It comes down to shoulds and musts.  We all have things we think we should and should not do, and we also have things that are on our must list, and those are things we absolutely must and must not do.

For example, I’m sure you believe that you must not do drugs.  This is an easy one and on most people’s must never do list.  However, when it comes to weight loss, most areas where people need to improve are on the should list.

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I should eat healthier.

I should avoid ice cream at night.

I should exercise more.

Ask yourself.  Are these on your should or must lists?

If you can make these musts, you are on your way.  Remember not to expect overnight changes.  It took you time to put on the weight, it can take you an equal period to reset your internal scale to lower figures.  The brain is very protective in the short term.  The more you push it to lose weight, the more it will resist at first.  But making longer term, gradual changes, over time and you’ll be on your way to a healthier you.

Get frustrated!

There is a mental state you need to be in, in order to lose weight.  If you’re frustrated with your actions in the past, that’s a good point to start.  Use frustration as a tool to motivate you to lose the weight you need.

The should and must list is something you can apply to improve every aspect of your life.  Once you make exercising a must, you are on your way towards good health!

It’s Contagious

The other benefit of developing positive ‘musts’ is that it impacts everyone around you.  Your family, your spouse, your children, will all be reinforced reinforced by your new musts and pretty soon, they’ll make it one of theirs as well.

You may be surprised that the best way to lose weight isn’t some diet plan, or some exercise plan.  Sure those things will help support your goal and help you reach it more quickly.  But changing your musts changes you from within – and when you’re inside is looking good, it’s not too long before your outside reflects what in your inside.

It may sound too good to be true, but scientific studies have found that people who consume certain foods more than others end up losing more weight than those who don’t eat the foods – even when all other factors are the same!  Let’s take a look at three of the most popular food that help lose weight, according to science:

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and start eating for your next meal.

Beans, Beans, Not Just The Musical Fruit

Beans are the primary preferred protein source for dieters & vegetarians. They are a perfect food as they contain an ideal blend of protein and carbohydrates. Beans take more energy to process/digest, so it takes your digestive system more time to process them. This is also beneficial because it maintains stable blood sugar stable and satisfies your hunger for longer.

The real benefit of beans lies in the amount of fiber they contain. Fiber makes your digestive system work harder – requiring more energy. Fiber keeps “things” operating smoothly, and also prevents your blood glucose from jumping  too high.

Fresh raw beans are your best choice. Sugary molasses baked beans and fatty refried beans will hurt your weight loss efforts by supplying too many calories and simple carbs.

Simple carbs are processed in your body just like sugar, the most simple of carbs.  You’d be surprised how many things are simple carbs.  The more processed food gets, the more simple the carb.  Just look at oatmeal.  Everyone believes it to be healthy.  However, if you buy a brand that can be made in a minute, the oatmeal has been so processed that it has become a simple carb.  You might as well have a spoonful of sugar…

Get Your Skim Milk Mustache On

Of all the macro nutrients that burn fat, calcium is one of the most popular proven metabolism boosters. Studies have proven that having the right amount of calcium causes weight loss. In a study involving two groups, each group did everything the same, except that one group received several servings of calcium each day. Surprisingly, that group lost almost three times as much weight as the group who did not receive extra calcium.

You can also get calcium from vegetables like broccoli.   But dairy products remain the primary choice. However, select products made from 2%, 1%, or fat-free milk. They deliver the greatest amount of calcium in the lowest amount of calories.

If you are really trying to lose weight, I would suggest eliminating dairy and supplementing with calcium.

Green Tea

Green tea is the dieter’s miracle product. It contains powerful antioxidants that reduce the number of potentially cancerous free radicals in the body. Also, its modest amount of caffeine content is enough to perk up your heart rate and metabolism without putting undue stress on your body. It is also a mild diuretic, which can be helpful for getting rid of retained fluid.

But the best way of getting your body to get rid of retained fluid remains properly hydrating.  Your body is smart, if you don’t hydrate enough, it will retain water in defense.  So you can trick your body into releasing the water stores by simply drinking a lot of water.  Ever notice body builders – they tend to drink water constantly as a way to get the body to release as much as possible, especially the subcutaneous water, to show more of their muscles…  More on water below.

Green tea is also a fat-burner.  People who consume 4 – 6 cups of green tea each day will enjoy faster weight loss than those who don’t drink green tea.

Don’t forget not all weight loss is created equal.  You can have weight loss from water, fat or muscle.  The fat loss from water is usually the easiest.  People who go on an extreme caloric deficit will actually lose more muscle than fat.  The key is to lose fat – and this is a very important topic that we’ll address in a separate article, so we can cover it fully.

Honorable Mention: Water

While water doesn’t contain any nutrition, it ranks highly on any list of foods that help burn fat. For instance, it lowers your sodium to reduce bloating and push retained fluid from our bodies.  It promotes healing and also satisfies the appetite. And water can also keep your metabolism running at maximum efficiency!

Our kidneys act as our primary filtration system. They help pass toxins and waste fluids out of our bodies. But they need plenty of hydration to keep functioning well. When they are deprived of water, the kidneys call on the liver for back-up.  Dehydration can also make you more vulnerable to urinary tract infections.

While the liver can serve as a secondary filtration system, that is not its best use. The liver is designed for turning stored fat into usable energy. But when it has to support the kidneys, the liver cannot metabolize fat as quickly as it used to. You can bring your metabolism back up to speed by drinking plenty of water each day.

I also like to think of water as a transport.  You may be burning fat, but to properly burn fat you need to give it a way to get out of your system.  Water is that transport.  The more you hydrate, the more trasportation you provide to the fat that’s looking to leave your system.  Not enough water, and the fat has no place to go but to remain in your system.

And best yet, water is FREE!

For a quick and productive diet overhaul, start eating food that help to lose weight. Add 64 ounces of pure drinking water each day, and you will be on your way to successful and permanent weight loss.

And I don’t mean inside your stomach, I mean inside your head.  Your head is the primary controller to everything in your life.  It’s the root of stress, it’s the reason you doubt, it’s the reason you fail in your goals.  But it doesn’t have to be.

* Click here for the centuries old secrets of sleep and water – how these two simple life supporters can shed pounds.

What you think about grows.

There’s a common thing that happens to new medical students as they begin their studies of new diseases.  More than half of them at some point will begin to believe they have a disease, simply because they have been studying the symptoms.  They focus so much on the disease, that they will themselves to have it.  And the subconscious can’t tell the difference between reality and what you imagine to be true.

Your thoughts are powerful.  All things originate from thought.  But they can also work against you, so you need to start monitoring your conscious thoughts, clearing out any negativity, and replacing the negative with positive.

Be careful how you position your thoughts.  The subconscious can’t process the word ‘don’t’ so of you think to yourself that you don’t want to gain any weight, your mind will process it as you want to gain weight!

Weight is the first key to health.  You only have one body.  Your body is your temple.  How do you treat your body?  Think about this.  Do you love yourself?  Really?  Well, if weight is an issue, then I submit to you that you don’t.

If weight loss has been difficult for you, there is a reason.  And it’s not what you think.  Excuse the pun, but it IS how you think.

If you’re frustrated with your weight loss, get excited.  Frustration can be a great motivator to put you in the mindset you need to get in, to initiate change.

Long term weight loss is a life change.  It’s about identifying the patterns that get you there.  Whether it is emotional eating, or eating too late, eating too much or simply eating the wrong things, you must break those patterns and establish new one.  Don’t expect overnight changes.  It didn’t take you 2 weeks to add on that extra 10-30-50 pounds, so you are not going to be able to lose the weight that fast.

But if you start making some changes now, and improve a little every day, the impact will be easy to handle and the results will create a new you over time.

If you truly love yourself, love your body, and you want to change, you will.

Start now by putting a scale in your bathroom, a pen and a pad of paper and record your weight (and body fat if your scale measures it) every day.  This will identify where you are, what your weight patterns are and it will break your pattern of avoiding knowing your weight.

Good Health Starts From Within.  Start today!

Just 3 words, but they mean a lot.

I put this site together to help people with several aspects of their health.  But when I sat down to put a finger exactly on what I meant by health, it was very hard to pin down an exact definition.

Before I discuss what good health means, I want to discuss the phrase, be healthy now.  We all have choices in the world.  Things we do and things we don’t do.  And of those things we do, they can be separated into two categories.

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even if you HATE the gym, your running shoes and the pool.

Things we should do, and things we must do.

Unfortunately, things we put in the ‘should’ category, rarely ever get done.  However, things we put in the must category get done.

If you want to get healthy, you have to make it a must.  If you’re serious, you will.

The next concept built into these 3 simple words are the secret behind being healthy.  It’s a magic secret, and something you can make happen right away.  Once you make the choice to be healthy.  All you have to do is…  Ready for it…  Drum roll….

Be Healthy Now…

The answer sounds simple.  But once you make the choice, the real choice, you can be healthy now.  You just have to do it.  And you can have it.

Health can encapsulate many things.  Sound mind and body.  And there are different levels of health.  Best to make goals for yourself and plan improvements.  It’s to set big goals, but understand that the steps to get there may take a while.

If you’re not healthy, I’d suggest focusing in on one area and improving it.  I’m a big proponent of making your weakness a strength as that will give you the most improvement off the bat.  But here are general areas we’ll look to improve here.

Diet - what we eat, when we eat, how much we eat and in what combination is very important.  You may exercise all you want, but if you eat too much, no one will see your muscles.

Nutrition – More than just food, making sure your body is getting the right nutrients for whatever stage in life you are in.

Exercise – There’s a right way to exercise and a wrong way.  What way depends on what you’re trying to achieve.  Regardless of that, most people exercise the wrong way and end up causing so much pain, that they do not continue with the program.  Remember, we are driven by two primary needs – the need for pleasure and the need to avoid pain.  If your workouts cause too much pain, your brain will find a way to get out of it…

If you look at everything you do in life, or don’t do, it can generally be broken down into these two drivers.  The key to do something for the long haul, is to attach pleasure to it, that you associate pain in not doing it.  If you’ve ever met people who work out constantly, this is where they are.  It’s a good place to be…

Mental Health – Everything can be right in your life, but if you are feeling excessive stress, or other bad feelings, then they will infect all the good in your life.  Remember, everything is formed in thought.   The conscious is 10% the subconscious is 90%.  Sometimes the cure isn’t in your physical actions, it’s in your mental.  We’ll explore that here.

We all have beliefs.  These beliefs come from our upbringing and life experiences and are embedded in us like software programming.  Some beliefs are good, and some beliefs are limiting, like a computer virus.  Sometimes we can’t achieve the things we want because we are unaware of our limiting beliefs.  Reprogramming ourselves from within means identifying our limiting beliefs and removing them.

Habits - We all have habits.  Some are good and some are bad.  We’ll be eliminating bad habits or replacing bad habits with good ones.  There are some tricks to get yourself to break bad habits.  Your body becomes trained to do things a certain way.  We have to recognize this and then interrupt the pattern.  This part will be fun!

Men’s Health – Since men are from Mars, things work a little different for them.  And there are specific considerations for men that we’ll go over.

Woman’s Health – And since women are from Venus, we’ll consider some specific considerations for women.

Spiritual Health – Once we’ve covered the mind and the body, there’s a part of all of us called the soul that needs to be addressed.  Our soul is our essence, it’s what makes us different from everyone else.  Our mind and our bodies are only vehicles for your soul.

And much, much more…

So if you’ve come across our blog and you’re ready to get started, welcome to an exploration of self that should have you coming out the other end, a better, more complete and ultimately more fulfilled individual.

You make the choice.  Do you want to muddle through your life?  Or do you want to live an extra ordinary life.  You make the choice.  Be Healthy Now!