Do you know what it takes to lose weight, get healthier and realize your dreams?

<B>Awareness, Education, Determination, Action, and Motivation!</B>

That's it! five simple tools in your tool belt of success and you are on your way.

<B>Awareness</B> is essential in that oftentimes we really don't know that some of the little things we are doing are contributing in big ways to our excess weight. For example, do you drink one or more soft drinks in a day? ONE soft drink (approximately 10 ounces) is 120 calories, takes 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a DAY to burn it off AND is filled with unnecessary chemicals! Switching one's soft drink habit for water can amount to considerable weight loss over the course of a year.

Or are you cleaning morsels off the kids' plates? ONE bite may not seem like much, but many "one" bites add up to ONE HUGE bite over the course of the day. It all counts!

I speak with so many people who swear to me they have fairly healthy habits. I think we kid ourselves a lot. Do you kid yourself? Is the joke on you?

Open your eyes and take a long hard look at your actions, and look for ways you can easily, and without much effort, improve upon your actions and make them a bit healthier.

<B>Education</B> is essential in that we need to know what is healthy. Today, that is perhaps harder than at any other time in history! There are so many confusing and mixed messages about what is healthy: low carb, low fat, low glycemic and bears, oh my!

I don't know what is the right way to eat; honestly, I don't. I am not a nutritionist, doctor or expert on food, but I am the undisputed expert on what NOT to eat! YOUR vices!!! I don't care how many times you have heard "You can eat what you love and still lose the weight" — you CAN'T!!!! If you LOVE food, that in and of itself is part of the problem! I think you should love life, NOT food! Educate yourself on the foods you will eat that are healthy and that work within YOUR lifestyle!

<B>Determination!</B> YOU must be determined to succeed at this and really want to change your lifestyle! It is NOT enough that you just want to LOSE WEIGHT.

What then? you guessed it — the weight comes back on! You must, must, must make your goal to have a permanently healthy lifestyle and be determined to realize it!

<B>Action!</B> Once you have educated yourself as to what is unhealthy, are aware of unhealthy actions, and are determined to change, all that is left is to take action! Make sure every day that you are taking action — that is a step in the right direction!

<B>Motivation!</B> Sometimes the going gets tough; that is when the motivated get buff! Make some goals: short-term and long; plan some rewards you are going realize along the way AND make it fun! For example, buy a terra cotta planter and some small tiles, mirrors, large beads or stones — and then EACH day you stick to your plan, bust your vices and reach your daily goal, glue an item on the planter. By the end of the year, you will have the most gorgeous planter (grout over it, wipe down, let it dry and it will be fabulous!!) AND you'll be, oh, about 100 pounds thinner!

The low carb diet craze has become extremely popular amongst dieters. From diet books, free low carb diet plans, online dieting sites, and thousands of low carb recipes, low carb diets have produced favorable results for millions of overweight people. Along with the Atkins Diet and the South Beach diet, there are many other low carb diet plans. The Suzanne Sommers Diet and The Zone Diet are popular choices as well, each promising to be more effective than the other. Each of these diet plans includes recipes, menus, and helpful diet tips designed to help you lose weight quickly and maintain your weight loss.

If you are considering beginning a low carb diet, keep in mind that each low carb diet plan allows for differing amounts of carbohydrates that you may consume. Some allow little to no carbohydrates and others allow for only certain types of carbohydrates. You will find hundreds to thousands of low carb recipes and meal plans. Switching to a low carb lifestyle is not the answer if bread, potatoes, and pasta are staples in your diet. If you can live without these types of foods, low carb may be the perfect diet plan for you.

Low carb recipes limit the amount of carbohydrates you consume while allowing you to enjoy a variety of foods. There are delicious recipes available that are sure to please your entire family and limit the number of carbohydrate grams you are eating at the same time. The South Beach program allows for a gradual increase in carbohydrates as your body adjusts to your new eating habits. The South Beach Diet is somewhat less restrictive than The Atkins Diet. The Zone Diet and The Suzanne Sommers Diet stress not only a low carb lifestyle, but also combining certain foods to increase your body's fat burning ability. Other less well-known low carb diet plans may be just as effective for you as the more famous diet plans.

Beginning a low carb diet and lifestyle will require discipline and determination, but can be very helpful in your quest to lose weight. Search the diet plans and recipes that are available to you until you find the one that will best suit your individual needs. Free diet plans and recipes are also readily available.

There are many products available to help you lose weight. There are supplements, diet plans, programs and online support systems to help you manage your eating habits and measure your weight loss progress. Some of these companies provide support and help with your dieting program. We can help you by providing you with a free list of our recommended best sources for effective weight loss products and services. To view our list of recommended sources to help you lose weight or to read more articles about dieting visit: Recommended Weight Loss & Diet Resources Online.

Before you try starving yourself or turning to diet drugs in order to lose weight, take some time to research and discover more natural and safer methods of reaching your weightloss goals. Here are five food and excercise tips that you can get started with today.

1. Try to have breakfast within one hour of waking. It's always best to have breakfast within an hour of waking so that your body can charge itself with the energy it needs for the day. The idea is not to wait for yourself to get really hungry. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but that does not mean that it should be the most filling meal of the day.

2. Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice. Juice is often sweetened but fresh fruits have natural sugars. When you eat fruit, you are taking in a lot of fiber, which is needed by the body, and fruits of course are an excellent source of vitamins.

If you do have a craving for fruit juice then go for fresh fruit juice instead of those that contain artificial flavors and colors. Or even better, try making your own fruit juice taking care not to sweeten it with too many calories.

3. Fix times to have meals and stick to it. Try to have food at fixed times of the day. You can stretch these times by half an hour, but anything more than that is going to affect your eating pattern, the result will either be a loss of appetite or that famished feeling which will make you stuff yourself with more than what is required the next time you eat.

4. Tuck in your tummy whenever you walk. Get that proper gait. And the best way for that is to tuck in your tummy and inflate your chest. Do not let your tummy hang above your belt line like some unruly layer of flesh. Bring it under the belt.

Each time you tuck in your tummy, you will feel the pressure on the muscles of your stomach. This tightening and loosening of these muscles is even better than stomach crunches.

5. This excercise routine is our favorite - punching your pillow. It may sound like one of those weird ideas but believe me it works. Not too many of us have punching bags at home and if you have really fluffy pillow giving it a good punching routine is just as good as anything else.

This is also a nice way of letting off steam, so go for it. After all, something is better than nothing. But I would suggest that you do not hit it too violently or else the stuffing might come out. Do not bother too much about the force with which you hit the pillow. It is number of hits that are important. Try to get at least fifty punches in one bout.

I would like to give you a little tip over here. If there is somebody that you particularly dislike like your boss or your neighbor, or may be your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, try fixing a picture of the person's head on the top of your pillow and then try punching it. I promise you, it will give you a lot of satisfaction!

Imagine a pile of fresh-cooked chips, crisp outside, meltingly smooth and starchy inside. A soft, squidgey doughnut, oozing jam. A mound of ice-cream. A whole box of chocolates…just for you. A big bag of salty, crunchy crisps.

Hard for most of us to refuse — and for people with food cravings, almost impossible. Cravings are strong desires for particular foods or types of food, almost always high-fat and often high-sugar as well. These are danger foods, diet busters with a vengeance. Once you start eating them, it's very difficult to stop, and the desire for them can seem irresistible and uncontrollable.

Cravings aren't fuelled by hunger. They are often set off by emotional needs, and can also be caused by food allergy. Since many diets do leave you feeling hungry, how can you tell whether that sudden passion for chips is an emotionally-based craving or simple semi-starvation?

<b>Craving</b>

* Is in the mouth and mind. You long for the taste, texture, mouth-filling qualities and feel of a certain food:

* Is sudden and urgent

* Is specific, for a particular food or type of food

* Is semi-automatic; you just can't stop shovelling it in

* You may go on eating past the point of physical discomfort

* Leaves you feeling ashamed

<b>Real Hunger</b>

* Is in the stomach, with rumbling, emptiness, discomfort

* Grows gradually

* A wide range of food would do

* Is under conscious control

* You stop when you're full

* Leaves you feeling satisfied

Food cravings can make your life a continuing misery, trapped in a hideous vicious circle. You feel fat, unattractive and unlovable. So you binge to distract yourself, to fill the emptiness inside, to cheer yourself up. It doesn't — or not for long. What it does do is make you feel out of control, disgustingly piggish and profoundly ashamed. Your self-esteem ends up even lower and your hips even larger.

Knowing the pointless harm you're doing yourself doesn't help you stop. Lecturing yourself, blaming yourself, hating yourself — these reactions not only don't stop the cravings, the stress makes them worse.

There are three games your cravings play to make you feel it's OK to give in to them — just this once.

*persuading yourself that giving in will positively improve things in the present situation — some chocolate will really energise you.

*telling yourself that bingeing will help relieve anxieties, depression or other discomforts … cream cake is so soothing.

*believing that you deserve it … you've stuck to a diet all week, you're entitled to some chips tonight.

All harmless enough — unless you have food cravings and you know that once you start, you won't stop. Obviously it's a good idea to find other things which relieve stress, make you feel good and act as rewards.

<b>Five ways to beat bingeing</b>

Half the battle in learning to cope with cravings is realising that you CAN resist them. These six key tips will point the way.

<b>* Keep things in proportion.</b> Thinking of your cravings as 'overpowering' urges it would be 'unbearable' to resist, that you just 'couldn't live without' chips or whatever is just so frightening and stressful that you'll head straight for the fridge to calm down.

Such over-the-top descriptions are simply not true, so change your inner language. Is walking past the chip shop really unbearable — compared with breaking a leg? Use words like 'uncomfortable' to yourself instead. Remember that millions of people have overcome full-scale addictions — for drink, tobacco and drugs. You can certainly cope with chocolate. You can bear the feeling, you won't go crazy.

It helps to remember past times when you've denied a strong urge. You survived then, you can survive now.

<b>* Visualise the results of giving in. </b>Counter the immediacy of the craving by making the long-term consequences very vivid. Urges are very shortsighted; it's hard to see past that tub of ice cream. So ask yourself: How will I feel later if I give in?

Imagine someone whose opinion matters to you watching you stuff yourself, finding out you can't control yourself. Imagine how you'll feel once you've, yet again, proved to yourself that you're a slob with no willpower? Now, feel the glow of achievement you'll have when you walk away from the food. See yourself as a size 12, slipping easily into terrific clothes in a communal changing room.

Warnings on the fridge door can help. So can talking to yourself as if you were advising a friend. Use to yourself the arguments you would use to her.

<b>* The Inner Beast! </b>Think of the craving as something quite separate from yourself. Give it points on a ten point scale. Even a name, perhaps — one woman called her food cravings 'the Beast'. Distancing it this way makes it easier to fight.

<b>* Mental distraction. </b>Create a vivid mental picture of a peaceful setting — a warm beach, perhaps — and use it to relax. This will help if you mainly overeat as a response to stress. However, if being relaxed just makes cravings stronger for you, choose some challenging mental activity … planning the perfect holiday, designing your dream house, creating a business, working out what makes your boss tick…

</b>* Physical distraction. </b>Leave the place where you feel the craving. Get out of the kitchen and take a walk or do some gardening. Monitor yourself to find out when and where you feel most tempted, and change or avoid those particular situations.

<b>* Food allergy. </b>If you mainly crave one type of food .. ie wheat (bread, pasta, pizza, cakes, biscuits) … suspect you may have a food allergy/addiction. Try stopping ANY wheat (read every label) for a week, then try a little again. If you're allergic/addicted, you'll feel bad as withdrawal kicks in, great after a week, craving again once you try the food again. If you stay off the wheat, you'll be free of cravings. But having 'just one biscuit' is like an alcoholic having 'just one drink' … Be warned! And consult a nutritional professional.</b>

Why haven't I talked at all about understanding the emotional reasons behind food craving?

Because you can gain control of your eating without analysing the reasons. It's so tempting to use introspection as a substitute for action and a way of finding excuses and justifications for going on giving in. 'I have to binge, I had such a miserable childhood.'

<b>You don't have to, and you can learn not to. Good luck! </b>

"Lose inches today from our exclusive body wrap," proclaims the spa manager. "Body wraps don't really help you lose weight", whispers your friend. So who are you to believe? Actually, both comments are correct.

What is a Body Wrap?

A body wrap treatment may vary depending on where you are receiving your treatment and what type of result that you are trying to achieve. Body wraps are generally great at hydrating the skin, riding the body of toxins, and helping to lose inches in water weight. The primarily product used in a body wrap usually consists of either mud, clay, algae, seaweed, lotion, cream or aloe with essential oils and/or herbs designed to revitalize the body.

This product is applied to the body - except the genital and breast areas which are covered - and then you are wrapped in a Mylar sheet, plastic sheet, towels, or linen sheets depending upon the service. A contouring wrap will use bandages or a tightly wrapped sheet instead. Your body will generate heat and warmth while you are wrapped for twenty minutes as this allows time for the product to be absorbed into your body for the maximum effect.

The body wrap may help improve circulation, stimulate the metabolic system, increases the body's ability to carry waste products for elimination, and assist with skin care issues. It can also give the skin a very healthy, vibrant look. The time spent wrapped is great for stress and tension reduction.

Preparing for the Wrap

Medical precautions for all body wraps (as with any body treatments) are recommended. Regardless of your health, take note of the products that used as some products for wraps include high concentrations of essential oils; some of which are not recommended for those who are diabetic and those with high blood pressure. Also any product that includes algae may increase the risk of an allergic reaction for those that have sensitivity towards iodine. Other products such as coconut, almonds, and many others are also used in body wrap products. If you have any concerns in regards to the product to be used in the wrap, consult with your treatment profession prior to the treatment. Of course, you should discuss any of these concerns or questions with your primarily health care provider prior to receiving any treatments.

If you tend to be claustrophobic, this may not be the treatment for you. Some individuals have found that not having the feet and upper chest area covered (which should be done for individuals who have high blood pressure) aids in reducing any claustrophobic effects.

While you are wrapped for the twenty minutes, you may be alone in a dark room. If this bothers you, please let your treatment professional know so you can be accommodated. (I personally love spending this time receiving a facial massage.)

Getting Wrapped

In general terms, a basic body wrap is usually in a wet room where the table used is designed to get wet or the room is equipped with a shower of some sort. The type of equipment will depend upon the spa or treatment professional.

You will need to completely undress for a body wrap. However, your personal dignity will be protected by either disposable undergarments or the treatment professional will use the placement of towels to cover the areas not worked. You may be lying either on a sheet, towel, a thin piece of plastic or a Mylar sheet.

The treatment will begin with a dry exfoliation scrubbing technique used to remove any dead skin cells and for preparing the skin for the body wrap product. This product will then be applied to the body much in the same fashion as a body scrub or massage and can be brushed on the body similar to being painted with a paint brush. You will then be wrapped by the sheet, towel, plastic or Mylar sheet and perhaps a blanket for twenty minutes.

Once the twenty minutes are over, the treatment professional will quickly unwrap you since your skin will feel very cool. Then you may be rinsed to remove any excess product by the treatment professional or will be allowed to take a brief shower (where you will not want to wash strongly with soap to allow the product to continue to be absorbed into the body).

The body wrap will then conclude with an application of warm cream or lotion to hydrate the body.

Enjoying your Wrap

After receiving your body wrap, you will want to avoid any excessive exercise, such as working out at the gym and you may need to restrict your sun exposure depending upon the product used during your treatment. If you have any concerns of the after affects, check with your treatment professional or spa coordinator.

Many individuals are delighted with the overall sense of well-being and relaxation that they feel after a body wrap, especially if they had it followed with a massage. This experience is very difficult to articulate into words. If you have never received a body wrap before, I hope that you try it. It is an experience that must be enjoyed personally.

TOXINS

Have you ever asked yourself this question, why is it today we have more obese people? Up 67% of the population are overweight today. There were a great lot less many years ago. A few, but in no way were they around as they are today, and believe me it will get worse. It will not get any better unless people educate themselves. Unless they know why this is happening, the problem will continue to grow.

Think of this; in the 1950's and 60's we never had so many obese people as we have today. In fact, I believe people did not get fat, they just did not like to draw attention to themselves. I guess there were one or two around, however not too many. Don't tell me it was because some of us did not have enough to eat, because even then we had those who were financially comfortable but did look after themselves. Their health and well being was as it should be.

We did not see overweight people as we see today. I recall I went to Las Vegas and observed numerous ladies sitting next to slot machines pumping in their quarters These ladies definitely fitted what I refer to as obese.

Weight loss for good, is the goal of anyone unhappy with their current size or shape. The information on this web site is aimed at anyone who wants to lose weight and keep it off. We don't have to tell you, being obese can have serious consequences to your health. These include an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, gallstones, and some forms of cancer. Losing weight can help reduce each of these risks.

According to research by the Discovery Health Channel, 50 percent of children do not get enough exercise to develop healthy heart and lung systems. Furthermore, 78 percent have at least one heart disease risk and 20 to 30 percent are already obese.

Adults are in even worse shape with 64 percent not getting enough exercise to maintain healthy heart and lung systems, 24 percent never exercise, and more than 45 percent are overweight.

Victims of a Toxic Colon

Have you ever considered this simple question: Are you clean inside? We shower, brush our teeth and wash our hair on a daily basis, but we tend to ignore cleansing our insides until some form of disease sends us a wake-up call. Believe it or not, our insides, especially the colon which functions as the "sewer system" of our body, also requires regular cleaning. Constipation, parasites, IBS, gas, bloating, stomach pain, chronic fatigue, digestive problems can all be signs of a toxic colon. Don't be a victim, suffering silently from these painful and often embarrassing health conditions. Find out the truth about colon cleansing and how it can help you.

Why Is Colon Cleansing So Crucial?

We are all exposed to thousands of toxins and chemicals on a daily basis at work, in the home, through the air we breathe, our food and water supply, and through the use of pharmaceutical drugs. In addition, we are eating more sugar and processed foods than ever before in human history and regularly abuse our bodies with various stimulants and sedatives.

"Death Begins in the Colon"

These toxins and "dead" foods lead to poor digestion, constipation, toxic colon build-up, weight gain and low energy. These common symptoms are more than just an inconvenience

What if by making a few small changes in your nutrition and eating habits you could add up to a 50% gain in muscle mass and loose up to 18% extra fat.

Well you could be robbing yourself of these gains just by not eating correctly and at the right times. You see by eating at the right time you can catapult your body into a fat burning anabolic state which will not only help you gain more muscle but also loose more fat at the same time.

You will be surprised at how easy it is to make a few simple changes in your eating habits and times and the gains that you will get from these very small changes.

In a recent study in the U.K it has been shown that eating irregular meals promotes fat gain. It all comes back to our body's "will to survive" mechanism. When you skip or prolong a meal your body will automatically go into saviour mode and start storing extra fat to be used at a later date. Consequently your next meal also stores a lot of extra fat.

By eating smaller meals more frequently you can not only counter this effect but also put your body into an anabolic state, which will also increase your base metabolic rate. In plain English this leads to higher fat loss and more muscle gain.

A haphazard supplement program coupled with a haphazard diet will make building muscle and loosing fat a next to impossible task no matter how you train

Why would anyone put in all that effort in their training and not back it up by proper nutrition and eating habits? Lack of knowledge would be the most likely answer.

Ideally you should be eating 5 or 6 smaller meals a day that are low in fat, with high protein and medium carbohydrate.

Here is an example of my Meal plan each day

Meal 1: 6AM

1 packet of Ny-Tro PRO-40 mixed with 16 ounces of skim milk and 1 serving of Micronized Creatine

Meal 2: 9AM

2 servings VP2 Whey Isolate mixed in 10 ounces of skim milk

1 large apple

Meal 3: 12PM

2 grilled chicken breasts

1 Serving Rice

1 cup of low-fat Yogurt

1 serving VP2 Whey Isolate in 8 ounces skim milk.

Meal 4: 3PM

1 packet Ny-Tro PRO-40 mixed with 16 ounces of skim milk and 5 to 10 grams of GL3 L-Glutamine 1 large banana

Pre-Workout

2 Dymetadrine Xtreme

1 VyoPro Protein Bar

Meal 5: 6PM (Post-workout)

2 servings VP2 Whey Isolate combined with 1 serving Creatine HSC mixed in cold water. (This is an important meal and is designed for an insulin spike at just the right time to increase creatine and amino acid uptake by the muscle cells.)

Meal 6: 7PM

8 to 10 ounces of lean round or flank steak

1 large serving of rice

1 medium baked potato

1 large green salad

Meal 7: 10PM

1 packet of Ny-Tro PRO-40 mixed with 9 ounces of skim milk

1 large banana

3 to 5 grams of GL3 L-Glutamine

(Mix the Ny-Tro PRO-40 and GL3 in a large bowl into a smooth pudding. Slice the banana on top and eat. It's a dessert.)

I take my meal plans from the Max OT training program, which can be found at http://www.ast-ss.com/max-ot/max-ot_intro.asp

You do not need to supplement the way I do and by just eating 5-7 smaller meals per day you will already be on your way to a healthier life with better gains from your gym workouts.

Copyright 2005 Marc Lindsay

So you want to lose weight? Help may be one of the best tools that you take into consideration. You may think you understand how and why you need to lose weight. You may even have a plan. But, if you've been trying to drop the pounds over the last few weeks or even years and it hasn't happened, you may need a new way to do so. Getting help can be the best, life saving decision that you ever make.

What Will Getting Help Do For You?

If you need to lose weight, help can do many things to make that happen. First and foremost, you'll have guidance on the best way to drop pounds without hurting your health. You can also learn a number of ways for you to keep the weight off, which most fad diets tend to not promise. Although there are many ways that you can learn these tricks to use yourself, having someone help you through the process is just easier.

Another reason that you need to lose weight, help included, is as simple as it keeps you motivated. If you have to pay someone to help you because you've signed a contract, you'll be more likely to do what he or she says so you get your money's worth out of him. Many people don't want to waste money and just stick with the exercise or the diet plan because they've had to pay for it. It really will keep you on track if that money could be going towards something else.

If you need to lose weight, help from those around you can be one of the best things for your self esteem, too. Having help from friends, family and even other partners at the gym helps you to stay focused on your goals. It keeps you accountable. There's no reason that you shouldn't have help when it comes to losing weight.

Are you a hopeless carbohydrate addict? Let's conquer these cravings once and for all

You can learn how. Lose weight without having to think about what you are doing. Wouldn't it be nice to actually not have to worry about how many calories you are eating or how you'll deal with that craving for a slice of bread? You can do this. There are many different fad diets out there today that just simply don't work. Chances are good that you've tried a few. But, instead of all of that, consider these easy to follow tips for weight loss.

Tip 1: Eat More Vegetables

Without saying anything about the health benefits of eating vegetables, you need to eat more of them because they don't have nearly the amount of calories that other foods do. You can learn to make them in a number of ways. Learn how. Lose weight because you've filled up on the good stuff without depriving yourself of anything else.

Tip 2: Just Move More

Don't say the exercise word. You don't need to punish yourself. What you do need, though, is to make sure that you get extra movement into your life. As you make dinner, walk in place. How lose weight doing this? It's simple. By moving your body more, in any way, you'll burn calories faster, therefore helping you to drop a few pounds as you go through the week and month.

Tip 3: Reward Yourself With Foods You Love

Most people fail on diets because they can't have the things they love. Chocolate, bread, a bowl of mashed potatoes may be forbidden on many diets, but by giving yourself a reward when you've been good will help you to stay on that diet. You are likely to continue to do good so that you don't have to feel guilty about eating those foods. You can learn how lose weight by just taking care of yourself.