How do you really lose weight and keep it off?

With summer just around the corner, many people are starting to think about how to take off those extra pounds they have been only thinking about, but not taking action on. Today's blog is a bit different than usual: I have included several links that will help you make an informed decision on how to take off those extra pounds and maybe THIS time keep them off.

Did you know that a registered dietitian (RD) is the ONLY expert who is both educated and trained on nutrition and how it affects the human body? Many people think of an RD as someone who works in the kitchen in a hospital and just cook meals. However, all RD’s must have a minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition and complete at least 900 hours of supervised practice. This qualifies a person to take the national RD exam that will qualify them to call themselves an RD.

Only RD’s can provide medical nutrition therapy, which is education and counseling for people who have medical conditions that can be treated with nutrition therapy. Anyone can call themselves an expert on nutrition, and there is no standard for calling oneself a ‘nutritionist’, but there are limitations to who can call themselves an RD. Click this link to consider how to lose weight from a logical and healthy perspective: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6819528015116404993&pr=goog-sl

Meanwhile, much of what we REALLY know about successful, long-term weight loss is the result of the powerful National Weight Control Registry studies that have been taking place since 1994. If you have lost 30# or more, and have kept it off for at least a year, you can join the Registry! Spend some time on this site; read the success stories, read some of the research, and learn what it takes to REALLY lose weight and keep it off.

http://www.nwcr.ws/

Next, we all know how popular the latest fad diet can become! Maybe you have helped spur that popularity, too! Even though you know these are often unhealthy, temporary solutions to your problem, at least when you look in the mirror – for a month or so – you feel so much better! To read what WebMD has to say about all of the latest diets, click this link: http://www.webmd.com/content/pages/11/39536.htm

Finally, Consumers Reports just released their survey of the latest diets and dieters. What was amazing is that up to 41% of all respondents said they were on a diet and as many as 75% believed they would achieve their weight loss goals, although 75% of those people were unsuccessful in the past! Go figure. To read more about the survey, click here.

In conclusion, although we are always looking for the ‘quick solution’ to weight loss, there really isn’t one. If you pay close attention to what the first two examples have to say, you will see that the only REAL solution to losing weight permanently is to cut down your food intake and pick up your exercise. Depending on your age, right now all you care about is how you look in your bathing suit or shorts, but as you get older, how you feel and how active you’re able to be while aging will become much more important. The health problems related to quick and temporary weight loss will stick with you long after that temporary weight loss is just a memory. But healthy food and activity habits that you develop now will last a lifetime, and perhaps ensure a longer, healthier lifetime.