Now don’t jump on the bandwagon yet. Credit card debt consolidation is not necessarily for everyone. For one thing, you have to have at least $10,000 in debt. So obviously enough, the fact is that realistically speaking, you should not be doing it with maybe $2000 debt. For one thing, no matter who you go through, the fact is that credit card debt consolidation does hit your credit, and you don’t want to use it over so called small fries.

However, if you are in the right situation with credit card debt consolidation, the fact is that realistically speaking you can get results if you do it right. There are credit unions out there who offer it. However, actually the specific credit card debt consolidation services are better. They are experienced in this. This is all they do, and frankly credit unions and banks are new to it. So it may seem surprising. But realistically speaking, credit card debt consolidation with the real services is the way to go.

Well, up until the 1960s we really did not know why this was such an important supplement for our health.

Omega3 fatty acids are found in fish and flax seed.  Fish oil contains compounds that absorb or block triglycerides from causing damage.  Also, the fish oil has been shown to improve the electrical conductivity of the heart and has been shown to be a mild blood thinner.

Study after study has shown that fish oil works!  In a multi billion dietary supplement industry, most of what we take has been shown to not do what was initially promised.  One of the latest victims is the zinc nasal swabs. How shocked we were to find out we could lose our sense of smell from sticking zinc up our noses!

Lesson learned is just because something is “natural” does not make it safe to take unless we truly understand what it is supposed to do for us and what its potential side effects are.  Even natural supplements have side effects.

Maybe we need to look at all supplements as drugs and treat them with the same respect that we treat our prescription medications with.

Supplements we all need

There are other supplements that we all need, though. We all need vitamins and minerals to keep our bodies running. This does not even take into consideration being healthy. Our bodies use calcium and potassium to keep our muscles moving and our hearts beating. Even a small imbalance of these two minerals can have devastating consequences for us.

Our body makes some

Our body makes some of the vitamins that we need through the process of digestion. These are called non-essential nutrients because our body can make them. The other nutrients that we need that our bodies can not make are called essential nutrients. We need to make sure we are getting enough of these through the foods we eat and other supplementation.

The side effect of losing weight

The side effect of losing weight is that your vitamin and mineral needs can change. The recommended daily allowance is only a recommendation. Time of year, level of activity and weight lost or gained can change how much vitamin supplementation you need. Research what each one does for you and if you start to feel the effects of being short, maybe increase or change your vitamin supplementation.

I got on the scale today and I GAINED 5 pounds! It is not even that time of the month!

Is it a set back? Should I be upset? I do not think so. I weighed myself in the middle of the day, which is really a no-no anyway. I was curious, though because I had been having a hard time keeping anything down and I was wondering if that was having any affect on my weight.

Apparently not.

Do not become obsessive about the scale. It is only a guide to how you are doing on your weight loss journey. It does not decide how you are doing. YOU decide how you are doing.

Do you feel better? Do your clothes look better on you? Do you have more energy than you did before? Did any of that change? If so, it is time to see what you are doing, not what you are weighing!

I feel better.  I do look better. I still get complements from people that have not seen me in a while.  I have not needed to buy new clothes yet, but I am getting close.  Soon, my pants will fall off of me!

What about our weight loss actions? Do we think about what other people think? Does our brain spin to being paralyzed because of what we think other people think? There can not be an equal reaction if we have no action at all.

Start small. Do not talk to every one you know about your weight loss journey. Only talk with people that you will allow to help you keep accountable for your actions. The more people you talk to, the more hands in the pot and more opinions that you do not necessarily need to hear will be shared.

Start smart. Do not set goals that are totally unattainable.  If you want to lose 50 pounds total, that is great, but start with a goal of 5 pounds. A more reasonable goal that can be achieved in about a week, versus 6 to 8 months. Each little bit you accomplish adds up to total accomplishment.

Be on this journey for the right reasons. Although losing weight for our family is great, the focus of that goal is easily lost.  Do this for YOU. Your health and well being are why you need to take this journey. Your family will benefit because you are healthier and more energetic.

Do not become unfocused. Focus on your success!

Set up for failure

Although we need something to keep us going on our journey to fitness and weight loss, we tend to put goals up for ourselves that are unrealistic. We are going to have “problem areas” even after we lose all the weight that we want to lose. We are going to be disappointed when we still have some belly left over.

We don’t have to be disappointed. When we are realistic about what is going to happen to our bodies as we lose weight, we will be more able to rejoice and celebrate the successes we do have. We will plan to react in a more healthy way when we arrive at a goal that we have set for ourselves.

I had a friend say “I am going to be mad if this happens”. Guess what? It happened.  My response to her was that she set herself up to be “mad”. She didn’t have to plan to be mad.

We have control over how we act and react.  We should just plan to experience the weight loss journey we are on instead of planning how to feel if it doesn’t go how we think it should.

During my divorce, I gained A LOT of weight.  I was trying to fill the void that the divorce had caused.

My ex-husband lost an equal amount of weight.  Get that? He lost what I gained!  Coincidence, I’m sure. But it does show how 2 people react differently when involved in the same stressful situation.

So, when you see a friend eating more than usual, or notice that another friend has suddenly started to drop some weight when it wasn’t planned, keep them both in your prayers and do what they will let you do to relieve some of their stress.

How about you.  What does your body do when you are under substantial stress? If you are one to increase your caloric intake, act fast to replace that coping mechanism with another one.  Once you have gained weight from STRESS, it is more difficult psychologically to get it off because you are coping not only with the weight gain, but the guilt of letting you do that to yourself.

Seek Help

When stress gets to be too much to handle, see your pastor, a counselor, a trusted friend and even your spouse or significant other to talk it through and help you find ways to work through it.

We need affirmation

We need to know that we have stayed on track with our weight loss efforts. One of the quickest ways to measure that is by getting on a scale. Any weight lost form the last time you were on the scale is a reward and something to be celebrated!

Another measurement is by the comments you receive. People aren’t going to tell you you look good if you don’t.  Unsolicited complements are another reward.

How your clothes fit is another reward.  Seeing and feeling the changes your body is experiencing as the pounds come off is a great source of feed back and deserves to be rewarded with better fitting clothes.

Save the big rewards

Save the big rewards for the big goals that you achieve. If you have a goal to lose 50 pounds, get bigger rewards at each 10 pounds lost.  Save the new clothes for the final reward if you can.

Don’t sabotage your efforts

Reconsider using a “cheat day” as a reward.  If you have changed your eating habits to be a life style change and not just a “diet”, then “cheat days” should not exist. No foods should be off limits and if you do have a need to have a comfort food, make sure to replace a meal or snack with your treat.

Congratulations on your continued weight loss success!

It made me very jittery and shaky.

When you are sticking needles in people, you really aren’t supposed to be jittery or shaky.

If I had read the label and understood what the expected side effects of the ingredients were, I never would have taken that supplement.

My philosophy now is that I am only going to take a supplement if it provides something that I need that I can’t or am not getting in my regular diet. For example, I take a super B complex because I don’t eat enough meat to get it in my diet.  I take a calcium supplement because I don’t enough dairy products to give me what I need.

If you are going to take a supplement to help you lose weight, make sure it has ingredients that you already need that you are not getting in your diet.

Set realistic goals

It’s not easy to plan to go slow, bu that is really what you need to do to ensure that the weight that does come off stays off.  A couple of pounds a week really is reasonable! So if you have a goal of 50 pounds, know that it will take at least 6 to 8 months to lose it! Every little bit of loss helps and even a little bit of lose is noticeable to others.  When someone does complement you on your weight loss, DON’T jump into how much weight you still need to lose! THANK THE PERSON for noticing and celebrate what you have already accomplished! This change in mindset can work for you to keep you in a positive frame of mind about your fitness journey.

It is not an “All or Nothing” journey

If your plan to lose weight really is a life style change, you may find that you run into things that really don’t work for you (I can’t live the rest of my life doing that, or not eating that). You may also learn things that are unexpected and perfect for your new lifestyle! Just learn to go with the flow and don’t look at any setbacks as failure.  The only failure is if you stop making your lifestyle changes!