One of the newest fads in the way of kitchen help for dieters is these new discs from a company called Portionpal.  What happened to measuring cups and spoons?  You get five discs, called Portionpals, one each for meat, chicken, fish, sides, and desserts.  Portionpals are circles with lines in the center that you use for cutting guides while preparing your food.  Position your steak on top of the Portionpal disc and cut on the lines, oh wait, the Portionpal lines are under the steak….hmmm, oops, now where’s that first aid kit?

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I recently had an enlightening moment at the Vet with my beagle. I was looking into boarding my dog at this clinic as my current (and now former) vet did not offer this service. We are going on a trip during our Spring Break and we wanted the four legged beast to receive the best of care. We were discussing the weight problem my poor baby suffers from and what exactly to do about it. He has been on a strict diet for 2 ½ of his 3 years of age.

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Dieting is a struggle, and having just gotten back from vacation, all out of sorts from sleeping in and eating at odd hours, I was happy to start meeting with my diet conscious friends again. I have weight loss goals that need to be reevaluated.

This week’s meeting was extremely helpful for me as one of the dieters brought some exercise DVD’s to preview during our weight loss meeting. One of my dieting struggles lately has been trying to get an exercise routine started again. When I diet, I’m one of those people who need exercise. I need exercise to see results. Dieting alone does not give me enough in the way of feeling accomplished.

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There has been a discussion in the forums lately about diet pills. And I was wondering, are diet pills ever really a good idea? We look for the magic solution to our weight problems and no price is too high if we can find it in a bottle. But what are we really paying? Is the price of our health worth the risk that it just may help a little bit?

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Want to shake up your weight loss routine?  How about spending more time with friends in the same predicament?  Friends can be inspiring.  To achieve your weight loss goals by forming a local network of fellow dieters, you create an affordable way to get support if you don’t have money for weekly meetings in a weight loss program.  Here are a few ideas for spending quality time wisely while supporting each other.

• Set aside some time each week for a group diet meeting with friends trying to lose weight. 

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One of the biggest complaints from dieters is when they learn that they must increase their water intake in order to lose weight. It is perhaps one of the biggest challenges that they face while dieting. So how do you get all of that great water in each and every day?

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There are many people that wonder how quickly they can lose the weight they want or need to lose. It is understandable that when we have come to the point that we are ready to lose the weight, we want it gone. Yesterday isn’t soon enough to have it gone. So we look at crash diets and any method to take the weight off as fast as we can.

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It seems the older women get the more protein they need. Recent studies from researchers in the US and UK have found that women lose more muscle mass than men do as they age because their bodies can’t process protein like they used to. We already tend to have more fat and less muscle, even as early as middle-age.

This study compared women and men between the ages of 60-80.  Recommendations from the study include resistance training (weight training), and more protein in the diet. The goal is not to eat more food, but maximize your protein through better food selection. Select lean meat, eggs, legumes, and vegetables high in protein.

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As promised, I am addressing the issue of water weight. Many of you have asked what it is exactly and why is it the first thing I lose on a diet? I thought these were some great questions, and so I’ve done a little homework for you. While there were several references to water weight, there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of information about why we lose it first. I hope that what I have found will help you to understand it just a little better.

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While visiting the forums today, I came across a couple of interesting conversations that I thought I would comment on. The first was on the different diets that are out there. With so many options it can indeed feel overwhelming when making your choices for a diet. The important thing is that you do a little homework and find out about the diets before you decide on one. Then when you have decided on a diet, study, study, study. It takes time to learn all of the ins and outs of the program you decide to follow. Be patient and willing to learn.

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