If you lose weight with a new diet or exercise program don't revert back to your old ways once you lose weight. You'll simply pile the pounds back on again.

You'd think that would be obvious but it's exactly what 99% of the people who lose weight do.

So if you lose weight by giving up desserts, don't go back to eating them , or at least, not every day. And if you exercised like mad at the gym, don't take up your old couch potato ways again.

Obvious maybe - but are you one of the 99% who will gain weight again because they are not taking any notice of the obvious?

Hands up those who have ever bought candy for Halloween and eaten it before 31st October...

Thought so!

Having lots of little treats in the house is fatal if you're trying to lose weight. You tell yourself you'll just have one. But the bags are so big that you think it won't matter if you just have a couple and before you know it you've eaten your way through 1000 calories.

Why not make your treats healthy ones this year instead - it will be better for the kids AND avoid temptation for you?

Buy healthy snacks such as small packets of raisins and bags of satsumas. Add in some pocket money toys - the kind you get for party favors, stickers, bubbles, pencils and comics and let the kids who come calling choose a healthy snack and something else from the goodie bag.

And if you've stuff left over it will be no danger to your diet at all....

Great idea I read about in Calorielab. It seems many of us are spending so much time in front of the computer that we are putting on weight - or maybe it's just another sedentary activity we choose rather than exercise.

Anway this idea combines a computer desk with a bike which actually powers the computer - no exercise, no surfing or gaming!

Imagine clearing your email while burning 500 calories.

I have got as far as listening to teleseminars online or watching TV while stepping and rebounding but this adds whole new dimension.

Here is an available exercise desk from Slimgeek which unfortunately is not hooked up to power the computer so you might just forget to actually use the exercise bit... still a great idea for losing weight and getting fit though if you can't tear yourself away from your PC.

technorati tags:exercise, fitness, bike, PC

If you're tempted by the idea of weight loss into drinking the new Enviga beverage from Coca-Cola read what Julia Harvey has to say first in this great article.

In a nutshell

a) it will cost you over $300 to lose two and a half pounds (if it works)

b) the tests show even those results were only obtained for people of normal weight

c) you have to drink 3 cans of the stuff over 24 hours to burn off 1 small cookie's worth of calories (60 to 100)

Just remember that the best drink of all is water - it's both free and calorie-free. And the best way to burn off 60 calories is with a brisk walk...

I can just see the dollar signs flashing before the eyes of the marketing executives. Don't fall for their clever marketing tricks. Overweight seems to mean easy target these days.

Of course if you drink Enviga in place of sugary Coca-Cola then they might just have a point, otherwise leave well alone

technorati tags:Enviga, weight+loss

Many people pick up a cup of coffee to stave off hunger pangs when trying to lose weight and you hear about models existing on black coffee and cigarettes for much of the day (not recommended!).

Although it doesn't work for long if you are genuinely hungry (at that point you should eat!) having a cup of coffee to perk you up rather than a chocolate bar can help when you're feeling the need for energy.

Just don't overdo it and have so much caffeine that you can't sleep.

For more information about coffee and weight loss see the article below.

technorati tags:diet, weight+loss, coffee, caffeine