First of all, you have to set goals for yourself. Goals are simply milestones that will help you move in the right direction. Think of goals as signs on a highway. Just like you would be lost on a highway without any signs, you will wander aimlessly and never reach your target weight if you don’t set goals for yourself.

There are a few questions that you need to ask yourself:

1. What is your target weight?

3. When do you want to reach your target weight?

Then, you need to write the answers down. The simple act of writing down these goals will make you much more likely to follow through on them. Keep the page with your goals on it in a place that you will see it often, and read it often.

One place that is especially effective, is the kitchen refrigerator. This has helped many people to remember what the consequences of their food choices are, and kept them on the path towards their ideal weight.

One thing to keep in mind when setting your goals is to make them realistic.This will help you to eliminate the frustration and embarrassment of not reaching your goals. Don’t set a goal of losing a hundred pounds by next Tuesday. It will never happen and you know it. Set goals that are challenging, but doable. You will know that you have to work hard to achieve them and that will help you to have the right mindset.

Something to keep in mind – usual results are no more than 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week, so keep that in mind as you set your goals. To be more successful, set small and achievable goals for yourself. This way, when you achieve them, you will feel more confident to move forward. This is the most important secret of effective weight loss!

The Most Important Secret of Effective Weight Loss is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

A friend of mine approached me a while back and asked if we could workout together.  He was a buddy from college and we don’t get to see each other very often these days, so we both thought it would be a great chance to catch up.  It has made exercising much more fun, but the best side effect is that I can’t just decide I’m not going to workout that day.  I know that my workout buddy is going to show up ready to workout, so I better be ready to go.

So what should you look for in your search to find a workout buddy?  Below are three factors that will make or break your success.

1. Make Sure You Both Want The Same Thing

I can’t stress this one enough.  You need to make sure that you and your buddy have a similar level of commitment, and that you have similar style of exercising.  If you like to socialize during a workout, make sure that your buddy feels the same way.  If you prefer a fast intense workout, this is important for your buddy to know.  Just make sure that you talk about this beforehand so that you do not end up frustrated with each other and quit your exercise routine.  I guess I should note that if you just want someone to drag you off of the couch to make sure you get some exercise, you don’t need to be as picky!

2. Set Up Some Ground Rules

This stuff is all trivial, but it can make or brake your success as workout buddies.  Talk about the schedule, where you will workout, how often, and what your goals are (weight loss, strength, endurance, etc.).  Setting all of this up beforehand can help to save some headaches later.

3. Stick With Your Gender

I recommend staying with your gender if you are after results.  If socializing is as important to you as your workout, then feel free to workout with someone of the opposite sex.  I just find that long term, mixed gender workout buddies add unnecessary complications.  And, complications are what we need to avoid to keep us in our routine.  The last thing you want is to skip going to the gym because of some relationship drama.

I hope these tips were helpful.  I have had much better success when I have a workout buddy.  If you don’t have anyone in your group of friends or family that you can workout with, try craigslist or other popular local classified ad sites.  Just find someone that you know is counting on you and you will be that much more likely to get up off of the couch on the days that you don’t want to.

Find A Workout Buddy – It Makes A Huge Difference is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

However, if you are tired of getting the same results, it is time to change your diet design.  Instead of waiting for the day to decide what you feel like eating, because really, do you always feel like eating healthy?  I know that I don’t.  If I wait and plan my meal an hour ahead of time, I am just as likely to end up at a restaurant or worse, eating fast food.  And this is not only terrible for the diet, but it is a budget buster as well.  But, if I plan ahead and already have the grocery shopping done and the meal planned, I am much more likely to eat a healthy meal and stay within my diet.  Like anything else in life, intentionality really is the key.  If you plan ahead and stick to that plan, you have a much greater chance for success.  Below are three ways that you can be more successful in your daily meal plans for weight loss.

1. Don’t Plan Next Weeks Meals When You Are Hungry

Just like you shouldn’t go grocery shopping hungry, don’t plan the following week’s meals on an empty stomach.  When you are hungry and craving junk food (Read my post Why Eat Six Meals A Day if you want to find out why you crave junk when you’re hungry) you are in no shape to make good nutrition decisions for an entire week.  Wait until after a satisfying meal and you will be able to do a much better job of sticking to your diet goals.

2. Limit Your Choices

It is much easier to plan, and easier to stick to a meal plan if you get into a consistent routine.  Choose one to three things and stick with them for the week at breakfast, lunch, and snacks.  This really cuts down on the work because you really only have to plan 7 dinners per week instead of 21 meals plus snacks.  And, though it may sound like you would get bored of that food, or that it would take the fun out of eating I never get bored with a food that quickly.  But really, you have to decide what your goals are.  Do you want to have fun eating, or do you want to lose weight.  Knowing ahead of time what you are going to have for breakfast makes you more likely to choose wisely, and much more likely to have sustained weight loss.

3. Pre-Cook, Pre-Cut, Pre-Chop, etc.

Do anything you can beforehand.  Again, intentionality is the key to success.  If you take the time over the weekend to prepare all that you can ahead of time, you are that much more likely to stick with your meal plan for the week.  After a long day at work, I am in no mood to come home and do all of the prep work for the night’s meal.  I would much rather play with my boys or talk to my wife.  But over the weekend, I can always find a spare hour or so to cook and freeze some chicken, chop some veggies, grate some cheese and cook some rice.

I hope these tips help you to start daily meal plans for weight loss.  I have found that the thought and effort beforehand has kept me eating healthy much more regularly.  And I would say that because I was intentional and set up a new system, my diet is now perfectly designed for me to be healthy and to keep the weight off.

If you want some help with your daily meal planning, I recommend the Diet Solution Program.  I learned so much from Isabella.  She gives great detail in what to eat and when, and she even includes the shopping lists that you will need for your weekly meals.  It was a great starting point and it will get you eating well and losing weight.

Click Here To Check Out The Diet Solution Program

Be Intentional With Daily Meal Plans For Weight Loss is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

Everything is bigger these days.  Bigger televisions, bigger portions, and bigger waist lines.  Take a look at the first two things in that sentence, and it is not hard to see how it leads to the third.  With all of the super sized value meals, the all you can eat restaurants, and the portions that no normal person can finish (have you seen the show Man vs. Food?) it is no wonder that people are fatter now than they have ever been.  Psychologically, if there is food on our plate, we feel that we should eat it.  Maybe it is from when we were kids and our mom would not let us leave the table until our plate was clean.  Whatever the reason, we are eating more and as a result, we weigh much more than ever.

This post is in the category quick tips to lose weight, so let me give you a quick tip that is easy and effective.  Buy smaller plates.  It is as simple as that.  With all of the restaurants that we go to, we are used to seeing our plates covered with food and we want to see the same thing at home.  The trouble is Pottery Barn and other places offer huge plates.  I am not picking on Pottery Barn, I only know that they offer huge plates because my wife bought a set a few years ago.  We had to return them though, because the plates would not fit in our cabinets.  The plates were actually too big for our cabinets!  Now just think how much food you could pile onto a plate that size, and imagine that calories at each meal.

Instead with smaller plates, your eye still sees a full plate.  You will not feel deprived, like you would if you put a normal sized portion on a gigantic plate.  Another factor that helps this to work is that most people will feel satisfied after a meal, whether it was a big one or a smaller one.  The reason for this is that a smaller meal is all you need, but if you eat quickly in order to clean your plate, your brain does not have enough time to tell you that you are full.  It takes about twenty minutes for your brain to get the signals from your stomach that you have had enough.  And, since most meals are about 20 minutes long, you eat what is on your plate and then realize that you are full.

As quick tips to lose weight go, smaller plates is probably the quickest and easiest.  If you have a complete dinnerware set, try eating on the salad plates instead of the dinner plates.  Try it out for a week and you will see that you still feel full after dinner, and you have eaten a lot less calories.

Quick Tips To Lose Weight – Portion Control With Smaller Plates is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

For the most part, I think that we in the fitness industry do a disservice when we say that you should eat smaller meals more often. Mostly because we say it, but we never explain why. We never talk about the benefits, and we never challenge you to try it for three weeks to see how it works for you. So, I am going to talk about the three main benefits of eating six meals a day. And then, at the end, I am going to challenge you to try it for three weeks so that you can see why eating six meals a day beneficial for yourself.

Benefit #1 – It speeds up your metabolism

One of the most important things that you can do if you want to lose weight is to speed up your metabolism.  So often, people inadvertently slow down their metabolism in a diet.  The reason for this is simple – your body is smart.  If you eat 1800 calories every day, your body gets used to that amount of calories and burns 1800 calories a day.  If you go on a diet and cut it down to 1300, you will lose weight for a while.  Then, your body will readjust and start to burn only 1300 calories a day.  And guess what – no more weight loss.  This is where the frustration kicks in, you go off of your diet, start eating 1800 calories again, and quickly gain back everything you lost and usually some more as well.  So how do we stop the cycle?  By speeding up your metabolism.

Eating six smaller meals a day will help you to increase your metabolism because your body never goes into starvation mode.  When your body enters starvation mode, it starts to store fat just in case you don’t eat again for a while.  This was great for cavemen who might not eat for a day or two while they are hunting, but it is not so great for us since the next meal is always available.  Eating 6 meals a day keeps your body from having to keep extra fat stores.  Less fat stored means less fat and more weight loss.

Benefit #2 – No more cravings

I don’t know about you, but when I get hungry, I want all of the “bad” foods.  I can even get to the point that I think that only ice cream, a candy bar, or a bag of chips will satisfy my hunger.  So I eat that bag of chips, and guess what – I’m still hungry!  Most of the empty calories that I take in are because I am hungry and craving something bad.  The main reason that we get these cravings are dips in our blood sugar levels.  The body is low on sugar and it sends out an S.O.S. demanding more sugar now.  Your brain interprets that and sends out cravings for all of your favorite junk foods that will up your blood sugar.  However, if you are eating six pre-planned meals every day, your blood sugar will stay at a much more constant level limiting or eliminating these cravings.

Benefit #3 – More energy

Much like the cravings benefit above, this one is closely tied to the blood sugar levels.  On a traditional diet, where you are drastically cutting calories, what usually happens is that meals are skipped.  This can mean that your body will go 12 waking hours without and food.  This leads to a severe drop in your blood sugar levels which can have two effects.  You will either be grouchy, low on energy, or both.  Eating six small meals every day keeps your blood sugar at a consistent level, meaning that your energy will stay at a consistent level.  I know many people who have quit diets because of a lack of energy, or because of how it made them feel.  Most of them think that it is simply the restricted calories that cause the drop in energy.  And, while this is definitely part of it, it is not at all the whole story.  Energy levels are so closely tied to blood sugar (hence the term sugar crash) and can be managed with a constant fuel for your body – even if you are restricting your calories.

The Three Week Challenge

So have I convinced you?  Will you give it a try for three weeks?  That is usually how long it takes for your body to get used to the consistent blood sugar levels, and for your energy level to increase and the weight loss to kick in.  Now, this is not a magic pill.  Eating six meals will do you no good whatsoever if you do not limit your calories and exercise at least three times a week.  If you want a diet that will spell out what to eat and when, I recommend the Diet Solution Program.  Talk about making it easy – it includes shopping lists and recipes so that you have no excuse not to lose weight on this diet.

Click Here To Take The Three Week Challenge

With The Diet Solution Program

Why Eat Six Meals A Day? Weight Loss Of Course! is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

Finally A Weight Loss Programs Just For Busy Moms

Let’s tackle the celebrities first.  They have millions of dollars riding on losing weight quickly and getting their old body back.  They have nannies to help with the kids, nutritionists and personal chefs to make sure that they are eating just right, and personal trainers to get them to the gym for 2 hours every day.  So, if this sounds like your life, you can expect to have your pre-pregnancy body back in a couple of months.

For everyone else, it will take a little bit longer, but it is absolutely possible for you to start losing weight after pregnancy.  One thing that you want to keep in mind however, is that your body has been changing for the past nine months in order to accommodate your little bundle of joy.  Your muscles and joints stretched and moved and it does take a bit of time for them to get back to where they were.  Because of this, you need to be careful how and when you start exercising after having a baby.

So When Can You Start?

The rule of thumb is six weeks if you delivered naturally, and eight weeks if you had a c-section.  Many women can start exercising earleir, and some have to wait longer.  Listen to your body, and talk to your doctor.  If you have any signs that you are over exerting yourself such as pain or bleeding, stop!  And talk to your doctor before you resume exercising.  Also, most doctors approve of walking, some light stretching (and sometimes light yoga), and Kegel exercises before the six week mark.  Again, talk to your doctor before you start, but this is often a great way to get a head start on regaining your fitness.

What Kind Of Exercises Work?

This will vary person to person.  Generally, whatever worked best for you before you were pregnant, will work best for you afterward.  The thing to keep in mind is that your fitness levels are no where near where they were 10 months ago, so do not expect to do the same exercises at the same intensity.  That is an injury waiting to happen.  Start small and ease your way back into working out as your fitness level increases.  Modify the moves that you were doing  before and lessen the intensity.  For instance, if you used to run on the treadmill, start with a walk around the block.  As you feel yourself getting stronger increase the tempo.  Only return to the treadmill for a run after you have been able to walk briskly for a good distance.

How Often Do I Need To Exercise?

You want to exercise three days a week, and your goal is 20-30 minutes per session depending on the intensity.  However, at the beginning, you do not need to do the full 20 minutes.  Take it easy and get back into the routine.  As your fitness level increases, you will be able to go a little bit longer each week.  Within a month or two you should be able to exercise the full 30 minutes.  It is at this point that you should feel for body start to feel more normal, and your belly really start to shrink.

New mom weight loss can be frustrating and confusing, but with the proper guidance, it is definitely possible.  Following these exercising guidelines is a great start, and along with proper nutrition, you will be well on your way to your pre-baby body in no time!

Click Here To Read My Fit Yummy Mummy Review

New Mom Weight Loss – When Can You Start? is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

Click Here To Get A 6 Pack Fast

Step #1 – Get Your Diet Under Control

You have to create a calorie deficit in order to lose fat.  Eat too many calories and you will simply bulk up, and there will be no fat loss.  But don’t go crazy either.  Skipping meals and not eating the right foods can wreak havoc on your metabolism, stopping any fat loss and messing with your weight long term.  Eat 5-6 small meals every day that are low in carbs, high in protein and fiber, and cut out processed foods.  You don’t necessarily have to count your calories, but you do need to eat less than you normally do.

Step #2 – Smart Cardio

By smart cardio, I do not mean getting on the treadmill, reading a book or watching television, and running for an hour.  While that does burn calories, it can also burn muscle as well.  Some recent studies show that spending more time doing cardio makes you less likely to lose weight, which is completely opposite to what the experts say.  Instead of steady state cardio, do 15 minutes of interval training 3 times per week.  Not only will you have time to spare, but interval training creates a metabolic response in your body.  This will have you burning calories for hours after you have finished working out.  That will help you to get a 6 pack fast.

Step #3 – Full Body Workouts

Stay away from the crunches and the sit-ups.  They do not burn enough calories and they will not give you the metabolic response that you need to burn fat.  Instead, do 15-20 minutes of full body circuit training three times a week (click here for circuit training ideas).  Circuit training can be done at home and you can eliminate the need to pay for a gym, and it only takes 15-20 minutes.

Now for the good news.  If you do all three of these steps, the fat will literally melt off of you and you will get a six pack fast.  Your metabolism will speed up, and you will have abs that are the envy of the neighborhood.  The program that I used to get a six pack helped me to get my diet under control, and gave me great workouts to follow, and in 8 weeks I had rock hard abs.

Want To Know How I Got My Six Pack?

Get A 6 Pack Fast – 3 Simple Steps is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

1. Breastfeed

I know that you have heard this before, but breastfeeding is a great way to lose weight after pregnancy.  If you don’t supplement with formula, you are burning 600 calories every day feeding your little one!

2. Take Daily Walks With Your Baby

After 9 months of getting out of the habit of daily exercise, a daily walk around the block can be a great way to rebuild that habit. It is easy, it doesn’t take much time, and lots of babies enjoy their time in the stroller.

3. Do Some Strength Training

I know, I know.  With a new baby, there is no way that you can find the time to work out.  But what if it was a simple 15 minute strength training routine?  I am sure that you could find 15 minutes during nap time to do something for yourself.  And the benefits of strength training are great, especially for a new mom.  The first benefit is that muscle burns calories, so the more lean muscle (don’t worry, you won’t bulk up) you build, the more calories and fat you will burn.  Second, a good workout will actually increase your energy level.  I’ve talked to enough moms to know that an increase in energy is a very welcome bonus!

4. Find A Baby and Me Fitness Class

Most cities and parks have these for free or very reasonable rates certain mornings during the week.  Moms get together with an instructor that will challenge you more than you will challenge yourself.  Make sure to find one at your appropriate fitness level.  And, while once a week is not enough to get you back into shape, as a supplement to your other fitness activities it is great.  And, you get to meet other moms and you can talk to someone other than your baby for a bit!

5. Get Out Of The House

This has absolutely nothing to do with fitness, but with your mental well-being.  If you stay cooped up in the house all day, every day, it can be very difficult.  And, as most cravings and other negative eating behaviors are emotional in nature, it is a very good idea to make sure that you are in the best mental state that you can be in (not to mention that you are a better mom when you have relieved the stress).  Have one night a week where you leave your husband or a babysitter in charge, and go to the mall, go to a movie, visit a friend, or whatever.  Just get out for a spell.

6. Limit Your TV Watching

Nothing breeds inactivity like watching television.  An hour spent in front of the tv is an hour not spent doing any exercise.  Pick an amount of time that you will watch television each day and don’t go over it.  This limits you to shows you actually want to watch, and eliminates all of the “junk” daytime tv viewing.  And, you’ll be amazed at how much more active you are when the tv is off.

7. Have Fun

The final tip to lose weight after pregnancy is another that is psychological in nature.  Make sure that you are having some fun – even in the exercise that you choose to do.  If you hate walking around the block, find something else you can do each day that you will enjoy.  You will not stick with an exercise program if there is no fun involved.

Final Recommendation

If you want someone to guide you through your after pregnancy weight loss, someone who is a mom and has been through what you are going through, I highly recommend Holly Rigsby’s Fit Yummy Mummy.

Click here now to read my Fit Yummy Mummy Review.

Losing Weight Quickly After Pregnancy – 7 Simple Tips is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

Losing weight is one of those things that people make out to be more complicated than it is. In reality, once you get into a rhythm and figure out what you have to do to lose weight – it’s not so difficult. And when you realize that ultimately it’s keeping a calorie deficit which will drive your weight loss – then you’ll see that losing weight is really very simple.

Here are 5 tips to effectively lose weight…

1. Exercise. While it’s true that diet will affect your weight loss more than exercise – exercise is a great psychological tool to help you feel in control and increase your weight loss potential. Not only that, it will help make sure that when you do lose the weight, that you’ll look good and avoid the skinny fat syndrome. Just as a note, certain exercises to lose weight are better than others. And even if you’re only walking for exercise – every little bit helps.

2. Try high intensity interval training. High intensity interval training (HIIT), or what I’ve referred to in the past as intervals training, is a great way to increase the fat loss capabilities of your body. In fact, studies have found that doing HIIT, although less time consuming than long distance cardio – can be just as effective!

Basically, to do interval training – you do one minute of medium to high intensity exercise followed by one minute of rest and repeat 4 – 8 times depending on your level, with the goal being to do it 8 times. This can be done with anything, but works well with typical cardio exercises like swimming, running, and rowing.

3. Eat less carbs. Some studies have shown that for people who have trouble losing weight, eating a high-fat low-carb diet can be extremely effective. So cut down on the pasta and brain to watch your weight loss really improve.

4. Count your calories. Calorie counting is the most effective way to lose weight, period. If you take in less calories than you put out – you will lose weight. Count your calories during the day and see how many you need to eat to maintain your current weight, than subtract 500 to lose one pound of fat a week.

5. Have a support group. Having a support group, whether online or using personal friends or family is a great way to help you reach your goals and keep going on the journey even when you’re feeling unmotivated. Remember, the most important thing is to keep on trekking!

Bio: Rafi Bar-Lev is a fitness fanatic and founder of the community fitness site, Passionate Fitness – Fitness Tips. He recently wrote about compound exercises versus isolation exercises. Check it out!

5 Tips to Effectively Lose Weight is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?

Right now, I do not have much more than 15 minutes at a time to workout, so I decided on 2 circuits of 11 stations. I plan on mixing up the stations pretty regularly once I get back into circuit shape, but here is my starter workout.

Stations:

1- standard push ups
2- standard pull ups (palms away from me)
3- body weight squats
4- wide push ups
5- chin ups (palms toward me)
6- walking lunges
7- mountain climbers see video for explanation
8- sideways pull ups (palms facing each other with hands on the perpendicular bars of my pull up bar)
9- chair dips
10- side lunges
11- scissors see video for demo

Now I do all exercises at maximum intensity for 30 seconds and take 10 seconds in between exercises.  I go through the whole routine twice, which is exactly 15 minutes.  If you want circuits to work, one thing to keep in mind is that you cannot stop to rest.  If you take more than 10 seconds between exercises, you start to lose the effectiveness of circuit training.

I hope you enjoyed my circuit training ideas.

Circuit Training Ideas is a post from: Effective Weight Loss | What Makes Effective Weight Loss Possible?