Can a health and fitness book help you lose weight?

Carla Hurst-Chandler · Post by **Carla Hurst-Chandler** » 13 Jan 2013, 06:15

StephenKingman wrote:I managed to lose early 3 stone when I was in college and I did this through a combination of healthy eating and taking more exercise, there really is no other way to do it. You can read as many of your fancy quick fix books or count the calories on one of your newspaper magazines but its as simple as eat less and move more, anything else is just an excuse or denial. Very very few people are obese through a medical condition (tablet side effects are different) and if you want to lose weight you can do it. Sadly many people are in deep deep denial about weight and will convince themselves that they are just big boned, fond of chocolate etc. It boils down to personal responsibility at the end of the day, but dont tell the billion dollar dieting industry that...

Quite right. They can't charge a gadzillion dollars just to tell you "Eat Less-Move More" but that is the SECRET.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » 13 Jan 2013, 10:04

Carla Hurst-Chandler wrote:
StephenKingman wrote:I managed to lose early 3 stone when I was in college and I did this through a combination of healthy eating and taking more exercise, there really is no other way to do it. You can read as many of your fancy quick fix books or count the calories on one of your newspaper magazines but its as simple as eat less and move more, anything else is just an excuse or denial. Very very few people are obese through a medical condition (tablet side effects are different) and if you want to lose weight you can do it. Sadly many people are in deep deep denial about weight and will convince themselves that they are just big boned, fond of chocolate etc. It boils down to personal responsibility at the end of the day, but dont tell the billion dollar dieting industry that...
Quite right. They can't charge a gadzillion dollars just to tell you "Eat Less-Move More" but that is the SECRET.

But they will lighten the load in your wallet ... so I guess in that sense they help you loose weight.
(Oh we are a cynical lot!)

Zepher07 · Post by **Zepher07** » 13 Jan 2013, 19:15

Information is a good thing to have. We all hear the words "eat less, move more" but as a prospective teacher I know that we all take in knowledge in different ways. For some of us a simple saying doesn't do the trick because we have no faith in it or it just doesn't click. So, yeah a fitness book can help you.
Seven years ago, at the begining of my college carreer, I resolved to lose weight. It was very difficult at first. I tried excersizing and changing my diet. For a few months I went back and forth between my new path and my old one. Little by little, however, I grew accustomed to the new lifestyle I chose. My body started to crave healthy foods just as it used to crave the greasy, fat filled foods. I am addicted to fuit smoothies now. They are delicious! It was the same with excersize. It's tough to get into a habit of excerxizing because at first you feel so sore, but once you get used to it your body craves it. Sometimes I feel off if I miss a day of excersizing. One of the biggest keys to losing weight is patience. It took me over a year to lose thirty pounds and now I'm at the weight I want to be. Also, start slow and build up. I began with light yoga and now I love to cardio kickbox and use five lb weights to stay toned. I workout at least an hour each day.

Hey, asmaahsan I get where you are comming from. I was never very large but I was always chubby as a child. Through my teenage years my diet was poor and I was always 20-30 lbs heavier than what was healthy for my age and height. My point is that there is hope for those who have grown up as obese and they don't necessarily need professional help. Old habits are hard to undo but new habits can be formed. To lose weight and keep it off requires a lifestyle change, not a temporary diet. And, just as I said before, patience is key.

I wish you all great success in your endevors
And may God smile down upon you

asmaahsan · Post by **asmaahsan** » 13 Jan 2013, 21:51

Actually, until age 12, I was underweight. I had some Personal trauma and stopped excercising and ate my weight out of it by way of depression.I put on weight in my teens. I always eat more when depressed. I stress eat also. Books on health and fitness work for me because they make me think about being fit and healthy, something I am not able to do in depression mode.

Zepher07 · Post by **Zepher07** » 13 Jan 2013, 22:17

I hear you on that asmaahsan. I struggle with depression myself. It came on after I had gotten into a habit of excersizing and for a time I was bordering on being underweight. I began to look sickly thin. I knew this but my appetite just wasn't there. Anyway, excersizing was still very important to me because I wanted to get better. I had heard that excersizing could help with depression and I really believe it does. It helped released some of that pent up energy that all my mixed up emotions were bottling up. Instead of thinking about being fit, I thought about the calmer feeling exersize gave me as motivation to continue. My depression is not near what it was when it first hit, but I still struggle with it. Sometimes, exersizing gives me a way to focus on my movement and breath rather than the pain for a little while. It's not a cure but sometimes I just need help getting by.
I'm afraid I don't know very much about dealing with depressive eating as depression caused the opposite problem for me. That's the crazy thing about depression. It's different for everyone. I'm glad the books work for you. That's great.

asmaahsan · Post by **asmaahsan** » 13 Jan 2013, 22:24

may I say something. See if is works for you.

I am a very positive person. Being around critical negative people who make me feel bad about me depresses me. I have never taken medication because I analysed from the start that it's not me who is to blame, it's the people trying to push me down. Here is what I do. I get rid of them in my life. I stop all communication and all contact with people who depress me. If I have to meet them due to some real unavoidable circumstance, I tell myself they are strangers and I don't need to get ver chummy with them. I do a lot of hobby crafts and read a lot of happy things and watch a lot of comedy shows. They keep me motivated. I love making new friends, but the minute I realize they are negative or nasty people, I chuck them out, nicely of course.

my friends are happy people like me, so you can guess there ain't many.

I am my own shrink. Religious thoughts help me obviously, I learned reiki too but barely practice it. My teacher said I am full of happy bright light. I believe.

Zepher07 · Post by **Zepher07** » 13 Jan 2013, 22:53

That's good advice. I've been thinking lately about the negative influences in my life. Like the music I listen to. With people it's a little harder. I don't like to give up on people. I always feel like there is more to them then just their negativity but I'm not very good at learning when to cut my losses. The stress of life is what gets to me the most. I'm in college and I work as well. I want to do those things but my mind can't always handle it. I do take medication because I've realized that I am not at the point where I can function without it yet (though I have tried). Believe me, I never wanted to take meds but I realized that my life and well-being were far more important than my pride.

Religious thoughts help me too

My belief and hope in God is what has got me through some of the hardest parts for sure. He always places things in my way to provide relief just when I think I can't take it anymore. Oh, and I've found yoga helps me out. I think you and I would get along swimmingly. I love positive people, and even when I'm down I still keep my positive hope.

asmaahsan · Post by **asmaahsan** » 14 Jan 2013, 02:18

I am dedicated mother of three. :p

Read my profile. I am probably too old for you to be a friend now as my eldest is fifteen, but I have been there so I can relate to one thing that I will write here that others may benefit from too, no need to comment on it either if you are uncomfortable talking about it.

You said you don't like to give up on people. I am not talking about physically getting rid of them. I mean mentally chucking them out of your system. I had a friend in school and college who was very negative. All she did was crab and nag and complain. Got on my nerves. I didn't give up on her because she had one good quality. She was very loyal. She stood by me in my trying times and that covered her faults. One day after almost seven years, she overstepped her limits and hurt me on a very personal level. Friends don't cross limits. No one does that. That's when I stopped meeting her. It hurt alot because I was very young, but I realized that we didn't see eye to eye on stuff so maybe she was better of with a friend who understood her, that way we didn't have to make each other feel bad about ourselves.

Life lesson....

After that, when I feel that someone is aggressive and forcing me to do something I don't like, and also has no respect for me, I understand that we can't be friends for a lifetime, so I just don't cross the first base of friendship, so to speak.

I keep it general and light and don't get too involved with anyone anymore. I prioritize. If I don't look after my home and my kids, their futures will be dark.

I don't want to redeem lost souls. Everyone has to carry their own burdens, and i have wasted too much of my youth helping thankless people and lost precious time I could have spend developing myself and that in turn would have enabled me to be helpful in an even more effective way.

Thing is that first you reach your full potential. Then at the peak you will be able to help others more effectively. Don't get distracted. College life is awesome. I loved it. You are young and hopefully a positive person. So just shut the world out a bit, switch to nice peppy songs, party numbers put you in the mood, dj mixes the bomb, just cut out depressing stuff to hear in music even as that kind of sets the tone of your day.

If You are religious, Meditate on God. One good practice is to put on tv, look at good looking people and comment to God what lovely faces he has created, in terms of looks of course.

See where I am getting at? Be young, think young, feel young, and grateful that you are better than millions.

Check my posts for my info. I posted it to get to know everyone better. Cheers.

Shapewear · Post by **Shapewear** » 15 Jan 2013, 03:40

Eating more slowly is a good weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is an easy way to do it.

asmaahsan · Post by **asmaahsan** » 15 Jan 2013, 04:18

One of my cousins said the same. He said keep munching your food slowly, and stop eating just before your stomach is full. Then wait for ten minutes and the hunger pangs will go away.

Too much hard work for me. I eat very fast, and I like stuff I can munch on so that means a lot of toasted bread and stuff which eventually bloats you and makes you fat.

Eating slow is a very difficult practice.

One more idea one can use is to make a plate of food and decide not to eat more before you start eating. Don't talk when you eat so you can concentrate on what you are eating, and once done have some water and distract yourself by talking and watching tv. That way after some minutes, the hunger pangs go away.

Watching tv while eating is not good. It makes you eat more without realizing it.

End of the day, it's bad eating habits that cause over weight issues unless you have some illness that causes bloating and induces excessive hunger pangs. That requires medication.

Grenadine54 · Post by **Grenadine54** » 16 Jan 2013, 23:22

Hello everyone!

New to this online book community. First post in this forum!

I've had my weight fluctuate throughout the years. Usually within a twenty pound range. A lot had to do with it with my overall level of satisfaction and contentment in life. The more stable I feel in other areas of my life, the better equipped I feel challenging weight loss/maintenance. Thus, reading has actually contributed a lot, because I draw strength from self-help books, spiritual books (I'm a Buddhist), as much as I do from characters in narrative fiction.

A health and fitness book falls into the "knowledge is power" category for me. I probably don't get much out of a single book, but the more I read on a particular topic, say yoga, the more I slowly integrate certain aspects into my daily thinking and routine. Sometimes words need repetition in order to reach you fully. It's like parents.

Asmaahsan, I fully agree with your cousin btw. I actually read somewhere, that your stomach doesn't have enough time to send signals to your brain to tell it that you're already full. Eating slowly and taking breaks is good! I usually take a long break before I have seconds, just to see if I really "need" seconds and really am still hungry or if it goes away and I can move on to a small desert instead.

asmaahsan · Post by **asmaahsan** » 17 Jan 2013, 11:03

I wish I agreed with my cousin too! Just had caramel latte full of sugar on a full stomach!

Welcome to the forum.

leannemays · Post by **leannemays** » 21 Jan 2013, 13:01

"Eat To Live" has really inspired me to start eating whole foods. It's not a gimmick and really works. The hard part is avoiding sweets

asmaahsan · Post by **asmaahsan** » 21 Jan 2013, 13:45

You're telling me! Sweets are the reason I maintain my fat.

Bighuey · Post by **Bighuey** » 21 Jan 2013, 19:04

I heard of an excercise today for mainly older people. Lay down on the floor and get yourself up to a standing position several times in a row without grabbing onto anything to help yourself up. The thinking on that is, if you fall you would be able to get up again.