Dieters : There are No second helpings in Life

It's so easy to put your life on hold until you lose weight. It's easy to say "I'll do that once I've lost a few pounds" or "I couldn't do that I'm too fat".

But you only have one life - there are no second helpings. So you owe it to yourself to live your life in the present and to live it to the full.

Going for whatever you want now, rather than waiting until you are slim, can actually help you lose weight.

How so?

1. It distracts you from eating

If you're busy working to achieve something, it keeps your mind occupied with activities other than food.

Have you ever been engaged in an activity where you were so absorbed you forgot to eat? People who live their lives following their passions and going for their goals have a lot more of those moments. It's called "being in the flow state" and in flow your thoughts are on anything but food!

You know how it is when you're trying to lose weight - you feel hungry just because you're thinking about food all the time - what you can and can't eat, what you should and shouldn't have eaten at your last mealtime. If you have other things to keep your mind occupied, things you're 100% involved in, you'll be able to stick to your weight loss program more easily.

2. It prevents self-sabotage

If you're just a tiny bit scared that you're not cut out to achieve what you want to achieve in life, you may be using your weight as a form of protection. And you'll sabotage your weight loss efforts at every turn to keep those pounds so that you don't put yourself in the position of trying and failing. Your weight is an excuse to keep yourself within your comfort zone. It helps you justify sticking with what you know and are used to.

If you recognise this in yourself, take just tiny steps towards your goal every day, tiny steps that don't seem difficult at all. You'll build your success little by little and gradually lose your fear and your weight.

Start going for your goals and what could be more satisfying? You'll be losing weight and having a great time too. Life is not all about the number on the scales and your attempts to shift that dial don't have to be all consuming.

You only have one life, so go for whatever it is you want!

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for natural permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

Avoid the Thirties Fat Traps

It's amazing how excess weight creeps up on you in your thirties without you becoming aware of it. Suddenly you catch sight of yourself in a shop window or you see a picture taken at your friends wedding and you can't believe how much larger you've become. How did that happen? It feels like pounds of fat appeared overnight.

The bad news is that your metabolism (the rate at which you burn calories) does drop quite naturally from your thirties onwards. So you will start to put on weight more easily. But before you get too depressed be aware that the effect is so marginal that piling on the pounds does not have to be inevitable. It's more likely that you have been getting into bad habits and eating more or moving less than you were before.

If you want to avoid the extra 10lb that the average woman gains in weight between thirty and forty take care not to fall into the following lifestyle traps.

Lifestyle Trap 1 : Too much going on

With partner, kids and/or career all taking your attention, life in your thirties suddenly becomes much more complex than it was before and the time you have for yourself seems to disappear somewhere between school runs, getting the report finished and keeping the house one step above chaos. Almost inevitably you end up taking less exercise and eating out more or using take-aways to cope with getting meals on the table. Try and give yourself and your health a higher priority by asking for help, reducing your commitments and letting less important things slide.

Lifestyle Trap 2 : Matching portions

There's a time of danger when you move in with a partner, which often takes place in your thirties. You start cooking for him and eating the same meals and often the same portion sizes. Whereas you might have made do with something on toast or soup some evenings it's now full dinners with dessert. While your man can probably take the calories - all that excess lands just where you don't want it - on your tummy and thighs. Take care to eat only what YOU need and don't try and match your partner meal for meal.

Lifestyle Trap 3 : Eating for two

For many thirty-year-olds weight problems coincide with having children. Although you need just 300 calories more a day after the first 3 months of pregnancy, it's easy to use having a baby as an excuse to eat and eat. And that excess weight can be hard to lose afterwards. Often the problem is compounded by a second pregnancy before you've lost the weight from the first. To avoid excess weight gain keep exercising as long as it's safe to do so throughout your pregnancy and continue to walk the weight off afterwards - something you can do with kids in tow! And keep eating sensibly and healthily throughout. Pregnancy is a great time to get in the habit of eating well.

Lifestyle Trap 4 : Losing Muscle

If we don't do anything about it, we start losing some strength and muscle each year from our thirties onwards. As each pound of muscle burns about 50 calories a day even when you are at rest, it's important to gain that strength back through resistance or weight training. You should also avoid any diet which advises losing more than a pound or two of weight a week. More than that and you are likely to lose muscle as well as fat. And if you end up putting weight back on, as many people do, it's all fat. This is a major reason for avoiding the yo-yo diet syndrome - you end up fatter (literally) than ever.

Lifestyle Trap 5 : Complacency

In your thirties you're unlikely to see the symptoms of the poor health choices you're making. It's probable that heart disease, diabetes and other nasties have yet to show their face but these silent killers are loitering in the background. Don't take your health for granted. You'll regret it very quickly in the years to come which will be here soon enough. Give your health a top priority and do something about your health and your weight while you still have plenty of time.

Of course you can still look great in your thirties, forties and beyond. There's no real danger in hitting the big-30 (or any other birthday for that matter). The danger always comes with a change in lifestyle. And that's something that you choose - so it's all up to you whether you want to be fat or fabulous by the time you reach 40.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

15 Simple Metabolism Boosting Secrets

Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories. The faster you burn calories the more weight you can lose even if you eat the same amount, so it makes sense to do everything you can to boost your metabolic rate if you're trying to lose a few pounds.

You use about 60% of the calories you need each day just by being alive. That's your basal (or resting) metabolism. About 30% of the calories are accounted for by how much you move (your activity metabolism). The remaining 10% are used up by the process of digesting food (your thermic metabolism).

By making some simple changes you can fire up all three types of metabolism and become leaner faster.

1 Eat little and often

Small and regular meals throughout the day will keep your metabolism high. If you eat the same amount of food in just one or two large meals as you do in five or six mini-meals and snacks you will burn fewer calories. This is because your metabolism slows down between meals. Never skip meals to save calories. Having a low-calorie snack will work much better and will also stop you falling ravenously on the nearest chocolate bar later in the day.

2. Eat breakfast

Your metabolism slows down overnight. When you have been through a period of more than eight hours without eating you need food to get your metabolism going again. So have breakfast as soon as you can after you wake up. If you're not a breakfast person take something healthy with you when you leave the house and have it is soon as you can face it. It's not great for your weight loss plans to have to boost your metabolism with a mid morning cookie or cake.

3. Eat enough

If you eat too few calories, your metabolic rate will automatically drop. This is a self preservation mechanism, which kicks in when your body thinks you are starving. The safest bet is to eat about 250 calories less than you need at the sedentary level and to take 250 - 500 calories of exercise each day to give a steady weight loss of between one and two pounds a week.

4. Eat Lean Protein

It takes more energy for the body to digest protein than carbohydrate or fat. Studies have shown that people who eat a high-protein diet burn more than twice as many calories in the hours following their meal as those eating a high carbohydrate diet. While the safety of high-protein diets can be disputed, it does make sense to include some lean protein as part of each meal.

5. Eat Fibre

Food with lots of fibre also gives your thermic metabolism a boost. High-fibre foods like beans, fruit, vegetables and whole grains simply take longer to digest and therefore help burn more calories.

6. Spice up your food

Spicy foods (especially chilli) raise the metabolism by as much as twenty-five per cent for a few hours after eating. So eat hot and spicy food a bit more regularly and see if this helps you. Just go easy on the refried beans and guacamole if you decide to go Mexican!

7. Drink Coffee

Caffeine speeds up your heart rate and the faster your heart rate the more calories you burn. Not great if you have heart problems or difficulty getting to sleep however!

8. Drink Green Tea

The phytochemicals in green tea are supposed to raise metabolism slightly by causing your brain and nervous system to run more quickly. Although not many sizable and conclusive studies have been done on this to date, drinking green tea rather than milky coffee or other calorie-laden beverages will definitely help you lose weight!

9. Get active

Aerobic exercise for more than thirty minutes not only burns calories but also keeps your metabolism high for several hours afterwards. The best time for exercise is in the morning as it will help kick start your metabolism for the day. If you can do 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise almost every day your metabolism will soar. Interval training would help even more.

10. Walk it off

If you prefer to take light exercise, try going for a walk after lunch or dinner. This boosts the rise in metabolism you get after eating. No strenuous exercising on a full stomach though.

11. Build those muscles

Muscles burn calories even when you're resting. For every pound of muscle you add, you burn about 50 extra calories a day without taking any more exercise. So it's a great idea to include some resistance or weight training in your exercise regime. Twenty minutes three times a week is enough to make a big difference in your metabolic rate as well as the shape of your body.

12. Go hot or cold

Any extremes of temperature you experience will help raise your metabolism by up to 20 percent as the body attempts to cool you down or raise your temperature. Make sure it's safe for you to go in the sauna or on the arctic expedition though before you try this one. You could have a go at keeping your home a few degrees cooler than is comfortable for sitting around in winter and restrict the air conditioning to the very hottest days in summer. In the winter it will help you get up and get moving and in summer encourage you to go to the pool to cool off!

13. Drink Iced Water

Another trick is to drink a glass of iced water a few times a day. You'll raise your metabolism just by having to bring the water up to body temperature. Drinking water is required anyway, of course, to keep your bodily functions working smoothly (including your metabolism).

14. Watch the alcohol

On top of the empty calories that alcohol contains, it also has a dehydrating effect, which slows down your thermic metabolism. Alcohol tends to inhibit the process of metabolizing fat too, which can lower your basal metabolism. And there's not much chance of you wanting to exercise after all that booze so it'll have an effect on your activity metabolism too. Bad news all round!

15. Take up yoga

The chemical processes which comprise your metabolism are regulated by the endocrine system, especially the thyroid. Yoga has many postures which have a powerful twisting and compressing effect on the endocrine organs, strengthening and stimulating them and this can help to regulate and boost your metabolism.

If you boost your metabolism with these tips, you'll be improving your general health as well as your capacity to burn calories. You'll not only find that you lose weight more quickly but also that you will have more energy, greater strength and you'll be able to get through everything you have to do in a day more easily.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

7 Days to a Slim New You

I've lost count of the number of articles I've seen with those tempting titles "Lose 10 lbs in 4 days", "Firm the flab fast", "Get a bikini body in just 10 days". They're so seductive aren't they? Yet I want to shout "Liar, Liar pants on fire!" because any weight loss of more than 1 to 2 lbs a week is not fat loss. It's just water that you'll put straight back on - or even worse, pure solid muscle - the stuff that burns calories!

But what can you do in 7 days then?

• You can kick start your weight loss program by starting to eat a healthier diet so that you lose those 1 or 2 lbs of fat this week
  
  
• You can begin a fitness program which will take you to a leaner, stronger, fitter body in a few short months
  
  
• You can set some realistic goals and think about why you want to lose weight so you can keep your motivation strong when the going gets tough
  
  
• You can turf all the fattening stuff out of your fridge, freezer and kitchen cupboards
  
  
• You can get rid of all your unflattering fat clothes, keeping just a few good things and clear out space for a fantastic new slim wardrobe
  
  
• You can look out some new healthy recipes
  
  
• You can explain your plans to your family and friends and ask for their support so they don't offer you tempting treats or drag you out for pizza (or at least understand when you say "No, not tonight")
  
  
• You can buy some running or walking shoes and sports gear and get ready for action
  
  
• You can start to become more aware of everything you eat and how you feel before and after so that you can work out why you overeat.
  
  
• You can start to eat only when you are hungry and stop when you are just satisfied rather than stuffed.
  

Oh yes! You can do a whole lot in 7 days - not in physical weight loss - although every pound or two counts, but in getting yourself ready to make the changes leading to the body of your dreams. This week you can begin the habits of a lifetime which will have you looking and feeling like a new person. Why not start today?

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for natural permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

Poor Weight Loss Advice : 10 Red Flags

There's a huge amount of weight loss advice and information out there. Much of it is of questionable value and some of it is quite misleading. This can even be the case for reports from seemingly legitimate scientific studies. So how do you sort out the wheat from the chaff when it comes to deciding who and what to believe?

1. Beware of the quick fix

Putting on weight is easy compared to losing it. As you did not put weight on overnight, do you really think you can lose it that quickly?

Many products and programs will lead you to believe that you can lose a huge amount of weight in a short time.

It's true that you can lose quite a few pounds in the early weeks on a weight loss program. If you are very overweight, you will probably lose a lot of weight at the start. But it's mainly water rather than fat. And that rate is not sustainable over the long term. So if you're told you can lose more than a pound or two a week on a particular weight loss program don't believe anything else they say either.

2. Too good to be true

If anything promises you can lose weight without changing what you eat or how much you move, then it's either dangerous or pulling the wool over your eyes. HEALTHY weight loss is always the result of eating fewer calories (and usually better quality food) or taking more exercise or both.

3. A biased study

If a study supported by chocolate manufacturers emphasises the value of chocolate and downplays the downsides then don't be surprised! Many "studies" are designed to show a product in a good light rather than to increase our knowledge of what works and what doesn't.

4. Drawing simple conclusions

Weight loss is a complex issue and huge amounts of data will come out of any study using a sizable group of people. It's difficult to isolate individual factors in a study because we all have different lifestyles, eating styles and exercise styles. If it were easy for us to keep to whatever regime was being studied, we wouldn't have problems losing weight in the first place. People are difficult to regulate! If any study tries to draw simple "black and white" conclusions, it is likely to be trying to sway you (unscientifically) in a particular direction.

5. A tiny sample

If only a few people have been studied then it's unlikely that the results can be sensibly extrapolated into the population as a whole. Thousands of people are needed in a study before a true pattern emerges.

6. Missing Evidence

Some ads quote doctors, whose medical school records or qualifications you can't find any trace of or studies you can't read about in any reputable scientific journals. Take these with a large pinch of salt especially if claims are made about miracle solutions you have to pay for. Do a little research before you buy.

7. Statements are refuted

With a little research online you can also often find leading scientists and scientific journals refuting some of the more dramatic claims from studies published in the media. Seek out the truth before you blindly follow advice in the popular press.

8. Animal testing

Just because something happens in mice, it does not follow it will happen in the same way for you. Also if a product has been tested with animals it's unlikely to hit the general public for some years (if it ever does) due to the stringent testing new (legal) products need to receive. So do not hold your breath waiting for a solution in that way.

9. No control group

Any study carried out should have a parallel study with a similar group who are not practising the behaviour or using the product being studied. This is so that they can measure the differences in the two groups. The gap has to be statistically significant to point to any meaningful result. Otherwise a group being studied may show a result just because the members of the group are being monitored and assessed.

10. Dramatic statements

Studies sometimes show that particular foods are good for you or cause this or that disease and these are often reported with dramatic headlines in the newspapers. In truth all foods in moderation are probably OK so read between the lines and see how much of a particular food you would have to eat to have a problem, or to gain the benefit they are describing. These statements are often made to grab your attention in the headlines rather than to give you useful information.

So where should you go to get weight loss advice?

If you want good sound advice about losing weight, you can do a lot worse than follow the latest government guidelines about healthy eating and exercise. While they may not be perfect, there would not be a huge obesity problem in the Western world, if we all followed them.

The fact is we don't even follow the simplest most straight forward advice, although most of us are already familiar with it. Advice about eating less fat, sugar and salt, increasing our intake of fruit and vegetables and taking 30 minutes exercise three times a week is ignored by most people.

So why oh why do we try and follow every mad study that comes along in the hope that it will have an answer? Follow the simplest advice first to see the most dramatic changes and then you won't ever have to wonder if you are being told a weight loss fairy story.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

The Enemy of Weight Loss

Going out for a meal used to be something which happened only on special occasions but these days it's often a several-times-a week occurrence simply because we are too tired to cook.

If eating out is a regular event for you, avoid the temptation to treat it like an invitation to over-indulge. This is part of your regular eating pattern so you need to treat it as such. Eat only as much as you need and no more.

Occasional overeating does no harm but any level of regular overeating is bound to result in you piling on the pounds.

Having said that, you CAN eat healthily in restaurants, so if you eat out a lot, don't despair. Just plan your trip with care and set a firm intention to eat healthily before you go.

Bear in mind that the cheapest restaurant options are normally the most unhealthy. Fast food and lower end restaurants are not noted for their use of low-fat or low-calorie cooking methods or foods. So choose your restaurant with care, somewhere that you know offers a selection of healthier dishes or will prepare foods specially for you on request.

If you have to wait for your meal at the bar, avoid alcoholic drinks which can increase your appetite and lower your resolve, not to mention the empty calories they contain. Avoid fizzy drinks with your meal and ask for water instead. If you drink wine with dinner, a small glass when you go out shouldn't do too much harm in terms of calories.

Restaurants often serve huge amounts and if you know you have a tendency to clean your plate no matter how much is on it, order a small portion or a starter in place of a main course. You can even share a dish with your dinner companion. If you're in the US you can request a doggie bag - but don't try this one in Europe unless you want some very strange looks.

Avoid fried foods and those which are served in creamy or buttery sauces. Wherever possible go for plain grilled (broiled) chicken or fish and ask for any sauce to be served on the side. The same goes for salad where the dressing can turn a healthy dish into a dieter's nightmare.

Forget dessert too if you are trying to lose weight. You just don't need 300 or more extra calories on top of everything you've already eaten.

If you choose an ethnic restaurant take the time before your visit to understand the various cooking methods and ingredients in typical dishes and if you're in doubt about a particular item on the menu ask the waiter for information.

Above all, don't use eating out all the time as an excuse for not losing weight. You are the one ordering the food and no one is forcing you to eat it.

If you really can't resist when you go out, then take the time to plan, prepare and cook food at home so that you don't rely so much on restaurants. Arrange to meet friends for coffee, a sandwich or a movie rather than dinner or organise a more active outing such as a walk, shopping trip or bowling party. You are only limited by your imagination. On business trips, you can use local stores to buy healthy foods to eat in your room for at least part of your stay. The size of your expense account does not have to show up in the size of your waistline.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for natural permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

Is your TV making you fat?

How much time do you spend watching TV? Do you watch for at least two hours a day?

A recent study of more than 68,000 American women over a 6 year period showed that regularly watching just two hours of TV a day increased the risk of developing obesity by 23 per cent and type 2 diabetes by 14 per cent.

Now, it has to be said that merely watching TV cannot make you fat. It's what else you are doing or not doing because you're watching TV that makes the difference.

When you're watching TV you're not pottering around the house tidying up. When you're slumped on your sofa in front of "Desperate Housewives", you're not weeding your garden or going for a walk or a bike ride. When you watch TV you're using up only about 70 calories an hour, while playing with your kids or cooking a meal from scratch uses about four times as much. Just half an hour watching TV instead of being active and you're talking the equivalent of over 38,000 calories or more than 10lbs of fat a year unless you eat less to make up for it.

What's more, TV steals time right from under your nose.

Do you watch TV for two hours a night but say you don't have time to exercise? Do you watch TV and eat ready meals because you think you don't have time to make a healthy dinner? If you are not finding the time to care properly for yourself, yet finding an hour or more for the latest episode of those shows you "just can't miss", then TV is stealing time from you!

And TV encourages poor eating habits. When you view you are fair game for the junk food ads that come on constantly and persuade you that you need something to eat. And lets face it a stick of celery just doesn't fit the bill. So you get out the tortilla chips, popcorn or nuts and mindlessly eat through the whole bag - a recipe for piling on the pounds.

Now, you may see the sense in all this, but still not want to give up your beloved TV. Do you really need to do that to lose weight?

No, not at all!

But you do need to think about what TV is costing you and treat it with caution.

If you limit your viewing to only those shows you really like, (and a maximum of 1 or 2 a day) you'll still have plenty of time for taking care of yourself. Plan your viewing and switch off when your show is over. Deliberately get up and do something else.

To avoid snacking all evening, don't eat in front of the TV at all. But if you really must have a snack, put a small portion in a bowl or on a plate rather than eating from the bag. You're less likely to eat the whole packet empty then!

And if you're really keen to combat TV weight gain, you could try being active while you view. Do your ironing or a few exercises in front of the TV. It will stop you nibbling snacks and use some calories. Maybe it's even time to dust off that exercise bike and retrieve it from the basement or attic. Just think, you could cycle half way round the world while your TV provides all the entertainment you need!

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for permanent natural weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

Have you Lost Touch with your Hunger Signals?

Every human being is born with the ability to eat only when hungry and stop eating when satisfied. After all every baby and toddler will show you exactly when they've had enough.

But somehow along the way you may have lost that ability. Maybe years of being told to "clean your plate" have conditioned you to do just that no matter how much food is on it. Or maybe you've just got used to huge portions of food and have stopped listening to your body's signals.

Whatever the reason, the "knowing when to stop" skill is one that you need to redevelop if you want to lose weight and keep it off permanently.

So how can you learn to listen to those signals again?

1. Eat slowly

If you shovel in food like it's going out of fashion you'll be well past the point of being satisfied before you notice you've had enough. Pause before each bite and think about whether you've really had enough.

2. Eat more often

If you are absolutely ravenous when you sit down to eat chances are that you will eat too much. Little and often will acclimatise your stomach to smaller amounts of food.

3. Serve smaller portions

If something is on your plate, chances are you will eat it whether or not you need it. So serve less to start with. Having to go and get another portion gives you the chance to stop and think about whether you really need more. As a guide serve no more than two fistfuls of food as a main meal plus maybe some extra salad or vegetables. You really don't need more than that if you're eating regularly.

4. Leave extra food off the table

Don't make it too easy to fill up your plate with second helpings.

5. Single-portion snacks

Never eat from the bag. Always serve yourself a portion on a plate and put the rest (far) away. Make every decision to eat more food a conscious decision.

6. Wear tighter clothing

Stretchy clothes are comfortable but a nice snug fitting waistband is a good reminder to go easy on the amount you're eating.

7. Eat at home

Avoid eating out where you have little control over portion sizes. If you have no choice, choose the smallest portion of food. For example you can order the kid's meal at a hamburger place or order a starter portion as a main course in a restaurant.

8. Make it satisfying

If you still feel hungry even though you are physically full it may be that the meal was lacking in something you were looking for. Was there a balance of carbohydrate, protein and healthy fat? Was it packed full of vitamins and minerals? Did you serve the kind of food you wanted (sweet, crunchy, creamy or whatever)? Food needs to be balanced and worthwhile to be truly satisfying.

9. Eat when you're hungry

Don't feel you have to eat just because it's time for lunch or dinner. Wait until you are ready for food. Every diet book advises you to eat breakfast but if you're not hungry you can wait. The trick there however is to take your healthy breakfast to wherever you're going rather than to start devouring cakes and cookies once you get hungry later on.

10. Follow your own signals

So much of our eating is triggered by the food we see or smell or get offered by others. Start becoming aware of how much this affects you. Once you recognise that you are choosing to eat solely in response to an ad or an offer of food it will be easier to say "No, I'm not hungry, thanks".

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small
Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for permanent natural weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

Do You Have this Essential Weight loss skill?

There is one practical skill which you need above all others when you want to lose weight. That skill will give you the ability to enjoy your food while you're trying to lose weight as much as when you're not. It's a skill that unfortunately is getting less common these days as we lead busier and busier lives.

What's that skill?

The ability to cook!

If you can't even boil an egg then you are stuck with eating unimaginative ready meals and TV dinners or greasy take-aways and fast food. And you will no doubt eat out in restaurants more than is good for you. With such a combination you are unlikely to get all the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy and you will be getting far too much food full of fat, salt and sugar and too many calories to lose weight.

With a rudimentary knowledge of cooking, however, you can whip up the most delicious low-calorie healthy meals, eat as much as you need (as long as you don't stuff yourself) and enjoy everything you eat without doing any damage to your waistline.

Of course, you need to know what to cook but there are any number of helpful low-calorie and low-fat cookery books out there as well as specialist magazines and websites. You can plan a whole raft of delicious meals each week for you and your family and they won't even know they are eating healthily to keep you company!

If you really don't have a clue where to start it's worth joining a beginners class or buying a basic "Learn to cook" book to get the fundamental skills. After that the whole world of delicious cuisine is your oyster.

You may even find that your attempts to lose weight may result in you gaining a whole new exciting relationship with food rather than fearing it as the enemy.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for permanent natural weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

Natural Weight Loss is Not a Diet Pill

It's ironic, isn't it, that when you search for "natural weight loss" online you see a load of ads for pharmaceutical products. Since when did natural come in pill form?

Real natural weight loss starts in your head when you decide that you'll do whatever it takes to lose weight by changing the quality and quantity of food you eat and the amount of exercise you take.

You naturally lose weight when you do what is good for you most of the time and gain it just as naturally when you don't.

Now that's easy to say and not so easy to do when you want to lose weight and your normal inclination and habit is to do what you know you shouldn't.

You can use all the willpower you like in your weight loss program but, if you are forcing yourself too far out of your comfort zone, you'll be going against the grain and making life exceedingly tough for yourself.

Most people give up on any weight loss regime that forces them to make huge changes to their lifestyle and routine well before they've reached their target weight - if they even get past the first two weeks.

Instead of pills and punishing diets and workouts, you need a weight loss program which takes into account the natural human tendency to resist change. And this means taking things one step at a time, building up good habits until they feel part of your normal routine. It means gradually switching to moderate quantities of healthy natural foods. It means starting to move a little more than you do just now and building that up each day.

Natural weight loss occurs when you have built up the habits that support it. It feels great to lose weight that way and what's more the changes you make to your habits stay with you - they are permanent and you never need to think about clicking on those natural weight loss diet pill ads ever again!

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

The easiest weight loss program for you

Although there's no easy "one size fits all" weight loss program, there is such a thing as a weight loss program which makes it easier for you personally to lose weight than others.

This is the program which fits your lifestyle so well that you are happy to adopt it and live with it permanently.

1. Decide which foods to include in your diet.

Which healthy foods do you like? Which ones do you tolerate? And which do you hate?

Build your meals around those healthy foods which you enjoy. After all there is no point in eating a meal and hating it.

The exception?

If you hate a whole food group, and your diet would be unhealthy without it. In that case, adapt your diet to include the elements you need in a palatable way. For example, if you hate vegetables serve them in a way that you can't taste them. Puree them and include them in soups, stews or pasta sauces. If you hate or have an allergy to dairy products, choose other foods to give you alternative rich sources of calcium and protein.

2. Decide which junk foods you'll dump

Which poor food choices can you easily live without?

Dump the junk that doesn't matter to you. Maybe eating some junk foods has just become a habit and you can easily wean yourself away from them. Others are ones you love and would miss a lot so include small amounts in an otherwise balanced healthy diet. In this way you reduce the junk without feeling deprived.

3. Replace the gap left by the junk food you don't care about with healthy food you do like

Best of all replace the junk with healthy food which has a touch of luxury. For example, you dump peanuts and potato snacks and replace them with blinis, low fat cream cheese and caviar or dump donuts for crispbread and smoked salmon or lean prime roast beef.

4. Upgrade the junk food you love

Replace your junk food choices with something even better. For example, instead of treating yourself to your usual cheap chocolate bar, feel like a million dollars by buying yourself a couple of exquisite handmade chocolates. This means you can really indulge yourself now and again without piling on the pounds.

5. Create weekly meal plans around the foods you have decided to include in your diet

Pre-set meal plans in diet books and weight loss programs make life easy but they're unlikely to give you the most satisfaction and enjoyment per calorie. They are not based on the foods you particularly like and many have an aim of allocating foods in particular proportions of fat, carbs and proteins, which makes for some weird meals and combinations.

Forget being too rigid if you want to find a healthy balance you can live with for life.

Also give those meal replacement bars and shakes a wide berth. Who wants to live on those for a week never mind a life time?

Instead, choose a good variety of different healthy foods each day and also vary your choices throughout the week. If planning your own healthy meals sounds like too much hard work, use a ready-made meal plan but substitute some of the things you like least with similar foods you like better.

6. Don't get too hungry

Living with hunger is hard and totally unnecessary to lose weight. The easiest weight loss program matches your individual hunger patterns. Such a ready-made program may not exist, so why not devise your own?

Eat enough at each main meal to satisfy your hunger but not feel stuffed. And eat often enough so that you're not ravenous when it's time for lunch or dinner. Most people need a small snack mid-morning and in the afternoon. As a guideline eat no more than about the size of your two clenched fists for any main meal and, if you feel you need more, fill up on salad or vegetables.

Your aim should be to feel hungry when it's time for a meal but not all the time.

7. Add some easy exercise

If exercise doesn't fit into your life easily you won't do it (at least, not for long). Choose an activity which feels like fun, even if it means trying a few things first to see what you like. Or build your fitness by simply doing more as you go about your day - moving more at work, being more active around the house and garden, choosing to walk instead of taking the car on short journeys etc. Build your level of activity gradually so that you ease into fitness - you don't have to tie yourself to the gym every night - but if you love that, that's ok too!

8. Think about what motivates you

As with the other elements of a weight loss program we are all individuals when it comes to motivation. Why do you want to lose weight? What reason is strong enough to make you stick to your plan? You will have your own combination of reasons and they are the key to your success. Remind yourself daily why you are doing this so that you feel more motivated to change your habits.

9. Celebrate in style

Choose how you will celebrate your success and make it something that drives you to meet your goal. Plan your celebration to reward yourself with whatever means most to you personally and not with what you or others think you should want.

10.It's all about you

We are all different and so there's no one weight loss plan or program that will work best for everyone. Choose your own elements like a pick and mix selection. Go at your own pace and you'll finally find just the right combination that works for you - the easiest possible weight loss program.

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

Pride and Prejudice : Why Elizabeth Bennett never got fat

In Jane Austen's day young women were not usually overweight even though it was unfashionable to be too thin. Food (for people in society) was plentiful and served in large quantities. (Just think of all those formal meals and banquets). But habits and customs were different.

What can we learn from those times which will help us today?

1. Real food

All the food available was the real thing. There were no fast foods and fizzy drinks full of hidden fat and chemicals in Elizabeth Bennett's day. The foods eaten were mainly local and seasonal and meat would be organic (from animals which were not pumped full of hormones or fed artificially). The only additives would be herbs and spices. Pizza and chocolate bars had no place in Elizabeth's life!

2. Focus on food

For the middle classes at least, food was served formally. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were eaten at a proper dining table and food and conversation were the only focus. Elizabeth Bennett did not mindlessly shovel forkfuls of food into her mouth while being glued to the latest soap.

3. No snacking

Food was only available at set times and so Elizabeth never got into the habit of munching 500 calories worth of snacks on a boring afternoon (although she certainly had a few of those!)

4. Manners maketh woman

It just wasn't seemly to grab and gobble large quantities of food. Ladies would eat modestly, slowly and daintily making it unlikely that they could shift vast amounts of calories at any meal.

5. No adverts

Elizabeth (lucky girl!) was not exposed to the 10,000 advertising messages a day we are said to get thrown at us these days. So she would not be getting continual bombardment from the media with "Eat me" messages. Turn those commercials off whenever you can!

6. A calmer pace of life

The girls in the Bennett household did not have to hold down a full time job, get the kids to school and dinner on the table. They had servants to take much of the load. If you turn to food when you're stressed, have a look at delegating some of your workload and reducing your commitments. With no TV to keep them up the Bennetts would get plenty of sleep too!

7. Short journeys on foot

Elizabeth would walk miles to wherever she needed to go. Only long distances would call for a horse, carriage or coach. She would burn up lots of calories in this way. What about you? Do you pop in the car to go a mile down the road?

8. Active pursuits

Elizabeth and her sisters would also walk for pleasure - and of course they all loved dancing - fantastic exercise without going to the gym. How about trying salsa dancing, ballet or line-dancing for a fun way to exercise?

9. Nowhere to hide

The fashion of the day was pretty revealing with flimsy material and an Empire line. This is a pretty look if you're slender. But you could expect your dance card to stay unmarked if you looked like a beached whale in a lace curtain.

10. Love helps

Of course a bit of love interest in the shape of tall, dark, proud Mr Darcy helps a girl go off her food a bit too. Now all you need is a dark proud hero of your own!

Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small

Janice Elizabeth is a weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request her FREE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!