Don’t Be Misled. The Best Attitude and Action for Weight Loss

Weight loss can be one of the most difficult things to
accomplish. Today’s media and the marketplace can sometimes make
the effort of weight loss even harder. Like it or not most
societies in the developed countries are heavily motivated by
the media. Television, radio, newspapers, direct mail, and the
Internet all contribute heavily to our beliefs, our attitudes
and ultimately our actions. So, when it comes to weight loss,
how do you determine the right solution for your situation? Who
do you believe and who do you discount?

Are we as a society obsessed with weight loss? Or, is there
truly reason to take notice and lose a few pounds? While there
are some people, especially females during the teenage years,
who take weight loss to the extremes, for most of us losing some
weight would be the healthy thing to do.

It’s no secret that “thin is in”, yet turn on the news channel
and you’ll see where researchers are finding more and more of
our youth are obese and more and more adults as well as children
are being diagnosed with the chronic disease of Type 2 diabetes,
often as a result of obesity. We see hear that thin is better,
yet we keep getting bigger and bigger. What’s the reason?

The reasons are many. Primarily, our activity levels don’t match
the amount of food we eat. We are constantly being bombarded
with quick food and lots of occasions to eat. For example, some
friends invite you over. The chances are slim that there won’t
be food involved. You go to a sports event. What’s on your mind
besides the game? Food! Somehow, we have become conditioned to
equate food with socializing. While that’s not necessarily a bad
thing, the amount of food we consume at these parties and events
often times are a bad thing. If you are trying to lose weight,
whenever you eat, remember; don’t eat more than you will be
active enough to use! Let’s face it! Watching the Super Bowl on
television is far less energy focused, than the guys playing in
the game. They’re usually drinking Gatorade, we’re eating
everything in site.

Were The Cavemen Fat?

Consider this: Our forefathers were constantly working to simply
survive. The men were farming, hunting, and fishing for food.
The women were busy preparing, the food, and the clothing as
well as raising the children. There was constant activity
without an overabundance of food. Our bodies were not designed
to be sedentary. Yet, today with technological advances, and the
average lifestyles we live, our activity levels have all but
disappeared.

Let’s explore this a bit further… We get up in the morning,
jump in the shower, drive a car or catch the subway or bus to
work, grab some food at the fast food place for lunch, come home
pop in a frozen dinner, plop down on the sofa, turn on the TV
and our day is done. Compare that to the days of old. First off,
you had to draw the water for the shower, then you had to fire
the stove to stay warm and to cook( the food was hunted and
grown by hand). If you left your home for work, walking was a
major way of transportation,…Need I say more? Our bodies haven’t
evolved to the point to where activity is not necessary. Yet, we
are the least active of any society since mankind was placed on
this earth. Food must be matched with activity. To lose weight,
you must consume less food than the body needs. That’s about the
only way you’ll burn off any fat.

Steps to Losing Weight

Enough preaching about activity. You want to lose weight and
have more energy. First, I strongly suggest if you have more
than a few pounds to lose, see your physician before you begin
any weight loss plan. There are some medications, and diseases
that can contribute to weight gain. If you know the facts before
you begin you’ll be able to better determine the best method for
your weight loss.

Secondly, as you think about losing weight, carefully and
honestly evaluate your current situation. Is it just a few
pounds, say 5 or 10 you want to lose? Maybe it’s 20 to 30? These
amounts usually can safely be lost without the help of health
professionals. If you need to lose 50 or more pounds, I strongly
suggest you see your physician before you begin any weight loss
plan.

Next, you need to evaluate why you’ve gained the weight. There
are many reasons people gain weight. Some eat more than they
need as a mental pick-me-up. Some eat because they have nothing
else to do. Others don’t really overeat, they simply make the
wrong choices of what they eat. Then there’s those of us who
have put on a few pounds each year and now all of a sudden,
nothing fits anymore. Whatever the case, you can lose the
weight. It will take the right attitude, level of commitment and
the right actions. Yes, there are plenty of diets and pills
available to help you along the way. They aren’t all bad, but do
keep in mind that unless permanent lifestyle changes are made,
the weight will come back when you stop the diets and the pills.

Diets and Pills

There are almost as many weight loss methods and diet pills
available as there are people who want to lose weight.

There are diet pills that stop your hunger so you eat less and
burn more fat. There are diet pills that cause the body not to
metabolize all the food you eat, so it’s passed out of your
system and not stored as fat. Then there’s the combination of
these two. As you begin your search for the perfect diet pill,
be careful as some can have harmful effects on your body.

Diet Pills work by shifting levels of brain chemicals
(neurotransmitters) that control satiety (fullness) and desire
for food. Some also slightly increase your metabolic rate – the
rate at which your body burns calories.

Examples of weight loss diet pills include:

Diethylpropion hydrochloride (eg. Tenuate) Mazindol (eg.
Mazanor, Sanorex) Phendimetrazine tartrate (eg. Bontril)
Phentermine hydrochloride (eg. Adipex-P, Ionamin)

All these can be used to help with weight loss. Be careful of
pills containing ephedra, or caffeine. These can have negative
and sometimes even deadly effects on the body. Use with caution.

Three Steps

Whatever method you choose to help you lose weight, here’s three
steps that will help. Evaluate your situation and reasons behind
the weight gain honestly. Sometimes it’s difficult to accept the
true facts about why we’ve gained weight, only by realizing and
accepting the truth can you being to deal with it using a
positive attitude. Make sure your attitude is positive about the
changes you make. Don’t dread the changes or say things like I
hate not eating the cake…. Instead whenever you have one of
those kinds of thoughts think about how much happier you will be
with your new slimmer body.

Visualize the positive effects your good actions are having. Get
a mental image of the “new you.” Whenever you’re tempted not to
be active or to eat the wrong things, picture the “new you” you
will be if you overcome the temptation.

Don’t believe the magical ads. You can’t keep doing the same
things, and expect something different to happen. You can use
products to assist you with weight loss, but ultimately you must
be in control for the weight to stay off without taking the diet
pills.

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