Moderation: It’s not a shotgun approach

Posted by Erik Chopin on November 5, 2009 under Weight Loss Tips | Comments

Crazy fad diets are all the rage, right? People fall for them like a largemouth bass. They’re easy. They’re easy to track, and easy to execute (in theory). But do they really work?

If anything, people who go on these crash diets are probably more likely to wind up gaining weight. Why? They get frustrated when weight loss isn’t working as quickly as they think it should, so they give up. Or, they get so desperate for that double-quarter-pounder that they finally give in.

We’re human. We have urges. In our case, that urge is delicious food. So why are we killing ourselves to keep that food from going in our stomachs? Is it that bad?

Sure. It is – if you eat it every day. We’ve all heard the stories of people who sued McDonald’s because they ate there seven times a day and got fat. But not everybody that eats at McDonald’s is obese and unhealthy.

The key is moderation. That doesn’t mean having a day every week where you can pig out. It means allowing yourself a little treat. Those couple cookies won’t make you fat. Those forty cookies will. That double-quarter-pounder won’t kill you, but it will if you eat it for lunch and dinner.

The beauty in moderation is that, if you eat healthy all the time, those few little treats will taste extra delicious, and you’re not depriving yourself of them. That means you will build a little more willpower and determination. It’s that kind of momentum that you need to keep going. Work a little moderation into your diet – enjoy your life while you save it!

Crazy Fad Diets – These are sad…

Posted by Erik Chopin on November 3, 2009 under Inspiration, Weight Loss Tips | Comments

Surfing around today, I found a list of some of the craziest and useless fad diets ever. Here’s just a sample:

2- The Air Diet: The Air Diet of the Institute for Psychoactive Research doesn’t require you to avoid any foods or change your current diet or exercise habits-you just breathe. Instead of focusing on what you eat or how much you eat, you focus on breathing. The idea is that if you practice rhythmical breathing, then you breathe more air. The more air you breathe, the more weight you lose. The best part is that you can do this anytime, anywhere-while driving, laying in bed, working, walking, having sex, and so on. Allrighty then!

Okay, so some of these are pretty funny, like the Air Diet here or “The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You To Know About”, but the sad fact behind this is that people believe in this crap.

Look, I’m putting together a diet plan right now, and I’m not going to sugarcoat it: it’s going to be hard. It’s going to involve healthy food and exercise. That’s it. But that’s what true weight loss is – it’s a lifestyle change that is hard.

What you can do with a diet and exercise plan is make it best for you: include delicious foods that will be good for you but also good. Or make sure your exercise activities are things that you’ll want to do on a regular basis and maybe even enjoy them.

Stop looking for that magic key. It doesn’t exist. If you want a better life, you have to earn it. Stop drinking the urine of pregnant women or eating tapeworms. Make the change yourself.