Top 10 Strategies for Success

1. Start Small
Quite possibly the biggest mistake people make is pushing the accelerator too soon. You can’t lose 20 pounds in a week. But you can lose one. Taking small bites and chewing slowly have as much to do with goal achievement as they do with your mom’s dinner table scolding.

2. Get It On Paper
Whether setting your first goals, tracking daily progress, or sharing your deepest thoughts with a journal, writing things down crystallizes your ideas, exposes underlying fears, and paints an accurate picture of real life.

3. Focus On Everyday Habits
The building blocks of a healthy lifestyle are forged in the smallest of actions you take every day and every week. Healthy choices can become as natural as brushing your teeth or locking the front door. Build one habit, one action at a time.

4. Always See Your Goal
Goals need attention. They need to be seen and heard and thought of often if they ever hope to come true. So surround yourself with as many reminders as possible.

5. Be Consistent
Imagine a plane taking off. In the beginning, a lot of energy is spent to simply get moving down the runway. But as speed and momentum take over, the plane is pulled forward and up into the sky, faster and further by the second. Consistent action, no matter how small, has more power than you ever imagined.

6. Never Stop Learning
A healthy lifestyle is a process—a journey more than a destination. You can always learn more about nutrition, fitness, and even yourself that can help you be just a little bit better tomorrow.

7. Come Out of Seclusion
Has anyone ever achieved anything of real value all alone? Probably not many. Most receive some form of help from other people. Support, information, a sense of shared experience, encouragement, advice, and a well-timed pep talk are all invaluable as you set off on your adventure.

8. Allow For Setbacks
Accept the fact right now that you will make mistakes, and that it can be a positive thing. We are usually harder on ourselves that we are on anyone else we know. Be your own #1 fan. That means being supportive (instead of critical) when you stumble, and enjoying your wins (rather than ignoring your accomplishments) when you succeed.

9. Trust Your Plan
You’ll have up weeks and down weeks, and frustrating weeks that make no sense at all. The tools and strategies you’re learning will help you build a plan that makes a healthier lifestyle almost inevitable. If you consistently make the right choices and build healthy habits, weight loss is literally just a matter of time.

10. Have Fun!!!
Who says getting healthy has to be a chore, a burden to be endured or suffered through? Probably a very unhappy person, that’s who. This is an exciting adventure of self-discovery and building a meaningful life. Enjoy the ride!

-- By Mike Kramer, Staff Writer, Sparkpeople

FREE WORKOUT MUSIC from the Biggest Loser & Subway!

Click HERE to download The Biggest Loser and SUBWAY Workout Mix – Wake Up and Workout for FREE. This download includes 6 songs that should get you moving in no time!
May be a limited time offering, so take advantage now!

10 Reasons it's Hard to Lose Weight

Do you believe it's simple to lose weight? If you listen to the weight loss industry, you've been told over and over how easy it is--just take this pill, follow that diet or buy this piece of equipment and everything will melt away in a flash. In fact, we spend over billions each year on weight loss products and services and yet we're still overweight. In light of this, is weight loss really that simple?
Complex Problems, Simple Solutions

The idea behind weight loss is simple--burn more calories than you eat. This can be accomplished by replacing a couple of sodas with water and adding 20 minutes of walking each day. Sounds simple...and it is. If it's that simple, why can't we seem to do it?

There are a number of factors that contribute to our weight gain that you already know. But it's not just about finding time to exercise or choosing the salad over the burger--it's about genuine commitment to make healthy decisions every day....REGARDLESS of what's happening in your life. If you're not ready to make some changes, losing weight will be hard. Below are 10 things you'll need to look at in order to get yourself on a healthy track.

1. Your Attitude. If you're only on a health kick to lose weight or look a certain way, it will be hard to lose weight permanently. Why? Because, what happens if you don't see results quickly enough? You give up. Weight loss is a great goal, but unless you have something else to motivate you, what's to keep you going if the scale doesn't budge? It takes time to lose weight--how will you motivate yourself in the meantime? Find more reasons to be healthy--having more energy, dealing with health problems or wanting to live longer to be around for your kids. Those are some darned good reasons, if you ask me.


2. Your Workouts. If you don't workout consistently enough, it's hard to lose weight. Yes, it's possible to lose weight through diet alone, but you'll likely hit a plateau. You don't need to spend hours in the gym, you only need to set up a reasonable workout schedule that you can follow each week. It's not about killing yourself with workouts--it's about finding something you like and that you'll continue with for the rest of your life. You have to be willing to be more active on a regular basis--not just for a week here and there.


3. Your Eating. Changing the way you eat is another thing you're going to have to do for long-lasting weight loss. You need to be willing to replace unhealthy foods with healthier choices--every single day. This might mean:

•Keeping a food journal
•Spending more time in the grocery store reading food labels
•Spending more time preparing meals
•Saying no to extra portions
•Making conscious choices about what you put in your mouth.

For permanent weight loss, you need to pay attention to what you eat and make good choices more often than not. Maybe a structured diet eventually ends, but healthy eating never stops...there will never be a time when you're done eating healthy. You might feel you're sacrificing the good stuff (pizza, fast food, etc.) and your life won't be fun if you can't have those foods. Guess what? You can still have them...just not whenever you want. Are you ready to make these changes? Are you ready to stop giving your body the most convenient thing available (and often the most fatty) and, instead, spend time planning what and when you'll eat? Because that's what it takes to get healthy...permanently.


4. Your Lifestyle. If you want a healthy life, you have to be willing to change how you live. It doesn't mean changing everything overnight, but simply being open to new ways of doing things. Some things you might need to change for a healthy life are:

•Daily Routines. You may need to get up earlier to prepare your lunch or squeeze in a workout, use your lunch hour for exercise or go for a walk after work instead of watching TV. Are you willing to do this?

•Limits. You might need to set new rules for yourself limiting how much TV you watch or how long you sit at the computer. You'll need to pay attention to how you spend your time and where you're out of balance so you can add more movement.

•Your Pantry. I'm the kind of person who will eat an entire bag of Doritoes if they're in the house. That means I don't keep them in the house and if someone (ahem...husband) brings them home, he must immediately re-locate them elsewhere. If you want to be healthy, you may need to get rid of those foods you just can't resist.

•Your Schedule. If you're not willing to sit down and change the way you live each day to include exercise, time to prepare meals and time to nurture yourself with sleep, it's hard to lose weight. People use busy schedules as an excuse not to be healthy...are you one of them? If you're not ready to take responsibility for the schedule you've created, it will be hard to lose weight.


5. Your Surroundings. Sometimes, you can't control the things around you. At work, you may be surrounded by temptations--donuts, vending machines and the like. That's just one thing you have to deal with...but what about your home? Surround yourself with things that will support you in your efforts to get healthy. That might mean spending some money on home workout equipment, setting up a corner of the house for your gear or commandeering the TV a few nights a week to do an exercise video. Set up an environment that encourages those healthy choices and reminds you of them--just walking into my kitchen and seeing that bowl of fresh fruit is often enough to remind me of all the healthy choices I'll need to make that day.

6. Your Support System. While getting healthy may be something you're doing on your own, it's a big help to have a support system. At the very least, family members who understand what you're doing and are either willing to participate or help. If you have a spouse who wants to continue eating the kinds of foods that tempt you, you need a plan to deal with that so you can still reach your goals and keep your relationship together. Try to surround yourself with people who support what you're doing and avoid those people (like that co-worker who always offers you a donut even though you refuse on a daily basis) who don't. A workout buddy is also an excellent idea for support.

7. Your Spiritual and Mental Health. If you have other reasons for being overweight--past hurts that you've used food to deal with, depression or other problems, it's hard to lose weight. For many of us, food is a comfort and something we've relied on all of our lives to help us deal with emotional problems. If that's the case for you, pinpointing those behaviors and what drives them is important for becoming aware of what you're doing and why. A counselor can help you with this or take some time to read about emotional eating. Be willing to learn why you make the choices you make and to confront them.


8. Your Goals. If you've set impossible goals, you are guaranteed to fail. Weight loss becomes hard to achieve if you feel like a constant failure...who wants to feel like that? If that's how your weight loss experience is, it's no wonder you keep quitting. The key is to set reasonable goals. So what is reasonable? That's going to be different for each person depending on your genetics, eating habits, exercise, and metabolism to name a few. You're better off setting a long-term goal (whether it's to lose weight or compete in a race) and then focusing your attention on daily or weekly goals. Your weekly goal might be to get in 3 cardio workouts, minimum. Pick things you KNOW you'll achieve so you're always successful. It can be as small as you like, as long as it's reachable.

9. Your Flexibility. You hear a lot about lifestyle changes, but it's daily choices that really test you. What happens if you have to work late and you can't get to the gym? Or what if you get stuck in traffic and miss your fitness class? Any number of things can happen in a day that may throw you off track. The trick is to be flexible. It helps if you're always prepared--keep some workout shoes in the car so you can stop off at the park for a quick walk. Keep some food handy so if you get stuck in traffic, you get a snack in before your workout. Often people skip workouts because something comes up and they simply aren't ready for it or they aren't willing to give themselves other options--can't do 45 minutes? Why not just do 10? Something is always better than nothing.

10. Your Willingness to Fail. You will not be perfect every day. As a perfectionist, I have to say that is a frustrating concept for me but, the truth is, everyone (even perfectionists) has good days and bad days. On the good days, you'll eat all your fruits and veggies, say no to that pizza and do your workout even though you're tired. On the bad days, you'll wake up late, forget to bring your lunch, have an extra piece of cake at your friend's birthday party and skip your workout. The bad days will happen if you're a human being. The trick is to never give up, even when you mess up. You're not a loser just because you make some mistakes...you're simply a person trying his or her best to make good decisions.

By Paige Waehner, About.com GuideUpdated June 11, 2009

And We're Off and Running...(or walking if that suits you!)

Wow, what a night! We registered over 150 participants for our New Turlock Biggest Loser 12-week Challenge! To those of you that are new... WELCOME! To those of you who are returning.... GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN! If you missed the registration, you can still come next Monday and we can register you then! It's never too late. (though you will have lost a week in the challenge)

It will take me a few days to input all of you into our database and get a confirmation letter out to you. So sit tight. You should receive an email from us by Thursday morning. If you do not, look in your spam or junk mail folder. Sometimes those pesky e-mail servers forward our emails there. If they do, make sure you mark it as not junk so in the future it goes into your inbox.

Either way, everything that goes out by email will also be duplicated here on this blog, so you wont miss a thing. Plus our blog will offer additional tips, recipes and motivation throughout the week, so check back often!

We have lots of fun things in store for you the next few months and I personally can't wait! More to follow...

In the meantime, check out some of our previous posts below!

The 10 Worst Foods of 2010

If 2009 was the year of cutting back, 2010 was the year of adding on, at least when it came to food. The year's top catch phrase: More cheese, please!

On menus from Taco Bell to the Cheesecake Factory, cheese was piled on, in several varieties. Melted, fried, sandwiched, stuffed and slathered on anything and everything, it's safe to say that, if you're eating these foods, you're meeting your dairy quota.

SparkPeople, a wonderful website for helping you stay on track with your new healthy goals, rounded up the worst new foods of the year and compiled some fun fitness facts to help put these caloric monstrosities in perspective!

CLICK HERE to see the list!

Today's the Day!

Our next Biggest Loser Turlock challenge begins TODAY, Monday, January 3rd! The participants fee is $30.00 per person. CLICK HERE to view and download our flier for this challenge and them spread the word! The more people sign-up, the larger the prize pot gets! Remember, weigh-in is at Monte Vista Chapel in the gym (1619 E. Monte Vista Ave.) anytime between 4pm-6:30pm. Person with the highest % of weight lost during this 12-week challenge wins 50% of the prize pot, with the other remaining 50% be divided up between 2-5th place. If more than 100 participants sign-up, top 10 get paid! Contact Patti Allen at ohiobuckfan@sbcglobal.net before 4pm or at 209-405-1073 between 4-6:30.

How to Grocery Shop on a Diet

Start your week off right with a HEALTHY trip to the grocery store to stock up on everything you need for your new lifestyle. Staying slim starts at the grocery store. Here’s how to make it easy.


Meat and fish
Shoot for 95 percent lean or higher. If it’s only 90 percent lean, a 100-gram (about 3.5-ounce) portion of meat would still have 10 grams of fat per serving—not exactly low-fat. When buying poultry, choose breast (whole or ground) only.

Splurge on shrimp. This high-protein, low-fat, low-calorie option feels decadent, so pick up a shrimp cocktail ring.


Dairy
Don’t buy a brick. Cheese is way too easy to overeat if you’re faced with a big hunk of it. If there’s a block you love, take it to the deli and ask them to slice it into 1-ounce portions. Otherwise, look for string cheese.

Go Greek! Buy a tub of plain nonfat Greek-style yogurt. At home, mix in some fresh fruit and high-fiber cereal for a delicious low-cal parfait.


Fruits and veggies
Grab a rainbow. To get a variety of nutrients, try to include every color of the spectrum—red, green, orange, yellow, purple, white—in your diet.

Shop on delivery day. Ask your grocer when the store receives produce. Fruits and veggies lose nutrients and flavor the longer they sit out in the air and light.


GrainsExperiment with grains. Try quinoa, bulgur, barley, and brown-rice pasta to add new elements to your menu.