When I first started dieting the weight just flew off of me, but now things are definitely slowing down. I'm not at a plateau yet, but I'm having to work harder to lose the pounds.

My goal each week is to lose 2 pounds, which is considered ideal weight loss if you do it safely. I was flabbergasted when I looked into how many calories I have to burn to lose even one pound of body fat - 3500 calories. So, to lose two pounds a week, I will have to burn an excess of 7000 calories from my diet .

I have calculated my BMR value (using the BMR calculator), which is 1600 calories a day. The BMR value is how many calories my body needs just to perform its basic functioning, such as breathing and keeping my heart beating. What this means is that if I eat 1600 calories a day and do absolutely nothing but lie in bed, my weight should stay the same. At my current weight, my doctor has instructed me to eat a minimum of 1800 calories a day. So how does all of this work if I'm to lose 2 pounds a week?

From a few calculations, I figure I burn an additional 600 calories a day driving to work, walking in the office, doing the odd chore at home and watching tv. Some days are more physical than others, but thats a guestimate. Basically, I will need to exercise the rest of the calories away. If I consume 12,600 calories a week and my body functions and daily life activities burn an average of 15,400 calories a week, then I will need to burn off an average of 4200 calories a week, or 600 calories a day, to meet my weight loss goal of losing 2 pounds a week.

Here's a brief list of activities I can do to burn 600 calories:

76 minutes of Aerobics: low impact
60 minutes Aerobics: high impact
60 minutes Aerobics, Step: low impact
42 minutes Aerobics, Step: high impact
104 minutes Aerobics: water
60 minutes Bicycling, Stationary: moderate
40 minutes Bicycling, Stationary: vigorous...

Guinea Piggy

If you were, or are, a soda drinker like myself, then likely one of the first things you did was switch to diet sodas when you decided to lose weight. What many people still don't know, however, is that the artificial sweetener commonly used in diet sodas, called aspartame, may actually cause some pretty serious health effects and be addictive.

Aspartame, also marketed under the brand name Equal® and Nutrasweet®, is found in many types of foods and drinks and is not limited to only diet varieties. A few common examples of drinks that contain aspartame include Crystal Light, Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi.

Is it unhealthy to eat and drink products that contain aspartame? Well, the aspartame issue really seems to be split because there is lacking medical evidence that aspartame has been the sole factor for causing negative health effects. But for people who claim to have been affected by aspartame, their symptoms included Headaches/Migraines, Dizziness, Seizures, Nausea, Numbness, Muscle spasms, Weight gain, Rashes, Depression, Fatigue, Irritability, Tachycardia, Insomnia, Vision Problems, Hearing Loss, Heart palpitations, Breathing difficulties, Anxiety attacks, Slurred Speech, Loss of taste, Tinnitus, Vertigo, Memory loss, and Joint Pain. Some medical professionals also believe that the metabolism of aspartame may cause more serious health conditions such as Brain tumors, Arthritis, Multiple sclerosis, Epilepsy, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Mental retardation, Lymphoma, Birth defects, Fibromyalgia, Diabetes, and Thyroid Disorders.

What is in Aspartame that makes it potentially hazardous to your health? Aspartame contains 10 percent methanol, which is rapidly digested in your body. When it is metabolised methanol is converted to formaldehyde and then formic acid. Chronic formaldehyde exposure at even very low doses has been shown to cause immune system and nervous system changes and damage...

Guinea Piggy