Have you heard about people changing to a raw food diet?

Raw and living foods

The raw food diet is something that I’ve been hearing a fair bit about lately.  Essentially what you do on this diet is eat living and raw food exclusively.

Now before you turn your head away at the idea - keep in mind that changing to a raw food diet does not entail you having to acquire a taste for raw meat.  In fact - meat is not a part of this at all!

Starting a raw food means that you’re focused on eating raw and living foods - in particular fresh fruits and vegetables.  And while the raw food diet plan might not be for everyone, people who try it have experienced raw food weight loss.

So how does it all work?  Well - the basic idea is that you’re following what is essentially a vegetarian diet, or more accurately a vegan diet with a twist.  The raw food diet includes no cooked food (or anything heated above 116 degrees F).  The idea is to eat living food, organic food, fresh fruits, raw vegetables and so on, with the payoff being not only weight loss, but more energy and overall better health.  The theory behind this diet is that by eating raw and living foods, you are eating the essence of life - as opposed to putting “dead” foods into your body.  And it make sense - because we all know - we get out, what we put in.  Live foods = live body.

So if you’re up to it - try it out on a 30 day trial.  Maybe changing to a raw food diet is for you!  The best part is - the food is widely available (at your organic grocer and online).  Or if you don’t feel like being quite that “hardcore” check out the 7 tips in my free report up in the top left of this page!

What do you eat while on the jenny craig diet?

So after looking into Weight Watchers the other day, I found myself wondering what do you eat while on the Jenny Craig diet?

While there are a fair number of similarities between the two diets, such as a focus on healthy eating & diet, the Jenny Craig diet plan is a little different in that is focuses almost entirely on their own prepackaged meals.

Of course the theory of the Jenny Craig diet is great.  It’s all about how to balance your diet, eating the right proportions of the right foods.  But I think one of the keys of the Jenny Craig Program is that it forces you to focus on how to eat, without making you think (too hard) about what to eat and in what amounts.  Let’s face it - eating right is like learning a new language for some people.  So making it as easy as possible is key.  And learning how to balance the right foods and re-learning how to eat (and when to eat) is probably just as important as what you eat.

Which probably explains why it’s necessary to go get your food from the Jenny Craig Center.  It takes all the guess work out of trying to figure out what do you eat on the Jenny Craig Diet.  Eating the Jenny Craig food makes the “what to eat” part of the program really easy.  And the Jenny Craig menu is chock full of great options for you to check out on the way to achieving your weight loss goals.

The best part is, on this plan, because Jenny’s cuisine comes as a pre-packaged meal, you don’t have to worry about portion control or portion size.  You just stick to the plan.

Of course, if you live in an area that doesn’t have a Jenny Craig center, then you’re at a slight disadvantage.  Or, if you have to drive all across town just to get your food, it might get to be a pain after a while.

But that said, the concepts of how the diet works all follow some simple rules - rules you don’t need to pay a costly monthly fee to follow.  Check out my free report in the top left corner of this page to find some more information on it.

So hopefully that sheds some light on what do you eat on the Jenny Craig diet!  The menus are varied and look tasty.  So assuming you can find one - it might be worth a shot for you.  If not - check out my report up there for some great tips!

Have you ever tried to calculate weight watcher points? I have - and I ‘m confused!

The other day I was doing some research into some weight loss programs, and in particular, Weight Watchers. I mean, it’s been around for AGES, so it’s got to have something going for it, right? One of the first things I noticed about the program was the existence of a weight watchers points calculator.

Should you need this just to eat??

From what I’ve been able to gather, there’s a specific weight watchers point value to pretty much anything you can eat. Now on the one hand, this seems fantastic - everything’s all indexed, everything has a value. Should be easy to follow, right?

But then I got to thinking about it - and remembered some of the issues my girlfriends had when they were losing weight using this system.

First off, when you eat anything that’s packaged, you have to ensure that it’s completely done the right way (prepared according to package instructions). For those of us who grew up making “little changes” to the pre-packaged food we buy in order to make it more edible - this is a little difficult.

And for anything that’s not packaged, you need to know how to calculate weight for anything that needs to be portioned. You need to prepare meat cuts with all visible fat removed, and you need to make sure you have the appropriate grams or more dietary fiber per serving.

In short - there’s an obvious science there - but it’s confusing to say the least! All this effort just to calculate weight watcher points!

So how do you make this easier? Well the literature all points to a very interesting fact: those who attend weight watchers meetings lose three times more weight than those who don’t. And I have to say - this does make sense. After all, if you hang out with people who have similar goals, you’re more likely to achieve them. But it also says to me that there’s an unspoken need for people to have to learn more about how the system works. In short - how do you calculate weight watcher points.

Again - I have nothing against meetings per se. They’re obviously effective. But what happens if you live in an area that doesn’t have these meetings? Shouldn’t there be an easier way to lose the weight? Personally I think so - and I think a good place to start is with some good old fashioned common sense AND some information - like the information I have in my free report (the one at the top left of this page).

Because in my opinion - life’s too short to have to spend it all trying to calculate weight watcher points. Weight loss can be easier than that!

Red red wine...

WOW… Ok - so I just HAVE to tell you about my night last night.  It was FABULOUS!

As you know, yesterday I wrote about “motivation.”  And to be honest - I was writing it more for me, than for you guys.  See - I knew I was going to be going out to one of the nicest restaurants in town with my man (woo hoo!), and I was trying to psych myself up to not blowing my diet!

Originally, I was going to tell you about how I was able to go out for a wonderful dinner and stay completely committed to my weight loss plan.

And I have to tell you the result:  it was a total success… well… kinda.

Let me explain.

You see - as I always say:  my idea of a great weight loss plan is one that allows me some ‘wiggle’ room.  It’s a plan that allows me to celebrate from time to time without worrying about, “am I blowing my plan?”

So yeah… I did “cheat” and stray away from the actual diet.  BUT, the good news is - my plan has allowances for me to do exactly that!

YAY!

So I was able to enjoy an amazing italian dinner with my man!  I was swept off my feet with a dozen red roses and a promise of a post-dinner bubble bath and massage.  The dinner was fantastic - from the appetizers, to the wine, straight through to the scrumptious dessert!  Originally, we were going to share a dessert between the two of us, but we ended up getting one each!  (They were DELICIOUS!!!)

But the best part of it all, was the complete lack of guilt I felt during the whole meal!  I was able to eat that delicious food without fear of completely messing up my diet - because the “wiggle room” is built into the plan! And if  you’re looking for a little “wiggle room” yourself - check out my yayFOOD! weight loss plan review and see if it’s the right thing for you!

You could be closer to that “beach bod” than you think!  I know I am! 

Even the Romans wanted to look good in a bikini!

I was reading some articles today and I realized that one of the key’s to successful weight loss is, motivation.

And I realized that motivation is something that’s as personal and unique as each and every one of us. And it doesn’t really matter WHAT is motivating you to lose weight - just so long as you HAVE some motivation in the first place!

So what’s YOUR motivation?

Is it something intently personal and deep - like “now is finally the time!”? Or is it something more ‘mundane’ like “I want to look good in that bikini this summer”?

Regardless of WHAT it is that’s motivating you - take a moment to realize that it’s there, and embrace it! And if you’re stuck in a rut, maybe you need to re-examine your motivation… It’s possible that it might not be strong enough for you anymore.

Let me know what it is that’s motivating you! I’m always interested.