed to hurt or leave you feeling stiff.
Devote more time to warm up and cool down exercises as your body
adjusts.
147. Being overweight, your knees may not be strong enough
to support you. If you experience pain, then shorten (or eliminate)
your walks, jogs or bicycling and concentrate on strength building
sessions to build up your muscles and tendons.
148. If you have been sedentary, you may experience lower
back pain when you first begin to exercise. This is because your
hamstring muscles have shortened. When you walk or exercise the
shortened hamstrings pull on the buttock muscles, which in turn will
grab your lower back muscles. If your abdominal muscles are not
strong enough to assist in supporting your lower back, you will
definitely feel it. To get rid of the pain, include abdominal
strengthening exercises with your warm up and cool down.
149. If you get a headache, cramps or heart palpitations, or feel
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com dizzy, faint or cool while exercising, consult your physician.
150. If you have an infection such as bronchitis, put off exercise
until all is normal again.
151. If you just have a cold or the flue, wait until all symptoms
such as fever, have been gone for two days before you exercise again.
152. Walking is the aerobic exercise of preference if you are
over 60. This is because when you walk, the pressure on your joints
never rises about 1.5 times your body weight. Jogging, dance or step
aerobics can put as much as four times your weight or more on your
bones. This is wonderful for younger people, but can put too much
strain on the more brittle bones of the elderly.
153. Start your walking exercise by timing yourself. You don’t
want to become too tried to make it back home. Check your watch
when you begin, and walk around one block over and over until you
get a little tired. Check your watch to see how long you have walked.
That’s the length that your walks should be for the first week or two.
If you get tired on the way home, stop, rest then walk some more.
154. Maintain the same level of exertion for your entire walk.
You will be asking your heart to work hard (but not too hard) for your
entire session. Your hearts gets the biggest benefit from a sustained
workout. If you come to a hill, slow your pace to maintain the same
level of exertion that you had on ground level.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com 155. If the temperature is hot or humid your workout will seem
harder. Adjust the speed and intensity so that you stay at the
appropriate exertion level.
156. If the temperature soars over 95°F with 80% humidity,
limit outside exercise to no more than 30 to 45 minutes.
157. Establish a rhythm to your exercise routine. Using music
can help you to do this. The rhythm helps you perform each repetition
within a set with the same gusto!
158. Be kind to your feet. Exercise in shoes that were designed
for the job or you are giving an open invitation to aches, pains and
even stress fractures in your feet and legs.
159. Pick the right kind of shoe. Walking or running shoes
absorb the shock of your stride. This is thanks to a slightly elevated
heel that also helps to prevent injuries to the leg muscles and tendons.
160. Tennis and other types of athletic shoes absorb the impact
of sideways movement and quick turns.
161. Women who typically wear high heels should avoid flat
tennis type shoes because the sudden shift in foot position could cause
strain.
162. Buy new shoes often. They may last for years, but looks
are deceiving. They will lose their shock absorption within just a few
months. If you walk fewer than 25 miles a week a new pair is in order
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com every four to six months. If you walk more than 25 miles a week,
they should be replaced every two to three months.
163. Examine the patterns in your existing shoes and/or take
them along when shopping for new ones. Your wear patterns might
help the salesperson pick out the best pair for your feet.
164. To get the best fit wear or bring along the same kind of
socks that you will be exercising in. Shop in the afternoon in case
your feet swell during the day.
165. After your warm up, exercise for more than 30 minutes per
session if you want to lose weight. Otherwise, three 10 minutes
sessions per day will protect against disease and a healthier lifestyle.
166. Wear loose fitting clothing that breathes well. You can use
layers of clothing to stay warm and dispel perspiration and heat.
167. Avoid drinking coffee, alcohol or other diuretics before or
while you exercise.
168. If you are a morning person, exercise after you have been
up and about for at least 10 minutes. While sleeping, sometimes
fluids can pool throughout your body even in disks in the spinal
column, ligaments and muscles. If you get up and immediately begin
to exercise, the accumulated fluids can cause major injury such as a
herniated disk.
169. Avoid exercise right after eating. Both your intestinal tract
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com and your muscles will need extra blood to function. The conflicting
needs of each system may leave you with cramps or a feeling of
nausea or faintness. Give you body two hours to complete its
digestive duties.
170. If you have diabetes, avoid injecting insulin into a muscle
that will soon be used for exercise. Working muscles process insulin
differently than nonworking muscles.
171. Learn how much activity is required per hour to burn
calories. For instance, one hour of bicycling at 6 miles per hour burns
240 calories; at 12 miles per hour, you will burn 410 calories. Jogging
at 5.5 miles per hours burns 740 calories but at just 2 miles per hour
more at 7 miles per hour you will burn 920 calories.
172. Walking at just 2 mph, burns 240 calories; increase it to 3
mph and you are burning 320 calories and at 4.5 mph you are burning
a whopping 440 calories! *Note that this is based on a healthy 150
pound woman. A lighter person burns fewer calories and a heavier
person burns more.
173. Walking need not be a chore. Visit your local museums
and art galleries spending time browsing the exhibits. Not only will
you add additional exercise with the walk, you’ll improve your mind!
174. Eating a handful of raisins (about 1 ounce) approximately
15 minutes before your workout can significantly lower free radical and
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com the damage they cause. Raisins are rich in antioxidants.
175. In addition to your daily workout here is a simple exercise
to do while sitting at your desk, driving or watching television. While
seated with back straight, pull your abdominal muscles inward, and lift
your chest and rib cage as you exhale. Hold that position four to six
seconds then release slowly as you inhale. Repeat eight to 12 times.
Try doing this while driving. Change rearview mirror so that it can
only be seen when you are sitting straight. Doing this can help you to
remember to sit up straight in any chair.
176. Here is a quick way to tone up your buttocks while
standing. Squeeze muscles in both cheeks tightly, hold the
contraction for two seconds. Relax for two seconds then repeat eight
to 12 times.
177. Need to strengthen your calves? Stand on a telephone
book, a block of wood, a step or a curb. Face toes in the direction of
the spine. Hang heels over the edge opposite the spine. For better
balance while trying this outdoors, hold a railing or a signpost on at
curb. Keeping your back straight, push up onto the balls of your feet
while counting for two seconds, hold for another two seconds, then
count for four seconds as you lower yourself back down. Tighten up
your abdominals and buttocks to help stay balanced.
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com YOUR DESTINATION
I’d like to leave you with a few thoughts that may help you on
your weight loss journey. At the beginning of this report, we
discussed how the words we speak are very powerful and how those
words create an attitude.
How often have you used the term, “my weight?” You may have
made the comments like these:
“when I lose my weight. . . .”
“My weight doesn’t let me. . .”
“I can’t. . . .because of my weight”
Do see a common thread throughout these statements? Can
you make an educated guess at how many times you have said one of
them or something similar?
From our earlier discussion, you probably already noticed the
“negative” affirmations. . .when. . .doesn’t. . .can’t. . . Read them
again more carefully. Do you see the other critical factor in each
statement?
Each of those statements re-affirm that you “own” your weight.
Therefore, each time you make that comment not only are you re-
affirming your current weight, you are pronouncing to the world that
you are not willing to let go.
Using a personal pronoun is powerful stuff in and of itself
Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com Published by Weight-Loss-Aids.com
because not only are you claiming ownership, you are training your
subconscious mind to believe that you can’t let go.
Starting today. . .right now. . .this very minute, make a
conscious decision that you no longer accept ownership of excess
weight. You are not what you weigh. You are a unique human being
and entitled to all the gifts that this life has to offer.
Now pull out pen and paper and begin your affirmations.
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