Top Tips for Weight Loss at Tame Your Inner Octopus! Don't Put Junk in Your Trunk! Purchase Healthy Items Each Week at the Grocery Store!

My new Twitter account is called inneroctopus.

Please follow me! One of the best and easiest ways to eliminate junk food from your daily eating pattern is to not purchase it or bring it into your home in the first place! Remember, we do not want to look, think or behave like the grabby Octopus!

I know, this sounds so darn simple but trust me, this is one of the very first things I did when I was in weight loss mode over two years ago. Think about that fact for one moment, if the unhealthy, high caloric items are not in your home, you can't eat them, so why purchase them in the first place! This one tip is extremely important both in weight loss mode and thereafter in maintenance once reached.

Think of it this way. When mothers are ready to wean their babies from the bottle, they don't put the bottle on the counter to remind the baby of the habit they wish for them to break. It would be sort of cruel to do so.

This is why it is extremely important not to purchase and bring these foods into your home or workplace in the first place. There's no need for them to be hanging around when you're in the process of getting extra weight off or when you're continuing to maintain your weight for life. Some experts state that it takes approximately 30 days to break a habit. It makes a great deal of sense to me not to have items in our home that work against what we are trying to achieve, especially when we are weaning ourselves from unhealthy habits.

From the very first week I made up mind to set up a healthy eating pattern in weight loss mode, I made sure that no foods of this nature were purchased or brought into my home on a weekly basis. I did it and it worked beautifully. If foods gifts from special occasions did come into my home, they were put out of sight very quickly, eaten by other family members or thrown away.

Remember, there's a difference between going on a temporary "diet" in order to lose weight and making a permanent lifestyle change and setting up a healthy eating pattern for life.

There's no room for unhealthy high caloric foods in life on a daily basis if we wish to be successful for life.

Try not to purchase them in the first place and save them for "special occasions" only in your life.

Have a great day!

Oprah! You Are Not Alone!

A few months ago, I, like many, witnessed "Oprah" expressing her long term struggle with weight loss. Tears came to her eyes, and I found myself cringing because I too have been there and like many, I have felt her pain. I wanted to say, "Hey Oprah, I know exactly what you're feeling! I've been there; I was just like you, minus the billion and I found a clear way to lose the weight; I can help you!" That's how life is for the most part, when we find a "solution" to anything we struggle with in life, we want to share it with those who may still be searching for answers.

Actually, I have a lot in common with Oprah. Please, refrain from laughing. We are approximately the same age at 55. We were both born in the month of January. We both have struggled with weight loss. We were both born in the deep south in states right next to each other, she in Mississippi and I, in Louisiana. Yes, unfortunately, I am not a billionaire like Oprah but fortunately I am no longer overweight.

I feel one of the reasons Oprah is so successful is due to the fact that she is a down-to-earth, open and honest person. She makes people feel like she's just like one of them and most people would would welcome the opportunity to get to know her better. Oprah is the real thing!

I admire the fact that during that small interview she had the courage to declare out loud, to the world that even with all of the avenues of help she has had in this area of her life, she still struggles with the issues of being overweight.

Oprah is one of the approximate 68% of people in our nation who is either overweight or obese. She's in the majority because there are only 32% of us that are not overweight or obese. Now that's a staggering statistic, isn't it? This is what I quickly came to realize at the start of my research at the beginning of my personal weight loss journey two years ago. After researching the statistics, right off the bat, I felt a sense of relief. I was not alone, this was not merely about me and my overall failed attempts at weight loss. Being overweight or obese in our country is close to a darn near national epidemic!

My next step was figuring out how and why becoming overweight or obese happens to so many of us. Then I had to delve much deeper to learn how to turn it all around.

I did, along with my co-author, and that's why we felt the great need to write the book, "Tame Your Inner Octopus!" in 30 Days or Less! We know for a fact that it is never too early or too late to make these type changes in your life.

It's real simple once you come to certain realizations and set up a healthy eating and exercise plan.

We did it; you can do it too!

Have a great day!