Real Women Real Weight Loss

April 13th, 2009

22lbs-weight-loss

This photo is not “photoshopped” in any way, and she’s a real mom (unlike the fake tales of fake dieting mom).

That’s a 12-week “before and after” photo. In that photo, she lost 22lbs, and shrunk her “mommy belly” by over 4.5 inches.

Very impressive.

Her name is Adrienne Smyth, and she’s just one of the many women who participated in Holly Rigsby’s Fit Yummy Mummy Transformation Challenge 2009.

You can read their inspiring stories there, and help to vote for a winner.

Holly Rigsby is the author of Fit Yummy Mummy, someone worthy of learning from when it comes to slim down and getting fit.

When Was Your Last Failed Diet and Why?

March 23rd, 2009

5 Most Common Reasons Most Diets Are Designed To Fail You.

So many fail all kinds of diets, all the time. And it’s not for the lack of trying and efforts, as a matter of fact, many of us tried so hard to the point that “normal” people around us would think that we are nuts, even admire our “will power”.

How could we fail?

But we know too well, most of the diet plans we tried so hard to follow resulted in nothing but stress and frustration, and all the “hard work” in between, we still ended up in abandoning the diet plan all together.

It’s not you, it’s the diet.

With most diet plans out there, most people don’t even have a chance to succeed with it. These diet plans are designed to fail (albeit may not be intentional).

5 of the most common reasons your last diet plan failed you and why.

(Credit note: this is taken from renowned “former-obese-guy turned healthy-and-fit guyJon Benson (of “Every Other Day Diet” fame), who by the way, is a solid, stand up and real guy that has actually “been there, through it all, and done it”.)

Reason #1: “I lost interest faster than I lost weight!”

Why: No variety in foods. And by variety, we mean it must include those normal foods you love to eat.

Think about it, if you can eat the normal foods that you love and still be able to lose weight, wouldn’t it be easier for you to continue with the plan?

Reason #2: “I felt trapped, as if every meal was a chore.”

Why: The good news is that a totally healthy weight-loss meal plan does NOT have to be a chore. In fact, every meal can be one you look forward to.

The secret to eat any food you actually enjoy eating and still lose weight is to know exactly how to “manage” your these foods and meals (the foods you love).

Reason #3: “I could not stand the thought of dieting like that for the rest of my life!”

Why: Who could stand the thought of having our future limited? But that’s exactly what most diet plans do. They limit your choices, they limit your eating times, they limit your appreciation for food, and they make you feel guilty for enjoying all that life has to offer.

In another word, they limit your chance of successful weight loss to begin with.

Reason #4: “I had serious food cravings that drove me nuts!”

Why: Many diets fail because they don’t address the seriousness of cravings. This is because most diet creators have never had a real craving and they don’t know how addictive high sugar foods can be.

You need the “will power” of a superman to succeed at these diets.

How many normal people have this kind of “will power”? (I don’t know anyone! Do you?)

(“Will power” is such a totally overrated concept that’s not only useless but utterly misleading, and it can be blamed for many unnecessary stress and frustration in many aspects of our lives.)

Reason #5: “I didn’t like the feeling of not fitting in socially!”

Why: The pressure to eat in social circles is huge. Many diet programs create a wedge between you and the world you live in by telling you to “just say no.”

How many times you are the one at your best friend’s birthday party who says “I can’t”… to the cake?

There you have it. So when was your last diet failed you and why?

Share your thoughts by commenting here. Thanks!

Set Your Goals Like An Olympian And Achieve Them One by One

March 16th, 2009

Turned Off By Goal Setting

Goal setting has long been touted as the most important part of self improvement, and often seen on many “high octave” pitch seminars, or late night “life changing” infomercials, usually with the speaker on stage or camera, with fully animated gestures, jumping up and down,  yelling and shouting…

Unfortunately, this has actually turned many people off, and they abandoned goal setting altogether.

But really, setting goals is essentially important for anyone who aspires to achieve anything at all. Specially when it comes to losing weight, setting goals becomes all that MORE important. It’s all part of getting the mental aspect of weight loss right.

Learn and master how to set goals properly is an art. It takes time and practice to get it right.

But once you get it right, not only will you be able to set real important goals, but also you will actually achieve them and on time. It is one of the most POWERFUL tools you can have in your own hands to dramatically impact and improve the quality of your life.

The question is HOW?

While doing research on goal setting, I came across this little known website: www.actionisking.com. Unlike many other copycats who rehash upon out dated “how to”s, it’s taken a whole different and unconventional way of thinking.

While it touches upon a much broader subject, its goal setting segment is certainly worth a read (listen).

Here are some quotes taken from the site:

Most personal development gurus suck.

Dr. Phil, who weighs in at about 245 pounds, gives people advice on how to lose weight! I’m sorry, but the dude is only 6’2". I don’t care how you spin it, he’s overweight.

Napoleon Hill, author of Think & Grow Rich (millions of copies sold), lived most of his life destitute and poor, and had to be rescued from poverty at the end of his life by a friend who took pity on him.

And this resonate with me the most:

Learn how to set goals directly from Olympic athletes, not personal development ‘gurus” who have nothing but rehashed “pretty and sound-good-on-paper” theories.

Master your goal setting and following through skills, there will be nothing that can stop you from becoming a master of your own self and achieve whatever you want to.

How to Quickly Change (Speedup) Your Metabolism

March 3rd, 2009

We all know that metabolism is the rate at which your body burns fat. The faster is your metabolism, the faster your body can burn fat and the faster you  can lose weight for real.

For those who were born with a fast metabolism,  they usually don’t even have to worry about metabolism.

But if you were not so “lucky” to be born with a fast metabolism, there is good news.

The single most important thing you need to know about metabolism

This is all you need to know about metabolism: no matter what metabolism you were born with, it CAN be changed, and can be changed AT WILL.

How can you do that?

Simple (albeit not easy), force your body to adapt a new routine that includes:

1. Eat more often (but not more amount).

When you eat more often, you are “signaling” your body that there are more food to come, and no need to store fat at a fast rate.

You can start by simply breaking up whatever you are eating daily into 6 portions and eat them every couple of hours or so, instead eating them in only 3 or less meals.

It’s one of the “regulating signals” that are very important in your quest for real weight loss.

2. Be physically active in a systematic manner, in other word, start an exercise routine, especially one that involves “weights”, be it gym weights, or body weights.

Weight training is the most effective way of burning fat, simply because weight training grows your muscle mass, and muscle mass is the regulator of metabolism. The more muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism will be.

It’s important to begin to realize this: your body must consume (burn off) lots of fat in order to grow new muscles. 

3. Do this consistently, for a certain amount of time (12 weeks for example).

It’ll take some time to “teach” your body to adapt the new metabolism rate. The good news is that once your body adapts to a new, faster metabolism rate, it will tend to stay that way, thus naturally burns fat faster than before.

It’s a simple principal: “what’s in motion, tends to stay in motion”

This is a sure fire way to not only lose weight for real, but also transform your body’s own behavior into one that burns fat effectively, and thus keeping the weights off without you even having to constantly battling with it, as so many do “yo-yoing” from one diet fad to another.

Though sounds simple, it is not easy for sure. The key is to tackle it (weight loss) in a systematic approach.

Take a different approach than what you’ve been doing before but didn’t work, really think about and set your goals, and get on with a good “system” that are designed help your succeed, not those that are designed to make you fail so that you can come back over and over again to spend more money with them.

We will talk about more on this in the coming posts.

The Truth About Acai Berry & Weight Loss

February 20th, 2009

It’s Not The Fault of Acai Berry Itself

I held nothing back in exposing the rampant Acai Berry weight loss marketing scams, now in this post let’s take a real good look at acai berry itself and examine what it is and what not.

I’ll also talk about how NOT to be a victim of the marketing scams while buying acai berry products.

After all,  it is not the damn berry itself that’s to blame, it is the way it’s being promoted by unscrupulous marketers:

  • As a weight loss miracle pill
  • Using a  “Bait Offer” (the “free trial”) to get your credit card info and your authorization to charge you monthly

Ironically, one of the reasons that these “miracle claims” and scammy ads are still everywhere, is the fact that acai berries DO have some tremendous REAL health benefits that have long been established way before it is marketed as a “weight loss miracle”.

As a matter of fact, back in 2007, CNNMoney.com ran a story titled “Sumner Redstone’s Anti-Aging Secret“, telling how the then 84-year-old Sumner Redstone (the media mogul who controls Viacom and CBS) would give out bottles of acai berry juice to the likes of Bill Clinton, claiming that acai berry juice has made him feel better than ever. “Just about every friend I have is on it”, he would claim, “I know I look a lot younger than I am. I feel like I’m 40 years old”.

Oddly enough though, despite all that, acai berry was not marketed as a longevity supplement, it remained mostly unknown.

Until 2008, Oprah Winfrey chimed in on the health benefits of Acai berry

But let’s be very clear though, Oprah NEVER said anything about “acai berry=weight loss”, or anything along that line…

So What Are The Real Benefits Of Acai Berry?

The Most Obvious and Immediate Benefits of Acai Berry

Energy boost.

This is probably the most obvious and immediate effect users may experience after taking authentic and quality acai berry capsules or juice.

However, it should NOT be construed as a fast weight loss supplement, as many marketers would have you believe.

It WON’T miraculously

“flush out” your excess pounds or

“burn away” your fat

After all, you’ve spent years building up those “excess pounds” or fat (didn’t you?).

One thing is for sure, you won’t benefit from any of those short run “free trials”, or any “hit & run” style or pattern of consumptions. If “fast weight loss” is what you are looking for, you will be totally disappointed.

What We Do Know About Acai Berry so far

1. It is a powerful natural energy booster.

It seems to work by “rejuvenating” your body from within, thus giving you a healthy, even and lasting energy boost on a daily basis, unlike other short-term “artificial” energy boosters (think Redbull or the likes) that actually harm your body by giving you short lived energy “highs”, only to have it crashing down to lower “lows”.

2. It is high in antioxidants and the easiest for human body to absorb.

In another word, not only acai berry has very high antioxidant contents, but it is also the easiest antioxidant content that human body can fully absorb.

Many other foods also have high antioxidant contents, such as red beans, wild blue berries, etc. But only those from acai berries can be easily absorbed by human body.

3. Acai berry can be more helpful than any other foods in the prevention of, in no small part due to its high and easily absorbable antioxidants, diseases caused by oxidative stress such as heart disease, cancer, etc.

4. It can “interfere” (positively) with aging process and the disease process.

It’s not the “fountain of youth” by any stretch of imgination, but the rich and easily absorbable antioxidants is extremely important in neutralizing the build up of free radicals in our body as we age, thus “repairs” and “lessens” aging related common symptoms.

5. Other NATURAL goodies that acai berry can give us

Rich in healthy fats, like the all essential Omega-3, 6 and 9, all helpful in the prevention of heart and liver diseases.

Rich in amino acids and protein. Protein is of vital importance to muscle growth, while muscle is an important regulator of metabolism.

Rich in natural minerals, vitamins and fibre.

6. It has no side effects (if taken normally)

Should You Buy Acai Berry Products?

That depends on how and what do you want to use it for.

Obviously you should consider quality and authentic acai berry products as part of your “self-investment” toward your own overall well being.

But if you’re thinking of “fast weight loss”, don’t bother, you will be disappointed and frustrated.

Here are some pointers:

1. Think of acai berry as a health supplement that contributes to your overall well being, or supports your living a healthy and active life style.

2. Use it as a “jump starter”. Take advantage of Acai Berry’s energy boosting nature,  use it to help you get started with your already planned weight loss programs, or whatever physical activities that you’ve always wanted to take part in, but didn’t due to lack of energies.

If you have a well-planned weight loss program that combines healthy dieting and physical training, then using acai berry to jump start your “full blown” weight loss program will give you the best results.

3. Use it in “stages”.

Forget the “free trial”, just get a 3-month supply, pay it in full, so that you don’t have to worry about the monthly billing thing.

After the 3 months, stop and evaluate your progress. You should be feeling great by now.

Where to Buy Quality Authentic Acai Berry Products Without Being Ripped Off?

A very honest and reputable company where you can buy the best Acai Berry capsules without any hassels or worries that you’ll be scammed is a company called Perfect Supplements. Not only they are very customer care oriented, but they have some incredibly good acai berry products. They offer a straight forward deal, and you won’t be scammed by them.

Not only their acai berry products are of high quality and authentic, they are not one of those unscrupulous, “flight by night” marketers who would go out of the way to defraud consumers.

As long as you are not seeking a “fast weight loss” magic pill, you will be very happy with what these little acai berries can do for you. Just make sure you buy it from a reputable source.

Don’t Fall For Acai Berry “Free Trial” Scams & Fake “Dieting Mom” Reviews

February 16th, 2009
Acai Berry

Brazilian acai berries

Another Day Another Victim

Today I heard from my mom that one of her friends just bought into one of those Acai Berry “free trial” offers.

Everywhere you look, you see these “Free Trial” offers all over the place. “All you need to pay is shipping and handling”, they all say. And they all have Oprah or Rachel Ray’s name as well as some big name media logos plastered all over their pitch page, as if they are being endorsed by all the parties.

On top of that, you have these fake “dieting mom” blogs poping up everywhere, strangely resembling each other and all telling a similiar fair tale like weight loss success miracles, by using the 1-2 punch of Acai Berry plus some “Colon Cleanse” pills…

Only recently, the BBB revealed that they have recieved an alarming amounts of complaints about these “free trial” offers which promoted them to issue a nationwide consumer warning on acai berry marketing scams.

Despite all these warnings, people are still falling for it in troves.

While the biggest reason that many people fall for this kind of marketing scam is due to the fact that they are always on the quest for that one last little magic pill that’ll finally set them free from weight problems, to finally “melt” their fat away like butter in a hot plate, it’s actually not that simple.

One of the reasons for this is that many people just simply have no idea how this marketing scam works.

Here’s How The Scam Is Set Up & The Trap They’re Getting You Into

Their “formula” is very simple:

1. Lure you in with a “free trial” offer

You pay shipping and handling, thus giving out your valid credit card and authorize them to charge you per THEIR TERMS that are well hidden in fine prints.

Below is a quote from one of these fine prints (actual product name withheld):

    “I understand that by ordering Acai Berry …[product name withheld], I am agreeing to receive Acai Berry … for a 14-day trial period (days of availability for actual usage could be less depending on shipping time) beginning on date of order. Three dollars and ninety five cents (non-refundable) [$3.95, see how they "hide" the dollar amounts in block of texts!] for S&P. I understand that unless I cancel by calling 801-xxx-xxxx [actual number withheld] within this 14-day period, beginning on the 15th day my credit card will automatically be charged eighty nine dollars and thirty one cents [that's $89.31 per month] for a 31 day supply of Acai Berry…. Thereafter, until and unless I cancel, my credit card will automatically be charged an additional eighty nine dollars and thirty one cents every 31 days for a new supply of Acai Berry …”

2. Make it impossible for you to cancel on time.

Don’t be fooled by the seemingly “easy” call to cancel reassurance, because when you do call to cancel, that’s when you realize things are about to get ugly.

You will very likely encounter every dirty little trick in the book designed to defeat, deter and delay your cancelation, until you are charged at least one big fat follow on charges, if not more.

  • Line busy all the time.
  • You are disconnected (somehow) right after you finally got through.
  • Even if you do manage to get through after wasting who knows how long and how many tries, just when you are about to state your case, somehow the line is mysteriously disconnected yet again.
  • Or you will be bounced around between their bogus “departments”, and somehow get disconnected in the process (how convenient!).

You may have to go through this whole aggrevation process over and over for days, usually way past the extremely short cancel deadline, and AFTER you have already been charged the first $89 or so.

In most cases, the best you can accomplish is probably only to stop the ongoing charge of $89 -$130 per month to your credit card. It is very unlikely that you will ever get back the first $89 or more that you got charged for failing to cancel before the short deadline.

3. Hit you with monthly charges left and right, even on services you have no idea about

What else are they tagging onto your credit card charges? Let’s see their fine print again:

“I would also like to take advantage of the the 21 day bonus trial to Bonus#1(PriceLimbo) for eight dollars & fifty one cents a month [that's another $8.51 per month for something you don't know anything about] thereafter, should I choose not to call and cancel Bonus#1(PriceLimbo). I also agree to the (21) day bonus trial to Bonus#2(FitFactory) for twenty-nine dollars and ninety five cents each month [that's yet another $29.95 per month for something you have no idea about]thereafter, should I choose not to cancel….” [what on earth are these charges?] For questions or to cancel, please call our Customer Support team at 1-866-xxx-xxxx M-F, 9am-9pm, EST. [this is a totally different number than the other one, the more numbers you have to call to cancel, the more likely you will miss the cancelation deadline - all designed to make sure that you WILL be charged no matter what you do!]

Wow! You see where this is going?

Here’s a quick recap, you will be hit with:

  • $3.95 for the “FREE” trial bottle the day you order.
  • $89.31 on the 15th day from your order date
  • $38.46 ($8.51+$29.95) just 7 days thereafter.

For a total of $131.72 in a flash, and then $127.74 PER MONTH!

Many people are so frustrated by the hellish and next to impossible cancelation process in order to stop the non-stop monthly charges, they have to litereally cancel their credit cards.

What about those “rave reviews” that are popping up everywhere?

Well, it won’t take a rocket scientist to realize that those “rave reviews” by “dieting moms” pushing the scammy ‘free trial’ offers are nothing but total BOGUS.

It beats me why FTC even allows practices like these continue to defraud consumers on mass.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the (I’m sure) wonderful health benefits of acai berry, or authentic acai berry products, it’s that these unscrupulous scammers taking advantage of our vulnerabilities and explore our weakness (desire to lose weight quickly) that gets on my nerves.

Let’s face it, the scammers will never go away, they will always be there, ready and willing to take your money as much as they can, and they don’t give a damn about how you feel, besides the fact that they outright lie about the “miracle” weight loss “effects” of these “pills” to begin with.

Oh, and Oprah Winfrey has nothing to do with any of these offers.

Don’t fall for it!

Better yet, spread the word, let your friends and everyone know about it!

The Most Important, yet Most Ignored Factor To Real Weight Loss Success

February 4th, 2009
Oprah struggles with weight again

Oprah struggles with weight again

Here are a few questions for you:

What’s the biggest frustration in your weight loss efforts?

What’s the most discouraging thing everytime you think about doing something about your weight?

For many, the biggest frustration, and the most discouraging thing everytime they think about getting started on a new weight loss program, is the fact that they almost “know” for certain, that no matter how hard they try, or even how fast they get some results, sooner or later, the damn weight will always come back!

In another word, it’s harder to keep it off than to take it off.

Even for Oprah, who has access to unlimited resources, both in money and experts, still struggles with the weight loss “yo-yo“.

The single biggest reason of failure for many, is that we dive into all sorts of weight loss programs without ever even think about the MENTAL ASPECT of weight loss, not much less say taking care of it, as we “blindly” struggle through the diets cycles and the exercises routines, and so on.

I mean, have you really taken a good and deep look at your mental self, uncover those of your LIMITING BELIEFS hidden within you that are stopping you ever succeed to begin with?

Have you set your goals? I mean, really set your goals, not just “I want to lose x-amount of weight in x-amount of time”.

Are you looking at your weight as an issue that’s about weight, or are you looking at it as issue of life style?

Are you constantly seeking out “fast and easy”, “take this and lose x-amount lbs” weight loss miracle pills or diets, or are you seeking out (and immerse yourself in) fitness, health and nutritional related knowledge and on improving, transforming your thought process that empowers your mind in ways that you never thought of before?

Deep down, you know very well that there is no such a thing as “fast and easy” weight loss. The most important and yet most ignored factor to real weight loss success is mental: you must take a brand new look at it instead of just thinking of it as you did before.

The sooner you start on your mental efforts, the sooner you will be on your way to a truly fit and healthy life style, and transform your body to the one you’ve already wanted it.

This is a huge issue, and later on we will come back to it with much details, and we will show you concrete ways you can put in action, and smash through your weight loss barriers as we have done for ourselves and many of our friends and family members.

So stay tuned!

Also, please share with us what are YOUR biggest issues and frustrations in your weight loss experiences. Leave your comment below.

“Weight Loss” or “Fat Loss”?

January 3rd, 2009

You want to lose weight.  You must lose weight. So you tried everything over the years.

You may even have lost some weights now and then.

But the fact remains: you are still fat.

A big problem: wrong focus.

Lose weight or lose fat? Does it make any difference?

Weight = muscle+water+fat

Fat = Fat

Big difference.

So if your “diets” involve eating less calories, little protein, using apetite suppressent, and your life style is less active, then any “weight loss” you may have experienced are nothing but muscle loss, not fat loss.

When you lose muscle, your metabolism slows down to a trickle. That makes losing fat even harder.

If you don’t eat enough quality food, specially high quality protein (and often, throughout the day), your body will have a hard time maintaining the lean muscle mass you already have, and over time, you will lose them, what remains on your body will mostly be fat.

Solution: refocus your efforts on lose FAT, instead of lose weight.

Better yet, forget about the WEIGHT issue altogether.

Focus all your efforts on increasing lean muscle mass.

This will lead to increased metabolism. Which leads to efficient FAT burning.

Many have seen dramatically improvements to their weight loss results simply by refocusing their whole efforts to FAT loss instead of weight loss.