Your Workout Not Working? Read This

Did you know that the average health club exerciser quits after just six months for one of the following reasons: not enough time or not seeing results? Eight Common Reasons Your Workouts Don't Work Sadly, most people become frustrated and quit exercising before they see any real results. But it's not too surprising, given the common mistakes many people make with their training programs. Are you making these workout mistakes? 1. All Quantity, No Quality Take a look around the gym (if you haven't quit going yet) and see how many people are really getting a quality workout. I'm always amazed by how many people are wandering aimlessly, walking leisurely on a treadmill while reading a book, lifting weights so light that not one hair moves out of place, or simply looking bored. A lot of exercisers head to the gym out of habit, and as if on automatic pilot, put in some time and head back to work or home. If you are one of these people, ask yourself, "What do I want to get out of this?" If you want serious results, you need to do serious exercise. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it and have fun. But it does mean you need to focus on what you're doing and increase the quality of every movement. Once you start exercising with a real purpose and pushing both your aerobic capacity and your strength, you will find your workouts take half the time and yield better results. Most exercisers are far too generous with estimates of exercise intensity and time, the amount of weight lifted, and the frequency of their workouts. To avoid overestimating, it's helpful to keep an exercise log and track these items. Additionally, many people mistakenly believe that if they exercise at a moderate pace for 30 minutes, they've burned lots of calories and fat. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. While exercise does burn calories over time, and consistent exercise is one of the best ways to lose weight and keep it off, it's hard to lose body fat through exercise alone. Which brings us to the next mistake. 3. Underestimating Your Eating Many people are in denial about the foods they eat, and particularly, the quantity consumed. If you want to lose weight, you need to be honest with yourself about what you put into your body and how that helps or hinders your weight-loss goals. To get real with yourself, write it down. Tracking what you eat in a food diary will help you break the cycle of food denial. You can also try using a calorie counter for more advanced diet support. 4. Doing the Wrong Type of Workout Where did you learn your current exercise routine? By watching others at the gym (who may be exercising incorrectly)? From your friends, coworkers, the web, TV, the newspaper, the latest research findings, or perhaps your 5th-grade gym teacher? What you're doing for exercise directly determines the results you will get. To learn what you should do, there's no better place to start than by writing down your goals and then working with a professional trainer to design the right workout to meet those goals. Haphazard exercise will provide haphazard results. 5. Never Changing Your Workout When you do the same thing day after day, you get very good at it. In exercise, this is called the principle of adaptation. It means that we become very efficient by doing the same exercise over and over. This is great for sports performance, but not that great for weight loss, increasing strength, or physical fitness progression. If you always do the same workout for the same amount of time, you will eventually hit a plateau where you fail to see any additional change. One way of overcoming this plateau is to modify your workouts every few weeks or months. You can change the type of exercise you do, the length, the amount of weight lifted, or the number or reps. This is why professional athletes change their programs during the off-season. 6. Using Incorrect Form or Technique Learning the right way to exercise is essential to getting results. Form does matter, especially when doing any strength training exercise. Incorrect form or technique also sets you up for potential injuries, pain, and soreness. To learn proper technique, there's no better place to start than with a personal trainer or coach. 7. Setting Unrealistic Goals So, what are your exercise goals? Are they realistic for you? If your goal is to be the next Lance Armstrong, and you only have 30 minutes a day to train, or you want to lose 25 pounds in a month . . . Ask yourself how realistic are your goals? Again, it comes back to being honest with yourself about your abilities, your level of commitment, and your lifestyle. You need to set appropriate goals that start from where you are and progress at a reasonable rate, or you're sure to get frustrated and quit. 8. Measuring the Wrong Results Many people think their workout isn't working because they don't measure the right things. Looking for proof in a scale is often a set-up for disappointment because some new exercisers build muscle and lose fat, but the scale doesn't provide information about body composition. Better ways to measure your fitness progress include tracking your heart rate at a given pace, measuring the distance you can cover in a certain amount of time, tracking the amount of weight you can lift, or even writing down how you feel -- physically -- at the end of each day. Many of the benefits from exercise are subtle and not visible by looking into the mirror, but things such as cholesterol level, blood pressure, and the ease with which you can do daily chores are every bit as motivating -- if you monitor them. If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Foods That Help You Burn Fat

This post is from the HungryGirl website and confirms that your diet will help you burn fat. The right diet will burn more fat than exercise. I write about this subject every week, you can't starve yourself and lose weight. You have to eat the right foods. There are actually foods that help you burn fat. If you eat the right foods, you'll never be hungry. It's not the quantity, it's the quality. Sticking to a healthy diet is tough — we need all the extra motivation we can get. Adding fat-burning foods to your meals 'n snacks does double duty: They're healthy additions in and of themselves, and they help burn calories. Try the following: One bean, two bean, red bean, blue bean. And when I say "red" and "blue," I mean "pinto" and "navy." Whatever type of bean is your personal favorite, you can count on one thing — experts insist it'll be great at helping your body burn fat. Beans are all-around amazing because they contain lots of protein and fiber. Eating protein is one of the very best ways to encourage your body to burn fat: It boosts your metabolism and helps you feel full and energized. Where does the fiber come in? Studies show that dietary fiber can help regulate your appetite and slow down your digestion, both of which are great for weight control. Aside from those navy and pinto beans, stock up on other fat-burning beans like soybeans, garbanzo beans, black beans, white beans, kidney beans, and lima beans. Bonus: Beans are incredibly budget friendly. Who doesn't love that? While most types of seafood are smart choices, they're not all fat-burning superstars like salmon and tuna. You've probably heard that salmon and tuna are great sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Why should you care? Because not only do omega-3s help grow your hair and nails, they stimulate a protein hormone in your body called leptin, which jumpstarts your metabolism and regulates your appetite. Well, then, allow me to introduce your new best friends: quinoa, brown rice, oat, and corn. These foods are considered whole grains (not to be confused with refined white carbs, which are basically the opposite of fat-burning foods), and chowing down on them fuels your bod with much-needed fiber and complex carbohydrates. It's the "complex" part that helps burn fat: 1) Complex carbs break down more slowly than the simple variety, meaning your energy levels won't crash, and 2) They hold your insulin levels steady, which is good because insulin spikes encourage your body to hang on to fat. If quinoa is your new best friend, yogurt should come in at a close second. Dairy products contain both protein and calcium, which help keep your muscle mass intact while promoting weight loss. Another tidbit of good news about dairy: Studies show that of two groups of participants on low-calorie diets, the group that included dairy in their diets lost more weight than the dairy-free group. And, as if you need more reason to grow a milk mustache, research shows that probiotics found in some light dairy fights fat. Dairy can be scary because it usually contains fat, but it's not difficult to stick to fat-free and light varieties of milk, yogurt, and cheese. There are so many delicious options out there. As if we needed another reason to drink red wine. I've saved the best for last: A recent study suggests that red wine (from extracts found in a certain type of red grape) may help your body fight fat. The study found that people who ate a high-fat diet accumulated less fat when they also consumed Muscadine grapes. Conversely, the group that also ate a high fat diet but didn't consume the red grapes accumulated the amount of fat that would be expected based on their food choices. The results are attributed mostly to something called ellagic acid, a compound found in Muscadine grapes. Muscadine grapes are grown primarily in the southeastern United States, and they’re used to make certain American wines. Cheers! If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Weight Watcher's New Program

I found this post on WebMd and if you have tried again and again to lose weight with no success, think about Weight Watchers. I don't promote pre-packaged foods or diet pills and that's why I think Weight Watcher might be for those who haven't been able to lose fat on their own. There is a membership fee but that's all you pay and I think you can pay by the month.  The Promise Pasta, steak, cheese, ice cream... You can eat what you want on Weight Watchers. While the popular weight-loss plan has been revamped, the basic principle of eating what you love remains -- though the program steers you toward healthier foods with its points system. In its new program, called Beyond the Scale, fitness also takes a bigger role. You'll be encouraged to move more every day. Weight Watchers isn’t so much a diet as a lifestyle change program. It can help you learn how to eat healthier and get more physical activity, so you lose the weight for good. You can follow the plan online on your own. You'll track your food choices and exercise, chart progress, and find recipes and workouts. There’s a coaching option if you prefer one-on-one consultations by phone, email, and text. Or you can go to in-person group meetings, where you’ll weigh in. A Consumer Reports survey found that people who went to meetings were more satisfied with the program and lost more weight than people who used only the online tools. What You Can Eat and What You Can't No food is forbidden when you follow this plan, which doesn’t make you buy any prepackaged meals. Weight Watchers assigns different foods a SmartPoints value, which replaces its long-standing PointsPlus plan. The concept is the same, though. Nutritious foods that fill you up have fewer points than junk with empty calories. But the eating plan now factors sugar, fat, and protein into its points calculations to steer you toward fruits, veggies, and lean protein, and away from stuff that's high in sugar and saturated fat. You’ll have a SmartPoints target that's set up based on your body and goals. As long as you stay within your daily target, you can spend those SmartPoints however, you’d like, even on alcohol or dessert. But healthier, lower-calorie foods cost fewer points. So,when you eat low-cal foods, you can eat more. If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

What's Behind the Gluten-Free Trend?

This is an article I found and I think it's a "most read". Today there's a trend to find the answer to our weight problems. Some people are convinced that you should quit sugar; no sugar diet is really popular now and most of these believers don't need to lose weight. They believe that any processed sweetners are bad for your health and many people who quit sugar admitt that they feel better. Gluten-free is another popular way to eat. Some people can eliminate health problems by going gluten-free and others feel it might help them lose weight. Processed wheat flour is as bad for you as processed sugar according to recent studies.


By Kathleen Doheny

Not that many years ago, the letters "GF" on a restaurant menu would likely have puzzled many people. No longer.

These days, a gluten-free lifestyle has become one of the most popular diet trends in the U.S. One in five people now reduce or eliminate gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley or rye, in their diet, according to a 2015 Gallup poll.

Avoiding gluten is crucial for people with celiac disease. That’s because gluten damages the small intestine and nutrients can't be absorbed. Its symptoms include diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and pain.

Researchers say that some who follow a gluten-free diet without a diagnosis of celiac disease may have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. People with non-celiac gluten sensitivity have similar symptoms but don’t have celiac disease. People with a wheat allergy may also follow the diet to prevent an allergic reaction.

But do others need to go gluten-free?

Who Is Going Gluten-Free, and Why?

Nearly 100 million Americans say they ate gluten-free products in 2015. Americans spent an estimated $4 billion on gluten-free products in 2015.

Kim’s research has found that women are more likely than men to avoid gluten, and the diet is more popular among 20- to 39-year-olds. It’s also popular among world-class athletes. In another survey, 41% of 910 world-class athletes and Olympic medalists said they followed a gluten-free diet at least half the time, and most had self-diagnosed their gluten sensitivity. Among the many stars reportedly going gluten-free are Gwyneth Paltrow, Russell Crowe, and Kim Kardashian.

"It's a trendy diet, people want quick fixes, and diets are frequently used as a quick fix for issues.''

Many health care professionals such as dietitians and psychiatrists promote the diet to people without diagnosed celiac disease, Green says. He says that an executive, who did not have celiac disease, told him his life coach recommended going gluten-free. He suspects that the association with celiac disease gives the gluten-free diet a medical legitimacy, so health care professionals may feel it's responsible to recommend it.

Who Really Needs Gluten-Free and Does It Help?

If you have celiac disease, a gluten-free diet can provide relief from bloating and intestinal problems, Kim says. Although people who self-diagnose their gluten sensitivity report the same relief from symptoms, Kim says more research is needed. In one study, Balistreri notes, people with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) reported a gluten-free diet helped their symptoms, although more research is needed.

People have also reported that they lost weight after avoiding gluten, according to a commentary accompanying Kim’s study. But the Celiac Disease Foundation says gluten-free diets may actually result in weight gain. In people with celiac disease, more nutrients are absorbed into the body as the intestines heal on a gluten-free diet, and gluten-free foods may also be higher in sugar and fat.

Some experts say that the sensitivity to the gluten in wheat might not be the whole story. Wheat contains both gluten and poorly absorbed carbohydrates that can make you gassy. Limiting these carbohydrates has helped those with irritable bowel syndrome. This involves cutting out wheat, rye, lactose, fructose, apples, and other gassy fruits. Other research has also found that those with self-reported non-celiac gluten sensitivity improved on a gluten-free diet but improved even more when these carbohydrates were cut out, Balistreri says.

People who cut out gluten may also simply be eating healthier, others suggest. Many highly-processed foods contain gluten, and eliminating them may help people feel better.

Gluten-Free: The Downsides

While the gluten-free diet ''is lifesaving for those with celiac," Green says, for those without medical indications, ''we don’t think a gluten-free diet is a very healthy diet. ... It's low in fiber and often enriched in fat and calories."

It also puts people at risk of nutritional deficiencies, Green says. "Wheat flour is fortified. They add folic acid, [other] B vitamins, and iron. Rice flour, a mainstay of gluten-free foods, is not. We have seen people with vitamin B deficiency." B vitamins help convert food into fuel, help repair cells, and have other important roles. Gluten-free diets are not always easy to follow, Green says. The products are typically more expensive than products that contain gluten.

Also, parents should not place children on a gluten-free diet without a medical reason, Fasano says.

"If the kid does not have celiac disease or allergy [to wheat], there is no reason to go on a gluten-free diet," he says. People who go on a gluten-free diet without a medical need often think they are choosing a healthy lifestyle, but they may be harming their health, Green says.

In an op-ed piece he co-wrote for the Los Angeles Times, he writes: "What gluten-free faddists don’t seem to realize is that in excluding gluten, they’re also excluding a host of nutrients that keep them out of the doctor’s office, not in it."

I can't agree with everything in this article, some cultures don't have any wheat products in their diet and are far healthier than North Americans. Wheat flour is enriched and fortified but that's only because processing the wheat for flour strips the nutrients from the wheat, so they think by adding chemicals to the flour they can put back some of the things they eliminated. We don't need bread in our diet or any bakery goods. I think the enriched flour that we have today is one reason we have an overweight problem in this country. Understand that the white flour we buy today is not the wheat flour your Grandmother used in her kitchen. Remember that when you buy the next loaf of bread.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

What You Eat Can Add Years to Your Life

Find out what foods you can eat to live healthier, longer lives.

By Joel Fuhrman, MD

A good post that emphasizes a good diet. This post first appeared on VeryWell.com.

We all have the ability to live healthier, stronger, and longer lives simply by eating the most nutritious foods for our bodies.The importance of good nutrition cannot be overstated. I have personally seen how an optimal diet can prevent and reverse disease. I have written books about the effects the right foods can have on such problems as heart disease,  high blood pressure, diabetes, allergies, asthma, autoimmune illnesses (including lupus) and headaches.

I firmly believe that few people can expect to have good health without paying attention to the consumption of high micronutrient foods. The latest scientific advances in nutritional research continue to provide evidence in support of these facts.

The latest study cited poor eating habits as the most significant risk factor for premature death worldwide. It found diet was the primary factor responsible for the greatest number of premature deaths starting in 2000 and up to the most recent data for 2013, accounting for 11.3 million deaths worldwide in 2013.

In recent decades, the American diet has undergone a transformation that has put disease-causing refined carbohydrates, oils, and animal products at the center of every meal, with natural plant foods playing only a minor role. This dietary shift became apparent when researchers looked at the data. As new parts of the world continue to adopt these eating habits, diet is becoming a larger burden on health and lifespan all over the world.

What Foods Place You at High-Risk?

When researchers looked at some of the dietary risk factors individually, they found that between 2000 and 2013 there was a global increase in the numbers of deaths associated with the following factors:

• Low Fruit Consumption
• High Sodium Intake
• Low Fiber Diet
• Low Consumption of Nuts and Seeds
• Diet High in Processed and Red Meats

Based on the above dietary factors, it should be no surprise that there was an increase in the number of deaths over this same time period associated with high blood pressure, high BMI or body mass index, and high fasting blood glucose rates.

The Good News

The study didn’t yield all bad news. Mortality due to the consumption of trans fat and secondhand smoke declined during that time and, as the authors pointed out, each of the risk factors have the potential to be eliminated or reduced in our diets. Already we are seeing a stronger emphasis on whole foods, clean eating, and a wider interest in more thoughtful food selection. Our individual choices have a huge potential to positively improve our health.

The trends the study spotlighted are reversible, and the deaths associated with a poor diet are avoidable. It took many years, but today everyone knows that smoking causes lung cancer and as a result, tobacco use is declining and so are the negative health effects associated with its use. The data suggests that this is beginning to occur with trans fat, too. We are certainly not there, yet, but we are moving toward a time when processed meats, commercial baked goods, and sugar-sweetened beverages will be viewed by everyone as dangerous.

I encourage everyone to eat a nutrient-dense, plant-rich diet of greens, colorful vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and some fruit. Make salad the main meal. Eat big salads and lots of tomato, onion, raw and cooked greens, and mushrooms. Until everyone learns to avoid processed food, excessive animal products and oils   preventable diseases will continue to plague us. A diet that delivers a broad array of micronutrients via a wide spectrum of healthy foods is the most satisfying and the most healthful. 

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

“How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

The Reasons You're Addicted to Junk Food

By Shereen Lehman, MS 

This is a good post to read. The mistakes you're making when you make those food choices will affect your life, your performance, and your health for years to come. You can straighten out your health by eating better and exercising more, but in most cases, you can't reclaim all that you lost.

Question: If junk food is so bad for the body and bad quality overall, why is it so popular? You'd think no one would touch it."

Answer: That's an excellent question, and I certainly can't say that I have the answer. I do have some thoughts on the subject -- and maybe one or more are correct, so here goes:

First, let me back up and define 'junk foods.' It's the stuff you eat that has little to no nutritional value, usually combined with ingredients that are bad for you, or is high in calories when consumed in excess.

So that means candy, chips, cookies, cake, sugary soft drinks, greasy burgers, hot dogs, French fries, ice cream, and most things that served at fast food restaurants qualify as junk foods.

So why do so many people eat junk foods? Here are three possible reasons:

#1 It's Cheap

I think one big reason junk food is popular is because a lot of it is cheap to buy. I mean you can go to most any fast food restaurant and order something off a 'dollar' menu of some sort. If you have a couple of bucks in your wallet, you can buy a full meal. 

Same story at the grocery store. Cheap snacks, inexpensive high-sodium and high-fat meals can be found on the shelves. Healthier foods -- like fresh fruits and vegetables-- tend to be more expensive. Those bags or cups of instant ramen noodles cost less than 50 cents, whereas an orange costs a dollar. 

Although a lot of junk food is cheap to buy up front, I think the argument can be made that cheap junk foods end up being more expensive in the long run due to their negative impact on health.

#2 It's Easy

This reason goes along with the being cheap part. Junk food is lurking in vending machines, convenience stores, and even stores that don't typically sell food items might have snacks and sodas near the cashiers. And those instant meals I already mentioned? They're easy to prepare, and you can store a bunch of them in your kitchen cabinets for a long time.

Of course, fast foods live up to the name. You can order a fast food meal and then eat it a minute or two later. Or you can order your meal from your car to can save time by wolfing it down while you drive away.

That drive-thru thing isn't good, though. Not only is the food bad for your health, but dropped fries can accumulate in your car, under the seat. And that gets kind of gross.

#3 It's Sweet, Fatty or Salty (Or All Three)

Rarely do junk foods tempt you with delicate or complicated flavors. They pretty much hit you hard with sweet, fatty and salty flavors. I think those simple flavors might be preferred by people who are picky eaters -- it could be the slightly bitter flavor of many vegetables turns some people off, especially kids. 

But it's more than flavor. Various combinations of sugar and fat make for textures people like. Fat makes foods feel smooth and creamy, like ice cream. Starchy potato and corn chips cooked in hot oil have a satisfying crunch. That's not to say that healthy foods don't have a nice texture, but sometimes the textures of fresh fruits and vegetables take a little getting used to.

Then It Becomes a Habit

Since junk foods are easy to find, easy to make, and a lot of them just flat out taste good, consuming them becomes a habit. That's the real problem. I mean eating a candy bar now and then or snarfing down a bag of fries once in awhile isn't all that big a deal. But when junk foods make up a big part of your daily diet, then you run the risk of becoming overweight and obese, plus you're not going to get enough of the nutrients and fiber your body needs for good health.

So, next time you find yourself standing in line at a burger joint or staring at a vending machine, think about how your choice could affect your health. Then walk away and find something better.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

“How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to get "fit and healthy". You can go to amazon.com, b&n.com, iBooks, kobo.com, scribd.com and many others.

The Secrets to Changing Your Life

If you’ve already broken a New Year’s resolution or two, take heart. I can let you in on the ultimate secret for successfully making a change in your life.

A century’s worth of psychological research reveals an interesting paradox in who we are. On the one hand, once we reach adulthood our basic personalities remain unchanged for the rest of our lives. We keep doing the same things—and feeling the same ways—over and over. But, on the other hand, every day we change our behavior drastically in response to different environments. Most of us are one person at work, for example, and another person at home.

The implication of these findings for making (and keeping) New Year’s resolutions is clear:

It is easier to change our environment than to change ourselves. So, if you want to change yourself, change your environment.

Said differently:

Whenever possible, don’t try to fight temptations – avoid them!

The easiest way to make a change in your life is to modify the world around you in ways that will naturally drive you toward making, and maintaining, the change you want. There are many ways to change your environment, but let’s focus on 4 that have stood the test of time:

1. Nature hates a vacuum: In the context of changing your life, this means you can’t just get rid of something that is an important part of your life and leave a big emptiness in its place. This is one of the great secrets of Alcoholics Anonymous: you substitute the location of a bar and the company of fellow drinkers with an AA meeting in the company of people committed to sobriety. 

If you want to exercise instead of watch TV in the morning, put a treadmill in the spot where your TV once sat. If you eat too much at night because you are lonely and it briefly makes you feel better, do something in the evening where food is not available and eat earlier in the day so you don’t starve.

2. Make it easy: It is hard enough to change habits or behaviors, so don’t make it any harder. Let’s take me as an example. I’ve been trying for several years to lose weight but always failed due to two problem behaviors: once I start eating a meal I can’t stop myself from eating more than I should; and, although I do pretty well during the day, in the evening I invariably break down and eat more than I should. So how have I lost 10 pounds recently? By going with these weaknesses and modifying my environment in ways that allow me to succeed in spite of them. Because I can’t regulate what I eat very well once I start, I’ve limited how often I eat – which means fasting for a good portion of the day. Because it isn’t practical to fast at night given a family at home (and my weakness for eating at night), I fast during the day when the environment makes it easy. I’ve changed my environment so that I avoid restaurants at lunch and make sure I keep focused on work during the peak time of my midday hunger. A final note on this strategy: you have to accept a blow to your pride to find ways to work with your weaknesses instead of against them.

3. Skin in the game: Recent studies are suggesting that you can use monetary rewards and punishments to help change problematic behavior. In essence, these strategies require that you change your environment in ways that make it so painful to fail that you are motivated to stick with the change you are attempting. 

Let’s take dieting/weight loss as an example. Imagine that you’ve set up your environment such that you will have to pay money to something or someone if you fail to reach your goals. How much money would need to be on the line to motivate you to shed those extra 20 pounds? Sounds like a plan, right? It didn't work for me, so I dreamed up a new one. I would weigh myself every Friday morning first thing when I got out of bed. If I gain anything I would pay my partner $20. When I got tired of paying out $20 every week, I started to control my weight.

4. Don’t do it alone: Change is infinitely easier if you are surrounded by a group of people who are working toward a similar goal and can understand your challenges. And the opposite is also true: change is much harder if you spend your time with people who encourage, or participate in, the very activities or behaviors you are trying to overcome.

The fact that it is easier to change your environment than to change yourself comes with a final bonus. It means that if you are struggling to make the change you want in your life, it is important not to blame yourself, or beat yourself up, but to recognize that you simply have not found the right strategy yet for leveraging the power of the world around you.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

“How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.