Whether it is an exercise or diet plan, have you ever found yourself just tired of doing it and tired of thinking about it? Have you ever wanted to just take the night off? Does it feel exhausting? Do you feel like you are approaching burn out? If so, take a break already. Yes, I really just said that. Jillian Michaels suggests to those she trains to take a high calorie day (eating enough calories to maintain current weight).
Recovery is an important component of both growth and maintenance. If you run a marathon without proper training, you will probably find it difficult to impossible to walk the next day. If you push yourself too hard, eventually your body will refuse to work. The same thing happens mentally. Have you ever had a tough day at work or had to think too much and found you could not bring yourself to do anything but stare at the TV that evening? Creating a new habit and sticking to a food plan are mental stressors.

For all those who have tried to lose weight, you know that it is a constant battle. Calories in calories out, low-carb, no-carb, Atkins, South Beach Diet, the Biggest Loser Diet, and this list goes on. There are so many choices, and all we want are results. Some go to extreme measures to lose weight, and in affect, are counter productive. One of the biggest mistakes made on any diet program, believe it or not, is undereating. You may be asking yourself how is that possible? If I take in fewer calories than I eat I’ll lose more weight. Wrong idea.
That may work for maybe a week, but eventually your body will go into starvation mode. Your body will hold onto every single morsel you put into your body, you will stop losing weight, and possibly gain weight.
I have made that mistake many times. The best plan is simply to live in balance. Eat a good variety of foods, and count your calories. Now, how many calories should you be eating?

The nationwide, all-female fitness centers Curves has just launched a new weight management plan that helps you say goodbye to yo-yo dieting once and for all.
Available to all Curves members, this new plan offers monthly classes that teach you how to rev up your metabolism, eat all day long and enjoy a variety of foods without gaining weight. Curves experts know that diets that forbid certain foods never work in the long run. Therefore, their Weight Management Plan shows you how to safely and satisfyingly incorporate your favorite eats into your weight loss plan while not sabotaging your efforts to meet or maintain your weight loss goal.

OK, so I lied in my prior post. Well, not technically. Getting started with weight loss is hard, there’s no doubt about it. The fact of the matter is that when you are actively losing weight, people still remember the “old” you. They pat you on the back and empower you, and, I’m not gonna lie, it feels pretty great.
Once you’ve met your goal, you kind of feel like a rock star. People congratulate you, want to copy you, ask for your secrets – in short, you are, for a brief moment in time, the greatest thing to hit the weight loss world.

Calorie counting, watching sodium intake, pounding water like I was preparing to traverse the Sahara, and I thought I had a good handle on my weight. After months of working out nonstop, eating perfectly, and cutting weight, I thought that having to maintain my new weight would be all too easy. As it turns out, this 19-year-old has some things to learn.
I’ve been home for about a month since the Season 7 Biggest Loser finale, and it has been one the toughest challenges I have had to face yet.
Now that I’m on my own with my weight, I have had my share of struggles and successes. Many people have asked me what I do now that I’m home. What I eat. How I workout. How did I do it. I have asked myself those same questions everyday since I got back home.
