I see it all the time…magazines, TV advertisements, newly marketed supplements; flashing words like "Drop 20 pounds in two days."

Well, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that losing weight that quickly can be detrimental to your health. Today we are going to discuss 10 tips that will help you lose that extra poundage the healthy way, or will help release your- self from a weight loss plateau. If you are someone who has a little, or a lot more than 10 pounds to lose, this is a great start, but to maximize your benefits, you will need to detoxify your system first with a purification process. If you would like more info on purification, send me an email. I’d be glad to help.

You have probably heard me discuss most of these tips before, but I have had requests to put them all together in an easy to follow guide, so here it goes:

1. Eat five or six smaller meals throughout the day instead of three (or even worse, two) larger meals. This will keep your metabolism burning properly. It will also keep your body from changing to "starvation mode" and storing everything you do eat as fat. Make sure you base each of these meals around your protein, but don’t overdo the protein. You need complex carbs for energy, and if your system doesn’t get enough, it will start breaking down your muscle to gain energy. At each meal, strive for 30 percent high quality protein, 30 percent good fats and 40 percent complex carbohydrates.

2. When choosing your carbohydrates, stick with the low-glycemic, complex carbs, such as legumes, brown rice and lots of veggies. This will help to control your body’s insulin release. Otherwise, your blood sugar levels will spike and then crash, causing fatigue and a drop in calorie-burning ability (over time, lead- ing to disease such as diabetes).

3. Stop eating before you feel completely satiated. It takes around 20 minutes for your brain to register a full and satisfied stomach.

4. Watch your labels for: Aspartame, Sucralose, NutraSweet, partially hydrogenated oils, trans fats, and high fructose corn syrup. All of these are "fake" or chemically-altered substances that your body doesn’t recognize as food and cannot properly digest. They’ll cause weight gain as well as other health issues.

5. In order to lose one pound of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories. Don’t take the elevator/escalator, climb those stairs! Park in the back of the parking lot, or ride your bike instead of driving. Also, try a pedometer to count your steps throughout the day. Add at least 3,000 steps to your average, and then each day try to beat the day before.

6. In order to raise your metabolic rate and burn fat more efficiently, add some resistance training or weight lifting to your workout regime. And, make sure you change up your routine periodically to avoid a plateau.

7. Don’t forget your abdominal and core training exercises. These keep your abs nice and tight, and help to stabilize your lower back.

8. Make sure you keep your heart and lungs pump- ing. You need cardiovascular/endurance type exercise (walking, jogging, cycling, swimming…) for 15 to 30 minutes, four to six days per week.

9. Remember not to fixate yourself on the amount of weight lost. Only weigh yourself every two weeks at the most (at the same time of the day), and concentrate instead on the way your clothes are fitting and how your body feels.

10. Plan your workouts and your meals ahead of time, and try to find a partner to go through this with you. This keeps you accountable and leaves little room for "slip-ups." If you do have a "slip-up," don’t dwell on it! Wake up the next day refreshed and start over.

Please remember that the healthiest weight loss is no more than two pounds per week. More than that is okay during a purification or detox process, if you are someone with a lot of excess weight and/or toxins to start with.

To me, the most important tip is DO NOT GIVE UP! You must keep your momentum going. Your lifestyle changes will start to become habit after about six weeks. So if you can make it to that point, it’s smooth sailing!

Make these life-long habits for yourself, but realize that doing so will help you to easily pass them on to your friends and family. Eventually, together we can all make an impact on the health of our community.