There’s another bit of pressure that may help you attain your weight loss goals: losing money! The phenomenon known as “bet dieting” is apparently still going strong. Last year, we spotlighted a sight known as StickK that uses gambling as a way to keep people motivated to lose weight. You put up money, and if you hit your weight loss goal, you retain your cash. If you lose it, you can even attach it to a charity that you disagree with, making the incentive even higher. These are generally right or left wing political initiatives. If you aren’t politically inclined, the motive of keeping your money is probably still enough

The latest entry into the weight loss betting sites is Lose It or Lose It. The domain name pretty much says it all. You cough up the cash if you don’t reach your goal. But unlike StickK (whose slogan is “Put a contract out on yourself,” by the way), the cash stays with Lose It or Lose It.

You begin your challenge with Lose It or Lose It by designing a 10-week weight loss program/goal. Choose your weight loss goal and how much cash you are willing to part with per pound, and there you have it. The website brings more to the table than just the willingness to take money from weak-willed people. You receive regular emails reminders to weigh in, and at least two people have to agree to be “accountability friends” before you begin. Accountability friends receive up to two e-mails each week about the results of your weigh-ins.

The website also shows you live statistics of how many pounds have been lost through their site among other things. But, the most compelling thing to me was the ratio of men-to-women. Dieting, a usually heavily female demographic, is 70 percent men on Lose It or Lose It. It must be that the gambling aspect, a largely male demographic, has attracted more men than women.

(via: Lose It or Lose It)

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Bet Dieting with Lose It or Lose It

Rebecca: Cheryl, you’ve authored several wonderful books for Biggest Loser so far and I was personally a big fan of Biggest Loser Simple Swaps, what makes The Biggest Loser: 6 Weeks to a Healthier You different than other books?

Cheryl: There are many books on the market catering to dieting and weight loss. One of the distinctions of The Biggest Loser eating plan is that the quality of the calories is as important as the quantity. Our eating plan has evolved since we began 10 seasons ago, and I’m happy to say that it’s continually improved in terms of including less and less processed food choices.

You won’t find any artificial sweeteners in the Ranch kitchen these days – no fat-free whipped toppings, etc. It’s all about whole foods/whole grains, lots of lean protein and good fats. The recipes in the new book reflect that. The other distinction is that this book includes 6 weeks of menu plans. It’s easy to tell/teach people which foods to choose, but it’s not so easy to put it into practice, especially when you’re busy, as most of us are. We’ve made it easy for you by providing 6 complete weeks of menus and recipes to help you with meal planning as well as shopping.

Rebecca: Wow, Cheryl! It’s like having you for a personal chef for 6 weeks! I see a huge value in that. I agree that it is about the quality of the foods you eat most of the time. I’m sure readers will be excited to know that the book will emphasize high quality whole foods.

I think a lot of people who are fans of the show watch and get inspired, but sometimes may feel like they won’t be as successful as contestants. How does this book help fans on the show with their weight loss journey?

Cheryl: You’re right, people sometimes hope for dramatic results as seen on the show. Though this IS a reality show, it’s NOT realistic to expect similar results at home. The contestants are sequestered away from their families, friends, jobs, school, etc. Their FULL TIME job is losing weight. They have the luxury of time, personal trainers, fabulous food, a registered dietitian, and our occasional guest chef, Curtis Stone, helps provide cooking instruction (as do I when I’m at Ranch for my assessments). This book reminds readers that a slower, more gradual weight loss is perfectly fine and not to expect the same results as what they see on the show.

Rebecca: That’s a good point. Viewers can get the book with the confidence that the meal plans are similar to the show and realistic for healthy weight loss, but they should not feel obligated to focus on nutrition and exercise full time. Slow and steady progress will still get them to their goal.

Is there something special about 6 Weeks to a Healthier You? Why not four or eight weeks?

Cheryl: Most books that provide menu plans may give you a week, 2 weeks, 10 days or a month! Six weeks is really an added dose not only of more menus to help you find your groove to stick with it, but each week also provides additional health tips and info. Overall, 6 Weeks to a Healthier You focuses on nutrient-dense high quality foods – but we also share the health benefits that these ingredients confer to make your choices and the recipes, even more seductive

Rebecca: Ohhhh…. seductive! I like that. I don’t know why people sometimes think eating healthy is boring! I also like that you give the education in weekly “bits” so they don’t have to take on too much, too fast.

As a successful chef and Biggest Loser nutritionist, what words of wisdom do you have for anyone who is struggling with healthy lifestyle changes?

Cheryl: Most people have fallen into an unhealthy rut over time, not overnight. Don’t place high expectations on yourself to reach your goals overnight either. Start with small approachable steps and build week by week. There’s less chance you’ll get overwhelmed and more chance that you’ll see slow, steady results making this plan seductive
and easy to stick with.

Rebecca: Excellent advice! Thanks for taking the time to chat with me and best wishes with this book and The Biggest Loser!

Win the book!

Do you guys have the book yet? Comments? Leave a comment below and one person will be drawn to receive a copy of The Biggest Loser: 6 Weeks to a Healthier You on March 31.

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Cheryl Forberg Discusses “The Biggest Loser: 6 Weeks to a Healthier You”

Hello Everyone! My name is Shelley and I am an emotional eater and therefore a chronic dieter. Hmm, now that’s a term that until recently I never knew, but in the last few weeks so much has “turned around” in my life…

I was raised in a large family with 5 brothers and sisters and in our house at meal time if you “took it” you “ate it.” There were also many times that I can remember having a “heated” discussion at our table and my escape was to bury my face in my plate. Hand to mouth, just eating and staying quite, hoping the conversation would not turn to “me” being the one getting the criticism of the day!

As I grew I was active, swimming and playing outside as a child and teen not having what I would call a “weight issue.” When I went to college my food intake consisted of Diet Coke and small meals, and I was pretty active; I went to a large university so I did lots of daily walking. A few years later, as a “bride” I survived on what I will call the “bride’s diet” of one meal and Diet Coke through the day so that I would look ever so thin at my wedding.

There were just a few times that I would call how I ate “dieting.” Food was always something that I “did.” As many with any type of obsessive problems “do” I “used” food. When I was happy, I ate, when I was sad, I ate, when I did well on a test I ate to celebrate, when I did bad on a test I ate because I was upset, oh, I ate for just about any reason.

Over the course of the next 22 years my weight would go up and down. I’d follow Atkins and lose 25 pounds and slowly it would creep back up, and then I’d get sick of what I looked like and then I would do Jenny Craig, or Weight Watchers; you name it I’ve done it! But I never realized what the real issue was… I am an emotional eater!

My life is a wee bit stressful; I am the mom of a healthy 21-year-old daughter, and an 18-year-old daughter with special needs and wife of an entrepreneur. The second is what causes a lot of anxiety in my life. And so I “eat.” When things are good, I eat, when things are problematic etc., etc. I think you see the pattern here.

So what happened? What was this major “da dah?” What was it that made me want to stop and get off this vicious chronic dieting cycle, and think it’s time to get with the program and get healthy? And no, I wasn’t visited by three ghosts… However, recently I did wake up one morning and take a good look at myself in the mirror and I didn’t recognize the reflection looking back at me.

If I squinted a little bit I saw “me” with a lot of what I will call “stuff” around me. Not only was it “physical stuff” but I could see a cloud of what I will call “mental stuff” too that I have been carrying around with me literally and figuratively for a long time and I decided it’s time to “unload.” Time to put myself first for once and really take care of myself so that I can look in the mirror sometime (hopefully soon) and see the real “me.”

I know I’m not the only one out there with these issues so I invite you to join me in a “Wellness Makeover,” you can follow along here on Facebook. Because after all, if you don’t do it for yourself, who is going to do it for you?

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A Healthy New Life: One Mom’s Wellness Makeover

Guest blogger, Carol Dunlop is certified through FiTour as a Personal Trainer and through the American Red Cross as a CPR, AED and First Aid Instructor. She has competed and placed in several Fitness America and National Bodybuilding competitions. To receive your Free E-course “How to Burn Calories While you Sleep,” check out her website, OptimumBodySculpting.com.

Congratulations! You’ve overcome a huge hurdle in achieving your weight loss goal. It took a lot of hard work, determination and commitment to get this far, but don’t rest on your laurels just yet. Your journey isn’t over. Now comes the hard part, keeping the weight off.

Did you know that two out of three people who lose weight regain all of it and sometimes more, in as little as two years? If you don’t want this happening to you, read on to learn how to keep that weight off, for good.

1. Make exercise a habit.

Keep the pounds from piling back on by making exercise a habit you can’t live without. Incorporate weight-bearing exercises that use dumbbells, strength training equipment, or weighted balls or bands. Strength training requires your body to burn extra calories in order to feed your muscles by using stored fat as fuel. Build muscles, burn excess fat and look great. What a great idea. I’ll take that any day.

Exercising two to three times per week will definitely keep your weight in check.

2. Controlling portions controls your weight.

You don’t have to be as strict with your eating as you were before, however, if you return to your old eating habits, you’ll find yourself at the starting line once again. To avoid a repeat performance, learn to control how much of your favorite foods actually go into your mouth. Learning to control your food portions puts you in the driver’s seat to manage your weight for good.

3. Be aware of your reaction to stress.

Stress – you can’t get around it or avoid it. But, you can control how you react to it. Your reaction to stress affects how your body manages your weight. Your body can react by causing you to crave comfort foods that make you feel better, causing you to overeat and gain weight. De-stressing techniques such as yoga, stretching and deep breathing exercises put you in control of how you handle stress.

By following these simple recommendations, you won’t have to worry about regaining your weight.

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What to Do After Reaching a Weight Loss Goal

Dr. Oz introduces audience members to a 356-pound 16-year-old girl whose mother is also obese. Dangerously following in each others footsteps, Dr. Oz steps in to have a candid discussion with both mom and daughter about how their size is threatening their lives.

Discussing the tough issues that underlie their enabling eating behaviors, Dr. Oz devises a plan so that they can lose weight together and support each other on their way to a healthier sense of well being and an enriched relationship.

On Thursday’s show, Dr. Oz also discusses three warning signs that no woman should ever ignore. Watch this episode to find out what are the three potentially life-saving symptoms your body may be telling you.

Check your local listings for exact show times.

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Tune In: Mother and Daughter Weight Struggles

Forget fad diet tips. Toss out the window rules like “only eat fruit for breakfast,” and get out your scrolls when Dr. Oz guides you along your weight loss goal with his expert suggestions for helping you to lose weight, eat well and keep it off.

You can bet that Dr. Oz ’s weight loss tips will be rooted in research and experience that support each of the suggestion’s success.

Check your local listings for show times.

Also See:

Dr. Oz’s Ultimate Health Checklist

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Tune In: Dr. Oz’s Ten Weight Loss Commandments on The Dr. Oz Show

Now she’s partnering with Dr. Oz and Fresh Diet, a food delivery company, to lose the extra weight in a healthy manner. Wilson says that she’s struggled her entire life with good diet choices.

“I’m not an exercise lover and I’m a food lover, and my body doesn’t have a great metabolism. You put all that together and there’s my challenge,” she told Celebrity Baby Scoop in a recent interview. She confessed that having children derailed her healthy diet habits. In a recent appearance on the Dr. Oz Show, she was weighed on television. Dr. Oz diagnosed her as morbidly obese and prescribed a weight loss plan.

The mom of two, like moms everywhere, worries when her daughter chooses sugary foods, and tries to head her in the right direction. “When I see Lola asking for sugar, it’s like pushing a panic button. I go, ‘Oh no, oh no, she’s going to be fat!’ I have to calm down and say, there’s a way to do this. There’s a way to show her that she can have some sugar, but it has to be limited,” Wilson said in her Celebrity Baby Scoop interview. She’s especially happy to have partnered with Fresh Diet.

The woman who launched a bakery business is especially critical of her food choices, and she’s found nothing lacking with Fresh Diet, calling it the ultimate in organic, healthy foods.

This busy mom finds that balance is tricky for her, with the demands of her career, children and marriage. Trying to get the food segment under control is difficult, but with the help that she has, Carnie Wilson should be able to solve this dilemma and find a healthy, manageable weight.

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Carnie Wilson Partners with The Fresh Diet and Dr. Oz

The declaration opens up all kinds of intrigue and speculation. Sure, the most obvious is wondering what kind of depth of emotional pain one must have to be a virgin at 47. Secondly, how could someone be in a relationship for more than eight years, as was the case with her ex Denny, and not have sex? Their relationship is already intriguing in that you’re looking at a fit guy with a woman who was once 700+ pounds.

While some people may not want to actually say it, that certainly must make most of us wonder. Could he have been a genuinely good person who saw her for who she is on the inside, and not minded her physical shortcomings? Sure. But, the realist – or perhaps cynic – in me has to wonder about his motives. Not that they were necessarily bad, but everyone has to be surprised by the relationship.

Then a possible explanation is exposed when you see that Denny’s brother, who recently died of a heart attack, was severely overweight. You can’t help but wonder if there is a conscious psychological connection, and that maybe Denny wanted to maybe change Ruby in a way he couldn’t his brother.

The theme of the show centered on the dynamics of the continued friendship between Ruby and Denny, and some of the flirting and possibility of them rekindling their relationship. And, in a turn of fate that you would have thought was written into the script, the two attend a church service that dealt with sexual relationships and not settling for someone who doesn’t accept you for who you are.

While the show was centered on the tensions associated with Ruby’s relationship with Denny and the possible feelings that she may still have for him, there were some positives. Sure, Ruby is a virgin, but she experienced other firsts in this episode. She wore jeans for the first time. She was able to make it through a turnstyle without getting stuck. And finally, Ruby went shopping for a bathing suit. And not only that, she “modeled” it to her friends as they shared a hot tub.

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Ruby Recap Season 3 Episode 3: The 47-Year-Old Virgin

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Tune In: Carnie Wilson on The Dr. Oz Show

Jill Knapp and Dr. Oz

Tune in this Thursday, March 4 to The Dr. Oz Show when DietsInReview.com’s guest blogger and weight loss success story Jill Knapp discusses her amazing 100 pound weight loss.

After losing 100 pounds, Jill went on to place in the top five of the Mrs. Idaho International pageant and is now a motivational speaker and diabetes advocate.

Dr. Oz was so impressed by Jill’s story that not only did he invite her to be on his show, but he also asked her to serve as a mentor to three former beauty pageant contestants who after winning their title, gained a significant amount of weight.

To read more about Jill, you can visit her website, Get Up and Get Moving.

Thursday’s show will also bring awareness to sleep-eating disorders, a condition that affects thousands of Americans each night.

Check your local listings for exact show times.

Post from: Diets in Review Blog

Tune In: Jill Knapp, Weight Loss Success Story on The Dr. Oz Show