No Quick Fixes

I hipe I'm not telling you anything you didn't know but, there are no quick fix diets, prescription drugs or nutritional supplements that are going to work for EVERY person. A great many on the market won't work for ANY person. Unfortunately, the real key is calories in, calories out. If you eat more than you burn, you will not lose weight even if you eat nothing but vegetables and lean meats. You can, however, increase your metabolism and improve the efficiency that your body burns fat versus muscle depending on what foods you eat. Diet supplements can be beneficial to help get you started or to help get you past a plateau but they should always be looked at as a short term solution

Discover the source of your struggle

Many people struggle with weight loss because they don't know why they have difficulty losing weight in the first place. This survey will give you an idea of were to start.

Transform your Health, Transform your Shape Survey

Now you will want to determine where to go with these results. Learn more about your results.

For more information about how to Transform your Health, Transform your Shape consider ordering the book and/or CD.

Weight Management Tips and Tidbits

If you have any recipes, tips or Tidbits you would like to see published, feel free to email them.

Eat Right Quick Tip

Excercise Quick Tip

Daily Weight Management Tip

Weight Loss Freebies

Cardiovascular Endurance Program Worksheet- Use this worksheet to to plan and record your cardiovascular endurance program and keep you on track to weight loss.

Body Fat Loss Tracking Sheet-Use this sheet to track the loss of body fat as you work through your fitness plan. You may want to invest in the Omron Body Fat Analyzer to assist with this. While these are not 100% accurate (no method is), it will give you a good day to day observation.

Inches Lost Tracking Sheet-Use this sheet to track the inches lost as a result of your fitness plan.

BMI Calculator

You will need Acrobat Reader for the previous Tracking Sheets. Use this link to download if you don't already have it.

Eating Right Quick Tips

• eDiets Recipe Club
• Glycemic Index - Low glycemic-index foods, ratings based on blood sugar reactions, are better for weight loss than low-fat foods, which are based on calories.
• Low Carb Craze - While the low carb diets may have been effective in the past, it may have had more to do with the calorie restriction than with the lack of carbohydrates. If that turns out to be the case, the recent onslaught of low carbohydrate foods (that are still high in calories) will show a reverse in the trend. The real key to weight loss is simply to eat less calories than you use!
• Calcium & Weight Loss - The addition of calcium carbonate supplementation results in greater weight loss when on a weight-reduction regimen, with a higher volume of fat loss (especially from the trunk region), plus less lean tissue loss.
• Diet Dilema's - With all the current hype about low carb diets why shouldn't we all assume they are the best thing since sliced bread? Well, the truth is, whether a diet is low carb-high protein, low protein-high carb, in the "zone" or anything else what makes a diet successful in the short term is calorie restriction and nothing more. While these diets all claim you can eat as much as you want, few people actually do. Most don't realize they are limiting their calorie consumption but, when you have less variety to choose from, you eat less and less often. Remember, there are a a handful of key issues that cause weight gain aside from overeating. These issues must be addressed if we, as a society, are to win the battle of the bulge.
• Meal Replacements, watch out for hidden health dangers - Often our busy schedules require that we replace one or more meals with a meal replacement bar or shake. When considering the numberous options out there for this, you should be aware of some of the hidden dangers of these products. The use of Splenda or aspertamine as sweetners may contribute to health concerns rather than helping to curb carbs. Check out these articles to learn more, 12 Questions You Need to Have Answered Before You Eat Splenda and Aspartame: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You. Although hard to find, there are meal replacement products that contain neither Splenda nor aspartame, such as Nutri-burn from Nature's Sunshine.
• Be sure to include at least three nutraceuticals or functional foods daily. These could be barley leaf powder or other green dehydrated sprouts, chlorella, brewer's yeast, soluble rice bran, flaxseed (freshly ground), acidophilus or a high probiotic yogurt, mushrooms (must be organic), fertile eggs, garlic, or organic walnuts in the shell.
• New Years Resolutions - Are you going to set any this year? Are you tired of not achieving your resolution? This year, make it simple. Instead of setting a new year resolution, set a new month resolution. Decide you want to eat right for just one month, not a whole year, just one month. Setting little goals and achieving them helps to encourage setting larger goals and meeting those larger challanges.
• Holiday Eating -This is the time of the year where most of us go on that ever famous See Food Diet (you know, if you see food, you eat it). However, with a little willpower and a bit of knowledge we can defeat the holiday binge. Here are just a few tips. 1. Eat before going out. Pick something healthy and filling like apples and peanutbutter. 2. Take a very small portion of your favorite things and then savor every bite. Just don't deprive yourself. 3. Look in the mirror when you come home and congratulate yourself on a healthy evening out.
• Prepare ahead - Most of us don't always have time to prepare a healthy meal after working all day, coming home to the children's activities and housework. A great reader tip was to take one day out of the week (or two if you have a big enough freezer) and prepare several meals at once. One day means one clean up and one trip to the store. Prepare several meals in advance and freeze or refriderate them for use during the week. Then just reheat. Healthy cooking done easy!
• Breakfast - Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Skip this meal and your weight loss goals will be doomed for the day. Studies have even shown that eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast can be more detrimental than not eating at all if that cereal does not provide a basic level of fiber and protein. Eating a good breakfast that is within the optimum zone (40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat) will give your metabolism the energy boost that it will need to help you lose weight and maintain a healthy energy level all day long.
• Stevia - Stevia is an herb that is 100 times sweeter than sugar with no calories. Stevia also helps with dieting because it has a 0 glycemic index. What this means is that stevia will not give your blood sugar levels a huge jump and dip which causes more cravings. You only need to use a small amount of stevia as it goes a long way.

If you have recipes or tips you would like to share, please email nbandes@naturallyherbs.com. Your recipes may be included in our newsletter and this section of our website.

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Exercise Quick Tips

• Throw away the scale! - Waist circumference, rather than overall weight, is a more accurate indicator of an increased risk of diabetes or heart disease. (Men with waists of more than 40 inches and women with measurements of more than 35 inches are at high risk of these diseases.)
• Core Muscles - The core muscles are those located in your midsection. These muscles help to support your entire frame. While strength training of the arms and legs is crucial to lasting health benefits, don't neglect those core muscles in your abs and lower to mid back.
• Breaking up the Routine - It has been shown that exercising in 20 minute increments 2 to 3 times a day is just as effective as exercising for 40 to 60 minutes all at once. Break up your work out if you don't have much time or get bored easily.
• The 30 Minute Craze - There is a movement in the exercise community that encourages a 30 minute exercise routine 3 times a week particularly for females. This is such a large movement that fitness centers are opening their doors in strip malls across the country just for this purpose. But is it effective? The answer? That depends. For women (and men) that are classified as obese or higher, the 30 minute exercise routine can be very beneficial. For these individuals, it's exercise just thinking about exercise so this type of a routine can introduce them back to fitness in a slow and gentle manner. If you have been in an exercise routine for at least 3 months or are 30lbs or less overweight, then this type of a program will do very little to help with weight loss.
• Spring has Sprung - Ok, maybe not quite. After all the ground hog did say we would have 6 more weeks of winter. Let's get a head start anyway. One of the most enjoyable things about spring is the changing of the weather. Start thinking about more outdoor activities that will help contribute in a fun way to your exercise routine. Some suggestions may be to start a veggie garden, discover new neighborhoods on your bike, walk to the bus and then ride to work, take up tennis.
• The best way to stick to daily exercising is to get a buddy involved with you. (Walking is easy and cheap, and you already know how to do it. GET A FRIEND TO WALK WITH YOU!)
• Too Cold out to Excercise? - Do you live in a town large enough to have an indoor mall? Often times, these malls will allow walking or jogging inside the mall before actual store hours begin. This way you can excercise in warmth while enjoying an activity that others are doing at the same time.
• Make it a Family Affair - Excercise doesn't have to be boring or lonely. With more and more children in our country approaching the obesity levels, it only makes sense that we include them in our exercise activities. Take walks after dinner, ride bikes on the weekends, play ball even if you aren't any good at it. You and your family will appreciate both the exercise and the together time.
• Fatigue - How many times have you skipped a work out because you were too tired? If you are like most of us, several. How do you tell yourself to get up and exercise when you just don't have the energy to even do what HAS to be done? Schedule 10 minutes a day. No matter how tired you are, do some sort of movement. Each day you do this, you will find yourself getting more and more energy. Exercise creates the energy that will allow us to get more done.
• Balance - A great way to practice balance is to place one foot on the other ankle while brushing your teeth. The next time you brush, switch legs. Balance helps to build muscles in your core as well as improve overall fitness levels.
• Stretching - Daily stretching, and especially stretching before and after a workout, can help to prevent most sports related injuries. Aim to stretch 5 minutes before and after workouts and 15 minutes when not working out.

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What Causes Weight Gain?

It is important to discover the cause of your weight problems in order to be successful in your weight loss.