Make your weight-loss goals a reality. Follow these proven steps

You probably know that hundreds of different fad diets, weight-loss programs and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss. But the foundation of every successful weight-loss program still remains a healthy diet combined with exercise. You must make permanent changes in your lifestyle and health habits to lose significant weight and keep it off.

How do you make those permanent changes? Follow these six strategies.

1. Make a commitment

Permanent weight loss takes time and effort. It requires focus and a lifelong commitment. Make sure that you’re ready to make permanent changes and that you do so for the right reasons.

No one else can make you lose weight. In fact, external pressure — often from people closest to you — may make matters worse. You must undertake diet and exercise changes to please yourself.

As you’re planning new weight-related lifestyle changes, try to resolve any other problems in your life. It takes a lot of mental and physical energy to change your habits. So make sure you aren’t distracted by other major life issues, such as marital or financial problems. Timing is key to success. Ask yourself if you’re ready to take on the challenges of serious weight loss.

2. Get emotional support

Only you can help yourself lose weight by taking responsibility for your own behavior. But that doesn’t mean that you have to do everything alone. Seek support when needed from your partner, family and friends.

Pick people who you know want only the best for you and who will encourage you. Ideally, find people who will listen to your concerns and feelings, spend time exercising with you, and share the priority you’ve placed on developing a healthier lifestyle.

3. Set a realistic goal

When you’re considering what to expect from your new eating and exercise plan, be realistic. Healthy weight loss occurs slowly and steadily. Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. To do this, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day through a low-calorie diet and regular exercise. Losing weight more rapidly means losing water weight or muscle tissue, rather than fat.

Make your goals “process goals,” such as exercising regularly, rather than “outcome goals,” such as losing 50 pounds. Changing your process — your habits — is the key to weight loss. Make sure that your process goals are realistic, specific and measurable, for example, you’ll walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

4. Enjoy healthier foods

Adopting a new eating style that promotes weight loss must include lowering your total calorie intake. But decreasing calories need not mean giving up taste, satisfaction or even ease of meal preparation. One way you can lower your calorie intake is by eating more plant-based foods — fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Strive for variety to help you achieve your goals without giving up taste or nutrition. Cutting back on calories is easier if you focus on limiting fat.

To lose weight, talk to your doctor about setting these daily calorie goals:

Very low calorie diets aren’t a healthy long-term strategy. Fewer than 1,200 calories a day for women and 1,400 calories for men aren’t generally recommended. If your calories are too low, you run the risk of not getting all of the nutrients you need for good health.

5. Get active, stay active

Dieting alone can help you lose weight. Cutting 250 calories from your daily diet can help you lose about half a pound a week: 3,500 calories equals 1 pound of fat. But add a 30-minute brisk walk four days a week, and you can double your rate of weight loss.

The goal of exercise for weight loss is to burn more calories, although exercise offers many other benefits as well. How many calories you burn depends on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise — such as walking — for more than 30 minutes most days of the week.

Even though regularly scheduled aerobic exercise is best for losing fat, any extra movement helps burn calories. Lifestyle activities may be easier to fit into your day. Think about ways you can increase your physical activity throughout the day. For example, make several trips up and down stairs instead of using the elevator, or park at the far end of the lot.

6. Change your lifestyle

It’s not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for only a few weeks or even several months. You have to include these behaviors into your life. To do that, you have to change the behaviors that helped make you overweight in the first place. Lifestyle changes start with taking an honest look at your eating habits and daily routine.

After assessing your personal challenges to weight loss, try working out a strategy to gradually change habits and attitudes that have sabotaged your past efforts. Simply admitting your own challenges won’t get you past them entirely. But it helps in planning how you’ll deal with them and whether you’re going to succeed in losing weight once and for all.

You likely will have an occasional setback. But instead of giving up entirely, simply start fresh the next day. Remember that you’re planning to change your life. It won’t happen all at once, but stick to your healthy lifestyle and the results will be worth it.

Diet Advice
A balanced diet coupled with regular exercise is still the best way to lose weight and reduce fat. The Belly Fat Diet is an excellent plan with lots of practical advice about dieting, exercise, diet-motivation and long term weight control. For more information, click Diet Preview

Belly fat is the most frequently asked question by women, and of course they want the fastest and quickest way to lose it. There are many articles and diets out there that claim they can help you lose unwanted belly fat but it can be very overwhelming.

Belly Fat is very common these days. The truth is, the reason most people have belly fat is due to three main things. Belly fat is stored energy. To get rid of the layer of fat you need to burn more energy (calories) than you eat.

Belly fat is linked to insulin resistance, which in turn is linked to our eating and exercise habits. Insulin is released when we eat; it moves digested sugars from our blood into our cells. Belly fat is worse for your health than fat in your butt or thighs. Yes, belly fat tends to trigger your liver to release its stored fatty acids — raising your cholesterol levels. Belly fat is one of the easiest to gain - one big dinner before going to bed is enough to gain belly fat. If after the big dinner you spend some days on your normal diet and don’t eat excessive quantities of food, the negative effects of the big dinner will not stay for long.

Belly fat is bad for everyone but, it can have dire consequences especially for men. The amount of abdominal fat one carries is a sure indicator of heart disease risk.

Diet Advice
A balanced diet coupled with regular exercise is still the best way to lose weight and reduce fat. The Belly Fat Diet is an excellent plan with lots of practical advice about dieting, exercise, diet-motivation and long term weight control. For more information, click Diet Preview

Saturated fat is the main culprit, but cholesterol in food is also a problem. Eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol is the main reason for high levels of cholesterol and a high rate of heart attacks in the United States.

Saturated fats and animal cholesterol in the food intake can raise blood cholesterol to significant amounts. Saturated fats are found in animal products such as pork, beef, whole milk, cheeses, ice cream, egg yolk and foods that are made out of these products. Transfatty acids are found in margarines, commercial baked goods and in processed and fried foods.

Saturated fats include animal products like beef, pork, whole milk, ice cream, cheeses, egg yolks, and other foods that are made out of these products. Transfatty acids are mostly present in margarines, processed and fried foods, and in commercial baked goods. Saturated fats are generally contained by almost all processed food. Coconut, cocoa and palm oils are included.

Diet Advice
A balanced diet coupled with regular exercise is still the best way to lose weight and reduce fat. The Belly Fat Diet is an excellent plan with lots of practical advice about dieting, exercise, diet-motivation and long term weight control. For more information, click Diet Preview

High cholesterol levels generally pose a serious threat to your health. For example, high cholesterol levels have been shown to lead to an increased risk of heart disease.

But even if you do have high cholesterol right now, you can still do something about it, with changes in diet and activity levels.

To reduce high cholesterol level problems, it can be helpful to know exactly what cholesterol is. Read our explanation of what cholesterol is here.

It is also important for you to know exactly what your cholesterol levels are. That way you can keep them at a healthy level prior to problems developing. Your physician will be able to perform tests to give you the readings.

If you prefer not to visit your doctor you may be able to get a home testing kit, depending on where you live. Whatever else you do, if you’re worried that you may have high cholesterol it pays to have it checked out.

If you have soft yellow skin near your eyes that can sometimes be a symptom of high cholesterol. Don’t ignore such warning signs.

There are may treatments and options these days, for treating high cholesterol levels. Anyone thinking about treatment for high cholesterol should consult with their physician and follow his guidance.

A research study has shown that high levels of cholesterol can even increase how fast prostate tumors grow, so it’s even more important to know your ldl and hdl levels.

If you have had the tests done and the results say you have high cholesterol you really should think about making some serious changes in your lifestyle. Even small changes can pay big dividends and as well as reducing your cholesterol levels those changes could give you increased energy and zest for life.

Remember that the total level of cholesterol is important, but the ratio between hdl and ldl cholesterol (the ‘baddie’) is even more important.

If you’re looking for supplements to help lower high cholesterol levels, there are natural supplements available these days. They can even be more effective than prescription medications and they generally have no side effects.

Statins, drugs that are given on prescription to help lower cholesterol, appear to have several side effects like headache and tiredness, as well as cramping and stomach upset, so you may want to consider a natural alternative. And always check with your physician before embarking on any supplementation program.

It’s probably worth having the tests done every 3 years or so to make sure you know where your cholesterol levels are. With high cholesterol it pays to keep an eye on the numbers

Diet Advice
A balanced diet coupled with regular exercise is still the best way to lose weight and reduce fat. The Belly Fat Diet is an excellent plan with lots of practical advice about dieting, exercise, diet-motivation and long term weight control. For more information, click Diet Preview

Is a Fat Stomach Unhealthy?

Yes. For people with a BMI of 34 or less, a fat belly is regarded as an additional health risk. Fatty tissue which is stored around the stomach and abdomen (sometimes called intra-abdominal, or visceral fat) carries a greater health risk than fat located in the lower body around the butt and thighs.

Some health studies show that abdominal fat leads to raised blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, high blood sugar, insulin resistance syndrome (metabolic syndrome X) and heart disease. Because of this, some experts believe that waist circumference and fat-distribution is more important than your actual weight in predicting future health risks.

What Causes a Fat Belly?

Where we store fat (surplus calories) is largely a combination of gender, age and genetic inheritance. Men tend to store fat around their middle (apple shape), whereas women typically store fat around the pelvic region, hips, butt and thighs (pear shape). However, women are prone to develop an apple shape in mid-life, after menopause. This is because the female hormones are present in smaller amounts and so their shape tends to become more ‘male’.

NOTE: To understand how surplus food calories from carbohydrate, fat or protein are converted to body fat and stored in adipose tissue cells, see How to Get Rid of Your Belly Fat.

Stress and Stomach Fat

Some health studies show that abdominal fat can develop as a result of stress. This is because the hormone cortisol is released during stress, and a high level of cortisol in the body appears to stimulate the storage of fat around the belly and abdomen. Researchers at Yale University studied 60 women and found that the more stress they were under, the more fat they stored around their stomachs. So it appears that a fat belly is most likely to develop in stressed men of any age, and older stressed women.
How to Prevent a Fat Belly?

If you are prone to store fat around your middle, the healthiest solution is to maintain a normal weight. By matching your calorie intake to your calorie needs and prevent weight gain, you will prevent the development of any excess fat.
How to Reduce a Fat Stomach?

However, if you already have a fat belly, the best option is to follow a healthy weight loss diet, combined with fitness exercises such as aerobics (to burn extra calories) and a stomach-toning workout to help tighten and strengthen abdominal muscles. That said, reducing a fat stomach takes time - especially if you are an apple-shape. Despite what commercials say, there is no diet-plan or type of exercise that can “target” your fat stomach. So please don’t get impatient. Your fat belly will disappear, I promise.

Diet Advice
A balanced diet coupled with regular exercise is still the best way to lose weight and reduce fat. The Idiot Proof Diet is an excellent plan with lots of practical advice about dieting, exercise, diet-motivation and long term weight control. For more information, click Diet Preview

In a recent AOL poll, we asked our readers to tell us what their least favorite body parts were. The overwhelming answer? “My belly!”
But the concern over a flabby belly is more serious than simply not looking good in a bathing suit. Researchers are finding that abdominal fat leads to higher risks of heart disease, diabetes and even certain types of cancers.

We’re all aware that lack of exercise and a diet of burgers and fries will cause our bellies to expand, but who knew that those late nights at the office, the stress of that big project or the hidden trans fats in our favorite vending machine snacks were adding dangerous inches to our midsections?

In a society where workaholics reign, Americans are more sleep-deprived, stress-ridden and crunched for time than ever before. We want the quickest solutions, the fastest foods (usually supersized), and, despite the caffeine running through our veins, we just can?’t seem to find the time to work out.

Are our waistlines growing out of our control?

Three ways to blast the belly fat:

1. Avoid Trans Fats
2. Get More Sleep
3. Manage Your Stress

Waist-to-Hip Ratio, BMI and Belly Fat: What It All Means
Until recently, BMI or body mass index (a measurement of weight in relation to height), was used as a key factor in determining the likelihood of developing heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers. Now, researchers around the world are discovering that BMI is the wrong number to rely on and dangerously misleading.

Typically, a BMI of 20 to 25 is considered normal, the range between 25 to 30 is overweight and more than 30, obese. The problems arise when certain factors, such as muscle mass and fat deposition, are not taken into consideration. Because muscle is much denser than fat and takes up less space, two individuals of the same height and weight could have the same BMI, even though one may have a significantly higher percentage of body fat than the other.

Researchers now know that if most of your fat is in the tummy area, your health risks are greater than if it resides in, say, the hips, thighs or rear (sometimes referred to as the apple versus pear theory.

Dr. Tobias Pischon, lead author of a recent study that focused on the correlation between abdominal fat and colon cancer, stated in a Reuters Health report that this type of fat is more alarming. Belly fat is “metabolically active” and could possibly increase colon cancer risk by raising levels of certain hormones that affect cell growth, including the growth of cancer cells.

Consequently, waist-to-hip ratio (a measurement of waist size divided by hip size) is a more reliable gauge of your risk factors for certain diseases, such as heart attacks. A ratio of above 0.85 for women and above 0.90 for men is higher than average and typically indicates greater risk.

And when it comes to a disease such as colon cancer, women have the highest risk. Female participants of the study with the most abdominal fat had a 48 percent greater chance of developing colon cancer, with men at a slightly lower chance of 39 percent.  By Natalie Vavricka

Diet Advice
A balanced diet coupled with regular exercise is still the best way to lose weight and reduce fat. The Idiot Proof Diet is an excellent plan with lots of practical advice about dieting, exercise, diet-motivation and long term weight control. For more information, click Diet Preview

Why this problem still exists is beyond me. So many times, whether on WebMD’s Men’s Health or Male Factor Infertility message boards or in my practice, I hear the same basic theme - a man has an obviously urologic problem, it is not resolving or appears to be serious, and yet his primary care doctor has not referred him to a urologist for evaluation and treatment as indicated.

Sometimes it may be for a nuisance problem - or it may be a warning sign of something potentially life threatening. So why would patients not be sent to a urologist at the first sign of something serious, potentially dangerous, and obviously urologic? Your guess is as good as mine.

I do know that many primary care doctors are under tremendous pressure by insurance companies to limit referrals to specialists. Other times it may simple ignorance by the primary doctor. Worse yet, it may be arrogance that the doctor thinks he or she knows everything urologic and so does not believe a urologist would add anything to the patient’s care.

So what are a few problems that absolutely must be seen by a urologist? There are many, but here are some examples of signs or symptoms that absolutely should be seen by a urologist - nonnegotiable!

1. Any aspect of male infertility. A small percent of male factor infertility is because of testicular cancer. This is often missed by primary care doctors and totally missed when referred to an IVF fertility doctor.

2. Blood in the urine. Hematuria, whether visible (gross hematuria) or only seen under the microscope (microscopic hematuria) is not normal and can be an early warning sign of a bladder or kidney cancer. The work-up is basic, including urine tests, an x-ray such as CT scan and a look inside the bladder with a fiberoptic scope (cystoscopy). Waiting to see if the blood will go away is not smart. Blood one time is enough to see a urologist.

3. An elevated PSA or change in PSA. The PSA remains one of the most sensitive indicators of prostate cancer of all tests in medicine. The problem is that too many doctors don’t understand what the PSA test is and probably even more and important, what the PSA test is not. Any elevation raises concerns so must be evaluated. Simply telling you to go away and let’s see how high it goes or how fast it climbs is not smart. And if the PSA starts to climb, even if still within “normal “levels, the change may suggest cancer. So any change of significance should be evaluated as well.

4. An abnormal prostate exam. Any abnormality - firmness, small nodules, or irregularities - may be from a prostate cancer and so must be seen by a urologist. Likewise, any changed from prior exams must be seen. This is why it is so important that all men over the age of 40 to 45 get a yearly exam, ideally by the same doctor. As with all potentially serious problems, if detected early the cure rate is high.

5. Any abnormality of the kidney found on x-ray. It must be assumed that these are kidney cancers until proven otherwise. Do not let anyone biopsy a kidney mass unless you have seen a urologist. Biopsies of a kidney mass can actually cause more harm, and often do not provide the information desired.

6. A testicular mass or persistent pain. Because of the rare chances of having an underlying testicular cancer, any masses, firmness or nodules of the testicle must be seen by a urologist. This also includes men with testicular pain that does not resolve within a week or two. If caught early, testicular cancer is one of the most curable cancers in humans.

Diet Advice
A balanced diet coupled with regular exercise is still the best way to lose weight and reduce fat. The Idiot Proof Diet is an excellent plan with lots of practical advice about dieting, exercise, diet-motivation and long term weight control. For more information, click Diet Preview