If you are going to be able to keep to a weight loss plan for long enough to lose all the body fat you need to then you have to enjoy the process. If you don’t you will either not lose weight or if you do lose weight it will soon return again. That is because you are not learning to eat in a different way permanently. As soon as you stop depriving yourself you will bounce back to all those forbidden foods that you love. So what is the answer to permanent weight loss?

I am not keen on diets in which you have to restrict your food and/or cut out or reduce certain food.  Studies show that these diets make you fat . So I am always interested in other ways of losing weight. Hypnosis is one way which can help to get those pounds melting away. 

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Clinical studies showing how hypnosis helps with weight loss are irrefutable:

• In a 9-week study of two weight management groups (one using hypnosis and one not using hypnosis), the hypnosis group continued to get results in the two-year follow-up, while the non-hypnosis group showed no further results (Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1985).

• In a study of 60 women separated into hypnosis versus non-hypnosis groups, the groups using hypnosis lost an average of 17 pounds, while the non-hypnosis group lost an average of only .5 pounds (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1986).
• In a meta-analysis, comparing the results of adding hypnosis to weight loss treatment across multiple studies showed that adding hypnosis increased weight loss by an average of 97% during treatment, and even more importantly increased the effectiveness POST TREATMENT by over 146%. This shows that hypnosis works even better over time (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1996).

Here is a weight loss hypnosis program that has been given very good ratings and has been approved by the American Medical Association. If you have ever thought about trying hypnosis for weight loss thos program would be a good one to try. You can learn more abou this program here:

Enjoy Losing Weight

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Eating less is an important part of weight loss but a low calorie diet can mean being hungry at  times. If you are hungry it is all too easy to lose your resolve and to eat, often grabbing the  closest calorie laden food. Don’t feel bad, this is a normal re-action to hunger and is why an appetite suppressant may help.

Amphetamine is an appetite suppressant that used to be prescribed to those wishing to lose weight. It has unpleasant side effects as well as being addictive and is not banned in most Western countries including the USA.  But there are many natural appetite suppressants which are perfectly safe to use.  Here are some safe natural appetite suppressants to help with your weight loss:

1. Apples are a natural appetite suppressant. Because they take more chewing they allow time for your appetite to be suppressed.
2. Pine nuts are another great appetite suppressant.They contain pinolenic acid a fat that suppresses hunger. In one study subjects that took pinoleic acid reduced their food intake by 36%.
3. Eating food high in fiber reduces hunger because it fills without adding excess calories. Flaxseeds are a good source of appetite suppressing fiber  and they also provde health giving omega-3.  Oats are another high fiber appetite suppressant.  Eating real oatmeal (not the instant kind) for breakfast will help suppress your hunger for several hours.Even better, add some ground flaxseesd to your porridge as well.
4. Eating a small salad before a meal acts as an appetite suppressant. According to one study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Assocation women who ate a simple 100-calorie salad before their meal ate 12% fewer calories during the meal.
5. Soup is a wonderful appetite supressant too. Participants in a recent study who had two servings of low calorie soup each day,lost 50% more weight than a group who had the same number of calories in snack foods. Something magical about soup!
6. Whey protein powder can help you lose weight and build muscle. New studies suggest that whey may have an impact on food intake through its effect on hormones that influence a feeling of fullness. In one study, participants consumed a liquid meal consisting of either whey or casein and 90 minutes later were allowed to eat freely at a buffet table. The whey group consumed significantly fewer calories.

What about Hoodia Gordonii?

This natural appetite suppressant comes from a succulent plant used by the Bushmen of  the Kalahari to suppress appetite on long hunting trips.  So far it has not been produced in a standardised format and no published scientific papers have been published on its effectiveness.

This is rather strange when you consider the amount of publicity it generated when it first came to light in the West.  It seemed like a miracle answer to all out weight problems.  There is no published scientific evidence that hoodia works as an appetite suppressant in humans.  Many fakes are sold on line.

Pfizer drug company are licenced to develop hoodia.  ”Pfizer states that development on P57, the active ingredient of hoodia, was stopped due to the difficulty of synthesizing P57. Jasjit Bindra, lead researcher for hoodia at Pfizer, states there were indications of unwanted effects on the liver caused by other components, which could not be easily removed from the supplement… Until safer formulations are developed, dieters should be wary of using it.”  Wikipedia

Ready to go on a weight loss diet? There are certain things that will make it more likely that you will succeed- see how you measure up:

1. Motivation

You have to really and truly want to lose weight and you have to be prepared for some hardship along the way. It isn’t easy and its best to know that right from the start. The most important factor in weight loss is what your subconscious says to you. If you want to lose weight but not yet, or not if it means giving up your beer or your wine or perhaps your chocolate and ice cream, whatever it is that you think that you can’t live without, then you will not be able to do it.

Your subconscious will keep telling you that you can’t possibly live without those things, because that is what you have said.Whenever you break your diet by  eating or drinking one of those “must have” items, you are telling your subconscious that you “must” have them. It believes whatever you tell it.  Because you keep saying to yourself that you can’t resist certain foods you are training  your subconscious to make sure you never say “no” to them.

To overcome this state of affairs you must re-train your mind to do what you want it to do. You must tell yourself all the time that you can do it and will do it. Visualize yourself saying no and visualize the results. Imagine yourself as you will be when you reach your goal, or even part way reach your goal. Don’t keep doubting yourself. Watch the Affirmations Video on the right several times a day- or create your own list of positives.

2.  Goals

This is akin to 1 above. You must have worked out what you are aiming for so that when times get tough you have an  image in your mind of where you are going and why. Writing down your goals and re-reading them regularly will make a big difference to your final outcome.

3. Eat Less

You are never going to lose body fat until you stop eating so much. Sorry but there it is. In the end it does boil down to eating less of the foods that you love because those are the foods that have made you fat. When trying to lose weight you have to create a calorie deficit. That means the amount you burn each day has to be more than you eat. Don’t make the mistake of eating too few calories though or you will lose more lean tissue than body fat. Also eat plenty of protein, it increases metabolic rate and you lose weight faster. Aim to eat around 9-13 calories and  0.8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. We recommend Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle weight loss plan.

4. Write It Down

Keep a food diary or use diet software to keep track of every morsel that you eat. Studies show that weight loss is more successful in those who write it all down.

5. Support

Research shows that support helps. Find a diet buddy, one of your friends is ideal but a diet forum online can fill the gap.

6. Sustained Effort

Be prepared to make an effort.  We would never have put weight on if we found it easy to resist certain drinks or foods. You need to harden your self up for the battle ahead. Talk of miracle diets, diet pills or supplements keeps us searching for an easy way, but there isn’t one.

7. Exercise

You simply can’t avoid it. It isn’t just to burn extra calories, aerobic exercise has been shown to make little difference to weight loss. No, its to prevent the loss of lean muscle. Studies show that those who go on a weight loss diet without doing muscle building exercise lose lean muscle. If you accompany your diet with strength training exercises you will lose more fat and less muscle.

Muscle has a higher metabolic rate than fat so it pays to hang on to the muscle you have. That does not mean that you have to join a gym, you can do some strength training at home with weights, bands, swiss balls etc.Another thing about exercise is that it makes you feel better.

It raises endorphins and reduces the chance that you will get blue. That’s a great thing when trying to lose weight. The happier you feel the more likely you are to be able to keep up the diet program.

8. Alcohol

Alcohol doesn’t turn to fat but it is burned as fuel preferentially over fat. So if you drink half a bottle of wine, which is after all only two largish glasses, then 375 calories that would have been burned away stays there and the alcohol is used as fuel instead. There is no way around this.

You can’t live on alcohol so cutting down food to take a drink is not going to help. When you are dieting it is really important to get all your nutrients since you are cutting down on foods that provide nutrients. If you are attached to your alcoholic beverages you will need to work on your subconscious mind in the way discussed in 3 above.

9. Drink Enough Water

Keep hydrated. If you feel hungry try a drink of water first.You can drink other fluids than water so long as you count the calories in them.

10 Sleep

You must get enough sleep it isn’t called beauty sleep for nothing. Studies show that not sleeping enough does cause weight gain for hormonal reasons. It also gives you more hours in which to snack!

So there you have it, a complete weight loss plan! Successful fat burning diets are based on these 10 principles. They might have come up with a gimmick or a fancy name, but to work they have to conform to the basic rules of weight loss.

The simplistic answer to losing body fat is to eat less and move, or calories in equal calories out. In the end this is probably more or less true, but as anyone who has ever tried losing body fat knows it just aint that easy. I am not talking about the chemistry and physiology of body weight and metabolism but about the mental state needed to consistently lose body fat.

Because if your mental state doesn’t change you are destined to spend the rest of your life losing body fat then gaining it back again. You won’t only gain what you lost; you will gain more than you lost.  he very act of intentionally losing body fat sets up a mental and physical state that primes you for fat gain.

It has been found that anyone who is semi starved for a period of time will bounce back like a piece of elastic and eat like mad when they are once more allowed free access to food. Even a reduction to 1500 calories a day caused this reaction in study participants.

This is a normal physical reaction to being denied food. It is also a mental change. Once you have done this to yourself by dieting you are going to need a lot of mental resilience to overcome it; but forewarned is forearmed.

After once losing body fat and then re-gaining you will need to change your mindset completely if you are to lose body fat permanently.  And that isn’t easy. Maybe you have reached a crisis point in your life. You are tired of looking in the mirror and seeing a shape you hate. You may be fed up with thinking about food and weight loss the whole time and of never feeling OK about yourself.  Are you strongly motivated to make changes in your lifestyle and eating habits?

If so you are ready to embark on losing body fat once and for all. You can be successful if you are ready to put the time and effort into it. But remember success means not regaining your body fat after reaching your desired weight. This is the hard part. Losing body fat is hard. Don’t even start to do it if you are not in the right frame of mind. You need to be completely dedicated to doing it and doing it right. This requires mental fortitude and willingness to keep going for the many months it may take to be happy with your weight again.

The most important thing about trying to lose body fat isn’t the eating plan that you choose to follow. There are numerous diets for losing fat and many of them are healthy and will work. What you need to do is to find one that suits you and your way of life. That is the easy part. The hard part is keeping at it.

You will probably need some support and a diet buddy can be very helpful.  In her book “The Beck Diet Solution” Judith Beck goes into this aspect of the weight loss journey at length. She doesn’t give you an eating plan but rather she shows you how to succeed on your chosen healthy weight loss plan. There are other books that take this route too. “Losing It Naturally: A Complete Holistic Weight Loss Program ” is another book that many have found helpful in the battle to lose body fat. All the reviewer/customers at amzon.com gave this 5 stars! Here is what one said

“After reading this book, I finally feel like I have an understanding of my relationship with food. This is not a quick-fix gimmic. The discussion of how we digest food made me realize that I need to pay attention to everything I take in. I’ve already lost 9 pounds in 3 weeks and I feel incredible!”

Whatever you choose to do remember that a dietary change is not an easy thing to do.  If you start with this knowledge and use a healthy weight loss plan together with mental help and support you are more likely to be successful and never to need to lose body fat again.

Fat burner supplements are advertised everywhere these days – on the internet, in magazines and even on TV. The ads almost always feature a very lean fitness model or bodybuilder and claim that these products, usually pills, were the secret to their six pack abs and very low body fat levels. Some of these ads suggest that the only way to get as lean as the “hot bodies” you see in the ads is by taking their “miracle pills” and that proper nutrition and exercise alone is not enough.

While I won’t dismiss the fact that there are ingredients in some fat “burner” products that might help a little bit, I take great displeasure in seeing misleading advertising claims as well as the misleading use of models who are often paid to endorse the product even though they may never have even used it (they’re just models!)

Many “fat burner” companies have been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for false advertising, false claims and falsifying before and after photos.

In one of my previous newsletters, I said that in my opinion, 97% of your results come from nutrition and training and maybe you get an extra 3% advantage from supplements. Just so you know those numbers arent something I just pulled out of thin air, lets take an example:

• walk your dog for 15 minutes
• walk for 5 minutes at normal casual pace three times a day
• 30 minutes of ironing
• bagging leaves and grass clippings for 14 minutes
• re arrange your furniture for 10 minutes
• wash your car, 15 minutes
• vacuuming for 15 minutes
• 7.2 minutes of walking up stairs (could be spread throughout the day)

Ah yes, but why move your body when you can take the pill and metabolism increases while you sit and watch TV? How about for your health? A body that is not moved, rots away. Unlike a car which only has so many miles on it and wears out from over-use, people are the only “machines” on earth that fall apart from under-use.

Here’s what any good personal trainer will always tell you: No amount of calorie restriction or pill-popping will ever give you FITNESS. It willl never give you STRENGTH. it will never get you MUSCULARITY. It will never give you FUNCTIONALITY. At best it will help you reduce body mass slightly.

On one hand, I’m tempted to say that everything counts and that yes, 75 calories here and 75 calories there, it ALL adds up, because it does. After you’re exercising regularly and all your fundamentals are in place, details and little things do matter.

I’m simply asking you to put the benefits of any fat burners in proper perspective and realize that (1) there is no “need” for taking them and (2) the claims made in the ads are often erroneous or exagerrated.

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p style=”text-align: left;”>By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS www.BurnTheFat.com

But, unfortunately for some, other methods are sometimes needed. Whether through long-term poor development of willpower, genetic disposition, disease or other factors, maintaining the proper weight for the obese sometimes requires outside assistance.

Fad diets rarely work, and almost never for very long. Some nutritional supplements and other compounds can help to a degree. But for many in this situation, weight loss surgery is the only hope.

There are many forms of surgery these days and all have pros and cons. The most important criteria are effectiveness, risk and side effects.

Surgical techniques have evolved over the past few decades, and most are effective, in the sense that they do typically lead to substantial weight loss. That loss comes about usually as the result of restricted caloric intake by eating less or by absorbing less of the food that is eaten.

One of the earliest forms was gastric bypass surgery. All or part of the stomach was removed and the digestive system reconnected. Originally extremely dangerous, it has evolved but still carries substantial risks. It is no longer the preferred method. Patients who undergo the procedure have to take supplements forever after and the risk of disease and nutritional deficiencies remains high.

Stomach stapling is one technique that has been around for many years now. Initially highly dangerous, it has become much safer in the past 10 years. There are still substantial risks, however, as with any major surgery.

The procedure consists of opening the patient and clamping portions of the stomach with specialized surgical staples. Newer methods sometimes make possible laparoscopy, in which a small hole is created through which the surgeon works, but the patient isn’t opened up.

There are risks of bleeding, though small. Patients can become ill if they attempt to eat more than the recommended amount. They may also suffer from nutritional deficiencies that can be lifelong, requiring supplements.

The net effect is to create a smaller stomach, leading to a more rapid feeling of fullness. The patient simply eats less and therefore takes in fewer calories. The body turns to stored fat for energy and the result is less fat and lower weight.

Lap Band Surgery

A newer form involves installing an adjustable Lap Band around the stomach. This eliminates the need to puncture the stomach and makes it possible for the physician to adjust the effect as the patient loses weight. Generally safe, the procedure can be done on an outpatient basis. Most consider it a minor inconvenience, though like any medical procedure it’s expensive and insurance companies increasingly won’tpay for it. The band itself is not painful.

Patients typically experience rapid weight loss, but at the same time (as fat comes out of adipose tissue) many hormonal changes take place. Close, regular medical observation is important for the success of the procedure and the health of the patient.

There are dozens of names for the various procedures, Biliopancreatic Diversion, Vertical Banded Gastroplasty, Adjustable gastric band, sleeve gastrectomy (with or without Duodenal Switch), Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and others. All are termed bariatric surgery.

But whichever procedure an individual considers, careful thought should be given to weighing the risks and benefits. For many, a commitment to long-term dietary and lifestyle changes is a better option. For those who believe surgery is the best option, consulting with an experienced physician is essential.

Morbidly obese people are at much greater risk in surgery and a quick strict diet to get rid of a few pounds in a hurry is reasonable. But the Greenlane diet is not meant as a crash diet for ordinary healthy folk who are not about to go under the surgeons knife. I haven’t rung them to check whether this is their diet though.

One of my friends introduced me to this diet which she goes on once a year to lose accumulated weight- she says it works really well and she finds it relatively easy to do. She gave me the version she uses and it is lot different from the ones I have seen spearing on various message boards.

It is said to be a 3 day diet where you can lose 10 pounds. The Greenlane diet is not a 3 day diet, it s a 4 week diet, and there is no promise that you will lose 10lbs. Those bits have been added, though my friend tells me she drop about 5kg (11lbs). It isn’t hard to stick to because the strict part is only for 3 days after which you can eat normally. Therefore it is not dangerous to your health.

The Greenlane Diet

You should have lost quite a few pounds by the end of the month.

Now you don’t need me to tell you not to stay on it more than one month do you?

Thats it. Good Luck!

Please come back here and let us know if this worked for you.

The link is even stronger to subcutaneous fat (the name given to fat stored under your skin) which has been shown to secrete more leptin than other sources of fat, such as gut fat.

It is unfair but true that women have leptin levels 3 to 4 times higher than men. It is thought that this is due to the influence of female hormones and differences in body fat distribution between men and women.

I haven’t found an answer to this problem I am afraid but I do know one way that you can curb your hunger. Protein foods are the answer.

Protein is more filling and keeps you satisfied for longer than other food groups.  Not only that but it burns up more calories because it takes more resources to digest it.

Protein is an essential component of any weight loss plan Make sure to have protein at every meal and even every snack if you can.You will find that you can last longer between meals.

Are you unhappy with your shape? Are you trying to lose fat from your tummy or perhaps its love handles that need to be zapped or its hip fat reduction you are after? In other words is spot fat reduction of whatever body part you dislike what you want?

If so you will no doubt have come across very many advertisements in which easy and fast spot fat reduction is promised. It all looks so easy on the infomercials doesn’t it? All you need is a piece of equipment or even a pot of magic fat melting cream to rub onto the offending area. Hey presto- 6 weeks later you are svelte and shapely all over. Yea right!

It can’t be done I am sorry to say. Doing 500 crunches a day will only exhaust you but it will not get rid of that tummy fat nor those love handles. Cellulite melting creams will only melt away your credit balance not your fat thighs. Your body will not burn the fats stored in that spot you are targeting.

Spot fat reduction is a myth perpetuated by cynical companies that know how important fat loss is for you and want to make some cash from your vulnerability. Do not waste time or money on them.

When you are over fat you need to reduce it but you can’t reduce it by concentrating on one body part. Spot fat reduction isn’t how your body works. It will lose fat from where it chooses and usually in the order in which you gained it. So if your tummy fat arrived last it will begin to reduce first. If you were dieting at the same time a trying exercising to target tummy fat you might be convinced that spot fat reduction worked for you.

The only way to sculpt your shape is to do structured workouts with weights. You need to change your eating to lose body fat first, otherwise your sculpted muscle will be hidden under a cushion of fat.

Some programs that will help you to lose body fat as well as sculpt your body shape are:

• Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle Read our review
• Bikini Abs Makeover- this sounds like spot fat reduction but it isn’t really. It is actually a fat loss program with exercise.

The Bikini Abs Makeover consists of 6 Intense Phases, from beginner to advanced, laid out for you over a 12- week period with specifically sequenced fat burning exercises, complete with the exact sets, reps, and rest periods for optimal fat burning results. Armed with over 20 workouts in all, it goes into full detail outlining the 59 Best Exercises for Blasting Fat Off Your Pooch Belly At Record Speeds without ever having to step foot into a regular gym. With over 20 Workouts, 6 Fat Loss Phases, Detailed Nutrition Programs to Get you going, PLUS A COMPLETE Built-In SUPPORT SYSTEM Ready to help catapult you toward your goals, we go into detail exactly what you need to develop Bikini Abs in minimal time. Check it out here: Bikini Abs

Did you know that lack of sleep can make you fat? Neither did I. I had mistakenly thought it might even help my weight loss plan to stay up late. After all you are using more calories when you up and about than when you are sleeping aren’t you?

But recent studies indicate that lack of sleep can actually make you fat. So if you think sleep is a waste of time and you would like to shed a few pounds read on.

Two large studies have shown that those who sleep less are more likely to be overweight or obese. Eve Van Cauter, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, and the lead investigator on one of the new studies says that sleep deprivation activates a small part of the hypothalamus, the region of the brain that is involved in appetite regulation.

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The hormone that causes hunger is called ghrelin and when it is low you feel hungry. Its opposite, leptin, is secreted when you are not hungry.

In a long term study researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Stanford University tracked 1,024 people ages 30 to 60. It was found that those who regularly slept for only 5 hours a night had higher ghrelin and lower leptin levels and they were more likely to be overweight or obese.

Other recent studies show the same connection, including one from Columbia University in New York. They studied data on over 6000 people to compare sleep patterns and obesity.

This is what they found:

IIt seems that sleep deprived people feel hungrier (leptin is low) and because they are awake for longer they have more time to eat. Not only that but sleep deprived people are stressed and need a pick-me-up. Their pick-me-up of choice is high calorie fatty or sugary snacks, real comfort foods. To add to all this night owls are not spending their extra hours on the treadmill. No, they are sitting around watching TV or reading. This all contributes to their being more likely to be obese or overweight.

So now you know, you really do need your beauty sleep.