Saturday, July 30th, is the second annual National Dance Day so take advantage of this opportunity to add dance to your healthy weight loss program.  Secretly, we all love to dance.  And it does not matter if you are a great dancer or not.  Either way you can still burn a lot of calories and start dancing your way to your weight loss goal. Special events today will feature dance celebrities, including Carrie Ann Inaba of “Dancing with the Stars” and Mary Murphy and Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo of “So You Think You Can Dance.” Here’s how you can take advantage National Dance Day events:

The Calorie Control Council, an international non-profit association, recently released its list of top diet and weight loss trends for 2011.  What were some of these trends and could they help you reach your healthy weight loss goals? Read on as we review them...

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement which compares weight and height, defines people as overweight (pre-obese) when their BMI is between 25 and 30, and obese when BMI is greater than 30.

In a recent survey I conducted among four-hundred dieters, better health was the number one reason given for wanting to lose weight.   This is a good thing because your health truly is the best motivator for weight loss.  If you lose weight to improve your health, then you are doing this primarily for yourself and not because of social pressure or anyone else’s definition of beauty.

Some people are simply born with great legs and some of us are not.  If you weren’t born with long, lean legs, don’t despair.  Well-defined leg muscles are something that most of us have to work for. There are a number of exercises that are specifically designed to sculpt and strengthen your leg muscles that you can add to your healthy weight loss plan. These exercises usually combine fat-burning cardio to decrease body fat with strength training that targets and tones the leg muscles.

Do you avoid wearing cute, sexy, sleeveless tops or dresses – or refuse to take off your jacket because you are unhappy with how your arms look?  If so, you are not alone.  Arms are one of the most common fat-loss trouble spots, particularly for women.  But don’t despair.

Whether you’ve just begun a healthy weight loss program or are in the middle of it, you can probably benefit from some old advice:  life is a cinch by the inch and hard by the yard.  In other words, take baby steps to achieve your goals rather than trying to make leaps and bounds quickly. This adage most certainly applies to anyone who is trying to lose weight.  Here are a few ideas that can help you move forward at a steady pace rather than plowing ahead and then running out of steam before you’ve achieved your weight loss objectives.

When used together in a healthy weight loss program, diet and exercise can help you lose weight and keep it off for good.  Sure, you can lose weight without exercise.  But studies have shown that exercise really helps you keep the weight off.  Moreover, exercise is great for your heart and lungs, can help lower your cholesterol and lift your energy and your spirits.  But if you’re new to exercise, it can be very difficult to get started.  Maybe you’re intimidated by the images you’ve seen on TV or in magazines.  Maybe you don’t like jogging.  Well, the good news is, there are plenty of other types of exercise and great ways to get yourself motivated. So turn off the TV and throw away the magazine; here are our top five ways to get motivated about exercise.

I spoke with my friend Susan today.  She read my post about the “What-if? Diet” and wanted to share how she could relate to it.  Susan is determined to lose thirty-five pounds and has set a goal to accomplish this in six months.  She started a healthy diet and exercise program just over eight weeks ago and has dropped fourteen pounds so far.  She’s pleased with her progress but says it has required her to completely change the kinds of foods she eats and make exercise a habit.  She said this has not been easy, but she shared with me exactly how she stays motivated to stick to her healthy weight loss program.

Difficulty: Medium to advanced

This ab exercise makes a great alternative to crunches!  Try this intense ab workout and you’ll feel your tummy and buns working hard to create the new healthier you!  You’ll feel your whole core engaged and your muscles working with fewer repetitions than crunches.