Thinking about weight loss surgery? You're not alone. Over two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Many are looking for ways to lower their bodyweight and enjoy a healthier, more active lifestyle. A fast surgical procedure seems like a great option. But, for the vast majority of people, weight loss surgery should be a last resort.

One of the most common types of weight loss surgery is liposuction, a procedure that removes excess fat from the waistline. Thousands of people - mostly women - undergo liposuction surgery every year. For many, it appears to be a much easier alternative to diet and exercise. Yet recent studies show that removing abdominal fat with liposuction provides almost none of the health benefits of "normal" weight loss: lowered levels of blood sugar, insulin and inflammation-related biomarkers, not to mention increased cardiovascular fitness, improved muscle tone, stronger bones, etc.

Another little-known problem with liposuction weight loss surgery: over 40% of patients regain the weight they lose from the procedure. Why? Simply because they make no healthy lifestyle changes. Some even believe that they can exercise less and eat more now that they have fewer abdominal fat cells. Obviously this isn't true and thousands of people find that out the hard way.

Other types of weight loss surgery are designed for the severely obese - generally those people with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher. These surgeries, which include gastric bypass and various "banding" and "stapling" procedures, have helped many formerly-obese people enjoy a higher-quality of life. However, all of these operations involve a considerable amount of risk.

Some of the risks associated with weight loss surgery include:

Death - According to the Mayo Clinic, about one in 200 to 300 people who has gastric bypass surgery dies from the procedure.

Post-surgery complications - Some weight loss surgery patients experience severe complications such as internal bleeding, infections, and blood clots. Others have to undergo follow-up procedures to correct complications such as abdominal hernias.

Gallstones - More than a third of patients develop gallstones as a result of losing large amounts of bodyweight following a weight loss surgery procedure.

Nutrient deficiencies - Some weight loss surgeries disrupt the digestion process. Without careful dietary supplementation this can lead to deficiencies in many important nutrients, especially vitamins B12 and D, iron, calcium, and folate.

Anyone considering weight loss surgery needs to weigh the risks against the benefits. They also need to realize that these extreme procedures are not cosmetic. Most patients only end up losing about 30% of their bodyweight and remain overweight for life. Simply put, weight loss surgery alone will not make you thin and beautiful. Yes, if you are extremely overweight, it may provide tremendous health benefits. But if you're just looking for a way to get thin without the "hassles" of healthy diet and regular exercise you better think again.

Jamie Clark is editor of fitFAQ.com, one of the Web's top fitness information sites. Learn more about healthy weight loss options by visiting http://www.fitfaq.com

Have you ever thought of your diet as a road? Roads have bends, twists, and speed bumps along the way. Diets do as well. On your weight loss road, you're going to make choices that aren't on your diet. It isn't realistic to believe you're never going to make food choices that aren't on your diet. Diets are meant to be consistent not perfect. The key is to know there are speed bumps along the way and to move full speed ahead from them.

The key to success is what you do the majority of time. Dieting and losing weight isn't shining a spotlight on a single choice, a specific day or two. It is a zoom out perspective of what you do over the period of a few days, weeks, and months. We didn't become overweight with one bad choice or even "going for it" for a few days. We've become overweight through multiple unhealthy choices over a prolonged period of time. Don't let a bad choice derail you. Don't wait until the next day or the following Monday to begin again. When you make a bad choice, pick yourself up and begin again right then. You don't have to beat yourself for a bad choice but congratulate yourself for getting right back on track. That's a big reason to feel very proud of yourself.

Many of us expect perfection of ourselves when it comes to our weight loss program. When we go off track, we feel disappointed and discouraged. It's your consistent eating patterns over weeks and months that matter and add up to weight loss. Those few slips-ups are merely speed bumps in the road. When you get past the speed bump of a food slip up, put your pedal t the metal and move full speed ahead to continue your weight loss success. The occasional slip-ups do not determine your weight loss success.

When you find yourself getting back on track, here are some suggested strategies to stay on track:

* Eat only fruits and vegetables for between meal snacks.

Drink 64 ounces of water or 8 glasses per day. This will help you feel less hungry and your metabolism running efficiently and at its maximum.

* Do not skip meals to make up for an earlier calorie indulgence. Skipping meals only serves to slow down your metabolism.

Record your food and activity. Write down what you eating, even a taste of this or a bite of that.

* Sugar-free and fat-free choices count. These choices are not calorie-free. Make sure you're not eating excessive amounts of these types of foods and thinking they are free of calories.

* By exercising, you'll gain the feeling of control and being back on your diet track.

* Don't beat yourself up for choices you can't take back. Note why you made the food choices that you did and learn from them for the future. You can use these speed bumps as lessons for future choices.

The journey to weight loss success isn't determined with one choice. Zoom out in your perspective and know that your weight loss success comes in consistent healthy choices. Persistence with your weight loss plan is what is important. Look at your weight loss as a continual journey that has a few speed bumps along the way and has the most beautiful scenery that is your life. Enjoy!

Cathy Wilson is a weight loss life coach. Cathy lost 147 pounds six years ago. Her passion is helping clients achieve their weight loss and life goals. Cathy works with clients to create a weight loss life plan that is customized to each client. Cathy is a member of the International Coaching Federation, International Association of Coaches, and Obesity Action Coalition.

Visit Cathy's website: http://www.LoseWeightFindLife.com

Most people do not understand much about losing weight. They get bogged down by searching for the fastest way to shed that few pounds. The most common is that they factor in a lot of cardiovascular exercises and neglect their diet; that is they prefer to starve themselves with the incorrect mindset that eating less will make them slimmer. In a sense, that is right. Eating less makes you slimmer. But for effective weight loss, eating right is priority.

When we talk about metabolism, we mean the mechanism in your body that propels food digestion, shedding the excess weight that is stored on the walls on your stomach, churning them into fats. How then, do we speed up this mechanism, making it propel faster?

Let's start off first with a proper diet. First off, keep your meals small and healthy. Forget about fast food for awhile. You don't want to spend 4 hours jogging off that Big Mac!

Have your meals in intervals of significant 3 to four hours. (And by significant I mean from the time you stop eating to the time you start again). Yes you must be thinking, if I have a meal every 3 to 4 hours, I am eating close to 5 meals a day! That's right! We want to keep your metabolism running!

Let's say, for example, we start the day with a healthy choice of finesse cereal and a banana (fibers from banana helps you defecate). With a light breakfast, you are bound to feel hungry approximately 3 to 4 hours later, and it's probably time for lunch. Take a trip to the nearest cafe (or supermarket if you've got the time) and order a healthy salad, top it up with some boiled chicken strips, or smoked salmon slices if you must but keep off anything fried and make sure that salad dressing is low fat! There you go, who says you've got to stuff yourself trying to lose weight.

After the next interval, you're bound to feel hungry again. Treat yourself to a cookie from Mrs Fields. Just one won't hurt. And then it's probably time for dinner. Don't be afraid to have a steak for dinner, topped with a side salad and a healthy glass of red wine (but I do reckon you shouldn't put this on your list during the first week of diet). After dinner, take an hour or two break and then have some apple and orange cubes.

The rationale behind this diet is that you are eating small intakes of food that are neither fat nor unhealthy. These food digest quickly and fats won't stick to the walls of your stomach and form a flabby belly. Eating small meals in 3 to 4 hour intervals helps to keep the metabolism running, not forgetting to couple it with a great variation of cardiovascular exercises. Keep up with the routine and you're bound to shed that few pounds in a matter of 2 to 3 weeks!

Lee is a Muay Thai practitioner and runs the website http://themusclemind.com

This website provides articles on various subjects written by field professionals. The purpose of TheMuscleMind.com is to provide readers with quality articles that will help to improve their knowledge.

Many of us would love to shed a little weight and in many cases the quicker the better. Losing 5 pounds a week on a continuous basis is a great way to lose weight quickly and this article is going to explain the method that can make this happen.

There are dozens of diets available which will allow you to lose 5 pounds in the space of a week but what good is that when none of the results last. Many low calorie diets lose you weight at first but they are only ridding your body of excess fluids and soon the weight loss will come to an end and gradually that weight will return.

Thankfully there are a few diets, and one in particular, which allow you to lose 5 pounds in a week and continue to do this week in, week out.

The one in particular I was talking about is a diet based around something it has labelled as calorie shifting. This is based around the idea that by swapping, rotating and shifting the foods you eat each day you can manipulate your metabolism to work at an higher rate and lose weight faster.

I didn't think it would work to be honest but surprisingly it does and it isn't just me that has achieved great results using calorie shifting. Visit any weight loss message board or forum on the internet and you will find satisfied users of shifting calorie diets.

The added bonus of the diet though is that the results are continuous. You start an 11 day cycle and then at the end of it get 3 full days to eat as you wish then if you want to continue losing weight you simply start the cycle all over again.

As I've stated many diets will achieve the loss of 5 pounds in a week but all I'll say is whats the point doing it if it is only going to come back a week later. A continuous diet is the only way to go after all at least then there is a lasting result for your efforts.

Get more information about calorie shifting at the following blog: http://shiftingcaloriesdiet.blogspot.com

Katie Turner lost 34 lbs after having her twins and you could too. To find out more click here.

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