Thursday, May 11, 2017

Low Fat vs. Low Carb

What right for you? I picked low-fat because it made sense to me. Your body has to burn some calories from all the different groups. 30%fats, 20% proteins, and the rest from carbs. Your body isn't fussy where it gets the fat, if you're not eating enough fat, it takes the fat from your stored fat. It worked for me, I lost my stored fat in a few weeks. Read this article I found online at WebMD.com.

Which Is Better for Weight Loss?

Fresh fruit in a waffle cone
There are so many diets out there for weight loss, it is hard to know where to start and which to choose. Some recent research helps shed light on the long-running low-fat vs. low-carb debate.

Rethinking Low-Fat

A number of studies have now shown that low-fat diets may not be the best choice when it comes to weight loss, or even when it comes to preventing cardiovascular disease.
One study that looked at weight-loss results in individuals following either a low-fat or low-carb diet for a year found that those who followed the low-carb diet lost nearly 8 pounds more than did those who followed the low-fat diet.
Importantly, those on a low-carb diet also saw a greater reduction in cholesterol-based cardiovascular risk factors.
In a review of over 50 clinical trials that have examined the low-fat vs. low-carb question, researchers concluded that evidence from randomized controlled trials“does not support low-fat diets over other dietary interventions for long-term weight loss.”
Just a Minute, I want to put in my two cents. Am I sure that they have a valid point. You need some fats for your joints and for your heart. But my point is that you don't need animal fats. Seafood provides "good fats" and nuts prove "good fats" and there are several more plants like avocados that have good fats. That's why I like the Mediterranean diet for long-term weight loss and good health.
This food pyramid shows you everything you can eat on the Mediterranean diet and how often.

But Better Than Nothing

However, when compared to no diet at all, the low-fat diet did turn out to be more effective for weight loss. The lesson here seems to be that any dietary change aimed toward weight loss is a better step to take than doing nothing at all. Yes, in a short time period, like three months, I lost about 10 pounds of pure fat.
Yes, in a short time period, like three months, I lost about 10 pounds of pure fat. A low-fat is restrictive. My theory is if you don't eat animal products you won't consume any animal fat and your body will have to burn your body fat. So I was basically on a seafood diet for a few months. No meat, and only non-fat dairy, I didn't drink any calories, and I was eating 6 small (300 calories) meals every day. Sounds crazy, right? It's the best way not to get hungry.
If you’re going to change your diet, though, why not get the “biggest bang for your buck” and go for the most effective dietary plan?

Higher-Fat Diets With Added Health Benefits

Higher-fat diets that focus on good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats), like the Mediterranean diet, have been found to prevent cardiovascular disease and breast cancer as well as slow cognitive decline, all while resulting in modest weight loss.
In the latest results released from the PREDIMED (Prevención con Dieta Mediterránea) trial at the 2015 American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Florida, the higher-fat Mediterranean diet actually showed more weight loss (a little over 2 lbs.) than the low-fat control diet.
Researchers believe that this may be due to the nature of the fats inherent in the Mediterranean diet. Yes, and I'll explain, animal fats from dairy and meat will cause you to add body fat and if you look over the food pyramid you'll notice there is fish and poultry but very little meat. There is dairy, but you should restrict dairy to low-fat or non-fat. This is not a quick weight loss diet. Most people like this diet because if they stick to the food pyramid you don't have to count calories and you do lose weight over time. The more you increase your activity, the faster the weight will come off but it will take your body a little time to adjust to this new diet.
Olive oil and nuts fall into the category of “good fats,” which are low in saturated fat and high in mono- and polyunsaturated fats. They are also high in polyphenols, nutrients which have been found to play a role in preventing cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases.
Thus, the healthy fats are likely processed and metabolized differently by the human body, and the result is reassuring: eating more of these healthy fats does not result in weight gain at all.
You can tweet me with questions at #ray0369
I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.


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.comScribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Waist Size, Not Weight May Be The Key To A Longer Life

Even those who aren't overweight are at risk of death if they've got a paunch

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

I'm continuing the post from Yesterday with more material from WebMD.com.

That spare tire you're toting around could be increasing your risk of an early death, a new study suggests.
What's more, the increased risk associated with having a larger waistline occurs even if a person's body-mass index (BMI) indicates a healthy weight, said lead researcher Emmanuel Stamatakis with the University of Sydney in Australia.
People who carry extra weight around the middle -- also called "central obesity" -- but have a normal BMI have a 22 percent higher risk of death than people whose fat is stored elsewhere in their bodies, the study found. In folks with a BMI that indicates obesity, the risk of early death was 13 percent higher for those with central obesity or fat around the middle.
The study also found that a large gut poses an even greater hazard for heart health. The risk of heart-related death is 25 percent higher for someone with central obesity and a normal BMI. It's 26 percent greater for those with an overweight BMI and extra abdominal girth, and 56 higher percent for an obese BMI and central obesity, the study found.
BMI is a rough estimate of a person's body fat based on height and weight measurements. Normal BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overweight is 25 to 29.9, and obese is 30 and over. Someone who's 5 feet, 9 inches tall is considered normal when weight is between 125 and 168 pounds. Overweight is 169 to 202 pounds. Obese is 203 pounds or higher. 
Waist-to-hip ratio is a measurement used to determine if there is excess belly fat. Stamatakis said waist-to-hip ratio is calculated by dividing your waist measurement by your hip measurement.
"If a person's waist-to-hip ratio is over 0.85 if they are female, or over 0.90 if they are male, then they should be concerned and look into ways to alter their lifestyle to lose or reduce the 'paunch,'" Stamatakis said.
I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.
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.comScribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Why Is The Fat Around Your Waist So Dangerous?

First of all, the fat around your waist is a different kind of fat. Second, only a 1 or 2-inch layer will cover your abdominal muscles and the rest will build up inside the muscle layer around your liver and heart slowing down the functions of those organs. Not good. The Liver has over 100 body functions and is the safeguard to the blood stream. It has to process everything that enters the bloodstream. A slow working liver is a major problem for your health.
Fatty liver is a condition in which the cells of the liver accumulate abnormally increased amounts of fat. Although excessive consumption of alcohol is a very common cause of fatty liver (alcoholic fatty liver), there is another form of fatty liver, termed nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease), in which alcohol has been excluded as a cause. In nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, other recognized causes of fatty liver that are less common causes than alcohol also are excluded.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a manifestation of an abnormality of metabolism within the liver. The liver is an important organ in the metabolism (handling) of fat. The liver makes and exports fat to other parts of the body. It also removes fat from the blood that has been released by other tissues in the body, for example, by fat cells, or absorbed from the food we eat. In nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, the handling of fat by liver cells is disturbed. Increased amounts of fat are removed from the blood and/or are produced by liver cells, and not enough is disposed of or exported by the cells. As a result, fat accumulates in the liver. The brain and the heart seem more important but the Liver is important because it protects your blood and it's the quality of your blood that keeps the heart and brain working well.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is classified as either fatty liver (sometimes referred to as isolated fatty liver or IFL) or steatohepatitis (NASH). In both isolated fatty liver and NASH there is an abnormal amount of fat in the liver cells, but, in addition, in NASH there is inflammation within the liver, and, as a result, the liver cells are damaged, they die, and are replaced by scar tissue. Liver disease is very serious, you only have one liver. The liver is the largest interior organ and has the most work to do. 
Why is nonalcoholic fatty liver disease important?
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is important for several reasons. First, it is a common disease, and is increasing in prevalence. Second, NASH is an important cause of serious liver disease, leading to cirrhosis and the complications of cirrhosis--liver failure, gastrointestinal bleeding, and liver cancer. Third, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with other very common and serious non-liver diseases, perhaps the most important being cardiovascular disease that leads to heart disease and strokes. Fatty liver probably is not the cause of these other diseases, but is a manifestation of an underlying cause that the diseases share. Fatty liver, therefore, is a clue to the presence of these other serious diseases which need to be addressed.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver facts
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, NAFLD) is the accumulation of abnormal amounts of fat within the liver.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease can be divided into isolated fatty liver in which there is only accumulation of fat, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in which there is fat, inflammation, and damage to liver cells.
NASH progresses to scarring and ultimately to cirrhosis, with all the complications of cirrhosis, for example, gastrointestinal bleeding, liver failure, and liver cancer.
The development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is intimately associated with and is probably caused by obesity and diabetes.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is considered a manifestation of the metabolic syndrome.
The symptoms of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are primarily those of the complications of cirrhosis in patients with NASH; isolated fatty liver infrequently causes symptoms and usually is discovered incidentally. The complications of cirrhosis include:
Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding
Mental changes (encephalopathy)
accumulation of fluid (ascites, edema)
Liver cancer
The differentiation of isolated fatty liver from NASH usually requires a liver biopsy.
The most promising treatments for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease are
diet,
exercise,
weight loss, and
possibly bariatric surgery.
Several drugs have been studied in the treatment of NASH. There is little evidence that any drug is effective in slowing the disease progression of NASH.
Many diseases are associated with NASH and are part of the metabolic syndrome. These diseases should be screened for and treated, for example, high blood pressure, dyslipidemia and diabetes.
Isolated fatty liver rarely progresses to NASH or cirrhosis.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, including NASH affects young children as well.
NASH will become the number one reason for liver transplantation unless effective and safe treatments are found.
Most overweight people don't take "being overweight" seriously. Thousands even 10's of thousands of people die every year from illnesses and diseases caused by being overweight. But it's more than just your weight, it's really about the amount of body fat you carry around. Some people with excess body fat aren't really overweight. The definition of overweight to the medical community is your percentage of body fat. If the percentage of fat is too high, your overweight. 
You can tweet me with questions at #ray0369
I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.
gettingtoahealthyweight.blog
idropped40pounds.wordpress.com
howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com
blogonweight.blogspot.com
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.comB&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.comScribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

Monday, May 8, 2017

The Worst Possible Diet For Your Waistline


Fried chicken meal
Spathis and Miller/Getty Images

You might think that a diet of pizza and fast food would be bad for your cardiovascular health and for weight gain—and you would be right. And you might know that a diet that is heavy in added sugars is bad for your health—that is also correct. But researchers have now uncovered a diet that is even worse than both the above.

Living in the Stroke Belt

The southeastern United States has gained a dubious title from public health experts: the Stroke Belt.
That is because this region of the United States has the highest incidence of stroke, as well as other forms of cardiovascular disease.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the highest concentration of stroke rates in the United States occur in the South.
The American South, as a region overall, has also repeatedly been found to have the highest levels of obesity and diabetes, both of which are risk factors for stroke and cardiovascular disease.

The Southern Diet

As it turns out, in addition to issues with a sedentary lifestyle and low walkability in urban and rural areas in the South, the Southern-style diet has a lot to do with the “Stroke Belt” title, too.
Researchers who gathered data from over 17,000 adult participants found that those who were the highest consumers of what was called the “Southern pattern, characterized by added fats, fried food, eggs, organ and processed meats, and sugar-sweetened beverages” had an extremely high risk of cardiovascular disease—including heart attack and stroke.
In fact, those who consumed primarily a Southern diet were at higher risk of cardiovascular disease than those who ate mainly fast foods like pizza and Chinese take-out or who subsisted mainly on high-sugar diets.

Move Over, Fried Chicken

This means that eating primarily fried foods, as is common in the South—think fried chicken, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles; basically, fried everything—will take down your ticker faster and more often than just about any other style of eating.
No, don’t interpret this as meaning that “pizza and fast food are good for you”—they’re still not—but rather, understand that there is something even worse out there, as far as your heart, your brain, and your waistline are concerned.
Other elements of the Southern diet that contribute to higher cardiovascular disease rates include the frequent inclusion of processed and salty meats (like ham and bacon) as well as the increased intake of sugared beverages (like soda, sweet tea, and juices).

Healthier Styles of Eating

For dietary styles that have been scientifically proven to be good for your cardiovascular system, look instead to the Mediterranean-style diet, the DASH diet and any dietary pattern that includes lots of whole unprocessed fruits and vegetables.

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.
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.comScribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

Saturday, May 6, 2017

The Benefits of Losing Weight

I write posts about weight lose because so many people want to lose weight.  They want to look better and feel better. As a senior I want to tell you that until you’re over 50 you don’t realize how that extra weight affects you.

I lost most of my body fat after 50, but for a lot of people, that’s almost too late. Today I have knee pain because I waited too long to lose weight. The damage is done. I had one operation on my left knee, but the truth about any joint surgery is that you never totally get rid of the pain. Oh, sure after the surgery you’ll feel great but as time goes by you start to feel the pain again. I’m probably looking at a total joint replacement.

If I would have exercised and watched my diet more and lost the weight before I had joint damage, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. For most of us, gaining weight is no biggy. "Everyone will gain weight when they get older, don’t they?" No, the truth is that as you get older, life gets more complicated. We have less time for ourselves. We start to neglect our health, there are more important things going on. 

So, yes as you get older your life does get more complicated. And you can’t do everything. We tend to only do those things that take priority. It’s like my old boss; as his job became harder, it seemed like all he had time for was to go around putting out fires. (taking care of problems). That’s what the life of a busy person looks like. And when that happens to you, stress will build up and to release the stress you indulge yourself more and try to spend more time trying to chill-out. Your watching more TV or reading novels; just doing things that help you take your mind off your stressful life. 

Actually, the best way to relieve stress is to exercise. Even walking 30 minutes will release stress. Any activity you can do to get your body moving and something that can take your mind off your life for a while. How can walking help? you might ask. After a couple weeks of walking and you get into the routine, you want to walk fast enough to elevate your heart rate. This is were a fitness tracker comes in. If you have ever noticed joggers will be checking their pulse and that’s because to burn fat you have to exercise at your target heart rate. 
You can check the internet; search target heart rate and it can tell you how to calculate “target heart rate”. The simplest way I know is 220 minus your age; but if you're under a doctor's care and are taking medication, your Doctor will tell you what a safe “target heart rate” is for you. 

I walk slower for 5 minutes to warm-up, the 20 minutes at my target heart rate, and then 5 minutes to cool-down. That type of workout will burn calories and help you feel better and become a healthier person.

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.
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.comScribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

Friday, May 5, 2017

Losing Your Fat?

If you have been trying to lose weight for any length of time you probably know by now that it's all about losing body fat. Losing body fat will keep you from regaining the weight. There is nothing more discouraging than losing 40 pounds and you're still fat. I've written several posts lately about your diet and that is a big part of weight loss; today I want to write about exercise. First of all, I lost my fat over 3 or 4 months and because I have a small percentage of body fat, now I burn more calories than I did before so I stay thin.
During this 3 month period when I lost my body fat, I basically stopped eating animal fat. That way the body is forced to burn your body fat. 30% of the calories your body burns for energy comes from fat and it's not particular where it get the fat, but if you eating a lot of processed foods it will get the fat from the food your eating. It will always get the calories it needs from the easiest place. The place where it can get what it needs without using any more energy than it has to.  In other words, we have trained our bodies to take the calories it needs from the food we're eating at the time. Not Good, we have to train our bodies to use stored fat first.
Now about the exercise part, we need to exercise because we don't do enough manual labor any longer. And those of us that do manual labor are mostly doing repetitive work which means we only use or always use the same group of muscles and never really use the other ones.
I wanted to burn my body fat as fast as possible, so I read up on the best ways to burn fat. I found that the exercise program HIIT would burn the most fat. I'm not young anymore and I have knee so most of the exercises didn't work for me. I had to find a low-impact exercise that I could use to do interval training.
So what is interval training? It's really called  "high-speed interval training". It's done by doing an exercise at normal speed for about 1 1/2 minutes, then doing the same exercise, speed up and do the exercise as fast as you can for 45 seconds, then at normal speed again for 1 1/2 minutes, then high-speed again for 45 seconds and so on. Repeat this cycle about 8 to 10 times and you're finished. Do this every other day or Monday, Wednesday, Friday and that all you need.
Sounds easy, right? The trick is to find the right routine that you can do. I needed low-impact so I choice the bike. Because of the weather, I bought a stationary bike and put it in front of a TV in my home office. Those of you with a gym membership can use those bikes. After a couple of months doing this, you'll be ready for a spin class.
If you don't have any joint problems, we might want to try sprinting. You walk at a normal pace for a couple minutes to warm-up. Then you sprint about the length of a football field (100 yards), then you walk quickly back to the start, then sprint the same length again and keep up that routine about 8 or 10 times and then walk for about 10 minutes to cool-down and you're done. You can do the same thing on a stairway at work. You can accomplish the same thing doing squats at home. Read up on interval training exercise on the internet; it's the best way I found to burn body fat quickly.
You can tweet me with questions at #ray0369
I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.


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.comScribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.
My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Is Being Overweight robbing Your Energy?

Have you ever wondered what happened to your energy? Clients would email me constantly about the lack of energy. I ask them about their diet, what they're eating and how often do they eat, and the most important question, how much extra weight do you have?

You see, you lose energy because you're carrying around too much fat and you probably are not eating the right food to give you energy. So maybe you haven't been exercising but that's not your problem. You have to fix your diet. With the proper diet you will gain some of that energy you lost. Your diet is "key" to a healthy life, but with the availability of manufactured foods and the convenience and price, many people are choosing to take the easiest way and buy manufactured foods that basically has no nutritional value or very little and contain high amounts of white enriched or processed flour, salt and sugar. Those are ingredients that cause you to gain weight.

The body fat that you accumulated over the years need some of your bodies energy to keep your fat alive. Without body fat that energy would be used to burn the fat you eat and is used for body functions. You can't lose all your fat. About 15% of your body mass needs to be fat. It cushions your organs and fat also keeps your bones from rubbing. Your body likes to process the fats it get from seafood and plant food like nuts. You can find out from your doctor how much body fat you have. If you have more than 25% body fat your considered overweight. Almost 67% of adult Americans are overweight. So if you're part of those people don't feel alone, but just because you're part of a large group that doesn't mean your any healthier.

As a young adult, extra body fat probably doesn't bother you, but it will as you age. If you don't like the idea of taking insulin shots every day, you might want to do something about your diet and lose some of that body fat.

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.


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.comScribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. I’ll give you a discount coupon you can use at checkout. (PJ42H) not case-sensitive the price is $1.99 w/coupon