Look Great, Feel Great, Shape Your Body for a Better Life.

Dear Reader,

The goal of this report is to encourage you to make your body as healthy as possible. It's a fact that a healthy body helps you look and feel great. By taking control of your weight and health, you lower your risk of disease, increase your energy, and reduce stress and anxiety. It's a true win-win situation.

This report isn't about dieting either. In fact, think of it as more of an "anti-diet" report. You're probably wondering how anyone could discuss weight-loss without focusing on dieting. Well, the answer is simple: Dieting and weight-loss really have nothing to do with each other.

Yes, you read that correctly. Just because you diet doesn't mean you'll lose weight. In fact, the opposite is true. Most people diet, lose weight, and then regain the weight they lost plus extra. But why is this? After all, dieting seems like an easy concept.

Dieting is simple, right? Wrong. Conventional wisdom says simply eat less and exercise more. If you keep the food away from your mouth, then the pounds will drop off. And while you're keeping your mouth shut, find time to sweat like a sausage in a frying pan. There's even an old, although erroneous, saying that goes "Instead of doing push-ups to lose weight, just push yourself away from the table." Well, if you've ever dieted, you know that losing weight isn't that easy. If it were that easy, we'd all look like super-thin supermodels.

Most Diets Have it All Wrong

It's true. Most diets are about depriving yourself of your favorite foods. And that feels like punishment. Think about it. Most diets tell you to drop the potato chips, hamburgers, and dessert goodies immediately. Most diets encourage you to see food as the enemy. But food isn't your enemy - or at least it doesn't have to be. In fact, that mindset can really ruin your weight loss efforts.

Food is only your enemy when you don't know how to make it your friend. You wouldn't want to be friends with a person who hurt you all the time. The same is true for food. Just like in your relationships, you should choose foods that are healthy and nurturing.

When it comes to dieting, you can't rely on sheer willpower. Sure, that will work for awhile, but sooner or later your old cravings will return. Willpower is overrated when it comes to dieting. You can only resist that pepperoni pizza for so long before your mouth pops open. And then what happens? You beat yourself up over slipping off your diet. Enough of these incidences and you drop the diet altogether. Does this sound like a good way to lose weight, and keep it off? No, it sure doesn't.

What good is a diet if you return to your bad habits once the diet is over? That's why the world is full of yo-yo dieters. They try one diet after another, never being able to sustain their weight loss. Here's a secret the diet industry doesn't want you to know: It's much easier, and healthier, to commit to a lifetime of healthy eating and exercise, as opposed to a short-term diet that leaves you feeling deprived. Deprivation just doesn't work in the long-run.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

To lose weight, you must not only change your eating and exercise habits, but you also have to change the way you think. Many people really overdo it when it comes to weight loss. They think if one thing is good, then more of it will be better. They believe things like: If walking is great for losing weight, then running a marathon once-a-week will work wonders. If I can lose 5 pounds by eliminating 100 calories, then I'll eliminate 300 calories and lose weight even faster. That kind of thinking can get you into serious trouble and ruin your body.

Cutting too many calories can cause your metabolism to drastically drop. When this happens, your body could go into "starvation mode" and store more fat than usual. Then guess what happens? It becomes harder for you to lose weight. And too much exercise is just as bad for your body as no exercise. Unless you're on Celebrity Fit Club or The Biggest Loser, leave the drill sergeant mentality to the television. Set your focus on achieving a healthy balance between exercise and nutritional food choices.

You want to get into better shape, but how? What exactly should you do to get started? Well, there are numerous approaches to getting into shape. Your exercise style will depend entirely on your likes and dislikes. There are exercise classes, workout DVDs, sports, and many other options. But until you discover the type of physical activity that you find appealing, let's layout a few ground rules to get you started.

Get Motivated. Get Going.

Before starting on this life-changing journey, take a snapshot of your current health. Record the information so you can track your progress on a monthly or weekly basis. In addition to getting the go ahead from your medical doctor, it's a great idea to record your:

1. Weight. After you began your new healthy lifestyle, track how well you're doing by monitoring your weight. Some people weigh themselves daily, but that can lead to an eating disorder or weight obsession. Really, once a week should be enough. And don't overdo it with your weight loss goals. Studies show that losing as little as 10 pounds can do wonders for your health.

2. Resting Heart Rate. When you're out of shape, your heart does a lot of work to keep you going. An average resting heart rate is 72 beats per minute. But a body in bad shape normally has an elevated resting heart rate. Keep track of yours to see if it gets lower as you get healthier. The best time to check your pulse is in the morning after a night of peaceful sleep. Simply count how many times your heart beats per minute.

3. Body Mass Index (BMI). BMI is the percentage of fat on a body. A BMI between 14 percent to 16 percent body fat is good for men. For women the numbers are slightly higher. A BMI between 20 percent to 22 percent body fat is good for women.

BMI is measurable in a number of ways. If you have money to spend, BMI monitors (also known as "fat loss monitors") are available from numerous online retailers. But free is good too, so here's a formula to manually find your BMI:

• Multiply your current weight by 703.1 and divide by your height in inches. Divide by your height again to get your BMI.

4. Body Measurements (waist, arms, hips, and thighs). This is important because muscle takes up less space than fat - but muscle is also heavy. So after you've been exercising for awhile the scale numbers may remain high, but your body measurements will shrink. This means you've been doing a great job of burning fat and building muscle. Great!

Four Tips to Prevent Burnout

I know you're ready to get started, but there are a few more things to discuss. A hazard of starting a new lifestyle is the possibility of burnout. You know how children beg for the latest toy, but a week later they're tired of it? It's the same with many adults and healthy living. They start out excited and ready to go, but a few weeks down the road they want to stay in bed all day eating vanilla ice cream. And soon they don't want to exercise at all. Avoid this problem by:

1. Starting Slowly. Don't go from zero to 100 in one week. Doing too much too quickly can result in burnout or injury. If you haven't exercised in awhile, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day. Intermediate exercisers can start with 30 minutes of combined cardio and aerobic activity. Advanced exercisers can up that time to 45 minutes, including weight training.
   A small aside about women and weight training: Many women avoid lifting weights for fear of turning into The Incredible Hulk. They think they'll eventually develop massive manly muscles. But the truth is casual weight training helps you burn fat, and tones your body into a sleek and sexy machine.
2. Focusing on Consistency Instead of Intensity. You'll want to gradually increase the intensity of your exercise, but consistency is also important. Any exercise is better than no exercise. So even if you can't do the exact workout you'd planned, try to fit in some form of physical activity - no matter how little.
3. Changing Your Routine Every Month. Nothing encourages burnout like doing the same ole' routine day after day. Spice up your workouts. Prevent boredom by trying new things, or alternating the types of exercises you do. This will also challenge your body and keep your metabolism going strong.

Hey, What about the Food?

You don't need specially prepared diet food, complicated eating plans, or a personal cook to follow these simple rules. But you should do more research to figure out exactly how you'll incorporate these rules into your daily life. Ok, here are the ingredients for healthy eating:

1. Learn how many calories you need per day. This varies based on your current weight, height, and amount of weight you want to lose.
2. Eat at least 5 small (that's right, small) meals daily. For example, breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, evening snack, and dinner. Never let yourself get too hungry. Intense hunger leads straight to binge eating.
3. Learn to control your portions. Eating from small plates is desirable because it helps keep portions reasonable. This method works because most people automatically fill their plates with food - no matter the size of the plate. Small plates equal small portions - unless you go back for thirds and fourths!
4. Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. This isn't too hard to do, especially if you keep fresh fruit and vegetables handy for snacking purposes.
5. Pay attention to food labels. Learn to read food labels so you'll always know what you're getting. The label will tell you what's in your food, and you can decide if it's worth putting in your body.
6. Keep healthy snacks at your job. The candy in the office vending machine sure looks scrumptious when you're hungry. Save your money and your health by bringing your own snacks.
7. Drink lots of water. Ok, drinking water isn't really about eating, but it belongs on the list. Why? Because it's important to keep your body hydrated. A dehydrated body isn't a healthy body. Water helps your body digest food, and it helps keep your body parts chugging along. Try to drink at least 64 ounces of water per day (that's 8 glasses of 8 ounces).

The Final Stretch

Eating healthy all the time isn't an easy task. Of course, you should attempt to make healthy food choices all the time, but no is perfect. Don't be too hard on yourself if you occasionally indulge on an unhealthy food. As we discussed earlier, deprivation doesn't work. It's the shortest route to a complete binge. You may even want to consider a cheat day.

A cheat day is when you allow yourself one day to enjoy whatever you want. No guilt or shame allowed. But, and this is a big but, do not let a cheat day become an excuse to overeat. There's a huge difference between eating one slice of strawberry cheesecake and eating the whole cake.

I know this is a lot of information to process. But if you take the time to review this information, and perform more research specific to your goals, you'll be on your way to a new, healthier lifestyle and body. Before you know it, exercise and healthy eating will be an important part of your life.

Good Luck!

Sources used for this report:
1. You on a Diet by Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz.
2. USDA Food Pyramid website
3. Amazon.com