Why Do We Have Body Fat?

Good question. Some body fat is necessary; we need it to cushion the organs in our body. Also, our body burns good fats as fuel to create energy.  Approximately  30% of all the calories burned every day to create energy come from fat that you eat or stored fat that you body keeps in reserve.

So why is fat bad? you might ask. There is good fat and bad fat, I'll explain. Your body will try and process all the food and drink you consume, but some things that we eat can't be processed; it has no value to the body, so it's stored in fat cells. When your body processes food it separates it into food it can use and the waste it can't use, but if your body can't process something or you over eat and the body hasn't the time to process it, then it gets sent to fat storage cells before the body can process it.

Our ancestors needed this system of fat storage because Man  never knew when he would find food again. Because of the active lifestyle of our ancestors, always doing physical work, always walking about, there was never any thought about Man storing too much fat. Man was not designed to deal with excess body fat. Man was designed to store fat whenever possible for the purpose of survival. And yes we were given brains to deal with our evolution because over time we would evolve. But in spite of the brains we were given, we haven't done a very good job of maintaining our bodies. The body has no mechanism  to control our weight. We have no way of knowing that we are eating too much.

Our activity level is much lower than our grandparents even. Today we do most of our work with our mind's. Yes, we do small things to keep us active, but the average office worker is only on their foot about 4 hours a day.  So we do have to be more active all day long whenever possible. But that's not our only problem; American are in the habit of eating whatever and whenever they want. We have food available 24/7 and on average we consume twice the calories we should.

Her lies the problem. To stay healthy and keep a healthy weight you have to burn the calories you eat. Simply right? Not really. If man had a fresh food diet and only fresh food like vegetables, fruits and lean meat and some whole grain like brown rice and there was no other food; than Man wouldn't have a weight problem. As long as you were moderately active you couldn't eat enough to gain weight. But today we eat all types of food that give us no nutrition; the body can't process this type food and stores it as fat. We consume too much fatty foods that overload the Liver, so if the Liver can't process all the fat  it passes through into the blood stream and clog up the arteries.

To be healthy and stay healthy you have to stick to a fresh food diet. Look up "The Mediterranean diet" and look for the food pyramid that shows all the choices. If you eat healthy you will lose body fat over time. By walking more, and I recommend the 10,000 step a day program for beginners that don't exercise regularly,  you can lose the weight quicker. But losing weight does take time. Don't get discouraged, stick to the program and don't cheat. Cheat days only ruin all the good that you've done.

The Atkins Diet is an alternative. It's a little more restrictive, but it works. Check out both those, they are the best one I know.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Can Skipping Meals Boost Your Metabolism?

Overweight people who eat during a much smaller window of time each day than is typical report fewer hunger swings and burn slightly more fat at certain times during the night, according to a new study. But the study was small and it's not yet clear what effect, if any, this approach might have on weight.

I personally understand the reasoning and I do believe that if you want to lose weight, you have to eat most of your calories early in the day. Breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner should be all the food you need for the whole day. It's a type of "fasting". Eat all your calories in a 6 or 8 hour window and the other 16 or 18 hours you can't consume any more calories. This gives your body time to digest all the calories you ate and burn some of your body fat. But if you don't eat healthy food it doesn't work and you won't lose or if you binge food during the eating hours it won't work.

The assistant professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham thinks the idea is worth examining as a potential weight-loss approach and hopes to conduct a larger study.

The approach is called early time-restricted feeding. It's been tested in animals, where researchers have found that it reduced fat mass and the risk of chronic disease.

Body mass index is a rough measure of a person's body fat based on height and weight. A BMI of 30 is considered obese. Someone who is 5 feet 9 inches tall would need to weigh 203 pounds to have a BMI of 30.

All of the study participants tried each approach -- the early restricted-eating and the typical pattern. During one four-day period, participants ate between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. only; during another four-day period they ate between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

The participants ate the same number of calories during each approach and they ate only the food given to them by the researchers and under supervision.

Researchers then tested the impact of the longer fast time on calories burned, fat burned and appetite. The restricted eating time didn't change the total number of calories burned, she said.

Personally, I do think there's merit to the theory. One very big problem that overweight people have is night-time eating. Snacking at night and eating that big meal at 6 pm or later and then not being active enough after dinner will cause weight gain and most of that is simply bad habits.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

What The Best Diet For Me?

As new research study comes out, the age-old debate over the best diet for weight loss keeps evolving. Is it a low-fat diet, a low-carb diet, the Military Diet, paleo, gluten-free, or something else? 

The answer really boils down to you. Ultimately, all of these diets are just fancy ways of cutting calories so that you eat less than you burn. That's the only way you'll lose weight. 

Before you decide, explore your choices. Make sure the diet you choose isn't bad for you, ask yourself these important questions, and talk to your doctor or another licensed health professional to help you make the right decision.

Many diet plans make promises that weight loss is easy, that you can eat anything that you want and that you'll see quick results. The claims can be both tempting and confusing. So, how do you sort through the plans to find the best diet plan for you? Ask yourself these questions before investing any time or money in a weight loss plan plan. First remember that most of us weight on our own. I never spent a dime to lose weight. Any money I did spend only resulted in temporary results. My real weight loss came from a change in what I was eating. You might think eating real, natural food takes a lot of food preparation and cooking skills. That's not true, I learned all I needed to know from "youtube". After you begin to eat whole foods and stop eating processed foods you lose your food cravings and eat less. It will take your body a couple of weeks to adjust, that's normal.

What is my budget? Before you begin shopping for the best weight loss plan, decide if you have money to invest. Then, based on that budget, investigate as many diet plans and products as possible. Be sure to evaluate all costs that might be involved. This includes the cost of the food, support services, reference materials and exercise classes. 

Keep in mind that the cost of a diet program is not necessarily a predictor of the plan's success. Just because you pay to lose weight doesn't mean that the weight will necessarily disappear. However, there is some evidence that suggests commercial weight loss plans are more successful than trying to lose weight on your own. Research in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that dieters who followed a structured commercial plan lost slightly more weight than those who followed a self-help plan.

But if you don't have money to spend on a commercial diet, don't worry. There are some great online weight loss programs that are cheap or even free.  These apps, online workouts and virtual coaching services are perfect if you are a do-it-yourself type who prefers to be independent and create your own weight loss program. The best program for you is the one you can stick to. This is more than a diet it's a life long meal plan you can stick to so be carefully. Don't give up because because you didn't pick well, most people don't. You'll gain knowledge and do better next time.

I chose the Mediterranean diet that the people of the Mediterranean region have had for centuries. You'll find it on the internet for free. I chose it because the food chooses are numerous, more than any other plan I looked at and it's a proven plan with thousands of years of proven results.

One of the reasons that many diets fail is that busy schedules get in the way of good eating-habits. It's hard to pass by a fast-food restaurant after working a 10-hour day. But if you know that a healthy meal is waiting at home, making a good choice might be easier.

If your serious about succeeding this time, you want to prepare your own meals. You can't trust pre-made food, you don't know what in it. You can't trust food labels. The pre-made diet meals are usually very small and the plan is to starve you and you'll lose weight. You can't lose weight by starving. This is the biggest mistake that even the commercial plans get wrong. All the designer plans want to cut your calories by giving less food. If you eat less, you'll lose weight. But the idea doesn't work very long because you can't keep restricting your food intake. That leading to bingeing and then you develop a more serious problem. 

The trick is to change the food your eating so you eat less calories, not less food. You don't want to be hungry. Eat fresh and eat clean and you can eat all you need to stay full. 

In the process of choosing the right diet for you, try to ignore the claims and advertisements. Focus on your own physical, emotional and lifestyle considerations to find a plan that helps you reach your weight loss goal.

Eating fresh means no packaged foods, no frozen foods, no processed foods, no frankenfood, You want food that gives you the most nutrition in every meal. Also eat more seafood. You can find websites like seafoodedf.org which will tell you which seafoods are low in mercury. Another tip is to drink more water and avoid drinks with calories. Also eat less red meat; Americans eat too much red meat and tube meat; it contain animal fat and it will add inches to your waist line.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

How I Plan Meals

I always start to plan meals the day I'm going to shop. I generally shop on Sunday morning, so before I go out I'll make up a meal plan for the coming week. It's might sound hard but breakfast, lunch and snacks are pretty easy, It's usually the same week after week. For me and my wife it's pretty simple, we don't buy a lot of complicated foods. What I mean is pre-made foods or processed foods. So I want Low-Fat Plain Greek Yogurt and frozen berries, eggs, low-fat milk and Oatmeal. I stay away from any berries that have syrup included, I just want plain berries. I also get a variety of fresh fruit, whatever is in season. If they have apples in June, be sure to read the small sticker that tells you what country the fruit comes from. When things like Apple are in the stores in June and you pick Apples in the fall, you have to wonder how old they are or where did they come from. I always stick to fruit from California or Florida or at least fruit from the U.S.  Harmful chemicals are used in other countries like in Central America by the big commercial growers to increase production. In the U.S. we outlawed this chemicals  several years ago.

Next is the snacks and drinks. This is pretty easy for me, we drink lots of water and we might add a little juice to flavor the water. I look for juice without added sugar, then I buy tea bags and coffee. If you like beer, lite beer has about 100 calories per bottle and if that fits into your food plan, okay, there's no added sugar in beer. Wine and hard alcohol has added sugar, but if you want hard liquor, tequila and vodka only have about 100 calories per drink. A good mixer for these alcohols is a carbonated water with no calories. I only buy un-popped popcorn, mixed nuts, seeds and for a treat, dark chocolate.

Dinner menus are the hardest I want to eat fish 3 times a week, poultry once a week and red meat about twice a month. The other days I try to go meatless. I try to buy mostly fresh vegetables, mostly organic and fill in with plain frozen vegetables. I like bread and rolls but it's that easy finding whole grain items. They are out there and there's more than ever before. I'm not talking about whole wheat, whole grain wheat or oats or barley, but whole grain. I buy gluten-free pasta, bread, bagels and pizza crusts. That way I don't have to search the shelves for non-enriched flour.  And for dessert we eat fruit. Don't forget fruits like grapes and pineapple, but again try to buy only what's grown in the U.S.

Before I go to work, while I'm having coffee, I plan dinner for that day. If there's something in the freezer I need I’ll take it out and put it in the refrigerator.  So I remember I always write down the menu and take it with me when I go shopping. If your organized enough to do this a day or two ahead then if you're missing anything from the menu you'll have time to pick it up. If you learn to stick to the planned menus then you can actually save money on food. It means a few more trips to the store, but the inventory of groceries around the house will start to shrink. This is a good thing and yes the kids need snacks, but this will give you the opportunity to make some healthy choices. When you wait until the last-minute to shop, you don’t have time to make the proper choices, you end up buying anything just to get out quick. I wish I could count the times I nearly got run over going to the checkout line.

Fruit is great snack food, it has sugar but its good sugar, its natural sugar. It's all the processed foods that are causing our health problems. Try to avoid processed food. If you saw the Today Show when a health guru was talking about the six meals a day plan, maybe some of you thought it sounded  crazy, but it's true. Never skip breakfast, but be careful that you’re eating the right thing. Eggs are great, but only one yolk, the rest whites. toast is good, but not white bread or bagels unless the whole grain, it's just empty calories, and fruit is okay.  It's very important to eat but eat good food and avoid food that doesn't have nutrition. Get something for your food dollar. Go back and review earlier posts where I discuss the six meal plan. It won't hurt to read it over again. There's a lot of truth in that post. Remember you're not eating to fill your stomach with things that taste good, you’re eating to give your body enough nutrition until you eat again.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

About Me

I often get this question, "Why do you write about weight loss?" So I'll give you the whole story. I wanted to write after I retired from a long stretch about 45 years working. I think it was just the idea of have something to do and I always wanted to write but never found the time.

I read several books on writing and most of them encouraged the writer to write about something he loved and had a lot to say about the subject. The first thing that came to mind was "travel". I've been to more than 40 countries with my wife and I thought I had enough to start a travel blog and I did and I wrote for several months and then just ran out of words.

I stopped writing for a while and than thought about changing the topic. What else did I know enough about to blog on the subject. It was my wife that suggested I write about weight loss. After all, I have as much knowledge on the subject as most and it was a subject I was passionate about. I knew I'd have to do a lot of research on the subject, after all I lost my weight over years of trial and error and yes I did lose over 60 pounds and kept it off, but I've made mistakes along the way. Mistakes that cost me hundreds. So I wanted to write the blog to help my readers avoid the mistakes I made.

Some of the more important things I learned over the years is that my weight loss goal should have been to lose body fat, to eat less, and to eat better, healthier foods. I spent a lot of money on gym memberships and pills that I didn't need when all I had to do was change the way I was eating and what I was eating. It took me a long time to realize that you can't burn off your fat by exercising. You should do moderate exercise when your trying to lose weight, but a total of 6
extra hours of walking a week on top of your normal routine might be enough to boost weight loss.

It's your body's job to burn body fat. When you eat the right foods your body will burn your body fat for fuel and over time you lose fat and lose weight. I spent too much time worrying about what the scale said, when I should have been using a tape measure to see if I was losing inches.

Muscle per square inch weighes more than fat per square inch, so if your not feeding your muscle and your muscle tissue gets flabby your body will burn that flabby muscle rather than body fat. The body will always pick the easiest way to fuel the body and if you're not using all your muscles the body will use the unused muscle as fuel because it's easier. By easier I mean in order for the body to burn calories it has to use up calories. The body wants to burn the most calories for fuel with the lest amount of effort. In other words, the effort the body uses to create energy for the body to function will take energy and it gets energy by burning calories. So lets say the body has to supply 1000 calories of fuel and it will take 200 calories of fuel to produce 1000 calories for body functions. Now the body needs 1200 calories. But if your body can find flabby muscle to create energy it might only take 1100 calories to do the same thing. The body will always pick the easiest way of producing the needed calories because that will save energy.

You can learn more about weight loss in one of my ebooks. If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

I once had a client who asked, "When I eat too many calories, how do they know to go straight to my thighs? Do they have some kind of homing device or what?" I suppose that's one way to look at it since our genes usually determine where we store excess fat and how and where we burn fat. A more important point is that, if we didn't eat too many calories, we wouldn't have any extra calories to store. I don't believe "obesity" is genetic. We all have fat cells but they're not full of fat but when your body stores fat, carbs, or protein it will go to those areas that your genes send it. We think that it's only excess fat that is stored in fat cells but that's not true. Any excess is stored as fat because that's the only way your body has to stored excess food.

 If you are storing fat because of what you eat, then those places where the fat goes is genetic. You will store fat in the same parts of your body that your mother and father did. So if fat legs runs in your family when you add fat to your body the fat will probably go to your legs first. But if your dad for example always had a big waist then you might have a big waist too. You need to remember that you got your genes back in the days when your parents were young and healthy. If they gained weight as they grew older that doesn't mean you will. Your build and your weight depend and your diet and exercise.

We have no problem gaining fat but trying to burn fat is another problem.

We all have areas where fat cells seem to congregate and, sadly, thrive. The real challenge is how to burn that fat off. We hear a lot about fat burning, from working out in the 'fat burning zone' and spot reduction to eating foods or taking supplements that supposedly burn more fat.

But, gimmicks aside, what we all want to know is: What's the best way to burn fat? Knowing a little more about how your body works can help you become a better fat burning machine.

The Basics of Burning Fat

If you're trying to lose weight, knowing how your body uses calories for fuel can make a difference in how you approach your weight loss program. We get our energy from fat, carbs and protein. Which one our bodies draw from, however, depends on the kind of activity we're doing. Most people want to use fat for energy, which makes sense. We figure, the more fat we can use as fuel, the less fat we'll have in our bodies. But, using more fat doesn't automatically lead to losing more fat.

Understanding the best way to burn fat starts with some basic facts about how your body gets its energy:

• The body primarily uses fat and carbs for fuel. A small amount of protein is used during exercise, but it's mainly used to repair the muscles after exercise.
• The ratio of these fuels will shift depending on the activity you're doing.
• For higher intensity exercise, such as fast-paced running, the body will rely more on carbs for fuel than fat. That's because the metabolic pathways available to break down carbs for energy are more efficient than the pathways available for fat breakdown.

• For long, slower exercise, fat is used more for energy than carbs.
• When it comes to weight loss, it doesn't matter what type of fuel you use. What matters is how many calories you burn as opposed to how many calories you take in.

This is a very simplified look at energy with a solid take-home message. When it comes to weight loss, what matters is burning more calories, not necessarily using more fat for energy. And, the harder you work, the more calories you'll burn overall. Think about it this way: When you sit or sleep, you're in your prime fat-burning mode. But, you've probably never contemplated the idea of sleeping more to lose weight, as lovely as that thought is.

The bottom line? Just because you're using more fat as energy doesn't mean you're burning more calories.

The Myth of the Fat Burning Zone

One thing we know is that exercising at lower intensities will use more fat for energy. This basic premise is what started the theory of the 'fat burning zone,' or the idea that working in a certain heart rate zone (around 55 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate) will allow your body to burn more fat.

Over the years, this theory has become so ingrained in our exercise experience that we see it touted in books, charts, websites, magazines and even on cardio machines at the gym. The trouble is that it's misleading. Working at lower intensities isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it won't burn more fat off your body unless you're burning more calories than you're eating. One way to increase your calorie burn is to exercise at higher intensities.

Does this mean that, if you want to burn more fat, you should avoid low intensity exercise? Not necessarily. There are some specific things you can do to burn more fat and it all starts with how much you exercise.

This post first appeared on Healthnet.com and I added to it, and were I do agree with the theory I believe in low-intensity exercise to burn excess body fat, but I believe you have to be on a low-fat, low-carb diet to make it work. If your eating animal fat at all your meals your body won't be able to burn all the animal fat your consuming every day. So you might be burning fat but at the same time you might be storing more fat at the same time.

Thirty percent of all the calories your body burns in a day are calories from fat and it doesn't care where it gets the fat. If you didn't eat enough the body will go into stored fat and get some of that fat. That's why your body stores fat to begin with. It has to burn fat every day. But we eat so much fat in our diets that we are constantly adding fat everyday.

If you want to burn stored fat you have to cut back on the fats and carbs you consume. That's the simple answer and exercise will help speed up the fat burning process.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Losing weight wasn’t my main goal when I was growing up. Always tipping the scales between being chubby and thin, I never really felt the need to watch my weight. It wasn't until I became a senior that I realized how hard it was for me to carry around that extra, unwanted body fat. I decided to change my lifestyle, and I lost the weight. I'm proud to say that I weigh the same now as I did in high school. But after I started working I gain it back.

I weighed 220 pounds 40 years ago and today I weigh 158. No expensive equipment, no diet pills, no surgery, and the gym membership I had only gave me temporary weight loss.

I made up my mind after 10 years of yo-yoing up and down that I had to find a way to lose the extra fat for good. I read a lot of posts on a lot of websites and decided the only way was to change my diet. A normal guy will burn about 1800 calories a day if he spends his work day on his feet and does 30-minute workouts every day. 

So from research, I found the 30% of the calories are from fat and your body doesn’t care where it gets the fat. That means my body will burn about 550 calories from fat everyday. So if I eat less fat the 500 calories the body will have to get the extra fat from my stored fat. 

I decided I’d have to help the process along so I started an interval training program. It’s easy and it didn’t cost anything. I jog for 10 minutes to increase my heart rate and then walk for a few minutes to cool down and then jog for 5 minutes and walk for 5 minutes and then jog for 5 and walk for 5 and keep going like that as long as I could. If it gets too hard just walk more and jog less, but try to workout at least 30 minutes total.

Changing my diet was much harder. I had to start over. I gave way all the high-calorie food and drinks in the house. I went to the market and bought fresh foods for two days. All I was eating was fruit, whole grain bread and pasta, vegetables, fresh fish some fresh meat, water, tea, and coffee. For snacks, I bought the salted peanuts you had to shell.

The good news was I could eat all I wanted if I stick to the fresh foods and nuts. When I start the diet I stopped drinking alcohol, that’s important. After a few weeks and 10 pounds, I would have one glass of red wine occasionally. It works and I lost the fat. I did add a little variety to my diet after I lost the weight, but I can’t go back to my old way. No more processed foods of bake goods with enriched or processed flour, no high calorie drinks and very little dairy. 

The upside is that I love being 158 pounds again, I jog now, ride my bike, do Yoga, swim laps and lift weights. I have so much energy I can even work out after dinner.  At 71, I’m in good shape and I don’t take prescription drugs. Life could”t be better.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Why Do Humans Get Fat

I get this question alot in emails and the answer is pretty simple. We eat foods your body can't metabolize, in other words, can't use. When you eat anything the body can't use it stores it in fat cells and there it stays in case of emergency. And why is that, you might ask. The only waste that passes through your body is the waste from the food that is processed and what never gets processed or metabolized has to stored and the only way your body can store food is in fat cells.

We all have fat cells all over the body, many of them under the skin, others around your organs. Those fat cells just sit there empty until the body fills them with fat. Remember that the main function of the body is to keep you alive and by filling fat cells can provide a cushion for vidal organ and a layer of fat under the skin can also keep you from freezing.

Today we have little use for fat except to protect vidal organs and joints. The problem is that your body doesn't have any mechanism that will let it know when you have enough body fat. 15% to 20% body fat is all we need and any more only slows down body functions and ages the body. Woman naturally are built to carry more body fat than a man, about 5% more.

Getting back to the question, Why do humans get fat? Because we are eating and drinking the wrong things and we are not active enough to keep are bodies working properly. The decline in body functions because of increased body fat happens so gradually that we don't notice it. We believe that increased body fat is simply a part of aging. It's the opposite, aging is not numerical, it has nothing to do with your years since birth. Aging is really caused by the slow decline in body functions that can begin between 5 and 10 years after maturity or in most cases around age 30. Must of us are so busy just trying to make a living or in some cases just trying to survive that we don't take care of the only body we have. We depend on doctors to do it for us. Doctors aren't able to keep your body working properly, they can only try to keep you alive, ease the pain, patch you up when you damage something, and help you cope with your illness. In short, they can make you feel better, and help you to live a little longer.

What doctors can't do is restore the body to the way it use to be. Humans are usually at their prime somewhere between the ages of 17 and 22. At the time your body and your organs are fully matured. By adding more weight after maturitywill only slow down the body functions and age the body. Some people 40 years old right now have aged their body as much as 20 years. In other words, they might be 40 but they have a 60 years old body. Their body is aging past their calendar years because of the way they live. Some of us have slowed down the aging process because of the way we live. And some of us have actually stopped the aging process by the way they live. Yes you can be 40 and have a body like a 30 year old.

There are more people today than in the past that want to eat better, exercise more, and live a healthier life, and I see more people trying. Depending on your age, you can't return to the way you once were, but any improvement you make will improve body functions and help you to live a healthier life. Some people give up when they get older. They thing isn't too late to improve myself, but it's never too late. Being more active will actually decrease body pains. Stretching and using hand weights to strengthen your body will increase motor skills, decrease joint pain.

In retirement homes today they teach water arobics, along with weight exercises to help people be more active and live a healthier life. Science thinks it will effect longevity but that's still up in the air. Today we do know that exercise and a healthy diet will help you to feel better, be happier, be more active, and be healthier. So what's your goal?

Are The Expensive Gym Programs Worth The Money

This is a question that we all struggle with. We think about all the times we tried to lose weight and didn't. It seems we always quit after a few months so why spend a lot of money. And I understand. I lost my body fat without spending any money, so why should you. My opinion is that when you make up your mind that you're going to do this, you will finally do the research and find a program that will work for you.  It doesn't take money. Throwing money at any problem has never been the solution.

This article first appeared on MyFitnessPal.com and gives you the pros and cons of these gym programs.

When resolution season rolls around, we’re all faced with the tough question: Is spending money on pricey, high-end wellness trends really worth it? Sometimes it feels like you have to choose between your personal fitness and the fitness of your bank account. The not-so-simple answer to this question is it’s complicated. To see which trends really are worth the extra cash, check out our list of worth it picks — plus three to skip.

LUXURY GYMS: WORTH IT

Luxury gyms can seem like a waste of money — especially when you can get access to a treadmill or a set of dumbbells just as easily at your local budget gym. But according to economists, there’s merit to shelling out for a luxury gym. The theory is that paying more for your membership will actually make you more likely to use it. Since wasting a $10 per month membership feels much less painful than spending $300 each month for a membership you don’t use, going luxury may just be the motivation you need to stick to a gym schedule.  This is the upside of Luxury Programs, but you want to remember that most of these programs are pretty tough. They are not for the timid. They work you very hard because they want you to see results quickly. But you have to be in pretty good shape just to take the punishment.

LUXURY BOOTCAMPS: NOT WORTH IT

At nearly $40 per class, these classes talk a big game that they don’t necessarily live up to. Yes, their HIIT-style workouts can be effective, but they use moves and equipment you can re-create yourself at a less-expensive gym. If you really want to get the full “boot camp” experience while still saving money, have your gym buddy yell at you drill sergeant-style throughout your sweat session.

MEAL DELIVERY SERVICES: WORTH IT

According to many estimates, meal delivery services tend to shake out to be about the same price as groceries. This means that not only will you guarantee yourself a healthy meal, you’ll be saving time (and time is money) by not having to make your weekly trip to the market. You might even pick up enough cooking skills to cross cooking classes off your list of resolutions.

ORGANIC FOODS: NOT WORTH IT… IN MOST CASES

As you probably know by now, buying organic isn’t cheap. Because organic farms are often smaller and don’t use chemicals in the growing and harvesting process, it takes them more time to produce the same amount of food as compared with larger, non-organic farms. Since time is money, you can expect a markup. Conventional wisdom has held that shelling out for organic alternatives is naturally healthier for you, but research has thrown that belief into question. According to the 2012 study, in most cases, there’s not enough scientific evidence to back up the better-for-you claims.

TRAVELING FITNESS MEMBERSHIPS: WORTH IT

Depending on your city, memberships that let you attend a variety of boutique classes can get quite pricey, prompting many potential users to hesitate before committing. Will you really make it to three classes a week? Luckily, many of these memberships help remove some of that workout doubt by adding an extra incentive. If you don’t make it to a class you signed up for, you’ll still be charged, effectively silencing all those last-minute thoughts of hitting the snooze.

LUXURY YOGA STUDIOS: NOT WORTH IT

Whether or not to pony up for a high-end yoga class is a fairly divisive topic. On one hand, many yogis find the practice to be about total wellness, including pampering yourself with the amenities that many luxe spots offer. However, others argue that the practice should be a bare-boned, egalitarian focus on the body. Since high-quality free yoga classes, outdoor yoga meetups and YouTube yoga tutorials are incredibly easy to find, skip the expensive memberships and treat yourself to the occasional spa day to round out your wellness routine.

LUXURY CYCLING STUDIOS: IT DEPENDS

The rise of pricey cycling options made the exercise bike cool again. But as most devotees will tell you, these classes are more about the spirit than the Spinning. Classes feature a distinctly clubby feel and DJ-curated playlists to provide the soundtrack to motivational mantras, distracting you to the point where you almost forget you’re working out. If going to the gym is a struggle for you, the added dose of fun and energy is totally worth the per-class price. But if you enjoy your gym time and don’t need fist-pumping music to get motivated, save your pennies to upgrade your gym membership and use the spin bikes there.

Ok, You read about gyms but in my own experience, and I belonger to a few gyms at different times, losing your body fat is all about the food your eating and how much you walk.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my ebooks.

There are two ebooks. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

If Your Workouts Not Working, Read This

Did you know that the average health club exerciser quits after just six months for one of the following reasons: not enough time or not seeing results? Eight Common Reasons Your Workouts Don't Work Sadly, most people become frustrated and quit exercising before they see any real results. But it's not too surprising, given the common mistakes many people make with their training programs. Are you making these workout mistakes? 1. All Quantity, No Quality Take a look around the gym (if you haven't quit going yet) and see how many people are really getting a quality workout. I'm always amazed by how many people are wandering aimlessly, walking leisurely on a treadmill while reading a book, lifting weights so light that not one hair moves out of place, or simply looking bored. A lot of exercisers head to the gym out of habit, and as if on automatic pilot, put in some time and head back to work or home. If you are one of these people, ask yourself, "What do I want to get out of this?" If you want serious results, you need to do serious exercise. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it and have fun. But it does mean you need to focus on what you're doing and increase the quality of every movement. Once you start exercising with a real purpose and pushing both your aerobic capacity and your strength, you will find your workouts take half the time and yield better results. Most exercisers are far too generous with estimates of exercise intensity and time, the amount of weight lifted, and the frequency of their workouts. To avoid overestimating, it's helpful to keep an exercise log and track these items. Additionally, many people mistakenly believe that if they exercise at a moderate pace for 30 minutes, they've burned lots of calories and fat. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. While exercise does burn calories over time, and consistent exercise is one of the best ways to lose weight and keep it off, it's hard to lose body fat through exercise alone. Which brings us to the next mistake. 3. Underestimating Your Eating Many people are in denial about the foods they eat, and particularly, the quantity consumed. If you want to lose weight, you need to be honest with yourself about what you put into your body and how that helps or hinders your weight-loss goals. To get real with yourself, write it down. Tracking what you eat in a food diary will help you break the cycle of food denial. You can also try using a calorie counter for more advanced diet support. 4. Doing the Wrong Type of Workout Where did you learn your current exercise routine? By watching others at the gym (who may be exercising incorrectly)? From your friends, coworkers, the web, TV, the newspaper, the latest research findings, or perhaps your 5th-grade gym teacher? What you're doing for exercise directly determines the results you will get. To learn what you should do, there's no better place to start than by writing down your goals and then working with a professional trainer to design the right workout to meet those goals. Haphazard exercise will provide haphazard results. 5. Never Changing Your Workout When you do the same thing day after day, you get very good at it. In exercise, this is called the principle of adaptation. It means that we become very efficient by doing the same exercise over and over. This is great for sports performance, but not that great for weight loss, increasing strength, or physical fitness progression. If you always do the same workout for the same amount of time, you will eventually hit a plateau where you fail to see any additional change. One way of overcoming this plateau is to modify your workouts every few weeks or months. You can change the type of exercise you do, the length, the amount of weight lifted, or the number or reps. This is why professional athletes change their programs during the off-season. 6. Using Incorrect Form or Technique Learning the right way to exercise is essential to getting results. Form does matter, especially when doing any strength training exercise. Incorrect form or technique also sets you up for potential injuries, pain, and soreness. To learn proper technique, there's no better place to start than with a personal trainer or coach. 7. Setting Unrealistic Goals So, what are your exercise goals? Are they realistic for you? If your goal is to be the next Lance Armstrong, and you only have 30 minutes a day to train, or you want to lose 25 pounds in a month . . . Ask yourself how realistic are your goals? Again, it comes back to being honest with yourself about your abilities, your level of commitment, and your lifestyle. You need to set appropriate goals that start from where you are and progress at a reasonable rate, or you're sure to get frustrated and quit. 8. Measuring the Wrong Results Many people think their workout isn't working because they don't measure the right things. Looking for proof in a scale is often a set-up for disappointment because some new exercisers build muscle and lose fat, but the scale doesn't provide information about body composition. Better ways to measure your fitness progress include tracking your heart rate at a given pace, measuring the distance you can cover in a certain amount of time, tracking the amount of weight you can lift, or even writing down how you feel -- physically -- at the end of each day. Many of the benefits from exercise are subtle and not visible by looking into the mirror, but things such as cholesterol level, blood pressure, and the ease with which you can do daily chores are every bit as motivating -- if you monitor them. If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.  There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K. My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Retirement Can Be A Positive Thing For Your Health

Although aging may mean more physical problems, retirement can help people lead healthier lives, a new study from Australia suggests. 

Researchers found that when folks retire they tend to increase their physical activity, sit less and sleep more soundly. 

"Our study paints a positive picture of retirement," said lead researcher Dr. Melody Ding, a senior research fellow at the University of Sydney's School of Public Health. "Retirees [in the study] were acquiring a healthier lifestyle. Factors that may have contributed to this include the availability of time to be physically active and removal from sedentary jobs and work-related stress." 

Whether or not these results would be the same in the United States isn't clear. "Retirement and the health benefits of retirement could be very context-specific," she said.

"Life expectancy in Australia -- 82.1 years -- is a few years longer than that in the United States -- 78.7, and there are also different social welfare and health care systems," she said. "All of these factors may limit the 'generalizability' of our findings to the U.S." 

The study tracked about 25,000 Australians. The average age of those still working was just over 54. During slightly more than three years of follow-up, about 3,100 of the study participants retired. 

After retirement, study participants reported increased physical activity levels of about an hour and half a week. Retirees also sat around less -- cutting their sedentary time down by just over an hour each day. And, compared to when they were working, those who retired slept an average of 11 minutes more each day, the research revealed.

The study authors also noted that about half of the women smokers quit after retirement. 

No significant link was found between retirement status and alcohol use or eating fruit and vegetables. 

The average age for retirement in the United States is 62, according to a 2014 Gallup poll. Ding said the average retirement age in Australia is just over 63 years. 

"I think it is important to plan for retired life with a positive mindset," she said. "Some people get anxious about retirement because they may lose a sense of purpose." When people stop working, they sit less, move more and get a better night's sleep, study says.

She recommended pursuing hobbies, volunteering or spending time with loved ones as ways to keep a sense of purpose. She added that retirees might incorporate a social component into a healthy lifestyle, such as catching up with a friend during a walk.

One study participant -- an 89-year-old retired bank manager -- told the researchers, "I have more time in my retirement and I am happily busy. I keep fit by dancing four times a week and walking." 

To keep his mind active, this retiree teaches computer skills. The message on his answering machine: "I am out enjoying my retirement." 

Rachel Johnson is a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont. "It was encouraging that many of the retirees in this study opted to spend time being more physically active," said Johnson, who is also chair of the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. "Being active is important to preventing heart disease and stroke." 

The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity) to improve overall heart health. 

Older adults will also experience benefits if they divide their exercise time into two or three segments of 10 to 15 minutes a day, Johnson said. 

She also suggested that older people try these tips to get and keep active:

• Walk a dog.
• Walk at the mall when the weather is too hot or too cold.
• Walk, jog in place or use the treadmill at a gym while you watch your favorite 30-minute show.
• Park the car far from your destination and walk.
• Take the stairs.
• Dance.
• Trade after-dinner dessert for an after-dinner walk.

The Doctor added that retirement is a good time for doctors to talk to their patients about making positive lifestyle changes that could add years to their life. 

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Two Sample Menus For A 1200 Calorie Diet

Some people tell me that it's impossible to live on 1200 calories a day. So I'm showing some sample menus and I know some of you aren't going to like the choices but you should remember that your body needs nutrients and with this diet your trying to get all your daily nutrients in 1200 calories. It's possible and there are acually more choices, just do an internet search "400 calorie meals" and you may be surprised.

Example #1

Are you in a hurry to lose some extra pounds? It's possible to lose weight quickly by following a low-calorie diet, as this 1,200 calories per day diet, but you have to do it right to be sure you're getting all of the essential nutrients you need.

Following a low-calorie diet isn't difficult if you include lots of nutrient-dense foods. In fact, it's a necessity because there's no room for foods that aren't totally nutritious.

So what do you do? Choose plenty of low-calorie, high fiber fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low-fat protein sources.  Here are two 1,200 calorie-per-day menus to get you started:

1,215 Calorie Menu With No Non-Nutritive Sweeteners

Breakfast

• One cup oatmeal
• One-half cup non-fat milk
• One tablespoon honey

• One-half cup blueberries
• One cup plain coffee or tea as a beverage

Lunch

• Two slices 100-percent whole grain bread, deli sliced turkey breast, tomato slice, lettuce and one tablespoon mustard
• One-half cup sliced carrots
• Water as a beverage

Dinner

• Three ounces baked salmon
• One cup green beans
• Salad with one cup raw spinach, five cherry tomatoes and one-half cup broccoli florets with lemon juice as a dressing
• Water with a slice of lemon as a beverage

Snacks

• One apple with 12 almonds
• Several glasses of water
• One cup non-fat milk
• One-half cup plain yogurt with one tablespoon honey
• One cup strawberries.

Nutrition Information

• Total Calories - 1,215
• Total Fat - 17.7 percent (25 grams)
• Total Protein - 23 percent (72 grams)

• Total Carbohydrates - 59.3 percent (185 grams)
• Sodium - 1,402 milligrams
• Sugar - 107 grams
• Cholesterol - 94 milligrams
• Saturated Fat - 5.0 grams
• Fiber - 28 grams

Example #2

1,218 Calorie Menu With Non-Nutritive Sweeteners

Breakfast

• One cup whole-grain corn cereal
• One packet Sucralose
• One-half cup non-fat milk
• One cup 100-percent orange juice as a beverage

Lunch

• Salad made with two cups field greens, two ounces albacore tuna (packed in water), one-half cup cherry tomatoes with two tablespoons balsamic vinegar as a dressing.
• Diet soda as a beverage

Dinner

• One three-ounce pork chop
• One baked sweet potato
• One cup steamed asparagus
• One tablespoon olive oil
• One small glass of white wine

Snacks

• One small pita bread with two tablespoons hummus
• One pear
• One serving low-fat, sugar-free fruit-flavored yogurt
• One cup blueberries
• Two-thirds cup baby carrots with one ounce fat-free vegetable dip
• Several glasses of water with slices of lemon or lime

Nutrition Information

• Total Calories - 1,218
• Total Fat - 14.6 percent (20 grams)
• Total Protein - 22.6 percent (70 grams)
• Total Carbohydrates - 56.8 percent (176 grams)
• Sodium - 1,615 milligrams
• Sugar - 86 grams
• Cholesterol - 116 milligrams
• Saturated Fat - 5.0 grams
• Fiber - 24 grams

Portion and serving sizes are key to dieting success, so you'll need a good set of measuring cups and measuring spoons, plus a kitchen scale until you get used to estimating your serving sizes.

I created these menus by using Calorie Count, where you can track your calories, find friendship and support with other dieters and even analyze your own recipes. I also have menus for 1,500 calorie per day and 1,700 calorie per day diets.

Please note: before starting a low-calorie diet, you should see your doctor. 

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.