Blog on weight, How to Lose Fat on the Cheap

We talk about cutting back on food consumption in a previous post but we haven’t said how. So today I have some ideas. I plan my meals the day before. Actually I started planning to save money. I was planning a week at a time so I knew what to buy. Then I found that planning not only saved me money, but I had less food in the house and I ate less. Not really by design, kinda by accident. It might sound like a crazy idea. If you try it you’ll get it. I wasn’t going out as much. I ate at home more because I knew what was for dinner. The problem with going out to eat is you end up eat whatever your craving. Before I started planning I’d stop and eat on the way home. It was easier and I didn’t have to clean up. But I’d just get home and turn on the TV and pull out the snacks. Now I go home, make dinner, I stick to the plan. Eat dinner and clean up. Take care of any phone calls I need to return, do my email and finish up any paper work I need to do. By that time it's usually after ...

The answer is different for all of us. Maybe you've been working on getting back to the weight you were at in high school or on your wedding day. But do you really need to go that low? Or can you weigh more than your ideal weight and still be healthy? O.K., that's a question everyone wants to know the answer to. Actually people lose weight for dozens of different reasons. Maybe you gained weight because you ate the way your family did, the way you grew up eating and that can be the beginning of your overweight problem. But as you get older you see the other school kids and the clothes they wear and you naturally want to fit in, and so your battle with weight begins. Others gain weight later in life, because of their occupation or maybe they've become overworked and depressed or maybe they've done well in life and food and drink is the reward. My neighbor has a sales job traveling, he's in and out of airports two and three times a week. Eating restaurant food ever...

Guys, do you want to look like Daniel Craig in Skyfall?  How would you like to have a body like Chris Hemsworth in Thor: The Dark World?  Well, I can’t promise you their physiques, but I can give you advice from the man who is paid to look like them. Bobby Holland Hanton was the stunt double for both Daniel Craig and Chris Hemsworth in those films. He has also doubled for leading actors and performed stunts in The Dark Knight Rises, Snow White and The Huntsman and Captain America: The First Avenger.   I found this article online and it's worth a read. In a previous post I talked about how staying in shape is a lifestyle and we don't talk enough about that. This article is about a guy who makes his money from staying fit. If you read between the lines you'll see he's just a guy who takes care of himself and in his offseason he does very little to maintain it. I say very little because offseason he doesn't spend hours in the gym, but he does exercise and most of tha...

Use the list below to gain a perspective on how much food a recommended serving size really is; it may be much smaller than you realize. According to the USDA, one serving equals: one slice of whole-grain bread 1/2 cup of cooked rice or pasta 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes three to four small crackers one small pancake or waffle two medium-sized cookies 1/2 cup cooked vegetables 1 cup (four leaves) lettuce one small baked potato 3/4 cup vegetable juice one medium apple 1/2 grapefruit or mango 1/2 cup berries 1 cup yogurt or milk 1 1/2 ounces of cheddar cheese one small chicken breast one medium pork chop 1/4 pound hamburger patty A good guideline to help you understand portion sizes is to translate the abstract information represented by the serving size into something visual that's easily remembered. So instead of trying to memorize lists of ounces, cups, and tablespoons, simply compare the serving sizes of particular foods to familiar physical objects. For example, a single serving...

I have an interesting article you can read about being overweight. The problem has existed since the ancient Greeks and the thing is we still have the problem and now it's getting worse. Why you might ask? Well, I believe it's because now we have become so intelligent that we avoid physical exertion. Young people today work with their minds and not their hands. And exercising is too much trouble. Education is are only way to change the obesity rate. Read on and you will see what I mean…... In recent decades obesity has reached epidemic levels in many countries, but the struggle to shed those pounds is nothing new -- as exemplified by the case of the 27th U.S. president. In 1905, William Howard Taft, who was then Secretary of War, began a long-term correspondence with a British doctor who was considered a diet guru of the time. A new analysis of their letters, published in the Oct. 15 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, offers a glimpse into what obesity treatment was like m...

This post will contain some info from an older post, but I received comments that some readers didn't get it and I'm sorry about that and I'll explain thing better this time. First of all I think it's real important you get this. Probiotics is the good bacteria in your stomach and intestinal track. This is the part that digests your food, true, but it also is 80% of your immune system. Think about how often you get sick, how often do you have heart burn, acid reflux, trouble with your bowels, all of these problems can be caused from the lack of good bacteria in your digestive track. Lack of good bacteria can also be the reason you add body fat and then can't lose it. The good bacteria called probiotics should out number bad bacteria 9 to 1. Now you might ask how did I lose the good bacteria? Yes, you are born with the right balance of good and bad bacteria but what you eat for example sugar will destroy good bacteria, but that's not the only food that kil...

Did you know that recent research from Harvard University revealed that sugary beverages such as soda, sports drinks, and *gasp* even 100% JUICE are responsible for up to 180,000 deaths annually? In fact, "too many sugary drinks" is noted as the actual cause of death for 1 out of every 100 people in the US. 144,000 of those deaths are related to diabetes, again caused by a high intake of high-sugar beverages. Did you also know that the average American drinks 400 calories daily from sugary beverages, and that if you eliminated sugary beverages from your diet you could lose more than 40 POUNDS of fat in one year JUST with this one simple dietary change? Yes, FORTY pounds. All you have to do is stop drinking sugar. Of course, instead of soda, sports drinks, juice, and other sugary beverages like sweet tea, lemonade, and fruit punch, you could just drink water, but let's face it, that's BORING and very likely why you are STILL drinking sugary beverages. But the r...

With all the attention kids' weight issues and childhood obesity are getting these days, it can be hard to maintain your perspective. How can you move past self-blame to take action if your child is overweight? How can you help your child make healthy changes without making her feel judged or hurting her self-esteem? And how do you help her realize that, because she is overweight now, she will have to be thoughtful about how she eats and moves -- but she can do it? Here are eight ideas to improve your child's health. 1. Shift the Focus Off Your Kid's Weight, On Lifestyle "Most overweight children feel ashamed of their size," says Michelle Van Beek, MD, a pediatrician at Sanford Children's Clinic in Sioux Falls, S.D. And low self-esteem about their bodies does not help kids make healthy choices. How you communicate your feelings about your kid's weight to her -- as well as any concerns about your own weight -- may have a profound effect on your child....

We all lose weight for different reasons. Some lose weight for health reasons, your doctor is pushing you. Maybe like me your spouse is pushing you. Maybe you feel funny at work because your co-workers stare, talk behind your back. Or maybe you just want to wear the same clothes others wear. I lost weight because I became out of shape, out of breath when I was working outside or just vacuuming. My clothes didn't fit I had to buy pants with a 38 inch waist, and then finally I said "stop". I have to stop this insane way of over indulging. That's exactly what was happening. I was in my 30's and owned a restaurant that was doing well. Success was going to my head, and all I thought about was the business and shopping for things I wanted but couldn't afford before. My wife was power walking everyday and wanted me to join her, but I always had an excuse. I stayed at the restaurant about 14 hours a day. I'd take some Sunday's off, when I'd spend time...

Fasting is a much talked about quick way to lose pounds and inches but I don't recommend it. Personally I never knew anyone who kept the weight off. And if you read below those who did lose weight temporarily gain it back and more. And yes I think it's dangerous for some people, it depends on your health. Having said that, I think you can use fasting to detox your system and yes after 2 or 3 days you will weight less but don"t thing you can keep it off. By next week the weight will probably be back. Read what I've found and you decide. Most religions use periods of fasting as a means of demonstrating faith or penitence, and an opportunity for spiritual reflection. Fasting has also historically been a means to express political views and a form of protest. Though it may not be the most practical -- or safest -- diet, some people use fasting as a way to lose weight or to cleanse the body of toxins, although some experts say our bodies are perfectly equipped with organ...

Weight cycling is the repeated loss and regain of body weight. When weight cycling is the result of dieting, it's called "yo-yo" dieting. A weight cycle can range from small weight losses and weight gains (5-10 lbs. per cycle) to large changes in weight (50 lbs. or more per cycle). This is something we're all have don't. If you have gotten past this, you've conquered the biggest problem a dieter has.  Some experts believe that weight cycling may be harmful to your health and that staying at one weight is better than weight cycling, even for those people who are obese. However, there is no convincing evidence to support these claims, and most obesity researchers believe that obese individuals would continue trying to control their body weight despite some weight cycling. Yes that's true, but having the cycling problem is a big cause for failure. Dieters want to avoid cycling if at all possible. Most of the time your not losing body fat when you lose, b...

My last post was about heredity and how some weight conditions can be caused from your family genes, but I believe it's more about your family history. The food you ate the first few years of life. We don't really know how much a child is affected by his informative years. What if the foods or maybe the sugar or fats that you consumed during those informative years created a pattern and gave you the cravings you have today? The good news is that we can correct those cravings, change them and even ignore them. I don't think food gets boring. If I think I could lose weight eating 1600 calories a day, then I would surf the web for foods I liked and foods that would work for me. I don't eat out much. I use a crock pot to make a meal for that evening but before I eat dinner, I divide the meal so I have enough for lunch the next day. And you might think you don't have time in the morning but you can prepare the dinner at night, put it in the frig and then fill the crock ...

The following is part of an article I read in the WELLBLOG in the NY Times. It’s totally factual and is well worth reading. This will explain what people go through when trying to lose weight. Some people just can’t do it and some can. I say if you want it don’t give up. I have always felt perplexed about my inability to keep weight off. I know the medical benefits of weight loss, and I don’t drink sugary sodas or eat fast food. I exercise regularly — a few years ago, I even completed a marathon. Yet during the 23 years since graduating from college, I’ve lost 10 or 20 pounds at a time, maintained it for a little while and then gained it all back and more, to the point where I am now easily 60 pounds overweight. I wasn’t overweight as a child, but I can’t remember a time when my mother, whose weight probably fluctuated between 150 and 250 pounds, wasn’t either on a diet or, in her words, cheating on her diet. Sometimes we ate healthful, balanced meals; on other days dinner consiste...

Chia Seeds are a seed that the ancient Aztec’s ate for nutrition. The Aztec’s started farming Chia seeds about 3500 B.C. It actually grew wild but after discovering the benefits and the fact that it has a shelf life of two years they farmed Chia and eat the seeds on a daily basis. You see Chia was the food they needed for long journey’s and hunting trips. They would eat the seeds dry and then drink water. The seeds gave them the nutrition to keep going and would fill their stomach so they wouldn’t get hungry. You see Chia will absorb 12 times its weight in water and stick together like a ball to fill the stomach, but it will dissolve in the stomach the same as food and has several benefits. Naturally they brought other things to eat, but without a way to keep food fresh and the fact that some food is too hard to pack on trips, seeds, nuts and jerky are the only practical things to carry. After a few thousand years Chia just disappeared and other foods became more popular. Farming b...

These are some of the most common reasons that you might eat when you’re not hungry. Boredom . We often head to the refrigerator when we need something to do. At work, you might head to the break room to see if treats are available when you are trying to avoid work. Instead, go chat with a co-worker, do an easy mini-workout, you can do a workout sitting at your desk. Or keep a book of puzzles handy and challenge your brain for 5 minutes. Personally, I take a walk even if it's only 5 minutes. Actually I get up and walk every 2 hours and if I can't walk I just stand. Need for Taste . The desire to taste something is a variation of boredom eating. The best solution? Grab a piece of sugar-free gum or brush your teeth. Minty flavors help kill cravings. You can also grab a glass of homemade flavored water like lemon water. Nervous Energy . Sometimes we’re in social situations and we eat because it’s the most comfortable thing to do or because we’re nervous. Solution? Stand awa...