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What you see on Instagram could totally change the way you think about food. kizilkayaphotos / Getty Images

"Watching other millennials work out, travel and share their progress really inspired me to do the same," says

One of Tibbs' followers even reached out to her to tell her how much her Instagram posts had helped him live healthier. "He said, 'I told my doctor about you and my doctor told me to keep following you because it's working,'" she says.

Another plus? So many pros have public Instagram accounts meaning you can get access to expert advice you wouldn't otherwise necessarily have the dough to shell out on, says Greenberg.

Case in point: After posting photos of dishes she had cooked to her personal Instagram account, Tibbs would get anywhere from 10 to 30 DMs a day asking her for the recipes. This inspired her to create a separate Instagram,

And what you see on Instagram could totally change the way you think about food, like it did for New Yorker Liana Garibayan, the owner and operator of an online natural products store, who's now a vegan.

"Instagram and Facebook are great sources for learning about healthy and vegan alternatives, recipes, fitness, and the reality of animal cruelty," says Garibayan, who's a fan of

After overhauling her diet, Garibayan decided to start her own online store, selling organic, allergen-free and vegan products and social media happens to play a role in her business. "My

Of course, Instagram can have its downsides when it comes to your health aside from the obvious of giving you a major case of tech neck. "People might see images and feel frustrated that they don't look like that or eat healthy and it can lead to someone sabotaging their efforts," says Alpert. Adds Greenberg, "People may find support for disordered thinking and behavior or may use the pictures to beat themselves up for not being healthy enough."

That's why

Ux, who follows a mostly vegan diet, says that he's had luck searching specific hashtags like

Tibbs has found that posting Instagram and Snapchat stories is a great way for her to combat the notion that everything you see on social media is so-perfect-it-must-be-fake. "I can document how I made a meal and when the pan explodes and there's sauce everywhere," she says. "It allows people to see that I'm not perfect."

Now excuse us while we get back to our phones we're trying to find a new take on avocado toast.

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How to Use Instagram to Lose Weight and Get Healthier (Really!) - NBCNews.com

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Losing weight isnt easy and dieters often fail multiple times before getting it right.

The reasons are multifaceted. Many assume that exercise will solve the weight-loss dilemma it wont or that fat will make you fat. Wrong again.

Here are five reasons your diet may be doomed:

Calories from refined carbohydrates and sugar cause you to eat more, without feeling satisfied. Calories from healthy fats, fiber rich sources, and protein, however are metabolized differently and more likely to lead to effective weight loss. Author Michael Pollen defined food as something that comes from nature, was fed from nature, and will eventually rot.

Are you starting your day with empty carbs? Try oatmeal with fruits and nuts for a healthy breakfast.

Cereal, toast with jam, or a big glass of OJ are breakfast staples, but studies show that starting the day with protein, instead of sugary carbohydrates leads to reduced hunger and cravings later in the day. Aim for at least 15 grams of high quality protein in the morning, such as plain yogurt with mixed nuts and hempseed, a plant based protein shake, scrambled eggs, or nut butter on sprouted bread.

Sleep is glorious, and the benefits of getting enough of it are numerous. Studies show clear associations between a lack of sleep with overeating, weight gain, and obesity. If youre struggling with your weight loss efforts, getting at least 8 hours a sleep a night may make all the difference.

RELATED: 11 ways to get to sleep faster

We often eat because we are bored, stressed, tired, thirsty, or simply because our favorite show is on. Instead, we should view food as fuel, not entertainment. I advise my patients to put themselves on a hunger scale with 1 being starving and 10 being stuffed. Only at a 3 or a 4 should they eat, and they should stop at 5 or 6. Listening to your hunger isnt always easy, but master it and your chances of weight loss go up.

RELATED: Try the diet that will make your cravings go away

One study found that individuals that had successfully lost weight were frequently met with challenges with friends, family and co-workers who undermined weight-loss efforts. In response, they would regain the weight.

A recent study found that Americans might be less likely to attempt weight loss due to simply giving up after many attempts or increasing fat acceptance in the United States. A recent study found that people had a hard time sticking to a diet when eating out or simply eating with friends.

Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, R.D., is the manager of wellness nutrition services at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute in Cleveland, Ohio, and the author of "Skinny Liver." Follow her on Twitter@KristinKirkpat. For more diet and fitness advice, sign up for our One Small Thing newsletter.

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Why can't I lose weight? 5 reasons your diet isn't working - Today.com

Is It Harder to Lose Weight When You're Older? New York Times A. Yes, unfortunately. Although it is possible to lose weight at any age, several factors make it harder to lose weight with age. Even those who remain active lose muscle mass every decade beginning in their 30s, research suggests, replacing it with fat.

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Is It Harder to Lose Weight When You're Older? - New York Times

Mama June may have lost weight, but she still carries a lot of baggage.

In an exclusive sneak peek from Friday's episode of WE tv's Mama June: From Not to Hot, the 37-year-old reality star gets some tough love from her family and friends. When June's weight loss journey began, she vowed to show Sugar Bear "what he's missing." And where better to debut her slimmer figure than at Sugar Bear's wedding to Jennifer Lamb? But, after a recent falling out with her manager Gina Rodriguezand with two more skin removal surgeries on the booksJune begins to doubt herself. "I fired Gina because she puts so much damn pressure on me all the time," she tells Kenya Crook, her personal trainer. "I mean, it's like, 'Come on now!' Give me five seconds for me to be able to recover and not have to worry about my weight."

As Honey Boo Boo explains in a confessional, "Mama thinks Gina's against her." Her big sister Pumpkin is equally bothered, saying, "I don't think Mama realizes that everyone is on her side."

At one point, Pumpkin reminds June, "You asked for all this stuff. Gina is only helping you out." In addition to modifying her diet and exercising, Junewho weighed 460 lbs. at her heaviestunderwent gastric sleeve surgery. She later had a tummy tuck and a breast augmentation, and Gina scheduled another surgery to remove the excess skin from June's arms and neck. Sensing something is wrong, Kenya asks June to think about the real reason she wanted to lose weight.

WE tv

"My goal when I first started this weight loss journey was to make Sugar Bear kind of jealous. But it's no longer about revenge," June says in a confessional. "Doing all the surgeries really took a toll on menot just physically, but emotionally." Though she's undecided about whether the additional surgeries are worth it, she admits, "I don't want to disappoint everybody and not be the skinny Mama June that everybody is looking forward to. But if I go with something as serious as the next surgery, it can't be about making everyone happyit's got to be about me."

Ironically, the only thing June's family wants is for her to be happy.

If June doesn't go through with the surgeries, her niece Amber fears she'll be "unfinished" and forever unhappy with her looksand Honey Boo Boo is similarly concerned. "Mama, you always talk about these bat wings," she says, poking her arms. "Why don't you want 'em gone now?" Flapping her arms, Pumpkin jokes, "I mean, you can't just fly away from your problems!"

Mama June: From Not to Hot airs Friday at 9 p.m. on WE tv.

E! Online - Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. Check out the hottest fashion, photos, movies and TV shows!

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Mama June Reveals the Real Reason She Wants to Lose Weight - E! Online

Women's Health

Can Drinking Golden Lattes Help You Lose Weight? Women's Health First ginger, then matcha, now turmeric. The yellow spice often found in Indian food (and ginger's cousin, FYI) has officially reached celebrity status, making its way into lattes in just about every trendy caf and on Instagram (see: #turmericlatte or ...

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Can Drinking Golden Lattes Help You Lose Weight? - Women's Health

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Colorado's Weigh and Win Program: Get paid to lose weight - The Denver Channel

myfox8.com

Man says app helped him lose 500 pounds myfox8.com BLUE ISLAND, Ill. -- In 2011, Rafael Zuniga weighed over 800 pounds. His weight was a lifelong battle that spiraled out of control. Over the past six years, he has lost 500 pounds. In theory, he did it by himself. But he'll tell you he wasn't alone. It ... and more »

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Man says app helped him lose 500 pounds - myfox8.com

If I had to list three things everyone wants, Id say:

I cant help you with the first two items on that list- but I specialize in the third. As it happens, you can slim down, flatten your belly, and fit into your old jeans- and it doesnt have to take years. In fact, it is entirely possible to lose more than ten pounds a month if you now what youre doing.

Just take a look at Anthony, who lost over 200 pounds in one year by cutting calories and following the Nerd Fitness workout plans. Or Desiree, who lost 200 pounds by finding ways to make fitness fun and encouraging. And then theres Jesse Shand, who lost over 350 pounds with the help of the Bodybuilding.com community.

At the end of the day, fat loss is just a matter of burning more calories than you consume. Since a pound of fat contains somewhere between 3000 and 3500 calories, losing ten pounds a month requires a caloric deficit of 10001200 calories a day.

To lose fat quickly and safely, and avoid rebound weight gain, you just need to do four things:

This doesnt require a starvation diet. In this article, Im going to show you exactly how to cut calories without starving yourself, burn more calories without spending hours a day in the gym, and prevent yo-yo dieting before it happens.

Count calories and macros. Youll need to track calories and macros (grams of fats, protein and carbs) religiously, at least for the first month. First, use this calculator to determine your body fat percentage- and dont suck in your gut when you measure your waist. Then, use this calorie calculator (be sure to select the lean mass formula) to determine your Total Daily Energy Expenditure.

Your daily calorie targets are 1000 less than TDEE on days you lift weights, and 1200 under TDEE on days you either dont work out, or only do cardio. On all days, eat at least 30 grams of protein with every meal and 10 grams with every snack.

Eliminate sugar and liquid calories. In addition to the obvious culprits, watch for hidden sugars in things like fruit, sauces/condiments, and healthy foods such as protein bars.

Drink a lot of water. Staying hydrated is a great idea on general, but dehydration also sends thirst signals to your brain that can get misinterpreted as hunger. Drink at least a gallon of water a day if youre male, or 3/4 gallon if youre female, and have a glass before every meal.

Practice intermittent fasting. Skip breakfast and compress your daily eating into a smaller window of time. If youre a man, fast for at least 16 hours and eat in an 8-hour window every day- noon to 8 PM works best for most people. If youre a woman, fast for at least 14 hours and eat for 10. In either case, this means youre having two small meals and one smaller low-calorie snack each day.

Eat slowly and stop eating as soon as youre not hungry. Theres a delay of up to a half hour between when you eat something and when it makes you less hungry- and thats a half hour in which you can end up eating food your body doesnt need. To make sure that doesnt happen, spend at least ten minutes eating every snack and a half hour on every meal.

Finish your meals in thirds, starting with the veggies, then eating your protein, before finally getting to the carbs. Take 5-minute pauses between each third of the meal to give your brain time to catch up to your stomach. As soon as you no longer feel hungry, stop eating- and dont confuse not hungry with full.

Drink sugar water once a day. This brain hack works by suppressing production of the hunger hormone ghrelin and is a small exception to the no sugar rule above. It was discovered by the late Dr. Seth Roberts, and tested and verified by Drs. Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, of Freakonomicsfame. Done properly, it has a dramatic appetite-suppressant effect, making your diet much easier to follow.

Once a day, during your fasting period, drink one to three glasses of ice water with a tablespoon of sugar dissolved in each glass. This sugar water should have little or no taste. You should also consume nothing else other than water for an hour before and after doing this- its important to separate the calorie consumption from any sensation of flavor (usually easiest to do in the evening). Remember to include this sugar in your calorie count.

Make workouts short, intense, and frequent. Work out six days a week, for 2040 minutes at a time. Your workout split should be as follows: 34 days of circuit-based weight training workouts like this one, and 23 days of high-intensity cardio workouts like these.

Exercise on an empty stomach. Workouts performed on an empty stomach have been shown to burn more fat. Either first thing in the morning or right before breaking your fast are the best times to work out for fat loss. If timing workouts during your fasting period isnt feasible, at least time them to be a few hours after your last meal.

Burn more energy as heat. Expose yourself to cold temperatures regularly to make your body burn off more energy as heat. Drink ice water, take cold showers, keep your bedroom cool, or hold an ice pack to your upper back. Eating spicy foods also makes you produce more heat- having a slice of cold cut meat sprinkled with cayenne pepper right before a cold shower can significantly accelerate fat burning.

Get moving after every meal. After eating, either take a short walk or spend a couple minutes doing air squats and pushups. This activates the GLUT-4 receptors in your skeletal muscles so that more of the food you just ate goes to your muscles, rather than fat stores.

Sleep at least 7 hours a night. Eliminate all sources of light from your bedroom. Get to bed at least 8 hours before you expect to wake up, and spend the last hour before that relaxing with the lights turned down.

No alcohol. Alcohol contains more calories than carbohydrates, disrupts your sleep, and raises estrogen levels so that your body stores more fat. Cut it out entirely until you reach your goal weight.

Remind yourself of your mission. Take a set of before photos, print them off, and post them somewhere youll see them every day- such as your bathroom mirror.

Surround yourself with encouraging people. Your social environment has a huge impact on your success, so make sure the people you talk to are encouraging you to stay fit. Ideally, you should have a few friends who are losing weight or have done so in the past. Note that friends who want to lose weight but have never done so may not be supportive- look for successful people who will bring you up with them.

If you dont have friends who can fill this role for you, start taking a fitness class, or talk to people online in places like the Bodybuilding.com forums or reddit.

Keep public logs of meals and workouts. Get a workout app such as JEFIT, GymHero or Bodyspace and record all of your workouts with it. Snap a photo of everything you eat before you eat it. Upload the photos to a dedicated Facebook folder or Instagram account, and post your latest workout stats to Facebook once a week.

Schedule workouts and meal prep times. Keep your workouts in your calendar. Additionally, schedule two blocks of time each week to prepare meals in bulk, so that you have healthy food in the fridge ready to eat at all times. Set reminder alerts to go off an hour before each workout and meal prep, and treat this as work- only a real emergency should stop you from getting it done.

Yes, it will. It will work as long as you actually do it.

Your body doesnt violate the laws of physics. If you cant lose weight, the reality is that youre eating more calories and/or burning fewer than you think you are.

Dont have time to work out? Do 20-minute bodyweight workouts at home, and interval sprints in the street outside your home. You can find the time.

Worried about hunger? Drink caffeine in the morning to kill your appetite until lunch, eat a lot of vegetables and protein, drink a lot of water, and make sure to have your sugar water at night. The first few days can be tough, but the hunger goes away a lot faster than youd think.

Rapid weight loss isnt easy, but neither does it have to be a grueling exercise in self-torture. With commitment and discipline, you can get healthy and build the body youve always wanted- and you can see a difference within weeks, rather than years.

If you want to lose weight and keep it off, download my free fat loss ebooks, Lose 2 Inches in 2 Months and 12 Simple Fat Loss Workouts. Like most things in life, losing weight is just a matter of changing a few of your habits. If you need help building healthier habits and making them stick, download my Habit Change Cheat Sheet.

Before you go- If you enjoyed this article, please share it using the buttons on the left side of the screen, so that your friends can benefit from it too.

Start your workday the right way with the news that matters most.

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How to lose weight and keep it off- even if you have a slow metabolism - Huffington Post

Its a B-E-A-UTIFUL day here on Long Island, and its been quite a whirlwind! This is the first chance Ive had to sit down since 7 AM, and Im out here on my terrace with my doggie people watching. So creepy, but so fun!

It looks like theres a trio of prospective new tenants waiting for a leasing agent to meet them in front of the building, and they keep staring up at us as we look back at them without blinking (FYI, my dog is INSANE at staring contests! The only person whos ever beaten him at that game is my girlfriend!) Think were making them want to live here?:-p

Anyhow, today I want to talk about the three steps you need to take to lose weight FOR GOOD! It doesnt take rocket science, theres no secret pill, and if I hear about one more BS supplement that Dr. Oz says will burn off all the excess fat in your body, I will bust somebodys kneecap.

Whose kneecap? Wouldnt you like to know???

Getting back, its important to take a HOLISTIC approach on your journey. So many people just tackle the physical aspects, and solely try to find both a dietary and a fitness strategy that works for them.

While the conventional wisdom to Eat less and exercise more! CAN work in the short-term, why do you think so many people fall off the horse, revert back to old habits, and constantly yo-yo up and down with their weight?

ITS BECAUSE THOSE METHODS ARE NOT SUSTAINABLE!!!

Like the bolded underline? I thought you did;-)

We can only eat so little for so long. After a while, our bodies will go into a starvation mode, where we metabolize and process food differently than if we were NOT in a starvation mode.

Long story short, while in starvation mode, our bodies hold onto EVERYTHING we eat, good, bad or indifferent, and store it ALL as fat! It doesnt matter if its an organic green salad or a pint of Ben & JerrysIt will have the SAME effect on your body if its in a starvation mode.

In terms of exercise, everybodys of different fitness levels, and even have different hormonal imbalances. What works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. While I can certainly handle two-a-days and crazy military-style workouts (thanks CrossFit and HIIT), the couch potato whos just starting to move may barely be able to handle 20 minutes of moderate physical activity in the beginning.

Since I dont want to keep you waiting anymore (I know youre on the edge of your seat!), here are the three steps you need to take to lose weight FOR GOOD this time:

1. Get your mind right. At the present, I do this BEFORE I work on a clients nutrition or fitness. Reason being is that theres ALWAYS an emotional component to becoming reliant on crappy food and self-sabotaging to the point that youre READY to make this change.

What are your emotional triggers? Is it (or are they) a person, a place or a situation in your life? What can you do to nip these in the bud, so that the next time something bad happens, you dont resort to bad habits?

2. Clean up your nutrition. These two simple sentences are all you need to know to get started: Eat (organic) meats, vegetables, (raw) nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no (added) sugar. Eat ONLY when hungry, and just to satisfyNOT to stuff your face. These sentences can be applied anywhere, whether youre eating at home, or out at a restaurant.

3. Make fitness fun again! I know Im completely ripping off Donald Trumps presidential campaign slogan, but, eh, who cares? Because of how the gym has been portrayed in our culture, it makes exercise feel like a chore. All those weights and machines to a person whos not familiar with them can make the whole experience feel overwhelming. And the Do 3 sets of 12 reps of this exercise at this weight, along with the ITS CHEST DAY! crap BORRRRINNGGG!!!

You dont need all of that crap! All you need is some floor space, or a small outdoor area to get a workout in. Do what methods of fitness you enjoy, whether its yoga, pilates, running, weight lifting, etc. If youre not sure, take some free or cheap local exercise classes in your area, and see how you feel about different things. Then, change things up, listen to your body, and do what your body wants regularly.

Moral of the Story: Permanent weight loss doesnt have to be an insurmountable dream. Between myself and several of my clients, theres now a small movement of people who are NEVER going back to the way they were. All it took was a little bit of knowledge, a strong will to change and execution:-)

Interested in learning more? Then apply for my program by going to https://goo.gl/forms/pn6PugMixK74z5ip2 and filling out my brief Health Questionnaire. Upon submission, youll be provided the link to my Strategy Call page, where you can book a FREE 15 minute call with me to see both what you can do to get going, and whether or not I can help you to be successful on your quest.

Start your workday the right way with the news that matters most.

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How to Lose Weight For Good: The 3 Things You Need to Know! - Huffington Post

by Consumer Reports and Connie Thompson

Contrave weight loss pills (Photo: Screen shot from website)

You may have seen the television commercials for the prescription weight-loss pill Contrave.

Contrave is the combination of two older drugs: the antidepressant bupropion and the addiction-treatment drug naltrexone.

Its ads say the drug works on the brain to reduce hunger and control cravings. The Food and Drug Administration approved Contrave is for people with a body mass index of 27 or higher and who also suffer from serious conditions, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or type-two diabetes.

The commercial cites studies in which patients took Contrave in addition to diet and exercise. The patients lost approximately two to four times more weight than those who did diet and exercise alone.

However, a Consumer Reports analysis of the three clinical trials used to gain FDA approval of the drug shows the drug works but the amount of additional weight loss is small and could pose serious health risks.

In addition to anxiety, insomnia and headaches, Contrave can cause serious health problems, such as liver damage, seizures, increased blood pressure and possible heart risks.

The people who took it up to 56 weeks lost only five to nine pounds more on average than those who took a placebo.

Consumer Reports advises consumers to speak with their doctor about the risks and different weight-loss options. Consumer Reports health experts say it is best to lose weight the safer, proven way - by eating less and exercising.

If you've been unable to lose weight on your own, ask your doctor about intensive behavioral programs that have at least 12 sessions a year and include multiple strategies to help you switch to a healthier diet and increase physical activity.

Manufacturer's response

I reached out to the makers of Contrave for their comments on Consumer Reports' analysis.

I received the following response from a representative at Orexigen Therapeutics:

Consumer Reports is an outstanding service to the American public but, as a representative of Orexigen Therapeutics, we believe there area few key areas that may be missing some data and context.

From a data perspective, Contrave has a well-studied safety and tolerability profile. The efficacy results presented in the Consumer Reports article focus on the intention-to-treat population data, including patients who discontinued study medication and non-responders.

Our mission, and what drives the actions we take as an organization, is to help improve the health and lives of patients struggling to lose weight.

People who are overweight or obese often blame themselves for having a lack of willpower or discipline to lose weight. While diet and exercise are crucial and fundamental components of any weight management plan -diet and exercise alone doesnt work for everyone. We now understand that the brain plays a role in weight loss as it controls hunger and cravings. Contrave, which is believed to work on the hunger and cravings centers of the brain, is an FDA approved weight loss medication to be used in combination with diet and exercise.

It is a combination of two medicines that have been used clinically for decades. With over 10 years of clinical development experience and over 10,000 patients studied in clinical trials we have a very clear understanding of the risk-benefit profile of Contrave.

Medical weight-loss may not be appropriate for everyone, but with about 110 million adults who are obese or overweight in the US population we believe Contrave represents an important therapeutic tool to put in the hands of physicians. We want patients to engage with physicians to discuss what works best for them.

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Consumer Reports reviews Contrave weight loss pill - KOMO News

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