The Weight Loss Corner

Change. Most of us do not embrace it as it means leaving our comfort zone.

Small changes over time lead to large results. When you make one small change you will feel the results and you’ll be inspired to make more changes! Don’t you find that when you work out you don’t crave junk food as much? It may be because your body is becoming healthier and doesn’t want junk food in it or it may be that you don’t want to sabotage your hard work!

Many experts suggest that a slow and steady route to health is reflected in long-term results. For instance, you may start by walking 5 minutes a day and add 3 minutes to each walk…you’ll be up to one hour walks in no time at all!

If you cut out one soda per day, you would cut 200 calories per day which would significantly cut your chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Again…such a small change which can have a huge impact on your life!

If you cut 150 calories per day for a year, you would lose 15 lbs in that year! Wow! A simple 30 minute walk would burn 150 calories to put things in perspective. That may just be talking the stairs at work instead of the elevator…!

A good tip is to write down 3 successes per day. This helps us to focus on the positive and we will be motivated to continue. Sometimes we are very hard on ourselves and forget our successes and concentrate on the days we didn’t achieve what we asset out to do…we can be our worst critic! Be kind to yourself. Look at your list of successes when you find you are down on yourself for not pulling through.

Here are some small and simple steps to get you going with change that will help you with your healthy lifestyle journey:

1. Decide what motivates you. Small steps are easy when you know why you are doing them!

2. Notice how your success spills over into other areas of your life. For example, you may experience weight loss which leads to higher self-esteem which provides us with confidence to achieve other small goals. You can see how this is all becomes a fantastic cycle…each small success affects all areas of our lives!

3. Choose one step to get started. If you want to make a healthy lifestyle change in order to lose weight faster, try doing one thing such as cutting out soda pop or cutting out fried food from your diet.
Why not think of one small change you can do starting today? You will be richly rewarded in the long run with your new healthy lifestyle.

To your health,

Kim Duess
You-Be-Slim.com
Your Natural Weight Loss Solution

We are all looking at ways to save money these days. If you are trying to lose weight and are concerned money may be a factor, you need not worry. There are many ways to lose weight fast on a budget!

I came across another great article on About.com which talks about ways to lose weight without spending a lot of money…here are a few of their ideas which will help you out:

1. Eat at Home
2. Clip Coupons
3. Consider Canned
4. Buy Store Brands.
5. Try renting Exercise videos from the LIbrary.
6. Walk more!
7. Bulk up with beans.
8. Snack Smarter.
9. Tap into tap water.
10. Prepare for Portion Control (** if you are a You Be Slim VIP member (free) or a customer, you will have received our gift, Portions for Life, which will REALLY help you lose weight! If you aren’t a VIP member, sign up now for free!)

To read the details on these tips, read their entire article here.

To your health,

Kim Duess
You-Be-Slim.com
Your Natural Weight Loss Solution

We’re living in a world where we’re constantly on the move. Hectic work schedules and things like getting caught up in traffic, standing in long lines and having no personal time, leaves us irritable and stressed.

Have you ever wondered what relation stress has with weight loss? Well, for some, stress may cause them to lose weight and for some like me, stress causes me to put on weight, loads of it. You see, when I’m stressed, my body starts crying out for comfort food. Ice-creams, crisps, chocolates – you name it, I have it. All this temporary distraction does make me feel better, for an hour or so, then I’m plagued with guilty feelings and feel stressed at the fact that I’ve put on weight again, thanks to the all the calories I’ve consumed. Can you see what a vicious circle it is?

Basically the relation between weight and stress is rather complex. In order to maintain a healthy weight, various factors are taken into consideration – such as: how active you are, eating your meals on time, skipping breakfast, what types of food you eat etc. I wanted to look at this in-depth.

Why does stress cause you to put on weight?

Many books and researchers claim that when a person is stressed out they find it tough to maintain healthy eating habits. Many people tend to eat more food during stressful times so they can fulfill their emotional needs. As a result they gain weight.

Another explanation is that cortisol, a hormone secreted by our bodies during stress, is the actual cause of weight gain. Research has shown that prolonged exposure to extremely high levels of cortisol does result in weight gain. Take the example of Cushing’s syndrome, a medical condition wherein your adrenal glands produce too much of cortisol.

It has been claimed that to some extent, emotional stress causes a temporary increase in the level of cortisol, which may cause food cravings. Many researchers claim that a habit of eating in response to stress becomes a learned habit, which is encouraged by the chemistry of the brain.

“During the first couple of days following a stressful event, cortisol is giving you a clue to eat high-carbohydrate foods,” Perfetti tells WebMD. “Once you comply, you quickly learn a behavioral response that you can feel almost destined to repeat anytime you feel stressed.”

No matter what the reason is for stress leading us to put on weight, we can do something about it. We have the power to change. Begin by getting familiar with some techniques that can combat stress. Exercise, mediation, yoga are all ways that can control stress. In addition, start eating healthy. If you’re stressed out and are reaching for a bag of chips, go for a bag of baked crisps which are lower in fat and salt. Try not to lose sleep and make it a point to relax and not get worked up about every little thing, as hard as it may seem.

Nothing is impossible, so try and make your life as stress free as possible.
To your health,

Kim Duess
www.You-Be-Slim.com
Your Natural Weight Loss Solution

It was late at night, and as I lay in bed a thousand thoughts were going through my head. I had so much to do, and so little time. Finally, my eyes got drowsy and I was just about to fall asleep and my cell phone buzzed. Who would think of sending me a text message at this ungodly hour?

We’re living in a world which operates 24-7, that’s the new mantra. Twenty four hour cable television, the Internet, and cell phones all keep our brains stimulated. This has an adverse effect on our body. Additional causes of lack of sleep could be depression, anxiety, restlessness, noise, caffeine, alcohol etc. Poor health, fatigue, stress and weight gain are all results of lack of sleep. Here are some ways in which sleep affects weight loss.

Grehlin and Leptin are two hormones that assist the body to control appetite, weight gain and weight loss. While Grehlin is responsible for increasing the appetite, Leptin suppresses it. When you have a major problem due to lack of sleep, the levels of Grehlin increases which causes your appetite to increase. Thus irrespective of exercise and diet, sleep deprivation can cause weight gain.

Sleep loss also leads to deprivation of deep sleep – the kind of sleep that helps us to restore our energy levels. When we loose deep sleep, the levels of growth hormones decreases. These growth hormones help regulate the body’s proportions of muscle and fat in the body. When the hormones are reduced, the ability to grow muscle is reduced, and as a result, the ability to burn fat is reduced.

Another way sleep loss works against us, is that it prevents our bodies from metabolizing carbohydrates. This in turn leads to an increased storage of blood sugar levels as well as fat. An increase in the level of blood sugar can lead to insulin resistance and may even lead to major health concerns such as type II diabetes and obesity.

Lack of sleep equals lack of energy, which makes it even harder to exercise and burn calories.

There are many people who feel that just a few hours of shut eye are enough for them, and helps extend their day. However they are quite wrong about this notion. Getting a good night’s rest can actually increase your productivity in a shorter amount of time throughout the day because you now have more energy and can work harder.

If you’re finding it difficult to get sleep here are some things to keep in mind:

• Don’t eat just before going to bed. If you eat food that is high in protein right before going to bed, it makes your body active and thus disrupts your sleep
• If you have sleep problems, avoid sleeping in the afternoon
• Avoid having caffeine or alcohol right before bed.
• Eat healthy foods
• Try and add some physical activity in your daily life. This will make your body tired and you’ll be able to sleep better.
• Try and establish a routine, make it a habit to try and go to bed at the same time each night. Easier said than done, I know, but it will surely help you normalize your body clock.

Your body needs rest, and its best to pay heed to this call. Listen to what your body is saying about needing sleep, and keep in mind that oversleeping can be just as bad as less sleep. All said and done, its important that you understand how sleep is as important to you as eating right and exercising.

To your health,

Kim Duess
You-Be-Slim.com
Your Natural Weight Loss Solution

I used to be a night owl and did a lot of work in the late hours of the night. Of course, that made me an ‘Oscar The Grouch’ in the morning…or rather I should say mid-day, because that’s when I woke up. Midnight snacks were a part of my life and come morning the next day, I just didn’t feel like having any breakfast. I skipped breakfast thinking that I’m was doing myself a favor and controlling my weight. I’d then have a late lunch with the result being that I ate more as the day went by. I felt lethargic and lazy and it goes without saying that exercising never happened!

I was determined to lose weight and decided to change my routine. I read about the many benefits of eating breakfast.

Breakfast, as the name suggests, is breaking your fast in the morning after a long night. Your body’s supply of glucose or blood sugar is very low. Your body needs food in the morning to replenish this blood sugar which gives you the zing and keeps you going. Breakfast in the morning will give your body energy that it needs for the day ahead. It improves your metabolism and helps in maintaining a healthy weight. If you skip breakfast, you’re setting yourself up for an unhealthy extreme eating pattern and you end up eating more during the day.

I decided to make changes in my life. My breakfast was now going to be more than a cup of black coffee. I started with a light meal as I read you should. Believe me, downing cereal was not easy but nevertheless I pursued as the days went by. As time passed, I started seeing changes or rather feeling changes. I felt energetic, lively and capable of doing much more. And I did do more. I didn’t feel tired by the evening as I used to. I also didn’t feel the need to keep snacking. My metabolism was revved up and I felt great!

Take my advice and eat breakfast every morning. It’ll soon become a habit, a healthy one at that, which will have only good effects on your body.

To your healthy,

Kim Duess
You-Be-Slim.com
Your Natural Weight Loss Solution