Ready, Set, Lose Weight

Losing weight — and keeping it off for good — requires both physical and mental preparation. You need to determine a weight-loss plan that you are able to stick with for the long haul. It's not easy, but there are steps you can take to stay motivated.

10 Ways to Get Psyched for Weight Loss

1. Commit. The first step is making a commitment to yourself. Make a commitment and then share that commitment with somebody else. This will make you more accountable to your diet, exercise plan, and weight-loss goals.
   
2. Make a plan. Think about you as a person, as a whole being, and come up with a plan that's going to be best for you. It should be a program that will help you lose weight, but also be easy to stick to. This goes for both diet and exercise.
   
3. Don't wait for the "right time." At one time or another, everyone has determined what they think is the perfect time to start a diet — after the holidays, after vacation, after tomorrow. Now is as good as any.
   
4. Get in the right mindset. Don't fall into an "all-or-nothing" way of thinking. You don't have to give up all decadent foods or exercise strenuously every day of the week. It's about small changes in your lifestyle that you can stick with and that will brings results overtime.
   
5. Be realistic. Think about how your life is right now, and what you can realistically achieve in terms of an exercise and eating plan. That means considering all aspects of your life, including work and family responsibilities. "If you will be traveling for business over the next two months, you probably need to think of a plan to eat in healthy restaurants instead of a stringent plan you would always need to modify.
   
6. Make time for exercise. Fitness is a key component of losing and keeping off weight. It's important to create an exercise plan that's realistic according to your schedule. Think about how much time you're going to have for exercise. Anything that gets you moving in the right direction is a good start. Decide to make physical activity part of every day. All those extra steps add up to pounds lost, and it's even easier when they're steps that you don't really consider exercise — like a walk during lunch hour or hiking in a park on the weekend.
   
7. Figure out what motivates you. Ask yourself questions to figure out what will help you meet your weight-loss goals. For example, "Do you need a workout buddy? A reward at certain goals? How can you incorporate healthy foods that you enjoy? What types of activity don't feel like work to you?" These answers will help you formulate a plan that you can stick with.
   
8. Don't think diet, think life change. Preparing to lose weight isn't about starting a diet, it's about "starting to make healthy adjustments that you're going to fit into your life. Being "on a diet" implies that it will end. To maintain a healthy weight, the diet and exercise changes you make in your life should be permanent.
   
9. Create a network for weight loss. "There's a social network that begins to develop as you start to attend fitness classes. Taking a yoga, aerobics, spinning, or kickboxing class gives you support. Make friends at the gym, or visit online community groups to find individuals with similar weight-loss goals. Not only will losing weight be more fun, but it will also be more effective.
   
10. Use outside resources. There is a wealth of information on the net, do some surfing.
    

It's not about preparing for a diet, but changing your life so that you don't need to diet. Eventually making healthy food choices and getting regular exercise will become a part of your day you don't even have to think about!

Getting Started / Get Moving

Get in the Swim

As exercise goes, swimming offers its own unique set of benefits. Besides providing a good workout for your heart and lungs, water offers constant, gentle pressure on every part of the body, which, in turn, helps improve circulation from the outside in, eases joint and back pain, and increases flexibility and range of motion.

A 2002 study by the American College of Sports Medicine showed that water-based exercises are especially beneficial to those who find it difficult to exercise on land because of pain or physical disability.

Water offers 12 times the resistance of air, so it's an excellent medium for strength training, especially if you add water toys, such as barbells, kickboards, noodles and other equipment. Whether you're 6 months, 6 or 60 years old, swimming is a lifetime fitness activity.

Beginner's 30-minute workout

Like exercising on land, it's important to organize your water workout into three parts: a warm-up, the main set and a cool-down.

For the warm-up, plan to spend five minutes getting your body acclimated and ready by treading water, water jogging in the shallow end or stretching by the side of the pool. Then, swim a few easy laps.

Don't make your first lap your fastest. If you exhaust yourself in the beginning, you'll spend your entire workout catching up.

For your main set, spend 20 minutes doing laps. You can either mix your strokes or concentrate on one. A good stroke to master is the hand-over-hand crawl or freestyle stroke, in which you gently flutter kick and coordinate your hand-over-arm motion so you rhythmically breathe from one side when your head is turned and your opposite arm is forward. Your fastest lap should be toward the end of the main set.

6 Pointers to Lift a Bad Mood

No one can live a long and healthy life without the will to go on; sometimes mood swings can make us feel that life is too much for us.

A bad mood not only gives you a gloomy outlook, it also lowers your immune function, leading the way to illness. Here are some suggestions to lift your mood, your spirit, and your health.

1. A Laughing Matter

"Laugh Therapy," pioneered by Norman Cousins, has turned out to have real substance. Research has discovered that laughter and joy boost immune functions, especially the production of the natural killer cells that help defend the body from illness and cancer.

Laughter also increases the release of endorphins - compounds that give you a sense of well-being - in your brain. Without a doubt, joyful people live longer and healthier lives. So read your favorite comics, watch your favorite comedies, and laugh it up!


2. Hands-On Healing

Human touch increases the production of endorphins, growth hormone, and DHEA, all of which lengthen your life span and lower the negative impact of stress. Studies have found that patients who are regularly touched recover faster than those who are not touched. So give someone a hug and feel both of your moods improve.

3. Boost Your "Youth Hormones"

You don't need pills to flood your body with a rejuvenating flood of growth hormones. Research has found that doing squats and leg presses will greatly increase your natural production of the "youth hormone". Increased growth hormone translates to an elevated mood, among other physical benefits. Keep it up with weight training, knee bends, push-ups, and rowing.

4. Take a Bracing Breath

Breathing correctly is important for dispelling the toxins and wastes from your body; in fact, it is estimated that we expel only about 30 percent of toxins in our bodies through the bowels and bladder-the rest is all respiratory. Breathing is also a great way to clear your mind, boost your energy, and improve your mood. Practice deep, slow, rhythmic, breathing daily with mind-body disciplines such as tai chi, yoga, qigong, self hypnosis and meditation.

5. Smell the Joy

Research has shown that smell has a definite impact on our bodies and minds. When you stimulate the olfactory nerves inside your nose, you activate the limbic system of your brain, which is associated with moods and memory. This concept is instrumental to aromatherapy, a natural health tradition that makes use of the healing powers of plants with strong scents.

Aromatherapy recommends treating depression with jasmine, eucalyptus for exhilaration, and grapefruit to increase alertness and joy. Just put a dab of the essential oils from these plants on your temples, back of your neck, or acupressure points. Another option? Boil the herb in water and inhale the steam through your nose.

6. Feel Fine with Flowers

There is a reason that flowers are the traditional get-well gesture. Colorful flowers have a powerful influence on moods; they can uplift a patient's mood and even combat stress. One study found that during a five-minute typing assignment, people sitting next to a flowering bouquet were more relaxed than those who sat near foliage-only plants.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!