If you want to achieve weight loss , then these 5 steps will make losing weiht a reality and not just a hopeful wish. Success is not based on wishes.
Get Your Mind Right
So many people forget the most important element about weight loss, their minds. You will fail to lose weight unless your mind is focused on doing so. Every morning spend 5 minutes thinking about why you want to lose weight? What benefit is there for you? How you will be different in a few months down the line? Imagine these pictures in your mind. Do not think about whether you can do it or how hard it will be. Remember that we never feel proud of ourselves when we do things that are easy. The harder the goal, the greater the sense of achievement.
Stay With Your Calories
Before starting your weight loss plan, you should have evaluated how many calories you were eating a day on average. Try a 10% cut in this number. Stick to this and don't be tempted to cut too many more too quickly. If after a period of time your results are less obvious, just make another 5% reduction. Remember that your body likes to change in stages, and not overnight. Try to implement too many changes in one go, and your body will fight you. Never go below 1500 calories a day, not only is this unhealthy, it can start the dreaded starvation mode.
Always Eat Breakfast
Never ever miss breakfast. There is a reason why it's called breakfast. You have been fasting during the night (not getting any nutrients). So you are breaking this fast when you have your first morning meal. Get it, break--fast? Anyway, your body is crying out for nutrition in the morning because it has had no calories from anything to 10-15 hours. If you don't provide your body with these calories, then your body will think that there is a problem. So it will slow down your metabolism and bang goes your weight loss. Start getting into the habit of eating some food, even if you are not that hungry. Some bananas or a bowl of cereal will do to begin with.
Drink Lots of Water
We are always being told about drinking enough water. 8 glasses, 10 glasses, 20 glasses? I'm not going to get into numbers here, but I will tell you that 70% of your body is actually water. If all this water was removed from your body, you would look like a big potato skin. Only a reduction of water of around 3% can have a negative effect on you. It's hard to lose weight when you feel like that. Plenty of water is required to allow your body to work properly. Increae your water intake by half again, and see what effects it has after a few days.
Stick Your Plan Daily
Before you started your diet or weight loss regime, you would have written a plan. You did write a plan didn't you? The world is run on written plans, that is what creates order and makes the world work (well some of the time at least). If there was no plan to follow, you wouldn't be able to reach your goal. A plan is siiar to a roadmap. Losing weight is a goal, so it requires a plan, right? A written plan for each week is a must. You would write down what times you will be eating, what you will be eating, when you will exercise, what exercises you would be doing, and how long for. I'm sure you get the picture. Having things written down make them real, instead of them just floating around in your head, plus it gives you a record of your achievements.
Always keep in mind that other people's opinions stem from their thoughts about themselves, find your own. Just because they don't believe that they can do something, doesn't mean that others can't. Create your own thoughts and beliefs, you are not anybody else, you are you. You choose what you will allow into your mind. Each day spend time telling yourself that this is your time, you will reach your goals, and you will do this by sticking to your plan no matter what. Be positive, accept that you will get negative thoughts now and again, but so what. Let these thoughts wander around in your head on their own, if they don't get any attention, they will go away in a huff. Just because others are failing in losing weight, is not your concern. You can be like them and sit around talking about why you can't lose weight. Or you can be you, an individual with your own goals, thoughts, and beliefs, who takes action on a daily basis in order to lose weight.
Filed under Fitness by on Mar 18th, 2009. 
Medical practitioners determine the blood pressure in millimeters of mercury. A high systolic blood pressure level is any number higher than 140. A high diastolic blood pressure level is any measurement more than 90. Patients who measure higher than these numbers over two or more successive medical screenings are considered to have stage one hypertension. Stage 2 hypertension is a diastolic measure above 100 and a systolic blood pressure level of more than 160. People who have stage 2 hypertension require immediate medical attention. Find out more about dangerously high blood pressure levels.
What Causes This And What Can We Do?
High blood pressure level do not always have a known cause. Nor will an individual with high blood pressure levels necessarily notice any symptoms. Consequently, high blood pressure is often described as the “silent killer.” In fact a person can have high blood pressure levels for several years without even recognizing it. The only way to establish whether or not you have high blood pressure is with regular medical screenings. It is not until a person develops stage 2 hypertension that they begin to notice that anything is wrong.
A person with very high blood pressure level may notice a strong headache, queasiness, weakness, and vision problems. If you notice any of these problems and you know, or suspect that you might have hypertension, go to the local medical clinic without delay.
The Uncertainty
If high blood pressure is left untreated it can do serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, and kidneys. People with dangerously high blood pressure levels, who do not receive the needed treatment are at very high risk of eye damage, stroke, aneurysm, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, and even death. Therefore regular blood pressure screenings from a health care practitioner are most impoprtant.
What Can Be Done?
If two or more successive tests demonstrate that you have high blood pressure, then there is a lot that you can do to improve your situation. A healthy low-fat diet and regular exercise can help to lower your blood pressure. Even a moderate amount of healthy weight loss can help reduce the concern of hypertension.
You should also take less salt, reduce your consumption of alcohol, and stop smoking if you partake in any of these habits. Many medications are also available to treat high blood pressure levels. Diuretics are helpful for people with stage one hypertension because they reduce the amount of sodium in the bloodstream and decrease blood volume.
Your health care professional may also prescribe calcium channel blockers, which lower high blood pressure levels by reducing the tension of the the muscles of the artery walls. Beta blockers are another choice since they lower the heart rate and decrease the strength of heart contractions to reduce some of the pressure. Then there are ACE inhibitors which inhibit a hormone called angiotensin, which is a chemical that makes the blood vessels tighten and can therefore exacerbate hypertension.
To learn about the full range of medicines available to treat dangerous levels of your blood pressure, talk to your health care practitioner. Alternative programs are also available for natural control of your blood pressure. There are exercises which reduce tension and stress. Acupuncture and meditation can also reduce your stress levels and bring down your blood pressure levels.
Filed under Health by on Mar 18th, 2009.