WAVES for Weight Loss, Inc.

America is now in the middle of a health crisis of tremendous proportions.  Millions of Americans are now overweight and a very significant number had already been classified as obese. Obesity is now a major health concern in America, which has already become a fast food nation.

The saturated fat intake from processed meat and packaged foods has caused major health problems that include  diabetes, stroke, hypertension, and cancer. Other negative effects brought about by obesity and being overweight include low-self esteem, depression, and discomfort in being in middle of situations where there is a need for social interaction.

Needless to say, losing weight must be seriously considered by millions of Americans if they still want to maintain their health and avoid the various illnesses associated with weight problems.   Perhaps, one way to convince overweight and obese people to lose those extra pounds is to emphasize the following remarkable benefits of losing weight:

• Weight loss helps lower blood pressure in overweight persons.
• Weight loss helps lower elevated blood glucose levels in obese persons with type 2 diabetes.
• Weight loss helps lower the individual’s chances for developing diseases such as stroke among others.
• Weight loss helps decrease inflammation in the body.

Now that the benefits of weight loss have been identified, the next question is: “How do I lose weight?

One of the very basic things to do to lose weight is to engage in regular physical activities that will help you burn fat. Physical exercise that lasts for 30 to 45 minutes a day, done three to five times a week is sufficient.  Having a sensible eating plan that consists of low-fat, low calorie meals is a must.

Getting help from health professionals is also highly recommended.  With the help of a wellness coach,  you can get your body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference measured.  The weight and waistline are two of the priority measurements to determine a person’s physical fitness level.

But since most weight watchers have problems with keeping themselves in the program, it may be useful to take note of the following recommendations that would help you to effectively manage your weight:

1. Write it down – Keep a diet diary, write your progress. Take note of every meal that you eat.
2. Exercise –  Exercise burn calories and fat.  Focus on exercises that target the abdomen, thighs, and buttocks — which are body parts that are most prone to fat accumulation.
3. Schedule your workouts – Set aside time for an exercise program and stick to it. Once you have a routine, it’ll be hard to kick the habit.
4. Watch what you eat -Don’t eat too fast and don’t think that all “non-fat” food is good for you.  Aside from making sure that your meal is non-fat, it is also recommended that you make sure that the caloric content of the meal is within your limit.
5. Stick to mini-meals – Instead of eating three big meals a day, choose to take small but frequent meals.  Small, frequent meals help normalize your blood sugar level.
6.  Drink lots of water –  Drink at least eight glasses of water a day which is important for keeping your body hydrated.  Water also helps in flushing out the body’s toxins and impurities.
7. Take the stairs – As much as possible, use the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. Climbing the stairs is good workout for your heart.
8. Make a commitment – It is important to be committed to do regular exercise and follow a low-fat, low-calorie eating plan.  Lack of discipline is almost always at the root of weight problems and other health concerns.
9. Keep your emotions at bay – Most of us tend to eat a lot when we have emotional problems.  Maintaining a positive attitude and avoiding food binges as a means of coping with anxiety.
10. Eat low-calorie alternatives –  When making a food choice, it is important to check for the caloric content and other ingredients that may pose adverse effects on your weight loss plan.  Avoid the temptation of buying food just because they “taste good.”  As a weight watcher, you should consider the health benefits that can be derived from the food you eat.

At this point, it is vital to emphasize that the most effective weight loss program is the one that is ingrained in one’s brain.  The mind plays a major role in getting rid of negative thoughts that affect your health, including the self-defeating messages that somehow make you feel that you’ll never succeed in following your diet and exercise plan.

Like everything else in life, losing weight takes a lot of effort and commitment.  Indeed, we can never wish away those extra pounds.  It takes exercise, diet, and if necessary, the use of weight loss pills in order to get back on the road to health and fitness.

Sure you do, but what KIND of liquid.  I won’t even talk about sodas, coffee, or tea sweetened with sugar.  I’m going to assume that you already know that sugar is not the way to go if you want to lose weight, but what about the artificially sweetened drinks?

Did you know…

Artificial Sweeteners Can Make You GAIN Weight?

Some studies have shown that using artificial sweeteners can contribute to weight gain in at least two ways:

First, there is the confusion factor.  When you use artificial sweeteners, you, and your brain, become confused about the calorie content of the food you eat.  You may actually find yourself eating more in an effort to satisfy an internal urge or interpretation, and this urge may be related to the assumed “fact” that the sweet soda you just drank didn’t have that many calories, so neither does this cinnamon roll.  Actually, before artificial sweeteners, our bodies and brains were pretty good at relating calorie content to food based on the sweetness.

A Word For Parents!

Our bodies’ understanding of “sweetness” and the development of the internal calorie estimating apparatus mentioned above apparently occurs in childhood.  Early use of artificial sweeteners could cause the grown-up years later to ingest more of sweet foods than they should.

The second way in which artificial sweeteners may contribute to weight gain is what could be called…

The Sugar Trap!

Your body is a complicated device which has developed a huge number of inter-related, synergistic, stimulus sensing and automatic response mechanisms.  It has learned to begin things happening inside when something sweet is detected.  The digestive system is prepared to receive a certain type of fuel…which it welcomes!  When you ingest food or drink which has been artificially sweetened, all your little hormones, glands, cells, and systems begin asking, “What’s going on?”  Like prisoners in an old movie, they start rattling their tin cups and yelling out, “FEED ME!”  Oh yeah, that was the plant in “Little Shop Of Horrors”, wasn’t it?

Anyway, your internal messengers are now not very happy, nor will they be until you send down some calories for them to munch on.  See the trap?  It reminds me of when I managed a restaurant when people would order a salad and diet drink and then smother the salad in high-calorie, high-fat dressing and have ice cream for dessert.  Get the picture.

Wait!  It Might Even be Worse!

Artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than ordinary sugar, and that’s why you can sweeten a cup of coffee with one little white pill.  However, there are some studies which indicate that artificial sweeteners become somewhat addictive.  If that isn’t bad enough, this brings us to one of the most popular drugs in America…

Caffeine

Even though a lot of people who want to lose weight are drinking artificially sweetened drinks, a lot of these drinks – coffee, tea, sodas – contain caffeine.  Caffeine is a diuretic.  It dehydrates you, causing your body to lose water.  Remember, water = good.  When you are dehydrated, low on internal liquid, your metabolism slows down.  This means your body gets by on fewer calories and stores the rest as fat.  Think it through:  You get dehydrated, you get thirsty.  You just drank a cup of tea, coffee, or soda, so you can’t be thirsty, can you?  Since your brain can’t really tell the difference between hunger and thirst signals, it tells you to eat something when all that’s really going on is that you need a drink of water.

So What Can You Do?

1.  Substitute water for most of the other stuff you’re drinking.

2.  “Buy” your artificially sweetened drinks.  My wife came up with this idea, but I have seen it used in other contexts as well.  If you drink an artificially sweetened drink and/or one with caffeine, buy it back with at least an equivalent sized drink of water.  Eight ounces of coffee?  Follow it with eight ounces of water.

3.  Is water boring for you?  Then try flavoring your water with lemon or something else.  Use herbal teas that have their own flavor and might not even need to be sweetened.

4.  Include soups and juices in your diet.  These are high liquid content.  Just be aware that while nutritionally better for you than diet drinks or drinks with caffeine, they DO contain calories.

5.  Can’t do without sweetened drinks?  Try stevia.  This is a natural food additive available online and at most health food stores.  While it has a sweetening effect, the FDA does not allow it to be called or marketed as a sweetener.  Due to its chemical makeup, it does not seem to produce the cravings for more food as do other non-sugar sweeteners.  I read that in a book, but I tried Stevia and that’s how it worked for me.  I was drinking four to eight cups of coffee sweetened with artificial sweeteners a day, and munching tons of snacks as I drank the coffee!  I started using stevia, and the desire for constant snacking went away.  I will warn you, while technically VERY sweet, it does have an acquired taste.  I figure if I could get used to it, anybody could.  It’s the only sweetener in our house now.

Copyright. Donovan Baldwin

So you made the commitment, you are ready to get fit, lose weight. The gym closest to your home might seem like the best option, but do some research before you buy that membership.

What seems like the best buy may not be a good deal at all. Check to see how well the equipment is maintained. Seeing torn upholstery, treadmills out of order or only a handful of patrons is sign that gym is in trouble.

When a gym is in trouble, it is likely to change hands or go out of business. If this happens, you may well find yourself to be the proud owner of gym membership with no gym to go to. This could cost you hundreds of dollars and leave you feeling frustrated and angry.

I have had such an experience. A gym I was attending switched hands and myself, along with many others were left high and dry when the new owner decided that it was not in their best interest to honor the contracts that had previously been sold.

If you find a gym that seems to be the perfect fit and there are no noticeable red flags, I would still have to recommend to never prepay for more than 3 months at a time. This way, if something does happen, your damage is minimized and in the end, you can help ensure that you get your monies worth while you get in shape.

Everybody knows that calories are the enemy, and that more calories equals more weight gained. Therefore, most people believe that losing weight is as simple as cutting way back on calories.

It’s just simple mathematics, right?

After all, if you’re eating 3,000 calories per day and you cut back to 1,000 calories per day, then those extra 2,000 calories have to be burned from your body, right?

It’s as simple as 2 + 2 equals 4, right? Well, this is not exactly true.

First, let’s talk about the average person who begins a diet. The scenario usually goes something like this…

One day you look in the mirror and you finally get fed up with the way your body looks (or the way that your clothes fit) – and on this day you get “angry” with yourself, and you begin cutting way back on calories in an attempt to starve yourself thinner.

So you officially begin your “starvation diet.”

On the first day you skip breakfast altogether (after all, you’re so filled with anger and motivation that it’s easy to skip breakfast).

Then, a few hours later your motivation quickly gives way to severe hunger – since your body is not accustomed to being without calories for so long.

Finally, by lunchtime you’re so hungry that you feel weak and miserable, but yet you tell yourself that you can make it through this tough hunger (after all, you don’t want to look like a quitter to your friends and family who know that you’re dieting).

So you have a small piece of fruit for lunch perhaps, bravely trying to stick to your plan of starving yourself thin.

Then, hours later when dinnertime arrives you’re so hungry and weak that you have a big migraine headache – and you’re beginning to realize that starving yourself might not be such a good idea after all.

However, you hold out for another day or two on this miserable diet – since nobody likes to feel like a quitter, making yourself miserable in the meantime. There are even some brave dieters who may hold out for a week or so, possibly even 2 weeks for the bravest of the brave.

However, regardless of how long you hold out — the result is still the same.

You see, even after 2 weeks of starving you won’t have made any noticeable difference to your body when you look in the mirror.

Why?

Simple, because the weight lost during a starvation diet is largely water weight, not real weight loss. This water weight will be gained back immediately when you stop dieting and begin eating normally again. Also, when you starve yourself your body begins burning fewer calories each day — so even though you’re eating fewer calories each day you must remember that your body is also burning fewer calories.

For example, let’s say that you normally eat 2,500 calories per day (before you begin dieting). Then, you suddenly try to starve yourself by eating only 1,000 calories per day.

Guess what?

Even though you’re eating 1,500 fewer calories per day your body will begin burning 1,500 fewer calories per day – so your weight will remain the same even though you’re starving yourself.

When your body begins burning fewer calories it’s called a weight loss “plateau.” This is why virtually all starvation dieters cannot make the scale go down after about 2 weeks of dieting.

This is why even the most determined of “starvation dieters” always fail after just a couple of weeks. The truth is that “noticeable” weight loss simply cannot be achieved by starvation, and it’s pointless to even try that type of diet.

True weight loss can only be achieved by giving your body the right types of calories at the right times each day. Your body is like a big engine, and the truth is that it needs all 3 types of calories (protein, carbs, and fat) to some degree and lots of good nutrients in the form of vitamins and minerals.

The best way to lose weight is to effectively manage these 3 types of calories, so that your body receives the proper amount of protein, the proper amount of carbs – and also the proper amount of fat each day. If you are really looking to lose weight fast, the WAVES Take Shape program is the best! It allows participants to lose 2-5 lbs. per week by sticking to a 5 & 1 plan. That is 5 meal replacements a day and 1 lean and green meal. I have personally lost several pounds on this diet and I have no reservations about recommending it. Not to mention, you get a dedicated personal wellness coach to help you every step of the way.

Another great program for steady, safe weight loss is My Herbal Plan. This program also gives you the expert advise of a personal weight loss coach and a set program to go on. This plan is a little more flexible than the other program, but still produces results. Not to mention, the coaches at WAVES are there to help you determine which program will work best for you! You are never alone on this journey which helps ensure your success for a LIFETIME!

Tell me, what is considered the average weight loss?

Jennifer, a middle-aged single mother with one six-year-old daughter, has been skipping sweets for a few weeks now.  She’s also become a stickler for portion control.  She feels as if she’s eating less than ever, and she’s been diligently exercising for an hour at a time at least four days a week.  Yet, she hasn’t lost a single pound.  The question is, “Why?”

This is a dilemma which affects dieters the world over.  They think they are taking the steps necessary to lose weight, but nothing seems to be happening.  In essence, they are trapped in a dieting rut and they don’t know how to free themselves.  As a result, they become frustrated and depressed and may then engage in binge eating.

One of the problems with diets is that they are often standardized.  As a result, they don’t take into consideration your individual physiology and metabolism.  They provide a cookie-cutter approach to weight loss—an approach which may not work in your individual case.  As a result, an increasing number of people are turning to personal wellness coaches to formulate a person weight loss strategy for them.  This process has been made easier through the Internet, where you can correspond with coach any time of the day or night via e-mail.  The coach can also help you through your dieting dilemmas.

Another reason that you may be failing at your diet is because of a lack of support.  You may have family members who can eat whatever they want and seemingly not gain a pound.  As a result, they may fill your refrigerator with junk food, leading you into temptation.  Also, you may feel as if you have no one to turn to in order to discuss your weight problems.  In order to solve this problem, many individuals again look to a personal coach to help them with their food-related issues.

Yet another reason for diet failure is hidden calories.  You may literally be consuming calories and not even realize it.  For instance, the frappucinos that are so popular today are loaded with calories—as many as 600 in a single serving!  You may also be indulging in sugary sodas—another source of extra calories.  By taking a few simple steps, such as eliminating the exotic coffee drinks from your diet and substituting skim milk for whole milk, you may be able to eliminate the hidden calories that are denying you dieting success. Your coach can help you pin point your problem areas and give you strategies to overcome them!

Lack of consistency can also be a diet-killer.  You might go on a diet for a while, then quit before you’ve made any measurable progress.  It’s only natural to want to see quick results.  The problem is that healthy weight loss involves losing only a couple of pounds a week.  That means you’ll have to stay on your diet for months before you see appreciable weight loss.  Discouraging?  It can be, but if you keep a positive attitude you can achieve your ideal weight.

You may also be more successful in your dieting if you consider it to be a lifestyle change.  Therefore, your diet becomes a meal plan for life.  This means that you must change the way you look at food.  It is designed to be fuel for your body, and nothing more.  As a result, you should not turn to food to make you feel better or to provide you with a sense of comfort.  A lifestyle change implies commitment; it means that you are prepared to follow the plan for the long haul.  If you feel as if you cannot be on your diet for any appreciable length of time, perhaps it’s time to consider a different diet.   Your aim ultimately should be not simply to lose weight, but to become healthier.  A fad diet will not allow you to reach that milestone.   Therefore, you must choose your diet carefully, talk to your wellness coach and seek their guidance in all of these areas to help ensure your success.

What on earth does water have to do with weight loss?  Actually, a lot more than you previously imagined.

Are you aware that some studies have shown that your brain cannot distinguish between hunger and thirst?  Sometimes when your body is telling you that you are thirsty, your brain may be hearing that you are hungry.  So what do you do?  You put food in your mouth when a glass of water might have been sufficient.  Most food has calories, most water doesn’t.  Simple equation.

By the way, ever wake up in the middle of the night and crave a snack?  Nine times out of ten, a glass of water will do the trick.  I know, I didn’t believe it either until I tried it.  It really works!

Tissue, muscle, cells, even blood are all comprised to a large percent of water.  When your brain starts getting signals that water is needed…well, remember the confusion factor mentioned above?  We eat something instead of giving our body what it really craves and needs!  Your entire body works much better, by the way, when the fluid levels are kept up where they need to be.

So, next time you think you are hungry, but its not time to eat, try water first. Stop confusing the signals and start losing more weight!

Copyright. Donovan Baldwin

There are a lot of people who  are afraid to try to quit smoking cigarettes for the fear of what they think is inevitable weight gain. Almost everyone they know who has successfully quit smoking really packed on the pounds and they don’t want this to happen to them. So, does the connection between quitting cigarettes and weight gain have to do directly with the cigarettes themselves, or are there other, outside reasons why this happens so often to people who “kick the habit”?

Lets take a look at what all of the factors are that cause such weight gain in people who quit smoking. This weight gain may be able to be controlled so it does not have to be a factor when you decide to put the cigarettes down for good.

The fact is you do not have to gain weight when you quit smoking. There are a lot of people who quit smoking who don’t gain any weight at all. On average, people who quit smoking gain only up to 10 pounds. Studies have shown that people who have smoked for 10 to 20 years or more, or who smoked one or more packs of cigarettes a day have a higher tendency to gain weight than short time smokers and those who smoked less than one pack a day.

Nicotine, which is a chemical found in cigarettes, does to a small degree keep your body weight down. When you quit and the nicotine begins to leave your body, you may see a marginal amount of short term weight gain, but usually it will be no more than 3 to 5 pounds, mostly due to water retention.

The major reason why so many people will gain a significant amount of weight however, has more to do with replacing the smoking habit with excessive eating habits. Many will substitute sucking on hard candies all day to replace the cigarettes. Others will begin to simply snack on various foods throughout the day as a replacement for the old habit. The cigarette break at work becomes a snack break. The after lunch cigarette becomes the after lunch snack. It is this new habit, which is done almost unconsciously, that is mostly responsible for excessive weight gain when people quit smoking.

When you quit smoking, keeping aware of what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat along with some physical activity will keep that weight gain to a minimum and may keep you from gaining any weight at all. You also must consider that even if you do gain 5 to 10 pounds from quitting smoking, the health risks of smoking cigarettes are far greater than a 5 to 10 pound gain in weight.

Smoking is the cause of more than 400,000 deaths every year in the United States. It would take a weight gain of over 100 pounds to equal the health risks of smoking cigarettes. Smoking causes your heart rate to increase, and you have twice as likely to suffer a heart attack than that of a nonsmoker.

You inhale around 4000 chemicals from cigarette smoke and 40 of these chemicals are cancer causing. Men are 22 times more likely to develop lung cancer than nonsmokers, and women are 12 times more likely.  Take it from someone that has lost a loved one to lung cancer, stop smoking now and let your body reverse the effects of cigarette smoking as much as possible.

With a little effort on your part to keep your eating habits in check and incorporate some exercise into your daily routine, weight gain can and will be at least kept down to a minimum when you quit smoking. You will be in better health, feel better, and have a more positive outlook on life when you make the decision to put those cigarettes down for once and for all.

As anyone who has ever been on diet knows, trying to lose weight is hard enough without any added pressures. While having your own personal weight loss coach would certainly help matters, you have to be willing to take that step and move forward.

Never the less, success stories around the world have proven that the most issue regarding successful weight loss is not the type of diet that you undertake, but rather the presence of moral support to help you along the way.

Moral support provides a number of useful benefits while attempting to lose weight. One of the most important of these benefits is motivation. The very act of letting others know that you intend to lose weight automatically makes you more accountable to lose the weight. While you may feel its okay to renege on your goals when it’s only you involved; you will be far less likely to break a promise to others. That in itself can be a strong motivator. In addition, a support network can make the time you spend exercising and dieting more enjoyable and feel less like a chore.

There are a number of ways that you can gain the moral support you need to make your weight loss program a success. One of the easiest ways to do this is to find a weight loss coach. This individual may be someone within your own home or family or someone in your community; however they do not necessarily need to be participating in a weight loss program as long as they support your goals in a healthy manner.

Of course, if they too have been on a weight loss journey, they have more personal knowledge of what it takes to reach a goal. All of our current coaches at WAVES for weight loss have lost 40 lbs. or more! They have stayed dedicated to their new healthier way of life and can help others get there. In addition, they receive special training and continuing education to offer the best coaching possible.

Your coach can support you by going to the gym with you or even accompanying you during a daily walk. In today’s hectic world it can be difficult to find time to catch up and bond with the important people in your life, but this provides an excellent way to spend time with those close to you as well as gain the needed emotional support to succeed at your weight loss goals.

A support partner can also help motivate you by encouraging you to stick with your commitments. Even someone who does not live within your area can help by picking up the telephone to ask how thing’s are going.

Beyond finding a personal weight loss coach, you can take advantage of the benefits offered through moral support by joining a weight loss support group. During the last few years, these groups have become quite popular and boast numerous success stories annually. Some of the most well known programs, combine weight loss support with specific diet regimens. For a specified fee members meet on a regular basis to evaluate progress and support each other.

While many of the most well known weight loss support programs also combine specific diet regimens, not all support programs provide strict dietary guidelines. Some support programs are just about the support. WAVES local and online challenges offers both.

Online diet and weight loss forums also provide important moral support for those engaged in weight loss efforts. Numerous websites have sprung up all over the net for the sole purpose of encouraging dieters to meet up in cyber space to discuss matters related to weight loss. The accountability factor related to weight loss forums may not be quite as strong as a weight loss coach or local weight loss and support program, but it can help dieters to connect with like minded individuals on a host of issues related to diet and weight loss.

Regardless of the type of support system you choose, the important issue at hand is to make sure that you surround yourself with individuals who will motivate and encourage you during an admittedly difficult time. With the right combination of support, nutrition and exercise you can accomplish anything.

The economy of today leaves many people trying to juggle a stack of bills and determine where to put their priorities. Maybe you in this situation and you are wanting to get the excess weight off and improve your health. I am here to tell you that if you feel well, you will perform better at work. If you work improves, so can your income.

However, to get to that point, you may have to choose between a planned meal program and a gym membership. For me, the choice is simple. A planned meal program like My Herbal Plan or the WAVES Take Shape Plan is the best option.

Losing weight is 80% diet and only 20% fitness. So, the food we eat is far more important in the journey. If you have to chose, chose what will help you the most, chose the meal plan.

Making this choice doesn’t mean that you have to give up on fitness all together. There are several ways to get in shape without a gym membership. Taking a walk at the park is free!

You may even be surprised that some churches have gyms facilities and all the community to use it free of charge. In my area for example, the local Methodist Church has a wonderful walking track, a tread mill, exercise bike and weight room. A facility like this is great when there is inclement weather and getting a walk in is still a priority.

Another great option is to get together with friends and complete a DVD workout. If you have all a DVD, you can switch up your workout every other week or every other workout and keep things interesting.

As you can see, there are lots of ways to get fit on a budget. So, no excuses, get those pounds off and become healthy for life! After all, it is your life, why not live it to the fullest.

Everyday it seems, we hear stories about people who joined a weight loss program, lost weight and look great! Before and after photographs provide dramatic proof that yes, these programs do work. But how do you decide which weight loss program is best for you, and make it work?

First, you have to remember that the aim of a weight loss program is to take weight off and KEEP IT OFF. Yo-yo dieting puts stress on your body that can make losing weight harder and harder and packing it back on far too easy. It’s important to choose a diet plan that will help you make changes to your eating habits that will last a lifetime.

If you’re a yo-yo dieter, you probably have a history of swinging between very restrictive diets and then returning to ‘normal’ eating once you’ve lost the weight that you need to lose. You’ve proved that you have willpower now what you need is re-education. Instead of choosing a strict regimen that you’ll abandon when the diet is done, commit to following the recommendations through the transition phase and maintenance phase of one of the WAVES programs, plus add half an hour of exercise to your daily routine five times a week. You’ll establish healthy habits that will take off the pounds – and help you keep them off forever.

Secondly, decide just how much help you need. What motivates you? Are you a private person by nature or do you do best with a lot of social support? Are you a strong-willed person who can decide to do something and ‘just do it’, or will you need help overcoming temptation?

If you thrive on social motivation, joining a weight loss program like the WAVES weight loss challenges might be the best option for you. You’ll have social support, motivational rewards and weekly check-ins to help you stay on track and give you goals to aim for.

Next, do you do best with regimented, strict instructions that tell you exactly what you should do step by step, or are you happiest and more comfortable with a little flexibility?

If you do best when you have strict guidelines to follow and like routines, then look for a diet that gives you daily menus with precise measurements and foods to eat like the WAVES Take Shape Program. While that may feel restrictive to some people, the trick is to do what works for you. Of course, the fast weight loss results the program offers is a huge plus. In fact, once you reach your target weight, you aided through transition and into maintenance with life long support.

If restrictive diets and inflexible menus aren’t for you, then try a diet that gives you the option of mixing and matching your meals within certain parameters. Whether you count carbs, calories or exchanges, a diet like the ones offered by My Herbal Plan give you some flexibility within the prescribed ‘allowed foods’.

Finally, how much weight do you have to lose? How long have you been trying to lose it? Will quick results keep you motivated, or is slow-and-steady progress all you really need?

Aim for a steady 1-2 pounds per week, but if you need an extra boost, drop back to a more restrictive pattern to give your metabolism a little kick. The trick is to use the free coaching support and stick to your chosen plan to keep your metabolism going at full throttle. Steady progress will get you to your goal.