by Lisa Smith, Downloads For Change Weight Control Specialist

In preparation for the Labor Day weekend, here are some tips on how to do handle holidays, parties, and celebrations as a healthy, trim person through your lifetime.

ENJOY THE BBQ AND LOSE WEIGHT TOO!

Summertime is almost over.

And with the Labor Day weekend comes "one last-hurrah!" of barbecues, picnics, celebrations, and FOOD TEMPTATIONS. When you are trying to lose weight, control your blood sugar, cut back on saturated fats for heart health, this can create failure or the idea of deprivation.  You find yourself saying, "I can't help myself" or "It looks so good."

So what are you to do? Shut yourself inside and become a recluse? Well, that IS an option, but not one that would make you very happy!

What you can do is make a commitment to do things differently from now on. Parties, cookouts, and social events are going to be a part of the rest of your life. It’s time to leave the "kid in a candy store" mentality behind. You can learn to enjoy parties without making your body pay the price.

Here are some tips for handling picnics/cookouts, parties, and other celebrations with greater ease (for your mind and body).

* The number one thing to do is to have a plan. Stop pretending you don’t know what your pattern is at parties. You’ve had that "ah-ha moment" after overindulging at a party far too many times to fool yourself again. Plan ahead and decide what your strategy is going to be for eating (and even drinking). Then, stick to it! This plan may not be 100% successful the first time, but don't let that be an excuse for giving up. Review your challenges, and resolve to do a little better each time based on what you learned previously.

* Don’t eat anything unless it’s on your plate and served all at once (that includes you fixing the plate). Snacking and nibbling makes it difficult for you to know how much you’ve eaten. By the time your stomach feels the stretch and sends the signal to the brain to turn off the appetite, you’ve already overeaten.

* Bring a healthy dish to share--something you thoroughly enjoy. This assures that you will have at least one thing you can eat that won’t sabotage your healthy eating efforts, and makes you look like a thoughtful guest. You might even find people asking you for the recipe!

* Never go to a social event hungry, unless you are planning to have a MEAL there. You’re just setting yourself up to overeat or eat junk food. Saving-calories-for-later doesn’t work well for SO many reasons. Have a balanced, healthy meal at home if there is going to be a lot of finger food and plan to just have a small dessert at the party.

* Drink water or Perrier (NOT soda water or flavored water) instead of alcohol or sugary soda’s, or at least have 1 or 2 glasses of water between alcoholic drinks. This will counteract the dehydrating effects of alcohol, reduce unnecessary calories/sugar, and prevent you from the uninhibited eating that often occurs when you're "buzzed."

* Curb your starchy carb intake. BBQ’s are often an overload of starches: bread/rolls/buns, potato & pasta salad, potato chips, baked beans, etc. Filling your plate with high-glycemic, low-nutrition carbs such as these will sabotage your best efforts at lifetime weight loss unless you learn to be smart about them. Either choose to have only one of them, along with a meat and some non-starchy vegetables, or a smaller serving of a few of them.

* Dodge or deflect people's well-intentioned urges for you to eat. If someone asks you if you tried "such & such" yet, you can say "Yes, and it was great" or "No, I'm full right now" or try, "Oh, I can't eat that; it gives me gas" (if you are the type of person who is comfortable delivering a line like that). People will continue to offer you food (sometimes even being insistent about it, which is usually based on their own insecurities), but continue to hold your ground and repeat the same phrase again.

(If you have a hard time with this, practice some phrases in the mirror until you get comfortable saying them and they will feel more natural when you need them.  Otherwise, you can call me to do a private session recording for you to alleviate this difficulty).

* Focus on the fun, not the food. Unless the invitation said, "Come to a food-tasting party," there is some other reason for the event. Keep your focus on that. Use your mouth for talking not eating. Keep your hands occupied with a bottle or glass of water. Involve yourself in any activities available.

(Note: if you tend to eat because you are shy or nervous in social settings, there are many things you can do to learn to be more confident. I used to be shy, too. Hypnosis is one of several things that helped me to become the confident public speaker and leader I am today. If you would like to talk to me more about my transition from shy to outgoing, contact me via email or phone and I will be happy to discuss it with you.)

The most important thing to remember is that no one is perfect, and you don't have to master all these things all at once. Changing habits and forming new ones is a learning process. Strive for doing something different and better each time, and it will get easier and more natural. Success in weight loss--in any endeavor, in fact--is the result of doing a lot of little things right over time. There's no magic to it. It's really just common sense.

So, go enjoy your BBQ now, without paying for it later!

If you want more assistance in living slender, check out the hypnosis mp3 download I co-created with the DFC Team -- Slender Me.

Today we want to talk about how important water is to weight loss.  Really, water?  You might be thinking.  Well the evidence is out there and it is very compelling.  Now, this doesn’t mean that you can eat what you want and not do any exercise, but if you drink lots of water then you will lose weight.  There are no magic solutions.  However, it does mean that if you are exercising regularly and eating well, then drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day can make a huge difference.

Here’s a few reasons water is an important component to you weight loss program:

1.  Water helps with metabolism.  

Your liver is the organ that is in charge of metabolizing fat into energy.  Your liver also assists your kidneys in removing toxins from the body.  If your kidneys are water-deprived then your liver has to take up the slack, getting in the way of it metabolizing fat.  A hydrated body allows kidney and liver functions to normalize, and allows you to burn more fat more easily.

A recent study in Germany supports this idea. After drinking approximately 17 ounces of water, the subjects' metabolic rates -- or the rate at which calories are burned -- increased by 30% for both men and women. The increases occurred within 10 minutes of water consumption and reached a maximum after about 30 to 40 minutes.

2.  Water reduces your appetite.

Drinking water before you eat takes up space in your stomach, leading to that full feeling faster.  If that water is cold, it will cause your stomach to shrink a little, allowing you to feel full even faster.  Cold water also requires more energy to process in your body.  Besides we often are confused about how hungry we really are.  Often times that hungry feeling is really your body telling you that you need to drink some water.

3.  Drinking water enhances your workout results.

Muscles need water to function properly, especially during exercise.  Properly hydrated muscles are more toned and flexible.  They also contract more easily, making your workout more effective and your body more toned.

4.  Drinking water enhances your self-esteem.

Water flushes impurities from your skin, giving you a clear, glowing complexion.  Also, hydrated skin cells firm up and make you look younger.  How can you not feel good about yourself when your skin is clear and you already look younger.

5.  Drinking more water actually helps prevent water retention.

If your body is deprived of water, it is more likely to hold onto what little it has. On the other hand, increasing your water intake will cause your body to stop holding onto its limited supplies. Some people can lose up to 3-4 lbs. of weight shortly after increasing how much water they drink.  Of course you will be going to the bathroom more than usual for the first 3-4 days, but once your body gets releases all the excess water it has been storing, then you will go back to normal.

So, stop reading and go have a drink of water.  When you get back we’ll tell you about our new hypnosis mp3 new program that we are really excited about.
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Good.  I hope you feel refreshed.  You see we are talking about weight loss tools today because we have just launched what we think is the best hypnosis weight loss program available.

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