Here Are Some Helpful Ways to Drop Those Unwanted Pounds

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Stubborn belly fat or extra weight in other areas of the body can result in health problems and make it difficult to find that perfect fit at the clothing store. Fortunately, tips like those outlined below can be a big help to anyone's goal of losing extra pounds.

Nature Is Your Friend

Though there have been fads and trends that failed to live up to the hype, some nutritional supplements and additives have proven effective at boosting metabolism and burning fat. Peptides and other promising products are available on the market today while dietary experts including Ryan Smith Lexington KY provide professional clarification.

Nutrition Is the Key

Many dieters know the importance of cutting calories. Beyond that basic step, though, it is also critical to make sure those calories come primarily from nutritional sources like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats.

Exercise Is an Added Boost

While it is possible to lose weight based entirely on reduced caloric intake, maintaining an active lifestyle will help immensely. Start off slow with a daily walk or a decision to skip the elevator and take the stairs.

Finding the right balance is critical for anyone hoping to get in shape. Remember the preceding points for assistance in this regard and find a plan you can maintain.

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Intermittent Fasting for Weight-loss

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I almost hit my target weight way back in 2016. After almost five months, I weighed at 168 pounds (76 kilos) from 190 pounds (about 90 kilos). I did this by following some weight-loss regime like reducing rice intake, having few minutes of exercise, drinking green tea and others.

I maintained hitting the scale between 168-172 pounds not until the Lenten season of 2017. I gain back my weight to 189 pounds or 86 kilos in just a few months.

Now, I wanted to get back on my lowest number or even lower and I am now nearing the same number. I still follow what I did before but added the intermittent fasting regime.

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an energy or calorie restriction diets that cycle between fasting and non-fasting for a period of time. There are two major types of fasting: the alternate day fasting, and the time restricted fasting.

Alternate Day Fasting

This method involves a 24-hour fast followed by 24-hour non-fasting period done alternately. This can be modified to 5:2 regime which involves 5 days non-fasting and 2 days fasting periods. Either of the alternate or the 5:2 diets, both allow you to consume 500-600 calories during the fasting days.

Time-Restricted Feeding

This is the most common method of intermittent fasting. There are 3 major methods: 16:8, 12:12, and 23:1.

The 16:8 method involves fasting for 16 hours daily and only eat during the remaining 8 hours. The more liberal time-restricted method is the 12:12 where you need to fast for 12 hours and allows 12 hours eating time. The most strict is the 23:1 which allows you to eat one meal per day only.

On the above-mentioned intermittent fasting methods, I followed the 16:8. I start eating at 10 am and have my last meal at 6 pm.

During the fasting hours, I only take water, green tea of black coffee with a bit of creamer. No sugar!

Aside from weight-loss, there are also several benefits of intermittent fasting. Check below.

Photo Source: Bulletproof

Does intermittent fasting works for me?

I started the intermittent fasting on September 01, 2018 where I mark the scale at 180 pounds. On my last check on November 07, 2018, I am on the 168.8 pounds. Now, I am planning to add toning exercise.

Do you practice Intermittent Fasting too?

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My Weight-Loss Goal Update

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One of my goals this year and previous years is to loose some pounds. I weighed about 190 pounds (about 87 kilos), thirty pounds greater than my target weight – 160 pounds (about 70 kilos).

My average weight

During the first month, I have been struggling and trying different but healthy ways. I tried the modified military diet which limits the amount of daily calorie intake but it seems to fail because I started craving for more food. So I stopped my journey on hitting my goal. Instead of losing weight, I gain more pounds.

But I continue to pursue my goal. Now, I weigh 168-172 pounds (about 76-78 kilos). Konting effort na lang to hit my target numbers. By the way, I am not the only one who shed pounds but Mommy too.

I can already wear some of my shirts and even pants that have been kept in the closet for a long time.

Here are some ways that I think helped in putting me close to my target.

Less rice.

Limiting, not eliminating, rice intake made a great impact on achieving my goals. From the usual 2 cups of rice, or even more kapag gusto ko ang ulam, gradually decreases to 1 ½ to a maximum of 1 cup especially on dinner. 

Now, I am consuming one cup of rice for breakfast, three-fourths for lunch, and a half for dinner.

I did not remove rice in my meal because according to some nutritionist, you need to sustain it or else it will make you gain more weight when you go back to the normal diet.

Balanced meal.

Balance meal for me does not mean that every meal should be complete with meat and vegetables. I just make sure that whenever I take meat on one meal, I have veggies on the next one, or vice-versa.

For example, if I have chicken afritada for lunch, I make sure that our dinner is veggies like pinakbet or chopsuey.

Fruits.

Sometimes, I used to replace my usual snack with fresh fruits. An apple or a banana is a good alternative for bread.

Less soda or fruit juices.

We know that soda and ready-made fruit juices are high in sugar. If not burned, it will turn into fats. 

Again, i did not omit these items in my meals, I just lessen it. Whenever I crave for these, I drink a glass or lesser just to satiate my taste buds. 

Green tea and lots of water.

Normally, I drink a cup of coffee with my breakfast. I replaced it with green tea since I am having a cup of coffee during our break time. I think this one made an impact in reducing my belly area.

Taking 8-10 glasses of water is not only essential in our system but water has zero calories so it is safe to drink more than the recommended amount especially on hotter days.

Exercise.

After a month of modifying my food intake, about 10 pounds were shed on my weight. This motivates me to continue what I am doing.

This time, I included daily routine exercise like abdominal crunches and weight lifting to tone my arms and tuck my tummy. But adding these activities might slow down weight loss because of gaining muscles.

Losing weight needs a lot of discipline but it does not mean to starve yourself. You can eat whatever you want but still in moderation.

What is the status of your weight-loss goal?

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Trying Military Diet: 2nd Round

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One of my goals this year is to loose extra pounds. We tried achieving this goal by adding physical activities like running and dance workouts. Unfortunately, this doesn't work that much. Blame it to laziness! Hahaha. We also tried the Military Diet wherein you are going to limit your calorie intake to for three consecutive days. The remaining days will allow you to eat what you want.

The last time we had this tactic, we shed off about 8 pounds for two consecutive weeks. Not bad at all, right?

Mommy and I agreed to make another try on Military Diet next week. This time, we will be strict in following the recommended daily calorie intake. We will also watch what our diets for the remaining 4 days instead of eating all want you want.

Here is the menu for our Military Diet for two weeks.

Day 1

Breakfast: 1 slice toast, 2 tbsp peanut butter, half-piece grapefruit, a cup of green tea
Lunch:  1/2 cup tuna flakes, 1 slice toast

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I Need Motivation

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A throwback photo (taken 2007)

At the start of the year, one of my goals is to loose some pounds. From my current weight of 82 kilos, I want to target the 72-kilo mark or at least like the one in the picture. 

On the first two weeks, I was very eager and motivated to do some cardio and belly toning activities like dancing, push-ups and crunches. I also reduced my rice intake to lessen the calories I had.

After that first two weeks, I notice some changes. My biceps and shoulders started to have shape, my tummy shows somewhat an improvement.

As of the moment, I am starting to my loose interest in doing those activities. I seems hard for me to wake up early (4am) for the exercise. Though I can survive with the diet, the effect is not that much.

Last year, Mommy and I planned to purchase running shoes and do jogging or running for at least 30 minutes a day. But this didn’t materialized due to some priorities. 

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Weight-Loss Using Hand Reflexology

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Photo Source:  Swedish Massage and Indian Head Massage Therapy with Merve..

The year is nearing to its end and I am still 3kgs away from my target weight and instead of reducing the gap, it might increase due to holiday season. Still, I am glad because I shed about 2 kilos since I started hitting my goal last June. Minsan, medyo tinatamad kasi mag-exercise lalo na kapag weekends. LOL

Recently, I am searching ways or exercises while at the office to help facilitate weight-loss and I found something about reflexology that can also help achieving my goal just by stimulating some reflex points in our hands. This will only take 5 minutes every day and better if you can do this longer during breaks.

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Reducing Food Cravings

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Have you ever wonder that even you had enough food, you still crave for more and doesn’t feel you are already full? This problem may lead to weight gain so better try to observe if you are guilty of the following reasons:

Taking too much softdrinks or canned foods.

Most softdrinks and sweetened beverages are high in fructose. Fructose cheats our body that we are not yet full by blocking our body’s ability to use leptin (a “sanitation hormone” that dictates our mind that we had already enough food). This results you to crave more food.

On the other hand, canned foods are high in bisphenol-A (BPA) and based on recent studies, it also causes an abnormal flows of leptin that leads to food cravings too.

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Jogging or Skipping?

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Lately, I decided to have my early morning jogging sessions, but due to some health issues, I stopped for a while. I also planned to take it in the afternoon but Mommy recommends trying skipping rope instead. She told me that it is better than jogging and I can do this at home since it only needs little space.

                             

Two days ago, started my skipping rope session in the afternoon and without noticing, I can skip 300-500 times and planning to increase every session.

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I Was Able to Start! Yehey!

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Photo Source: Bob’s New Heart

Yes, after several months of planning, I already started my early morning jog. I had to wake-up as early as 4:30am before preparing for work. 

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My Lunch

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My lunch for the day. Less carbs, veggies and water only.

cheese, cucumber, carrots, celery stalk
(Clockwise from upper left)

What can you say about this one? 

Am I really getting serious on my weight-loss target?

I am planning to have this one on daily basis.

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Healthy Snack

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Since I have my goal on weight-loss, I switched my snack to something healthier, I took some slice of apples, orange or ponkan and 3-4 cheese strips. Tomorrow, just switch pear with apples.

Isn’t it healthier and cheaper than those ready-made fruits in syrup sold in the market?

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Fat Burners

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One of my goals this year is to reach the 75kg mark in the scale. Still heavy for others but once I reached this target, I already lost about 16 pounds.

Having foods that burn calories is a great help. Here are some I got.

Ginger  contains acid that triggers stomach enzymes to increase metabolism by up to 20%. It also helps in lowering cholesterol and good for hypertension for its blood-thinning property. (Will this also change my singing voice? LOL)

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Weight Loss for New Year

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After the holidays, most of us gain additional pounds aside from the one that we want to burn out. I know one of the New Year’s resolutions that most of us, yes including me, to do is to shed those extra pounds. Before making any promises that you are going to avoid eating too much, having healthy diet etc. etc., try to consider these simple behaviors that we might commit to get rid of that extra baggage.

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7 Law of Leanness

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Most of us asked why there are some individuals who even eats too much does not gain even a single pound. On the other hand, there are some who almost did everything to shed those extra pounds seems to change nothing.

As I read the newsletter sent to me by Men’s Health it says that there seven basic laws of lean individual that prevents them from gaining extra pounds. Taking these simple rules will really shed those extra weights.

Rule #1 – Lean People Don’t Diet.

Preventing calories from getting into our system lowers strength, bone density and muscle mass. Muscle is considered to be the main factor in burning calories, so, by having diet, you can actually increase the tendency of gaining weight. According to some studies, chasing your diet actually increase your stress level raising your cortisol – a hormone that is link to weight gain.

Having 25 grams of fiber daily (equivalent to three servings of fruits and vegetables) can enhance burning of calories up to 30%.

Rule #2 – Lean People Don’t Go Fat-Free

Recent studies showed that those who took “low fat” diet could really increase the tendency of becoming overweight. In fact, fat does not make you fat; hence it is essential in managing some nutrients like fat-soluble vitamins (ADEK). Furthermore, “fat-free” foods are packed with sugars making you consume more calories leading you to consume unhealthy sweets. Fat, in deed helps you full and satisfied while fat-free foods will keep you returning back to fridge craving for more.

Rule #3 – Lean People Sit Down to Eat

Eating can actually make you leaner. Sacrificing can actually increase your tendency to get fat.

Studies showed that eating in a table having a full plate already can eat 35% less compared to the traditional “pass-on-the-serving-dish” style. Also, eating slowly can actually increase the level of two hormones that make you feel full.

Rule #4 – Lean People Know What They are Going to Eat Next

Knowing what to eat next can actually make your weight-loss program more successful compared to those who doesn’t know what to eat in case they feel hungry, according to Dutch researchers.

Rule #5 – Lean People Eat Protein

People who eats more protein are expected to lose weight that those who did not eat much protein. Having food rich in protein and low in processed starch (example, white bread) can be the effective tool for weight loss. How? Protein will work in two stages: (1) it will consume you more calories in digesting it, (2) you will stay full longer because your body will work harder to digest the protein.

Rule #6 – Lean People Move Around

Having NEATs (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) does not help you burn some calories but actually gives you some fun. Such simple activities like short bike ride, relaxed walking, playing with kids and even fishing does not only give you enjoyment but can burn you as much as 200 calories in few minutes.

Rule #7 – Lean People Watch Less TV

Studies showed that watching TV for less than two hours can divert yourself to other activities that can really help you lose weight. Researchers said that people who cuts their TV time into half burned extra calories per day. In addition, recent studies discovered that every hour in front of TV can actually lose 22 minutes of their lives.

Source: Men’s Health's Eat This, Not That

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The Biggest Loser (Bounty Fresh Food, Inc. Edition)

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Our campany, Bounty Fresh Food, Inc. (Contract Growing Department) is hosting an activity inspired by the TV show, The Biggest Loser. This is open to all interested employee of the company. This activity aims to promote healthy lifestyle and encourage physical fitness. Official weigh-in was conducted last February 03, 2012  Participants must form a 5-member group. Luckily, I was one of the participant in our department. This will be my motivation in losing weight. I'll keep posting updates regarding my weights.

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Eat More Food, Loose More Weight

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At first, I can't believe when I saw the title of the newsletter from Men's Health Belly Off. How could eating lot of foods make you loose more weight? As I read the article and follow the link about the "ultimate all-day eating plan"  by Men's Health the article has a point though. It shows a diet plan that can help you stay fuller throughout the day without gaining extra weight.

First Breakfast - Load up calories by consuming dairy, eggs, whole grains and fiber.

Start with a glass of milk or slice of cheese with whole-wheat toast or choose to have oatmeal and some yogurt and blueberries (since blueberries are not that available here, any fruits like apples and banana will do). The protein in milk as well as other dairy products helps promote muscle growth and fat loss especially after excercise.

Second Breakfast - Same as the first breakfast. You read it right!

Overall, eating twice in the morning means you are taking in lesser calories. Breaking up meals in the morning keeps your calorie intake shifted to the morning allowing you to start your day.

Lunch - Take in as much nutrition as possible by eating vegetables, beans, fruits, nuts and whole grains.

Since lunch will be the major moment of your nutritional day, this is the chance to feed on at least three representatives from fruits, vegetable, or legumes. Try soups and salads.

Dinner - Keep portion size down by having green leafy vegetable, lean meats, fish, beans and legumes.

According to study, taking low-calorie salad before the main dish can lessen food intake by up to 12%. So try to start with vegetables before protein sources like lean meat and fish rich in omega-3-fatty acids.

Snacks - Starve hunger by eating yogurt, berries, walnuts, red bell peppers with cheese, whole grain cereal with milk, and apples and cheese.

Don't deprive yourself! Studies shows that people who eat less than three times a day have trouble in controlling their appetite.

(Source: The Men's Health Diet Plan)

This guide is an American-based diet. Replacing some item with the locally-available products is definitely fine. So ransack your kitchen and eat but be intelligent enough in choosing the right food.

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