Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas. 

Guess I am gonna have to worry about the Xmas binge tomorrow. 

Always Remember This One Piece of Advice When It Comes To Your Weight Loss.

Making major lifestyle changes is always a tough feat to accomplish. Whether you're adopting a brand new diet, trying to get eight hours of sleep a night, or giving up alcohol for the first time, shifting to a brand new habit is far from easy. The same goes for losing weight. When you're trying to shed excess pounds, it often all boils down to a culmination of everyday choices we make. And we all know that those daily habits are the hardest ones to keep.

My weight has fluctuated over the years, but 2017 was finally the year when my weight-loss efforts stuck. I'm sure it was due to a combination of smart choices, like eating a plant-based diet and strength training more often, but much of my success can be attributed to one piece of weight-loss advice that made it so much easier to reach my goals: ignore everyone.

 Related: 8 Ways To Motivate Yourself To tart To Lose Weight

This may sound unconventional and perhaps a little wacky, but trust me, when implemented in a smart way, this instruction will give you all the tools you need to reach your own goals. Here are three reasons why this advice has helped me so much in the past.

People Will Always Comment on Your Weight-Loss Efforts

This Is What Happens To Your Body When You Stop Exercising.

               


Saw this and thought Whoops. May need to stop slacking off. 🙇

Let me know what you think?

6 Tips To Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

I love the holidays! But if you’re trying to lose weight, all the sweet, carb-filled holiday treats can sometimes add stress to your celebrations. In this blog, I’m going to share with you how to enjoy all the delights of the season while still staying true to your weight-loss goals.

First, remember that there’s no better time of year to remind yourself of why you want to lose weight in the first place. Your friends and family care about you and want you to succeed. They want you to be happy, healthy, and on your way to becoming the person you want to be in 2018!

Also, seeing your loved ones at these gatherings is a great reminder that the holidays are about so much more than the food. Those delicious dishes and desserts are just tokens of the love you share among the most important people in your life. When you focus on what really matters, it’s not so hard to let a treat or two pass you by.

Related: What To Do After A Binge To Get You Back On Track 

In fact, there’s no reason you can’t successfully lose weight (or at least maintain your weight) during the holidays. But it helps to have the right mindset — and a plan — for getting through holiday meals and parties keeping your weight-loss goals intact.

6 Ways to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain:

1. Eat a filling breakfast and lunch

Don’t starve yourself before the big meal! You may think you’re “saving up calories,” but the hungrier you are when you arrive, the more likely you are to make poor food choices and wind up eating more than you might have otherwise. Start the day with a healthy, satisfying breakfast and a reasonable lunch, so you won’t be ravenous by the time the holiday meal is served.

Will Eating Carbs At Night Cause Weight Gain?

You may have heard that if you're trying to lose weight, you shouldn't eat carbs late at night, because it'll make you gain weight. Leanne Ward, a sports dietitian known as the_fitness_dietitian on Instagram, posted to settle things once and for all.

Leanne says, "They won't... as long as the carbs/meals you consume are within your energy budget. Ie... any macronutrients (carbs, fat & protein) will make you gain weight if you're eating in surplus (too much food for your body's needs)." She goes on, "As long as the calories you're consuming at night are within your body's required amounts, you will not gain weight."

 Related: How Many Calories Should You Eat In a Day

So, basically, as long as you eat the right number of calories per day, including the appropriate amount of carbs, fats, and protein for your goals, it doesn't matter what time you eat them. Amazing to hear this from a dietitian, right?!

Love Bread And Pasta? Here's How To Lose Weight Without Giving Them Up.

When it comes to weight loss, pale is out. White bread is evil, brown rice is best, and if you do spring for pasta, it better be whole-wheat. Quinoa pasta is cool too.

The whole-grain trend does make sense. After all, while grains naturally contain three distinct, nutritious parts—the bran, germ, and endosperm—white breads and pastas are stripped of everything but the endosperm, a.k.a. the starchy part, explains registered dietitian Jonathan Valdez, R.D.N., owner of NYC-based Genki Nutrition and a spokesperson for the New York State Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

So, with only the endosperm on board, white, refined grains are low in fiber and sky-high in simple sugars, threatening to spike you blood sugar and fat-storing insulin levels. Not exactly a weight-loss superfood.

Still, white grains are also ridiculously fluffy and yummy—meaning that a lot of us have a hard time giving them up. Fortunately, you don't have to. It’s important to remember that no one food on its own will keep you from hitting your weight-loss goals, explains registered dietitian Alissa Rumsey, R.D., author of The 5-Minute Mindful Eating Exercise.

“So, if you really enjoy white bread and pasta, don’t cut them out,” she says. Just make sure you take a healthy approach to them. 

Here, experts share five tips to help you make your love of refined grains work for your weight-loss goals.

The Four Things You Need To Know Before Going To The Bar.

                    

As we head into the festive season here are some tips to help you navigate the office Xmas party drinks. 😉 

Let me know what you think?

Related: Alcohol and Weight Gain. Here's The Lowdown

Bananas? Should You Avoid Them If You want To Lose Weight?

One of the basic truths that everyone learns about healthy eating is that fruit is good for you. So it’s kind of weird that many low-carb diets say that you should swear off bananas.

After all, bananas are a fruit, but they are starting to get a reputation as a sugar-laden, calorie-packed fruit. More than 70,000 Google “how many calories in a banana” each month, and even celeb trainer Harley Pasternak recommends that dieters avoid bananas to lose weight. And eating bananas on a keto diet? Forget about it.

Why: A medium banana packs 27 grams of carbs, more than two slices of white bread, as well as about 14 grams of sugar. That sugar occurs in the from of fructose, a simple sugar that the body digests rapidly and can lead to blood sugar and insulin spikes. And, for the record, there are 105 calories in a banana.

 Related: Can Eating Avocados Help You Lose Weight?

How The 80/20 Rule Will Change Your Weight Loss Plan

One balanced approach to lifestyle change—and lasting weight loss—is the 80/20 model. The idea is that 80 percent of your choices are made in the planned and predictable environment of your "normal" routine and are therefore mostly healthy, while 20 percent of your decisions are made in situations that are not part of your normal routine, and therefore may include indulgences or lapses. You might be at a birthday party and have a slice of cake, or maybe you get superbusy at work and miss a few days of exercise.

At first glance, an all-or-nothing approach actually seems easier to stick to because it's so black and white; there are hard-and-fast rules that are simple to follow. The 80/20 approach, on the other hand, requires judgment and moderation; you have to make decisions and choices on the fly. For example, can you have just one of your trigger foods (one of those foods that you struggle to eat in moderation) in a given situation? Can you take a day off from exercise and get right back to the gym the next day?

The keys to making 80/20 work are that 

1) understanding that the 20 percent is a normal part of life and it's better to make peace with it than attempt to avoid it altogether, and 

2) you haven't "blown it" and one indulgence or lapse doesn't have to cascade into several more. 

Related:  8 Ways To Motivate Yourself To Start to Lose Weight

5 Ways To Lose Weight Without Going Low Carb.

Low-carb dieting has been having a moment, and then some. For years now, women have flocked to diets like Whole30, Paleo, and even a resurgence of Atkins. It’s not without good reason: In the short term, these diets can be effective for those looking to slim down. In the long run, though, they do come with some drawbacks.

Heather Caplan, R.D., a Washington, D.C., sports nutritionist, says the low-carb approach will amount to relatively fast results. “The majority of what we eat is carbohydrate based, so there’s plenty of room to reduce them by cutting out desserts, snacks, and processed foods,” she says. “This will lead to weight loss and feeling good.”

But the approach has its limits, both in terms of weight loss and longer-term health impacts. “Eventually, if you omit all carbohydrates, there are metabolic implications, especially if you omit fat at the same time,” says Ellie Kempton, R.D., owner of Denver-based Simply Nourished. “Even if you choose to emphasize fat and limit carbohydrates, you still need enough carbohydrates to fuel the brain, adrenal glands, and thyroid, all three of which are crucial for energy, sleep, and weight.”

Related: Carb Cycling: A Beginners Guide

Both nutritionists are fans of nixing the highly-processed carbs that are common in the American diet. “I teach each and every one of my clients to decrease processed sugar/carb intake,” says Kempton. “My qualm stems from cutting out all carb intake because extreme low-carb weight-loss strategies only work for so long.”

How To Keep Your Cheat Meals In Check

                       

Check out these 5 cheat meal tactics to try. 

Let me know what you think?

Related: 5 Easy Tricks to Outsmart Cravings

3 Ways To Get Your Friends And Family Help Your Weight Loss Plan.

When it comes to working out and losing weight, the whole process is hands-down easier when you have your friends and family standing behind you.

Don't just listen to us, either, science agrees. In a university study cited in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, those who recruited three friends or family members to assist them in their quest to lose weight had better weight loss results than those who had no buddy system to fall back on.

We get it, though. There's not always someone just waiting around to be your support system when it comes to the long journey that is weight loss. While getting your friends to join you in your weight-slashing aspirations may seem daunting at first, it's important. The good news? Harvard researchers Dr. Walter Willett and Dr. Malissa Wood have the suggestions you need to make losing weight with friends and family efficient (and even fun!). Check out their three suggestions for losing weight with friends, adapted from their book Thinfluence.

Related: Why Men Lose Weight Faster Than Women. (We Know Its Unfair)

Make it cheap

If you want to get a group of friends together to exercise regularly, it's super important to be mindful of the costs. Generally speaking, the less expensive you make it, the more people can join you and the more likely it is that people will stick with the group. Doing things like  walking around your neighbourhood or a local school's track is obviously free, save for the cost of a pair of walking shoes. Not to mention, there are loads of other budget-minded activities you could do together, too.  

5 Weight Loss Myths That Are Setting You Up For Failure.

Losing weight is no small feat. It requires you to make changes to your daily routine, eating habits, and maybe even your social life. The traditional advice of “eat right and exercise” can often seem daunting if you’re looking to drop fat fast.

That’s why one internet search for "how to lose weight" yields millions of quick-fix alternatives to the slow slog of jogging and salads. But do they work?

Science says no. There’s no one magic ingredient that’s going to make you lose weight, says Wesley Delbridge, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Choosing the wrong fad or crash diet could leave you lethargic for workouts, lower your immunity, and even derail your weight loss, slowing your metabolism and making it harder to drop pounds in the future.

There’s no substitute for putting in the hard work, but the good news is that there are a lot of little things you can do each day to shed pounds. Read on for five weight-loss myths that could set you back, and the research-based tips to try instead.

MYTH #1: DETOX DIETS ARE GREAT FOR YOUR BODY

Some research suggests that harmful substances we’re exposed to from our environment (like the BPA in plastics, for example) may play a role in diseases like obesity and diabetes. However, there’s no evidence that commercial detox products like teas, juice cleanses, and special restrictive diets can effectively remove them.

The all-powerful secret to detoxing? Your body’s natural filters, also known as your liver and kidneys. The thought that special detox formulas travel from your digestive tract to your muscles, fat, and skin to seek out toxins, like alcohol or drugs, and flush them from your body is a myth, says Delbridge.

Plus, most detox cleanses involve drastic calorie restriction, which can be bad news for your waistline. When your body senses that it’s starving, your metabolism slows, so it will hold on to those foods tighter when you do start eating normally again, making it likely that you’ll just gain back any weight you lost to begin with, explains Delbridge.

Try this: The best way to support your body’s natural detox pathways is through food. First, you need to drink enough water, so your kidneys can properly flush out unneeded chemicals, says Susan Payrovi, M.D., an integrative medicine practitioner at Stanford University’s Medical Center.

Acupuncture For Weight Loss? Does It Work?

Unless you're freaked out by needles, you might have considered acupuncture as an alternative pain relief treatment. This traditional form of Chinese medicine dates back thousands of years and is based on targeting specific trigger points in your body using small, thin needles. Research finds that it may help alleviate some health issues, like back pain, sports injuries, or even anxiety.

Modern acupuncture is mostly used to stimulate your nerves, muscles, and blood flow. And in the past few years, there's been some buzz surrounding acupuncture's ability to help you shed pounds, too. In a study published in the British Medical Journal, Korean researchers randomly assigned 91 overweight people to a group receiving treatment at five ear acupuncture points, one ear acupuncture point, or a sham control group. They found that those receiving acupuncture saw their body mass index (BMI)—a marker of their weight—decrease by roughly six percent after eight weeks.

But can simply sticking a few needles in your body really help you shed pounds?

The science behind it isn't quite clear yet. There's a theory that putting these needles on the outer part of your ear stimulates various trigger points that may play a role in your appetite and metabolism, explains Sharon Zarabi, R.D., who works as the bariatric program director at Lenox Hill Hospital, where she counsels patients on nutrition and weight loss.

This Is Why Almonds Help You Lose Weight

                    

Check out this video about how almonds help you lose weight. 

Let me know what you think?

Related: The 5 Biggest Myths About Eating Fat.

Why You Need Sleep To Burn More Calories.

I'm sure you don't need a 10-page research paper from the journal Sleep to tell you that sleeping less leads to fatigue and a cranky attitude. (But in case you were wondering, there is one.) 

Pretty much everyone knows that lack of sleep causes fatigue and performance deficiencies, but the worst part is that you stop being aware of these ill-effects after a couple of days. You actually get used to functioning in a fatigued state, yet you don't realize that you're overtired and not performing at your best. Sleep-deprived fatigue becomes your new normal. 

Related: Tips To Improve Your Sleep and Boost Your Weight Loss

One of the biggest downsides to this fatigue is that it will make you burn fewer calories. This is because you'll tend to move less during the day and also because your body will become more conservative with the number of calories you burn overall. Both of these occurrences are a huge barrier to rapid fat loss, as they are the total opposite of what you need to happen. You need greater energy output, and you need your body to become more frivolous, not conservative, with the amount of calories that it burns each day.