While losing weight is a personal and private goal for many people, you don’t have to do it alone. In fact, a good weight loss support system may be the difference between the success or failure of your weight loss goals.
Read moreWhile losing weight is a personal and private goal for many people, you don’t have to do it alone. In fact, a good weight loss support system may be the difference between the success or failure of your weight loss goals.
Read moreFinding healthy workplace snacks is a challenge for pretty much everyone, but it can be particularly daunting if you’re focused on losing or maintaining your weight. The best way to avoid the temptation of sugary treats and the allure of the vending machine is to keep snacks on-hand. Depending on where you are in your weight loss journey, try some of the following to keep away the munchies and that mid-afternoon energy crash.
Read moreWhen we think about eating and why we eat, we often focus on the fundamental principles of providing our bodies with the “fuel” that we need to survive. But what other reasons might be behind our desire to eat? Most people eat for a host of reasons, both good and bad. If you’re trying to lose weight, one helpful practice is to examine your motivation when you have the desire to eat. Here are some questions that will help you clarify your motivation before you take your first bite.
Read moreThe phone rings right when you come home from work. The dog needs walking, the kids are hungry, and what was it you were going to make for dinner? Twenty-first century life throws a lot at you and it’s easy to get caught up in a cycle of uncontrolled stress—a cycle that could have you reaching for the nearest snack, undoing all your hard work to reach your weigh loss goals.
Read moreWhen you’re trying to lose weight, everything you put in your mouth matters—both food and beverages. Many popular beverages, such as coffee drinks, sodas, sports drinks, bottled iced teas, and juices are high in sugar, and a major source of hidden empty calories. For example, a typical 12-ounce non-diet cola contains about 150 calories and about 10 teaspoons of sugar. Cutting these sugary calories out of your diet is a ‘must’ to start losing weight!
Read moreTo successfully maintain your weight loss, you need to become more physically active. It’s challenging to squeeze a workout into an already busy schedule, but just because you might not have time for a full-blown gym session every day doesn’t mean you should do nothing. One way to fit in exercise is to sneak it into you workday. Here are some ways to do that.
Read moreProtein is the building block of the human body and a crucial part of complete nutrition. Carbohydrates are easy to find or grab off the shelf, but protein-rich foods usually require a bit more preparation. If you struggle with fitting enough protein into your diet, try these on for size.
Read moreFor anyone who has set a New Year’s resolution and let it lapse (IE – all of us), we likely know that actioning these resolutions can be easier said than done. So how do you maximize your chances of reaching your objectives, without creating goals that are vague, unrealistic, or too ambitious?
Read moreNavigating the cornucopia of delicious foods at parties and social events is always a challenge, but even more so when you’re trying to stick to a healthier weight maintenance plan.
If you have other dietary restrictions or food allergies, you’re probably already resigned to gazing longingly at all the tasty treats you can’t eat, but these tips can help you, too! The next time you’re faced with a holiday party, work event, or family dinner, keep these tips in mind to stay on track.
The chill of winter is here for most of North America, and nothing says cold weather like the rich scents of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. With winter scenery everywhere you look, it can be difficult to fight the urge to snuggle up with a delicious—but calorie-dense—latte or hot cider. If you love hot bevvies but want to stay on track with your weight loss or maintenance goals, here are some perfect options to try.
Read moreYou may have heard the saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Well, here’s another saying for you: “The pen is mightier than the pounds.” What does that mean? It means, if you want to lose weight, one simple tool can help you reach your goal: keeping a food journal.
Read moreIf you’re trying to lose weight or maintain weight loss, one of the most important things you can do is cook most of your meals at home. Home-cooked meals generally contain more nutrients and fewer unhealthy ingredients that might derail your healthy weight loss plan. Plus, there’s an added benefit to cooking at home: you can include your kids in the process.
Read moreVegetables range in taste from bitter to sweet, in texture from mushy to crisp, and in color from green to purple. With all that variety, it can be easy to get overwhelmed! Unless you’re the rare person who happily consumed your broccoli and peas as a child, chances are you struggle to include enough veggies in your diet. Vegetables get a bad rap, often because of our childhood experiences, but it really is possible to find vegetables that you not only tolerate, but that you actually like!
Read moreA sensible exercise routine is a great complement to a healthy weight loss program. However, your schedule is probably already packed with work, family, and home responsibilities. So how do you fit in exercise when you’re busy? While it’s definitely a challenge, it’s not impossible. Here are some ways to work increased activity into your busy life.
Read moreBreakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but lunch often presents the biggest challenge when you’re working on losing or maintaining your weight. Even if you’re simply trying to make healthier eating choices, lunch out at a café or restaurant can be stressful. Here are some quick tips to make navigating the world of sandwiches and soups simpler and healthier.
Read moreCongratulations! You just reached your weight loss goal. You should feel proud of yourself for sticking with your weight loss plan and making the necessary changes in your lifestyle that brought you this far. The work’s not over, though. Your commitment to a healthier lifestyle is just beginning. You’ve been learning about healthy eating and other lifestyle changes, and now is the time to commit to keeping up with those changes.
Read moreAs you work on making your lifestyle healthier, you may also want to revamp the gifts you give—after all, you want your loved ones to be just as healthy as you are! Everyone loves to receive a gift that involved thoughtfulness on the part of the giver. Instead of opting for a super-sized box of chocolates, why not take a few moments to consider what would really make your loved one happy? What are his interests and hobbies? Has she mentioned an activity she’d love to take part in?
Read morePreparing and cooking most of your meals and snacks is one of the best ways to maintain your weight loss. When you make the food yourself, you know exactly what goes into it, and you have control of serving sizes so you don’t find your weight edging up due to portions that are too large.
Read moreCyberbullying and shaming run rampant online, sometimes even in the weight loss, fitness, and body positive communities. But bullying and shaming in person are no less damaging and painful. It can often feel like there is no “right” way to look: overweight and even healthy weight individuals are fat shamed, and overweight people who try to lose weight are diet shamed.
Read moreLosing weight is difficult enough without the challenges of social pressure and workplace stress. Whether you’re inclined to reach for snacks out of stress, boredom, or hunger, ensuring your workspace supports your diet is a powerful way to cut down on opportunities to self-sabotage your weight loss efforts.
Read moreYou’ve been diligently following your weight loss program, and you’re noticing results. You feel better, and your weight is dropping. But then one day you slip—maybe someone at work brings doughnuts and even though you know you shouldn’t, you eat one—or more. Maybe you find yourself in the pantry eating potato chips right out of the bag. Or maybe you simply find yourself eating more: even if what you eat is good, you can still eat too much of it. You’ve gotten off track—now what?
Read moreAre you one of the over 85% of Americans who spend close to $2,750 each year on lunches and coffees? If you’re sick of spending and want to keep your waist slim and wallet fat, you should definitely be lunch prepping!
Read moreYou’ve set a goal to lose weight and keep it off. You know you need to find a food plan that will do both. When we talk about lifestyle change for long-term weight maintenance, the foundation has to be a livable food plan that you can stick to for life.
Read morePreparing your meals ahead of time not only helps keep your wallet fat and saves you time, but it can also help keep your waistline trim. If you’re working on losing weight, preparing your own food is a must, and if you’re focused on maintaining your weight loss (congratulations!), lunch offers a sneaky potential for trip-ups. Here are 5 good reasons why you should meal-prepping your lunches now!
Read moreYou’ve probably heard the term “body positivity” recently—especially if you’re thinking about weight management or working toward losing weight.
Read moreAs you’ve no doubt discovered, losing weight takes dedication and perseverance. But, you’ve also found that it is well worth the effort. The rewards of feeling good and having more energy…
Read moreNo doubt about it – sticking to a healthier weight loss program will require a commitment of time. But where do you find that time? If you’re like most of us, you have a job that keeps you hopping (or sitting most of the day), an active family life and the daily stresses that happen in our lives. You may wonder how (or even why) you’re going to add one more thing to your day.
Read moreKnowledge truly is powerful, and understanding why we may be gaining weight gives us the tools to reverse those numbers on the scale. We know that too many calories cause weight gain. However, sometimes it is the type of foods that we are eating that can sabotage our best intentions. We metabolize different kinds of foods differently. For example, calories we consume from sugar will certainly affect us much differently than calories from healthy protein.
Read moreA trigger is any kind of stimulus that we can have a reaction to. Triggers can be sights, smells, sounds, locations, stressful situations—even people—that break down our resistance and cause us to eat things that sabotage our weight loss efforts.
Read moreIt’s called yo-yo dieting, or in more clinical terms, weight cycling. But no matter what you call it, watching our weight go up and down—just like a yo-yo—can be an endless cycle for many of us. Watching our weight fluctuate up and down is frustrating and unhealthy. But, you can stop the cycle by finding a solution that works for you.
Read moreMany people rely on the Internet for information on losing weight. There’s so much information on weight loss out there that it’s easy to get confused. Let’s try to separate fact from fiction when it comes to successful weight loss. Following are some of the more common weight loss myths that can ultimately affect your weight loss journey.
Read moreMany people can lose weight, but keeping the weight off isn’t easy. For many of us, it can be even harder to keep weight off than it is to lose it. The good news? It’s very doable. People who successfully maintain their weight loss for a year or more know that it takes real work and commitment to keep it off. It requires big-picture focus and a long-term plan.
Read moreMost of us are aware that sugar is bad for our waistline and our health. We also know the obvious culprits are soda, candy, pastries, sugary cereals and ice cream. But sugar is hiding out in places many of us would not expect. Sometimes, what we think of as “healthy” choices are in fact loaded with sugar. Take fruit juice, for example. The sugar content in most fruit juices is often equivalent to soda. Many parents don’t let their children drink soda, but don’t think twice about packing juice boxes in school lunches.
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