Doing A Sugar Detox

If you watch the Today Show you probably know that the whole group decided to do a sugar detox for 10 days. My wife happened to be watching the show and she decided she wanted to do it too. So when she wants to do something then I have to do it too. I wasn’t wild about it because you only cut out real sugar, or added sugar. If you ever talked to anyone who did a “real sugar detox”, they give up all sugar and products with sugar.

The first day wasn’t so easy, let’s just say I ate a lot of fruit. The second day was much easier and that’s as far as I got so far. I should mention that most of the people on the Today Show didn’t make 10 days without cheating. That first day you can definitely tell you’re having withdrawals. I had an addiction and didn’t know it.  I don’t really have a lot of extra weight. I’m not a heavy person. For my size, I’m in the middle, not heavy, not lightweight. I watch my diet so why do I have a sugar addiction?

It’s the food additives and restaurant food. We all eat out several times a week. We buy food in the grocery store that’s pre-made. All of us look for any way possible to save a little time. But what’s really the point, do we actually get more work done, or are we just trying to carve out more time to watch TV or surf the internet.

Maybe what I need to do is try to simplify my life by trying not to do so much in one day and what I can do, do those things better, like making meals at home. Making my own meals will save money, and will help me to eat better. Eating better quality food is key to losing body fat.

I read a blog from one of my readers yesterday and she talked about buying groceries. “If you don’t buy it you won’t eat it.” Very true words, so what she is saying is that you need to use your willpower in the store. Most of us buy things out of habit, not necessarily because we want to eat those things but maybe someone in the house wants them. And once it’s in the house sooner or later the temptation will become too great.

A good way to stop buying snack food and other processed foods are first to have a talk with your family. I’m going to start buying fresh foods and making meals and sometimes I’ll be making meals at night for the next day, so if you want to snack do it before you come home because I’m not buying any more junk food or soft drinks.  We’ll snack on fruit, plain popcorn, and nuts and drink things like water or plain carbonated water, ice tea or coffee, and no drinks with sugar.

You’re going to get a lot of complaints but after the first week, you’ll see a change in behavior, a change for the better. The whole idea is to break the sugar habit and reduce the food additives in their diet.  After a while, your family will feel better and have more energy, be more active and start to lose body fat. Without them even knowing, they’ll become healthier and happier, and you might save a little money.

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

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

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

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

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

Don't Give-Up On Exercise

Before you read the following post, I realize many people with a weight problem think that exercise is impossible for them. But the best exercise for losing weight and strengthening the body is “walking”. And some of us can’t walk much, but don’t let that stop you. I walk in the Mall every morning I can and see the elderly with canes walking and even wheelchairs doing their best to exercise. Some only walk for 10 minutes at a time and then sit for 10 minutes and then walk for 10 minutes and then sit again and keep going. In a few weeks, they become stronger and will walk farther. In adult living facilities, they have exercise classes while you sit in a chair. Any kind of exercise class you want can be found on Youtube.

It’s uplifting for me to see the effort people are making to try and become healthier. Read the post below from VeryWell.com.

Is Walking 15 Minutes Helping Me Any?

Yes, your body still has burned calories that it wouldn’t have burned. If you are on a low-calorie diet, your body still will be burning fat as it doesn’t have enough calories to get through the day.

But there may be a slight advantage if your walks were strung together so they were 45 minutes or more, you may burn a bit more fat each day. Your body replaces the burned glycogen either through the calories you eat or through breaking down some stored fat. If you eat more calories than your body needs, it stores it right back again as fat.

Diet and exercise are both key to losing weight.

• Calories Per Day Calculator

Steps per Day Count for Health and Weight Management

Pedometer studies have shown that people who add more steps throughout the day are less likely to be overweight, and they have a much-reduced risk of killer diseases such as heart attack, stroke, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and more. If you add 2,000 steps to your day — about what a 15-minute walk adds — you greatly reduce your health risks and stop additional weight gain.

• Walk 2,000 More Steps per Day and Never Gain Another Pound

Getting to 10,000 Steps per Day: Walking four 15-minute walks adds 8,000 steps to your day, which combined with the rest of your daily steps puts you over the 10,000 steps per day recommended for weight loss.

• How Many Steps per Day Are Enough?

Enjoying Your Walks is the Top Priority

If you find it difficult to set aside an hour a day for walking, but can work in some 15-minute walks, then concentrate on the 15-minute walks. The key to fitness is finding something you enjoy doing, rather than dreading or feeling like it is a stressful chore. Once you have built the 15-minute walk habit, then look for a day or two a week you can do a longer walk.

• Build the Walking Habit
• How to Make the Most of a 15-Minute Walk: Turn your 15-minute walk into the best short walking workout.

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

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

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

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

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

Burn More Calories Just By Eating

I’m talking about up to 30% more calories from certain foods.  It works like this: Nutrient-dense foods tend to be more complex. Take proteins, for instance. It takes more energy for your body to digest and use protein than it does for simpler foods like sugars. The effect of eating protein is the highest of all foods. What I mean is after eating protein, your metabolic rate will increase by approximately 30 percent. In other words, if you eat 100 calories of protein, 30 of those will be burned just by digesting and using the protein. By comparison, carbohydrates are typically around 10 percent, and fat is just 5 percent.

 Proteins are primarily used as our body’s— building blocks. They are most abundant in animal products—lean meats, egg whites, and low-fat cottage cheese are great protein sources. (Protein is also found, to a lesser degree, in beans, nuts, and various grains for you vegetarians out there.) Proteins are found in every cell in our bodies. Our muscles, hair, skin, nails, hormones, and blood all contain protein. And protein is extremely important both to our overall immunity and health.

 Protein is also an extremely important (but often overlooked) fat-loss nutrient. Why? Proteins (along with resistance exercise) actually help your body change shape by adding muscle and increasing your metabolism. Remember, the point isn’t just to lose weight. The point is to lose fat, and increase muscle. And why you might ask, it’s your muscle mass that controls your metabolic rate. The rate you burn fat and digest your food. The higher percentage of muscle mass the higher your metabolic rate.

 With all this in mind, please be sure to choose grass-fed beef, cage-free chicken meat and eggs, and other organic meats whenever possible to avoid hormones and other unnatural additives. Another good reason to be careful when eating out.

 With that said, you don’t have to limit your diet to just protein in order to burn belly fat fast. Just don’t eat things that add to your belly fat. Do some research, those people who lose the weight and keep it off, work hard at it. Read anything you can. You can lose weight naturally, with no pills or special meals. No extreme workouts or starvation diets. Be active and live healthily, avoid eating snacks or drinking soda or energy drinks and be careful of juice drinks, they can be loaded with sugar. Stick to the basics. You don’t have to starve to lose weight. Just eat better.

Another thing you need to do if you want to lose weight is to count those calories.  People say to me all the time, ” But if I just cut back, isn’t that good enough.” And I tell them “No”. Cutting back does help you reduce your intake, but you have to know how much to cut back. You might think you're cutting back enough, but unless you’re actually counting how do you know. That brings us to our next question. How much should I be eating? There’s an easy formula to calculate the number of calories you should eat to lose weight. Simply multiply your weight times 12. It’s that easy. Example: I weigh 172 pounds. If I multiply that by 12 it equals 2012. I know that works because my doctor's “rule of thumb” is that men should eat about 2000 calories a day, and a woman about 1500. That’s what you need to maintain. Now if you eat more you’ll gain weight but if you eat less then you’ll lose weight.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it. Well, it is pretty simple. The trick is to eat the calories to keep you healthy, and the calories that will help you burn body fat.

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

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

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

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

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

Do Diets Really Work?

The word “diet” has a bad reputation in the weight loss community. But the bottom line is that we are all on a diet of some sort. Your diet is simply your eating plan. Even if you eat whatever you want, you’re on a diet, your diet. But in order to lose weight, your eating plan – your diet – must change. Most Americans today, have no plan unless their doctor put them on a diet plan. We just eat whatever we feel like and that’s why most Americans are overweight. Two-thirds of Americans are overweight and half of those are extremely overweight. 

Here’s why:

You need to change your energy balance. The only way to lose weight without medical intervention (like surgery) is to adjust your energy balance. O.k., before I lose my readers I’ll explain. Energy Balance is burning the calories that you’re eating. An energy deficit would be if you burn more calories than you eat and an energy surplus would be if you’re not burning all the calories you eat. That’s how it is for most people, an energy surplus, we consume way more calories than we burn. 

Extra body fat doesn’t go away on its own. Your body needs to burn that fat as fuel when you create an energy deficit. Some diets help you achieve an energy deficit by eliminating or decreasing your dependence on certain food groups, like carbs or wheat. Some diets help you achieve the deficit by using a specific eating schedule, like intermittent fasting. Some use portion control. But any program that works is based on energy balance and each effective plan includes a diet in some variation. When you burn more calories than you eat that creates a deficit and the body has to go into the fat storage areas of your body and start to burn that fat. That’s how you lose body fat, lose weight and lose inches.

Exercise alone is not effective; you would have to live in the health club. So what if you hate to diet? Your only other option to slim down is to change your energy balance with exercise. You have to burn enough calories with vigorous activity so that your body burns stored fat as fuel. Sounds effective, right? It may be if you only have a very small amount of weight to lose. But for most people, exercise alone is not effective. The amount of activity needed for weight loss is substantial and could ultimately cause burnout or injury. Of course, exercise is effective for weight loss. But exercise needs to be paired with diet for real sustainable results.

Weight maintenance matters. So what happens if you lose weight but don’t change your diet? The weight comes back. Your original diet may have caused the weight gain in the first place. If you return to your old eating habits, the weight will come back. This is one of the reasons that you need to choose the best diet for you based on your own lifestyle and personal preferences. A modified version of the diet you choose will become your diet for life if you want to keep the scale from creeping back up.

The Truth why “Diets Don’t Work”

The reason that weight loss experts generally discourage clients from going on a “diet” is that many diets are too restrictive. Fad diets or crash diets will give you a 5 to 10-pound loss in weight, but in a couple of weeks, it comes right back. When you hear a diet guru say that diets don’t work, what they often mean to say is, “overly restrictive diets don’t work.” They usually don’t mean to imply that it is unnecessary for you to change your eating habits. Because the truth is you must change what you eat.

Reasonable diets do work and they are absolutely essential for long-term weight loss. If you are ready to slim down, take some time to evaluate your lifestyle, your support network, and your health history to find a diet – that works for you. You want to find a complete diet that gives you the nutrition you need. Call it whatever you want, just make sure that it is reasonable and sustainable for the long term.

One of my favorite diet plans is the Mediterranean diet. It’s a way of eating, not a weight loss diet. When you follow the Mediterranean people’s lifestyle and way of eating you will lose weight over time and more important become a healthier person. I know you want to lose pounds and lose inches, but my goal for you is to lose body fat. Losing body fat will accomplish all your goals as well and by losing body fat you will have more energy and you’ll actually start to feel better, feel healthier, and feel younger.

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

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

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

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

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

Biking To Maintain Weight

 I started biking at the age of 75. I don't bike every day, but I try and bike 3 times a week for 60 to 90 minutes.  It's my way to do cardio and burn calories. This is my second year. But my diet or the way I eat is the most important part of maintaining a healthy body. 

Many people who are trying to lose weight will join a health club or buy a piece of exercise equipment and after a few months they quit because they can't see any results. Losing weight or really losing body fat is all about what you eat. You can actually lose body fat without exercise but doing a little more physical activity along with changing your diet is the best way to go. 

Increasing your activity level will improve your metabolism which helps the body burn fat. The more you're sitting and the lower your activity level the more time your body spends in shut-down mode. In this mode it's much like when you're sleeping when your burn almost no calories. Add up the hours you sit and the hours you're laying down and for most people the total hours are more than 12 hours a day. 

That's the reason that your one-hour workout isn't enough activity to burn fat. Your body has to burn some fat every day. That fat is used to lubricate the moving parts like your joints. The thing is the body is only burning a few grams a day and that's only about 2 ounces a week which means that it can take 2 months to burn 1 pound of fat. So, why aren't we losing a pound every couple of months?

Most of us have a diet of convenience. In other words, we buy already prepared meals, we eat in restaurants, and we drink too many calories. We have trained our bodies to burn the fat we are eating and not our stored body fat. All prepared foods contain some fat from ingredients or cooking oil. Fats are important to manufacturers to give foods a better taste. They don't make foods that's good for you, they made food that taste good. It's the same thing in the restaurant business. If it doesn't taste good, you won't come back.

So, what is a person to do? Eating healthy is all about preparing your own food. I understand that we are all busy today, life is more complicated than ever before. I have had to change my life, re-plan my day and make time to prepare simple meals. The way I do this is to eat five small meals a day. I know it might sound crazy to eat five times a day, but this is how I avoid snacking. 

It wasn't that hard; I did a search on the internet "meals under 400 calories" you can find dozens of ideas. I might only have one hot meal a day and sometimes only two or three hot meals a week. Five meals under 400 calories are less than 2000 calories a day and if you stop drinking calories and increase your activity level by walking an extra one hour a day you can lose weight. 

Remember to make your meals with little or no fat. Something else you can do is to use good fats in your diet like avocados and olives. I substitute avocados for mayo. A ripe avocado spreads like butter. Try avocados mixed with tuna fish, celery, and sliced pickles. I also cut out dairy and cut back on gluten. I found out that I'm lactose intolerant, so I changed to coconut milk, It's better than Almond milk with less additives.

I understand that for seniors eliminating things like alcohol and sugar won't be easy, do you can cut-back and still stay under 2000 calories by reducing the calories in your meals. I have one drink in the afternoon. I buy 100 proof clear alcohol like vodka, or gin, or tequila. The calories per ounce are about the same. I have one drink, a shot of alcohol over ice with a splash of water or a zero-calorie soda. As far as sugar, I don't add sugar to anything. And I try not to buy anything with sugar on the label. Food labels will become your best friend, depend on them.

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. 

Seniors Can Lose Weight Too

I’ve received emails lately from seniors that don’t seem to think they can lose weight anymore. We can all lose weight at any age. We can all exercise at any age. You just need to start moving. Change what you eat and start walking more. Seniors have a couple of problems losing weight. First, as you get older you lose some of the good bacteria in your digestive system which means that more of your food is not being digested. It’s being stored as fat. Cut down portions as you get older. Second and more important, I think, as we age and gain weight over time, we lose the ambition to be active.

If you are gaining weight as you age, your feet, knees, and hips are starting to wear down causing pain. Also, arthritis is setting into joints making them stiff. Once these effects start to change your body most people lose the willingness to maintain their body and that’s when you will truly become a senior.

This doesn’t have to happen to you. Actually, as you age you should be losing 10% of your weight every decade. This will keep your joints from wearing out. And by reducing your weight you’ll have more energy so you can stay active.

Doctors today are more into prevention than just treating the symptoms. Hospital chains and clinics have websites that promote good health, losing weight, and being active.

Medicine is changing and if you really want to lose weight your doctor is the best place to start.

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

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

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

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

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

Can Protein Powder Help You Lose Weight?

Protein powder isn’t just for bodybuilders anymore. It’s gone totally mainstream! It’s definitely an excellent way to add protein to your diet, but can it also help with weight loss?

One review of studies found that replacing some of your daily calories with whey protein could decrease body weight and body fat.

Those who ate or drank whey protein lost weight and decreased their body fat.

And finally, the protein itself – in all forms, not just powder – has been shown to help with weight loss. One study found that a high-protein diet can boost metabolism and results of another suggest protein helps suppress appetite.

It’s no secret that protein helps you feel full and several reputable studies have found that it’s helpful for weight loss. Protein is essential for overall health regardless of your weight goals. And while the jury is still out on whether protein powder is any better for weight loss than protein in any other form, here are some points to consider:

Adding protein powder to foods that typically lack protein like pancakes, for example, can make them more satisfying without adding many calories. In this way, it can be good for weight loss.

Some people make the mistake of adding too many calories to their day in the form of protein powder when they really don’t need it. If you’re already pairing your pancakes with a container of Greek yogurt, there’s no need to add extra calories from protein powder. That could be a bad thing for weight loss.

So, if you struggle to consume enough protein or you want to sneak some into your favorite carby foods, protein powder is a great way to do so. But remember, calories count! An ounce of protein powder tends to have about 20 grams of protein, but it also has around 100 calories. It’s definitely not “free” food. Some powders have even more calories, so always read the labels. And keep in mind that you don’t need a whole ounce to add a nice boost of protein.

Here are some tips on how to incorporate protein powder into your diet:

Add to your pancake batter. Toss a few tablespoons into a pancake (or waffle) batter for an instant protein punch.
Add to your smoothie and blend for longer than usual. Protein powder gives smoothies and shakes an extra-frothy texture. Just blend on high for a little longer than you normally would.
Add to your oatmeal or overnight oats. If you love to start the day with an oat-based breakfast, protein powder is a great way to make your whole grains more satisfying.

This is a good post. I reblogged it from a blog called HungryGirl, which always has good tips. I’d like to add a few words. I’m a believer in Protein powder and I use it every day. I know that most Americans get plenty of protein in their diet without supplements, but that can be the problem we have with excess fat. Animal protein also contains animal fat and you can’t avoid it and it’s the animal fat that puts fat around your waist.

I limit my animal meat to about 3 oz. a day and get the other protein from dairy and plant sources. If you’re trying to lose fat you may already know that you have to cut back on dairy, so that leaves plant protein like beans and there are several other sources, but it’s still hard to find 50 or 60 grams of plant protein a day unless you take a supplement. I found a protein powder that’s 100% plant protein and If you take 2 scoops a day you’ll get 25 grams of extra protein. That makes it easier to reach the 60-gram goal.

And why is that important? It’s important because some protein helps you to feel full, protein helps you build strength and muscle, and the more muscle you have the more calories you burn at rest. That’s important because most of us will only exercise between 30 and 60 minutes and that leaves 23 hours a day when your body is at rest. During those resting hours, you want your body to maintain a low resting heart rate and the maximum calorie burn possible.

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

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

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

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

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