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[NOTE: THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN WRITTEN FROM MY OWN KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE. SOME INFORMATION MIGHT BE INACCURATE. USE THIS INFORMATION AT YOUR OWN RISK. AND ALWAYS CONSULT A DOCTOR BEFORE STARTING ANY EXERCISE OR DIET ROUTINE.] Sallam Alykum, I have been obese for most of my life but in the past few months I have changed my habits and have lost over 20 pounds with weight shedding off weekly. I have found a way of losing weight though it is no secret, no pills, no magic formula, or anything like that. It is the only way of losing weight besides surgery and requires dedication and time. It could either take you weeks, months, or years to lose the weight depending on many factors including age, body type, activity level etc. But once you get started, trust me you don;t want to stop. Also please be kind in replying to this thread lol. This is my first article on weight loss. It might not be as organized or detailed as I hope but should be sufficient for general understating of weight loss. I will update this thread with more information Inshallah. Now there are two main principles to losing weight the first and most important is the food and nutrients consumption; the second is exercise. Food and Nutrient Consumption One of the most important nutrient your body needs during weight loss is protein. Protein serves many functions one being the repair of muscle tissue. Now you might ask, why is protein important if I want to lose weight? Well the answer is protein will help build muscle mass (which is a good thing) and also retain the muscle you already have. You wouldn't want to go on a diet and lose muscle mass instead of fat mass. Muscle is very good for weight loss because the more muscle you carry the more calories you body burns throughout the day. Best food choices for protein would be chicken, fish, eggs, and if you must protein powder. Now when dieting, it doesn't really matter how much carbs, fat, sodium, etc you eat. All you need to worry about is calories. Weight loss is simply calories in vs. calories out. I am sure you have heard this before but I will briefly explain it. Calories in vs. calories out means that the calories you consume through eating and drinking verse the calories you burn through your daily activities and exercise. This alone will determine weight loss. If you consume too many calories but do not burn enough, you will gain or simply stay the same weight. If you burn enough calories then you will lose weight gradually. Your body burns a specific amount of calories daily according to it's Base Metabolic Rate (BMR). The BMR is determined by age, gender, height, and current weight. For example, a 20 year old female weighing at 200 pounds and a height of 5'8 has a BMR of 1750 calories. This means that the body needs exactly 1750 calories to function normally for whatever reason including immune system, movements, muscle contractions, etc. If the female eats 1750 calories she will retain here weight if no exercise is involved. If a female eats lets say 2000 calories a day she has an excess of 250 calories. 3500 calories equals a pound. So if the female keeps having an excess of 250 calories, once they add up to 3500 calories she will gain a pound. To lose weight, let's say she exercises and burns 500 calories a day. This means that 2000 calories eaten - 1750 calories for BMR = 250 calories - 500 calories burned will equal the final calorie count of -250 calories. This is 250 calories she has burned, not gained. At this rate, it would take the female 14 days to lose one pound. Because 3500 calories divided by 250 is 14. To lose more weight, she would need to eat a bit less or exercise more or for better results, a combination of both. Here is one website out of many to determine BMR: http://www.bmi-calcu...bmr-calculator/ Now this doesn't mean you should go on a diet which only allows you 500 calories or 1000 calories, this is dangerous and the diet will fail most likely. Eat a healthy amount of calories determined by your age, height, gender, weight, etc. I personally use measuring cups and a food scale to better determine the calories of my food. Always read the labels too. At the end of the day, you shouldn't have a feeling of starvation or hunger. You should feel satisfied with the amount you have eaten. If you do feel very hungry by the end of the day it means you did not eat enough food and should up the calories a bit. You could even eat junk food all day and still lose weight as long as it fits well within the calories in vs. calories out. Though healthier foods do tend to offer more nutrients, more filling, and contain less calories. Exercise Exercise is either the most enjoyable or most despised part of this whole thing. But one thing is for sure, it plays a major role in weight loss right after food and calorie intake. Exercise allows you to burn off calories and also improves your strengths and cardiovascular activities (?). One mistake many people make when attempting to lose weight is only doing cardio. While cardio is good at burning calories and all, you should really be lifting weights. Lifting weights (whether for a guy or a girl) will build muscle mass and also burn calories. Actually most people with knowledge on weight loss skip cardio altogether and just do weight lifting and have successful results. I personally believe that a combination of both aerobics and weight lifting would be the best option. Cardio has many great options including walking, jogging, swimming, hiking, or even going to the gym and using the treadmill, elliptical, stair climber, rowing machine, biking, etc. Lifting has even more options whether it is benching, squats, free weights, resistance machines, or the dozens upon dozens of lifting machines designed to hit target areas of the body. Using both cardio and lifting is the best option. This will burn calories, allow you to gain muscle mass and strength, and improve cardiovascular health such as jogging for longer periods of time. For cardio, you should aim for about 45 minutes to an hour a day about 4-5 times a week. Weight lifting should be broken down into a program of certain body parts on certain days but you should lift only 3-4 times a week allowing the body to rest in between lifting days. Myths: Diet Pills, Sauna/Steam Room One thing you should always avoid are these diet pills! They do not work at all, and even if they did they produce insignificant results. All they do is give you diarrhea (seriously). They cost as much as a gym membership for one month. If anything, they are dangerous. I have personally tried diet pills for a month and saw no results at all in weight loss, the only result I saw is having $40 less in my wallet lol. Another misconception is that saunas and steam rooms will burn fat. This is completely wrong. What these two do will burn water weight. Sure you will weigh less but within a few days the water weight will return. Though they are relaxing and nothing wrong with using them at the end of a long workout.

I've done the keto diet twice so far for about 2-3 months each time and its really helped me lose weight, clear my mind, and my skin as well. It also helps majorly with bloating and when I'm on the diet I don't tend to experience my usual bloating and discomfort after eating (could be a gluten issue though). I started it again yesterday, so this will be my third cycle of it. Has anyone else here done the Keto diet, how have you found it and what foods/recipes do you like having. I need some inspiration and motivation. I'm in love with Godiva 90% dark chocolate and it's truly a God-send when I'm on keto because I LOOOOVE my chocolate and its only 14g/100g Please share your keto experiences and food recipes here! Thanks

AS I have told you all before, I have panic disorder and autism....my psychologist suggested something called a paleo diet, where I stop eating grains, dairy, and vegetables that were not around at the time of cavemen or other early humans.........i have heard about grain free diets before, and my special ed teacher of the past and my psychologist have said that research shows that dairy causes autism....is there any proof to back this up? i need help right away, as i had a panic attack at school on wednesday, the last day of school for that week, (no school for thursday or friday) and i lost many points on my points sheet (i go to alternative school) because i tried listening to ruqyah for social anxiety, and when my parapro told me to turn it down, i got into an argument and when he said it was bothering others i told him they could go to hell.....also, i kept asking to leave class and call my mother, and lost more points......i have already dropped from level 4 to level 3, and i am borderline dropping from level 3 to level 2, as i can earn a possible 108 points in 3 days, and already lost 14, and need 85 percent to stay on level 3....i need to stay on level 4 and have 5 or less incidents in my target behaviors in the last 6 weeks to leave alternative school, and my dad says i can't go to turkey to visit relatives until i've been out of alternative school for a whole year......im in 11th grade now..but anyway, does this diet help, and how do i control my behaviors?

(bismillah) Salam, everybody. This is an absolutely fantastic speech by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf on food and our attitudes towards it. I sincerely recommend all of you to watch it and implement some of what he says in your own lives and witness the change! I speak to myself first. Enjoy! Take care. Mithrandir. ws.