Does Stress Add Pounds

 Stress works differently for everyone. For some, it will increase your appetite; for others, it works just the opposite. I found this study in another post today. In the past research has suggested that overeating may be caused by an addiction to things like salt or sugar and it’s these addictions that cause overweight and obesity. But what if it’s not addiction? What if your body is looking for a way to relieve stress. And subconsciously your body uses comfort food as a way to relieve the stress in your life.

Scientists have found receptors for stress-activated hormones on taste cells responsible for sweet, umami, and bitter tastes – a finding that suggests stress can directly act on our perception of how food and drink tastes.

New research has identified receptor sites for stress-activated hormones on oral taste cells that are responsible for our ability to taste sweet, bitter, and umami. The findings suggest that these hormones, known as glucocorticoids, may act directly on taste receptor cells under conditions of stress to affect how these cells respond to sugars and certain other taste stimuli.

“Sweet taste may be particularly affected by stress,” suggested lead author M. Rockwell Parker, Ph.D., from the Monell Chemical Sciences Center in the US. “Our results may provide a molecular mechanism to help explain why some people eat more sugary foods when they are experiencing intense stress.”

According to senior author Robert Margolskee, MD, Ph.D., the fact that taste cells are found throughout our body may mean that stress-induced hormones can have much broader effects.” Taste receptors in the gut and pancreas might also be influenced by stress, potentially impacting metabolism of sugars and other nutrients and affecting appetite,” he said – noting that future studies will continue to explore how stress hormones act to affect the taste system.

This is a very interesting and new way to look at the overweight problem. We already know that life in America has become increasingly stressful for the middle class and lower income population and it’s interesting that it’s these same people that have an over-weight problem. If money problems are causing stress that is causing the overweight problem, then maybe we’re using the wrong approach to solving the over-weight problem

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information 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.

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. 

How To Beat the Evil Food Industry

 Sometimes we take things for granted. We listen to the advertising and look at the attractive sign with the calories listed by the price and think “o.k., this seems healthy. It’s a basic sandwich, how bad could it be.” Restaurant food is made to taste good, no one said it had to be good for you. The same with the prepared foods we buy at the supermarket.

The object of the food industry is to make your food tastes good, and you will come back again. In most cases, healthy food is sort of bland. It lacks the seasoning, sauces, and gravy that gives the flavor that everyone loves. In that respect, the food industry and restaurants have the same goal, Keep the customer coming back.

All that extra flavor that we love adds extra calories but no extra nutrition. In order to lose weight, we want to eat fresh. Buy fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh poultry and seafood, and stop drinking calories.

It’s a well-known medical fact that the more calories you consume, the shorter your life span. Eating fresh and eating clean reduces your calories without dieting. When we stop drinking calories, we can reduce our calorie intake by more than 1000 calories a day. That alone will help you lose weight.

Canned or frozen vegetables will contain some chemicals. If you read the package, it tells you the sodium content, and sugar content. The industry doesn't use the word "salt" anymore. Why, because sodium chemicals are cheaper. Sugar is still used in some products, but most products contain a sweetener that replaces sugar. Not because it's healthier, but because it's cheaper. Many of those companies in the food industry don't like increasing prices. I know that sounds crazy looking back on all the price increases this year. Ever since the 1970's companies would rather use cheaper ingrediency, than raise prices. 

Today's price increase are due to labor increases, and transportation costs. Only a small amount of those increase was due to supplies costs. 

Yes, the raw materials did increase in price, but why, because the cost of the labor increased Thing about it for a minute, when you buy shirt, it costs more today. Why, because of labor and transportation costs. Why was transportation effected? Because fuel increased and labor increased. The price of food and beverages will come down over time, But the labor part of that cost isn't going to get cheaper.

I'm getting away from the meaning of the post. Processed foods are the foods with the most labor built in. The price of basic fresh foods will reduce in price faster because there is less labor involved in that food.

You will spend more time in the kitchen doing prep work before dinner, but you can save money and eat healthier.

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 first 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 To Avoid Common Hacks

  This is a different topic than I usually write about, but it's happening more frequently today than ever before. I attended a seminar yesterday and I was surprised that hacking a cell phone is the new hack. And it's easier than you think. 

Hacking has become so easy to do, Hackers can get your info from your cell phone in a minute. So now hackers are going after the general public. It is pretty easy to spot someone who has money.

We all have WiFi turned on our cell phones all the time. We need it in buildings when we leave the house. Hackers will use your WiFi connection to hack your phone and copy your personal information while you're shopping, in a restaurant, or just walking in a crowded area. You probably won't even know it happened until the money is missing from your bank account.

How do we prevent this? Simply turn out your WiFi when you leave the house. If you work in an office, most offices don't use WiFi because they don't want the liability of someone hacking the WiFi. Simply use the connection from your cell phone provider.

To protect the content on your phone, never use public charging stations, and never use public WiFi. The same practice should be used with laptops and cell phones.

I speak from experience if you have ever picked up a virus and didn't know how, it was probably from public WiFi. You don't even have to be using your phone to get hacked. When we set our phones down we don't turn them off and the wifi is on, so you can receive calls or messages and that's how you can be hacked. 

Don't be a victim, if you have lost your identity you are probably leaving yourself exposed. Hackers always look to do the easiest hack. Hacks that only take a minute. 

Hackers use apps that can find a wifi connection, then the app looks thru your apps and opens whatever they are looking for. Be careful when you leave your house, and keep your wifi off. 

Anyone Can Lose Weight

 

Losing weight is a lot like deciding to stop smoking. If you think about it, Someone trying to lose weight has the same problem as a person trying to quit smoking. Both have an addiction and both people are trying to make a change. Change their lives and kick the habit. With food the addiction is not eating, it’s really the addiction to sugar, sodium, and other chemicals in processed foods.  The addiction will create hunger, but you’re not really hungry you’re going through a type of withdrawal from your addiction. You think you're hungry, so you eat and you feel better, but really you just feed your addiction to sugar or whatever chemical caused the cravings and eating supplies the need and now you feel better. Of course, you probably consumed a few hundred calories.

Losing weight has to start by changing your diet and counting calories. If you change to a fresh diet, eating only fresh foods and changing the times you eat, you can lose weight, it’s not rocket science. When everything I tried, failed, I read this article about eating several small meals instead of the traditional 3 meals a day. It made sense to me and I tried it. A two or three-meal-a-day plan encourages you to overeat.

I was eating 5 meals a day. I had to leave for work early so I started by eating breakfast at 6 a.m. You can’t eat much if you are going to eat every 3 hours. So, I’d eat about 300 calories. Black coffee and a bowl of oatmeal with some fruit. At 9 a.m. I’d eat again, the same amount of calories every time, 300. At noon, I’d have a cheese sandwich with whole-grain bread and a bottle of water. You can vary this any way you’d like. At 3 p.m., I’d have yogurt and fruit and another bottle of water. At 6 p.m., I’d have fish and a salad with lemon and olive oil and iced tea. I like to save my calories for the food and not the drinks. I drink black coffee, iced tea plain or cold water, no calories there. I ate 5 times with a total of 1500 calories. The trick for me is to eat every 3 hours and I was never hungry.  If I needed something before bed, I’d have another yogurt cup.

Where did they ever come up with a plan like this? It's nothing new. Humans millions of years ago would wander the earth from sunrise to sunset the same way animals would wander around all day long. They would look for more food or fresh water. Humans did start farming later in the evolution. Hunting and gathering were the means of survival for many humans and still is practiced in parts of the world today.

The hunting and gathering concept is the idea of only eating a small amount and just keep going. When you need more food, you look for food you can just grab and go.  

I take my food choices from the food pyramid, you can find it online or on my other website: blogonlosingweight.blogspot.com. Anyone can lose weight if they really want to.

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 first 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. 

Reverse The Aging Process

Do you know that things you do every day can cause you to look older than you really are. Pills and beauty creams are not the real answer. It’s all about what you eat and drink that ages you. You probably see people on the street that look really good and have all gray hair. You probably think, “Boy they look good for their age.” Those people might be older than you think.

I saw a senior on TV being interviewed about his service in the Army during the second World War. He was the oldest survivor of the D-Day invasion. I was listening to the interview and thought “this guy looks awful young to be in a war 70 years ago”. He looks and talks like he’s maybe 75 or 80. He looked good physically, he stood up during the entire interview and talked like a younger man. At the end of the interview the Host congratulated the man on his One Hundredth Birthday last week. That blew my mind. I only hope I can be in that kind of shape when I’m one hundred.

I did a little research and found that the little vices we all have, like smoking or drinking alcohol, eating some processed foods like canned hams, or other processed foods all contain things that will age your body.

It’s hard to eat fresh and eat clean all the time, but that’s really the only way to avoid chemicals and hormone that can damage the body. We used to think that smoking, drugs and alcohol were the only way we could harm the organs of our body, but today we know that everything we eat, or drink can do damage to us. Eating fresh means that you only eat fresh foods, vegetables, nuts, beans, fresh meat (no preservatives) and fresh fish. Sounds simple right but add to that “eating clean” and that means your fresh foods should be free of chemicals, pesticides, hormones and any kind of growth stimulates. All these things are used today by commercial farmers to produce better crops, better poultry and better meat. That sounds like it's better for the consumer, right? Not really. All those chemicals that growers use are to increase the percentage of the crop that goes to market. Some consumers don't realize that growing organic is more expensive for the consumer because the percentage of crops that can go to market is small. 

I'll explain, and the percentages I'm using is only an example. Different crops grown in different parts of the country will have a different percentage. For instance, corn grown organic, may only produce a 70 yield, which means 30 percent of the crops planted are not good enough to sell. When farmers use chemicals to grow their crops, they are looking for an 85 percent yield and also the ability to grow the crops faster getting it to market in less time which may give the farmer more growing season for the same piece of land. Growing organic may only allow the farmer 2 crops per year on a piece of land, but growing faster with chemicals can give the farmer 3 crops per year in the same field. That's the reason you pay more for organic. 

In the last few years there is a growing concern that chemicals in our food supply are causing cancer. Not in everyone but in some of us with compromised immune systems. That’s why the trend of Organic Product is becoming popular today. Range free eggs or Organic Eggs, Grass fed Beef, Range free Poultry, Organic Fruits and Vegetable; all these items are in all the grocery stores today, but they are expensive. Why, are they expensive? People think that if it’s in demand the stores will charge more for it. And some of that might be true, but when a vegetable farmer grows organic, he will lose a larger percentage of the crop. You have to remember he doesn’t use regular fertilizer; no normal type of pest control and he doesn’t use anything to speed-up the growth. So as a result, he’ll have less crops going to market and make less money unless he charges more for his crops.

Let’s get back to aging; So, does any occasional drink or meal out going to hurt? Well, not much, but the little things do add up. For example, a well-known cola company has started importing their cola product from Mexico and the sale of that product is up 30% from a year ago. Why, might you ask? In Mexico the soft drink companies are only allowed to use sugar cane in their drinks and not Fructose (a sugar substitute used in North America). This is also true for their alcoholic drinks. No chemical substitutes in their food.

Soft drink companies have lost a large market share of the soft drink market in the past decade and have tried desperately to regain those sales. The juice drinks were very popular for a while and still are, but today the different flavored waters seem to be a big hit. Returning to natural additives maybe the answer for the soft drink industry.

Besides things that we eat and drink aging us, also how much you eat can also age your body. Over-eating or under-eating can both cause health problems that will cause the body
to age. We are cutting are lives short by not taking care of your bodies and besides food and drink we need physical activity and when you don’t get enough that will also age your body.

Taking care of yourself will give you many extra healthy years added on your life. Science still doesn't know how long humans can live. Some experts feel that we could live to 150, some think over time we will live to 180. We cut our lives short by not taking care of our body. All our health problems are are own doing. The big problem with science today is that it doesn't know how age the population and at the same time keep them healthy. Staying healthy and living longer is up to you. The guidelines for each of will be different, you have to do what's right for you.

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. 

What Does Hot Temperatures Do to Your Appetite

 This year the heat seems unusually hot. It probably isn't that extreme now, but the summer is not over yet. What does that do a person's appetite. Normally, you will lose your appetite. You might thing that's good for weight loss, but that's not always true. 

Most of us will stop making big meals, that's good, but do more snacking, that's bad. We tend to snack on the wrong things. During this hot spell, we should be drinking more water, eating more fruit, and eating less foods that require the body to work harder. In other words, cut back on the big pasta dishes like Lasagna. Pasta with sauce is a better choice. Any foods laden with cheese and meat will be much harder for your body to digest, that's not good in this hot weather.

A better way to eat in the summer months is to eat lite. Lots of water with electrolytes, stick to the summer fruits, they have more liquid, like salads, watermelon, peaches, grapes, and melons. You may not lose weight on this type of diet, but in this hot weather you'll feel better and have more energy.

Other things to avoid; meat and potato type dinners, beer in excess, one beer is okay. Other high-calorie foods, Be careful consuming too many calories, the heat will make it harder for the body to digest food. Eat foods that the body can digest quick and easy. 

Alcohol can mess with your metabolism so back off alcohol as much as possible, and that will keep your food moving through the digestive system.

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. 

You Don't Have to Spend Money to Lose Weight

 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 so many people who want to lose weight and can’t do it their own 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 lose 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 work day, 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’s 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 their careful and don’t over eat. Between the ages of 30 and 40, I personally gain 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 over eat 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 your with your friends you pickup the same habits, start to eat the same way they do, and in those days I didn’t thing 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, 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 thing 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 a meat and potatoes type dinner with dessert, about 2000 more calories and then maybe a nightcap before bed. I had that job 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 everyday 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 rights I started by changing my diet. Nothing crazy, I was eating better food. I stayed out of the restaurants for a few months, brought my own food from home. I stayed away from ice cream, I changed to skim milk and non-diary creamer. I quit buying processed meats like lunch meat and look 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 where the perfect weight, one ounce, and it did work. It’s also really filling. Another little trick that helped me was drinking water with your meal. Even now that I lost 50 pounds, if I go out an eat and we order 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’s many ways to spend money on weight loss memberships, lo-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 on.

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.