1. Make a specific and exciting project or plan after your work hour that you can look forward to. Make it as specific as possible so you know you will do it for sure. (“I am going to go shopping for recipes and try cooking a new vegetarian meal after work around seven o’clock” as opposed to “I am going to cook after work.”)

2. Take a scheduled mental break to slack off and be lazy. If you are feeling your mind wandering, use a kitchen timer or a cell phone alarm to schedule a 10-minute do-whatever-you-want min-break where you can organize your desk, e-mail a friend, stalk someone on Facebook or look at your favorite shameless celebrity gossip blogs.

3. Make yourself a nice cup of hot green tea. Drinking coffee or black tea might be too much caffeine for the second half of the day, which will disrupt your sleep schedule. Green tea has just a little bit caffeine, and also contains antioxidants that are good for you.

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1. Old rule: You should burn every calorie you eat through exercise.
To lose weight, it’s true that you should burn more calories than you consume. But some people misinterpret this weight-loss equation, thinking they must burn off every calorie they eat—and then some—by exercising. Besides being inaccurate, this practice can be unsafe and lead to exhaustion, overuse injuries and stalled weight-loss, among other problems. Remember, your body is constantly burning calories throughout the day, even when you’re not physically active. This is known as a basal metabolic rate (BMR), and it accounts for more than 1,200-1,500 calories per day (on average). Add to that all the calories you burn by moving, walking, standing and yes, exercising, and you can see how easy it is to “burn more calories than you consume” without spending your life in the gym.

New rule: Move more and exercise moderately.
Try to achieve an active lifestyle by adding more physical activity to your days. Not all of this activity needs to be planned exercise (although it’s best to exercise 3-6 times per week for 30-60 minutes per session to help burn additional calories and enhance your health). Small things that get you moving more—taking the stairs, walking to a co-worker’s desk instead of e-mailing, or playing an active video game instead of watching TV—add to your daily calorie burn and help you lose weight. There is no need to resort to exercise extremes; you only need to burn about 200-600 calories per day (not thousands) through actual exercise to safely lose weight.

2. Old rule: Skip meals to lose weight faster.
Many people believe that skipping meals like breakfast will help them eat fewer calories and therefore speed up weight loss. In theory, this idea seems to make sense, but skipping meals to save calories backfires more often than not. When you go several hours without food, you will be ravenous by the time your next meal comes along and this will make you more likely to throw your eating plans out the window and consume anything within reach. In addition to this, eating too infrequently may slow down your metabolism, sending your body into conservation (or “starvation”) mode because it thinks calories are scarce.

New rule: Eat sensible portions at regular intervals throughout the day.
Try to keep your body’s metabolism running as efficiently as possible by fueling it at regular intervals. Try eating small, balanced meals every 3- 4 hours to properly nourish yourself and encourage weight loss, or at the very least, eat three meals (including breakfast) and a couple healthful snacks to curb hunger and keep your metabolic fire stoked.

3. Old rule: Eating low-carb is the way to win at weight loss.
Over the past several years, low-carb diet fads have given carbohydrates a bad rap, but this reputation is unfounded. Carbohydrates are an important fuel source for your body and they are necessary for safe, steady weight loss, too. Your body needs carbohydrates to efficiently burn fat, so skimping on the carbs could actually hurt your weight-loss efforts and be detrimental to your health.

New rule: Cut back on processed carbs and choose whole foods instead.
It is true that some carbs (whole grains, vegetables, legumes, etc.) are better for you than others (white bread, sugary cereals, sweets). Rather than omitting carbs from your diet plan, be more selective. Choose more whole grains and unprocessed foods like brown rice, quinoa, whole-grain bread and oats, and limit your intake of unhealthy carbs that sneak into your diet via processed foods, sweets, caloric beverages and refined flours.

A new study shows that using “rewards” and “reminders” can help you maintain your weight loss. The researchers found two techniques that helped with weight maintenance (but not necessarily weight loss): reminding yourself why you need to control your weight, and rewarding yourself for sticking to a diet and exercise plan. [SOURCE]

Here are some excellent tips via FitSugar:
Reward yourself. Scheduling rewards when you are maintaining weight loss is different than when you are losing weight. Going shopping for a cute outfit once you’ve reached a weight-loss milestone, for example, is easy to justify, but how do you reward yourself for just following your normal lifestyle routine? Don’t forget that regularly rewarding yourself for maintaining your fitness regimen is important. Find a way to reward yourself if you hit your target number of workouts for the week or tie in something you love with your exercise plan. Try only allowing yourself to watch mindless TV during or after a workout, for example, or scheduling a fun weekend activity after a long week of gym sessions to help keep you motivated.

Remind yourself. Once you hit your goal weight, it can be easy to think that a splurge is in order. But the study found that those who reminded themselves about why they needed to control their weight were more successful in keeping it off. While you shouldn’t have to forgo all indulgences in order to stay at your goal weight, try reminding yourself of the consequences of straying off track before ordering the most unhealthy thing on the menu or skipping a run in favor of couch time.

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When you walk at a quick clip, you zap as many calories as you would jogging. Add in hills or stairs and you boost the burn while also increasing the sculpting benefits for your butt and legs. This easy-to-follow plan, designed by Shape’s fitness director, Jeanine Detz, uses both tricks to speed up your results. “You’ll see a difference in a month if you follow two rules,” she says: “Make sure your brisk pace is just that—it should feel so demanding, it would be easier to break into a run— and always walk on a hilly circuit, which increases your calorie burn by up to 50 percent.” Think of this routine as your walk 2.0—it’s more challenging, more effective, and guaranteed to give you a leaner body by summer. Now step to it!

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Is having an obese kid child abuse though? Should these children be taken away from their parents? It’s a slippery slope. Removing them from their homes and forcing them to eat better foods could also lead them to associate healthy eating with separation from their families.

The only reasonable solution in my opinion would be to educate the parents of the obese about the benefits of a healthy diet, and how to prepare tasty, yet nutritious meals. Snatching those big ol’ kids out of their custody and stuffing carrots in their mouths, though? I don’t think so. Should parents of extremely obese children lose custody for not controlling their kids’ weight? A provocative commentary in one of the nation’s most distinguished medical journals argues yes, and its authors are joining a quiet chorus of advocates who say the government should be allowed to intervene in extreme cases.

It has happened a few times in the U.S., and the opinion piece in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association says putting children temporarily in foster care is in some cases more ethical than obesity surgery.

Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital Boston, said the point isn’t to blame parents, but rather to act in children’s best interest and get them help that for whatever reason their parents can’t provide.

State intervention “ideally will support not just the child but the whole family, with the goal of reuniting child and family as soon as possible. That may require instruction on parenting,” said Ludwig, who wrote the article with Lindsey Murtagh, a lawyer and a researcher at Harvard’s School of Public Health.

“Despite the discomfort posed by state intervention, it may sometimes be necessary to protect a child,” Murtagh said.

But University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Art Caplan said he worries that the debate risks putting too much blame on parents. Obese children are victims of advertising, marketing, peer pressure and bullying — things a parent can’t control, he said.

“If you’re going to change a child’s weight, you’re going to have to change all of them,” Caplan said.

Roughly 2 million U.S. children are extremely obese. Most are not in imminent danger, Ludwig said. But some have obesity-related conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties and liver problems that could kill them by age 30. It is these kids for whom state intervention, including education, parent training, and temporary protective custody in the most extreme cases, should be considered, Ludwig said.

While some doctors promote weight-loss surgery for severely obese teens, Ludwig said it hasn’t been used for very long in adolescents and can have serious, sometimes life-threatening complications.

“We don’t know the long-term safety and effectiveness of these procedures done at an early age,” he said.

Ludwig said he starting thinking about the issue after a 90-pound 3-year-old girl came to his obesity clinic several years ago. Her parents had physical disabilities, little money and difficulty controlling her weight. Last year, at age 12, she weighed 400 pounds and had developed diabetes, cholesterol problems, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

“Out of medical concern, the state placed this girl in foster care, where she simply received three balanced meals a day and a snack or two and moderate physical activity,” he said. After a year, she lost 130 pounds. Though she is still obese, her diabetes and apnea disappeared; she remains in foster care, he said.

In a commentary in the medical journal BMJ last year, London pediatrician Dr. Russell Viner and colleagues said obesity was a factor in several child protection cases in Britain. They argued that child protection services should be considered if parents are neglectful or actively reject efforts to control an extremely obese child’s weight. [SOURCE]

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While fresh veggies and fruits, of course, make for very healthy snacks, we know that those items aren’t always convenient (or the top choices for the typical family). That said, here are some of the worst snack choices you can find in your local supermarket in terms of healthfulness, along with some much healthier alternatives.

The Bad

Chocolate Coated Donuts, Mini Donuts, and Snack Cakes
This is not to say that powdered-sugar donuts are good snack choices. But chocolate-coated donuts and snack cakes have even more saturated fat than other types.

Snack Pies
Most fruit pies even say “Great snack!” on the package. This makes sense only if by “great snack,” they mean high in calories (450), total fat (24 grams), saturated fat (13 grams), and sugar (13 grams); and low in protein, fiber, and other healthy nutrients.

Lunchables (Snack Size) by Oscar Mayer
Two types of these snack-sized Lunchables contain about half a day’s worth of the suggested amounts of fat, saturated fat, and sodium for someone eating around 2,000 calories a day. Also, most of these snacks are around 350-400 calories – again, this is a snack!

Regular Chips and Cheetos
Although the serving size listed on the package is 1 ounce, most of us snack on two or three times this amount, which equals around 300 calories, over 20 grams of fat and up to 700 mg of sodium.

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The Good

Toasted 100% Whole-Wheat English Muffin with Peanut Butter
You’ll find at least two brands of 100% whole-wheat English muffin (Oroweat and Thomas) in most supermarkets. Toasted and spread with some natural-style peanut butter (the type that just contains peanuts and a little salt), these make a satisfying snack with 250 calories, 10 grams protein and 5 grams of fiber.

Nut Mixes
Don’t let the 15 grams of fat per serving fool you. Most of the fat grams are from beneficial monounsaturated fats (8 to 9 grams) and polyunsaturated fats (3 to 5 grams). Each ounce also contains at least 5 grams of protein, about 170 calories and plenty of healthful phytochemicals like phytosterols and lignans.

94% Fat-Free Microwave Popcorn
When you’re craving something crunchy, microwave popcorn can be a quick and easy snack solution. There are now some lighter options on the shelves. Even if you double the serving size listed on the label, it still only adds up to 240 calories, 4 grams fat, and 1 gram of saturated fat — along with 8 grams of fiber.

Quick Microwave Nachos (Baked chips with beans and cheese)
This high-protein snack (14 grams) is easy to put together. Just put an ounce of baked tortilla chips in a microwave-safe bowl and dot the top with small spoonfuls of the refried beans, right out of the can. Sprinkle some hot sauce or salsa over the top, along with a little shredded cheese. Pop in microwave for 30 seconds or so to heat the beans and melt the cheese. Jazz it up by adding chopped tomato, green onions, and a dollop of fat-free sour cream if you like. All for around 290 calories and 70 grams of sodium. GET MORE HERE

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What you’ll need for this workout: A set of 3- to 8-pound dumbbells, a resistance band, and a straight-backed chair

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Targets: Shoulders and chest

1. Holding one end of a resistance band in each hand, palms facing in, stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart so that both feet are placed securely on middle of band.

2. With palms facing each other, raise extended arms (keep elbows slightly bent) forward until they are parallel to ground and thumbs point upward.

3. Slowly lower arms to start position.

Do 3 sets of 12 to 15 reps.

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Cross Chest Press

Target: Chest

1. Holding one end of a resistance band in left hand, stand with right hand on hip and feet wide apart, left foot placed firmly on other end of band.

2. Bring left hand by upper left side of chest, palm facing chest, elbow tucked close to ribs. (Band should be taut; if it’s slack, feed more length under left foot.)

3. Keeping left hand close to body, press band across chest aiming just beyond and slightly above right shoulder. (Your torso will rotate slightly as you continue to press and extend left arm out fully across chest.)

4. Slowly return to elbow-tuck position.

Do 10 reps. Switch sides; repeat. Do 3 sets per side.

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The vegetables that tend to be the bitter offenders are those from the cabbage family, including broccoli and cauliflower, as well as leafy greens and eggplant.

But there are ways to tame the taste in those nutrition-packed vegetables:

Veggie Tip 1: Add veggies you almost like to dishes you already love.

Layer zucchini slices, chopped spinach, or cooked carrots into lasagna. Stir broccoli florets into macaroni and cheese. Toss whatever veggies you like into an omelet or quesadilla. On spaghetti night, chop any vegetables your family likes (such as zucchini, onions, eggplant, broccoli, celery carrots) and add them to the spaghetti sauce (the smaller you chop them, the less likely anyone will notice that they’re even there). Don’t forget to throw some veggies onto your pizza, such as fresh tomato, onion, bell pepper, mushroom, zucchini, artichoke hearts, fresh basil leaves, and chopped spinach.

Veggie Tip 2: Try them in soup.

Embellish your favorite soups with added veggies. Some homemade soups already contain a nice amount of vegetables, but most canned and commercial choices can stand to have their veggie quota bumped up. Just add the raw or frozen vegetables while you are cooking or heating the soup.

Veggie Tip 3: Slip them into salads.

Load your salads with all the veggies you enjoy (or at least tolerate). The options are limitless, including cucumber, grated carrots, zucchini, tomato, broccoli or green beans. You can even use spinach leaves instead of lettuce.

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Veggie Tip 4: Serve them raw.

Raw veggies can be more appetizing than their cooked counterparts to people who aren’t crazy about vegetables. The flavors of raw veggies can be milder than those of cooked ones. And the texture is crispy, rather than mushy.

Veggie Tip 5: Take raw vegetables skinny dipping.

There’s nothing like a little light ranch dressing or onion dip to make a platter of raw veggies disappear. Make it super easy by using bottled light ranch, bleu cheese, or Italian dressing. To make light onion dip, stir onion soup mix into some fat-free or light sour cream.

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