My New Method To Lose Body Fat

I picked this photo because you don't have to be fit to start a jogging routine.  You simply have to have the desire. I found this article last week when I decided to get serious about jogging again. I haven't jogged for 40 years. I'm in my 70s and some might think I'm crazy but I tried this a few years ago just to lose a few pounds and it worked for me. Then I start biking and quit jogging. Now the weather is right for biking so I'm going back to jogging.

If you’re thinking about starting to run for exercise, you may feel a little overwhelmed.  Rest assured, this guide to jogging for beginners will help you start pounding the pavement safely and successfully.  Jogging is a powerhouse of exercise that will help you feel healthier and fit!  Learn all about the benefits of jogging, how to start, and how to build up your endurance. 

Read the disclaimer it's important

Disclaimer:  This post is written Chrissy Carroll, an RRCA Certified Coach, and USAT Level I Triathlon Coach.  This post is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as individual advice.  Always consult a physician prior to beginning any new exercise program.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JOGGING AND RUNNING?

While various sources offer up different perspectives on jogging vs running, the truth is that there is not an exact definition that separates the two.  Jogging is generally accepted as a slower form of running.  Many classify running as a challenging pace (over any distance), while jogging is a more comfortable pace.

However, there is no exact pace cut-off.  Some sources define jogging as moving at a pace under six miles per hour, or a 10:00 mile.  However, average running paces in research in the US vary from around 9:44 to 11:47 (source) – so by the 10:00 definition, most US runners would be classified as “jogging.”  In reality, most of these individuals are likely moving at a challenging pace that they’d classify as running.

Personally, I jog at less than 5 miles an hour whereas running is twice that speed.

Some people are offended by the term jogging, suggesting that any pace other than walking is considered running.  It’s totally a personal call as to how you define and interpret it.  For the purposes of this post, though, we’ll assume jogging is a comfortable running pace, and you can call it whatever you’d prefer! 🙂

BENEFITS OF JOGGING

Jogging can be beneficial to just about anyone that is trying to improve their health in some way, shape, or form.  Here are just a few of the benefits:

Beginner-friendly.  The younger sibling to the fast-paced, heavy-breathing run, jogging is generally less intense and less intimidating. You don’t have to be fast or at peak fitness to jog; it can be performed by novices or the elite alike.

Minimal costs.  Aside from a good pair of sneakers, there are almost no costs associated with jogging.  While gym memberships and weight equipment can be pricey, jogging is just about free.

Burns calories.  If you’re looking to lose weight, jogging can be a great exercise to burn some extra calories through cardiovascular training.  According to Harvard Medical School, a 155-pound person will burn 186 calories jogging at a 4.5 mph pace for 30 minutes.  Boost that up to a 5 mph pace, and you’ll burn 298 calories in those 30 minutes.  (Keep in mind you can burn more or less depending on your individual weight.)

Builds strong bones.  Exercise scientists refer to jogging as a “weight-bearing exercise”, which helps to build strong bones. As you jog, you place pressure and load onto your bones, muscles, and joints. In order to compensate for this stress, your bones thicken and strengthen to help prevent injury and issues. Isn’t that smart? This can aid in the prevention of bone issues such as osteopenia and osteoporosis (source). 

Works muscles.  When jogging, you’re working your quads, glutes, hamstrings, and core the entire time you are moving.  For brand-new joggers, this can help strengthen muscles to a degree – though, after a while, you don’t gain additional strength from jogging.  (However, adding in sprint workouts, later on, can improve muscle strength – read more about that in our sprinting vs. jogging article.)

Improves cardiovascular health.  You know that when you start jogging, you feel your heart beating faster and working harder.  This can improve your cardiovascular health and reduce the risk of problems down the line.  The American Heart Association recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, to improve heart health.

May reduce anxiety.  While you may not be able to see the physical benefit of it on the outside, jogging can also do wonders for your mind. Remember the famous Elle Woods quote from Legally Blonde?  “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy!”   While it may not have been a legal defense, her point on exercise was pretty accurate. Exercise does boost your endorphins–the little feel-good chemicals.  Jogging and exercise overall can also help to clear your mind, reduce your stress levels and make you feel happier and more positive day to day.

May help you sleep.  While there haven’t been many studies that can actually cite this, it seems as though people who exercise early in the day may sleep better overall.  The theory is that exercise may raise your body temperature a bit, so later on in the evening when it drops back down, it can trigger feelings of drowsiness and tell your body it’s ready for sleep.  For this benefit, try jogging in the morning or early afternoon.  If you have trouble with sleep, avoid jogging in the evening as the stimulation may keep you awake later (source).

After reading the article you are probably wondering "how can I possibly do this"? You can but you start out slow. 

I started by walking 100 yds. then jogging 100 yds. then walking 100 yds. and so on until you jogged about 8 times. After that, you walk slowly until your heart rate comes down. 

As you build your endurance, you jog a little longer and walk a little shorter. My workout takes about one hour so I work out every other day. Jog as slow as you have to, the object is to finish the workout. Try to do at least 30 minutes. Try not to stop. Try to do the 30 minutes even if you walk the whole way.

This is a workout that anyone can do. Speed is not a factor. 

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. 

Are You Really Overweight; Lets Figure It Out

It may sound like a stupid question... who doesn't need to lose weight?  But we often base our weight loss goals on an old version of ourselves that was once fit and thin. 

When you get older, things change and it pays to actually assess your weight with the right tools so you know just how to set your goals.

Do You Need to Lose Weight?

If you're unsure, your doctor's office is an excellent place to start.

When was the last time you had a physical?  Now would be a great time to schedule one and talk to your doctor about your weight.  He or she can at least give you a ballpark for a healthy weight for you. But you shouldn't get all wrapped up in the numbers on the scale. 

Those who want to lose weight, really need to lose body fat. So while most of us use the scale to measure results, we should be using a tape measure. Another blogger wrote in one of her blogs, "your pants don't lie". What she was talking about is that dropping two pants sizes is more important than the numbers on the scale. When you can buy a smaller pair of jeans, that's real progress. You want people to notice the "new you", Don't reward yourself with a piece of cake. Buy new pants.

Tools To Help You Get a Baseline

Of course, there is no shortage of formulas out there to help you figure out if you're overweight.

None of these are perfect, of course, so I would take all of your results with a healthy grain of salt (or some other spice, since too much salt, isn't healthy).   You might be overweight if you:

• Have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 25
• Have a Waist-Hip ratio of higher than .8 for women and higher than 1.0 for men
• Have an Abdominal Girth measuring more than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in men

Of course, there are other factors involved such as your height, frame size, and body fat percentage, which is why it's important to get an individual assessment from your doctor or your personal trainer if you're not sure.

How to Use Numbers That Aren't Always Accurate

As I mentioned, all of these formulas are flawed.  If you have a lot of muscle, for example, your BMI may show you're overweight even though you're not.  So, how do you use these numbers if they're not accurate?

What I recommend is that you use these numbers as a way to measure your weight loss progress.

  Get a series of baseline numbers - Your BMI, waist-hip ratio, tummy girth, body measurements, body fat, scale weight, and planetary alignment on your measurement day.  Once a month (or more often if you like), retake all of these measurements.  If the numbers go down, you're on the right track.

If they stay the same, you might be hitting a plateau and may need to change your workouts or, if you're not working out, you really should start.

If the numbers are going up...well, I don't have to tell you what that means.  I would look at my diet at that point, which is often the culprit for weight gain. 

Cutting calories is only part of losing weight. You want to change the foods you eat. Some foods will help you lose weight and other foods will fight again weight loss, so just cutting calories doesn't really work.

About That Weight Loss...

Numbers aside, how does this weight loss thing really work?  It's much more complicated than just creating a calorie deficit.  Well, it is about that, but making that deficit requires that you focus on a few very important things:

1. You Need to Exercise More - You don't have to kill yourself, but you really need to do more.
2. Get Enough Sleep - Yes, lack of sleep can contribute to weight problems. Not only because you're awake longer to eat more, but because your body emits a hormone that causes your body to store more fat.  I know.  Not Fair.

1. Deal With Your Stress - Yep, stress does it too. That hormone thing again...cortisol, which causes your body to store more fat.  A great reason to move to Maui.
2. Watch Your Calories - You already know this, right?
3. Be Consistent - You already know this, too.  Whatever happens in your life, keep doing something, even if it's 10 pushups.  Keep the ball rolling, y'all.
4. Stop Overdoing It - When the weekend comes, do you bury your face in a big pizza pie?  I know, you've been good all week, but don't let yourself completely blow it on the weekends, ok?

So, there you go.  Do all that and you'll lose fat and weight.  I believe in making all my changes at once. So you will feel the effects of your efforts faster.

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. 

Lose Weight Anytime Of The Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. 

My secret for losing body fat

 I recently put on 5 pounds, too much holiday cheer. I can't refuse an invitation. But when I gain 5 pounds I stop there. I know I will gain weight during the holidays, but my limit is 5 pounds. After that, my clothes start to get tight. 

Before I let you in on my secret, I want you to understand that all people will not lose weight the same way. This is a method I have used before and it works for me every time. First, I know that the extra pounds are fat, and it's new fat, not the old stubborn fat. To remove stubborn fat you need to change your diet, cut calories and follow the exercise program that I will explain in the next paragraph. What is stubborn fat; its old fat, the fat you have had for years. 

I walk for exercise almost every day, to give my heart exercise, but when I want to lose fat I walk and jog. I walk about 100 yards and then jog 100 yards and repeat that about 7 or 8 times without resting. The walking part is for resting. When you start the program you want to spend more time walking than jogging. You might be walking slower than you normally walk. Make sure that you're ready for the next 100 yards of jogging. 

This is not a get-results-quick kind of program, If you find that you're not losing inches you need to adjust your diet. You want to stay below 2000 calories a day. If you're counting calories remember to count the calories you drink. Most people don't take the cokes, beer, and wine seriously. Statistics show that overweight people actually consume about 3000 calories a day and half the calories are from drinks. Stop drinking calories is a good way to start a new diet. Too speed up your weight loss, Do this exercise routine more then once a day. Once early in the morning and once after dinner.

Slim is the new healthy. Avoid gaining weight or getting too flabby. You can be overweight without being off the charts. For instants, I weigh 160 lbs. According to the charts that doctors go by, I can weigh between 145 and 180 and not be overweight because of my height. Being too fat is about the amount of fat  on your body compared to your muscle mass. I have about 20% body fat. If I had more than 25% I'd be overweight. I'd like to weigh between 150 and 155. By losing body fat, I have more energy. 

The beautiful part about this program is that all you need is a good part of workout shoes.

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. 

White Fat vs Brown Fat; Which Do You Have

If you are going to lose fat, this article is very important.

Several years ago, researchers discovered that many of us have more than one kind of fat cell in our bodies. White fat cell and the fat they store are the hardest to get rid of. And as it ages it becomes harder to lose. Read this post and think about it. It’s the white fat cells that will cause you trouble later in life.

We’ve known about white fat for years. White fat cells are what we typically refer to as body fat. White fat cells store excess energy or calories. When we eat too much, the excess calories are stored as white fat and we gain weight. White fat is the kind of fat that builds up on our thighs, our bellies and our arms that we often try to reduce.

Brown fat is different. Scientists refer to brown fat cells as brown adipose tissue or BAT. Brown fat cells don’t store energy, they burn it. These smaller, complex fat cells actually create heat to maintain your body temperature when it’s cold. So this type of fat becomes activated when your body is exposed to cold or even freezing temperatures. Brown fat is often found in the upper back and neck region of the body and researchers think it may hold promise in the fight against obesity.

But the good news doesn’t end there. There is a third kind of fat that is relatively new to researchers. It’s called beige fat. Beige fat cells are essentially brown fat cells that reside within white fat tissue.

Brown Fat for Weight Loss: Does It Work?

The news about brown fat and beige fat is exciting, but I wouldn’t move to Alaska, sleep in your refrigerator or attempt other body cooling methods to lose weight just yet. The most significant brown fat results have been established only in mice. Brown fat research in humans is still inconclusive for a number of reasons.

You may not have brown fat. Many years ago, scientists believed that only babies had brown fat. More recent studies have confirmed that some adults have brown fat, but we don’t really know how many people have it or how much they have. One large study found that only 7.5% of women and 3.1% of men had substantial brown fat deposits. Other more limited studies have demonstrated that anywhere from 25% to roughly 80% of people have small brown fat deposits. So how do you know if you have brown fat? Without expensive scanning equipment (a PET scan), you don’t. We do know, however, that brown fat decreases with age and that the fatter we are, the less brown fat we have.

Brown fat may not burn enough calories. Researchers also don’t know exactly how many calories you can burn when and if you are able to activate brown fat. Some studies estimate that you may be able to burn up to 13%-20% of your resting metabolic rate. For some individuals that may add up to 150 calories or more. But other experts say that the total number is probably only 50-100 calories per day, at most.

Scientists advise caution. The most well-respected fat researchers still advise caution when it comes to the use of brown fat for weight loss. While current studies provide insight and promise, we still don’t know how to activate brown fat in a way that is manageable and sustainable in a real world setting. The bottom line is that we simply don’t know if activating brown fat can make a noticeable difference.

If you’re trying to lose weight and you’ve struggled with traditional methods, you might be tempted to activate brown fat in your own body with trendy products like thermal vests or cooling shorts. Try to keep the science in mind as you consider those purchases. The research into brown fat for weight loss is substantial, but it doesn’t prove that any brown fat treatment actually works.

Sources:

Aaron M. Cypess, M.D., Ph.D., M.M.Sc., et al. “Identification and Importance of Brown Adipose Tissue in Adult Humans.” New England Journal of Medicine.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. 

Can't Lose Weight, Maybe You're Eating The Wrong Foods

Eating too much of the wrong foods gets all of us in trouble, but we love to indulge ourselves. In other posts, I’ve written about the genetic causes of being overweight and the addictive causes, but in this post, I’ll touch on the emotional ways we cause our own weight problems.

Bad eating habits are easy to pick up. We get some of these bad habits at home. When I was growing up in a German household, we eat plenty of good wholesome food but it’s what we add in to give the food the extra flavor that adds the pounds. As families became more prosperous we became more indulgent. Potatoes, for instance, are a good wholesome food with plenty of nutrition but when we add all that butter and maybe some sour cream and bacon bits, well now that nutritious potato is about 800 calories or half of your daily calorie allowance. We usually had broccoli on the table, but everyone liked it with cheddar cheese melted on top. There’s nothing wrong with cheese, but it does add calories. Milk was on the table for every meal. My brother and I would consume one gallon a day. Meats had to be prepared with gravy and we usually had boiled potatoes with butter and white bread.

You can see now how wholesome food can be turned into high-calorie meals served with wine or beer. Today we know better than to eat foods prepared this way, but most of us if we have the chance will eat like it’s Thanksgiving every night. Those are 3000-calorie meals and if you combine those calories with breakfast and lunch even if they’re small you can see how the calories for that day could top 5000 or even 6000. If you're watching your weight, 1500 to 1800 calories would be your daily limit.

Naturally, most of us only have time to eat like that on Sundays. Most of us and this is the normal routine for the working American, will just have coffee or tea in the morning along with a roll or biscuit. That’s not a lot of calories, but there’s no nutritional value in the food, you’ll be hungry again in a couple of hours. So between 9 and 10 in the morning, we take a coffee break. The average office worker has been taking coffee breaks since the 1920s. Today everyone from truck drivers to the Wall Street stockbroker will take a short break at mid-morning. Most of us will have about the same thing as breakfast, coffee or tea or worse yet a soft drink, a roll, or a biscuit. Unknowingly we have already consumed almost 1000 calories and no nutritional food value, which means your body will need some real food by lunch.

Usually, people meet in the lunch room for 30 minutes, they bring something or eat out of the snack machines, or where I work we have 1 hour for lunch so most of us go out to eat. Going out to eat use to be a rare occasion, but today it’s very common. People have more freedom at work and most of us can keep our own hours.

Lunches usually consist of a sandwich, french fries, and coke or other soft drink, the kind of food you can get at a fast food restaurant. That is probably another 800 calories or so and very little nutritional value. We have used up the whole day's calorie allotment and still have very little nutrition to show for it. It’s the nutrition in your food that gives your body the energy to work properly. Your brain uses your body's energy to function, and your organs use energy to work properly. Ask yourself “how often do I get sick?” “Why is that?” O.k., I’ll tell you if you don’t already know, it’s your diet. You eat the wrong foods. I believe many different types of Cancer can be from the foods we eat. Most of the problems we have with our bodies are caused by the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.

We all have to eat but we need to look carefully at what we put in our bodies. Food manufacturers are in business to make money and as long as their product doesn’t kill you at the time you're eating it or it can’t be proven that it harms you in any way, then they are pretty much free to make any food or drink they want regardless of the long-term effects to your body. You see a person eats all thru the day and is usually eating foods that contain the same things, so it would be hard to pinpoint the cause, of say, stomach cancer or even something less serious like food poisoning to any one food. Diseases like cancer are caused by the chemicals we eat, but one single food has such a small amount it can’t really hurt you, but let's say the lettuce for instance on your hamburger is grown with pesticides and chemicals are absorbed into produce, you can’t wash off pesticides, so every time you eat lettuce on a sandwich or in a salad, your consuming pesticides, and your body can’t process chemical so it stores them and they accumulate. And after years of accumulation, you end up with some disease that maybe science has a cure for or maybe not.

So why do we get fat? We’re eating foods our bodies can’t process. If your body could process all your foods, then the foods would be processed in the small intestines, the body would use what it needed and the rest would pass thru and no fat would accumulate, as long as you didn’t eat too much. But the processed foods we buy today are loaded with things that make the food taste better but things the body can’t process so those things are stored as fat. Storing unprocessed foods as fat is the only way our bodies have to move the excess thru our system. Overindulging will also cause fat storage. The body will only process so much per hour, so if you’re overeating the body will store excess food as fat. Your body can only do so much and it has to make room for the next meal. Your brain tells your stomach that more food is coming and to make room so your body will simply store anything that hasn’t been digested and the only way the body has to store food is to turn it into fat.

Now that might be an oversimplification, but I want you to understand the cycle and there’s actually more to it. When you gain weight and add inches to your waistline, your body has to use energy to keep all your body tissue alive including the fat. This is the part you want to remember, you should remain the same size all thru adulthood which usually begins between the ages of 18 to 22. When you gain weight as an adult your organs are not going to grow any larger to accommodate the larger body. The larger body has more body tissue to keep alive and so your organs have to work much harder to accommodate the bigger size and that includes your heart.

So why do overweight people tire easily? Partly because they have to carry the extra weight, but also because they are spending too much of their energy on keeping body tissue alive. You combine that with a bad diet of mainly fast food that has very little nutrition which your body needs to create energy to keep your body working and you have the perfect storm for early death. Even an overweight person can be healthy into their 80s or even 90s if they have a good amount of nutrition in their diet. And everyone has probably seen examples of overweight seniors.

Today young adults or even those of middle age should be living over 100 years, but with the bad diet that most of us have today I have to wonder if today’s young adults will be living that old and if they are what condition they’ll be in and how many prescription drugs will they be taking.

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. 

Your Diet Is The Secret To Good Health

I wrote other posts about changing your life if you want to lose weight. You’ve heard about the French and that the French have a diet that would put weight on any American, but they’re thin. Men and women of all ages in France are thinner than Americans on average.

When medical scientists first looked at their diet they thought that the red wine they drank was the answer. These people eat out as much as we do, they don’t even know what low cal means. So how do they do it?  First of all, they walk more. Urban people don’t use cars that much, They walk everywhere. Also, bike riding is more popular, you see gasoline has always been expensive in Europe and people have learned to conserve.

Conserving food is something that France has done since World War II when food was scarce. So today their meal portions are smaller than ours and combine this with the increased amount of walking the French do and it’s much easier for them to control their weight. Also, the French eat real food, fresh food. Fresh locally grown food with an emphasis on poultry and seafood. During all the time I spent in France I didn’t see any processed foods. No Manufactured food. I’m sure the food scene is a little different today, but not that different. You still buy produce at a produce market, seafood from a fish market, meat from a butcher, and bread from a bakery. And from what I remember, there was a lot of competition. The food was excellent, and I gained 10 pounds that summer. I loved the food, I ate like I never ate food before. Then I came back to the states and back to reality.

When I was in France the exchange rate was 10 francs to 1 dollar, great for Americans but expensive for the French. Food for the locals was expensive, maybe that’s why the portions were smaller than our portions.

We should take a lesson from France, they had the same kind of overweight problem and they beat it. Now it’s our turn as Americans to whip the overweight problem in this country. Our overweight problem has caused Health Insurance to escalate to an unaffordable level, to the point where we now have a Health Insurance crisis.

Being overweight and having bad eating habits are the cause of most of our health problems. This is something we can do something about if we try. I learned while I was in school that "you are what you eat", but I didn't really understand the meaning of those words until I was middle age. 

Exercise is important to stay healthy, but it's the foods you eat that affect your weight. Foods will cause you to gain weight or lose weight. The right foods will health your body burn your body fat by turning it into energy. Eating the wrong foods and drinking calories will only cause you to gain more fat. 

Be select about what you eat this holiday season. It's much easier to gain weight than it is to lose weight.

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.