Want to findways to keep to eat right? Sometimes you just have to get your mind right.

Here is an older article from Healthwise. It has a lot of great ideas for keeping your eating habits right.

Now here is an example that your scale is not always the best guide. I’ve hit a bit of a plateau in my weight loss. Although I’ve worked hard, my weight has remained around 148. This was a bit disconcerting, and puzzling, because it seemed my clothes were looser. Then I got a body composition check.

The test results showed I’d lost 4 pounds of fat, but gained four pounds of muscle! And of course, since muscle is more dense than fat, I had reduced in size and firmed up, but the increased muscle kept the scale the same.

My friends at the gym say that is a common situation. When you’ve lost a lot of weight… over 50 pounds in my case… there are times your body needs to adjust to your new diet, exercise and activity level. In this case, it is loading up on more muscle and shedding fat.

So I feel better now. I know my work is giving me benefits, even if the scale isn’t helpful. I’ll let this go for another week, but if the weight doesn’t start going down we may need to re-evaluate my diet and exercise plan. But for now, a stronger, fitter guy is walking the streets!

When I was at my heaviest, over 300 pounds, my wedding ring was so tight I couldn’t wear it. It sat on my dresser unworn. In fact, I was thinking of getting it resized larger. Well, now, as the pounds have gone away the problem solved itself. The ring went back on my finger. It became a bit of a symbol of my ongoing weight-loss success.

Okay, now I’m having a pleasant problem.

Lately I’ve found the ring is too loose. I’m afraid I’ll loose it if it slips off my finger! So it looks like I’ll need to resize my ring after all. But I’ll tell you something: It’s a lot nicer to need to resize a ring because it is too big, than to resize it because it is too small.

It’s the little successes that keep me going as the weight melts off.

The best exercise programs for weight loss aren’t made of long, excruciating hours sweating through a tortuous workout session. One thing I am a witness to: short, intense, sessions get much more done.

Don’t do a bike or a treadmill at an easy pace for 35 minutes. Do it hard for 20 minutes.

Don’t go to the gym and take two hours to get your workout done, because you wait to get just the one machine you want, or stand gossiping with friends in between sets. Go quickly from set-to-set and finish it in under an hour.

Intensity can be a big ally in your weight loss program.

The reason comes from what happens to your body. You get on a treadmill and start going. 30 minutes later you finish. The display says you worked off 210 calories.

But science tells us it doesn’t stop there.

When you exercise, the activity elevates your entire metabolism. The more intensely you exercise, the more it elevates your metabolism and for a longer time.

So if you go out and take a slow walk, it will help, but the effect on your metabolism is small and only a little longer than your actual walk.

But go harder, walk faster, run, sprint, do stairs or whatever, and the exercise elevates your heart rate more, increases you metabolism MUCH more. The effect can last, in the case of aerobics, for more than an hour if it is intense enough. That is time your body is burning many more calories even while showering, changing clothes and eating breakfast.

In the case of intense weight training, the effect can last up to 18 hours. You use more calories sitting, walking, talking, eating and even sleeping. Suffer from a slow metabolism? Take part in 20 to 40 minutes of short, intense exercise and watch our metabolism take off.

That is one of the things that I’m happy I’m now able to do. When I started, my weight (over 300 pounds) and problems with recent injuries to my elbow and knee kept me from doing anything really intense. My only option was to do less intense workouts over a longer time period. But now that my weight is down to more manageable levels it is safe for me to take part in shorter, more intense workouts and get much better results.

Of course, be sane when working out. If you are new to healthy exercise, make sure you work with a professional trainer, or at least someone who is experienced working with people losing weight. And don’t forget to keep your doctor in the loop.

One of the great things about losing more than fifty pounds, is you can start doing more. Today I just sat back a little and remembered where I was just six months ago.

Six months ago I topped the scales at 302 pounds. I huffed going up stairs. It was hard, HARD, to get out of a chair. I was depressed. I’d try to work out a bit, but it wouldn’t last and I’d end up binge eating and swigging some beers to console my fat, slobby self.

Now I’m under 250 and still going down. I have so much more energy and I do so much more. Today, I walked to the gym and did a quick, intense aerobics workout on a treadmill. Then I walked home. I did some chores. Then I had to go to a business to take care of some computer issues. In the past I would have driven, but today I walked. It was hot and sunny, but it was a nice walk.

I took care of the business and sent a text message to my wife. I walked more blocks to a restaurant where I had lunch with her. My lunch was a crisp salad, a quarter of a roasted chicken with a side of some baked, baby potatoes. After lunch we walked to the grocery store and picked up a few things. I walked home, about five blocks, carrying the groceries.

It’s the little things in the activities today that really make you appreciate your health. When you commit to eating healthy and exercising in a sensible manner you can have your life back. You don’t have to be covered by layers of fat that insulate you from the life you want and deserve.

I have an intermediate goal of 235 pounds, with a final goal of 190 pounds. I can make it. I can see my way there. Hell, I’m halfway there now! You can get there too!

Get out and go for it!

Here is a meal plan for a week.

It's provided as part of the Body For Life Website. Body For Life is a great program. I use many of the principals they teach in my workout program. I've also bought and used many of their products. It is a big reason I've already lost over 50 pounds, and I'm targeting more!

Well, I'm packing up and getting ready to go. I have a 1 AM flight out to LA.

One of the problems of traveling when you want to live a healthy lifestyle are the limited choices. Many areas are better ... even McDonalds is offering some half'way healthy salads now as part of the menu ... but there are still limitations.

One big limitation in international travel are the limitations on foods you can bring across borders. Most fruits and vegetables are not allowed, so you can only bring enough healthy snacks to last you at the airport and the flight. Once you arrive in your new country, you are on your own.

In my case it will be a problem. I fly from guayaquil, Ecuador to Houston, arriving about 6 AM, but only have 90 minutes to go through customs before catching my next flight to LAX. Then I'll arrive in LA at about 10 AM. So I'll be on the run for 10 hours.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

Today it’s back to working hard after a couple days of light work. I’m going to try to get some real good work outs in Thursday, Friday and Saturday because I know with my travel on Sunday and Monday there’s not much I’ll be able to do.

This AM I’ll do some light cardio, then a hard lower body workout this evening. Then tomorrow it’ll be another light cardio with a strong upper body workout in the PM. Finally, Saturday I’ll finish off the series with a strong cardio on the treadmill. That ought to get me just perfect for that Saturday night redeye to LA.

Most professionals would agree that the best way to lose pounds is not a fad diet, crash exercise programs or other type of radical dieting. It is a sensible program that centers on a healthy diet and reasonable exercise.

That is one thing I've tried to keep in mind. Of course, a lot of the things I do are not in this ideal. I do try to eat intelligently, but my exercise program is much more intense then what most professionals would sanction. But that's okay. It is something that keeps me challeneged and motivated. It is an approach that has allowed me to lose over 50 pounds in six months and I'm still heading towards my end goals.

But even though I do wander from healthy weight loss principals I know why I do them and for, what I think, are good reasons. But it's a very good idea to know those principals, and I mean REALLY know them, before you decide not to do them.

A great article on some great principals are at netdoctor.co.uk . It's a great approach that you can't go wrong if you follow it.

I'm heading out for a 30-minute jog right now. Go have fun, and be healthy!