How I Lost My Weight

 I should say that methods of weight loss usually work on a small percentage of those that try the method. We’re all different with different body chemistry. Using a “trial and error” method is the best way to find a way that works for you. This is the reason most people give up on weight loss. Read on and you’ll see how I found what worked for me.

First, I researched all I could find about why the body adds weight. I found that once your fully grown which could be 18 to 21 years of age, you shouldn’t be adding weight. Now those years can very for some of us. For instance, I am the same size as I was at the age of 16. Actually, I weight a few pounds less today.

Second, I realize some of my weight management is just dumb luck. I use to yo-yo around a lot. You should know the whole story because in my early 20’s I never really tried to maintain my weight or exercise, but in those days I worked blue collar and worked very hard, physical labor. I drove a route truck for Cola-Cola for 5 years, unloading 100’s of case of coke everyday with no helper and working 60 hour weeks. After that, I worked as a laborer and later a labor Forman doing heavy construction. Highways, bridges, and underground tunnels. That job was very physical, both of those jobs burned thousands of calories a day but my body suffered. You can’t avoid injuries when you do hard physical labor. So when I was 32 I had a job ending injury that put me on crutches for almost two years. After that is when I started to have a weight problem.

This leads into my subject today, why we gain weight. Before my injury, I had to eat a lot because I burned thousands of calories at work everyday, but after my injury, my physical activity was almost nothing. Back in the 70’s you could smoke in a hospital, in my hospital bed and I was there for 5 weeks. After I left the hospital I decided to quit smoking which I did that same today, just threw out the pack and never looked back. I’ll never regret doing that, but in a 5 week period I stopped exercising and stopped smoking. Little did I know that this would be the end of my almost perfect body. Six foot tall, weighed 172 and all muscle.

Well, as you know if you’ve been following my blog, your body even if you do no extra exercise will burn calories just to maintain your body and your body will need to burn more calories to maintain muscle, one pound of muscle requires that you burn 6 calories a day. Fat only requires about 2 calories a day. That’s one reason the expert want you to lift weights and build muscle to lose weight. They claim that muscle will burn fat and the way to losing weight is to lose fat. It’s more important to lose fat then to lose weight. Of course by losing fat you will lose weight. Ordinary diets will help you to lose weight, but it’s usually just temporary because most of what you lost was muscle and water, only about 25% fat. It’s true, with ordinary diets 75 percentage of your weight lose is muscle. That reduces the amount of calories your body burns during your everyday activities.

So, the question is, “Why do we gain weight”?

There’s several reasons; the first obvious one is that your eating more. If all the other variables are the same, work habits, exercise, etc., the only one left is food so you must be eating more. It doesn’t have to be much. Let’s say you get coffee every morning going to work, and you have extra money now because your charge card is paid off, so now your going to treat yourself, celebrate,  but instead of just doing the cake and coffee one time, now your making a habit of this. You say to yourself ” I know I should eat breakfast but I never have time so now I have the money I’m making time. ” There it is an extra 500 calories without changing any other habits. It goes straight to your waist line. There’s no nutrition in a piece of cake or a bagel.

Another reason for weight gain can be lack of sleep, extra stress (more than usual).

Certain medications can cause weight gain like antidepressants, anti-inflammatory steroids, drugs for heartburn, blood pressure, and diabetes. If you think one or more of your meds are causing weight gain, see your doctor. He might be able to change your prescription.

The thyroid produces a hormone needed for good metabolism. If your thyroid isn’t producing enough of this hormone your metabolism  will slow down and you burn less fat. Aging also causes your metabolism to slow down, smoking and alcohol can cause metabolism to slow down.

Now some good news, water retention will cause weight gain but it’s only temporary.

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. 

Want To Live Longer?

There are lots of pills and other drugs you can buy to help you live longer, but the truth is that the best ways to live a longer, healthier life are free. Make changes in the way you live your life and you can extend your life and have a better quality of life than you may have thought possible.

Most important I think is to have many friends, the more the better. They give you a purpose of being. They’ll keep you from becoming depressed. You might not think that’s a big deal, but as a senior, if you lose a close friend it can really shake up your world. This is when having lots of friends pays off. We all know that people will pass on, that’s just part of life. But if it’s a close friend you can become seriously depressed to the point that you don’t want to go on. With your other friends to fall back on you’ll still have the companionship you need and that gives you purpose.

Another thing that’s on the top of any list, is your health. If you are going to live a full life you want to stay healthy so first of all if you’re a smoker, quit if you haven’t already. Something that goes hand in hand with smoking is stress. If you can manage your stress, it’s easier to quit smoking. Stress is caused by many things. Pain causes stress, and worrying causes stress. Sometimes you have to seek advice about controlling stress, but stress is a major contributor to heart disease and coronary problems.

I exercise to control my stress. My stress affects my muscles and I get stiff necks and muscle cramps. Stretching relaxes me and I can sleep better. People who worry have a different type of stress, the worst kind. Worrying will depress you and cause you to do very little. When your mind is constantly worrying about something you are too busy doing that and you’re not interested in taking care of yourself. For some reason, your mind thinks it’s more important to worry than to go about the job of living. Most people who are preoccupied with worrying never find a way to deal with the problem. They’re problems that they can’t do anything about. But that doesn’t seem to matter to them, they keep worrying anyway.

If you want to live a longer life, manage your stress and learn not to worry, it will destroy your life. Concentrate on your health. See a doctor a couple of times a year, just to see how you’re doing. A nap in the afternoon, it helps lower your stress level. Losing weight will help your heart last longer. Losing weight will give you pep and energy you forgot you have.  Do some exercise every day, walking can be the best form of exercise and will help you lose weight. One hour a day of walking is good for your heart helps circulation and is good for your joints. Taking pills for arthritis pain is a temporary fix, but walking more actually and doing other joint exercises will take the place of those pills and is good for the heart and circulation, who knew?

Changing your diet will also keep you healthy. Follow the Mediterranean Diet. It’s centuries old, and there’s lots of information about the diet, but it’s not really a diet. It’s a way of eating the Mediterranean people have been doing since the ancient Greeks. And after 3 or 4000 years, our generation has finally decided that they might have been doing it right. You can read about this diet on my other website: blogonlosingweight.com/diets

You might be surprised but married people live longer, even if their spouse dies, the other one lives a longer life than someone who never married.

Being a religious person helps you to live longer and forgive people who you might be mad at.  Holding a grudge only adds stress to your life and shortens your life span.

Maintain purpose in your life, you need a reason to get up in the morning. Seniors still have a lot of living to do, don’t be a spectator.

 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.

How Long Will It Take To Lose My Fat?

Good question. The answer is different for everyone. If you are only 20 pounds or so over your goal weight, then a 200-pound man can expect to lose about 2 pounds a week depending on your diet, age, and activity level. Personally, I lost almost 20 pounds of fat after I retired at 66. If you’re a woman who weighs about 140 and wants to lose 20 pounds then 2 pounds every week might be too much to expect. Middle age women will find it more difficult but not impossible. The same three variables will still be critical. For instance, a young woman who has had a baby recently will lose 20 pounds faster than a woman in her late 40s who has carried the extra weight for a few years. If you have been overweight for some time, it will take longer to lose it.

So several things are being considered, 20 pounds may take 2 months for a new mom to lose, or it might take a woman 200 pounds age 65, one year to drop the weight. This is what you need to consider; your weight and your age, what kind of physical shape am I in? The better the condition the more exercise you’ll be able to do. How motivated am I? You have to stay with it. And don’t forget the diet, you can’t cheat if you’re going to reach your goal. So changing your diet doesn’t mean cutting back, it means changing to eating fresh foods, forgetting about all those foods you were eating and starting eating better quality foods, eating your big meals early in the day, stopping snacking, and don’t eat after dinner.

If you’re on a 2-pound-a-week weight loss program, it doesn’t take much to stop losing and start gaining. Yes, it will take time but if you’re going to be thin for the rest of your life, go slow and keep it up. Once you reach 10 pounds of lost weight, you’ll start feeling better but don’t stop and don’t start cheating. Even after you reach your goal, don’t stop. That’s how everyone else gains the weight back.

Whatever you eat stay with the program. And I did have to stop drinking alcohol until I reached my goal and then I could go back to a drink occasionally without gaining. You see, alcohol will mess with your metabolism and that stops the fat-burning process. Now after you reach your goal your metabolism is back to normal and an occasional drink doesn’t hurt.

I stopped smoking cold turkey back in the seventies and it’s just as tough. But when you make up your mind that you must do it, then and only then will you lose weight. Remember it’s a change of lifestyle and not about dieting for a few weeks.

How long it takes to lose weight is a question that’s impossible to answer. Most people don’t want to make a long-term commitment to a new way of living, even though that’s what it’s going to take.

If you follow this blog, in the archives, there are over 200 posts, all of the posts are related to diet, exercise, and losing weight. Most people fail at weight loss because they’re not really serious, their clothes are starting to get tight and they don’t want to buy a new wardrobe. O.K., that’s a reason, but not a good reason. They will probably fail. Another popular reason for losing weight is someone is nagging you, maybe it’s your spouse or your doctor. Those reasons will carry a little more weight and you’re going to try harder but most people just end up on diet pills. They take the easy way out. And most of them won’t keep the weight off.

I always tell people that they have to change their life. Make time to exercise and start eating the right food and quit eating junk. Stop over-eating and only eat good snacks.

And I go through a list of do’s and don’t’s and they have to stick to it and don’t give up. That’s why most people fail to lose weight, they give up.

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 Excess Fat Cause Cancer?

Yes, it’s proven in several different studies done by many different health organizations all over the world that excess body fat can cause Breast Cancer and Colon Cancer, but that’s only the Cancers that have been positively proven. Many other Cancers are attributed to a poor diet.

I wrote in a previous post about Ideal body weight;  “How can I find my Ideal Body Weight?”  In order to avoid Cancers caused by being overweight, most Doctors will tell you to reduce your weight to the lowest end of the scale that is recommended for you. I can give you an easier way to find that perfect weight.

Remember when you were 20 years old, do you remember how much you weighed? When a person is fully grown, which usually happens between the ages of 18 and 22, that’s your ideal weight. You should maintain that weight throughout your adult life. Now, I know that sounds impossible. It might be more like 18 for women and 22 for men and your organs might take a year or so longer to fully develop, but the range is close enough. As you gain weight over the years you’re putting extra stress on your body and aging your body faster than your years.

New Studies recommend that adults remain as lean as possible through their adult years. The fact is that putting on weight can increase your risk for cancer, even if you are still within the healthy range. So the best advice for cancer prevention is to avoid weight gain, and if you are already overweight aim to lose weight.

Avoiding certain foods in your diet will also help you avoid cancer. For instance, there’s evidence now that processed meats including ham and bacon will cause colorectal cancer. If you consume any of these, do it sparingly. Red Meat is also a big cause of colorectal cancer and should be eaten sparingly. You should not eat more than 500 grams a week of meat cooked or about 1 pound a week, that’s about 1 1/2 pounds of raw meat.

Dietary supplements are not recommended for cancer prevention. There’s more evidence than ever before that drinking alcohol will increase your chances of cancer.

The finding of this report is a real milestone in the fight against cancer. These recommendations are not based on just one study, but these findings are compiled from the findings of 7000 different studies. In trials around the country, progress has already been made in school children by tackling obesity with improved physical conditioning and healthier lunches. The best improvement has been in grade school where the new diets in the lunch program have been a big success.

Losing body fat will lessen your chances for cancer and also increase your life span. There should be more talk about the importance of losing body fat, increasing your activity, and eating healthy. The less body mass you have the less strain on your heart and the longer it will last.

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.

A Success Story About Losing Weight

I found this story on a website I frequent and I wanted to reblog this to offer some inspiration to those that are having a tuff time losing weight. This is a typical story about a guy who was so busy with his career that he put a lot of stuff on the back burner to make time for work and friends. If you have time for a social life or TV you can make time to exercise. This guy learned how to do all his exercises in 45 minutes, 3 times a week. The diet is really the secret, the exercise is needed to boost the metabolism that will burn the fat, but your diet has to change if your going to burn body fat.

So, How did he do it?

When life gets busy and stressful, it’s not uncommon for exercise and healthy eating to fall out of priority. That’s often accompanied by weight gain. That’s what happens when you grew up active and never thought about your weight until you found yourself weighing in at 238 lbs!

In 12 weeks, I lost 40 lbs and 10% body fat and I’m continuing my weight loss journey.  Following a well-designed workout and nutrition program takes the guesswork out of fat loss and helps you achieve the results you want!

What motivated you to make a change?

At the end of last year (2015), I suffered from depression and panic attacks, and one way that I consoled myself was to eat and drink. It got to the point where I was drinking 2 liters of cola per day and ordering take-out every night.

As I’m not a fan of taking medicine, I started to do some research online about how to deal with these issues. I found that a common recommendation across all websites was that getting out and exercising can help ease anxiety and depression. So I decided to get active.

At the start of the program, I weighed in at 108kg (238 lbs) and 30% body fat. By the end, I was down to 90kg (198.4 lbs) and 20.5% body fat. Not only that, but my resting heart rate went from 75bpm down to 64bpm, and my blood pressure went from 134/80 down to 107/60.

Can you elaborate on how your eating habits changed?

I followed a nutrition plan for the first month, and after gaining some confidence I decided to make my own. I eat healthier now, and the only liquid that touches these lips during the day is water.

What have your friends thought after seeing your results?

My friends have been shocked week to week, and when I showed them the before- and after photos, they were left speechless.

This guy is a teacher in Australia, and in his mid-thirties, but I was 20 years older and I got the same results. I designed my own diet and exercise program, of course, I have some experience doing this, but the point is that anyone can do this.

Do some homework and find a plan that you think will work, try for a few weeks and see if you’re getting any results. If not try something different. You are going to have setbacks but it’s a learning process. If you get disgusted you might want to find a trainer that will help you. If you’re a self-starter and are well organized, I think you can do it.

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.

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.