I totally agree that diets don't work, and that deciding we're going to change our lifestyle habits is the best thing we can do for our health and our sanity. Thanks for the reminder!

Lynn

Great list to help lose weight. Thanks!

This was a good article, except you did not emphasize the real factor in "really" losing weight, and that is to always be drinking water. That, in my opinion, is by far the easiest way to lose weight. You drink more water, you fill less full during meal times, and you basically eat less because of it. My recommendation: carry a water bottle around with you, the bigger, the better. Challenge yourself to drink a certain (or recommended) amount of water per day.
Also, you should have talked about eating smaller portions, but eating more than just during the 3 meal times that everyone is "suppose" to eat. The reason why most people are fat is because they starve themselves before the meal to the point that when they finally sit down and eat, they're so hungry, they eat faster (and usually more) than the amount they should have ate.

Andrea, since you have quite a few blog posts, you should link your articles together, or just go into more details about the topics discussed. =)

Thanks for the tip :)

can anyone amswer me this....... what should i eat for breakfast lunh and dinner to loose wieght??????? someone help plz

I have been fasting for 10 days and i lost 12 pounds. Its how the body works. You have to learn it. duh, dieting doesnt work. i suggest you guys have a chat with an anorexic(i am one) I know its bad, but they have so much of knowledge on calories and food, you'll learn something. Just dont turn anorexic. Its hell on earth

I have been fasting for 10 days and i lost 12 pounds. Its how the body works. You have to learn it. duh, dieting doesnt work. i suggest you guys have a chat with an anorexic(i am one) I know its bad, but they have so much of knowledge on calories and food, you'll learn something. Just dont turn anorexic. Its hell on earth

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The above comment is stupid for about 5 reasons. Can you spot them?

thanks! you made my day! :)

I recently have lost my appetite and have lost quite a bit of weight. I am down to 121 pounds and really should be at about 140 for my height. I have been trying to eat a lot of fattening stuff such as candy and ice cream and pizza but am still lowing weight. I had been on a pretty much vegetarian diet for the last several years.

However, I guess I would rather have this problem than that of most of the population. I guess we all have our problems.

This excellent advice is fleshed out in a book I give to all my patients for weight loss (not a book I wrote - sorry.) Amazon review here...

http://www.amazon.com/review/RZ755ZQXILS4X/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Yes! Yes! Yes! Wise advice that echoes everything I've tried to tell my familly about dieting! A little common sense goes a long way!

I did find this blog helpful, however, I don't believe it will make me get rid of my atkins diet that I am currently on. I drink all my water that I am supposed to have everyday, but I can't seem to want to stick to a diet where you are supposed to eat the good stuff that you mentioned. I find it to be very expensive. I would recommend this blog to someone who wants to lose weight the right way, unlike me, and who isn't broke so they can afford the food.

You are right on with your non-dieting advice. When people ate real home cooked food, not processed, not sugar-free, not fat-free, obesity was barely an issue. The only thing missing in this post is the "go outside and play" mantra that kept us fit as youngsters of yesteryear.

Great advice. The best thing I have learned from experience is not to diet when trying to lose weight. For awhile when I was dieting, I actually picked up a couple pounds. Sometimes when focusing too hard on your diet, you actually slip up. I am not a water fan but now that I am dieting again, I will give it a try and see what happens. You forgot to mention getting some exercise. I know it's common sense but there are those who think it's all about eating correctly and nothing more. In order to lose fat off your butt, you gotta eat right and get up and move your butt around!

good common sense advice.

I agree that diets are only short-term solutions. I mean, how long can you seriously live on Slim-fast? Are you planning to eat grapefruit for the rest of your life?

Learning to eat healthy in moderation is probably a lot better for you and will help maintain a nice weight. Of course, all that is easier said than done - after an ice cream binge at my local creamery, I always feel like I should only drink chicken broth the next day to "offset" the calories I took in.

That all sounds great, but how do you do all of that with little or no time? It seems really time consuming

I think you are right that "diets" don't work - but the key is not necessarily giving up all refined foods either. We need to figure out how to eat healthy in this over-processed world for sure. You didn't mention added fiber and that is a good tip too, increasing your fruits and veggies and whole grains will increase your fiber intake naturally, but you can also use high fiber cereals on days you don't get enough through other means. Add fiber to balanced meals & extra water and then get your body moving!

Great blog. It is exactly what I believe, and know to be a fact. Dieting doesn't work. Lifestyle changes do. People would be amazed at how easy it could be to maintain a healthy weight with just a few lifestyle changes. Healthy food can be good, and good food can be healthy. And people need to not be so hard on themselves if they do indulge in occasional bad foods. Deprivation never really helped anybody!

Great ideas. I have done almost every diet in the book and I definitely do not like to do it. Sometimes, it was necessary (like wedding), but I feel like so many people diet unhealthily. Your advices show that the health is the most important aspect of dieting, so I really like your advices. I love food, but I think you're right about rewarding yourself with non-food items. Thanks!

Your blog makes a lot of sense. Seems like those tips should come to us naturally!

At first I was unsure on what you were going for with your blog entry, but as I continued reading it I started to understand where you were coming from and you make some fantastic points. I will definitely keep some of the things you said in mind in the future! Thanks!

This will definitely be helpful during this holiday season

Dig the straight forwardness of the article, but disagree somewhat with the content. It is true that weight gain is enhanced by snack foods with little to no nutritional value. However, Fat free and sugar free on a label do not mean that they are unhealthy and loaded with horrid chemicals. Is this true for some? Yes, but it is also true for some vegetables, lean animal proteins and all of the other "supposedly" good for you foods listed within.

We agree on one goal, that eating healthy is the ONLY way to lose weight and keep it off. I just believe that it is done more so by educating oneself. If you see a product you want to try, look into ti, research it a little. Learn what commonly used words such as, "organic" and "antioxidants" mean. Artificial sweetners have nutritional information available as well, and if you dig a little, you discover that there is nothing harmful about them unless you are consuming impossible ammounts daily.

All in all, if you are serious about becoming healthy and happy, don't take our words for it, or anyone elses for that matter. Do the concrete digging of the factual information for yourself and use that as a foundation to build upon.

Growing up overweight, I understand and agree with every point this blog has to make. I'm so sick of hearing how people found quick ways to lose weight. It's lies, quick diets don't exist, unless it's extremely unhealthy. My mother's boyfriend is a huge health fanatic, and he helped me lose weight faster than anyone else. Losing weight requires EXERCISE. There are so many people out there that aren't willing to do that and have the audacity to complain because they're not losing any weight. Your best bet is to steam your vegetables, to grill or bake your food, and drink lots of water. Leave the suger-free things alone, it's worse for you than real food. The way I was trained to diet was eating six small meals a day, with lots of water, taking some vinegar pills, and lots of exercise. It's amazing what getting off your butt and doing something about it can do for you.

This is a very good article, with a lot of points people don't really get. Something few people realize is that you should always sit to eat. You don't realize how much more you ingest just by standing up while you eat.

I believe the secret to losing pounds and keeping them off is to consistently eat well-balanced meals that have a lot of protein and then condition your body so it can absorb the protein more readily. As your body learns to process the protein more efficiently, your body develops more muscle tissue and this leads to speeding up your metabolism and the end result is weight loss. I have found a weight loss and weight maintenance program that accomplishes all of that and "NO", you don't have to starve yourself or feel hungry all the time. Here's my story. I've been overweight for more than half my life and I guess I'm in good company because recently I read that 70% of all Americans are overweight, with over 30% being clinically obese. Well, I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired all the time, not having the energy to do much but sit on the couch, watch TV and eating snacks which added more weight to my frame. I was spending a lot of money buying clothes because I kept outgrowing them. I tried all kinds of diets and exercise and I eventually concluded that most of these programs are either too complicated (i.e. having to read labels or count calories), too time-consuming (going to meetings or working out at the gym), or too expensive (paying for those package meals or gym memberships). Then one day, I was introduced to Kathy Jo. You see, Kathy lost all of the 35 pounds she wanted to lose in about 3 months and has kept them off for almost 7 years and counting. She also told me about hundreds of thousands of other people all over the world who had the same results! To top it all, there were no meetings to attend, no calorie counting, no medications to take, exercise is optional.. AND ... you eat 3 nutritional meals a day plus you can have healthy snacks in between. I just had to try it and lo and behold, I lost over 8 pounds my first 4 weeks (with the help of a cost-free personal wellness coach)... and none of them are coming back! The costs are very reasonable too! For the start-up program, the fully-balanced, nutritional meals cost a little over a dollar each. Sure beats fast food prices and a lot healthier too! Anyway, all I did to get started was to call 800-859-6892. Now, I'm a true believer that this weight loss program is guaranteed to work. I'm looking forward to losing more pounds each and every week!!!

I agree. This is a basic rule which most people who are trying to loose weight, miss out on. No programs, no south or north beach diet.. just simple and sensible lifestyle.

it's true that adapting some sort of lifestyle change works better. i became vegetarian about a year ago and after about a week of it i was on autopilot, not even thinking about what i was eating really. i just followed the one simple rule and the lifestyle change followed out of necessity. i started cooking more and going out less because suddenly THAT was easier. i've lost 30 pounds now with what feels like a minimal effort.

I agree with what you said. Also, portion control is important. I mean honeslty, we know what is good for us and what isn't. Instead of eating the whole chocolate cake, cut yourself a small slice, put the cake away, and eat your slice slowly. We can eat anything as long as we eat it in moderation.

This is really nothing new. I've heard this all before.

That's amazing advice. I am sure that will help many people out there who continually gain weight even when they are dieting. I also really liked your facts about water and the reward system.

Great advice and highly recommended to others! It saddens me how many women I know seem to spend all of their time dieting. Counting calories they’ve eaten, berating themselves for it, binging after starving themselves for weeks... Eating healthy foods, getting some movement, and drinking lots of water are really the only things your body wants you to do for it. I appreciate the sanity in the midst of the New Year’s Weight Loss Resolution Madness.