Are We Too FAT?

Americans are much heavier today than during the last 20 years. According to a recent article from MSNBC, 34% of Americans are now obese! This is up from 22.9% in the 1988-1994 surveys.

Most people today realize that excess fat is not good for them. It seems that everyone you talk to says that they need to lose weight or need to go on a diet. However, most are not losing weight - evidently just talking about it.

There is no question that nearly 1/3 of Americans needs to lose weight. Obviously what people have been doing is not working. It is time for a change.

Here is what I am doing:

• I am decreasing “bad” fats and carbs, and am increasing the good ones.
• I am decreasing the amount of food that I eat
• I am also using Ultra Body meal replacement like others in this group.

My goal is to lose 30 pounds in a safe and slow manner. I feel that an average 8 to 10 pounds a month will work for me. So I should lose 30 pounds in three to four months. By the end of April I should have reached my goal. I started my new lifestyle eating plan three weeks ago and so far I have lost 7 pounds, so I am on track.

Ultra tastes soooo good, I love it! And since it contains the natural appetite suppressant Hoodia, it is much easier to both eat less and eat right.

Finally Weight Loss Success Realized

I have been on Ultra's "Body"' for two weeks now and have lost 14 lbs. I have been on a diet since I was age 13 weighing 160 lbs. Believe me I have lost and found myself time and time again.

I was really excited about the CrazyFoxes Biggest Loser Competition . What an awesome group of individuals. We have the encouragement we need without leaving our home!!

Ultra's "Body" product is very yummy. I mix mine with skim milk. After it is mixed I sometimes heat it up in my coffee cup and it provides me with a truly delicious hot drink. I would highly recommend that people who have trouble losing weight give this product a try.

Can't wait to see my progress for next week. I will finally be able to go to the beach this summer with my family and not feel like a "beached whale"....maybe a sleek dolphin instead!!

Blessings, Judy

Losing Weight Plus Social Networking!?

I came across this blog article and immediately thought of the CF Biggest Loser blog and all of our other efforts! Everyone needs support! It's by Craig Ballantyne, who is a workout routine and fat loss expert, and writes workout routines for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.

"Researchers from Regis University in Denver, Colorado believe that "social networks" are the key to halting the obesity epidemic.

After all, we know what we need to do in order to lose fat. It's not a lack of knowledge. In fact, even a 3rd grader could tell you that we need to eat less and exercise more to lose weight.

But it's easier said than done, especially when we're surrounded by easy eating and friends that want to drag us to another movie or high-calorie restaurant meal when we should be doing our workouts instead.

These researchers have found that, "individuals with similar body fat levels will cluster together into groups, and if left unchecked, current social forces will drive these groups toward increasing obesity".

That's a no-win situation, so you have to hunt out people who share your weight loss goals. But you don't have to stick to your friends. In fact, the researchers suggest, "interventions targeting well-connected and/or normal weight individuals at the edges of a cluster may quickly halt the spread of obesity."

So building a Facebook fat loss group full of strangers and including people who have already lost fat is one place to start. I prefer to use the website Twitter.com to encourage social support and accountability in my clients. You could also start by getting involved in the Turbulence Training Member's Forums, or another weight loss website club.

The bottom line is that you need social support for fat loss success. Start associating with positive people who share similar goals with you, and you'll soon be losing all the weight you want.

Reference:
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009 Jan 15. Exploiting Social Networks to Mitigate the Obesity Epidemic. Bahr DB, Browning RC, Wyatt HR, Hill JO.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS"

Interesting, right? That's what we're all about...supporting each other! So taking it to Facebook and Twitter...just think of the possibilities...





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What An Excellent Concept - The Crazy Foxes Biggest Loser Blog! Gotta Love It!

What an excellent concept, The Crazy Foxes Biggest Loser Blog! I love it! Here's one of my articles about weight loss and setting goals, so...

Do You Think Goal Setting is Important in Dieting?

As with most things in life, I believe that setting goals is very important when dieting. When you look at things truthfully and objectively you should notice that most of the things you've accomplished in life have been accomplished because you not only had a goal but also had a clearly planned and well thought out process for achieving that goal. That being said, why is goal setting so important when it comes to dieting?

First of all, it is difficult to achieve any type of goal if you do not have a clearly defined one. There are times in life when it is almost impossible to tell whether you are succeeding or failing because you aren't certain exactly what the desired outcome should be. Identifying your dieting goals before you begin eliminates this particular possibility.

Second, having dieting goals gives you a guideline by which you can judge your progess. This is important so that you know when your efforts are falling behind and when you're moving right on schedule or, maybe, ahead of schedule. In other words, you will know when to celebrate and when to give yourself a swift kick to the rear.

That's why we set weight loss goals, but how do we go about setting those goals that are so important for dieting success? You want to set goals that are aggressive without being impossible to achieve. If you set goals that are beyond your reach you will find that frustration will be your dieting partner until you reach the point where you give up all together. In order to avoid this you should take great care to insure that your goals are possible for you to achieve.

When it comes to weight loss be specific when setting your goals. Rather than setting a total goal of 40 or 60 pounds start with a specific goal such as 10 pounds in one month. Then you can extend the goal to the next month until you've reached the overall goal of 40 or 60 pounds. It is much easier to lose 10 pounds four times than it is to lose 40 pounds at once! It's a trick of the mind but it works. Ten pounds sounds simple and achievable. Forty pounds sounds like an insurmountable obstacle.

Another thing about goals is that you want to hold yourself accountable but never call the whole thing off if you only lose 9 pounds instead of 10. Instead, find out where you dropped the ball for the final pound and set your 10-pound goal for the next month.

You should also make sure your goals are personal to you. The truth is that if it's personal to you, it will be much more rewarding than if you are doing this for someone else. If your heart isn't in it, you'll find that the motivation just isn't there as well.

Finally, you should establish small (non-food) rewards for accomplishing your dieting goals. Perhaps your reward will be a new accessory for your new (or new old) wardrobe or a pedicure for your new look. Make your reward something fun and frivolous and teach yourself that accomplishing your goals can be accomplished by something other than food. Goals are the key to dieting successfully.

Much success to everyone!! Feel free to visit my health and fitness blog anytime! Let's go get 'em!

Dr. Oz Green Drink Recipe Instructions

Dr. Oz Green Drink Recipe Instructions

Foxy Crazy Foxes are the Best in all Things!

How very true. Planning is a necessity to achieving any goal. If we don't plan six months will go by and we will be no further ahead, and possibly when it comes to weight loss we we have gained more :(

Spark is an excellent tool Karen. Once you sign up for free, you can receive daily recipes.

I am so excited about being a part of this group of Crazy Foxes Biggest Losers! You all have done a great job of researching tools and sharing recipes and encouraging us all.

If you are up to your noses in snow, or just don't like to walk outside check out www.walkathome.com/wd5k. This will take you to Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home site and if you purchase anything you will get the Women's Day discount. I am currently using the 1 to 4 mile walking DVD. It is a great program.

Remember if you have a piece of chocolate cake calling your name we are all here just a "beep" away to encourage you. The Crazy Foxes will succeed at being the Biggest Losers and the most successful at whatever we set out to do in 2009.

Planning Makes the Difference

You know it really doesn't matter what we want to achieve, the only way to get it done is to plan. You need to plan to work and work your plan! True for internet marketing, for weight loss goals, for educational goals... everything!

For me the greatest challenge to healthy eating is that I have neglected to plan. When you haven't planned ahead, and you get hungry... it is too easy to reach for something quick, easy and usually unhealthy. While searching for software to help make planning easier, I found Spark.

Wow!

It has everything! Menu and exercise planning, right down to creating a grocery list... recipes, message boards, journals... just have a look - I put a button in the right margin here. I think you'll be impressed! A little lower in the right margin is a favorite recipe widget. I think I can modfiy that to include all our favorites.

This is going to be FUN! Let's go Foxy Ladies... let's get fit the crazyfox way!

Healthy Lifestyle Changes

Well we made it into January and it is time to get moving on our weightloss challenge. It is going to be fun having other team members to motivate one another, through the ups and downs we will inevitably have.

My first goal is to go into this with a new mindset. I am not on a diet, I am on a healthy lifestyle change and by changing small things one at a time we will be succesful. By setting small goals we will achieve our overall goal in the end.

I love the saying: It is not what you do between Christmas and New Years, its what you do between New Years and Christmas that really counts!

My other goals are to drink more water, cut out the snacking, especially while working on the computer and to become more active. I live out in the country so it is easy just to let the dogs run in the bush for their exercise, but while they are out I will do laps around the edge of our property that is cleared, each lap takes about 10mins to walk at a decent pace. These are the goals that I want to achieve in the month of January, then come February I will post new ones.

Here is a neat tool that I have come across to post our weightloss along the way. There are all kinds of tickers for different occasions. This way we don't have to say how much we currently weigh, but how much we want to lose...maybe one day I'll be brave enough to state what my starting weight was, but not right now!!



Happy New Year and Happy Weight Loss!