Weight Loss Motivation and Health

Weight Loss Motivation Tips

September 5th, 2008

Weight loss motivation comes in many forms depending on the individual. One reason is that the motivation factor, that desire to maintain a weight loss program to its successful completion, can vary greatly from person to person.

Weight loss motivation forms an integral part of helping a healthy weight management in obese. For anyone to succeed at weight loss, motivation is the most important requirement. It will provide you with the determination to get up and exercise even if you don’t feel up to it.

Regular motivation to lose weight coupled with sound advice is the key to staying on track. It takes will power and motivation techniques to lose weight. Motivation is what drives a person towards achieving their goal. Read more »

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Prescription Weight Loss Medications

August 31st, 2008

Prescription weight loss medications - Only 26.7% of prescription weight loss medication users reported following recommended diet and physical activity behaviors in this study.

Lifestyle modifications, including behavior therapy, diet, and physical activity, are the cornerstone of weight management.

Current weight management guidelines state that prescription weight loss medication only may be used as part of a comprehensive weight loss program including diet and physical activity modifications.

These modifications include increasing physical activity to 30 to 45 minutes on most days of the week and reducing daily caloric intake by 500 to 1000 calories.

Clinical research also suggests that increasing consumption of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables in place of calorie-dense foods may increase satiety and decrease overall caloric intake aiding weight management.

The initial goal of weight loss therapy is to reduce body weight by approximately 10% over a 6-month period.

Even small losses in weight, such as 5% to 10%, have been found to reduce blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides levels, and reduce blood glucose levels among overweight and obese persons without diabetes.

Weight loss attributable to prescription weight loss drugs is modest, about 3% to 8% of body weight, and is based on a small number of patients assigned to drug treatment in clinical trials. Read more »

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Weight Loss and Leptin Supplements

August 30th, 2008

Since the discovery of leptin in 1994, many have hoped that the hormone would be a promising weight-loss treatment for humans. Leptin acts as a signal to help the body decide when it has eaten enough food to feel full. The amount of leptin in the blood has been directly linked to body fat.

After receiving leptin replacement therapy, research subjects with a recessive mutation in the obesity (ob) gene - a population both deficient in Leptin and morbidly obese - lost about half of their body weight while regulating their own food intake. (Medical news Today 4/5/2005).

If you take it at face value, it seems as if the research is saying that more leptin will help you lose weight. This research refers to subjects with a genetic basis for obesity who were deficient in leptin. But obese individuals tend to have more and larger leptin-producing fat cells than thinner people. They simply are not getting vital chemical signals to their brains that tell them to stop eating.

To illustrate my point: Read more »

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How The Suddenly Slim Lifestyle Diet Works

August 20th, 2008

The Suddenly Slim diet plan is an herb-based weight loss program that offers a fast way to lose weight using nutritional shakes, diet pills, and nutritional supplements. This diet claims that within ten days, it can increase the metabolism to make the body burn more calories and shed excess weight without altering diet or exercise routines.

The products used in this plan have a variety of herbal ingredients often found in herb-based diet products. The program claims that the herbal ingredients work by reducing the appetite, raising energy levels and rate of metabolism, and detoxifying the body.

The diet plan lasts for ten days, during which the dieter drinks meal replacement shakes and takes diet pills. The meal replacement shakes are supposed to satisfy and eliminate hunger and provide the body with crucial nutrients. The diet supplements and pills have ingredients such as green tea, caffeine, and soy protein to promote health and weight loss.

Before trying any herbal supplement or diet drug, it is a good idea to consult your physician about the health risks of the diet and whether it is the right plan for you. Many ingredients may have positive health effects, but as with any drug, there are health risks involved. One such case is with diet pills containing the diet herbal ingredient Ephedra, which is banned in the US due to health risks (recent formulations of Suddenly Slim products have substituted Ephedra extract with bitter orange).

The Suddenly Slim diet is considered by many to be a “fad diet” that works for some but not all. One of the reasons this plan can fail is because it is hard to achieve long-lasting weight loss in a short amount of time. Many people on the Suddenly Slim diet plan, report losing weight but end up gaining weight again after the diet ends. For most people, it takes a lot of dedication and lifestyle changes to successfully keep weight off. In all cases, lifetime commitments such as good eating habits and an exercise routine will lead to weight loss. Read more »

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Leptin Resistance and Weight Loss

August 8th, 2008

Recent research into leptin has revealed what is likely to be very important in the control of appetite, weight loss and the regulation of body weight. Advances in leptin research and its role in the control of obesity would lead to reductions in diabetes, coronary heart disease and many forms of cancer, all of which are increased in obesity.

American adults are overweight and more than 30 percent are obese. Currently 50 million Americans suffer from metabolic syndrome - a disease associated with obesity and encompassing coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes.

Leptin leapt into the headlines when it was identified in 1995 as a protein that triggers weight loss in mice.

Leptin (the Greek term for thin) is a hormone released by your fat cells. When you lose fat, leptin levels drop and when you gain fat, leptin levels rise.

Leptin affects our weight and our appetites. Levels of leptin rise just before a meal and fall when people are full. It is now known that leptin not only can affect the chemical responses that affect how hungry you are but also can affect the wiring of your brain. Read more »

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