I can't believe it's that time again. The holidays are behind us, and now we face the inevitable - the beginning of diet season. Yes, it's a vicious cycle: We eat without guilt as if there were no tomorrow. Then, as soon as the holidays are over, we awaken from our food coma and realize that we need to lose a few (pounds, that is). How to begin?
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We rush to the bookstore in search of an answer, or listen to the latest diet guru, who offers us some miracle-of-the-moment, hoping, just hoping, that it will miraculously make us fit. However, if you're like most of us, you'll end up falling prey to the bright neon doughnut and fast-food signs, as well as the many unhealthy food advertisements glowing from your TV set. If you've been there, done that in the past, how about doing something a bit different this year and setting some goals for yourself?
Reaching a weight-loss goal - or any goal - should never be about chance. Your ideal weight will not magically materialize if you dream about it long and hard enough. Instead, you must want to lose the weight badly enough to put a committed effort into making it happen. If you're serious about achieving a goal, you need to recognize that it requires some techniques and tactics - not willpower or simply "winging it."
Goal setting is critical to accomplishing any task. Is it possible to reach a goal without having a plan and a strategy? Of course it is. Almost anything is possible. If you want to significantly tip the odds in your favor, however, setting goals helps. In fact, a study appearing in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reported that good goal setting increases your chances of reaching your diet objective by 84 percent.
Keep in mind, planning your strategy and choosing your goals can be tricky. Goals need to be specific (i.e., how much weight do you want to lose) motivating (i.e., interesting enough for you want to achieve them), achievable (i.e., possible and realistic) and rewarding (i.e., worth having when you reach them). Strategies need to be tactical (i.e., you need a real plan), easy to evaluate (i.e., is the strategy working?) and revisable (i.e., if they are not working). Visit http://www.dietdetective.com/content/view/1326/156/ for more goal-setting tips.
All your goals and strategies should follow the guidelines above, but you still need to break your goals down into micro, short-term, midterm and long-term plans, and only you can determine which is which. As a rule of thumb:
* Micro goals are decisions in the moment that can help to change your life.
* Short-term goals are those that can be achieved in one to six months.
* Midterm goals can be achieved in six months to two years.
* Long-term goals are achieved in two to five years.
Overall and Long-Term Goals
Setting your overall, long-term goal is the first decision you need to make. This would be the equivalent of picking a location for your next vacation. In order to start the planning process, you need to know where you're going.
Micro, Short-term and Midterm Goals
Micro goals are about deciding that the next time you go to the fridge you will reach for the mustard instead of the mayonnaise.
Short-term and midterm goals are those that get you to your long-term objective, the ones you meet "along the way." They should be created to keep you excited, motivated and on-target, and to provide achievable objectives that bring you closer to your long-term goal.
You should start feeling good about your decision to lose weight right from the very beginning. To help you do that, start each week by choosing a micro goal you can meet within the next seven, 10 or 14 days. If you eat out frequently, you might decide that one of the restaurants you eat in next week will feature delicious, low-cal fish dishes. Or your goal might be to not eat out more than twice a week. Or maybe you want to try a new cardio-sculpt class at the gym.
If you plan to push yourself hard some weeks, be sure to balance your program with other weeks of attainable short-term goals. Keep in mind that your short-term goals are steppingstones to achieving your long-term goals.
It's also important to break down your short-term and midterm goals into categories that will help you to track the various aspects of your larger, long-term goal. Weight control involves a variety of issues including food choices, behavioral and psychological choices and physical activity. Do you need all of these to come together in order to lose weight? Not necessarily, but the more you can control, the better your chances of success. Take a look at each of the categories below, so that you have a starting point for setting your goals.
I. Food Choices
Think about how your present eating habits may be preventing you from losing weight. With this in mind, set one or two food goals that you would like to work on each week.
For example, you might decide:
* I will not skip meals this week.
* I will not snack on candy in the afternoon. Instead, I will have fruit or a bowl of low-calorie cereal.
* I will have wine with dinner only three nights this week, and I will keep it to one glass.
II. Behavioral and Psychological Issues
What is it about your lifestyle - or the way you think about yourself, food or exercise - that is a barrier to weight loss? With this in mind, set one or two behavioral/psychological goals you would like to work on each week.
Some examples of behavioral/psychological goals might be:
* I will eat only at the dining table when I'm at home. When I am tempted to eat in other areas of my home, I will remind myself of my long-term weight-loss goals and feel better about myself. (Eating in just one or two places helps to narrow the number of spots in your home that you associate with food and eating.)
* I will not watch TV while eating. (Eating consciously - not doing anything else while you eat - allows you to focus on your food so that you're aware of how much you're eating and actually enjoy it more.)
III. Physical Activity
Developing physical-activity goals is imperative for any effective weight-loss or weight-control program. These goals should be very specific in terms of how long, how much and how hard you exert yourself. They need to be realistic, and they should correspond to your overall goal. Remember that to lose a pound you need to cut roughly 3,500 calories from what you normally eat. So if, for example, your objective is to lose 30 pounds in a year, and you're cutting an average of 200 calories a day from your diet, you might want to make up the difference (about 90 calories) by doing an additional 20 minutes of physical activity each day. Any additional opportunity to move your body can help to make up the caloric deficit that will allow you to reach your goal.
Some examples of activity goals are:
* I will go walking for 15 minutes during my lunch break at least three times a week.
* I will walk up the three flights of stairs to my office every morning.
* I will ride go bike riding with my daughter on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
* I will institute a "no e-mail to co-workers" policy from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., during which time I will walk to co-workers' desks to communicate.
* I will run a 5K race one year from today.
Goal planning involves doing real work, but the good news is that once you do the initial work, maintenance and revisions are not nearly as difficult.
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CHARLES STUART PLATKIN is a nutrition and public health advocate, founder and editor of DietDetective.com, the health and fitness network and author of The Diet Detective's Calorie Bargain Bible (Simon & Schuster, 2007). Copyright 2007 by Charles Stuart Platkin. All rights reserved. Sign up for the free Diet Detective newsletter and iTunes podcast at www.DietDetective.com
WESTCHESTER, Ill. – A study published in the May issue of the journal SLEEP is the first attempt to quantify the strength of the cross-sectional relationships between duration of sleep and obesity in both children and adults. Cross-sectional studies from around the world show a consistent increased risk of obesity among short sleepers in children and adults, the study found.
"Slow Burn" trainer Fred Hahn offers up 20 fat-burning ideas!
After reading and reviewing his fantastic book entitled The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution in January, I was not just enamored by the overall fitness philosophy of personal trainer Fred Hahn who advocates lifting weights slowly as the safest, most effective way to build muscle. But after interviewing him at my blog and realizing he promotes a solid controlled-carbohydrate nutritional approach to work in tandem with the "Slow Burn" program, I knew Fred was somebody I wanted to hear more from in the future.
Not a day goes by that I don't hear from people wondering what they can do to help turn the tide of negativity about livin' la vida low-carb in our culture because of the tremendous changes that have happened in their lives as a result of making this healthy lifestyle change for themselves. When something this good happens to you, then you just can't help but go out and tell everyone you know about the amazing experience you have been able to enjoy thanks to low-carb living.
And yet, there's still this major barrier in the way of celebrating the victory that is deservedly ours--the opposition to low-carb diets that continues to dominate in the media from government groups such as the Food & Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture, and health organizations like the American Medical Association, American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association. The daily hammering of the high-carb, low-fat message gets to be a bit nauseating after a while and it tends to wear a lot of the enthusiasm down even from people who are very enthusiastic about the low-carb way of life. I'll admit it even happens to me from time to time.
A pioneer in the fitness industry, who has helped millions to get fit, Gilad Janklowicz, continues to inspire and lead, with his consistent message, “keep it simple”.
This year Gilad’s television show, Gilad’s Bodies in Motion, now airing on Discovery Fit TV, celebrates its 25th anniversary, making it the longest running fitness show in history. Seen in over 80 countries world wide, in a viewer’s poll conducted by Discovery, Gilad won the title of “Television Fitness Instructor of the Year” in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Recently Gilad created a new fitness show for Fit TV, Total Body Sculpt withGilad, designed to give viewers a dynamic new concept in fitness that focuses on functional exercises, dynamic strength, toning and core training. Gilad was inducted into Israel’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1991 and into the US National Fitness Hall of Fame in 2007.
No matter the medium, the message is consistent and commanding, states Gilad, "Fitness is a journey not a destination".
Heather Bauer is a Registered Dietitian specializing in the interrelation between eating habits, metabolism, and lifestyle. Since 2001, the has offered private diet and nutrition counseling through her New York city-based nutrition practice, Nu-Train.
Ms. Bauer received her RD from the University of Wisconsian and started her career in the pre- and post-natal nutrition unit at Maimonides Medical Center in New York, and as a nutritionist at Equinox Fitness Club in New York. She is also the author of The Wall Street Diet (Hyperion, 2008).
Calorie Bargain: Keep the Beat: Heart Healthy Recipes from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
The Why: The reality is that one in four American women dies of heart disease, and according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, “most fail to make the connection between risk factors—such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol—and their personal risk of developing heart disease.” Plus It’s a 2 days away from Mother’s day – and if this is a pretty good way to say you love your mom --- recipes to help her live longer. As the recipes in this special collection show, you do not have to lose flavor to gain heart health and "keep the beat". Enjoy "Crispy Oven-Fried Chicken," "Red Hot Fusilli," "Crunchy Pumpkin Pie," and "Summer Breezes Smoothie." Contains more than 100 pages of tempting heart healthy, taste-tested recipes sure to please you and your family. Turn your meals from "ho-hum" to "yum-yum" experiences.
Calorie Bargain: Quaker Simple Harvest All Natural Dark Chocolate Chunk Chewy Granola Bars (www.quakersimpleharvest.com)
The Why: When I first heard about these bars I was skeptical. Typically these large food companies make bars like these filled with ingredients you can’t pronounce. But these bars are not that. Not only do they taste great, they’re made with decent materials – including whole grain oats Nice job Quaker.
I can't believe it's that time again. The holidays are behind us, and now we face the inevitable - the beginning of diet season. Yes, it's a vicious cycle: We eat without guilt as if there were no tomorrow. Then, as soon as the holidays are over, we awaken from our food coma and realize that we need to lose a few (pounds, that is). How to begin? 
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A pioneer in the fitness industry, who has helped millions to get fit, Gilad Janklowicz, continues to inspire and lead, with his consistent message, “keep it simple”. 
Heather Bauer is a Registered Dietitian specializing in the interrelation between eating habits, metabolism, and lifestyle. Since 2001, the has offered private diet and nutrition counseling through her New York city-based nutrition practice, Nu-Train. 
Calorie Bargain: Keep the Beat: Heart Healthy Recipes from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Calorie Bargain: Quaker Simple Harvest All Natural Dark Chocolate Chunk Chewy Granola Bars (