6 Simple Steps To Lose Weight Fast

Simple Steps to Weight Loss

If your goal is to lose weight fast and keep it off, forget the gimmick weight loss pills and marathon workouts. Research shows  taking simple steps everyday leads to long lasting weight loss results.

According to Lesley Lutes, PhD, an assistant professor in the department of psychology at East Carolina University, “When you focus on just a couple of small changes at a time, you begin to ingrain some healthy habits that last for a lifetime, rather than trying an all-or-nothing approach that more often than not fails because it’s too hard to follow.”

Here are 6 simple steps (with proven results) to help you move more, eat less, and look and feel better than ever. Add just one or two a week to your regular routine and you can lose nearly 3 inches off your waistline and be about 10 pounds lighter in a few months. Even better: Once these healthy habits become second nature, they’ll benefit you for a lifetime.

1. Pick up a pen

Mindlessly munching on a bag of chips could result in easily polishing off the whole thing; write down how much you’ve eaten and you’re more likely to practice portion control and lose weight fast. Keeping a food log helps control extra calories in two ways: the combination of plain old reality check (I just ate 30 minutes ago!) and awareness that what you’re putting in your mouth will soon be recorded for posterity. In a recent study, people who kept a food journal lost twice as much weight as those who didn’t. When they combined it with a moderate diet and exercise plan, they lost an average of 13 pounds in 6 months. Journaling also gives you insight on your eating habits, says Dr. Lutes. Do you skip meals? Eat the same during the week as on the weekend? Binge when you’re feeling stressed? “Knowing your routine helps you figure out what changes are right for you,” she adds.

2. Skip through commercials

Get moving during your favorite TV shows. Skip, dance, go up and down some stairs, run in place—anything that gets your heart rate up so you feel somewhat breathless, says Geralyn Coopersmith, senior national manager at Equinox Fitness. Do it for each 2-minute break (forget the TiVo) during a typical 2-hour TV night and you’ll burn an extra 270 calories a day—which can translate to a 28-pound weight loss in a year.

3. Sign up for e-newsletters

One study from Kaiser Permanente found that people who received weekly e-mails about diet and fitness for 16 weeks substantially increased their levels of physical activity and intake of healthy foods like fruits and vegetables while cutting back on trans and saturated fats. Sign up for Solstice Health’s FREE weekly weight loss newsletter.

4. Walk 5 minutes more

In Dr. Lutes’s pilot study, increasing daily activity levels by just a few minutes at a time helped participants lose weight faster. Eventually, your goal should be to do at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day (burning off about 120 extra calories daily, or 12½ pounds a year), but it doesn’t have to be all at once.

5. Brown-bag it more

You’ll save thousands of calories (not to mention hundreds of dollars) over the course of a year. Consider this: A premade chicken Caesar wrap from a chain restaurant has 610 calories, more than 40% of which come from fat, as well as 1,440 mg of sodium (more than half the recommended daily amount). Make your own with presliced deli chicken breast on whole wheat bread with light mayo and romaine lettuce for about 230 calories. You’ll cut almost 400 calories and about 520 mg of sodium, which leaves room for a side salad and could still add up to a 28-pound weight loss after a year. “When you make and eat your own food, you not only control the quality and portion sizes but also reduce the amount of sugar, salt, and fat that you’re consuming, which can be significantly higher in restaurant fare,” says Ashley Koff, RD, a nutrition consultant based in Los Angeles.

6. Get technical support

You know exercising with a friend makes you more accountable (nobody wants to leave a pal stranded on a street corner at 6 AM). But your workouts don’t always have to be done face to face. One study found women who had some form of social support, either through in person counseling or an on-line chat group, lost more than 15 pounds over a 9-month period, dropping about 300 calories from their daily diet and walking about a mile more each day than from their starting point.

If you are looking to lose weight fast and keep it off for life, Solstice Health can help. Whether you are looking to join our weight loss program or looking to to work with our Registered Dietitians on improving your diet, Solstice Health can help you achieve your weight loss goals.

Source: Prevention

 

Cash Rates vs. Health Insurance Rates

Not long ago, health care providers charged patients their highest rates. But according to a recent article, a new trend in healthcare is emerging: instead of using health insurance, consumers are paying cash to score deep discounts at hospitals and outpatient surgery centers.

What’s causing the shift? First, new state and federal rules are now in place to protect the uninsured from price gouging–a pejorative term referring to when a seller raises the price of a service or commodity to a level considered unreasonable. Second, many hospitals are saving on administrative and collection costs by offering day-of-service discounts to patients. Cash discounts are unofficially geared toward the uninsured, but no one who is insured is legally required to use it.  As deductible costs continue to skyrocket, both the insured and uninsured are taking advantage of the cash option.

While cash payments typically do not count towards deductibles, many consumers are willing to take the risk for the opportunity to actually afford their healthcare costs and mitigate bad debt. Just how significant are the savings? For a routine tonsillectomy performed at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, AZ, the insurance rate is $5,442. The self-pay rate? A steal at $2,858. Similarly, an MRI of the foot at Regional Medical Imaging in Flint, MI is $445 through insurance, but a reasonable $379 at the self-pay rate.

As Wisconsin’s only independent and completely insurance-free Direct Primary Care clinic, Solstice Health is ahead of the curve. Since day one, we have made it our mission to put the control back in the hands of our patients by offering Direct Primary Care memberships. Among other benefits, memberships offer unlimited access to the primary care physician and may be paid tax-free from an HSA. The payoff? The best, most affordable, and most convenient care possible.
To learn more about our Direct Primary Care memberships, call or visit our office today.

Save Your Own Life

Save your own life

When Pam came to us, she was on the verge of a health disaster. Pam needed a plan–so we put one into place and Pam didn’t let us down, she executed! We are so proud of Pam and where her journey with Solstice Health has brought her. This is Pam’s story, in her own words.

“A huge shoutout to Dr. Tim Murray and my coach, Christina, at Solstice Health for helping me reach my goal last week! Nine months, 90 pounds, 54.5 inches and (most importantly) a rebuilt immune system! I know that there are lots of stories going around about how and why I lost weight, so, here it is the whole story if you care to read on.”

“I have had huge tonsils for as long as I can remember. Twenty years ago they wanted to take them out and I refused. As a Speech Pathologist, I knew how dangerous the surgery is for adults. In the last few years, the lymph nodes in my throat were enlarged and becoming very painful. My swallow function was decreasing and I was told that my immune system, as measured by my white blood cell count, was dropping rapidly. Coupled with my weight, high cholesterol and impending metabolic disorder, I hit a health crisis last summer. The tonsils had to come out as the suspected site of the problem.”

“As you may know, I loved to eat and drink whatever and whenever I wanted and believed the myth that postmenopausal women over 50 can’t lose weight. I always put work and play before taking care of my health. I knew I needed to do something to prepare for the long overdue surgery. I heard about Dr. Murray, his weight loss program, and his ability to get people off medications. While he concurred that I needed my tonsils out, he was concerned about my immune system and my inability to fight whatever this turned about to be in my throat. I started doing vitamin infusions called “Meyer’s Cocktails.” Within a month, my lymph nodes started to decrease in size. I lost the first 50 pounds by my surgery in December. That improvement in my BMI changed my status from a potential three-night hospital stay to leaving the hospital the same day as my surgery.”

“Although my recovery was great compared to other adults, I thought it was horrific: 10 days of living only on ice chips and oxy. I struggled with dehydration for months. It turned out that I had a bacterial infection in my tonsils that may have been there since I had mono in college. My immune system had been struggling to fight it all these years and was losing.”

“The weight loss program continued to fit my crazy lifestyle well and their laughable goal for me to lose 90 pounds in 9 months and to be less than 25% body fat was within reach so I continued. I hit all three of those goals. I can finally report that my white blood cell count is approaching normal again and all my other blood work is within the normal range. I am the healthiest I have ever been!”

“So, no, I am not dying…quite to the contrary! If you have any interest in learning more about Dr. Murray, Ideal Protein, his stem cell therapy (he is the only licensed physician in WI for this), or his Direct Primary Care and other services, check out his website. If you end up visiting him for a consultation, tell him you know me…he’ll just laugh; it’s ok, I laughed at him nine months ago.”

At Solstice Health, we offer a comprehensive weight loss protocol that teaches participants how to achieve healthy, realistic goals. Called the Solstice Weight Loss Protocol, our plan focuses on eating and exercising properly to achieve lifelong, whole-body results. Patients who follow our protocol as prescribed have a 100% success rate and find a dramatic reduction in the incidence and severity of weight-related health conditions.