10 Reasons to Lose Weight

1. Live to see your grandchildren, great-grandchildren—even great-great-grandchildren

2. Be able to romp with all those kids

3. Keep your mind sharp

4. Increase your energy level

5. Protect your immunity

6. Reduce your risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and stroke

7. Manage menopause more easily

8. Reduce stress

9. Breathe easier

10. Feel fabulous!

10 Foods That Fill You Up
These foods will fill you up with the fewest calories:


Potatoes

Fish

Oatmeal

Oranges

Apples

Whole wheat pasta

Grapes

Air-popped popcorn

Bran cereal

Soup

10 Fun Ways to Burn Calories
Here's a list of activities with the calories you'll burn per hour doing them.

Jumping rope, 544

Roller-skating, 476

Bicycling, 408

Swimming, 408

Hopscotching with the kids, 340

Ballroom dancing, 296

Coaching your kid's soccer team, 272

Paddling a canoe, 238

Walking in the woods, 238

Playing Frisbee, 204

(Calorie figures based on a 150-lb person)

10 Easy Ways to Flatten Your Belly
1. Eat a bowl of raspberries. Packed with fiber, they fight constipation (that can swell your midsection like a balloon).

2. Drink lots of water. It's filling, calorie-free, and keeps your metabolism running in high gear.

3. Skip the cocktails. Sure, alcohol may be fat-free, but it's loaded with calories. It can also raise your levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that helps your belly store fat.

4. Sit up straight. Hunching forward makes your belly look bigger. For a slimming effect that actually trains the stomach-supporting muscles to stay taut, sit with your shoulders back, chin up, and lower back supported against the chair.

5. Plant a garden. All the bending, lifting, and twisting help shape your middle, and you'll burn about 350 calories an hour.

6. Move your hips. Hula hooping works on the same calorie-burning, waist-whittling principle as gardening—but with less dirt.

7. Hit the greens. Ditching the golf cart earns you a walking workout; whacking the ball tones and tightens your midriff.

8. Get a leg up. Crunches with your legs off the floor tone the upper portion of your ab muscles. Lie on your back with your legs propped up on a bed or chair. Curl up slowly, raising your head, shoulders, and upper back off the floor, then slowly lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, two or three times a week.

9. Reverse that crunch. To tighten your tummy from a different angle, lie on the floor with your arms at your sides, feet off the floor, and your legs and knees bent at a 90-degree angle. Contract your abdominals and press your back into the floor, lifting your hips about 2 to 4 inches off the floor. Hold, then lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, two or three times a week.
10. Do crossover crunches. To work the muscles that define your waistline (the obliques), lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place your right ankle on your left knee and your hands behind your head, elbows pointing out. Lifting your head and upper back off the floor, twist, and bring your left shoulder toward your right knee. Hold, then slowly lower. Do 10 to 12 repetitions, then repeat to the other side. Do two or three times a week.

What an Opportunity!
Seek out new ways to be active—investigate a mountain vacation that involves hiking, or start viewing a chore such as raking the leaves as a great workout.

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