Not Exercising Is Just As Bad For Your Health As smoking

New studies show how bad immobility can be. Some people just don't believe working out is necessary. "My grandmother lived to 92 and I never saw her do any exercise." I hear that a lot. I understand but people from that generation lived a hard life. Physical demands on even the housewife were pretty tuff. There was no dishwashers, no washing machines just a tub and a ringer. Before World War II a lot of families didn't have hot water,  the only heat was a coal burning furnace. Homes had no TV's until the 50's and no supermarkets. A housewife worked about 16 hours a day. Most men worked some type of blue collar job. 

The reason I bring up this hard life that those people had from that World War I generation is because they were much healthier because they were much more active than people today. They were actually more active then and healthier than their children. We have to workout today because today we work with our minds and do little physical work compared to our grandparents. Read the short article below 

When you see someone smoking, you might question “Why would you do that to yourself when you know it could kill you?” Do you react the same way when you know someone doesn’t exercise? You should.
When I was at a recent medical conference, one of the presenters reminded the audience that research has shown physical inactivity to be as deadly as smoking. I was shocked at this when I first heard it a couple of years ago, but I think I was just as shocked hearing it the second time. My guess is you are too. It’s hard to imagine being inactive could be comparable to smoking, but it is.
You wouldn’t dream of smoking (and if you do smoke, you’re likely trying to quit), so why poison yourself with inactivity? But many of us do. Nearly 80% of us don’t get the recommended amount of exercise. Many experts agree the inactivity epidemic is more concerning than the obesity epidemic.
The benefits of exercise are numerous and irrefutable. It helps prevent heart disease, diabetes, breast and colon cancer, dementia, depression, and more. If you exercise, chances are you’ll live a longer, healthier life. Period.
What’s so powerful about exercise? Take heart disease, for example. Heart disease is associated with inflammation in the body. Exercise is a natural inflammation fighter. When you move, your muscles send out anti-inflammatory chemicals.
Also, every time you get up and move, your blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglycerides improve. When you sit down, they get worse. It’s just about moving more.
If you’re not active now, I’m sure it sounds overwhelming to start an exercise program. The good news is you can see health benefits with even a small amount of activity. Even taking a daily 5-minute walk around the office will improve your health. Slowly build up from there.
Ultimately, you want your goal to be 30 minutes at least 5 days a week of moderate exercise. We’re talking about a brisk walk– hard enough that you can talk comfortably but not able to sing. But take your time getting there. Throw in resistance exercises a couple of days a week, and you’re on track.
If you’ve tried exercise before and didn’t lose weight, don’t be discouraged. You are still getting health benefits even if you’re not shedding weight. If you’re overweight but active and fit, you can expect to live as long and healthy as someone who is normal weight and fit. Even if you’re obese, being active helps you live a longer, healthier life than a normal weight person who isn’t active.
Think you’re too old for it to matter? Hardly. Regardless of your age, getting active has enormous benefits even in your 80s and beyond. We’re not just talking about living longer, but living better with a higher quality of life.
As British-American anthropologist, Ashley Montagu once said, “The idea is to die young as late as possible.” Stay fit and healthy as long as you can.

Over Weight And Out Of Shape, Now What?

I'm not going to paint a rosy picture about how easy it's going to be to lose that your fat, but losing that fat is essential. You don't have to worry that much about what the scale says, your goal should be to lose inches in the truck section of your body. The rest will take care of itself. The bad fat your doctor doesn't want you to have is the fat around your waist. When you measure your waist at the navel it should be half your height. I'm 72 inches tall, my waist should be a 36. I don't mean a 36 pant size, I mean 36 inches at the navel.

So even if your weight is in the normal range, and you can check your range on several different websites, if your waist is too large you need to lose some of that fat. There are two ways fat can build-up, over the top of your muscles or under the muscle layer. Under the muscle layer is very dangerous. You may think that your stomach is solid muscle but if you have excess fat under that muscle then it's surrounding your organs. The body will only add about one inch of fat under the skin, maybe a little more around the waist and then it will start to fill the fat cells under the muscle layer. Your liver and your heart are where your doctor doesn't want excess fat. That excess fat around your organs will slow down body functions. That doesn't mean you move slower, it means that instead of your liver being able to work on all the body function (more than 100 functions), it might only have time for the critical ones. Fat around the liver causes "fatty liver disease, fat around your heart causes "heart disease".

So what can you do about it now? First, you'll have to change your diet and not just temporarily. You have to start eating healthy and that means eating fresh and eating clean. So what does that mean? You can probably get more info from "health and fitness" websites than I can give you in one post, but just to simplify things. "Fresh" means you stat buy only produce (fruits and veggies) that are fresh, not frozen. Meat and fish that's fresh and whole grains nothing processed. That means cereals, pasta, and bread that's whole grain. Whole wheat is not whole grain. Whole wheat is processed flour that strips out the nutrition during the processing. You want to avoid anything containing processed or enriched flour.

Also, you have to be careful how you cook food. Cooking oil is your enemy when you're trying to lose fat. First of all, no fried foods, no foods or drinks that are sweet. Fruit is your new dessert. Nuts and seeds are good in moderation, but you need some every day. Cooking oils can be deceiving, most of them are blended oil, some might be good oils but some are bad. They can blend oils in one bottle and call it "olive oil" as long as it's mostly olive oil. And they do the same thing with other oils like "canola". Companies will use 20% palm oil or a mix of other tropical oils and they don't have to put that on the label. When I buy oil for cooking I buy 100% extra virgin olive oil. That means the olive oil is from the first or second press of the olive. Even if the oil is a blend it's all from the first or second press and you're getting all the goodness from the olives. If you buy the oil that comes from Italy or Spain you want the oil that's bottled over there. I say that because Italy and Spain have laws to protect the quality of their oils. Government inspections are a serious thing and no one wants to lose their license to export olive oil. Spain has better control and purer Spanish olive oil. Italy is actually the biggest importer in Europe of olive oil, from other countries. So I would think that Italian olive oil must be blended with oil from other countries, whereas Spain is more real Spanish olive oil. Be careful buying cheap brands. The very best and very expensive olive oil comes from Morroco, but Spain is my pick for high quality for a reasonable price.

So after you straighten out your diet, you will start to have more energy.You have to be on your new diet for a few weeks before you start to feel better. Just being on your new diet will make you feel healthier and then you should start a walking routine, about 30 minutes a day more than you walk now. You want to build up to 10,000 steps a day. That's what you want to do every day to lose inches. 10,000 steps can be a big increase for some of you, so build up to it slowly and don't try to do the whole thing at one time. Try and do some walking early in the morning and then finish up after dinner.

75% of your food should be vegetables and fruit, 15% fish, poultry and some meat and the rest whole grain. Drink mostly water, some coffee or tea and a glass of red wine a couple time a week. Try and go heavy on the fish and don't be afraid of mercury. Go on the internet and look for seafood low in mercury and you'll be surprised how long the list is.

If you stick to this new diet and do the walking every day in just 3 months you'll feel much better and look much better and if you stick with it, you will lose that fat and you'll love yourself for doing it. Good health is a one-way road so you can't go back. If you want to live a healthy life, you have to work at it every day and never look back.

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.

Skipping Dinner Might 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. 

Is Your Diet Aging You?

This is a great post that we could all take advice from. A poor diet can age your body because you're not getting enough nutrition from your food.

Simple strategies to keep you young, inside and out.

WebMD Feature

What you put on your plate might affect what you see in the mirror. But a few tweaks to your dining habits can go a long way to keeping your skin youthful and your body healthy.

The key approach? Eat better.

"Poor-quality foods, like trans fats, cause inflammation -- and aging is basically a chronic inflammatory state," says Timothy Harlan, MD. He's assistant professor of medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine. "Can you look older because you're eating crap? Absolutely."

For example, eating too much sugar and processed carbohydrates (like pasta, bread, and baked goods) can lead to damage in your skin's collagen, which keeps your skin springy and resists wrinkles, says Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD. She's a policy analyst for Beach Cities Health District.

What's more, these foods put your overall health on the line. They are tied to diseases like heart disease and diabetes, she says.

Other foods, like fruits and vegetables, are good for your skin.

Foods to try and cut-out

Potato chips and french fries. Anything that's deep-fried in oil can add to inflammation throughout your body. Especially avoid trans fats. It can raise your LDL "bad" cholesterol and lower HDL "good" cholesterol, which increases your risk for heart disease.

Check food labels on baked goods and crackers, and avoid "partially hydrogenated oils" and "vegetable shortening."

Donuts and sugary pastries. They're packed with sugar, which Giancoli says may be linked to the development of wrinkles.

Hot dogs, bacon, and pepperoni. Processed meats are usually high in saturated fats and have nitrates in them. Both of those can lead to inflammation.

Fatty meats. These are also high in saturated fats. The key with meat is to keep it lean. Tenderloin cuts tend to be leaner. Look for ground beef that is at least 95% lean. Ground turkey breast and chicken breast are other lean options.

Alcohol. Moderate drinking may be good for your heart, but heavy drinking can rev up the aging process. "Moderate" is one drink per day for women (such as a 5-ounce glass of wine or 12-ounce glass of beer) and two drinks for men.

Foods to Favor

Go for a Mediterranean-style diet, Harlan says. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean protein can help fight inflammation and keep you looking your best, he says.

Eat whole foods that are closest to their natural state as possible, says Giancoli. For example, instead of apple sauce, try a fresh whole apple.

Try eating more of these foods:

Romaine lettuce. It's high in vitamins A and C, which curb inflammation. Also, try broccoli, spinach, arugula, watercress, escarole, kale and endive.

Tomatoes. They're rich in a nutrient called lycopene. So are watermelon, grapefruit, guavas, asparagus, and red cabbage.

Salmon. It's high in omega-3 fats, which fight inflammation. Tuna is another good choice.

Lentils and beans. These are good sources of protein and are loaded with fiber and nutrients. Try black beans, split peas, limas, pintos, chickpeas, and cannellini beans.

"Your skin is essentially made of protein, so if you don't get enough healthy protein in your diet, your skin will reflect that," Giancoli says. "Along with fish, beans are a great way to get it."

Oatmeal. Whole grains such as oatmeal, whole wheat breads and pastas, brown rice, and quinoa help curb inflammation.

"These also have B vitamins in them, like thiamine and riboflavin, which are important for  your skin as well," Giancoli says. If you don't get enough. Go for a variety and make this way of eating a habit. Look at your food when you're buying and think about what you'll get out of it. Your paying for the food, you want to get something back.

"If you're not getting enough of the good stuff on a regular basis, you won't be able to produce healthy new skin cells in the way that you should," Giancoli says. Eating the good stuff will give you the nutrition to stay healthy. If you're not feeling healthy or you're tired all the time, we often blame a cold or virus but the first thing we need to look at is our diet. 

I know this post talks a lot about your skin, and what most people don't realize is that your skin and your eyes will tell the story of your bodies health. Skin problems like an ache or any sores or rashes can all be caused by your diet. Your eyes should be clear and white around the pupil. And if you're using an eye wash every day, maybe you should see a doctor, you might have a bigger problem.

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information.

But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

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. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com,

 iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Are Food Cravings Your Problem?

Food cravings are one big reason for being overweight. Everyone has food cravings and the food industry is making millions off us. I was in Walmart yesterday to pick up some bottled water and I really believe there was more shelf space devoted to snacks and drinks then groceries. Then you add the frozen processed foods and all the candy and is it any wonder that we have an overweight population.

O.K., we do need snacks, but what can I buy that's healthy? What if you had a go-to salty/crunchy food that you could turn to in these instances that was actually healthy for you and your waistline?  Well you do...Almonds!

Almonds are loaded with healthy fats and protein that will keep you feeling full for hours, making them a terrific fat-burning snack to scratch that salty/crunchy craving itch. But I go one step further and buy salted mixed nuts. All nuts have good properties. Different nuts are rich in different vitamins and minerals so you don't have to skip any. I like a hand full in the afternoon and that kills the cravings until dinner. Remember just one hand full, the amount that will fill your palm. Nuts have calories and you can kill your diet by eating too much. 

So if you want to lose weight you have to start by changing what you eat. Start to eat natural foods, eat fresh, no processed foods, processed foods are foods that are pre-made and ready to eat, like the foods in restaurants and the foods in the frozen food section of the supermarket, no added sugar or salt, salt in foods adds to water retention and will cause high blood pressure. No enriched flour, including enriched wheat, it's as bad for you as sugar. 

Until you get back to a healthy weight you should make your own meals and brown bag lunch. One more tip "if you want to lose weight don't skip breakfast". For those who don't eat breakfast, have a protein shake. You need the protein first thing in the morning, the first hour your up.And here's another tip (after all, two tips are better than one):  While almonds are great, it's easy to overeat almost any food when eating straight out of the container.  In fact, research shows that you will eat on average two to three times MORE of a food when eating out of the container, than if you pre-portion your food out into a bowl.


Done of this is difficult, there are hundreds of websites that can help you. You have to want to change.
The point is that you can have healthy snacks. Losing weight doesn't mean starving.  I just changed  what I eat. So we covered snacks and that's a big part of your calorie intake, but drinks also count for almost as many calories as snacks. People will often forget about the calories in snacks and drinks because they don't think those calories are enough to count. But the truth is that snacks and drinks throughout the day will add up to more calories then your meals. 

Nuts, fruit including dry fruit that has no sugar added, seeds or some veggies like baby carrot are all good snacks, avoid the dips. 

For almonds, a 2 ounces (the typical serving size) is the perfect amount to set aside for a great fat-burning snack that will satisfy your cravings while holding you over until your next main meal.

A person should only consume about 1500 to 1800 calories a day depending on your weight. Now if you switch to drinking soda, they're about 200 calories a can unless your drinking a diet drink with zero calories. If your drinking a zero calorie can of soda you have to deal with the chemicals. And you might say "so what", "chemical are in everything anyway". Your right, but if your trying to lose weight, chemicals will affect your metabolism which is the bodies way of burning fat and if you slow down your metabolism your not burning fat, your just storing fat from the food your eating. 

If you start your morning at the coffee shop where you might order a Latte and then add sugar, you might be drinking 300 calories or maybe 600 depending on the size. If you drink plain coffee at work and put cream and sugar you might be drinking 100 calories and if you grab one of those donuts in the break room you might be taking a "500 calorie coffee break". It's now about 10 am you had no breakfast, just the Latte and your coffee break and your already consumed more then half your calories for the day. 

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. 

Bad Diets Are Tied To 400,000 Deaths In The U.S. Last Year

Reblogged from MedicineNet.com. I wrote about this same subject in my last post and then I found this article that confirms my findings.

Unhealthy diets may have contributed to as many as 400,000 premature deaths from heart disease and strokes in 2015.

And, it's not just the things you should be avoiding -- such as salt and trans fats -- that are contributing to these deaths. The excess deaths may also be caused by what's missing in your diet -- namely, nuts and seeds, vegetables and whole grains, the researchers said. I'll also add that carrying the extra body fat is wearing out your body parts and also straining your organs.

"Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the United States, killing more people in 2015 than any other cause," said lead researcher Dr. Ashkan Afshin of the University of Washington in Seattle. He's an acting assistant professor of global health at the university's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

The study results suggest that nearly half of heart disease and stroke (cardiovascular disease) deaths in the United States might be prevented with improved diets, he explained.

Debates on dietary policies in the United States tend to focus on cutting out unhealthy foods and nutrients, such as trans fats, salt, and sugar-sweetened beverages. But this study shows that a large number of heart-related deaths may be due to a lack of healthy foods, Afshin reported.

Looking at deaths in the United States from heart and blood vessel diseases for 2015, the investigators found unhealthy diet choices and lack of eating healthier foods had a part in the deaths of more than 222,000 men and over 193,000 women. The study could not, however, prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship.

Low intake of nuts and seeds likely accounted for nearly 12 percent of deaths. Too few vegetables probably contributed to as many as 12 % of the heart disease and stroke deaths. And, low intake of whole grains may have been responsible for more than 10 percent of those deaths. Too much salt likely accounted for 9 percent of deaths, Afshin said.

Samantha Heller, a registered dietitian, said, "If someone's diet is low in nuts, seeds, fruit, fiber, whole grains and vegetables, then they are likely replacing those foods with less healthy options, such as deli meats, cheeseburgers, fried chicken, sodas, boxes of mac-and-cheese, sugar-sweetened beverages and other highly processed, junk, fast and prepared foods." Heller is a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

"A crummy diet means the body has to work at Mach-10 speed to battle the onslaught of biochemical, physiological and inflammatory consequences. No wonder so many of us complain about being exhausted all the time and suffer from very serious and oftentimes preventable cardiovascular diseases," she said.

A more plant-based, whole food approach to eating reduces internal inflammation, which in turn helps protect and heal "gunked up" arteries and an overworked heart. It also enhances the immune system, improves gastrointestinal and brain health, and boosts energy, Heller explained.

Heller recommends simple swaps, such as sliced avocado, tomato, and hummus on whole grain bread instead of a ham and cheese sandwich; a veggie burger topped with salsa instead of a cheeseburger; brown rice, vegetable-edamame paella instead of mac and cheese; a salad pizza instead of a pepperoni pizza. Grocery stores today have a big selection of healthy foods and even healthy, fresh meals in the deli section. There's really no need to cook anymore. In fact, there's little need to shop for groceries when you can buy fresh food ready to eat in the deli section. Buy some bottled water, red wine, some nuts or seeds for a snack and your set.

I buy the basics: oatmeal with fruit in the morning, salads every day, prepared fresh meals with seafood or chicken, no fried food and no red meat, fruit, plant-based Protein Powder in the two-pound containers and plain Greek yogurt to make protein shakes for between meals and nuts, seeds and red wine for snacks and that's it.

"The good news is it is never too late or too early to ditch unhealthy foods, dig into a plate of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, seeds and whole grains, and watch how our bodies respond by getting healthier and happier," Heller said.

MedicalNews

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 Much Protein Is Enough?

"Too much animal protein tied to higher diabetes risk". That's a true statement. Doctors and Scientists have known for some time that Americans over-dose on animal protein, hence the over-weight population. One out of four over-weight seniors have diabetes. The problem with animal protein is that you have to take everything that goes with it. The animal protein in dairy has hormones and chemicals like fertilizer and pesticides from the grass. Animal protein from red meat has traces of the same chemicals and growth hormones and animal fat which your body can't process and will immediately turn it into fat around your waist, hips, and thighs. Read this article from Reuters about the damaging effects of animal fat and what they recommend as a proper amount of protein.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who eat the most protein, especially from animal sources, are more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, according to a study of European adults.

The new study did not randomly assign participants to eat different amounts of protein, which would have yielded the strongest evidence. Instead, it compared the diets of people who went on to develop diabetes and those who did not get the disease.
But the findings do align with other studies.
"Several previous studies have found that higher intake of total protein, especially animal protein, are associated with long-term risk of developing diabetes," said Dr. Frank Hu, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. Dr. Hu, who was not involved in the new study researches prevention of diabetes through diet and lifestyle.
"Substantial amounts of animal protein come from red meat and processed meat, which have been consistently associated with increased risk of diabetes," he told Reuters Health in an email.
For the new report, researchers examined data from a large previous study of adults in eight European countries spanning 12 years. The study collected data on participants' diet, physical activity, height, weight, and waist circumference, then followed them to see who developed diabetes.
A team of researchers led by Monique van Nielen of Wageningen University in the Netherlands selected 11,000 people who developed type 2 diabetes from the data and 15,000 people without diabetes for comparison.
Overall, the adults in the study commonly ate about 90 grams of protein per day. Those who ate more tended to have a higher weight-to-height ratio and to eat more fiber and cholesterol than people who ate less protein.
After accounting for other diabetes risk factors, every additional 10 grams of protein people consumed each day was tied to a six percent higher chance that they would develop diabetes.
Dividing participants into five groups based on how much protein they ate, the researchers found those who ate the most, or around 111 grams per day, were 17 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those who ate the least, or around 72 grams per day.
Specifically, those who ate the most animal protein, or 78 grams per day, were 22 percent more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than those who ate the least, around 36 grams per day, according to results published in Diabetes Care.
That's only a modest increase on an individual level, Hu said.
People who ate the most protein got about 15 percent of their calories from red meat, processed meat, poultry, fish, and dairy, which appears to be too much, Hu said.
"More importantly, higher intake of animal protein often comes along with other undesirable nutrients such as saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium," he said.
The association between animal protein and diabetes risk appeared to be strongest among obese women.
Plant protein, on the other hand, was not linked to diabetes.
"In other studies, plant protein sources such as nuts, legumes, and whole grains have been associated with lower risk of diabetes," Hu said. "Therefore, replacing red meat and processed meat with plant sources of protein is important for diabetes prevention."
Generally, people associate high-fat and high-carbohydrate diets with diabetes risk, but this study underscores that protein is an important nutrient to consider as well, Paolo Magni said. Magni, from the Institute of Endocrinology at the University of Milan in Italy, was not involved in the new study.
"As a general rule, I would suggest to eat normal portions ( 3 Oz.) of red meat not more than two times per week, poultry and fish three to four times per week, skimmed milk or yogurt maybe not every day," Magni told Reuters Health in an email.
Cheese, preserved meats, and cold cuts should be minimized, he said.
"Pay attention to both quantity and food sources of protein," Hu said. It's probably a good idea for people with a family history of diabetes to replace at least some red meat with nuts, legumes or whole grains, he said.

In general, a high-protein diet is good for weight loss, but most of your daily protein should be plant protein. If you have wondered why these protein powers have become so popular it's because most of them use plant protein like soy. Protein powers are the main ingredient in protein shakes which seems to be the new breakfast meal. If you're serious about losing weight, I suggest you read up on plant protein and the sources. I'm not suggesting you become vegan or vegetarian but plant protein has no health downside.

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information.

But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

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. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.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. 

Running To Lose Weight

I want to tell you about this guy I saw on the news last week. This man about 40 give or take a couple of years weighed over 400 pounds when he decided to lose weight. He found a trainer that put him on a diet and started him on a walking routine to get exercise. After a few weeks the trainer changed the walking to jogging. So this man started slow but was jogging everyday. Because he had a job would only run less than one hour during the week, but on weekend when he had more time he runs 31 miles on this long days. I thought that was incredible for someone that big to be able to run distance.

He lost 200 pounds in 10 months. He now weighs 240 pounds and woulds to lose 40 more pounds. I know he can do it, anyone how runs 31 miles can lose as much as he wants.

I don't want you to get turned off because you think there's no way you could ever do this. I subscribe to many newsletter and I get one from "Runner's World". Yes, I started running again and most people would think I'm just an old man. Even my relatives think I'm crazy for running again after 50 some years of not running. Back in the early 1970's, I was hit by a car and my left leg had severe damage. I had stopped running long before that but after the accident, I never thought I'd run again.

Just recently I read an article on "running for beginners" and how you can use a walk and run routine to interval train and even if you have knee pain, this type of exercise will strengthen the knee and reduce the knee pain. I've had knee pain for years and I even had a repair job on the left knee about 5 years ago, so I was "all in" if this can reduce knee pain and help me control my weight, I'm for it.

I started running a few months ago. I do the walk, run routine I read about and you really can lose fat.  Most of the fat loss will be in the belly, hips, butt, and thighs. But don't think the fat will just falls off,   You have to change the way you eat. That part was pretty easy for me, I already changed my diet and lost most of my body fat, but if you want to "Run To Lose", I suggest you look at the Runner's World website and consider investing in their new book "Run To Lose". It's not expensive, check it out.

Or you could read my blog and over the next few day's, I'll tell you what I did and how it worked for me and reading my blog is free. Or if you like to hold paper in your hand when you read, You can download my ebook from Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or iBook, it's $3.99 and then you can print it.

Enough about books, I was a real skeptic when I first started to run. But I followed my tried and true methods for any exercise and I started slow. At the Park near my house, there's a 2-mile jogging track; when I jog at night I go to the High School and use the track. I start by walking 1/4 mile or one lap around the track just to warm up, then I start jogging for about 100 yards and then go back to walking slow, after I catch my breath I start jogging again and keep that up for 2 miles. At the High School, that's about 8 laps. I have a personal goal to run a 10K in the city marathon. I'm sure by January I'll be ready.

What you want to realize before you start any exercise program is that the pace I set for myself can be more than you can do and that's understandable. I workout more and I'm in very good physical condition for my age. Depending on your health and you can't be comparing yourself to other overweight, out-of-shape people you might know. Compare yourself to the way you were in High School. The age of your body has very little to do with time. Sure, we calculate age by calendar years, but your real age has very little to do with the calendar.

When you first start a walk, run routine you want to do mostly walking. Your body has to get use to exercise all over again and depending on the amount of weight you gained over the years, this may take you a few weeks. You want to do just plain walking for a few weeks, don't push it. If you're in middle age and are overweight, it's possible to do damage to your heart by intense exercise. If you get out-of-breath easily, talk to your doctor about exercise. There is a safe heart rate to achieve when exercising, and to exercise at a heart rate more than that can be dangerous.  Building up your endurance for a heavier workout is called "conditioning". This is important if you want to achieve your goal. Running is by far the best way to condition your body, lose body fat and become a healthier person.

I write about losing weight, how to lose weight, what foods to eat when you're trying to lose weight and exercise that will help you lose weight. I wrote ebooks that will give you all the info in one read. They are how-to books that also tells you about the mistakes I made and how to avoid them.

My ebooks are available at www.amazon.com, www.B&N.com, iBooks (download the app), kobo.com, scribd.com and many more. Price $3.99

Why Do I Gain So Easily?

Do you feel like you gain weight just looking at food? You're not alone. Many struggling dieters wonder, "why do I gain weight so easily?" and "why do I keep gaining weight?"  You may feel like you are doing everything right with your diet and exercise plan, making these questions even more frustrating. I understand. And I've dealt with the same questions.

Why Do I Keep Gaining Weight?
It's not uncommon to have friends who can eat anything and stay thin as a rail.

Almost anyone with a weight problem knows someone who makes them simply green with envy. You know who I'm talking about—that person who seems to just eat endless amounts of food but never seems to gain a pound. It's so frustrating.  And it's especially hard if that person eats all the foods you love but you know you have to avoid them.

The bottom line is that it makes me feel bad. And it makes me want to blame someone. Sound familiar? If so, what do you say to yourself to make it all better?

It often feels like I gain weight just looking at food. In fact, I've even said it out loud. This outcry usually happens as I watch a skinny person eat a donut while I munch away on a stalk of celery. If I think this way makes me feel better for a moment, but deep down I know that it's simply not true.

So what is the truth? The truth is that there are real reasons that some people are thin and some people aren't.

Why Do I Gain Weight Easily?

It's very difficult to know the exact reasons why some people gain weight so easily while others seem to be immune to weight gain. They eat whatever they want while I eat almost nothing and get bigger. Of course, restraining yourself while you watch others indulge can be maddening.

And it can also make you feel hopeless.

But the truth is, my weight will always come down to my own eating choices and exercise habits. And yours does too. Fair or not, weight gain and weight loss is unique from person to person and always will be. But it's important to face the truth. It's not about feeling ashamed. It's more about creating hope.

Stop Weight Gain and Feel Better Today

If I want to stop getting mad, put an end to the frustration and stop gaining weight so easily, I need to look at each situation differently. And you can, too. We can take a moment to consider the skinny donut eater in a different light. Perhaps that person makes it a habit to exercise extra hard every day. Or maybe they have a "cheat" day now and again, but the rest of the time they eat healthy calorie-controlled meals.

And remember, metabolism greatly affects a person's tendency to lose or gain weight. Changing your metabolism is harder than changing your eating and exercise habits. You can strive to achieve a skinny person's eating habits or fitness level, but you just can't make their metabolism yours.

There are some factors in weight gain we simply have no control over. But there are others that we can change.

There are hormones that affect hunger and metabolism. We can't control those. But I can make the healthiest choices possible when I eat. And I can exercise to feel good about my body, not just to lose weight.  Then if I still gain weight easily, I know that I'm doing the best that I can for my health and well-being.

The change in perspective may not change my weight, but then again, it just might. If nothing else, it can make me feel better about my body and my weight...at any size.

I'll be frank about my weight loss journey. I was 220 pounds, now I'm 157.  When I was over 200 pounds It was very hard to lose weight. It takes energy to burn fat and if you are overweight and have too much fat your energy is being used to maintain body functions. You might be using twice the energy necessary to maintain the average size body. That just for your heart, blood flow, and the strength to keep your body moving. You may not have enough left-over energy to burn fat.

Now that I lost all my fat, my body burns way more calories than before and I don't have to watch what I eat. Of course, I'm smaller now, and I eat less and stay full. My body is working at 100% efficiency. Before I was probably at 60% percent. Your body should be burning up your body fat as you eat. But by carrying around a lot of extra weight, your body has to slack off on some of your body functions so the body isn't working at peak efficiency any longer.

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information.

But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

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. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books at Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.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.