After looking around at the level of the health and fitness in others, take an honest look at yourself.

Are you happy with the way you look, feel, and move? Or are you tired of carrying around too much weight? Are you tired of aches and pains? Are you tired of not having the motivation to walk around the block?

Are you tired of taking too many pills, getting too few answers, and feeling like your health is spiraling downward, out of your control?

Are you tired of not being able to play with your children or grandchildren? Are you tired of not feeling like participating in your favorite activities, whether they are gardening, hiking, sewing, traveling, or just having fun with your friends?

Are you tired of the loss of libido?

Are you tired of the fear of getting some terrible disease?

Are you tired of feeling frustrated, confused, and/or the sense of hopelessness when it comes to losing weight and reclaiming health, fitness, and the way you used to feel?

Are you tired of feeling guilty and/or weak that you let yourself get out of shape?

Are you tired of feeling tired and worn out before your time?

The good news: you have the power to change how you think, look, feel, and move.

Take a deep breath, dig deep, and make the commitment to take charge of your body, your health, and your life–starting right now.

It is never too late.

Everyone knows that the best way to lose weight is through diet and exercise. Diet and exercise are not necessarily the fastest ways to lose weight, though.

Why are diet and exercise the best way to lose weight, even though they are not always the fastest? Well, although diet pills or even more extreme measures like gastric bypass surgery, stomach stapling, or even anorexia and bulimia may quickly reduce a person’s weight, they are not always the healthiest measures (especially the latter two!).

And, oftentimes, they are only temporary solutions. The benefit of diet and exercise is that they are healthy life habits. If you can get into a good habit of eating a proper diet and exercising regularly, then you are going to be much healthier than someone who had gastric bypass surgery and is still sitting around and eating junk.

This is not to say that gastric bypass surgery is not the correct answer for some people. In fact, having the surgery might just be the perfect boost that someone needs to encourage himself to eat right and to exercise. Remember that eating healthy food and exercising are key to good health. In fact, someone who is slightly overweight but exercises may very well be healthier than someone of a normal weight who does not!

And, of course, when I say “diet” and exercise, I am not referring to any specific diet like Atkin’s or the South Beach Diet. I am only talking about eating plentiful amounts of healthful foods (like vegetables and whole grains) while eating other, less healthful foods in limited quantities and in moderation (like candies, fats, and processed foods).

If you do decide to take that extra measure — like diet pills — be sure to also include exercise and a healthy diet into your schema. You can be sure that by doing so, you will not just lose the weight, but you will be able to keep it off (and you will be much healthier, overall).

One popular and FDA-approved diet pill is phentermine. This drug works as an appetite-suppressant. As such, it will make it easier to skip out on those fatty and sugary foods that are adding to your weight.

As with most diet pills, phentermine is only to be taken short-term. In other words, it is not a long-term answer to obesity. Phentermine will simply help you get your foot in the door, and the rest is up to you. In fact, the same is true not just of diet pills, but of surgeries, and other solutions, as well.

Remember, the healthiest and surest way to lose weight is through diet and exercise! There are many fewer negative side effects to these methods than to surgery or diet pills!

When a beautiful, smart, creative, and fun woman recently came to see me to get some help in designing a doable, healthy eating plan to lose weight, I asked my usual question, “How much weight do you realistically want to lose in one year?”

Without a blink of an eye, she said, “100 pounds.”

And, without a blink of an eye, I said back, “That is too much. That is not realistic.”

Well, that’s when it hit me. Greed for too many pounds sabotages our success in shedding pounds permanently.

Here’s the scenario.

You’ve been fighting weight for years, maybe most of your life. Yo-yo diets and you are great pals.

You hardly go through a day without thinking about food, your weight, and how you and your newest pal are going to get rid of that extra weight once and for all.

As hard as you try, those extra pounds just seem to stick to you like super glue, defying your pal’s promises.

Sometimes the weight even comes off–for a while.

Your weight goes down, your hopes go up. Your weight creeps up and your hopes go down–one more time. After all that work, how fair is that?

So, of course, you get frustrated. Who wouldn’t?

You get tired of the endless struggle. It just seems hopeless. What’s the point of even trying?

You give up–for a while.

But, then, once again, you dig your heels into the ground and say to yourself one more time, “I am sick and tired of this weight, and this time I am going to lose it for good!”

You figure out how much you want to lose and come up with some ideal number, like 50, 75, or 100 pounds.

Rather than breaking your weight goal into doable, bite-size chunks, you get greedy and want to lose the total amount, and right now!

(Have you ever noticed that life doesn’t always give you what you want when you want it? Darn those life lessons.)

And, just like before, you don’t hit your weight goal, or at least not for long, and, for the 10,000th time, you beat yourself up with words like: “weak,” “failure,” “lazy,” and “undisciplined.”

You, my friend, are not weak or lazy or undisciplined or a failure. But you may be asking for too much too soon, and the word for that is greed.

I have a suggestion. How about being reasonable and generous with yourself?

If you want to lose weight, shoot for a goal that is doable. 30 pounds in a year is doable. 30 pounds a year is only 2.5 pounds a month–that’s it!

In one year, you could be 30 pounds lighter. How would that make you feel about yourself? Pretty good, don’t you think?

The heck with that allusive-your-whole-life 100 pounds lighter–30 pounds gone forever is real and reachable.

And, better yet, if you stay on track most of the time (you will get off track–no big deal–just get yourself back on track again without guilting), in two years, you will weigh 60 pounds less than you do right now.

Whoa and double whoa!

How would you feel about yourself 60 pounds lighter? Shoot–in 2 years you’re going to be exactly where you are going to be and two years older anyway. Why not be 60 pounds lighter?

So the question remains: What doable eating plan are you going to follow to lose 2.5 pounds a month?

“Ahhhh, so that’s the hitch? You mean I actually have to change my way of eating, permanently, to lose the weight and keep it off?”

Well, if nothing has worked in the past, and you are still battling the bulge, it seems logical to try a different tactic than the usual restrictive and deprivation-centered diets.

How about trying this? Think addition, not subtraction.

Add lots of whole, fresh fruits and vegetables, which are nutrient-dense and calorie-low, to your daily food plan.

Fill-up on the best-for-you foods first, especially whole, fresh fruits and vegetables, and then add the more traditional, not-so-good-for-you foods.

If you are really filling up on the best foods for you, you will have little or no room for the foods that are high in calories and low in nutrition–meat, cheese, white sugar and white flour goodies, salty snacks, fast foods, and processed foods, the very foods that stick to hips, stomachs, and thighs and keep permanent weight loss out of reach.

So, my friend, to change the golden rule around a bit, just for the moment: Do unto yourself as you would do unto others.

Start treating yourself like you treat others–with kindness, compassion, patience, fairness, and reasonableness.

And watch your body change right before your very eyes, slowly but, most certainly, surely.

For no people on earth is it more true than the Japanese, when you say, “you are what you eat”. The Japanese are, by all accounts, the people with the least obesity problem, the highest longevity rate, and best health record. What are they eating?

The importance of rice

Rice is the main carbohydrate food in Japan, consumed with every meal. However, the real basis of the Japanese diet is not rice but fish, consumed at more than 70 kilos per person per year–which means 190 grams daily. This combination of rice and fish, as their staple food is far superior to the American meat and potato, the European little of this, little of that diets, and light years ahead of the Russian pork, potato and mayonnaise daily fare.

Let’s see what else they eat. Miso and other soy products! Miso is a fermented soy product, and a soup is made from it that is light tasting and easy to digest. One gets all the benefits of soy from it. Also, the famous soy sauce. Japanese people, on the average consume about 200 grams of soy products daily.

So why are they so thin and so healthy?

There are a few very good reasons. One is their sparingly consumption of sugar.

Low in sugar

Japanese consume only 20 kilos of sugar per year (compared to the American 71 kilos per year). Another is the Japanese consumption of cereals (which obviously includes rice) to be 105 kilos per year (compared to the American 68 kilos per year).

The human body appears to be doing much better with natural cereals and less sugar than fried potatoes and ‘sugar in everything you eat’ diets. The Japanese have far less incidence of heart disease and cancer than Americans. As they eat as much meat as the Americans do (or more), and smoke more, the theory is refined sugar and stress are the two biggest contributors to destroying one’s health.

Portion size

Another important factor in the Japanese diet is portion size. The portions are small.

This means they savor their food; eat slowly and enjoy it. No “scarfing” down hamburgers and fries here, and king size cola drinks.

Eating with chop sticks help, as you eat more slowly, take smaller bites and are able to appreciate what you are eating. This aids in digestion, and that is a proven fact.

There are two more factors which must be mentioned that make the Japanese diet so successful.

The first is breakfast.

The typical Japanese breakfast can (and usually includes) green tea, steamed rice, miso soup with tofu, spring onions and omelet and both raw and grilled fish.

This gives your body all it needs to start your day well. You will feel better, and such food does not add weight to your body at all. In fact, it stimulates the metabolism mechanism. You will not gain weight, and if overweight, will lose weight.

Variety Never be bored

The second factor is variety.

A typical American will have about 30 varieties of food per week. A typical European (especially southern European) will have about 45. The typical Japanese will have about 100 varieties of food per week, and will include lots of fresh fish, vegetables, fruit and a variety of meats.

There is one over-riding element here as well; the Japanese cook their foods lightly and thus are never feeling stuffed and stuffy after eating.

As you can see the diet is great and its healthy and is perfect for those wanting to lose weight and avoid illness.

Anyone and everyone who has ever tried to lose body fat knows that there are many obstacles to staying on a weight loss program. The temptations are all around us from drive through restaurants that offer to “biggie size” everything to pizza that will feed a family of four for less than $20. In regards to families it is easy to see why people choose this way out with both parents probably working and coming home tired, it is an easy solution.

Another big obstacle in fat loss is alcohol consumption. Alcohol is not only just empty calories but it has a chemical effect on the body that inhibits the body metabolizing fat properly and those empty calories are converted into fat as well. So if you are serious about losing fat stay away from alcohol.

If you are trying to lose weight for the wrong reasons that can be a roadblock to fat loss as well. If you aren’t doing it for yourself you are likely to fail. You have to be doing it for the right reasons and be committed to the outcome being successful. It is a worthwhile undertaking for the health benefit alone not to mention the fact that you will look and feel better.

The key to successful dieting is to make it a lifestyle change and not merely some kind of fad diet. It will take some planning and re-organizing to make it work out right. For example, you should write out a grocery list and stick to it so that you don’t go through buying a bunch of junk food and don’t go grocery shopping while you are hungry!

Thinking that you have to work out two hours a day to get results is another thing that stops many people from adding exercise to a healthy lifestyle change. Almost anyone can do some kind of exercise and you can start with a little and increase it. I know people who could barely walk to the end of their driveway that are walking 4-5 miles per day! You don’t have to everything all at once either. If your goal is thirty minutes a day you can break it into three 10 minute sessions until you get fit enough to go to two and then to all at once.

In closing, you have to realize that everyone is different. We all have different metabolisms and different stamina and will get different results from the exact same program. Don’t let the fact that someone else is getting better results discourage you, just do what you can do.

Two out of three Americans are overweight. The primary cause is that we eat more and exercise less. There is no doubt that the more advances we make that enhance our lifestyle the heavier we become. Wait a minute! What about all those low-fat foods that we eat now? How come I reduced fat in my diet but I’m still gaining weight?

It’s a simple answer. A few years ago we all became aware of the detrimental effects of fat in our diet. What did we do? We began to concentrate on lowering cholesterol and taking fat out of our diets. This is a good thing. However, The National Center for Health Statistics studied eating habits of 8,260 adult American between 1988 and 1991. Their research showed that Americans had significantly reduced their fat intake but still packed on the pounds. How can this happen? There is no mystery. In the process of counting fat grams, we stopped counting calories! Many of us bought in to the theory that if it is “low-fat” it won’t make us fat.

WRONG!

You can’t forget about counting calories. If you eat more calories than you need the body will store them as fat. It doesn’t matter whether the calories are from fat or carbohydrates. One school of thought believes that eating small amounts of fat can actually keep you from over indulging on total calories. The theory is that dietary fat causes our bodies to produce a hormone that tells the intestines to slow down the emptying process. You feel full and therefore are less likely to overeat. Adding a little peanut butter to your rice cake may satisfy your hunger for a longer period of time, thus preventing you from eating more than you need. Here’s more news that is surprising. Tufts University scientists put 11 middle aged men and women volunteers on a variety of average, reduced and low-fat diets. What were the results? Extremely low-fat diets which provided only 15 percent fat from calories (this is a diet near impossible in real life) did have a positive effect on blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
However, a reduced-fat diet (much more realistic) only affected those levels if accompanied by weight loss. In fact, they concluded, cutting fat without losing weight actually increased triglyceride levels and decreased high density lipoproteins (HDLs), the “good” cholesterol that helps protect again heart disease.

So try this little trick and add a little fat to your diet and see what it does for you. You will be surprised by the results.

Many of us will go too long between meals and then we will reach for a quick fix that is loaded with carbohydrates. The problem with doing this is that it just spikes our blood sugar then causes it to fall dramatically. Foods with high sugar content like cookies, white bread, sodas and chips have virtually no nutritional value and only add empty calories to your daily intake which is just increasing your risk for gaining weight and getting diabetes.

It is relatively easy to avoid these cravings and urges if you will be disciplined and follow some simple guidelines.

I recommend that you break your meals up into four to six meals spread evenly throughout the day so that you are eating something every 2-3 hours. How you do this will depend upon you metabolism and your activity level. Doing this will stabilize your blood sugar levels, keep your metabolism operating at an optimum level, and reduce cravings.

Another thing you will need to do is some house cleaning. You need to go into your cupboard and your refrigerator and toss out all of the bad stuff like the chips and cookies and all white foods because they are refined. Try to stick with pure fruit juices and not those from the store with sugar added to them.

If you can only eat three regular meals make sure that you keep some kind of healthy snack with you like nuts, fresh veggies, and low fat protein drinks. This will keep you from popping coins in a snack machine and eating some garbage with the nutritional value of cardboard plus it will make you feel better and keep you energized all day.

Cut back on the caffeine and that includes not just coffee but diet drinks and tea as well. Also avoid the new fitness drinks like Red Bull, they all contain artificial stimulants that will just give you a quick rush that will soon drop plus they can be dangerous. You don’t have to quit cold turkey. If you are one of those that drinks four or five diet drinks a day or three to four cups of coffee just begin by cutting them in half.

The bottom line is that by eating healthier you will get the energy you seek through the better nutrition you are giving your body. It is not going to happen overnight it will take a little adjustment for you body to respond. If you want it to work better, I suggest going on a four to seven day fast of water and organic juices to cleanse your body and prepare it for the new lifestyle, especially if you have been eating really bad.

As always drink plenty of water to help your body flush out toxins and remain hydrated.

If you have ever been on a diet or weight loss program you know that you constantly have voices talking to you to try to derail you from your goal. I like to call them the “Fat Demons”. They want you to stay fat. Maybe it is a protective thing in your subconscious that says, “If you stay fat then people will stay away from you and you won’t be hurt by bad relationships anymore.”

You know what I am talking about, don’t you? You are walking down the aisles at the grocery store and it isn’t the fresh fruits and vegetables that are calling out to you, it is the twinkies and the Little Debbie snack cakes! Am I right? You know I am!

You walk into a convenience store and buy a diet drink and then you get to the checkout stand and you grab a chocolate bar to go along with it. Or you buy the Baked Lays chips and then buy a container of French Onion Dip to dip them in.

You are on your diet and every commercial on TV screams out at you with food ads. “Two Extra Large Pizzas for $10.00!” You go through the local Wendy’s Drive through and you order a grilled chicken breast sandwich with lettuce only and you have done good until the clerk says, “You want fries with that? Do you want to biggie size it? Want a Frosty to go with that?” Now you have your caloric intake for two days! Resist the temptation to let them sucker you into the crate of fries and the 55 gallon drum of coke.

You have to identify your weaknesses and know how to combat them. If you know that you have a weakness for junk food at your local convenience store stay out of it. If you have a craving for Big Macs and Double Whoppers with cheese stay away from McDonalds and Burger King!

Don’t sit and eat in front of a TV, instead eat in front of a mirror! I’m not kidding. If you sit there and watch yourself eat and you are overweight you will become disgusted if you try to eat too much.

Don’t let little slip ups get you down. Just say, “You got me that time” but you won’t get me again. Keep a positive attitude.

Everybody’s Fat Demons are different. You have to identify the ones that call to you and recognize them for what they are. Every time you beat them you will become stronger against them. Reward yourself with a “TINY” snack for beating them, don’t go overboard.

It should be common knowledge that men and women store and carry fat in different areas; one need only look around to see this. In general, women tend to put on fat on their hips, legs, and buttocks while men tend to store primarily in their waistline.

Scientists call the shapes in men android or apple and the pear shape that most women have they call the gynoid. The third type of shape is androgynous, meaning appearing on males and females which is an overall coverage of body fat.

Someone who is prone to being overweight may be subject to factors such as a genetic predisposition to gain weight that comes from their parents, an under active thyroid, or as seen in recent news reports may even be infected with a virus that predisposes them to weight gain.

Fat distribution seems to be influenced by age, genetics, and race, but even more so it is governed by hormones that are specific to each gender. The estrogen hormones in women call for fat to be stored in the aforementioned pear shape while the testosterone in men leads to fat storage in the abdomen and even right above the hips.

It is not news to anyone that excessive body fat is bad for one’s health but the way that fat is stored and where it is stored affects the function and health of specific organs.

There are two types of fat, subcutaneous, which is under the skin and visceral, which is around the organs. Having excess fat around the abdomen is from visceral fat which tells us that abdominal fat is the most dangerous risk to our health.

One of the easiest ways to determine excessive fat deposits is the waist to hip ratio measurement. The way you get this is by dividing your waist measurement by your hip measurement. The maximum for men is .95 for men and .80 for women. If your results are above this you need to take steps to reduce your weight.

If you are an apple shape you are prone to a variety of diseases related to obesity such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, sleep apnea, arthritis, and more.

Pear shapes are more prone to hip and knee problems and limitations in movement due to the accumulation of fat in the lower body.

Regardless of whether you are a man or a woman you should take the waist to hip ratio test and if you are over it you should begin a weight loss program immediately.