In an ideal world, working toward your weight loss goals will have a positive effect on everyone around you. Your spouse will be encouraged to live a healthier lifestyle. Your friends and family will be inspired, and will set out on their own weight loss journeys. Reality, however, very rarely matches up with what the ideal world ought to be. Weight loss can cause friction not only with acquaitences, co-workers and friends, but even with your partner.
Here are some warning signs that your weight loss may be harming your relationship (and how to handle it):
- You start thinking negatively about your partner’s weight. Before we get into the negative reactions your partner might have, let’s start with you. It’s common for someone who is being successful in their weight loss program to want others around them to experience the same success. However, in some cases, that will turn into negative feelings about your partner because they’re not losing weight. Remember that your partner is Continue reading →
One of the biggest struggles many people have when it comes to weight loss is getting other people to understand your weight loss needs and, even if they don’t directly encourage them, refrain from doing things that would get in the way of your weight loss. Getting the support that you need can be a real challenge, even from your closest friends and family members. Still, if you’re going to succeed over the long haul, you’re going to need every little bit of help you can get, and that includes getting support from friends and family.
It’s not always easy to do, however. Just because you’re excited about weight loss doesn’t mean that the people around you are excited. In fact, they might be downright hostile. For example, your husband might be worried that you’ll want to stop visiting his favorite buffet. Your best friend might be worried that you’re going to lose so much weight that she’ll feel insecure about her own weight when she’s around you.
It’s all about communication
You need to start by being totally open and honest with your partner and with your friends. Tell them how Continue reading →
One of the ways that many people rely on to help out with their weight loss program is an online community. Since the dawn of the Internet, there have been communities dedicated to weight loss. In those early days, it was newsgroups; today, it’s sites like SparkPeople. For many people, a community weight loss website is a source of information, inspiration and more.
Here are some of the features you’ll find at SparkPeople that may be able to help you with your weight loss journey:
- Message boards and groups. One of things many people look for in a weight loss website is a place to interact with other people. Before the Internet, groups like Weight Watchers were popular, in part, because it gave people a way to connect with others who were also trying to lose weight. The message boards and groups at SparkPeople are many and varied. You can find groups on special interest topics such as hobbies, and you can find groups based on age or number of pounds you’d like to lose.
- Personal pages and journals. While not everyone has a desire to display their weight loss journey on the Internet, many people find that it gives them some added Continue reading →
The plain and simple fact of the matter is that it takes hard work to achieve your weight loss goals. Regardless of what you might see on television ads or what you might read in a magazine, the bottom line is that losing weight is something that’s hard to do. There are no shortcuts. There are things you can do to maximize your chances for success, but there are no easy roads to weight loss. This is especially true when you’re severely overweight.
There are three primary concerns that someone who’s severely overweight – in the “morbidly obese” category in terms of body fat: determination, safety and capability.
Determination
Any successful weight loss program begins with a decision that you’re going to do whatever it takes to lose the weight that you need to lose. What many people don’t realize, however, is that to be successful you’re going to need to make that very same decision over and over again – usually several times a day. And, rather than getting easier as it goes along, it can be harder to stay determined. The basic willpower that’s required for weight loss is something that can’t be learned and that can’t be provided through surgery or a medication of some sort. It’s something that you need to develop.
Safety
When you’re very big, one of the biggest concerns when you start an exercise or weight loss program should be your Continue reading →
Believe it or not, the people that you spend your time with may have a huge impact on your weight loss whether or not they know it. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, having friends that are obese will increase your chances of becoming obese. Specifically, the study suggests that when one person becomes obese there is a 57 percent increase in the likelihood that their friend will become obese. If the friend is of the same gender, that number goes up to 71 percent. Even siblings and spouses are more likely to become obese, as well.
Weight gain isn’t any more “contagious” than weight loss is, of course. However, weight gain can be spread socially. That is, it moves from one person to another and from one group to another through specific behaviors and social activities. For example, if a group of friends goes out together on a Friday night and someone consistently suggests the all-you-can-eat buffet, eventually others in the group are going to gain weight. Likewise, if a friend gains 20 pounds, you’re not going to feel nearly as bad about the 5 pounds you gained.
So, what do you do? If you’ve got weight loss goals and you have friends that are overweight or obese, should you Continue reading →
Weight loss surgery has become exceedingly popular in the past couple of decades. As the population continues to weigh in heavier and heavier each year, obesity is becoming a major health concern. From children to senior citizens, people across all age and gender categories are growing in size. Weight loss is quickly becoming more than just something that folks wish for – it’s becoming a cultural necessity. That’s why weight loss surgery has continued to grow in terms of its popularity.
Unfortunately, there are some possible side effects and risks involved with weight loss surgery. Here are some of the potential problems you can face after you have had weight loss surgery:
- Surgical complications. Any time you have abdominal surgery, there’s a risk of complications. When it comes to weight loss surgery, you can be looking at things such as infections, hernias, and situations where the staple line breaks or the stomach outlets stretch, both effectively making the surgery useless.
- Gallstones. It’s estimated that about a third of obese people who get gastric bypass surgery will, at some point, develop gallstones. In essence, gallstones are clumps of cholesterol that appear in the gallbladder. Rapid weight loss, regardless of the cause, increases the risk for gallstones. Your doctor may be able to reduce this risk with a Continue reading →
Turkey Genocide day has come and gone. Your weight loss goals took a break as you took a glorious turkey induced nap. Now the real weight loss test begins. This test is the test of wills and a battle against the cookie hordes. This does not mean your weight loss lifestyle needs to fall by the wayside though. It just means you need a few items on your battle plan.
1. Use small plates. It is shown that people tend to shy away from going back for seconds when they are in a public setting. This is a great way to stay the weight loss course, while enjoying the bounty before you. You do this by using a small plate instead of the serving platter you hope to use. Using a small plate means you have less room to shove extra food on. It also means you have to be pickier when it comes to what food you eat. It maybe rough to limit yourself to one small plate of fudge, but your weight loss goals will love you for it.
2. Stop your snacking. The killer to any weight loss lifestyle comes in the form of snacking. Holiday potlucks are the thorn to any well-laid weight loss plans. The reason is that food tends to sit out over the course of the day. This leads to nibbles here, a small snack there. Over the course of the day, this snacking tends to have some detrimental affects to Continue reading →
The north maybe turning into a white wonderland, but that just means there is plenty of fun new weight loss exercises you can do. Some of these exercises may not even feel as though you are working out, but rather just playing and having a grand time. These are the best weight loss exercises one can partake. Those of you looking to ditch the gym and get outside, you may want to consider:
1. Snowboarding/Skiing. Snowboarding and skiing put a large emphasis on your leg and core stabilizer muscle groups. You may think you are doing nothing more than trying to make it down a hill, but it is a lot of work to keep yourself upright and head centered. If you can avoid any lifts, you also get the added benefit of having to hike up steep hills.
Those of you who enjoy skiing may want to consider cross-country skiing. This provides a full body workout and has huge benefits to any weight loss plan. This activity is so good that exercise equipment makers have even made home equipment to mimic this activity.
2. Build a snowman. Hard to believe that the entertainment of building a snowman can be beneficial to your weight loss goals huh? Think about it this way, you trudge around the yard rolling three decent sized snowballs. You then have to hoist these balls on top of one another in a balancing act of the ages. Finishing off this weight loss activity is hunting down decorations to making these stacked balls resemble a snowman. This whole activity could result in Continue reading →
You maybe concerned with what to get Aunt Edna for Christmas, but now is also the perfect time to prepare for those inevitable New Years resolutions. The most common resolution outside of quitting smoking, saving money, and buying a private island is weight loss. If jumping on the weight loss bandwagon is in your near future, there are a few things you can do now to make this one successful resolution.
- Buy your clothes now. With all the Christmas sales going on right now, this is the perfect time to acquire some new gym clothes. You maybe looking for a new tie for dad, but you may also want to hit up the stores active wear section and get yourself some new shorts as well. This is a great way to get your mind in gear for weight loss activities, while you save some extra coin.
You should also be sure to look for new footwear as well. Your lawn mowing sneakers maybe great for the lawn, but they will not serve you well in your weight loss exercises. Again, with all the sales going on, why pass up the opportunity to dress your feet in comfort?
- Lay out your attack plan. Instead of fumbling on January 1 with how and what you need to do to make this weight loss resolution come true, start your planning for it now. This can be as simple as just figuring out where Continue reading →
It’s official, the holidays are upon us, and that can only mean one thing – a smorgasbord of food. This special time of year can be downright detrimental to any best-laid weigh loss goals. To help you get through the next few months without watching those weight loss goals slip way, here are five easy tips to keep you on track:
1. Know your limits – It’s hard to refrain from the copious amounts of cookies, fudge, sweets, sausage, cheese, and other sundries of great food this time of year. This is a perfect time to know your limits. No, you don’t have to completely refrain from those awesome sugar cookies, but instead of consuming five or six, just enjoy one.
You can also ensure you stick to low consumptions by eating slowly. Enjoy that summer sausage the vendor sent you. There is no need to race to the end of it. Eating the great items that spring up this time of year is not a bad thing, but make sure you resist the urge to dump an entire plate of candies down your gullet.
2. Adjust that diet – The holidays often bring on parties, buffets, and potlucks. Time to start your weight loss dietary planning. You may know days in advance that there is going to be a buffet of food at work one Friday afternoon. Adjust your diet to allow for some enjoyment during this time. This may mean you have to eat some Continue reading →
