Your Health Insurance May Cover Weight Loss

Need to lose weight? You’re not alone. Talk to your doctor. You may be able to get free help through your health care plan under the Affordable Care Act.

Most health insurance plans, including all plans purchased through the Marketplace, now include obesity screening and counseling, with no copays or deductibles. When you go in for a physical, your doctor will usually check your weight and height. With those numbers, he or she can figure out your body mass index, or BMI. A BMI of 25 or higher is overweight. A BMI of 30 or more is obese.
People who are obese are more likely to get serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Losing weight can lower your chances of getting any of those.

If your doctor finds that you fit the medical guidelines for obesity, you may get counseling sessions on diet and weight reduction. This may include one-on-one meetings, or you may get weight loss advice and support in a group such as Weight Watchers. Check with your insurance plan for more information.

The counseling sessions can help you change any unhealthy eating and exercise habits. That, in turn, can help you lose weight and lower the chance of health problems.

Under the Affordable Care Act, there is no exact definition of what obesity counseling must include. Coverage varies from plan to plan, so call your insurer to see what your policy will cover. If you get insurance through your job, you can also call your human resources department to check.

To help you get back to a healthy weight, your doctor may suggest a diet and exercise program. Most people will want to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products. Choose lean meats and foods that are low in unhealthy fats, cholesterol, and added sugars. Exercise helps, too. Work your way up to 30 minutes most days.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, your doctor may suggest medication or surgery. The Affordable Care Act does not require health plans, including those purchased through the Marketplace, to cover this, but some do. Check your plan to see what’s available to you.

Doctors and insurance companies have an interest in seeing you lose fat and avoid diseases like Cancer and Diabetes. Before You try anything on your own, talk to your doctor or a dietitian.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your body fat 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 $3.99. 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, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

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

 

Dread The Gym, Your Not The Only One

This is an article from WEBMD, I made a few comments.

Want to hit the gym, but can't quite seem to make it there? Your schedule might not be the only reason.

If you're feeling  self-conscious, afraid of injury, or just plain uncomfortable,  or maybe you're bored with the whole idea of staying for almost one hour when you could be doing something else, there are solutions for all of those.                

1. “I’m too heavy for the gym.”

Maybe you think that people who go to the gym are already in shape. Not so! 

The first time I went it was late morning and I thought it was a hangout for Seniors. 

If you're afraid that people will judge your appearance, “remember that everyone is there to improve how they look and feel,” says Anika Christ, a program manager with Life Time Fitness. The first gym I joined was a 24-hour fitness center. They’re popular because not everyone likes to workout with the crowds. I like to visit a gym a few times before I commit. See for yourself when it's slow and you can work the machines without waiting. I also like a gym with a pool. I like to swim on alternate days, you can’t do the treadmill or lift weights every day. A gym membership can be beneficial if you're new at this. A trainer can help you get started. You don’t need them forever, but they can help you get on the right track.

Try these ideas:

1. Buddy up. To make yourself feel more comfortable, bring a friend with you or better yet start by getting a trainer your first day. They will show you how to do a 30-minute workout and tell you the truth about what you can expect. Work with the trainer for a couple of weeks to get your form down and start to make progress and you'll know when it's time to go it on your own. Regular workout are about more than just losing weight. Getting in shape will make you healthier and more confident. No one wants to be fat and you don't have to be.
2. Pick your spot. Go for a machine that’s away from the action (and, perhaps, far from a mirror, if you don't want to see yourself while you're exercising), or nab a spot in the rear corner of a fitness class. Do whatever makes you feel at ease. You are in control.

Working out regularly can make you feel more confident. It's also a mood-booster. “One session at the gym can enhance your mood for up to 12 hours,” Christ says. It’s true, a good workout gets your engine running and can work out the aches and pains. You’ll feel like you accomplished something.

2. “I don’t know how to use the equipment.”

Never seen a kettlebell? Stumped by the settings on that rowing machine? That can feel intimidating.

Try this: Prep yourself ahead of time so you know what to expect.

“A quick online search will give you dozens of pictures, videos, and articles explaining the proper ways to use a piece of equipment or perform an exercise," says Aaron Maibach, a certified personal trainer in San Francisco.

If you still feel unsure once you start your workout, ask an employee or someone else who’s around for help. “Feeling lost in the gym happens to everyone,” Maibach says.

3. “I get so bored!”

Putting your head down, blasting your iPod, and focusing only on the exercise at hand is motivating for some people. For others, it’s not enough to beat boredom, says psychologist Patricia A. Farrell, PhD. Generally, this happens to people who do the same machine for an extended length of time. I can understand, I use a stationary bike for more than 30 minutes a day. I find a bike near a TV and I watch TV or sometimes read.

Try this: Shake up your routine. Try a group fitness classes -- from tai chi to Zumba -- most gyms offer. Yoga is popular now and you can usually find a beginner class if you go in the morning or after work.

"Working out with other people gives you camaraderie and pumps up your enthusiasm," Farrell says. "You get a sense of 'We're all in this together,' which eliminates the feeling of 'I have to do this alone.'" 

Try to smile while you're getting your sweat on; Smiling releases endorphins, the body’s feel-good chemicals, and lowers stress, according to a study from the University of California at Irvine.

4. “I don’t have anything to wear.”

Workout clothes can be super-tight, trendy, and expensive. But they don't have to be.

Try this: Choose an outfit that fits your shape now, not what you hope you’ll look like after you’ve been hitting the gym for 6 months, Christ says. 

Loose pants and a loose shirt are a good choice. Dark, solid colors will help you blend in. “Buy something comfortable that makes you feel confident,” Christ says. It's easier to be flexible in loose fitting clothes. Visit a gym a few times before you sign-up and see what other people your size are wearing and don't sign up for a long-term. Some gyms let you pay by the week or month. All gyms are not the same and you might want to switch. 

5. “I’m worried I’ll get hurt.”

Forget the old saying “no pain, no gain.” “Exercise shouldn’t be horrible and difficult,” says Erin McGill, director of training and design at the National Academy of Sports Medicine. 

If your last trip to the gym was torturous, you likely overshot your abilities, or your body alignment was off.

Try this: Sign up with a personal trainer who can show you the correct way to move and ease you into a program that’s right for your fitness level. Some gyms offer a complimentary session to new members.

If you’re working out on your own, remember: Less is more. “Quality of movement is far more important than doing X number of reps or spending X amount of time on the treadmill,” McGill says.

6. “Why should I even start? I’ll never stick with it.”

Thinking like this defeats you before you even step into the locker room. If you’re serious about losing weight, exercise is as important as your diet. 

“Many people assume they need to put in excessive hours at the gym and overcommit right from the get-go,” Christ says. “When you do too much too soon, you won’t be able to stick to it.” So take baby steps.

Try this: Exercise one time this week for no more than 30 minutes (and make it as fun as possible). Add another workout the following week, and slowly build in more sessions from there. 

Weight loss isn’t about going as hard and fast as you can, Christ says. “It’s about behavior change and building [good] habits.”

7. “I really hate the gym.”

You absolutely -- hands down, no doubt about it -- can’t bear the thought of going to the gym. So don't go. “You can accomplish plenty of goals outside the gym,” McGill says.

Try this: You still need to exercise, but you can pick where you do it. 

“Tennis, hiking, walking, and/or biking can all burn calories and help you get in shape," McGill says. "Think about what activity you like to do; then do it more."

Whatever you choose, don’t push yourself too hard. Overdoing exercise will just make you more likely to hate your workout. 

Remember that you can  do a workout without going to the gym. Truth be known, most people that workout either walk or run. Walking is all you need to lose weight. Walking and a good diet. It will take about 10,000 steps a day to lose weight and the best part is that you can take all day to complete all the steps.

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. 

The Average American Is 15 Pounds Heavier Than 20 Years Ago

This post by this author is trying to do the same thing that I'm doing every day.  The average American does know or doesn't care what they are doing to their health when my keep adding body fat. Americans think that because they're older they will automatically  lose their health and that's not true. You will lose your health by neglecting your body. Read the post below and pay heed. Don't become another statistic.

By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 3, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- There's no doubt about it: Americans are getting heavier and heavier. But new U.S. estimates may still come as a shock -- since the late 1980s and early 1990s, the average American has put on 15 or more additional pounds without getting any taller.

Even 11-year-old kids aren't immune from this weight plague, the study found. Girls are more than seven pounds heavier even though their height is the same. Boys gained an inch in height but also packed on an additional 13.5 pounds compared to two decades ago.

When looked at by race, blacks gained the most on average. Black women added 22 pounds despite staying the same average height. Black men grew about one-fifth of an inch, but added 18 pounds, the study found.

"We are not doing nearly enough to control and reverse the obesity epidemic and doing far too much to propagate it. This is another notice of that sad fact," said Dr. David Katz. He directs the Yale University Prevention Research Center and is president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

The new statistics were released Aug. 3 in a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. The statistics for 2011-2014 are based on an analysis of a sample of 19,151 people who underwent medical examinations and were interviewed at home.

According to the report, the average weight of men in the United States rose from 181 pounds to 196 pounds between 1988-1994 and 2011-2014. Their average height remained the same at about 5 feet, 9 inches.

The average woman, meanwhile, expanded from 152 pounds to 169 pounds while her height remained steady at just under 5 feet, 4 inches.

How big of a deal are these weight gains?

"A 15- to 16-pound weight gain is fairly significant and typically would be consistent with a couple of points increase in body mass index," said Anthony Comuzzie. He's an obesity researcher at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio.

Body mass index, or BMI, is a rough estimate of a person's body fat using height and weight measurements. The BMI classifies people into several categories, such as normal, overweight and obese.

"From a practical point," Comuzzie said, the average weight gain "means that someone who was on the high end of normal weight would have likely moved into the overweight category, and those at the high end of the overweight category would have likely moved into the obese category."

This matters because "we know that increasing BMI is a good indicator of overall risk for a variety of diseases, including heart disease and diabetes," he said.

The reasons behind the increase in weight are complex, according to Comuzzie. In part, he suggested, it's related to trends toward less exercise and more access to food that's rich in calories.

Could the U.S. population be getting fatter because it's getting older overall, and developing lower metabolisms?

Both Comuzzie and Katz discounted this explanation since the new report matches age groups for the two time periods.

Comuzzie said the findings reveal that the U.S. population is still gaining weight at "a fairly rapid rate, and such an increase does not bode well for the overall health of the nation. The findings suggest there will likely be an associated increase in chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease in the coming years," he noted.

As for next steps, Katz said there's much to be done. Whether that will happen is another matter.

"There are many active efforts to combat obesity, but our culture at large is in the business of propagating it for profit, from big food to big media to big pharma. It's that simple. We do much more, across the expanse of our culture, to foster obesity than to defend against it," Katz said.

I agree totally with the researchers,  but because our economy depends on making money, and Congress will listen to the Lobbyists first, we will continue to be served this "frankenfood" that fills the shelves in our food stores.

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. 

The DASH Diet Ranks #1

I like this diet because it's not temporary, like the Mediterranean diet, it's a meal plan you can follow for the rest of your life. If you notice with both these plans  fish is the main source of meat. Plant protein is very important and easy on the dairy. Do some research for yourself, these plans are the way to a healthy life and the best way to lose body fat without starving.

The DASH diet took the top spot overall for the sixth straight year in the U.S. News & World Report annual diet rankings, released Tuesday.

This year, the publication rated 38 diet plans in all -- three more than in 2015 -- with rankings based on reviews from a panel of experts. Two of the new additions ranked highly: the MIND diet, which focuses on boosting brain health, and the Fertility diet, which aims to help women conceive faster but has been shown to benefit others as well. 

The rankings also added a new category, Best Diets for Fast Weight Loss. "We recognize dieters may have short-term weight goals and need options to accomplish that in a healthy way," says Angela Haupt, a senior health editor at U.S. News.

DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) was developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to help people prevent high blood pressure. The plan focuses on eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while lowering salt. Besides being named Best Diet Overall, DASH also got first place in the category of Best Diets for Healthy Eating.

Weights Watchers won first place in the Best Weight Loss Diets category. The Weight Watchers and Mayo Clinic plans tied for first place in the Best Commercial Weight Loss Diet category, with Jenny Craig coming in next.

For Best Overall, the MIND diet came in second after DASH, tying with TLC. MIND combines features of the DASH and Mediterranean plans, aiming to boost brain health. TLC stands for Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes and aims to lower cholesterol through diet, exercise, weight loss, and not smoking.

For fast weight loss, the HMR (Health Management Resources) and Biggest Loser plans tied for first place. HMR is a low-calorie plan that includes meal-replacement shakes and emphasizes plenty of fruits and vegetables. The Biggest Loser diet has you eat regular meals with lean protein, fruits, and vegetables, keep a food journal, and control your portions, along with physical activity.

For the Easiest to Follow category, Weight Watchers, Fertility, and MIND tied for first.

In the Best for Healthy Eating group, DASH came in first, followed by TLC and Mediterranean, a way of eating rather than a formal diet plan that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and moderate alcohol.

For those with diabetes, the Fertility diet, surprisingly, was first. The diet focuses on changes that are healthy for everyone, like cutting down on red meat and getting protein from nuts and vegetables. DASH and Biggest Loser tied for second place in this category.

For Best Diets for Heart Disease, Ornish, TLC, and DASH took the first three spots, respectively. The Ornish diet is very low-fat, with 10% of calories from fat, and it encourages exercise. It can be tailored to goals such as reversing heart disease, diabetes, or losing weight.

The Mediterranean Diet, Flexitarian (avoiding meat most of the time), and Ornish plans took top spots for Best Plant-Based Diets.

At the Bottom

Meanwhile, the Whole30 diet -- a 30-day program that prohibits legumes, grains, dairy, alcohol, added sugar, and processed food -- ranked at the bottom of the list.

"The Whole30 program is extremely restrictive," Haupt says. "...there's no 'cheating' -- not even a splash of milk in your coffee. Our health experts say that restriction is unnecessary and potentially unhealthy."

Melissa Hartwig, co-creator of the Whole30, says the diet is "designed as a 30-day 'reset,' not a 365-day lifestyle or even a diet. ...The point is to use those 30 days to eliminate foods that can cause digestive and inflammatory issues, and then re-introduce certain food groups one at a time to identify which ones make someone feel badly, so they can make informed choices for themselves going forward. Regardless of the results of any one survey, we believe eating real, whole foods, including [a] wide variety of vegetables and heart-healthy fats, is always a good thing.''

Independent Perspectives

"The list of best diets matches what we as [dietitians] RD's recommend -- choose diet plans that are sustainable, flexible, and enjoyable,'' says Connie Diekman, RD, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. "Weight loss is just one part of a healthy weight. Keeping weight off is the important part. And the top diets here make healthy eating sustainable."

Quick-fix eating plans, she says, are not about "achieving a healthier muscle-to-fat ratio. They are about fitting into a dress or winning a bet -- not health promoting.'' She says the list is ''a good reminder to focus on the real goal, lowering body fat while building lean mass.''

For six years now "The Dash Diet" has ranked #1 as the best overall meal plan for healthy living.
It's also a reminder that there's no one perfect diet, says Jennifer Arussi, RD, a dietitian in Los Angeles who also reviewed the report. She is not surprised that the DASH diet got the top spot. "This research-based diet clearly demonstrates its ability to significantly reduce blood pressure with the added benefit of reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke."

Two other plans that got high marks, HMR and Weight Watchers, she says, both emphasize group support and attendance, and both these things ''have been shown in the literature to predict and accelerate weight loss," Arussi says.

Having the right meal plan is the best way to succeed in your weight loss journey. But you can't get discouraged because your plan isn't working. Not all plans work for all people, so pick a new plan. On average only expect a 2 pound weight loss a week.

Some advice for you. Stay away from the pre-made meals, those meals in a box. If you notice all these diets are based on fresh foods. I had to get used to shopping 3 times a day.

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. 

Middle Age Obesity Is Linked To Alzheimer Disease

When and How

From aboutHealth.com Obesity has been linked to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure just to name a few, but now researchers tell us that excess body fat can also cause Alzheimer disease.

Researchers have specifically found that obesity in middle age predicts an earlier onset of Alzheimer disease—and a higher burden of disease (meaning that the disease will be more severe when it hits).

In an analysis of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, researchers looked at the relationship between midlife body mass index (BMI) and the time of onset of Alzheimer disease as well as the severity of the disease.s

The study authors found that higher BMI in middle age (50 years of age) was associated with an earlier onset of Alzheimer disease as well as higher measures of disease severity.

The researchers found that there was more amyloid deposition (a defining factor of Alzheimer disease) in the brain of patients with a higher midlife BMI, as compared with those who had a healthy BMI at age 50.

This indicates a more severe form of the disease.

The researchers concluded that a healthy BMI at midlife may thus delay the onset of Alzheimer disease.

Obesity and Dementia

Earlier studies have consistently shown that obesity is associated with dementia. In another study similar to the one above, but conducted in eastern Finland, researchers followed patients for a total of 26 years, measuring their BMI at an average age of 50 as well as later, at an average age of 71. The researchers observed which patients developed dementia later in life, and found that, again, higher midlife BMI was associated with a higher risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease.

An analysis of the Swedish Twin Registry by researchers concluded that “both overweight and obesity at midlife independently increase the risk of dementia [and Alzheimer disease].” 

Stave Off Weight Gain in Middle Age

The evidence seems clear at this point: overweight and obesity at midlife puts one at a higher risk of developing dementia as well as an earlier onset of Alzheimer disease.

Unfortunately, midlife is also a time at which many individuals tend to gain weight, as metabolism slows down a bit and many become more sedentary.

Knowing this, however, should lead to greater vigilance in middle age to keep up an active lifestyle and eat healthfully.

Note: for more information on Alzheimer disease itself, check out About.com’s dedicated site at alzheimers.about.com.

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 less than $5. 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. 

Weight Loss Made Easy

It’s not that hard to lose weight but there’s a “but” clause in here. There’s many different way to lose weight and not every way will work for you. That’s the BUT CLAUSE, "not every way is going to work for you". There's going to be some "trial and error” if you’re going to find the best way for you. 

There is one constant that applies to any diet, YOUR BODY HAS TO BURN MORE CALORIES THAN YOU CONSUME. The way the body works is what we might call “real time”. In other words, we are suppose to first eat (that first hour after we wake-up from a nights sleep) and then use that food for energy and then eat again and use that food for energy and so on. You want to eat first thing in the morning because your body has been working all night on repairing the body and doing the basic organ functions like pumping blood and breathing air. So you need some nutrition and you need to drink a full glass of water to hydrate your body after that long sleep.

As I mentioned before you have to burn more calories then you eat. So the big question is "how many calories do I burn?” That’s the part that most everyone gets wrong. And if you get that wrong you won’t lose weight. Statistics show the the average women who works 8 hours a day may only burn about 1200 calories all day, because most working women will spend most of that 8 hours sitting at a desk.  While the average mother with school age children will burn a little more because there more active and have more time to workout, so the average goes up to 1500 calories for non-working or unemployed women. For men the number are a little different. Actually most men not working out of the home will burn less calories, about 1500 and men working out of the home will burn closer to 1800 calories. 

Now these are marly averages, and that’s were most dieters go wrong. I thing the numbers may be correct if your of normal weight, but if you’re overweight you’ll burn less calories. Why, you might ask. As you gain body fat you tend to burn less calories. You may not realize it, but you’re slowing down as you add weight. It’s a gradual process so in most cases you don’t realize that you’re slowing down. Most people don’t realize their overweight until their 30+ pounds over. 

So what has really happened is that you may be only burning 800 or 900 calories a day. At this point you have to cut your calories down to 800 a day to see if you can start losing fat. I understand that it’s not going to be easy and here is were exercise can help. If you don’t exercise now and you want to lose weight, one hour a day of real heart-pumping exercise will burn about 300 calories, so if you were burning an extra 300 a day you could eat more calories.  So now you would be up to 1100 calories. If you change your meal plan and go with 5 small meals a day about 3 hours apart, eating 200 calories per meal, you can stay under 1100 calories and control food cravings. 

Now you have to find 200 calories that will give you nutrition to hold you for that 3 hours. Your in luck, just GOOGLE “200 calorie meals” and there’s several websites to help you. Remember to spend your 200 calories wisely, that’s all you get for 3 hours. If you just eat a snack and think that if you save 200 calories now so I can eat more later, that doesn’t work. It takes your body time to process food and if you eat say 500 calories for one meal, your food won’t have fully processed in 3 hours and your body will have to store some of those calories in fat cells so it can begin to process the next meal. 

If you find that your losing weight and you want to increase calories, I suggest 6 small meals a day about 2 hours apart. This is better for cutting out food cravings but you have to be the judge of which plan will help you lose weight.

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 $2.99. 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. 

My Belly Fat Won't Budge

This is a common problem. I found this post on Healthnet.com and it explains what's going on.

Whether you’re bothered by a little too much padding on your hips, thighs, belly or any other place else on your body, you probably know that spot-reducing isn’t possible. “When you gain weight it’s circular, meaning that you store fat all over your body,” says Obi Obadike, fitness expert and celebrity trainer whose washboard abs have graced many a fitness magazine cover.

“But certain parts of your body are prone to store more fat than others.” For some it’s the hips or butt. For others, it’s right smack in the middle of the body.

What’s the secret to losing the tubby tummy? Obadike says there are three things you must do:

1. Eat a Clean/Lean Healthy Diet: “Abs are not made in the gym, they are made in the kitchen.” Obadike says this is something he and many fitness experts tell their clients. “Flat abs are not indicative of 1,000 sit ups a day, they’re indicative of how low your body fat is. And reducing your body fat comes from a clean, healthy diet.” 

That includes at least two protein servings a day, at least two servings of veggies/fruits, good fats and at least two servings of good carbs. “Diet is 80% of your success in losing belly fat,” says Obadike. “But by combining that with a rigorous cardio and weight-training plan, you increase your chances of losing belly fat by 15% to 20%.” That gives you a 95% to 100% chance of success. Not bad odds! 

Clean/Lean foods to add to your diet include oatmeal, brown rice, sweet potatoes, baked or broiled chicken breast, baked or broiled turkey breast, fish and, of course, fruits and veggies. “I teach my clients the 90/10 rule,” says Obadike. “That is eat clean 90% of the time and cheat 10% of the time.” Of course, a cheat isn’t a plate of chicken parm followed by a slice of tiramisu. Examples of a “cheat” would be one slice of pizza, a small hamburger or small slice of chocolate cake. The serving size should fit roughly in the palm of your hand. 

How many calories should you limit yourself to each day to shed pounds? “A weight loss caloric diet that I use is 10 to 12 calories per pound,” says Obadike. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, your daily caloric intake would be between 1,800 to 2,160 calories (180 x 10 = 1,800; 180 x 12 = 2,160). “I’ve had great success with my clients using this formula,” he says. “They never feel hungry even though it is a low-calorie diet.

2. Follow a Weekly Cardio Program: “To see results you’ll need to do 30 to 45 minutes of cardio at least four times a week,” Obadike says. His favorite fat-blasting equipment? The elliptical, stairmaster and treadmill. “They help you burn calories fairly fast,” he says. But walking on the treadmill while reading a magazine won’t cut it. “I always tell my clients, if you aren’t sweating then you aren’t working.

3. Work Those Abs: “Abs exercises are important for strengthening your stomach muscles,” says Obadike. But they must go along with the fat-melting cardio. Otherwise, he says, the abs are “hibernating” under the belly fat.

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.