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The amount of calories you consume and the amount of energy you expand is directly related to weight loss or gain. Simple, right? Not really quite as simple as that. There are other factors that come into play that are not talked about too much.

If you go to any of the "diet" centers, many times they will focus on the food you eat and tell you to concentrate on that. You look at the commercials with Kirsty Ally and she talks about the great food and she's not starving or missing out on desserts, because the program has all that 'sinful' food. But the thing is, you aren't going to eat their food all the time or forever, so what's a girl to do? : )

The thing that happens is that you revert to your former eating habits and probably return to your original shape. Many people add to their original weight, at least a couple pounds. This is why there is a series of commercials using the expression stay an 'after' meaning don't return to your before weight.

The only way you can "stay an after" is if you change your lifestyle from your "before" lifestyle. Meaning you need to incorporate the eating habits and some sort of exercise program and MAINTAIN that. The exercise program tends to get overlooked, but that must be a part of your plan. It is a known fact that muscle burns more calories than fat, so if you have more muscle, you are using more calories, even if you are just sitting around watching TV. no extra effort needed, the muscle is helping to keep you in shape at all times.

When you just change your diet you tend to lose muscle. When you lose muscle, your body doesn't work at hard at burning calories. What goes on is you lose muscle and then you start eating like "before" and your body doesn't burn the calories like it used to, so you gain the weight back faster than before, and you don't add muscle, you add more fat; unless you are exercising.

Here's the next thing. The exercise that most people turn to is cardio (running, biking, walking, etc.) to burn the fat. But that doesn't add much muscle to your frame. The better option is to lift weights. This will burn calories and 'replace' fat with muscle, which will in turn burn more calories and get you started in the opposite direction of the fat burning operation. You will gain muscle and it will help burn calories and keep you in shape.

Lifting weights will not necessary make you lose weight, but you will look and feel better. Muscle is heavier than fat, but it is also more dense. You can keep the same weight and drop a few inches off your waist. Women don't worry, you don't have the testosterone to gain huge bulky muscles. You will keep a trim fit appearance and not turn into a 'muscle-y mannish' woman. That can't happen without some serious supplement help and probably steroids as well.

Before anyone writes me to defend the Jenny Craigs of the world, I am not putting down any healthy method of weight loss. If a center, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, whatever, can help you on the track to health and fitness that is terrific. They can provide excellent support groups and calorie counting methods and all that stuff. I am just saying that unless you incorporate a change in your lifestyle, you are likely to gain weight back. I know the "weight loss centers" all agree with that.

Contact me with questions or comments

Robert Britt is married and a father of four. He is a published author and has a degree in Psychology from Albright College. Robert is a recognized expert in the field of personal finance, self-esteem and confidence building. He is a full time professional writer and speaker. Robert spent 13 years in the military and 14 years in manufacturing prior to self-employment. Please contact Rob at rob@wealthtrainingsource.com or visit http://www.robertbritt.com

It is well known that about two-thirds of the U.S. population is either overweight or obese. The U.S. Surgeon General has stated that approximately 75% of Western diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, gout, arthritis, excess weight gain, hypertension, diabetes, some cancers, impotence, biventricular disease, constipation, heartburn, and gallbladder disease, are lifestyle-related. They are directly correlated with our high fat diet, inadequate amounts of exercise, smoking, high intake of caffeine, and high amounts of stress coupled with insufficient support.

Hoping to address this alarming situation, more than 20 years ago, cardiovascular epidemiologist Hans A. Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, created the Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP). Since then, this 40-hour community-based lifestyle intervention program has helped more than 40,000 people rediscover their health by preventing, arresting and reversing their diseases. It has been conducted in more than 150 North American cities as well as in Bangalore, India, Australia and Switzerland. Depending upon the needs of the group, the meetings are held either live with Dr. Diehl delivering the program personally (usually meeting four times per week for four weeks) or as a video-based program with certified CHIP facilitators (normally two times per week for eight weeks). In addition, Dr. Diehl is a best-selling author To Your Health, Dynamic Living, and Health Power (co-authored with Aileen Ludington, M.D.) -- as well as the executive editor of a 24-page quarterly Lifeline Health Letter; he has produced scores of health videos. CHIP empowers people through its scientifically-documented, educational and inspirational program that addresses common western diseases -- those that used to be seen primarily later in life.

Today, these diseases increasingly appear at far younger ages. CHIP may make all the difference in ones life -- even the difference between life and death.

In 1999, CHIP launched a community health transformation template in Rockford, Illinois, a city with a population of 130,000. The intention was to transform Rockford into the healthiest city in American, thereby enabling it to serve as a model and template for cultural transformation on a community-wide level. Recently, CHIP was recognized as just such a model by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and was approved under the national Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a STEPS to a HealthierUS applicant. In addition to live CHIP, a series of CHIP videos are offered through schools, churches, corporations, and hospitals. In Rockford, CHIP is sponsored by the Swedish American Health Systems center for Complementary Medicine.

Who is the typical CHIP participant? Generally, CHIP participants are over the age of 40. Most are between the ages of 50 and 59. There are twice as many women as men, and almost 90% are married. Clinical research, published in peer review journals, has found that they have the following lifestyle diseases:

• 10% report having heart disease

• 27% have elevated blood sugar

• 42% are overweight

• 49% show evidence of hypertension

• 60% are obese

• 89% are cholesterol above 160mg%

Over the course of the program, strict adherents are likely to experience significant clinical improvements such as the following:

• Serum cholesterol reduction average 15 20%

• Average weight loss of six pounds

• In about half of the participants with type 11 diabetes, a dramatic reduction in need for insulin and hypoglycemic agents

• Lowering of high blood pressure levels

• Diminishing of angina

• Reduced levels of depression and increase in self-esteem

Class & Video Lecture Schedule

Week 1

Modern Medicine: Miracles, Medicines, & Mirages

The limitations of high-tech medical approaches in dealing with lifestyle related diseases

Portrait of a Killer: Onslaught from Within

Atherosclerosis, the culprit in many lifestyle diseases

Stalking the Killer

Reviewing the risk factors for coronary heart disease

Eat More and Weigh Less

Basic guidelines for healthy, sustained weight loss

Week 2

Going Up in Smoke

Smoking the most controllable risk factor for coronary heart disease

The Magic of Fiber

The role of fiber in preventing and reversing lifestyle diseases

Reversing Hypertension

Changing the major risk factors for high blood pressure

Disarming Diabetes

Lifestyle factors that can arrest or reverse diabetes

Effective Cholesterol Control

Dietary factors that prominently affect blood levels of cholesterol

Fats in the Fire

The role of excessive fat intake in lifestyle diseases

Week 3

Fit at Any Age

Benefits of regular exercise in preventing and arresting disease

Boning Up on Osteoporosis

Cause and prevention of this so-called disease of aging

Lifestyle and Health

Clinical studies that demonstrate how lifestyle choices are related to health

The Optimal Diet

Positive dietary guidelines for the prevention and reversal of Western diseases

Week 4

Diet and Cancer

Dietary factors in the development and prevention of common cancers

Atherosclerosis of the Mind

The importance of adaptability in achieving and maintaining optimal health

The Gift of Forgiveness

How a spirit of forgiveness enhances emotional and overall health

Building Self-Worth

The development, preservation and role of self worth in a healthy person

Sidebar

Connie Thebarges Story

At the age of 59, Connie Thebarge, a patient at the Ottawa Heart Institute in British Columbia, Canada, was told that her doctors could no longer help her. After all, in addition to suffering from hypertension, she had diabetes and painful diabetic neuropathy. She had two heart attacks followed by a triple coronary bypass surgery and an unsuccessful angioplasty. Every day, she had to take 27 pills. Not surprisingly, she was also depressed.

Yet, today, more than a decade later, Thebarge walks three miles a day, swims twice a week, dances, and travels to Florida and Europe. No longer depressed, she also requires far fewer pills. How was this accomplished? Thebarge participated in CHIP and transformed her life.

Written by the Editors at Weight Loss Buddy Press in collaboration with Hans A. Diehl, DrHSc, MPH, FACN, CNS

about The Author

Copyright 2004, by Weight Loss Buddy Press

May be reproduced and distributed as is.

Joey Dweck - your Weight Loss Buddy

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PO Box 488 Tenafly NJ 07670

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