Why Water Is Important When Trying To Lose Weight

If I were asked, "what is the most difficult thing many people find to do when they start a weight-loss program?", I would have to say right near the top of the list is this - they don't drink enough water!

Few people realize at first just how essential water is to the success of their weight-loss program. In fact, the essential place of water in our diet extends to everyone - whether they want to lose weight, gain weight or stay the same weight! We all know we can't live without water, but just why is it so important? Well there are many reasons. Read on and discover why water can help you lose weight and why it is your essential life-force.

Apart from 60-70% of your body being composed of water, water has an extensive range of functions essential to life.

• Assists digestion, absorption and assimilation of food. If you don't drink enough water you can't get the full benefit of nutrients in the food you eat.

• Assists excretion of waste from bowel and kidneys. If you don't drink enough water you get constipated and put your kidneys under stress.

• Regulates body temperature. If you don't drink enough water you compromise the evaporation process you skin uses to keep you cool.

• Your blood is 92% water. This is your body's transport system distributing nutrients around the body.

• Body secretions and digestive juices are almost entirely water.

• When you wake up you will often be thirsty because your body loses water while you are sleeping through breathing and perspiration. Drink a large glass of water with a slice of lemon for zing.

• Drink another glass of water 

• Mid morning - snack on a piece of juicy fruit such as orange, rockmelon, watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew. Have a glass of water and perhaps try a dash of herbal aloe juice which is wonderfully soothing to the digestive system.

• Lunch - think of soup or have a glass of water before your meal.

• Mid afternoon - While you are preparing your evening meal, drink a glass of water and snack on some crunchy fresh vegetables.

• Evening - Sip a glass of water before your meal 

• After dinner - before bedtime drink your final glass of water and sleep well!

• The most common symptom is headaches. A major function of water is to flush toxins from the body. Your brain is 75% water, so even being slightly dehydrated can cause headaches.

• Poor concentration/fatigue. If you body can't get rid of the toxins it will struggle and you will feel less energetic as your body diverts energy to deal with the toxins.

• Constipation. Your body will divert water to more essential functions and as a result your stools will be harder and more difficult to expel.

• Reduced urine output or dark urine. Did you know that up to 200 liters of water is passed through your kidneys daily? Without a fresh supply of water for the kidneys to filter waste products out of the blood, your urine will become darker.

• Furry tongue or bad breath. If you don't have enough water passing through the mouth to wash away food particles, bacteria can proliferate and result in that 'furry' feeling or bad breath.

• Skin. Your skin should feel elastic. When you pinch the skin on the back of your hand it should snap back instantly.

Water is a natural appetite suppressant. Do NOT underestimate the power of this statement. Lack of water can lead to over eating. You brain does not differentiate between hunger and thirst. So, when you think you are feeling hungry, your body may in fact be signaling to you that you are thirsty! 

If you are not consuming enough water each day and you feel hunger pains, chances are, your body really is crying out for water. In many instances people will find what they thought were hunger pangs were in fact, satisfied by water. Try it! You have nothing to lose, except some weight.

How do you know whether you are drinking enough water each day? Well the answer is not difficult. The average person needs around 6-8 large glasses every day.

Well then, how should you drink the 6-8 glasses per day? The aim is to drink water consistently. If you drink too much all at once or too fast, it will simply pass through you, with little or no benefit to your body.

If you are someone who enjoys the 'taste' of water, then perhaps you could fill a 1 liter empty soft drink container with water the drink through it twice during the day. Room temperature or cold water, even warm as some people like - whatever you prefer. Place it on the desk at work in front of you as a constant reminder to sip continuously throughout the day.

Other people find they need a water 'diet' to help them keep on track. So for you, here is a program easily followed to ensure you are well hydrated every single day.

A few changes will happen when you start out with your water program. Obviously you may find that you need to 'spend a penny' more often. Why? Because you body isn't used to being well hydrated.

There is absolutely no doubt about it. When you start drinking enough water regularly, there are great benefits. You may notice your skin significantly improve and even tired muscles will thank you. Many people find their energy is increased and constipation and headaches are reduced, as well as hunger pains.

Now here's the really exciting part ... many people notice a reduction in weight and centimeters, as their body's water store become redundant and so decrease. 

If your diet has been one that did not provide you with adequate water, your body will have developed a pattern of storing water. It's part of the body's in-built survival mechanism - to store up the essential nutrients in short supply ... just in case they aren't available in the future. So if you don't drink enough water, you are 'conditioning' your body to store water. And water is bulk and unwanted centimeters.

It's so simple ... drink water! 6-8 large glasses a day.

How do you know if you are not getting enough water each day? This is a really important question because so many of us have deprived ourselves of water for years that we have become accustomed to doing without the full amount of water our body requires and we don't recognize the symptoms of thirst.

Final thoughts. Caffeinated drinks cause the body to lose water. They are what's known as diuretics as they cause your body to dehydrate. You will do your body an enormous favor by cutting back. For every cup of coffee you drink you will need to drink another TWO glasses of water to counter the diuretic effect. 

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Quick Weight Loss Tips

These quick weight loss tips will help you jump start your weight loss.

In order to lose weight quickly you will need to adjust your current lifestyle. These will help you do just that in order to drop weight faster and get you motivated. Generally people will lose weight more quickly at first but as your body adjusts you will begin to lose weight at about 1 to 2 pounds a week.  

This slower weight loss is what experts recommend and is the healthy approach. Using the healthy tips below will help get you started on your weight loss progress.  These are not a fad diet approaches or any quick weight loss pills suggested here.  Instead these weight loss methods are all natural and healthy for you.

However, taking vitamins and supplements for some people may be beneficial to give you all the nutrients you need by supplementing the healthy foods you will eat.

Get Active

Get up off the couch and do something that gets you moving like gardening, cleaning house or going up and down the stairs to do laundry.  Even these activities will help burn calories and speed up your metabolism.

Play for Fun – Play for Weight Loss

You can add even more activity in your life by adding some fun activities.  Shoot basketball hoops in the driveway with your children or go for a family bike ride or even an evening stroll around the block.  

You can even play video games for additional fun activities like the Wii Fit game.  The more active you are the more calories and fat you will burn and the faster you will lose weight.

Structured Exercises

This is the most important quick weight loss tip.  If you want to lose weight quicker then you need to add a structured exercise routine to your weight loss plan.  Aim for at least 30 minutes a day of some form of structured exercise.  

Choose Your Drinks Wisely

Alcohol tends to be high in calories and offers no nutritional value.  Also when alcohol is introduced into the body your body will first use this as fuel for energy.  This means that the foods you ate are left to be stored as fat.  

Alcohol also tends to lead to bad decisions such as overeating or eating the wrong foods.Of course there may be times when you want to enjoy a drink or two. For these special celebrations, just limit yourself to just one if you can. This way you don't add too many calories for the day.

Switch to Diet Drinks 

If you drink regular flavored sodas then switch to diet.  Just this one change will show quick results in your weight loss.  Watch out for the fruit drinks as well.  Fruit drinks are also high in calories and these can add up quickly.  Minimize to one fruit drink a day or water them down.  

More Water

Even better for you than diet soda and fruit drinks if you are trying to lose weight quickly is to drink more water.  Start your day with a glass of water and have a glass of water before each meal.  If you have been drinking 8 glasses of water a day then try drinking 10 glasses a day.  Water can help suppress your appetite and make you feel full faster.

Green Tea

Green tea has become the latest and greatest quick weight loss tips craze.  Like coffee, green tea has caffeine which is known to speed up the metabolism.  But in addition green tea has Epigallo Gallate also known as EGCG.  

This is thought to be the secret ingredient in green tea that aids in weight loss.  Research suggests that drinking 5 cups of green tea a day can help burn 70 to 80 more calories. For this first quick weight loss tip, you will need to be active. If you have not yet started your exercise routine, then now is the time to start with these tips.

No More Couch Potato

Exercise not only helps burn more calories and fat but helps build lean muscle mass.  This helps increase your metabolic rate and increases your overall calories burned in a day.  

These quick weight loss tips are all about what you drink. From soft drinks to alcohol, it's important to choose your drinks wisely in order to lose the weight faster.

This is one quick weight loss tip many people are not aware of.  But another way to ensure you shed pounds faster is to eliminate all alcohol.  

Make sure to include both aerobics and strength training in your weekly exercise routine.  This way you are getting the benefits of burning calories and building muscles.  You will also help tighten and tone both muscles and bone by exercising.

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Lose Weight With A Ftbit Challenge

Indep. AdvoCare Distr.

Fitness trackers have become an “it” thing in the workout world, and also in everyday life. I had always considered myself pretty active, so for awhile, I didn’t think I needed a device on my wrist to motivate me to take 10,000 steps a day. It wasn’t until I received a FitBit for Christmas this past year that I really decided to drink the “I need to get more steps” koolaid and wear my FitBit daily.

Once I figured out how to use the thing and started setting my step goals each week, I decided why not take it up a notch and join a challenge with my wife and a few other friends that also have the device? And wow, did I learn some things about myself and my daily and weekly active (or not-so-active sometimes) lifestyle. Here’s what I learned during the challenge.

Turns out, I had some room for improvement. It really made me aware of how much I sit at work.
Forcing myself to be cognizant about getting up and out is good for physical and mental health.

A little fun competition never hurt anyone.

When I first started wearing my fitness tracker, I thought I was super active because 9 times out of 10 I’d hit the step goal that they recommend. No big deal, right? Well, once I started doing the workweek challenges with my friends (a Monday-Friday challenge), I realized that maybe 10,000 wasn’t the best I could be doing. If I’m able to hit that number by a daily workout of some kind, and the amount of activity I’m doing during my day job and a little bit of activeness in the evenings at home, why shouldn’t I kick it up a bit and strive for a little more? Sure, there will be days that life gets in the way of being as active as I’d like, but there are most definitely days where I have the opportunity of going for an additional walk at night after dinner, instead of those extra 30 minutes of reality TV time. Everyone’s goal is personal — it should be based on your own health and lifestyle, but it really was eye-opening for my goals once I saw what other friends were able to do.

This one was a big one! Having a 9-5 type day job in the corporate world doesn’t always allow for tons of walking around. Sitting in front of the computer all day every day does not help you get many steps! I realized that before I was tracking my daily steps, I didn’t think much about the inactivity that the workday can bring. It also makes me realize how other occupations, such as nurses, people who walk from place to place all day, people who travel on a weekly/daily basis, can get more steps just by default. So now I’m much more aware of how much I’m sitting and try to use little things like getting up for trips to the water fountain to fill up my water bottle, and taking the long way when walking to get my lunch, can help add a little activity to my desk job.

Especially during the work week, and long, busy days, it would be so easy to work through lunches or use free time for sitting and relaxing, rather than getting a few extra steps in where possible. Now, after I’ve started tracking my steps and participating in these fun challenges, 

The whole point of the challenge is to be a competition, and sometimes we all need that competitive fire in us to push us to the next level. My friends all compete in a very friendly manner, but I definitely know we all secretly want to win each week. So even if it’s a competitive kick in the butt, it’s still motivating me to be more active and more healthy, during those Monday-Friday challenges, and I have my wife and friends and my fitness tracker to thank for that.

Walk Your Belly Off

It is no secret that walking weight off is made possible by regular physical exercise. Besides helping you shed those unwanted pounds, walking boasts numerous health benefits that run the gamut from reducing your risk of getting cancer to increasing the strength of your bones. As such, walking is oftentimes recommended as part of weight-loss regimens. As a form of pure, physical exercise, walking is very easy to do since you need nothing except a good pair of athletic shoes to give you cushion and support. You don't need any fancy equipment or additional training before you can start. Walking is the natural way to lose weight. Take it from me. At the age of 53, I finally said enough was enough and set out placing one foot in front of the other, and within a little over a month after making a commitment  I lost over 35 pounds.

Walking as a Calorie Burner

One way that walking helps you shed those unwanted pounds in an effective manner is by helping you burn those equally unwanted calories. The whole concept of weight and, furthermore, weight gain is based on calorie intake. That means that you have to balance your calories if you at least want to maintain your weight, because weight is determined by how many calories you take in versus how many you burn off.

To lose weight, all you have to do is burn off more than you eat, or just reduce your calorie intake in the first place. To help manage my calorie intake, I utilized meal replacement protein powders The basic formula for walking off pounds is this: your weight multiplied by the distance you walk equals the energy used when walking, which is the energy used to burn off calories.

Speed of Walking

When you walk to lose weight, you are advised to begin your daily walk with a warm-up session of about 5 to 10 minutes that features an easy gait. This will inform your muscles that they need to use their fat reserves to provide the energy for the upcoming walk. During a weight-loss walk, the speed you should walk at is one called a "determined" pace. This pace is characterized by noticeable breathing, but in such a way that it does not interfere with carrying on a conversation. Also, at this pace, your heart rate should be beating at in between 60 percent to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. You should keep this pace--the "determined" pace--for a total of 30 minutes per daily walking workout, especially if you have conditioned yourself to make it to that duration.

Length of Walking

You are recommended to walk at the "determined" pace rate for anywhere between 30 minutes to 60 minutes at 50 percent to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. If your hectic work life or schedule n general does not permit this investment each day, then simply divide your walking workout into two or even three, daily sessions that are much shorter than the 30-minute to 60-minute recommendation. If you can really invest the time, you should slow down your 30- to 60-minute walking workout towards the end so that you can stretch it into a 90- to 120-minute workout.

Written by,

Dwight Obey, Independent AdvoCare Distributor

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All About Water

Dwight Obey, MBA,MSAJS

Most people have no idea how much water they should be drinking, and most people live from day to day in a dehydrated state.  Even mild dehydration has shown to slow your metabolism!

Do you drink enough water?  Most adults should be drinking at least 8-10 glasses of water per day.

Most adult bodies are made up of 50% – 70% of water.  If you don’t drink enough water, it will draw on sources from within the body and this can cause serious problems.

Is there is a difference between pure water and other beverages that contain water?   Obviously you get water by consuming fruit juice, soft drinks, coffee or tea. However, while such drinks contain water, they also may contain substances that are not healthy and actually contradict some of the positive effects of the added water.  Another problem with these beverages is that you lose your taste for water.

Why is drinking water important for weight loss?  One, it curbs hunger by making you feel full.  Additionally, it replaces sugary drinks helping you to consume less calories.  And even some studies show that water can boost your metabolism.

Set a goal to drink one extra glass of water today.  Or, get a water bottle to keep at your desk at work and make an effort to fill it a couple of times each day.  You may need to slowly increase the amount of water you drink by making small and manageable changes in your daily habits.

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The Dreaded Weight Loss Plateau

Dwight Obey, MBA, MSAJS

Weight-loss plateaus happen to even the most dedicated person. A plateau occurs when your metabolism changes as it grows accustomed to the new lower weight and lifestyle changes you have made. After a few months of continuous weight loss, you may find your progress stalled despite still dieting and working out. This can be incredibly frustrating.

To break through, you’ll need to decrease caloric intake even further and increase activity to start shedding pounds again. Try cutting 200 calories from your daily meal plan. But don’t put yourself below a 1,200 calories total.

Better yet, bump up your workout time by 15 or 30 minutes, or ramp up the intensity. Incorporate some more walking throughout the day by getting off public transportation one stop early. Walk instead of driving to the grocery store for a few odds and ends. Plateaus happen to everyone. You can and will move past them to reach your goals.

Losing weight and attaining better health is a learning process. It’s one that also doesn’t come overnight. Steadfast commitment is required. But this change will allow you to adopt the healthy habits needed in order to achieve your goals and maintain a healthy weight for life.

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The Melon Diet

Dwight Obey, MBA, MSAJS

According to Marie Marcus, MS, RD, CDN, nutrition director at Nourish Snacks, these types of diets appeal to people because they have a lot of structure but only require a short commitment.

“Unlike lifestyle change diets, the finite time period of the watermelon diet gives dieters a realistic, achievable goal,” she says. “We’re more likely to willingly punish ourselves if we know it’s only for a few days.”

And with watermelon as the main selling point, Marcus says, “We’re more likely to sign up for a diet if it means we get to eat something we love all day.”

Watermelon is good for you, it’s true. In addition to nutritional benefits, it provides a good deal of water.

“The watermelon diet is really more of a cleanse that relies on the fact that watermelon is over 90 percent water,” explains Marcus. “So it’s low in calories and provides some vitamins and minerals. It’s hydrating, refreshing, and can help you feel full, at least temporarily.”

Before you go stock up on watermelons, Marcus also offers some words of warning. The diet’s restrictive nature leaves people without any dietary source of protein, she explains. Because of this, she can’t recommend the diet to children, pregnant woman, or anyone with compromised immune function.

She adds that, like all flash diets, it’s not a long-term solution.

“Study after study shows that these fad-type diets don’t work in the long run,” she says. “Once the diet period is over, people fall into their old habits, regain the weight, and look for the next diet to test drive.”

For healthy dieters, some optimism: “In general, I don’t advocate for extreme, restrictive diets and cleanses like this,” Marcus says. “But if you’re generally healthy, it’s unlikely to be harmful when followed for a few days. If you have a plan for how to continue your weight loss efforts once the diet is over, and all you need is a little jumpstart, then go for it.”

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Weight Loss Patches

Dwight Obey, MBA, MSAJS

You can find many types of weight loss patches online. The makers of these patches claim that they cause rapid weight loss by boosting your metabolism or keeping your body from absorbing carbohydrates. They also claim that the patches don’t cause side effects.These patches are applied to the skin once per day. They usually contain herbal ingredients that enter the body through the skin and that are released over 24 hours

In most cases, there isn’t proof that weight loss patches are effective. This is because these products are marketed as dietary supplements in the United States. And dietary supplements don’t have to meet the same standards for effectiveness that OTC and prescription medications do. Therefore, weight loss patches don’t have rigorous testing done by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prove that they actually work.

There is little, if any, evidence showing that weight loss patches do work. Most effectiveness studies conducted by the product manufacturers have been small and do not meet typical standards for scientific studies.

In some cases, the government has had to step in. In 2004, the Federal Trade Commission sued a weight loss patch manufacturer for making false claims. The maker said that scientific research showed that their weight loss patch caused substantial weight loss and that the product’s main ingredient (Fucus vesiculosus, or sea kelp) was FDA-approved. Neither of these claims was true. As a result of the lawsuit, the maker agreed to stop making those claims.

Remember before embarking on any weight loss plan, or trying a new supplement to consult your doctor.  you can do this, because you are a WINNER!

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Cholesterol, and what you should know

Dwight Obey, MBA, MSAJS

Cholesterol is a substance that your liver produces naturally. It’s vital for the formation of cell membranes, vitamin D, and certain hormones.

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance. It doesn’t dissolve in water and therefore can't travel through the blood by itself. Lipoproteins are other particles formed in the liver that help transport cholesterol through the bloodstream. There are several major forms of lipoproteins that are important to your health.

Low-density lipoproteins (LDL), also known as "bad cholesterol," may build up in the arteries and lead to serious health problems like a heart attack or stroke. High-density lipoproteins (HDL), sometimes called "good cholesterol," help return the LDL cholesterol to the liver for elimination.

Your liver produces all the cholesterol that you need, but fats and cholesterol are present in many of the foods we eat nowadays. Eating too many foods that contain excessive amounts of fat increase the level of LDL cholesterol in your blood. This is called having high cholesterol. High cholesterol is also called hypercholesterolemia. High cholesterol is especially dangerous when HDL cholesterol levels are too low and LDL cholesterol levels are too high.

High cholesterol typically causes no symptoms. It’s important to eat healthy and regularly monitor your cholesterol levels. When left untreated, high cholesterol can lead many health problems including a heart attack or stroke.

What Causes High Cholesterol?

• red meat

• liver and other organ meats

• full fat dairy products like cheese, milk, ice cream, and butter

• eggs (the yolk)

• deep fried foods, like potato chips, french fries, fried chicken, and onion rings

• peanut butter

• some baked goods, like muffins

• processed foods made with cocoa butter, palm oil, or coconut oil

• chocolate

Who Is at Risk for High Cholesterol?

• have a family history of high cholesterol

• eat a diet containing an excessive amount of saturated fat

• are overweight or obese

• have diabetes, kidney disease, or hypothyroidism

What Are the Symptoms of High Cholesterol?
How Is High Cholesterol Diagnosed?

• total cholesterol: less than 200 mg/dL

• LDL cholesterol: less than 100 mg/dL

• HDL cholesterol: 40 mg/dL or higher

• triglycerides: less than 150 mg/dL

How Is High Cholesterol Treated?
Medications

• atorvastatin (Lipitor)

• fluvastatin (Lescol)

• rosuvastatin (Crestor)

• simvastatin (Zocor)

Lifestyle Changes

• Eat a diet low in saturated and trans fats. Lean meats, such as chicken and fish that are not fried, and lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are helpful. Avoid fried or fatty foods as well as too many carbohydrates and processed sugars

• Eat fish containing omega-3 fatty acids, which may help lower your LDL cholesterol. Salmon, mackerel, and herring, for example are rich in omega-3s. Walnuts, ground flaxseeds and almonds also contain omega-3s.

• Avoid excessive amounts of alcohol.

• Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

• Quit smoking.

Herbal and Nutritional Supplements

• fiber

• soy

• oat bran (found in oatmeal and whole oats)

• barley

• artichoke

• blond psyllium (found in seed husk)

• ground flaxseed

• garlic

• olive seed extract

• hawthorn

• green tea extract

High cholesterol is usually made worse by eating too many unhealthy foods that are high in cholesterol, saturated fats, and trans fats. Examples of foods that contribute to high cholesterol include:

High cholesterol can also be genetic in many cases. This means that it’s not simply caused by food, but by the way in which your genes instruct your body to process cholesterol and fats. Genes are passed down from parents to children.

Other conditions like diabetes and hypothyroidism may also contribute to high cholesterol. Smoking can also increase cholesterol problems..

Over one-third of American adults have raised levels of LDL or "bad" cholesterol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People of all ages, ethnicities, and genders can have high cholesterol.

You may be at a higher risk of high cholesterol if you:

In most cases, high cholesterol is a silent problem that typically doesn't cause any symptoms. For most people, if they have not had regular checkups and followed their cholesterol levels, their first symptoms are events like a heart attack or a stroke. In rare cases, there are familial syndromes where the cholesterol levels are extremely high (familial hypercholesterolemia). These people have cholesterol levels of 300 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or higher.  Such people may show symptoms from high cholesterol that are due to deposits of cholesterol (xanthomas) over their tendons or under their eyelids (xanthalasmas).  While high cholesterol affects a large portion of the United States, familial hypercholesterolemia affects only about one in 500 people.

High cholesterol is very easy to diagnose with a blood test called a lipid panel. Your doctor will take a sample of blood and send it to a laboratory for analysis. Your doctor may ask that you don’t eat or drink anything (fast) for at least 12 hours prior to the test.

A lipid panel measures your total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines the following blood cholesterol levels as "desirable", or what you should aim for):

These recommendations are for the general, healthy public.  Cholesterol levels may be different if you already have other conditions like diabetes. Your doctor can tell you what your healthy levels should be.

Committing to exercise and a healthy diet is usually enough to decrease cholesterol levels. Sometimes medication is needed. This is especially true if LDL cholesterol levels are very high.

The most commonly prescribed medications used to treat high cholesterol are called statins. Statins work by blocking your liver from producing more cholesterol. These drugs also indirectly decrease the blood levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides and some of them may also raise the level of the “good” cholesterol, HDL.

Examples of statins include:

There are also combination products that decrease both the absorption of the cholesterol you eat and also reduce the production of cholesterol in your liver. One example is a combination of ezetimibe and simvastatin (Vytorin).

Since a person's lifestyle typically worsens high cholesterol, lifestyle changes are crucial in order to lower it.  Take these steps to help lower your cholesterol.

Some foods and supplements have been suggested to help lower your cholesterol, although none have been clearly proven to do so. These include:

Certain herbs have also been suggested to be beneficial. The level of evidence supporting these claims varies. None have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of high cholesterol.  Some of these include:

Always talk to your doctor before taking any herbal or nutritional supplement. The herbal supplement may interact with other medications you take.

Dwight Obey, Independent AdvoCare Distributor

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