Most people get off to a good start when they begin a new diet. They lose weight over the first couple of weeks and feel great. Then a couple of hurdles come up and for whatever reason they eat the naughty stuff and undo all their hard work – at least that is what they think!

In actual fact an occasional binge is not going to hurt you as much as you think. The biggest key to sustained weight loss is sustained motivation. There is nothing that kills motivation faster than a big binge session, but it should not have to.

Let-s look at Susan, who is 27 years old, and weighs 80kgs. With an office job and virtually no exercise, she would burn around 2000 calories a day. She then sticks to a diet of 1200 calories a day.

On this diet, each week she would burn around 5600 calories more than she is eating, meaning she would lose around 0.75kg a week or 3kg a month.

Now on top of Susan-s normal eating, lets say she has a terrible day every Sunday and binges on a packet of chips (245 Cal), Mars bar (275 Cal), McDonalds large Big Mac McValue meal (1160 Cal) and large bowl of ice cream (290 Cal). Remember, this is on top of what she would normally eat on a Sunday anyway, so a big binge.

All this eating on a Sunday (1970 Calories worth) would only change her weekly weight loss from 0.75kg to 0.5kg. So Susan is still losing 0.5kg a week, which is great!

So you can see that she really should not get too down on herself for a bad day, but rather try and put it behind her and get back to her healthy eating the next day.

By allowing yourself one -cheat day- a week you can help stay focused during the week and enjoy the benefits!

It should be stressed that this article is in no way advocating binge eating. There is no doubt that Susan-s binge eating is not the IDEAL situation but it is simply trying to illustrate a point that you should not lose motivation if you occasionally enjoy your other favourites.

If you absolutely have to have a certain food that you know is bad, keep it to one day a week and don-t beat yourself up about it. The most important thing is that you keep your mind focused on your end goal and maintain your motivation through to the end.

Brought to you by AlFitness

Yep we tell you time and time again but drinking water is CRUCIAL for your weight loss results.

Everybody needs 6 to 8 glasses of water everyday as a MINIMUM but if you are a good girl or boy and choose to exercise you should drink even more – the general rule is about 1 litre per 1 hour of exercise.

Drinking water is the most simple way to fulfill your body’s liquid requirements. Other means include eating water based foods and drinks that contain water -” however remember water is the most natural, healthy fluid you can replenish your body with.

Read on to find out more

Drinking water is the purest way to quench your thirst, flush out your organs and get your digestive system pumping. Water is free of all the naughties – sugar, caffeine and most importantly the calories that other drinks such as Sprite, Coca Cola and even some Iced Teas.

Water is not only good for your health in general. Drinking water helps weight loss, too.

How Does Water Help Weight Loss?

It has been discovered that your brain cannot detect the difference between thirst and hunger. So if you’re feeling a bit peckish you might in fact just be thirsty. So before you run to the fridge, grab a glass of water and see how you feel.

Did you know the dehydration causes weight gain!? Yep it does. If you are not getting enough water you body retains water to protect itself. Water retention causes bloating which can add up to 4 even 5 pounds over time!

Water can maximizes fat loss. While it doesn’t necessarily burn fat it makes the whole process easier for your body.

Normally, your water intake puts your kidneys to work, as well as helping them work. So when you don-t take in sufficient water, your kidneys don-t function very well. Because your kidneys aren-t functioning very well, the job of processing your water intake is passed on to your liver.

But your liver also has other tasks to handle! Primarily, the liver is responsible for turning fat into energy -” in other words, burning fat. When it-s given the additional task of processing your water intake, it can-t concentrate in burning as much fat as it can.

When you drink enough water, your kidneys will function properly. When your kidneys function properly, they don-t need to pass processing your water intake to the liver. The liver then is free to concentrate on its fat-burning duties. You see! Drinking water helps weight loss!

Water Helps Activate Fiber: Fiber by itself, without the necessary water intake, doesn-t do much for your diet. In fact, by not taking in enough water, fiber will cause constipation by soaking up water already in your body. To make sure that you get the most out of your fiber, make sure that you take in enough water -” sometimes even more the amount of what is normally required for everyday intake.

Water Helps Flush Away Toxins and Fats: Because with enough water fiber gets to do its job properly, toxins and fats are absorbed during digestion before they get absorbed by your body. Apart from making sure that fiber sponges up toxins and fats in your body, water also works on its own to help you flush out toxins and fats.

Where you have a less build-up of toxins in your body, you will be healthier. A healthier body ultimately can work harder in processing and breaking down fats, thus helping you lose weight. Do you believe now that drinking water helps weight loss?

Can you drink too much water?

Drinking water helps weight loss but you should do it in moderation. It-s not so much as drinking too much water as drinking too fast that should be your concern. Your kidneys are efficient enough to process up to 5 gallons of water in a day. The key is to spread out your water intake throughout the day and not ingest a lot on fewer intervals.

So get your water bottles ready my dears its time to flush out those baddies and start losing weight. And don’t think its your body alone that will benefit – you’ll find changes in your skin, your eyes and even your concentration.

ENJOY!

The bank card got heaps of use yesterday when I grabbed some awesome books to fill my brain with awesome goodies for you guys.

My ‘they were 25% off’ justification brought laughs from my darling boyfriend who patiently held the books I piled up hehe!

The first one I picked up has left a massive impression on me and I think every lady should pick up a copy and get it in her handbag TODAY!

Read on to find out what the ultimate ladies handbook is!

I read the first book cover to cover in ONE sitting.

The name was ‘Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous’ by Esther Blum.

I was VERY impressed and have put together a mini book review on this special treasure.

Esther is what I like to call a nutritionist with a twist. This sassy lady has all the certifications but a refreshingly down to earth approach to both diet and life in general.

There isn’t any fancy lingo and lab jacket for this lady – she gets to the point and gets there fast!

This clever cookie has worked in the world of nutritional counseling for 15 years and left many clients fabulously happy in the meantime.

As Ether says, ‘I show my clients how to lead healthier lives and I encourage their naughty ways. I am pro supplements and I am pro cosmopolitans.’

Esther’s book is an incredible handbook for women in the real world.

She covers everything in this pretty pink book from eating your way to magnificent body, drinking like a princess, digesting your way to smoking hot bedroom fun, supplements made for beauty and navigating your way through a breakup PLUS MORE!

Esther goes through how to:

* Get in touch with your body the gorgeous gal way
* Manoeurve your way through the supermarket the right way
* Eat smart when living it up
* Enjoy drinks without adding 100′s of calories or hours of pain the next day
* Pick the right supplements to keep you feeling amazing all day, everyday
* Deal with heaps of common issues like PMS, cramps, colds, bloating & more
* Get through a sad time the classy way
* Workout the sassy gal way to make your body fabulous inside and out
* And MORE!

Here’s some of my favourite bits:

"A healthy, happy and beautiful woman honours herself and her cravings. Does this mean eating an entire package of cookies in one sitting? Non non cherie. This means that when you are going to indulge, you do it princess-style. Buy the very best cookies you can afford, put them on one of your sassiest dishes, sit at the table and fully enjoy eating them." Page 21.

"Whether you’re eating out, cooking in the kitchen, or cooking in the bedroom, have fun and enjoy yourself! If you treat yourself to a sumptuous dinner, balance it out the next day with plenty of green vegetables. At the end of the day, the only person holding you accountable is yourself, and eating gorgeous will help you be your own best friend." Page 49.

"Just because I’m a nutritionist doesn’t mean I’m immune to the perils of living it up large. Being healthy AND the belle of the ball is no easy feat. Rather than getting excited about going out and binge drinking let’s switch gears a bit and think about consequence free, grown up drinking that will leave us fresh as a daisy le morning after." Page 52.

"Did you know by eating a healthy diet, taking the right supplements, and taking care of your digestion you can increase your endurance and satisfaction and, most important, perform like the bucking bronco you know you are!" Page 77.

Esther is not only a refreshing dietitian but also an awesome writer. It didn’t feel like reading, it felt like sitting down in a hip NYC bar with a martini and fun albeit nutrition based conversation.

Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous is an exciting, informative and funny girls handbook. I thoroughly enjoyed it – it didn’t even feel like learning. If only high school had been this fun!

Rating: ★★★★★

This is seriously a must have for any sassy lady. Click the link below to grab your own copy!