If you have been attempting to lose weight for a while, you know how difficult it can be to maintain motivation. Motivation is extremely important to continued consistent weight loss. Without keeping your weight loss motivation, it will almost be impossible to reach your fat loss goal; be it 10 pounds or a 100 pounds.

If your positive attitude has been lagging behind lately, try these motivational tips:

Use Inspirational Quotes – Find a moving quote or inspiring phrase. Choose something that inspires you and guides you towards healthy lifestyle choices. Print it up on nice paper and post it on your refrigerator. Be sure that it is something that will motivate you each time you reach for a snack. This will enable you to choose healthy options, and keep your weight loss goals at the front of your mind.

Keep a Journal – Keep a journal from the day you begin your weight loss program. This will help you to see progress each day. Write about your feelings towards weight loss, your motivational goals, and any setbacks or plateaus that you are experiencing. Once you reach your goal weight, you’ll be pleased to look back at how far you’ve come.

Plan for Busy Days – The first step off the weight loss wagon often occurs when life gets busy. Plan for distractions and busy days. Keep work out videos at home for those days when you just don’t make it to the gym.

Keep pre-prepared meals or frozen diet dinners handy for days when you don’t have time to cook. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail! Stay on track with preparation for days when life gets in the way.

Mix Up Your Weight Loss – Constantly doing the same exercises and eating the same food can get old. Take the time to develop several exercise routines to avoid boredom. Add a new vegetable, fruit, or salad dressing to your normal diet rut. These small changes can make a world of difference.

There is no doubt it can be difficult to maintain motivation throughout your weight loss program. Take the time to mix up routines and add inspiration to your daily life. Focus on your goals, and your reasons for wanting to lose weight in the first place.

Envision a slimmer, healthier you, and keep striving to reach your goal weight. If motivation becomes an issue, try some of the above tips to get you going again.
Here’s to a healthier you!

This article is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, nor should it be interpreted or substituted as medical advice. Prior to making changes to your physical exercise routine and your diet, you should always consult your personal physician. Better safe than sorry.

Tags: Busy Days, Consistent Weight, Diet Dinners, Distractions, Eating Habits, Exercise Routines, food;, Goal Weight, Healthy Diet, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Options, Inspirational Quotes, Lifestyle Choices, Losing Weight, Motivation Motivation, Motivational Tips, No Doubt, Personal Physician, Plateaus, Positive Attitude, Prepared Meals, Setbacks, Small Changes, Tips For Losing Weight, Weight Loss Goals —

For many morbidly obese people who are facing serious health issues related to their obesity, gastric bypass may be the answer to losing weight and getting healthy. It’s not a quick fix or a ‘lazy persons’ way out, it’s a procedure that can help someone lose a lot of weight more quickly than they could with traditional diet and exercise alone. This quick weight loss is the key since the sooner the weight comes off the more quickly a persons health can improve. While everyone is different and results will be different from one person to the next, here are some gastric bypass statistics that you can consider.

The basic concept behind the surgery is pretty simple: close off a portion of the stomach so a person can’t eat as much food all at once. Eating less food, and taking in fewer calories, will make it possible for someone to lose weight at a significant pace. Since this method emphasizes proper nutrition and lifestyle changes the rapid weight loss doesn’t have the unhealthy aspects that many other rapid forms of weight loss have.

The most important thing to think about is how would you define whether or not the procedure was a success? Would you define it based on a certain amount of weight you lost or would you define it based on whether or not you kept that weight off? Some will define the success or failure of the procedure based solely on achieving, and maintaining, a normal Body Mass Index for over five years after the procedure. Knowing what your expectation are and making sure they are realistic is a very important step for you to take prior to making a final decision on whether or not you are going to undergo the procedure.

For those people who are classified as morbidly obese, having a Body Mass Index of between 30% and 49%, the success rate has been shown to be as high at 93%.

A new category, Super Obese, has been coined and that indicates anyone with a Body Mass Index of above 50%, for those people the success rate actually goes down somewhat to about 57%. ( though it should be noted that for many this simply means that they didn’t get or maintain a normal Body Mass Index for five years or more. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t make dramatic improvements to their overall health).

Many studies have shown that patients who undergo the procedure, and make the required lifestyle changes, will reduce their other obesity related health issues such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

With the very real, and life threatening, health issues associated with being obese, it’s imperative that anyone who is overweight take significant steps to lose weight and improve their mobility. Eating less and moving more can have a huge impact on your health, your appearance, and your overall sense of well being. For some people, surgery will provide them with the best chance of a positive result. While the actual results can vary dramatically from one person to another, the actual gastric bypass statistics tend to show that for many people who are seriously overweight, this surgery can help them achieve the normal Body Mass Index that is at the heart of having a healthy body.

Tags: Body Mass, Body Mass Index, Dow, Expectation, Fewer Calories, Final Decision, food;, Gastric Bypass, Health Issues, high blood pressure;, High Cholesterol, less food, Lifestyle Changes, Losing Weight, Morbidly Obese People, New Category, obesity;, Proper Nutrition, Quick Weight Loss, Rapid Weight Loss, Serious Health, Stomach, Success Rate, Super Obese, surgery, Traditional Diet, Unhealthy Aspects —

Losing weight really can be a life or death situation, particularly for those people who are morbidly obese. Time is of the essence and the longer it takes to lose the weight the greater the risk to their health. For this reason gastric bypass surgery may be the best option. If you are considering this procedure but would like to know more about the recovery process, this article on gastric bypass post op can help.

This procedure has been available for decades and though there are some risks, as with all surgeries, they are minimal and rare. The most common issue faced by someone is the lifestyle changes they will need to make. These changes can be challenging which is why most patients are given a lot of pre-op counseling so that they fully understand what they will need to commit themselves to.

Most people understand the basic concept of gastric bypass, your stomach is made smaller so that you can only eat small amounts of food at one sitting. So, obviously, one of the most drastic changes will be a dramatically reduced food intake at each meal.

Other post op lifestyle changes may not seem so obvious such as the fact that you can no longer eat a lot of high sugar and high fat foods. Eating too much of this type of food can lead to fainting since it will be absorbed much more quickly than it would have been before the surgery when your stomach literally had more room.

When you are eating less, you are also drinking less which means that you will need to drink water, in small amounts, throughout your day to avoid dehydration.

While everyone is different and each individuals results will vary, on average many patients will lose up to 50 % of their extra weight within the first six months after surgery. From six months to two years the amount of weight loss will generally be as high as 70%. After two years post op the average weight loss tends to level off at about 80%. It’s very uncommon for someone to lose 100% of their excess fat so some people will claim that this type of surgery isn’t successful.

Only the individual can judge the success for themselves, but my guess would be that if someone is morbidly obese and weighs in excess of 300 lbs, they would be thrilled to lose 60 – 80% of their excess weight!

If you are extremely overweight and you are anxious to get yourself to a more healthy weight you may want to look into gastric bypass surgery. This is a viable way for you to take control of your weight more quickly than just diet and exercise. Your gastric bypass post op lifestyle will be considerably different and if you’re not willing to make significant changes to your lifestyle the process will not work for you. This article has given you a brief overview and now you have an idea of what’s involved, your doctor will answer the rest of your questions.

Tags: Bypass Surgery, Counseling, Death Situation, Decades, dehydration;, Drastic Changes, fainting, food intake;, food;, Gastric Bypass, Gastric Bypass Surgery, Health, Lifestyle Changes, Losing Weight, Lot, pre-op, Reason, reduced food intake, Risk, Six Months, Stomach, Surgeries, surgery, Time Is Of The Essence, Type Of Food, Weight Loss —

If you frequently have a glass of wine with dinner, or a few beers after work, you may wonder about the effects of alcohol on your weight loss. As you diet, each food or beverage you consume has an effect on your weight loss speed. Alcohol is no exception.

Alcohol has fat, just as food does. Alcohol can lead to overeating, and the calories in alcoholic beverages are generally consumed in addition to other food and drink. Liquid calories add up quickly, so be aware of the calorie content of your drink.

Alcohol has 7 calories per gram. Fat has 9 calories per gram. Drinking an alcoholic beverage from time to time won’t kill your diet, but frequent drinking will. Alcoholic beverages can be just as bad for your diet as that greasy pizza – maybe worse. Liquid calories are typically easier to consume, and drinking your calories can cause them to add up more quickly than you’d think!

There are other effects of alcohol on your weight loss as well. Alcohol loosens you up, and helps you relax. It also loosens your dieting resolve. This means that you are less focused on your weight loss goals, and may inadvertently consume more calories than you originally intended. One wing or chip can turn into many, as you become more relaxed about your diet. Consuming large amounts of alcohol can be synonymous with consuming larger amounts of food.

Alcoholic beverages are also generally consumed in addition to food. So, if you drink several drinks with a high calorie content, you are probably also eating at the same time. This can lead to taking in a high number of calories in a short amount of time, simply because you are not paying attention to your drinks. You can help slow this process down by drinking a glass of water after each alcoholic beverage. You’ll feel fuller, and in turn you’ll eat and drink less.

There are several effects of alcohol on your weight loss. Drinking alcoholic beverages can add calories to your day quickly. Alcohol has a high calorie content, similar to fatty foods. Liquid calories in alcoholic beverages go down easily, but pack a dietary punch. Alcohol can also cause you to eat more than you originally intended. Dieters, drink with care, and be careful how many calories you consume through your drink of choice.

This article entitled “Effects of Alcohol on Your Weight Loss” is not medical advice. It should not be used as or substituted as medical advice; from a medical professional. This article is for informational purposes only.

Tags: Alcohol Calories, Alcoholic Beverage, Amount Of Time, Beers, beverage, Calorie Content, Calories, Calories Alcohol, Calories In Alcoholic Beverages, Diet, Dieting, Drink Alcohol, Drinks, Effects Of Alcohol, Food And Drink, food;, Glass Of Water, Glass Of Wine, Greasy Pizza, Healthy Diet, Lead, Losing Weight, Overeating, Paying Attention, Weight Loss Goals —