Back when I used to drink alcohol, one could say that I was that occasional weekend drinker. There is research that indicates that alcohol does not contribute to weight gain. There is also those who say that alcohol and weight loss are enemies. So, let’s assume that alcohol doesn’t contribute to weight gain for argument sake. Back at this time I was probably up around 200 pounds. I drank and ate all the foods that one would eat when going to the bars. So, one could say that your weight gain comes from the package that you consume over the weekend. Now, granted, this is just my view. If you take this package out of the picture, the you also take all those calories out too. One time when I was a local bar one Saturday evening eating, someone there offered to buy me a drink and I just had finished my “limit”. I declined and she said something like life is short, you gotta have fun or something like that. I replied back something like But I am having a good time, I’m having great food, talking with people, I don’t need alcohol to have a good time. It was at that point the seed was planted to move me in the direction of cutting alcohol out of my life.
After taking alcohol out of the picture, my weight stopped rising. It was at this point that I was a member of a local gym and I was starting to get involved with fitness and nutrition. Also around this time, I started going to church and then stopped going to the bars. A very good trade off if you ask me. Lots of good people, and great food too! A few months later, I found my future wife to be or should I say she found me and the rest is history. Oh, I should point out that she would have never went with me if I drank. It’s interesting how things can work out at times.
For years, I never really paid to much attention to the nutrition labels on any products out there. Truth is, I should have taken them more seriously like I do now. Nutrition labels are an important tool in one’s weight loss efforts. They contain vital information that can help in determining not only if a product is good for you, but also how much of something you should eat for a given portion.
When it comes to weight loss, the most important information to keep an eye on is Calories, Fat, Dietary Fiber as well as Sugars. If you are following the Weight Watchers plan utilizing their point system then the first 3 mentioned above are most important. You can click on the image at the right and it will take you to Diabetes America website for more information on reading nutrition labels.
It doesn’t matter where you are health wise, making use of a nutrition label is important for everyone. It helps one connect the dots to better health.
Without using a nutrition label,you are eating or drinking blindly.
There are times you may need to know specific information about what is in a given product. Without a nutrition label, it would be hard to find this information. This goes beyond the simple ingredients that each product has. What if you are counting carbs or watching how much sodium is in a specific item? You need nutrition labels to assist you in making the right choices. What if you were allergic to a specific ingredient in something you were going to buy? If you were not able to see for yourself what was listed on a nutrition label, you’d be taking a risk, thus gambling with your health as to the outcome from consuming that product.
No matter the person, we all need nutrition. It doesn’t matter who you are. The athlete, stay at home mom, the acute-work-a-holic husband, you, me, we all need good nutrition. Without it, everything else is pointless. What happens if you put the wrong fuel in a sports car? Put put put put phhhssss ……. We all need good fuel to keep us going and sustain us throughout each day. In previous posts, I discussed the importance of both getting active as well as portion control. Nutrition is another slice of the pie we need to be concerned with. To some, this is a no brain er, others, either didn’t get it (yet) or don’t care.
If one of your goals is to loose weight, you need good nutrition to help you loose weight. Good nutrition helps keep your body in top running order to help you do all the things you need to do in a day. How could you expect a world class athlete to accomplish Olympic gold without good nutrition?
It just won’t happen!
You should first determine if your diet is a healthy one. Take this test, it’s free and very informative. You need to figure out how many calories your body needs on a daily basis. The human body is remarkable. Even if you spent years not getting good nutrition, your body will say “ahhhhhhh” when you change your diet for the better.
Imagine how good you’ll start feeling when the body starts getting the right stuff.
Getting good nutrition doesn’t mean you have to stop eating some of those other foods. Eating those other foods in moderation is the key. Those other foods should be like a treat and not an everyday part of your diet.
As is our slogan “Make life better one choice at at time”, try to make small changes in your diet each day. This is better than attempting to jump on one of those trendy fad diets which may not be safe for you anyway.
How do you know if your diet is healthy? You need to take a look at the USDA’s Food Guide to see if you are getting the recommended number of servings of various food groups.
Consider your choices, do you want to be like that sports car, revved and ready to race down the road, or do you want to be like an old heap ready for the junk yard? This is how important good nutrition is. It can make a real difference in your life. You may not notice much in your younger years, but, as you start to get older, the body changes. Getting good nutrition is an important part of everyone’s life no matter the age.
If you are a very active person, such as a runner, marathoner, biker, or other types of sports, then your need for good nutrition can be even grater. Consult your specific sports type website for more information on nutritional needs. For runners, I highly recommend Runner’s World.
Some give lots of effort and some don’t on loosing weight and burning fat. The truth is, until the individual has a strong mind set and has mentally committed to the effort to loose the weight and burn off the fat, the battle will continue on. You have to take control and make changes to bring about results to achieve your goals. Until you get their “mentally”, you are not there and won’t get there. It all hinges on the brain, your control or command center of your life. You have to decide where you want to be. One’s mind set is any of the following: a) wants weight loss bad, b) dreams of weight loss, c) happy, or d) doesn’t care. These are just some possibilities of where someone is mentally on this subject.
But as I said, until you make that all important decision to get it done, you’ll never be done.
It’s not just about loosing the weight, it’s about changing your life and creating a new lifestyle. If you don’t change your habits, you’ll only end up right back where you started from or worse. Ask yourself this question “If I figured out how to do something good for myself that works, why would I stop?”
For the weight loss issue, there are many options to choose from. You could do any of the following:
1. Exercise, portion control and getting proper nutrition
2. Herbalife weight loss, exercise, portion control
3. Weight Watchers, exercise and portion control
4. Other weight loss method, exercise and portion control.
If you haven’t gotten the drift yet, it’s all the same. The key factor is what works for you. What you want and need is what works and is nutritious for you. You don’t want something that is less-healthy for you. You’ll notice that each option above includes exercise and portion control. It’s just that you need exercise to burn off calories as well as to tone up. You need portion control to aide in the decrease of calories consumed. You don’t need to eat more than the body needs to sustain itself. If you eat a sensible portion and wait 20 minutes before deciding to have more, odds are you wont’ eat anymore because you’ll start to feel satisfied since the body would have caught up with what you just ate.
You’ll notice that AboveNBeyond4u.com is not affiliated with any one weight loss company. The reason for this is because what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work another. I used both Herbalife and Weight Watchers to achieve my goals. However, just because I had success with these two companies, doesn’t mean everyone will. You may find something else either through this site or on the Internet that you prefer. The main thing is that you find what works for you. As long as what you find is healthy and nutritious and works that is all that matters. As I find other options I will post them throughout this site.
Ok, there is a huge number of those who are NOT active. Oh yes, they’ll say, not active? Hey, I work, I do chores around the house, help the wife/girl friend, I do this, I do that and so fourth. Well, then why are they loosing the battle of the bulge? Yes, Weight Watchers does count some of this activity towards your efforts to loosing or managing weight. So, what’s the problem? The problem can be attributed to a number of things. Either one is consuming some of the wrong foods & drinks or the activity is not enough to burn off the calories being consumed or both.
I tell you the truth, if I did not run and exercise and only relied on nutrition and weight management, it would be much harder for me to control my weight. Having an active life (in addition to your “other stuff”) really takes a bite out of your weight! So, if you are not active and am having issues controlling your weight, you need to realize what you are doing or not doing about it. If you are active enough and are still having issues, then activity isn’t your problem.
If activity isn’t the problem, then it’s likely that portion control is. Unless you are the type that subscribes to the theory “oh, I don’t haven any problems controlling what I eat, I can eat anytime”. Then that’s the problem. Recently, I have posted more articles on portion control. This is a topic that has a great impact on weight management efforts. Portion control doesn’t only apply to your meals, but, also other items such as drinks, candies, cakes etc.
I’m sure that you seen this, people who seem like they never gain weight. It can drive one nuts to wonder why this is. Well, one issue is metabolism, everyone’s is different. Some suggest smoking as a factor, once they quit, they gain weight. I can’t comment on that but, that’s what I’ve heard. Weight management can be a balancing act to keep it where you want it.
We all usually get the right start in school with having access to a physicall education class, i.e: Gym class. After one gets out of school, fitness becomes less of a reality for some. This is unfortunate since by adding a fitness / active life can really be fun too in addition to it’s impact on ones overall health.
A side benefit of using Weight Watchers to help with portion control is how it can improve your attitude on what you can eat. You end up realizing and saying “oh, I can have a yogurt now”. When one has been used to eating a certain way, eating another way can be a hard reality to swallow. No weight loss program in the world will work if your head isn’t in the game. Portion control is an important issue because, if you can’t control your portions, then you are just spinning your wheels. Yes, we all love to eat, but, when your eating habits get out of control, so does your weight. Think of it this way, lets say that your workouts are fantastic, you are getting the right amount of nutrition, but, your eating habits are though the roof. Well, because of that one issue, your efforts are stalemated. There is nothing wrong with splurging now and then, but not daily. With portion control you can afford splurging now and then because you realized that you went overboard that one day and you are following a routine and therefore the impact of one time isn’t going to crash your efforts.
I just love Dunkin Donuts Medium Hazelnut Ice’d Lattes and I have at least one whenever I get a chance. By using the Weight Watchers Point system, I know that a 24oz Iced Latte is worth 2 points and that is cheap for what you get. Compare that to a 4 point McDonalds Medium Hazelnut Iced coffee.
Sound like a lot of work? Not at all, once you understand how the point system works, it’s a breeze. So, instead of being hampered you are actually enabled and weight loss actually becomes easier since your portions are under control and you are not stifling your efforts.
If you feel like you don’t want to be a member of Weight Watchers to loose your weight, well, no one ever said you’d have to stay a member forever now did they? Get in, Get Informed, Get It Done!
NO and I mean NO, I am not advertising Weight Watchers here, but, it DOES work.
As I’ve said, I also used Weight Watchers in addition to Herbalife to help with controlling my portions. One of the really neat things about Weight Watchers is that by utilizing their point system, you can really eat anything you want as long as you can live with the impact of how you use the points each day and week. See this Weight Watchers Online commercial.
You don’t have to order anything to have on hand at home or office, you can buy locally and literally eat anything you like. It’s in my opinion a very flexible system and again as long as you can make use of their point system effectively. It’s a great way to conquer the issue of portion control. I really like it and use it as part of my weight management system. A key benefit of Weight Watchers is that even after you stop being a member, you still can make use of their foods and other products as well as their point system. Kind of like the gift that keeps on giving or something like that?
Some people have a problem with counting calories. In this case, you are counting points. For example, one Yoplait White Chocolate Strawberry is worth 2 points. That’s cheap in the point system. On Monday’s and Tuesdays, I am up early and look forward to my 10am snack which usually is some Yorgurt. I can eat it without feeling guilty knowing that lunch time is just around the corner. Let’s say that your daily point limit is 28, and you just had some yogurt. You now have 26 points left for the day. That’s how easy it is. Hey, it works for me……
Now, if anyone is still having an issue with counting points, think of it as a guide to help you with your portions. It’s not so much about counting the points, but, seeing how much of a portion you can eat and still get what you need. This is a whole lot easier than counting calories and it works.
In the previous article, I touched on ideas to help you cut the budget to get the weight off. By focusing on those suggestions, you can create your own momentum to loosing weight. It is not written that you need to spend lots of money to loose lots of weight. Though, weight loss companies don’t what you to realize that. Again, Yes, I used Herbalife and loved it and am thankful that I found it. But, when money matters, there are weighs to win the battle of the bulge. You can’t let money be the dictator when it comes to your health. Here are more suggestions:
1. Yogurt – Yoplait is worth about 2 Weight Watchers points, I just love the White Chocolate Strawberry. Yeah, and I never used to like Yogurt too!
2. Progresso soups – Some have the point value right on the can.
3. Zero Calorie Products – While you do have to understand that zero calories doesn’t guarantee that it’s healthy, it does help with your efforts on weight loss, thus not taking in calories.
4. Recipe Changes – Change your recipes using applesauce in place of some oils or butters. You may have to experiment with this to taste.
5. Recipe ideas – There are a variety of books available with weight loss recipes that are quite tasty. Check out Borders, Amazon and other stores.
Sometimes you have to change your menu and way of eating to get the job done. If there is something in your life that you are not controlling, be careful, it may be controlling you. Food that is or what is making you eat more than you need? If you really want to loose weight, you’ll start making the right choices to get there and realizing that it will take time.
Keep your foods colorful and keep it to a minimum with foods that are brown or beige. These types of carbohydrates are high in calories. Such items include pasta, beans and potatoes. Just because something tastes good, does not mean it’s good for you. It’s just good tasting. Now there is no reason to give up all the foods, deserts you eat each day. You want to remember to eat in moderation.
Eating healthy, is not about following a strict diet or trying to stay unreasonably thin, or staying away from the foods you love and look forward to eating. Instead, it’s about getting good nutrition, having more energy and maintaining a healthy balance to have a strong immune system for every day life.
Eating colorful foods (fruits and vegetables) is a good way to get those powerful antioxidants that the body needs to fight off diseases.
Food Myth:
You need to cut out all the fat you eat to loose weight
Food Fact:
Foods that are reduced fat, often have the same amount of calories and at times even more calories than full fat products due to added sugar. You may be tempted to eat more when they say “low fat”.
The doctor says:
Colorful foods are important, because, they provide nutrition from the chemicals called phytonutrients or “plant” nutrients. These nutrients contribute to your healthy-food plan.
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Back when I used to drink alcohol, one could say that I was that occasional weekend drinker. There is research that indicates that alcohol does not contribute to weight gain. There is also those who say that alcohol and weight loss are enemies. So, let’s assume that alcohol doesn’t contribute to weight gain for argument sake. Back at this time I was probably up around 200 pounds. I drank and ate all the foods that one would eat when going to the bars. So, one could say that your weight gain comes from the package that you consume over the weekend. Now, granted, this is just my view. If you take this package out of the picture, the you also take all those calories out too. One time when I was a local bar one Saturday evening eating, someone there offered to buy me a drink and I just had finished my “limit”. I declined and she said something like life is short, you gotta have fun or something like that. I replied back something like But I am having a good time, I’m having great food, talking with people, I don’t need alcohol to have a good time. It was at that point the seed was planted to move me in the direction of cutting alcohol out of my life.
No matter the person, we all need nutrition. It doesn’t matter who you are. The athlete, stay at home mom, the acute-work-a-holic husband, you, me, we all need good nutrition. Without it, everything else is pointless. What happens if you put the wrong fuel in a sports car? Put put put put phhhssss ……. We all need good fuel to keep us going and sustain us throughout each day. In previous posts, I discussed the importance of both getting active as well as portion control. Nutrition is another slice of the pie we need to be concerned with. To some, this is a no brain er, others, either didn’t get it (yet) or don’t care.
Keep your foods colorful and keep it to a minimum with foods that are brown or beige. These types of carbohydrates are high in calories. Such items include pasta, beans and potatoes. Just because something tastes good, does not mean it’s good for you. It’s just good tasting. Now there is no reason to give up all the foods, deserts you eat each day. You want to remember to eat in moderation. 
