Weight Loss Wonders: Tips and Tricks

The BBG community has showed us some seriously inspiring weight-loss journeys and healthy transformations , and we never cease to be impressed and motivated by the commitment and optimism these women showcase. We found Amina B on Instagram and were so blown away by her spirit, enthusiasm, and dedication to living a healthier, better life. This Kansas City, MO, mom isn't just doing BBG - she's thriving. Related: BBG: The Supereffective Fitness Program You Need to Know from POPSUGAR Fitness http://ift.tt/2lmUhmA

Weight loss is hard. It's not black and white, and it's certainly not cookie-cutter. There are struggles, setbacks, and times you might wonder, "Why did I even start? Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?" But with these stories from women who achieved their success in all different ways, we can gain a strong sense of hope. There's a different approach for everyone, and each woman's winning combination of tools is different. That said, there are a few common themes that we've noticed again and again — ones that you can implement no matter what your body type, habits, or goals. We've interviewed women who have lost between 25 and 225 pounds; their three best tips (collectively) were about movement, mindful eating, and support systems. We'll let them tell you exactly how these things worked in their journeys, and how each contributed to their overall success. Related: Adrienne's Dramatic Before and After Is a Total "Eff You" to the...

Let me preface this by saying that, in general, losing weight is no easy feat. Add Latin culture - deliciously salty and carb-filled food , family members who don't understand dieting, often unrealistic body and beauty standards - into the mix, and it can feel like an uphill battle that arroz con pollo and asados are endlessly trying to derail. Know the feeling? Read on for the totally real struggles I've faced in my own personal weight loss/maintenance/just-trying-to-be-healthier journey as a Panamanian American with very persistent relatives, and a deep love for tacos. Then, take a scroll through some delightful guilt-free recipes . from POPSUGAR Fitness http://ift.tt/2a4Qnik

The following post was originally featured on Fit Bottomed Girls and written by Alison, a contributor to Jenn , who is part of POPSUGAR Select Fitness . Losing 70 pounds is tough. Keeping it off for more than a decade is even tougher. Trust me, I tried everything. Once I lost the weight, I thought I'd feel relieved and proud all the time, but what I didn't expect were the feelings of panic and fear. I was constantly afraid that I'd end up back where I started and keeping the weight off became an obsession. When I overindulged or wasn't able to work out, my first thought was that I was going to gain the weight back. It was exhausting and nerve-racking. ADVERTISEMENT But somehow I've managed to keep it off and eventually found a way to do it that's effective, effortless and doesn't mean living in fear. Here's what I've learned about what it takes. 1. Workouts that I dread. I used to assign value to workouts purely on the number of calories that they ...

We encourage all types of fitness, for more reasons than just weight loss. While weight loss is an awesome side effect of working out and living a healthier lifestyle, exercise can benefit your brain , your mood, your sleep, and your overall health, too! However, if you're focusing on dropping pounds, are there types of exercises you should flat-out avoid? We asked certified personal trainer John Rowley — International Sports Science Association (ISSA) director of wellness and founder of UX3 Nutrition — for his opinion on the matter. While we still encourage anyone to give these workouts a shot (in fact, we love all of them!), these four may not give you the results you're looking for if weight loss is your top priority. CrossFit : "CrossFit is number one on the hit list," Rowley said in an email. "The risk-to-results ratio just isn't there." If you're just beginning your weight-loss journey, you likely won't have the strength to get an effectiv...

How often do you ride on a car? Even if you don’t have your own car, you must have seen one. I want to start this piece with a small challenge for you. Using only your memory, recall it in your mind a car you often see. Okay, I see the wheels, the window, and the overall car frame. Does it look anything like this? Oh but wait, what about the headlights and tail lights? Where’s the handle for opening the doors? And where’re the mirrors? Why would we miss so many of those things? Don’t we all have a clear idea what a car is like? We believe that we know way more than we actually do. Yes we do. In a study conducted at Yale [1] , graduate students were asked about their understanding in everyday devices like toilets. Most thought that they were familiar with the device, only after they were asked to explain step-by-step how the device works did they find out how ignorant they were. Toilets are more complicated than they look. We believe that we know way...

So the Academy Award Shows’ over, I bet one of your most remarkable moments would be the mixing up mistake for the Best Picture Award. After all, nothing like this had ever happened over the past 89 years of Academy Award Shows. While people are hotly debating over the internet whether it’s the host or Leonardo DiCaprio for causing the mix-up of the Best Picture, I would rather stick my focus to the incredible crew and cast of both Moonlight and La La Land. Once the La La Land team realized that the Best Picture actually went to Moonlight, La La Land’s producer Fred Berger felt proud to hand the award to their friends in Moonlight, and the team graciously handed over their statues to the people behind Moonlight. And during the thank you speech, the director of Moonlight, Barry Jenkins, also said “my love to La La Land” which showed his support and respect for the movie. True winners see competitors as friends, not enemies. Imagine the moment you r...

Losing belly fat always seems to be a hard task. One reason is that there are many myths that make people’s efforts wasted. Below are 4 common ones . Myth #1 Ab exercise is the most effective way Many people believe in “spot reduction”, which means losing fat in an area by exercising that part. However, such exercise only strengthens the muscles there. Still, it would be covered by a thick layer of fat. This applies to all kinds of body fat. So doing sit-ups or crunches wouldn’t be particularly effective if the aim is to burn belly fat. The best exercise for fat loss is actually whole-body aerobic exercise. It can speed up our metabolism and hence burn calories faster. Myth #2 Avoiding meat is a must Many people think that meat makes us fat, probably due to its relatively high fat content. However, fat doesn’t make us fat. Excessive fat does. In fact, fat is one of the three key nutrients we need to ensure we have enough every day. The ideal ratio is roughly l...

By the middle of my sophomore year of college, I was in the worst physical shape of my life. A mix of drinking, the freedom to eat whatever and whenever I pleased, and my mom's cancer prognosis led to rapid weight gain and plummeting self-confidence. Every day I dragged myself to class wearing shapeless, oversize clothing, and avoided eye contact with my peers — I was genuinely unhappy with my appearance. The weight wasn't just burdening my body; it was affecting my mind as well. I felt intense anxiety and self-consciousness, and social situations that I used to flourish in became intimidating and difficult to maneuver. My rock bottom One night when I was getting ready for a friend's birthday dinner, I realized the extent of my dissatisfaction. As I thumbed through my closet feeling uninspired by every article of clothing, I realized that style, something I had always cherished, no longer excited me. It felt out of reach. I was not comfortable with the body I was dressing, ...

Let's be honest, most Latin fare isn't healthy - whether it's lots of starches, heavy sauces, dough, or salty cheese, the food tends to be on the heavier side. When there's no way you're giving up your favorite family dish in the name of health, there are a few simple changes that can cut a few unnecessary calories. Follow these tips from Amanda Foti, RD, a dietitian with weight-loss service Selvera , to keep a nutritious diet without sacrificing flavor. Choose whole grain starches, like brown rice instead of white rice and whole wheat tortillas instead of corn, to increase fiber. White rice and other white flour products break down into sugar once digested and are stored immediately as fat. Incorporating fiber slows down this process, reducing fat storage. Healthy fat sources are important for both weight loss and general health. There is much debate regarding oil use and which oil is safe and which you should stay away from. Contrary to popular belief, canola oi...

Do you find yourself worrying over every little thing? Asking yourself if you should enroll in that extra class, move to a bigger place, or look for a new job? And while you’re worrying about those decisions, are you also wondering if you’ll be able to pay your bills next month, if you’ll get the raise you were promised, or if you’ll ever find your future spouse? This is totally normal. In fact, most people are going through the same thing – constant worry. There’s a perfectly good explanation for why you tend to worry about so much stuff all at once! The environment these days is delaying what you want in return. Most of the decisions you make occur in a “delayed return environment,” which means that you do not benefit immediately by your choices. [1] This also means that the majority of your worries deal with issues of the future – what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or even next year if I make this one decision now? Because we are so future-oriented, our stress level...

“What are the lessons people most often learn too late in life?”  — a question that hits thousands of people on Quora . Guess what’s topped the list? Following the convention is said to be one of the things people regret the most later in their lives. You may be surprised: isn’t following the convention a quality of a good citizen, the quality of being a good sheep? The brutal truth is, however, following the convention is an obstacle on your path to success. It leads you to nowhere but mediocrity. The old rules only yield mediocrity. The cruel reality is that only very few of us would enjoy the taste of success. The others, no. This echoes the 80/20 law proposed by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. An example illustrating this law is that 80% of the wealth in a society is enjoyed by only 20% of the population. The gist of this theory is that only the minority, or the elite, will succeed. And the other 80% of people will remain at the average level. Given the conve...

Stop me if you've heard or experienced anything like this: Overweight person resolves to lose weight and takes steps to do so. Success is slow, and pounds are coming off with effort and will power, but the people around the person who is putting in the work begin to sound off on that weight loss and discourage them from continuing. Heard anything like this before? It seems like it's almost impossible to lose weight these days without hearing criticism or outright dismissal of your efforts as too little or too hard. We've all had that friend or co-worker who can't seem to gain weight but still eats cake right in front of us, which makes it nearly impossible to swallow your plain yogurt, but a new reason has been discovered as to why you can't seem to reach or keep your goal weight, and you're not going to like it. According to recent research published by North Carolina State University, one of the biggest reasons you're not losing weight and keeping it off i...

Sam was working out five to seven times a week, teaching class at her blossoming studio Cycle & Row in Michigan, and prepping to compete on Jillian Michaels's show Sweat Inc. Still, she couldn't shed the last 15 pounds she'd been holding on to. "You know your body better than everyone else, and I knew I was bigger than I needed to be. I was thicker than I needed to be," Sam recalled. Sam had little success with dieting in the past and decided not to go at it alone this time. Instead, she linked up with Ricki Friedman, health coach and creator of Break the Weight , to determine what was holding her back. Since Sam was already incredibly active, her major lifestyle changes needed to happen in the kitchen. In a little over three months and without making a single change to her workout routine, she lost 15 pounds. Related: 80 Pounds Down and Cancer-Free: How Zumba Saved This Woman's Life A self-described "good eater," Sam dealt with quantity and po...

When we talk about attractiveness, we think of appearance, which is something we can’t control much. Or we would think of character for a second. But researches have found another hidden factor that is key to determine one’s attractiveness. In one study [1] , participants were asked to watch video clips of women who expressed emotions differently. Then they were asked who they found more attractive. It turned out that if they understood the woman’s emotions better, they found them more attractive. Such finding is quite surprising that usually people would consider cool and mysterious people as more attractive. Instead, the more you express your emotions, and the easier your emotions are to be read, the more attractive you become. This experiment was done by Silke Anders, a professor of Social and Affective Neuroscience at the University of Lübeck in Germany. Apart from asking them who were more attractive, the researchers also measured their brain activity. And th...