Please welcome my Guest Poster: Fitness-Guru, Jessy! Be sure to make her feel at home and show her some love by visiting on of her sites! ~Kelli

The Ins and Outs of Dieting

Everyone seems to be on a diet these days, and it is no surprise since the CDC estimates that over 60% of Americans are either overweight or obese. A person who is overweight has a maximum of 15 pounds more then what they should have. Obese is 15 pounds and more.

Thus, if one of your New Year resolutions was to start dieting, this post is right up your alley!

Many of the diets out there are very recognizable to anyone, from the Atkins to the cabbage soup, grapefruit, Hollywood miracle diet and even the rice or South Beach diet to name a few. So how can you use diets and exercise to lose weight? Read on to find out.

Ever wondered why it is so easy to gain weight but hard to lose it? The human body is built very efficiently and most of the times we gain too much weight because we’re overfilling or tanks. That is why going on a good dieting program coupled with proper exercise is the answer to losing weight and keeping it off.

When resting, such as sitting, lounging etc. the body burns 12 calories per pound of body weight per day. So if your weight is 170 pounds, the equation would equal the following: 170 x 12 = 2040 calories burned daily. These calories burned are used for every body function imaginable.

The human body is built to manage the burning of calories efficiently. That is why a person running a marathon (26 miles), burns about 2600 calories. That would work out to 100 calories per mile. Because of this efficient mechanism, it is easy to see why the human body can gain weight so easily because of the excess calories packed onto it.

Take for example the average fast food meal. The average sandwich from a fast food restaurant is over 700 calories. French fries add another 550 calories and a drink adds a remaining 300. That adds up to over 1500 calories. If you weigh 130 pounds, that is your daily calorie max right there.

See how easy it is to gain weight? This is where dieting comes in. Diets suggest monitoring the calorie intake so that your body is not forced to store extra calories as fat. Couple this with a proper exercise plan and it’s easy to see how you can lose weight once you stick to the program.

So the key here is to choose a proper dieting program. Not all diets are created equally and many can be detrimental such as low carb diets. Once you have found one that provides the proper balance between nutritional foods and weight cutting meals, you’re on the right track.

Last, but not least, you want to add a proper exercise plan. This will vary depending on weight, height and age. But any exercise program should be one that is not strenuous (you’re not building muscle so don’t overdo it), and should be effective enough to burn enough to not only burn calories consumed but body fat as well.

The guest post is by Jessy who writes about fitness and dieting on Chick and Fit. She has also started a new blog recently and hopes to grow it soon: How Diets.

Related posts:

1. 10 Ways to Get Fit after the Holidays!
2. Nintendo Wii
3. GIVEAWAY: Taste of Home Comfort Food Diet Cookbook

I am not one to believe in “the hype” of things, so when Hachette Books gave me a list of things they thought would fit into my New Year’s Resolution Guide… this one popped out as a “Uhhh, yeah right! Ok, I’ll review this one.” 

By Ryland Dugan

The effective, easy program guaranteeing the coveted "Obama arms"– in only 21 days!

Come on, sounds like major hype, doesn’t it?

Mom Says:  Well, I am impressed! I read the entire book and most of it out loud to my high school Coach of a husband.  I don’t have the coveted “Obama Arms” yet, but I am working on it.   Ryland Dugan gives you VERY precise steps and backs up all of his claims with research.  As a person who once trained to be in the Miss Fitness America Competition (yes, me! you learn something new every day), I know that his guides are SPOT ON!  Ricky runs the weightlifting classes for Football and Baseball players and the weight lifting team and he, too, feels that Mr. Dugan’s system will work.

To Purchase: You can get Obama Arms through my Amazon affiliate link or visit the Hachette Group site for a huge list of places to buy.

To Win:  Yep, they have offered a Totally Toned Arms Book to one of my readers!

REQUIRED: Visit Ryland Dugan’s website, look around, then come back and tell me something you want, like, or learned.

BONUS #1: Follow 3 Boys and a Dog and Coach Ryland on Twitter and tweet this contest:

RT I Resolve to Get #Obama Arms in 2010! Win with @momof3boys3702 and @coachrylan http://tinyurl.com/yk9hl3v #2010resolutionsguide #Fitness

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, twitter, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Follow me on Twitter

#5. Fave me on technorati

#6. Put my button on your blog.

#7. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!)

#8.  Grab the New Year Resolutions Guide button and post it on your blog or website

*The PR company for Pedia-Lax Fiber Gummies provided a full bottle of Fiber Gummies for review and one for giveaway, but any stated opinions are strictly my own!*

**CONTEST WILL CLOSE ON MONDAY, JANUARY 18th at 12 mid-night CST**

Related posts:

1. WINNERS: Kraft Foods and Totally Toned Arms
2. WINNERS: Kraft Foods and Totally Toned Arms
3. (CLOSED) I Resolve To… Improve My Kids’ Health! Fiber Gummies Giveaway

So, we all know it… the Freshman 15 doesn’t have anything on the post-holiday 20!  One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year is to get fit. 

You know, we had borrowed my mother’s Wii Fit over the summer but had to give it back to her when her students came in August.  Then, we got one for Christmas.  I had gained 12 pounds since I was last on it!!!  Yes, TWELVE POUNDS in 4 months!  That is so stinking CRAZY!  The bad thing is, I KNOW the correct things to do, I have just been majorly slacking in doing them.

What is the point in this?  I need to lose some weight and I have some great plans. LOL!  I hope to give you girls occasional updates on my weight loss goals.  But, on to my 10 ways to get fit.

1. Water – How much water do you drink?  Did you know that you should take your weight and divide it by 2 and that is how many ounces of water you should drink each day in order to lose weight and stay healthy?  Sounds a bit crazy, but I promise you it works!  You can change NOTHING in your daily life but this one thing and see a major difference in your weight!
2. Portion Control – This may seem like a no brainer to some of you, but many people have NO IDEA how much they should eat nor what that amount looks like.  No one has the time nor inclination to measure everything eaten.  Remember the five rules below and you should be fine!  Then, look at the foods you eat and see what a serving is.  Most things figure into full and half cup servings.  I am sure you will be surprised (when you get your plate with the below references) how little a serving actually is!
1. 1 cup is about the size of your fist
2. 1/2 cup is about half of a baseball
3. a medium fruit should be the size your fist
4. 3 oz (of meat) is about the size of a deck of cards
5. 2 tablespoons is about the size of a ping pong ball
3. Feed the Dog – If portion control is much too scary for you, take a bit of advice that I learned from my doctor… ALWAYS leave a bite of each food on your plate.  So, you get a regular plate of food and leave one bite of each item.  That one bite isn’t going to make a difference in the scheme of things, but that is a few less calories that you aren’t eating and TRUST ME, you won’t miss them.
4. Eat Less, More Often – You know one of the worst things you can do is skip meals!  Seriously, did you know it is actually better to eat a candy bar for a meal than to skip it altogether?
1. Yogurt
2. 100 Calorie Packs
3. Fruit
4. Nuts
5. Veggies,  etc make great snacks in addition to your regular 3 meals per day.
5. Improve Your Posture – This is a simple trick I learned from Cheerleading.  Obviously we all know that our Core (back, sides, and abs) are the most important muscles on the body (and the HARDEST to tone).  In Cheerleading, you need SUPERB Core Muscles and you want them toned, not built.  So, this trick will fix those AND improve your posture.  Ready?  Keep your stomach muscles contracted at all times!  Here’s the best way to figure the correct tightness.  Tighten your stomach muscles like you are using the bathroom (#2) then relax them just a little bit.  Spend the entire day keeping your muscles tight like this.  After a couple weeks of doing it, you won’t even think about it anymore.   
6. Let’s Get Physical – Do something each day that you haven’t been doing.  It doesn’t matter what you do or even how long you do it, simply do SOMETHING more than you have.  Here are some ideas of super quick workouts that make a big difference.
1. Scrub your kitchen floor on your hands and knees – 64 calories
2. Do 50 jumping jacks – 46 calories and it takes less than 5 minutes to do 50 jumping jacks… in fact I can do them in less than 2 minutes!  Come on, we all have 2 minutes… plus it works virtually EVERY muscle in your body!
3. Play with your children for 30 minutes… just sitting will burn 80 calories! Jumping around will burn close to 150!
4. For more calorie counts for basic activities, see http://www.webmd.com/diet/healthtool-fitness-calorie-counter
7. DON’T DIET! Change your life!  That’s right, one of the biggest mistakes people make are doing diets.  Sure, if you follow through with them, you lose weight.  Then, you get to that ideal weight and you stop dieting.  What happens?  You gain it all back and start over again.  Add some exercise, control portions, and drink water.  All of those things will help you to lose weight and KEEP it off because they are LIFE CHANGES, not diets.
8. Make small changes – Everyone freaks out a bit by healthy meal plans and the like, if you can make just a few changes, it will make a world of difference.  Here are a few ideas for changes:
1. Eat earlier – Change your last meal to 3 – 4 hours before bed.  This way, your body has time to burn it off before you go to sleep.
2. Switch your mayo and dressings to Fat Free.  Many of them taste the same and have much fewer calories!
3. Change from Vegetable Oil to Olive Oil.  Olive oil is MUCH better for you and takes a smaller amount to cook with.
4. Bake, don’t fry!  Baked chicken tastes WONDERFUL and you are losing a bunch of the fat and calories this way… even if you add BBQ sauce.
9. Do Something Fun – We all know that doing something FUN is much easier than forcing ourselves to do something we don’t enjoy.  What do you like to do?  Take self-defense classes, play the Wii Fit, join a Bowling League, plant a garden, go hiking, go shopping!  All of these are fun and physical… if you do them regularly, you will build muscles and burn fat.  Muscles help improve your metabolism… improved metabolism helps burn more calories!
10. Set Goals and Reward Yourself!  That’s right, REWARD YOURSELF!  Set very small goals and larger ones and go all out with rewards.  Come on moms, we KNOW bribery works wonders for the kids… guess what, it does for us, too!  My first goal is to work out everyday for 1 week (I have done 3 days) when I reach that goal, I am going to reward myself with a new Wii game!  One that makes me get up, of course.

*DISCLAIMER – I wrote this post in the hopes of winning a copy of EA SPORTS Active™ Personal Trainer.  Five copies are being given out thanks to Twitter Moms and EA Sports.  I want it… I want it BADLY! LOL!  Even if I don’t win it, I was planning to bring you girls some weight loss tips, goals, tricks, etc with the New Year, so this just forced me to get busy.

Related posts:

1. The Ins and Outs of Dieting!

Our family got a Wii for Christmas from my mom… OH MY GOSH! I have been playing boxing, tennis, and bowling for 3 days and now I can barely lift my right arm! I can see us really getting some exercise out of it . She got her girls a Wii, also along with the Wii Fit, so I played the Wii Fit for a bit at her house yesterday and it gets tough! I like Yoga the best, but that stupid thing said my body age was 47! FOURTY-SEVEN! I will be 29 in January… I guess I need to work out some more. LOL!

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