Why Should We Lose Body Fat?

Why is it important to lose body fat? Extra body fat is extra mass that your organs have to keep alive and the bad fat you’ve accumulated is of no value and you probably won’t be able to burn it as energy. As an adult, your organs will develop to the size they should be to maintain your body mass. All of this is predetermined by your genes. Because of your genes, which you get from your parents and have been passed down over generations, things like your height and the size of your body are built-in into your genes. The part that most of us forget about is that you inherited those genes when your parents were young and in their prime. Adding weight as you get older is not predetermined. You do that on your own because of the habits you acquired.

Generally, if you’re adding weight in adulthood it’s because you’re not as active as you were and your picking up bad eating habits. It has very little to do with your genes. That said, you have fat cells throughout your body, some will fill up with fat and some will never fill up and that’s predetermined by genes. The amount of fat that fills those cells is determined by the food you’re eating. So it’s only you that will determine how much body fat you have. The places on your body where you add that fat are pre-determined by your genes. So if fat legs run in your family you will probably add fat to those areas first.

Excess body fat is dangerous to your health, that’s true. Excess fat puts a strain on your organs, especially the heart, also your joints, and your back. Your body was only intended to carry so much weight. When you exceed that weight you're stressing out the entire body. And as you get older your body will have an increasingly harder time dealing with your extra weight. The extra pounds will cause your blood pressure to increase, your cholesterol to go up and your heart rate to increase and ware out quicker. Belly fat is the worst fat for your heart, just ask your Doctor. Of course, your doctor is more than willing to prescribe any drugs you might need to keep you going, but you only putting a bandaid on the problem. It’s your body fat that will shorten your life by causing diseases like diabetes and congestive heart failure just to name a few. Excess body fat can also cause cancer. Why do you think we have all these new Cancer centers in the U.S.; Americans are getting heavier. Your health problems are mostly your own fault. Yes, you can inherit some health problems but when you have a genetic problem it’s usually only the possibility that you could get the disease or condition.

It’s your lifestyle that determines most of your health problems. You’ve seen the statistics. Americans are more overweight than ever and the trend is expected to continue. The lifespan of our children will likely be shorter than ours for the first time in the history of mankind, due to chronic diseases related to obesity. You’re the only one that can lose fat and make your life better.

I lost my body fat not to extend my lifespan but to live a healthier life right to the end. My doctor took me off the medications I used to take.

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

 Search “howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight”.

If you 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, 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.

Succeeding In Weight Loss

Many factors can impact the success or failure of a new diet or exercise program, so we often spend a lot of time researching and choosing the best weight loss program, finding the most effective workout routine, or eating the right foods. But a mental attitude can also affect whether or not you lose weight. One of these factors is self-efficacy, and it’s easy to change.

What is Self-Efficacy?

Self-efficacy is your belief that you can successfully carry out a specific task. Simply said, You have to believe you can do it. If you start your weight loss journal with the words, “I can lose weight!”, your self-efficacy with regard to weight loss is probably high. You noticed I said weight loss journal, I know most of us don’t keep a journal, but today it’s easy. The traditional way would be to buy a book with blank pages and write every day about the goal you have. Today, you can start a journal on your computer or tablet by using any text writer that comes with your computer. 5 minutes a day and you can jot down the things you ate, and if you working out, even if it’s walking put down what exercise you did. O.K., you might ask yourself why go thru the bother? Well, first it shows that this time you are serious about losing weight and you're going to keep a record of your progress. Remember, if you haven’t done this before, start your journal with a statement of your goal. And if you ever get discouraged just read the journal from the beginning. It’s a reminder of why you decided to lose weight. Also, a journal can help you when you hit a stopping point and you can’t lose any more. Read the journal and you can see what you are doing differently and why you stopped losing.

Self-efficacy generally relates to a specific goal. For example, you may have strong beliefs that you are capable of skipping a high-calorie late-night snack. That means your self-efficacy regarding late-night snacking is high, but you might have doubts about whether you’re going to get up early the following day to work out. Your self-efficacy regarding the morning workout is low.

Self-Efficacy vs. Self-Confidence.

It might seem as if self-efficacy is just another version of self-confidence, but that’s not true. Let’s use an example: say Carol is a graphic designer who has worked her way up the corporate ladder to become the head of her department. She’s proud of her accomplishments, comfortable in social settings, strong but respectful in dealing with her boss and positive about her personal relationships. Carol has a strong sense of self-confidence.

But let’s say that Carol is overweight. She’s tried dieting repeatedly, has worked with personal trainers to stick to an exercise program, and has even gone to weight-loss camps to shed her excess pounds. Nothing has worked. Carol now believes that she just can’t lose weight. So even though Carol is self-confident, her self-efficacy about her ability to lose weight is low.

Why Does Self-Efficacy Matter?

Researchers have found a strong link between one’s beliefs in her ability to successfully perform a task, and her completion of that task. Quite a bit of research has been done with regard to self-efficacy and weight loss — most confirming a relationship between strong beliefs (either negative or positive) and actual success.

To see why it matters, let’s go back to our example of Carol. Let’s say that Carol’s new diet coach has identified a weak link in Carol’s diet: she’s good for most of the day, but she tends to eat too many of the cookies and cakes that are left in the lunchroom at work. Let’s say that Carol has never been able to pass up those treats in the past, so her belief that she can do it now is minimal. When she’s faced with a tray of brownies, she’s not likely to muster the willpower to walk away, because she knows that she always fails anyway. Her attitude is, “why to bother to make an effort?”, and she eats a brownie. Carol’s beliefs about her abilities have become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But let’s say that her diet coach was able to build her self-efficacy. The coach was able to remind Carol of the many other situations where she has successfully passed up treats in order to stick to her diet. He tells her that he believes she can do it. Now, when Carol is equipped with the belief that she can, in fact, walk away successfully, she’s more likely to do so when she’s faced with the tray of brownies.

How Do I Build Self-Efficacy?

So how do you turn a negative belief system into positive thoughts? Researchers have identified four things that impact self-efficacy: mastery of experiences, social modeling, social persuasion, and emotional responses.

4 Ways to Improve Self-Efficacy to Lose Weight

Set and reach small goals. To improve your mastery of experiences, you want to successfully complete small goals that will act as stepping stones to larger accomplishments. Break each long-term goal into smaller achievable goals, and as you complete each one, acknowledge it in your journal and remind yourself of your success. The completion of each small task will build your level of self-efficacy for completing larger tasks in the future.

 Surround yourself with positive messages. If the people that surround you are successfully completing the goal that you want to achieve, you’re more likely to believe that you can do it, too. Find friends that have some habits you admire. Skip the lunchroom snacks and spend your break with a crowd that eats a healthy meal. Instead of going to happy hour with your buddies, find a few friends that want to hit the gym and exercise. You can also surround yourself with positive messages electronically. Sign up for newsletters that provide healthy messages, fill your Facebook feed with posts from weight loss coaches and successful dieters, and follow health-oriented Twitter feeds.

Social Persuasion. Let friends and family know that their encouragement and positive messages make a difference. Then, make it a habit to acknowledge the compliments when you get them. Often friends and family have a similar problem, then maybe you can’t talk about it, this is another area where social media can help. Several recent studies have found that positive messages sent electronically can help people lose weight. Get connected with other dieters who have lost weight. Your friends and family will come around to your way of thinking after they see the progress you made. Then watch the compliments come in.

Learn to Relax. Emotions can trigger overeating. If or when you become stressed, that can trigger a food binge.

If the concept of self-efficacy is new to you, don’t worry. Simply your awareness of your positive and negative beliefs may help you change the things you need to adjust in order to lose weight. Remember to start small, make changes gradually, acknowledge your successes, and move forward from there.

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.

Wrong Ideas About Losing Weight

 I want to write about the misconceptions most of us have about losing weight. Losing weight is a process that takes many weeks and sometimes even longer. Losing weight is about losing body fat. There is only one way to lose body fat permanently: to get your body to burn body fat to create energy.  

Typically, your body will burn the fats that are in the foods you eat. If you eat more fat than your body needs, your body stores the excess in body cells usually close to the skin. 

Your body burns calories from different food groups to give you the nutrients needed for energy and enrich the blood and repair the body. The three important groups are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. 

The body only burns a small amount of fat a day, like 35 grams. That's only a fraction of an ounce. Burning stored fat takes time, you may only burn one ounce of body fat in a week. 

I had to stop eating fat before my body started to burn stored fat. I had to stop eating dairy and stop drinking milk. I was only eating chicken and green vegetables, some fish, and fruit. 

I never starved myself. I had to stop eating bread, cake, bagels, donuts, and anything else made with white flour. I had to start reading labels. I ate a low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie diet. And the biggest change for me is that I stopped drinking anything with calories. 

The reason so many of us fail in our journey toward weight loss I s that we don't really understand what is necessary to lose weight or body fat. 

I should mention that some diet pills are showing promise but the newest thing for those who have type-2 diabetes is a new drug I heard about that has a strange side effect. You lose body fat while you are taking the injections. The drug is called Wegovy which you take along with a diet plan. Doctors recommending this drug noticed that patients would be losing weight while on this drug. The drug is expensive and may not be covered by your insurance so do some research.  

Being overweight is a major cause of health problems that can be very expensive when you get older. The healthier you are as you age the more money you can save. 

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.

Should We Have Cheat Days?

You’ve committed to eating healthy. You want to look and feel great, and you’ve already stuck to your diet for an entire week. You feel good about how you’ve done and think you deserve a gold star… or that cupcake calling your name (especially the one with the extra layer of frosting on top). Maybe you even think you deserve a day off—a designated “cheat day.”

But are “cheat days” a good idea? Do these special days of indulgence help you reach your health goals? Or do they set you up on a seesaw of destructive eating habits?

Some say that giving yourself days of indulgence is giving yourself a needed break from your diet. These cheat days are a relief valve that helps you stick to healthier foods.

The philosophy behind this basically goes something like this: Healthy eating requires some willpower—willpower you’ve used to keep yourself from forbidden foods—so to reward your constraint, it helps to have one scheduled day (or meal) per week where you’re allowed to eat some of the treats you’ve been avoiding. When you give yourself a window to enjoy these off-limit foods, it’ll satisfy your cravings, replenish your depleted willpower, and, some studies suggest, even increase your production of the hunger-dampening hormone leptin while boosting metabolism.

So cheat days sound like a good thing, right? Not so fast. The logic behind these days has more than a few flaws, and it’s due to the psychology and physiology behind them.

“The very phrase ‘cheat day’ sets up enjoying a meal as something forbidden,” says Sondra Kronberg, R.D., executive director of the Eating Disorder Treatment Collaborative. “Separating foods into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ categories encourages you to associate eating with guilt and shame.” This means that instead of enjoying everything we eat, we feel bad about ourselves when we eat something we consider “bad.”

What’s more, when we deem certain foods “bad” or “cheating,” the negative name doesn’t help us pump the breaks.

“When a food is off-limits, it can develop a specific, emotional charge,” explains Melanie Rogers, RD, a nutritionist and eating disorder specialist. “You begin obsessing over it, fantasizing about it, and looking forward to that ‘indulge day’ all week. Then, when you finally have access to it, you overeat.”

On the flip side, labeling foods as “good” or “healthy” can also backfire. Science shows when we think something is healthy, we’re not concerned with portion control and thus overdo it—whether it’s a “normal” day or a “cheat” day. Yes, there can be too much of a good thing.

Along these same lines, thinking of a meal or snack as “healthy” can have a surprising effect on our hunger. Studies show merely considering items we put in our mouth as “healthy” can literally make us feel hungrier—especially if we select a “good-for-you” item out of obligation over something we’re truly hungry for.

WebMD article

Yes, this is a good post but I think it might be a little deep into the psychology of the “cheat day”. The simple way to look at it is that changing what you eat is like someone who stops smoking. Have you ever heard of a smoker who was trying to quit and scheduled a “cheap day” in his or her week when they’re allowed to smoke? The smoker would never stop, the smoker would always have the nicotine in their system and therefore wouldn’t be able to quit.?

It’s the same principle when you eat fatty foods or foods high in sugar or salt. You can form an addiction to those foods and that’s why you crave those foods. Those are the addictions you have to change if you’re going to change your diet. If I crave something salty, I get a celery stick and a salt shaker. I sometimes eat plain salted popcorn. There are dozens of things like hard-boiled eggs that you can salt and are still good for you. I don’t believe the salt shaker will give you high blood pressure, but eating processed foods with a high sodium content will increase your blood pressure and can also cause food addiction. Frozen foods with high-fat content will do the same thing.

Having a “cheat day” in your diet will only destroy your diet. If you like to have a reward for your hard efforts, buy a new pair of jeans after you lose two inches of belly fat. You will be much happier.

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.

After Dinner Snacking

You stick to your diet all day and eat healthy well-balanced meals. Then the evening comes and you find yourself making repeated trips to the refrigerator or pantry to eat food that you don’t really need. Sound familiar? If it does, you’re not alone. Nighttime calories are a struggle for many dieters who find that they continue eating after dinner. If you’re serious about losing weight, use these tips to stop eating at night. Those night-time snacks and drinks amount to more calories than you eat all day.

Why Do I Eat So Much At Night?

You’re normal if you like to snack and graze after eating dinner. But if you are trying to lose weight, the calories you consume from snacks in the evening could easily undo a day’s worth of smart food choices. So the first step to eating less is to find out why you eat when you don’t need to.

For most of us, the reason we overeat is related to the fact that we are less busy at night and we are near food. We like to relax and enjoy more leisurely activities; food and drinks are a common source of comfort. Without the distraction of work or other daytime activities, it’s easy to grab snacks that are nearby. If you can find other ways to unwind, then you’ll be likely to eat less at night. You can also use these strategies to curb night-time eating.

How to Stop Eating After Dinner

The best way to curb your nighttime eating behavior for good is to use short-term strategies to break the habit. If you can replace snacking with a healthier habit, you won’t feel the urge to overeat in the evening.

Use one of these tips (or all three) to change your night-time snack habit.

Move away from the food. You’re more likely to eat too much at night if you are always around food. So after dinner, move away from the kitchen. This might mean that you postpone clean-up tasks so that you aren’t tempted to eat leftovers. Or better yet, delegate the job to someone in your house who isn’t on a diet.

Another great way to get away from food is to go for a walk after dinner. Even if your walk is just 15-20 minutes long, physical activity helps to break up the eating momentum. It also gives your body a chance to feel the sensation of fullness so the urge to eat is less strong. Walk the dog, you can burn calories, the dog will appreciate the walk and you will lose the craving.

Use a “meal-ender” to curb your appetite. Some dieters use mint-flavored gum to diminish the desire to eat after dinner. Most of us don’t like the taste of food when we have a mint flavor in our mouths. Brushing your teeth after dinner provides this same benefit – along with a dental bonus. I drink coffee at the end of a meal. That’s nothing new, families have been ending a meal with coffee or black tea for decades.

You can also use MealEnders to stop eating so much. These small candies reset your taste buds so that you don’t feel the urge to eat. MealEnders contain no stimulants and are regulated as a food product so they have to follow strict guidelines of the Food and Drug Administration, unlike many diets and weight loss supplements. Yes, mints after dinner or lunch have always been popular. Gum, mints, coffee, tea, MealEnders or brushing your tooth, anything to get rid of the food taste in your mouth and you can lose food cravings.

Be a smart television watcher. Most of us eat too much at night when we snack mindlessly in front of the television. Some researchers even believe that certain "action shows" make us overeat food. Regardless of your show preference, however, you can create healthy eating habits in front of the television to eat less and lose weight. If I snack at night, I’ll have a piece of fruit.

My favorite way to eat less is to keep my hands active. I fold laundry or do other simple chores while I watch TV. If I really want to eat – and I know I’ve eaten enough for dinner – then I use specific diet strategies to control snacking in front of the tv. I also make sure that I follow good portion control guidelines if I choose to snack while watching TV.

Remember, snacking isn’t bad for your diet. But eating when you’re not hungry is never a good plan. Learn to eat a healthy dinner and then create habits to stop eating at night. You’ll reach your goal weight faster and keep your weight off for good.

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.

Foods That Burn Fat

I hope your past all the parties by now and made your New Year’s Resolution. And if you're watching your weight, the resolution probably has something to do with losing some excess fat. No one wants to go to the gym looking like they need to go to the gym if you know what I mean. Yes, I can say it, I gained a couple pounds over the holidays, but I know that I can lose that extra fat just by changing what I eat.

Most people don’t realize it but you don’t have to exercise to lose weight. If you limit your calorie intake and eat the right foods you will drop weight. Now I want to be honest, if you had the extra weight for a long time it will take longer to lose it, but if you just added on a few pounds this winter and want to lose it before the warm weather, then just change your diet and the extra pounds will disappear.

I found an article about foods that can burn fat, read below and try it, but remember you have to cut the calories besides just eating these vegetables.

Did you know that there is a particular family of vegetables that has more fat-fighting and health-boosting benefits than ANY other?  It’s true!  We’re talking about cruciferous vegetables, and there is a wide variety to choose from…just take a look at all these options!

Kale
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Brussels Sprouts
Rutabaga
Cabbage
Bok Choy
Swiss Chard
Turnips
Arugula
Collard Greens
Watercress
Radishes

And here are just some of their benefits:

#1 – Improved digestion, satiety, and weight!  Cruciferous vegetables are high in fiber — a fiber that promotes a healthier digestive tract while keeping you feeling fuller, and longer.  In fact, many studies have shown that increased fiber intake leads to lower weight levels and even weight loss.

#2 – Lower levels of belly fat!  One unique benefit of cruciferous vegetables is their ability to fight off dietary and environmental estrogens that we may be exposed to through soy, plastics, and pesticides through a special phytonutrient called indole-3-carbinol (I3C).  Environmental estrogens have also been linked to high levels of belly fat, so by consuming more cruciferous vegetables you’ll be fighting off belly fat stores at the same time!

#3 – Increased Gut & Immune Health!  Even beyond the above two benefits, a recent study published in the renowned journal Nature Immunology discovered that specific proteins in cruciferous vegetables may play an essential role in gut health by boosting immune cell production and ultimately combating bacterial infections, chronic inflammation, and potentially even bowel cancer.

#4 – Anti-aging!  Cruciferous vegetables have also been shown through research to boast antioxidant and anti-aging properties.  In fact, one study showed that participants who consumed 1 – 2 cups of cruciferous vegetables a day reduced their oxidative stress by 22% in just 3 weeks!

The list actually goes on and on with regard to what cruciferous vegetables can do for your body, fat loss results, and your health, so be sure to eat more of these “miracle” vegetables starting today!

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 Take Your Health For Granted

I think we all take our health for granted until we finally realize you’re going downhill. You have to do something and you know it. The problem is most people wait too long, and then you have a big job ahead of you.

When you’re young and athletic you can take your good health for granted. You don’t have to work at it, your active athletic lifestyle is all you need to stay in shape. But we don’t actually realize our lifestyle is keeping us in shape. Because we don’t belong to a gym or run three times a week. All we do is play soccer, baseball or maybe basketball because that’s what your friends do.

After we’re older, out of school, and have a job, our lives change. We spend our days working and our nights relaxing, washing clothes, cooking a meal, and getting ready for another workday. On weekends we try to socialize, meet with or meet new friends, work on relationships, and spend time with family. Our lives become complicated. We don’t have time for everything, but we need to make time for ourselves.

We need to take time to do something for ourselves. Taking care of yourself is not really on the front burner. We always push off anything that has to do with ourselves.

“I’m fine, I’ll get to it later. I feel fine I don’t need to exercise.” All excuses that we come up with are because we don’t want to deal with having to do one more thing than we already do.

But the truth is you have to find time to do the everyday maintenance your body needs. “What, my body needs maintenance, no one told me that.” Oh yeah, maintenance.

You see most of us can’t see a difference between the way we looked or feel from one week to the next, but your body is changing every day even if you don’t see it. Your body ages every day and depending on what you do every day your body will either age slower or faster. Every extra inch around your waist will age your body faster. So studies say, your waist should be half as big as your height. I’m 70 inches tall, my waist should be a 35 around my navel. For every extra inch around your waist, you’re cutting your life span by 10 years.

I know what you’re thinking, “How can that be true”. Studies have proven that a larger-than-normal waist is harder on your heart, and it will cause high blood pressure, high blood sugars, and high cholesterol. Also being overweight means you have too much body fat which will cause cancer.

Now, you probably feel fine and don’t understand why you need to be concerned, but as a young adult or someone under 40 years of age, you probably do feel fine. I was in my 40s before I finally wanted to lose weight.

Today, I think we are more aware of our health, what we eat, and that we need to exercise, but we don’t always do what we know is good for us. I think everyone knows by now the dangers of fast food, fried foods, and too much sugar but yet we still line up at the drive-in windows and never seem to find time for exercise and seem to ignore our health problems.

If you wait until your doctor tells you to wake up and lose some weight, it will probably be serious. Years of not doing the maintenance necessary to keep your body healthy will result in years of serious work and daily maintenance and diets if you want to correct the neglect you’ve done. But even if you get back to the normal weight you can’t get the years of your life back that you probably lost. I’m a senior now, and I believe I’m in good health for my age and I know I finally weigh a proper weight for my age and height. I’m 60 pounds less today than I was 30 years ago and when I get out of the shower I can see what those extra pounds did to my body. I’ll never get the body back that I had as a young man.

I swim at a local pool occasionally with many other seniors and you can see right away the people who have always stayed in shape all their lives and those who are trying to get back in shape and of course, they can’t, they waited too long, but they are working out, trying to become limber again and trying to regain their strength.

I know today our population as a whole is more aware of their health than we were 40 or 50 years ago, nevertheless, a larger part of the adult population is overweight and the numbers keep growing.

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.