Weight watchers is a great way to lose weight. It also costs about $40 a month. Some might think that $40 a month is no big deal and maybe it isn’t but in this sluggish economy that $40 could easily go to so many other places in your budget. Weight watchers, or a really close imitation, could easily be accomplished with a little research and dedication for free at home.

There are plenty of resources out there that will help you figure out how many points you are allowed each day and how to attach point values to the food you eat, just like weight wathcers. So, get out your calculator and start figuring. It really is pretty easy, just follow some simple steps to arrive at the numbers you need.

You might need to go out and get a book with calorie counts for food that doesn’t have labels like fresh fruits and vegetables or find a free one online. I am sure they are out there, you just have to look.

Weight watchers does work, I lost my first 16 pounds with weight watchers. The problem lies in being able to afford the monthly payment throughout the whole time you need to lose weight. I could only make it about 3 months. I wish I could have gone longer and maybe I could have just continued the program on my own. They give you everything you need to continue to lose weight even if you have to quit going to the meetings. I should have had the motivation to continue but I didn’t and I am still overweight.

When you know that that $40 per month could benefit you in so many other ways it is hard to justify using it for what amounts to purely selfish reasons. Not that losing weight is selfish but it only benefits you. Of course, you want to lose weight and be healthier and that can benefit your family, as well, but as a mother, I have felt the guilt of wanting something all for myself when my children needed or wanted something else.

Anyway, if you do have the money to afford weight watchers then I would highly recommend using it to get thin and fit. With the weekly meetings and monthly weigh-ins you are held to a higher standard than you would be if you were trying to lose weight on your own. There is an accountability with weight watchers that keeps you on your toes and moving keeps you moving forward and the numbers on the scale moving downward.

You realize, when going to the meetings or even doing the program they have online that you are not the only person in the world who has to lose weight, no matter how much you have to lose. Whether it is 20 pounds, or 120 pounds, or more the people at weight wathcers are there for you and they have great supplements and snack foods that will help you stay on track and not go running back to all the bad carbs and calories that you have been used to.

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Walking for weight loss is easy and best of all it’s free. You do not have to join a gym or a club to be able to walk. all you have to do is step right out your front door. Anyone can do it, even your kids. I can be quite enjoyable to get out of the house and go for a walk in the morning after breakfast or in the evening after dinner. It doesn’t matter when you go, as long as you go.

Walking for weight loss should be combined with a healthier eating plan as well. This combination should net you up to a three pound weight loss per week. Start by buying fresh, healthy foods and measuring out single portion sizes.

Portion sizes is the biggest problem some people have. They just do not know when to stop eating. You might even be surprised that a single portion size is the size it is. When you realize that you have been eating three or four portions of something all at one time then it will make sense to you why you are over weight.

If you make up a meal plan then limit yourself to about 1200 to 1500 calories per day. This range is the perfect amount to lose weight at about 1-2 pounds per week. You may see a big drop right in the beginning but what you are seeing is your body adjusting and getting rid of water weight first.

Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables along with lean meats like chicken, turkey, fish, and shrimp. Lean protein helps build lean muscle. Whole grains provide the fiber and essential fatty acids your body needs so stock up on nuts and seeds like almonds or sunflower seeds. Watch your salt intake and stay away from sugary snacks and breads made with white flour.

Before you start your daily walks, go buy a new pair of shoes. A good pair of shoes with the mesh upper will help your feet breathe and stay cooler during your walk. Dress in layers for the weather changes that can happen and just tie your jacket or sweatshirt around your waist should you have to take it off.

If yiou are interested to know how far you have walked then get yourself a pedometer. A pedometer measures every step you take. If you count as you go you would need to count 2000 steps to measure one mile. I think it would be better to have the pedometer do it, frankly. That way you could listen to music or talk with your walking partner instead of counting.

Otherwise you could just clock a certain distance with your car then you would know how far you walk with out having to guess or count your steps. Try to get in 30 minutes of walking for weight loss per day. Increase the intensity and do some power walking once you work up to longer walks or do some basic interval training.

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If you are one of the millions of people trying to lose weight and having little to no success then maybe some tips on losing weight will help. Losing weight is important for your health and well-being but doing it safely is the most important aspect.

The first thing you need to know is that weight loss will not happen overnight. So, you need to find ways to keep yourself motivated to have the success you want. Tips on losing weight start with finding a work out buddy. This will keep things from getting too mundane and having a work out buddy will help keep your motivation at a high level. Make it sort of a competition between the two of you.

Keep close tabs on what you eat. You will want to start eating healthier and if you write everything down when you eat it then you will see where changes can be made and substitutions will be easier for you to make.

Stick with whole foods in their natural state. Overly processed foods are loaded with bad carbs and sodium to give them a longer shelf life. Eat lean meats or fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. Although, if you want to get a good start on losing weight, steer clear of breads and cereals for at least the first two weeks then add them back in very slowly.

You need to do this to basically reset your insulin pump. Some carbohydrates you eat are immediately converted to simple sugars in your body. This, in turn, makes you pancreas release insulin to control the sugar content of your blood from skyrocketing. These simple sugars are supposed to be used as energy. If they do not get used as energy when they are available the body converts them to fat and then stores them around your mid-section.

If you do not feel that you are getting all the nutrients you need then by all means take a multi-vitamin supplement to enhance what you are getting. Typically, though if you are eating healthy then you are getting all you need in the form of vitamins and essential nutrients so you will not need to supplement. But, hey, it couldn’t hurt.

One of the best tips I could give you is, hydrate. Drink plenty of water. Some people think that they can drink anything to stay hydrated and this is just not the case. Too many things are loaded with empty calories, like those energy drinks or sports drinks. One of the worst things you can do for yourself is drink diet pop.

Diet pop will actually trick your body into staying fat. When you drink it, your body expects to be getting something of value and when it doesn’t get what it thinks it should be, you end up eating more at your next meal to compensate for the lack. Not to mention the chemicals they use to “sweeten” diet pop, yuck!

Eating healthy, drinking plenty of water and getting at least some moderate exercise everyday should put you on the right track for losing the weight you want to lose. These are the easiest, most effective tips on losing weight you can find. Start today and you could be fit and trim in no time.

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I guess I’m one of those people who isn’t that good at only thinking about the short term. I tend to think more long term and that includes when I’m considering what is the quickest way to lose weight. Whatever type of weight loss plan I decide on must not be bad for my overall, long term health or I won’t do it.

That is what I recommend for you too. Today we know a lot more about the effects of some of these diets and supplements over the long haul. In my opinion, it’s not worth dying over 10 extra pounds.

When it comes to the quickest way to lose weight I prefer to balance the speed of the weight loss with my overall health. I will force myself to be more patient and take a little longer so that the results I get are better for my body.

To that end, you should talk to your doctor before you start any type of weight loss plan. Whether you are focusing primarily on your eating plan, your exercise plan, or the best option, a combination of both, getting the approval of your doctor before you start is just the smart thing to do.

I’ve never been much of a fan of taking a supplement. Why? Simple, it’s short term. For the most part, you aren’t going to be taking supplements for the rest of your life and if all your weight loss hinges on that pill, what will happen when you stop taking it?

Instead, if I use a supplement at all, I use it with the idea that it is for short term use only and it is only a way to help me get off to a quick start with my weight loss.

I know from personal experience that it’s much easier to stick with a weight loss plan as soon as you start to see some results. Using a supplement for a short term, until you start seeing some results, can be a great way to keep yourself motivated.

Another thing I try to do is make sure I am drinking enough water. Again, talk to your doctor to find out how much you should be drinking (believe it or not, you can do harm if you drink too much water too).

I’ve been told that most people should drink half of their body weight in ounces of water every day. So, if you weigh 150 lbs. you should drink 75 ounces of water daily (75 is half of 150).

The absolute best thing I did to lose weight, and I lost it in one week too, was to eat more. Sounds weird, doesn’t it? But I found that when I ate 6 small, but nutritious, meals daily I lost weight with out really trying.

I lost 6 pounds in that first week. I just ate small meals consisting of lean protein, fresh vegetables and a little bit of carbs. At that time I wasn’t even exercising that much.

The reason this worked so well is easy: I was providing my body with the fuel it needed to run at it’s very best. When you give your body what it needs, you will almost always see it runs efficiently and that means it will burn more fat.

I find that the quickest way to lose weight is when you work with your body instead of against it.

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