How Healthy Are You?

Surprisingly Simple Longevity Tests

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 that 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 meters/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 centimeters by a person's height (also measured in centimeters) 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 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.

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

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $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, BN.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. 

Do You Want To Be Thin?

The weather is changing and winter is on the way. It's not a good time to go on a diet. But you don't have to quit before you start. Follow a little advice and you can lose weight in any season.

Some people believe "if I just lose a little weight, I can be thin too". Well, I never found it that easy. I guess I learned the hard way. I was always a little heavy. Even back in High School, I was what my family called chubby. After I finished school I worked as a truck driver unloading the truck by hand at every stop I made, usually about 40 stops a day. After about 5 years I changed to a construction worker. I did heavy construction, steel, and concrete for bridges and tunnels, the money was better and I had a family to think about.

Both the jobs were hard work and I lost about 10 pounds without trying. I was just burning several thousand calories a day. I was 6 feet tall and weighed about 172. After I left construction and bought a small business, I started to gain weight. I was 32 years old and the next 5 years following I gained about 20 pounds, and before I was 40, I weighed about 220 pounds.

Everyone I knew had noticed and I started to feel self-conscious.  I knew I had to lose weight. I had settled into a lifestyle of self-indulgence. Finally, I joined a Health Club. It was a complete gym with machines, running track, aerobics classes, a separate room for weight lifters, a pool, jacuzzi, steam room, and expansive locker room with towels provided.

I did get a lot of exercise but I didn't lose much weight and after a few years, I stopped going. Like most people, I was pretty discouraged throughout my 40's and then after I sold my business I finally got serious about losing weight.

So the reason I'm writing about myself is that I want you to know that my battle with my weight went on for more than 20 years. But yes I did win the battle because I never quit. I weigh 165 today after more than 30 years of trying to lose weight. I reached my goal now and just work on maintaining my weight. And even maintaining is a battle, an everyday battle of watching my calories and exercising. I have no regrets, the exercise has made me a healthier person, and staying thin in my senior years lets me be active. I ride a bike, swim, walk a lot, I do yoga and weight train twice a week.

Being thin can be challenging, for some people it comes easy. They're born with the right genes and they can process food without absorbing the fat. Others like me have to work at it. But if I would have taken some advice when I was younger it might have been easier.

I always thought I could do it the easy way. "I'll diet for a few weeks and I'll be thin and ready for the summer." That was a pipe dream, it never happened. Sure, it's easy to drop 5 or 10 pounds, but in a couple weeks it comes right back. I wasn't serious about my weight, oh sure I wanted to lose weight, but doing what was necessary never happened.

I didn't get serious until I started to feel sluggish, I was tired in the afternoon, my joints started to ache, and walking became a chore. My whole adult life I was in denial about my weight and maybe that was because it didn't bother me to be overweight. Then you get older and you start to feel the effects of carrying around the extra pounds, but you're still in denial and think the aches and pains are because you're getting older but it's not, it's from carrying around the extra weight and because you aren't active enough it's getting harder to carry the extra weight and your heart is starting to strain under the extra work it has to do.

I think I wrote about this before, but being a little over-weight isn't going to keep you from living a healthy life. You can be just as healthy as a thin person if you do regular exercise. If you're not exercising your heart will wear down from the extra strain. Extra weight causes extra strain on your heart and in the later years of middle age, your heart can start to give you trouble. So actually, if your an overweight person, exercise is more important.

Carrying extra fat especially in the waistline is the hardest fat to lose,  and it's the most dangerous to your heart. I don't really understand why, but most of us start to put on the extra pounds in our thirties and forties. Like me though, we don't work at losing it until it starts to cause problems. By that time you can lose the ambition to lose fat and that's probably why you see so many seniors overweight.

If you truly want to be thin, you want to do something about it when your young enough to have the motivation to make the hard choices and get into the exercise routine before it becomes too hard on your body. It's only recently that studies have shown us that extra inches around your waist will shorten your life. The bigger your waist, the shorter your life. Do something about your weight now, while you still have the motivation.

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

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, BN.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. 

Retirement Can Be A Positive Thing For Your Health

Although aging may mean more physical problems, retirement can help people lead healthier lives, a new study from Australia suggests. 

Researchers found that when folks retire they tend to increase their physical activity, sit less and sleep more soundly. 

"Our study paints a positive picture of retirement," said lead researcher Dr. Melody Ding, a senior research fellow at the University of Sydney's School of Public Health. "Retirees [in the study] were acquiring a healthier lifestyle. Factors that may have contributed to this include the availability of time to be physically active and removal from sedentary jobs and work-related stress." 

Whether or not these results would be the same in the United States isn't clear. "Retirement and the health benefits of retirement could be very context-specific," she said.

"Life expectancy in Australia -- 82.1 years -- is a few years longer than that in the United States -- 78.7, and there are also different social welfare and health care systems," she said. "All of these factors may limit the 'generalizability' of our findings to the U.S." 

The study tracked about 25,000 Australians. The average age of those still working was just over 54. During slightly more than three years of follow-up, about 3,100 of the study participants retired. 

After retirement, study participants reported increased physical activity levels of about an hour and a half a week. Retirees also sat around less -- cutting their sedentary time down by just over an hour each day. And, compared to when they were working, those who retired slept an average of 11 minutes more each day, the research revealed.

The study authors also noted that about half of the women smokers quit after retirement. 

No significant link was found between retirement status and alcohol use or eating fruit and vegetables. 

The average age for retirement in the United States is 62, according to a 2014 Gallup poll. Ding said the average retirement age in Australia is just over 63 years. 

"I think it is important to plan for retired life with a positive mindset," she said. "Some people get anxious about retirement because they may lose a sense of purpose." When people stop working, they sit less, move more, and get a better night's sleep, study says.

She recommended pursuing hobbies, volunteering, or spending time with loved ones as ways to keep a sense of purpose. She added that retirees might incorporate a social component into a healthy lifestyle, such as catching up with a friend during a walk.

One study participant -- an 89-year-old retired bank manager -- told the researchers, "I have more time in my retirement and I am happily busy. I keep fit by dancing four times a week and walking." 

To keep his mind active, this retiree teaches computer skills. The message on his answering machine: "I am out enjoying my retirement." 

Rachel Johnson is a professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont. "It was encouraging that many of the retirees in this study opted to spend time being more physically active," said Johnson, who is also chair of the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. "Being active is important to preventing heart disease and stroke." 

The American Heart Association recommends at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity) to improve overall heart health. 

Older adults will also experience benefits if they divide their exercise time into two or three segments of 10 to 15 minutes a day, Johnson said. 

She also suggested that older people try these tips to get and keep active:

• Walk a dog.
• Walk at the mall when the weather is too hot or too cold.
• Walk, jog in place or use the treadmill at a gym while you watch your favorite 30-minute show.
• Park the car far from your destination and walk.
• Take the stairs.
• Dance.
• Trade after-dinner dessert for an after-dinner walk.

The Doctor added that retirement is a good time for doctors to talk to their patients about making positive lifestyle changes that could add years to their life. 

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

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $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 DASH Diet Explained

I like this diet because it's not temporary, like the Mediterranean diet, it's a meal plan you can follow for the rest of your life. If you notice with both these plans fish is the main source of meat. Plant protein is very important and easy on the dairy. Do some research for yourself, these plans are the way to a healthy life and the best way to lose body fat without starving.

The DASH diet took the top spot overall for the sixth straight year in the U.S. News & World Report annual diet rankings, released Tuesday.

This year, the publication rated 38 diet plans in all -- three more than in 2015 -- with rankings based on reviews from a panel of experts. Two of the new additions ranked highly: the MIND diet, which focuses on boosting brain health, and the Fertility Diet, which aims to help women conceive faster but has been shown to benefit others as well. 

The rankings also added a new category, Best Diets for Fast Weight Loss. "We recognize dieters may have short-term weight goals and need options to accomplish that in a healthy way," says Angela Haupt, a senior health editor at U.S. News.

DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) was developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to help people prevent high blood pressure. The plan focuses on eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while lowering salt. Besides being named Best Diet Overall, DASH also got first place in the category of Best Diets for Healthy Eating.

Weights Watchers won first place in the Best Weight Loss Diets category. The Weight Watchers and Mayo Clinic plans tied for first place in the Best Commercial Weight Loss Diet category, with Jenny Craig coming in next.

For Best Overall, the MIND diet came in second after DASH, tying with TLC. MIND combines features of the DASH and Mediterranean plans, aiming to boost brain health. TLC stands for Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes and aims to lower cholesterol through diet, exercise, weight loss, and not smoking.

For fast weight loss, the HMR (Healthy Management Resources) and Biggest Loser plan tied for first place. HMR is a low-calorie plan that includes meal-replacement shakes and emphasizes plenty of fruits and vegetables. The Biggest Loser diet has you eat regular meals with lean protein, fruits, and vegetables, keep a food journal, and control your portions, along with the physical activity.

For the Easiest to Follow category, Weight Watchers, Fertility, and MIND tied for first.

In the Best for Healthy Eating group, DASH came in first, followed by TLC and Mediterranean, a way of eating rather than a formal diet plan that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and moderate alcohol.

For those with diabetes, the Fertility diet, surprisingly, was first. The diet focuses on changes that are healthy for everyone, like cutting down on red meat and getting protein from nuts and vegetables. DASH and Biggest Loser tied for second place in this category.

For Best Diets for Heart Disease, Ornish, TLC, and DASH took the first three spots, respectively. The Ornish diet is very low-fat, with 10% of calories from fat, and it encourages exercise. It can be tailored to goals such as reversing heart disease, diabetes, or losing weight.

The Mediterranean Diet, Flexitarian (avoiding meat most of the time), and Ornish plans took top spots for Best Plant-Based Diets.

At the Bottom

Meanwhile, the Whole30 diet -- a 30-day program that prohibits legumes, grains, dairy, alcohol, added sugar, and processed food -- ranked at the bottom of the list.

"The Whole30 program is extremely restrictive," Haupt says. "...there's no 'cheating' -- not even a splash of milk in your coffee. Our health experts say that restriction is unnecessary and potentially unhealthy."

Melissa Hartwig, co-creator of the Whole30, says the diet is "designed as a 30-day 'reset,' not a 365-day lifestyle or even a diet. ...The point is to use those 30 days to eliminate foods that can cause digestive and inflammatory issues, and then re-introduce certain food groups one at a time to identify which ones make someone feel bad, so they can make informed choices for themselves going forward. Regardless of the results of anyone's survey, we believe eating real, whole foods, including [a] wide variety of vegetables and heart-healthy fats, is always a good thing.''

Independent Perspectives

"The list of best diets matches what we as [dietitians] RD's recommend -- choose diet plans that are sustainable, flexible, and enjoyable,'' says Connie Diekman, RD, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. "Weight loss is just one part of a healthy weight. Keeping weight off is the important part. And the top diets here make healthy eating sustainable."

Quick-fix eating plans, she says, are not about "achieving a healthier muscle-to-fat ratio. They are about fitting into a dress or winning a bet -- not health promoting.'' She says the list is ''a good reminder to focus on the real goal, lowering body fat while building lean mass.''

For six years now "The Dash Diet" has ranked #1 as the best overall meal plan for healthy living.
It's also a reminder that there's no one perfect diet, says Jennifer Arussi, RD, a dietitian in Los Angeles who also reviewed the report. She is not surprised that the DASH diet got the top spot. "This research-based diet clearly demonstrates its ability to significantly reduce blood pressure with the added benefit of reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke."

Two other plans that got high marks, HMR and Weight Watchers, she says, both emphasize group support and attendance, and both these things ''have been shown in the literature to predict and accelerate weight loss," Arussi says.

Have the right meal plan is the best way to succeed in your weight loss journey. But you can't get discouraged because your plan isn't working. Not all plans work for all people, so pick a new plan. 

So advice for you. Stay away from the pre-made meals, those meals in a box. If you notice all these diets are based on fresh foods. I had to get used to shopping 3 times a day.

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

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $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. 

Until February 23rd Smashwords has a sale on my ebook for $.99, don’t miss out. This book is a one-stop-shop for all your weight loss questions. Use the coupon code CL77K.

How Should I Track My Weight Loss?

Take Your Measurements

We have relied on the scale for far too long. You don't have to throw out your scale, just remember it's not your bible.

This is a great option for tracking progress because it doesn't require any fancy equipment and anyone can do it. Taking your measurements at certain areas can give you an idea of where you're losing fat, which is important since we all lose fat in different areas and in different order. 

Many of us have tried this method and gave up using it, but it's a better tracker than the scale. You know where you carry most of your fat and that's the object anyway. "Lose the fat." And the only way to lose fat is to change what you eat.

Taking your measurements can help reassure you that things are happening--even if you're not losing fat exactly where you want just yet.

Start by wearing tight-fitting clothing (or no clothing) and make a note of what you're wearing so you know to wear the same clothes the next time you measure. Here's how to do it:

• Bust: Measure around the chest right at the nipple line, but don't pull the tape too tight.
• Chest: Measure just under your bust.
• Waist: Measure a half-inch above your belly button or at the smallest part of your waist.
• Hips: Place the tape measure around the biggest part of your hips.
• Thighs: Measure around the biggest part of each thigh.
• Calves: Measure around the largest part of each calf.
• Upper arm: Measure around the largest part of each arm above the elbow.
• Forearm: Measure around the largest part of the arm below the elbow.

You can use a progress chart to record your measurements. Take them again once a week or once a month to see if you're losing inches. You can find many cell phone apps to help you.

Use Your Clothes

It may seem obvious, but don't overlook one of the simplest ways to track progress--how your clothes fit.

You may want to take a picture of yourself wearing a bathing suit and keep it in your weight loss journal. Each month, take a new picture...you'll be surprised at how many changes you notice in a picture as opposed to just seeing yourself in the mirror.

You can also use your clothes to keep track of your progress. Choose one pair of pants that are a little tight and try them on every 4 weeks to see how they fit.  Make a note of where they feel loose, where they feel tight and how you feel wearing them. 

Whatever the scale says?  Your pants will never lie.

Whichever method you choose to track your progress, be patient with yourself. It takes months for many of us to see significant changes and, even then, you'll probably notice the weight fluctuating as your eating habits and workouts change.

We can't be perfect all the time, so use these numbers as guideposts, not something that decides whether you're a good person or not. If you're not losing weight quick enough, take another look at your diet. You should eat every few hours. Eat only fresh foods with no man-made sauces, gravies, or anything with calories added to your food like cream or butter, and don't drink calories.

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

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.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. 

Until February 23rd Smashwords has a sale on my ebook for $.99, don’t miss out. This book is a one-stop-shop for all your weight loss questions. Use the coupon code CL77K.

Want To Lose Weight? Your Diet Is The Secret

You’ve heard that the French have a diet that would put weight on any American, but they're thin. Most men and women of all ages in France are thin. When we first looked at their diet we thought that the red wine they drank was the answer. These people eat out as much as we do, they don’t even know what low cal means.

So how do they do it? Well, first they walk more. City people don’t use cars that much, They walk everywhere. Also, bike riding is more popular, you see gasoline has always been expensive in Europe and the people have learned to conserve. Conserving food is something that France has done since World War II when food was scarce. So today their meal portions are smaller than ours and combine this with the increased amount of walking the French do and it’s much easier for them to control their weight.

Now how does that help you? Well, there are studies going on today that are discovering that our meal portions may be double what we need. So how much food do you need? First of all, I think we all know that Americans eat too much and that we are a nation of overweight people. Studies have also been done in the far east. Thailand, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to see why those people have much less Cancer than North Americans. They found that the people there are very healthy. They don’t have the weight problems we do and there more physically fit.

So are we the only country that is habitually overindulging? Well no, Canadians and the English are just starting to change with this new generation of young people. A lot of the Central European and Eastern European countries had the same problems. Some of the problems in this country and in Europe after World War II were the same. Too many poor people who couldn't afford quality food. Cheap food has too many carbs and a high-fat content and those people eating low-cost food will put on more weight.

 So what’s the answer? Besides the quantity of food consumed also the quality of the food makes a difference. In France for instance, yes they eat smaller meals but they also eat better than we do. In fact, most of Western Europe eats better than we do. And I don’t mean more. I mean a better quality of food. Food is made with fresh ingredients and made from scratch every day because refrigeration is still a new concept in most parts of rural Europe. By new I mean in the last twenty years.

After World War II, Europe was pretty much in ruins and yes the big cities did rebuild pretty quick. By the early 50′s tourism was once again a major industry. But the rural parts of the different countries took much longer to recover. So farming communities didn’t have electricity for many years. Europe is really only two generations away from the depression of the '40s. It’s this new generation today that doesn’t remember the War or the recovery.

So what does this have to do with you? In Europe, people have learned the proper way to eat, and watching their diet is the way to control your health. We lost that way of thinking in this country. When I get away from my regular way of eating, maybe on a vacation or business trip, I think back to the way my grandparents ate, the way we ate in the '50s. No snacks, no soft drinks, just real food. Three meals a day at the family table.

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

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $3.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, bn.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. 

Until February 23rd Smashwords has a sale on my ebook for $.99, don’t miss out. This book is a one-stop-shop for all your weight loss questions. Use the coupon code CL77K.

Why It's Hard To Lose Weight

Exercise

If you listen to the weight loss industry, you've been told over and over how easy it is to lose weight—just take this pill, follow that diet or buy this piece of equipment and everything will melt away in a flash. In fact, we spend billions of dollars each year on weight-loss products and services, and yet we're still overweight.

If you struggle with weight loss, as most of us do, you've figured out just how hard it is to lose weight.

  The question is, why is it so hard and is there anything you can do about it? There's no shortcut to weight loss, but you can make the process easier with a few simple changes.

Complex Problems, Simple Solutions

The idea behind weight loss is simple--burn more calories than you eat. This can be accomplished by replacing a couple of sodas with water and adding at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. Sounds simple...and it is. If it's that simple, why can't we seem to do it?

There are a number of factors that contribute to our weight gain that you already know. But it's not just about finding time to exercise or choosing the salad over the burger—it's about genuine commitment to making healthy decisions every day....regardless of what's happening in your life. If you're not ready to make some changes, losing weight will be hard. Below are things you'll need to look at in order to get yourself on a healthy track.

1. Your Attitude.

If you're only on a health kick to lose weight or look a certain way, it will be hard to lose weight permanently. Why? Because what happens if you don't see results quickly enough? You give up.

Weight loss is a great goal, but unless you have something else to motivate you, what's to keep you going if the scale doesn't budge?

It takes time to lose weight—how will you motivate yourself in the meantime? Find more reasons to be healthy—having more energy, dealing with health problems or just feeling stronger and more energetic.  Keep an exercise journal and write down every single success, whether you're losing weight or not.

2. Your Workouts.

If you don't workout consistently enough, it's hard to lose weight. Yes, it's possible to lose weight through diet alone, but you'll likely hit a plateau. You don't need to spend hours in the gym, you only need to set up a reasonable workout schedule that you can follow each week. It's not about killing yourself with workouts—it's about finding something you like and that you'll continue with for the rest of your life. You have to be willing to be more active on a regular basis—not just for a week here and there. My Beginner's Corner can give you some idea of where to start.

3. Your Eating.

Changing the way you eat is another thing you're going to have to do for long-lasting weight loss.

You need to be willing to replace unhealthy foods with healthier choices most of the time.  That means:

• Keeping a food journal
• Spending more time in the grocery store reading food labels
• Spending more time preparing meals
• Understanding proper portion sizes
• Making conscious choices about what you put in your mouth.

For permanent weight loss, you need to pay attention to what you eat and make good choices more often than not. Maybe a structured diet eventually ends, but healthy eating never stops...there will never be a time when you're done eating healthy.

You might feel you're sacrificing the good stuff (pizza, fast food, etc.) and your life won't be fun if you can't have those foods. Guess what? You can still have them...just not whenever you want. Are you ready to make these changes? Are you ready to stop giving your body the most convenient thing available (and often the fattiest) and, instead, spend time planning what and when you'll eat? Because that's what it takes to really lose weight and keep it off.

4. Your Lifestyle.

If you want a healthy life, you have to be willing to change how you live. It doesn't mean changing everything overnight, but simply being open to new ways of doing things. Some things you might need to change for a healthy life are:

• Daily Routines. You may need to get up earlier to prepare your lunch or squeeze in a workout, use your lunch hour for exercise or go for a walk after work instead of watching TV. Exercising on a daily basis changes your entire day, so sitting down with your schedule to see where those changes need to happen is your first step in establishing an exercise habit.
• Limits. You might need to set new rules for yourself limiting how much TV you watch or how long you sit at the computer. You'll need to pay attention to how you spend your time and where you're out of balance so you can add more movement.
• Your Pantry. I'm the kind of person who will eat an entire bag of Doritos if they're in the house. That means I don't keep them in the house and if someone (ahem...husband) brings them home, he must immediately relocate them elsewhere. If you want to be healthy, you may need to get rid of those foods you just can't resist.
• Your Schedule. If you're not willing to sit down and change the way you live each day to include exercise, time to prepare meals, and time to nurture yourself with sleep, it's hard to lose weight. People use busy schedules as an excuse not to be healthy...are you one of them? If you're not ready to take responsibility for the schedule you've created, it will be hard to lose weight.

5. Your Surroundings.

Sometimes, you can't control the things around you. At work, you may be surrounded by temptations—donuts, vending machines, and the like. That's just one thing you have to deal with, but what about your home?

Surround yourself with things that will support you in your efforts to get healthy. That might mean spending some money on home workout equipment, setting up a corner of the house for your gear, or commandeering the TV a few nights a week to do an exercise video.

Set up an environment that encourages those healthy choices and reminds you of them—just walking into my kitchen and seeing that bowl of fresh fruit is often enough to remind me of all the healthy choices I'll need to make that day.

6. Your Support System.

While getting healthy may be something you're doing on your own, it's a big help to have a support system. At the very least, family members who understand what you're doing and are either willing to participate or help. If you have a spouse who wants to continue eating the kinds of foods that tempt you, you need a plan to deal with that so you can still reach your goals and keep your relationship together.

Try to surround yourself with people who support what you're doing and avoid those people (like that co-worker who always offers you a donut even though you refuse on a daily basis) who don't. A workout buddy is also an excellent idea for support.

7.  Your Willingness to Fail.

You will not be perfect every day. As a perfectionist, I have to say that is a frustrating concept for me but, the truth is, everyone (even perfectionists) has good days and bad days. On the good days, you'll eat all your fruits and veggies, say no to that pizza and do your workout even though you're tired.

On the bad days, you'll wake up late, forget to bring your lunch, have an extra piece of cake at your friend's birthday party, and skip your workout. The bad days will happen if you're a human being. The trick is to never give up, even when you mess up. Work on overcoming your fear of failure and remember that you're not a loser just because you make some mistakes...you're simply a person trying his or her best to make good decisions.

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

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $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.