Never Give Up On Your Weight Loss Journey (WLJ)

Never Give Up, Never, Never Give Up, Never Ever Give Up, Never Give UP!  That’s right, the secret key to losing weight is not a new fad diet, it’s not a new medication, it’s not a gimmick supplement, it is A STATE OF MIND!

Let’s face it. You tried to lost weight in the past, and you failed. So what! The key is what do you do now. Do you give up, or do you start again. Anyone and everyone who has successfully lost weight and kept it off had failed in the past. However, the reason they were finally able to lose the weight, was because they never gave up.

I know how hard and frustrating it can be, but never give up. If you have a bad day and eat a bunch fatting junk, so what, forget about it. Just do not give up, never.

Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it. Just start a new day and never give up.  If you tried to lose weight, and did not work, try something different Like AdvoCare.

JUST NEVER GIVE UP!

“Have you ever considered the cost of quitting? For real eye opener…ask Thomas Edison...Steve Jobs…Michael Jordan…or Sylvester Stalone. Ask them how much it would have cost them if they had quit. What about you?”

Dwight Obey, Independent AdvoCare Distributor

Being Overweight......

Being overweight or obese is becoming more and more common in today's society. Although the media inundates us with possible solutions, there are no simple answers. 

By visiting 1st N Weight Loss you will find all the information you need to educate yourself and find out what is right for you, so you can start losing weight now.

Benefits

• Why lose weight? Here are the benefits of weight loss.

Dieting

• Who should you believe? Get the all the information you need to decide which diet is best for you. Fact or Fiction? Find out how to determine what is true or not.

Resources

• All you need to know about pedometers, and you can buy one and weight loss books too.

Psychology

• There can often be mental barriers to losing weight.

Exercise

• Exercise should be an important part of any weight loss program.

.....and much , much more!

Clean Eating...What is is?

Clean eating is the best described as removing all processed, artificial foods from your diet and focusing on healthy, whole, unprocessed foods. Your body is from nature, bring it back to nature and reap the rewards of eating clean, like living a longer, healthier life, have great glowing skin and hair, fast weight loss and healthy weight maintenance.

You wouldn’t feed your pet bird cardboard, would you? No, you would feed them nuts and seeds just like the natural food they have in the wild. It’s time to start thinking of yourself as the bird, feed yourself what humans found and grew in the wild hundreds and thousands of years ago, not “frankenfood” made in a laboratory.

How to Eat Clean

The best way to understand and implement Step 1 is to skip the boxed, pre-made foods, and shop the perimeter of the grocery store. By shopping just the perimeter of the grocery store you’ll pick up organic fruits and veggies, lean protein from the butcher and freshly baked bread from the store bakery. You’re only buying fresh food. Of course this is more metaphor than rule. Organic pasta, rice and beans are usually found in isles as well are organic whole wheat flour and spices. Be sure to choose these ingredients in the purest forms, pick up the organic brown rice, not the box of rice mixture with the spices. The only ingredient on the label should be “brown rice.”

You can have your chocolate, but instead of the “sugar free” chocolate candies that are full of artificial sweeteners, have a square of all natural dark chocolate (Chocolate Recipes). As for cheese, choose sharp cheese, you can use less and get the same cheesy goodness, thus saving calories (Cheese Recipes).

Eat More Fat Burning Foods

Fat burning foods are a staple in the weight loss plan. We make small swaps to recipes to turn them into metabolism boosting foods. For instance, swapping out buttermilk for almond milk in a pancake recipe can cut calories and add natural fat burners to your diet.

Little changes in recipes and your diet can make a big difference in your weight loss success. 

Top Foods that Burn Fat:

• Hot Peppers
• Green Tea and Coffee
• Whole Grains, Quinoa and Oats
• Grapefruit and other Citrus Fruits
• Lean Poultry and Fish
• Beans and Lentils
• Berries
• Apples
• Almonds, Almond milk and Almond butter
• Eggs
• Greek Yogurt
• Spinach and Broccoli

Fat burning ingredients can be added to many recipes. Just keep in mind that organic food will have more nutrition and therefor more metabolism boosting nutrition.

Raw foods also have more nutrition, so a salad with raw spinach will have more fat burning properties than cooked spinach would, so whenever possible have these fat burning foods raw.

Step #2: Plan your meals and log what you eat and drink.

I realize this sounds like homework, would it help if we called it studying instead?

By planning your meals and logging what you eat and drink, you will start memorizing how many calories are in your favorite meals and ingredients. Best of all you will learn your own eating habits and cravings, so over time you can better plan your meals to suit your cravings. After a couple weeks if you see you consistently have a 3:00 pm craving for carbs, you can head off that craving in advance with a skinny sandwich at lunch. Or, a sweet craving at 10:00 am can be managed with a sweet oatmeal breakfast.

So as tedious as this one step might seem,  it is an important step for both weight loss and maintenance later on and it holds everything together. Having a meal plan helps you manage plateaus while keeping you motivated. In the long run you’ve studied for your new healthy lifestyle and for your new figure. It makes it easier to maintain your weight loss diet when you have done the studying. So don’t skip this step, you’re studying for the most important test of your life… your health.

Meal Plan

By making a meal plan to lose weight, you are setting yourself up for weight loss success. Have you ever become extra motivated to exercise after a purchase of a new yoga mat, or running shoes? Making a meal plan is motivational in the same way.

If you sit down and take the time to plan out your meals you are more likely to stick to it, because you took the time to do it. You’ll find it’s easier to stay on plan knowing you have a yummy meal coming up later today, and you’ll be less likely to splurge knowing you have a plan to follow.

How Many Calories Should I Plan to Eat?

Since we are talking about setting a meal plan, we need to talk about how many calories you should plan to eat. If your goal is to lose weight, all you need to know is your goal weight. The equation is easy; add a zero to the end of your goal weight to find your daily calorie goal. Just be sure not to go under 1200 calories per day as this will send your metabolism into preservation mode, which may cause your body to hold onto weight instead of releasing it.

Say your goal weight is 135 pounds, your daily calorie intake should be 1350 calories.

Don’t fret if this seems difficult, below is an example of a super filling 1200 Calorie Diet Plan, just add on snacks to increase your calories.

Step #3: Move your body more.

Weight loss is 70% what you eat and 30% exercise. Many people often think exercise is more important in weight loss and they disregard the healthy diet part. That is why Step #3 is to move more. You don’t have to train for a marathon to lose weight, however exercise will speed up the process and, perhaps more importantly, tone your body.

Many people ask me what to do about extra skin, or loose skin, after weight loss and the answer is always “that’s what exercise is for.” If all you can do is a 20 minute yoga video after the kids go down for their nap, or a walk with the dog after work, find a way to make the most of it. And whenever possible increase the time you exercise, if even by 5 minutes.

How to Lose Weight Without Exercise

So what happens when you can’t exercise? There are many people with health and physical difficulties who can’t exercise in the traditional way. For those people, I assure you that you can still lose weight. Like I said above, weight loss is 70% what you eat and 30% exercise, so if you can’t exercise you have to be spot on with your diet plan to lose weight.

You also have to do your best to move your body more. That can mean taking the stairs instead of the elevator or even working extra hard at physical therapy. Do as much as you can, follow the other 3 steps and you will see the weight melt off.

Step #4: Drink a gallon of water a day.

Water is key to losing weight. Besides tasting great, studies have proven that drinking water naturally boosts your metabolism along with many additional water health benefits. It fills you up, flushes your system and naturally increases metabolism.

How Much Water Should I Drink to Lose Weight

At 1st N Weight Loss, we recommend you try to drink a gallon of water (3 ¾ liters) a day for weight loss. A gallon of water may seem like a lot, but it’s a good weight loss goal to strive for each day. By having 40 ounces of water in the morning, noon and night you will stay full and hydrated. The large amount of water helps increase your metabolism and flush your system, it’s a great aid to weight loss and an easy step that almost anyone can achieve. 

If you can’t get to a gallon, that’s OK. Start slow with 60 ounces per day and increase by an extra 10 ounces each day until you are at a full gallon. Here are some tips to help you drink more water.

Women And Exercise

Dwight, 2000

In addition to stretching the muscles involved in cardiovascular exercise, you need to stretch each specific muscle you train in a fitness program. When you stretch your muscles it helps to provide better physical performance, prevents injuries, and can help to improve your posture.When muscles are stretched, the elasticity in them improves which will help to increase your range of motion and improve the quality of your movements.

Never stretch a cold muscle; meaning you should always make sure your muscles are warm before stretching. It's usually better to do a more extensive stretch at the very end of your fitness program, but light stretching between exercises is fine. Stretching doesn't take a long time, and it shouldn't, but you do benefit tremendously from it. Stretch only after the muscle has been properly warmed-up. Again, the best time for a complete stretch is when your exercise session has been completed. By the time you have finished your specific weight lifting program, which will be about 35 - 45 minutes in length, your muscles will have warmed up as much as they can possibly get.

Remember any fitness program must always include a warm-up and proper stretching for maximum effectiveness and to prevent injury.When you do this you will indeed experience the terrific benefits a good weight training program will give you.

Exercise Selection:

For you to succeed in your over-all fitness plan you need to select at least one exercise for each major muscle group in your body. This will help to promote well-balanced muscle development.

Another important part of your over-all fitness plan is the order your exercises are performed. When doing a range of weightlifting exercises, it's better to start with the larger muscle groups then perform exercises for the smaller muscle groups. Performing your fitness program in this manner will allow you to be exercising at your best during the most demanding exercises when fatigue levels are the lowest and you feel fresh.

Another important area of exercise selection is the total number of sets per exercise and total number of sets per exercise session. A "set" as it relates to weight lifting is the number of successive repetitions of a single exercise performed in succession without stopping. Now the number of sets per exercise and per exercise session is really going to depend on exactly what your goals are. Always treat your very first set for each muscle group as a warm-up, as was discussed in the warm-up section above. Then the rest of your sets will be determined by whether or not you are using a beginner, intermediate, or advanced level fitness program and what your particular goals are.

Regardless of the number of sets performed, all sets and repetitions have to be done with proper exercise form and under complete control.

Exercise Form Or Technique

One thing that always seems to be missing in most fitness programs, and the most common and critical training mistake is exercise form or "technique." Too much weight usually results in poor form, which decreases your ability to get results and also increases the risk of injury.

Examples of poor form or technique include, but aren't limited too…

• Bouncing the bar off your chest when performing a chest press;
• Using your hips for momentum and over extending your back to initiate the bicep curls;
• Arching your back or bending backwards when performing a shoulder press during the resistance portion of your fitness session;
• Using momentum in any exercise;
• And training at a fast tempo.

Be aware of these types of mistakes and remove them.

Tips On Working Out Utilizing Your Bodyweight That Can Save You Money

You do not need to have a full gym of expensive exercise equipment to have an effective training program.

Benefits of Bodyweight Workouts

• Save money – you don't need to spend money on buying weights and equipment.

• Workout Anywhere - with body weight exercises you can workout everywhere.

• Reduce Injuries - the probability for injuries is lower using bodyweight exercises.

Some Bodyweight Exercises

Here are some simple bodyweight exercises that anyone can do, with a list if the major muscle groups that they target.

Exercise	Muscles Worked
push ups	chest, arms and core muscles
dips	triceps, chest
chin ups	lats, arms
body weight squats	quads, hamstrings, buttocks and posture
sit ups	abdominals
supine bridge	core muscles
side lying bridge	down phasing obliques
horizontal pull ups	upper back, arms
step ups	quads, hammies and buttocks
lunges	quads, hammies and buttocks
crunches	abdominals

Work At Home Moms Can Stay Fit

Despite what many may think, working from home takes a lot of time and a lot of work. I'm sure you've heard someone say, "They don't really have a job, they just work from home." That statement couldn't be farther from the truth!

Running a home business takes almost all of your time. Therefore, many other things drop down on your priority list. Probably one of the first ones to drop is fitness.

When you have a never-ending to-do list, a house that never seems to get clean and family and/or friends who demand attention, it's understandable that exercise can take a back seat. But, it shouldn't.

Exercise offers so many important benefits that it should always be part of your weekly routine. Of course, we all know that exercise can help you stay slim and fit. But, do you also know about all the other great results of exercising? Daily physical activity reduces stress and can help you sleep better - two things that are especially beneficial to busy at-home workers and business owners. 


Fitness helps keep you healthy and has been linked to reducing the risk of some diseases and to warding off depression. Researchers also believe that strength training can help prevent osteoporosis. If that still doesn't convince you to get moving, then keep in mind that exercise also improves self-esteem, increases stamina and ultimately helps you be able to do continuous work for longer. What more could you ask for?

1. Schedule time for working out. When you work at home it's so easy to work around the clock. To help avoid this think of yourself as having a traditional "office job". In most "office jobs" when you go home for the night you leave work behind and concentrate on personal things. Even though going home for you may simply be walking down the hall, you need to set boundaries in order to find time for you.

1. During working hours, take several 5-10 minute breaks and run up and down the stairs (or even just walk). This will also help rejuvenate your mind.

1. Sitting in front of a computer can be hard on your body, especially your posture. So, find a comfortable place where you can occasionally stand to do your computer work.

1. It's not necessary for you to find 30 continuous minutes for working out. You'll get just as much benefit if you break your exercise into small chunks. Try 10 minutes before you start work, 10 minutes at lunch and 10 minutes after work (re-read # 1 above if you just said you have no "after work" time).

1. If you don't won't to spend a lot of time in the kitchen but still want to eat healthy, cook large portion meals on the weekend that you can freeze. Then simply defrost and warm for dinners during the week. This saves you the time of having to make dinner and you don't have to compromise calories as you would if you instead opted for take-out.

1. One great advantage of working at home is that you can workout over your lunch hour while never leaving your office plus you don't have to pack your workout clothes and toiletries to take with you to work. This saves you travel time, which you can instead spend on grabbing a healthy bite to eat. And, if you don't have any face-to-face meetings scheduled, then you don't have to worry about looking perfect after your workout.

1. If you haven't already done so, invest in a good hands-free headset for your phone. This is a great way to multi-task because your hands are free to do other things while you concentrate on your conference call. You can even do some simple (but worthwhile) exercise moves. Some good choices are squats, tricep dips, lunges, wall push-ups, etc.

1. Keep healthy snacks available for when you need an energy boost or simply just need something to chew on to help you get through some tough work. Don't forget to keep water on hand and sip some all throughout your day.

1. Purchase an exercise stability ball. While there are dozens of great toning exercises you can do with the ball, it's also beneficial to simply sit on it. Try sitting on it instead of a chair for even short periods throughout your day. This will help build your core strength (your trunk area).

1. Don't forget the importance of stretching. Take a couple of minutes every hour to stand up and stretch your entire body.

It all sounds great, right? But you still don't think that you can find any time in your hectic schedule for staying in shape. Don't worry. There are a lot of creative ways to fit it in.

 Below are some tips to help you get started.

As you can see, exercise offers huge benefits even with just a small amount of effort. And if you have kids, by exercising you also set a great example. So, to help you, your business, and your family, it's time to stop making excuses and just start moving!