What's The Secret To Losing Weight

I get this same question over and over again in my inbox. So I’m writing this post to give some answers to those who haven’t been successful.

So you’re finally ready to lose weight. Now the question is: How?

The standard advice — to eat less and move more — isn’t so helpful when it comes to the “how.” You probably know you need to cut calories, but how many? Are you better off getting those calories from low-fat or low-carb foods? And what’s going on with your metabolism, your personal energy-burning furnace? Is it programmed to keep you overweight? Is there any way to fan the flames so you can dream of one day eating a piece of pie without gaining a pound?

Even science is still stumped on many of the basic questions of weight loss.

“Amazingly, in this era of obesity, there are still many things that medicine really doesn’t know,” says Robin Callister, Ph.D., professor of human physiology at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

Here’s what we do know about some of the most persistent mysteries of weight loss.

Do You Have to Cut 3,500 Calories to Lose a Pound?

The idea that dieters need to cut this many calories — with diet, exercise, or both — to lose 1 pound of weight comes from an influential scientific paper published in 1958. Max Wishnofsky, MD, a doctor who lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., tried to sum up everything we knew about how calories are stored by the body. He concluded that when the body is in a steady caloric state — meaning it isn’t fasting or starving — extra calories will be stored as fat, and it would take 3,500 extra calories to create a pound of fat. In that same steady state, he also said it would take a deficit of 3,500 calories to lose a pound of weight. For decades, the “Wishnofsky Rule” has been math that determined dieters live by.

The trouble is that it’s wrong.

The 3,500-calorie rule doesn’t work because the body adjusts to weight loss. It quickly decreases the number of calories it needs to maintain its new, lighter size, says Corby Martin, Ph.D., director of the Ingestive Behavior Laboratory at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA. That means weight loss slows down over time. People who expect to drop a pound for every 3,500 calories they cut will soon become frustrated when the scale doesn’t cooperate.

Let’s say a dieter knows they need to eat 2,500 calories a day to maintain their current weight. But they want to slim down. So they decide to shave 500 calories off their daily intake. According to the Wishnofsky Rule, after about a week of doing that, they should lose a pound.

“For the first week or two, the 3,500 calorie-per-pound rule kind of works, roughly, but after the first couple of weeks it doesn’t work,” Martin says.

Here’s why: In 3 or 4 weeks, you need less food to maintain that new, slimmer shape. I know you only lost a couple pounds and if you might only have to lose 10 pounds, you’re going to plateau several times. The problem with this formula is that we don’t have the same food today that we had in 1958. Believe me, I was there, I just started high school. In those days farmers did use pesticides to control bugs but we didn’t chemically engineer our food like we do today. It’s chemically engineered food that will cause food addiction and furthermore cause obesity.

Forget cutting back on the food your eating; you have to go back to eating fresh foods. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, it’s best to buy organic. The ration is the red meat your eating; it’s marbled with fat and it’s causing you to increase your body fat. Seafood and chicken or turkey are a better choice. Never eat tube meat or any other processed or manufactured food. If you don’t eat foods that add to your body fat, your body will burn the stored fat you have.

Are All Calories Equal?

Fujioka counsels his patients to pay attention to how alcohol affects their eating.

“Some folks, when they drink alcohol, feel like they have a license to eat whatever they want to, and they get into problems,” he says.

If a glass of wine weakens your will to resist that plate of cheese and crackers, it’s not doing your waistline any favors.

But if booze doesn’t affect your eating, then one or two drinks are probably OK, he says.

As for calories from fat, carbohydrates, and protein, this is where one size, or one eating plan, really doesn’t fit all.

There is good science to show that people who have high blood sugar levels — associated with conditions like type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, gestational diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and fatty liver disease — benefit from diets that are lower in refined carbohydrates and higher in healthy fats and lean proteins. Examples of this kind of diet are South Beach, the Zone diet, the Mediterranean diet, and the low GI diet.

If insulin levels aren’t a concern, there’s little difference in the number of weight people lose if they cut their calories from fat or from carbs, says Kevin Hall, Ph.D., a senior investigator and expert in metabolism at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, MD. But he says protein calories are a different story.

In the lab, researchers have shown that higher-protein diets tend to increase the number of calories a person burns, Hall says. “So in that sense, a protein calorie is not equivalent to a carbohydrate or a fat calorie,” he says.

Protein helps you burn more calories during the day and helps preserve muscle. When people lose weight, they don’t just lose fat — they also lose muscle. The more muscle you lose on a diet, the more your metabolism slows. That can make it tough to keep the weight off down the road. Protein also helps you feel satisfied for longer after you eat.

But people can eat only so much protein without changing their kidney function. U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that adults keep their protein in a range of 10% to 35% of total calories each day. Most diets fall into that range. Atkins, for example, one of the highest protein diets around, supplies 35% of daily calories from protein.

Weight loss is a mystery to some of us because we don’t know how we gain excess body fat, so we don’t know what we have to do to lose the fat. Most of us think if we can just lose some weight the fat will disappear, but it doesn’t work that way and that’s why most of us give up trying.

Change the food your eating and you will lose weight. In other words, stop eating the foods and stop drinking anything with calories and try eating foods on the “food pyramid”.

There are three categories with lots of choices so pick your foods and drinks from the food pyramid. In the “Daily” section you can eat every day, the “weekly” means only once a week and the “monthly” means only once a month. No need to count calories on this diet just stick to the pyramid.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone. Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight".

If you really want to lose your body fat then 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 $3.99. 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 Is Visceral Fat And How To Get Rid Of It

Visceral fat is adipose tissue (fat tissue) that surrounds your vital organs. Visceral adipose tissue is located deep inside your body and is sometimes referred to as belly fat. If you have too much visceral fat, you may be at higher risk for certain health conditions and diseases. Belly fat will double your risk for diseases and cancer that affect your organs.

The Definition of Visceral

Since visceral fat is often called belly fat, you might wonder why we use the term “visceral” to describe it.

The reason is that there are two different kinds of fat in your belly and visceral fat is only one of them.

In a health setting, the word visceral means in or near your vital organs (your viscera). These are the organs deep in your gut, like your stomach and your intestines. Visceral muscles are found in the walls of your visceral organs. Visceral fat surrounds those organs. Since your vital organs are located in your midsection, visceral fat accumulates in the area around your belly.

But not all belly fat is visceral fat. There is another kind of fat called subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is located underneath the skin. This kind of fat is located all over your body and is important for your body to function properly.

Health Risks Associated With Visceral Obesity

If you have too much visceral fat, you have a condition called visceral obesity. Doctors sometimes call this condition visceral adiposity.

While too much of any kind of fat can be dangerous, there are certain health risks associated with having too much visceral fat.

Patients with visceral obesity are at higher risks for several conditions, including:

insulin resistance
glucose intolerance
high cholesterol
high blood pressure
heart disease

How to Measure Visceral Fat

In some health clubs or educational settings, a clinician might estimate your visceral fat by taking a waist measurement. Your belly measurement can provide insight into the amount of fat that you are carrying around your vital organs. You can also measure your own belly fat at home.

To get the best measurement, use a flexible tape measure. Wrap it around the widest part of your stomach, across your belly button. The tape measure should rest gently on your skin; not so loose that it falls away and not so tight that it digs into your skin. Once the tape measure is positioned correctly, breathe in and then take the measurement on the exhale.

Men and women have different numbers that may indicate visceral adiposity.

Men: A waist measurement greater than 40 inches
Women: A waist measurement greater than 35 inches
If your waistline indicates a higher risk for visceral adiposity, talk to your doctor. Your health care team can do more extensive diagnostic tests to accurately measure your visceral fat so that you are able to better predict your risk for a disease.

How to Lose Visceral Fat

It’s not uncommon to have belly fat that you want to lose. Whether the fat around your midsection is visceral fat or subcutaneous fat, your plan will be the same. To lose fat, you need to increase your daily activity and reduce your food intake. You might see pills and supplements advertised online that claim to reduce belly fat, but most of those products don’t work – and some can even be dangerous.

If you’re concerned about belly fat, talk to your doctor. He or she can explain how visceral fat affects your specific risk for disease. Knowing these facts about your health might help you to make the changes necessary to reduce your visceral fat, reach a safer weight and keep a trim midsection.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone. Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight".

If you really want to lose your body fat then 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 $3.99. 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.

28 Days to Shrink your Stomach

Have you strayed from your weight loss goals this year but still want to get in shape? Give the 28-Day Shrink Your Stomach Challenge a try! This weight loss program is designed to decrease your bloat, burn fat, and shrink your stomach in just one month. Plus, the diet is flexible — you can start it whenever you want to! Print out the chart to put on your refrigerator so you can start weight loss the right way, with healthy balanced meals and an exercise routine. If the Plank Challenge is too difficult for you, there are other exercise routines you can do. Just go to the “doctoroz.com” website and look for this “Shrink Your Stomach” plan.

The facts are that you have to shrink your stomach if you want to lose weight. To lose weight you cut the calories by eating better, fresh food that has fewer calories and increases your activity to burn more than you eat. If you do both those things every day you will lose fat and the extra fat will disappear.

What some people starting weight loss for the first time, don’t understand is that just eating less of the same foods you’re eating now isn’t going to take the fat off. If you eat high-quality foods you can eat the same amount and consume fewer calories, that’s the secret to good health. You can’t lose weight or fat by starving yourself. That only works for temporary weight loss. In a month the weight will come back.

If you’re overeating or bingeing, this is normally caused by too much stress, and the stress isn’t going to disappear because you want to lose weight. So you can force yourself to cut back on food and you can lose a few pounds for a few weeks but the stress is probably still there and you will start bingeing again.

I had a similar problem, but shrinking my stomach and changing jobs did the trick for me and I started to lose the extra fat. Today my meal portions are half the size and I feel full. I found the “5 small meals a day plan”. Each meal is about 250 or 300 calories and I was eating every three hours. Get ideas for small meals on the internet. I googled "300 calorie meals" and dozens of ideas for healthy meals popped up. The food cravings disappeared and I stopped being hungry. The 5 meals a day plan works well with the “28 days to shrink your stomach” plan.

This is a sure-fire way to start losing. Stick with this for 28 days and I know you’ll be happy with the results. I stayed on the 5 small meals a day plan and never looked back. It is a great way to control your blood sugar.

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.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone. Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight".

If you really want to lose your body fat then 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 $3.99. 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.

Having trouble losing That Flab?

 Subconsciously everyone wants to lose that flab. Tighten up the bod again. Look the way you did in school. The problem is that most of us thing we can do that by losing weight. "If I take off a weight I'll look good again, right. Not really, and you can't exercise the flab away either. 

Your body has to burn body fat for energy and then the flab will start to disappear. If your having this problem, you might have trained your body overtime to burn the fat the your eating and not body fat. So how do I get my body to burn body fat. "Good Question".

I had to learn the hard way by being a student again and studying the way my body burns food for energy. I learned that the body needs to burn some protein, some carbs, and some fat everyday. The average person will only burn around 16 grams a day of fat but on average we consume several ounces of fat everyday in the foods we eat. Your body is built to conserve energy, that way it doesn't have to work as hard to create energy for the body to perform all your daily activities. Because there are 28.35 grams in one ounces, it can take almost two days to burn one ounce of fat. It takes energy to burn fat or any of the other types of food and to save energy the body will burn first, things your eating, because it takes less energy than trying to burn stored foods. 

Now what I learned, was that some foods I was eating caused me to store more food and other foods can be completely used by the body and nothing is stored. I also learned that when the body stores excess food or food that it can't process, it stores that food in fat cells. The body has no other way to store food. If food can't be processed before the next meal the body will store all the unprocessed foods and work on the new meal entering the stomach.

I hope this gives you a better picture of what's happening to your food. I lost my excess body fat by quit eating fat which forced my body to burn stored fat. That's what worked for me and it might work for you, or maybe not.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your 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. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. 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, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

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

There's No Magic Pill For Weight Loss

 Everyone looks for the easy way to do everything. We look for the App to change the stations on the TV, we look for the App to open the garage door, the App to do our Taxes, but for losing weight there’s no easy way. Did you ever do a search: “lose weight” and see all the different websites that have the answer for quick or fast weight loss. Just buy this or eat this or take these pills and the weight will melt away. It won’t happen and if you lose weight it usually comes right back.

I lost weight by changing my diet and I never went back. And if I’m on vacation or go to a family gathering and I do slip up and eat something that’s fattening, if I go right back to my meal plan the next day, any extra fat you added will disappear fast. When I changed my diet and started to eat fresh, mostly vegetables and some fruit, eating more nuts and not eating that food I used to eat, the food that put the weight on in the first place, I got my system back to normal. I didn’t realize what was happening but after my body returned to normal, I felt better, I felt more alive and I had more energy. I’m not a vegetarian, I do eat meat, but I stick to white meat chicken or tuna or wild salmon.

My trick to losing weight is to eat as little animal fat as possible. White meat chicken has some yellow fat on the outside of the meat and it’s easy to remove, so you are eating meat that’s 99% fat-free. Fat on a fish is almost the same, the fat lays outside the meat under the skin. The advantage to eating fish is you get the nutrients from the Omega-3 fatty oil in the fish. Salmon and tuna are rich in Omega-3. Other seafood has fish oil and minerals but for my money, I’ll buy wild salmon and tuna. I think you get more nutrients for your money. Red meat and even pork has animal fat marbled through the meat. Some red meat is leaner than others but all animal meat contains animal fat. It’s a good source of protein but you can’t avoid the animal fat and that’s the part your system doesn’t process very well and will turn most of it into Body fat and store it.

Yes, humans have always eaten animal meat, but throughout history, man has never had a very long lifespan, unless you look back thousands of years when humans began farming and fishing.  On average, we probably live fewer years today than humans lived in pre-historic times, but having said that, science has no idea how long humans could live if we could eliminate disease and illness.

Now we know that science can’t remove all disease and illness in the next century, but we can change our diet and become healthier and whether science knows that or not eating healthy is the answer to longevity. That and exercise for your body and your mind will definitely keep you fit and active for many years to come.

It would be nice to avoid all those health problems our grandparents had. And by eating healthy I know I’m going to live a better, longer life.

Recently science believes that human did live to an average age of 150 and some lived to 180 or more. We shorten our own lives by the foods we eat, the air we breath, and the drinks we consume. Excess body fat is another way we shorten our lives.

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your 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. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. 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, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

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

How To Deal With Pandemic Weight Gain

  

  At the doctor’s office recently, the nurse weighed me and said, “That’s 5 pounds heavier than last time you were here.”

I was taken back -- not by the news, but that she’d actually made the comment.

“Well, the pandemic happened,” I said. “I baked a lot this past year. And I guess I ate a lot too.”

We both ended up chuckling about it. (Mine was nervous chuckling.) But I couldn’t help but wonder how many other patients were on the receiving end of that kind of comment -- and how many didn’t feel like laughing about it. Yes, the Pandemic gave everyone a chance to stay home, work from home, and it gave us time to work around the house more and spend more time with our families. But we all found out the hard way that too much time around the house means your too close to the kitchen and spending too much time in the kitchen is never a good thing when your watching your weight.

Last year, I urged you to not stress about lockdown weight gain. At the time, many of us thought we were in a short-term crisis, something that would alter our routines temporarily.

But as we head into another fall and winter that are feeling a lot like last year, you may feel like your body, habits, and physical and mental health have never fully returned to what they were before COVID. And that might feel frustrating. Here’s some advice:

Make small adjustments. Some people have used this time to start new exercise regimens or overhaul their eating.

 If that’s you, great. But for most of us, extreme changes will only add more stress in an already stressful time. Instead, make tinier, less painful changes that will still make a difference. For me, I scaled back my near-daily baking habit to weekends only and incorporated a couple lighter dinners each week to replace some of the heavier comfort food we were leaning on.

Find movement you enjoy. Movement is more important now than ever. I traded in boot camp workouts for Jazzercise and discovered that incorporating dance into my workouts made all the difference. Going to classes in person and virtually all through last year was vital for my physical and mental health. 

Walks with friends -- either in person or on video messaging apps -- were also a lifeline for me.

Plan ahead. As we’re moving into fall and winter, think back at where you struggled the most last year.

 Do you need to make some healthy meals for the freezer, stock up on hand weights in case your gym closes, or book a future appointment with a dietitian or therapist?

Give yourself some grace. Even though we’ve had to adjust to these circumstances as a bizarre “new normal,” there’s nothing normal about it. We’re all still living through a crisis, with stressful news that changes rapidly.

 Recognize this, give yourself credit for surviving this, and practice self-compassion. And if asking not to be weighed at the doctor’s office would help, you have the right to do that too!

Look for my podcast by searching “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight” on the podcast app that you use. You’ll see a piece of my book cover.

If you really want to lose your 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. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. 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, bn.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

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

The Truth About Post-Pregnancy Weight Loss

This post first appeared on WebMD, I hope you learn a little about weight loss. Personally, I learned the hard way that the battle with your weight is really about losing body fat. Don’t obsess about the numbers on the scale. The real battle is about the inches around your waist.

By Alia Hoyt

I admit it: I was once one of “those women” for whom post-pregnancy weight loss was relatively quick and painless. I’ve never been model-skinny, but after the birth of my first two children my previous waistline was recovered with little to no effort. Yeah, I know what you want to call me, and I don’t blame you. So kick back and laugh when I tell you that the pounds decided they wanted to take up permanent residence after my third son was born. No amount of calorie counting or exercise did the trick, which threw me for a tailspin worse than those teacups at Disney World.

One morning, by way of The Dr. Oz Show, I discovered Shaun T, fitness trainer and creator of INSANITY workout (of infomercial fame). His program intrigued me, but what really kept my attention was the way he harped on nutrition. Most exercise programs promise extreme results just by going through the motions. But he was adamant that great results can only be achieved by also overhauling your eating habits. Since exercising like a maniac had scarcely made a dent in my dimples, I decided to give his way a shot. Sayonara, fried and processed food. I was in for a nutritional overhaul.

Rumor: Nutrition and exercise are equally important when trying to lose weight

Diet and exercise. Depending who you talk to, these words are either dirty or sacred. There’s no doubt that they’re both vitally important to good health, but do they carry equal weight when it comes to losing weight?

The Verdict: All the exercise in the world won’t help you lose weight if your nutrition is out of whack

You know when you’re out spending money and a few dollars here or there seems like no big deal? Then you get your credit card statement and the sum total of your big-spender ways is painfully apparent? That’s how it is with calories, fat, sodium and other nutritional information, but this stuff is far more difficult to itemize and track than dollars and cents. The end result is that we eat way more than we need to… even when dieting.

I picked this post to reblog because diet is something I harp on almost every post I write. Two-thirds of American are overweight and it’s because we eat twice as many calories everyday than what our body needs. Losing body fat is about eating food that helps you burn fat.

I know the author said that losing weight is half diet and half exercise, but for me it was more like 70% diet and 30% exercise. I wasn't able to just cut back on some of my favorite foods, I had to totally start over. I had to start eating foods I had never eaten before. I learned the hard way that the only foods you should be eating are the ones that burn fat. Exercise won't turn fat into muscle. Your body has to burn that body fat. Your body wants to burn fat, it burns fat everyday. The problem we have and why we are overweight is that the body only burns a few grams of fat a day and we eat several ounces of fat in our diet everyday. So the body will store all the fat you eat that it can't burn up.

Because ounces can't be measured on your scale, you don't know you're adding body fat. Sometimes it might take a week before the scale will increase one pound and sometimes it doesn't show up at all. Your digestive track holds several pounds of food and the amount of food will vary from day to day so it makes no sense to use a scale to tell whether you are adding body fat.

If you real want to succeed in weight loss you want to be a student of weight loss. Learn all you can about nutrition and the right amount of calories to consume everyday and "How many calories does your body really burn?"

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone. Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight".

If you really want to lose your body fat then 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 $3.99. 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.

Should Humans Really Be Eating Red Meat

Someone is always bringing up this question, and now the WHO (world health organization) has said that processed meats are causing cancer. So, what’s new, didn’t we know that several years ago. I’ll go one step farther and say that all processed foods are harmful to the human body. This article is interesting because it tells both sides of this story. The important point the author brings out is that no one is going to change anyone’s mind about meat. Humans have been eating meat for millions of years, but if you look at this realistically, it’s only been 100 years or so that humans have lived long enough to actually see diseases like cancer in large numbers and realize that cancer is caused by the foods we eat. Finish reading this post and judge for yourself if meat is good or bad for your health. But first, realize that the meat we buy in the stores is not the same as wild game. Wild game is very lean meat because wild game roar all their waking hours looking for food. If you ever ate a wild turkey you would never buy another turkey in the supermarket.

Perhaps no question about diet and health has become more talked about than: “Should we eat meat?” Prosecution and defense were both greatly agitated by the recent WHO (World Health Organization) declaration that processed meats are a carcinogen (cause cancer) and red meat in general.

If meat “caused” cancer, but produced some good, such as enhancing brain or muscle development: well, then, should we, or shouldn’t we eat meat? I prefer fish and white meat chicken or turkey.

This only invites a series of secondary questions. How is the meat of today like, or unlike, Stone Age meat or even 19th-century meat? What do we know about net effects on human longevity and vitality with a shifting emphasis between plant and animal calories, given an abundance of both?

We know, in fact, that the meat that prevails today is far removed from the meat our ancestors ate. We know that life expectancy today is generally twice that, or more, of the Paleolithic, mean. We know that humans and many other mammals can and do thrive on diets that are mostly or even exclusively plant-based and that adaptations to the consumption of both plants and animals mean we have choices. Evolutionary biology clearly allows for meat in the human diet but does not necessarily require it. So what better, meat or no meat?

Animals eat animals in nature, and it does not imperil the planet. But no other animal has so completely disrupted the natural balance among species. But here we are, a global horde of more than 7 billion. Having decided not to control our numbers, we now have little choice but to control our appetites. The environmental implications of Homo sapiens meat consumption are even clearer and more urgent than those directed at our personal health.

For our species to declare meat-eating, per se, unethical is rather absurd. But I think it’s more about the type of meat that we buy in stores.

That, however, is not a real-world issue. To feed the carnivorous inclinations of a massive, global population invites dubious methods that serve economies, and defile ethical standards. We cannot be 7 billion hunter-gatherers, and thus producing meat for our masses means methods of mass production.

Should human beings eat meat? If we humans were many, many fewer; if our lives were much shorter; if the meat in question were much purer; if our activity levels were much higher; if our methods of the acquisition were quick and clean and compassionate; and/or if the resources of the planet were infinite, the answer might well be: sure. But none of those conditions is met in the reality that prevails. In the reality that prevails, the health of both people and the planet, the interests of ethics, epidemiology, and the environment alike, are advanced by humans eating less meat. There is even a case to be made that we “should” eat less meat, in the conventional (and often distasteful) sense of moral obligation. While we are not morally obligated to safeguard our own health, we are, I think we can safely say, morally obligated not to eat our children’s food, or consume our children’s water. We live in a prevailing reality where water is disappearing where it is needed most, and draining glaciers into the sea where we wish it were not. Meat consumption figures in all such mayhem, and thus constitutes a cultural imperative far beyond the limits of our own skin.

There is even a case to be made that we “should” eat less meat. While we are not morally obligated to safeguard our own health, we are, I think we can safely say, morally obligated not to eat our children’s food, or consume our children’s water.

To sum this up, for our own health we should cut back on animal meat, the dietary recommendations are for us to only eat 3 oz. of meat a day, not 3oz. per meal. Most of the western world has been overindulging in animal meat for decades. I believe there lies the problem we have with animal products. Any sensible diet recommends 4 times the amount of grain and vegetables compared to meat. In other words, if you’re eating a 400 calorie meal, only 80 calories should be meat.

Another problem with meat today, most of us don’t buy fresh meat. Some stores don’t even have fresh meat. Supermarkets today, receive their meat cut, packaged, and labeled before it’s shipped. Some supermarkets have no butcher, only people to unpack the meat and place the packages in a display case. Today’s meat isn’t the same as it was for your grandparents. They could buy fresh meat and seafood every day. The butcher would cut their meat while they waited. The meat we buy pre-packaged in the stores today was probably frozen before being shipped to the stores. So, what does the date on the package really mean? Maybe it’s the day the package arrived in the store, so who knows when that meat was cut. So, besides all the hormones in meat today, we have to worry about the preservatives in the meat because the factory where they cut the meat doesn’t want it to spoil before you buy it.

The meat we buy pre-packaged in the stores today was probably frozen before being shipped to the stores. So, what does the date on the package really mean? Maybe it’s the day the package arrived in the store, so who knows when that meat was cut. So, besides all the hormones in meat today, we have to worry about the preservatives in the meat because the factory where they cut the meat doesn’t want it to spoil before you buy it. This alone is enough to change the minds of anyone about red meat.

It’s the excessive hormones and preservatives in our food that cause diseases like cancer. Most of this post are the words of a doctor who turned vegetarian for his own health and I can certainly understand. I also know that most of us will never be vegetarian but we can cut back on meat consumption for the sake of our health.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone. Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight".

If you really want to lose your body fat then 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 $3.99. 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.

The Reasons You Need To Eat Better food

Reasons Why You Need to Eat a Better Diet

I reblogged this article from VeryWell.com.

By Shereen Lehman, MS A Healthy Balanced Diet

A Healthy Balanced Diet

Eating right is good for your health. This is so critical that you can just about blame all your health problems including a weight problem all on your diet.  Yes, if you’re more active it’s better for your heart and your joints, and even your brain because your circulation will improve the active you are.

Eating a healthy balanced diet isn’t all that complicated. Just choose a variety of foods from all the major food groups including fruits and vegetables, meats or protein sources, dairy or calcium, grains and cereals, and healthy oils and fats. It also helps if you also want to consume the right amount of calories to maintain a healthy weight and cut back on all the unhealthy junk foods.

Sometimes the question isn’t about what makes up a healthy diet; it’s about why should a person eat a healthy diet. So, in case you’re wondering, here are my top ten reasons why you should eat a healthy diet.

Makes Losing Weight Easier

Oh sure, you can lose weight by eating low-calorie junk food or by following the latest ridiculously restrictive fad diet, but it’s just not the best way to lose weight and be healthy.

Eating a healthy diet that includes lots of fresh low-calorie nutrient-dense fruits and veggies, high-fiber whole grains, and legumes will help you lose the excess adipose and supply you with all the nutrients you need.

Makes Gaining Weight Easier

While there’s much more interest in losing weight, there are a number of people who need to gain weight due to illness or other reasons. Choosing healthful energy-dense foods like nuts, seeds, and dried fruit can help you gain weight without resorting to junk foods that aren’t nutritious.

Reduces Your Risk of Type 2 Diabetes

Having a history of poor eating habits and being obese are two major risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Increasing your intake of healthful foods and losing weight if you’re obese or overweight may help reduce the risk.

It’s Good for Your Heart

A diet rich in fish, nuts, fruits, veggies, and other healthy foods (like a Mediterranean-type diet) provides you with omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats that are good for your heart. It also makes it easier to avoid most trans-fats that are associated with cardiovascular disease.

And Reduces Your Risk of Some Types of Cancer

Eating a poor diet, drinking too much alcohol, gaining too much weight, and heavy consumption of red and processed meats are associated with a higher risk of some forms of cancer. And although it’s difficult to say that any particular foods prevent cancer, eating a healthy diet overall may decrease your cancer risk.

Sets a Good Example for Your Kids

If you’re a parent or grandparent struggling with a picky eater, you might find the situation easier to handle if you set a good example for your child. How can you expect your kids to eat broccoli while you’re sitting there eating potato chips? Also, getting kids and picky eaters into the kitchen is one great way to get them motivated to try new foods.

No Need to Waste Money on Supplements

Eating a healthful, balanced diet will provide you will all the essential vitamins and minerals you need every day. I mean, I know there’s nothing wrong with taking a multi-vitamin to ensure an adequate intake, but research indicates there are more health benefits associated with eating a variety of healthful foods, and in some cases, taking supplements can be risky.

Please note, however, if your health care provider has you taking supplements for some reason, you shouldn’t stop taking them without speaking to him or her first.

Helps You Feel More Energetic

Eating a healthy diet provides you with the carbohydrates you need for energy, along with enough B-complex vitamins to help the process along. Don’t forget to start with a healthy breakfast because it helps keep you alert all morning and sets the stage for a day of healthy eating.

It’s Good for Your Skin and Hair

Eating a healthy diet helps you look your best by supplying the nutrients your skin needs to stay supple and smooth and maybe stave off those wrinkles. And your hair needs good nutrition, including plenty of protein, to be soft, shiny, and healthy.

Helps Keep Your Digestive System Healthy

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, most Americans eat far less dietary fiber than they should. needs. Fiber is essential for a healthy digestive system and helps maintain normal cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Eat right and includes lots of fiber sources such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.

Eating healthy and avoiding processed foods will help you lose fat. Losing fat will fix all your health problems and give you the energy you had 20 years ago.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone. Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight".

If you really want to lose your body fat then 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 $3.99. 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.

Get Rid Of Bloating

There are medical reasons that you can bloat on a regular basis. Because bloating doesn’t last very long 3 to 5 days usually, most people just ignore bloat. But that’s a mistake, it might be a sign that you have a medical problem or that you’re doing something wrong. It could be your diet? You might not be active enough or your body might be in a hoarding mode. You're probably eating the wrong foods. Before you spend money on some over-the-counter anti-acids or other medication look at the foods you’re eating. All our stomach problems start with the food we’re eating.

In some cases, we can diminish bloating by walking. Physical activity is important to banishing bloat. Walking after a big meal will help reduce the effects of that big meal.

Make an effort to get more physical activity, with a goal of 30 minutes, 5 days per week. Another recommended lifestyle change is to stop smoking. Smoking can contribute to bloating – so quitting can help — not to mention the other health benefits associated with stopping smoking.

Other Medical Issues
Avoiding constipation is an important part of dealing with bloating. Ensuring that you drink enough liquids, and incorporating fiber into your diet is essential.

It’s important to know that some over-the-counter pain relievers, iron supplements, and prescription pain medications can cause constipation and bloat.

Check for food allergies or intolerance (lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance, fructose malabsorption) as they can contribute to bloating.

Make sure you are getting enough calcium and magnesium

A key recommendation is to avoid overeating — the most common cause of bloating. You may want to eat smaller meals and eat more frequently and stick to regular mealtimes. Stop eating before you’re full, and leave some food on the plate. It’s also important to slow down when you eat — a good guideline is to give yourself around 30 minutes for a full meal. A few other general dietary tips:

Don’t chew gum – especially sugar-free gum
Don’t use a straw – sip straight from a cup
Cook vegetables instead of eating them raw
Cut back on evening carbohydrates

Drink a 16-ounce glass of water 30 minutes prior to each meal, and make sure you are getting 6 – 8 ounces glasses of water daily.

Martha, a thyroid patient, shared this advice that worked for her:

One of my problems with hypothyroidism is water retention, despite the 80 ounces of water I drink daily. My doctor suggested I try 16 oz. unflavored Pedialyte mixed with 48 oz. water and drink this mixture two consecutive days weekly. After the first day, I noticed a significant difference! After the second day, I weighed 1.5 pounds less. Water retention isn’t a problem for me anymore!!! Maybe this will help others.

Eat Foods That Help Reduce Bloat
A number of foods are known to help reduce bloat. Make sure you incorporate them into your diet. These foods include:

High-fiber foods – aim for 25 grams per day
Vegetables: Lettuce, cucumber, spinach
Fruits: Papaya, apples (with the skin), avocados, watermelon, pineapple, mangoes, bananas, cantaloupes, tomatoes
Yogurt
Grains: Whole grains, quinoa, brown rice, oatmeal
Spices: Ginger, peppermint, black pepper
Coffee
Salmon

Foods to Avoid or Cut Back on to Minimize Bloat
A number of foods and drinks are associated with increasing bloat. Try to cut back on consumption of these foods:

Carbonated drinks
Alcohol
Artificially sweetened foods, drinks, and seltzer
Fried foods
Frozen meals
Salty foods and sodium
Processed meats and hot dogs
Beans

Stretching and Massage
It may be helpful to massage your abdomen, by pressing your fingers by the hip, sliding across the ribs, and then down in a circular motion. When your body isn’t getting the liquids of foods that it requires it will go into a hoarding mode, which can cause bloating. When the body retains water,  for example, generally it’s not getting enough water every day so it starts to hoard water, and the same thing will happen with food if the body isn’t getting enough nutrition.

When your body isn’t getting the liquids that it requires it will go into a hoarding mode, which can cause bloating. When the body retains water,  for example, generally it’s not getting enough water every day so it starts to hoard water, and that causes you to bloat.  The same thing will happen with food if the body isn’t getting enough nutrition it will start to hoard fats in your fat cells. Also, you can become constipated and you don’t have to have any medical problems. Most bloating isn’t medical, it’s caused by a bad diet and you aren’t drinking enough water. Learn about what your body requires to stay healthy and follow those rules. You’ll be a happier person and your body will function properly.

Look for my podcasts on anchor.fm, or the podcast app on your cell phone. Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight".

If you really want to lose your body fat then 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 $3.99. 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.