Weight loss doesn’t have to be difficult and depressing. In fact, it should be motivational and rewarding. Here are five great tips to help ensure your experience when losing weight is a positive one.

1. Go ahead, indulge yourself! It’s just not reasonable to think you’ll be able to stick to a lifestyle of deprivation. Every now and again it’s fine to splurge and have something you really like. The trick is portion control: instead of having a three scoop monster ice cream cone, get a child’s size.

2. Eat breakfast. When your sleeping your body actually kicks into a kind of “fasting mode.” You “break the fast” when you eat breakfast (thus the name). In fact, if you can eat breakfast within an hour of getting out of bed, you may actually boost your metabolism and burn calories better throughout the day.

3. Try something new. When trying to lose weight, it’s easy to fall into a rut of eating the same foods all the time because you know they’re “safe.” But there are thousands of varieties out there that are healthy and tasty. Read the labels and try something new in the way of ethnic or exotic foods.

4. Talk to yourself. No, it doesn’t mean you’re crazy! Positive “self-talk” really does help lift your spirits and keep you motivated.

5. Take your vitamins. A good multi-vitamin will ensure your nutritional needs are being met. This is especially important if you’re on a diet plan that restricts certain kinds of foods.

The best way to lose weight is through exercise. I know because I lost 45 lbs in six months — and kept it off!

Amos Murray runs an online shopping web site at frankenshopper.com.

Perhaps you stumbled across the National Home Gardening Club on Facebook and wonder what they’re all about. At www.gardeningclub.com, you can get a free, 30-day trial and issue of their gardening magazine. This is probably the best way to truly know if the site is for you. Members can elect to pay annual dues under $20 or purchase a self-renewing lifetime membership, which comes with special rewards. If your garden is your pride and joy, and you’d like to share your gardening experience with others, then you might enjoy what this national club has to offer.

Regular members of the National Home Gardening Club receive the Gardening How To Magazine, the ability to test new (free) gardening products, full access to the club website, a chance to win club giveaways, gardening tips from other members, professional answers to your gardening questions, free gifts, newsletters, books and videos. Life members of the gardening club receive all the same things as regular members, but with lifetime access. They’ll also get a Life Member ID card, key-ring, gardening mat, gloves and gifts valued at $165. Premier Life Members receive all the benefits of regular life members, plus get a $45 gift certificate to www.createmycookbook.com, discounts from retailers, a free hotline with answers from a gardening expert, discounts on club seminars and garden events, free online vegetable/herb garden planning service for one year and travel discounts.

One of the perks for the National Home Gardening Club is “the ability to test new gardening tools and supplies — for free!” You may be wondering how often you’ll get products to try or what sort of items will arrive. According to members in the forums, most people test about once a year, although some years multiple products will come. One member says she received seeds, a pair of clogs, bottles of BBQ sauce, mulch, weed eater and a deck protector for the BBQ grill. Another member received cat grass seeds and a seed planter. A third member says she tested seeds, a seed-starting or mini-greenhouse kit, garden tools and a plant-marking stake. A fourth member got a double decker guinea pig hutch with a basement compost heap attached for testing.

However, most life members of the National Home Gardening Club will tell you they joined for the friendships. “Honestly, it is the people that make the site,” one member writes. Some avid gardeners talk about sharing their gardening experiences with people they met on the site over ten years ago. There are many active members from around the country on the club’s website, especially in places like Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma and Texas, which have from 137 to 646 topics each. The “Seed Swap” section in the forum is pretty hopping too, with over 2,009 topics. Whether you’re looking for orange cosmos, cotton, red yucca, tropical hibiscus, cacti, sweet pea, peter peppers, pink columbine or roses, you will find them here for free! Just send some of your extra seeds in return! This club has its rewards if you are interested in these activities.

About bit about the Article Author:

Dave Stuart is a keen gardener and writer alike. He finds nothing more relaxing that sitting in the middle of a perfect garden writing stories about his favourite subjects.

Dave’s latest book is about anxiety in children. This seems to be an ever increasing problem found within children these days, but, is quite easy to address with the right knowledge. For the latest news on this matter, visit http://anxietyinchildren.net/ , be sure to check out the blog and latest news area.