Acupuncture weight loss has long been a controversial topic since it has long been thought of as a pain relief therapy but that is not all Chinese Medicine can do. Losing weight can be tough and understanding why you have gained the weight can be part of the key to success shedding pounds.

The best list of things to consider is:
Your age
Your health
Are you willing to exercise?
Can you change your lifestyle and how you eat?
How did the extra pounds happen?

Once we have the answers to these questions a definite plan to help you reach your goals can be made.

Acupuncture weight loss treatments occur usually twice weekly and involve a special type of Oriental medicine known as Auricular Therapy. This form of acu-point therapy is done on the ear and the body.

Auricular Therapy involves trigger points or hot spots on the ear that are related to helping you not crave food especially sugar. There is even an acupuncture point for increasing your metabolism.

Meridians on the body will also be used especially ones that reduce Candida, stress and balance the hormones.

It’s important to note the age at which you began to gain weight and not be able to lose it easily. Most women go through a hormonal change around age 35. At this time your thyroid may react a bit slower and you start to make less progesterone. This does not mean you need to rush out and get on western drugs to fix these issues.

Oriental medicine offers many natural herbs or remedies along with acupuncture to bring these two things back into balance.

If your health is compromised like with asthma or diabetes part of your problem can be the medicines you are on for these illnesses. But don’t give up hope with the right lifestyle changes and a bit of Alternative Medicine you can successfully lose pounds.

Exercise can come in the form of simply taking a walk daily. You may not have much time so even ten minutes is better than doing nothing. If you sit a lot at work or home then make a point to get up and walk around for five minutes every hour. Studies show that employees that take a break and do some walking down the hall, to the restroom, or down the stairs and back up are more productive than those that sit at their desk and do not take breaks.

If you have your small list favorite foods you may want to expand that to a lifestyle that includes more than just a few things. Our metabolism speed up when we eat a variety of foods. So if you had chicken yesterday have a different form of protein today. If you had lettuce salad today tomorrow enjoy a cucumber salad. Think how long can I go without eating the same thing and then do it.

Finally sit down with a piece of paper and go over when you remember gaining weight. When did you move up a dress size or pant size? How many sizes have you moved up? Do you experience other symptoms like fatigue, insomnia, or stress? Tell your acupuncturist about these problems so that they can be addressed along with your desire to lose weight.

Acupuncture weight treatments are easy and fun as you take off the pounds and start to feel more energy, look and feel healthier and enjoy the new you that appears in the mirror every morning.

By: Debra Arko

In today’s world it is very important to maintain your proper weight. According to health specialists being over weight may cause many health issues, therefore to maintain their health people should try to keep to their recommended weight. Rapid Weight loss also known as fast weight loss or quick weight loss typically means losing weight very quickly within two to seven days. Many people wishing to lose excess weight take a lot of methods and effort.

Every year thousands of people in America attempt to lose weight rapidly, especially when there are special events like vacations, weddings or for other special occasions. For this reason they need to proceed with caution. They start dieting and sometimes they live on a liquid diet. Using these means, people can lose weight rapidly. But people who are into dieting don’t know the side effects of rapid weight reduction. There are many physical damages associated with dieting.

Bad health is one of the many dangers of dieting. When someone starts avoiding food for the purpose of weight loss his or her body starts starving which can cause a lot of serious health issues. Best way to lose your weight is to cut back the food that is unhealthy. The other way is to limit the amount of calories in your daily intake. You should plan you daily food in other words you should follow the diet plans for this purpose. This way will help you to achieve a small, incremental weight loss in your desired time limit. But remember it is very important that you eat healthy food.

Another way to lose excess weight is to exercise daily. But we should understand that signs of weight loss through exercise can be noticed at least after a week’s time, as exercise is among the most important components of weight reduction and takes time in showing results. But you have to consider many things while you exercise, like you should have a proper plan of exercise, you should not over do exercise and run on the treadmill for three hours rather than thirty minutes. These considerations can help you in reducing weight effectively. But as we already mention, you should be very careful while doing exercise. You should learn different exercises through some professional guide who knows his/her work very well. A little negligence may take you to the hospital.

Weight loss through supplements is another method. Research proves that many of these supplements are really helpful in weight lose and they are safe as well. But you should also be very careful in choosing any supplement and only after reviewing product, whether it has some side effects or any medicine that your doctor suggests for you.

You must know that it is important that you proceed with caution when you want to lose your weight. You should plan your daily intake in such way that you don’t need to opt for dieting that harms your health. Individuals should try to start their weight loss practice at least one month before any event or their wedding.

By: Jenna James

In this article, I want to spend some time on an area that plagues our society more than any other area with regard to obtaining and maintaining optimal health. The topic is weight control.

In 1980 a government survey stated that over 25% of all Americans at any age were overweight. In 1998, almost 35% of Americans weigh much more than is considered safe and healthy. The trend is not only failing to improve, it is rapidly declining. It shouldn’t surprise you that the number one reason that people join health clubs and fitness spas is to lose weight. Most people seem to understand that exercise can help in the “battle of the bulge”, but few realize just how important it really is.

We are all aware of the fact that weight gain is the result of consuming more calories than we burn off on a daily basis. Over time, this excess of calories is stored as fat- 3500 more calories taken in than are burned off results in a one pound weight gain. Just 50 calories per day of extra intake than you are burning off equals a minimum of 5 pounds gained in a year! Most people think they are simply eating more than they should, but the research evidence suggests that the real problem is that they are burning too few calories instead. The wrong approach to losing weight can make the problem worse than it was when you began!

When people lose pounds by simply dieting and eating fewer calories, they actually end up losing muscle and bone along with the fat they may lose. The less muscle we have, the less available it is for burning those calories that we eat. We become less active in our metabolism and it becomes even harder to lose additional weight. Does any of this sound familiar? You end up putting on 5-10 more pounds than you lost as soon as you start eating again, even if you eat the same amount of food during your meals as you used to!

If this is the case, then what is a sensible approach to losing weight? It must be a program that includes sensible nutrition in the form of balanced meals, some form of aerobic activity such as walking, and some form of strength training. Yes, strength training as in lifting weights and building muscle! It is not as scary or difficult as it sounds, so don’t jump to any conclusions that would make you feel that you can’t participate in a program such as the one I am describing. Let’s take a minute and touch on a few of the benefits of including strength training to the weight loss approach.

First, it increases your metabolism. Lifting weights is a great way to burn calories and it builds muscle, which in turn burns additional calories at times of rest. Building more muscle provides for a more efficient “furnace” for your metabolism to burn more of those unwanted and over consumed calories. Having a higher rate of metabolism will even assist your body in burning calories during the time that you are asleep- what an added bonus!

The second thing that you should consider to assist in weight control is getting into an active form of exercise on a regular basis. This is best illustrated by the way it carries over into your living a more active lifestyle. Being able to do the things that you used to be able to do but are now “too tired”, or “don’t have the energy” to perform is just one of the many benefits of beginning to exercise. Once you begin, your body builds a momentum with each day that you exercise while building on the efforts of the day before. As this momentum continues, the same level of exercise becomes much easier, and you get better at it simply by staying consistent in your efforts. You are then in a position to add additional exercise because it starts to pay the dividend of providing you with the energy that you need. It is like a bank account- you can’t draw out until you put something in and begin to build some reserve. Living a more active lifestyle is putting energy units into your “energy account” for you to draw from in the future. Start walking some of the places you usually ride, take the stairs instead of the escalator or the elevator. There are so many things that you can do to start building savings into your energy reserve account. I will pay significant interest and dividends for a lifetime!

Exercising such as lifting weights and walking firms, tightens, and tones your existing muscles. Everyone talks about being “out of shape” and most of them are talking about the excess “flab” that has developed over the years. A pound of fat is bulkier and has less shape to it than a pound of muscle, so with muscular exercise you will look much better even before the scale shows that you have lost pounds. How you carry the weight that you are is more important than the amount that shows on the scale. Firming and toning muscles contributes to the overall burning of calories as well.

If nothing else, exercise and burning more calories with the end result of losing inches as well as weight will help you feel better about yourself. One of the main reasons that people do not start a program of exercise is that they don’t feel good about themselves. They can’t muster the mental energy required to put forth the physical effort needed to accomplish any fitness goal. There is so much to be said to just starting. This is the where the “magic” begins to take place. By starting, you already have a reason to be proud of yourself and feel better about yourself on the first day. It doesn’t matter how much you are able to do on the first day or the first week or even the first month- remember, it is already more than you were doing before, so feel pride in your efforts! As you start to see any kind of result, this reinforces the desire to continue which in turn makes you feel even better about yourself. The cycle continues as you set realistic daily goals which can be as simple as walking around the block. The next goal may involve walking around the block without being out of breath followed by walking 2 blocks and the beat goes on!

Discuss what your ideal weight actually is with someone who knows, such as your doctor or fitness trainer. Weight loss when done correctly involves losing 1-2 pounds per week of fat while sparing your muscle and bone. You must exercise to protect the muscles and bones as there is no other way for this to occur. If you think about it, that is 50-100 pounds in a calendar year and very few individuals need to lose more than this amount. Start by cutting out that second helping at each meal. Check out some books in the library pertaining to a healthy, balanced diet and what should be included at each meal. Add to that the daily walks of 15-20 minutes coupled with beginning to lift some weight and exercise as we discussed last month and you are well on your way!

You only have to burn 3500 additional calories than you are consuming in order to lose a pound of fat. That amounts to cutting out a mere 500 calories per day which divided over 3 meals a day is simply reducing each meal by 170 calories. Don’t eat that second piece of bread and butter, lay off the gravy on your mashed potatoes, or simply reduce the proportions that you are eating by 1-2 ounces. The point I am illustrating is that it just doesn’t take much to cut out 170 calories per day. You can also burn this many extra calories by the exercise that you incorporate into your day without changing much about your diet, so there are limitless ways to accomplish this very realistic goal. Just get started and watch the results propel you into continuing the process when you realize just how easy it is!

(A special thanks to Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D. for providing much of the research drawn from in the writing of this article)

By: Dr. Tom Bolan