"Clean Eating"

Some of us don't even know what that means, too sum it up: Clean eating means choosing real food and eating that food as close as you can to it's natural form. We know what healthy food looks like (or at least have some idea), so why is it challenging to eat healthy on a regular basis? Between a busy career, school, a significant other and kids—life happens, and suddenly our good intention to be healthier falls to the wayside. 

Deep down we still want to develop sustainable, clean eating habits because we know our diet, or the culmination of foods we consistently choose over time, impacts the duration and quality of our life. The leading causes of death—heart disease, cancer and stroke—in the U.S. are nutritionally related, and the rest of the developed world is not lagging far behind. Our health, weight, energy level, mood and even sleep are influenced by diet. 

When it comes to food, nutrition and which diet really works best, there’s not much that all of us agree on. And with good reason! Nutrition is not one-size-fits-all, largely because our bodies all function a little bit differently. While a lower-carbohydrate diet may work exceptionally well for one individual trying to lose weight, it may not work for the next. On the other end of the spectrum, carb-loading may help one athlete more than others.

But when it comes to achieving good health, and yes, even weight loss, there’s one common ingredient among all diets that have stood the test of time (such as lower-carbohydrate, vegetarian, vegan, Mediterranean and the newer Paleo diets). They all borrow on some or all of these clean eating strategies:

• Eat minimally processed foods, or foods made from minimally processed ingredients.
• Eat mostly plants and plant-based foods.
• Eat animals and animal products that eat mostly plants.

No standard definition for “healthy” food actually exists, just like there’s no cookie-cutter definition for what it means to be healthy, but it shouldn’t stop us from defining what that means to us. “Real food” has no official definition but embodies what a general healthy eating pattern could look like without using airy terms like “balanced,” “honest” and “genuine” to describe it (because who really knows what they mean?). 

Real food is simple.

It hasn’t gone through a ton of processing to get from the ground to your plate. Here’s what that looks like: fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, seafood, nuts, seeds, whole grains and beans are all real food. Natural sweeteners, coffee, chocolate and wine count, too—just enjoy them in moderation!

Real food is not processed food.

Another way to think of it is this: Real food is not processed food. According to Dr. Robert Lustig, MD, founder of the Institute for Responsible Nutrition, processed food meets these seven criteria:

Remember some of the simplest foods are processed like Peanut Butter.

1. mass-produced
2. consistent batch to batch
3. consistent country to country
4. specialized ingredients from specialized companies
5. nearly all macronutrients are pre frozen (which means that the fiber is usually removed)
6. emulsified (fat and water don’t separate)
7. long shelf or freezer life

At this point, you’re probably thinking, “Wait a minute, processed foods don’t sound so bad!” True; processed foods can be one of the safest foods on the planet in terms of germs, and that’s great for the short-term. Eating processed foods now and then won’t kill you, but you should really focus on eating mostly real foods if you’re concerned about your long-term health.

Eat “healthier” without thinking about it. It’s useful to think of food as nutrients (macro- and micronutrients) so we can better understand our body. When it comes to healthy eating, it’s more useful to think of food simply as food. Choosing “real” foods lets you eat healthier from a nutrient perspective without thinking too much about nutrients.

Get the most nutrients out of the foods you’re eating. Processing foods usually removes or destroys valuable nutrients. The two exceptions are fortified foods (think: orange juice with added vitamin D) and preserved foods (think: canned and frozen). Choosing mostly real foods helps you maximize the nutrients you get from the foods you eat.

Live a longer, healthier life. “You are what you eat” is a simple mantra capturing the impact that diet quality has on your quality of life. Eating mostly real foods will decrease your chances of getting a debilitating chronic disease like heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancer. After all, the goal of being physically healthy is to live a long life whilst avoiding these pitfalls. 

Home-cooking is at the heart of healthy eating, especially if it involves real food. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Save and organize your favorite recipes. Gather recipes from your favorite cookbooks, food bloggers or the internet at large. Rotate through the recipes as you plan your weekly or monthly meal calendar. If you’re not the planning type, having these recipes on hand will help inspire your cooking adventures.

Choose recipes that use healthy cooking techniques. Delicious food doesn’t have to be complicated; if you’re a beginner cook, choose recipes with 10 ingredients or less. To make your home-cooking even healthier, be mindful about how much sugar, sodium and cooking oil you’re adding to your foods. Here’s a list of common additions you should use mindfully to keep your home-cooked meal healthy:

ADDED SUGAR	ADDED SODIUM	ADDED FAT
- Granulated sugar - Brown sugar -Honey - Maple syrup - Agave syrup	- Salt - Baking powder - Baking soda - Condiments (hot sauce, mustard, barbecue sauce)	- Canola oil - Olive oil - Vegetable oil - Peanut oil

Keep honing your cooking skills! No one is born an amazing cook, so if you fail at your cooking ploys, remember to learn from them. If you’re a beginner, do a web search to learn more on how to plan and prep your meals: meal planning, meal prep

Stocking up on real foods is a good first step, especially if you plan to eat more of it. Check out these pointers to help you shop real at the grocery store:

Skim the perimeter of the grocery store. It’s where real food lives. We suggest you prioritize the following aisles: fresh produce, whole grains and breads, milk and dairy, meat and seafood. After you’ve loaded your cart, you can proceed to the center aisle for other necessities, just be sure to keep your eye on ingredient lists. Less is more! 

Go to the store with a grocery list. Grocery-shopping with a list is your plan for success, because you’ll know exactly what to grab and be less inclined to buy processed convenience food. Ideally, your list should reflect the recipes you intend to prep for the week. 

Pick up some handy, real food snacks that require minimal prepping and no recipes. Here are some ideas for you:

NO PREP SNACKS	MINIMAL PREP SNACKS
- Fresh fruit - Unsweetened dried fruit - Roasted nuts - Dark chocolate - Trail mix - Popcorn - Mozzarella sticks - Baby carrots - Cherry tomatoes - Whole-grain crackers - Yogurt	- Celery sticks - Bell pepper sticks - Hard-boiled eggs

Think outside the grocery store! If you live near a local farmer’s market, go check it out! Farmer’s markets are a good place for you to buy and support local produce, sometimes at a fraction of what you’d pay in a brand-name grocery store.

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

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

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

How Healthy Are You?

Surprisingly Simple Longevity Tests

Most of us think that we're in good enough shape. We tend to judge ourselves by other about the same age. Actually, that's probably not good. We tend to judge ourselves by others who aren't in good condition. I don't know anyone who compares himself with the 80 year olds that Golf three times a week. If you don't know anyone like that it might be you don't live in Arizona or Florida.

Your physical condition is a good indicator of "how long you'll live". Most people think they're in better shape than they really are. As a result, they're usually shocked to find out the results. Try it for yourself.

No one can predict exactly how long you'll live, but researchers have devised some surprisingly simple tests that are strongly correlated with a risk of early death - or a longer life - in the years to come.  Here's a look at some basic ways scientists are attempting to assess your physical capability and the associated chances of living longer.

1.   Sitting-Rising Test:  Developed in the late 1990s by Brazilian scientist Claudio Gil Soares de Araujo at Gama Filho University in Rio de Janeiro, this test simply involves going from a standing position in a small (2 meters by 2 meters) area to a sitting position on the floor, and then rising again.

Subjects are scored according to how many supports they require to perform the cycle: a point lost for using a hand, forearm, or knee, for example, to either sit or stand.  Another half-point is deducted for generally unstable execution.  A total of 10 points can be achieved for each full cycle.

In a 2014 paper published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, Araujo and others discovered that older adults had a 5 times greater risk of mortality during the 6.3-year follow-up period, if they scored only 0-3 points on the test, relative to the top-performers scoring between 8-10 points.  A total of 2002 adults between the ages of 51 and 80 years participated in the study.

Araujo's team writes that the Sitting-Rising Test (SRT) is a simple gauge of musculoskeletal fitness, with the capacity to predict mortality among community-dwelling adults in this age range.

Another version is the Chair Rise Speed Test, which calculates how many times you can rise from a chair and sit back down again, within a minute.

 A 2014 paper published in the British Medical Journal compared the fastest sitters with the slowest among 2766 53-year old adults. At baseline, women performed anywhere from 21 stands/minute on the low end to almost 37 stands/minute.  The range among men was just under 22 stands/minute for the low performers, to 39 stands/minute at the high end.

After 13 years, those of either gender who performed poorest at the outset had more than twice the risk of death from any cause when compared with those with a higher chair rise speed at the start of the study.

2.    Grip Strength:   The strength of your hand grip is typically measured using an electronic dynamometer.  In numerous studies, a stronger grip has been linked with lower all-cause mortality, especially among older adults. In the 2014 UK study of adults aged 53, women's grip strength ranged from 21kg (46lb) to almost 34kg (75lb), while the men squeezed from 36kg (79lb) to 54.5kg (120lb).  Averaged across both sexes, and taking other risk factors like body mass index, smoking status and physical activity levels into account, the 53-year olds with the poorest grip strength had anywhere from a 29% to 98% greater risk of death from any cause during the 13 years of follow-up.

3.    Standing Balance Time:  The same 2014 BMJ paper examined how long its subjects could stand on one foot with their eyes closed.

 The resulting times were short, with a maximum average of just 19 seconds for men, and 10 seconds for women.  The good news: achieving simply those brief standing balance times was linked with lower mortality.  Poor performers of the standing balance test -  clocking in at just 3 seconds for both women and men - had a 2.5 greater chance of dying from any cause, during the 13-year study.

4.    Sitting Height:  If you think your overall height is the only tallness measure researchers are interested in, you're wrong.  Sitting height, an anthropometric measurement which compares the relative proportions of the torso and legs, has been linked in Western populations to the incidence of heart disease. Greater leg length (and less relative sitting height) has been viewed as an indicator of better childhood health, which may protect against age-related illnesses like heart disease and diabetes in adulthood.  

Data on other ethnic populations are less clear, however; a 2007 Chinese study found that greater sitting height was linked to more diabetes and abnormal lipid levels (dyslipidemia), whereas a 2011 paper published in the International Journal of Epidemiology found no relationship between height (including sitting height) with mortality among 136,202 adults in the Shanghai Women's and Men's Health Studies.

5.    Gait Speed:  Can how fast you naturally walk say anything about your longevity?  Yes - according to epidemiologists from the University of Pittsburgh and elsewhere, in their 2011 paper published in JAMA. The researchers examined 9 separate studies involving a total of 34,485 participants and found that among both sexes, gait speed was linked with survival at all ages. A natural gait speed of 0.8 metres/second (about 1.8 miles/hour) corresponded with average life expectancy for each age; walking faster than that as a natural pace was linked with better than average longevity.

Since walking requires energy, balance, and engages multiple organ systems to work together, the researchers suggest slower speed may indicate hidden illness or poor overall conditioning.

6.    Waist to Height Ratio:  Some researchers believe that waist to height ratio - calculated by dividing the waist circumference in centimetres by a person's height (also measured in centimetres) is a better predictor of disease than weight or body mass index.  The advice is simple: keep your abdominal fat down, and make sure your waist measurement is not greater than half your height.

Bottom line:  These tests are simple tools to measure the statistical probability of an early death, as indicators of overall health and conditioning.  You can improve your own odds of living a long, healthy life by staying physically active, eating an anti-aging diet, staying active within your social circle, keeping stress at bay, not smoking, and drinking only in moderation.

Medical science knows little about how long human should live. They can only go by past records. But they do predict that humans will live longer in the future because we are learning more about the body and what we need to do to take care of ourselves. The benefits of living a healthy lifestyle will be to age slower and to stay young longer and if that leads to a longer life, okay, but for me, I want to enjoy my days as long as a can. 

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

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

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

Is Exercise Important?

I found this post on the internet and wanted reblog it. This author knows and understands how important exercise is to the health of your body. I've been writing about the very same thing for more than 10 years now.
Exercise is a preventative and also helps to give you more strength, mobility, balance, and better circulation. Exercise also helps your lungs put more oxygen in your blood which increase the healing power that your blood gives to the parts of your body.

Is Exercise Medicine?

Author Christian Worsten

Does exercise work as well as prescription drugs to treat certain health conditions?

Doctors have been telling patients for years exercise is important, however, the rates for obesity and obesity-related conditions continues to rise. What if preventing some of these diseases and conditions was as simple as getting regular exercise?

For some conditions, exercise works as well as — if not better than prescription drugs to reduce your risk.

What Exercise Can Prevent

Studies have shown regular physical activity (defined as the equivalent of walking at least 2-1/2 hours per week) can reduce your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, osteoarthritis, obesity, and even cancer. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day, five times per week, can greatly improve your quality of life and help prevent premature death. While this is the bare minimum, it is a level most people can achieve no matter their condition.
One study found in a testing group of over one million people that regular physical activity helped reduce the risk of 13 different kinds of cancer, including breast, endometrial, colon, liver, and more.

Exercise As Medicine

Exercise was not a worry when people had to grow their own food and walk long distances, as we were made to move and our lives demanded it.
Nowadays, it is seen as something you do to lose weight or bulk up. With the sedentary jobs most people have these days, it is no wonder we as a group are continuing to gain weight and have weight-related issues.
We see exercise as just one more thing to add to our schedules, rather than a part of our lives. Exercise is medicine for your body. Exercise keeps your blood pressure down, your weight down, is a natural stress reducer, reduces inflammation, and can increase immunity. It helps keep your body working efficiently.
When you begin to think of exercise as something your body needs rather than just another thing you must do, you may have a bit of a mindset change. Only about 20% of Americans get regular aerobic and muscle-strengthening exercise regularly.
Without a change in our exercise mindset, we are only going to see health issues becoming more and more common at earlier ages of onset.

Where Do I Start?

Now that you see the benefits, you may be wondering where to go from here? Should you join a gym? An exercise class? How about just taking a walk?
Walking is easy to work into your day and it is also among the easiest workouts on your body. Start with just 30 minutes a day at a comfortable pace and work up from there. Do some light stretching before and after to keep your body flexible.
Once you get into a routine, begin to add more time or even consider adding weights to your program.
Eat right. No matter your age, you need to eat healthy foods and drink more water. Medicare has even started coveringnutritional counseling for older adults, which is amazing for those who need it, as they are even more prone to medical issues.
A nutritionist can help you find the right eating plan for you and guide you in seeing exactly what a portion size looks like. Our portion sizes today are large, and most people do not even know what a healthy portion size looks like anymore.
Exercise is medicine. If you want your body to work efficiently from head to toe, a regular exercise routine is a way to do it.

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.

Which Is The Best Diet?

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

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

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

Many diet plans make promises that weight loss is easy, that you can eat anything that you want and that you'll see quick results. The claims can be both tempting and confusing. So, how do you sort through the plans to find the best diet plan for you? Ask yourself these questions before investing any time or money in a weight loss plan plan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Getting Weight Loss Advice From TV

This post was on the AboutHealth website and where I think the shows have some good information, I also realize that it's a TV show that's trying to be informative but also entertaining. You can't bore people to death with all the science involved in medicine, they'd turn the channel, but you are trying to be informative and so you try and create a message that will hold the attention of the viewer. 

How many times have you saw a movie and said to yourself, "That wasn't like the book." And that happens. The story becomes condensed and changed a little to fit into the allotted time. That means things get left out, things that sometimes change the message. The doctors doing the show don't write the lines or decide on what is said. They have to follow the script.

If you are a fan of The Dr. Oz Show or The Doctors you don’t necessarily have to stop watching the shows if you are looking for weight loss advice.

Their diet tips can be fun and are often helpful. But if you use their recommendations to slim down, there are three critical tips you should keep in mind to make sure your weight loss program is successful. TV diet tips may be unbalanced:  The British Medical Journal research points out that the medical and diet advice provided on these popular shows is often presented without the balance needed to help viewers make fully informed decisions. The researchers also point out that conflicts of interests are often ignored. What the medical journal means by balance is that you're only hearing one side of the story, which often happens on TV shows because they don’t have the time to do the pros and cons on everything.

As a viewer, that means that you need to take weight loss tips with a grain of salt.  No one on TV programs explain that some the of programs that they talk about only work for about 20% of adults. Why only 20% you might ask. Losing weight depends on age, how long you've been overweight, whether you're male or female, and the important one, "How overweight are you?" Understand that you may not be getting all the facts about an exciting new treatment, diet pill or weight loss supplement and that a featured expert who is recommending the pill may also benefit financially from selling it. If you are interested in a particular weight loss product mentioned on the show, discuss it with your own doctor or registered dietitian to get a more balanced perspective.

TV weight loss advice is not personalized. Many of the diet tips or lifestyle recommendations provided by Dr. Oz and The Doctors may work for some television viewers, but may not be the healthiest suggestion for you.  Remember that every dieter’s health history, goals and lifestyle is different.  A great diet tip for your friend might be the worst diet tip for you. And if your under a Doctor’s care, consult the Doctor before you eat or drink anything. Even certain kinds of food can react with your medication. If the weight loss advice you see on television contradicts the personalized advice you’ve received from your own health care team – and especially if your weight loss program is already working – be very cautious before you change your program based on the TV show advice.  The BMJ researchers suggest that you get detailed information from your personal physician about the specific benefit, potential harms and real cost or inconvenience of any treatment before you incorporate it into your program.

Medical shows provide entertainment.  Ultimately, daytime television shows provide entertainment to their viewing audience.  Diet tips are presented in a way that makes the viewing experience fun and interesting.  Unfortunately that may lead to confusion or misinterpretation. For example, on a recent episode of his show, Dr Oz recommended eating pine nuts before bed at night to curb nighttime snacking.  He said that dieters should eat two tablespoons of the fatty nut to help manage cravings. But as Dr. Oz explained his diet tip, he stood in front of a large bowl of pine nuts.  It would have been reasonable for a viewer who was not paying close attention to believe that eating a larger portion of pine nuts could help them lose weight.  But since pine nuts are high in fat, eating too many of them could cause that viewer to gain weight instead.

Diet tips from Dr Oz may help you slim down, but any weight loss advice whether it comes from television, magazines or online should be evaluated with a critical eye.  If it seems too easy or too good to be true, it probably is.  Use Dr Oz’s diet tips to get ideas, then discuss the specifics with your own health care provider or registered dietitian in order to stay safe and reach your goals. Everyone will not lose weight the same way. We can take suggestions or advice from others who have been successful, but that doesn't mean you can lose weight the same way. If your under a doctors care and taking medication always see you doctor before to discuss any new weight loss plan you want to try. 

If your someone with a serious amount of fat and are not use to working out see a doctor before you start any diet or exercise program. Exercise can put strain on your heart.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

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

What Causes Us To Gain Weight?

Most of us just think it's one of the mysteries of life. Wrong, it's all about your behavior. What you're eating and drinking, and how active you are all day long. Weight gain is all about the way you live your life.

The reason it's so hard to lose weight is because weight creeps up on us. For me it started in my 30's. For some of us it starts in College. You might not realize it but most College students are not very active. In Fact, walking from class to class and walking to the cafeteria might be their only exercise.
Many of our population work in offices and office workers have about the same activity level as students. Many of us and I'm no exception, are literally tied to our computer a big part of the day. Actually the housewife and mother maybe more active than the office-worker, in fact I'm sure of that.
Here is some science for you. After sitting for 20 minutes, your body's metabolism will shut-down and stop burning calories much like when you sleep. It will only burn a few calories to keep the heart pumping and other vital organs working.

I calculated how many hours a day I'm on my feet and I was amazed that many days I'm only on my feet less than 6 hours a day. About one hour walking around the house in the morning before I leave for work. Maybe a total of two hours a day until I get home. So thats three hours so far. When I get home I stay pretty active until I finish dinner and then I'm either in the office reading or on the computer until I change rooms and watch TV until I go to bed. So after work I might get 2 or 3 more hours on my feet for a total of 5 or 6 hours a day.

It wasn't until I retired that I found I was more active than before. Actually, I'm so active now that when I think back, I wonder how I ever found time to work. So getting back to gaining weight. You can understand now how the average person gains weight just by lowering your activity level. Six hours a day on my feet was not enough activity to burn the calories I was eating.

That's the same problem most of us have. Remember how I said before that weight creeps up on us. Okay, and it will work against you. When you gain weight as an adult, it takes the body more energy to function. The bigger you become the more energy your body needs to use just to accomplish the same work. Over time as you increase weight your increasing body fat. Once body fat becomes 30% of your body mass, Your muscle mass becomes a smaller part of total body mass. Your muscle mass burns body fat normally, but after you reach that 30% level of fat, you are slowing down your activity level because your fat is robbing your body of energy. You reach a level where you can no longer be active enough to burn body fat.

I get emails every week about a person who eats like a bird and can't lose weight. Your in a tough place because the body needs energy to burn fat but the food you're eating isn't sufficient for the size of your body. Remember your body fat needs energy just like your muscle mass and now you are running out of the extra energy you need to be more active. You have to lose that body fat by changing your diet. Stop drinking calories and start eating clean. Do some homework and find out how to "eat clean". Your doctor will love this diet; talk to your doctor about changing your diet, your doctor can help.

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

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

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

Why Can't You Lose Weight

Losing weight is just as much mental as physical. You have to really want it and be willing to do what it takes. That's the secret, "be willing to do what it takes".

You have to quit buying all those foods you love to eat. You have to walk more. Most people gain weight as they get older because they are less active. When you're less active you burn fewer calories and if you eat the same but burn fewer calories you gain weight. It's not that hard to figure out. It's normal that people gain 3 pounds a year give or take as they get older. Why? you might ask. Because you're slowing down even if you don't realize it. Slowing down is normal and if you're not fighting it, trying to increase activity, then you will gradually gain weight. It will happen to everyone if you're not tracking your food and your activity levels.

It's easy to do with a journal which you can do using paper and pencil or your PC or your smartphone.  I use an APP called "MyFitnessPal", it's free and there are dozens more all free. You pick the one you like. I use to use a spreadsheet but it got too hard to remember everything from the whole day. The App is great for me because I can enter things as I go along.

Tracking what you do and what you eat is a big help. When you have that "I'm not going to quit" attitude a journal will help you find your mistakes and there will be mistakes. The time when you just stop losing and don't know why. The journal is your logbook and when you look through the pages you'll find what you're doing wrong. It's not that hard. When you go off track there are only two answers: You ate the wrong things or ate too much or didn't burn enough calories, usually because you skipped exercise or you cut back on walking.

When you find a plan that's working for you, stay with it, don't make any changes until you have to. When your plan is failing and you are stuck and not making any progress it's because your body got used to the routine. When that happens you won't burn as many calories and your progress will stop. All successful trainers want you to change your routine every few days so your body doesn't get a chance to get used to the routine. As long as you keep the same intensity and work out for the same amount of time you'll continue to burn the same amount of calories.

All you need is about 3 different exercise plans. I do a run, walk routine, a free weight routine and I'll swim a couple days a week. Do some research and find some exercises that are right for you. You want exercise plans that challenge your muscle. Building strength will burn body fat. Losing body fat will make you a happier, healthier person, a stronger person with better balance.

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.