A Case For Taking Small Steps in Your Weight Management Efforts

Often many types of changes associated with weight management and nutrition are expected to be extreme in order to bring about any meaningful results. This can make any efforts to achieve and maintain these changes quite stressful and daunting.

However, recently I was reminded how uncomplicated weight management can be if we just allow ourselves to just start with small steps. When a woman from Australia who lost 150 pounds after deciding to walk around the clothes line in her backyard, she proved how simple fitness can be.

It just shows that any exercise plan is only as good as the internal drive and motivation you have to get results. Many factors off course can impact the latter, but the important thing is that you begin somewhere, and a small first step is often a good place to start.

Find out about how the woman I spoke of earlier made long-term weight loss a reality for her.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-Free Food Experiences

Non-Diet Weight Loss with Effortless Physical Activity

In the previous article we spoke of differentiating between physical activity as a product of everyday natural activities vs. exercise which is much more regimented and planned. Now the question is how does that translate into your real everyday life? How can you make exercise effortless so that it fits into your lifestyle? Well here are a few suggestions to begin. Pick the ones most applicable to you.

• Have regular at-home dance parties. Put on the radio and according to the words of Lady Gaga "Just Dance". Involve the whole family or who ever you live with, or do it yourself. Dance as much as possible. Rhythm is not required. Dance while you are washing the dishes, if you are in front the bedroom mirror, etc. Use this most natural form of movement to your advantage. You could even try the new Just Dance game from Nintendo Wii if you need something more interactive.

• Take up a specific dance like salsa, belly dance, hip hop or any aerobic dance. The thing I like about dance is that it brings the element of good feelings and connection into the physical activity, and you are less likely to feel stressed by something which you have an emotional bond with. So other activities which can work include yoga, karate or kickboxing, tai chi, and alternative dances like the “journey dance”

• Pick up a sports activity or if you’re not so inclined, buy a Wii Activity system which simulates many fun activities including hula hooping, without requiring you to leave your home.

• Get a trampoline in the back yard or a mini-one in the bedroom and get on it as often as possible.

• Enjoy an outdoor swing (make sure it can accommodate you)

• Get a ping pong table or a “ice hockey” table in the game room, family room or in an extra room if you can.

• Roller blade in the backyard, in the park or at the skating ring.

• Go swimming-Water activities make for a wonderful fitness alternative

• Take a trip to a water park

• Walk in the neighborhood

• You’ve heard this one before, but take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. It really is fulfilling.

• If you’ve been thinking about it, adopt a dog. In some places, you can even foster a dog, so that you don't get into an unwanted long-term commitment if you are not ready.

I say a dog, because dogs are very high energy pets who force us to engage physically. We either play with them in the backyard or need to take them out on a walk. Either way both sides are enjoying physical activity.

• Take on a hobby. Although it would be good to adapt a hobby which allows for some physical exertion, it is absolutely not necessary. It could be anything from pottery making to painting. You're more concerned with the mental focus and stress reduction which hobbies often provide. This helps reduce stress-induced emotional eating and unwanted weight gain. If you are looking to lose weight, you won’t need to exercise as much. Also, a hobby is a wonderful way to combat emotional eating.

Often times, the activities we consider to be “child’s play” like the hula hooping and riding on a swing, roller blading and the trampoline, are often the most physically rewarding. Just think about it. Children who play often enjoy natural physically fitness. A sense of playfulness can go a long way towards us being able to naturally fit physical activity into our daily lives, aiding in our non-diet weight loss efforts as well as long-term weight management.

Free your physical health and weight management from restriction and strict, regimented control. Making physical activity more about what you already do than what you need to plan for, causes it be a more fun and sustained part of you life.



To Your Enjoyable and Guilt-free Food Experiences,

5 Reasons to Make Dance Your Exercise of Choice

Dancing is an engaging and continuous activity with great physical rewards. The reasons to make dancing your exercise of choice go way past the physical rewards.

1. Once you choose the dance that is right for you, there is no boredom because you are in enjoyment of what you are doing.

2. The range of dance choices is endless and you can even mix it up as you like. The many dances that are out there include: salsa, hip hop, urban, belly dance, tap dancing, samba…

3. You don’t require props or equipment or even a partner for most dances. Aside from comfortable clothing and good music, you really just need yourself. Even for dances like salsa which is usually enjoyed by two people, you can get away with practicing on your own.

4. Because dancing is more of a social activity, you can expand your social network and have fun with like-minded people as you are exercising. You find that people who are together in a dance class to be more likely to hang out outside the classroom setting. They also seem to be more likely to form friendships and act to enhance the dancing experience for each other.

5. You get to choose the level of monetary investment you put into it. Most dance classes will give you the option of paying per class, so you can choose as little or as many classes as you like. But dancing can be free too. You can dance at home. Also there are many opportunities to dance for free in a social setting-eg. Clubs and lounges with after-work, no-cover offers or happy hour. And let’s not forget the house parties-My house or yours?!

Most people love to dance and if they can’t dance they want to be at the place where the music and dancing is going on, because that’s where the action is. On the other hand, often you may have to bribe a friend to go to the gym with you! So need I more? Allow yourself to enjoy the most fun physical activity that I know of and "Just Dance".

5 Reasons To Have A Fun Exercise Routine That You Can Absolutely Love

Don’t we all want to exercise in a way that doesn’t have us expending a quarter of the day at the gym when we have already expended three quarters of it on work and family? Or perhaps you are just not a morning person like me, and the idea of getting up 5am every morning before work to jog in the park or go to the gym might be too much for you. And don’t even get me started on those winter mornings!
Shouldn’t exercise be sweet, fun and fit into our schedule?

From my personal experience, I have found squeezing in minutes of exercise in inventive ways have been more effective than hours at the gym. I am on a constant quest to find exercise alternatives that are fun, simple, and effective. I know there are many who would probably keep to an exercise routine if it met the above criteria.

Convince yourself now that exercise ought to be fun. Here are some reasons to support that notion:

1. Exercise on its own has been found to be a stress reducer, but when it is fun too, your heart is truly into it. This can be a true soul booster and you really feel the euphoria from the experience.

2. Fun in exercise fuels long-term desire.It puts you in the mode of wanting to do the activity which you find fun and enjoyable. Therefore you do it more often.

3. It is easier to solicit the involvement of family, friends etc. to become part of a fitness activity that is fun and enjoyable. Eg. Bicycling, playing basketball in the backyard with the kids, playing volleyball on the beach, going salsa dancing or taking a salsa class with the spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend.

4. It can open the door to like-minded people who help support you in your efforts to incorporate unconventional forms of exercise into your life.

5. Your exercise space is more likely to be in a 'non-exercise' environment such as your home, a dance studio, the beach, the park, your backyard etc. Therefore this removes the mindset of having to be in 'exercise-mode' as you would be in a gym for example; plus you are surrounded with the familiarity of your home, family, dog or whatever resonates comfort for you.

When you exercise for fun, you are there to be in enjoyment of the activity and this is the primary focus. In fact it's not exercise at all. It is just something you love doing.


The hardest part is getting ourselves to start somewhere, and often we may feel that if we can’t do the whole, long routine then we can’t do anything period. But it doesn’t have to be all or nothing with exercise. Anything that you can do gets your body working, and helps to build your motivation. So make it sweet, easy and fun always! Now there’s a new concept.