Why Should I Lose Weight?

We all lose weight for different reasons. Some lose weight for health reasons, your doctor is pushing you. Maybe like me your spouse is pushing you. Maybe you feel funny at work because your co-workers stare, talk behind your back. Or maybe you just want to wear the same clothes others wear.

I lost weight because I became out of shape, out of breath when I was working outside, in the garage or mowing the lawn or just vacuuming carpet in the house. My clothes didn't fit I had to buy pants with a 38 inch waist, and then finally I said "stop". I have to stop this insane way of over indulging. That's exactly what was happening. I was in my 30's and owned a restaurant that was doing well. Success was going to my head, and all I thought about was the business and shopping for things I wanted but couldn't afford before.

My wife was power walking everyday and wanted me to join her, but I always had an excuse. I stayed at the restaurant about 14 hours a day. I'd take some Sunday's off, when I'd spend time with the kids or relatives; maybe walk thru the mall and do some shopping. My wife was the one that pushed me into exercising. We joined a local health club with all the equipment, pool, steam, sauna, track and aerobics classes. My wife probably made more use of the gym than I did. She did get me interested in Racquetball. We played about 4 times a week and then slowly I got more interested in the other things in the health club. The club opened at 6 a.m. so we could go before work.

Even after several months of this routine of 30 minutes of racquetball and then using hand weights for another 20 minutes, I hadn't lost much weight. By this time I had sold the restaurant and had bought a different business that didn't involve food. I worked less hours and had more time for the gym but I still battled the weight problem. I had lost about 20 pounds over the past couple of years but was still way to heavy. My wife wanted me to change my diet, eat less, eat more greens and less meat. Reluctantly I was changing but with little results. Now that I think back I was still rewarding myself. Drinking many high calorie drinks during the day. I wasn't counting calories and I snacking too much. I know that snacking and store bought drinks can add 1000's of calories a day. I was only counting the food at meals and thought I was doing good, and that's what happens when your not serious about losing weight.

I remember my mother smoked a few cigarettes a day, and even after my Mom and Dad had quit, when my Mom was at work she was smoking. When she was around smokers then she would smoke. The same thing happens to over-eaters. When they are around others who over-eat, for example, a man or women who are doing fine at home following their diet, but at work their tempted with the snacks in the lunch room and the sodas they keep in the frig. When everyone else does it, then you thing that a little bite isn't going to hurt.

You get home after work and eat a meal with the family and all that food is a temptation and you consume too many calories; then we all do this; at night we pull out the snacks, now your over your calorie count for the day and your not active enough at night to burn those calories and you gain weight.

There are people, and I was one, that had been over eating most of their lives, and when I was young I burned all those calories, but with age comes a slower metabolism. You just don't burn as many calories a day as you use to. That's when most of us start to gain weight because we are still eating the same amount and we’re less active.

If you want to feel healthier, feel like you did when you were in your prime, you want to get back to the weight you were when you got out of school. Usually that's when people are the healthiest. They're not taking any prescriptions, they're at their normal body weight. They don't have the opportunity to snack all day when their in school and they get exercise. Most people remember school years as some of the happiest times of their lives. I guess I remember those years as a time when I was in my best physical condition.

Now I thing I've returned to that time. I lost 50 pounds since those restaurant years, I weigh the same as I did in high school but I have lost some muscle and strength which is natural so I still watch my calories, but not as close. I've keep the weight off for a few years now and I don't want any of it back. I hate this phrase but I'm going to use it, " I feel great for my age", I feel like I'm 40 again and I don't ever want to go back to feeling tired and bloated.

I know for me the whole secret to feeling better and looking better was to lose the weight. I don't have to take any prescription drugs I can eat anything in moderation, but I know about 1800 calories is my daily limit. When I go over, I'll gain weight. But there are more reasons for losing weight, serious health reasons.

Obesity still looms large in the United States but the scale's relentless climb may have leveled off, according to the latest results of a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, one-third of adults and 17 percent of children and teens, are obese, said CDC researchers who focused on more than 9,000 adults and children in 2011-2012 and compared them to five previous obesity analyses dating back to 2003-04."We found overall that there was no change in youth or adults," said study author and epidemiologist Cynthia Ogden. But within specific age groups, weight shifts were apparent. More older women are obese, but very young children seem to be slimming down.

One specialist in childhood obesity was pleased with the overall findings. "I tend to be an optimist. The fact that we are seeing a leveling off is actually a good thing," said Dr. Sara Lappe, a pediatrician at Cleveland Clinic Children's who specializes in childhood obesity. Obesity in adults is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above. BMI is a calculation of body fat based on height and weight. A 5-foot 9-inch adult who weighs 203 pounds has a BMI of 30 and is considered obese, for example. Obesity in kids is defined as a child who has a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex. Ogden said the results for preschool-age children are a bright spot in the findings. "We found among preschoolers, 2- to 5-year-olds, there was a significant decrease in obesity," Ogden said. Prevalence of obesity in children that age dipped from 14 percent in 2003-2004 to about 8 percent in 2011-2012, she noted. Young parents want to see their kids healthier.

Overall, more than two-thirds of adults are either overweight or obese, and more than 6 percent are extremely obese.There hasn't been a big impact on prevalence in the last eight years, but at least there's a leveling off, said obesity expert Dr. William Yancy, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C."There are a bunch of competing factors that make it hard for people to manage their weight," Yancy said. "Genetics are involved, chemicals in foods and the environment may be involved. Clearly, the food environment stimulates us to eat more and more higher-calorie foods, and our environment also encourages us not to be active. Those factors make it really difficult to maintain a healthy weight, he said. "I liken it to how difficult it is to get people to stop smoking," said Yancy. "People have to eat but they don't have to smoke, and there's a lot of controversy about what's a healthy food and what's not," Yancy said.

The word “Obesity” is used a lot today and to put that in easier terms to understand, when your BMI goes over 30, your obese. “O.K., and why is that important?” Because that’s the point when the amount of body fat reaches 30% of your body mass. And that’s important because science believes that at this point your body is spending too much of your available energy trying to maintain your fat. Stored body fat is totally non-productive. It does nothing to make your body work, yet your body has to use it’s energy to keep stored fat alive. Some stored fat is necessary but your BMI should be below 15. A number of medical problems can be contributed to being overweight and I’m sure you’ve heard them all, and it’s all true, but the only one you need to remember is that being overweight shortens your life.

You decide for yourself, "How bad do you want to lose weight?”



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. 

A Tried And True Meal Plan

I found a great article I want to share with you. I added a few comments along the way. These are the same beliefs I have and I write about in all my blogs. The chef who wrote this is a typical full-time worker who squeezes in family time and a busy work schedule. The whole idea of 5 or 6 small meals a day is not a new concept. In some parts of the world, this is the way they eat every day. But because this country began as a country of mostly Europeans, we adopted their ways and in part we still do.

The three heavy meals per day really became popular as the population became more industrialized. As more and more of the population worked in factories and other types of production jobs, people got used to eating before and at mid-day and in the evening, after work, and around the work schedule.

In the days when man was a nomad and traveled with the herds or like some spent their days fishing, man would eat while on the move, eating more fruits, berries, root-type vegetables, nuts, and things they could find along the way or carry with them. 

Today, I believe we realize what our lifestyle is doing to our health and we are looking for a better way.

Published on Health and Fitness website:

I'm a chef (and a mom). You might think that eating frequent meals wouldn’t be an issue.

I understand the concept: Five or six small meals a day takes the edge off your appetite, evens out blood sugar levels, and keeps your energy steady. But I confess: I don’t always eat this way.

Although my fitness trainer encourages me to eat healthy food every few hours, my meals usually look like this: coffee, a bit more coffee, lunch at 3 p.m., dinner at 9 p.m. I start over again the next morning.

When I decided to change this habit, I found that doing these five things helped:

Plan ahead. Five meals a day equals breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks. To do this right, you need to plan what you’ll eat every day for each “meal.” And you need to schedule eating every 2 to 3 hours.

Stock up. Face it: You’re going to grab whatever food is closest. So stock up on veggies, fruit, healthy carbs, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese.

Go for taste. Choose snack foods that will sustain you and taste good. Remember, healthy food can be satisfying.

Whip up a smoothie. Blend fruit, milk, yogurt, and a little honey for a sweet, filling snack packed with vitamins, fiber, protein, and calcium. Combine carbs and protein to stay full longer. Try whole-wheat toast with peanut butter or a hard-boiled egg; whole-grain pasta with olive oil and cheese; or oatmeal with fruit, milk, and honey. Or make yourself a big pot of soup (like my Tuscan chicken soup) to heat up for lunches or snacks.

Eat foods rich in antioxidants to help fight free radicals -- unstable oxygen molecules that contribute to the aging process. Antioxidants can be found in colorful vegetables and fruits like berries, beets, and tomatoes. For a balanced diet and to help you reduce your risk of developing cancer and heart disease, add at least five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables to your diet each day.

Olive oil is a tasty monounsaturated fat that may positively affect memory. A compound in extra-virgin olive oil called oleocanthal is a natural anti-inflammatory and produces effects similar to ibuprofen and other NSAIDs. One study of men showed that olive oil, especially extra-virgin, increased HDL, the good cholesterol that clears fat from blood vessel walls -- a condition known as atherosclerosis.

Berries are a great source of antioxidants. Strawberries, blueberries, and acai berries are just some examples of polyphenol-rich berries. These powerful compounds may help combat cancers and degenerative diseases of the brain. Frozen berries contain polyphenols, too. Check out the grocery store's freezer case and include berries in your diet year-round.

Top your salad with tuna or salmon instead of chicken. Fish has been called "brain food" because its fatty acids, DHA and EPA, are important to brain and nervous system development. Eating fish one to two times a week may also lower the risk of dementia. Omega-3 fats found in fatty fish can lower cholesterol and triglycerides. It can also help ease the inflammation that leads to atherosclerosis.

Add fiber-rich beans to your diet three to four times a week. Fiber may help lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol, prevent constipation, and help digestion. And because you feel full longer, eating a diet high in fiber can help you lose weight. Top a salad with chickpeas or use beans in place of meat in soups. Beans contain complex carbohydrates to help regulate glucose levels, which is important for people with diabetes.

Veggies contain fiber, phytonutrients, and loads of vitamins and minerals that may protect you from chronic diseases. Dark, leafy greens contain vitamin K for strong bones. Sweet potatoes and carrots contain vitamin A, which helps keep eyes and skin healthy and protects against infection. Studies suggest having a serving of tomatoes or tomato products every day may prevent the DNA damage associated with the development of prostate cancer.

People living near the Mediterranean regularly incorporate olive oil, fish, vegetables, whole grains, and an occasional glass of red wine into their meals. Instead of salt, they rely on spices and herbs to flavor their foods. This "Mediterranean diet" can be beneficial to heart health, can reduce the risks of mild memory impairment, and may ward off certain cancers.

Whether eaten whole or ground into a paste, nuts are packed with cholesterol-free protein and other nutrients. Almonds are rich in vitamin E, an antioxidant that protects the body from cell damage and helps boosts the immune system. Pecans contain antioxidants. The unsaturated fats in walnuts can help reduce LDL and raise HDL cholesterol. But nuts aren't fat-free. One ounce of almonds -- about 24 nuts -- contains 160 calories. So eat nuts in moderation.

Drinking vitamin D-fortified beverages like milk help increase calcium absorption. That's especially important for bone health. Vitamin D may also help reduce the risk of colon, breast, and prostate cancers. Eat yogurt with live cultures to aid digestion.

Eating whole grains can reduce your risk of certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Choose whole-grain breads and pasta and brown or wild rice instead of white. Drop barley into soups or add plain oatmeal to meatloaf. Whole grains are minimally processed, so they retain more nutritional value. The fiber in whole grains helps prevent digestive problems such as constipation and diverticular disease.

Keeping off extra weight puts less pressure on your joints, less strain on your heart, and can reduce your risk of certain cancers. It gets tougher to do as metabolism slows and as you lose muscle with age. Select proteins like lean meats, tuna, or beans. Include vegetables, whole grains, and fruits. It takes more energy for your body to break down complex carbs, and the added fiber will help you feel fuller.

Sometimes as people age, it's difficult for them to keep weight on. You may have a harder time recovering from illness or injury if you're underweight. Eat three meals a day, with healthy snacks in between. Try whole milk instead of skim but limit your overall saturated fat to avoid high cholesterol. Eat the most calorie-heavy item in your meal first. If needed, add a meal supplement until you reach your desired weight.

The concept of small meals throughout the day made my weight loss easy and with almost no exercise, now I wish I had done more but with a hectic work schedule exercise for me was off and on as time promoted.

I found the trick to several small meals is planning. You have to stay less than 300 calories per meal, so at first, it took a lot of research and making notes until I found 6 small meals that gave me enough nutrition for the energy I need and still stay under 1800 calories a day. The first meal was at 7 a.m., then 10, then 1 p.m., then 4 and finally 7p.m. I try never to eat the last two hours before bed. Now that schedule worked good for me, but some people are active till late in the evening and they might get hungry again, so hours have to be adjusted to your schedule.

I still follow the small meal plan even today and I'm not trying to lose weight, I just want to maintain and after your body is used to a different schedule you'll like it. I never have any of those problems caused by over-eating. I do pack my own food more than before so I'm not eating from the snack machine. But I can go to lunch with friends and have something small, but still healthy and not feel left out. At first, you will be eating the same things over and over, but you can vary your diet by doing more research and trying new foods for the first time.

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. 

 

Take A Good Look At Your Future

I REBLOGGED THIS POST FROM A WEBSITE I READ CALLED NO-BRAINERFITNESS.COM. THE AUTHOR NAILED THIS. WHY CAN'T MORE PEOPLE SEE WHAT THEY DO TO THEMSELVES?

TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT FUTURE YOU

Why don’t we exercise enough?

Is it because we are too lazy? Not disciplined enough? Unable to stay motivated?

If you’ve read my most recent post, you know those are essentially the questions we were left with at the end. Because we have all the evidence we need about why we should exercise.

If you’ve read anything else on this blog in the past, you know the answer is not in motivation or discipline, two strategies that will fail you eventually, or drive you (and many around you) nuts.

It is pretty clear that only the strongest Purpose can keep us going in the long term. Yet for most this sense of Purpose remains elusive.

So while it seems we have tendency to be lazy, the truth is slightly different. You could say we are “wired” to be lazy, to economize our efforts, and only the strongest of wills can hold firm on their self-commitments.

By the way, this is not a figment of my imagination, or some wild theory I just came up with. It comes from research in behavioural economics, which others could probably explain better than I can.

But I’m going to explain it to you in my own words. With the help of visuals from a really good talk I recently watched on YouTube. (Even if you think you don’t have time, if you are serious about understanding fitness and long-term health, you should be watching that talk. After reading this post.)

The Truth

Most of us have a strong discounting rate when it comes to our “Future Selves”. (That’s a term borrowed from economics, and it is highly accurate in meaning. However, most of us are not bankers and economists, thankfully. So…) To put it more simply, I hope, the problem is as follows: when you think about the way Future You will be, the possibility of a healthy and active Future You is not seen as important enough because it is too far into the future.

Even though you want to be healthy and fit (who doesn’t?), the Future You is too remote, too distant, too hard to see clearly. The present, and very near future, occupy all that your mind can really consider and act upon. No, I’m not saying we live only for the present, but we have a strong bias in favour of the short-term instead of the long-term.

Those of us who have a much stronger Purpose typically enjoy a stronger sense of that Future Self. In essence, to them it is easier to keep their eyes on the prize. (Back to our economics/finance terminology, a stronger sense of the Future You comes from having a much smaller discounting rate). In other words, a strong Purpose can be understood as considering the distant future as equally important, or even more important, than the present or near-future.

Let’s see how this works

Look again at the image at the top of this post.

You have two pictures of Future You: one that is healthy and fit, and one that is frail and, probably, suffering from some illness(es). The road to each Future You is a series of short-term actions, choices that happen everyday, with their specific consequences:

Two images of Future You…

Although there is no absolute certainly about the outcome, we know for sure what the odds are:

Take a good, hard look at those two Future You. Can you see them well? Which do you want to really be Future You? I bet I know.

So what happens? Why is it still not a complete no-brainer to exercise regularly?

Well, each of us considers those futures against the present. It is a decision process in which you pit Present You against Future You. At least in terms of enjoyment:

If the future appears not important enough, you are likely to pick doing nothing.

Conversely, if the Future You is clear enough, and important enough, your choice would be otherwise:

If Future You is “important” enough in your mind, you will act accordingly. Most of the time. Well, often enough.

That’s basically it. How well you can see Future You, and how you manage to keep Future You in mind on a daily basis, influences how you behave. How much you are eager to exercise regularly.

This works whether Future You is simply a healthy and active Old You, or an incredibly fit and muscular Two Years From Now You, or Winning A Race in 6 Months You. Future You is what you envision yourself to be like at some point in the future. Personally, the only Future You I think is truly worth having in mind, having as a Purpose, is Healthy And Active Old You. Which should make You exercise regularly, and in a reasonable way…

Future You, which becomes the source of your Purpose, is not the only contributing factor to exercising regularly, as we’ll see next time. But it is a necessary beginning. Without it, you must fall back on motivation, or worse, on discipline.

The good news is that you can improve how Future You influences Present You. You need to look at Future You regularly.

So keep a picture of Future You where you can take a good look at it everyday, just as you head out to exercise…

_____________

Image credits: All images in this post were shamelessly lifted from an excellent lecture given by Michele Belot, Professor of Economics and Director of the Behavioural Laboratory at the University of Edinburgh (BLUE), as the third lecture in the 2014 Our Changing World series, entitled “Behavioural Economics and Health Behaviours“. It is a really good lecture, about which I will talk again in my next post. And from which I will shamelessly lift more images.

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. 

The Don't Get Fat Plan

Did you ever wonder how people in some European countries manage to stay thin? When I was in Europe I didn't see any low-calorie food. Restaurants had no diet food or low-calorie meals. But no one was what we call obese. I've personally been to more than 15 European countries and normal people are in better shape than American.Yes, you can find over-weight people but not in the large numbers we see in the general public.

I read a non-diet book last year "The secret of eating" were by the author explains that diets don't work. This is a weight loss book about how this woman had gained 20 pounds while going to school in the States and then losing the weight when returning to France, her home country. She goes on to say that in France women don't get fat. In the States when she was going to school the portions of food were too large and foods were too sweet. 

When returning to Europe she returned home and returned to eating the way she grew up. In Europe, women eat sensibly. Good food of very high quality and eaten in small portions. Good food does not mean good tasting, it means food of good quality. You can eat anything you like but eat food of good quality, high in nutritional value. Small portions that you eat slowly is better for you and is satisfying. In the States, people eat too fast, we're always in a hurry to get somewhere. Eat on the run, I see people eat while driving every day. Woman feeding their children in the car while driving them somewhere. Drive-thru windows are so crowded they should have a gas pump half way to the window. Sometimes I spend 20 minutes in line for coffee, I stopped that. No more drive-thru's, if I can't stop and eat or drink at a table or counter then I don't need to.

You know it wasn't always this way. Families use to eat together. At school, all the kids eat together in the cafeteria. Today,at home we eat individually when we're hungry. Maybe that's why families eat out more. It might be the only way to get everyone together.

This plan is for anyone who had trouble sticking to a diet plan. "Don't Get Fat" is a 3-month plan meant to reset your body for a lifetime of healthy weight through slow, gradual weight loss. She goes on to say that many people will love the plan because there's no fitness classes but instead plenty of daily activity and lots of walking. Lots of walking is what people do in other countries and Americans don't do.

To jump start your diet you begin with two days of leek soup. It cleanses the system so you can start out on empty. Followed by meat or fish, vegetables and a piece of fruit. Drink water with meals, be careful of bottled drinks or any drinks with sugar or sweeteners, those are empty calories. Not good.

At the beginning, keep a food journal. While you're losing weight you need to evaluate your diet and identify excess calories. You will be able to eat anything after you reach your goal. The big part of reaching that goal is to learn to eat smaller portions. You may want to start by eating 4 or 5 meals a day about 3 hours apart. At night I snack on yogurt, low-fat greek yogurt is filling. You can eat yogurt 2 or 3 times a day, great snack full of calcium and protein. Almonds are a good snack in the afternoon. Change what you eat and how you eat and you'll lose weight.If you change what you eat, start to eat healthy, avoid processed foods (those are pre-made foods that are ready-to-eat), no dairy but you can eat non-fat greek yogurt, no enriched wheat flour, and no sugar or any artificial sweeteners. 

I know what your thinking and yes this is a weight loss diet, but it's a lifestyle change. Your learning a new way to eat, a way that you will stay with from now on. 

If you're going to succeed in losing weight and return to a healthy life, you have to forget everything you're doing now. You have to forget about the foods your eating now, and start over. Whatever you've been doing to lose weight hasn't worked and whatever diets you've tried only gave you temporary weight loss, so if you really want to change your life and become a thinner version of you and a healthier person who will live a longer happier life, you need to start over. 

Anything you've been eating will only put weight on you. You need to find a new diet with food you want to eat and that are healthy. You don't have to starve yourself but anything you eat needs to be beneficial to your body. Your food has to give your body energy, but not the energy spike you get from carbs or sugar but real energy that will stay with you. Processed foods will give you an energy high, but then you'll crash about an hour or two later and you get more food cravings. This is what leads to over-eating. Eating foods with to nutritional value that give you a temporary boost in energy, like a soft drink, and then in a short time, you need more. These foods or drinks actually cause an addiction. Sugar is an example of a food that can cause an addiction and now science believes that enriched wheat is another man-made product that causes an addiction. It may be as bad for you as sugar. 

Things like sugar and wheat have not always caused eating disorders or addictions. We are not eating the same things today that your grandparents did. A few decades ago, manufacturers of raw material foods like wheat, sugar and white flour to name a few decided to change the way these raw materials were processed. So now when you read a food label wheat, for instance, is now enriched wheat and flour you buy says enriched flour. In the process of enriching the grain, they added chemicals to make the grains grow faster, so grains are more resistant to bugs and so they can increase production and increase profits. You wonder why a lot of your food comes from other countries. Yes, labor is cheaper in other countries, but using chemicals to enrich foods is not against the law. They can use chemical in other countries that we have band in the U.S. For instance, some of our best pesticides in this country were band because they're harmful to humans, but most other countries still use those pesticides in food production and then they sell that food to U.S. Retailers and it's sold in your grocery stores. 

But that's not the whole story, food suppliers to restaurants will buy that food to save money. Those french fries you buy in restaurants aren't grown in Idaho. Yes, in the grocery stores they have to label the food so you know what country it comes from, but restaurants don't have to tell you and in most cases they don't know. 

So if you truly want to be a fit, thinner and healthier version of you, you'll have to start over. Do the research and find foods that are good for you and foods you'll stick with. Your next diet is your diet for life. I picked the Mediterranean diet, it's not a weight loss diet but you will lose weight and become a healthier person and you can stay with it for life. You can find it on the web. Remember there's no short-cuts, you have to commit and stay with the plan. After 3 months if the plan doesn't work for you, don't give up, try another plan.

Weight Watchers is not for everyone but it will work if you follow the plan. They teach you how to eat and give you the support you need.

Whatever plan you decide on and there are dozens, you want one that you can follow for life, remember there are no short-cuts.

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. 

Will Running Help Me Lose Belly-Fat?

"I'm trying to get rid of my stubborn belly fat. Can running help me lose it?"

A reader is looking for help losing fat and I'll tell her the truth. I know what your thinking, the runners you see are all slim and trim, so "if I run I'll get slim and trim". Maybe, not always, it all depends on the food you're eating. 

I've mentioned this in other articles about running and weight loss, but running is not a sure-fire way to lose weight and, by the same token, it's not a guaranteed way to lose your spare tire, belly, pooch, or whatever else you want to not-so-affectionately call it. And it's also true that you won't lose fat from your abdominal area just by targeting your abs with crunches or other abdominal exercises.

To lose belly fat, you have to reduce your overall body fat. While running can help you lose fat, you'll have a lot more success by combining it with a healthy, low-calorie diet. And, even then, your genetics determine what areas will lose the fat first.

Strategies for Losing Belly Fat

Here are some tips for losing weight (and, as a result, belly fat) with running and a healthy, low-calorie, low-carb diet:

• Aim for at least 30 minutes of cardio in your Target Heart Rate Zone on most days of the week. To avoid burnout and injuries, alternate between running and cross training activities, such as cycling, elliptical trainer, dancing, swimming, or hiking.
• Some people find it helpful to track their daily steps. It takes an average of 10,000 steps per day to prevent weight gain, so aim for more than that when you're trying to lose weight.
• Incorporate entire body strength training into your routine twice a week. You don't even need access to fancy gym equipment – you can do some of these body weight exercises at home. Make sure you're doing upper body and lower body exercises, as well as core strengthening exercises.

• Write down everything you eat and drink to keep track of how many calories you're taking in and figure out what bad habits you need to correct. You'll be much less likely to go overboard if you know you have to write it down.

• Focus on making small changes to your diet, such as cutting out regular soda and adding more fruits and veggies.
• Try to avoid eating processed foods. The ingredients in packaged goods and snack foods are often loaded with trans fats, added sugar and added salt or sodium. All three things of those in excess can make it difficult to lose weight.
• Watch your portion sizes, especially after running, when you might feel tempted to eat a little extra because of all the calories you burned during your run. Have prepacked 100-calorie snacks ready at home, so you're not tempted to go overboard. When eating out, share meals — or eat half your meal and take the rest home.
• Check nutrition labels carefully. Just because a food is low in fat doesn't mean it isn't high in other things, like carbs and sugar. Foods such as salad dressings, marinades, mayonnaise, and sauces often contain hidden fat and lots of calories. It's best to eat natural foods. I try to avoid foods that come with a label.  Buy fresh foods and organic if possible.

  
  

  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. 

  
  

  

Should You Count Calories?

You’ve seen the statistics. Americans are more overweight than ever and the trend is expected to continue. The lifespan of our children will likely be shorter than ours for the first time in the history of mankind, due to chronic diseases related to obesity. In this day and age, weight loss doesn’t happen by accident, but weight gain does. Why? Consider the following:

• The majority of Americans do not get the minimum physical activity needed
• The average American takes approximately 3,000-5,000 steps per day, which means they’re sitting most of the day
• Portion sizes are significantly larger than before
• Food is available in endless quantities, anytime of day, and high-calorie foods are often cheaper and more available

The bottom line is our environment encourages sitting and eating 24/7. Sitting while commuting to work, sitting at a desk to make a living, sitting for entertainment (phones, movies, video games, TV), and of course sitting while eating. To make matters worse, humans are programmed to eat and take the path of least resistance -- a survival mechanism that helped our hunting and gathering ancestors survive, but is now killing us. Literally.

Here are more facts to ponder:

• 1 out of 10 people do not know how many calories they need to maintain their weight
• Most people think they eat less than they actually do (20-50 percent less on average)

Translation -- we’re not very good at consuming the right amount of food and beverages to maintain a healthy body weight.

If you want to change something, like your clothing size, body fat percentage, or the number on the scale, the first step is to become aware of your body’s needs and the choices you’re making. In other words, awareness opens the door to change. Otherwise, you’re clueless and you don’t even know it. You end up becoming a victim of creeping obesity -- that 1-3 pounds the average American gains during adulthood because they’re not paying attention.

Perhaps you are paying attention, maybe even counting calories, and you’re wondering, is it worth it? Here’s what the research shows:

• People who track what they eat at least 5 days a week lose twice as much weight as those who don’t
• People who track what they eat regularly maintain weight loss better
• People who use a body sensing device that tracks activity and calories burned lose 2-3 times more weight than those who don’t

This makes sense. After all, how do you manage something, whether it’s your checkbook, your blood pressure or your waistline, if you’re not tracking it? Well…you don’t. You end up with bounced checks, uncontrolled blood pressure and having to buy bigger clothes.

What you don’t know does hurt you. Especially when it comes to your health.

When you pay attention and discover that your morning coffee drink and muffin is nearly 1,000 calories AND you know your body burns about 1,800 calories a day, you are empowered to make a smarter choice. When you use measuring tools to find out that your morning bowl of cereal is five times more than it should be, you can make an adjustment. When you read the nutritional guide in a restaurant and see your favorite salad is over 1,200 calories, you can choose something else.

Counting every single calorie to the point of obsession is probably not healthy, as most obsessions aren’t, but getting and staying informed about your body, your activity level and your food choices is 100 percent empowering. In my opinion, tracking is not a chore but a choice. A choice to pay attention and stay in control of my body and my health. I had to learn to eat fresh and forget about the foods I like and change to those foods that were god for me.

Yes, I think tracking what you eat is key to successful weight loss. Most of us under estimate the calories we eat all day long. And to go one step farther, at the end of the day most of us can't remember all we ate and drank. Food Journal are a great help. I encourage my readers to keep a food journal for two weeks before you start a weight loss plan. Most of them are shocked when they look back through the pages. 

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. 

Understanding Why We Gain Body Fat

Have you ever noticed that no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you exercise or no matter how many calories you cut, you still can't get rid of the extra fat. There could be another reason for your size.

My friend has a twin born at the same time but one guy's bigger and still is 40 years later. The bigger brother is overweight and the smaller one is thin and fit. The overweight brother can't seem to lose the extra fat. At family, gathering, they always eat the same amount of food but the smaller one never gains weight. So what's going on is pretty normal for siblings. I've read a lot about families with some overweight members and some thin members.

Research shows that we are all different even when we're twins. So even if we look the same, we all process our food differently. It's your DNA that's different. DNA is in every gene that you were born with and siblings from the same parents won't have exactly the same DNA. So in that respect, we are all different. Science is working on this right now. If everyone at the family table eats exactly the same thing, for some of them, it's too much and for some it might not be enough, but it's not just the quantity, because of different DNA each person processes that food differently. Maybe some of those people can't eat starchy foods, for example, their system can't process that much starch so the liver turns it into fat and stores it.

That can happen with any food group, my wife can't eat beef. She can't digest it. Some people can't eat dairy products, everyone's different even though we all look the same or come from the same family. 

You can still overcome these differences by listening to your body and understanding what your limitations are. It will take some work on your part, but if you really want to slim down and get back to a healthy weight You must take your weight problem serious and do the work, investigate your behavior and find out what foods are causing your weight problem. I know guys that are seriously overweight and know that bread and other bakery goods are their problem, but they won't stop. They won't change, they're in denial. Guys are harder to convince that “they need to make the tuff choices”. Generally, they won't change until their Doctor has the big “come to Jesus” talk about their health. 

People who can't lose weight dieting, don't understand what they have to do to lose weight. Just eating less of the same foods won't help you to lose weight. That's the denial I'm talking about. If you want to lose weight you have to change what you're eating.

Personally, I think the overweight problem is mostly genetic. Because of your DNA, you who are African shouldn't be eating Chinese or even Italian. Because of your ancestry, you should be eating more like Africans. Maybe the overweight problem in China is because of the recent prosperity and the introduction of food from different parts of the world. Even American fast food is becoming popular in China. Because of the DNA of different people and the relatively new craze of eating out and eating a big verity of different foods from different cultures, this may be causing the overweight problem. 

There's another possibility, and this one your Doctor can help you with. If you seriously want to stop the cravings you have to stop eating food or drinks that spike your blood sugar. Your blood sugar will normally increase when you eat, but you want the increase to be slow and gradual. We know that sweet foods or sweet drinks will spike your blood sugar, but now science says that wheat flour also will spike your sugar levels. And what's so bad about that you might ask. 

I'll explain as if you're looking at a graph. If a normal blood sugar is below 5.6 and you eat ice cream and your blood sugar spike to 8, and your body is working normally, your blood sugar will drop rapidly to say 4 because the effects of the sugar won't last very long, but now you're below your normal level and your body will trigger another craving to get you back up to your normal level of 5.6. Now these numbers are just numbers and if you're concerned about your level you want to see your Doctor and get a blood test.      

When you're overweight it's important to have regular checkups that include blood tests. High blood sugar levels are a serious problem. 

But let's get back to cravings, people that snack a lot often don't understand why, and snacks put on the weight. It can be caused by your blood sugar or glucose levels spiking and dropping so that you keep creating the cravings for more food. So we know sugary foods will spike glucose or blood sugars levels and now science thinks that wheat flour can do the same. Wheat flour is in almost any bakery goods. Bread, cakes, donuts anything that comes from a bakery. Now you might think because you don't eat wheat bread that you're safe. All processed flour is made from wheat flour or partial wheat flour. You want to start reading the labels and avoid foods with processed flour. 

Ever wonder why gluten-free is so popular now. Gluten-free means there's no wheat flour or any wheat in that food. Read the label on gluten-free bread and you find it's made of rice flour. Gluten-free products will help you control the spike in you blood sugar which in turn help you avoid cravings. You can buy gluten-free bagels, pasta, rice cakes, cereal and bread just to name a few at any of the major grocery chains. So gluten-free will help you control your weight and avoiding sugary foods and drinks will also help cut your calories.

This is the other part of understanding the problem. Most people think that losing weight is all about dieting or all about exercising. Yes, but it's important to understand how you gained the weight. 9 out of 10 people put the weight back in a few months. If you're going thru the trouble to lose the weight and don't forget the money your spending, it's important to keep it off. Losing the weight and staying with a moderate exercise plan will make you much healthier. You're going to feel like a kid again. You don't want to return to the old you, overweight and tired all the time.

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.