Clean Eating

 A beginning dieter will usually make the mistake of thinking that they can just cut calories and they’ll lose weight. That’s the “starvation method” and it only works if you want to lose a couple of pounds. No one can starve themselves for a long time. and normally you can only lose 1 or 2 pounds a week. So don’t think that starving is the way to lose 20+ pounds. The secret to lose body fat is to eat whole foods that help the body burn fat. The fat on your body is caused from the food your eating, not necessarily the amount. But eating the wrong food can cause food cravings that force you to overeat. Learn to eat right way and your body will burn off your body fat. Don’t worry about your weight, worry about the inches around your waist.

This is a great post that I’m re-blogging from the ‘MyFitnessPal’ website. The post is about the advantages of Clean Eating. This is only a portion of a larger post that I hope to reblog at a later date. For people who want to have a better diet but don’t know were to start, this article should help you.

1. Eat “healthier” without thinking about it. It’s useful to think of food as nutrients (macro- and micronutrients) so we can better understand our body. When it comes to healthy eating, it’s more useful to think of food simply as food. Choosing “real” foods lets you eat healthier from a nutrient perspective without thinking too much about nutrients.

2. Redefine your relationship with food. Do you find yourself labeling food as “good” or “bad” based on a predefined notion of what healthy eating looks like? Nothing should always be that black and white, least of all a healthy relationship with food. Choosing real foods forces you to reevaluate the foods you think are healthy (aka processed foods labeled “low fat,” “sugar-free” and so forth). That being said, if you’re willing to buy real food ingredients to bake a cake, you should be able to enjoy a slice of dessert without a side of guilt.

3. Get the most nutrients out of the foods you’re eating. Processing foods usually removes or destroys valuable nutrients. The two exceptions are fortified foods (think: orange juice with added vitamin D) and preserved foods (think: canned and frozen). Choosing mostly real foods helps you maximize the nutrients you get from the foods you eat.

4. Cook, connect and celebrate with friends and family. Real food means real cooking! Since real foods come in the most natural form, it pushes you to be creative in preparing and cooking your meals. Cooking is an essential skill when it comes to living a healthy life. Since good food is a cause for celebration, get your friends and family members involved if you can.

5. Live a longer, healthier life. “You are what you eat” is a simple mantra capturing the impact that diet quality has on your quality of life. Eating mostly real foods will decrease your chances of getting a debilitating chronic disease like heart disease, stroke, diabetes or cancer. After all, the goal of being physically healthy is to live a long life whilst avoiding these pitfalls.

I think people have forgotten that ‘You are what you eat’. This phase isn’t new. I remember being in school some 50 years ago and reading the same thing. I think people use to pay more attention to what they ate. Today all we look for is convenience and price. Isn’t that the real problem with our overweight population? We want to spend more time relaxing and less time worrying about our health or our appearance.

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. 

What to Drink If You Want to Lose Weight

 It’s boring, but everything you read today will tell you about the best thing for you when you’re trying to lose weight, is water, 64 oz. a day.  If you think water is too boring, you have problems. Okay, I know you’re rolling your eyes, but water is really good for you. And people are catching on. In the last 20 years, the sales of bottled water and designer water outsells soda. And if you’re reading financial papers Coke and Pepsi are worried. They’re scrambling to try to recapture share-of-market. That’s what all retail companies live or die by.

There’s hope for those of us who need flavored water if we are to consume 64 oz. You can make flavored water at home. I like Basil, orange water. It’s what I drink if I crave a salty snack, usually mid-afternoon. The taste kills the cravings, and the drink looks beautiful in the glass, so I feel like I’m treating myself. You can find recipes for making flavored water on the internet, pick the ones without calories. You can invent your own. My doctor puts slices of cucumber in a pitcher and then cool it down, it’s great.

Also, I like drinking tea. Hot tea has all the antioxidants, for some reason when you make iced tea you lose the antioxidants, I don’t know why; it’s just what I’ve read. There are some good, flavored teas out there. I’m not talking about the bottled teas; I mean herbal tea that you can buy loose or in tea bags. If you like regular hot tea, I add cinnamon to change the flavor a little. If you’re going on a strict high-protein diet, hot tea is recommended for all three meals. Besides the antioxidants, hot tea is great for digestion.

Isn’t there something else you might ask. Well, if you want to avoid calories there are sodas with no calories, but you have to watch out for the additives. Additives with a chemical name are probably chemicals and maybe you shouldn’t be consuming chemicals. That said, I’ll explain, many of the prepared foods and drinks use the same or similar chemicals which the government doesn’t take into consideration when they tell us it safe to consume. Depending on what you eat, you could be consuming more than the safe level of a chemical. ‘

Example: Anyone who takes vitamins knows that Ds are really good for you, and you should buy the ones with the 3 on the label. The other day I read that you should be taking 1200 IU’s daily, but that 4000 IU’s can be dangerous to your health.  I take 2000 IU’s a day, but how much do I get from my food, and do you know that you also get “vitamin D” from the sun. So how much am I getting from the sun in an average day? And should I be counting the time in sunlight. All good questions, you can see what I’m talking about. Yes, the chemicals in your diet drink might be safe, but at what point or when will I be consuming too much and how much is too much? No one tells us that. And it’s the same with Vitamin D. Some people say that all the sunlight we need is about 20 minutes a day. And believe it or not, some people don’t get 20 minutes a day and if you’re depending on the sun for your “D”you need the sun every day. That’s probably why your doctor says to take 1200 IU’s a day and some doctors will want you to take even more.

Chemicals in your body get absorbed not passed through. And they do accumulate. And some chemicals do cause cancer and you only have to look at your own family to know someone with cancer or someone who’s had cancer. No one can blame all cancer on smoking or air pollution, most cancer is caused by what we eat.

Be careful of what you eat or drink. It’s your body and the doctor can’t fix everything. Drinking plain water will keep toxins moving through the body and keep them from accumulating.

 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. 

12 Reasons to Love the Mediterranean Diet

 Your only eating fresh food. The focus is on fresh, seasonal food prepared in simple ways. For instance, make a salad with fresh spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, then add black olives, feta cheese and Garbanzo Beans, olive oil and lemon juice or wine vinegar. That’s a salad, of course there are several little things you can add to make it the way you like, peppers come to mind, but you can see my point, everything healthy and fresh.

And surprise, when you eat the way Mediterranean people eat, no calorie counting. You can eat from all the food groups. You’ll be swapping out bad fats for heart healthy ones like using olive oil instead of butter; eating poultry and fish instead of red meat. You’ll meat fresh fruits instead of sugary desserts. You’ll eat more veggies and beans. Nuts will become the snack of choice. No candy, except for chocolate, but only real chocolate and pure chocolate not a box of chocolates. You’ll also be eating whole grain bread and drinking wine in moderation.

You’ll be eating breads and pasta, just choose whole grain. Try to avoid breads made with processed flour. For a snack try whole grain pita bread dipped in olive oil or humus.
You are going to eat fat, but it’s heart healthy fat like olive oil, nuts like walnuts and almonds and green or black olives. All of those have good fats. Man-made products have bad fats that your body can’t process and will end-up clotting your arteries.

The menu to pick from is huge, you’re not limited to Greek and Italian. Morocco, France, Spain and Turkey are only a few others. All these countries cook in a similar manner. Easy on the red meat and whole fat diary, with lots of fresh fruit, veggies and whole grains.

Mediterranean people like to cook with herbs and spices to give their food the flavor they like. You might not think about herbs and spices as being healthy, but this type of menu has been around for thousands of years and people added things to their food for a reason, not just for the flavor. For example, Coriander and rosemary have disease fighting antioxidants. East Indian and Moroccan people are big believers in using spices for their health benefits. Peppers are well-known world-wide for their health benefits.

Greek meals are often easy to make. For a serve-it-cold casual meal called Mezzes you cpuld put out plates of slices tomatoes, nuts, sliced red peppers, cheese, olives and small pieces of whole grain bread with a humus Dip.
You can have wine with meals, that’s commonly done in Mediterranean countries. One glass a day for a woman and two glasses for a man. Women metabolize alcohol differently than men. For people than don’t drink alcohol, unsweetened grape juice is O.K.

You won’t be hungry when you eat filling foods like roasted sweet potatoes, humus and different bean spreads and you can snack on nuts, low-fat cheese like feta or Halloumi. These are lower fat then cheddar. Stay away from processed cheese. If it’s all-natural cheese, it’s on the label, if it’s processed cheese it will also tell you on the label.
You might think it takes a miracle to lose weight but eating fresh and eating a Mediterranean diet will leave you feeling full and satisfied. That helps you stick to your diet, and you will probably get more nutrition than you did before. Along with an increase in activity and you’ll see the pounds fall off and you’ll start to feel better. Your heart will thank you. In a few months your blood pressure will improve, and your cholesterol will get lower. The Mediterranean diet has a lot of good brain food, you’ll stay sharper longer. This food pyramid tells you what to eat and how often to eat each type of food. Watch the pyramid closely, and don’t forget the water.

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. 

Diet Is Still Key to Weight Loss

 So, how important is your diet? Your diet is 80% of weight loss. Exercise is about 15% and the rest is your attitude.

Nutrition and weight loss go hand-in-hand, and it pretty much comes down to chemistry and math. Intake too much energy (calories), weight is gained while creating a caloric deficit stimulates weight loss. Everyone seems to be on the search for something quick and easy. Very Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs) are popular but disregard possible health risks. Seems like a risky high dollar cost to shed unwanted pounds. I am a believer of eating “real” quality food to maintain a fit physique and at a cost saving. To start a healthy weight loss journey, review what you’re eating now in order to make changes promoting healthy weight loss which is no more than one to three pounds per week.

Time for a Lifestyle Change
Losing weight is a pretty straight forward process. It will require a nutrition lifestyle change together with regular exercise for best overall results.  So, what does that mean? It means that I lost 30 lbs. one year because of some crazy diet I was on, but after losing the weight I was still fat. Most of these websites don’t tell you that if you lose weight on their diet, say 20 pounds, only 4or 5 pounds will be fat. That’s one reason to avoid those weight loss programs and just do it yourself. You have to change your entire diet in order to lose fat.

The way I did it was to eat fresh healthy food and stop eating processed foods. Quality healthy food choices are important. If you’re eating processed foods, dining out, drinking alcohol and soda regularly, an immediate revision to those choices will need to happen. Start by keeping a food journal, write down what you’re eating and drinking. Studies show people who maintain a consistent food journal have the best weight loss success. The journal allows for accountability. You will learn and be able to repeat personal best weight loss weeks simply reviewing what has been recorded.

The Right Foods and Right Portions
Eating healthy should be enjoyable, taste fabulous and never a burden. Essential nutrients for weight loss include lean proteins, fiber, antioxidants and healthy fats. Understanding a portion size is what can fit in the palm of your hand further simplifies eating healthy without the need to continuously count calories. Normal hunger occurs every two to three hours so many people take advantage of nutrient timing. Eating several small meals per day keeps our metabolism boosted, promotes satiety and eliminates urges to binge on guilt laden food. Keeping the focus on consuming healthy foods will be the success in adopting a healthy lifestyle and reaching your goal weight.
Enjoy a Variety of Healthy Foods

Fortunately, there is a wide variety of healthy foods to satisfy the pickiest eater for weight loss and overall healthy lifestyle. Check out the examples of healthy foods below which can also be used as a ready-made grocery list:
Best Proteins

Lean Proteins (You’ll notice no red meat on the list)

Chicken Breast (boneless/skinless) – 3.5oz, 30g

Turkey – 7g protein per ounce

Tuna – 6oz, 40

Salmon – 3.5oz, 27g

Halibut – 4oz, 30g

Trout – 4oz, 28g

Sardines – 4oz, 10g

Eggs (high in EFA) – 1 large, 7g

Milk – 1 cup, 8g (1% or skim, if tolerated)

Cottage Cheese – 1/2 cup, 15g

Almonds 8g, Peanuts 9g, Cashews 5g – 1/4 cup

Peanut Butter – 2tbsp, 8g

Kefir – 14g per cup

Yogurt – 8-12g per cup

Tofu – ½ cup, 10g

Top Antioxidants

Blueberries – at least a fistful a day

All rich colored berries (strawberries/blackberries/raspberries/cranberries/blueberries)

Sweet potatoes – at least ½ cup serving daily

Broccoli – eat ½ cup raw or 1 cup cooked daily

Tomatoes – One medium

Acai – look for quality juice

Beans – Eat two 1/2 cup servings a day of cooked or canned beans

Oats (steel-cut is the best) – Eat at least three servings of whole grains per day. A serving equals one cup cooked oatmeal, 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats or 1/4 cup steel-cut oats

Spinach – one cup cooked spinach or leafy green vegetable per day

Dark chocolate – Eat a one-ounce serving daily

Red wine or Concord grape juice 4oz – 1 glass daily

Green and white tea – up to 4 cups daily

Eat Healthy Fats

Olives

Extra virgin olive oil

Wild salmon (fresh, frozen and canned)

Ground flaxseeds

Flaxseed oil

Walnuts

Herring

Sardines

Sablefish

Anchovies

Farmed oysters

Healthy Eating

In order to lose weight being consistent with healthy food intake will be necessary. There is no such thing as perfection and only progress. Take one day at a time and know there will be slip-ups. If you do get off track, let it go and make a better choice with your next meal. Food guilt only drags us down and prevents moving in a positive direction. Using the palm as your portion size and eating every two to three hours is a great beginning to reaching your goal weight and adopting a healthy lifestyle (be more active).

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. 

The Case For Drinking More Water

Water is an essential nutrient our body depends upon for optimal health and fitness. It keeps us hydrated and assists with other vital processes at every level of human function. According to research, water is shown to be the most important nutrient in sports nutrition.

The human body is made up of over 60% water. Water helps with all body functions operating around the clock. It maintains hydration, digestion, heart and lung function, joint lubrication, protection of our tissues, regulating body temperature, and much more.

Water can be considered our lifeline with endless health benefits. It keeps us feeling and functioning at our best and chronic studies continue to report more positive feedback on why drinking plenty of water is essential to our health

Studies have revealed increasing water intake allows for faster weight loss compared to those not drinking enough water. A glass of water before a meal has been shown to decrease appetite, aid in digestion, and boost metabolism.

Portion control is better adhered to and improved weight loss results experienced. Many people confuse thirst for hunger which has contributed to weight gain. Nutritionists are now recommending drinking a glass of water when you are feeling sluggish or fatigued before reaching for food. This simple test for dehydration vs hunger has shown to help with portion control. Drinking water throughout the day also eliminates the desire to consume sugary sodas/juices loaded with unwanted calories.

A recent study on water-induced thermogenesis has shown drinking cold water increases energy expenditure in the body. Research indicated the increase in energy is created by the body’s effort to warm the water to body temperature. This theory explains the boost to metabolism and increased weight loss.

Increased Water Intake Reduces Bloating. IAN HOOTON / Getty Images

Holding water or feeling bloated can make us feel uncomfortable. It’s often caused by poor digestion, increased sodium, or a monthly cycle for a woman. Many believe when they’re holding water, drinking water should be avoided. This is far from the truth.

Water is a natural remedy to reduce bloating and drinking plenty throughout the day will begin the flushing process. Retaining water is the body’s natural protective measure to prevent dehydration, so bloat time is no time to hold back drinking fluids. One more thing about water retention. I always get emails about drinking water. It seems that people are afraid of water or what water might do to them. When your body thinks that you might be starving or dehydrated it will hoard and drinking other drinks is not the same thing. Yes, you can flavor water with a slice of fruit, but you have to drink water. Don’t drink anything with calories or those zero-calorie sodas.

Drinking water will reduce the amount of retained salt and lubricate the colon to hasten the elimination of belly-bloating foods.

Constipation is an unpleasant experience and not drinking enough water promotes unhealthy digestion. Time to increase the water and keep things moving at a regular and comfortable pace.

Water binds to soluble fiber in the large intestine and increases the bulk of our stool, reduces transit time, and makes elimination easier. When water is kept from our digestive system, the body pulls water from our stool creating a constipation problem. Drinking plenty of water prevents constipation, promotes healthy digestion, flushes toxins, and eases the burden on our kidneys and liver.

Do you suffer from dry and lifeless skin? The reason may be a lack of water as part of your daily nutrition. Clearing up our skin starts from within and is benefited when we drink plenty of water.

We lose body water through sweat and even more during a workout and hot environmental conditions. Drinking water ensures rehydration and replenishment of the natural lubrication of our skin. Our skin loves moisture and drinking plenty of water helps restore suppleness and eliminates dryness.

Drinking enough water is always a question and a good indicator is checking the color of your pee. Healthy urine is fairly clear and shows we’re drinking plenty of water to keep our skin moist and lubricated. Using lotion is fine but drinking water remains the primary way to maintain well-hydrated skin.

Water requirements are met through how much we drink and a small percentage through food intake. Each person will differ in water requirement based on age, environment, and activity levels.

We lose water everyday body functions of sweating, breathing, and going to the bathroom.  If we’re physically active, in hot climates, running a fever, or having flu symptoms like diarrhea or vomiting we will lose even more water.

All water loss requires replacement to keep our bodies well hydrated and healthy. The Food and Nutrition Board released new dietary reference intakes for water. “It is recommended that women consume 2.7 liters (91 oz.) daily and men consume 3.7 liters (125 oz.) through various beverages (80%) or in food (20%).” A great indicator of healthy water intake is fairly clear urine and drinking more until that mark is reached.

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.

Losing Weight at Any Age Will Help Your Heart

 In order to keep body tissue alive, your heart has to pump blood to all your tissue including body fat. The bigger you are the harder your heart has to work trying to supply blood to all of you.

The following article is about a long-term study done in the U.K. I’ve never found a study of so many people for this long period.

Healthy weight loss at any time in adulthood is good for your heart, a new study indicates.

“Our findings suggest that losing weight at any age can result in long-term cardiovascular health benefits, and support public health strategies and lifestyle modifications that help individuals who are overweight or obese to lose weight at all ages,” according to lead study author John Deanfield, of University College London.

Researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,300 men and women in the United Kingdom who were followed since their birth in March 1946. The participants were classified as being either normal weight, overweight or obese when they were children, and at ages 36, 43, 53, and between 60 and 64.

The longer the participants had excess body fat in adulthood, the more likely they were to have heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and narrowing of the arteries later in life, the findings showed.

The investigators also found that people who moved down in weight categories — such as from obese to overweight, or from overweight to normal weight — at any time during adulthood reduced their risk for these conditions.

This was true even if they regained weight later, according to the study published in the May 21 online edition of The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

“Our study is unique because it followed individuals for such a long time, more than 60 years, and allowed us to assess the effect of modest, real-life changes in [levels of body fat],” Deanfield explained in a journal news release.

While these findings are encouraging, only 2 percent of the study participants managed to keep off the weight after losing it, Elizabeth Cespedes and Frank Hu, of Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, noted in an accompanying journal editorial.

This highlights the need for public health officials to promote and help people adopt lifestyle habits that help them maintain a healthy weight, they said.

Although this study found an association between weight loss and improved heart health, the research wasn’t designed to prove that weight loss caused those improvements.

In that last paragraph, it said that the research wasn’t designed to prove that weight loss causes improvements in heart health, because the study never contacted these people or put them on any special diet, the study only observed people and made notes about what they did throughout their lives. The results of the study did show an association between weight loss and improving heart health.

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.

Losing Weight Doesn't Have To Be Expensive

 Some people actually go the expensive route when they decide to lose weight. Some people think the expensive way is the only way to lose weight. There are sooo many people who want to lose weight and can’t do it themselves that a mega-million dollar industry has sprung up to take advantage of this opportunity. Thank heaven for some of us who write about the real way to lose weight.

Gym memberships, diet pills, and weight loss counselors all cost money. When in fact, you don’t have to spend a dime. You can even save money while you lose the unwanted pounds. We don’t always realize it, but as we go through our workday, we can spend a lot of time snacking. You can consume a lot of junk food and drinks and it all costs money.

Maybe you start your day at a coffee shop and you don’t just buy coffee. You get to work and there are pastries in the break room, so why not. I use to do it. I’d look for something to snack on every time I took a break. The average person adds 2 or 3 pounds a year, even if they're careful and don’t overeat. Between the ages of 30 and 40, I personally gained 40 pounds. I had changed jobs. I had a construction job, outside all day, and was very active and left that for an office job, sitting all day and eating and drinking too much. I didn’t overeat on purpose, I would go along with the others and was snacking throughout the day.

I never ate breakfast at home except maybe on the weekends. I started out at the coffee shop with a roll and coffee, usually one of those designer coffees, I don’t even know how much sugar I was consuming. Mid-morning we’d take a break after being on the phone for 2 or 3 hours and staring at the computer screen, we’d go for coffee and another sweet roll or maybe cookies. Great, more sugar, but for some reason when you are with your friends you pick up the same habits, start to eat the same way they do, and in those days I didn’t think I was fat. Everyone was the same, except for a few guys that had a real weight problem. At Lunch, I usually had a burger and fries and maybe a beer. I was on the phone all day, and we didn’t meet with customers. No break in the afternoon but drinks after work. About an hour of beers or cocktails after work. Now that I think back, I was probably consuming 3000 calories before I came home for dinner. Usually, dinner starts with a cocktail or maybe a bottle of wine with dinner and then meat and potatoes type dinner with dessert, about 2000 more calories, and then perhaps a nightcap before bed. I had that job for almost 12 years, I don’t know how I survived. I should have died of a coronary. After I changed jobs my routine changed a lot. I was over 40 and my doctor told me I weighed too much. “ You have to lose at least 20 pounds.”

I joined a HEALTH CLUB, it did help me get in shape but after several years of membership fees, I had barely lost any weight. I was going but because of the extra exercise, I was hungry all the time. I was eating less but I wasn’t eating healthy foods every day or every time I ate. My job kept me busy and often I would skip lunch and just snack or grab fast food at a drive-in window. Finally, my wife told me “ You can’t lose weight if you keep eating like this. You grab a Hot Dog for lunch thinking you’re saving on calories because you’re not eating a big meal, but there’s no nutrition in a hot dog and those diet snacks are all empty calories. You have to eat foods to fuel your body, your metabolism is falling asleep. When you don’t metabolize food the food turns into fat. You have to eat foods that your body can use to create energy for your heart and other organs and for your muscles to have strength. Your body is living off of today’s fat and you’ll never burn the old fat.”

She was right I started by changing my diet. Nothing crazy, I was eating better food. I stayed out of the restaurants for a few months and brought my own food from home. I stayed away from ice cream, I changed to skim milk and non-dairy creamer. I quit buying processed meats like lunch meat and looked for better cheese. I’d get the cubes of cheese, I read that if you’re trying to lose weight you should eat one ounce of swiss cheese before every meal. Swiss cheese will help you metabolize your food. I bought the package of cubes and they were a perfect weight, one ounce, and it did work. It’s also really filling. Another little trick that helped me was drinking water with my meal. Even now that I lost 50 pounds, if I go out and eat and we order a beer before a meal, I still get a glass of water to drink while I’m eating. I quit the gym membership after a few years, I work out at home. I started running after I lost the first 20 pounds. I had a lot more energy and running is one of the best exercises I know for your body and to lose weight. I started out by walking and then built up to a walk and run routine which I still do. Now that I’m in better shape I can run faster and longer with fewer breaks for walking.

There are many ways to spend money on weight loss memberships, low-cal foods, and exercise programs, and don’t forget the gym equipment you can buy for your personal use, but only you can decide that you’re going to lose weight. And after you make that decision nothing will stop you. My biggest investment was a pair of walking shoes that I traded for running shoes later. But before you turn into an exercise nut who lives in the gym several hours a week, losing body fat is 80% diet and 20% exercise. You can’t exercise away from a bad diet. Just because your friends eat whatever they want and stay thin doesn’t mean you can. They are not trying to lose weight, you are. They don’t exercise to lose weight, they exercise for their heart. You have to exercise differently to lose fat.

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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.