13 Secrets the Weight Loss Pros Don’t Tell You

“Good Morning America” teamed up with Reader’s Digest on a special series, “13 Things Experts Won’t Tell You.”

This month, Reader’s Digest unveils the secrets weight loss professionals won’t tell you, like how to maximize your workouts, what may be holding you back from losing weight and how to get the most bang for your buck.

1. Do not arrive at a training session in the following states: a. on an empty stomach, b. coming off a cold/stomach bug, or c. on four hours’ sleep. It wastes your time and a personal trainer’s when your body isn’t fueled, hydrated and ready to work.

2. If you find your workouts are getting a little stale, a trainer is a great way to put some pep in your push-ups. If you can’t afford one, get some friends together for a small group session. They cost less per person – and working out with friends is proven to improve your commitment and overall weight loss.

3. To kick start your metabolism, opt for intervals. In a recent study, women who did 20 minutes of cycling sprints lost three times as much fat as those who cycled slowly and steadily for 40 minutes.

4. When you hit the point where you think you can’t go on, imagine you have a trainer right next to you, cheering for you. Studies show that actively encouraging yourself improves outcomes.

5. You can do OK at the drive thru. There are now some reasonable options if you look for them.  Stay away from anything with the word “crispy,” steer clear of all mayo-heavy sauces (use mustard instead) and stick to no-fat dressing.

6. Nibble on the move. If you are shopping and fading from hunger, avoid settling in at the food court and, instead, nibble your way through a shopping marathon.  Pick up a snack, such as a hot pretzel, a small bag of roasted nuts from a kiosk or even a chicken taco and nibble on the move.  Portable meals can still weigh you down, so check calorie counts on your mobile phone before you go.

7. Douse your afternoon slump or hunger pangs with water.  The energy drop that hits in afternoon is likely a combination of perfectly natural factors – the results of a light lunch, mild dehydration, a momentarily lack of iron or a crash off that coffee you had at the late-morning meeting.  Before wandering to the cafeteria or fridge, start your recovery with a tall glass of water, which boosts your blood flow and, as a side benefit, makes you feel full.

8. It’s hard to win against a cookie. While food is not addictive the way cocaine or alcohol is, there are some uncanny similarities.  When subjects at Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia were shown the names of foods they liked, the parts of the brain that got excited were the same parts activated in drug addicts.

9. Your bedroom, not the kitchen might be making you fat. Sleep deprivation upsets our hormone balance, triggering both a decrease in the hormone leptin (which helps you feel full) and an increase of the hormone ghrelin (which triggers hunger).  As a result, we think we’re hungry even though we aren’t – and so we eat.  Sleep may be the cheapest and easiest obesity treatment there is.

10. Your weight really is genetic. When scientists first discovered a gene in certain chubby mice, they called it simply the fatso gene.  Turns out, people with two copies of the gene were 40 percent more likely to have diabetes and 60 percent more likely to be obese than those without it.  Those with only one copy of the gene weighed more too.  But your “destiny” is no excuse.

11. Ear infections can taint your taste buds. In one study of more than 6,000 people, researchers found that people over age 35 who had suffered several ear infections had almost double the chance of being obese.  Why?  These infections can damage a taste nerve running through the middle ear.  When researchers found the at former ear-infection patients were a little more likely to love sweets and fatty foods, they theorized that the damaged nerve might cause them to have a higher threshold for sensing sweetness and fattiness.

12. Fat might be your mom’s fault. A growing body of science suggests that sugary and fatty foods consumed even before you’re born can mess with your weight.

13. At dinner, make yourself useful serving people and cleaning up.  It gets you away from your plate, but still makes you a vital part of the meal.

Web Extra Tips: What Your Personal Trainer Won’t Tell You!

• If you concentrate on the exercise you are doing with the same intensity as talking about the latest gossip about your life, you would find it easier.

• Trainers know you are eating more than you tell them.

• It takes more than writing a check or showing up for training sessions to make you fit and healthy. It’s what you do before and after you meet with your trainer, including choices with food, alcohol and workouts, and a commitment to a new lifestyle.

• Ask you trainer what she or he does to keep educated in the field. An educated trainer will get better results and provide variety to keep you engaged and motivated in your workouts.

• When you are late, it is a waste of your money, a waste of my time and disrespectful.

• Trainers see through your stall tactics. “I think I need to fill my water bottle.” “Let me get a dry towel real quick.” “Oh, I need to go to the bathroom again.” Nice try. But you’re paying for the session, so make every minute count.

• There is a difference between pain and burn, and you need to be honest with your trainer about which you’re feeling. If you push so hard that you injure yourself, you both lose.

• Whatever the text or email says, it can wait until you’re done with your workout. And no, you cannot text and put forth 100 percent effort at the same time.

• The trainer does not have time to get sick. Cancel your session if you’re carrying germs.

• Gear matters. Don’t expect to get maximum performance and results by working out in the ratty gym shoes and shorts you dug out of that old box of college dorm clothes. Invest in a good pair of sneakers. Your feet and joints will thank you, and so will your trainer.

• Remember that a 30-minute session at max effort is better – and cheaper – than 60 minutes of dawdling and half-effort.

• Stop whining and push through those last few reps.

Article Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/01/25/13-secrets-the-weight-loss-pros-dont-tell-you/

Lose Weight Fast: How to Do It Safely

Sick of crash diets and fad diets? Follow these healthy tips.

Working on weight loss? Then you probably want results -- fast.

Let me save you some time: skip the fad diets. Their results don't last. And you have healthier options you can start on -- today!

You can safely lose 3 or more pounds a week at home with a healthy diet and lots of exercise, says weight loss counselor Katherine Tallmadge, RD.

How to Lose Weight Fast

If you burn 500 more calories than you eat every day for a week, you should lose about 1-2 pounds.

If you want to lose weight faster, you'll need to eat less and exercise more.

For instance, if you take in 1,050 to 1,200 calories a day, and exercise for one hour per day, you could lose 3-5 pounds in the first week, or more if you weigh more than 250 pounds. It's very important not to cut calories any further -- that's dangerous.

Limiting salt and starches may also mean losing more weight at first -- but that's mostly fluids, not fat.

"When you reduce sodium and cut starches, you reduce fluids and fluid retention, which can result in up to 5 pounds of fluid loss when you get started," says Michael Dansinger, MD, of NBC's The Biggest Loser show.

Diets for Fast Weight Loss

Dansinger recommends eating a diet that minimizes starches, added sugars, and animal fat from meat and dairy foods. For rapid weight loss, he recommends focusing  on fruits, veggies, egg whites, soy products, skinless poultry breasts, fish, shellfish, nonfat dairy foods, and 95% lean meat.

Here are more tips from Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, author of The Flexitarian Diet :

• Eat vegetables to help you feel full.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Get tempting foods out of your home.
• Stay busy -- you don't want to eat just because you're bored.
• Eat only from a plate, while seated at a table. No grazing in front of the 'fridge.
• Don't skip meals.

Keeping a food journal -- writing down everything you eat -- can also help you stay on track.

"Even if you write it down on a napkin and end up throwing it away, the act of writing it down is about being accountable to yourself and is a very effective tool for weight loss," says Bonnie Taub Dix, MA, RD, author of Read It Before You Eat It .

Besides jotting down what you ate, and when, you might also want to note how you were feeling right before you ate it. Were you angry, sad, or bored? We often focus so much on foods and calories, but our emotions are a huge part of our eating habits.

If you see a persistent pattern in your emotional eating, please consider talking to a counselor about it. They can be a big help in finding other ways to handle your feelings.

Exercising for Fast Weight Loss

It's time to move more! Losing weight requires close to an hour a day of moderate exercise, one study shows.

Plan to do cardio and strength training.

"Cardio burns the most calories, so it is ideal for fast weight loss, but afterward you need to include a few hours a week of strength training," Dansinger says. To burn the most fat, try to break a sweat after your warm-up and keep sweating for the entire hour, Dansinger says.

If you're not exercising now, and you have a chronic condition or a lot of weight to lose, it's wise to check in with your health care provider first. They'll be rooting for you! And they'll make sure that you're ready to work out.

Pace yourself. Don't do too much, too soon -- work your way up to help prevent injury.  

One way to step up the intensity is to do interval training -- brief bursts of high-intensity, followed by a more mellow pace, and repeating that pattern throughout your workout.

"Interval training allows people to work harder without having to spend the entire time at the higher level, and over time, the more you do it, the easier it becomes to burn more calories," Blatner says.

Fad Diets and Crash Diets

I know how tempting diet crazes can sound, especially if you have a lot of weight to lose. You hear about stars who did it and look incredible.

But remember,  if a diet plan sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Also, please skip any programs that promote detoxification pills, laxatives, fasting, or potions, and any that promise weight loss faster than 2-3 pounds per week.

The truth is that cutting calories below 1,050-1,200 per day is counterproductive, because you need strong muscles to be able to exercise effectively.

"When you eat too few calories, you lose fat but also precious muscle, which is the worst thing you could do because it slows your metabolism and makes it more difficult to increase exercise intensity or duration," Dansinger says.

Fad diets also set you up for failure by depriving you of what you want. You can't eat like that for long, and it's too likely that you'll rebel and end up back where you started. You deserve better than that!

So by all means, attack your weight loss goal. Put it on the fast track. But please, do it right so you set yourself up for lasting success.

Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, is WebMD's director of nutrition. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.

Article Source: http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/lose-weight-fast-how-to-do-it-safely