losing weight – Page 3 – sassyfitnesschick

Committed Or Just Interested ?

commitment

Habits.

I talk a lot about habits mainly because in the context of successful weight loss and making a lifestyle change, developing new ones to replace negative ones are key to a permanent change.

Habits are often ingrained in us from a life time, whether they are good or bad. When it comes to our eating behaviors and exercise a firm hand often has to be taken to those habits if we want to move into more positive choices.

WHY is it so hard? That topic comes up often with people I talk with and most recently with my client.

In discussing her week and some of the difficulties she had her response was “I know what to do in my head, why do I go back and do what I know I shouldn’t do?”

Oh indeed. Why do any of us ? Why are we pulled back into a poor choice when we ( intellectually) know better and have even been doing better with more positive habits, yet, in a moment, we seemingly skip right back to what we know.

Why? Because it’s comfortable and familiar to us. Because it’s easy, it requires no effort to bounce back to the old and familiar. And once there, it can almost be a sandpit to crawl out of again and begin our forward progress. The key thing is to crawl out and keep moving forward, not give up and allow ourselves to be sucked back into the negative habits we seek to change.

I can say that because there are times I can still do the same things. I understand what that’s like. I do get those struggles.

To change negative habits requires a willingness to commit to the journey. To own it. To allow ourselves not to make excuses to go back to old ways. Yeah, we will slip, but there must be a determination and ownership to want that change and not stay where we are.

I read this today and it’s just so true. I’ve never thought of it quite like this, but it’s true.

Are you “interested” in a healthy lifestyle? Or “committed” to having a healthy lifestyle ?

Yeah. Just think about that for a moment.

When you’re interested in doing something you only do it when it’s convenient.

When you’re committed to something you accept no excuses, only results. You follow your established rules and get it done.

The difference between interested and committed is a big jump to permanent success.

If you approach weight loss and your health journey in the light of when it’s comfortably convenient, you can see where you will encounter constant setbacks.

You must make a commitment that takes you beyond just being “interested.”

Committed means being willing to be honest with yourself, where you are and addressing what needs to be done.

It means not justifying reasons why you allow yourself to keep eating or drinking things that don’t contribute or lead to your goals

It means not finding other things that are “more important” to do than purposeful exercise. Or coming up with reasons to not do it.

I’m NOT saying you’re going to take it and get it immediately. You won’t.

Habits take time to change. If you have a lifetime of doing the same things, they won’t change over night. It will require a consistent commitment to making it happen. That means in good days and bad days you keep going with the intention of improvement.

Those habits you’ve developed of going through a drive thru for fast food? or buying coke and candy at a gas station? Or eating seconds even when you aren’t hungry? Or procrastinating on getting some exercise in? Or watching tv with a bag of chips or whatever treat ? Spending that hour or more in front of the tv or computer?

You’ve trained yourself to do those things and you can train yourself to do new things. Really.

I recently went on a road trip. It’s about 4 hours of driving. I usually take a little bag with a few healthy snacks and some bottled water. As I was grabbing the water I saw a carton of blackberries that I decided to toss in too.

A couple hours down the road I was nibbling those and washing them down with water. This isn’t how I used to do trips. I might make a run in to a convenience store for some chips or candy. It’s been a work in progress that my thinking is different now… I made a commitment to wanting to live healthier and that has carried through in lots of areas of my life.

I just don’t want to do that anymore. I feel better about myself making good choices.

This has taken time.. and a reshaping of negative habits for improved ones…. and a commitment to being the strongest and healthiest I can be.

If you get with it and stay with it each day you will make progress. Understand tough times will come and you will feel discouraged. Hang in there and stay strong.

Commit to the process, don’t just be interested in it.

COMMITMENT-MEANS-STAYING-LOYAL-TO-WHAT-2

Have you truly committed to wanting to live a healthier lifestyle through activity and good nutrition? Or are you interested in the idea of it ?

The Powerhouse Of Protein

protein-rich-foods

So it’s been a few days and I figured I’d better churn out something before my readers thought I’d fallen off the face of the earth 😉

Ah well, it’s been a busy weekend, and Mothers Day AND a celebration of my 32nd wedding anniversary to a really amazing dude who has loved and encouraged me, supported me in all my crazy adventures and has been an overall wonderful, awesome husband for over half my life now … 😛

But the weekend is over and I now… must make an attempt… at being productive…

I want to talk to you about some of the benefits of eating protein and having an adequate amount of it in your daily nutrition plan.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned these past few years on my own health and fitness journey, protein, is this cool, wonderful thing that seems to do lots of great things in my body. Through trial and error I’ve learned when I eat enough of it I don’t get hungry between meals, I’m less likely to want snacks, I feel “balanced” ( this means no crazy spikes of blood sugar that can give you those weird feelings or make you feel sluggish) it helps build my body and supplies me with energy. It’s how I learned that eating eggs and veggies does a much better job of keeping me feeling great, than a bowl of cereal.

One awesome thing about protein? eating an adequate amount of it in your daily diet will keep your blood sugar stable.

I think if I see one more ad for a “health” product that touts it “keeps your blood sugar levels steady” my eyes will simply roll out of my head.

You don’t need to spend an obscene amount of money on some drink or “health” product to keep your blood sugar levels steady through the day! If you feed your body quality protein, in reasonable amounts, at each meal, you should have no problem with your blood sugar spiking giving you that “crashing” feeling or the need to have something to pick you up.

Eating an adequate amount of protein at each meal will also ward off hunger keeping you from feeling like you need to reach for snacks between meals.

Adequate protein will also support your metabolism and contributes toward weight loss and weight maintenance.

It’s best to eat small amounts of protein throughout the day instead of a very large serving only once or twice. This gives your body the right amount of protein it needs at any given time, since only so much can be utilized at once (the rest will be stored as fat or eliminated).

We all need a different level of protein based on our exact needs. For example, your body weight, gender, age, and level of activity or exercise all determine how much protein is best for you.

Protein is an important component of every cell in the body. Hair and nails are mostly made of protein. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. You also use protein to make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals. Protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood.

Do you also know that as you age you lose muscle? Along with doing strength training and weight bearing exercises, a daily diet with a good amount of healthy protein can help prevent age related muscle loss.

Can you see the importance of having adequate amounts of protein at each meal every day?

So how much is enough? A simple formula is to take your body weight and multiple it by .5 the result is the amount of grams you should have each day. A woman who weighs 150 pounds would aim for about 75 grams a day, balanced out between your meals.

Adequate protein can help with weight loss, help build muscles (with strength training) curb hunger which prevents snacking and overeating, and keep blood sugar levels steady.

Protein is seriously something you need to consider in your daily diet. What kind do you get? Is it adequate? Also, depending on your lifestyle and your physical activity, you might need a bit more than someone who isn’t as active.

What are good protein sources ?

Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans and peas, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Greek yogurt ( one of my favorite) a cup of plain will give you 23 grams of quality protein! Cottage cheese is an excellent source as well, an dairy will offer protein to you. Just read your labels!

And let’s give some veggies a nod in the protein department… eat these to add more protein and lots of other good health benefits to your daily nutrition plan..

Peas, spinach, kale, broccoli, sprouts, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, artichokes, asparagus, and corn all offer protein benefits.

veggie protein

Protein is a nutritional powerhouse for health, wellness, over helping towards weight loss and maintaining weight.

Strive to make about 30% of each meal a good source of protein and see how you start feeling. With a good serving of protein you can minimize other things on your plate.

Do you struggle with feeling sluggish or are you “crashing” mid-afternoon? Or do you feel like you get a sufficient supply of protein through out your day to keep you feeling energetic and balanced?

What are your favorite protein sources?

The Skinny On Veggies

I wandered through the produce department tossing various veggies in my basket, once again struck by the amazing color and vast variety of goodies there was to choose from and perplexed at how so many people could ignore so much of this part of the store.

Ok I will freely admit my veggie consumption has increased …tons….in the last few years. True, I didn’t grow up a picky eater and learned to eat a good variety of foods but as an adult I’ve let myself really experiment more and remember the wise words of my Mom…..

“Oh try some… it won’t kill you!”

And again… Mom knows best 😉

I will admit when I talk with people to see so many still kinda turn their noses up at eating veggies? ….or they consider veggies to be corn, peas, and potatoes? No.

Here’s my take on it….why you want more….

First, they all pack ridiculously low level of calories, while delivering high levels of vitamins, minerals and other body healthy goodness, why wouldn’t you go after foods that were that filling AND low in calories?

More food… more satisfied… build a healthy body… that’s a winning deal, right?

Yet so many people have weird hang ups with them, refuse to eat them, or eat very little of them.

So here’s what I’m gonna tell you.. and I might sound like your mom.. well .. I am a mom..so listen to me…

Eat your veggies, they ARE amazingly good for you and can be a key component in getting lean and staying lean. Not only that, high vegetable intake has been shown to reduce major diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, obesity and others.

Where oh where does one start if they’ve been living an anti-veggie life, or living a low-level veggie life ?

First, start with what you like. Don’t for the love of all things green choke down broccoli if you can’t stand it. There are a zillion types of veggies, you’ll find some you enjoy.

Aim for at least 2-3 cups at a meal, yes, that means some of you will be consuming a lot of produce. Don’t freak on me. When you learn to eat them at all meals you’ll see it’s not to hard.

Cook them in all kinds of ways. Roast, sautéed, grilled and steamed are all ways of enjoying them.

Roasting lately, is my all time favorite way to prepare them. For some reason it brings out the flavors and crisps them some and…yeah.. deliciousness. I have been hooked on roasted cauliflower lately. The cool thing is, my kids wolf it down just as fast =)

When you fill your plate with a variety of veggies, you will need less of higher calorie foods.

Washing, cleaning and having prepared raw veggies in fridge will make it easier to grab them for snacks and salads.

Olive oil with some stone ground pepper, and a little sea salt are the secret ingredients to yummy roasted veggies.

Some helpful tips for building more into your daily nutritional plan:

Learn to eat them at all meals. Sautéing mushrooms, spinach, and peppers together is very good with eggs.

Learn to incorporate all kinds into a lunch salad ( and remember to lose those crazy high fat dressings) I honestly get the biggest bulk of mine at lunch on most days.

Look for recipes that sound good and experiment with something new. I know that sounds like… a no brainer… but I’m surprised at people who settle for over steamed, wilted options … no wonder they don’t wanna eat them 😉

Remember, start small with your goal to gradually increase.

Ok and here’s a fun little cheat sheet for you to get you started cooking…

VeggieCookingCheatSheet

roasted veggies

The green one is a bonus sheet… or selfishly for me… I want to try a couple of these =)

Ok… I’m done preaching. Tell me.. are you a veggie lover? Do you struggle? Do you have fav recipes for some ? Share.

The Struggle

challenges

The young woman talked easily with me sharing her struggles with weight loss and food describing her various up’s and down’s with weight loss over the years.

At one point she said…. “Oh, but I’m sure you don’t understand that” as she does an overall gesture that covers me from head to toe, indicating that based on how I look now I certainly couldn’t understand her struggles, or that I had walked in her shoes.

Maybe not to the entire degree she had, but the physique I have today, I wasn’t born with nor have I had it most of my life.

I’ve had to earn it, and it’s only come about in the past few years working at it. Which is pretty much exactly what I told her. She hadn’t known me very long when our paths crossed so it was perhaps easy for her to draw conclusions that I’ve always been some kind of fitness queen.

How did I explain the struggles I had been through in the past, yet, had overcome? Like, the need to go through a drive thru for a “snack” because I was “starving”? ( please note: you won’t really starve before you get home to get something better than a drive thru snack) I’ve since learned to keep a few decent snacks stashed away, for emergency purposes 😉 how I’ve trained myself to eat slowly and savor my food, and understand that it doesn’t take a lot to feed your hunger? That I made a dedicated, focused choice in the beginning to exercise? That some days I flat out didn’t want to do it, but now, couldn’t imagine NOT doing it? To treat food with respect and know that it will still be around tomorrow and I don’t have to eat it all tonight? Coming to an understanding that eating good, healthy, nutrient dense food wasn’t a punishment, but life giving, energy inducing, age defying goodness ?

I shared parts of my story with her and let her know that I did indeed, understand struggles. In fact, I’m pretty sure there isn’t a person around that doesn’t struggle at some point.

We struggle with eating to much, not eating enough, not enough of the good foods, or to much junk, getting our bodies out the door to exercise, whatever it is, there can be struggles.

I’m no different.

I thought about that today as I was grocery shopping. There are SOOOO many tempting treats… so many impulse items we can buy. I mentally slapped myself and kept going several times.

You know how I don’t eat certain things ? I simply don’t bring them home…which…well… kinda sucks sometimes when I’m trolling really wanting something and it’s not there haha it’s a cruel paradox.

Not that I don’t have treats… ’cause I do… I’ve just learned that to be successful means saying no to impulsive moments more frequently than giving in to them.

If I want something, really want something, I do get it. Some things I try to not bring home ’cause I know it’s my “trigger”.

For instance, I adore Salt and Pepper kettle potato chips…. adore them. One day I was shopping with hubby and drooling as I walked by them and he said.. “well, just grab them”

He doesn’t understand… they are like… crack to me…or I’m pretty sure they have crack in them… either way… no matter what… I know once that bag is opened … it’s all over.

My plan is to have just a few… but somehow… I nibble that bag away till they are gone the next day.

I know my weaknesses. I’ve learned tricks to deal with some of those weaknesses. Sometimes I’m successful, sometimes, not so much so.

As I shared with the young woman, I haven’t gotten where I am without my fair share of struggles.

What’s kept me successful is not giving up, giving in, or quitting. Not saying I had a “bad” day and I’m a failure and it’s not working so I should just quit.

I guess, at some point, stubbornness isn’t a bad thing. It can lead to success….

I want to remind you that struggles along the way to getting fit and healthy are normal. But I also think we are refined in the process.

struggle to success

We learn to make better choices, think things through more, decide what really matters to us.

I’ve learned to think so critically about many things I put in my mouth, but again, it’s been a learned process that has been born through struggles.

I know it’s almost cliché to use that “anything worth having is worth working for” but it’s true.

Every time you make a better choice, pass on something you know you really don’t need, say yes to healthier foods, get out and move , whatever it is, will make you stronger and help you take the next step to your goals.

the-struggle-is-part-of-the-story-Whitney-English

I want to encourage you, no matter where you are on your journey, the struggle my friend, is a part of the victory of success.

Don’t give up.

The Delicious Habit Of Exercise

Hello World !

Wow.. I can say that and mean it literally =) Ok so I figured I’ve been posting this week on habits and how important they are to our success in living a healthy lifestyle, I figured I’d end the week talking about another important habit we need to build in our lives.

Exercise.

OK stop… I hear your collective sighs and groans and gnashing of teeth.

You hate to exercise. It’s hard. You sweat. Your heart beats fast and your muscles protest. Your thighs rub together in an uncomfortable way. You have sweat trickling down in areas you don’t think it belongs. You think you’re dying.

Good. You’re doing it right.

I’d have to say when I talk with people, alongside wrestling with food choices, exercise is a hard thing for people to develop a habit for.

Why? ‘Cause it’s hard and almost everyone will find something else to do besides that.

I think personally, the most important thing you can do to guarantee you stay with it is find THE thing that you love to do… then become an expert on it. If you are passionate about what you do, you will stay with it.

I usually hear… ” I can’t run” or ” I hate running” because people know it’s what I do and what I’m passionate about. I remind them it’s fine to run… if they want to… if they don’t.. then please… don’t.

I also think it’s great to have a couple things you enjoy that keeps you from getting bored and allows you to change things up.

Being injured these past few months has kept me from running much, therefore, I’ve spent lots of time on my bike. I have loved it and it’s given me an outlet for not being able to run. I have days I’m inside and do strength training. I love having choices and enjoy them all.

Each one of these activities have developed because 1) I enjoy them 2) I’ve repeatedly practiced them.

Exercise isn’t just a weight loss tool and shouldn’t be viewed as just such. Yes, when we eat right with exercise, the natural outcome is weight loss.

But our bodies need movement for overall health and wellness. Exercise offers mental clarity and can reduce blood pressure and improve other health issues. Not only that it can produce overall feelings of well being.

Why wouldn’t you wanna make that a life habit ??

Like anything, it requires persistence, and a certain amount of stubbornness to make it happen on a daily basis.

In my opinion, habits are built on a determination to change something in our life… good or bad.

The common “reason” I hear for people not exercising is … time. Listen, if you have time to do anything in your day, you have time for exercise too.

I know that mornings are my best time to get it done for a variety of reasons. First, nothing feels better and more energizing than having a workout done and tackling my day. I also know mornings will be my most successful time to make it happen for sure. If I say ” Oh, I’ll do it after dinner” I know there’s a huge probability it might not happen. There’s to much going on. People are awake and want things from me. I don’t feel as perky. The list can go on….

I do have a HUGE amount of control on when I get up in the morning to making that happen.

When my husband was unexpectedly hospitalized several years ago, I’d get up at 5:30, head out to do some strength training, finish up by the time the kids were waking up for school, get cleaned up, put them on the bus, and head to hospital.

I needed that time for myself. It helped keep me sane in difficult days.

Exercise at that point was a need and a habit for me. It’s more so now.

I’ve gotten up at 5:30 midweek to knock out a 10 mile run before the critters had to get out for school. Yes, I had to make adjustments and schedule it, but hey, I do that with anything else in my life too.

I read an interesting comment in a running article I was reading. Although it was talking about running I immediately identified it as applicable to exercise in general.

“It takes about three weeks of running at least three days per week to get to the point where missing a workout triggers a sense of withdrawal, which increases desire to be more consistent. ” (emphasis mine)

I get that. I get twitchy if I miss a day, and it’s worse with two. But sometimes, life happens. I don’t mind feeling that sense of withdrawal because it keeps me hungry for doing it. But what those three days in article means is, they are making it a habit they can’t do without, conditioning themselves to making it feel normal.

So how do you begin to build this in your life ?

Identify what your best time of day is to get it done. Morning? Evening? Early afternoon before kids descend on you again ? Figure it out.

Now….put it on your planner. I literally make appts around my workout schedule. Make it fit in your day.

Mark a starting day ( soon!) that you know you will get it going.

Perhaps you go buy some new shoes for your activity with the plans to start the following week ? Some new clothes ( I always look forward to the next run when I get new gear 😉

Start small and keep it maintainable. As you keep those commitments look at how you can challenge yourself and increase what you’re doing.

Allow yourself no excuses (other than valid ones like injury or a day that goes wildly out of your control)

Reward yourself in non-food ways.

With a little planning, a positive attitude, and a determination to make exercise a part of your life, it will become your new favorite habit =)

The Scale Experiment

It’s no secret I’m not a huge fan of “the scale”. In fact, I’ve already written a blog on it (which you can read later called, “That Stupid Scale)

No, I won’t be repeating myself here. And no, I don’t have issues with the scale ’cause I don’t think it offers up numbers I want.

I don’t like how it can be a random object that can be controlling of so many lives.

Let’s establish this truth. It’s a tool. A TOOL.

When I was actively trying to lose weight, I used that tool, maybe once a week to check my pounds lost progress. If you are actively trying to lose weight, I’d encourage you to use it only once a week as well, note your numbers and move on with life.

What I knew and understood, and you need to understand too, that tool isn’t a measuring line to your overall health. It can’t measure how good you feel after your workouts, how many inches you may have lost, the confidence and empowerment building in you as you take on new things, your improving lab work or all the good food choices you’ve learned to make and a long list of other things.

For me it meant knowing those numbers didn’t define how fast I could run, how many miles I can cycle, how many pounds I can lift over my head, how long I can hold a plank, or how many push ups I can do.

Because so many seem to be a “slave” to this tool, I thought I’d do a little experiment. My experiment involved me weighing myself from morning and through out day at various times, up till bedtime.

I hope you appreciate my guinea pig status in doing this. I haven’t weighed myself this much in the past couple years, and I don’t exaggerate that.

I think I’m on a scale maybe twice a year.

The point of my experiment ? To show how our weight can fluctuate through out an entire day and look at what “changes” actually occur.

Seriously, how many times have you hopped on all excited, and instantly get deflated by what you see ? Or on the flip side, if the numbers are what you want, the day just went all major sunshine on you.

A tool controlling your happiness …no… just no.

So what follows is my experiment and what I noted through out an entire day of charting my numbers.

6:30 a.m. morning weigh in. This weight is accurate based on a visit with sports doc last month.

8:45 a.m. After workout weigh in. Down 2 pounds.

No, I didn’t get all happy and proclaim I had “lost 2 lbs!” More like, I knew I needed to consume 32 ozs of water to replace the fluid I had sweated out ( 16oz for each pound lost) THEN continue drinking to stay hydrated.

9:45 a.m. After an hour and plenty of water my weight is now back to what I started morning off at. This tells me I’ve replenished what I lost through sweating.

12:45 p.m. After lunch. Add a half a pound.

3 p.m. After spending over an hour in the sun mowing grass, I checked in with the scale. I was almost down to my weight from my morning workout. 1 1/2 pounds “lost”. Time to replenish fluids again from sweat.

5 p.m. Still down a half pound from my first morning weigh in.

7 p.m. After dinner, I’m up 2 lbs, but only 1 lb over from my morning weigh in.

10:00 p.m. Before shower weigh in. Back to my morning start weight.

Do you see the “ups and downs” in my day ? I lost no fat. My losses in my day were fluid. It’s important to replace fluid lost through heavy sweat and exercise.

Do you see how if I were looking at the scale for validation for “losing weight” how my moods could have been on a wide swing ? I want you to see how our weight can literally bounce all over the place in a single day so weighing in for the purpose of weight loss is best captured on a weekly basis. Take that number and don’t be worried if your numbers bounce in a couple pounds in either direction through out your day.

Measure your fitness and health success by more than just numbers on the scale =)

I Don’t Need Your Weight Loss Product To Be Fit

So yesterday presented one of those golden opportunities to spring board an idea for todays post. Just when I worry I might be running out of creative, challenging, inspiring, clever or inventive ideas, life just delivers it into my lap.

How splendid 😉

So I made a stop for some iced coffee at my favorite coffee place and was hanging out on the patio enjoying the breezy warm afternoon when from behind me someone grabbed my chair and acted like they were going to dump me from my comfy perch…

turns out to be one of the guys who is typically in during the morning… one of the “regulars” I’ve gotten to know some. There is a lively group who encourages my running, wants to know what I’m currently doing, provides weather reports for my running days, ask when my next races are and wants to see my medals after I finish one.

I call them my cheerleading section and my fan club… it’s kinda nice 😉

Anyway, we just start chatting about random stuff and he moves into asking me about a particular “health” product and if I’ve heard of it or used it before ?

I tell him no I just try and eat good food, drink water, and stay away from most junk/random food. It’s been working…

Then he says… “well, what do you use for detox?”

I blankly looked at him for a moment and then said… “I have a liver that does it for me”

Haha…. the look on his face…. I’m not sure if he thought I was messing with him… but I mean seriously… it’s not hanging out in your belly for nothing.

When I mentioned I really enjoyed having a lot of veggies and fruits in my daily food intake I got the “yes, but there aren’t any nutrients left in foods anymore” mantra…( oh I’m weary of that one)

Ok… I like this guy. He’s always really nice and everything.. it’s just… he’s delivering the lines that companies have coached people into believing or saying to sell their product. They sell a product, using lines they’ve been given and not always understanding what they are actually delivering.

I told him I’d take my chances with “nutrient deprived veggies from our poor depleted soil” that it seemed to be doing ok for me so far… I mean… as if this “product” was better than eating fresh veggies and fruits ? Really ? a man made product is better than fresh, nutrient dense foods ??

That perplexed me.

He then brought up having energy and getting moving in the morning. I told him I don’t really suffer from lack of energy (usually) and I found eating well, combined with exercise really seemed to be a good combo for abundant energy…. ( oh, and coffee, always coffee 😉

He then mentioned he knew people who had some success with it. I told him my issues with all these “health” products is that people want to believe it will deliver the “miracle” cure they are looking for and bring this item on board while never changing or making improvements in their overall nutrition plan, often continuing in their poor habits… not making or building new ones to replace the negative. The only thing this product might do is make them lighter in their bank account.

A lot lighter based on many items I’ve seen.

Ah… I deal with this frequently. When people know I’m living a healthy lifestyle and that I workout and am fit, they want me to use their product to “improve” or “get better” or to have more of “something”.

Weird kinda thing here…. I got where I am, I look how I look, I do what I do, all on my own, somehow without all these amazing products to get me healthier, more energetic, fit, cleansed, etc.

My labs at doctors are great. My weight is in my perfect zone. My body fat is very low. I have lots of energy. I sleep well and am more fit and athletic than I’ve ever been in my life. All accomplished without some miracle product to get me to this point.

The biggest thing to success in weight loss and getting fit ? Is finding what works for you… the thing that is sustainable and easy enough for you to maintain and work at day in and day out without giving up.

Something that doesn’t have a shelf life of 6-8 weeks before it’s back to the old way of life. And ideally, something that doesn’t do a monthly draw off your bank account either is a good thing.

I would caution anyone…. think before you jump onto the bandwagon of a product making promises to make you healthier, more energetic, or fix your medical problems. (For goodness sake, if you have medical issues, consult your doctor, not your neighbor selling something!)

Nothing will work long term for you like learning to manage your own nutrition and developing an active healthy lifestyle. Changes must be made, new habits must be formed.

Have you ever tried a product hoping it would be your “magic pill” for success? What was the outcome ?