Diets And Why We Do It?

There are many different reasons why we diet. One all-encompassing reason is that we don’t feel good about ourselves. It’s a feeling we have that for some reason we’re not the way we use to be. Sometimes this happens over a long period of time and because of our busy lives, we tend to ignore our feelings. We wait until our condition is out of control and then we see a doctor and hope he can fix it. Doctors treat symptoms. So they might put you on a diet, but they might just check your vitals and send you home with a prescription. I believe in watching out for warning signs, paying attention to your body, and don’t ever put anything off. Having said that, I know that many young people today go without health insurance because of the cost and I understand that that’s a good reason for self-monitoring. Keeping your weight under control will help your body work properly.

When a person first reaches adulthood (about age 21) her body is fully grown and her organs might take a year or so longer to fully develop, it depends on the person, but at that time that is the size you're meant to be. Of course, if you are overweight at that time, losing some weight will probably do your body some good. I know that child obesity is a problem today, and this is something you should take up with your doctor, every case is different depending on the age and development of the child. There’s no one answer that can apply to all children. And the reason I mention this is because adult problems with weight are much different from children's. And because an adult is fully grown we can deal with weight problems in a similar manner, that’s not true with children. Just because you overweight doesn’t mean your child should be overweight. And a child can’t diet the way you diet just because they’re heavy.

I want to get back to adults and why we diet. The biggest reason and I mentioned it earlier is that you’re not feeling good about yourself. Sometimes this is more physical and sometimes you just want to look better. So when it’s physical, it’s generally because we’re tired all the time. It’s harder to make that flight of stairs, It’s harder to walk thru the mall or you just get tired too easily. And if this is your problem you need to ask yourself some hard questions. So many times people will blame these types of problems on their age. “I guess I need to slow down. I’m overdoing it.” This is a typical response. We do nothing about our weight because we decided our problem is our age. I’m 70 years old and I can do just as much as my kids. I wash both cars in my driveway on Saturday morning, and I can work alongside anyone over 40. I feel like 40 because I never gained any weight and I don’t smoke. I weigh less now than I did at age 25 when I was in my best shape. Everyone has aches and pains, that’s normal, it comes with years of work and having small injuries over a long period of time, but if you stay active those little pains won’t bother you as much.

So, now the question is still “Why do we diet”. Why do we do it? Subconsciously we want to feel better and look better and we know if we can lose weight then that will fix everything. And how do we do this, well we tend to take the easy way. “If I just eat less, I’ll lose weight.” Well starving yourself might work for a few weeks, but no one can keep it up. It’s not sustainable. So the weight comes right back. Some people have to go on a diet. The doctor says you have to. This is not unusual, this happens more than you might think. So now there are three reasons why most people diet.

Personally, I believe that most of us who want to lose weight, just want to look better, want our clothes to fit better, and want to wear the same type of clothes as the others. Plus size clothes don’t have the same style as normal sizes and when you try to ware normal sizes everything bulges. You actually make yourself look bigger than you are.

So how do we do this the right way, so the weight stays off? You have to change your life. I don’t know If you watch The Today Show or The Weather Channel, but if you have you know Al Roker. Al’s story is an excellent example of how a person who struggled with his weight from childhood and how he finally got it under control after 20 years of struggle. Al wrote a couple of books about losing weight and there a good read. If you want some inspiration, his books will really work. He had to undergo gastric bypass surgery. I’m not advocating surgery, but that’s what his doctor prescribed.

“Today Show” weatherman Al Roker has often spoken about his struggles with weight. But in a column published on Today.com Thursday, Roker revealed that his weight issues took a toll on his marriage to size-four Deborah Roberts. His advice to the “thin half” of mixed-weight couples? Stop nagging your partner to lose weight.

“Here’s the thing, I say to the person in the couple who’s not struggling with their weight: Shut up. We know we’re fat. We know we need to lose weight,” Roker wrote. “You're nagging us and pleading with us doesn’t help. In fact, in ways it makes it worse.”

Roker said nothing will change until the overweight spouse decides that it’s time to get healthy. When he finally did (he has lost more than 100 pounds since undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2002), he said he and Roberts began participating in healthy activities together.

“It’s not that we don’t love you; it’s not that we don’t care. It’s just that right now, we’re not prepared to deal with it for whatever reason, whether it’s emotionally or physically,” he wrote.
A recent study found that mixed-weight couples, in which the wife is overweight and the husband is not, experienced greater conflict than other couples, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Another recent study revealed that those in happy marriages may gain weight, while those in unhappy marriages tend to lose weight.

I think it’s important that you know being overweight can cause many different problems in your life and those problems can carry over into the lives of your family. If you want a happy life, then you want to “get healthy” and set a good example for all the people around you. Even if you feel good today, being overweight will catch up with you. Being overweight will age your body faster than you. Being overweight is a young person in an old body. If you don’t want to be a walking drug store, someone who takes a dozen prescriptions every day, then maybe it’s time to start eating healthy and taking control of your life.

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.

Also, follow me on Twitter @gertsraymo70369 to get a link to my latest posts.

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, 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. 

Stop Burning Sugar And Start Burning Body Fat

 I had a comment from one of my readers. I wrote a post about the benefits of quitting sugar and my reader said she tried it. She quit sugar for Lent. It about forty days and just in that forty days she told me she felt the difference. She actually felt better just by not adding any sugar or other sweeteners. She lost 5 pounds and isn’t experiencing the food craving or mode swings she had before.

A great article that explains why we workout but don’t lose any inches. The article explains why you could be working out just to burn the sugar and other sources of energy but not real fat.

by Shaun Hadsall

Did you know that the years of eating processed foods, lack of exercise, and normal eating patterns have literally PROGRAMMED your body to burn NOTHING but calories and sugars from the foods you consume everyday…
…INSTEAD of burning off your ugly body fat?

In fact, today’s exercise programs take way too much time and use old-school methods that cause you to crave more food and calories – especially calories from sugar – FORCING your body to burn sugars and waste away nothing but stored energy.

This means that EVERY time you eat and exercise your body is busy fighting a losing battle.

BUT – what if there was a way to RESET your body’s fat burning switch so that your body burns fat FIRST every time you move and exercise?

Well there IS.

It’s a super simple 3-step metabolic primer from my colleague, and Stubborn Fat Expert, Shaun Hadsall that TURNS OFF your body’s “addiction” to burning sugars, while making your most stubborn fat your “go to” energy source in ONLY 3 or 4 days.
STEP #1: Try to consume zero starches or fruits for 3 or 4 days in a row during the week.

This will help accelerate depletion of glycogen (your stored energy) and get your body burning fat again. This should equate to a total of 25 to 50 impact carbs for the day. Consume protein in every meal to help increase satiety and keep your body in “fat burning mode”.

You’ll program your body to burn a ton more belly fat by using this approach just a few days of the week.

STEP #2: Increase your fats and double your servings of green cruciferous veggies on deplete days.

When you lower carbs for a few days you’ll automatically need energy from other sources. Friendly fats and cruciferous veggies should be your go to macronutrients to help provide this needed energy.

Some good examples to use are extra fish or krill oil, olive oil, coconut oil, grass fed butter and small amounts of raw nuts for fats — spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, arugula, green beans, Brussels sprouts and cabbage are great choices for extra veggies.

This will help provide all the fiber, vitamins, and minerals necessary to maximize fat-loss during a lower carb phase.

It will also DECREASE your cravings in a big way.

STEP #3: Double your daily water intake when you deplete carbs.

Remember, for EVERY gram of carbs you eat over the weekend (or any other time) your body holds nearly 3 grams of water.

So if you had a few slices of pizza, some bread and a bowl of ice cream we’re talking an extra 700 to 1000 grams of water sitting under your belly skin.

Consuming extra water is the fastest way to UNDO the damage of over-eating, getting rid of excess water retention, and facilitating other metabolic processes that burn fat.

A good rule of thumb is to consume at least 50-60% of your total body weight in ounces of water a few days after overeating.

After 3 or 4 days of using this strategy, your body and hormones will be PRIMED to burn PURE fat when you exercise.

You just have to make sure you’re using the RIGHT TYPE of exercise or all this could be nothing but a waste of your time and energy.

If your serious about trying this, the exercise is important, but if you’re an active person and you don’t spend hours sitting, a quick 10-minute workout with stretching first and afterward maybe all that’s necessary.

Follow me on Twitter @GertsRay70369

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. 

How Long Will It Take To Lose My Belly Fat?

Good question. How much do you weigh, how much do you want to lose? The bigger percentage of fat that you have the longer it takes to lose it. Are you doing any exercise now and how long have you had the extra fat?

The answer is different for everyone. If you are only 20 pounds or so over your goal weight, then a 200-pound man can expect to lose about 2 pounds a week depending on your diet, age, and activity level. Personally, I lost almost 20 pounds of fat after I retired at 66. If you’re a woman who weighs about 140 and wants to lose 20 pounds then 2 pounds every week might be too much to expect. Middle age women will find it more difficult but not impossible. The same three variables will still be critical. For instance, a young woman who has had a baby recently will lose 20 pounds faster than a woman in her late 40s who has carried the extra weight for a few years. If you have been overweight for some time, it will take longer to lose it. Losing your body fat is possible no matter what your condition. We all should stay in shape and it’s never too late.

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

If you’re on a 2-pound-a-week weight loss program, it doesn’t take much to stop losing and start gaining. Yes, it will take time but if you’re going to be thin for the rest of your life, go slow and keep it up. Once you reach 10 pounds of lost weight, you’ll start feeling better, but don’t stop and don’t start cheating. Even after you reach your goal, don’t stop. That’s how everyone else gains the weight back. Whatever your eating stay with the program. And I did have to stop drinking alcohol until I reached my goal and then I could go back to a drink occasionally without gaining. You see, alcohol will mess with your metabolism, and that stops the fat-burning process. Now after you reach your goal your metabolism is back to normal and an occasional drink doesn’t hurt.

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

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

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

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

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

Look for my 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.

Also, follow me on Twitter @gertsraymo70369 to get a link to my latest posts.

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, 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. 

10 Benefits of Walking

 This article is from an email I got lately. It goes to prove that any amount of extra activity will improve your health. Being more active and improving your diet can help you remake your life.

What’s not to love about the single best thing you can do for your health? The simple act of putting one foot in front of the other makes you healthier, gives you more energy, and makes you younger. Plus, doing it lets you talk with friends, think through problems, and see what’s new in the neighborhood. And if you happen to have some new walking gear, walking lets you show it off.

That’s just the beginning. Check out a few other great things walking does for you:

1. Fends off the #1 killer: Regular walkers have fewer heart attacks and strokes, have lower blood pressure, and have higher levels of healthy HDL cholesterol than couch sitters do. In one study of women, a regular walking program did just as much in the heart-protection department as more vigorous exercise did.

2. Changes your RealAge — pronto: As little as 90 days after starting a regular walking program, its age-reducing effects can be measured. Find out your RealAge now (RealAge.com).

3. Dims your chances of diabetes: Thirty minutes of walking a day makes your muscles more sensitive to insulin. That allows glucose to do its duty inside your cells rather than pile up in your bloodstream (that’s what happens when you have diabetes) and cause other havoc.

4. Helps you kick the habit: Taking a daily 30-minute walk is one of the keys to the success of our YOU Can Quit plan. Even just a 5-minute walk cuts down on cigarette cravings — it engages your brain’s emotion centers, unleashing mood-enhancing hormones that decrease cravings and take your mind off that cigarette. And establishing a walking habit proves to you that you have the discipline to stick with your stop-smoking plan.

5. Slims you down: Burn more calories than you eat, and — voila! You’re wearing one-size-smaller clothes (find out just how many calories walking torches). Plus, walking can help squelch chocolate cravings and nix the stress and anxiety that often lead to overeating.

6. Keeps you sharp: Physical activity nourishes brain tissue and stimulates its production of neurons, synapses, and blood vessels. Some studies have found that walking can counter faltering memories in people over age 50.

7. Reduces stress: Anyone who has come back from a walk in a different frame of mind than they went out with can attest to this. Studies back up that walking benefits your mood — and may even ward off depression and anxiety.

8. Revs up your energy: Not only can a walk perk you up when you need it, but also it helps improve the quality of your sleep, so you’re more energetic all day long.

9. Boosts your immune system: Walking regularly can lower your risk of arthritis, macular degeneration, and even cancer by an astonishing 50% compared with people who don’t exercise.

10. Keeps you going: Walking has the highest compliance rate of any exercise. Make your routine bulletproof: Get a buddy.

Follow me on Twitter @GertsRay70369

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. 

Workout Smarter, Not Longer

 Why do most of us give up trying to lose weight? What we don’t realize is that your workout maybe helping you lose weight at first and then you stop losing weight. This is normal, a beginner at first will lose weight on various diets as long as they increase their active. But in a few weeks, your progress usually stops. Why? Your body will become accustomed to the diet and your body will adjust to the activity level, so you need to change things up regularly.

The most common complaint that I hear from prospective clients is this: “I work out three times a week, but my body never changes.”

When I ask them what they do in the gym, I almost always know what I’m going to hear. They generally do two or three circuits of machine-based strength training and then 30 minutes on a treadmill or elliptical machine. And they’ve been doing this same workout three times a week… since the Dawn of Man.

“Your body has gotten bored at that point,” says Steve Zim, author of three best-selling fitness books and owner of ATighterU in Culver City, California. “It’s like reading a book. How many times can you read the same book before you find yourself just mindlessly flipping the pages? If you’re doing the same workout again and again, your body is just flipping the pages.” The same thing happens when your walking. When you walk to burn body fat walking at different speeds. Walk normally for 100 yds. and then walk as fast as you can for 100 yds. and then walk normally for 100 yds. and so on until you did the routine about 8 times and then walk normally for a while to bring your heart rate back down. This is a good way to keep your body from getting bored with your workout.

It isn’t all that hard to tweak your workout a bit to rekindle the challenge and get your body responding and changing. Heck, you’re already working long and hard, but if you work out smarter, you can make real gains that you’ll see and feel both in the gym and out.

Good: Lose The Machines

Machines are a great way to isolate muscle groups, but to make the most of your workout, you want to involve as many body parts as you can per exercise. The more muscles that are involved, the more calories you’re burning — and the more muscle you’re building.

Look at a typical back exercise. Using the seated row machine, you’re sitting down and being held in place by a chest pad. You’re working the muscles of the back, shoulders, and biceps, but your legs, core and everything else are on vacation. Compare that to a bent-over dumbbell row. Now, in addition to your back, shoulders, and biceps, other muscles are getting strong and burning calories while they stabilize your body during the movement. It’s strengthening these stabilizers — and not just isolating and strengthening the muscles of the back — that’ll keep you injury-free when you actually have to do some real-life heavy lifting like you might do cleaning the garage.

Follow me on Twitter @GertsRay70369

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. 

How Many Calories Does Your Body Need?

 I’ve written about this before and I get questions about this all the time, “How many calories do I need?” This post will answer the question. Losing weight is still about calories. The calories you take in every day vs. the calories your body burns. So, the big question is  “How many calories does your body burn?” If you’re going to lose weight you need to know your BMR (the number of calories your body burns). So, read the post below for help. First you should understand, everyone will burn a different number of calories every day. Your body will only burn what you need and the more body fat you have, the slower you burn calories.

The calories you take in every day vs. the calories your body burns. So, the big question is  “How many calories does your body burn?” If you’re going to lose weight you need to know your BMR (the number of calories your body burns). So, read the post below for help.

BMR – Basal Metabolic Rate

Measuring a Healthy Lifestyle
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Definition

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns at rest to maintain normal body functions. It is the number of calories per day your body burns, regardless of exercise. It changes with age, weight, height, gender, ethnicity, diet and exercise habits. An average BMR would be 1850 calories per day for an adult man and 1500 calories per day for an adult woman of average height and weight. Don’t use the averages if you’re overweight, use a calculator to get your number. Those numbers are accurate if you’re in good shape and your body is functioning on all 8 cylinders. If you’re overweight your body doesn’t burn as many calories and your body can’t burn all the calories, you eat. You don’t even have to be overeating, some calories your body can’t use, and it will store those calories in fat cells and leave them there. Some of the things we eat the body can’t process and only the food or drinks that get processed will be separated and either disposed of or used by the body.

Don’t use the averages if you’re overweight, use a calculator to get your number. Those numbers are accurate if you’re in good shape and your body is functioning on all 8 cylinders. If you’re overweight your body doesn’t burn as many calories and your body can’t burn all the calories, you eat. You don’t even have to be overeating, some calories your body can’t use, and it will store those calories in fat cells and leave them there. Some of the things we eat the body can’t process and only the food or drinks that get processed will be separated and either disposed of or used by the body.

You don’t even have to be overeating, some calories your body can’t use, and it will store those calories in fat cells and leave them there. Some of the things we eat the body can’t process and only the food or drinks that get processed will be separated and either disposed of or used by the body.

If you’re overweight your body doesn’t burn as many calories and your body can’t burn all the calories, you eat. You don’t even have to be overeating, some calories your body can’t use and it will store those calories in fat cells and leave them there. Some of the things we eat the body can’t process and only the food or drinks that get processed will be separated and either disposed of or used by the body.

Yes, it’s a little complicated but because of the things we eat, we are either functioning the way we should or not. If you aren’t getting enough nutrition some of the body functions will not work properly and you could gain weight, lose weight, or your immune system becomes weak, and you become ill.

This is the number before factoring in any movement, it is below even the sedentary level. Once you add in what it takes to simply move around for basic functions, while still being sedentary, the average calories per day needed would be 2200 for the man and 1800 for the woman. This number is pretty accurate for a young adult in good condition and proper weight.

Calculating Your BMR

Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator: Input your height, weight, and age and adjust for your activity level to find out how many calories you can eat and maintain body weight. In order to lose weight, you would want to eat fewer calories and/or burn more calories through exercise. This calculator uses the classic Harris-Benedict equation for energy expenditure.

Basal Metabolic Rate – Burning Calories Even at Rest

You may think your Fitbit is fibbing or broken when it tells you that you’ve already burned a few hundred calories when you get up in the morning. What, you wonder, was I running in my sleep? No, it is simply reporting the calories you burned due to your basal metabolic rate. Normal body functions like breathing, blood circulation, and brain functions all burn calories so you do burn calories when you sleep.

Find a BMR calculator on the internet and because the answer can vary do it twice on two different sites. I found a good calculator on CalorieCount.com.

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

Follow me on Twitter @GertsRay70369

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. 

Start Adding Years to Your Life

We all talk about trying to get healthy, but most of us fail at the attempt. We think we know what we have to do, but we don’t seem to get it done. Maybe we don’t know how we just think we do. The way we used to lose weight in our younger days isn’t going to be the same and that’s why most of us fail.

In the AARP mag, I read that even those of us over 50 can get benefits from exercises like walking, yoga, swimming, and free weights if we stick to it.

Never give up trying though, any improvement you can make will add time to your life. Exercise will stop the body from aging when you exercise daily. Most of us want to be healthier and live longer and you think about all you could do with the extra years you could add to your life, but “how can I do it?”

The best way would be to totally start over. Start living your life like you are young again. Start by changing your diet. Be careful what you’re buying at the store. If you remember to eat fresh, that’s the best way to remember what to buy. Cut out everything else. Lean meats and fish, half the meat should be fish. Easy on the dairy, no processed cheese and greek yogurt is okay. I like coconut milk or almond milk it has less fats and more calcium. Dairy can put on a lot of weight. Fruits and vegetables, nuts, dates, and figs are all good. I like the diet of the Mediterranean people.  

There are no calories to count. You make up your menu from the food pyramid. If you follow the pyramid you see that the bottom group of food you can eat every day, the middle section you can eat from once a week and the very top is meat (beef or pork) and only eat once a month. You can eat all you want but stick to the pyramid and don’t cheat. Physical activity is important every day and drinking lots of water. You can have one glass of red wine with dinner.

This is not a quick weight loss plan, but you will become a healthier person and you will lose weight slowly. The more physical activity like walking the faster you’ll lose weight. Okay, this is step one to living longer.

Step two is physical activity. Yes, the diet will make you a healthier person, and losing body fat helps make you healthier, but physical activity will strengthen your heart, muscles, and better balance. Regular body strengthening exercises will get the blood pumping and keep it pumping. I understand that those of you that don’t exercise and don’t even know how and where to start, think that it’s too late for me. “I can’t do that, Yoga is for young people, I’ll break something if I try that.”

First of all, that’s not true. Anyone can do Yoga. There are poses for people of all sizes and all ages. Some seniors like to use a stationary bikes. It’s simple to use and you will build up strength in your legs, and work the joints in your feet, ankles, knees, and hips. If it hurts at first, it’s because you’re not used to working those muscles. Start out slow for 10 minutes and add a few minutes a day and soon you’ll be walking around the block or through the mall like those young people. Retirement homes are teaching physical education and teaching seniors how to exercise. It’s never too late for anybody.

Step three for living longer is to keep your mind sharp. I know that this might seem crazy, but watching TV doesn’t stimulate your brain, it puts it to sleep. When you have leisure time you want to read. Do puzzles or learn a new language. I took a class at a community college a couple of years ago and I couldn’t believe all the seniors going to school. They take classes in everything. I want to take another class next semester, but you must sign up early, or the good ones are gone. I’ve been trying to get into a creative writing class for a couple of years, but the hours I want are always filled.

Writing is something else to do to stay active. Most people don’t know where to start, so I tell them to start anywhere. You don’t have to write a book, just write. Write about the last vacation you took or about your life growing up. You might not think that anyone is interested but now that I’m 60-something I wish I would have asked my grandparents and my parents more about their lives. You can put your life on paper now, even if no one is asking. Generations from now they’ll want to know and you might not be here.

Those are the three steps to living longer and living healthier. Sometimes be spend too much time taking care of or worrying about other people and we don’t think about how important it is to take care of ourselves.

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.

Also, follow me on Twitter @gertsraymo70369 to get a link to my latest posts.

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, 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.