Here’s What Facebook Timeline Looks Like

Facebook has just used their keynote at f8 to unveil a major new feature: Timeline. It’s your Profile re-imagined in a more visual way. “It’s the heart of your Facebook experience, completely re-thought from the ground up,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted.

The focus is on three key things:

• all your stories
• all your apps
• a new way to express who you are

So what does it look like? Check it out below.

 Update: And here’s a bit of backstory.

Today at Facebook’s f8 conference in San Francisco, CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off a huge change to the service: Timeline. It’s the Profile reborn, and it looks great. Later, Facebook’s head of product Chris Cox took the stage to talk about the feature’s inception.

Cox largely credits two people: Nicholas Feltonand Sam Lessin.

Cox waxed poetic about Felton’s history. He gushed about Felton’s Feltron Annual Reports, which stared in 2005. “14 pages. One year. One book,” Cox noted. It was all about organizing the years of his life in a beautiful, visual way. “It was hard to call it anything other than what it really was — art,” Cox continued.

“We had one reaction: we have to try to hire this guy.”

And Facebook did just that. When they bought Felton’s startup Daytum this past April, Felton and co-founder Ryan Case moved from New York to Palo Alto to help weave their data analysis instincts into the future of the Facebook Profile.

Cox then turned his attention to Lessin. Facebook also acquired his startup, Drop.io, last year in order to get him. He had one job: to re-imagine the Profile. Lessin noted that “the single biggest lost opportunity in the history of human story telling” was the way the Profile was laid out when he joined. He printed out all of the information he had shared on his profile since he joined Facebook in 2004 to prove his point. It stretched across Facebook’s entire office.

Cox noted that when they accidentally launched a product called “Memories” this past summer for a few hours, the reaction was huge. This was a taste of what was to come with Timeline. “We tucked that away, and kept working,” Cox said.

Today, the work is complete — though Timeline will be slowly rolling out over the next couple of months to everyone, there will be a beta of it starting today. Facebook’s recent focus on design, and their moves to acquire as much top-tier design talent is possible is now evident.

“We’re a culture of builders. Now let’s go build something awesome,” Cox said in closing. 

Facebook Unveils Timeline: The Story Of Your Life On A Single Page

Today at Facebook’s f8 conference in San Francisco, CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stage to unveil the next evolution of the service. The first major change? The Profile.

Zuckerberg noted that the original Profile was sort of like the last five minutes of your life. The updated Proile from 2008 extended that to show what was sort of like the last 15 minutes or your life. The new Profile unveiled today is “the rest,” Zuckerberg noted. He calls this feature Timeline.

“It’s the heart of your Facebook experience, completely rethought from the ground up,” Zuckerberg says, noting that they’ve been working on it all year. “Timeline is the story of your life.”

What Zuckerberg showed was a beautiful new Profile that is much more visual than anything Facebook has done before. To be honest, it looks a bit like a really nice Tumblr blog. It has three main parts:

• all your stories
• all your apps
• a new way to express who you are

And it goes all the way back to when you were born.

Trying to display all of this content was a major design challenge, Zuckerberg noted. How do you do it all on a single page? Well, all of your recent content is shown in a new grid-view. But as you go back in time, it’s more about summarizing your content to display the most important content. The farther back you go, the less you see — it’s just the key moments. “This is the magic of how Timeline works,” Zuckerberg said.

And it works on mobile too. While Zuckerberg mainly showed off how Timeline looks on the web, he also showed it on the smaller iPhone screen. It’s the same idea, just more condensed.

“We wanted to design a place that feels like your home,” Zuckerberg said.

Undoubtedly, this will roll-out over time (over the next couple of months, CTO Bret Taylor says). You can learn more about Timeline here.

Update: Here’s what Timeline looks like.

Update 2: At The Intersection Between Design And Data, Facebook Timeline Was Born

CRUNCHBASE

• FACEBOOK

Company:Facebook

Website:facebook.com

Launch Date:January 2, 2004

Funding:$2.34B

Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 500 million users. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskowitz and Chris Hughes to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks. The original idea for the term...

How To Enable Facebook Timeline Right This Second

This morning Facebook announced Timeline, a crazy (and kind of creepy) omnibus look at everything that has ever happened in your Facebook lifespan. It’s like a story book of your life — or at least the online, documented parts.

Facebook said that Timeline would be on the way for everyone sometime in the coming weeks… which is great and all, for everyone else. You’re the type of person who reads TechCrunch, and are thus likely the type of person who likes their new and shiny things right now.

That’s okay. We can make it happen.

Fortunately, enabling Timeline a bit early isn’t too difficult — but it’s not at all straight forward, either.

You see, Facebook is enabling Timeline early for open graph developers. You, too, can be an open graph developer — even if you’re just looking to dabble.

A few things to note:
- You probably don’t want to do this unless you’re actually a developer. Expect bugs.
- Only you will see your timeline at first (unless you decide otherwise), but it will automatically go public after a few days. My timeline was automatically hard-set to go public on September 29th.
- It seems that if you login into Facebook on another machine, Timeline gets disabled automatically on all of your machines. With that said, it seems you can get back to your timeline (but ONLY after following the steps below) by navigating to http://www.facebook.com/YOURUSERNAMEHERE?sk=timeline
- You’ll need to have a “verified” account for one of the steps, which means you need a credit card or phone number attached to the account.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log into Facebook

2. Enable developer mode, if you haven’t already. To do this, type “developer” into the Facebook search box, click the first result (it should be an app made by Facebook with a few hundred thousand users), and add the app.

3. Jump into the developer app (if Facebook doesn’t put you there automatically, it should be in your left-hand tool bar)

4. Create a new app (don’t worry — you wont actually be submitting this for anyone else to see/use). Give your shiny new app any display name and namespace you see fit. Read through and agree to the Platform Privacy agreement. This is the step you need to be verified for.

5. Ensure you’re in your new app’s main settings screen. You should see your app’s name near the top of the page

6. Look for the “Open Graph” header, and click the “Get Started using open graph” link.

Create a test action for your app, like “read” a “book”, or “eat” a “sandwich”

7. This should drop you into an action type configuration page. Change a few of the default settings (I changed the past tense of “read” to “redd” — again, only you can see this unless you try and submit your application to the public directory), and click through all three pages of settings

8. Wait 2-3 minutes

9. Go back to your Facebook homescreen. An invite to try Timeline should be waiting at the top of the page

And you’re done! We’ve seen this work quite a few times now, so it should work without a hitch for just about anyone.

Apple Issues Invitations for October 4th iPhone Media Event

Confirming earlier reports, Apple today issued media invitations for a special iPhone event to be held next Tuesday, October 4th at the company's Town Hall auditorium at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. The event is scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM Pacific Time. 

As noted by The Loop, invitations for the event carry the tagline "Let's talk iPhone" and depict iOS icons for Calendar, Clock, Maps, and Phone. 


Apple is of course widely expected to introduce its next-generation hardware (whether it be iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, or both) at the event, and is expected to also be including a minor update to its iPod line. iOS 5 and iCloud are also expected to be topics of discussion at the event, while other reports have indicated that Facebook may launch its iPad app at the event.

Lost Foxconn iPhone May Have Been Source of Teardrop iPhone 5 Case Designs

M.I.C gadget reports that it has heard from a small iPhone accessory shop in Shenzhen, China that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn had lost a prototype of Apple's redesigned iPhone 5 carrying the tapered teardrop form factor seen in a number of case designs over the past few months. 

 
Mockup of tapered iPhone 5 based on leaked case designs

While the sourcing on the report is certainly questionable, the detailed account is an interesting read and it would not be the first time that a mobile phone accessory vendor has been involved in leaked iPhone prototypes.

The missing prototype is said to have been enclosed in a case to disguise it as a current-generation iPhone 4–which brings to mind the iPhone 4 prototype acquired by Gizmodo that was camouflaged as an iPhone 3GS. How Apple achieved that with the iPhone 5 supposedly wider and longer than the current iPhone 4 is a point to ponder. 


It is said to be a test model with a finalized iPhone 5 chassis featuring the tear-drop design. However, the interesting thing about it is that it apparently houses what we assume to be slightly modified iPhone 4 electronics with components such as the A4 chip and even the same amount of memory.

The report goes on to note that an outside party had paid a Foxconn employee to deliver the prototype device, which was reportedly then sold to a case manufacturer for approximately $3,100. 


It is unclear when the alleged loss of the prototype occurred, although reports of the tapered design extend back to least April and a design document showing the form factor appeared by late July. Since that time, numerous case manufacturers have released cases for the new form factor, but actual evidence of the device in the form of parts leaks has yet to surface. 


Not all Apple prototypes make it into production, with the 2009 iPod touch with camera being a notable example of a design that made it quite far through the prototyping process before Apple decided to remove the camera. There has been considerable debate about whether Apple will be launching this redesigned teardrop form factor for the iPhone, as evidence from leaked parts has so far only shown an "iPhone 4S" design based on the iPhone 4. 


Daring Fireball's John Gruber hints in his link to news of the media event invitations that there may in fact be only one new device introduced next week, which would presumably be the more conservative iPhone 4S design.

Something tells me there’s only one new iPhone.

The comment is far from confirmation, but Gruber has in the past offered accurate information on Apple's plans and has on occasion coyly hinted at such knowledge in his comments.

Apple to Discontinue iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle?

TUAW claims that Apple may be planning on discontinuing the iPod Classic and iPod Shuffle devices this year.

It seems that the "product transition" Apple mentioned on the last earnings call could very well be within the iPod line. Specifically, if you want to buy an iPod shuffle or iPod classic from Apple, you should do it sooner rather than later. We've heard those two iPods are getting the axe this year.

They go on to say that they see "few changes" coming for the iPod touch, except for a white model. That portion of the report mirrors our own from last week, which detailed the introduction of a white iPod Touch model, but little else in the way of changes. The iPod nano appears to be safe for the time being and may see a minor improvement as well next week. 



The iPod as a product line has been making up a smaller and smaller percentage of Apple's revenue over the past few years with the growth of the iPhone. Apple does not break out the iPod touch out of those sales, but the touch likely represents a large portion of the remaining iPod sales. The last official word about the iPod Classic came from Steve Jobs over a year ago, in which he said in an email that they had no plans on discontinuing the iPod Classic at that time. Now, a year later, it may be coming, if TUAW's source is to be believed.

CNN Serves Up Live Streaming 24/7 To iPad and iPhone

CNN is the first 24-hour news network to offer live streaming of both the flagship CNN channel and CNN Headline News to iPad and iPhone owners, and at CNN.com/video, via the TV Everywhere initiative. 

It only works for users who already subscribe to CNN via AT&T, Comcast, Cox, DISH Network, Suddenlink and Verizon. Time Warner Cable is the notable, ironic exception, mostly because CNN is owned by Time Warner -- a company that once was the parent of Time Warner Cable. The two are related only in name at this point. 


In addition to streaming CNN and Headline News, CNN will also offer up to 4 other streams of breaking news and events. Today, CNN was streaming live coverage of the US Senate, and video of the Atlanta and New York City skylines.

from: http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/18/cnn-serves-up-live-streaming-247-to-ipad-and-iphone/

Apple to Launch Next-Generation iPhone in Late August, Offer Unsubsidized 3GS for $350?

BGR reports that it has received information from an "incredibly solid source" claiming that Apple will be introducing its next-generation iPhone "by end of the Summer, late August-ish" and taking advantage of the opportunity to expand its iPhone line to three models by selling the new handset alongside the existing iPhone 4 and potentially continuing to offer the iPhone 3GS as a low-cost device available for $349 without a contract. 

The source reports that the next-generation iPhone isn't likely to sport a major redesign compared to the iPhone 4, suggesting that case manufacturers should have already leaked the new design if it was in fact different from the iPhone 4. With other sources adamantly reporting in recent weeks that the next-generation iPhone will receive an external redesign, the "will it/won't it" debate remains unsettled.

If this turns out to be true, it will mean there would be an iPhone 4S in addition to the prepaid iPhone 3GS available within the next month to two. Let's do one better, though. In addition to that news, we are told that Apple will continue to sell the current iPhone 4 as well, finally giving the company a full range of devices in the lower, mid, and high-end price segments.

Rumors of Apple releasing a low-cost iPhone carrying an unsubsidized price in the range of $350 have been circulating in recent weeks, with one analyst claiming that Apple will in fact be using the iPhone 3GS to fill that role, slashing its price to free on-contract and $399 without contract. The 8 GB iPhone 3GS currently retails for $449 unsubsidized.

from: http://www.macrumors.com/

OS X Lion and New MacBook Airs Coming on Wednesday?

AppleInsider reports that this Wednesday may finally be the day that OS X Lion and new MacBook Air models finally begin shipping as consumers have been anxiously awaiting the releases.

According to people with proven track records who would be in a position to know, the new product launches are set to occur later this week. Specifically, one person said the products would be released on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

Circulating rumors have claimed that the updated MacBook Air models will sport a minimum of 128 GB solid state drives and 4 GB of RAM, and will also see the return of a backlit keyboard. 

Apple has been reported to be holding new hardware launches until OS X Lion is ready so that it can ship the machines with the latest operating system pre-installed. A number of other new hardware updates are said to be pending, including a Mac mini refresh and anupdated LED Cinema Display. New Mac Pro models have also been rumored for release later this month or early next month. All of the new releases are said to support the new Thunderbolt high-speed data connectivity standard.

From: http://www.macrumors.com/

Apple Retail Stores Receive Golden Master Copies of OS X Lion

Apple appears to be setting up the final pieces for OS X Lion's launch this week. A previous report even pinpointed the release as early as Wednesday morning. 

We've now been able to confirm that Apple Retail stores have begun receiving final copies of OS X Lion today. The installations have come on hard drive and are meant for the Apple Retail demo computers on the store floor. This, of course, doesn't guarantee a specific launch date, but brings Apple one step closer to launch. 

Apple has said that OS X Lion will be launching in July but has not publicly committed to a launch date. Apple seeded the Golden Master version of OS X Lion to developers on July 1st. The Golden Master version is typically the final shipping version of the operating system. Apple is also widely expected to refresh the MacBook Air and Mac Mini computers around the same time as Lion's launch.

From: http://www.macrumors.com/

How to Lose Weight Fast

From http://www.wikihow.com

 Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.

Do you want to slim down fast for that beach vacation or high school reunion? While there are many things you can do to shed pounds, losing weight too quickly, like any sudden change to your body, can be dangerous. While fad diets, diet pills, and fasting may indeed induce rapid weight loss, these methods can cause you to get gallstones, start losing muscle and hair and may also injure your heart and other organs fairly quickly. The best solution? Do not go for an overnight miracle. Instead, follow these steps to lose weight rapidly, healthily, and sustainably.

Steps

1. 1
   Have confidence in yourself. You should know the exact reason that stimulates you to reduce your weight. This will help keep you motivated in your weight loss program. Know that millions of people do it, and so can you! You're never too out of shape to get into shape!
2. 2
   Set an achievable goal for your weight reduction. If the aim is not practical then you will easily get disheartened and stop following your regimen. You must set a target that has a time limit. The amount of weight you want to lose and the time within which you would like to lose it should be decided beforehand. If the time and amount of weight is clearly decided primarily, your enthusiasm will keep you on the track until you reach your destination.
3. 3
   Determine your daily caloric intake. Losing weight is simply an activity. Lower your calories intake without starving. Remember to calculate your metabolism. The metabolism is a large part of your calories burned in an average day. To win the battle, know how many calories you consume in a day.
   • Write down all the things you eat on a typical day. Carry a small notebook with you and write down every snack, every drink, and the contents of every meal. There are also great websites that you can use to keep track of calories, get recipes, and help achieve your goal. Don't forget to include the pats of butter or the spoonful of sugar in your coffee. It's best to do this for at least a couple weekdays and a weekend; it's even better if you can go a full week. There are also calorie tracking websites that can help you to do this, such as the US government Pyramid Tracker website.
   • Do an itemized calorie count. When possible, write down the number of calories in each food you eat as you eat it. Keep in mind that the recommended serving size is often considerably smaller than the serving you actually eat. Look up the calorie count on the internet for foods that don't have calories listed on the container or for fast food meals. You don't have to be 100% accurate, but you do want a good estimate of the number of calories you're taking in. There is an idea that multiplying your ideal weight by ten will produce a rough estimate of the number of calories you need to eat per day to maintain your weight. This is not true for everyone. You may wind up grossly under or over estimating the number of calories you should be eating. Consult a nutritionist. Use a scientific or health website to determine the number of calories you should eat a day or consult your doctor. Everyone has different metabolisms and there is no blanket rule that covers everyone's recommended calorie intake. Reducing 500 calories per day from the calories you eat to maintain your weight can help you lose a pound of fat per week.
4. 4
   Go over the list and decide which foods to cut out or reduce. Cutting calories is usually a lot easier than you might think. For example, that daily tall latte in the morning may pack 500 calories. Since a pound of flab (lost or gained) is roughly equivalent to 3,500 calories, replacing that rich beverage with black coffee can help you lose a pound a week. Other easy cuts include salad dressing (salad dressing is the number one source of fat in the average American woman's diet), soda pop, candy, and butter. Look at the nutritional information for the foods you eat, pay special attention to your intake of saturated fats and empty calorie, high-sugar foods. You don't need to cut these things out entirely, but if you reduce your intake of high-fat, high-calorie foods you'll lose weight faster.
5. 5
   Seek out alternatives to the unhealthy foods you've identified. You can simply reduce the amount of soda you drink or mayonnaise you put on your sandwiches, or you can substitute healthier choices. Drink water instead of soda, for example, or use mustard instead of mayo. Low-fat and low-calorie options are also available for most foods, and many of these are natural, (although some may contain chemicals), and tasty. Start trying to eat healthy in most meals:
   • Choose lean meats. Chicken and fish are both very low in fat, and certain fish like salmon, sardines, and fresh tuna are an excellent sources of antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids, which are also beneficial to your health, so aim to replace some or all of the beef or pork in your diet with these foods.
   • Replace high-calorie side dishes with healthier alternatives. Many people get a ton of calories from side dishes such as macaroni and cheese, French fries, or potato salad. You can eat healthier and lose weight by replacing these with fresh vegetables and salads. Pre-made salads are practically effortless, and when accompanied by a reduced-calorie dressing or no dressing at all, they're weight-loss gold.
   • Start your days off right. A fattening breakfast of bacon and eggs or a pastry can be replaced with yogurt, oatmeal, high-fiber, low-sugar cereals; or fresh fruit for fruit smoothies. However, for those on a low carbohydrate diet bacon and eggs are a great combo for breakfast, since neither have carbs. But don't fall into the trap of skipping breakfast. Eating a healthy breakfast increases your rest metabolic rate earlier in the day, and reduces snacking before lunch.
6. 6
   Plan your meals. Look for healthy, delicious meals online or in your cookbooks, and create a menu for the week. Make sure that your meal plan reduces your total calorie intake: you're not going to lose weight if you consume the same amount of calories by eating different foods. Make a list of what you'll need for these meals, and -- except for a few snacks, of course -- don't stray from your list when you get to the market. Planning your meals helps ensure you get a balanced diet and reduces the temptation to stop off for fast food or order a pizza. Remember, it's easier to stick to your shopping list if you shop when you aren't hungry - this will help avoid impulse buys which contribute to calorie consumption.
7. 7
   Watch your portion sizes. Eating a whole bag of rice cakes in one sitting won't help you lose weight. When eating chips, nuts, or dried fruit, put a portion in a small bowl and then put the bag away. That way you won't mindlessly eat a larger portion than you had intended. Even if you only make minimal changes to your diet choices, reducing portion size will inevitably reduce caloric intake. A great way to watch portion sizes while snacking is to buy one serving 100 calorie packages - and they come in many favorite snack food items! Eat slowly to avoid overeating; you will get satisfied with less calories.
8. 8
   Graze on healthy snacks. Just because you're getting healthy doesn't mean you can't snack. In fact, eating small meals and snacks throughout the day, or grazing, has been shown to aid weight loss, compared to eating three large meals a day, by keeping metabolism steadier. Pick snacks that are low in calories and fat and high in fiber dried apricots, nuts, rice cakes, fruits, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, and so on. Vegetables are generally very low in calories, very high in fiber, and full of flavor and nutrition. Avoid starchy vegetables like potatoes, and try to eat vegetables plain, without fatty dressings or dips. Fruit also makes a good snack. Fruit contains more soluble fiber than vegetables, which slows your body's absorption of carbohydrates, thus releasing energy more slowly preventing sugar highs, and keeping you feeling full longer. Fruit juices are not a replacement for the real thing. You need that fiber, and juices often have more calories than the equivalent serving of fruit and as many calories as soda! Be careful with dried fruits, because without the water, you tend to eat more, and fruits, when dried, are calorie-rich per ounce. With any dry or dried food, be sure to drink plenty of water.
9. 9
   Get more fiber. There are many myths about fiber, but there is science to back up its helpful role in the diet. Fiber keeps the right amount of water in your intestines, making your digestive system work more efficiently and helping to keep you regular. Thus, just eating enough fiber may help you feel slimmer in just a day or so. There is also evidence that fiber in the diet can help prevent stroke and heart disease, ease the effects of diabetes, and may even directly help in weight loss.
10. 10
    Drink plenty of water. An adequate amount of water is essential for health, and a great many people simply don't get enough. What's more, if you're chronically dehydrated, your body will retain water in unflattering places, so if you make sure to get plenty of fluids you can start visibly trimming down in as little as a day. Remember, the more you exercise, the more water you'll need. See the related wikiHow for more details on how much water you should be getting. Drink one glass of water before your meal; it will help digestion and also to get the sensation of fullness in your stomach that will keep you from overeating; that in combination with eating slowly, will allow you to stop eating when you are satisfied, not when you already ate too much (If you eat too fast you can get full, even bloated but still be hungry) .
11. 11
    Write down your targets on sticky note pads and then stick them in most spaces of your home. These stuck notes will always remind you of your goal and will further inspire you to stay on your regime. They would not let you forget your goals at any time.
12. 12
    Exercise. Remember, you can lose weight either by decreasing your calorie intake or increasing the number of calories you burn. Any health strategy should include both, but if you want to lose weight fast, exercise is essential. By making time for exercise and other healthy, productive activities, you can also avoid temptation to overeat.
    • Perform low impact aerobic activities. Moderate aerobic workouts incorporating brisk walking, cycling, aerobic machines, or swimming not only burn calories they also keep your heart healthy. Swimming is great, especially if you are quite overweight or have joint problems, because you can get the same benefits of running typically burning even more calories with much less stress on your joints. Try to get at least 30-40 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three or four days per week.
    • Pump some iron. Resistance training, weight training, can help both sexes stay lean by building muscle and raising metabolism. The fact is, hours and hours of aerobic exercise won't help most people lose weight fast because your metabolism drops back to normal fairly quickly after stopping the exercise. If you gain muscle, however, your body's resting metabolism, (the amount of calories you burn when you're just sitting still), increases, because muscle requires a lot of calories to maintain. Studies have shown consistent weight training to raise the body's metabolism by 15%. This means an average woman might burn 200-300 more calories at rest every day! Resistance training is the gift that keeps on giving!
    • It can be fun! Although you're losing weight through possibly painful exercises, it doesn't necessarily have to be a boring and painful procedure. If you want some extra motivation that will cover up the pain, get the video game Wii Fit. Built by Nintendo, this system helps you do exercises such as yoga, aerobics, strength training, and balance. If you want to work on burning calories, you can always run, but when you run on Wii Fit, it's twice as fun, because you always have a score to beat, and if you're competitive enough, it's a great way to burn the calories and get in shape.
13. 13
    Rest properly. This means not only taking at least 24-48 hours between strength training the same muscles, and taking 1-2 days off from exercising each week; it also means knowing how much sleep you need, since sleep deficiency impairs your ability to lose fat.
14. 14
    Be realistic. Don't expect a miracle. Healthy weight loss can be achieved fairly quickly, but you'll need to be patient. In addition, be sure to set realistic goals. Make sure that the weight you're trying to reach is a healthy weight for you, and keeping in mind that gaining pounds of muscle will help you lose fat, be trimmer, and look better even though you don't actually lose any weight. Your goal should be a healthy body, not a number of pounds! Everyone looks good at a different weight. A short person may look really good at about 112 pounds, but a person of a taller height would just look unhealthy. Keep yourself at a weight that makes you look good, not at a number that sounds good.
15. 15
    Make adjustments. A successful weight loss strategy based on reducing calorie intake and increasing activity can be adjusted to maintain your desired weight once you reach it. Unlike typical diets, this method is sustainable; it is a lifestyle change, not a binge-and-purge exercise. Slowly adjust your diet and exercise to include more weight training and calories, as much as is comfortable for you. If you do gain any weight back, you want that weight to be lean, toned muscle, not fat. In addition, weight training, no matter what your age, prevents muscle atrophy and can help stave off osteoporosis.
    • Instead of thinking of it as losing a certain amount of pounds, think of it as being a certain weight. So if you are 145 pounds, and you would like to lose 10 pounds, think of it as being 135 pounds. This helps you think about it as a long-term goal and not just losing the weight to gain it back again.
16. 16
    Be confident. You need to believe in yourself! If you want to diet, and you know that it will make you feel better, then you need confidence. Otherwise, the temptation to cheat on your diet will make it harder, and you will not feel better when you do lose weight. Avoid temptations like chocolate, ice cream, and cookies. They may taste good, but there are other foods that taste delicious, too, without being unhealthy. You need to always encourage yourself to achieve the goals that you have set. Learn to evaluate your efforts fairly and objectively. If you fail to achieve your target for the week, find out why is it so. Is it because you have missed an exercise session? Or you have been eating junk food for one of the days? After evaluating, look ahead to next week and try your best to stick to your plan.
17. 17
    Be consistent and disciplined, and have self motivation. To lose weight effectively, you need to stick to your weight loss plan religiously so as to see results. When you think about giving up, visualize the benefits of slimming down successfully.
18. 18
    After you achieve your targets successfully, you must maintain your weight loss. You must form a way of life that is healthy for you. Make certain that you don't gain back the weight you lost by returning to your old eating habits.
19. 19
    You can simplify weight loss with a pre-planned diet, many of which involve ready-made food. Be especially cautious of and do not spend long (more than, say, a month) on a diet which involves an extremely restricted variety of foods; do not use any that involves drugs without consulting a doctor. Some involve special versions of a variety of more-or-less ordinary food.
    • Preparing menus and queuing up portions of food well in advance can help you stick to a diet (by having a well-defined diet to which to stick) and avoid reminders to think about varieties of food daily, which is very helpful when trying to eat less of it. This can help you easily stick to and enjoy a diet such as Nutrisystem or any other.
20. 20
    Find a weight loss support group. Weight loss support groups are very important when losing weight. They keep you accountable to your goals. Hate going to meetings? You can always try an online support group.

Tips

• Try this amazing website that helped guide me through my weight loss journey. It was easy, cheap, and gave me that extra push to continue losing weight the healthy way!
  • It is best to drink freshly made juice right away, as the longer it is stored, the more it will decline in nutrition. You can put your juice in a glass jar with an airtight lid and fill it to the very top. There should be a minimal amount of air in the jar as the oxygen in air (air is about 20 percent oxygen) will “oxidize” and damage the juice. Wrap the jar with aluminum foil to block out all light. Light damages the juice.
• Motivation is key when losing weight. If you are not motivated, you will forget about your goal and simply drop out. If you want to stay focused, the best strategy is to get a book on losing weight and bring it everywhere you go. By doing this, you're remembering to lose weight no matter where you are. There are books on weight loss everywhere. Just pick one and you're all set to go.
• For maximum health, especially if you are changing your dietetic routine in any drastic manner, start a diabetic diet of vegetables, fruits, proteins in small portions of poultry, fish, eggs, and meat. Build your diet from there.
• Determine your objectives to lose weight. To succeed in doing something, you need to have a very compelling objective or reason so that you will not lose track of your goal. Losing weight just for vanity's sake is usually less helpful than losing weight to improve health. Other than just exercising, you need to have a healthy diet so that you will have a better body and more energy to be positive throughout the day.
• It's very good to do a blood test before you begin your new diet and exercise regimen. Some people may not need to lose a lot of weight, but they may need to lower the blood sugar level slightly. You can also check for mineral deficiencies.
• The goal is to lose fat, not just weight in general. If you are doing strength training during your weight loss (which you should be), you might actually see an initial gain in weight -- don't worry! You have probably lost fat and gained muscle, which is denser than fat and is much healthier.
  • A better measurement than what a scale reads is body fat percent. If you don't have access to calipers or a body fat scale, a better gauge is how your clothes fit and how you look rather than your absolute weight. If you can, though, it is good to measure your body fat about once per month. Men should be between 15%-25%, but no lower than 4%; and women 20%-30%, but no lower than 15%. Females have higher fat percentage due to pregnancy and menstrual requirements.
  • Generally, with a combination of calorie reduction and increased activity, you want to reduce and burn a certain number of calories a day, causing a net loss of calories so your body is forced to use its own stores of fat. How much aerobic exercise you need to perform depends on what you eat, how fast you'd like to lose weight, and how much muscle you gain. A pound of fat contains 3500 calories. Men can safely lose around two pounds a week, and women can safely lose around one pound a week. Any more than this and you might be losing more muscle mass than fat. Thus, with a combination of calorie restriction and aerobic exercise, a man should aim to run a 3500-7000 calorie deficit each week, and women should aim for a 1750-3500 calorie deficit.
• With regard to weights, men and women differ on their goals with weight training. Women, don't worry, no amount of weight training will make you as bulky as a man; women just don't have enough testosterone to build large muscles. The female body-builders you see are either taking steroids or training 2-3 hours every day. Male and female beginners should start with 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions, and should use the heaviest weight you can while still maintaining good form, even to the last repetition of the last set. Get a weight training book or find a reputable website that will show you different exercises and the correct form. When lifting properly, you will stretch the muscle during the exercise, but you should still stretch properly to prevent injury!
• No matter what the magazine article says, spot improving is a myth! When your body burns fat, it takes it from all over your body, even if all you do are crunches. No amount of crunches will get rid of that gut if they are not backed up by proper aerobic exercise and diet! Washboard abs do not come from millions of sit ups; they come from having low levels of body fat. So if that is your goal, make sure you do plenty of aerobic exercise in addition to your ab routine.
• Sugar comes in many disguises. Check your food labels: fructose, glucose, molasses, and corn syrup are all sugars. Limit all sugars, but especially stay away from high-fructose corn syrup. It is just a corn syrup full of sugar. Choosing foods without it will help you reach your weight loss goals faster.
• Remember your body needs 'fuel' just like a car needs 'fuel'. Your body needs the 'right' kinds of food to lose weight effectively.
• Don't taunt yourself by not letting yourself eat the occasional snack that you're craving. Just make sure you burn it off later with exercise
• Despite popular belief it is not terrible to eat after 6 p.m. A reasonable dinner with extra protein if you've had a good weight training session is going to help deliver nutrients to the body to prepare it for the next day. Additionally if you find yourself very hungry before bed, a small bowl of high fiber cereal and low fat milk will actually help maintain your metabolism while you sleep. The key is to not overeat in the evenings.
• Take the right vitamins for your requirements. While it is better to always get your nutrients from your food, most people miss something in their diet, especially when they're trying to cut calories. Vitamins and minerals play an important role in keeping your body chemistry balanced and your energy levels healthy.
• If you find yourself missing some of your favorite foods, don't worry. There is no harm in having your treat once a week. Pick a day each week where you treat yourself to your guilty pleasure in moderation. If it's pizza, try going to a gourmet pizza place that will use better ingredients and fresher vegetables. If it's a fast food burger, try making your own. Ahomemade burger is generally much healthier than the food they serve in fast food restaurants. Electric grills that are slanted to allow most of the fat to slide off make nice, lean burgers.
• Save some calories for potassium and protein for after you work out, this will help reduce soreness. A banana and an egg does the trick.
• Do not forget to stretch. Stretching can help increase your strength and flexibility.
• Cut down on your sodium. Many prepared foods have as much as 30% of your daily value. You get your daily requirement of sodium from a healthy diet; too much can cause you to retain water weight.
• Try not to skip any meals as this only makes your body to retain fats for energy. A good weight loss plan is to eat healthily and exercise regularly.
• To continue to lose weight fast, eat a variety of foods. Just like in weight training, the body will get used to the same routine and plateau. Mix up the foods you eat to keep your metabolism high and prevent a metabolism plateau.
• Your breathing can also help increase your metabolic rate, and in turn enable you to burn calories more efficiently.
• You can reduce your caloric intake by eating slowly; your brain needs about 20 minutes to get the signal that you are not hungry anymore, if you eat fast your stomach can get bloated and you will still feel hungry, the extra calories will be accumulated as fat. Eating slowly gets you satisfied with less food without feeling hungry or deprived.
• You can actually lose weight by eating slowly. Because eating slowly gives your the hypothalamus in your brain to register that you are satisfied and that will allow you to stop before you overeat; it takes your brain about 20 minutes to get the signal that you are satisfied. This is why doctors recommend that you eat several small meals while keeping the same daily calorie/carbohydrate limits. The healthy goal is to be satisfied, not full. If you've satisfied your biological needs, but you're not full, then you've probably over indulged in the past to the extent that your stomach is expanded too much. Eat until you are satisfied, and no more, and your stomach will shrink back to its normal size.

Warnings

• If you do smoke, it would be best to quit before you start losing weight. Smoking is very dangerous and it has many unhealthy chemicals that could cause your road to weight loss to be a lot more difficult. When you quit, you will gain a few pounds, but it will come off a lot easier than if you still smoked.
• Always consult a doctor before changing your dietetic routine. Also, make regular appointments with a registered nutritionist.
• Do not try to starve yourself. In the short run, reducing your calorie intake to unhealthily low levels will slow metabolism and actually cause you to lose weight more slowly. Then your body cannot process potassium so when you DO eat again, (the alternative to dying), you will gain much more weight than you would if you weren't starving yourself and overall, you may end up gaining more than you lost. In the long run, starving yourself (anorexia or bulimia) can kill you. It's better to eat moderate amounts of healthy food than it is to not eat at all.
• Muscle mass weighs more than fat, so don't be surprised if you gain weight but look slimmer.
• When starting a weight lifting routine, do not focus on a single muscle or group, doing so will overbuild that muscle while under building others - in other words, if you work your biceps, and not your triceps, your arms will begin to curl inward and you will look silly. If you work your chest and not your back, you will have a hard time maintaining good posture as your pectoral muscles overpower your back muscles and pull your shoulders forward.
• A balanced workout also strengthens all the joints and smaller tie-in muscles, those most likely to become injured if bigger muscles over power the smaller ones. Have a personal trainer or a fitness facility provide a balanced workout and stretching routine.
• If you have a serious medical condition (such as asthma or diabetes, or allergy to protein such as dairy products or you have lactose intolerance) or you are severely obese, consult with your doctor as well as a dietitian.
• Do not take any harmful drugs. They are unhealthy and may ultimately make you gain weight instead.
• Carefully consider whether you need dietary supplements. Most people may get the basic minerals and nutrients they need to sustain life through eating food. For example, excessive multivitamin supplements can make you overdose in some vitamins you need, and you can't store most water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C as any excess will be urinated. Although you could be below the recommended daily intake, that doesn't necessarily mean you are deficient in it if it's a kind that is stored. So you may wish to consult with your doctor or dietitian to inquire whether you need supplements and how much you should take.
• Losing weight too quickly is dangerous and can have adverse effects on your health. For instance, it can in some people cause the gallbladder to damage itself by accumulating gallstones. Despite the title of this article, getting into shape is best done slowly. If you find yourself losing more than 2 pounds, or more than 1000g, each week, you are probably doing something wrong.