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The Importance of Weight Loss Support
There is no denying that weight loss is a difficult challenge. You must make so many changes in order to lose weight; at times it can become overwhelming. This is one reason gaining support is vital for success. Most of you will not travel down the road to weight loss on your own. At some point in your journey you will need a helping hand.
Start locating individuals and/or groups that can provide the supportive relationships you need to be successful. Weight loss support truly is about developing relationships. The greater your support network the more resources available to overcome obstacles when they arise. You may receive support in a variety of forms. One powerful type of support helpful for weight loss is emotional support.
An example of emotional support may be as simple as a friend complementing you on how well you did in aerobics class last night. Emotional support can help you through a tough time by listening, providing encouragement, or expressing acceptance for you. Emotional support makes you feel good and assists in keeping you on the path to weight loss. Support can also be more tangible and practical such as keeping your children while you go exercise or providing you with financial assistance when you are in a bind. Enlisting support is important for your weight loss efforts so get busy recruiting your team.
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The Biggest Loser Club Tip: Getting Online Weight Loss Support
One big weight loss challenge for many individuals is having social support. If you aren’t getting the support you need from family and friends, look online. An online weight loss plan has social support in the form of nutrition and fitness experts, chat sites, message boards or forums. Online you will find support by meeting people who are also trying to get healthy and lose weight. Even if you are getting support at home, more is better. The support gained online can be particularly helpful. You can pose questions to a message board and get advice from others who have been in your shoes. You can obtain support from online members who share a common interest and experience, such as members over the age of 50 or those aspiring to lose 50 or more pounds. Also, there are support groups for those with health conditions related to their weight, such as a high blood pressure support group or a diabetes group. Take full advantage of social support because it is extremely important for weight loss success.
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Family Support for Weight Loss
If you are to succeed in losing weight you must have your family onboard. They must be your biggest cheerleaders. Below are several important things your family should do and avoid as they assist you along this process.
Things to Avoid
Threats: Using threats will only serve to anger the overweight family member. Nothing positive can come from it.
Don’t conceal food.
The overweight family member will find the food sooner or later and be resentful.
Don't attack or lecture.
Avoid talking down to the overweight family member. This will make them feel worse about themselves not better.
Don’t expect perfection.
Weight is something that’s managed not cured. Be patient and compassionate if there is a setback.
Don’t avoid social activities due to the overweight family member’s weight. This will cause the person’s self-esteem to plummet and create resentment towards the family
Things to Do
Be positive: Always be willing to provide an encouraging word and pat on the back.
Keep a relaxed atmosphere at home. This allows plenty of time for the overweight family member to devote to eating right and exercising more.
Be an exercise partner.
Forgive lapses. The overweight family member feels badly enough as it is, no need to make them feel worse by coming down on them. Stay positive and move forward.
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The Biggest Loser Club Tip: The Benefits of Fiber For Your Healthy Weight Loss
Fiber is an important part of any healthy weight loss diet plan. Dietary fiber is the portion of fruits, vegetables, grain, beans and nuts that is not completely digested. It helps to move food along the digestive tract. Adding fiber to your diet will help you lose weight because fiber containing foods are low in total calories and fat plus they are packed full of vitamin and other nutrients that your body needs. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. The soluble fiber is known to prevent constipation and decrease risk of certain types of cancer. Insoluble fiber is primarily known for its cholesterol lowering capability. Fiber also contributes to good health by lowering the risk of heart disease and helping to control blood sugars for those with diabetes. Good sources of fiber are listed below. The American Heart Association recommends 25-30 grams of fiber per day.
Food Fiber (grams per serving)
Bran cereal, ½ cup 10-13
Split peas, cooked, ½ cup 8
Baked beans, ½ cup 6
Almonds, whole, ½ cup 4
Popcorn, 3 cups 4
Oatmeal, cooked, ¾ cup 3
Whole wheat bread, 1 slice 2
Potatoes, baked with skin, 1 medium 5
Green peas, cooked, ½ cup 4
Broccoli cooked, ½ cup 3
Apple, with peel, 1 medium 4
Banana, 1 medium 3
So as you can see, fiber is found in many of the food you eat. Take advantage of fiber by adding it to your healthy weight loss diet plan.
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Understanding Variety, Balance, and Moderation
A study conducted by the American Dietetic Association found that 2 out of 5 people surveyed thought eating a healthy diet required giving up the foods they love. Actually nothing could be further from the truth. Avoiding your favorite foods will only lead to binging on that very food somewhere in the future. There are three important guides to use when developing a healthy diet: variety, balance and moderation.
Variety – You should select a number of different foods within a particular food group.
When you eat the ‘same foods’ every day you miss out on important nutrients found in other foods within the same group. For instance, if you only eat carrots as your vegetable source, you get plenty of vitamin A but no folate. Folate is found in dark green vegetables like spinach, broccoli and asparagus. Another reason to add variety in your diet, particularly for fruits an vegetables, is that each color of fruit or vegetable contains different cancer retarding substances called phytochemicals.
Balance –You should eat foods from all of the five different food groups. The different food groups are:
Grains
Vegetables
Fruits
Milk
Meat and Beans
If you eat a bean burrito with salsa, an apple, and low fat glass of milk, you have covered all of the groups. Try to consciously consume balanced meals throughout the day. Overeating any particular group will cause you to miss vital nutrient found in other food groups.
Moderation –You should use portion control at meals and not over consume any one food. Realize that there are no “good” or “bad” foods. All foods, even those that are high in fat, have there place in a healthy diet plan but must be controlled.
By using these three pillars of a healthy food plan you can lose weight and adequately fuel your body throughout the day.
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The Biggest Loser Club Tip: Eating Fast Food on the Road
Healthy travel nutrition can be extremely difficult. Just as you have a healthy eating plan at home, you must also have a well devised travel diet plan. Fast foods notoriously have large amounts of total calories, fat calories, and salt. Pressure placed on the fast food industry has led to more healthy alternatives than ever before. Items such as roasted or grilled chicken sandwiches, baked potatoes, skim milk and salad bars can be found at many fast food chains. Below are a few tips for making healthy travel nutrition choices while you're traveling:
Select roasted or charbroiled sandwiches
Eat a hamburger instead of cheeseburger
Choose mustard instead of mayonnaise
Add plenty of veggies (lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion)
Stay away from the jumbo or biggie size food items
Limit or avoid cheese and high fat/calorie dressing to salad
Substitute skim milk, water or diet soda as a beverage instead of regular sodas and milk shakes
When eating pizza, make it thin crust with cheese or added vegetables such as mushrooms, peppers and onions. When adding meat, choose Canadian bacon over pepperoni, hamburger or sausage.
Use low-fat sour cream and/or salsa on baked potatoes
Select low-fat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream
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Strength Training For Weight Loss
Strength training includes any type of exercise where you work against resistance. This includes any movement using your own body weight, bands, tubes, resistance machines, or free weights. Incorporating a strength training routine into your weight loss program can help you lose weight. First, resistance training is a great calorie burning exercise. On average you will burn approximately 200-400 calories per session. Another benefit of strength training is that your metabolic rate will stay elevated for some time after the workout.
Some research studies show that metabolic rate can stay elevated for more than 12 hours. This means you are burning more calories even at rest. However, the main advantage of strength training is that it preserves muscle so as you lose weight more of it comes from fat. If you continue resistance training for several months you may actually gain muscle. Adding muscle is great because it takes more energy to fuel the extra muscle with most of these calories coming from fat. As with any new exercise start gradually. Begin lifting a couple of days a week using light weights at first. As your confidence grows, you can increase the number of days you train, the amount of weight you use, or the number of exercises you do. An appropriately designed resistance training program can be an effective tool for weight loss.
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The Biggest Loser Club Tip: Use the Plate Method to Lose Weight
Of course you've heard that eating out can really pack on the pounds, so you've started preparing weightloss meals at home. Good for you, but you may be thinking, "Why isn't the weight just falling off"? It is important to understand that you can still overeat a healthy balanced meal no matter how nutritious it may be. It all boils down to calories in versus calories out. Be aware and watch those serving sizes! One way to be mindful of your balanced meal and serving sizes is called the plate method.
Arrange a healthy balanced plate in the following manner:
½ of you plate should be fruits and vegetables. Choose fruits that are a variety of colors and non-starchy vegetables such as broccoli, green beans, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, cauliflower, spinach, peppers, and salad greens.
¼ of your plate should be grains. Examples of grains include cereal grains (breakfast) or cooked grains, pasta, bread, crackers and starchy vegetables such as corn, potatoes, and squash. Try to include grains that are high in fiber like whole wheat pasta and brown rice.
¼ or less of your plate should be meat and beans . Choose lean protein like chicken, fish or most variety of beans
There is no magic to using the healthy plate method. Try to use the above guideline when plating your weight loss meals. With some practice you can be reassured that the calories you consume will be under control allowing safe and effective weight loss.
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