Weight management is an ongoing concern in developed countries including the US. The increased health care cost for those who have extra pounds to lose stems from the fact, a very simple one, that the organs of these people are simply over taxed. Hence it is not the excess pounds that is the tyrant. It is the fact that no matter what we eat, it eventually gets converted into fat. The fat is stored in the adipose cells and have a tendency to surround the vital organs.

Food, beyond what is necessary for survival becomes a substitute for something. When we get hungry the brain says "I need glucose. Give me glucose soon." Now the soon is very relative. In this society, soon means right now. In this society, the children come home and grab bars of something with sugar. That is soon. The sucrose gets absorbed and there is an immediate sugar high. Not good.

This is the one thing I never allow my son to do, no matter how hungry he is. I will allow him a bite of something sweet, and I mean a bite, until he cooks his meal, usually some kind of pasta. The contents are the same. Pasta consists of a polymer of glucose and sucrose or table sugar is fructose linked to glucose. A dimer. The difference is in the delivery. Pasta releases the glucose into the bloodstream slowly and steadily, table sugar gets broken down immediately and the glucose is delivered into the bloodstream immediately. This in and by itself I will discuss in another hub.

In this hub, I would like to share a few tips on how to lose weight easily and naturally. There is one requirement. The discipline to do it consistently. This is the crux of all diet regimens. I will not call this a diet, rather a reordering of habits. You do not have to go on stringent diets. By definition you will reject it because the premise is "I have to do this to lose weight." We will change that to "I wonder what would happen to my weight if I did this?" There is a world of difference between the two.

Here they are: Please do not do this if you have preexisting medical conditions of diabetes, heart disease or any other preexisting medical condition, until you talk to your physician.

1. Divide the food you normally eat in one meal so that you eat consistently before the next meal. My plumber has lost an average of five pounds a week simply by dividing the food that he normally eats in one meal into three portions and eating each portion when he can in the span of the three hours prior to the next meal.

2. Take fiber before a greasy meal. By fiber I mean something you know has lots of fiber or the fiber capsules that can be bought in any pharmacy or health food store.

3 The longer you take to eat a meal, the less chance you will over eat. Therefore take your time and enjoy the meal. As you eat and as glucose is released into the bloodstream the brain is signaled that there is now glucose coming in and you feel satisfied. You can do this exercise. Set up a meal, a regular one, take a few bites, three to five, and deliberately stop eating for a set number of minutes. Now pay attention to your body. You will find that you are no longer as hungry as you "thought" before. I do this all the time with everything. If I want chocolate, I will eat chocolate but only one bite. If I want ice cream, I will eat ice cream but only so I can taste it. The psychology is "your desire is satisfied."

4. Take hot baths and raise the temperature of the bath gradually until it is not too hot that it will burn, but definitely a hotter than your body temperature. This you have to be very careful of, not to burn yourself. Stay in the hot tub for no less than 15 minutes. Of course, longer is better. Pay attention to how you are feeling. The objective is to raise your body temperature that you actually sweat when you get out of the bath tub. Cover yourself with a turkish bathrobe to continue sweating for at least 10 minutes. This has multiple benefits but since the body tends to self regulate, there are actually calories burned when the hot body temperature is lowered into the normal body temperature.

5. The last one is highly controversial and I will tell you only as I have experienced it. There is a new product in the market, not a diet product but a dietary supplement  which boosts the immune system. I have been taking it for a couple of weeks as of the writing of this hub. I do not feel hungry at all! I do eat because I enjoy food but if I were to just follow my brain, it says "You are not hungry!".

You can email me with any questions on this hub.