This is a guest post from Mary Ward.

Many people look at the weight loss, but neglect to think of just how hard maintaining it all can be. For many, that can be the biggest struggle and obstacle to overcome. Here we look at some blogs of real life accounts and journeys of those going through such activities and how they make it all work.

1.    Diet Blog

The whole purpose of this blog is not just for the individual that wants to lose the weight, but who wants to keep it off. This blog is based on a community of people who understand how hard it is not just to take off the weight, but to keep it off and the networking and tips can be invaluable for this segment. A must read!

2.    Tales of a (Recovering) Disordered Eater

She offers such a real life account that you can relate no matter where you are at in your weight loss or maintenance cycle. Her mission is to bring awareness and reality to what it is to maintain weight loss efforts and she is very real about the struggles and challenges as well as the accomplishments one can feel.

3.    My Angle on Weight Loss

Don’t let the title fool you as this is a very real person who has lost their weight but who is honest about just how hard it is not to go back to old habits. As many people feel that the struggle ends when you lose the weight, he offers a real accounting of just how hard the maintenance phase can truly be.

4.    Another Weight Maintenance Blog

She has found her solace in yoga and practices it to keep herself sane and active. She offers one of the most real blogs out there stating just how difficult maintenance can be and how she feels it’s harder than the active weight loss in many different ways. She is also quite interesting as she chronicles her everyday adventures.

5.    The Road to Beautiful

Her words are as inspiring to other readers as they are motivational, and she is very down to earth. She repeats mantras about not giving up and is very honest about the struggles that she keeps with maintaining and oftentimes having to get back on the weight loss bandwagon. She wants her words to count and they really do!

6.    Hungry Hungry Hip Girl

She’s lost the weight, put it back on, and now struggles somewhere in the middle working towards proper maintenance. She speaks to her everyday adventures, the necessity to keep up a workout routine, and how all of this affects her and the self esteem she works so hard for. A normal girl with very inspirational words!

7.    Taking Back Control

This is all about nourishment for the soul as much as the body because here you can see how she struggles to believe that she’s beautiful in spite of all her hard work. If you are looking for a bit of inspiration, you are sure to find it here.

Mary Ward blogs about various job issues in the health care field, including how to study in CNA courses online.

This is a guest post from Wendy from Colon Cleanse Zone.

We all know that getting in plenty of fruits and vegetables is the smartest thing we can do for our health on a regular basis.  Sadly though, many of us do not take this information to heart.  Instead we pack our diet with ‘fruit and vegetable replacements’ such as fruit juice, V8 juice, fruit flavoured bars, fruit cups, and so on.

While these will provide some nutrition, you’re really missing out on everything whole fruit has to offer, so you’ll be so much better off if you just go with the decision to have real fruit instead.

Let’s take a quick peek at a list of the healthiest fruits you should be eating regularly.

Blueberries

Blueberries are an antioxidant powerhouse that will help to fend off disease and keep you healthy.  Each day your body is going to come into contact with a variety of substances called free radicals, all which could potentially cause harm.

By eating foods rich in these antioxidants, you help to protect the body so no harm is done. Blueberries only contain about 50 calories per half a cup, so they are a great addition to any diet.

Blackberries

If you’re trying to increase the fiber content of your diet, blackberries should be your fruit of choice.  A one cup serving provides a whopping 7.6 grams of fiber. This will help to keep you feeling full and prevent snacking later on throughout the day.

Apples

The great thing about apples is first, they contain a high amount of dietary fiber, and second, the pectin that’s found in apples will go a long way towards keeping your insulin levels under control.

This is very helpful for those who tend to have sensitive blood sugar levels and experience energy crashes throughout the day.  At about 80 calories per apple, you really can’t go wrong with this choice.

Papaya

If you commonly stick with the more traditional fruits such as apples, oranges, and bananas, it might just be time to branch out and try something else.  Papaya’s are a great source of B vitamins, as well as provide you with vitamin E, folate, and fiber.

Avocado

One fruit that many people forget about entirely because often they don’t really even consider it a fruit is avocado.  This is a big mistake because this is a form of fruit you should be including in your diet and it will be a great source of healthy monounsaturated fat.

In addition to this, another fact that most people don’t realize is that avocado actually contains more potassium than a banana, which is the fruit commonly eaten for potassium purposes.

Pineapple

Finally, don’t forget to add some pineapple to your week as well.  This fruit contains an enzyme known as bromelain, which has been shown to help prevent cancer development.  Pineapple is also going to help support the immune system, keeping you free from illness.

So don’t just rely on the classic standbys. Increase the variety of fruits you’re consuming in your typically daily diet to see better results and add more flavour to your day at the same time.

About the Author: Wendy is currently writing a book about moderate health strategies to achieve maximum weight loss. She also currently writes frequently for the Colon Cleanse Zone.

If you’re even a little bit sensible, you would know that the best way to a healthy and disease-free life is to eat right, get enough exercise into your routine, be more active, and try and remain free from stress. The trouble is, we are so used to eating what we like and when we like that it becomes really hard when we’re forced to switch to healthier food habits because of illness or poor health. Change, even when it is for the better, is extremely difficult. So it makes more sense to introduce it gradually into your life, little by little so that you hardly realize you are making the change. Switching over to a healthy diet is easy if you just follow the below advice:

• Reduce your sugar intake: Sugar is responsible for a host of ills, including diabetes and obesity. You don’t have to cut it out of your life altogether; it’s enough if you reduce the amount you eat. Use one spoon where you used to use two, and if you must have your coffee or juice with two or more spoons, try and reduce the number of coffees or juices you drink.
• Cut back on the oil: Oil, especially the unsaturated kind, is responsible for increasing your bad cholesterol and giving you heartburn. Eat grilled instead of fried foods (they taste just as good), and use a spray can rather than a spoon when you’re sautéing food.
• Eat a fruit a day: Fruits are full of vitamins and other nutrients, and the more brightly colored they are, the better they are for your health. Make it a point to eat at least one fruit a day, in some form. Buy fruits that are in season to minimize your expenses and also increase your variety. If you don’t like to eat fruit, at least drink it up as juice.
• Switch to low-fat options: Most of your favorite food comes in low fat varieties that are both tasty and low on calories. Make the switch before you are beset by obesity and other diet and lifestyle related diseases.
• Share temptation: You will be tempted to eat ice cream, pastries and other food items that are definitely not good for your health, and although it makes sense to tell yourself to stay true to your diet, restricting yourself too much only makes you binge when you lose control. It’s better to limit yourself to eating your favorite food once in a while, and it’s best if you share it with a friend so that your portion is limited.

We eat to live, not live to eat. Keeping that in mind every time we’re tempted to have our way with food will keep you on the right track to a healthy diet and a disease-free life.

This article is written by Kat Sanders, who regularly blogs on the topic of x ray technician salary at her blog The X-Ray Vision-aries Blog. She welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: katsanders25@gmail.com.

I’ve just been on holiday (that’s “vacation” to US readers) for the last week … enjoying long walks, castles, and various bumpy bus rides in Northumberland (north-east of England). Oh, and enjoying rather a lot of cake and ice-cream…

It’s back into sensible eating this week, and sometimes a dose of encouragement and inspiration can help me get over that end-of-holiday feeling. So I was delighted to find out that The Office Diet has been included on a list of “Top 50 Incredibly Inspiring Weight-Loss Blogs“.

If your motivation’s at a bit of a low ebb, why not check out some of the other great blogs on that list?

Is the credit crunch eating into your gym budget? Subway are running a competition to win a year’s free gym membership – you don’t need to buy a sub to enter, just take a look at this video and read the competition rules.

The competition is being promoted by Jared Fogle on his blog Jared245 – the chap who famously lost 245lbs on a diet of Subways.

When I was working in an office full time, with a Subway just round the corner, an occasional sub made a nice healthy treat (I like the veggie sub on wheat bread with as much salad as they can cram in!) Sadly, this competition is only open to US residents, so I can’t enter myself, but hopefully some of The Office Diet’s readers might be able to…

Fitness for those of us chained to our desks seems to be a big topic at the moment. Hot on the heels of the Desk Exercises For Office Workers from Adam Steer, another blog has published a wonderful compilation of sites that offer various tips aimed at keeping office workers healthy:

50 Simple Techniques for Staying Fit Whilst Stuck At Your Desk

(I was very flattered to see that The Office Diet comes in at number 3 on the list!)

This is a guest post from Katie Wilson, reminding us why getting to, and maintaining, a healthy weight is important for so much more than just how we look.

We all know that maintain a sensible weight is good for your overall health and well-being. Often, however, people put sensibility aside when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. What follows is a brief list of reasons why it’s crucial for good health to maintain a sensible weight.

Cardiovascular Complications

Extra weight puts extra strain on your heart, which can lead to all sorts of cardiovascular complications. Obesity can lead to heart disease and related problems like heart attacks. Taking care of your heart for the long run requires that you maintain a sensible weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent dire complications down the road. Rather than waiting for problems to arise, be proactive and take charge of your weight.

Diabetes and Related Complications

Obesity can contribute to the development of diabetes, which can ultimately be a debilitating disease if not properly managed. Managing diabetes, however, may not be in your future if you begin to take care of yourself and make the proper changes in diet and lifestyle now. Complications from diabetes can be very serious, including coma, loss of sight, amputation of limbs, and early death. Manage your lifestyle now so that these complications won’t be something for you to worry about down the road.

High Blood Pressure

Carrying around more weight puts more stress on your circulatory system and can ultimately lead to high blood pressure. Complications related to high blood pressure can be quite serious, but getting rid of extra weight will help ensure that your system isn’t trying to deal with the excess amounts of fluid required for a larger and heavier body. Reducing weight will ultimately help put you on the right track for a healthier body overall, along with lower blood pressure.

Stroke

Obesity can lead to higher fatty deposits in the arteries, including the arteries in the brain. This environment makes strokes something that is far more likely than if you were at your ideal body weight. Working on adopting a sensible diet, healthier activities, and decreasing weight will help safeguard you against complications like strokes.

This post was contributed by Katie Wilson, who writes about the top nursing programs. She welcomes your feedback at KatieWilson06 at gmail.com

Just a quick post today. Adam Steer from the Better is Better blog has a  list of mobility exercises for office workers. If you spend most of your day at your desk, in front of the computer, these are some good ways to limber up.

You might also enjoy an article from About.com – Best Stretches For Office Workers.

Why not take a quick break from your desk right now?

One of my fellow bloggers over on Diet Blog, Mike Howard, has recently released an ebook called “12 Permanent Fat Loss Strategies”.

I snagged a copy myself and was very impressed: like all Mike’s writing on diet and exercise, it’s very thorough, informative and goes into a lot of depth considering it’s completely free. Mike doesn’t assume any expert knowledge, and his advice is aimed at everyday folks like you and me – not top athletes.

You can grab the ebook from the Core Concepts‘ website: just pop in your name and email address, and it’ll be delivered straight to your inbox. (For those who’re a bit wary of giving their email address out, I can tell you that Mike is a lovely guy – he definitely won’t be selling your details to any spammers!)

If you enjoy the ebook, you’ll want to check out Mike’s blog too: Winning The Losing Battle. His tagline is “Cutting-edge, timely and interesting information and opinion in the deeply confusing world of fat loss and optimum health” – which strikes me as something the internet could do with a lot more of!

After a few weeks of letting my healthy eating habits slip a bit (I’m sure you all know the feeling), I’m firmly watching what I eat again! It’s a while since I’ve been counting calories or thinking about shedding a few pounds, and I’m delighted to recommend nifty free tools that might help you too.

These are a series of diet, exercise and weight-loss tools from Ernesto, who runs You on a Diet – a great site with a blog attached, which I write weekly for. These include:

Weight Loss Estimator: Pop in your weight and your daily calorie deficit (ie. how many calories you’re cutting from the daily recommended calories for your gender, age and weight). Warning: the tool will let you set a calorie deficit that (if you’re female and short like me) could be unsafe. Don’t go below 1,100 total calories per day (which for me is a deficit of about 460).

Body Mass Indicator (BMI) Calculator: Find out if you’re underweight, overweight or just right… this is what I currently get!

Activity Calculator: Cleverly, this lets you figure out either how many calories you burn in a set time of a particular activity – or vice versa: you can put in how many cals you want to burn and figure out how long it’ll take! I went skiing for the first time over the Easter break, and was rather pleased to find out that downhill skiing burns a whopping 176 cals in half an hour. (I’m not sure how many cals falling over burns, though, which was what I seemed to spend most of my time doing…)

Calorie Calculator: This handy dandy tool lets you know exactly how many calories you need to eat to maintain your current weight, or to lose weight.

There’s also a target heart rate calculator (very straighforward – just enter your age), as well as tools to figure out what percentage of your body weight you’ve lost since starting your diet.

If you’re a diet blogger, you’ll love these tools – ones like the BMI calculator give you nifty little graphics that you can post on your blog to show the world your progress (or to shame yourself into making some headway!) As an example, here’s my BMI…