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Obesity has become a nationwide problem in the US and is spreading throughout the world.  There are many more adults with weight problems than ever before. However the worst concern is our children the future generation. Obesity in children has risen at an alarming rate and is causing physical and mental havoc with our children.

Anyone who has a weight problem knows the physiological problems it can produce. The “thin” people really are cruel to the overweight person. They pass remarks, and often shun the “fat” person. In children especially teenagers the problems get far worse, when bullies start to tease their victims. Boys and girls avoid dating overweight people and the “fat” person starts to feel depressed and lonely.

 Physical problems are also present in overweight people including kids. Breathing, heart and joint problems are just a few problems that obese people can experience. Added to this is the fact that they will have less energy due to the extra weight that their body has to carry around. Digestive problems are also present which will affect their health and sleep patterns. Depression will affect the physical health of a person in many ways.

 Given these facts if we let our kids get obese we are truly destroying their lives. Here are some ways that their lives are shortened:

• Bullying can become so bad that the child gets suicidal. Unfortunately they can often succeed in committing suicide.
• Depression is insidious and can lead to deterioration of health. This in turn will lead to a greater chance of getting sick and can shorten a person’s life.
• Physical problems will develop and get worse as they get older if their weight remains high. Heart attacks are common in overweight people who have an healthy diet and take little exercise.
• Asthma and breathing problems are also present. These problems can shorten your life
• High blood pressure is a common ailment of overweight adults and can manifest itself when the child becomes an adult.

 All these factors add up to a simple fact that many in children won’t outlive their parents. This is a sad fact and one that we can do something about. The time is NOW to take care of our children and help them not to get into this obese state.

We can do it in five ways.

• A healthy diet with less sodas and junk food
• Regular exercise
• Getting involved and leading by example
• Being careful how we feed our kids from when they are babies and teaching them good eating habits.
• Listening to them. Always listen to your kids and understand their problems. Depressed kids will eat more and have a greater risk of suicide and weight problems.

Have you put on just a few more pounds than you wanted to this winter? If you have you are not alone. Most of us put on a few pounds during the winter months. Firstly there are the “holidays” Christmas, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah etc. when we tend to celebrate and eat a little more than usual. The foods are not usually that favorable to weight watchers with plenty of sweet, fat and rich fare. You know it all. 

Now it is time to get down to business and shed those pounds before we have to throw off those thick winter clothes which have been covering our wicked looking bodies.

 5 ways to shed those pounds today:

1. Get back to a healthy diet. Before you get into the habit of eating these weight gaining foods you will need to pull yourself up and get back on track. Reduce and if possible stop the junk food. Replace these goodies with fruits and protein snacks. Eat high fiber foods to stop the munchies as they will keep you feeling full longer. Eat more protein and fewer carbohydrates. Cut down fats and use a small serving of olive oil and vinegar on those salads instead of those fattening salad dressings.
2. Eat smaller portions. Try to eat 6 small meals a day rather than 3 big ones. This will speed up your metabolism and help you to burn off those calories. Try using smaller plates. Psychologically your portions will look bigger when they are really smaller; yes you can fool your mind if you try.
3. Drink more water. Replace sodas and sweetened drinks with water. You will feel fuller and shed pounds without all that sugar. Plus you will flush out toxins from your body, making you feel better.
4. Exercise: passive exercise will let you burn quite a few calories if you do it every day. Allocate a time that you will be able to do your exercise every day without fail. This takes a little discipline but the end justifies the means. You have several choices:
   1. Taking a brisk 5 mile walk around the neighborhood park.
   2. Jogging for around 5 miles. You will need to start slowly and work up to this.
   3. Using a static bike for around 15 minutes a day. This is nice if the weather is not that good outside
   4. A treadmill is good for taking inside walks if the weather is bad outside.
   5. Swimming is fun and good exercise. You can use an indoor pool or the beach depending on your location.
   6. Gardening is also fun and good exercise.
5. You can also go down to the gym and bun off those pounds with all the great equipment they have there. You can hire a trainer to help you during the first few days so that you can work out a good regime for losing that weight.

There are certain foods that will work against you for your weight loss regime. You may think that you are making an effort to lose weight but in reality you are actually letting your body retain that fat by eating the wrong foods.

1. Junk food: yes having a donut and coffee for breakfast will not help you to lose weight. Try to reduce and eventually cut refined sugars from your diet and especially fried carbohydrates like donuts.
2. Fatty foods: your body does need some fats and oils per day but not as much as you think. Fried foods will help you to retain that weight and your body will not be able to burn off that fat.
3. Sodas: sugared juices and sodas will make you put on weight. A better alternative is to drink plenty of water and replace those sodas with one diet soda per day and lots of water.
4. Too much carbohydrate: our bodies need some carbohydrates but not as much as the average person eats. Try to replace carbohydrates with protein foods. This will fill you up without giving you so many calories.
5. Just overeating: sometimes you just do not seem to know when to stop. A good policy is to drink water before and during your meal. It will fill you up and stop you from eating as much. Try to stop eating when you still have a little room left. You will feel less bloated and you will not feel overfull. Your body can handle 6 small frequent meals rather than 3 large ones. 

 So try to think what you are eating and do not let your body work against you. try to eat a healthy diet with less junk and more fiber and healthy foods. They still taste good and will not put on those pounds.

You may be surprised to know that too much salt in your diet can cause weight gain and make you fat. Salt is needed by the body but in limited quantities. Most of us do eat too much salt in our diets. This causes many problems.

 Here are a few problems that it causes.

• Hypertension: high blood pressure can cause a lot of problems for you and can even result in death if not treated. It will also cause stress. This will cause weight gain and fat cell retention. When you get stressed out your body goes into a flight and fight mode and will hang onto those fat cells resulting in belly fat.
• Water retention: excess of salt will cause water retention. This will cause
  •  Problems with your digestion. When your digestive system is not working you can experience constipation and your food will not be absorbed as easily. Your metabolism slows down and fat is not burned as quickly. This will make you put on weight.
  • Water retention will also add to your weight and make you look bigger.

 Where does this salt come from?

• Processed foods are a big problem because they have a lot of salt in them. if you want to cut down salt you should eat less of these processed foods.
• Fast food is famous for having high cal and low nutrition. However it is also loaded with salt. You should reduce your intake of fast foods if you want to cut down salt.
• Adding salt to your food. Try to add as little salt as possible to your foods. This will help you to reduce salt. Use other spices like pepper instead to enhance the taste of the food. You can get artificial salt that will make the food taste good but does not add sodium to your diet.
• Drink at least 8 glasses a day to flush out excess sodium and toxins. Contrary to popular belief drinking water will not lead to water retention. On the contrary it will reduce it.

 So next time you have a meal think about how much salt you may be taking and make a positive effort to reduce it. Your body will thank you by shedding those pounds and keeping healthy.

In order to find the best way to burn fat a number of factors should be considered. You want to lose that fat as fast as possible, you want to make sure it does not come back and of course you want a simple easy way to do it.

There are in fact a number of methods to do this but this is probably number one on my list:
Daily exercise: this is the easiest and simplest way to not only lose weight but keep it off. You can use a variety of ways to exercise, depending on your conditioning. Passive exercise like walking, jogging, swimming and cycling will help you or you can go to the gym for a complete workout using various exercises and machines.

How fast will I be able to burn fat? This will depend on:

• Your body makeup: If you are quite heavy you will find it hard to workout at first. However once you do begin taking exercise you will see the weight start to fall off quite soon. Once you have lost some weight it will be easier to workout regularly.
• Conditioning: if you have not done any exercise before, you will need to start slowly. This may mean that you will burn off your fat at a slower rate at first, but as you improve your conditioning you will be able to more and speed up the process.
• Metabolism: when you take steps to increase your metabolism you will find that those pounds will fall off quicker. If your metabolism is slow you will experience a gradual weight loss.
• Diet: as mentioned above diet is a major factor in how much fat you will lose.
• Stress: stress will force your body to retain fat and prevent you from burning fat especially around your belly, where you want to lose it the most.

 So if you want to burn that fat and keep it off you should try these methods and you will see that you can be a leaner happier you.

There are a number of reasons that some weight loss methods will work for your friend but not for you. One of the main ones being that all important factor metabolism. This varies in different people. This is why you will see your friends are able to eat any old junk and never seem to put on weight whereas you can eat just a small amount of high cal foods and will put on weight within a few days.

 First let us clear up exactly what metabolism means. Simply put metabolism is the process of burning your food and converting it into energy for your body.

• Some of us have a fast rate of metabolism. These are the lucky people who can eat just about anything and do not put on weight.
• Others have a moderate rate: these people have to be careful but do not have to many weight problems.
• Others have a slow rate. Those of us who have a slow rate of metabolism will find that much of our food has a tendency to be stored as fat. We need to watch our diets carefully if we want to keep a healthy body weight.

 Factors that affect metabolism rates:

• Age: as we get older our metabolism slows down. This will begin to be apparent as we approach our mid thirties and middle age. for women metabolism can change and slow down in menopause. This is a particularly trying time as hormones are changing and your body is reacting to the changes in your body as it adjusts to middle age.
• Lifestyle: if you have a sedentary lifestyle your metabolism will be slower. This can happen if you have a sitting down job for most of the day and then come home and relax in front of the TV, or sit about until it is time to go to bed.
• Stress: stress is one of the big factors in making your body retain fat cells. If you are tensed and stressed out your body will make stress hormones that will not allow you to lose weight They will compel you to store fat, especially around your belly area.
• Lack of sleep: will stress you out and because you are tired and not well rested you will find that you have less energy and your metabolism will slow down.

 Tactics to speed up metabolism:

• Vitamin B complex in your diet: You can either take these vitamins as a supplement or eat whole grains instead of refined foods.
• Stress management: if you find yourself in a constant state of stress and tension you should seek some help. There are many stress management classes and workshops that you can join. Once you are more relaxed you will find you are less tired and have more energy. You will also find that your metabolism can speed up.
• Sleeping properly: when you sleep well you will see that you are less tensed and have more energy. Your whole body will work better including your digestive system and your metabolism.
• Eating more fiber and less refined foods: eating more fiber will help your digestive system to work better and speed up your metabolism.
• Small frequent meals: instead of 3 large meals try to eat 6 small ones. This will stimulate your digestive system and speed up your metabolism.
• Exercising: daily exercise will help you to burn more calories and help you to make your metabolism speed up.

I am sure you are well aware that stress can affect your weight in a major way. However what you may not be aware of is how this happens and what you can do about it. Here are some causes of stress that you should be aware of.

• Personal problems: there are a number of personal problems that make you tense and stressed out like; family problems and relationship problems.
• Work: various problems at work can give rise to tension and stress.
• Lack of sleep: this will make you tired and crabby. It will also mean you have less energy and physical exercise will be that much harder and bring stress to your body and mind.
• Being overweight: this can stress you out both mentally and physically. Plus being overweight can also cause some ailments like breathing problems and digestive problems that can cause your sleep patterns to be disrupted and again cause you stress.

Here are some ways that stress will affect your weight:

• Stress hormones: Stress and tension will set off your stress hormones and put your body’s system into a state of alert. This will mean that your body will refuse to let you lose weight. This results in that ugly belly fat that we all hate.
• Mental health: Stress can affect your mental health, which can result in depression. Depression comes in various stages. Mild depression is common with many people but becomes dangerous if it is allowed to progress into a more severe state. It can also give rise to eating disorders. Some people start to rely on food to gratify them and relieve their tension. This in turn will lead to weight gain and deepen their depression in the long run.
• Physical health: You might be surprised at how much stress can undermine your physical health. In fact it is well known that many physical ailments have their roots in stress.

 How to reduce tension:

• Group therapy: sometimes group therapy can help with stress management. Many work places have organized stress management therapy for their employees. Especially if they feel the work is stressful. You can also find these groups and help organizations.
• Meditation and yoga: many people are trying yoga and mediation to relieve their tension. It can be quite effective.
• Seeking family support: if your family can support you and help you to talk about your problems you may be able to find solutions and relieve your tension and stress.
• Take up a hobby: if you divert your mind with something you like doing you can often relieve your tension. Gardening is well known for bringing you peace and mental relaxation. You can also take some enjoyable exercise when you work in your garden.
• Organize your time: much of our stress is due to poor time management. We are simply trying to do too much in less time. If you organize your time and prioritize your work you can cut down a lot of stress this way.
• Listening to music: music will stimulate your emotions but it can also relax you and put you in a good mood. This is a great way to relive your tension and stress, especially after a grueling day at work.

 So do not let stress get the better of you and stop your weight loss efforts. Try to stay positive and relax.

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Losing weight, if done correctly, can ultimately benefit you in the long run. Proper weight management can provide you with a number of advantages like defense against chronic and harmful diseases, boost in self-esteem and more. However, you can’t get a hold of these benefits if you lose weight in the wrong way. It is extremely important not to go down that road if you want to lose more than 10 pounds healthily. 

5 tactics for healthy weight loss:

• Motivate yourself: this is the first thing you should do and often it is the hardest thing to achieve. You will need to stop procrastinating look in the mirror and tell yourself that it is time for a change and you are going to do something about it now. If you need any extra incentive just look at some of those pretty outfits you have hidden in the back of the closet and determine to wear them again.
• Diet: you will need to adjust your diet. Give up that junk food and replace it with healthy snacks, fruits and vegetables. Low fat yogurt is good with fresh fruit and low cal sweetener like Splendor. This will help you get rid of those cravings for sweet that can ruin your dieting. Eat more fiber and replace refined foods with whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Above all drink at least 8 glasses of water per day and do not drink soda and sweet drinks.
• Daily exercise: It is important to take daily exercise. You do not have to go out to the gym unless you want to. You can use your own treadmill or static bike when the weather is bad or you can go for a brisk 5 mile walk or bike run.
• Stop those diets: whatever you do stop dieting. These diets do more harm than good and if you have a healthy diet you will not need to go on the latest fad diet.
• Maintenance: In order to maintain your weight once you lose it you must keep on that healthy diet and continue to exercise every day.

 If you follow these tactics you will lose 10 lb a month and most importantly you will keep off that weight.

Many of us suffer from those annoying fat thighs. They rub together and can sometimes even cause chaffing as you walk. They make that subtle rubbing sound that makes you think that everybody will hear and know that you have fat thighs. Added to this is the fact that you cannot wear those pretty bathing costumes because they cut your thighs and everyone can see that you are fat.

 Well you can get rid of those nasty fat thighs and here are 3 exercises to help you.

1. Leg squat: stand sideways on a bench or high step. Suck in your tummy and pull back your shoulders. Put your left leg on the ground slowly, keeping your weight on the right leg and make sure your hips are level. Bend your right knee until your left leg reaches the ground. Make sure you keep your tummy muscles sucked in and tight. Slowly straighten your right leg until your left leg hangs off the bench.

Try to do this 10 times. Then repeat with the other leg. Now in the beginning you will not be able to do this more than a couple of times but work up to 10 and do it on a daily basis.

2. Use a treadmill: these can be adjusted to make them harder as you get into condition. Exercising the legs will help you to get rid of those fat thighs. You can also go for a brisk 5 mile walk per day.

 3. Static bike: this is a good way to exercise your legs and get them into shape. Some bikes even have a calorie counter and will also tell you how far you have “bicycled.”15 minutes a day will give you results.

 These three exercises will help you but if you do them combined with a healthy diet you will see better results

 For simple easy lessons that you can put into practice right away see lose weight

In many parts of the world winter weather is here. That means it is cold, grey and somewhat depressing. This is the time when we tend to hibernate and take less exercise. Added to this is the fact that we tend to eat more carbohydrates to keep warm and feel better. People tend to put on weight in winter and disguise the fact with all those sweaters and coats.

 Just because winter is here it does not mean that you should let yourself go. We do not have to eat like lumberjacks and hibernate like bears. You can still stay in shape in winter even if it seems a little harder. Here are 5 ways that you can beat the winter pounds.

• Keep on that healthy diet: there is no need for you to eat more just because it is a little colder. Just turn up the heat and wear more sweaters, but do not just eat more.
• You can take exercise indoors: You can use a treadmill or invest in a static exercise bike. In this way you can even do exercises while you watch your favorite TV show, or just relieve stress and winter depression by a little exercise.
• Do not let the winter weather depress you: Find things to do inside. Maybe you can take up some fun hobby. Get on the Internet and find out about things you always wanted to know about. People blog about anything these days Just look it up on Google. Do not eat because you are depressed or bored, that will not help you. Just keep yourself occupied.
• You can join a gym and have fun doing things like aerobics with others. This will help you to burn off those pounds and you can have fun doing it.
• Use your stairs to take exercise. You will be surprised how many calories you will burn going up and down stairs for 10 to 15 minutes each day. Remember do not just crawl go up and down those stairs at a brisk pace. It will be hard at first but you will son get yourself in condition.

For more tips on staying in shape please visit lose weight