Thin Blog

Archive for the ‘Weight Loss’ Category

So you want to lose weight and you are planning to exercise and eat better food choices. In your diet journey you may be considering switching what you drink in an attempt to lose weight. Your drink choices include everything from caffeinated soda to decaffeinated coffee to plain old water. If your goal is to lose weight then you need to drink nothing but water because that is pretty much the only drink that contains zero calories. Unfortunately, that is where the whining begins!

How badly you desire to lose weight will determine how much water you drink and how much other stuff you do not drink. If you want to lose weight but can’t stop drinking beer then beer drinking is more important to you than weight loss. If you desire to lose weight and gave up drinking full sugar soda for diet soda you have made an uneducated choice that will really not help you too much, if weight loss is your goal. Diet soda may have less sugar but it is loaded with sodium and that alone is enough to keep you bloated and lugging around some of those pounds you don’t want.

If you want to drink coffee that is not as bad as other drinks as long as you keep the cream to a minimum and use a sugar substitute. The caffeine is not the greatest thing for you but as far as drinks go….coffee is not too bad if the add-ons are kept to a minimum. One positive trade off with coffee is that it is a natural appetite suppressant and that may help you limit your intake in a fashion that is somewhat similar to purchasing FullBar. FullBar is a product designed to help suppress your appetite.

The bottom line is that if your desire is to lose weight then think twice before you drink your calories. All too often we do not add in the impact of what we drink and that can cause you to mess up your weight loss and discourage you as to your ability. Here is a simple promise. If you stop drinking all but water and drink at least 64 ounces a day for seven days, you WILL see weight loss.

There you go… a free weight loss plan that requires little of your effort. The hard part now is if you are really ready to lose weight and hold yourself accountable for your own actions. If so then give it a try for just seven short days and don’t drink your calories.

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The best diet that you can choose is one that works for you and your journey to lose the weight you desire to lose. As you search for the best diet I want you to think of something that is so important to your complete success in your attempt to lose the weight. If you lose 100 pounds you are never really a complete success, you are a recovering obese person. If you drop the pounds you want to shed you are never really done unless you can keep the weight off for the rest of your life. If you lose the weight and then gain it all back you are not a success, you have become a dismal failure in your weight loss journey. As we begin this discussion as to what is the best diet you can choose to lose weight, you must include in your choice your ability to keep the weight off for the rest of your life. If you do not keep the weight off it does not matter how much weight you lost if you gain it all back again.

An excellent example of failed weight loss attempts comes from the Atkin’s Diet. This diet promised so much to so many and it did deliver weight loss to the masses. The problem with the Atkin’s Diet is that most people were/are unable to eat only what is required to maintain Atkin’s. The issue developed that after people lost all of the weight they stumbled back into carbohydrates and then gained more weight than they originally lost.  Those who were a success turned into a failure because they were not able to maintain the weight loss. As you search for the best diet you must take into account that there will be life after the “diet” is over.  A less extreme alternative to Atkin’s is The South Beach Diet.  If you are really attracted to the carb free lifestyle then it is suggested that you bypass Atkins’ and try The South Beach Diet. The South Beach Diet is much easier to continue on after you have lost the weight you want to shed.

Now that you are thinking of what diet is the best for you you really need to check out the website eDiets.  This website shows you all of the diets that are out there for you and how each of them work.  What makes this site unique is that it not only explains how each diet works but has support groups that have people (real life people) just like you experiencing what you are going through on your weight loss journey.  This support group not only gives advice it also helps with meal ideas that keep variety in your meal selections.  How many diets have you tried where the meals became nothing but routine?  Not at eDiets!  With their website you bring all of the information and inspiration you need right into the privacy of your home.

So, to answer your question of what is the best diet you can choose the answer is a resolute “We do not know”.  That is an honest answer because we here at I Choose Thin do not know you personally.  We do know you enough to realize that you are seeking knowledge and help with your weight loss journey.  If you truly wish to learn what is the best diet you must really ask what is the best diet for yourself.  We do not know what is best for you until you answer a few questions that only you can answer.  If you truly want to learn what is the best diet you need to continue you quest for answers at the best website out there for support with your weight loss.  We would love to help you so check back at IChooseThin.com, sign up for our free newsletter but most of all, go check out eDiets and you will be able to get more information and make a better choice as to what is the best diet.

GOOD LUCK!!!





 

It was not too long ago that I was 17 years old and then just the other day I looked in the mirror and I realized I am almost 50.  That may sound strange but that is really a true statement.  I do not know how that person showed up in the mirror but sure enough, every time I look… he is there staring back at me.  It is not to say that I am unhappy it is just that it has all happened so fast that it is hard to fathom that it really has been that long.

I now find myself in a constant battle of what to choose from the the standpoint of what is healthy for me.  In my youth I would eat pretty much whatever I wanted and there were no consequences for poor choices.  Being overweight was never a problem and the fact that something contained alot of calories was not relevant to me all those years ago.  When I was 17 I could eat what I wanted and in whatever amount I felt I desired.  Today if I were to live by those standards it would be safe to assume that I had lost the weight loss battle.  In the life that is on this side of the mirror I have learned that I cannot always have what I desire.  I have learned that weight loss is a constant battle and that in order for me not to explode into a 300 pound person, I need to choose wisely.  In today’s world I know that I need to make food choices based on how that choice will effect my waistline.  I no longer can eat all the pizza and soda I want.  I no longer can eat as much candy or as much cake and chocolate.  If I were to eat the way I used to eat the amount of weight I would gain would be enough to end my life in the not too distant future.

As time has gone by I have learned that I needed to reintroduce myself to that person in the mirror and try to be friends once again with what I see.  As time has gone by I somehow had lost the connection with wellness that once was protected by my youth.  This is not to say that I am not happy with myself, but it is to say that I am not as happy as I could be.  I am not happy with my weight and the only person who has made me this way is the person in that mirror.  As time has gone by that person in the mirror has somehow grown distant from myself.  It is only of recent that I have once again begun to know and love who is in that mirror.  It is only of recent that the relection is not of someone whom I am unhappy with.  It is  only of recent that that person in the mirror is not someone I am dissappointed with seeing.  It is only of recent that I can even look in the mirror and actually not feel anger for what is seen. 

Today when I look in the mirror I see the reflection of someone who needs love and patience.  When I look into the reflection I see the eyes of a person that craves to become the person always wanted.  When I look into the mirror I see the body of a person that is a bit older and has added a few pounds but I also see a person who has not given up.

Everybody who has ever tried a voluntary effort to lose weight has started their journey with the basic desire of wanting it to happen.  If you are now over weight then the chance that you are reading this is no accident.  If you are reading this then you more than likely are here because you want to make a change in your life.  Wanting that change is the first step towards manifesting successful and long term weight loss.  If you have been battling the bulge then you know that wanting the weight loss is more than likely not enough.  If you want to achieve complete and lasting weight loss then you need to carry yourself onto the next step and that step is education.  We do not mean a college degree but what we do mean is basic knowledge of how your mind and body function.  Notice we started off with mind because that is where all weight loss battles are begun, waged and either won or lost.

If you really desire to lose weight and lose 20 pounds or lose 100 pounds, you need to educate yourself in the ways of food calories and exercise and food portioning.  By this stage of your life you may have tried numerous diets and have come to learn that almost all diets can be classified as a fad diet.  Almost all diets help you achieve fast, initial weight loss and then abandon you to the reality that you have to live your life.  Once you realize that you still have a life to live that diet falls into the bin of another failed weight loss attempt.  Once you try to put your life into the fad diet plan your life more often than not beats that diet into submission.  This is where your education becomes the most important step in your weight loss journey.

The education we refer to is spending time reading and learning and absorbing more information while sifting through all of the weight loss hype out there. What you need to do is search around the internet or your actual physical neighborhood and seek out people such as yourself to help support your need for not only weight loss but for knowledge and support.  If you are like many others that have few friends or family then we suggest eDiets as a starting point.  eDiets is a great place to gather not only friends and support but also a great place to start learning about weight loss and dieting.

As you travel through your weight loss expedition do not get discouraged because true weight loss is not a dash to the finish line but it needs to be more like a marathon.  You need to start off the journey and just proceed slowly and steady.  Do not get wrapped up into all of the obstacles that trip up millions and millions of diet wannabes.  Start yourself off with a solid foundation and keep gathering knowledge and support.  Through that knowledge you will be capable of making better daily decisions and through the support you will be able to continue those better decisions for the long haul.  Weight loss is all about your choices.  You need just make the choice to start and try your best and that best needs to include knowledge and support.
Weight loss begins in the mind and that process starts with the manifestation of desire.  After that desire bubbles to your emotional surface your knowledge will help keep it afloat and your support system will keep it on course to your destination.  Your destination becomes your life’s journey and that is what your mind must wrap itself around.  Weight loss without knowledge is doomed to fail and that failure will only manifest more failure. 

Break the chain of diet and weight loss failure through education and use some emotional support to make your thoughts a reality.  

We have heard about many diets and now we have learned about a new diet craze from Japan.    When you first hear about the system you say to yourself that it is just another craze to make someone a zillion bucks.  We have all seen fad diets come and go and despite the fact that this plan has some craziness to it there are some sound facts and healthy points that the Banana Diet has to offer.  We here at IChooseThin have been sounding the value of not only fruit but bananas for a few years now.    Whatever you decide, we would like to spend a few moments to bring The Morning Banana Diet into perspective.

What we do know is that The Banana Diet will more than likely fizzle out fairly fast because there is not going to be much marketing hype to push it into the ultra-mainstream.  The little fact is that bananas are available so widespread that there is no single company that can produce it and market it and then turn a huge profit from its sale.  That little fact alone makes us take a second look at the product and the plan and the method that is described to lose weight. 

The basic theory behind the Banana plan is to eat as many bananas with room temperature water as you desire for breakfast.  There is no limit as to how many you can or should eat, bananas are essentially a free food, as far as calories are concerned.  Eat only raw bananas and those that have never been frozen.  If you are stil hungry 15 – 20 minutes after your breakfast you can eat some other food with a caloric value of around 200 calories.  The lunch meal should be normal and pretty much whatever you choose.  Dinner must be eaten by 8 PM at the latest and preferably by 6PM.  There is no limit to the food you can eat for dinner and this plan is designed to avoid strict, traditional diet rules and the onset of the feeling of deprivation that is often associated with a diet or meal plan.

At all meals you should eat till your full, but never till you are stuffed.  You should ONLY drink water and that water needs to be room temperature.  The water should be drank in sips and not gulps.  There is no limit to the amount of water a person can drink with the meals.  Outside of meals non-caloric drinks are frowned upon and should be avoided. You may eat a snack about 3PM if desired but again you need to stay away from the donut or chips.  Popcorn is a great idea and fruit is an excellent alternative.

In Closing

The Morning Banana Diet will never make it to a major main stream  American concept because there is no money to be made outside of the banana industry, therefore it will fade from the scene.  The plan has sound ideas behind it such as drinking water, eating bananas and alot of other fruit.  The concept of not drinking your calories is not anywhere close to being new and loading up early in the day with healthy high fiber food is also an age old concept.  The plan helps you gain a conscious thought of the food you are eating and helps stop the mindless snacking.  It helps a person take notice of the times they eat and this is always a plus.

The ‘Banana For Breakfast Diet” may at first seem silly but do not be surprised if it actually works for you.