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Why Is It So Hard To Stick To A Diet?
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Why Is It So Hard To Stick To A Diet?

Diet

Why Is It So Hard To Stick To A Diet?

How To Stay On A Diet

We are emotionally driven beings. Emotions are the main reasons we do anything at all. The desire to feel “happy” is why we get out of bed each morning. At the same time, emotions can keep you in bed, because you’re “feeling” depressed. Feelings and emotions… So, we can safely say that your “feelings” are making/keeping you overweight more than likely. First thing we need to do is recognize that our feelings make too many decisions for us, including what we eat and second to unpack the emotional baggage, re-organize our thoughts, and throw the bad stuff away. Better yet, separate our emotions from our actions all together. Example: You know that eating that bowl of ice cream at 9 o’clock at night is bad, but you’ve had a bad day and you “feel”. (more…)

4 Emotional Benefits of Losing Weight
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4 Emotional Benefits of Losing Weight

Weight Loss

4 Emotional Benefits of Losing Weight

While the physical effects of losing weight are obvious, many don’t understand or think about the psychological benefits of dropping those extra pounds. While all of these emotional benefits may not become immediately apparent, research has proven that individuals who maintain a healthy weight, live a much happier life, in part, because they are happier with themselves. In losing healthy weight you’re not only shedding pounds off your body, you’re also shedding emotional baggage.

You’ll be happier in ways you never realized!

Overweight people often worry about things healthy people don’t concern themselves with. For example, finding properly fitting clothes can be a huge stressor. Once you’re at your healthy weight, you’ll be able to cross this one off your list. Additionally, overweight individuals are much more concerned about public perception or what other people think of them. And guess what? Research has proven these concerns are valid. It’s an unfortunate fact that overweight people are viewed more negatively than those with a healthier appearance. Imagine a more confident you… a happy you that does not have to worry about what people think of you.

Lose your dependence on food.

People who are overweight use food as a crutch to deal with emotional issues. Instead of showing emotions, they eat. And typically, really bad food with little to no nutritional value. Individuals who lose weight report being able to express themselves and communicate emotions with other much more effectively.

You’ll have better relationships

Some individuals who are overweight opt-out of close personal relationships, which leads to unhappiness through feelings of isolation, loneliness and low self-esteem. People who are overweight may simply not believe they are worthy of being in quality relationships with healthy people. They may focus more on unhealthy friendships and relationships and bond with people like themselves who focus on food and other unhealthy habits. This is especially true of women, who may hold on to abusive relationships because they feel they are not worthy of the affections of a quality partner.

You’ll gain confidence

You’ll feel much better about yourself once you lose weight, which leads to higher confidence and levels of happiness. There are so many benefits to leading a healthier life at a healthier weight. People who maintain a healthy weight make more money, are promoted quicker, are much more often viewed as “Leaders” as opposed to followers, and, whether it’s true or not, are seen as being more focused, more driven and more productive.

The numbers are staggering. The majority of individuals living in the United States are overweight and unhealthy and prescriptions for obesity related illness and depression have never been higher. The truth is, a loss of weight control is a downward spiral that can easily get out of control. It happens to the best of us but it’s time to break the cycle. Now. You can do this!

Let us help you. Thousands of people just like you have lost their excess weight and kept it off with the help of MedShape Weight Loss. Ready to begin? Sign up for our FREE consultation.

How to Resist Cravings with MedShape Weight Loss Program
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How to Resist Cravings with MedShape Weight Loss Program

Weight Loss Programs

How to Resist Cravings with MedShape Weight Loss Program

So my 2^nd week on the MedShape Weight Loss program has come to an end and let me tell ya, this week was full of temptations! To start, I went camping with my fiancé’s family (naturally skinny people who would eat the moon if they could reach it). Then, Aunt Flo dropped in for her monthly visit, bringing the typical chocolate chip cookie cravings. Ugh.

Despite these 2 trying events, I was able to avoid any ‘cheating’ setbacks. My ability to resist cravings and stick to the nutrition plan was much stronger than I thought it would be! The tips that my MedShape consultant told me really worked.

Here is a quick rundown of ways to resist cravings.

Drink Water – not only is water the best natural appetite suppressant, it also optimizes your body for weight loss. Water will help keep your belly full until you can put a healthy snack in front of you… and resist cravings that are damaging to your weight loss goals.
Prepare Ahead of Time – by making sure you have your daily nutrition planned, you won’t waste time or the valuable energy required to resist cravings and hunger. (Always have a protein shake or protein bar with you and consider carrying a ziplock of sliced cucumbers, zucchini, etc. in your purse so you’ll have a healthy snack on hand.)
Eat Small Meals – I know you’ve heard this a million times but… it really works. I am eating or drinking a protein shake 5-6 times a day and, I never get hungry. Many times, I have trouble eating 1200 calories a day. Because I am never hungry, it was a lot easier to resist cravings of chocolate chip cookies (my weakness and monthly ‘girly week’ addiction) and the roasted marshmallows that were being offered on the camping trip.
Eat Healthy – this is simple common sense when you want to lose weight, right? Well a lot of people may not understand that frequent protein-packed fiber-rich meals are key to craving reduction and weight loss. That’s why, as mentioned earlier, I always carry snacks that include both protein and fiber.
Keep a Food Journal – food logging may seem like a pain but it can really help your weight loss consultant in figuring out what may be causing your continued cravings. Sometimes, lacking a certain nutrient will make it harder to resist cravings of different natures.
Additional Help – if you’re practicing all of these tips and still struggling with cravings, the MedShape weight loss clinics offer extra help with their SLIM Now therapy. For example, they have a supplement designed especially for cravings called Crave-B-Gone. Just give them a call; they understood my needs so well, I’m sure they can help with yours, too.

Keep these points in mind when you are trying to resist cravings. If you stay on a healthy track, you will speed up your weight loss and get the results you want. Remember, even cheating only once a week will throw your body’s rhythm into whack and reduce the results of a typical 5-week weight loss program by half or more! Stay Strong! We got this. 🙂

What else works for you when you are trying to resist cravings? Please share your ideas with me in the comments below.

Having a Weight Loss Plan Helped in Unexpected Ways

Weight Loss Plan Recipe - Cauliflower Pizza

Can you tell which side of my cauliflower pizza was for me? My weight loss plan recipe hunt found this.
It was fun to make and tasty.

How organized are you? On a scale of 1-10, I’d teeter between an 8 and a 6. My mood sets my level of organization so now that I’ve chosen my weight loss plan and am almost a week into it, I’m more confident and organized with it. This is largely because I realized early on that I needed a weight loss plan for the trivial details. My MedShape Weight Loss consultant was great in setting me up but there were some minor points I wanted to tackle on my own, at home. Some helped and others were 110% unnecessary but… now I can share some personal do’s and don’ts.

Here are a handful of silly random things my weight loss plan included in the first week, in as close to chronological order as my mind allows.

Make copies of the essential MedShape Weight Loss food allowances pages (because I am prone to lose stuff).
This… was a good idea for me. During this week, I’ve been training myself to think like the staff at the MedShape clinics think. I am constantly grabbing these papers for reference. Having them in more than 1 location around my house has been convenient. Stick them to your fridge door!
Make copies of the food log papers so I won’t run out.
This… was unnecessary. A few hours after I copied the food logs and started writing things down, a friend reminded me about the MyFitnessPal app. It works on both my computer and my smart phone and I’ve been using it ever since. It is super awesome for food accountability. You can customize your food allowances but, all that detailed monitoring is actually stricter than what MedShape recommends. It can also be time consuming.
Look up some recipes. Honestly, with the exception of the Cauliflower Crust Pizza pictured above, the recipes I looked up have gone unused unless they were super simple. As a work-at-home mom of a 2-year old, I don’t have much time for elaborate recipes. What I have loved though, was finding things like Cauliflower Rice on Pinterest. That stuff is delicious! (Can you tell I like cauliflower?)
Go shopping for healthy food and health gear. Stop. You don’t need to buy the whole store. I must have been afraid I’d starve so I went and spent over $100 on healthy food. While that was fun, I bought too much and then worried it’d go bad before it was eaten. Also, the fresher the veggie and fruit, the more nutrients it holds so it’s better to buy for only 1 or 2 days, if possible.

On gear… be careful not to buy too many protein shake bottles or they’ll start spilling out of your cabinet doors. It’s just not necessary to your weight loss plan. That’s all I’m saying. :-/
Get a DXA body scan.
This is the coolest thing ever! If you haven’t heard of the DXA body composition scan, please read up on it in the DXA wiki. It is basically a scan that tells you your total body composition, fat, bone… everything. Mine cost $85 and took less than 15 minutes total. Now, I know my bone density (my bones weight just over 7 lbs), my exact body fat percentage and that my right arm weighs 2lbs more than my left. Haha I decided to do a DXA scan to make sure I was losing healthy weight but really, it’s a cool scan for anyone who wants to educate themselves on… themself.
Figure out a food intake schedule.
This was pretty tricky. For a weight loss plan to be successful, you have to plan your food intake around your schedule. It took a while to work out for me but this may be an easier task for someone with a regular schedule. Basically, I learned to take snack baggies (full of a protein meat and veggie, usually) or a protein shake/bar with me wherever I go. This way if I get held up, I never get too hungry.

The craziest thing I’ve realized so far is that when I plan my snacks and meals right, I’m truly not hungry. I can’t believe that I’m not hungry on only 1200 calories. Actually, most days I’m struggling to get all the calories in. I think it’s because I eat so many high protein and fiber-rich food; I never have a chance to build up hunger.

So… my weight loss plan made has made my life a little easier this week. I’ll probably have more to add next week!

Do you have weight loss plan ideas to share? I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

Woot! I’ve Lost 6.5 lbs in My 1st Week with MedShape Weight Loss Program

Cauliflower Rice is one of my new favorite things to make!

Wow, I’m so excited! Today was 1 week from my start on the MedShape Weight Loss program and I can’t believe that my weight is down 6.5 lbs. I guess it’s just kinda surreal to me because I thought that weight loss would be harder than the MedShape Weight Loss program is making it. I’m never hungry and since I’m eating real foods, they actually taste good. From what I understand, my weight loss will be higher in the 1st week than the rest but still… woot!

So, just a run down on what I’ve been doing… I divide my food into 4-6 meals/snacks a day.

BREAKFAST
The most important meal of the day… don’t skip breakfast because it gets your metabolism up and running so you can burn weight! I’ll start my day with 2-4 eggs, scrambled or fried, depending on my mood. I will sautee onions, mushrooms, spinach, etc, in a pan for a few minutes and then add the eggs. Sometimes, I mix in some Canadian bacon. It’s delicious.
SNACK 1
My snacks are simple and typically consist of a protein shake or some berries (strawberry, raspberry or blackberry), or both… depending on if I’m hungry. Luckily, the MedShape Weight Loss program has a lot of protein snacks to choose from.
LUNCH
For a great lunch on the MedShape Weight Loss program, I’ll choose between a large variety of things. Example include… 2 cups of mixed spinach and greens salad with chicken or turkey on top. Fresh and Easy’s pre-cooked teriyake chicken with a cup of sauteed onions and mushrooms. An avocado, cucumber, and arugula salad with Girard’s Greek dressing (yum). I’ve also made tuna salad with celery, greens, and random chopped veggies. Be sure to watch your yellow listed veggie intake, though!
SNACK 2
During the afternoons, I’m usually on the go so I’ll pack a small Ziplock baggie of sliced cucumbers, a few cherry tomatoes and some rotisserie chicken. Other options include one of the many MedShape Weight Loss protein drinks or protein bars, or leftover veggies that you have in the fridge. When I cook, I try to make extra so I’ll have things to throw in my snack baggies. By doing this, I ensure that I never get too hungry and go binge eating on something that’s not in line with the nutrition guidelines.
DINNER
Dinnertime at our house is a circus. My fiance always likes his fatty foods (natural six-pack, y’all… it’s totally unfair) but I prepare tasty healthy food for my 2-year old and myself. Examples dinners include beef adobo and cauliflower rice with side veggies, rotisserie chicken with a mixed greens salad or sausages with grilled zucchini.
SNACK 3
Because my food is tracked so easily with the MyFitnessPal app, I use snack 3 to catch-up on anything I might be lacking in my daily intake. Crazily enough, I’m usually trying to eat more calories so I don’t slip under 1200 calories a day. If you eat less than 1200 calories a day, your body goes into starvation mode, which slows down weight loss… definitely something you don’t want! So… steamed broccoli dipped in ranch dressing (regular, not full fat – low fat is no good in many ways), a hard boiled egg, avocado or, if I’m in a sweet mood, a protein bar from the MedShape Weight Loss program. Lemme tell ya, the Caramel Chocolate Crunch is delicious. It tastes just like a candy bar!

So, I hope that helps you get an idea of a detailed average day while on the MedShape Weight Loss program. I know I’ve learned a lot and already realize this education will change my life long eating. My meals are delicious and after a bit of an attitude adjustment on my part, I’m actually enjoying the challenge of finding new things to eat. I wish you much success!

What are your favorite foods for healthy, low-carb eating? If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them in the comments below. 🙂

Weight Loss Nutrition is My Biggest Challenge

My 2-year old and me, enjoying lunch together. This would be an ideal meal for my current weight loss nutrition plan!

This has been a good week. Making the decision to go to the MedShape Weight Loss and take the 1st steps towards a ‘healthier me’ has drastically improved my mood and opinion of myself. I know there will be countless challenges but I am ready to take them on. I’m tired of only posting the ‘good’ pictures… you know, the ones that I look less fat in. :-/ My biggest concern is with weight loss nutrition… that’s my personal challenge. I’ve tried before but have a hard time figuring out how to change my eating habits and successfully implement the changes.

There are so many different weight loss nutrition ideas out there… low fat, low calorie, high fat, high protein, etc… which one should I choose?! The low fat and low calorie seem to involve a bunch of chemically enhanced ingredients. Booh. The high fat… just doesn’t seem like a good idea. Fortunately, when I went through the initial consult at MedShape Weight Loss, my consultant laid out nutrition goals that were easy to understand. Their guidelines were developed using solid medical research, but are also commonsensical. Thank goodness.

So let me go back to the beginning. I’ll start to walk you through my experience.

After talking to friends about their success on the program and how much they liked their weight loss nutrition plan, I set-up a free consultation (immediately, so I couldn’t make excuses and put it off longer). Then, I proceeded to pig out on all my favorite bad foods for a few days (haha) to get ready to take the plunge. I think I feared feeling deprived so, much like a squirrel, I was preparing for the long haul. By the time the day came for my appointment, I was grossed out on unhealthy eating. haha Anyway, I arrived a few minutes early, was greeted with a warm smile and was still seen almost immediately. (That’s a nice change from most doctors’ offices.)

My consultant, Brittany, took me back to a room and had me start filling out basic medical history paperwork while she got me some water. When she returned, we talked a bit so that she, and the rest of the MedShape Weight Loss staff, would know how to best help me. It quickly became apparent that weight loss nutrition was my biggest concern so when we began to go over the MedShape Weight Loss nutrition guidelines in detail. After a brief explanation of the way the body burns fat and muscle, Brittany started in on the food recommendation. She gave me a moderate amount of paperwork, which broke down my daily recommended intake for weight loss nutrition. It featured 4 color coded columns that clearly tell you about recommended proteins, veggies and fruits. The foods in the green charts are allowed in unlimited quantities. The yellow charts allow up to 4 servings, the red chart allows 2 servings, and the blue protein charts recommend 4-6 servings. That’s it. It’s that simple. You can even eat up to 2000 calories if you want!

Now I understand why my friend said she doesn’t get hungry on this program. Still, I’m pretty motivated right now so I’m going to use MyFitnessPal to monitor my food intake and limit it to 1200 calories. Wish me luck!

Somewhere in the appointment, we took my current weight and height. I kinda wish they’d have offered to take a ‘before’ pic to put in my file but that wasn’t part of their routine (so I took my own at home). We also talked about their product line, which features protein shakes, drinks, bars, cereals, supplements, and more. I expected there to be more of a sales pitch here but there wasn’t. In fact, I was told that I could be successful without the products but that they were there if I wanted the convenience, variety, or extra boost. Because I am super motivated and want all 3 of those things, I ended up getting a variety of protein drinks and bars, which I’m sure I’ll blog about in the near future, as I try them.

I feel lucky to the MedShape Weight Loss staff helping me with my goals. I need the structure of their weight loss nutrition guidelines as well as support and accountability!

We’ll see how it goes…