It’s no surprise that the mainstream conventional dietary wisdom isn’t working here in America (and increasingly, in other places around the world as my international readers can attest to!).  Heck, I feel like I gain weight just looking at the recommended food pyramid.  Although well-intentioned, the government standards for nutrition have left us fatter than ever before.   If you look at the recommended food pyramid (introduced in the 1980′s...

I wanted to write today and offer a great tip for fat loss that will really help with those suffering from leptin resistance. I speak about the role of leptin in depth in my book From Fat Storer to Fat Burner, but suffice it to say for now that leptin is your master fat loss hormone.  If this guy is in check, weight loss is typically very easy.  If it’s out of balance, weight loss is rather difficult.  Check out the graph below for a brief overview: For...

Hi There! I hear from a lot of folks that weight loss is a lot easier than actually keeping the weight off long term, so I wanted to give you four rules that will actually make both way easier! If you’ve read my story, you know I’ve lost 60 pounds and have been successful at keeping it off for years. I’m not perfect at it, but I want to share with you my 4 rules that I have used and continue to use to not only shed my 60 pounds, but also how I have been successful...

Well, it’s 2013.  Uhm…when did that happen??  I may or may not have rung in this new year sound asleep in my bed last night.  Don’t judge me…it’s been a long year!  :) Loser-tendencies aside, I always love this time of year because I love making New Year resolutions!  I love the idea of a fresh slate and a new start!  So before I get into the most important resolution to focus on this year, let me give you a brief history of where the...

I had kind of a frustrating day today.  I apologize in advance as this post will be somewhat of a rant for me, but rest assured if you stick with me here, you will glean some insight!  (Promise)! So I work full-time at a weight loss clinic, part-time at a women’s fitness center, and in my spare time, I am a diet and exercise blogger as well.  All that to say, I’m surrounded by people looking to lose weight throughout my day…which I love because...

Today, I had an epiphany, and I want to share it with you… I feel like those of us looking to lose weight get caught up in trying to change a billion things at once.  We decide to eat more vegetables, eat smaller portions, workout 30 minutes longer, get to bed before the sun comes up, drink more water, etc.  The list goes on and on.   Eventually you get overwhelmed, bored, and frustrated at how hard all this change is and throw in the towel, settling back on...

In a perfect world, we’d be able to follow our diets to the T.  We’d always eat the right thing, have willpowers of steel, and be able to control our environments enough to not only reach our weight loss goals…but also to maintain it.  Unfortunately, unless you isolate yourself from society and have some pretty stellar willpower, that just isn’t going to happen.  Because life happens.  So, let’s deal with it. The biggest battle for me...

Many popular diets across the board advocate having one day as a “cheat day” where you can eat as much of whatever you want.  The rules on this day are that there are no rules, so go big or go home!  I’ve been looking into this topic as of late and just wanted to share what I’ve learned. Does having one day off of your diet actually help you lose weight?  The philosophy behind a cheat day spurring on weight loss is two-fold:  1.)  It helps...