DemandSports Fitness Articles

Can you relate to this desperate dieter's dilemma?

"I'm pretty good about my diet and exercise program during the week. But when the weekend comes, all of that hard work goes out the window! I constantly find myself 'starting over' every Monday morning. How do I get out of this unproductive cycle?!"

One reason weekends are so difficult is that you fall out of your regular daily routines. There are always potlucks, dinners, dates and family gatherings, where trouble is lurking in the form of buffet lines or rich desserts. Weekend menus can also be more difficult to plan - and without a plan, you're more likely to stray from the healthy habits you have been working so hard to develop.

The "Weekend Survival Guide" is designed to help your diet survive those dreaded weekends. Keep it with you - in your purse, in the car - wherever you go. The checklist and helpful tips can keep you focused and on track. Meanwhile, the inspirational quotes can give you a boost of well-timed motivation. If nothing else, remember this: when you start feeling the temptation to slip, ask yourself how you will feel about your decisions once Monday morning rolls around.

TIPS FOR TURNING AWAY TEMPTATION

a. Plan family activities like bike rides or outdoor games. This helps you spend time with your family and burn calories all at once!

b. Carry a water bottle with you to your weekend activities. This will help you get your water for the day and resist the temptation to reach for a soda or other caffeinated beverage.

c. Set some "weekend specific" goals for yourself based on the realities of what you'll be doing. They may look very different than your weekday goals, and that's okay.

d. If you are going to be out all day, pack some healthy snacks in case you get hungry. There is nothing worse than being hungry at the mall, and the only food options are ice cream or pizza.

e. Set Monday as your weigh-in day. You are more likely to resist temptation if you have to face the scale first thing Monday morning.

f. Plan ahead!! If you are going out to eat, find the restaurant's menu (and any available nutritional information) online. You'll have plenty of time to make a healthy choice before you get there.

g. Don't save all of your splurging for the weekends. Allowing yourself a few treats throughout the week will help you avoid the mindset that the weekend is an excuse to go bonkers. And by spacing your treats evenly, you're less likely to get sudden, irresistible cravings.


With a little extra effort and planning, you can turn weekends into an enjoyable experience and an opportunity to keep your program moving in the right direction!


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This article was provided by Global Health & Fitness (GHF). Click Here to visit their site for customized exercise and nutrition programs, hundreds of exercise instructions and video demo's, a free fitness analysis, and much more!

Boy, that's a lot to promise, isn't it?

Yes, it sure is. But my clients wouldn't call it an exaggeration. When you stop spinning your wheels and wasting your time on "Diet Industry" weight loss approaches, and actually start doing what works, your entire life changes.

Sure, you lose weight. And the stress and struggle that had always been such an unhappy part of your weight loss efforts just disappears from your life.

But the real benefits show up in the way you feel every day--about your self, about your body, about your life. You will also probably see dramatic difference in the way others see you, treat you, and relate to you.

You see, the big difference between Diet Industry weight loss approaches and what my clients learn to do is that you'll make changes where it counts--in the beliefs, attitudes, and motivations that are the real reasons why your do everything you do in life.

When You Make Positive Changes Where It Counts,
There's Simply No Way To Stay Stuck Where You Were

If you have read either of my free e books, you know that I am radically opposed to conventional Diet Industry weight loss methods. The simple fact that they fail 96% of the time, and that people who use them gain back 95% of what they lose, are reasons enough for us to dump them.

But even though none of the Diet Industry weight loss methods are effective, they've been the only game in town until now. Not any more! Now we have a much better alternative--the truth.
And the truth is that the Number One reason you're overweight is bad information.

That's why we're going to leave Diet Industry thinking behind forever and begin to operate on something totally different: facts. Before we get into detail about what does work, it's vitally important understand what doesn't work, and why it doesn't work. Otherwise, the temptation is always there to fall back in to the old ways of thinking, and waste still more years of our lives doing what can't possibly get us where we want to go.

As we begin to un-brainwash ourselves, keep in mind that what you're about to learn may seem like "alien" thinking to anyone who's been exposed to decades of misinformation. Also be aware that your current thinking--however poorly it may have served you in the past--isn't going to give up without a fight. You may find yourself resisting the very truth that could set you free.

So please try to keep your mind as open as you can as we explore...

- The 4 Major Elements Of Weight Loss Success -
Success Element #1: Sufficient Motivation & Desire

The very first ingredient in your success, and perhaps the most important, is having enough motivation and desire to succeed. Ideally, this motivation and desire come about as a result of an eyes-wide-open assessment of both the costs of staying overweight and the benefits of losing weight.

In other words, you are fully aware of how dramatically your life will improve, and in how many different areas, when you get to your healthiest weight. You are also crystal clear about the many serious costs of being overweight, and you are completely out of denial about the very real health risks of obesity. In other words, you "get it," and you are now ready to do something about it.

While others can help you see the light and can build a fire under you from time to time, you know in your heart that it is very much in your own best interest--and in the interest of those who you love and who love you--to make your life a healthier, happier place.

Ultimately, your own motivation, based on your own realization, is what will power you to success. If you don't have enough motivation, you can get it. But be aware that your real motivation comes from your own deeply-held beliefs and attitudes and the conclusions they lead you to. If you don't have self-supportive beliefs and attitudes, then getting them must be your first step. Using professional help can make a tremendous difference here.


Success Element #2: Accurate Information

Again, the single biggest reason most people fail at weight loss is a lack of accurate information. They simply don't understand what doesn't work and why, or know what does work and why. On top of that, many of us have spent so much time and energy doing what can never work that we're almost too and frustrated, fried, and burned out to start doing what does work.

This is an attitude we simply can't afford--especially since doing what works actually gives us energy, instead of robbing it from us like Diet Industry methods do. Let's look a bit closer at those Diet Industry "solutions" and why they don't work.

Why Diet Industry Methods Fail 96% Of The Time

The fundamental problem with weight loss methods like drugs, diets, metabolizer pills, calorie counting, relying on will power, exercise machines, and self-starvation is that they are only aimed at altering what appears to be the problem--our extra pounds.

As the research has clearly revealed, our unwanted pounds are only physical manifestations-symptoms--of problems that exist on non-physical levels. In other words, the problem you can see (your unwanted pounds) is merely a symptom of a problem you can't see--those beliefs and attitudes we just talked about.

This concept is extremely important to understand. It truly is the central key to life-long weight control success. So why do we have so much trouble grasping it?

The "Logical" Mistake That Keeps Us Overweight

When someone decides it's time to lose weight, the first place they typically turn is to food--to dieting. And why not? It seems like the obvious thing to do. If we weigh too much, it must be because we eat too much. Which means that food must be the problem. So we need to go on a diet. It's the only logical solution, right?

No! Dieting is exactly the wrong place to start. If you're serious about success...

...dieting is the last "solution"
you should be considering, not the first!

But if dieting is so useless, why is everybody so focused on it? Simply because it's our "knee-jerk" response to being overweight, resulting from the avalanche of weight loss misinformation that has us snowed under all our lives.

You see, there's more to the weight loss puzzle then meets the eye. As we noted, the real causes of our excess weight are non-physical and non-visible. So what appears to be the problem really isn't. And what really is the problem isn't apparent. The result of this double-blindness is that we end up lost and clueless about what to do.

This same blindness is the reason Diet Industry approaches don't look beyond physical factors. As a result, they only attack symptoms, leaving the real, root causes of your problem unaltered.

So how could they help but fail?

I'm not saying that food, your body, exercise, and other physical factors are unimportant. But the real causes of your unwanted pounds have virtually nothing to do with anything physical. And when you focus on those physical factors before you correct the underlying reason you're overweight, you're simply heading down the wrong trail.

Trying to get rid of excess weight by dieting, drugs, self-starvation, calorie counting, fasting, will power, etc. is like trying to get rid of dandelions with a lawn mower. The best you can do is get rid of the symptom for a while.

But until you eliminate the problem at the root, you know it will be back--and bigger than before! Only after the underlying causes of excess weight are dealt with can physical factors like diet and exercise make any useful or lasting changes.

Success Element #3: A Success Plan That Is
Custom Tailored To Who You Are

One of the least obvious reason why Diet Industry approaches fail is their one-size-fits-all, cookie-cutter mentality. Because their approach is entirely physical, they neither understand that the real, root causes of obesity are non-physical, nor do they offer any way to modify them.

They see all humans as more or less identical biological units, who will respond more or less the same to physical weight loss methods. This attitude is disastrously wrong for two major reasons.

First, we are not nearly so biologically similar as Western medicine would like us to believe. Eastern medicine long ago discovered the need to tailor treatment to individual body types. But more importantly, the Diet Industry (in fact, our entire healthcare industry) appears to be completely clueless that the root causes of obesity are non-physical, and revolve around your unique individual situation and personality, and the attitudes and beliefs that make you the unique and special person you are..

The sad consequence of their unawareness is the simple reality of the Diet Industry's 96% failure rate. So a major key to your success will be to take actions based, not some generic plan, but on a fully-customized program designed especially for your unique self and situation. Fortunately, this is now easy to do, using special assessments developed just for this purpose.

Success Element #4:
A Proven "Make-It-Really-Happen" Mechanism

This crucial fourth Success Element has proven to be the downfall of even the most dedicated dieters and anyone else who's serious about weight loss success. People find that they simply can't provide themselves with all the steam they need to get to the finish line.

What you MUST have is some mechanism that makes sure you stay with your plan until it creates weight loss success for you automatically. And make no mistake--once you correct the underlying beliefs and attitudes that are now sabotaging your weight loss success, the process of getting to your healthiest weight and staying there becomes just as effortless and automatic as staying overweight may be right now.

And yet, for some reason, many of us are hesitant to seek outside support. It's interesting to note that professional sports figures and Olympic athletes see no shame in seeking professional help, yet the average person somehow feels "incompetent" or "inadequate" if they do the same. We seem to think it's "un-American" to ask for help.

I respectfully submit that this is crazy. If we don't take advantage of the tools that are (finally!) available, it's as if we didn't even have them. It's as if none of these new weight loss discoveries had ever been made, and we were still stuck back in the "Dark Ages" of weight loss, where Diet Industry methods were all we had, and a dismal 96% failure rate was all we could hope for.

Please let it into your awareness that you do NOT have to put up with the endless struggle and frustration of useless and outdated weight loss methods. You CAN win at weight loss. In just a few months, you can see changes you scarcely imagined were possible.

All you need to do is to say goodbye to what has never worked and can never work, and open yourself to the success technology that's now available.

A Word Of Caution...

By the time you've finished reading either of my free e books, you'll know things about successful weight control that most health professionals don't know. So don't be surprised if your healthcare practitioners don't have a clue what you're doing. You'll be covering ground that few of them are familiar with, or even aware of. Be prepared to have your current ways of thinking challenged. And be ready to feel your own internal resistance to new information, because...

"When you're used to doing what's wrong,
doing what's right will feel wrong."

But don't let the newness of the information keep you from reaping the benefits you desire and deserve. Join the proud ranks of Christopher Columbus, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Edison. Leave the unbelievers behind and boldly go where most people will never go--into the "New World" of weight loss solutions that actually work!


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This article was provided by Global Health & Fitness (GHF). Click Here to visit their site for customized exercise and nutrition programs, hundreds of exercise instructions and video demo's, a free fitness analysis, and much more!

Ever wonder why, in spite of your best efforts, the ice cream, pizza, and potato chips still seem to have you in their death grip?

Instead of eating the healthy salad and heading to the gym, you end up eating the fries and being the couch potato. You try, you work hard, you struggle, you even curse. But you still end up doing the same old things you swore you wouldn't do.

And as you tear out what's left of your hair, you find yourself asking for the umpteenth time…

Why Is It So !@#$%! Hard To Make Healthy Behavior Changes?

Could something as simple as the way we spell a word hold a hidden clue to why we have so much trouble making healthy behavior changes?

I had a fascinating new insight today when I reflected on the fact that one of my overseas clients spells a few words differently than I do. We had jokingly razzed each other several times in past about whose spelling was "right."

But I got to thinking (as I always seem to do) about the deeper implications, and I realized how persistently we work to maintain and even defend our childhood programming (regardless of whether it is helpful or harmful) with a virtual death grip -- simply because we believe it is "right."

Which made me ask myself: If we are so doggedly determined to hold on to our learned beliefs about the "right' way to spell simple words like color / colour and tires / tyres, just imagine how much more aggressively we will defend (and hang on to) our personal programming that deals with deeper / larger / more important issues.

It really doesn't matter whether we picked up a particular belief in early childhood or yesterday at lunch. Once it's "in there," it becomes "the truth."

Two Major Success Barriers You Really Need To Be Aware Of

What does this mean to us in our journey to become self-aware and to replace our own self-sabotaging program with something healthier? It means that we are up against two very obvious barriers to success (in addition to all the not-so-obvious ones).

First, we're firmly convince that our beliefs are *right* -- regardless of whether they actually are or not, and regardless of how helpful or destructive they may turn out to be.

Second, because they are *our* beliefs, we will fight to the death (our death, not theirs -- and sometimes literally) to defend and protect these beliefs, no matter how helpful or destructive they may actually turn out to be.

Bottom Line: Any learned beliefs, no matter how true or false, no matter how helpful or harmful, once adopted will be staunchly defended. Why? Simply because our fragile human egos can't bear to think that we made a mistake in adopting a belief -- any belief

As Always, The First Step Is Increased Self-Awareness

As such, we are programmed to resist replacing any existing belief with any new belief, no matter how dramatically that change could improve our lives. The only way around this barrier is to be willing to take a very conscious and objective look at any evidence that a belief is not serving us in a healthy way.

What would this "evidence" look like? It could be the stress we feel in the pit of our stomach, or the way our stomach hangs over our belt. It could be found in our feelings of persistent depression or consistent anger.

The most common evidence of unhealthy beliefs is poor self-care, which can show up in countless ways (most of them being visible in the mirror). But whatever the consequences our unhealthy beliefs, if we're ever going to correct them, we'll have to first become aware that we have them, and then understand how much damage they are doing.

The good news is that, once you're willing to do those two things, you open the door to an experience of life that's so much healthier and more enjoyable that, right now, you probably can't even imagine how much better it will be!


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This article was provided by Global Health & Fitness (GHF). Click Here to visit their site for customized exercise and nutrition programs, hundreds of exercise instructions and video demo's, a free fitness analysis, and much more!

Have you gotten "derailed" on your way to success in the past, and didn't know why? That's a demoralizing and confusing experience, and it can totally sabotage your progress and stop you in your tracks if you don't know how to get the success process jump-started again.

Based on decades of experience with human behavior change, I have developed a powerful and proven 10-step system that will help you clearly identify where you've been getting derailed so you can get back on track and finally reach your destination!

10 Proven Steps To Lifelong Fitness Success

All you need to do is build your own personal program around these 10 steps. Not only will you then have all your bases covered, but you'll also be able to clearly identify what's been keeping you from enjoying the success you so richly deserve.

Whether it's health, fitness, or happiness you want the most, the keys to all three will be found among these 10 steps. So if you're ready to stop spinning your wheels and get some traction toward your goals, then let's get started!

First I'll list the steps with a brief explanation of each. Then in the next section we'll get started creating your custom-tailored success plan!

Step 1 - Identify Your Specific Goals - It's no coincidence that first place most people fail is right here at the first step. If you don't know where you want to go, then your odds of getting there are pretty slim. So the success process begins by clearly identifying your destination.

Step 2 - Create Your Clear Vision - A major problem for most people is the failure to create some kind of the vision of how their success should look and feel. Many people claim that they "can't visualize," but this simply isn't true. Any of us can envision the appearance of our house, our car, or our loved ones. And that's all that visualization really is. The only difference is that, with visualization, you are picturing what you haven't yet seen with your physical eyes.

Step 3 - Develop Your Compelling Motivations - Motivations are the rocket fuel that will blast you to success. Many of my clients come to me with a fairly clear picture of where they want to be, but without clear reasons why they want to be there ("pull" motivations), or without clear reasons why it's unacceptable to stay where they are ("push" motivations). Both "push" and "pull" motivations are necessary for success.

Step 4 - Affirm Your Desired Results - This is a step that very few people understand the need for, and even fewer know how to do. We've all heard affirmations like "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better." That is the ultimate in lame, impotent, useless affirmations! Yet it's tragically typical of the ones most people use. You can do much better! And you'll need to if you expect to get any real results.

Step 5 - Define Your Action Plan - A clear destination is of little value without a plan for getting there. And the more specific and detailed your plan is, the better your chances of getting there. But what most people don't understand is that they need both a "Plan A" and a "Plan B." You'll soon see why.

Step 6 - Act Appropriately And Consistently - There's no point having a plan if you don't take action on your plan, and do so consistently. SO many people fail at this point. They start off with a bang, and end up with a whimper. (Sound all too familiar?)

Step 7 - Evaluate Your Results Objectively - OK, you followed your plan, and you met with less than stunning success. But that's not a problem! In fact, that's what a wise person will expect. Only the foolish expect to get everything right on the first try. The key is to figure out what went wrong so you can fix it. It's called "learning."

Step 8 - Identify Your Problems Clearly - This is no place for vague answers. You need to identify -- in very specific terms -- what part of your plan is working and what part is not. If you don't clearly identify what's wrong, how in the world will you know what to fix?

Step 9 - Modify Your Strategy Accordingly - Once you figure out what's broke, then you need to fix it. And you may not get this right on the first try, either. So you need to have a solid commitment to success, and the resilience to keep experimenting and learn through trial and error without giving up.

Step 10 - Repeat Steps 6-9 As Necessary - When you figure out what needs changing, simply change it. Redesign your action plan as necessary, and see how the new plan goes. And if you find something else that's not working, fix it and try again. The only true failure is quitting.


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This article was provided by Global Health & Fitness (GHF). Click Here to visit their site for customized exercise and nutrition programs, hundreds of exercise instructions and video demo's, a free fitness analysis, and much more!

I'm not a medical doctor, nor do I play one on TV. But my education and years of experience have taught me plenty about diet drugs. I also keep current with journals, textbooks, and magazines, and I can tell you that I have yet to see a single article or study that has anything positive to say about the overall effects of diet drugs.

The potentially dangerous side-effects of diet drugs and pills has, fortunately, gotten a great deal of publicity. In the opinion of many healthcare professionals, both prescription and herbal products can be extremely risky.

Yes, some drugs produce losses in body weight. But this loss consists largely of water. Many diet pills--be they prescription or "natural"--have dangerous side effects as well. Let's remember that, just because a substance is "natural," doesn't mean it's healthy. Many plant and animal substances are toxic to humans, and some are lethal. (Poison-tipped darts are 100% "natural.".)

Any diet pill can have unhealthy side effects. If you follow your doctor's prescription perfectly, your health may not be at risk. But many people don't follow doctors' orders very well. And even doctors may not get all the "downside" information from the drug companies.

Diet pills will also cost you $40-$60 a month until you run out of money, or your doctor says you've had enough. And remember, the weight-reducing effects of diet pills disappears the day you stop taking them.

In fact, you typically gain back more weight than you lost. That's because many diet pills only suppress hunger, which is almost never the real reason we overeat (more about that later). So even when physical hunger is satisfied, all of the other reasons for excess eating (especially the psychological and emotional ones) are still there--waiting to bust your diet.

All diet pills can really offer you is a quick, expensive, possibly dangerous, and ultimately very frustrating way to lose a few pounds...temporarily. Wouldn't it be much smarter to use an approach that leads to safe, effective and permanent weight control, without any negative health consequences? Of course it would. And that's exactly what we're going to do.

Since it's clear that we're not going to get any meaningful answers from the diet, fitness, and healthcare industries, it becomes our own responsibility to get a hold of the truth. And the first, most powerful, most important truth you must understand is this:

You Didn't Fail At Your Diet…The Diet Industry Failed You!

Please, please let that statement sink in. If you have ever felt even a single moment of guilt or blame because you couldn't "stick to your diet," you really need to hear what I'm telling you. It wasn't your fault! You can't possibly lose weight by doing what doesn't work.

Remember, we now spend more than $5 billion a year on diets and related weight loss products--only to rewarded with a pathetic 4% success rate! But "they" are supposed to be the experts, the ones with the answers, right? So how come they keep telling us to do the same old things that have been proven not to work? (Well, it might have something to do with that $5 billion.)

Of course, it's not just the Diet Industry that promotes weight loss misinformation. They're just the easiest group to identify. The Fitness Industry is just as much a part of the problem, wild-eyed claims and all. Yet nine out of ten of the machines we buy are seldom used after the first few weeks. Most of them soon become dust catchers whose ultimate destiny is a yard sale.

The Diet and Fitness industries are locked in a constant battle for the hypiest headlines and most outrageous claims Yet even though both have horrible track records, they still get us to spend billions of dollars on "solutions" that don't work.

In fact, just in America, we're now spending $45-50 BILLION a year on weight loss. And what do we have to show for it? Our own government statistics reveal that:

• An incredible 96% of all weight loss end in failure.
• We gain back a heartbreaking 95% of the pounds we do manage to lose.
• Obesity has now replaced heart disease as America's #1 health concern!

Clearly, it's time for a different approach. For more detail on the keys to successful weight loss, please download either of the free e books or read additional free articles.

If you'd like to stop doing what can never work and start doing what's been proven to work, just contact me at www.coachfranksmoot.com or call me at 540-567-2050. Ask how you can set up your free 30-minute coaching session, and start getting the results you desire and deserve!

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This article was provided by Global Health & Fitness (GHF). Click Here to visit their site for customized exercise and nutrition programs, hundreds of exercise instructions and video demo's, a free fitness analysis, and much more!

Some experts consider carbohydrate craving and addiction as something more of the body than of the mind, meaning biological factors are generally considered to be the main trigger for carb cravings. These cravings are described as a compelling craving, or desire for carbohydrate-rich foods; an escalating, recurring need or drive for starches, snack foods, junk food, or sweets.

This is where the cycle of carbohydrates and cravings start. High-sugar, refined starch, convenience and comfort foods feed the addiction like a drug. This results in high blood sugar and insulin levels which results in more cravings. The situation also results in higher levels of serotonin - a brain chemical that acts like Prozac. People eat sweets to get the “sugar high.”

Another contributing factor to overeating and sweet craving is stress. When we are tense, the adrenal gland produces more of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol stimulates production of a brain chemical called “neuropeptide Y.”

This is kind of a carbohydrate craving switch. Aside from this, neuropeptide Y also makes the body hang on to the new body fat we produce. In other words, tension not only triggers carbohydrate cravings, it also makes it more difficult to lose any additional weight. Cortisol also stimulates insulin, which leads to blood sugar dips and fat storage.

It's a vicious cycle that feeds on itself, over and over.

Food is not just a biological need; there is also an emotional element to it. Something in our emotional state, particularly a negative one evokes an urge for “comfort” food. By dealing with the issue behind the cravings, it produces emotional relief that can reduce or even eliminate the urge to overeat.

All in all, most experts agree that by eating enough wholesome foods at meals and by having a healthy afternoon snack, people can minimize their cravings for sweets.

Here are recommendations to curb carb cravings.

1. Eat less but more often. Eat small meals or snacks containing some PROTEIN every few hours to keep blood-sugar levels steady.

Skipping meals causes blood sugar levels to drop, which leaves you yearning for processed carbohydrates and sweets for energy.

2. Be selective about the carbohydrates you eat. Avoid nutrient-stripped foods made of white flour, white rice, refined sugar and highly concentrated sweeteners. Look for foods rich in fiber such as fresh vegetables and fruits, which level off blood sugar.

3. Don't skimp on protein to ?make room' for large amounts of carbohydrates. Protein gives the body extended energy, helps balance blood sugar and keeps cravings at bay.

4. Limit your intake of alcohol, fruit juice and caffeinated drinks. These cause abrupt blood-sugar highs followed by troublesome blood-sugar lows, leaving you starved for energy.

5. Eat small portions of seasonal goodies AFTER protein-containing meals or snacks, if at all. If you eat sweets on an empty stomach, you'll experience blood-sugar lows that trigger the desire for more sweets.

6. Avoid becoming famished during shopping trips and while traveling. Carry protein-rich snacks such as nuts, hard-boiled eggs, nutrient-balanced energy bars or "vegetable greens" like those listed. These high-power foods are great when you feel your energy drop.

7. Get enough sleep. When the body and mind are well-rested, cravings for carbohydrates often vanish.


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This article was provided by Global Health & Fitness (GHF). Click Here to visit their site for customized exercise and nutrition programs, hundreds of exercise instructions and video demo's, a free fitness analysis, and much more!