This is a question I get asked a lot as someone who has lost 40 pounds in 50 days – “How many calories should I eat to lose weight?” The answer to this question is relatively simple and can be answered with a variety of daily needs calculators found all over the internet. The Self calculator is one of my favorites, but there is also the MyPyramid.gov way to go about it as well.

The simple and obvious answer is that you should take in less than you burn each day. (The calculators can help you figure this out). For my personal diet, I keep my daily intake below 1500 calories, but it is definitely different for every person. This is why using the calculators is so important. Don’t just try one, give a couple of them a try so that you can see if there are any differences. The JillianMichaels.com plan has a good personalized plan that you could try. Another thing that is important when considering your daily caloric intake is how much exercise or activity you are doing each day. You have to feed your body the right vitamins and minerals in order for it to operate properly.

Sometimes, people might try a VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) to jump start their weight loss but it is not recommended for long term or for someone who only has a few pounds to lose. VLCDs are diets that are 800 calories or below per day. These types of diets used to have to be done with medical supervision but now they are available to just about anyone at an affordable price. The concern with VLCDs is that you will regain the weight back once you begin eating normally. Yes, this will happen if you revert to your old ways, but if you go through some behavior change while you are losing weight, you can work to keep this from happening.

Another way to jump start weight loss is through cleansing which is also very low calorie but meant to be done for short term, though some cleansing can last for months by experienced cleansers. I cleanse from time to time for a couple of days just to get myself back on track or whenever I need a boost. I like the Lemonade Diet Cleanse for this purpose.

Also remember it is not just about calories. You want to make sure you are giving your body what it needs. Do your research and know YOUR body. “How many calories should I eat to lose weight?” is ultimately a question that you and your doctor should discuss in order for you to determine which plan will work best for YOU.

There are hundreds of diets out there from low-carb to high fat diets to the much-rumored Jennifer Aniston baby food diet. According to her trainer Tracey Anderson, Jen has lost 7 lbs in a short week by just following a “baby pureed regimen.”

Very interesting, how can you get started on the you ask yourself?

To get started on the baby food diet, you’ll need to replace all except one of your meals with baby food. During the day, when you feel that you’re starving, just finish a jar of baby food. The diet amounts to about only a thousand calories a day, and because of the pureed extract, it is very effective at providing nutritional value while shedding your additional weight. To ensure that the diet actually works, you should rely on ‘real’ baby food and not other household variants of it.

Is it really that healthy?

Although the diet might seem a bit barbaric, especially by the fact that grown adults are fulfilling their daily nutrition with chunks of baby food, the diet does seem to regulate one’s caloric intake very well.

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I didn’t even know she was a celebrity dieting but I just learned Mandisa from American Idol lost 100 Pounds for her new album.  I learned about it on her YouTube channel where she has some great videos tracking her journey.

Mandisa joins Jennifer Hudson as being a big loser from American Idol recently. Jennifer lost her weight with Weight Watchers while Mandisa says a personal trainer and healthy eating helped her make her transition. She also likes going to Zumba!

Other factors of Mandisa’s diet include scripture (she lists these on her blog), healthy eating (whole grain, fruits and vegetables), exercise, and prayer.

Many celebrity diets rely on expensive personal trainers and chefs but even us regular folks can mimic these great results without that expense. Just use what you have. Friends, family, free community services. You might be surprised to see what you find out there.

Hopefully you can find some inspiration in Mandisa and her 100 pound celebrity weight loss!

If you have been wondering how those that are not the Biggest Loser Winners go home and keep losing all that weight, we now know the answer is the Biggest Loser Meal Plan. The Biggest Loser Meal Plan is now being offered through eDiets, the leader in fresh prepared meal delivery.

I always wondered what contestants were doing at home to keep dropping those big numbers! Adam lost 102 pounds at home and says “I saw a huge change in my weight loss. I have been replicating some of the numbers I had on the ranch. I saw the direct correlation immediately. It’s literally been the backbone to my success!” The shocking thing with the plan is that Adam did this in 19 weeks.

Another Biggest Loser Winner, Patrick, lost 60 pounds with the Biggest Loser Meal Plan after he went home. “I don’t have to stare at my cabinets trying to figure out what to eat. I don’t have to weigh food or measure. It’s quick, it’s simple, it’s awesome and I know exactly the nutrition that I’m putting into my body.”

With the Biggest Loser diet, you can choose the 5 or 7 day plan and you get to choose the meals you prefer either online or over the phone. You also get access to:

• Unlimited support from registered dietitians via phone, email or online chat
• Easy-to-use online nutrition tracker
• Tools to help you track your weight-loss progress and live a healthy lifestyle

Right now you can start the Biggest Loser Meal plan and get a week free using this link :

Join The Biggest Loser® Meal Plan and Get a Week Free

I have lost 40 pounds in 50 days using Diet Direct Wonderslim protein shakes so I think that makes me qualified to do a Diet Direct Shake Review. I decided that I needed to lose weight and started looking around on the Internet for something affordable, quick, and healthy. After checking out Medifast, New Lifestyle Diet, and Slim Fast, I finally decided on Diet Direct Wonderslim Protein Shakes. Primarily it was the cost for what I received that convinced me to give them a try. It was literally half of what I was spending on groceries, eating out, etc while some of the other plans involved more of an investment. So, money wins in this case.

After completing a short two day cleanse to jump start my weight loss efforts and start fresh, I began using the Diet Direct shakes. I had two-three shakes each day, usually breakfast and lunch, but sometimes breakfast and dinner, depending on my schedule for that day. I have tried other shakes previously and I have to say that these were BY FAR, the best tasting shakes I have ever had. I didn’t use a blender or have to add anything to them (like ice) to make them halfway enjoyable. The weight loss kit came with a shaker blender and it worked great getting the shake nice and thick and frothy. I like the chocolate the best, but I also love the berry yogurt and the chocomint which I admit I do like to freeze up a bit because it tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream.

The whey protein kept me feeling full and satisfied so doing the two-three shakes per day was easy. I did have one lean and green meal each day which usually consisted of chicken and broccoli or spinach or a giant salad.

The best thing about Diet Direct is that when you place an order, they send you free samples to try other products! I love this! A packet of this, a bar of that, and you have found a new treat!

This led to me ordering the Wonderslim protein bars for whenever I needed something more (a snacky poo!) and here is my warning…these are TOO good. The peanut butter bar is the BEST though my boyfriend likes the brownie bar and Rocky Road. You have to be careful with these because you should just have ONE and it might be hard for some people to stop at one. But they do fill me up when I am on the go and maybe don’t have time to make the shake. They definitely don’t taste like diet bars at all!

So for our Diet Direct Shake Review,  BurnFatClub highly recommends them as they are delicious, the most affordable we have seen online and easy! Use the this link to Save 50% On Weight Loss Starter Kits – DietDirect.com

Every few months there is a new Internet diet pill sensation and recently it has been the African diet pill called African Mango Plus. African Mango, otherwise known as Irvingia Gabonensis, is credited for increasing the hormone Leptin which has appetite suppressing properties. Ever since Irvingia Gabonensis was mentioned on the Dr. Oz show, there has been a huge increase in interest in the product African Mango Plus among celebrities, fitness experts, and regular “expert dieters” all over the country. This is a celebrity diet that is easily accessible for even us regular folks.

There was even a study published that discusses African Mango Plus as a tool to use against Metabolic Syndrome, or insulin resistance syndrome, which makes weight loss so difficult. Published in the journal of “Lipids in Health and Disease,” this study researched 102 people half that took African Mango and the other half took the placebo. Those taking African Mango resulted in “Significant improvements in body weight, body fat, and waist circumference. African Mango (Irvingia gabonensis) administered 150 mg twice daily before meals to overweight and/or obese human volunteers favorably impacts body weight and a variety of parameters characteristic of the metabolic syndrome.”

The hormone Leptin is perhaps better known as the hormone associated with the obese mice. It was actually the mice that didn’t have leptin that were obese. Leptin is an appetite suppressant and without it working properly, you can become overweight or obese.  Anything that can work to regulate this hormone can help you to lose dramatic amounts of weight.

This new African diet pill has been used by the natives of West Africa as an energy source on very long hunts for ages. African mango, only found in Cameroon, Africa has been used there for medicinal purposes but it’s weights loss and metabolism boosting effects are only now being discovered after the press from Dr. Oz. I personally like Dr. Oz and I appreciate his open-mindedness to natural methods of health and weight loss. I think he has done a lot for alternative or natural health and has helped thousands find answers to their weight loss dilemmas.

According to the African diet pill website, if you order the product you also become a member of their weight loss fitness club (sounds like it is similar to Jillian Michaels) which can help provide accountability and tips for how to stay on track. As we all know, there is no magic pill and it always takes some effort on your part. The African diet pill, African Mango Plus, might be the boost you need to get going.

I have added a new weapon to my work outs and it is called Body Pump, a strength training class by Les Mills. Body Pump is a strength training class offered at a variety of gyms across the country. Set to upbeat music and using bar weights, plates, step bench and a mat, it is a strong workout that can get your whole body in shape.

I was pretty surprised at how full the class was but after the first 10 minutes, I could see why. I personally hate boring machines so doing my weights in a class is definitely appealing. In a class (or using a video at home) you are more free and not confined to an awkward machine. You use  the step benches with the mats on top to lie down on to do chest, tricep and ab work.

The only thing about the classes, and probably one of the best things, is that you are less likely to stop and give up because you look like a loser. Everyone’s bars go up and yours is sitting on your stomach. Still, it seems like right when I couldn’t do another chest press, there would be a perfectly timed break!

If you are interested in Body Pump, be prepared to like to do squats. They were a large part of the workouts I have done so far. Also, be prepared for your body to plateau a bit if you haven’t done a lot of strength training yet. When you start lifting weights, your body will be holding onto some fluids to help your muscle recover. It is OK! In a week or so, you will be back to losing and faster than ever.

If you are afraid of Body Pump because you don’t think you can do it, you can start with just the bar and don’t even have to add weights. You can do the squats with no weights or even modified and use the bar on it’s end to hold onto and help you balance. Overall, ANYone can try it and even if there is something you absolutely cannot do, the instructor will help you out with alternatives. It is all about getting to your personal best.

When your strength training class is over, be sure to have some protein to help your muscles right away. I prefer the Diet Direct Protein Shakes line as they are individually packaged and inexpensive.

So if you hate the machines but know you need to weight train, try Body Pump or a similar weight training class near you. If you don’t want to try a strength training class right away, start with something like P90X that you can do from home.

“Does cleansing work to lose weight?” The definitive answer from me is, yes. I have been doing a cleanse for the last 9 days and not even a full cleanse, but a partial cleanse. In 9 days, I lost 20 pounds and regained control of the foods I was eating. Over the years, there have been a wide variety of cleanses available for weight loss. Some are cleanses where you eat nothing and can last 30 or more days. Others take a different approach where you are cleansing more from just toxic, junk foods.  Each type has it’s pros and cons so I decided to “make my own” based on what I thought I would be able to accomplish.

First I started with the Isagenix 2 Day Cleanse. Now Isagenix is a pretty good company with some quality products and I had ordered the entire 30 day system of the cleanse and shakes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t pleased with the taste of the new formulation of shakes so I only used the cleanse. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though. (By the way, Isagenix did take back my return and credited my money so it was good to say they did what they said they would do. Also, they DO still have the old formulation of the shakes so I will probably order those at some point in the future).

So the Isagenix cleanse consisted of mixing the powder with 4 ounces of water 4 times per day. (It also comes as a juice already mixed but I wanted the powder for the convenience of it). It tasted pretty good, a little sweet but definitely Doable for just two days. In addition to the drinks, I had their “snacks” which are really just like packed cake mix into little wafers. They did take the edge off and I highly recommend vanilla over chocolate. So in two days, I lost 10 pounds! Yes, water weight mostly but more than losing weight, it just got me back on track after the holidays.

For the next five days, I had two shakes and a “lean and green” meal. I chose to have my meal for lunch instead of dinner because I seem to just eat so much more at dinner and replacing that meal with a shake seemed to make more sense for me. But you could choose breakfast, dinner, whichever.

So since I didn’t want to use the Isagenix shakes, I looked for a replacement. I considered Medifast, New Life Diet, Wonderslim, and a few different canisters of protein shakes on the shelves at Kroger. After much research and checking out the forums at 3fatchicks.com and liquiddietdiscussion.com, I decided to try the Wonderslim shakes through DietDirect.com. They seemed to have good reviews but most of all, they were affordable!

My order came really quick (2 days regular mail) and it was very easy to track with the e-mails they provided. They even sent me a sample pack with some other items to try.  I got the chocolate shakes and I have to admit that they are definitely the best Tasting shakes I have had. Each is about 100 calories so you can easily have three or even four of them each day with a “lean and green” and be ok. Over the next five days I lost 7 more pounds. Finally, I did the Isagenix 2 day cleanse again and lost a total of 20 pounds in 9 days.

I am back to doing the shakes and meal and am really happy that the food is under control again. I ordered another box from DietDirect.com and have not found any one of their products I don’t like yet. I highly recommend the protein bars too which you can use in place of the shakes. The caramel crunch tastes JUST like a 100 grand candy bar.

There are some other cleanses you could try too like the Lemonade cleanse or the JillianMichaels.com cleanse. Mostly just remember, the numbers on the scale going down is GREAT, but more important, getting control is more important. A cleanse is a great way to jumpstart a healthy plan and the answer to “Does Cleansing Work to Lose Weight?” is YES.

Can you sleep to lose weight? Can you lose more weight by sleeping longer? According to a new study from the University of Chicago and shared in the NY Times, you can do better on your diet the more hours you sleep. The study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at two groups. One group slept 5.5 hours per night and the other group was 8.5 hours. Here’s the kicker…they both lost the same amount of weight, but the group that slept longer lost more FAT!

The group with less sleep had higher levels of ghrelin which a hormone that makes you hungry, but both groups’ diet, exercise and sleep was monitired in a clinical setting.

So, go ahead, hit the snooze button one more time and lose weight, lose fat, sleeping. How do you feel aboutmore  sleep to lose weight?

There are several aspects to behavior change that you have to understand before you can learn How to Change Diet needs. When someone is considering making a behavior change, they go through the Transtheoretical model of change to do so.

First, you are in the Pre-contemplation stage. At this phase, you would not even be considering making a change. You think it's just great to be eating fast food and don't worry whatsoever about gaining weight, how you look, or what might happen to you down the road. At this point, you have no perception of the susceptibility you have to get diseases like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer due to being overweight.

Next, you enter the contemplation stage. During this stage, you begin to think about the possibility of changing your eating habits to lose weight. You may have learned about the severity of the diseases you can get, and perhaps this has encouraged you to lose weight. Or maybe you are starting to think and believe you actually can lose weight. In this case, your perceived barrier to success might be coming down. Do you know someone else who has lost weight so you think you can too? This is an important portion of behavior change and how to change diet that could help you. Find someone who is like you who has been successful in what you want to do.

Third, you are in the preparation stage. Here is where you do all of your research and create a plan of action. You have an idea of things that might be roadblocks for you as you walk your path to health, so you plan for those roadblocks. Upcoming holidays? How are you going to tackle the parties and not overdo it? The other thing you plan for is rewards for your success. Plan for rewards for small steps as well as larger milestones and make sure the rewards are tangible and something that will truly bring a smile to your face.

Finally, it's time for action. Set the plan into motion with an unwavering attitude that you will be successful. Prepare for your "roadblocks," especially things like plateaus, but know that in the end you will be victorious. This is the most important step because all the planning in the world will do nothing if you don't START. Do a little more research on the Transtheoretical Model of Change and see where you are on the path to How to Change Diet.

Featured recently on CNN, “Anything You Want Diet” is becoming very popular and nutritionists and dietitians are thrilled.  But, of course, as in anything, there are some rules.

Anything You Want means that it has to be natural, have no preservatives, no chemicals and not be processed.  Think of whole grains, beans, even dairy is allowed as long as it isn’t processed cheese.

The “Anything You Want” diet really helps to boost the idea of returning to natural food the way it is found on the farm. Real farms, not giant factory farms. Shop at farmer’s markets, join a co-op, stay on the perimeter of the grocery store and watch pounds melt off.

It’s often recommended before you start clean eating like this, to detox your body of the toxins and chemicals already built up. I recommend the lemonade diet which is the Master Cleanse in pill form (so there is no starvation, you get to start “clean eating” right away.

Hopefully the “Anything You Want” diet will catch on and change the way people are eating. Good luck!

Jennifer Hudson Before and After pictures have been popping up all over the Internet and we just have to congratulate her on her tremendous weight loss. Jennifer went from a size 16 to a size 6 using Weight Watchers which is a very good, sound eating and exercise plan.

Besides the Jennifer Hudson weight loss, there have been some other celebrity weight loss efforts in the news too. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are doing a lemonade master cleanse and Kym Johnson from Dancing With the Stars is using the pill version of the lemonade diet.

But Jennifer’s weight loss is a bit different, taking her from a plus-size woman to a very trim size 6 which is quite dramatic. She says that this is her natural size and I hope her body agrees with her. Her boyfriend isn’t quite convinced yet though. Apparently he is missing some parts of her that we don’t always want to lose when we are slimming down!

Though we thought she always looked great, we applaud her efforts to be healthy and her ability to create this positive change in her life after the horrible murders of her mother, brother and nephew.  Jennifer Hudson before and after pictures are truly an inspiration to those who want to see that it CAN be done, no matter what the circumstances.

If you are trying to lose weight and are worried about having loose skin and stretch marks, you might want to try MSM soap. I just saw a video on YouTube of a lady that lost a lot of weight but had little to no stretch marks and no loose skin. This is quite rare and so people started asking her how that could be possible.

She started writing about this MSM soap that someone got her turned onto when she was in college. She thinks it was what kept her from getting stretch marks in the first place but also helps to fade them. As far as loose skin, I read on a review site that this MSM soap can help with elasticity.

I don’t know if it works but for just a few dollars for a bar, I am going to try it out and will let you know my results. Also, going to get some for my sister who has lost 75 pounds since Halloween and has loose skin on her arms and legs.

According to the Amazon site, this MSM soap “gives off sulfur that can be helpful in treating skin disorders including acne / psoriasis / eczema / dermatitis / dandruff / scabies / diaper rash and certain fungal infections.” At Last Naturals Msm Herbal Bar 3 oz ( Multi-Pack)

It doesn’t mention stretch marks and loose, sagging skin specifically but maybe this is something that is just word of mouth for right now.

We will let you know how this MSM soap works for us on stretch marks and loose skin!

Is this something you have been asking your so so tired self…”Why Am I So Tired?” Feeling like it’s tough to hit the gym and do everything it takes to battle your weight loss and get healthy? If so, the culprit may be something so simple, so easy to do, and you can begin getting relief in days.

Imagine a prescription from your doctor that says you need to go out in the sun, sometime between 1:00-3:00 and chill out for about 10 minutes? Could you stick with that? Well that is exactly what is happening all over the country.

Even in the summer months, with the blessing of air conditioning, we do not get enough sun in order for our bodies to produce Vitamin D. We have been told for the last decade to “Stay out of the sun” so much, that now we are darn fearful of it. We slather on the sunscreen, put on our hats, get under umbrellas and stay inside when we can. But by doing this, our bodies are missing out on Vitamin D.

While current recommendations for Vit D are 200 I.U. a day from birth to age 50, 400 for adults aged 50 to 70, and 600 for people over 70, many doctors are recommending even higher amounts, 1,000-2,000 per day based on research that will soon be released. Here’s a good offer because you get a pack of 3 bottles… Source Naturals Vitamin D3, 1000 IU, Tablets, 200 tablets (Pack of 3)

So what does Vitamin D do? Basically, it is a food of life for every single part of your body. Everything from your bones, to your brain, to your toes wants Vit D and needs it to function well. Lack of vitamin D can result in colon, breast and prostate cancer, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis, Type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

African Americans tend to have lower levels of Vitamin D than white people and African American women in particular, seem to have the lowest amounts. Spending some time in the sun with exposed skin (the body converts the suns rays to Vitamin D in your body) can significantly improve your overall body function. You can also get Vitamin D from milk and cereals but the amount is still insufficient for what your body really needs.

So if you are feeling run down, worn out and so so tired, a boost of Vitamin D from the sun might be what you need to stop asking the question “Why am so tired?”

Subliminal Weight Loss MP3 music might be able to help you. Are you constantly on a journey to lose weight? Perhaps you get on the scales and you haven’t lost half as much weight as you would of liked, or perhaps you cheat just once and have a fatty meal. Before long you are on a slippery slope back to your old habits, and so the cycle continues.

Does this happen to you?

Many people fall into this yo-yo weight loss pattern, but don’t fully realize why, and sadly only some ever break free and actually lose weight. They pretend it was the wrong diet, or lie to themselves about it being their fault. However, the real reason lies within your mind. In the behavior patterns they have been programmed into for many years.

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