Almost 108 million Americans were overweight or obese in 1999. Until now, obesity continues to be a serious problem and is predicted to reach epidemic levels by the year 2020.

One way to prevent this scenario is to make people aware of the risks of being overweight or obese.

Here are some diseases that you are putting yourself in risk of if you are carrying a lot of extra pounds:

1. heart disease
2. stroke
3. diabetes
4. cancer
5. arthritis
6. hypertension

Losing weight helps to prevent and control these diseases.

The quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results. More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, foods and supplement or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary.

It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results. You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time.

Here are some tips on how you can lose those unwanted pounds the healthy way:

1. Do not starve your self.

The key to a healthier way of losing weight is: Do not diet.

You may seem happy and feel that you are losing those unwanted flabs on your belly and thighs by skipping meals. But remember that this would not last long. Your body cannot tolerate having insufficient food to fuel the energy that you use up everyday.

If you get used to skipping one or two meals a day, your stored calories will be used up instead of the energy that should have been provided by your meals. So if you just eat one huge sandwich in one day, it will end up straight to your problem area (i.e. highs, buttocks, hips).

2. Start your day right.

Mothers always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Have a healthy meal in the morning to jump-start your metabolism.

Your food intake after you wake up will be used to burn fat all day long.

3. Eat small, healthy meals frequently.

Five small-serving snacks per day is better than three hearty meals. Eating more frequently, and in small servings, can prevent over-eating. This will also increase your metabolism and make calories burn faster.

4. Decide on how much weight you want to lose.

Keep your goals realistic. In the long run, it is virtually impossible for you to lose 40 pounds in 2 weeks. Have a mindset that you want to eat healthy to stay healthy for the rest of your life.

Once you have decided on a weight loss plan or program, stick to it and make sure that you follow your own set of dieting rules.

5. Drink lots of water.

Your body needs sufficient water to burn fat and keep your cells hydrated and healthy.

6. Avoid too much sugar.

Plan your meals around lots of fruits and vegetables, some bread, rice or pasta for that carbo fix that you need, plus lean meat and protein rich-foods. Sweets, sodas and pastries should be once-in-a-while indulgences only.

7. Watch your fat intake.

Fat is not the culprit to being overweight. You need this to keep your weight at the proper level.

There is such a thing as healthy fats. Olive, peanuts and canola oil have them. Tuna, salmon and mackerel have omega-3 fats which is good for the heart.

8. Exercise.

Leave your car if you are only going a few blocks from home, take the stairs instead of the elevator, jog, cycle or skate. Use these activites and other home chores if you are too lazy to go to the gym and take exercise classes. Make sure that you do this regularly and you will not even notice that you are already shedding pounds with these mundane activities.

It does not matter how much weight you plan or need to lose. What is important is that you set realistic goals for yourself.

Go slow. If you have already lost 5 or 6 pounds, give yourself a break then try to lose the next 5 pounds.

Eat healthy, drink lots of water, have enough sleep and exercise. This will give you a higher chance of losing weight and improving your health, which would result to a new, healthier you.

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Looking for a sure fire way to lose weight on hips? Well, if so you’ve come to the right place. There are many components to weight loss; what you eat, what you do and the specific exercises you use to target certain areas of your body. I will go over all of them in this article to help you sort it all out.

Before I get started though I do want to point out that you should make an appointment and see your doctor. She (or he) can give you the best advice specifically for you and any conditions you may have. Make sure you get your doctors approval before you start working out.

OK, now on to the information on how to lose weight on hips:

1. The first component to weight loss is your diet. I know that many people don’t want to have to think of it, but it is the truth. And when I say “diet” I don’t mean “a” diet where you eat only celery and drink water.

I’m referring to your diet, the types of foods you eat. This is very important and if you aren’t eating right you should plan on a permanent change in your dietary habits.

Now, no one is telling you that you have to be perfect. No one eats right all the time and you don’t have to either. But, if you want your weight loss to last forever you do need to make some lifestyle changes.

Start by eating at least 5 small meals every day. These meals should consist of healthy lean protein, some fresh vegetables and maybe some fruit. The point is you need to provide your body with what it needs to function at it’s best and keep your metabolism burning hot all day long.

2. It’s also important to keep your body moving. If you like going to the gym and lifting weights or spending time on the treadmill than go for it. But if you don’t like that open your mind, there are millions of things you can do to get more cardiovascular and resistance exercises into your daily life.

Cardiovascular exercises are those that get your heart rate up. Anything from jogging to dancing to kickboxing to swimming will work fine.

Resistance training is when you life weights. This activity can help you build lean muscle mass which will boost your metabolism 24/7 and will “cinch” you in which makes you look slimmer no matter what your weight.

3. Targeting specific exercises for the areas you aren’t happy with is the last component. You should exercise every part of your body but giving a little extra attention to those trouble spots is ok and a good idea.

For your hips you should so leg lifts. Just lay on your side and lift the other leg up, hold briefly then bring back down. You should feel this right in your upper thigh and hip area. Repeat for both sides.

If you want to lose weight on hips just include each one of the components I mentioned. Also, make sure your doctor says it is ok for you to workout. They may even have some good suggestions to help you along.

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Everyone has their trouble spots when it comes to weight loss. We all have areas on our body that we love and areas on our body that we hate. If you have trouble with your belly you may wonder what can be done to lose the stomach fat.

You know that it is just not possible to spot reduce. What that means is that you can’t just lose weight in certain areas of your body, you have to lose weight everywhere. For that reason you will have to focus on overall body weight reduction to get the body you have always dreamed of.

Even though you can’t spot reduce, you will still lose more weight in some areas than in others for the simple reason that you have more fat in some areas than others. Your body will burn fat first, then muscle, so as long as you still have excess fat deposits and you cut your daily calorie intake you will lose weight.

So if you want to lose the stomach fat but you don’t need to lose weight in your hips or butt, all you need to do is eat fewer calories and the excess weight will come off.

Another thing that can help the appearance of your belly is exercise. A lot of women wrongly think that if they do too many exercises it will just make areas of their body half look bigger because they will ‘bulk up’. In reality women just aren’t made that way. In order to get really big you’d have to workout on a full time basis, eat only 100% nutritious foods (no cheating) and probably get some pharmaceutical help. It takes quite a lot for a woman to bulk up.

If you target all your major muscle groups what will happen is that you will look toned. When your muscles are toned you will look smaller since your body will be tighter. Think of your muscles kind of like a girdle. Building your muscles will allow you to naturally hold everything in more easily and that will give you an all over appearance of being smaller which will make it look like you have lost more weight than you really have.

To get the best results you should watch what you eat, make sure you drink plenty of water everyday to stay hydrated and to keep your body clear of toxins, and do some muscle building exercises.

One great and easy to do exercise for your belly is to do crunches. You don’t need any special equipment and it is easy to learn how to do them. All you have to do is lay on your back on the floor, bend the knees to protect your lower back then put your hands lightly behind your head and looking straight at the ceiling slowly move up and down. Breathe out as you come up.

It’s easy to lose the stomach fat, just eat right and exercise. And, oh yeah, you’ll also lose weight everywhere else too!

Tags: Appearance, Body Fat, Calories, Daily Calorie Intake, Excess Weight, Exercises, Fewer Calories, Full Time, Girdle, Hips, Lose Weight, Losing Weight, Major Muscle Groups, Muscles, Nutritious Foods, Reason, Stomach Fat, Time Basis, Trouble Spots, Weight Loss, Weight Reduction, Workout —

Have you been looking for the quickest way to lose belly fat? There is a program that can give you a flat stomach in just two weeks. This program doesn’t include shakes, pills or potions and the only cash outlay is $30 at your local sports store. This article isn’t about trying to sell you some magic pill; it’s simply showing you how you can lose that excess fat around the tummy.

This routine does require a stability ball that costs around $30 and you can get one from your local sporting store. These balls come in various sizes between 18 and 26 inch and you will need to choose the right size for your height. Studies have shown that people who work out with a stability ball build twice the muscle fibers as those who do regular crunches without a ball. Using a stability ball for your exercises will definitely help you to lose that excess belly fat much faster.

When you purchase a stability ball it will come with an instruction manual that will outline various exercises that you can do with the ball. The exercise instructions usually come with diagrams to illustrate how to do each exercise. In this article I will outline a couple of exercises that are great to do with the ball to help lose that fat around the stomach area.

The first exercise is called the Ball Curl. Sit on the stability ball with your hands behind your head. Next you want to roll your body down until your bottom is just off the ball and your lower back and middle are on the ball.

The next exercise is called the Pike and is a bit more complicated. Lie on the top of the ball with your legs together and the ball should be under your thighs. Keep your legs straight and then contract your abs and lift your hips up toward the ceiling, rolling the ball to the shins. Hold this for one second and then lower.

The ball is important in the plan to lose fat around the stomach but it isn’t the only tool that you need. If you really want to lose fat fast then you also want to do some cardio workouts at least three times a week. With a cardio workout you should warm up for three minutes, follow this with three minutes of regular paced exercise and then two minutes of high paced exercise. Repeat the three minutes regular and two minutes high exercises for a total of 45 minutes finishing with two minutes cooling down exercises. Cardio workouts might include running, brisk walking, cycling or a cardio machine.

Lastly, you need to reduce your intake of calories. You can exercise all you want but if you continue to eat too many calories then you’re not likely to lose any weight. You need to eat 500 fewer calories than you would to maintain your weight. So if the required calories to maintain your weight are 2700 then you should only eat 2200 to lose weight. The required amount of calories to maintain your weight will depend on your sex, height and age.

If you follow this program for two weeks you will see a remarkable difference in your stomach fat. You should lose at least an inch from your weight and lose around five pounds.

This really is the quickest way to lose belly fat!

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