Everybody or at least everybody who follows internet weight loss tips has a cheat day. It’s a day, a meal, one snack, where you get to eat something that you would not normally be able to eat on your diet! Some do it once a week, once every 10 days, or even once a month. They say that it throws your body off to keep metabolism going at a steady rate. And they say that it will help you to avoid those big crashes that we sometimes have.

But there are diet pills emerging, saying that they can also help you to achieve better results and help you to avoid feeling the punishment for your cheat days! Even if you mess up more regularly, especially around the holidays, these can help you to avoid feeling the pressure and the weight gain often associated with that. Some only take them around the holidays, others take them at other times. But some have said that the most effective way to take them is in combination with a low carb or low fat diet depending on what that cheat diet pill is actually promising.

The question is, are these diet pills that work? The main idea behind a cheat diet pill is that it will either help you to block carbs, or it will help you to block a certain amount of fat. When combined with a healthy diet and exercise program of these particular types, you can actually lose more weight and achieve significantly better results. However, despite what some may think, even an effective cheat pill cannot be used to make up for a lack of proper diet and exercise.

The Atkins Diet was widely recognized as the most popular and the first low carb diet ever created.  He was still a bigger guy, but he was also a qualified medical professional that claimed this was the ultimate way to lose weight.  You could eat all the fats, meats, etc, you wanted, must no carbs at all.  They slowly changed it actually to reflect a change in lifestyle and slowly allow some carbs back into your diet.  But that was only after Atkins’ death.

My personal suspicion is that the Atkins Diet was changed because Dr Atkins died of a heart attack.  Every medical professional besides him agrees that when you put that much fat in, especially with the absence of any good carbs, even from fruits and vegetables, you are going to suffer serious consequences are your heart will pay for it.  But they say he slipped on ice.

This being said, the new Atkins Diet has never really gained back the popularity it once had.  There have been other low carb diets introduced that supposedly provide you with something you could use on a more long term basis, and as they continue to gain steam, the Atkins Diet continues to lower in its popularity.  This is something I personally consider to be a good thing, and realistically speaking, you should never actually use the Atkins Diet in any version they may introduce at this point in time.

Losing weight has always been a big thorn in my side and since I was young I developed a habit of finding comfort in unhealthy foods. Anytime I was feeling any negative emotions I would bury them in food. Bullies made fun of me today bury the hurt in food. Didn’t do well on a test, didn’t get chosen for kickball, and forgot to do an assignment … Bury it in food.  As an adult this type of dangerous habitual behavior carried over.  Also my mom pointed out in elementary school I used to swim competitively and I would train 6 days out of the week.  As I grew older academics got in the way of swimming and unfortunately in Jr. High School I had to stop. I gained about 50 pounds on my small frame.  Instead of eating healthy and doing some sort of exercise I did a binge diet and even though I lost weight I quickly gained it right back.

As an adolescent I do not think I cared enough nor had the willpower to change my poor eating habits. I realized that some personal control and definitely changes in eating habits were required to lose some weight.  Realizing there is no secret weight loss program was important and I had to stick with the basics.  Also most importantly incorporating a good diet supplement was necessary. I believe that diet supplements are just that supplementary to the basics.Taking a diet supplement but not eating or exercising is meaningless.  By taking a good supplement while dieting and exercising was the key to me losing 35 pounds recently. My goal is losing 50 pounds by the end of this year and looks like I’m on track.

Dieting can be hard, especially during times when there is a lot of celebration, a lot of eating in general, etc. People want to eat, they want to have their sweets, and quite frankly speaking, it’s not always easy. This being said, summer is one of the hardest times. It’s hard to find good summer diet foods, and yet it should be easy. We are constantly having barbecues and eating hamburgers, fries, hot dogs, rootbeer floats, etc.

But the reality is that there are plenty of summer diet foods out there. Summer is the time when you have the most fruits and vegetables available to you. Therefore, it should actually be the healthiest season if any season in particular is healthy at this time. This being said, you can easily get these foods even on the grill. For example, grilled pineapple is a classic example. Grilled pineapple is one of the best examples to be completely honest.

Likewise, you can grill up just about any other fresh vegetable, even squash on the grill, making it seriously easy to find the best ways to get your summer harvest in general terms. Likewise, corn on the cob is obviously an extremely healthy food as fruit drinks that you can make in the comfort of your own home can be used to replace those rootbeer floats. Realistically speaking, if you know what you’re looking for, you can easily find good summer foods for your dieting purposes.

Frankly speaking, it’s one of those things that in order to get your kids eating healthy foods you have to improvise.  My high school biology teacher and football team coach had a cute kid actually who was always in the school, about 3 years old at that time.  He and his wife had different parenting styles and it all amounted to every time the kid didn’t like something, his wife would fold and let him eat something else.  Fish was one of the things he didn’t like. 

So what did my teacher do, he got him another type of the same food, in that case it was those fried and battered fish sticks, and then he liked it.  Now this is great that you’re trying to provide different types.  But at the same time, some of those methods are a mistake.  I mean think about how many benefits of fish you are counteracting with that, and it doesn’t taste at all the same as healthier forms.  Likewise, a lot of people slather their vegetables in butter or cheese. 

You really think that’s giving them the benefits of vegetables?  No, and you’re not doing them any favors.  But one of the big things is that a lot of people try to get their kids to eat vegetables while they themselves are not actually doing it.  Lead by example.  It’s not all about example, you have to take a stand as well.  But just one piece of the puzzle is never going to be enough, you have to have all sides all together.

There are various types of exercise of course. But some of the most effective ones are also my least favorite ones.  There are ways to get around it.  For example, with running I hate just running.  But if I’m out playing soccer or something, I generally get around the field, and there’s a lot of running involved ranging between different speeds back and forth across the field.  This is excellent cardio, and when you’re playing just about every day, it definitely helps. 

But unfortunately, stair stepping is not one of those things, there is no way to get around it, and if you’ve ever tried it, it takes more of a toll and I’m assuming burns more calories.  It’s monotonous, and frankly I really don’t like running up stairs or walking up stairs anyway.  But it’s extremely effective.  Another one is cycling, which if you really get into a good cycling class is amazing for you.  But again, I get bored with it, it’s a bit monotonous, and while they push you and you burn tons of calories, for me it’s boring.  So if you’re not as petty as me, get over the boring aspect or learn to like it, and those will help you to get more effective workouts in general.

It’s unfortunate really, while fast food restaurants are never really good, many think that if we go to them and we instead order a salad, we will be far better off and in general terms we’ll be able to get away with it.  The problem is mainly in the dressing which we spread across our salads.  But those salads are also extremely high in calories and fat, and some could even say that more than one of these salads are contradictorily speaking higher in fat and calories in general than the burgers that you may have otherwise ordered.  So in trying to be healthier, you are actually undermining yourself at a greater rate. 

Confusing right.  Anyway, this being said, you can keep buying these of course.  But at the same point, if is far better to not go to fast food restaurants at all and make your own salad.  After all, why pay $5 for something you could make at home with less fat and greater nutrition for about $2.  It’s simple math, and frankly you can’t assume that a fast food restaurant is going to provide you something better just because it’s called a salad.  It doesn’t quite work that way.

Honestly speaking, I think the elliptical machine is the best machine to incorporate every part of your body.  If you hold onto the bars with the treadmill, you will be working your upper body.  But it will be at the expense of your overall cardio workout and your lower body.  With an elliptical machine, you are meant to have those handlebars not only for actually the balancing factor, but also for overall results in general.  It actually gives you a greater cardio workout in general than you would get with the treadmill if you are going at the same speed, it’s a greater intensity level in general, and frankly it seems almost easier. 

I mean I’ve been on both, and honestly speaking, even if you’re going on completely flat ground, which I never do, with the treadmill, it just seems significantly easier sometimes when you actually use the elliptical machine, which motivates many people like myself to actually go longer and do more work in general.  So even if it were burning a few less calories in general terms, then it’s not that big a deal.  I mean that.  So if you want a good overall workout, I’d suggest that machine.

The other day I saw a complaint about arm flab or the classic bat wings.  It started raining and apparently their child used their arm flap to protect themselves from the rain….it worked.  It’s common, and frankly if it’s extra skin obviously you have bigger problems that you need to consult with a professional about.  They can reduce extra skin, it just takes more extreme methods generally speaking. 

However, if you are talking about fattier and flabbier arms in that direction, you can start carrying weights  as you walk if you don’t have the extra time before or after to do something else.  But if you do, you can use certain weight lifting routines in general to tone the arms at large.  There are some that are less effective than others.  But generally speaking, if you work the arms in general, over time they will all develop evenly instead of leaving you with disproportionate arms or muscles in general.  If you are just looking for toning, of course stick to few repetitions with light weights.  However, heavier weights would be more appropriate should you be of the mindset to actually build greater masses of muscle in general.  It depends entirely on your particular goals.

Cardio has been the most popular form of weight loss, and it is actually the most effective form of fat burning.  In order to understand this, you have to realize that without a workout regimen in general, you are not going to actually burn fat or lose weight that is not an easily changeable form such as water weight.  You can participate in varying types of cardio such as the regular and understood jogging or cardio classes like step classes.  But you can also use jump roping, riding a bike, or even taking a kickboxing or dance class or self defense if you have the right instructor.  Cardio is requires to get your heart pumping at a higher rate and make you feel invigorated in general.  Some people think that they have lost fat without cardio, but again it is usually easily regained water weight, not fat. 

But if you want to get the best results with cardio, you should first exercise in the morning when you first wake up.  It will really get your body and workout going in general, and it will maximize results in general, because when you wake up early in the morning and start with this, you actually end up burning more calories throughout the day.  Studies have shown this morning routine can rev up your metabolism leading to faster fat loss.  In addition, of course combine this with a sensible eating plan as the more calories you have to burn off, the less extra fat you will be able to burn.  But eat enough as you don’t want your body to starve.  And finally, combine it with strength training and lean muscle will naturally rev up and maintain your metabolism.