Happy New Year 2016. What are your new goals for 2016? Religious and secular new year events often center on health and happiness? Some ask forgiveness oe meditate about past indiscretions. Among those, may be weight loss – intertwined with health and happiness. Us this one of your new goals for 2016? Is it an annual goal at each new year? Is it always prone to failure?

Each year, and with each new year celebration (calendar or ethnic), everyone wishes for new goals to be set or met each year. For many, finding love and weight loss top the list. The problem with new goals for 2016 is that they are mainly repetitions of previous years. That’s because these new goals for 2016 are as lofty and unattainable as previous goals. Many require lifestyle changes and most aren’t ready to pay the price over the long run.

Of new goals for 2016, changing body appearance is almost number one. People realize that books are judged by covers. They are often misleading windows to their content. Barring the busy season for reconstructive surgery, weight maintenance, muscle gain or fat loss are the most sought after goals.

As a regular gym user for over 30 years, I and other regulars often joked how the gyms got filled at the end of December. We knew who they were. By February, the gym was back to normal. That is because people expect change to happen quickly. It doesn’t.

Wisdom dictates that moderate exercise and moderate diet help maintain weight and muscle. For those seeking less weight and more muscle, more effort is required. The process takes years and progress is painfully slow.

According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly two-thirds of the USA population might be classed as obese. While not a disability, there is no simple treatment or cure. It does require contrasting lifestyle changes that seem tortuous and tedious. With all the available resources from all forms of media, weight-loss remains a phantom in the United States. Conquering obesity is as diversely challenging as establishing world peace.

In “get rich quick” or “get healthy quick” societies, people resort to quick methods. These are more life shocking methods for quick results. Some try living on nutrition shakes alone for a few months. (Imagine sustaining yourself on 3 shakes a day and being satisfied.)

Some try diet pills. Others try going to the gym once or twice a month. Every year there are new methods to demonstrate quick goal attainment for happily ever afters. Generally, though, ever afters are very short. The process doesn’t seem worth the sacrifices. Is weight loss a fantasy? Some say, if it is, it is masochistic. It is a lingering problem.

The reason why weight loss is so damned difficult is very simple:

1) As you age, you typically lose lean muscle by 5% each 10 years. As a result, more fat is visible as muscles help contain fat.

2) Excess calorie consumption – Dietician’s indicate that to lose one pound of fat, you need to lose 3500 calories but that has been challenged recently. Typically, to lose body fat if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you’d lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). Is that healthy? How many calories do you need each day?

3) According to webMD categorization based on gender and activity, a woman around age 50, who sits most of the day requires around 1800 calories per day. If she is moderately active, she needs about 2,000 calories per day, and 2200 calories per day active. Men require about 25% more calories. According to Calorie King calculator, a female office worker would need to consume 1100 to 1300 calories per day to lose one pound per week.

4) Exercising more – Apart to the advantages concerning muscle tone and heart rate, how does exercise help lose calories? The Mayo Clinic provides a very good list. According to Mayo Clinic, at a duration of 1 hour, walking burns 214 calories at 2 miles per hour and 300 calories at 3-1/2 miles per hour, if you weigh 160 pounds. If you weigh 200 pounds, it is 255 and 391 calories respectively. Leisure bike riding offers about 40% more calories burned. A low-impact aerobic dance class typically burns over 400 calories per hour at 160 pounds and 600 calories per hour at 200 pounds, Because women are lighter than 160 pounds, the efficacy of working-off calories seems like an aching, slow process in contrast to dieting.

What about fast-acting dietary supplements and drugs?

Many resort to drugs or dietary supplements available and often advertised. They may be mentioned on TV medical shows. These may be quicker methods of dropping weight fast but they carry potential long-term consequences despite popularity. These work at altering basic body functions. Naturally derived, you are strongly advised to see a physician or nutritionist before and during trying these. Many of these supplements may be approved by the USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but research testing was small, short, and inconclusive.

A new one is Garcinia Cambogia pills. It, like many other quick methods, was introduced by Dr. Oz on TV. It is hydroxycitric (HCA) acid found in the rind of citrus fruits, primarily grapefruit (the part you usually peel off). It is used for cooking in southeast Asia.

Some very small studies done with few representative samples indicate that Garcinia Cambogia, derived from grapefruit rinds, might also be a natural method for weight loss at doses of hundreds of that found in the rind. HCA, an organic acid, works by making you feel full, reducing your appetite, and affecting metabolism. US Food and Drug Administration approves as a health supplement at doses are between 250 and 1,000 mg each day.

As with all health supplements (example: vitamins), these are chemicals that interact with your body. Garcinia Cambogia works as a drug that helps reduce glucose in your bloodstream and has been used by nutritionists as a possible method to help reduce triglycerides and bad cholesterol. In a WebMD article, side effects may include Dizziness, Dry mouth, Headache, or Upset stomach or diarrhea. Taken habitually, these doses may negatively affect your liver. As a nutritional supplement, standards are not as strict as with prescription drug sources. You may not be getting pure HCA.

Many weight loss supplements may add Caffeine, a key ingredient in coffee and a potential antioxidant to help keep blood vessels clean. Weight loss supplements use higher doses of caffeine than you find in a cup of coffee. The caffeine is derived from natural resources. These may include substances such as guarana (Paullinia cupana), kola (or cola) nut (Cola nitida), and yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis).

Caffeine is a chemical that works directly on the nervous system and the larger doses may prove harmful. Caffeine is a methylxanthine that stimulates the central nervous system, heart, and skeletal muscles. It also increases gastric and colonic activity and acts as a diuretic for water weight loss. Caffeine might also contribute to weight loss by increasing fat oxidation through sympathetic activation of the central nervous system. As such, as with many CNS activators, it may be addictive. As a short term, less than 2 months at prescribed doses, Caffeine may help weight loss. A caffeine study, however, shows that adding sugar to coffee or chocolate may stimulate weight gain.

What about lifestyle?

The Atkins Diet or Ketosis are lifestyle choices that are in direct contrast to normal and inherited eating habits. These diets virtually eliminate eating carbohydrates. Instead you eat protein and fat. It’s a possibility if you are not monitoring cholesterol levels.

Carbohydrates (examples: grains, fruits, juices, sugars) are very common sources of energy and are found in the USDA recommended food pyramid for daily diets. Atkins and Ketosis (or Ketogenic) limit a maximum of 40 grams of carbohydrates. Of those carbohydrates, they recommend complex carbohydrates (whole grains, soy) over simple (table sugar, white rice). A serving of pasta or rice exceeds the limits of Atkins. A typical sandwich may have 36 grams of carbohydrates or your daily allowance of carbohydrates.

Meats (except organs), fish (except shrimp and lobster) are high protein and moderate fat sources. Soy as Edamame or Tofu are potent vegan sources of protein with lower fat and no cholesterol.

Certain Flat Breads available by mail from Joseph’s Bakery and some other sources offer low-carb breads. After factoring the 7 to 10 grams fiber, the bread has 5 net carbohydrates and about 10 grams of protein. This can help replace bread cravings.

Atkins and Ketosis deliver weight loss over a few months provided you don’t cheat on the 40 grams limit of carbohydrates.

Ketosis has been found beneficial at helping patients with epilepsy. No indications of serious short-term risks have surfaced. It is intended as a method to reach short-term goals quicker than calorie-based diets but maintenance is required for long-term goals and results. You will be less popular at carbohydrate-based social events.

Appearing fashionable and healthy require sacrifices. Appearing younger also require more sacrifices. We live in a culture where parties and celebrations often provide foods in excess followed by sedentary activity. The short term result is weight gain. The long term results are cardio and vascular disease, diabetes, and numerous other diseases. Economically, it aids the pursuit of finding larger size clothing each year.

Obesity is a world-wide problem. It may be derived from combinations of foods, snacks, rituals, and lifestyles. Sociologists may bind it to poverty both in the USA and elsewhere. Lack of health insurance and respective availability of certified nutritionists helps assure that even the USA has a lingering problem with obesity and the diseases that may result from them. While those diseases are covered by State and private insurance policies, their prevention is not.

Losing 20, 30, or more pounds of body weight is very difficult. Based on the accepted notion that to lose weight you need to lose 3500 calories per pound demonstrates the need for herculean efforts.

It is not simple. The likelihood of following through a weight-loss program may seem an unattainable goal. It may require high levels of motivation and fortitude.

Aspiring for health and wellness as new goals for 2016 are admirable. Individuals adding weight loss as one of the mew goals for 2016 for better appearance and possible health have much to consider. Realizing and understanding that those new goals for 2016 are filled with sacrifices is wiser. While no results offer guarantees, those new goals for 2016 must carry on to 2017, 2018, and beyond. At the point you meet your goals, then maintenance is easier by choosing moderate diets and exercise that suit your new lifestyle.

In a twist of a famous quote: Comedy is easy. Weight loss is hard. Both have their rewards. For those of you that made it down here, a secret is eating dinner at 6:00 and nothing else. Your body uses fat storage after 12 hours.

Good luck at achieving your New Goals for 2016! Happy year ahead!