Dehydration

Generally speaking, mild dehydration can cause a number of health problems, in addition to your diet plateau. The symptoms of mild dehydration can include:

  • Headaches; that light headed feeling as dehydration interferes with normal body processes, including waste disposal.
  • Fatigue, as the body’s metabolism is slowed – mild dehydration is usually the most common cause of daytime fatigue.
  • Hunger; cravings due to weakening of the thirst mechanism
  • Fluid retention as your body tries to hold on to the water it already has
  • Constipation, as the body works to conserve its internal water sources

Not a pretty picture but once you get your water in balance, you reach the “breakthrough point”, a concept pioneered by Dr. Peter Lindner, a California obesity expert. He says, “Once you’ve reached the breakthrough point, fluid retention eases, the liver and endocrine system start to function more effectively, you will start to regain your natural thirst and your hunger cravings will be significantly reduced. And so the end result of reaching and sustaining the breakthrough point in your water balance is that your body is able to metabolize fat more effectively.”

That Soon to be Old Pair of Jeans

When I started my journey to health and weight loss, I was in a size 28 pants. I can hardly believe the change as I now wear a 10. Yet, there were times along the way that I felt I had gotten nowhere. The journey was too long and the finish line seemed nowhere in sight.

Those are the times to bring out that old pair of jeans, the jeans won’t lie. Even when I was still in an 18, the 28 pants were huge in comparison! Trying on those old pair of jeans proved to me just how much progress I had made!

So, when you are throwing out all those clothes, remember to keep just one pair. Let them be a measure of your success!

 

You Don’t Need a Pill for That

As a nation, we run to our doctors every time we are sick. I am glad to be living in a country where modern medical treatments are available. Yet, we cannot expect our doctors to cure our obesity or weight loss problem. We don’t need a pill to fix our diet.

Instead, we need to drink more water, keep a positive attitude, eat more of the good stuff like veggies, be more active or exercise, and seek support to keep us going. There are no pharmaceuticals that can do this for us, but we can do it! We can make the changes we need to live a healthier life.

Will Power

One of the things I commonly hear from clients is that they do not know if they have the will power to stick to a program. Well, I have great news for you! Your will power is NOT your only source of strength.

Let’s face it; we all fall to temptation from time to time. If we did not, the world would be a perfect place and we all know it is far from that. We do not have to depend on our strength alone to help us stay on track. When we have the support of a wellness coach, we can always turn to them for that extra strength to say no when we should. Many programs like WAVES Take Shape for Life and My Herbal Plan offer fantastic free coaching services with their program. I have personally utilized both of them to get to my goal.

In addition, we should have a circle of friends and family that know our goal and help support us along the way. Remember to grown your circle of support friends by finding others that have similar goals. A great place to find others with the same goal is at weight loss challenges ~ both online and at local locations.

Lastly but most importantly, we can rely on the strength of the Lord! God’s strength and wisdom are limitless. When we feel that we cannot take another day, when the temptation seems greater than we can resist, when our emotions or stress level seems out of control, God will see us through. Just like we have to tell others when we need support, God instructs us to ask it of Him.

Now, don’t worry if you don’t have that great of willpower, just stop rely on your willpower alone. Next stop, the finish line! Let’s get those weight loss and health goals in sight!

Don’t Sit on The Sidelines

Don’t Sit On the Sidelines

It’s time to really get into the sport

 

Do you have a favorite sport you watch on TV? Chances are you know someone else that loves the sport too. Let’s say you never miss Sunday football. Maybe you can even have the scores of your favorite team memorized for this season. You know every player by name. You know every unforgettable play by heart.

Yet, you are just sitting there on your couch. You never exercise except to get up and walk to the fridge. My friend, it is time to get off the sidelines and get into the game! Find those other people you know that love the same sport as you do. Then, get together once a month or once a week to play. You can even argue over who the best team is or who the best player is while you burn some calories.

Many people find exercise boring because they try to make themselves do an activity that they hate. Yet, they love sports. The solution is simple; make your favorite sport your exercise. It doesn’t matter if you are the worst player on the team. The true purpose is to burn calories, improve your health and spend time with friends all in one.

You might even be able to organize an office team to play against others or a group of friends at church. Just get off that bench and start having fun!

What is Sugar?

Have you ever asked the question, what is sugar?  Are you truly  ready to reduce the sugar in your diet? You will have to look beyond the obvious of cane sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, syrups, and the like. Yes, I don’t have to  tell you that cake, ice cream, and pastries are filled with sugar.

However, you may not realize that all fluffy white breads (and plenty of other breads too), pastas & colas are also filled with sugar. You even want to avoid potatoes and corn. Plus the breakfast favorites of pancakes, waffles, and cereal are high in sugar content

If you want to truly avoid sugar, you have to look at the glycemic index of the foods. Any food with a high glycemic index is really sugar. Tune in next week to find out why all of this is so important to weight loss.

Diet No More

According to Colorado University, more than 1/3 of all women and 1/4 of all men are on a diet. To this we say “Diet no more!”  We don’t believe in teaching people to diet.

We want to help you make permanent lifestyle changes that lead to permanent weight loss results. We teach weight loss in 4 phases. The first phase is short, evaluation period. We help you determine the right program for your lifestyle. We also work with your doctor for all of your health concerns.

Next, you begin the weight loss phase. This phase is the most restrictive, but it is essential to get you to your weight loss goal in a fast and healthy manner. The time spent in this phase is determined by how much weight you want to lose and how dedicated you remain to your program.

Once at your goal, we walk you through a 6-8 week transition phase. During this time, your calories are slowly increased with regular everyday food and your program food is gradually decreased.

The final phase is maintenance. The maintenance stage last the rest of your life. We want to ensure that you keep the weight off with regular weigh-ins and wellness evaluations. Being healthy means feeling great and looking great. It’s the place we all want to stay in and WAVES wants to help keep you there!

Drinking to Lose Weight!

Did you know that not drinking enough water might be why you’re on that dreaded weight loss plateau even though you’re maintaining your diet. Research suggests that a lot of Americans unknowingly suffer from mild, chronic dehydration! Could they be talking about you? I hope you read this article because it explains and makes sense the importance of water and the surprise impact to dieters.

Water is an essential ingredient for your weight loss. Water is required for a whole range of the body’s biochemical processes, so lets look at what water does specially for dieters:

Your body needs to metabolize stored fat into energy – so much so, that your body’s metabolism can be slowed by even mild levels of dehydration. And the slower your metabolism, the slower your weight loss (and you become tired), until eventually your weight loss just grinds to a halt! You now have just hit the dreaded diet plateau.

Water is a natural appetite suppressant. What good news! In the hypothalamus, a region in your brain that controls appetites and cravings, the control centers for hunger and thirst are situated next to each other, and there tends to be some overlap. This has both advantages and disadvantages for the dieter. On the flip side, it means that chronic mild dehydration can confuse these mechanisms, leading to feelings of hunger, rather than thirst. But on a positive note, it means you can use water to reduce your appetite. For example, in one University of Washington study, drinking a glass of water reduced nighttime hunger cravings for most of the dieters studied. I have also found this to be true.

Water is an essential to the processes that enables your muscles to contract. So water helps maintain muscle tone. Better muscle tone means a better looking body, and isn’t that what dieting and weight loss is about?

There’s help for that sagging skin. Water also helps to prevent the sagging skin that often follows weight loss – water plumps the skin cells, giving the skin a younger and healthier look.

Water helps rid the body of waste. During weight loss, the body has a lots of waste and toxins to get rid of because of all that fat. So enough water is essential to your health while dieting.

Water also helps with constipation. When the body gets too little water, it siphons what it needs from within, particularly from the colon. This leads to constipation. But normal bowel function almost always returns with adequate water intake.

Remember that water is a natural appetite suppressant. Use it to your advantage. If you’re out shopping, take a bottle of water with you. If you feel like a late night snack, either go to bed or drink a glass of water. If you want a change, add a little bit of lemon juice into a glass of water. I find, instantly, my desire to eat is gone. Give it a try.

Time to Measure

It’s that time again. It’s time to measure, so grab that tape measure and see how many inches have disappeared.

If this is your first time measuring your progress in inches lost, then please check out our previous article on How to Measure. It is important to be consistent with how and where we measure to get accurate results. Record your progress and note the changes you see.

When you are done, take a moment to reflect on the progress you have made and share with us!

Write Your Success Story

Take a look at our success stories. These are real people achieving real results. Do you want to see the same kind of results?

Well, we want to encourage you to take the time to write your success story now. It doesn’t matter whether you have lost the weight or not, just imagine in your mind that you have and how your life is different. Then, write it down.

If you can, type it up and print several copies. It is great  to keep this posted where you can read it from time to time. Your success story serves as a great reminder of all of your reasons to lose weight and get healthy. What is your main motivation?