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You know those suggestive little voices that whisper in your ear ... and suddenly you're knee-deep in ice cream? Change the sabotaging, discipline-destroying thoughts, and you can change your life -- or at least your weight.

You're out to lunch and you've ordered the grilled cheese. Don't say, "I ordered the grilled cheese, so why not get the fries, too?" Instead, think this to yourself: "One treat at a time. I'm indulging in grilled cheese, so I'll trade the fries for a salad."

University of Toledo psychology professor Janet Polivy calls it the "what the hell" effect and says it causes people to devour so much food that they feel they'll never get back on track.

To prevent this scenario from playing over and over, Polivy says, you have to redefine your idea of healthy eating. Allow yourself the occasional treat, as long as it's accompanied by smarter food choices like fresh fruit and vegetables.

If there is a treat nearby, don't fall into the "I'll have just one" trap. Instead, say to yourself: "If I can't stop at one or two cookies, I shouldn't have any at all." It's okay to eat your favorite foods, provided you're the type who can stop after a small amount.

"One cookie could turn into 1,000 calories or more if you proceed to eat the whole bag," warns Stephen Gullo, PhD, president of the Institute for Health and Weight Sciences. He suggests that you take a step back and honestly assess how you've reacted to your favorite foods in the past. You may discover that chocolate chip cookies trigger uncontrollable cravings but one square of dark chocolate appeases your sweet tooth quite nicely.

Even if a loved one as close as your husband comments on your weight, say to yourself: "I want to get in shape for myself, not him."

Whether or not you need to shed a few pounds, acting in response to someone else's hurtful remarks will breed self-doubt and lower your self-esteem, says Marlene Schwartz, PhD, co-director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders in New Haven, Connecticut.

To reset your weight loss goals so they revolve solely around you, sit down and figure out how you could benefit from changing your lifestyle. (Writing your thoughts out on paper might help.) If you identify areas that need improvement, talk to your spouse about how they can play a part: Plan low-fat weekly menus together in lieu of eating out, or take walks after dinner instead of watching TV.

Alternatively, if you're exercising, eating right, and feeling pretty healthy the way you are, Schwartz says, "tell them that this is their problem, not yours."

In the dead of winter, it can be hard to stay motivated. Don't put getting in shape off until summer. Instead, think this to yourself: "By eating more now, I'm creating a lot of extra work for myself when spring rolls around."

A study by scientists at the National Institutes of Health tracked 195 people through the holidays and found an average weight gain of about a pound. By the following year, most had gained another half pound, and the researchers predicted that the trend would only continue.

If being overweight is a prevalent trait in your family, say to yourself: "I can't change my DNA, but I can change my fate."

"Genetics helps determine your natural weight range, but you have some control over where you fall within that range," says Edward Abramson, PhD, an expert on obesity, dieting, and weight disorders and the author of Body Intelligence. Rather than aiming for a size, aim for health: If being overweight is a family trait, diabetes, heart disease, and other obesity-related illnesses could be, too, Schwartz says.

Walk to the grocery store, choose the stairs over the escalator, and take good care of the body you were born with. "It's important to distinguish between body size and body health," she says. "Research shows that people who are overweight and physically fit can live longer than people who are ideal weight and not physically fit."

So you've had a fantastic workout. Does that mean it's time to reward yourself with a bacon double cheeseburger? Not exactly. If you're tempted, say to yourself: "After busting my butt at the gym, my body deserves the VIP treatment."

"Most people overestimate the number of calories they've burned," says Brian Wansink, PhD, a professor of marketing, applied economics, and nutritional science at Cornell University and author of Marketing Nutrition.

To burn off a bacon double cheeseburger, the average 140-pound woman has to jog at a rate of five miles per hour for more than 60 minutes. Recast your concept of reward: Instead of seeking food, take a luxurious bubble bath, rent a guilty-pleasure movie, buy a new pair of shoes, or lose yourself in a good novel.

We've all experienced that mid-afternoon energy slump. Instead of reaching for a candy bar, remind yourself that you need food that will help you go the distance. Candy and other sweets have little nutritional value, and they destabilize blood sugar, causing you to have more cravings later on, Gullo says.

To head off a snack attack, he suggests, "reprogram yourself to seek out a mini-meal 30 minutes before you usually hit a slump." By eating before you're famished, you should be able to resist the sweet stuff and choose foods with enough protein, fat, and complex carbs to keep you sated and energized until dinner. Some of Gullo's top picks: bran crackers with low-fat cheese, a hard-boiled egg, or a cup of low-fat yogurt.

Well-being is optimal physical, emotional and spiritual health. This is something of a new concept in medicine but the idea is now gaining ground and is workable thanks to breadth of knowledge we have in each of these area. Well-being is simply a question of balance, rather like a constantly fluctuate.

There are three motives for which we live; we live for the body, we live for the mind, we live for the spirit. No one of these is better or holier than the other; all are alike desirable, and no one of the three--body, mind, or spirit--can live fully if either of the others is cut short of full life and expression. It is not right or noble to live only for the spirit and deny mind or body; and it is wrong to live for the intellect and deny body or spirit.

We are all acquainted with the loathsome consequences of living for the body and denying both mind and spirit; and we see that real life means the complete expression of all that we can give forth through body, mind, and spirit.

Whatever we say, no one can be really happy or satisfied unless his body is living fully in every function, and unless the same is true of his mind and his spirit. Wherever there is unexpressed possibility, or function not performed, there is unsatisfied desire. Desire is possibility seeking expression, or function seeking performance.

We often measure wellbeing as happiness or satisfaction with life. The search for happiness is often confused with the pursuit of pleasure, but wellbeing is about more than living ‘the good life’; it is about having meaning in life, about fulfilling our potential and feeling that our lives are worthwhile.

Well-being is not only about a healthy body, it also encompasses mental and emotional well-being. Maintaining a good level of well-being can therefore be quite a challenge.

To maintain your well-being you will have to be vigilant and prepared to change. Listen to yourself and your body and do not rely on a health regime that is inflexible.

To actively enjoy a way of living that keep body, mind and spirit in good health, it helps to learn more about your body and treat it, as it deserves to be treated.

When you have sorted out your personal well-being, you are likely to be little less inclined to envy the possessions, wealth, or health of others. Once you feel secure, confident, healthy, well adjusted, and focused, you can branch out with ease and assurance.

Always remember to keep aware that your being is made up of there parts, mind, body and spirit.

The old adage "use it or lose it" is truer than ever. People who maintain a vigorously active lifestyle as they age gain less weight than people who exercise at more moderate levels, according to a first-of-its-kind study that tracked a large group of runners who kept the same exercise regimen as they grew older.

The study also found that maintaining exercise with age is particularly effective in preventing extreme weight gain, which is associated with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and other diseases.

The study, conducted by Paul Williams of the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), followed 6,119 men and 2,221 women who maintained their weekly running mileage (to within three miles per week) over a seven-year period. On average, the men and women who ran over 30 miles per week gained half the weight of those who ran less than 15 miles per week.

"To my knowledge, this is the only study of its type," says Williams, a staff scientist in Berkeley Lab's Life Sciences Division. "Other studies have tracked exercise over time, but the majority of people will have changed their exercise habits considerably."

The research is the latest report from the National Runners' Health Study, a 20-year research initiative started by Williams that includes more than 120,000 runners. It appears in the May issue of the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Specifically, between the time subjects entered the study and when they were re-contacted seven years later, 25-to-34-year-old men gained 1.4 pounds annually if they ran less than 15 miles per week. In addition, male runners gained 0.8 pounds annually if they ran between 15 and 30 miles per week, and 0.6 pounds annually if they ran more than 30 miles per week.

This trend is mirrored in women. Women between the ages of 18 and 25 gained about two pounds annually if they ran less than 15 miles per week, 1.4 pounds annually if they ran 15 to 30 miles per week, and slightly more than three-quarters of a pound annually if they ran more than 30 miles per week. Other benefits to running more miles each week included fewer inches gained around the waist in both men and women, and fewer added inches to the hips in women.

"As these runners aged, the benefits of exercise were not in the changes they saw in their bodies, but how they didn't change like the people around them," says Williams.

Although growing older and gaining weight is something of a package deal, it isn't the same in everyone. The lucky few remain lean as they age, most people pack on several pounds, and some people become obese. The latter group is particularly at risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. Fortunately, Williams' results show that maintaining exercise can combat such extreme weight gain.

"Getting people to commit to a vigorously active lifestyle while young and lean will go a long way to reducing the obesity epidemic in this country," says Williams.

Another paper published in the journal Obesity by Williams and Paul Thompson of Hartford (CT) Hospital found that runners who increased their running mileage gained less weight than those who remained sedentary, and runners that quit running became fatter.

"The time to think about exercise is before you think you need it," says Williams. "The medical journals are full of reports on how difficult it is to regain the slenderness of youth. The trick is not to get fat."

Forget so-called “energy drinks.” A new analysis by University of Georgia researchers finds overwhelming evidence that regular exercise plays a significant role in increasing energy levels and reducing fatigue.

“A lot of times when people are fatigued the last thing they want to do is exercise,” said professor Patrick O’Connor, co-director of the UGA exercise psychology laboratory. “But if you’re physically inactive and fatigued, being just a bit more active will help.”

Health professionals encourage regular exercise to prevent or improve symptoms of conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity, but the scientific evidence on whether exercise increases or reduces fatigue had never been reviewed quantitatively. O’Connor, kinesiology professor Rod Dishman and lead author Tim Puetz, who recently completed his doctoral work at UGA, analyzed 70 randomized, controlled trials that enrolled a total of 6,807 subjects. They found strong support for the role of exercise in reducing fatigue.

“More than 90 percent of the studies showed the same thing: Sedentary people who completed a regular exercise program reported improved fatigue compared to groups that did not exercise” O’Connor said. “It’s a very consistent effect.”

The study, published in the November issue of the journal Psychological Bulletin, quantified the magnitude of the effect of exercise and found that it was stronger than the treatment of fatigued people with drugs such as the narcolepsy drug modafinil. Specifically, the researchers found that exercise increased energy and reduced fatigue by 0.37 standard deviations when compared to control groups, whereas participants in a previous study taking modafinil had an improvement of 0.23 standard deviations.

Puetz notes that their analysis found that nearly every group studied – from healthy adults to cancer patients to those with chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease – benefited from exercise. He acknowledges that it may seem counterintuitive that expending energy through exercise would increase feelings of energy and reduce fatigue, but he points out that previous studies have shown marked increases in the levels of energy-promoting and mood-enhancing neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin in the brains of animals that are placed in regular exercise conditions.

“We live in a society where people are always looking for the next sports drink, energy bar or cup of coffee that will give them the extra edge to get through the day,” Puetz said. “But it may be that lacing up your tennis shoes and getting out and doing some physical activity every morning can provide that spark of energy that people are looking for.”

Unfortunately, spending time sitting in a chair and hunched over a computer is no way to keep yourself in shape. The same goes for an office. Here’s a few discreet ways around this problem which faces lots an’ lots of us daily. They’re quiet and will have a very small impact on your time at work.

1) Push-ups: Pushups are one of the best ways to strengthen your chest, shoulders, arms, abdomen and lower back. That’s half of your body. I’ve been told many times that if you only have time to do one thing and you want a workout, then do push-ups.
- Lie face down.
- Place your hands on either side of your shoulders, with your thumbs at the middle of your chest with you feet about shoulder width apart.
- Push yourself up off of the floor. Pause for a moment at the top and then exhale as you lower your body back down.
- Bring your chest about two inches from the floor, not all the way back down.
- Repeat.

2) Stretch: The benefits of a good stretch are many. It can improv your posture and help promote muscle symmetry. Basically, if you sit slumped in an office chair all day working at a computer you can significantly add to the natural slumping fo the shoulders that occurs with age. This is just one example of many, but you get the idea. Stretching also feels good and promotes a short term increase in circulation and alertness simpley because you are moving. There’s a great primer here on how to stretch effectively and safely in your cube or office.

3) Drink Some Water: Try and always have water near you to drink. Most people don’t know what they’re missing because they walk around dehydrated all the time and they become normalized to operating in this condition. If you’re hydrated you can think clearer, your skin will look and feel better and your mood will generally improve. Skip the soda machine and bring a water bottle to work.

4) Sit on an Exercise Ball Instead of a Chair: This will look silly, but it will also provide your core with a great “passive” sort of workout throughout the day. You see, lots of little muscles we rarely use will get used in order to keep you balanced while you work. It’s not even something you’d notice if you weren’t looking for it, but it’s there. Improved core strength is great for many reasons. It improves your balance as well as helps protect all your important bits in your torso when you’re doing strenuous activities like playing a sport.

5) Sit-ups: Oh, man doing sit-ups sucks. The reason it sucks is because you’re working a part of your body that rarely gets attention. Doing Sit-ups will help strengthen your abs which can ease back pain. Having nice abs or maybe, just not having that beer gut, can go a long way to help getting you laid as well. (And the health bennies of that are numerous.)

Womens Fitness Home

Fitness Fact 1. Studies have suggested that walking at a brisk pace for three or more hours a week can reduce your risk for coronary heart disease by 65 percent.

Fitness Fact 2. About 25 percent of American adults — and an even greater percentage of women — are sedentary. After age 44, upwards of 30 percent of women are sedentary, and by age 65, the proportion increases to almost 35 percent. By the time they reach age 75, about 50 percent of all women are sedentary.

Fitness Fact 3. Only about 22 percent of American adults engage in regular, sustained physical activity for at least 30 minutes five times a week, and only 15 percent exercise both regularly and vigorously.

Fitness Fact 4. No matter how poor your current level of fitness, you can start an exercise routine and become fitter and healthier. Even 90-year-old women who use walkers have been shown in studies to benefit from light weight training.

Fitness Fact 5. Simply adding movement into your daily routine can increase your level of fitness. For example, if you park in the last row of the parking lot and walk briskly five minutes each way between your office and your car, walk up and down the stairs at your office during your 10-minute afternoon coffee break, and walk the dog for 10 minutes when you get home, you've racked up 30 minutes of exercise for the day.

Fitness Fact 6. Women with heart disease or arthritis actually experience improved daily function from involvement in various modes of physical activity.

Fitness Fact 7. Fitness consists of four components: your body's ability to use oxygen as a source of energy, which translates into cardiovascular fitness; muscular strength and endurance; flexibility; and body composition.

Fitness Fact 8. To address all the components of fitness, an exercise program needs to include aerobic exercise, which is continuous repetitive movement of large muscle groups that raises your heart rate; weight lifting or strength training; and flexibility exercises or stretching.

Fitness Fact 9. Walking at a brisk pace (a 15-minute mile or 4 mph) burns almost as many calories as jogging for the same distance. The benefit of jogging is that it takes less time to cover the same distance and it benefits the bones; however, it may be too strenuous for some.

Fitness Fact 10. It takes about 12 weeks after starting an exercise program to see measurable changes in your body. However, before 12 weeks, you will notice an increase in your strength and endurance.

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Are you a smoker who would like to quit? Opinion polls show that a majority of people who smoke, would also like to quit. The reasons to quit are obvious—health, quality of life—and longevity being some of them. You know why you should quit, and may even have tried to quit several times, only to start smoking again. Remember, smoking is more than a physical addiction, it is a psychological addiction as well.

Here are some tips to help:

1. Make a list of times that you reach for a cigarette. Write down how you feel, where you are, and if you really want the cigarette or are just lighting up out of habit.
2. Set a "Quit Day" and make sure that plenty of people know about it. Accountability can be a GREAT motivator.
3. Find others who would like to quit with you. This will allow you to go through the experience with other people. When you feel like having a cigarette, make sure to talk to one of these people, or to someone else to whom you are accountable.
4. Find a time to quit when your stress will NOT be high. For example, a vacation would be a good time.
5. When you feel like smoking, wait a few moments to see if the feeling will pass.
6. Set times during the day that you will not smoke, such as when you are on the phone or in the car. Gradually increase the amount of time you are not smoking.
7. When you feel like smoking, distract yourself with a conversation or with physical activity.

You can become smoke-free for life. Millions have done it—you can too

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Are you a fast eater?

Do you blitz through meals like a chainsaw through soft wood? When you're at work, do you usually eat a quick lunch at your desk? Or even worse, eat breakfast or lunch in the car, on the way to work ot to appointments?

Well, as a reformed fast eater, I can tell you there's a better way. And slowing down your eating could make a big difference in your weight, your health...even your enjoyment of life.

First, let me explain what's happening when you eat fast.

Typically you're eating on the run or at your desk because you are very busy and trying to fit the meal in. So you're under time pressure. Not the most conducive environment for eating.

Eating fast puts tremendous stress on your body. When you gulp down your food, without really tasting or enjoying it, you mess with your digestive system.

More importantly, you're stressing yourself to the point that your body actually begins to release stress hormones, such as cortisol. This does three things.

First, it slows down the digestive process. Second, it slows down your metabolism. Third, it increases the amount of insulin in your bloodstream causing your body to deposit more fat from the calories you are taking in.

What a triple whammy on your body! Add in the indigestion you are likely to experience as you rush to that next meeting....it's definitely a recipe for eight gain and stomach problems.

If you're eating in such a way as to decrease your metabolism and promote
fat storage, then you're likely to a gain weight.

Excess weight can exacerbate other health conditions. And it makes it harder to get in gear and exercise to control or reduce your weight.

Eating quickly also causes major digestive problems. In fact, it's estimated that eating too fast is a major cause of acid reflux disease, or GERD.

A little factoid here: did you know that digestive aids and stomach relief medicines are the number one type of product sold over the counter in the U.S.? They sell more of these than they do painkillers.

What does that tell you about the stress that we are under - or more correctly,often put ourselves under.

Acid refluz is an incidence of inflammation in your body. Remember, inflammation is systemic: where there's smoke, there's fire. Inflammation in one part of your body can lead to inflammation elsewhere, such as heart problems, arthritis...even Alzheimers.

If you are interested in losing weight, or improving your enjoyment and quality of life, do like the French do: slow down.

Set aside the time to actually sit and enjoy your meals. Even if you can't do this for every meal, try to take more time more frequently. See how many meals per week you can eat in a more relaxed manner.

And free yourself from the chains of your desk. Yes, oh corporate hard charger, you CAN go out to lunch once in awhile. Or take your sandwich and drink outside to a park bench and soak up some sun while you are
dining.

Here's one more very important thing you can do, even when you don't have a lot of time for your meal.

As you begin to eat, take 5 to 10 deep breaths. And try to take some deep breaths while, and immediately after, you eat.

This will naturally and quickly relax you, allowing you to enjoy your meal. It will limit or eliminate the release of stress hormones. And it will literally ncrease your metabolism, so your body will more efficiently process and use those calories.

You'll burn more of what you are eating as energy. Your body will have less reason to deposit those calories as fat.

Trade fast eating for deep breathing....and see how much better you feel as you go through your day.

You Can Do It!

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Wanna lose belly fat, get healthier, and look better for spring? Then speed up your workouts! A recent study from Duke University found that people who perform regular higher-intensity workouts were able to significantly lower their abdominal fat levels and lose weight relatively quickly.

However, people who only did low-intensity exercise (like walking at an easy pace) for 30 minutes per day, 5 days a week did not lose any belly fat -- in fact they gained an average of 1 1/2 pounds over the course of the 8-month study!

According to Duke researcher William Kraus, MD: "All exercise helps prevent fat gain... but to lose abdominal fat, you have to work harder."

The 30-minutes-per-day, 5-days-per-week walking regimen that so many doctors and weight loss "gurus" recommend is certainly better than not exercising at all, and it may help to prevent weight gain. But, at least according to this study, it's not going to put a real dent in your fat stores.

There's a lot of evidence that abdominal fat is more dangerous than other types of fat. Studies have linked it to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. So getting rid of it is about more than just "looking good" -- though that's not a bad side effect. If you want to lose belly fat simply boost your exercise intensity, eat a healthy diet, limit alcohol intake, and try to reduce stress levels.

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Weight-lifting is one of the fastest ways to see changes in your body but too many people are scared away from it by horror stories of women turning into bulky Schwarzenegger clones as well as torn ligaments and other afflictions. The reality is nothing like that; women will firm up, not bulk up, and when you lift weights properly there’s practically zero risk that you will injure yourself. Don’t miss out on the benefits of weight lifting any longer; start one of these simple routines and be on your way to firmer muscles right away! Follow the exercises described below and incorporate them into your exercise plan at least three times per week, and you will start to see results in as little as three weeks. Pair you’re weight lifting up with daily cardio exercise and watch your body truly reinvent itself!

Begin by assessing your current strength level. If you are a member of a gym, the staff can help you determine the best weight for you, but if you’re a home exerciser, don’t worry. Invest in a good set of dumbbells that range in weight from three to ten pounds (more if you are an old pro at weight-lifting and expect to increase your strength considerably). Hold the 5-lb. weight in your dominant hand and do as many bicep curls as you can before tiring. If you can do more than 15 curls without feeling your muscle tire, you need to use a higher weight. On the other hand, if you were only able to do twelve repetitions or less, you should probably use a lower weight until you have built up more strength. Between twelve and fifteen reps means the five-pound weight is appropriate for you right now.

Once you have identified the right weight for you, the next step is to know the right form to use. Proper alignment is crucial to avoiding injury and getting the most out of your workout, so stand up straight as you move the weight and remember to keep your shoulders back and lifted and your head high. Imagine there is a string attached to the top of your head that is pulling your body straight. If you feel yourself begin to hunch over or slouch, stop and take a deep breath and then resume your good posture. Staying in alignment earns you the most results from your workout.

Build Upper Body Strength

This is a simple routine that you can easily incorporate to your preexisting workout schedule. Simply add these exercises three to four days per week and watch your muscles become shapely and defined.

Bicep Curl (tones front of arms)

The classic move, bicep curls can be underestimated and overused if you’re not careful. It’s not just about lifting a weight up and down; when done correctly, this can be one of the most powerful moves in your arsenal. Begin by holding one weight in each hand with your palms facing inward. Rotate your arms out so that your palms now face to the front and slowly lift the weight almost one hundred and eighty degrees until your palm and the weight face your shoulder. Slowly lower the weight back to its original position and then repeat. By slowing down the speed of the movement, you force the muscle to work harder than it would with the momentum of a fast action. This develops the bicep muscle faster and better. Repeat this move for three sets of 25 repetitions for each arm.

Tricep Press (tones back of arms)

The tricep muscle can be one of the most difficult muscles to develop primarily because most people do not use it very often in daily life. Running along the back side of the arm opposite to the bicep, the tricep muscle can turn flabby and droopy without exercise. The best move to tone saggy arms is to begin standing with feet shoulder-width apart with weights in hand. Take a giant step forward with your right foot, lean forward slightly and then raise the weights behind you with your palms facing the ceiling. Raise the weights toward the ceiling as far as possible and then slowly lower. Repeat this move for three sets of 20 repetitions: on the final repetition of each set, hold your arms up and gently pulse the weight up no more than a few inches. Asking your tricep muscle to squeeze every ounce of strength out of it will start to show serious results in a short amount of time.

Overhead Raise (tones shoulders)

Shoulders can be neglected when you focus on improving the arms, but having strong, healthy shoulders is vital to many everyday movements. Strengthening the shoulders will allow the arms to grow stronger as well and improve your overall upper body muscle. Begin by standing with weights in hands about shoulder height. Slowly lift the weights overhead and then lower. Repeat the movement for three sets of 25 repetitions. This move tones the muscles that run on top of your shoulder and increase performance from the bicep. When these muscles grow in strength, they complement each other and increase effectiveness as well as turning your muscles into lean, beautiful powerhouses.

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Who doesn’t want a more attractive bottom line? Exercise mavens note that shaping the glutes (gluteus maximus, the official name for the muscles of your tush) is the single item most likely to appear on the priority lists of both men and women on all ages. It tends to creep its way up the priority list over the years as age and nature take their inevitable toll on the bottom line. The loss of muscle mass that goes along with aging is the prime culprit in sagging tushes and dropping bottom lines. However, say a fitness expert, that doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything to tone your tush, even in the golden years.

If you’re looking to shape up your butt with just exercise, though, it won’t be that easy. According to Women’s Sports & Fitness magazine, it takes a combination of healthy diet, cardio exercise and specific shaping exercises to get that shapely, rounded and firm bottom that is everyone’s goal. Because the rear end is one of the body’s storehouses for fat, you can shape and firm the underlying muscles all you want – but it won’t make a difference if you can’t see them through the layer of fat that covers them. In addition, some of the best butt-sculpting exercises are ones that can be hazardous if you’ve been diagnosed with osteoporosis or arthritis. Here are the best tips for seniors who want to tone their tushes – the safe and fun way.

Before undertaking any exercise program, see your doctor to get his blessing. Exercise is a good thing – and most doctors will be happy to refer you to a professional who can help you design a workout program that’s perfect for you.

Take a good look at your diet and tune it up. Eating healthy will help keep that fat padding over your bottom to a minimum and let all the effort you’re putting into toning your tush show through.

The best toners for your tush are stair-climbing and jogging – exercises that work those gluteus muscles to the max. They also have the advantage of being aerobic – they’ll keep your cardio and pulmonary systems working at top capacity and reduce the risks of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis and osteoporosis.

To get maximum benefit from your walking and jogging, you can add light weights to ankles. That way you also take advantage of strength and resistance training that can strengthen your bones and help improve your balance.

If your doctor or physical therapist Okays them, squat thrusts are amazingly efficient at sculpting your bottom into shape. Because one-leg thrusts put all your body’s weight on one leg, you’ll be practicing balance as well as improving your bottom line. Don’t do these if you have osteoporosis or any type of arthritis, though. The risk of compression fractures is too great.

If your doctor feels that jogging and stair climbing are too risky because of joint problems, it doesn’t mean you can’t work those glutes. Jogging and working out in water takes the pressure off joints and eliminates impact stress entirely, while increasing the benefits of most exercise because of the added water resistance. Check with your doctor to be sure, but most experts feel that water aerobics are an excellent alternative to high-impact and joint-stressing exercises like jogging.

Another alternative to high impact, weight bearing aerobics is chair aerobics. Seated exercise may sound like a contradiction in terms, but you can get one heck of a good workout for your butt with leg bounces, knee lifts and crossing scissor-kicks all without ever standing up on your own two feet.

Among the physical activities that are great for your bottom are golfing, walking, swimming, jogging, dancing and bowling. If a regular exercise program isn’t for you, engage in one of these activities three times a week (or three of them once a week or.. you get the idea) for at least half an hour.

A regular workout and exercise program that focuses on toning your tush is a great way to keep your body looking – and feeling – young and healthy. Don’t let a sagging bottom bring your spirits down – join in the fun and trim your bottom line.

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You’ve heard the stories: weight training makes women look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, exercising on an empty stomach burns more calories, and more. While some fitness myths make sense on the surface, deeper examination proves these stories are simply made up and have little or no basis in reality. Let’s tackle five of the most common myths and check out the real story behind them.

1. No pain, no gain – Perhaps the most common myth out there is this one that says if you don’t feel pain when you exercise, you’re not doing it right. The truth is absolutely opposite: exercise done right should never be painful and professional trainers recommend that you stop your workout at the first sign of pain. The logic behind “no pain, no gain” says that you can’t expect good results without sacrificing something – twisted at best, downright sadistic at worst. Exercise should be something you enjoy or else you very quickly become disillusioned and drop it entirely. While an intense workout may create slight discomfort, it should never get to the point where you are in actual pain.

2. Training with weights bulks women up – Few women want to look like professional bodybuilders, so this myth scares thousands of female exercisers away from weights every day despite scientific evidence to the contrary. The physiological differences between male and female bodies decree that men have a higher percentage of muscle throughout the body; thus men tend to increase bulk with weight lifting. On the other hand, female bodies have a higher percentage of fat to assist with childbearing and have less muscle to build and bulk up. Weight training for women is aimed at producing stronger muscles that can take more stress and bounce back better than ever.

3. Exercising on an empty stomach burns more calories – This one seems like it should make sense since exercise burns calories and an empty stomach has no calories to burn. It seems like you would be ahead of the game! Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. Your body needs energy to run, so when you exercise on an empty stomach the body has to find fuel somewhere else. The body tries to provide energy while looking for it at the same time and can get overwhelmed, resulting in the risk of dizziness or even fainting in extreme situations. The smartest choice is to have a small snack about ten to fifteen minutes before working out. Carbohydrates are the best source of energy, so have a small slice of toast or a banana.

4. Crunches are the best way of firming up the stomach – Too many videos and articles send the message that hundreds of crunches are the best way to correct a jelly belly but fail to take into account that most saggy abs are because of excess fat, not weak muscles. Simply doing crunches alone strengthens the abdominal muscles but doesn’t address the layer of fat over the muscles. You may see your stomach appear to grow larger since the muscles are gaining strength underneath the fat layer. The best strategy for getting firm abs is simple: burn fat and strengthen abdominal muscles at the same time. By using a two-pronged approach, fat that covers muscles is burned and the muscles are firmed at the same time, accomplishing your goal and giving you strong, sleek abdominal muscles.

5. Protein will help build muscles – Protein can do great things for your health but it won’t help you increase your muscle strength. Too much protein in your diet can lead to unintended health risks such as kidney strain or dehydration. Extra protein also packs extra calories into your diet that can result in extra pounds – definitely not what you want. The best source of fuel for weight lifting is carbohydrates – easily digestible by the body, carbs provide fast, consistent energy for the body and allow you to continue lifting weights longer. That alone is what builds strength, not the specific kind of food you eat. Provide your body with the right kind of energy to use and you’ll be able to build muscle better.

There are many more myths about health and fitness, but the best defense against false information is education. When you are confident that you know the right plan for your body, spotting myths become easy.

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The yoga craze of the late twentieth century ended up segueing into the Pilates craze of the early 2000’s but many people questioned the exercise value of both. Despite media hoopla, few people actually seemed to understand the physical benefits of either. The truth is that both forms of exercise have unique approaches to fitness and can provide significant benefits for the strengthening and conditioning of the body. Though similar in the focus on strengthening the body through isometric movements, the paths of yoga and Pilates ultimately diverge.

Yoga was developed over five thousand years ago in Northern India. It is first mentioned in the sacred Hindu text Rig Veda. During its first clear period, yoga was practiced and refined by Vedic priests, who documented the practice in their writings. Patanjali, who is considered by most to be the father of classical yoga, fostered the next phase of yoga’s development. Following Patanjali’s broad expansion of yoga and its meanings, Tantric yoga became accepted as the new form of yoga and concentrated on cleansing both the mind and the body. Yoga finally neared its modern form in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when more and more Indian yogis traveled to the West, sharing their art and increasing the world’s interest in yoga. The 1947 premiere of Indra Devi’s yoga studio in Hollywood became the opening bell to the American fascination with yoga. While most incarnations of yoga have had a strong spiritual element, modern Hatha yoga does not align itself with any religion or spirituality; instead it focuses primarily on the yoga postures and using them to reach and maintain strength and flexibility as well as inner calm.

Compared to yoga, Pilates is a spring chicken in terms of age. Joseph Pilates, who was born in Germany and suffered frail health as a child, created the program. Pilates overcame his childhood sicknesses through exercise and began to create a system of physical development that would later become his legacy to the world. In his thirties, Pilates traveled to England to work as a self-defense instructor to Scotland Yard but was forced into an internment camp during World War I. Despite the hardship of internment, Pilates went about his business within the camp, teaching his physical program to his fellow internees. During the terrible flu epidemic of 1918, thousands of people died, but none of Pilates’ protégés were affected. Following the war, Pilates returned to Germany but left for good when asked to teach his method to the German army. Settling in New York City with his new wife, Pilates opened his first fitness studio. He taught thousands of students until his death in 1967 at the age of 87. Trusted students carried on with the Pilates name and method, and by the early twenty-first century more than 5 million Americans were practicing Pilates.

Despite the wildly different histories, yoga and Pilates share the same focus on developing the muscles of the body and strengthening it by primarily using the body’s own resistance to build up power. The postures of yoga and the movements of Pilates are sometimes strikingly similar, but ultimately the two follow separate roads. Yoga has spawned a multitude of varieties that range from Kundalini to Iyengar to Tantric, though Hatha remains the most popular form in the United States. Many first-time yoga practitioners can find the pace to be overly slow or grow impatient while waiting to see results. The best candidate for Hatha yoga is a person who appreciates time to slow down, meditate, and spend quiet time with oneself, and does not become easily discouraged by failure to immediately master a pose. Yoga requires a certain measure of patience and while this can be developed through practice, lacking it can make the first several weeks of yoga practice very trying for a person. The good thing about yoga is that it rarely requires extra equipment. You will need a yoga mat to begin with but after that, accessories are optional. Blocks, straps, and other tools can be helpful, but are not required.

Pilates is a method that is fairly easy to master. It doesn’t call for complicated movements and is usually straightforward and simple to understand. The program’s movements also tend to build strength fairly quickly so that results are apparent sooner than in yoga. The ideal Pilates practitioner should be able to discipline himself to complete his routine every day, which is a large part of the method. Attending classes is a great way to start but for the maximum results, the method should be practiced daily to benefit the body. Pilates typically doesn’t require many props or accessories, though advanced practitioners will probably want to add machines or tools to their collection in order to maintain a high level of fitness.

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Pilates. Looks almost like Pirates, but sounds more like string cheese. Actually the pronunciation of Pilates is puh-lah-teez. So what is it? A weird kind of coffee drink like a latae? Something with pulleys? An odd way to say please?

To explain what a Pilates is you have to go all the way back to a gentleman by the name of Joseph Pilates. This poor guy was your typical 98 pound weakling and sickly to boot. He had no energy, no strength and quite honestly was in terrible health. Finally he decided to do something about his terrible condition. To do this he developed a health system. He may have been sick but obviously not dumb. This system consisted of yoga, Zen philosophy, and a number of exercises taken from ancient Romans and Greeks.

During the second world war Pilates was held in a German prison camp. While he was there he introduced these exercises to other prisoners at the camp. These exercises helped the prisoners maintain their strength and fight off illness. While he was doing this he also developed other techniques for working out on the floor or a mat. He started developing equipment as well that he made out of bed springs and other materials. This equipment was perfect for creating resistance which aided in strengthening the muscles. What he developed in this prison camp and what he taught the other prisoners is what was the start of the current Pilates movement. The modern version is a series of exercises made for the purpose of improving flexibility and strength through a series of stretching and balancing movements.

The group of people who are most attracted to this system are dancers, especially ballerinas. This should be fairly obvious as to why since dancing requires a lot of strength and agility and a great deal of flexibility. The regiment is also said to aid in preventing injury which dancers are very prone to. Pilates is said to strengthen the body from the inside out. And in addition to that the effect this system has on the mind is supposed to be very beneficial as it helps to relieve stress and anxiety.

Chiropractors highly recommend Pilates for the strengthening of the back and spine. They say after a sufficient amount of time using this system a person can expect increased mobility in the joints, a flatter stomach, thinner waist and thighs, and improved circulation.

Pilates is a low impact routine, meaning it does not cause a lot of stress on the body since there is very little bouncing as with other forms of exercise. This makes it very attractive to people rehabilitating from an injury who need physical therapy. It is also good for elderly and overweight people as it increases circulation and reduces weight gradually. For those with arthritis this is also a good routine as it helps ease stiffness in the muscles. It is also said to get women back into shape who have just had a baby.

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Getting and staying in shape doesn’t have to be dull and boring! Try some of these fun fitness activities to make your workout time more enjoyable.

MUSICAL EXERCISES – Put on your favorite music and do some yoga! No need for slow, elevator music. Move to your favorite beat. Or pop on the headphones or earphones and grab your MP3 or cassette player or handheld PC and bike to a nearby park. Too cold or rainy? Then head to a mall or other enclosed area where you can walk. Caution: make sure you are alert while listening to music with headphones or earphones.

FUN IN THE SUN – Check out the latest tanning solutions and try fun, scented versions with funky, multi-colored sunglasses. Grab your cassette player or MP3 player and favorite tunes. And pack some flavored water, new flavored health bar that you’ve been dying to try and some frozen berries in your carryall for breaks and have a “sense”-ational time.

FITNESS CLASSES – Try out a new fitness class for fun. Enjoy a full water aerobics workout with less stress on your joints. Grab some colorful water gear and swim to the beat. Or try a dance or Jazzercise routine. No need to commit long-term, just ask about popping in for a class or two to check it out and enjoy. Meet new friends and get fit all at once.

VCR / DVD – Head to the library or local rental store and grab a fun fitness video or DVD. Crank up the sound when your favorite tunes come on and join the taped workout participants in the privacy of your own home.

GYM / FITNESS CENTER – Dig out those coupons you’ve been receiving in envelop mailers and those money saving coupon magazines. Again, no need to commit long-term. Just head on over and use the free or low-cost trial / invitational period and enjoy!

JOURNALING – Spice up your logging routine with an inexpensive new journal from a discount or dollar store nearby. Crate snazzy charts with colored markers. Add bright colored stickers for each workout. Paste or tape clipped pictures of your goals throughout the covers and inside sections. For example, paste pictures of that vacation spot you want to travel to with your new, healthy YOU wearing a new swimsuit.

So add some fun in with your fitness activities. Wake up your senses with new taste, smells, sights, touches and sounds. Forget that “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” stuff. Workouts plus play make Jack a fun, fit boy!

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When you’ve got a busy schedule crammed full of meetings and work, you don’t have time to mess around with your workout. You want to get the best results possible for the time you invest – the good news is that you can get extra benefits with just a few simple changes to your workout!

1. Keep proper form.

One of the most common mistakes in exercise is not maintaining the right form during the workout. Bad form can lead to muscle pain and stiffness but, more importantly, bad form prevents you from burning as many calories as you normally would. Maintain good posture during exercise and you’ll build more muscle faster!

Take giant steps.

During your cardio workout, take deep, wide steps to shape up your thighs and buttocks. By taking a larger step than normal, you require more effort from your muscles – more effort equals more strength and shapeliness. Short, shallow steps don’t place enough stress on the muscle to produce fast results, but when you change to bigger movements, you start to see serious muscle taking shape. The same concept is true for running as well: runners who take long, deep strides burn more calories and cover more distance than short-striders.

Listen to your breath

During a cardio workout, check your breathing to see how hard you’re truly working. If you can carry on a conversation with ease, it’s time to increase intensity. How to know when you’re at the right level? The general rule of thumb is that when you can sing the national anthem but need a breath after every phrase, you’re most likely at the appropriate level for your needs. You should never work out so hard that you can’t talk or begin to feel faint.

Double up your workouts.

Add weights to your cardio routine (or vice versa) and you can start to see results within three weeks! You really see the best of both worlds by using interval training. Interval training is highly effective because you introduce your body to a new challenge every five minutes or so. Traditional cardiovascular exercises focus on building aerobic capacity while weightlifting concentrates on increasing muscle strength. Combining the two into one interval training workout means you get benefits from both!

Add variety.

The fastest way to become disillusioned with your workout is to do the same thing over and over again, plus your body can become conditioned to the movements and fail to burn as many calories as you would like. Avoid all this by surprising your body with new and different challenges at least once a week. If you typically run several times during the week, try hiking at a nearby park. If you’re a Spinning devotee, take a Pilates class instead. The ultimate switch-up for most exercisers is swimming: an exercise that requires much more aerobic and muscle strength that imagined. Do a few laps in the pool and you’ll see what I mean.

Challenge yourself.

Set a goal for yourself every week that is beyond your normal effort. Try lifting weights that are five pounds heavier than you normally use, or walking three miles daily rather than two. Small goals like this are easily attainable and can make big changes in the results you see from your workout.

Introduce yourself to stretching.

Stretching is sometimes the crazy uncle of the exercise family – nobody really wants to talk about it, but the fact is stretching is key to getting more out of your workout. Stretching assists in muscle recovery from strenuous workouts and can prevent soreness that might stop you from working out. Your entire body feels more comfortable when you have strong, flexible muscles. Spending a few minutes when you wake up and again before and after your workout really add up in terms of flexibility.

Don’t exercise on an empty stomach.

Sure, it may seem efficient to work out when you haven’t eaten in hours but in reality it’s a bad decision. When your body’s fuel supply is low, you start feeling sluggish and slow – definitely not the ideal mood for a productive workout. An empty stomach does not equal more calories burned.

9. Snacks, not meals, provide the best fuel.

After dining at the all-you-can-eat buffet, you may feel like you should work out just to compensate for overeating, but don’t do it. Exercising on a full stomach can lead to cramps, upset stomach, and/or diarrhea because your body is trying to digest the meal and also provide you with energy at the same time. The best way to fuel your body without nasty side effects is to have a small snack 15 to 30 minutes before you exercise. Ideal snacks include foods with adequate carbohydrates: bread, cereals, and rice.

Drink plenty of water.

You’ve heard it over and over, but it really is true: water will help you lose weight. Water helps fill your stomach to stop hunger pangs and keeps you alert throughout the day. When you become dehydrated, your entire body slows down and works much less efficiently. Working out causes you to lose hydration through sweat, so it’s important to replace lost water after a workout.

We all run short on time these days but by incorporating one or more of these simple strategies you can maximize your workout time and see fantastic results fast!

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While most of us know that consuming excessive amounts of fat will make us fat, we don't all understand exactly why this is true. To implement a successful weight management program, you need a good understanding of fat and why this nutrient makes us fat.

The amount of energy a particular food has depends on the quantity of fat, carbohydrates, and protein it contains. Food energy, both in its consumption and expenditure, is measured in terms of calories. Foods are either made up of fats, protein, carbohydrates, or a combination. A food that contains mostly fat will contain more than twice the calories than a food containing mostly carbohydrates and/or protein. For example, compare a serving of low-fat yogurt to a serving of nonfat yogurt--the low-fat yogurt has quite a few more calories than the nonfat variety because every gram of fat has more than twice the calories of a gram of protein or carbohydrate. Fat contains 9 calories per gram; protein and carbohydrates yield only four calories per gram. Therefore, it is important that you move towards replacing foods high in fat with foods higher in protein and complex carbohydrates.

No more than 25 percent of your total calories should come from fat, fewer than 10 percent from saturated fat, the most damaging form. A recent study of 23 lean men and 23 obese men found little difference in the total number of calories each group consumed. But the obese men consumed, on average, more than 33 percent of their total calories from fat, compared with 29 percent for the lean men. Because the body converts dietary fat into body fat more easily than it converts protein and carbohydrates into body fat, the obese men were storing more fat even though both groups consumed the same total number of calories.

During the process of converting protein and carbohydrates to fat, your body uses them as energy and burns more than a quarter of their calories; it takes more energy (calories "burned") to convert carbohydrates and protein into body fat than it does to convert dietary fat into body fat. Thus, more carbohydrate and protein calories are used and fewer are stored as fat. Dietary fat, on the other hand, goes straight into storage, with very few calories being used. For example, John consumes 2,000 calories a day of which 40 percent come from fat. If John replaces half of the fat calories (20 percent of total calories) with calories coming from complex carbohydrates, less food will be converted to body fat even though the total number of calories consumed has not changed.

It is important to note that when that 20 percent of the 2,000 calories from fat now comes from carbohydrates (or protein), you consume a lot more food, since each gram of carbohydrate or protein contains less than half as many calories per gram. Therefore, when you begin to decrease the amount of fat in your diet and replace it with carbohydrates and protein, even if you still consume the same amount of food as before, you will be consuming a lot fewer calories.

If dietary fat were easy to control, most "diets" would probably succeed. Even with the recent explosion of low-fat and nonfat products, people generally still eat too much fat. The reason is simple: We have grown up loving fat, and we are accustomed to its taste and texture. Although most people do not usually crave fat as they do sugar or salty foods, we do have a strong taste preference for fat. Fat is responsible for the flavor and texture of many of our favorite foods: meats, cheese, dressings, sauces, creams, desserts, etc.

Because a high-fat diet increases fat storage and yields more than twice the amount of calories, the most effective way to reduce body fat is to concentrate on reducing your daily fat intake. Even if you do not consciously lower your total caloric intake, making the switch to a low-fat diet will most likely result in fat loss. However, attempts to suddenly restrict high-fat foods when you still have a strong preference for them causes feelings of deprivation which may, in turn, cause a higher intake of fat than normal. Deprivation is part of the "diet" process, and one of the main reasons it is doomed to fail. It is very important to make gradual, healthier changes to the foods you enjoy. Drastic changes backfire. When people base their food choices on the number of calories consumed and a "foods allowed/not allowed" list, the focus is on numbers rather than satiety and enjoyment of the foods' taste and texture. This often negates any positive effect the original focus on choosing low-fat foods may have had. Simply counting calories and grams of fat does not make for a permanent healthy lifestyle change. If tastes do not shift to enjoying foods lower in fat, this quickly becomes too restrictive and normal eating habits resume.

I'm not saying that you should avoid counting grams of fat altogether. The way to lower fat in your diet is to become a fat-conscious eater--and this requires that you know the amount of fat in each food. However, instead of counting fat grams and deciding if it is a "good food" or a "bad food," try to balance the foods you are eating so that you average 25 percent or less of your total calories from fat each day. It's okay to have a piece or two of high-fat pizza (pizza can be low-fat) if you are truly hungry and craving it, as long as you balance that out with low-fat foods at other meals soon after. What's crucial is to learn how to make small healthier changes. Consume fat in moderation by balancing higher fat foods with lower fat foods.

You should now have a better understanding of fat and why excess consumption of this nutrient makes us fat. Your greatest challenge, however, is not learning new low-fat shopping or cooking techniques. Nor is it remembering how to calculate fat percentages or what to say to the waiter to reduce the fat in your restaurant meal. The greatest challenge facing you at this moment is deciding whether you are willing to make a change--to make small, gradual changes to the foods you love.

Sure, there is plenty of work to be done, but it really doesn't matter how long this new process takes. If you allow changes to take place over several years, your body will adjust comfortably, and you will be more likely to maintain the healthy lifestyle permanently. When you begin achieving improvements in energy and physical and psychological performance, the fun and excitement you experience will make the change well worth the effort. Action creates motivation! Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the wonderful benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle.

This article was provide by Chad Tackett, President ofGlobal Health and Fitness. Please visit his site at www.global-fitness.com

A safe and effective weight management program is not a plan that you go on and start over when you've been "bad." You must become flexible enough to allow it to become a comfortable, enjoyable way of life. Then these healthier habits will work with you and for you rather than against you. As you experiment, you will discover what works best for you.

Diets teach us that changing our exercise and eating habits are short-term projects rather an improved lifestyle. Headlines and advertisements everywhere read "Lose 30 pounds in 30 days," and most people believe them. They go on and off diets, start and stop exercise programs, and their weight--and self-esteem--go up and down. Unfortunately, most people don't realize that there is a real alternative to diets, so they jump back on the diet roller coaster when their weight goes back up or a new miracle diet comes on the market.

In order to break free from the diet mentality, you need to view these healthier changes you're making as part of a permanent lifestyle transformation. To gain the lasting benefits of this program, it is important to re-orient short-term thinking towards realistic goals.

Goal setting is a great way to stay motivated and achieve the results you deserve. Unfortunately, many people set goals simply to look better in the short run and not for the other many benefits a healthy lifestyle offers us in the long run. For example, setting a short-term goal of losing 10 pounds for a class reunion isn't helpful. Once the reunion is over, most people will either revert to their previous habits because the special event is over or simply quit all together because the goal they set was unrealistic.

Living a low-fat lifestyle and decreasing your body fat takes a long-term commitment. Trying to do it all at once, however, only makes you frustrated and discouraged. Instead, set a realistic long-term goal; then achieve it by reaching smaller, short-term goals. For example, if your goal is to decrease your body fat by 10 percent, shoot for modest goals, such as decreasing your body fat by one percent each month. Decreasing body fat slowly is not only the safest and most effective way, it is also the most realistic. Every goal, short-term or long-term, should be one that is truly attainable.

Every goal should also be one that you are in charge of. Setting a short-term goal where you are in charge, such as exercising four times a week, will help you achieve your long-term goal. Remember--and remind yourself: each time you reach a short-term goal, you are one step closer to achieving what you really want: a healthier, more attractive body.

Focusing on how you're going to look and feel at some time in the future prevents you from enjoying the way you look and feel today. Focusing instead on the day-to-day process rather than the end result paradoxically brings about a better end result. Thinking only about the future reminds you of how far you still have to go rather than focusing on what you should do today.

If you happen to overeat, or eat a high-fat meal, or skip a workout, enjoy it; don't worry about it ruining your program or your future. Shift instead to living low-fat and healthy the rest of the day. By taking it one day at a time, you can do a better job of concentrating on what's working for you and what's not, how you're feeling and what you're thinking.

For example, perhaps you've just enjoyed a low-fat version of your favorite pizza, using healthy cooking techniques you recently discovered. You can't believe how great it tasted and how easy it was to prepare. Focusing on this present moment, when you're feeling satisfied, energized, and confident, helps you stay more balanced in your decision-making about food and exercise. On the other hand, reflecting on this scenario from a future focus might leave you feeling overwhelmed: "Boy, do I have a lot still to learn about healthy cooking. I'll have to experiment with my favorite foods for the rest of my life!"

Setting small goals and acknowledging all the small achievements on your path are essential to successful change. Remember, successful programs are for life--take it one day at a time. Good luck: I hope you enjoy all the many great benefits of a succussful weight management program.

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