Whatever you do, don't go on and off of diets. If you keep dieting and breaking it, that WILL make you gain weight and lower your metabolism. It's called yo-yo dieting. You are better to never diet at all, than to eat less for a while, then go back to eating normally.

The best "diet" is one you can live with for the rest of your life. In the case of most people, that means, eating very close to what they normally eat.

So how do you lose weight eating normally? Build muscle. Most people only do aerobic/cardiovascular type exercises, that increase your heart rate and such. While those exercises are good too, they aren't for building muscle specifically. You should lift weights. Weight train. You're not going to suddenly get bulky like muscle builders, but muscle burns fat. The more muscle you have, the more fat you burn. Even when sitting or sleeping. You start losing weight naturally, even if you are eating the same.

100 years ago and longer, there weren't as many fat people as there are today. And yet everybody ate butter, not margarine. Everybody drank whole milk (with the cream too!) not skim milk. Shortening was Lard! One of the biggest flavor additives to dishes was animal fat! There were no artificial sweeteners. So why are people so much fatter today? (well, besides the fact that we eat so many unnatural, man-made foods) Because people back then had to be very physically active and had muscles! Even the women had to be strong and have muscles, just imagine washing every item of clothing on a wash board. If you are physically active and have nice healthy muscle tone, what you eat shouldn't matter nearly as much.

Now on the other hand, if you try to eat less than your body is used to, (diet) your body will think that it's in a famine period, and will panic. If your body thinks it's starving, it tries to make sure to save your life, by lowering your metabolism (so you don't burn as many calories) and by storing away even more fat when you start eating more normally because it's afraid there will be another famine and it doesn't want to die. Remember, in all the thousands of years of human history, people usually had to struggle for food. Your body is made to deal with famines and keep you alive. That's why it's so common to gain even more weight than before when going off of a diet. And if you do it again and again, you get heavier and heavier every time you try to diet.

So bottom line, exercise and weight train. Don't rely on the scales to tell you how you are doing because muscle weighs more than fat! Rely on how your clothes fit, or use a measuring tape to keep track of your body shape.

Also, eating more often will help to raise your metabolism. Like, the same amount of food per day that you normally would, but spread it out into 6 smaller meals instead of 3 larger ones.

One more tip, don't drink diet sodas or anything with artificial sweeteners in it (NutraSweet, aspartame, equal). That includes sugar free yogurt, ice cream, chewing gum, etc. It actually increases your appetite, and one of the known side effects of that sweetener (that the FDA actually admits to) is "Weight Gain"! Weight loss isn't even listed as a side effect of NutraSweet. Ironic, isn't it? It's also horribly bad for you, and it nearly killed me when I was around 20. If you want more info on that, or anything else, you can mail me at DangerWench@gmail.com

Thank you SO much! You have no idea how much your response helped me out. Thanks again!

Want to know how to keep your questions from being rated down? Click Here!

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I'm DangerNerd's wife. We met on an internet personals site back in December, 1996. He flew across country to meet me for the first time in late February of 1997, and we were married a few weeks later. We've been together 9 years now. :-)

If you want to mail me, my email is DangerWench@gmail.com

Yes, I do sometimes copy and paste my own answers to answer different people's similar questions. I still personalize/edit them when necessary... but for instance, my advice about diet and exercise it going to be pretty much the same every time, and that's a very common subject for questions here... so there's no point in typing the same thing over and over and over again. ;-)

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Yes, hubby and I were both virgins on our wedding night, at the age of 26. Yes, we are both Christians, but we greatly dislike what "Christianity" (or "Churchianity") has come to represent in many people's minds these days... Hypocrisy, greed, pride... Things which the Bible says we are NOT supposed to do. We are supposed to be a good example, not a bad one. :-(

If you have a Christian acquaintance who is hitting you over the head with "Jesus will bring you peace and joy and happiness" tell them to listen to this:

http://www.dangernerd.com/kirkcameron.mp3

(It's 9 megs, so it may take a bit to download)

If you can't download MP3's for some reason, you can download the zip file.

http://www.dangernerd.com/kirkcameron.zip

If they are an actual preacher/pastor, this one is geared more towards them:

http://www.dangernerd.com/raycomfort.zip

Send them the link, or burn it to CD and give it to them, whatever it takes.

If they really listen to that, they will see how the Bible itself says the way they are annoying you is wrong. :-)

If you are a Christian, please listen to it, even if you aren't beating people over the head with Jesus. I promise you, it will give you a new perspective. It's totally awesome.

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I'm also fascinated by prophesy, and I do think we are living in an age where we are seeing many things come true that were prophesied 1,000's of years ago.

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There has been a lot of hubbub lately regarding my views on the differences between Catholicism and *exclusively* Bible-Based Christianity... Mostly due to my not making myself clear. I did have a big long explanation here, but this time I will opt for the KISS method (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Yes, the following is the simplified version. ;-)

The Catholic Church believes that the Bible is not the only authority. Their teachings include such documentation as Catechisms, and Papal Encyclicals (defined as "authoritative teaching instruments from the Vicar of Christ" (the Pope)) which have been written and added to throughout the years of the history of the Catholic Church.

Because of this, the Catholic Church has many teachings, beliefs, and traditions that are different from a Christian who believes the Holy Bible is the exclusive authority of Christianity.

A Catholic Christian believes in the Catholic doctrines, teachings, and traditions which include, but are *not exclusive to* the Holy Bible.

Most non-Catholic Christians believe the Holy Bible is the *exclusive* authority of Christianity... No other documents.

Much argument comes from this, as quite a few non-Catholic Christians (myself included) believe many of the man-made Catholic doctrines to be un-Christian and not corresponding with Biblical scripture. And obviously, Catholics disagree.

For more information about the differences between Catholicism and *exclusively* Bible-Based Christianity, see the following link:

Roman Catholic Doctrine vs. The Holy Bible

And a final note about that link... That e-book isn't written by Jack Chick, I have a lot of problems with Mr. Chick. Some of his tracts are great, and some of them are way "out there" if you know what I mean. I do not support Jack Chick. This e-book is written by Rick Jones, who was a Catholic for many years, not Chick.

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"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2Timothy 3:1 - 7)

"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring..." (Luke 21:25)

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Yahweh is my God, Yeshua is my Savior.

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