Blog on weight, How to Lose Fat on the Cheap

I re-blogged this post from a post on Wordpress. The author John Savill, writes about himself and how he won his battle with fat. I think this time of year we all could use an inspirational story. I’ve been guilty in the past of telling people that it’s not hard to lose weight but that’s actually incorrect. The reality is that it’s not COMPLICATED to lose weight but it absolutely is hard but lets take a step back. Before I start I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nutritionist, I’m not a personal trainer. In fact I’m completely unqualified   I don’t have a coach or a trainer. I have no one setting me a training plan or what to eat. I’ve always done what I think is logical. What I’m sharing here are my thoughts and what has worked for me. Nothing more, nothing less. Over the past 4 years there have been two occasions where I’ve lost weight. The first was 3 years ago after I completed my second IRONMAN and was starting to train for my third and decided I should shed some body fat...

Concentrate on improving your health and the rest will work out. What do I mean? Worrying about the problems in your life will cause you to forget about the big picture, but that’s really a backward way to handle the problem. Worrying about money is the main contributor to obesity. Worrying starts a spiral downward that you can’t stop. Worrying starts by causing depression. You have a big problem that you have no solution for. Maybe it’s about money or maybe something with your marriage, or maybe a problem with a child. Yes, these may seem like insurmountable problems. And these types of huge problems in your life will cause you to make changes in your routine. You’re not thinking about your health, you’re not making time for exercise or relationships, instead you’re worrying. If you’re worried about money or your job, then your worrying about how you can cut your budget and that usually starts with the food budget. Personally, I think families today spend too much on cell phones, ca...

This short article from Health Day News Has good ideas about changing your eating habits. Healthier eating, losing weight and getting more exercise are among the most common New Year’s resolutions, and it’s important to make a plan and be patient to achieve these goals, an expert says. If you decide to start eating healthier, it can be difficult to decide where to start. It’s best to focus on specific changes to make your goal more attainable, said Kelly Hogan, a clinical dietitian at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Here are some examples: Replace fried chicken or fish with baked or broiled versions two or three times a week; eat four or five servings of vegetables every weekday; and cook dinner at home three nights a week instead of ordering carry-out food. Instead of cutting out all your nightly desserts, plan to have one small dessert one or two nights per week. This will satisfy your sweet tooth and prevent intense cravings, Hogan said. If you pledge to get more exercise...

It’s almost Christmas and maybe your thinking about gifts. The best thing that’s going to be big this Christmas is a “fitness tracker”. More companies are making these devices this year. To name a few NIKE, GARMIN, Apple, Samsung and several companies I never heard of. I saw some for $59 that just track your heart-rate in real-time and are water-proof for swimmers to $229 for a do-everything model. I got the one that just does blood pressure for my neighbor. You can buy a specialty watch for  swimmers or one for joggers, but the best "all in one" I think might be the Apple watch but if they don't have an IPhone than you might want to look at the Samsung watch for Android users. Getting and staying in shape is never an easy task, and a number of companies are hoping that technology will be the solution to customers looking to increase their fitness. While the device can’t do your exercising for you, it can collect data on your activities which may just provide you with ...

You’ve heard about the French and that the French have a diet that would put weight on any American, but most of them can stay thin. The exception is people with health problems. The men and women of all ages in France are thin. When we first looked at their diet we thought that the red wine they drank was the answer. These people eat out as much as we do, they don’t even know what low cal means. So how do they do it? Well, first they walk more. City people don’t use cars that much, They walk everywhere. Also, bike riding is more popular, you see gasoline has always been expensive in Europe and the people have learned to conserve. Conserving food is something that France has done since World War II when food was scarce. So today their meal portions are smaller than ours and combine this with the increased amount of walking the French do and it’s much easier for them to control their weight. One other reason is that fresh foods are more expensive and the average french diet consists of ...

Losing weight is a commitment to stop what your doing now and change your lifestyle. I weighed about 180 pounds in high school and that's good for a kid 6 foot tall. After about 10 years in the workforce and at the age of 32, I still weighed 173 to 178. In those days I was working construction jobs, very physical. It's not like I never had a weight problem, at one point I was 220+ pounds. I owned a restaurant for more than 5 years and my weight inched up and I didn't really realize it. I was in my 30's and gaining weight didn't bother me. I could still run, swim and play basketball. I still had energy. After I passed 40, then I noticed myself getting sluggish.  I knew I had to lose weight, the extra weight was affecting my performance. I joined a health club, started to play racket ball and use a rowing machine. I was going everyday but I had a hard time loosing more than 10 pounds. The problem I had is that I was very active and it increased my appetit...

I wrote before about making a lifestyle change as a way to lose weight.  There has been much written about the Mediterranean Diet, it's not a real diet with set rules about your everyday meals. It's a lifestyle of eating the way Mediterranean people have been eating for centuries. On the front page of my website, I write about the Mediterranean lifestyle of eating in the diet section. When I gave up on diet plans you buy in packets at the grocery store. And decided I wasn't going to sweat the pounds off. I read a book on the Mediterranean Diet and it all started to make sense to me. Cutting back on the food I was eating, only made me hungry after an hour or so. I needed to change my eating habits totally. I stopped eating traditional meals, no more 3 meals a day. Now I was going to eat 6 times a day. So you might ask, how do I lose weight that way.? Good question. The Idea is to only eat enough to stop the cravings. Of course, you have to eat real food, not snack food....

The Upside of More Than 3 Meals a Day While eating many meals may not rev up your metabolism or make you burn fat, experts say it could help you in other ways. The longer you wait between meals, the hungrier you get, and then you’re more likely to overeat. “After about 3 hours without food, blood sugar begins to fall. And after 4 hours, your body has already digested whatever you sent down earlier,” says Cleveland dietitian Amy Jamieson-Petonic, RD. “Once you’ve crossed the 5-hour mark, your blood sugar begins to plummet, and you grab whatever you can to refuel.” That’s why breakfast is so important. After 7-8 hours of sleep without food, you need energy to get moving, Jamieson-Petonic says. People who regularly eat breakfast tend to weigh less than those who skip their morning meal. They also get more nutrients like vitamins D, B12, and A. They may even be more likely to resist food cravings and make b...