Top 5 Ways to Lose Weight for summer, and keep it off year-round.
Losing those extra pounds can be challenging, but people who do get their weight under control have more energy, increased self esteem, and lower risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other conditions. Have a super slim and sunny summer!
1. Don't "diet"
95% of all diets fail. Why? When you go on a low-calorie diet, your body thinks it is being starved, so it slows down your metabolism. Dieting can actually train your body to store fat more efficiently! When you stop any drastic diet, your metabolism is now less efficient, so you will tend to gain the weight back even faster, even if you’re eating less than before. With a low-calorie diet you also lose muscle and fat in almost equal amounts, but your rebound weight gain is all fat, not muscle, and this will slow your metabolism even more. Rather than a specific diet, reduce portions, eat more fresh and green foods and make food and lifestyle changes you can stick with.
2. Understand insulin and glycemic index
When you eat carbohydrates they are converted into one thing by the body: glucose (blood sugar). A chocolate bar, a bowl of pasta, or a cup of broccoli—it’s all converted into glucose because this is the basic fuel source used by every cell in the body to produce energy. Your body must maintain balanced blood sugar levels to prevent hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).
Insulin is a hormone that responds to what you eat. It is responsible for the storage of the energy from all the foods we eat. When blood sugars rise suddenly, the pancreas releases insulin rapidly. You get a quick burst of energy, but most of what you’ve eaten will be stored as fat. When insulin levels are high, you store more fat; when insulin levels are low, you burn fat more efficiently. The insulin, trying to get blood sugar into a normal range rapidly, will cause sugars to be pushed into every cell, including fat cells. Some foods take longer to digest and allow blood sugar levels to rise more slowly, preventing insulin surges. Such foods are said to have a lower glycemic index. The glycemic index ranks carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood sugar levels. Any food that produces a rapid rise in blood sugar is called a High GI food. If you eat mostly high GI foods, your body is producing higher levels of insulin than if you were eating lower GI foods. Low GI foods support weight management and healthy blood sugar levels. Soluble fibre, like PGX can virtually turn a High GI food into a Low GI food by slow its digestion. Make a list of low GI foods you love and keep them on hand.
3. Exercise.
Increase muscle and energy with cardio and strength training at least 3 times a week. Walking, swimming and cycling are excellent choices but don't exceed your body's abilities. Increase your activity on a gradient so you don't end up unable to exercise at all. Remember, muscle burns more calories than fat so the benefits of exercise are double. Enjoy an encouraging video by Dr. Mike Evans called 23 1/2 hours. It will inspire you with all the ways exercise supports your health.
4. Up the fibre.
PGX is a unique highly soluble polysaccharide (fibre) blend that supports healthy blood sugar levels and makes weight management safe and easy. Research shows that consuming PGX with or before meals creates a sense of fullness that effectively controls appetite for several hours, making it possible to decrease food intake without experiencing hunger. PGX can also reduce a meal’s glycemic index by up to 50% contributing to healthy blood sugar levels and improving insulin sensitivity.
5. Increase your water intake.
Sometimes we eat when we are really thirsty. Stay hydrated. Most people who succeed at losing weight discover that having a good water bottle on the desk and in the car is the best way to remember to drink 8 or more glasses (or equivalent) per day.
Put on those tunes and get pumped to move. There's nothing like a good song to get you going!
I have a confession: I always get lazy before a workout! I'm not even kidding, before every workout, I sit myself down and realize that I begin to make up any excuse I can thinkof to avoid getting out of my house and driving to a dance class or the gym! Other than pure will power (which, let's face it, is difficult to muster more often than not!), the only thing I can think of that ever helps me get my head out of that mind set is a really good song.
Not only does music help me concentrate at work, it helps me to want to move and keep on going! A good song with a really great hook is usually all I need to get myself off the couch and, at the very least, dance like a fool for an hour in my kitchen!
So I'd like to share with you my top three make-me-want-to-jump-up-and-move workout tunes of this week:
Did you know that exercise does more than slim your figure?!
Read on to discover 24 fabulous benefits of getting your exercise groove on!
We often talk about how exercise will help you control those cravings and lose the weight you want to lose. But there really is so much more to exercise than that! Exercise comes with many benefits, both physical and mental! For example, it makes you strong, physically yes but also mentally. Think about it: when it would be so much easier to just plop yourself onto the couch after work or stay bundled up in blankets early in the morning, and you stll get yourself up and moving? Mental strength!
In my internet searchings for interesting tidbits to share, I came across an article at BC Living, 24 Awesome Benefits of Exercise. Here are 24 awesome (like they said) reasons why we should all get at the very least, 30 minutes of exercise three times a week. If you are like me and looking for some motivation, this article will be a big help!
Want to break a bad habit, like that 3 o'clock cookie?
Here's an interesting video from Charles Duhigg. Learn the power of habits and how to break the bad ones!
So, according to Charles Duhigg, it's possible to break a bad habit with a little bit of analyzing and of course, will power. But maybe, once you've analyzed the what and the why of a bad habit, you won't need as much will power to quash it!
If it's snacking habit you are trying to break, don't worry; you aren't alone. One way I avoid snacking on cookies regularly is to replace my cookie with something healthier like fruits. Fruit will give me the satisfaction of munching and sweet flavours. Or I try to drink more water. My weakness is the ginger molasses cookie from Starbucks. To help me get over that habit, I try to avoid Starbucks or when I'm there, I get something sweet and spicy like chai tea!
Everyone has their different ways to deal with habits. Charles Duhigg has another way of dealing with bad habits. If it worked for him (he was able to lose weight 12 pounds by kicking one bad habit!), it could work for you and me!
PGX's Top 5 Picks from Master Motivator, Julia Havey!
We've delved deep into our archives and picked out some of our top posts from Julia. Enjoy!
All things Julia! This time last year we received a lot of really great advice from Master Motivator, Julia Havey. So, below, we have compiled our Top 5 posts from the past!
One of our favourites from Julia last year was a particularly inspiring post detailing A PGX Success Story.
Mmm, chocolate ... milk! Julia brought it to our attention that not all chocolate is bad; in fact, chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks, post-workout! Read her post, Permission to have chocolate, to learn more about chocolate milk's many benefits.
We loved the message of this post, A Beautiful You, Inside and Out., that highlighted 5 ways to help PGX'ers be their most beautiful selves, inside and out.
Super Fruits and PGX by Julia provides an in depth look into the benefits of superfruits - including that they're a great source of fibre!
Last but definitely not least, another inspirational post from Julia Havey: The Road to Lasting Weight Loss. In this post from the past, Julia lays out how to achieve your weight loss goals in 10 simple steps. These 10 steps are a great platform to start your weight loss journey, allowing you to ring in the New Year with a plan to accompany your 2013 resolutions!
